ONE-IHUN D11ED-TWENTY- Ti iYEARS )OF EIDITORIL FR El ELI)M Ann Arbor, Michigan Tuesday, September 1T, 2013 michigandaily.com NAVY YARD SHOOTING Students safe after deadly . shooting in Washington TIRE-D? Three 'U' students who work in Navy Yard not harmed in armed attack By TAYLOR WIZNER Daily News Editor After at 13 people were shot and killed Monday morning in Washington D.C.'s Navy Yard area, three students in the Michigan in Washington Program who work in the area as interns were reported to 0 be safe, according to a post on the program's public Facebook group. The mass shooting began at 8:20 a.m. at Building 197, part of the main headquarters for the Naval Sea Systems Command, which buys, builds and main- tains ships, submarines and combat systems. About 3,000 people, many civilians, work at the headquarters, which is located in the heart of D.C., less than four miles from the White House and two miles from the Capitol. In a Facebook post this morning, MIW noted that the students, who work in the National Defense University's Eisenhower Center in Navy Yard, were safe and no longer at the compound. In an e-mail sent to MIW alumni, a program staffer con- firmed the students were safe, and said each student will con- tinue to update program lead- ers on their whereabouts. "Two of the three students are at the Navy Yard but are safe, and another, who was on her way to work at Navy Yard, has been detoured on her shut- tle bus to Fort McNair, and the bus has extra security en route now," the e-mail said. The gunman, killed by police, was identified as Aaron Alexis, a 34-year-old former Navy reservist from Fort Worth, Texas. Alexis, an employee at a defense contractor, used his pass to get into the Washington Navy Yard and began shooting bullets in hallways and firing from a balcony on workers in an See SHOOTING, PageS5 JAMES COLLER/faily Amanda Brown, Battalion Assistant Operations Officer for Michigan Naval ROTC, works out by North Hall Monday afternoon. ADMINISTRATION 'U' to renovate reactor De n 'commissioned are set to approve a $11.4-mil- lion transformation of the build- uclear reactor ing into a repurposed classroom and laboratory center. nakes way for In a communication to the regents, Timothy Slottow, the University's executive vice pres- ident and chief financial officer, JENNIFER CALFAS said the University will dem- Daily Staff Reporter onstrate that the radioactive levels of the facility, located on er beginning the decom- Bonisteel Blvd. on North Cam- sn process of the Ford pus, fits the standards of the U.S. ar Reactor in 2004, the Nuclear Regulatory Commis- rsity's Board of Regents sion before beginning the reno- vation and expansion plans. The project will add 5,200 square feet of space for labora- tories, testing areas, offices and support spaces for the Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences Department. Since the building will no longer house a nuclear reactor, the build- ing's name may change to the "Nuclear Engineering Labo- ratories" upon approval by the regents. Ronald Gilgenbach, chair and Chihiro Kikuchi Colle- giate Professor in the Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences Department, said the renovations will allow the pro- gram to expand into much- needed research space. Since the program's research funding has increased over the years, Gilgenbach said the cur- rent laboratory facilities do not meet the faculty's needs. However, with this building's thick-shielded walls and expan- sive space, it will serve as the See REACTOR, Page 5 By Aft missit Nucle Unive TUNNEL VISION ANN ARBOR PRESIDENTIAL SEARCH Council looks at Students to divesting from fossil fuel funds JAMES COLLER/Daily LSA Freshman Louis Hagopian longboards down Washington Heights towards Mary Markley residence hal Monday CRIME UMPD: Solici ors are impersonating students Police cite several incidents of fraud in SE Michigan By ARIANA ASSAF Daily StaffReporter University Police are warning the campus com- munity of fraudulent solici- tation attempts in some southeast Michigan neigh- borhoods. Solicitors pretended to be University students who need- ed money for class trips, Uni- versity Police said. Some said they were part of the Commu- nications Department, while others said that they were fromthe School of Music, The- atre & Dance. University Police Chief Joseph Piersante said it's very unlikely that the people going door-to-door are legitimate University students. He said the University rarely, if ever, uses door-to-door fundraising methods. The most common meth- ods for University fundraising are alumni outreach or mail- ings. If University affiliates do go door-to-door, they are required to provide legitimate University identification and information for a contact for follow up. The first report, which came to University Police on Aug. 28, said people who claimed to be University stu- dents were soliciting funds for an overseas trip to Lon- don. A second instance of solic- iting was reported on Sept. 8. This time, the solicitors were attempting to sell magazine subscriptions in order to fund a Communications Depart- ment trip. "I don't know if that's a coincidence or what," Pier- sante said. "But these scams aren't unusual. In this partic- ular case (scammers) are tar- geting the University." While these particular solicitations were door-to- door, Piersante said that both door-to-door and phone solici- tors often try to raise money for charity groups they say benefit veterans or police sur- vivors. Police are not currently aware whether or not these solicitors have been success- ful in raising any money, and Piersante said the police don't See SOLICITORS, Page 5 Postponed vote may alter pension make-up By WILL GREENBERG Daily Staff Reporter At the AnnArbor City Council meeting Monday night, council members reconsidered the Ann Arbor Energy Commission's resolu- tion to divest the city's pen- sion fund of certain fossil fuel industries, but they post- poned a vote on the matter. The original resolution, proposed at the Sept. 2 meet- ing, was one vote short of approval. Council decided to carry over the topic to Mon- day's meeting to reconsider the issue after it failed to pass earlier in September. Coun- cil again opened discussion to vote on the resolution but eventually ended in postpon- ing the item. The presented resolution, which was drafted by the Energy Commission, asked that council recommend end- ing any further investment of pension funds to fossil fuel industries. The resolu- tion explains the city's duty to support and maintain the public health of residents and also cites Ann Arbor's Cli- mate Action Plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent by 2025. Council members generally expressed interest in support- ing the resolution but were hesitant to vote for the mea- sure because the move could result in a potential financial loss for the employee pension fund. Early on in the discus- sion, Councilmember Mike Anglin (D-Ward 5) reminded the council that the resolution was not a mandate to the pen- sion board but still "urged" the council to divest. Council members dis- cussed the viability of divest- ing from fossil fuel industries if the city adopted the policy. Generally, council members expressed concerns for the future of pension funding. Councilmember Stephen Kunselman (D-Ward 3) said he was wary of "meddling" in the pensions, noting the eco- nomic woes of Detroit over the summer in part due to that city's pension obligations. Nancy Walker, executive director of the employees' retirement system, told coun- cil members that the pension board hasn't taken an official position on the issue. How- ever, a preliminary analysis of index funds found that none that are completely free of fossil-fuel investment. "Organizations, such as pension funds, that do have fiduciary duty really struggle with how to balance that fidu- ciary duty with what look like an increase in cost," Walker said. Six members of the pub- lic asked council to consider divestment, including two students and a University professor. Individuals cited divestments in the past See COUNCIL, Page5 gather input on search for next pres. Group recognized by regents will advocate student concerns By RACHEL PREMACK Daily StaffReporter After demand for official stu- dent input in the search for the next University president, a student committee. recognized by the Uni- versity's Board of Regents met yes- terday for the first time. The committee was instituted to add a student voice to the next president with the presidential search that is lead by the presiden- tial-search advisory committee, according to Engineering graduate student Michael Hand, a Rackham Student Government representa- tive and committee member. It is comprised of 12 student leaders from a variety of campus organiza- tions. Campus leaders have previously called for student representation on the 16-person advisory committee that gathered to selected UMPSC's successor. In 2002, the 16-mem- ber committee that hired Coleman included two students: Matt Nolan, the student government president, and Lisa Jackson, a then-doctoral student. Though the committee will gath- er student input, the students are not directly involved in the search. The new student committee will garner student opinions on desired qualities of the new president via a five-question survey e-mailed to the entire student body and through See SEARCH, Page5 WEATHER HI: 75 GOTANEWS TIP? NEW ONMICHIGANDAILY.COM INDEX NEWS.................. 2A SPORTS ,.... ...............8A Call 734-418-4115 or e-mail Alum wins Miss America competition Vol, CXXIII, No.132 OPINION,.....................4A SUDOKU............2A TOMORROW LO: 62 news@michigandsily.com and let us know. MICHIGANDAILY.COM/BLOGS/ 2013The Michiegan Daily ARTS,...... ,,,,...... 6A CLASSI FI EDS. ...........6A newsmichganailycomhd lt u kno, fmichigandsily.com