Higher education budget passed

OPINION
The problem with
public funding
Robert Soave explains how the
public tunding program exclu-
sively benefits majority parties,
vwhiie hanging the underdogs
out to dry.
See Page 4
ARTS
'WALL--E' blasts into
theaters
The new family film shows Pixar
at the top of its game with an
exciting, unique and intelligent
scifi adventure.
See Page 9
SPORTS
Beijing-bound
Club Wolverine swimmer
Michael Phelps secured a spot
in the 2008 Summer Olympics
and set a world record in the
400-meter individual medley
at the U.S. Olympic swimming
trials in Omaha yesterday.
See Page 11
INDEX
Vol. CXViii, No. 143
©2008 The Michigan Daily
. michigandaily.com
SU D O K U ........................................2
O PIN IO N ........................................4
CLASSIFIEDS.................................6
CROSSW ORD ................................6
A R TS ...............................................9
SPORTS... .............................. 11

By JULIE ROWE
ManagingNews Editor
Nearly three months before the
deadline, the Michigan Legisla-
ture determined a large portion of
the state budget for the next fiscal
year Friday.
Lawmakers discussed and voted
on legislation until 2:00 a.m. Satur-
day, but the bill providing a 1-per-
cent across-the-board increase
for the state's public universities
passed both houses relatively

quickly in the middle of the day.
Michigan's public institutions
will see an overall budget increase
of $14 million. The 1-percent
increase will allocate an addition-
al $3.2 million to the University,
bringing the total state appropria-
tions for the Ann Arbor campus to
$326 million.
Gov. Jennifer Granholm's pro-
posed budget included a 3-percent
increase for state universities, as
did the state Senate bill passed in,
earlyFebruary.Another bill passed
by the House of Representatives
earlier this month allocated an
average increase of 2.8 percent.
But when state revenue fell
$400 million short of what Gran-
holm and lawmakers anticipated,

budgets were cut or given smaller
increases. The governor and state
legislators negotiated Wednesday
to resolve the revenue deficit and
settled on the 1-percent increase
for higher education, the same
increase universities saw last year.
"I was hoping for more obvi-
ously, but given the current finan-
cial situation with a $400 million
deficit in our spending, we all had
to take certain cutbacks," said Rep.
Pam Byrnes (D-Chelsea), chair of
the higher education appropria-
tions subcommittee.
"We're disappointed," said Mike
Boulos, executive director of the
President's Council of the State
Universities of Michigan, which
See BUDGET, Page 2

UP IN THE AIR

percent
Hike will cost in-
state LSA students
an additional $590
By LINDY STEVENS
DailyNewsEditor
The University's undergraduate
tuition rate will see a 5.6-percent
increase duringthe2008-2009 aca-
demic year. The measure approved
by a unanimous vote of the Univer-
sity's Board of Regents on June 19
means that in-state freshmen in
the College of Literature, Science
and the Arts will pay $11,637 to
attend the University.
That figure represents a $590
increase from last year's rate for
in-state students.
See TUITION, Page 8
TUITION INCREASE
Annual increases in tuition over the past
10 years from previous year
YEAR %INCREASE* TUITION
1999-2000 2.8% $6,333.38
2000-2001 2.8% $6,513.38
2001-2002 6.5% $6,935.38
2002-2003 7.9% $7,485.38
2003-2004 6.5% $7,975.38
2004-2005 2.8% $8,201.38
2005-2006 12.3% $9,213.38
2006-2007 5.5% $9,723.38
2007-2008 7.4% $10,447.38
2O8-2-009 5.6% $11,037.38
'Oata reflectsfall semester tuition increase for
in-state LSA undergraduate students
soURCE: THE UNivERSITY OF MICHIGAN

A memberof the aerial performance group "The Dream Engine" floats gracefully in mid-air beneath a large helium balloon
at Ann Arbor Summer Festival's Top of the Park. For more, go to www.michigandaily.com.