Monday, May 9, 2011 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com CAMPUS ORGaNZATIONS 'U' camps offer students taste of college life More than 9,000 youth expected to attend programs By AUSTINWORDELL Daily StaffReporter For the next three months, the campus will be bustling with campers and guests from around the world as the University hosts a wide range of academic and ath- letic-oriented summer camps. Last summer there were more than 9,000 participants in a wide range of University-sponsored camps, Conference Manager Bob Miller of Wolverine Sum- mer Camps said, adding enroll- ment this summer is expected to increase as the economy begins to recover. "It has been a tough time for a lot of folks, and I think sum- mer camps and activities for kids unfortunately becomes a lower priority when parents have to make choices about the discre- tionary income," Miller said. The athletic camps range from soccer to swimming and run from June through August, according to the University's website. The website also showcased academic camps that focus on specific disciplines like music, business, art, literature and tech- nology. "These are kids of all ages searching for knowledge or ath- letic proficiency," Miller said. "I believe we give them the opportu- nity to glimpse inside the Univer- sity of Michigan experience." Pamela Staton, the University's director of Marketing and Confer- ence Services, said the Universi- ty's athletic and academic camps allow prospective students to see what the University has to offer and provides campers with a taste of college life. "Some campers are so favor- ably impressed that they aspire to be (University) students or (Uni- versity) student-athletes," Staton said. "The exposure to a Univer- sity and the impact that it has in their aspirations to attend U-M is a huge benefit for our campers." However, Miller said it is pos- sible the camps could be affected by financial cuts in the future as a result of Republican Gov. Rick Snyder's budget proposal that entails a 15 percent cut to higher education, potentially impact- ing the University's departmen- tal budgets that fund the camps. Even with these prospective cuts, Miller said he still plans to main- tain the integrity of the programs. "All I can do is keep working hard mentoring and motivating my staff to convey the bestcamper experience we can," Miller said. Staton said she has witnessed an increase in camp attendance and diversity in the past few decades, which she said is impor- tant in fostering tolerance among youth. "The more diverse the atten- dance, the better for campers to ... appreciate other culture and lan- guages while having the love of a sport as common ground," Staton said. "We love the diversity. We attract nationally and interna- tionally." According to the website, the cost of attendance for the summer camps varies based on the type of camp and whether a camper commutes from home or stays in the dorms overnight, and many of the camps have scholarship allot- ments that are made available by the discretion of a camp director. All University camps have a team of counselors, the majority of which are University students, Miller said. He added that coun- selors are trained to help campers get the most out of their experi- ence. "These young adults are so impressive," he said. "Their ener- gy and concern for the safety and overall experience of the young athletes is amazing." Miller added that camp admin- istrators and counselors strive to make the camp experience reflec- tive of the broader University experience. "Through these programs, summer here becomes an exten- sion of the learning, exploring and discovery experiences that shape our students here during the fall and winter terms," he said. 420 Maynard at. Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1327 www.michigandaily.com BETHANY BIRON ZACH YANCER 73441-415ext 2251 734-41-411 xt241 e'tlb@c'viedai""''' e""'r'miiadaitco CONTACT INFORMATION Newsroom Officehours: Sun-Thurs. 11 am. - 2 a.m. 734-763-2459 NewsTips news@michigandaity.com Corrections corrections@michigandaily.com letterstothetEditor tthedaily@ chigandaiy.com or visit michiandily.comlletters PhotoDepartment photo@michigandaity.com ArtsSection artspage@michigandailycom Editorial Page opinion@michigandailycom SportstSection ,sportssmichigandaily.com, Magazine kareckiCmichigandaily.com, 734-764-0554 Advertising ePh,on-4055 Department dispay@ihigandilycom Classifieds Phone7344-055 Department classiied@michigandaily.com EDITORIAL STAFF MarkBums nsManagingEditor b urnma rk@mi ch iganda ily com BrieP, sak ManagingNewsEditor SENIOR NEWSEDITORS:SarahAlsaden, Kaiin Wiliams Teddy aes coEditorial Page Editor SENIOR EDITORIAL PAGE EDITORS: Will Stephen J. 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On-campus subscriptions for fall term are $35. Subscriptions oust be prepaid. The MichianD Tailyisame meroTheAssociated Press and The Associated Collegiate Press. I 4 4 4 University hosts conference on climate issues for students, faculty and activists on campus 'U' emphasizes interdisciplinary approach to climate change issues By SAMANTHA NORMAN Daily StaffReporter While global warming and climate change has long been a problem plaguing environmen- tal scholars, the University held a conference this past week in hopes of gaining the input of researchers in the social sciences as part of an initiative to increase collaboration on the issue. ICARUS II: Climate Vulner- ability and Adaption: Marginal Peoples and Environments - a University symposium held May 5-8 - sought to bring together scholars, students and activists to discuss climate variability and change. Natural Resources and Envi- ronment Prof. and Associate Dean of Research Arun Agrawal, said the lack of a social sciences perspective on climate change is one of the reasons he decided to develop the conference along with SNRE Associate Prof. Maria Lemos in 2009 Agrawal said close interaction among scholars working on the issue led to the conference's cre- ation, adding that there were few arenas for individuals to meet and share their research in the field. "I was working on adapta- tion to climate change and I kept meeting people who were also working on it and they were always complaining about (these) things," Agrawal said. Agrawal emphasized the need for more social scientists to con- duct research on climate change in order to facilitate more effec- tive results in helping improve the state or the environment. "We really need to understand how societies and human beings can adapt to climate change and we really need social scientists to participate in climate change," he said. On Saturday, the third day of the conference, about 100 participants from 25 different countries and multiple interdis- ciplinary backgrounds were pres- ent to share and listen to ideas and research on climate change adaptation. Debora Ley, a Ph.D. candidate at University of oxford who pre- sented a chapter of her disserta- tion at the conference, said the event is important in serv as a way for researchers to present current initiatives and possibly develop ways to work together in the future. "More than a conference or symposium, it's to bring people together to show what they've been doing their research on," Ley said. "There's also dialogue tables to see what further collab- orations can be done either inde- pendently or together." Ley- who isstudyingthe crite- ria under which rural renewable energy systems can simultane- ously meet the triple objective of climate change mitigation, climate change adaptation and sustainable development of rural communities in Central America - said this conference allowed her to hear about the experiences of other people who are working in the same field as her. "I like hearing from other peo- ple who work in Central America to see what they've found to try and work together. I like to net- work and see who else is doing what," Ley said. I I