Opinion 4 The Daily discusses the candidates
forthis Tuesday's primary.
Sports 15 Dight Helminen leaves the ice
hockey team for the NHL.

One-hundred-thirteen years ofedtorialfreedom

Monday, August 2, 2004
Summer Weekly

wwwmichigandady.com Ann Arbor, Michigan Vol. CXIII, No. 152 @2004 The Michigan Daily

Interim

Back in Boston

dean of
students
named
By Melton Lee
and Mona Rafeeq
Daily Staff Reporters
As the Michigan Student Assembly
and the University work to conduct a
national search to replace Dean of Stu-
dents Ed Willis, a former associate dean
at the law school will temporarily
assume the position.
Vice President for Student Affairs E.
Royster Harper announced by e-mail
Friday that Susan Eklund will be the
interim dean of students in the fall. The
replacement follows the resignation of
Willis on May 12 for personal and fami-
ly-related reasons.
The dean of students coordinates the
University's various Division of Student
Affairs departments including co-curric- Democratic
ular programs, multicultural services above him as
and specialized services for students as Inside: Cove
well as faculty and staff.
The University Board of Regents is
expected to approve Eklund's appoint-
ment to the position onAugust 9 S p a
"The main thing I want to do is he
supportive of the really terrific staff in
the Division of Student Affairs. They By Chloe Foster
have a lot of strategies and plans for the Daily Staff Reporter
upcoming year and it is really important
that they do not have to slow down to M ESSENGE
implement their ideas because I am designed to capt
here," Eklund said. other data of M
Citing Eklund's 30 years of experi- itinerant journey
ence in student affairs and leadership, making it the firt
Harper said that she is excited to have there since the
her serving in this role. "(Eklund) is a and Space Ad
seasoned professional who will assist Mariner 10 in 19
the Office of the Dean of Students in MESSENGER
vide scientists
See DEAN, Page 3 observations of N

presidential candidate John Kerry addresses the delegates at the convention in Boston, Mass on Thursday, July 29. Kerry referred to the flag
a symbol of the American people as part of his speech accepting the nomination.
rage of the Democratic National Convention. Pages 7-10.
cecraft to erCury fts off today

R - a spacecraft
ure photographs and
ercury - begins its
to the planet today,
st spacecraft to travel
National Aeronautics
ministration sent
73.
R, designed to pro-
with more detailed
Mercury, includes an

instrument created by University sci-
entists, called Fast Imaging Plasma
Spectrometer.
Engendered to capture photographs
and other data from a planet, flyby
spacecrafts like MESSENGER
encounter a wide variety of tumult
and hazard in its lifetime. Faced with
strong solar winds, high radiation
levels and extreme temperatures, the
spacecrafts must be designed specifi-
cally to avoid calamity while sending
valuable information back to Earth.
NASA has sent more than 20 flyby

spacecrafts into our solar system.
The Solar Helospheric Research
Group, made up of faculty and stu-
dents from the department of Atmos-
pheric, Oceanic and Space Sciences
at the University, has developed FIPS
in part to be a solution to the hostile
environment a spacecraft encounters
while circling Mercury. Because of
its proximity to the sun, the plasma
surrounding Mercury is characterized
by extremely hot temperatures and
high density. FIPS has the capability
to counter these harsh conditions

while providing scientists with highly
accurate measurements of Mercury's
atmosphere.
Pat Koehn, assistant resident sci-
entist on the Research Group, said
FIPS acts like a camera, recording
the mass, direction and speed of par-
ticles floating around Mercury's
orbit. It will also determine exactly
what type of particles exist in its
atmosphere.
In NASA's first attempt to glean
information from Mercury 30 years
See MERCURY, Page 3

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