46F 46F 46F 4pc ic 1 an 4,.3allm ON H.- I I U.N I I Y-1 k Ann Arbor, Michigan Monday, November 25,2013 michigandaily.com ADMINISTRATION Initiative challenged by faculty petition Left: Firas Mouasher, Engineering sophomore, pitches an idea at a "Customer Discovery" Session at the MPowered 1,000 Pitches Summit at Palmer Commons Saturday, Right: Joshua Spigelman, Engineering freshman, pitches his idea. Semi-finalists develop pitches 1000 Pitches Summit features 200 of 5,342 initial applicants By KRISTEN FEDOR Daily StaffReporter Investors, pay attention., Two hundred University stu- dents came together Saturday at the 1000 Pitches Summit in Palmer Commons to push their ideas and innovations. These semi-finalists were selected from a record-breaking pool of 5,342 pitches in the startup competition sponsored by the student-run entrepreneurship organization, MPowered. Students from a variety of disciplines submitted simple video pitches to one of nine cat- egories, ranging from health to education to mobile apps. A winner will be selected from each of these categories, receiv- ing $1,000 in prize money to further their idea. This year, the project was expanded to Pennsylvania State University, where the 1,000- pitch goal was met as well. The total of this year's campaign reached 6,396 pitches between the two universities. At Saturday's summit, the 200 students with the most impressive pitches had the opportunity to develop their ideas in anticipation of the announcement of the winners in a few weeks. Business sophomore Zach Wloch, a 1000 Pitches project director, stressed the value of the summit for the semifinal- ists. "We provide the basic skills about how to take an idea to the next level," Wloch said. "The main goal is to promote collabo- ration and show them that any idea can really take off." The summit kicked off with advice from keynote speakers See PITCHES, Page 5A Shared services would centralize 275 HR and finance staff By JENNIFER CALFAS Daily StaffReporter University faculty have created a petition against the University's proposed Shared Service Center an open letter to University Presi- dent Mary Sue Coleman and Uni- versity Provost Martha Pollack. The consolidation of services is a cost-saving measure that will create a centralized loca- tion to transfer 275 departmental human-resource and finance from many departments sometime next year. Since the beginning of November, administrators have received a slew of letters from University departments concern- ing the Shared Services Center, which is a part of the Adminis- trative Service Transformation project. The Shared Services Center is expected to save $5 million to $6 million annually in an effort to help reduce up to $120 million in costs over the next five years, according to estimates by the University. The new center will be located close to the Univer- sity's Wolverine Tower building on South State Street near Briar- wood Mall. The savings from the center will be directed toward mak- ing college more affordable for See PETITION, Page 5A HEALTH CARE Save A Heart raises funds for Moti patients Celebration at the marily benefit families of con- genital heart disease patients. League benefits "it means a lot to patients and myself. It's a real labor of families of heart love," said Stephanie Cloutier, a volunteer whose daughter disease patients was diagnosed with congenital heart disease in 2001. By EMMA KERR Various student organiza- Daily StaffReporter tions helped in preparing for the event, including Circle K Having a child with a heart and the University of Michi- defect comes at costs far gan Pre-Medical Club. Volun- beyond those covered by health teers worked to set up a silent insurance. To offer support to auction that consisted of fine the families of children staying wines, autographed Michigan at the Congenital Heart Center football gear, free event tickets at C.S. Mott Children's Hospi- and other items. tal and dealing with all of the Guests enjoyed an extensive trying issues, more than 700 wine list and food choices from people gathered in the Michi- many local restaurants and gan League Friday. shops, including Zingerman's, The 21st annual Save A Afternoon Delight, Conor Heart Celebration, which O'Neills and La Dolce Vita. filled the League with fami- Affected families spoke lies, surgeons and volunteers, about the level of support focused on raising funds that they experienced at the cen- primarily benefit the families ter, and how their lives have of children with congenital been affected by their expe- heart disease. Save A Heart riences. Parents said they also facilitates the need for attended both in gratitude for community awareness about the restored life and happiness the heart disease. that surgeons provided to their Event coordinators expect children as well as in honor of anywhere from $75,000 to the children who did not sur- $100,000 in proceeds from the vive. celebration, though the exact "Families have a lot to worry number is not currently avail- about already, the last thing able. The proceeds from the they need to worry about is Save A Heart Celebration pri- See HEART, Page 5A RYAN REISS/Daily Holocaust survivor Rene Lichtman shares photographs at the Holocaust survivor luncheon at Hillel Sunday. Holocaust survivors share stories with'U community STUDENT LIFE Detroit event focuses on mentorship, preparing for college apps University offices partner with Detroit Center to educate potential advisers By ALLANA AKHTAR Daily StaffReporter DETROIT - The University's Detroit Center, located on the edge of downtown, held a seminar Saturday to educate mentors of Detroit youth about the college admissions and enrollment process. The Detroit Center partnered with the University's Center for Education- al Outreach, Office of Undergraduate Admissions, Office of New Student Programs and Office of Financial Aid to present a series of lectures aimed at informing mentors about college preparation, finding the right school, procuring financial aid and adjusting to college life. The center also reached out to Big Brother and Big Sisters of Metropolitan Detroit to help volun- teers better understand how to best serve their mentees. Feodies Shipp III, associate direc- tor of the Detroit Center and a former University admissions officer, spear- headed the educational initiative. Shipp said the center chose to reach out to mentors rather than directly to See DETROIT, Page 5A Hillel holds seventh annual luncheon focusing on Jewish history By EMILIE PLESSET Daily StaffReporter The University of Michi- gan Hillel hosted the seventh- annual Conference on the Holocaust luncheon Sunday to honor Holocaust survivors. About 200 University stu- dents and faculty and 50 sur- vivors attended the luncheon, with four to five students and one to three survivors at each table.As the event commenced, students and survivors got acquainted with intimate one- on-one discussions over bagels and tuna. LSA senior Michelle Kappy and LSA junior Alana Karbal, co-directors of the conference, welcomed students and sur- vivors and encouraging them to engage and have meaning- ful conversation with each other. Tilly Shames, Hillel's executive director, spoke on the importance of publicizing Jewish history and survival to the world. After, she led the crowd in Mourner's Kaddish - a Jewish prayer for those who have passed. Because Chanukah, the Jewish festival of lights,begins Wednesday, the event incor- porated a holiday theme with Chanukah cookies and spin- ning dreidel toys on the tables. "It is really nice to sit in a relaxed environment with the survivors and hear their sto- ries," LSA sophomore Ilana Beroff said. "It's nice to have them sit with a small group of students and get to know them on a better level." Many of the survivors attend the luncheon each year and are part of the Program for Holocaust Survivors and Fam- ilies, a Detroit-based program dedicated to the needs of Holo- caust survivors and their fami- See SURVIVORS, Page SA WEATHER HI: 33 TOMORROW LO: 18 GOT A NEWS TIP? 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