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SCIENCE
Research on
treatment for
ALS aided
by stem cells
ALLISON FARRAND/Daily
TOP LEFT: LSA junior Rebekah Kreckman gives tours of the campus farm during the Sustainable Food Program's annual harvest festival at the Matthei
Botanical Gardens Wednesday. BOTTOM LEFT: Musicians perform for students as part of the fesitval. RIGHT: Graduate student Lauren Materne
participated in a doughnut-eating contest.
CAMPUS IMPROVEMENT
R ovation ead north
Testing of new
surgical treatment
moves to Phase II
By IAN DILLINGHAM
Daily StaffReporter
Though the Food and Drug
Administration remains closed
due to the federal government
shutdown, researchers at the
University are pushing for-
ward the development of stem-
cell therapies, with the hope of
improving the quality of life for
individuals with life-threatening
disabilities.
Researchers at University
Hospital and the A. Alfred Taub-
man Medical Research Institute
are exploringthe use of stem cells
in the treatment of amyotrophic
lateral sclerosis - also known as
Lou Gerhig's disease, a neurode-
generative condition that causes
cell death in spinal cord neurons
that control movement. Patients
with ALS suffer from loss of mus-
cle control and often die of respi-
ratory failure.
Neurology Prof. Eva Feldman
presented recent results from her
research at an event Wednesday
evening at the Taubman Insti-
tute's Kahn Auditorium for an
audience of about F40 students
and faculty. Feldman discussed
the completion of Phase I trials
of the new stem-cell therapy and
her plans for Phase IL
While Phase I trials typically
test the safety of a treatment in
human patients, Phase II tests the
treatment's efficacy. Feldman's
research team received approval
for Phase II of their research in
May and has since begun tests.
Shortly before the event
Wednesday afternoon, a third
patient enrollei in the trial had
the surgical procedure, in which
a surgeon injects stem cells into
specific regions of the spinal
cord. Although it is too early to
record changes in disease pro-
gression, Feldman said the three
patients have experienced "no
adverse consequences" from the
procedure.
Stem cells have the unique
ability to fulfill a wide variety
of tasks by developing into spe-
cialized cells depending on their
environment. When these cells
are injected into the spinal cord
of ALS patients, they surround
diseased cells and slow the pro-
gression of cell death, Feldman
said.
"Depending on how you grow
them ... they can become any cell
in the body," Feldman said.
Feldman's treatment uses a
See ALS, Page 5A
Pierpont Commons,
Mitchell Field to
recieve upgrades
By YARDAIN AMRON
Daily StaffReporter
North Campus-ers feeling
left out from the dizzying resi-
dence-hall renovations on Cen-
tral Campus will soon have their
own to boast about - albeit on a
smaller scale.
The Commons Cafe is sched-
uled to close for renovations
in March as part of a larger,
campus-wide project to update
student facilities initiated by
Building a Better Michigan, a
student-run organization creat-
ed to advise renovations across
campus.
Through 2020, the project
hopes to bring improvements to
aging facilities including Mitch-
ell Field, the three recreational
sports buildings and two of the
three unions.
Built in 1965, Pierpont Com-
mons has apparently lost much
of its student appeal. Through
information from student sur-
veys distributed by Building a
Better Michigan, dissatisfaction
with the food options and usable
study and organizational spaces
became apparent.
"(Pierpont Commons) doesn't
offer healthy, affordable and
attractive dining options," LSA
senior Louis Mirante, co-chair of
Building a Better Michigan, said.
"It doesn't facilitate the academ-
ic, social or physical well-being to
the degree that itshould."
Renovations to the cafe hope
to address this by offering an
increased variety in food choic-
es and better study space.
Four new, restaurant-like
serving areas will bring in a
range of quality cuisine, such
as those found in the recently
renovated dining hall of East
Quad Residence Hall. A 'Fire &
Ice' station is in talks to serve
freshly-prepared Ramen or
stir-fry; a hearth-oven station
will serve gourmet flat-bread
pizzas and freshly baked bread;
an international cuisine station
See RENOVATIONS, Page SA
MAKE IT WORK
Looking for
presidential
candidates
both inside
and out
Regents will have to
weigh the benefits
of 'U' experience vs.
outside perspective
By AMRUTHA SIVAKUMAR
Daily StaffReporter
University President Mary Sue
Coleman broke long-standing prece-
dent when she was appointed despite
not having any prior affiliation with
the institution. By July 2014, that
aberration may become the start of a
new trend.
As the first president to be
appointed from
outside the Uni-
versity since
1979, Cole-
man proved
to stakehold-
ers worldwide
I In Fmin that she could
manage the
ropes of three university campuses,
an athletic department with the
fifth-largest national revenue and a
consistently top-ranked health sys-
See CANDIDATES, Page 5A
STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS
Solar car team
heads 'down
under' for race
ALUISON FARRAND/Daily
Art & Design freshman Sophie Schank tests her group's Rube Goldberg device at the Art & Architecture
Building Wednesday.
GOVERNMENT
Equal pay advocate talks
gender discrimination,
'Generation' will
compete in four-day,
1,800-mile race in
Australian desert
By STEPHANIE SHENOUDA
Daily StaffReporter
One hundred team mem-
bers. Seven national champion-
ship titles. Five top-three world
championship finishes. This
Sunday, the University Solar Car
Team is competing in the World
Solar Car Challenge, and they're
hoping this will be their year.
After spending the last two
years building and designing
Generation, the team's latest car,
several members have traveled
to the Australian outback, where
they'll compete with teams from
around the world in a1,800-mile
race to the finish and the title of
world solar-car champion.
Over the course of four days,
competitors from 40 schools
and 23 countries will race from
8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and then charge
their cars until 7 a.m. the next
morning for the next day of rac-
ing.
LSA junior Ian Sullivan, the
team's business director, spoke
to The Michigan Daily from Ari-
zona, where he was currently
attending a sponsorship confer-
ence. He said he learned at the
conference how to effectively
work with companies to gain
resources for the coming year.
"We're all definitely really
excited about Sunday's race,"
Sullivan said. "Though we're
proud to consistently be in the
top, this is our best chance ever
to win, and that's always our
goal, so we feel like we just need
to go in and take it."
Sullivan noted a rule change
this year that mandates thateach
car have four wheels instead
,of three, which will make this
year's car more efficient and
competitive. He said the team
is always working on improving
technology and sustainability,
but this has probably been the
most major change their design
has undergone.
Engineering and Business
junior James Kauney, a third-
See SOLAR, Page SA
Lilly Ledbetter
is namesake of
Obama's first law
By CAROLYN GEARIG
For The Daily
Lilly Ledbetter, a gen-
der-equality advocate and
namesake of the 2009 Equal
Pay Act, made remarks to a
crowd of more than 200 peo-
ple at Rackham Auditorium
Wednesdayevening.
"If I say one thing tonight
that will change an indi-
vidual's life, I will have done
my job," Ledbetter said at the
beginning of her speech.
In 1979, Ledbetter said
she faced discrimination at
Goodyear Tire and Rubber
Company in Alabama, where
she worked as a supervi-
sor. In 1998, after 19 years of
alleged sexual harassment
and gender discrimination at
the company, she received an
anonymous note that showed
the salaries of three of her
male co-workers who held
the same position as her. The
three males monthly salaries
were nearly $6,000, while
hers was $3,727.
Ledbetter originally won a
See EQUAL, Page SA
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