The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Tuesday, February 19, 2013 - 5 FORREST From Page 1 Forrest said the 2009 federal stimulus package and an increase in University expenditures of its own funds have made this growth in research funding possible, a process funded in part by tuition rate increases. "This is the place that has the infrastructure," he said. "That is why we remain extremely com- petitive." He added that a key strength of the University research com- munity is its ability to develop research projects that utilize the resources of many depart- ments at the University. Forrest said these major interdisciplin- ary research projects, including a $152-million project partner- ing with NASA to improve its satellite system and a venture on transforming mobility through re-examining our transportation system, were key to the Univer- sity's future in research. "We see this (innovation) as a nucleus of the next Silicon Val- ley," Forrest said. In an interview on Friday, University Provost Phil Hanlon echoed Forrest, saying that cuts in research funding would affect each portion of the university dif- MEDICAID From Page 1 Care of Act has had a polar- izing effect on partisanship. Despite Republican opposition, six Republican governors have accepted the Medicaid expan- sion. He attributed this coop- eration to Latino populations in DIVERSITY From Page 1 sity's proactive measures, Car- son added that it could always do more. "We would be foolish not to (do more to) confront this problem, but we would be also foolish not to applaud current University efforts," Carson said. Many Senate Assembly mem- bers also raised concerns that the University is not muster- ing all available resources to increase diversity. This concern was echoed by University Provost Philip Han- lon in a Jan. 28 Senate Assembly ferently. "There are certainly areas of the University where sponsored research funding is a larger piece of the operating budget," Hanlon said. "You might say that they're the ones that are most at risk, but they're also the ones that ben- efited the most when the (various research) budgets doubled." He added that despite the prob- able decline in overall funding, the University would make its case to federal officials that the University deserved more of the funding for basic research. "We certainly will work as hard as we possibly can to make the case for U of M research to be an ever-growing part of the fed- eral pie, so that's one way that we can react to the shrinking federal budget is to improve our percent- age of funding that comes our way," Hanlon said. One way the University has tried to offset declines in federal funding are partnerships with private industry. While these partnerships have provided crucial funding for some com- mercially-viable projects, they are also more targeted and less focused on basic research. . "It's a small part (but) I think it's a very important part because industry collaborations can often bring interesting things to the table that you don't get through federal research funding," Han- lon said. "I think for example (private industry partnerships provide) internships and oppor- tunities for students to work in an actual industry environment and be recognized for potential future jobs." Engineering Prof. Rachel Gold- man said with the delicate federal funding situation, the College of Engineering was being more conservative in its fall-semester admission process for graduate students. Goldman added that a decrease in federal funding would affect her own research lab - in which he employs 10 graduate students in addition to other staff - at the University. "(It's) not insignificant, but it wouldn't shut down my research program," Goldman said. Dentistry Prof. Graham Hol- land said he was happy with the manner in which the University was addressing the decline in fed- eral fuhding considering all of the recent economic difficulties. "I would have great confidence in the University," Holland said. "It has done very well in very dif- ficult circumstances." -Daily Staff Reporter Jennifer Calfas contributed to this report. REDESIGN From Page 1 in South Quad Residence Hall. This is the third residence hall to be approved for improvement as a part of the Residential Life Initiative, which works to update facilities and programs on cam- pus associated with living in the University's residential commu- nities. With the board's approval, Integrated Design Solutions LLC will design the project and present the schematic design for approval once complete. BOARD TO APPROVE SOUTH QUAD SCHEMATIC PLAN The board is also set to con- sider the schematic design for the upcoming South Quad reno- vations created by the Smith- GroupJJR, as requested by Slottow and Harper. At the Sept. 2012 meeting, the board approved the project and the appointment of the archi- tecture firm. At an estimated cost of $60 million - funded by housing resources - the proj- ect will renovate approximately 106,700 square feet of space on the ground floor and first floor of the residence hall. The renovation will expand student dining facilities, update bathrooms throughout the building and create new spaces - including group study spac- es, music practice rooms and refurbished lounges - to "revi- talize the residence hall and create much-needed spaces for student interaction and commu- nity development," Slottow and Harper wrote in a communica- tion with the regents. New infrastructure, plumb- ing, heating and fire detection systems will also be added to the renovated areas. The process is expected to create 131 on-site construction jobs and is expected to be com- plete in the summer of 2014. REGENTS TO VOTE ON MUSEUM COLLECTIONS TRANSFER TO VARSITY DRIVE BUILDING Pending approval at Thurs- day's meeting, planning will begin to transfer dry museum research collections from several buildings on Central Campus to the off-campus Varsity Drive building, which will undergo extensive renovations. In addition to the transfer of dry collections, the project will also relocate related lab spaces and select offices of the anthro- pology,.paleontology and zool- ogy departments to the new space as well. These resources are currently located in the Ruthven Museums Building, the Campus Safety Services Build- ing and the C.C. Little Science Building. The Varsity Drive building, which is currently a warehouse, is located off of East Ellsworth Road between State Street and Stone School Road. It borders Interstate 94. The resulting changes are expected to make administra- tion of the collections more effi- cient by locating them with the wet specimen collections already stored in the Varsity Drive build- ing. The move will also create 40 new Central Campus parking spaces. The project will renovate 71,000 square feet of the Varsity Drive building for an estimated cost of $27.5 million, funded by LSA. The improvements will include temperature and humid- ity controls to protect the collec- tions, as well as architectural, mechanical and electrical work to repurpose the space. If approved, architectural firm SmithGroupJJR will be contracted for the project and will create 63 on-site construc- tion jobs. In the recommendation, Slot- tow wrote that design will begin immediately and the construc- tion schedule will be released when he seeks approval of the schematic design at a future meeting. SCHEMATIC DESIGN FOR COLLEGE OF PHARMACY RENOVATIONS TO BE VOTED ON The regents will also seek approval of the schematic design proposed for renovations made to the basement and first floor of the College of Pharmacy build- ing. The construction, scheduled to be completed by this fall, will cost about $2.6 million and fund- ing will come from the school's budget. The 12,000 square-foot proj- ect, which was approved at the Nov. 2012 meeting, aims to create smaller offices and build a small lobby entrance with the extra space. The project is also slated to improve the main entrance, "to address accessibility issues and provide for a more welcom- ing entry," Slottow wrote. -Daily Staff Reporters Jennifer Calfas and Sam Gringlas contributed to this report. southwestern states that rely on the federal grant program for assistance. Michigan and Ohio have also signed on despite both having Republican majorities. Thomp- son believes that the 10 most populous states in the nation, especially Georgia, Florida and Texas, will dictate the success of the program. Students in attendance were meeting, when he said the Uni- versity has hired a marketing director to correct the popular perception that students from lower-income families couldn't afford to attend the University. "We are not getting the mes- sage across," Hanlon said. Engineering Prof. Kimberlee Kearfott, the chair of SACUA, said there is a lot of work to do regarding diversity initiatives in the long term. "It is not a matter of how much money we are spending, it is a matter of focusing on our goals," Kearfott said. "There is plenty of room for increased communication." E.J. Westlake, an associ- ate professor in the School of curious about the sustainability of the program in the future.One member of the audience asked if shifting demographics, espe- cially the population of aging baby boomers and potential inefficiencies made the program worth continuing. "(In) cutting it, there really will be a price to pay," Thompson responded. Music, Theatre & Dance, said her classes have been directly affected by a lack of diversity in her class on American dra- mas. She said a lack of diversity among students makes for a narrower variety of viewpoints. "We need to have students who come from different socio- economic backgrounds, differ- ent racial backgrounds in order for us to have a real discussion about what is really going on in this country," Westlake said. Westlake added that any ini- tiative to increase diversity has to be spearheaded by the Uni- versity's executive officers. "The upper level of admin- istration really need to be the ones who drive this." Jerry Buss, Lakers' famed owner, dies at 80, ABORTION From Page 1 Dingell said she feels the leg- islation passed in the lame-duck session is moving backwards from the progress made with Roe v. Wade in 1973. "No man has the right to tell me what I am going to do with my body," Dingell said. "What you've seen in the legislature - women not being allowed to say words that men say all the time; having men try to tell women what they can do with their bodies; what kind of access to healthcare they are going to have - is quite frankly unacceptable." Ratzloff said there is even more legislation in the works that aims to limit women's repro- ductive rights. "(This legislation) made Mich- igan, unfortunately, a national embarrassment in terms of health care and the way that we view women," Ratzloff said. Ratzloff said she hopes newly elected legislators will send the message that women's health-care rights are an important issue. She believes it is necessary for citizens to speak up against these issues and enact a change, but also that the first-step in that change was switching out legislators. Goldman said a common mis- conception surrounding abor- tions is that the doctors who perform them are bad people who don't care about their patients. "What if I'm a physician who has a conscience that says I should do abortions?" Gold- man said. "Why shouldn't I be allowed to do that? Why should conscience laws just say if there's something you don't want to do, you don't have to do it?" Goldman recognized that some people view unborn fetuses as people, and, therefore, abor- tions as harming another person. To support his claim, Gold- man told the story of a woman who was willing to have a Cesar- ean section and risk her life in favor of her baby's if the doc- tors waited until the fetus was 28 weeks old. The doctors per- formed the surgery at 24 weeks, and both baby and mother died, he said. "Ultimately, what the court of appeals said is that we can't put the rights of the unborn over the rights of the already born," Gold- man said. Dingell said the most inipor- tant aspect overall is that women have access to health care for anything they might need, such as breast exams. "In this country, every person should have access to quality, affordable healthcare," Dingell said. i'I think it's a right." LSA sophomore Jacob Light, chair of the University's chap- ter of the ACLU, said attention to these issues is of particular importance given the December legislation and upcoming debates over similar issues. LSA sophomore Carly Manes, president of Students for Choice, said her goal is to educate stu- dents on what is really going on in the legislature and how it affects them personally. "Students don't realize the implications of legislation that goes on in Michigan," Manes said. "It's seen as a very far away, far- reaching concept, but it's not. A lot of us are students who are still on our parents' insurance plans, but once we're not, we don't have insurance covering our birth con- trol - we don'thave insurance for our abortions. That's an issue." Had a background in science, went on to build basketball team's empire (AP) - Jerry Buss built a glit- tering life at the intersection of sports and Hollywood. After growing up in poverty in Wyoming, he earned suc- cess in academia, aerospace and real estate before discovering his favorite vocation when he bought the Los Angeles Lakers in 1979. While Buss wrote the checks and fostered partner- ships with two generations of basketball greats, the Lakers won 10 NBA titles and became a glamorous global brand. With a scientist's analytical skills, a playboy's flair, a busi- nessman's money-making savvy and a die-hard hoops fan's heart, Buss fashioned the Lakers into a remarkable sports entity. They became a nightly happening, often defined by just one word coined by Buss: Showtime. "His impact is felt worldwide," said Kobe Bryant, who has spent nearly half his life working for Buss. Buss, who shepherded his NBA team from the Showtime dynasty of the 1980s to the cur- rent Bryant era while becoming one of the most important and successful owners in pro sports, died Monday. He was 80. "Think about the impact that he's had on the game and the decisions he's made, and the brand of basketball he brought here with Showtime and the impact that had on the sport as a whole," Bryant said a few days ago. "Those vibrations were felt to a kid all the way in Italy who was 6years old,before basketball was even global." Under Buss' leadership, the star-studded, trophy-winning Lakers became Southern Cali- fornia's most beloved sports franchise and a signature cul- tural representation of Los Angeles. Buss acquired, nur- tured and befriended a stag- gering array of talented players and basketball minds during his Hall of Fame tenure, from Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul- Jabbar and James Worthy to Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal and Dwight Howard. Few owners in sports his- tory can approach Buss' accom- plishments with the Lakers, who made the NBA Finals 16 times during his nearly 34 years in charge, winning 10 titles between 1980 and 2010. What- ever the Lakers did under Buss' watch, they did it big - with marquee players, eye-popping style and a relentless pursuit of success with little regard to its financial cost. "His incredible commitment and desire to build a champi- onship-caliber team that could sustain success over a long peri- od of time has beenunmatched," said Jerry West, Buss' long- time general manager and now a consultant with the Golden State Warriors. "With all of his achievements, Jerry was with- out a doubt one of the mosthum- ble men I've ever been around. His vision was second to none; he wanted an NBA franchise brand that represented the very best and went to every extreme to accomplish his goals." Buss died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Ange- les, said Bob Steiner, his assis- tant and longtime friend. Buss had been hospitalized for most of the past 18 months while undergoing cancer treatment, but the cause of death was kid- ney failure, Steiner said. "When someone as celebrat- ed and charismatic as Jerry Buss dies, we are reminded of two things," said Abdul-Jab- bar, the leading scorer in NBA history. "First, just how much one person with vision and strength of will can accom- plish. Second, how fragile each of us is, regardless of how powerful we were. Those two things combine to inspire us to reach for the stars, but also to remain with our feet firmly on the ground among our loved ones. ... The man may be gone, but he has made us all better people for knowing him." With his condition worsen- ing in recent months, several prominent former Lakers vis- ited Buss to say goodbye. Even rivals such as Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and Clip- pers owner Donald Sterling hailed the passion and bonho- mie of the former chemist and mathematician who lived his own Hollywood dream. "He was a great man and an incredible friend," Johnson tweeted. Buss always referred to the Lakers as his extended family, and his players rewarded his fanlike excitement with devo- tion, friendship and two hands full of championship rings. Working with front-office executives West, Bill Sharman and Mitch Kupehak, Buss spent lavishly to win his titles despite lacking a huge personal for- tune, often running the NBA's highest payroll while also pay- ing high-profile coaches Pat Riley and Phil Jackson. "Jerry Buss was more than just an owner. He was one of the great innovators that any sport has ever encountered," Riley said. "He was a true visionary, and it was obvious with the Lakers in the 80's that 'Showtime' was more than just Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. It was really the vision of a man who saw some- thing that connected with a community." Ownership of the Lakers is now in a trust controlled by Buss' six children, who all have worked for the Lakers in vari- ous capacities for several years. With 1,786 victories, the Lakers easily are the NBA's winningest franchise since he bought the club, which is now run largely by Jim Buss and Jeanie Buss. "We not only have lost our cherished father, but a beloved man of our community and a person respected by the world basketball community," the Buss family said in a statement issued by the Lakers. "It was our father's often- stated desire and expectation that the Lakers remain in the Buss family. The Lakers have been our lives as well, and we will honor his wish and do everything in our power to con- tinue his unparalleled legacy." Johnson and fellow Hall of Famers Abdul-Jabbar and Wor- thy formed lifelong bonds with Buss during the Lakers' run to five titles in nine years in the 1980s, when the Lakers earned a reputation as basketball's most exciting team with their flamboyant Showtime repartee. The buzz extended through- out the Forum, where Buss turned the Lakers' games into a must-see event. He used the Laker Girls, a brass band and promotions to keep Lakers fans interested during all four quar- ters. Courtside seats, priced at $15 when he bought the Lak- ers, became the hottest tickets in Hollywood - and they still are, with fixture Jack Nichol- son and many other celebrities attending every home game. JOIN THE JOURNALISTS OF TOMORROW... AND DRINK CHEAP WINE. JOIN THE DAILY'S STAFF BY APPLYING AT MICHIGANDAILY.COM. HIT "JOIN THE DAILY" TO START.