(Ie4 fiidiqan 0ail1j (V, iL\11 G( )I, 1 N I Ann Arbor, Michigan Wednesday, October 15, 2014 michigandaily com ADMINISTRATION new rules for severe weather TERESA MATHEW/Daily First Lady Michelle Obama speaks in Detroit in support of U.S. Senate candidate Gary Peters and Michigan gubernatorial candidate Mark Schauer Friday. ii ' Frst Lady leads rally for Mich. Dmcasin Detroit After polar vortex, updated policy will guide emergency closure decisions By CLAIRE BRYAN Daily StaffReporter When a polar vortex kept the wind chill well below zero for several days last Janu- ary, the University canceled a day of classes due to severe weather for the first time since 1978. Monday, the University released an updated policy to guide future partial or entire' severe weather-related clo- sures. Under the new policy, the executive director of the Uni- versity's Division of Safety and Security is responsible for assessing conditions and con- sulting with experts before providing a recommendation to the University president about whether to reduce Uni- versity operations or cancel classes. The updated policy has been renamed Emergency Reduc- tion in Operations instead of Emergency Closure in Opera- tions, since the University provides many critical servic- es, such as health care provi- sions and services in campus residence halls, that cannot be fully suspended. Laurita Thomas, associ- ate vice president for Human Resources, chaired the com- mittee charged with updating the University's policy. In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Thomas said the Uni- versity was never completely closed when classes were can- celled last January. "All of our commitments to research, to patient care and to our community, the university is never going to close, but it can reduce operations if safe- ty calls for that and warrants that," she said According to the commit- See WEATHER, Page 3A Michelle Obama urges voters to back Schauer, Peters By RACHEL PREMACK Daily NewsEditor First Lady Michelle Obama campaigned in Detroit Friday for a number of Michigan Democrats up for office in the Nov. 4 election. Her 30-minute speech followed short addresses by candidates and prominent figures including Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and U.S. Rep. John Dingell. The speakers underlined the necessity to not only vote, but encourage voting among, as Obama said, "your family, your neighbors and folks from church." Obama referenced her husband's election in 2008 when record numbers of typically underrepre- sented demographics voted. "Now, a lot of people were shocked when Barack won, you remember that?" Obama said, the crowd roaring "Yeah!" "They were shocked, because they were counting on folks like us to stay home, but we proved them wrong, because record numbers of minorities and women and young people showed up and voted." This election is especially cru- cial for the Michigan Democratic Party. Republican Gov. Rick Sny- der, whose right to work legisla- tion was repeatedly criticized during Friday's campaign event, is up for reelection against chal- lenger Mark Schauer, a former member of the U.S. House of Rep- resentatives. See RALLY, Page 3A RENOVATIONS New business building to honor Jeff Blau MUSICAL A Regents to consider new Ross structure dedication at meeting Thursday By SAM GRINGLAS Daily News Editor The University's Board of Regents will convene Thurs- day at the University of Michigan - Flint's campus to approve a handful of pro- posals, including the nam- ing of the new Ross School of Business academic Building for University alum and real estate executive Jeff Blau. In a communication to the regents, Business Dean Ali- son Davis-Blake and Douglas Strong, interim executive vice president and chief financial officer, wrote that Blau had made a $5 million donation to the school, on top of a previous $4 million gift in 2006. The 104,000-square-foot academic building will be con- structed on the corner of East University Avenue and the Monroe Mall, on the site of the school's former Computer and Executive Education facil- ity. The new building is part of a $135 million construc- tion project, which is aiming to add additional office and classroom space and create a cohesive look for the entire Business School campus. The project is largely fund- ed by a gift from real estate mogul Stephen Ross, a Uni- versity alum who made a record-breaking $200 million donation to the University last fall: The gift was to be evenly split between the namesake Ross School of Business and the Athletic Department. Last spring, the University's regents voted to name the rename much of south campus the Stephen M. Ross Athletic Campus. In September, the regents approved the construction of a $168 million South Campus athletics facility, funded in part by the Ross donation. Blau is a 1990 graduate of See REGENTS, Page 2A Students take the opportunity to conduct an orchestra on the Diag Friday. The band was made up of musicians who aren't majoring in music, but were playing for the sake of their own passion for music. CAMPUS LIFE Urban entrepreneurship symposium talks Detroit RESEARCH Taubman grant funds biomedical research Annual $100K gift to support cutting- edge treatment for leukemia By JACKIE MILLER For the Daily Friday morning, the A. Alfred Taubman Medical Research Institute presented its $100,000 Taubman Prize for Excellence in Transla- tion Medical Science to Carl June, the Richard W. Vague Professor in Immunotherapy, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, at its sev- enth annual symposium in the Kahn Auditorium in the Biomedical Science Research Building. About 200 people, mostly members of the medical com- munity, attended the event that emphasized keynote speaker Dr. Carl June and his revolutionary work in leu- kemia treatment. However, See GRANT, Page 2A D at An build first- iscussion looks ship Symposium at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library Friday. sustainability in David Tarver, a lecturer at the College of Engineering and the metro areas Center for Entrepreneurship, founded the Urban Entrepre- By TANAZ AHMED neurship Initiative and hosted Daily StaffReporter the symposium to foster discus- sion about sustainable business nid engineering and dance solutions in urban areas such as ings, North Campus saw the Detroit. ever Urban Entrepreneur- "The purpose was to really connect all of the entrepreneur- ial activity, resources and brain- power with the needsthat existin urban areas," Tarver said. "And, to get better at identifying prob- lems in urban areas and identify- ingentrepreneurial solutions. The University has many disciplines in which we are the top in the world so there are alot innovations that can be applied to the problemsoin a See SYMPOSIUM, Page 3A WEATHER HI 63 WEATHER mHI: 63 TOMORROW LO:44 r GOT A NEWS TIP? Call 734-418-4115 or e-mail news@michigandaily.com and let us know. NEW ON MICHIGANDAILY.COM JFK announced Peace Corps at UM 50 years ago MICHIGANDAILY.COM/BLOGS INDEX Vol. CXXV, Not!1 ©20t4 The MichiganDaily michigondaily.com NEWS.....................2A OPINION..........4A SUDOKU.....................2A CLASSIFIEDS....... ....6..6A ARTS.........................3A STATEM ENT. .. .....1B f a