Monday, May 17, 2010 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Senator questions tax-exempt bonds Physicists from around the world attend the Spring Symposium on Higgs Boson Physics in West Hall on Friday. Here, audience members listen to Andre Gritsan from Johns Hopkins speak on "spin determination of single-produced resonances at hadron colliders." ''symposi u__m_ targets hunt for physiCs particle University could see limits on construction financing options By KYLE SWANSON Daily News Editor One federal legislator could be gearing up to take aim at an impor- tant financing mechanism that many schools use to finance construction projects on their campuses. Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) said recently that he was concerned with the findings of a government study that examined, among other things, the use of tax-exempt bonds by insti- tutions of higher education. "This report raises questions for parents, students and taxpay- ers about universities issuing bonds and going into debt when they have money in the bank," Grassley said in a statement. "Issuing bonds costs money on interest and management fees," he continued. "Does the expense of debt service take money away from student aid or academic service? Do bond issu- ances occur even as universities raise tuition and build investment assets? These are fur- ther questions to ' explore." In arequestcfor comment from >-'" The Michigan- Daily two weeks ago, University KYLE SWANSON spokesman Rick Fitzgerald said vng he believed itA f was too early to comment on the senator's comments because he hasn'tyetlaid out a propos- al for revising the current tax-exempt bond program. "It's too soon to really speculate," Fitzgerald said of the implications a change could have on the University. Fitzgerald acknowledged that a change to the current system could affect the University, which uses tax-exempt bonds for construction projects on campus. However, he emphasized that the University only does so for construction projects. - But University officials are no strang- ers to Grassley's calls for reform in higher education. The ranking minority memberrofthe Senate Finance Commit- tee has a reputation for examining the financial management practices of non- profits, like the University. In 2008, Grassley criticized the investment and spending practices of universities across the country, call- ing on them to spend a greater share of their endowments. At the time, Grassley told The New York Times, "Tuition has gone up, col- lege presidents' salaries have gone up, and endowments continue to go up and up. We need to start seeing tuition relief for families go up just as fast." However, his efforts created contro- versy at the University, where University President Mary Sue Coleman told The Michigan Daily last year that she strong- ly disagreed with Grassley's assessment. Coleman told the Daily at the time that she felt the University needed to balance current demands against planning for the future - a reason why a limited payout from the endow- ment would be in place. That same message was echoed in Coleman's response to Grassley and his colleagues on the Senate Finance Committee - which requested infor- mation about the endowment invest- ment and payout policies at 136 universities in the U.S. "The University of Michigan has a responsibility to diversify and strengthen its financial base through its endowment in order to maintain its quality and accessibility in the face of inflation, inevitable fluctuations in the financial markets, and tightening state and federal budgets," Coleman wrote in a response letter to the committee at the time. After several months of review, Grassley eventually backed down from his calls for higher mandatory endowment payouts. But questions still remain as to whether Grassley will pursue a simi- lar campaign with reform of tax- exempt bonds. He has not yet called for any such reform publicly, saying instead that the issue needs to be explored further. At least one leading industry expert has told The Chronicle of Higher Edu- cation that any campaign to restrict access to funding for higher education could be devastating in the current economic climate. "Now would be a very bad time to make it more difficult for nonprofit organizations in this country to bor- row money," Charles Samuels, an attorney for the National Association of Health and Educational Facilities Finance Authorities, told the Chron- icle last week. "It isn't going to really help the cost of higher education to restrict financing." e1Michipan Daily 420 Maynard St. AnneArhor, Mt 4809-t327 www.mihigandaily.com ANDREW LAPIN BRAD WILEY Editor in Chief Business Manager 734-6736 746-05 rpinuichedu Oabui,,,,Oga,g,, CONTACT INFORMATION Newsroom Ofce hours: Sun-Thurs. 11 a.m. -2 a.m. 734-763-2459 News Tips news@michigandaiy.com Correcectns c.r.ecrions@michigandailv.com LetterstothetEditor iothedaily michigandaity.com PhotoDepartment photorichigandaiy.com Arts Section artspage@michigandaly com 7a4-763-0379 Editorial Page opinion@michigandaily.com SportstSection sports@michgandachen 734-764-8s85 Sales daitydisplanai.comt Classified Sales daiycrassified@gmail.com 734-764-0557 Finance imdfirance ebmail.com EDITORIAL STAFF Ryantartje Managing Editor rkarjn~aumicn.,du EshwariThirunavukkarasu ManagingNewsEditor ASCAEEITORS: Caitlin Huston, SuzanneJacobs,DevonThorsby Alex Schiff Editorial Page Editor aschiffaumich.edu ASSOCIATE EDITORS: Nick Clift, Joe Staplet:on Mark Burns ManagingSportsEditor burmark,5(ih. du ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Ben Estes Sharon Jacobs and EmmatJeszke ManagingArts Editors lake Fomm Managinhoto Editor KatherineAxelsen ManagingDesign Editor ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Coreen Del ever TorehanSharman Managing Multimedia Editor tsharman"*"mich-ed" BUSINESS STAFF .uliannatCrim Sales Manager HillarySzawala ClassiftedManager Meghan Rooney Layout Manager JasonMahakian Production Manager The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is pabtishrd hMonday throagh Feiday dunt the 'at. and winter termby stadents at the University of Michigan. One copy is available free of charge to all readers. Additional copi ennay be yicked up at the tait's offie for $2. Subscriytioes fon fall tern, starting in September, via U.S. mail are $110. Winter term(anuary through April) is $115, yearlong (September through Apil) is $195. Univeruitf affimatesare sabjectto a reduced subsription rate. On-campus subscriptions for fail term are $35. Subscriptions must be prepaid. The Michigan Daity isa nembeeof The Associated PresnandThehAssociated Collegiate Press. 0 Theoretical physicists convene to discuss Higgs boson By ESHWAR THIRUNAVUKKARASU ManagingNewsEditor With about 210,000 gallons of oil spilling into the Gulf of MexicLess than two months ago, the Large Had- ron Collider - a particle accelerator located in a 17-mile tunnel beneath Switzerland and France - set the world record for the highest-energy particle collision. Many physicists believe the feat marks a significant step forward in discoveringthe origin of all mass in the universe. A three-day conference hosted by The Michigan Center for Theoreti- cal Physics recently brought together theorists from around the world to discuss the next step in finding the elusive particle known as the Higgs boson. Aaron Pierce, University profes- sor of physics and co-organizer of the spring symposium, described the Higgs boson as the particle which, among other things, is theorized to give mass to all other subatomic par- ticles, such as electrons and protons. "The Standard Model is a spectac- ularly successful theory that explains most of what we know about particle physics so far," Pierce said. "There is one piece missing, and that one piece is a particle called the Higgs boson." Pierce added that physicists have long been unable to explain that pho- tons - particles responsible for elec- tricity and magnetism - are massless while other particles with a defin- able mass are capable of facilitating processes like radioactive decay. The Higgs boson, he said, could resolve the mystery. James Wells, who is also a Uni- See PHYSICS, Page 7 9