The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Friday, September 21, 2012 - 3
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Friday, Septemher 21, 2012 - 3
REGENTS
From Page 1
good at accommodating students
who want to stay in the residence
halls, and making sure we have a
place for our first year students."
After.the renovation of South
Quad is complete, Harper said
the University will move for-
ward with a planned renovation
of West Quad Residence Hall.
Harper added that this effort will
largely complete the renovations
of the Hill neighborhood and the
"heritage" residence halls.
Harper reiterated that Baits I
on North Campus will not reopen
as a residence hall, but may be
used as temporary office space in
the future.
REGENTS VOTE TO RAISE
PRESIDENT MARY SUE
COLEMAN'S SALARY
The regents also voted to
increase University President
Mary Sue Coleman's salary by 3
percent, a total of $17,574. In addi-
tion to her base salary, Coleman
also receives a $100,000 reten-
tion bonus, $55,350 in direct and
supplemental retirement income,
the use of the University-owned
President's House and an auto-
mobile.
Before her raise, Coleman's
base salary was $585,783. But,
immediately after the regents
unanimously agreed to the raise,
Coleman said she would donate
the entire increase to study
abroad scholarships at the Uni-
versity to encourage students to
experience overseas studying
opportunities.
"I'm perfectly well compensat-
ed," Coleman said. "I want more
students to travel abroad."
Regent S. Martin Taylor
(D-Gross Pointe Farms) said
Coleman's base salary is low
compared to other similarly sized
and comparable colleges and uni-
versities, and praised her in her
annual performance review.
"The base salary of the Presi-
dent is certainly not out of line,"
WEST WING
From Page 1
Mary McCormack, who Bridg-
et McCormack said has been
helpful in her election bid, asked
her sister whether the advertise-
ment might aid the campaign.
When Prof. McCormack respond-
ed that she thought it would, Mary
McCormack asked West Wing
cast mates Allison Janney and
Bradley Whitford, who she had
kept in touch with most closely, to
participate.
"And then it kind of snow-
balled," Bridget Mary McCormack
said in an interview Thursday
afternoon. "I think it was very
generous of everybody to give up
their time and get it together."
The video cost the campaign
about $5,000, The Washington
Post reported. The actors and
other creative staff donated their
time to produce the video, which
took one day to shoot.
The, video drew praises from
across the Internet, as many
. national news organizations
wrote about the ad. As of Thurs-
day night, the video had received
more than 40,000 views.
McCormack told the Universi-
ty's chapter of the College Demo-
crats at its mass meeting last week
. that her campaign is focused on
raising awareness about voting in
the state Supreme Court election.
"That is the whole project of
this campaign, just educating the
people who would vote for you
SHIRVELL
From Page 1
media, were defamatory. Gordon
stated Shirvell was "delusional"
and a "troubled and immature
young man," according to the
Detroit Free Press.
By requesting a medical exami-
nation, Gordon said she hopes to
prove her opinions are true and
disprove the defamation suit.
Shirvell said he believes the pur-
pose of requesting the examina-
tion is to encourage him to drop
his lawsuit against her.
"I think it's frivolous," Shirvell
said in an interview. "She is com-
pletely out of control. Deb Gordon
is viscous. She is mean spirited.
She's got a vendetta against me.
She has made me an object of her
obsession."
Shirvell said he would undergo
the examination if ordered by the
Taylor said. "If anything, it's too
low."
Last year, the regents gave
Coleman a 2.75 percent raise,
which she also donated to the
University to help fund study
abroad scholarships.
UNIVERSITY RESEARCH
BUDGET REACHES
ALL-TIME HIGH
Stephen Forrest, the Univer-
sity's vice president for research,
reported to the regents that the
University's research budget has
grown this year by approximately
3 percent. The total research bud-
get has risen to $1.27 billion, an
increase of $37.5 million, the larg-
est in the University's history.
Still, Forrest cautioned that
he didn't expect a rapid reinvest-
ment in research from the gov-
ernment in years to come.
"Looking ahead, there's no
doubt that the overall pace of
growth of funding from the fed-
eral government is slowing," For-
rest told the regents.
According to a press release
issued by the University, the
increased funding came from a
variety of government depart-
ments and agencies, absorbing
the loss of funds from the end of
the American Recovery and Rein-
vestment Act. Private investment
also rose by 5.6 percent to $42.8
million.
BOARD DISCUSSES
IMPACT OF COURSERA
PROGRAM
The month's featured presen-
tation to the regents focused on
the University's involvement in
the online education clearing-
house, Coursera. The Univer-
sity of Michigan was one of the
launch partners for Coursera,
alongside Stanford University,
University of Pennsylvania and
Princeton University.
Martha Pollack, the vice pro-
vost for academic and budgetary
affairs, explained that the Uni-
versity is expanding its role in the
world of online education.
anyway," McCormack told the
group. "You don't have to sell any
new people; you don't have to con-
vince any new people. You just
have to convince people to fill out
that section of the ballot."
In an interview after the meet-
ing she said she thinks most Uni-
versity students did not know that
voting for Democratic Party can-
didates across the ballot doesn't
include candidates for state
Supreme Court. Supreme Court
candidates are nominated by the
state Democratic Party, but are
placed on the nonpartisan section
of the ballot.
The ad never mentions that
McCormack is a Democrat, but
the President Josiah Bartlet, the
fictional president in 'The West
Wing' who was played by Sheen,
was a Democrat and several of the
actors, including Sheen have advo-
cated forliberal causes in the past.
Through she said she thought
University voters are informed,
few of the approximately 50 peo-
ple who attended one of her events
the week before knew to fill out
the nonpartisan ballot.
She said many of them asked,
"'Oh, did they change that this
year?"'
"No, it's always been that way,"
McCormack said. "So I think
they've never voted in a Supreme
Court election."
LSA junior Alexandra Brill, the
chair of the University's chapter
of College Democrats, said in an
interview after the meeting that
she agreed with McCormack, add-
court, but until then he is under no
obligation to do so.
Gordon said she believes
Shirvell's argument for the defa-
mation suit clashes with the
defense in the Armstrong case,
notingthatthoughthefirstamend-
ment protects opinions, it doesn't
allow people to lie. According to
Gordon, Shirvell's blog statements
included lies passed off as facts.
"He's so illogical and it's shock-
ing because he's a lawyer," she
said.
Though Armstrong is not
involved in the current defama-
tion lawsuit, Gordon' said she
believes Shirvell's motives are
rooted in the original case.
"He's hell-bent on convincing
the world he's right," she said.
Shirvell said his appeal of the
Armstrong decision, in addition
to a civil service appeal to get his
job back in the attorney general's
office, will continue as long as
"What we can do is we can
shift some of the pure knowledge
transfer to the online format,
and free up more time and more
resources for hands-on work,"
Pollack said.
Pollack said many of the cours-
es the University has offered have
drawn thousands of students to
the online courses, adding that
offering the content online was
consistent with the University's
mission as a public entity to offer
its talents and information.
"We think this is a very valu-
able and exciting way to connect
with our alumni, prospective stu-
dents and with the citizens of the
state," Pollack said. "And since
I'm the budget person, it provides
potentially even revenue, and
we're really looking into that."
Coursera's most popular
classes are open to anyone with
Internet access, and therefore
impossible to monetize, Pollack
explained. However, she said the
sale of certificates of completion
for some courses is one way to
potentially draw revenue from
the service, though no formal
policy has yet been instituted.
University students, faculty and
staff have free access to any
course in Coursera's catalog so
long as it is used on campus.
Scott Page, the director of
the center for complex systems,
taught the first Coursera class
offered by the University, which
attracted about 90,000 students,
"Interacting with 40,000 peo-
ple is really a strange thingto do,"
Page said. "I've had deans of pub-
lic health schools in South Africa
and Czechoslovakia come to me
and ask, 'Can we use your particu-
lar set of lectures for this unit in
our course?' It's been a fabulous
opportunity for me to share."
Page said the modular focus
of the course was beneficial for
student scheduling because they
could jump in and out of the class
whenever they wanted without
getting lost. However, he also
said the feedback from an in-
person course was much greater
than what was available with
Coursera.
ing that educating voters on the
issue will be a focus for the Col-
lege Democrats. She called the
low turnout among Democrats for
Michigan's 2010 Supreme Court
elections the "biggest misstep that
year."
Only about one in four voters
who fill in the presidential ballot
choose to complete the non-parti-
san ballot, accordingto Brill.
That drop-off rate inspired her
to encourage students to advocate
for McCormack, for whom she
interns, and the two other Demo-
cratic nominees for the Republi-
can-controlled Michigan Supreme
Court.
"The electionis decided bysuch
a small fraction of people that it's
really important that we change
that," Brill said.
Beyond working with organi-
zations within the state, the can-
didate has also received national
attention for working to increase
awareness of an election category
that often yields low voter turnout
in Michigan.
Last month, McCormack
appeared on Chelsea Handler's
talk show on E!, "Chelsea Lately".
Handler later donated $3,400 to
McCormack's campaign, accord-
ing to the Michigan Campaign
Finance Network.
McCormack has also been a suc-
cessful fundraiser. As of August
24th, she had raised $317,830 and
has $205,096 on hand, more than
any other non-incumbent candi-
date for the state Supreme Court,
accordingto the MCFN.
necessary.
"I will see this through to the
very end," he said. "I know in the
end I'll be successful, even if it
goes to the Supreme Court."
EARTHFEST
From Page 1
dents for Clean Energy - as well
as groups from the greater Ann
Arbor area. Appearances were
also made by representatives
from the Leslie Science Center,
Recycle Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor
Transportation Authority Bus
Services and Natural Area Pres-
ervation.
During the event, student
could learn about sustainabil-'
ity groups and their projects
through interactive games, raf-
-fes, Q&A sessions and giveaways
of recycled pencils, pins, reusable
tote bags and food.
Along with the interactive pre-
sentations, cooking demonstra-
tions were made every half hour
to show students how sustain-
ability can be enjoyable and even
delectable. Rufus - a life-size
walking recycling bin - joined
the fun by mingling with students
and posing for an occasional
photo opportunity.
Barbara Hagan, the direc-
tor of Earthfest and sustainabil-
ity administrator in the office for
Campus Sustainability, said par-
ticipationhas increased compared
to years past due to its outreach to
Ann Arbor organizations.
"We have more booths this year
because we expanded it to include
some external (Ann Arbor)
groups," she said. "I think they
bring a lot to the table ... we've got
somegreatgroups here."
Linda Polo, the event coordi-
nator of EarthFest said students
seemed enthusiastic, adding that
this year's event drew a large
crowd because it appealed to a
majority of students.
"We are really focusing on the
things students love, like food,"
she said. "That's why we have
apples and donuts and chef demos.
Everything here is centered on
being local and making sure that
what we buy isn't going to waste."
Nicole Berger, a Planet Blue
ambassador coordinator, said
there were many changes added
to this year's festival. Among
them was a photo-booth pledge
system through the Planet Blue
Community Awareness station,
where students were able to write
down their sustainability goals
STAMPS
From Page 1
support is hard to fathom,
because it will shape students'
experiences and opportunities
for decades to come," Coleman
said. "That is the power of this
gift: Its immense transforma-
tion of the U-M experience. It is
creativity personified."
Gunalan Nadarajan, the dean
of the Penny W. Stamps School
of Art and Design, lauded the
Stamps for their dedication to
aiding University students.
"These are amazing people
who have an incredible commit-
ment to the school," Nadarajan
said. "I know that they have
confidence in the direction that
the school has taken in the last
10 to 12 years."
Penny and E. Roe Stamps
have contributed significant-
ly to the University over the
years, beginning in 2001 with
the' Penny W. Stamps Distin-
guished Visitors Series, which
has brought dozens of artists to
the Michigan Theater to share
their experiences and perspec-
tives with students.
The Stamps family also
supported a public gallery on
Central Campus to promote
awareness of the arts for the
general student body.
Penny Stamps is a graduate
of the School of Art and Design
and previously served as the
principal designer for Boston
firm Penny W. Stamps Inte-
riors. She also co-chaired the
and take a photo alongside their
pledge.
Berger said this was the first
time the group incorporated pho-
tography while pledging, making
it more personal for those partici-
pating. The pledge photos will be
posted on the group's website in
the upcoming weeks.
Kristyn Sonnenberg, a student
services assistant in the Physics
Department, pledged to become
more conscientious about where
her garbage is going.
"I made a pledge to start a
compost bin, because it's some-
thing I've wanted to do for a while
because I've noticed most of my
trash (is better off) in a compost
bin than a landfill," she said. "I
think it would be a really great
thing if the University did start
using(more composting). It would
probably be alot to implement, but
I think they could start small."
LSA sophomore Corey Walsh,
a member of LSA Student
Government, said the group's
subcommittee Taking Respon-
sibility for the Earth and Envi-
ronment, attended EarthFest
to increase student awareness
about sustainability and to pro-
vide alternative, eco-friendly
options for students. The LSA-
SG booth gave students the
opportunity to make their own
homemade cleaning products
and self-watering planters.
Walsh said the University's
sustainable efforts demonstrate
leadership in the initiative and
serve as a role model for other
campuses.
"Sustainability is so important,
not only to our campus, but to the
nation as a whole," he said. "Peo-
ple look to our institution as an
example, and I think that we're
setting a great example."
LSA sophomore Jay Park, the
secretary of Students for Clean
Energy, said the event helped
spread the word about the newly
formed organization.
"It's a big help right now
(because) we're trying to recruit
and get the man power that we
need to spread the awareness of
the detrimental effects of dirty
energy," Park said.
Rackham student Benjamin
Schultz, president of Common
Cycle, a community-based orga-
nization that promotes bicycle
Michigan Difference campaign,
along with Stephen M. Ross and
others, which ultimately raised
$3.2 billion for the University
between 2004 and 2008.
Stamps said in a press state-
ment that she has been pleased
to see her donations help stu-
dents thrive.
"It has been very reward-
ing for us to be a part of A&D's
growth and development during
these past 15 years," Stamps said
in the release. "We have been
pleased to see our investments
in the school make a compel-
ling difference to the school's
excellence and prominence, and
our involvement has escalated
as a result. We are enormously
proud of the programs we sup-
port and want to ensure that
they continue to benefit stu-
dents for generations."
Chrisstina Hamilton, direc-
tor of the Stamps Lecture Series,
said the Series has been a great
resource for students seeking to
network and learn more about
the field.
"It's an absolutely wonder-
riding and repairs, said Earth-
fest helped give the organization
exposurewhileteachingstudents
about environmentally friendly
modes of transportation.
"The more people that are rid-
ing bikes (equals) fewer people
that ride cars," Schultz said. "It's
a great way to maintain fitness
and not guzzle gas. Ann Arbor is
a great town for biking and as far
as we're concerned, our mission
is to get more bikes on the road by
making the barrier to repairs as
low as we can."
LSA freshman Adi Radhakrish-
nan said he was initially drawn to
the event for the food and other
giveaways, but then became inter-
ested in sustainable efforts after
perusing the displays.
Radhakrishnan said while the
University is becoming increas-
ingly sustainable, there are still
changes to be made in order to
better ensure the highest level of
environmentally-friendly prac-
tices.
"It's definitely getting there ...
I know one thing they could defi-
nitely do is educate students about
composting," Radhakrishnan
said. "AtSouthQuadorWestQuad
(the University could) have com-
post bins so that you can throw
(appropriate) trash in there'
While EarthFest highlighted
the major sustainable efforts at
the University, there are other
measures being taken to reach
Coleman's 2025 goal. Hagan
said the University responded
to student concern about water
bottle usage and took iqitiativd to
reduce plastic water bottle waste
by providing the incoming class
of 2016 with reusable bottles.
"We knew that students want-
ed to reduce the amount of indi-
vidual use water bottles because
those are not good for the planet,"
Hagan said. "We thought it was
important for us to support that
student voice, so we wanted to
put an infrastructure in place."
To accommodate for the usage
of reusable water bottles, Hagan
explained that CSG funded 18
water refill stations in campus
buildings, including libraries
and prominent auditoriums,
with each department paying for
installation. Now, more than 100
refill locations on campus are
available to students.
ful thing, it's a huge gift to the
community, it's a gift to the
University," Hamilton said.
"When Penny started the series,
her objective was to create an
opportunity for students to
have connection with real prac-
titioners in the field and not just
academics."
The Stamps family has also
helped fund the construction
of the Stamps. Auditorium on
North Campus, facilities in the
Ross Academic Center and the
School of Education, in addition
to funding the Stamps Scholar-
ships at the University. The pro-
gram hosts 72 students per year,
and supporti has been guaran-
teed through 2024.
"The Stamps gift provides us
with much-needed resources in
supporting creative work at the
University," University Provost
Philip Hanlon said in a press
release. "This sends a signal to
educators and other philanthro-
pists, and is a significant invest-
ment that will continue to grow
as the school pursues its other
funding goals."
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