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Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Ann Arbor, Michigan
michigandaily.com
TRANSPO RATION
Bus service
plagued by
high-profile
incidents
Drivers say uptick course is two weeks. The first
week of training takes place
S due to influx in a sma claroom setting
where potential grivers learn
new drivers about the vehicles, how to drive
safely and how to interact with
By JENNIFER CALFAS riders, Trainees must test at a
Daoly Stf Reporter minimum score requirement to
move onto the next section,
Within the past few months, Next, trainees shadow and
there have been a slew of inci- operate a bus with a licensed
dents involving the University's driver to gain a better under-
Blue Buses, standing of each route,
A driver left a bus running Since the training process is
and unattended for hours off time demanding, it usually takes
campus. A bus became stuck place at thebeginningofthe sum-
after failing to make the small mer. Once drivers are accepted
turnaround near the Michigan into their positions, they have the
Union. Adriver crashed into and summer season to hone driving
destroyed a bus stop and two skillsbefore fall semester
students were injured after fall- Over this past year, the
ing out of a bus when the vehi- number of student drivers has
cle's rear door malfunctioned. decreased, forcing some per-
The Blue Bus driving staff manent drivers to work over-
is comprised of a 50:50 ratio time. PTS executive director
of student drivers to union- Stephen Dolen said student
ized drivers, according to Jason drivers' shifts are based on
Bidwell, Transportation Man- their academic schedules,
ager at Parking and transporta- which can make it challenging
tion services. Some of the union to cover a student driver's posi-
drivers are permanent PTS tion when last-minute academ-
staff members, while student it demands arise.
drivers work on a temporary "If we had a deeper bench, so
basis during their time at the to speak, to go to, it'd be more
University. efficient and sufficient to get
Cultivating a staff is no easy business covered," Dolen said.
task.Ittakes asignificant amount "We need a deeper bench."
of knowledge to drive a Blue Bus However, Dolen believes the
as employees are responsible for driver shortage is not to blame
the livelihood of students, fac- for the recent incidents.
ulty and staffintransit. Art & Design sophomore
The University's training See BUS, Page 3
A NEW
NICHOLAS WILLIAMS/Daily
Members of the Navy ROTC raise the flag in the Diag In honor of Veteran's Day on Monday morning.
FACU A LkT Y G OV E R N A N
SACU tals cosoliatio
LSA heads express
concern with
cost-cutting process
By STEPHANIE SHENOUDA
Daily Staff Reporter
The latest meeting of the Sen-
ate Advisory Committee for Uni-
versity Affairs was spent learning
about the concerns of LSA faculty
and staff members regarding the
recent efforts to cut costs.
The reduction of vendor cuts
and consolidation of support
services like finance and human
resources is a part of the Admin-
istrative Services Transformation
Project, an administrative initia-
tive intended to improve financial
efficiency and meet a $120-mil-
lion savings goal by2017.
Following the lift of a gag order
among department chairs regard-
ing the initiative, History Depart-
ment Chair Kathleen Canning
summarized the concerns of LSA
faculty but emphasized that she
wasn't the group's formal repre-
sentative. She discussed a letter
to University Provost Martha
Pollack and other administrators
authored by 16department heads.
Canning explained that most
of the concerns as department
chairs are procedural, including
the fact that faculty and staff will
have to reapply for their positions.
Canning felt the process was
rapid and poorly communicated,
and that the situation "lacked
transparency." She added that the
project has progressed without
consulting faculty chairs.
"We need to know who was
driving the process, who owned
and who's accountable for the fall
out it will cause," Canning said.
"We were subject to a gag order,
which is quite unprecedented,
meaning we weren't allowed
to talk to anyone - even in our
department - about this pro-
cess."
SACUA member Charlie
Koopmann said the silencing of
employees has been a continuing
trend throughout the last half of
President Mary Sue Coleman's
tenure, citing various instances
where employees issued a gag
order.
"The disability to speak is a
trademark of the second half of
Coleman's presidency," he said.
See SACUA, Page 3
BUSINESS
Alumni startup aims to
simplify restaurant rankings
Users rank top-five
restaurants on
MyFab5 site
By CLAIRE BRYAN
For The Daily
After becoming frustrated
with long Yelp reviews and
misleading Foursquare rank-
ings, recent University alums
Omeid Seirafi-Pour and Calvin
Schemanski decided to create
an easy way to find the best
food in town.
"I was trying to use my
phone just to find a place for
us to eat, and it was the same
pain: I was spending like half
an hour reading reviews before
I could decide if a place was
going to be worth it or not,"
Schemanski said.
Seirafi-Pour, a 2011 gradu-
ate, returned to Ann Arbor
to work with Schemanski to
found MyFab5 in the summer
of 2012. John Gulbronson, a
2011' Michigan Engineering
graduate, joined the team in
January 2013. The company is
currently operating out of the
University's TechArb, a start-
up accelerator.
MyFab5 isn't your typi-
cal rating system. Instead of
ranking restaurants on a scale,
users pick their top-five restau-
rants within particular food
See STARTUP, Page 3
ALLISNFAKKANU/Daily
Winona LaDuke, a Native American environmental activist, is presented with a certification of herVistiting Professorship
by students of the Native American Student Association at Rackham Ampitheater on Monday.
Environmental activist
tal
MISSING STUDENT
Sudent returns home after he
was reported missing
Na
wi
com
sus
tive American mental activist, as she spoke
about the ways in which Native
riter discusses Americans are buildingagreener
economy.
munity's role in As part of Native Heritage
Month, the event was intended
tamable future by its sponsors to raise aware-
ness about Native American
By YIJIA ZHOU communities and their roles in
For The Daily creating a sustainable future.
LaDuke talked about how
ms and chants at Rackham people in today's society have
theater on Monday eve- become addicted to fossil fuel
elcomed Winona LaDuke, energy, and that in order to
nerican Indian environ- change the situation, people
need to go back to local com-
munities and work on sustain-
able energy.
The Native American Student
Association co-sponsored the
event with a number of student
organizations. LSA junior Isa
Gaillard, chair of NASA, said he
hopes the event illustrates Native
Americans' dedication to the
environment.
"We hope it will raise
awareness of Native American
communities and show how
See ACTIVIST, Page 3
Girlfriend,
mother decline to
comment on where
Stevens had been
,ByMATT SLOVIN
ManagingEditor
At about 8:15 a.m. Mon-
day, Engineering junior Luke
Stevens, missing since early
Sunday, returned via taxi to
his Michigan Avenue apart-
ment where he was last
seen, according to police and
friends.
Stevens was at University
Hospital with his girlfriend,
LSA junior Alison O'Brien,
when O'Brien was reached by
phone Monday morning.
"He's fine," O'Brien said.
"He's just really cold."
O'Brien declined to comment
further.
Stevens' mother, Deborah
Stevens, said her son is current-
ly recovering, adding that she
was worried when her son went
missing and he had never disap-
peared like this'before.
- Stevens said she would prefer
not to explain her son's disap-
pearance on Sunday.
"I just want to thank the
by friends
entire community for their
support and for all the people
that searched for him," Stevens
said. "The outcome turned out
good, and we are so thankful
for that."
Noah Balsmeyer, president
of the University's chapter of
the Triangle Fraternity, said
members of the fraternity
were worried about Stevens
and were in the process of
forming a search party when
they heard the announcement
Monday morning that he was
safe.
"The members of triangle
are very relieved to see he was
See MISSING, Page 3
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