~11E £ dpan 0.axlj (IIW 111 )1 4 INI 111 iikS1 118 I HI IIO Ann Arbor, Michigan Thursday, September 5, 2013 michigandaily.com Gift benefits high-profile departments Big day for big money Reaction mixed among students on donation recipients By SAM GRINGLAS Daily StaffReporter The Ross School of Busi- ness and the University Athletic Department are not first-time beneficiaries of real-estate mogul Stephen Ross. Though many students expressed appreciation for Ross's $200-million donation at a glitzy celebration Wednesday crowded with top University officials and students, others took to social media to question the choice of recipients - units of the Uni- versity that some argue affect a small percentage of the school's overall population or are already well-funded. Justin Pope, a former Associ- ated Press national education reporter who was once a Knight- See GIFT, Page 6A Stephen Ross gets the maize-carpet treatment for $200-million gift By PETER SHAHIN AND JENNIFER CALFAS Daily NewsEditor and Daily StaffReporter A maize carpet lined the entrance to the Ross School of Business Wednesday morning. Just hours after the University announced the largest single donation in the school's history, a celebratory event - including a performance by the Michigan Marching Band - welcomed Business students and adminis- trators. The event was held to thank philanthropist and real estate mogul Stephen Ross's record- breaking$200-million donation, which will be split between his namesake school and the Ath- letic Department. Nearly 10 years after a $100-million dona- tion to the business school that bears his name, Ross said the newest donation will "finish the job and do it right." Students packed the event, donning maize shirts that read "Welcome Home" with a quo- tation from Ross on the back: "You get by giving." The crowd, which included many high-level University administrators, col- lected in the Business School atrium and heard speeches from Ross, University President Mary Sue Coleman, Business School Dean Alison Davis-Blake and Business graduate student Damian Chatman, president of the school's student government association. Ross, who is founder and chairman of the Related Compa- nies and has a Forbes-estimated net worth of $4.4 billion, said while his first donation helped advance the Business School, the new gift will take it to new heights. "It's really exciting also to know that we can see this facil- ity knowing that we can finish the rest of the campus and really make it the best business school in the country," Ross said. Coleman spoke to the audi- ence before Ross, first joking about the timeliness of the announcement: "I think the first day of classes every-year should start this way." Coleman said she was with Ross in 2004 when he announced his first $100-mil- lion donation, adding that she was thrilled the most recent donation happened during her term as president. In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Ross said he was actively recruited by the Business School for the lat- est gift. Besides the extensive renovations to the "business campus," the donation will also help provide financial aid and an expansion of career services. Separately, the $100-million gift to the Athletic Department will help fund a variety of programs See MONEY, Page 6A CITY GOVERNMENT Mixed Use Party loses candidate for council ANN ARBOR AnnArbor.com rolled into main MLive website in media shakeup University alum drops out of City Council race for personal reasons By TAYLOR WIZNER Daily News Editor University alum Jaclyn Vresics, who was running for the first ward seat on the Ann Arbor City Council this November as an independent, has withdrawn her campaign for personal reasons, according S to her co-chair in the Mixed Use Party, Will Leaf. The Mixed Use Party is a group of students and Ann Arbor residents that want to simplify Ann Arbor's zoning plan. The party is running on a platform of "non-discrimina- tory zoning" which deals with assigning districts based on the potential harms of individual buildings rather than on the type of neighborhoods. Mixed Use Party candidate Conrad Brown, a University alum is still running against incumbent city council mem- ber Jane Lumm (I-Ward 2). The party's other candidate, Sam DeVarti, a student at Eastern Michigan University, is also still running against Councilmem- ber Stephen Kunselman (D- Ward 3). In a statement, Vresics said she will continue to support the party, though she can no longer continue campaigning for per- sonal reasons. "Although personal reasons require that I withdraw from the election; the Mixed Use Party has my unwavering sup- port," Vresics said in a state- ment. "I have full confidence in Conrad and Sam as candidates, and I maintain my belief that the party's platform will bring See COUNCIL, Page 7A Print edition to be rebranded as The Ann Arbor News By AUSTEN HUFFORD Online Editor In an effort to streamline pro- duction and content delivery, the MLive Media Group announced Wednesday that AnnArbor.com would cease to exist as a stand- alone website, instead integrated into the larger MLive.com. This move puts the news out- let in line with several other city papers around the state, includ- ing The Grand Rapids Press and The Flint Journal, which are housed on MLive. AnnArbor. com was its only separately mar- keted website. MLive said there would be no staff changes as a result of the website's closure. In an open letter to readers, Dan Gaydou, MLive's CEO and president, and Laurel Cham- pion, the company's southeast Michigan General Manager, said AnnArbor.com was a "huge suc- cess," citing high market pen- etration. "This transitionbrings togeth- er two of the most successful dig- ital news platforms to leverage the best of them both," the letter stated. The publication's twice weekly print editions will also be rebranded as The Ann Arbor News, and will contain Ann- Arbor-focused content froni MLive. AnnArbor.com is the latest incarnation of the 174-year-old Ann Arbor News, a daily print publication that covered and the University's campus, which ceased printing amid gener- al financial difficulties in the industry in 2009. At the time of the paper's closing, Ann Arbor became the largest city in Amer- ica without a professional daily newspaper, and The Michigaa Daily became the only daily print See MLIVE, Page 7 I WEATHER HI:76 T OMORROW L 59 GOT A NEWS TIP? Call 734-418-4115 or e-mail news@michigandaily.com and let us know. 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