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Wednesday, March 28, 2012
s Ann Arbor; Michigan
michigandaily.com
I
UNIVERSITY OUTREACH
First startup
receives funds
fromMINTS
University firm before partaking in the pro-
gram. Once a company has met
program promote the requirements, it can receive
up to $500,000 in matching funds
entrepreneurship from the University.
Stephen Forrest, the Univer-
By KATIE BURKE sity's vice president for research,
DailyStaffReporter said MINTS demonstrates the
University's commitment to
As part of ongoing efforts to entrepreneurship to the rest of
support research and innova- the world.
tion at the University, officials "We are sending a message by
announced yesterday that the starting the MINTS program that
University will invest in the first we believe in our own companies
of nearly 100 faculty-produced and their success," Forrest said.
technology startups. He added that exhaustive
The investment is part of an research was conducted to ensure
initiative called Michigan Invest- investments through MINTS
ment in New Technology Start- would produce revenue for the
ups, a program introduced by University endowment.
University President Mary Sue "There should be a good
ColemaninOctober2011thatpro- return on investment," Forrest
motes startups that utilize tech- said. "This was not done out of
nology developed by University altruistic motives; we have inves-
faculty members. Crossbar, Inc. tigated very closely whether
- a company licensed in 2010 and or not investments in our own
based out of Santa Clara, Calif. companies would pay short term
- became the first company to returns."
receive money through MINTS, At an address in October
the University announced yester- announcingthe MINTS program,
day. Coleman said one of the benefits
MINTSis expected to generate of the program is the potential
up to $25 million over the next 10 benefit it could have for growth in
years through investments. Start- the state.
ups funded through the program "We are helping to acceler-
are mostly licensing technolo- ate businesses that improve the
gies that began in a faculty lab, Michigan economy," Coleman
and companies must first receive said.
LCING FOR AWARENESS
r yt .R $ i1' a
Students and community members participate in a Disability Awareness Flash mob on the Diag yesterday.
HEALTH CARE REFOR M
He..alth rem.form may b~e
in danger before court
U.S. Supreme dent Barack Obama's health care unprecedented exercise of Con- both sides' logic, for instance -
reforms yesterday. gress's authority. With the- bal- Friedman said it was "easy to pu
Court justices hear The Affordable Care Act, ance of the Court's decision still too much stock into the argu
signed into law by Obama two in the air, experts say a verdict is ments."
arguments on law years ago, has been challenged not expected until June. "It's often very difficult to tel
by lawsuits filed by numer- Despite the barbed ques- from the questioning where (thE
By ANDREW SCHULMAN ous states, including Michigan, tions from some justices, Law case is) going," Friedman said
Daily StaffReporter and conservative organizations Prof. Richard Friedman warned "Some of the justices, they're jus
since its implementation. Yes- against misinterpreting the trying out the arguments. Yot
The U.S. Supreme Court terday's two-hour deliberation meaning of the skepticism of the can't predict easily."
resumed deliberations on the included pointed questions from judges during the debate. Since If the court rules the indi
constitutionality of the individu- the justices and a charge that they might offer questions for vidual mandate - the provisio-
al mandate component toPresi- the Affordable Care Act was an more than one reason - to probe See COURT. Page 3P
it
ie
1.
st
iu
i-
n
A
money from a venture capital
See MINTS, Page 3A
.. .. ......... . ,,.t~.,..... «,_ ...
,... .. . .d . .-
LEGAL DISPUTE
Shirvell firing
made official
Former assistant
AG can't appeal
termination
By GIACOMO BOLOGNA
Daily Staffreporter
Nearly two years after
Andrew Shirvell, a former
'Michigan assistant attorney
general, was initially fired after
accusing former student body
president Chris Armstorng of
having a "radical homosexual
agenda" on his personal blog,
Shirvell's termination has been
confirmed and he can no longer
legally appeal the decision.
Yesterday morning, William
Hutchens, a hearing officer
at the Michigan Civil Service
Commission issued a decision to
terminate Shirvell for "harass-
ing conduct of the basest sort."
The decision to. fire Shirvell
centered around his creation
of a blog titled the "Chris Arm-
strong Watch" in 2010 that
openly debased Armstrong, the
first openly gay president of the
Michigan Student Assembly,
now known as Central Student
Government. The decision stat-
ed that the ensuing media cov-
erage "made a media spectacle
of himself and the Department
of the Attorney General," and
was grounds for dismissal.
The decision further states
that it was unacceptable to see
Shirvell "engage in the repre-
hensible speech, lies and half-
truths that are set forth in the
grievant's 'blog' postings."
In the blog, Shirvell did not
originally identify himself as
assistant attorney general, but
after an interview with WXYZ-
TV, the Detroit-area ABC affili-
ate,'it became public knowledge'
that he was a state government
employee.
In fall 2010, Shirvell, Arm-
strong, and Attorney General
Mike Cox appeared on "Ander-
son Cooper 360°", a nationally
televised program on CNN, to
discuss the situation. Soon after,
Shirvell appeared on "The Daily
Show with Jon Stewart", in
which Stewart emphasized the
contrast between his actions
and Cox's anti-cyber bullying
campaign.
In light of the scandal, the
University's Department of
Public Safety issued Shirvell a
trespassing warning, which for-
bade him from entering Univer-
sity property. The warning was
later reduced, and only forbade
Shirvell from going near Arm-
strong.
In October 2011, Shirvell filed
a complaint against Armstrong's
See SHIRVELL, Page 3A
PuULSHEMAN/vDay
The Ann Arbor Film Festival starts tonight. Twelve of the films screened will be free and open to the public.
A Film Festivalbrings
together artists, students
Week-long event this weekend discussing "The mentally appreciate a frontier of
Strawberry Tree," a poetic film creative expression - without
features-diverse . that captures the final sigh of a the hype of Hollywood market-
CAMPUS EVENT'S
Tuition
equality at
forefront of
'U' forum
Students advocate
for undocumented
students
By ALICIA ADAMCYZK
Daily StaffReporter
Though LSA freshman Daniel
Morales spent the majority of his
life in California after being born
in Mexico, he had to wait one
year before matriculating into
the University due to his inability
to receive financial aid because
of his status .an undocumented
student.
Morales and three other pan-
elists shared stories of living as
undocumented residents with
about 40 students, faculty and
administrators who attended the
Forum on Access for Undocu-
mented Students in the Michigan
Union yesterday evening in an
effort to promote tuition equality
at the University.
The event was a collaboration
between the Coalition for Tuition
Equality, a student organization
that advocates for the rights of
undocumented students, and its
sub-group Political Intelligence
Leaderships and Organizational
Training. CTE has held vari-
See FORUM, Page 3A
cinematic content
By MATT EASTON
Daily Film Editor
There's no pressure at the
50th Ann Arbor Film Festival.
It's doubtful your friends will
shun you if they discover you
failed to catch "Craig Baldwin
- Society of Spectacle," a col-
lection of films that uses the
found-footage format to trans-
form traditional documen-
tary filmmaking. You probably
won't find a group of partygoers
Cuban fishing village; whereas
it's likely you'll hear someone
regurgitating their love for
"The Hunger Games." In other
words, the Ann Arbor Film Fes-
tival isn't here to give you social
currency - that's not the point.
The point - over the next
five days, in more than 10 differ-
ent venues - is simple: film. To
view films you won't find any-
where else, discuss movies face-
to-face with the artists who
created them, jump locations
(the Michigan Theater to the
Raven's Club to Sava's) to catch
as much as you can, and funda-
ing. The festival doesn't want to
operate on that level - it's casu-
al avant-garde.
.'We want to have artists'
work presented in the best pos-
sible environment, in the cin-
ema, and engage audiences with
what's possible on the screen,"
Donald Harrison, executive
director of the festival, said.
"The festival is very commit-
ted, dedicated to the spirit of
independent film ... across the
spectrum of what's possible in
the cinema."
A lot of emphasis is put on the
See FILM FESTIVAL, Page 5A
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