ONL,-II WNI IiI I I'AY 'I t}IINTY'1 YBS 1:H OPITO)IIIAL HILLEAOI Ann Arbor, Michigan Friday, October 18, 2013 michigandailycom ADMINISTR ATION Information dean, wife to give $2.5M VICKY LIU/Daily Ju'won Harris, a health educator at the Detroit-based Institute for Population Health, answers students' questions about the Teach for America program with first-year medical student Kimi Warlaumnot at the Ford School of Public Policy Thursday. TFA aT Couple bequeaths largest-ever donation from dean to college By CHRISTY SONG and WILL GREENBERG Daily Staff Reporters In an announcement early Thursday, School of information dean Jeffrey MacKie-Mason and his wife Janet Netz committed to donating $2.5 million for an endowed professorship - one of the largest amounts a dean at the University has ever donated to his or her own school or college. The donation will create the Jeffrey MacKie-Mason Profes- sor of Information, which will be a tenured faculty position in that school. MacKie-Mason and Neti are both University alumni. MacK- ie-Mason said in an interview Thursday that he and his wife feel a strong sense of compassion toward the values of the School of Information, which serves 441 undergraduate and graduate stu- dents. "My wife and I both believe deeply in the value of public universities," MacKie-Mason said. "We just couldn't be more excited about (the University's) future, butit needs the support of people who believe in it." This contribution is the latest in a series of high-profile dona- tions meant to kick-start the Uni- versity's upconing fundraising campaign, Victors for Michigan, which is set to launch Nov. 8. In September, University alum Stephen Ross, namesake of the Ross School of Business, donated $200 million for further improvements to the athletic campus and the Business School. At her annual leadership break- fast in early October, University President Mary Sue Colemanan- nounced that she and her hus- band, political scientist Kenneth Coleman, would be donating $1 million toward study-abroad ini- tiatives. MacKie-Mason said the surge in donations comes at an impor- tant time, as state and federal funding for the University has been insufficient in recent years. In a Thursday press release, MacKie-Mason said his contri- bution is a great wayto repay the opportunities providedto himby the University. "Faculty and staff across the See INFORMATION, Page 3A Panelists say low- income schools lack science, math, programming By YARDAIN AMRON Daily Staff Writer A panel of four Teach For America alumni and one cur- rent fellow sat before a small audience of students Thursday night to discuss the "crisis" in science, technology, engineer- ing and math education - with the hope of luring more Univer- sity students with science and mathematics backgrounds into the fellowship program. STEM subjects are often neglected in low-income schools, the panelists said, yet they're considered ciucial toward students' success in both college and workforce. Improving the United States's competitiveness in these fields has been a priority of the Obama administration, which committed billions over the last several federal budgets toward improving STEM education. "This year, there's a huge need in the communities and school districts in which we place core members for science and math teachers at all grade levels," Emily Pendergraft, regional TFA recruitment man- ager, said. Teach for America is a non-profit organization that recruits and trains recent college graduates to teach full-time for two years in low- income public schools. Sixty- seven recent graduates from the University began teaching ,for TFA this semester. The program has been praised for bringing young professionals into contact with students and also criticized for inadequately preparing fel- lows for the challenges of low- income schools, many of which are in urban areas. At the panel, held at the Public Policy school, members discussed their personal expe- See TFA, Page.3A ACADEMICS Kinesiology adds major in health, fitness Inaugural class of new concentration has 15 students By AARON GUGGENHEIM Daily News Editor After two years of planning, the School of Kinesiology has rolled out a new concentration to meet the growing demand for educators and consultants in physical fitness and wellness. The Health and Fitness major is built around a core 49 credits that teach the fundamentals of wellness and physical training and then branches out to two dis- tinct tracks: physical education and health and fitness leadership. The physical education track prepares students for a teaching certification in physical educa- tion, while the research-based health and fitness leadership track prepares students for jobs in which they will promote indi- vidual and community health. With rising health-care costs, many companies are looking for individuals with similar backgrounds to lead wellness programs that reduce medical expenditures. Both tracks prepare students for national certification tests for personal trainers and other fitness professionals, and both guarantee an internship to get real-world experience and prac- tice skills learned in the class- room. Kinesiology Dean Ron Zer- nicke said the concentration was developed for three reasons: to reorient the school's priorities to focus on health, wellness and physical activity and to latch on to the wide variety of work being done throughout the University regarding physical inactivity. . "What we tried to do was to figure what were the resources we have within the school and then how do we collaborate across schools to give students within our school, and others, the best opportunities," Zernicke said, adding that alumni have encouraged the school to add health and fitness elementsto the See KINESIOLOGY, Page 3A BUSINESS Business is ood for high-school partners Ann Arbor locals successful selling sunglasses on game days By CAROLYN GEARIG Forthe Daily When Josh Carn-Saferstein and Noah Hirschl, both Ann Arbor high school seniors, decided to design and sell Mich- igan-themed sunglasses before University football games last fall, they didn't expect much. But after selling out of 500 pairs within three games, they saw potential for theirbusiness, Spirit Specs, to grow. "We've lived in Ann Arbor our whole lives, and we're both devoted Michigan fins," Hirschl said. "Having 110,000 people in one place where you can just hold up a prodluct and have tens of thousands of people walk by (is) the easiest form of marketing." Hirschl and Carn-Saferstein See HIGH-SCHOOL, Page 3A TRAcYKO/Daily Jann N. Sarkaria, a radiation oncologist at the Mayo Clinic, delivers his talk "The impact of the blood-brain barrier on limiting therapeutic efficacy in GBM" at the Taubman Institute Thursday. Visiting doctor lectures on brain tu-mor clinical trial rent research on glioblastoma, a cancerous tumor. oncologist talks Glioblastomas are highly malignant brain tumors that research, treatment arise from the supportive brain tissue. Sarkaria'sresearchaims By ALLANA AKHTAR to find drugs that would work Daily StaffReporter in tandem with radiation treat- ment to advance treatment of Jann Sarkaria, a renowned the disease. radiation oncologist at the He is currently developing Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, lec- novel radio-wave-based treat- tured Thursday about his cur- ments and monitoring -drug efficacy through repeated imaging of the malignancies. Sakaria's work also focuses on identifying which types of patients benefit most from the cutting-edge treatment. During his lecture, Sakaria outlined his methods for investigating treatments for glioblastomas, which starts by taking tumor cells from patients and putting them into See BRAIN, Page 3A The Big Move the transition of Funchess tight end to wide receiver. INSIDE WEATHER HI: 53 GOT A NEWS TIP? NEW ON MICHIGANDAILY.COM Call 734-418-4115 or e-mail The Working Ethic: College ethics101 TOMORROW L: 7 news@michigandaily.com and let us know. 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