The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com d "T ? Z 1 t+ II A z ry t y ! x Friday, January 20, 2012 - 5 East Stadium bridges to be completed on Nov.14 At meeting, project members discuss project development By TAYLOR WIZNER Daily StaffReporter Drivers in Ann Arbor who pass the intersection of East Sta- dium Boulevard and South State Street will have to continue tak- ing detours until construction of the East Stadium Bridges Improvement Project is sched- uled to be finished on Nov. 14. At a public meeting last night near the Ann Arbor Senior Cen- ter, Michael Nearing, the proj- ect's senior project manager, discussed the progress being made on the bridges. Nearing said the bridges over South State Street and the Ann Arbor Rail- road, both built in 1928, were demolished last November and are still under construction, an endeavor that has continued to block the direct route to Michi- gan Stadium and other Univer- sity athletic facilities. The construction was due to the dangerous conditions of the bridges and the city received funding from the U.S. Depart- ment of Transportation, the Michigan Department of Trans- portation and the city of Ann Arbor's 2006 Street Reconstruc- tion Millage. As part of the renovations, the project also installed retaining walls and a staircase on South State Street, and replaced the storm sewer and water main under the street. After the new bridge opens in November, the final landscap- ing and restoration of the area around the bridge is expected to be complete in spring of 2014, Nearing said. "It's going to be interesting to see when the football season starts," Nearing said. "People will just have to deal with the detour. There is an outdoor hockey game scheduled at the stadium for Jan. 1, but the proj- ect will be complete by then." The project is progressing on schedule, Mike Lea, resident engineer of the project said at the meeting. Though there were minor problems when replac- ing the sewer and water main, workers were able to divert the issue by avoiding the blocked the areas while building under- ground. "We had to change the pipe and there was a storm sewer issue, but (they have) been resolved and we are moving on," Lea said. ADAM GLANZMAN/Daily University President Mary Sue Coleman addresses the University's Board of Regents at its first meeting of the new year yesterday From Page 1A At the meeting, Slottow added that an unknown donor may provide further funding for win- dow upkeep at the arena, which is home to the Michigan hockey team. "There is a possibility that we may have a donation to enhance the window treatments to go to potentially historic windows for Yost," Slottow said at the meet- ing. "If you can imagine the size of the windows on Yost, you can imagine it's not a small under- taking." The regents also approved $9 million in funding for improve- ments to Schembechler Hall- the Michigan football team's practice facility. In addition to adding 7,000 square feet to the building, the renovations will include an overhaul of the entry- way to the building that will be integrated with the museum in an effort to improve accessibili- ty and highlight the collection of football memorabilia displayed there. Boiler replacements were also approved for Northwood Apart- ments I, II and III. Slottow told the regents that the new systems would increase heating efficien- cy, increase safety and decrease , the University's liability. The regents also approved an upgrade to the Edward Henry Krause Building Auditorium, which will include new seating, lighting and fire safety systems GSRAS From Page 1 Dibbern's assertions. "We understand that the University is prohibited from commenting on academic per- formance, but these claims are not academic performance relat- ed," the GSRAs wrote. "They are pure slander and should be discounted publicly by the Uni- versity." At the University's Board of Regents first meeting of the year yesterday, Hanlon said he reviewed Dibbern's past aca- demic records and supported Goldman in her decision to ter- minate Dibbern for academic reasons. "I have personally reviewed the academic records in this case, and I'm convinced that the academic decisions made by the faculty were justified, cor- rect, and appropriate, and that the decisions were made on aca- demic grounds," Hanlon said. "I think that the faculty depart- ment followed a thorough and fair process, and I want to offer my strong support for them." In an e-mail sent to Dib- bern in August and acquired by AnnArbor.com, Goldman expressed her dissatisfaction with Dibbern's progress in the lab and asked for more dedica- tion to her research. "I realize you have manyother things going on but an increase in your focus on research is urgently needed," Goldman wrote. "This will probably require you to decrease your involvement in non-research related activities." University spokesman Rick at an estimated cost of $1.7 mil- lion. FUTURE FEDERAL RESEARCH FUNDING UNCERTAIN While presenting the annu- al report on research to the regents, Forrest revealed a sobering long-term outlook for the fate of federal funding to University research. The report noted that while 2012 research funds from the federal government this year increased slightly from 2011, the future did not appear to be as promising. "In a time of flat or declining federal funding for research, how does (the University's) research enterprises continue to thrive and to grow?" Forrest asked. "Not just to maintain itself, but to really move strong- ly into the future?" Forrest noted that the Uni- versity's $1.2 billion research budget comprises the third larg- est category of the overall Uni- versity budget-following the health system and the academic units. Forrest added that since 1976, the research budget has consistently tracked upward. In an interview after the meet- ing, Forrest said the upcoming budget is unpredictable because of potential congressional bud- get fights and this fall's election. He also cited a U.S. or European debt crisis as a potential threat to research funding. "A lot of this federal fund- ing supports a vast research infrastructure at this Univer- sity," Forrest said. "There's the human capital and the infra- structure capital and both of those things can be quite at risk if times change. We'll just have to watch." Forrest predicted that the tenuous budget situation would persist for five to 10 years. REGENTS APPROVE WAYNE COUNTY HOSPITAL EXPANSION The regents also approved a $39 million, 25-year lease of property and the construction of a building along the I-275 cor- ridor in Wayne County as part of an effort to expand the Univer- sity of Michigan Health System. Ora Pescovitz, executive vice president for medical affairs, and Slottow wrote in a commu- nication to the regents that the facility will be approximately 100,000 square feet and house a variety of medical specialists. The building is designed as an "expansion site" to the nearby Livonia Center for Specialty Care, which is less than a half- mile from the new building. "This is a very important facility, pivotal to our strategic efforts," Pescovitz said at the meeting. "It's largely designed to respond to the burgeoning clinical need near I-275." The building is scheduled to open in 2014. BRIDES From Page 1 gowns are donated to the Cancer Support Community. The Ann Arbor boutique opened in Sep- tember and since its opening, numerous brides have aided the fight against cancer by purchas- ing a gown from the program or donating a dress after their wed- ding. "Really, it's making your wedding more than just about the day; it's about giving back," Edwards said. "I think a lot of brides really value that. It's more than just buying just a dress." She added that brides choose to shop at the boutique because of its altruistic efforts, low prices and varied selection, as "no two dresses are alike." "A lot of people get caught up in the hype of spending... money on their wedding, and every- thing is about them. This is just a good way to give back," she added. While women at the organi- zation's Toronto location have developed friendships through sharing a bridal gown, Edwards said the Ann Arbor branch of the charity is too new for women to have developed that connection. However, Edwards said she has witnessed instances of emotion- al connection between brides. "Some of the dresses that are donated actually come with let- ters," she said. "Sometimes, the bride will write a letter to the , next bride who wears her dress ... it's a really sweet idea." Other stores in the commu- nity have collaborated with The Brides Project to advocate for the Cancer Support Community of Greater Ann Arbor - includ- ing Middle Earth and the Selo/ Shevel Gallery on Main Street - through offering their window displays to promote the effort. Richard Wedel, manager of Middle Earth, said he was happy to lend the window space to assist the organization. "It's a good, local organization that's doing good work," Wedel said. "(Brides can) save some money and do good at the same time." In addition to the window space, Middle Earth distributes information about the charity, which Wedel said has received "a lot of attention." Barb Hiltz, executive direc- tor for the Cancer Support Com- munity, said she is enthusiastic about the project and the finan- cial assistance it provides. "It is one of the things we are looking to do to kind of think creatively about sustaining the free cancer support services that we provide," Hiltz said. She said donations areused for avariety of.different programs at the Cancer Support Community, including grief counseling, sup- port groups, educational classes and recreational activities. "It's exciting to have a proj- ect that ... has to do with such a happy time in people's lives, whereas cancer is often the opposite of that," Hiltz said. TFA From Page 1 ing a real problem," Grieb said. "College students have ... all the know-how to implement little or big incremental changes to help improve the entire education sys- tem." LSA senior Blair Daniels said Kopp's speech inspired her to apply for TFA because the pro- gram appeals to her. "My friend just got into Teach for America and she encouraged me to do ittoo," Daniels said. "I've been tutoring kids in Detroit, and I like it a lot." Kendra Hearn, a clinical assis- tant professor and TFA's certi- fication program coordinator at the School of Education, said she is impressed by TFA and similar organizations that encourage people to work in urban and rural environments in need of teachers and resources. "The students in these schools will often have a rotating door of substitute teachers or people who are even less prepared," Hearn said. " ... We stand as a nation to really look hard at how we go about getting passionate, well-prepared, highly effective teachers into every single child's classroom, regardless of their zip codes." Fitzgerald said the University does not endorse GEO's claims. He added that after Dibbern stopped working in Goldman's lab, the University continued to provide GSRA benefits to Dib- bern as scheduled, until her position expired on Dec. 31. "From the University's per- spective, many of the allega- tions that were made at the press conference were just wrong," Fitzgerald said. "She was paid her stipend, her health benefits and her tuition waiver through the end of the year as it was scheduled even though she was no longer in the lab earlier than that." During the public comments section of the regents meeting, Engineering graduate student Stephen Raiman, founder of Students Against GSRA Union- ization, Victor DiRita, medical school associate dean for gradu- ate and postdoctoral studies, Physics Prof. Finn Larsen, and Cagliyan Kurdak, associate pro- fessor of physics and director of the applied physics program, spoke against GSRA unioniza- tion. Raiman said many of the individuals who initially agreed to sign GEO's petition did not receive enough information before signing. DiRita, Larsen and Kurdak discussed that char- acterizing GSRAs as employees would harm the relationship between the GSRAs and their advisers, and ultimately be det- rimental to the GSRAs. "I understand that some of the students view the GSRA union as a possible resource to address conflicts between the adviser and the graduate student," Kur- dak said. "(But) by interjecting the union into such situations, many cases that could have been resolved to the benefit of the stu- dent's career may automatically be escalated to the point that there can be no real solution that benefits the student." Members of the Senate Advi- sory Committee on Univer- sity Affairs, the University's lead faculty governing body, released a statement yesterday demonstrating their support of the University's opposition to granting GSRAs the right to unionize. "We on SACUA, who are active faculty members from many different academic fields, in our roles as researchers and teachers, concur entirely with University of Michigan Presi- dent Mary Sue Coleman's state- ment to the Regents of the University in our firm convic- tion that graduate students in their role as research assistants/ associates are fully engaged aca- demics in training and are stu- dents and not employees," the statement read. On Monday, former Univer- sity President James Duderstadt wrote a letter expressing his concern against GSRA unioniza- tion to Julia Stern, the adminis- trative law judge who will decide on the GSRAs' right to vote next month. "Adopting such a practice in Michigan, which would stand in sharp contrast to the rest of the nation, would seriously handicap and damage our state universities in their efforts to attract the outstanding gradu- ate students and research grants necessary to maintain our pro- grams in disciplines critical to this state," Duderstadt wrote. Cuba seeks oil through drilling rig in Havana Spanish oil decades of bad blood between Cuba and the United States. company leases The U.S. trade embargo essen- tially bars U.S. companies from drill for $500,000 doing oil business with Cuba and threatens sanctions against HAVANA (AP) - A huge foreign companies if they don't drilling rig arrived yesterday in follow its restrictions, making it the warm Gulf waters north of far more complicated to line up Havana, where it will sink an equipment and resources for the exploratory well deep into the project. seabed, launching Cuba's dreams To avoid sanctions, Repsol of striking it rich with offshore oil. chose the Scarabeo-9, a 380-foot- The Scarabeo-9 platform was long (115-meter), self-propelled, visible from Havana's sea wall semisubmersible behemoth capa- far off on the hazy horizon as it ble of housing 200 workers. The chugged westward toward its rig qualifies for the Cuba project final drill site about 30 miles (50 because it was built with less kilometers) from the capital, and than 10 percent U.S.-made parts, 60 miles (90 kilometers) south of no small feat considering Amer- Key West. ica's dominance in the industry. Spanish oil company Repsol While comparable platforms RPF, which is leasing the rig for sat idle in the Gulf of Mexico, the about a half-million dollars a day, Scarabeo-9 spent months navi- said it expects to begin drilling gating through three oceans and within days to find out whether around the Cape of Good Hope the reserves are as rich as pre- to arrive in the Caribbean at tre- dicted. mendous expense. "The geologistshave done their Even after the rig is in place, work. If they've done it well, then the embargo continues to affect we'll have a good chance of suc- just about every aspect. cess," Repsol spokesman Kristian The Scarabeo-9's blowout pre- Rix said by phone from Madrid. venter, a key piece of machinery "It's been a long process, but now that failed in the 2010 Macondo- we're at the point where we dis- Deepwater Horizon disaster, is cover whether our geologists have state of the art. But its U.S. manu- got it right. It's a happy day." facturer is not licensed to work It's been a long, strange jour- with Cuba so replacement parts ney for the Scarabeo-9, Repsol must come through secondary and Cuba, a process shadowed at sources. every step by warnings of a pos- It's also more complicated to sible environmental debacle and do things like the maintenance necessary to keep things run- ning smoothly and decrease the chances of something going wrong. If it does, Cuba would be hard- pressed to respond to a major spill on its own, and getting help isn't as simple as making a phone call to Washington. The embar- go would require licenses to be issued for all manner of equip- ment and services for an emer- gency response. Few U.S. companies so far have gotten permission to work with the Cubans in the event of a spill - representingjustl5percent of all the resources thrown at the Macondo blowout, according to an estimate by Lee Hunt, presi- dent of the International Associa- tion of Drilling Contractors. Two U.S. companies have received licenses to export cap- ping stacks, crucial pieces of equipment for stopping gushing wells, but related services like personnel and transportation have not been green-lighted, Hunt said. "So what you have is agreat big intelligent piece of iron without a crew," he said. "You can't just drop it on the hole and hope (the spill) will stop. It's not a cork." Even Tyvek suits worn by cleanup crews cannot currently be exported to Cuba because potentially they could be used for the construction of bacteriologi- cal or chemical weapons, Hunt added.