21
Wednesday, june 27, 2012
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
IT 111
Snyder signs bill for campuses across Mich.
Bill allocates
construction funds,
'U' to get $30
million
By GIACOMO BOLOGNA
ManagingEditor
Yesterday, Republican Gov.
Rick Snyder signed the Capital
Outlay Bill, giving about $304
million to universities and com-
munity colleges across the state
for construction and infrastruc-
ture projects.
The University will receive
$30 million from the state, which,
along with $17 million from the
University's funds, will go toward
renovating the G. G. Brown Labo-
ratory Building on North Campus.
In addition to this project for
the.Ann Arbor campus, the Uni-
versity of Michigan-Dearborn
will receive $30 million and the
REGENTS
From Page 1A
about $273.1 million, increasing
1.6 percent from last year, and is
part of Republican Gov. Rick Sny-
der's projected budget that calls
for a 3.1-percent increase in high-
er education funding. This follows
the fiscal year 2012 budget, in
which the state's 15 public univer-
sities saw a 15-percent decrease in
funding.
During the press conference,
Hanlon said while the University
appreciates its relationship with
the state, the administration will
continue to urge the government
to expand its efforts to aid state
universities that have suffered
repeated cuts over the course-of
the last decade.
"We value our long partnership
with the state, and we appreciate
very much that the state is increas-
ing its investment in higher educa-
tion," Hanlon said. "In real terms,
the state appropriations for the
Ann Arbor campus has dropped
$178 million over the past 11 years,
and so we urge the state to con-
tinue to make higher education a
priority."
Regents Denise hitch (D-Bing-
ham Farms), Laurence Dietch
(D-Bingham Farms) and Andrea
Fischer Newman (R-Ann Arbor)
University of Michigan-Flint will
receive $16.6 million for their
respective construction projects.
University spokesman Rick
Fitzgerald said these projects
have been discussed for several
years, but have become tangible
with the funding from the bill.
"These are all projects that
had been previously approved
for planning, and it's just really
great to have the funding come
through," Fitzgerald said.
He added that the capital out-
lay for universities in the state
occurs annually and that the Uni-
versity has been pining for these
particular renovations.
"The University of Michigan
has taken a conservative approach
of not having a long list - a wish
list - of projects for state fund-
ing," Fitzgerald said.
Instead, he said the University
has been focusing on "a particu-
lar project or projects that would
be most helpful to have the state
involved."
voted against the tuition increas-
es, expressing frustration with the
growing rates and providing sug-
gestions for other methods of cut-
ting costs.
"I think we need a new model,
and I think there are ways to do
it," Newman said in an interview
after the meeting. "I think there
are ways to raise revenue."
During the meeting, Ilitch
called the trend of increasing
tuition at the University and
around the nation "unacceptable,"
noting that upwards of 60 percent
of the state's college graduates
carry substantial debt.
"There's one thing that remains
consistent, and that is that tuition
continues to skyrocket and the
burden on our students continues
to increase," Ilitch said.
Regent Julia Darlow (D-Ann
Arbor) echoed Ilitch's sentiment"
about the strains of rising tuition
costs for families, though she
added she was "very pleased
and very impressed" with the
administration's effort to assist
students through increased
financial aid.
Darlow said vast improvements
have been made to aid students'
from middle- and low-income
homes, and the. average middle-
income student now pays less than
they did in 2004.
In setting the University's bud-
In total, the state of Michigan
and 18 universities and communi-
ty colleges across the state will be
spending $613 million on renova-
tions and construction for higher
education with the bill.
State Rep. Eileen. Kowall (R-
White Lake), the bill's sponsor,
said the bill makes sense for both
the short- and long-term future of
the state.
"It's important because, for
one thing, it's immediate jobs in
the construction industry, and it's
also jobs for the future," Kowall
said. "We want to have a world
class talent pool in Michigan and
you have to have facilities ... you
have to have the infrastructure
there."
Kowall acknowledged that
without state funding, the schools'
plans wouldn't be possible.
"The fact of the matter. is that
with these projects the universi-
ties and community colleges do as
much private fundraising as they
can, but they can't do it all them-
get, Hanlon noted three primary
goals: maintaining and expand-
ing the University's academic
strength and excellence, operating
efficiently and ensuring college
affordability and accessibility.
As part of the budget, faculty
will receive a 3-percent salary
increase, and staff will receive
a 2-percent salary increase as
part of the budget, which Hanlon
said is essential to securing the
strength of the University.
"Academic excellence begins
with human resources. Universi-
ties are excellent because of their
people," Hanlon said. "To main-
tain academic excellence, we need
the most outstanding students,
faculty and staff at this univer-
sity."
According to Hanlon, por-
tions of the general funds will
also be allocated to maintaining
the University's library system,
developing educational program
and investing in new technology.
Funds will also be used to better
consolidate IT programs on cam-
pus that he said have historically
been "disaggregated" with too
many units.
To decrease budget cuts and
tuition increases, the University
has continued to engage in
a long-term commitment to
cost containment policies,
spearheaded by Coleman in
selves," Kowall said. "By the state
helping to fund these projects,
it also helps to keep the cost of
tuition down."
LSA senior Rachel Jankowski,
the president of the University's
chapter of College Republicans,
said she is pleased with the pass-
ing of the bill.
She said that most people,
regardless of party affiliation, are
pro-education.
"People tend to think (that
Republicans) don't want spending
on education, but what we want
is a choice for people to be able
to pick whatever school it is they
want to go to," Jankowski said.
"And we want students to be able
go to good schools."
She added that, as a student,
she can see the effects of funding
education.
"I'm always happy when educa-
tion gets more money," Jankows-
ki said. "Especially (because I'm)
going to one of the schools getting
$30 million (from the bill)."
2004. Since the onset of the
program, the University has
reduced $235 million in general
fund expenditures and seeks to
save another $120 million in the
next five years - $30 million
specifically in the coming fiscal
year.
Cost containment efforts
include reducing low-enrollment
classes, better consolidation of
services and staff, altering health
care and benefit programs and
increasing energy efficiency in
campus buildings.
The cost reduction program has
allowed for reallocation of funds
to other efforts like revitalizing
academic buildings. Hanlon said
the University will soon embark
on a three-year program that will
grant $45 million each year for
large-scale campus renovations,
which are "more cost-effective
than doing piecemeal fix ups."
The administration seeks to
ensure that the quality of life on
campus is not hindered or nega-
tively impacted for students when
determining the budget and cut-
ting costs, according to Hanlon.
"We do not want to in anyway
reduce the experience our stu-
dents have, so we're very careful
when we do these things to try to
make sure we do them in a way
that will enable an excellent edu-
cation for our students," he said.
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SRIES PREMIERE
'Newsroom' all preach, no action-
Aaron Sorkin's
journalism fantasy
can't find meaning
By JOSEPH LICHTERMAN
Editor in Chief
Cable news isbroken, Aaron Sor-
kin argues in his new HBO series
"The News-
room."
And, frankly,
it's hard to dis- The News-
agree with him as
partisan bicker- OOMf
ing and 30-sec- S
ond sound bites Sundaysat
of talking heads 10 p.m'
now" dominate HBO
the cable land-
scape. But the
alternative Sorkin offers in "The
Newsroom" isn't necessarily a
solution to the problems plaguing
broadcast journalism.
The group of journalists penned
by Sorkin, the creator of "The West
Wing" and writer of "The Social
Network," are a high-minded, self-
righteous bunch who spend more
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reporting it.
"There's nothing that's more
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MacKenzie McHale (Emily Mori-
tmer, "Hugo"), the newly-hired
executive producer of Sorkin's
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Night."
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or much worse, wrong information,
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ous debate," she continues nause-
atingly. "That's why I produce the
news."
While her goal is just (who
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ate?), Sorkin's characters bludgeon
the point to death. Over and over
again, throughout the pilot, various
staffers rip off soliloquies as they
work to resurrect their meddling
program.
Sorkin clearly yearns for the eras
of Edward R. Murrow and Wal-
ter Cronkite, when larger-than-
life figures ruled the airwaves
and authoritatively told Ameri-
cans about the state of the world.
Anchorman Will McAvoy, (Jeff
Daniels, "Dumb and Dumber"), a
self-described "affable" guy who
has made it to the top of the TV
news food chain without causing
much trouble, has been put in place
to assume that mantle.-
McAvoy may very well be that
man, but the vehicle created by
Sorkin may not be able to deliver
him there.
Summaries of upcoming epi-
sodes on the network's website
make it seem like "The Newsroom"
is headed down a perilously
preachy path with McAvoy and his
staff talking about why the news
is important instead of showing,
through hard-nosed reporting,
why it's important.
The show opens as McAvoy,
speaking on a panel at North-
western University, is asked why
America is the greatest country in
the world. "It's not," he responds,
unleashing a tirade toward the
unassuming sophomore who asked
the question.
In a perfectly Sorkinesque rant,
McAvoy ticks off reason after rea-
son why the United States is falling
behind other countries, as audience
members pull out their camera
phones. Before long the video has
gone viral on YouTube.
After most of McAvoy's staff
quits in the fallout from his out-
burst, Charlie Skinner (Sam Wat-
terson, "Law and Order"), the
no-nonsense alcoholic president
of the news division, then hires
McHale, who's returning from
a stint as a producer in Iraq and
Afghanistan, to take over the show
and turn it into an old-fashioned
news program that cares more
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ning in the rankings.
Despite his personable public ,
persona, McAvoy is a selfish and
arrogant prick to his staff and
those close to him, yet Daniels'
performance makes the character
almost likable as he slowly realizes
that he wants to be more than just a
famous face on TV.
McAvoy and McHale have a
romantic past, and he's not pleased
with the prospect of working with
her despite her sterling creden-
tials. For someone who gives off
the impression of a fiercely inde-
pendent woman - she has a sca-
on her stomach from a knife wound
sustained while covering a rally in
Pakistan - Mackenzie's strangely
reliant on Will, accepting his near
constant belittlement. It's almost
as if she feels that she hasa respon-
sibility to help him.
Similarly, the budding love tri-
See NEWSROOM, Page 12
EDITORIAL STAFF
GiacomoBologna
gbologna@michig.ndaily.com
Managing Editor
Anna Rozenberg Managing NewsEditor
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