The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
February 1, 2012 - 5A
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com February 1, 2012 - 5A
ENERGY
From Page 1A
portions of their endowment in
energy is not uncommon. The
University of Texas, a school long
regarded for its connection to oil,
has 6 percent of its endowment
invested in energy related assets,
according to Bruce Zimmer-
man, University of Texas Invest-
ment Management Company
president. Ohio State University
has 8 percent of its endowment
invested in energy assets as well,
according to OSU spokesman Jim
Lynch.
LSA junior Maggie Oliver,
chair of the environmental issues
commission in Central Student
Government,.has been involved
with sustainability initiatives on
campus, most promjnently in the
push to eliminate the sale of plas-
tic water bottles on campus.
Oliver said that while she
wishes the University would
move more quickly in developing
sustainable efforts, she under-
stands paying for them with
funds that receive contributions
from energy investments. Oliver
herself received a scholarship
from Shell to attend Camp Davis,
a University operated teaching
and research center located near
Jackson, Wyoming, where she
studied geology.
"I do understand it for now,"
Oliver said. "Yes, we need the
world, we need the environment
but the society we live (in), it does
run on money, so there is that
aspect of it too ... I do know that
we have to meet in the middle at
some point and that's the only
way that real changes and sus-
tainable changes will take place."
Oliver added that she hopes the
University aims to become more
involved with alternative energy.
"The environment is always
kind of pushed aside but it should
be a priority," Oliver said. "Every-
thing does revolve around the
environment and we need to start
caring about it and (making) it
more important because it is
becoming more and more impor-
tant to people."
While the amount invested in
sustainability efforts is less than
the returnfrom theenergysector,
the University is making efforts
to add variety to the energy sec-
tor. At last month's regents meet-
ing, the board approved a $25
million investment in RK Mine
Finance, a company associated
with financing ore companies.
"The natural resources focus of
JEOPARDY
From Page 1A
S
than what she had anticipated.
"The studio was smaller than
I imagined it to be and the game
goes a lot faster than you think
it goes," Shi said. "When you're
standing in front of the game
board there's adrenaline and it
feels like the whole show lasted
five minutes but actually it was
30 minutes long."
Shi admitted to being nervous,
but said that the experience is
one she will never forget, adding
that the people around her made
the experience especially memo-
rable.
"The other contestants were
really great and they were from
schools all over the country, big
schools (and) little schools," Shi
said. "They were all just really
bright and really talented and
really interesting people. Meet-
ing (host) Alex Trebek was
cool."
When asked about any inter-
esting stories from filming, Shi
was elusive with the details.
"You'll have to watch the
show," Shi said.
Besides pursuing her under-
graduate degree at the Univer-
sity, Shi is also involved with
the University's Red Cross Club
and the University of Michigan
Undergraduate Research Jour-
nal. She also plays violin in the
this fund provides The1
further diversifi
cation to our ener- em
gy portfolio which
is concentrated
in the oil and gas illy
industry," Timo-
thy Slottow, execu- 4D Glb;
tive vice president
and chief financial
officer, wrote in a ARC Frr
communication to
the regents. Cgary Al
Coleman said Cadent E
she thinks the
money spent on Rye Brook',
sustainability ini
tiatives, is wellC ,m1Cr
spent. ay Al
"It was one of
those investments Denham'
that there'll be a Boston, M/
big return," she
said. Encap En
According to Houston
University spokes-
man Rick Fitzger- Kayne Ar
ald, depending on Los Angele
the specifics of the
project, money for JOG Cap
sustainability proj- Ca Igary, Al
ects comes from
University funds, Lime Roc
including the gen- Westport, I(
eral fund, as well
as from federal MA P
grants and part- Pao1AlIto, C
nerships with cor-
porations like DTE Merit En
Energy. Dals TX
"One time
projects, where Natural (
it's going to take Gr enwich
an investment
now, not an ongo- SCF Partr
ing operational Houston T
cost, will look for
other resources," Sentient
Fitzgerald said.
"Often that comes '
from investment Yorktown
proceeds, some of
those that aren't New York
restricted for spe-
cific purposes."
Of the $14 million commit-
ted to the sustainability initia-
tives, the University contributed
the largest amount to the Planet
Blue program with a $10 million
investment.
The University's increase in
sustainability initiatives was
spurred from student feedback
and the benefits it will provide for
both the University and the plan-
et, Coleman said in an interview
with The Michigan Daily.
"In some sense we were
responding to interests and
requests from students which I
always love to do if we can, num-
Michigan Pops Orchestra and
volunteers at the VA Ann Arbor
Healthcare System.
Shi said she learned of the
competition because she regular-
ly watches the show, and decided
to apply.
"I wanted to audition for it
because it's been one of my favor-
ite shows for a long time," Shi
said. "I started watching it when
I was in elementary school and I
try to watch it whenever I can."
Shi said she is a fan of the
show because it encourages
contestants and viewers to be
knowledgeable about a variety
of unrelated topics and fields of
study.
"I think it has a really great
message that it's cool to know a
lot about everything, or know a
little about everything at least,"
Shi said.
Maggie Speak, contestant
producer for Jeopardy!, said the
application process for the show
has two components - an online
exam and an in-person test and
personality interview.
"All of the college students
have to take a 50-question online
test to qualify to be in the pool for
the in-person interview," Speak
said. "Out of that, every year, we
pick about two to three hundred
(students) for in-person auditions
... At the in-person auditions we
are test-givers, we give another
50-question test ... and then what
we do is we have the players play
ROMNEY
From Page 1A
Fla., Romney confidently cast
himself as the GOP's likely nomi-
nee. He said he was eager "to lead
this party and our party and our
nation," criticizing President
Barack Obama for a lack of lead-
ership.
"Mr. President, you were
elected to lead, you chose to fol-
low, and now it's time to get out
of the way," he said at the event.
Romney's victory in Florida, a
state worth 50 delegates at this
summer's Republican National
Convention, reestablishes his
prospects as the most electable
opponent to President Barack
Obama in November's gen-
eral election, according to LSA
junior Brian Koziara, external
vice chair of the University's
chapter of the College Republi-
cans, said.
About half of Florida voters
reported that electability was the
most important factor in their
decisions at the polls. Data shows
that Romney performed better
than Gingrich among elderly and
Tea Party voters, two metrics
Koziara said Gingrich dominated
in past primaries.
Koziara said the margin of vic-
tory alone, and as a rebound from
his loss in South Carolina a week
and a half ago, allowed Romney
to regain lost ground after Gin-
grich handily beat him there.
"If (Gingrich) would've gotten
Florida, that would've signaled
that he had a fair shot at possibly
challenging Romney on the nom-
ination," Koziara said. "The fact
now that Newt only has South
Carolina and Romney won big
in New Hampshire and Florida,
which are two states he's going
to need in the general election -
I think that's important." '
By failing to capitalize on his
South Carolina win, Gingrich
.may have missyd an opportunity
to maintain his staying power in
the race, Koziara said. Though
the former Speaker said in a
speech last night that he would
continue to campaign voracious-
ly in upcoming states, Koziara
said the fact that many of those
states are "Romney-friendly"
further jeopardized his chances
of earning the Republican nomi-
nation.
Koziara said he's confident
that Romneywill win Michigan,
adding that he believes Rom-
ney will likely need to wait until
Super Tuesday - when 11 states
hold their primaries on March 6
- to have a chance to lock up the
Republican nomination.
Michigan Republican Party
spokesman Matt Frendewey said
all of the candidates are expected
to campaign in Michigan, bar-
ring any candidates from drop-
ping outof the race - a possibility
Koziara said he did not expect of
any of the candidates, with the
exception of former Pennsylva-
nia Sen. Rick Santorum.
Frendewey said he is anxious-
ly awaiting the Michigan prima-
ry, because he expects the state's
Republican voters to come out in
force to knock out Obama out of
the White House.
"Michigan Republicans
are fired up," Frendewey said.
"They're ready for change.
They're tired of the failed poli-
cies of President Barack Obama."
He said the state's Republi-
can voters might be particularly
incensed by what he said were
the president's failed promises
on health care, the financial defi-
cit and the rising cost of higher
education.
University students expressed
mixed sentiments on their atten-
tion to the Republican contests,
though some said they would
watch the Michigan primary
at the end of the month, which
coincides with the University's
spring break.
LSA juniors Thomas Jones
and Lois Dodson said they were
following the race somewhat
closely, having watched a few of
the debates, though added they
would likely be more attentive
to the Michigan primary and the
general election.
Engineering sophomore Olivia
Nordquist agreed that she would
tune into the Michigan primary
at the end of the month. She said
she thought results of the prima-
ry might be telling in terms of the
state's transformation since the
last general election.
"Michigan will be a state that
matters because we have such a
strong Democratic base," Nor-
dquist said. "But right now we're
a Republicanstate. So I think my
vote will matter."
The next contest in the Repub-
lican race will be held in Nevada
on Feb. 4, followed by Maine,
Colorado, Missouri and Min-
nesota the following week. The
Michigan primary, along with
the primary in Arizona, will be
held on Feb. 28.
-The Associated Press
contributed to this report
ber one, and I think it's really
important," Coleman said. "In
the long run, many of the things
that the students suggested and
that we agreed to invest in will
save money for the University."
While the University funds
many sustainable efforts, the
proposed solar panel field that
Coleman announced to be built
on North Campus would be paid
for entirely by DTE. The contract
between the University and DTE
has not been finalized, so no cost
estimate for the project or pro-
posed construction start date was
available, DTE spokesman Scott
Simons said.
a mock-version of Jeopardy, just
like playing the game."
The mock game allows the
producers to get a sense of each
potential contestant's personal-
ity and to gauge how the contes-
tant will perform on the actual
show, according to Speak.
"We do a short personality
interview to get to know them
a little bit and that's kind of fun
for us too," Speak said. "They get
to talk about what their interests
are, what they hope to do when
they get out of school and what
they would do if they won the
$100,000."
There are no specific qualifi-
cations for College Champion-
ship contestants, except that they
must be full-time college under-
graduates and can't hold a previ-
ous bachelor's degree, Speak said.
"You don't have to be from An
Ivy League school to become a
.winner on Jeopardy," Speak said.
"That's just notthe way it works."
.Speak said it's contestants like
Shi that make her job worth-
while.
"I think sometimes we all get
a little downhearted about what
our future looks like and then
when you get to meet the kinds
of kids that are on the College
Championship for Jeopardy,
they're just really incredible,"
Speak said. "They care about
their future, they care about
other people and they give me
great hope for our future."
HEARING
From Page 1A
us to try to stop the hearing or at
least put it on hold until we can be
a party at this hearing, until we
can have our rights represented
at the meeting."
The motion questions MERC's
Dec. 13 decision to send the
GSRA's case to an administra-
tive judge, given the precedent of
a 1981 MERC ruling that stated
GSRAs are students, not public
employees.
Both Schuette and The
Mackinac Center Legal Foun-
dation - on behalf of SAGU -
filed appeals with the Michigan
Supreme Court.
Raiman said the hearing's
format is unfair because both
the University and GEO - the
parties who will be presenting
in front of the judge - agree
that GSRAs should be classified
as employees with the right to
organize.
Though Schuette, SAGU and
others opposed to unionization
will have an opportunity to sub-
mit evidence at the hearing, they
will not be allowed to challenge
evidence presented by GEO or
cross-examine witnesses called
by lawyers by the University or
GEO, according to Raiman.
Even if GEO proves successful
in the hearing, Raiman said his
group will continue fighting.
"If we don't get the result that
we hope ... then we'll have to
try our best to run a campaign
to win this election, to educate
GSRAs to see the hazards of
unionization and the costs of
unionization."
SAFETY
From Page 1A
ment,-Joe Piersante, interim exec-
utive director of the University's'
Department of Public Safety, and
Ann Arbor Police Chief Barnett
Jones to increase communica-
tion between the city and cam-
pus community about improving
safety efforts.
Jones said the organization
aims to determine how the city of
Ann Arbor and the University can
work together to improve safety
in the community, specifically by
garnering input from students.
"It's a collaborative University
and city effort to ask ourselves,
'How effective has this been?'
and what more could we be
doing," Jones said.
Jones added that the group
is a multi-faceted program that
brainstorms creative ways to
keep students safe.
"I'm hoping that this commit-
tee will come up with three or
more ideas of things we can do,"
Jones said. "Because we want to
continue to be responsive to the
needs and continue to do things
that are really relevant for stu-
dents."
Rider-Milkovich, chair of the
workgroup, noted that the group
- which has not yet had its first
meeting - will use the skills of a
diverse group of administrators
to devise new methods of safety
education.
"We think of this not only as
helping students stay safe while
they're on campus and while
they're part of the University of
Michigan community, but also
giving them skills that they can
move forward once they gradu-
ate," Rider-Milkovich said.
Rider-Milkovich said sexual
assault is only one type of crime
SAPAC works to prevent, adding
that she plans to use her exper-
tise in sexual assault prevention
to aid the group in preventing all
forms of crime.
"In my role as chair, I will be
helping the group to really focus
in on the spectrum of safety ini-
tiatives that are already in place
on campus and looking for ways
to enhance what we have and
really create the comprehensive
framework of safety education,"
Rider-Milkovich said.
Seto said he is involved in the
workgroup to demonstrate his
department's commitmentto stu-
dent safety.
"AAPD is there to pledge the
full support of the police depart-
ment in this initiative to improve
student safety," Setosaid. "Ithink
our other role is ... along with the
University of Michigan police
and the Dean of Students Office,
to collectively evaluate ideas that
may improve student safety and
see how we can implement those
in a collaborative effort."
Seto said though DPS and
AAPD already collaborate on a
regular basis, the workgroup may
help them improve their relation-
ship.
"I think this workgroup may
be a way for us to solicit other
ideas from other people that may
be in the workgroup so that we
can see how we can even improve
on that," Seto said.
In a statement to The Michi-
gan Daily on Monday, Piersante
said he hopes the group will aid
DPS in improving its current
efforts to educate students on
crime prevention.
"We support efforts to raise
awareness among our students
as to how they can contribute to
our community's safety, while
also reducing their personal
safety risk," Piersante said. "I
look forward to hearing recom-
mendations from the workgroup
regarding suggested enhance-
ments to our current efforts."
LSA junior Josh Buoy, a stu-
dent safety assistant in the Dean
of Students Office and a chair
of the Central Student Govern-
ment's Student Safety Commis-
sion; said the Beyond the Diag
program continues to serve as
a holistic approach to student
safety.
"It's definitely small steps
(leading) to a larger goal," Buoy
said.
Buoy said as a part of Beyond
the Diag, the division of student
affairs has been sending month-
ly e-newsletters to students liv-
ing off-campus with articles and
tips from the University Health
Service, the Department of Pub-
lic Safety and Counseling and
Psychological Services.
Beyond student safety, the
program also looks to increase
safety for all members of the Ann
Arbor community.
"The safety component is one
very important component of
what we're doing," he said. "But
equally important as the safety
component is the community
aspect as well."
Buoy said three neighborhood
ambassadors have been assigned
to create programs for students
in different neighborhoods to
encourage "neighborhood iden-
tity," adding that the ambassa-
dors will work with Ann Arbor
City Council members to estab-
lish associations within each
neighborhood.
Buoy said the program aims
to assure students that the Uni-
versity is still concerned for their
well-being even though they live
off-campus, and the organiza-
tion hopgs to continue to foster
a connection with students mov-
ing out of the residence halls
by distributing posters and fli-
ers with information about the
group.
Jones, who has continued to
pass out information and can-
vass neighborhoods as part of
the program, said the initiative's
focus on community involve-
ment ensures that students are
looking out for their neighbors,
adding that Beyond the Diag is
particularly conducive to com-
munity-oriented policing.
"They're better witnesses and
better prepared to invoke the
criminal justice system when
needed because they'll have
more information to give us,"
Jones said.
Laura Blake Jones, associate
vice president of student affairs
and dean of students, said Uni-
versity students have been at the
forefront of Beyond the Diag.
"We've been building the pro-
gram from the ground up and all
of it has been student initiated,"
Jones said.
Buoy and his fellow student
safety assistant, LSA junior
Stephanie Hamel, have been at
the core of the program, Jones
said, ensuring that students can
relate to the program's initia-
tives.
."We're trying to make what
goes on ... relevant to the off-
campus students," Jones said.
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