HERE COMES THE SUN
A sorry state of
affairs
Obama's apologies to
other nations distort the
facts about America
SEE PAGE 5
ARTS
Phoenix soars
with new album
"Wolfgang Amadeus
Phoenix" a rebirth for
French pop band
SEE PAGE 9
SPORTS
Grady dribbles to
the football field
The ex-basketball star's
odds of excelling in his
new sport
SEE PAGE 11
INDEX
VolCXiX, No. 140;1 2009 The Michigan Daily
Michigandailycorn
N EW S ................................. 2
O PIN IO N ............................... 4
CLASSIFIED ........................... 6
ARTS ................................. 9
SPORTS ................................. 11
MAX COLLINS/Daily
Solar car Team members carry Infinium, the new solar car model, outside to a crowd of more than 300 students alumni and
fans after its presentation inside the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn. For a full story, see Page 2.
GM,'U' ties remain
Weekly Summer Edition
SCIENCE
Stem cell
research
advances
Michigan scientists
hold first formal
conference
By LARA ZADE
Managing NewsEditor
More than 30 stem cell
researchers, administrators and
industry members from stress
Michigan met Thursday at the
Biomedical Science Research
Building to discuss the future of
stem cell research in the state.
The event featured stem cell
researchers from the Univer-
sity, Michigan State University,
Oakland University and Wayne
State University, marking the
first formal collaboration with
multiple research institutions in
the state.
At the conference, research-
ers discussed the progression of
stem cell research at the Univer-
sity's A. Alfred Taubman Medical
Research Institute Consortium
for Stem Cell Therapies - acenter
for scientists to develop new stem
cell lines that was announced
on the same day that President
Barack Obama lifted the federal
restrictions on embryonic stem
cell research.
Gary Smith; an associate pro-
fessor of obstetrics and gyne-
cology and co-director of the
consortium, said the purpose of
theconference was to unite stem
See STEM CELLS, Page 8
Despite bankruptcy,
research funding still
available
By LARA ZADE
ManagingNews Editor
Due to the University's reliance
on General Motors Corp. for re-
search project sponsorships and
job opportunities for graduates,
the corporation's bankruptcy will
affect the agendas of many Univer-
sity students and faculty.
According to Sponsored Awards
on the Web, a search engine for the
University's database of sponsored
proposals and awards, GM spon-
sors 29 awards, totalling over $25
million in anticipated award dol-
lars. The awards help fund specific
research projects at the University
including the Multiscale Simula-
tion and Optimization of Batteries
in Multimode Drivetrains in the
Department of Mechanical Engi-
neering.
David Munson, dean of the Col-
lege of Engineering, said Tuesday
that he has no reason to believe GM
will not follow through with any of
its promised award contracts.
"We have a lot of research sup-
ports from GM, especially in me-
chanical engineering," Munson
said. "I think we're going to have to
wait and see if GM is going to honor
all of those research contracts. We
don't have any info that they won't
(honor the contracts), but that will
be up to the bankruptcy judge."
On Friday, Munson wrote in an
e-mail interview that he learned
the University was added to GM's
list of "preferred vendors," a class
of vendors designated by the court
as "critical."
"This should greatly lessen any
concern that GM support of re-
search at UM could be at risk,"
Munson wrote.
Law School Prof. John Pottow,
a bankruptcy and commercial law
expert, said that because GM des-
ignated the University as a "pre-
ferred vendor," it is likely that the
University will receive all of its
promised awards.
"The general rule (in bankrupt-
cy court). is that everyone gets the
See GM, Page 8