The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Monday, October 8, 2012 - 7A The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Monday, October 8, 2012 - 7A Students celebrate Ghandi Day in A2 200 participate in service day in honor of renowned leader By SAM GRINGLAS Daily Staff Reporter Despitetemperatureshovering in the low 40s, LSA freshman Juhi Rattan braved the cold at the City of Ann Arbor Natural Area Preservation on Saturday to pull up honeysuckle weeds, shivering alongside fellow volunteers. Rattan was among 200 other students participatingin Ghandi Day, a service event sponsored by the University's Indian American Student Association and designed to celebrate activism. The event coincided with the birthday of renowned Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi. This year, the University of Michigan also collaborated with Michigan State University and Wayne State University to celebrate Ghandi's work. Around 8 a.m., students gathered to watch a short introductory video. 'Lose Yourself" by Eminem played in the background as organizers invited participants to "lose themselves in helping their community." Before boarding University buses en route to nine service sites around Ann Arbor, participants gathered around the Gandhi Rock, a memorial located on the Diag outside the Shapiro Undergraduate Library. LSA junior Ravi Shah, an IASA community service chair, said the idea of dedicating a Gandhi Rock started 15 years ago when IASA members sought out to further celebrate the leader's message. Each day, a member affixed a plaque to a small boulder outside the library, which was subsequently removed at night, since the group had not obtained official permission for a memorial. The students maintained the temporary memorial every day until the University, moved by their efforts, allowed a permanent commemoration. Shah said Gandhi Day's roots began around the official founding of the Gandhi Rock, noting the memorial is an important symbol of IASA's dedication to the leader's philosophies of peace and understanding. "It's something we're really passionate about," Shah said. Shah said his biggest challenge was finding venues that could accommodate such a large number of volunteers. This year, the event had its highest number of registrations yet, and participants came from a diverse array of campus groups. "People are willing to wake up so early, it shows people want to help their community," Shah said. While checking in on the multitude of sites, Shah said he noticed that students not only enjoyed their projects, but also appreciated the opportunity to bond with their fellow group members. Working alongside a nature trail, Rattan and her team dragged throngs of invasive species into piles at the City of Ann Arbor Natural Area Preservation. Often, her work crossed paths with hikers and she apologized for blocking their way, but she noted many took a moment to thank the students for their work. "Not a single person was warm, but it was worth it because it was for a greater cause," Rattan said. KATHERIN Samuel Zell, the founder and Chairman of Equity Group Investments, speaks at the Michigan Union on Friday. From Page 1A him one of the wealthiest men in the world. Known as one of the pioneers of private equity invest- ments, Zell began his career in real estate - even dabbling in it as a student at the University - and has since diversified his invest- ments to include interests in media, sports and energy. Zell is chairman of seven com- panies, including the Tribune Company, which owns The Chi- cago Tribune, The Los Angeles Times and 23 television stations nationwide. When discussing the Euro- zone crisis, Zell said the countries were foolish in joining a system without determining a means of leaving. "They created a system with- out an exit strategy," Zell said. "You guys are in the PE business. What's the first rule you learn? Don't cut a deal unless you know the exit strategy." Zell also noted that the Bud- get Control Act of 2011 - which will take effect Jan. 1, 2013 - will serve as an impending fiscal cliff. The policy, a series of drastic automatic cuts to federal spend- ing and benefits coupled with tax increases, is the result of the failure of Congress and President Barack Obama to reach a compro- mise to reduce the federal deficit. If there is no action to pre- vent the fiscal decline, many economists project that the U.S. economy would enter another recession. "Grab your ass and hang on, because we don't know what's going to happen," Zell said. "There's some people who sug- gest that maybe nothing could be better for our country than to get some horrific incident medicines, and that might change the whole world... Obviously, most people are deathly afraid of it." Compared to other recessions, Zell said the current economic downturn is far more severe than what he has experienced in the past. He added that his company is currently in the "9-11 business," meaning that distressed com- panies call Zell's firm, request a buyout, and hear back within two weeks. "In 1999, I was 98 percent lev- eraged and I was a multi-billion- aire," Zell said. "In '91 and '92 I was a billionaire (but) I couldn't make payroll or I was worry- ing about making payroll. But it was all within the scale of what you could do, and the uncertain- ties were a great deal less and the ports in the storm seemed more obvious." Zell is also a vocal public sup- porter of Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney. Since the beginning of 2011, Zell has donat- ed at least $378,500 to political action committees, candidates from both parties and the Repub- lican National Committee. His single largest contribution was $100,000 to American Cross- roads, a PAC co-founded by Karl Rove, a former adviser to former president George W. Bush. Since December 2011, Zell has also contributed $180,000 to Restore our Future, a politi- cal action committee supporting Romney. According to the Chris- tian Science Monitor, Restore our Future has raised $96.7 million to date, and The New York Times reported in May that nearly half of the February total of $60 mil- lion stemmed from donors con- nected to Wall Street. Although Zell did not overtly state his political preference dur- ing his remarks to the conference attendees, he later expressed his views to a group of investors as he was leaving. "It seems to me no matter who is elected, 2013 is going to suck," Zell said during his remarks. "There's no way, whether it's Romney or it's Obama, that 2013 is going to be a pleasant environ- ment." During his discussion with the investors, Zell also criticized Obama's performance in last week's presidential debate. "Take away his teleprompter - he can't talk," Zell said. "He went toe to toe with Romney on num- bers. Barack can't add." David Brophy, the director of the Office for the Study of Private Equity Finance at the Ross School of Business, said Zell's involve- ment at the University and his role in founding the Samuel Zell and Robert H. Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies has been critical in aiding student efforts. "One could argue he's the most important contributor to every- thing entrepreneurial here on campus," Brophy said. "Without them, the seed capital, you might say for this, wasn't there." Brophy added he wasn't sur- prised to hear Zell speak about political issues given how out- spoken the billionaire has been in the past about issues affecting the global economy. Edward Hightower - the managing director of Motoring Ventures LLC, an automotive- focused private equity firm - said conferences like these are impor- tant to see how other private equity companies are handling a rough economy. "What's most valuable is you get to know what another investor is looking for, and you get to share what you're looking for," Hight- ower said. Despite the economic difficul- ties, Hightower said the private equity business remained a prom- ising field for interested students, but agreed with Zell's assessment that adaptability was crucial in the current market. "Economies go in cycles, and what (the current state of the economy) really does is put the onus on private equity firms to create value through really improving the operations and improving the health and success of the business over the longterm, rather than just financial gains in the hopes that the business will be better after a few years," High- tower said. UMHS online portal aids information sharing Program sends records to doctors, patients on secure server By ROBBIE AUSTEN For the Daily In order to more easily share medical information, the University of Michigan Health System and University Health Service launched a shared online portal and mobile app this fall that will share health records, allowing patients to easily connect to their doctor's office online. On the website, MyUofMHealth.org, users can request appointments, place prescription renewals, review health history and test results, view immunization records and send secure messages to their health team. The server is more secure than previous communication methods, like e-mail, in order to ensure privacy for all medical information. Proxy accounts are also available so users can request access to view their child's health information and can grant access to others to view their health information. In the situation of a sensitive lab test, such as a cancer biopsy, the test results will not be available for two weeks until the doctor signs off and the patient has been notified, so as to prevent them from receiving information online first. According to the online patient portal, more than 17,000 people have signed up for the program, which officially launched on Aug. 15. In order to register, an activation code must be assigned by a clinician or the online request form, which enables a user to create a secure username and password. UHSdirectorRobertWinfield said he believes the portal is revolutionary for the health system, noting that with the test results and doctor summaries online, the portal will also help to prevent miscommunication. "It's exciting, making patients better partners and improving quality care," Winfield said. "For example, if you go to UHS, the emergency room can see all the results. If you go to a specialist, they can see all of your UHS results. This portal provides a tremendous amount of interconnectedness and patient background information." Robert Ernst, the medical director of UHS, said the patient portal will be especially useful for students that enjoy using technology. "It's terrific, and the most efficient way to communicate test results to students," Ernst said. "I am sure that the tech- savvy students. of U-M will rapidlylaunchintothe program." LSA freshman Alyssa Deronda said she plans to use the new system to prevent unnecessary trips to the doctor's office. "I definitely plan on using it," Deronda said. "It's a lot more convenient, and I have to make less trips down here from North Campus." However, LSA junior Ivan Miller said he believes the nature of his visits won't warrant portal usage. "Since I just get allergy shots at UHS, I don't plan on using the online health portal too much," Miller said. "But I will use the portal if I need to reschedule appointments." Israeli jets warn Hezbollah in mock raids over southern Lebanon Drill follows a reconnaissance mission. Military officials would not suspicious drone say where the drone originated or who produced it, but they incident ruled out the Gaza Strip, which is ruled by Hamas, a group BEIRUT (AP) - Israeli not known to possess drones. warplanes swooped low over That left Hezbollah as the most Lebanese villages Sunday in a likely culprit and suggested the menacingshowofforceapparently drone may have flown with the aimed at the Hezbollah guerrilla blessing of Iran. Tensions are group after a mysterious raid by high between Israel and Iran an unmanned aircraft that was over Tehran's suspect nuclear shot out of Israeli skies over the program. weekend. "It is an Iranian drone that Israel was still investigating was launched by Hezbollah," Saturday's incident, but Israeli lawmaker Miri Regev, a Hezbollah quickly emerged as the former chief spokeswoman for leading suspect because it has an the Israeli military, wrote on her arsenal of sophisticated Iranian Twitter feed. "Hezbollah and weapons and a history of trying Iran continue to try to collect to deploy similar aircraft. information in every possible The Israeli military said way in order to harm Israel." the drone approached Israel's She did not offer any southern Mediterranean coast further evidence and was and flew deep into Israeli not immediately available for airspace before warplanes comment. shot it down about 20 minutes Hezbollah officials would not later. Israeli news reports said comment on speculation that the the drone was not carrying group had launched the drone. explosives and appeared to be on The Israeli dailies Yediot Ahronot and Maariv published maps based on military "estimates" that claimed to show the route taken by the drone. The maps said the aircraft took off south of the Lebanese coastal city of Sidon, headed south and then turned east over the Gaza Strip and into Israel. Yediot also claimed the drone was made in Iran. The Israeli military said it began tracking the aircraft over the Mediterranean but waited until it was over an empty, desert area to bring it down in order to avoid casualties on the ground. Sunday's Israeli air raids, buzzing over pro-Hezbollah villages in southern Lebanon, appeared to be aimed at reminding the guerrilla group of Israel's air superiority. At times of heightened tensions, the Israeli air force often carries out mock raids over Lebanese territory. Israel has U.S.-made F-15 and F-16 warplanes, but it was not clear exactly what type of planes were flown Sunday. OCTOBER 11,2012 3:00 P.M. Rackham Auditorium . 915 E. Washington St., Ann Arbor Keynote policy lecture by Ambassador Nancy G. Brinker, founder of Susan G. Komen for the Cure Miki Orihara, soloist of the Martha Graham Dance Company Tribute remarks from President Mary Sue Coleman, family members, and other special guests Information: 734-615-3893 fordschool.umich.edu Gerald R. Ford 1 School of Public Policy NI'CGmA Spci!t ins oth G rldR.FidPe, enil it at nt Nl~et fi i Iila as n e Aph0 git fodiba