2 - The Michigan Daily - Monday, May 23, 2005 'U' will renovate Mosher- Jordan By Lindsey Ungar Daily Staff Reporter Mosher-Jordan Residence Hall will be the first residence hall to undergo building-wide renovation and restora- tion as part of the Residential Life Ini- tiatives program. The University Board of Regents approved the $44 million project during its meeting last week. The renovations will make signifi- cant improvements to student rooms and create new spaces - such as a Community Learning Center - to increase interaction between students while studying and socializing. Construction on Mosher-Jordan is slat- ed to begin in the spring of 2006. Direc- tor Housing Public Affairs Alan Levy said the Mosher-Jordan for completion of the renovations is the fall of 2007. RLI is considering heritage build- ings in the Hill Area for the first series of residence hall renovations. The next project will most likely be Stockwell Residence Hall, according to Levy. Heritage buildings are historically and architecturally significant build- FORMULA Continued from page 1 said. Boulus added that changing the way money is given to universities without an increase in higher education funding was akin to "rearranging the seats on the Titanic." Mosher-Jordan Residence Hall's renovations will be finished in 2007. ings on campus, according to Levy. He added that Mosher-Jordan was selected as the first residence hall after a campus-wide facility audit. Built in 1930, Mosher-Jordan is in need of infrastructure updates, Levy said. After the renovations, the hall will be equipped with air condition- ing and wireless high-speed Internet access. The building will also see upgrades in new plumbing, heating, fire detection, accessibility and bath- room facilities. "We want the building to be restored to its original grandeur," Levy said. "When the students come back (after the renovations), they will be wowed." LSA sophomore Chris Ebert, who lived in Mosher-Jordan his freshman year, agreed that the residence hall needs to be updated. "It's pretty dilapidated. A lot of stuff in our room was broken," Ebert said. Last week's revenue estimating con- ference in Lansing determined that there will be $16.5 million available to univer- sities and community colleges. The money comes from a surplus in Michigan's general fund. After Gran- holm cut $30 million from higher edu- cation in March, her budget mandated The Regents appointed Goody Clancy & Associates to lead the design plan. Levy said the firm was brought in because it had a significant amount of experience with historical preservation. "We wanted to bring in someone who is sensitive to the current archi- tecture," Levy said. Originally designed in the Gothic-style, Mosher-Jordan will mainly see updates to its interior. One major exterior change will be the removal of the current loading dock in the front of the building. Levy said they plan to replace it with a "grand entrance." Engineering sophomore Katherine Adler said she was glad that most of the changes were internal. "Most of the beauty is on the outside," Adler said. "So (the renovations) won't destroy that." Currently Mosher-Jordan houses around 500 students, and that will change little after the renovation, Levy said. that any surplus in the general fund must be given to higher education in Michi- gan this year. Granholm's cut was in response to a revenue shortfall for the fiscal year. She made the cut after prom- ising universities she would not cut fund- ing if they held tuition at or below the rate of inflation, which they had done. Greenbelt program receives $1.7 m By Laura Van Hyfte - urban sprawl," Garfield said. Daily News Editor The federal government approved the county's conservation projects, Garfield The federal government allocated $1.7 said. million to the Greenbelt Program, push- "The federal (government) says that ing Ann Arbor one step closer to obtain- we are headed in the right direction and ing the land necessary for the project. we are doing all of the difficult, behind The Greenbelt Program is run by the the scenes work," he added. city of Ann Arbor and provides money to Garfield said the overwhelming sup- preserve land in eight townships around port for the Greenbelt can be attributed the city. to the fear of urban sprawl consuming The Greenbelt would be a system the beauty that Ann Arbor has to offer. of undeveloped open spaces, including "People in Ann Arbor don't want farmland and parks. The areas would this place to become just like Oak- provide leisure space for residences and land county or a suburb of Detroit," try to combat urban sprawl. Garfield said. "We don't want strip The project has been working to buy malls or wall to wall subdivisions. land, or the rights to land that surrounds One of the things people like about the city limits since 2003. Ann Arbor is the surrounding natural Of the $3.1 million given to Michigan areas where people can bike, run and for conservation, $2.7 million was given be outdoors." to Washtenaw County for the Greenbelt. Funding will also help ease the tax- A single county receiving federal payer burden that would have been funding of this amount is unprecedent- required to purchase and preserve ed, said Mike Garfield, chairman of the some of the Greenbelt land. Greenbelt Advisory Commission. Garfield stressed that the project is "Land preservation has never been still fairly far away from being com- done on the scale that we're trying to do pleted. it in Washtenaw County," he said. "We haven't finalized the deals with However,Garfieldsaidthat theunique- all of the landowners and I don't want ness of the project made it worthy of the to celebrate these transactions until extraordinary funding. the ink is dry," Garfield said. "There "All together, Washtenaw County had are several steps that have to be gone six of the top seven properties that were throughbefore we can do that. We have funded by the federal government. That money to spend, but there is going to is because Washtenaw County is head be a lot of work that needs to be done and shoulders above the rest of the state before we get close to our goals. It's facing one of the state's biggest problems going to take several years." -II X4 UARGAINS~cm NO10CLASS ANID LOOKING TO GO ONIANI INITERNIATIONIAL VACATION? AIRSARGAI1J.OOM MAR THE BEST ANDO CHEAPEST AIRFARE PRICES' www.michigandaily.com The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is published Monday through Friday during the fail and winter terms by students at the University of Michigan. One copy is available free of charge to all readers. Additional copies may be picked up at the Daily's office for $2. Subscriptions for fall term, starting in September, via U.S. mail are $110. Winter term (January through April) is $115, yearlong (September through April) is $195. University affiliates are subject to a reduced subscription rate. On-campus subscriptions for fall term are $35. Subscriptions must be prepaid. The Michigan Daily is a member of The Associated Press and The Associated Collegiate Press. ADDRESS: The Michigan Daily, 420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109- 1327. PHONE NUMBER: 734-76-DAILY. E-mail letters to the editor to tothedaily@michigandaily.com. 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