The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Wednesday, October 2, 2013 - 3A

The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Wednesday, October 2, 2013 - 3A

NEWS BRIEFS
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich.
Feds defend plan
to drop gray wolf
protection
Federal officials offered a
staunch defense Monday of their
proposal to drop legal protec-
tions for the gray wolf in most of
the country, as opponents rallied
in the nation's capital before the
first in a series of public hearings
on the plan.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser-
vice called for removing the wolf
from the endangered species list
for the lower 48 states in June,
except for a subspecies called the
' Mexican wolf in the Southwest,
which is struggling to survive.
Ranching and hunting groups
have praised the proposal, while
environmentalists have said it is
premature.
COUNCIL
From Page 1A
Ward included incumbent Coun-
cilman Stephen Kunselman (D)
and Sam DeVarti, a challenger
from the newly formed Mixed-
Use Party. The two discussed
issues such as city cleaning,
regional bus systems, infrastruc-
ture maintenance and accessi-
bility in the downtown area.
Kunselman - a University
employee - recently pulled peti-
tions to run for mayor in 2014.
DiVarti, 23, said it was impor-
tant to for the city to consider
residents' impact on the envi-
ronment, citing his party's
enthusiasm about zoning plans.
The Mixed-Use Party states that
these zoning changes will allow
people to live in developed areas
near businesses to decrease air
pollution from vehicles and slow
construction on wilderness and
farm land.
"I propose some zoning
changes which I think are on
the cutting edge of urban plan-
ning; our ideas for a walking
downtown while still protecting
residences from high buildings I
think are spot on," DiVarti said.
Kunselaran placed more
emphasis on ethical governing,
highlighting his previous work
in public safety and infrastruc-
ture. To get active in the com-
munity, he said students should
know who the council members
are, participate in neighborhood
meetings and stay involved in
environmental issues.
"For students coming in and
(who are) only going to be here
for four years or five years,
(these issues) might not seem so
important to them, but they have
to remember that, at some point,
it may be them asking someone
else to take care of their neigh-
borhood," Kunselman said.
The 5th Ward candidates were
incumbent Mike Anglin (D) and
write-in candidate Thomas Par-
tridge.
Among his most prominent
stances, Anglin emphasized the
need for programs for children,

parks and recreation advance-
ment, and getting kids in school
by age 4. He said there needs to
be a "city center" like a park on
the undeveloped Library Lot.
Partridge, a University alum,
urged students to change their
driver's license addresses to
their Ann Arbor addresses if
they want to vote in the upcom-
ing election. One of his primary
concerns was to make life easier
for University students.
"We need affordable hous-
ing for students on campus, off
campus (and) affordable tuition
as well."
YEAH
WELL
WE'RE NOT
SHUTTING DOWN
GOT DAT
EDITORIAL
FREEDOM

PRESIDENT
From Page 1A
as they begin their own tenure at
the University.
In an e-mail interview, Regent
Katherine White (D), vice chair
of the Board of Regents and act-
ing spokeswoman during the
search process, referred to a
list posted by the search com-
mittee detailing their expecta-
tions for potential candidates.
These include the ability to
serve as a national advocate and
spokesperson for the University,
increase racial and socioeco-
nomic diversity, address future
challenges, and be a model of
humility, integrity and passion
for student support.
The University has been the
beneficiary of three large dona-
tions from Stephen Ross, Charles
Munger and the Zell Family
Foundation within the past year.
The next president will have the
same opportunity and challenge
of engaging with University
alumni and potential donors.
Coleman helped exceed fund-
raisinggoals by $700 million in the
University's four-year Michigan
Difference capital campaign -
which concluded in 2008 - with
a total $3.2 billion, surpassing the
original$2.5billiongoal.Whilethe
overallgoal ofthenextfundraising
campaign, "Victors for Michigan,"
hasn't been announced, more than
$1 billion will be earmarked for
financial aid.
Coleman works daily with Vice
President for Development Jerry
May and the University's Office
of Development, asawill Coleman's
successor, who will immediately
inherit the remainder of the next
fundraisingcampaign.
May said Coleman holds a
dedicated "vision" and "supe-
rior interpersonal skills" that
are necessary for a University
president to be an effective fund-
raiser. Her passion for fundrais-
ing allows her to garner these
historic donations: renovations
and plans are already underway.
"She is very supportive of the
overall program of fundraising,"
May said. "She contributes to it,
and another way of being sup-
portive of it is that she works and
builds relationships with the most
generous donors in constituency
to the rest of the University."
Mayadded that he hopes-to
have a "seamless transition"
between the two presidents, as
Coleman's 12 years of relation-
ship-building will impact the
work of her successor.
"That's part of the seamless
transition down a long line," May
said. "You think of yourself as a
representative of the University as
opposed to central to everything."
The increasing importance of
fundraising is in part a result of
reduced state appropriation to
the University, May said. In the
midst of declining state appro-
priation, Gov. Rick Snyder pro-
posed a 2-percent increase for

higher-education funding for
this year's fiscal budget, add-
ing $30.7 million to Michigan's
$1.4-billion higher-education
budget. This jump follows a
3-percent increase from the year
before, improving from a 15-per-
cent drop for the 2012 fiscal year.
During her tenure, Coleman
has served as a cheerleader for
the institution, testifying in
Lansing for higher state appro-
priation and writing an open let-
ter to President Barack Obama
about the importance of higher-
education support. Coleman and
Obama certainly can agree on
one thing: affordability remains
one of the largest concerns fac-
ing higher education.
Cynthia Wilbanks, vice presi-
dent for government relations,
said she and Coleman have "a
strong partnership," and that
Coleman's work reflects that of
previous University presidents.
"The University of Michigan
has had a history of presidents
who have been willing to speak
up andspeak out about the impor-
tance ofhigher education issues of
the day,"Wilbanks said. "The Uni-
versity of Michigan is looked to as
a leader in providing really strong
advocacy for policies and funding
that supportcour mission."
To effectively work with the
state and federal government,
the University president needs
to create relationships with all
parts of the political spectrum,
ranging from members of Con-
gress to local elected officials,
Wilbanks said.
While Wilbanks said she
hopes state appropriations con-
tinue to increase and the fed-
eral government will refocus on
higher-education issues, afford-
ability stands at the forefront of
concerns for many at the Univer-
sity. The next president will face
budget constraints, and Univer-
sity Provost Martha Pollack said
she hopes this new leader starts
where Coleman leaves off.
In order to limit tuition
increases in the face of declin-
ing state support, the formula-
tion of the University's annual
budget and cost containment has
become a critical focus of the
University's administration and
of individual schools and col-
leges. Pollack said the next presi-
dent will need to immediately
face the persistent budget issues
and continue working on cost
containment.
"Clearly, we need someone
who is really in tune with the
challenges of not just any uni-
versity, but of a university in the
niche we occupy, which is a flag-
ship public research university,"
Pollack said. "I think we have
a good team in place to keep on
pushing, and I'm very optimistic
that the new president will have
support for where she needs to
handle these challenges."
In developing the Univer-
sity's budget, Pollack said she
and Coleman work together fre-
quently - spearheading a col-

laborative, process between the
individual schools and colleges'
offices, other executive officers
and the regents.
Coleman's tenure was dogged
first by a deep recession in Mich-
igan and later a national reces-
sion - contributing to 71-percent
increase in tuition since she
assumed the presidency in 2002.
Tuition rose only 1.1 percent for
this fiscal year, compared to an
increase of 2.8 percent for in-
state students and 3.5 percent for
out-of-state students lastcyear.
Affordability is a significant
challenge for many University
students, who are the heart of the
institution, said E. Royster Harper,
vice president ofstudent affairs.
Harper said one of Coleman's
most important contributions
to improving the quality of the
student experience on campus
was the Residence Life Initia-
tive - a more-than-$1-billion
commitment over the last
decade to renovate residence
halls and other facilities. Harp-
er said students should continue
to have a close partnership with
the president, just as they have
with Coleman.
"I think that's both the heart
of what Michigan is; I think it's
something that President Cole-
man had when she came and
certainly embodies," Harper
said. "I think any new presi-
dent will need to understand the
power of the voice of students at
Michigan ... I think it's part of
our strength."
Students also benefit from an
undergraduate teaching staff
ranked 12th by U.S. News and
World Report. According to Ter-
rence McDonald, director of the
Bentley Historical Library and
former LSA dean, Coleman has
been effective at helping individ-
ual schools and colleges retain
quality staff members. While
each school's dean works more
often with the provost, McDon-
ald said they benefit from know-
ing a "sensible" and "powerful"
leader guides and progresses the
University.
Coleman's commitment to
many facets of campus reflects
the strength of the University's
previous presidents, McDonald
said. Since McDonald joined
faculty during Harold Shapiro's
presidency, he said he's seen
a common thread of qualities
throughout the past and present
presidents: They're "focused,"
"determined" and "relentless in
their pursuit of goals."
By the expectations of those
conducting the search, those
qualities in a candidate are man-
datory.
From talking to donors, work-
ing with faculty, socializing with
students or creating a budget, the
next University president will
have a lot on his or her plate when
theybegin in 2014. There are some
big shoes to fill, but one thing's for
certain: The next president will
serve as the face of the University
foryearsto come.

COMPUTER
From Page 1A
get generated by people sitting
around a table looking for new
ideas. People have to interact
with each other in seminars, in
classrooms and so on for new
ideas to naturallytemerge."
The institute is offering a
new graduate certificate in
computational discovery and
engineering. Through MICDE,
Michielssen said, students can
enjoy the same intellectual vari-
ety as their professors, because
graduate students from all sci-
ence, technology, engineering
and math fields will take courses
together.
"My students take courses
with students who are much
like them: other electrical engi-
neers," he said. "But put these
same students in the room with
a physics or math or biology
student and automatically new
ideas just emerge."
. Thomas Finholt, Information
School professor and dean of
academic affairs, said high-pow-
ered computers were essential
to uncovering new insights in
the field of information. Search
engines use computer simula-
tion to modify and update their
product.
"You can't release the proto-
type search engine into the wild
and hope people use it," Finholt
said. "You need to simulate the
behavior ... and make modifica-
tions in the simulated world and
that will say what you want to
release."
Even the humanities and

social sciences can benefit from
computational research, he said.
High-powered computers can
scan the entire body of Shake-
spearean works for similar pas-
sages, giving historians a better
idea whether or not the plays
had different authors.
Such endeavors may be pos-
sible as MICDE expands to LSA.
Michielssen said the institute
aims to add 40 professors from
LSA and an additional 40 from
the College of Engineering and
the Information School. The
math, biology, chemistry, phys-
ics and earth sciences depart-
ments currently are highly
involved in computational
research.
Computational simulation
allows exploration of impossible
experiments. A meteorologist
can model what occurs inside a
tornado through this technolo-
gy, while such analysis is impos-
sible in real life.
High-powered computers
also lessen the cost of typi-
cally expensive experiments.
Aerospace Engineering Prof.
Iain Boyd said aer'odynamic
researchers would have had
to build models of rockets and
put them in a wind tunnel 30
years ago - a feat now made
possible by computer model-
ing.
"There's a small subset of
physical phenomena going on
you can look at in an experi-
ment," Boyd said. "You can cal-
culate everything and it will
be faster and it will be cheaper.
It's changing and it's changing
strongly toward more computa-
tions."


SUSTAINABILITY
From Page 1A
ing or reading just for your own
discipline, you might not have
the kind of linkages between
fields to look at impacts of (your)
projects."
A new volume of the journal
will be published annually with
topics relating to three themes:
sustainable freshwater systems,
livable communities and climate
change.
The journal's first annual
issue includes an article on
hydraulic fracturing, for exam-
ple, which involves the study
of freshwater systems, urban
planning, health sciences and
energy.
"There's a great push towards
interdisciplinary research
in journals, and sustainabil-
ity's needs are especially acute,"
Rajkovich said.
The Graham Fellows noticed
this unfilled need while they
were discussing possible
outlets in which they could
publish their research. They
discovered there weren't many
journals that appealed to the
diverse nature of topics in sus-
tainability. So, with the sup-

port of the Graham Institute,
the fellows decided to develop
their own.
"Ifanenvironmentalnonprof-
it organization or municipality is
grappling with a sustainability
challenge, we want them to turn
to the Michigan Journal of Sus-
tainability for valuable insights
and information," co-editor
Dana Kornberg said in a state-
ment.
This year's issue includes
articles that touch on topics as
diverse as sustainability and
social justice, Detroit, climate
change, green cities and human-
wildlife interactions.
Beyond the compatibility
of the journal's focus topics
with the study of sustainabil-
ity, Graham Institute Direc-
tor Don Scavia lauded the new
journal as a significant step in
furthering the institute's core
goals.
"The journal they created not
only fills a notable gap in aca-
demic publishing but also helps
to fulfill a primary mission ofthe
Graham Institute - translating
knowledge to influence deci-
sions that protect the environ-
ment and enhance quality of life
for present and future genera-
tions," he said.


COMPANY
From Page lA
"A better future is possible
where we aren't just creating
unnecessary waste," Meyer said.
"So we planto start with reusable
takeout containers and prove
that people are willing to reuse,
prove that people are willing to
put in a little extra effort."
The idea is pretty simple: cus-
tomers will be able to request
Bizeebox from participating res-
taurants and later return the reg-
istered box to the restaurant for
cleaning and recirculation.
GroussetandMeyer,whograd-
uated with dual degrees from the
School of Natural Resources and
the Environment and the School
of Business, initially piloted the
idea on campus in order to gauge
feedback and learn what needed
to be improved before applying
the idea to downtown Ann Arbor.
In graduate school, they cre-
ated the Go Blue Box, the prede-
cessor of Bizeebox. The container
was beta tested at the former Uni-
versity Club Restaurant in the
Michigan Union.
Although Go Blue Box and
Bizeebox are separate entities,
they both promote environmen-
tally friendly dining options. As
one of the first four grantees of
the Planet Blue Student Innova-
tion Fund, the team was given
$8,000 to launch the Go Blue Box
in the University Club last year.
"You get those moments
where people say, 'Oh, this makes
a lot of sense. Why aren't people
doing this everywhere?'" Grous-

set said. "There's a large segment
of people who go to restaurants
and care about the environment
and sustainability."
LSA senior Emily Jaffe, presi-
dent of Michigan Student Ath-
letes for Sustainability, said the
idea has great potential to grow
into something much bigger.
"When I was using the Go Blue
Box, it was so nice to be able to
walk out and return it the next
time I was around, and with
Bizeebox, there will be more
places to return them in Ann
Arbor, so I don't think it will be a
hassle," Jaffe said.
During the nine months that
the Union restaurant used the
Go Blue Box, Grousset and Meyer
estimated five thousand less dis-
posable boxes were used.
Upon leaving the University,
the team's focus on Go Blue Box
graduated into the development
of Bizeebox, which could be used
off campus. A few Ann Arbor res-
taurants have already expressed
interest. Next, the duo must raise
enough money to begin a manu-
facturing run, which the found-
ers hope to finance through an
Indiegogo campaign.
While Bizeebox is on its way to
being launched, a student orga-
nization, the Reusable Takeout
Container Program, has taken
initiative to continue the Go Blue
Box's legacy and promote dining
sustainability amongstudents.
Rackham student Rohit Nara-
yan, president of the organiza-
tion, said he and other group
members are pushing the Uni-
versity to bring back the Go Blue
Box to support waste reduction

in other venues on campus.
"A lot of classes in engineering
now support sustainability, so
there is a general push towards
making the campus more green
and now we just need the right
opportunities," Narayan said.
For now, Bizeebox will be for
only off-campus restaurants, but
Meyer and Grousset are looking
ahead to what their nascent com-

pany can work on next.
"In nature there is no such
thing as waste. Everything gets
reused, recycled and put back
into service some way," Meyer
said. "It's up to our generation to
make the future what we all want
to see."
Grousset said he and Meyer
have taken an optimistic
approach to rewind the dam-

age done on the environment
by the overuse of one-time con-
tainers.
"You look at all of the problems
in the world and can get pretty
depressed," Grousset said. "Our
sense of humor gave us playful
interaction, and we want to proj-
ect that in our business. We're
solving problems, but we're hav-
ing fun doing it."

Idealist Grad Fair
Thursday, October 3 I 5-8 p.m. Free!
530 South State Street, University of Michigan
Michigan Union Building, Ballroom, 2nd Floor
idealistannarbor.eventbrite.com
idealist hosted by: Gerald R. Ford K SOCIAL WODK
School of Public Policy

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