The Michigan Daily - michiganclaily.com
Thursday, February 9, 2012 - SA
Th Mchga Dil -mihianaiycm husdyFeray9.202 .
A panel of University officials answer questions from students at Rackham Auditorium yesterday.
From Page IA
but I also realize that as a pub-
lic institution with tens of thou-
sands of students, it is hard and
illegal with the ban of affirma-
tive action for the administra-
tion to make changes specifically
for students of color."
Seven administrators opened
up the event, each giving short
addresses on how their offices
have been furthering the cause
for minority student admission
and recruitment.
Ted Spencer, associate vice
provost and executive director
of the Office of Undergradu-
ate Admissions, commented on
the drastic increase in applica-
tions for admission to the Uni-
versity.and predicted that the
University will receive about
45,000 applications this year, an
increase from 39,570 last year.
"The quality of students con-
tinues to be better than the
year before," Spencer said. "The
number of outreach programs
to ensure opportunities for peo-
ple who otherwise would not
have an opportunity has also
increased along with the appli-
cations."
During the forum, students
had the opportunity to voice
their opinions and ask questions
to the administrators about
minority retention.
NHL
From Page 1A
expects the contract to be
finalized soon.
Brandon emphasized that the
event is not University spon-
sored, which means no student
tickets will be made available.
"We're not in the business of
marketing this event, we're not
in charge of the sponsors. This is
all going to be the NHL," Bran-
don said. "The NHL is really
taking over the stadium for that
day, and they're marketing the
spaces in whatever manner they
feel appropriate."
The University will use one
of its 12 available one-day-only
liquor licenses on the event. Beer
typically isn't sold at Michigan
Stadium during Michigan foot-
ball games. According to the
communication, the usual con-
cessionaire for football games,
Sodexo, Inc., is expected to pro-
vide concessions and staff at the
. game.
This will be the second time
in the last three years for the Big
House to hold a hockey game.
Michigan and Michigan State
played in the Big Chill at the
Big House in 2010, breaking the
world record for attendance to a
LSA sophomore Korbin Felder
asked about the decline in the
number of accepted African-
American males over recent
years, noting that the Univer-
sity currently has about 492
self-identifying black males on
campus, a decline from its aver-
age 600.
"How can you explain this
decline?" he inquired. "Is it
because people are not applying
or is it something else? Because
(officials) are talking about all
these programs you have, but
the numbers show differently."
Spencer responded that the
trend in decreasing African-
American male representation is
occurring across the nation, and
added that the number of males
in general attendingcollege is on
the decline.
Another student asked about
the lack of African-American
faculty, claiming that she could
count the number of African-
American professors and gradu-
ate student instructors she has
encountered on one hand.
In many of the cases brought
up bystudents, administrators
responded with possible solu-
tions to the posed problems.
After the meeting, Lester
Monts, senior vice provost for
academic affairs, praised the
gathering for facilitating dia-
logue on a complicated issue
among the campus community.
"I think we need to do more
to create these kinds of town
hall meetings to listen to the
students, but also to inform stu-
dents about what is going on in
these various programs on the
campus," Monts said. "I thought
it was very informative, very
organized and very beneficial to
everyone involved."
In an interview after the
event, Central Student Govern-
ment President DeAndree Wat-
son said the event was overall a
positive experience for students
in attendance.
- "I'm really glad that the stu-
dents were able to participate
and receive some very valu-
able information," Watson said.
"I think that it was extremely
informative and I think that the
administration was able to talk
about a lot of the initiatives and
projects that the University is
doing to increase diversity."
He added that it's important
for students to voice their per-
spectives on issues to adminis-
trators in an attempt to develop
effective future policy.
"At the same time, it was real-
ly great that students were able
to have their voices heard and
were able to talk about some of
the priorities that they want to
see the University accept and
work toward," he said.
LASER
From Page 1A
current forms already on the.
market is increased accuracy
and precision.
"We are able to differenti-
ate very small deviations in the
single-base mismatched DNA
in a very long sequence," Fan
said. "Our technology should be
able to amplify the difference as
long as there is one. However,
we would like to shift to longer
DNA sequences in the upcoming
months."
In the traditional method of
external cavity detection, sci-
entists shine a laser separated
from the sample into a test tube
containing the DNA in ques-
tion, according to Fan. The laser
causes the sample to emit a fluo-
rescent light of different colors,
GOOGLE
From Page 1A
we've found so far are caused by
incompatibility between Google
Apps and assistive technologies
- (computer) programs that
many people with disabilities
use to augment or replace the
standard computer interface,"
she said.
Vincent specifically noted
that programs like Dragon Nat-
urallySpeaking, software that
allows users to input informa-
tion using their voice instead
of using a keyboard and mouse,
isn't fully accessible using the
Google system.
"What we're finding is that
Google has coded some parts
of its apps in a way that won't
accept speech input," she said.
Bill Wrobleski, director of
infrastructure projects for
NextGen Michigan, said the
University decided to start
working with Google in order
to establish better online col-
laboration tools for students
and instructors. NextGen Mich-
igan works to invest in efficient
technologies that allow the
University to facilitate a better
relationship among students,
faculty and staff.
The transition will allow
students to be able to sign into
their University e-mail accounts
through Google and access pro-
grams like Google Dots, Cal-
endar and Talk. The project
also offers accessibility to the
Google Apps for Education pro-
gram, which provides K-12 and
university school systems with
a variety of applications and
online tools to further interac-
tive learning outside the class-
room.
Rita Girardi, marketing com-
munications specialist for Next-
Gen Michigan, said the program
is working to combat issues for
the disabled community with
help from the James Edward
Knox Center Adaptive Technol-
ogy Computing Site - an orga-
LIKE THE
DAILY
which scientists compare to a
standard for differences that
indicate mutation.
"Our detection method is
different, we call it intra-cav-
ity detection," Fan said. "The
uniquely designed test tube that
contains biological samples is
put into the laser cavity. The
sample thus becomes an essen-
tial part of the laser."
Fan said the detection meth-
od increases the intensity of the
fluorescence, making the colors
more visible and allowing scien-
tists to detect the mutation more
easily.
"If we put the molecule into
the laser to undergo detec-
tion, the small differences that
results from the traditional ana-
log~detection using florescent
light will be significantly ampli-
fied by the laser," Fan said.
Fan added that he hopes that
nization committed to helping
students with temporary and
permanent disabilities cope
with the technological demands
of the University.
She added that Google is con-
tinuing to make its applications
accessible to all users, ad the
University is monitoring these
improvements.
"We are aware that there are
accessibility challenges with
this move to Google and are
mindful of our responsibility
to balance the wider benefits
of this initiative with the needs
of the disabled members of the
U-M community," she said.
As the University continues
to work with Google to increase
accessibility of services, Berl-
iss-Vincent said officials are
developing an online forum
for students and faculty to list
issues that arise and offer alter-
natives resources.
"Ultimately, Google bears
responsibility for products that
are fully usable by students,
staff, and faculty with disabili-
ties," she said. "Until Google
implements full accessibility,
the primary solution will be to
post information about known
problems and any identified
work-arounds ... This list will
be continually augmented as we
find out new information."
Wrobleski said that as part of
the process in choosing Google,
the University held a series of
seetings, online surveys and
product tests from student vol-
unteers to gather input on what
the campus community pre-
ferred.
"It was clear that we need to
provide a broader set of tools to
students and faculty in particu-
lar, but also our staff," Wrobles-
ki said. "Last year, there was a
fairly thorough campus input
gathering process, as well as
an evaluation of the products,
and Google won hands down in
terms of what the campus want-
ed us to move towards."
Wrobleski added that the
transition will save the Uni-
the technology will become suc-
cessfully commercialized in two
years.
"Our next challenge is to
ensure that our technology is
fully applicable in high resolu-
tion DNA melting analysis," he
said. "We know the technology
works, but we hope our method
will be able to provide better
resolution, better sensitivity and
more capability to analyze lon-
ger DNA sequences."
According to Fan, the tech-
nology will be useful in many
fields and have a large impact on
society and health care.
"DNA analysis is very impor-
tant for many fields and appli-
cations including personalized
medicine, medical diagnosis,
and biochemical research," Fan
said. "Our technology could
be involved in anything that is
related to gene analysis."
versity $750,000 a year due to
reduced machine and staffing
costs.
"We can turn off certain volt
systems so we save on hard-
ware and software costs asso-
ciated with those," Wrobleski
said. "Also, there's a lot of work
efforts associated with run-
ning those systems and we can
rededicate that to other pur-
poses."
Girardi said the project will
continue to encourage student
feedback, and she has estab-
lished a Google Guides program
to assist staff members and stu-
dents as they transition to the
new forum.
"We have been trying to reach
out to students to get input on
how to best launch this and
how to bring this change about
for them," Grardi said. "We've
had probably about 160 students
so far registered to be Google
Guides. These are students who
will be working throughout the
summer or spring to assist staff
and faculty as they move to
Google."
Business senior Stepha-
nie LaRue, one of two cam-
pus Google ambassadors, said
launching the project includes
many informational events on
campus.
"As a Google Ambassador,
I serve as a liaison between
Google and the University,"
LaRue said. "I get to promote
Google on campus and hold
events, give out free stuff and
learn more about upcoming
Google products."
LaRue added that she is look-
ing forward to the integration
of Google web services into the
University system.
"Google Calendar and Gmail
have everything on them. I
would have no idea what my
schedule was without Google
Calendar," LaRue said. "Google
Forms and Docs are two of
the services I use nearly every
day for group projects to work
schedules to student organiza-
tions."
hockey game. Brandon said the
NHL is "hell-bent" on breaking
the record set during the Big
Chill of 104,173 attendees.
Brandon said he expects the
event to draw in excess of $14
million in economic activity
to Ann Arbor. Newman added
that the economic boost is one
of the key reasons the regents
approved the lease.
"One of the factors that we
discussed when considering this
was the economic value to the
city of Ann Arbor and the sur-
rounding community and the
goodness this would do for res-
taurants and hotels and shops
and other activity in the area,"
Newman said. "5 think that at a
time of year where it's otherwise
quiet, doing something like this
makes a lot of sense."
Speaking at the start of the
meeting, University President
Mary Sue Coleman said it was
important to discuss the lease
with the board before making
made a final decision.
"Since this is an unusual and
highly visible use of the facility,
we thought it prudent for the
board to discuss the proposed
arrangement and ... vote on
authorization to proceed," Cole-
man said during the opening of
the session.
Six of the eight regents -
Denise Ilitch (D-Bingham
Farms), Katherine White
(D-Ann Arbor), Andrea Fisch-
er Newman (R-Ann Arbor),
Andrew Richner (R-Grosse
Point), S. Martin Taylor
(D-Grosse Point Farms) and
Laurence Deitch (D-Bingham
Farms) - participated in the
meeting via phone. Five of the
six approved the plan as Ilitch
recused herself from the vote
because of her affiliation with
the Red Wings - she is the
daughter of Mike Ilitch, the
owner of the Red Wings, Detroit
Tigers and Comerica Park.
"While I have no direct inter-
est in the National Hockey
League, it is well known that
my family has an interest in the
Detroit Red Wings Hockey Club
and Comerica Park," Ilitch said.
"It is important to me to avoid
any appearance of conflict in
this matter."
The Detroit Red Wings and
the Toronto Maple Leafs are the
two teams expected to play in
I
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