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Ann Arbor, Michigan
Thursday, January 28, 2016
ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
INDEX
Vol. CXXV, No. 61
©2016 The Michigan Daily
michigandaily.com
NEWS......................... 2A
OPINION.....................4A
SPORTS...................... 5A
SUDOKU..................... 2A
CL ASSIFIEDS............... 5A
B - S I D E . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 B
NEW ON MICHIGANDAILY.COM
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WEATHER
TOMORROW
HI: 37
LO: 20
How two Ann Arbor institutions improve
our lives by helping us cope with death
» INSIDE
Life and Death in A2
Ann Arbor
carefully monitors
filtration systems
to avoid potential
harm
By BRIAN KUANG
Daily Staff Reporter
As the water crisis in Flint
dominates national headlines,
local attention has turned to
Ann Arbor’s water system —
specifically, a case of possible
contamination in the city’s
groundwater.
From 1966 to 1986, Gelman
Sciences
of
Ann
Arbor
manufactured medical filters
using dioxane, a potentially
dangerous organic compound,
subsequently
contaminating
the
city’s
surrounding
groundwater with the toxic
substance
1,4-dioxane.
Gelman,
acquired
by
Pall
Life
Sciences
in
1997,
is
currently held by the Danaher
Corporation, who acquired it
in 2015.
Since 1992, Gelman Sciences
has been held legally liable by
the Environmental Protection
Agency for monitoring and
cleanup of the contamination;
this
responsibility
has
been passed on to Gelman’s
successor companies.
Currently, both Pall Life
Sciences and the Michigan
Department of Environmental
Quality
independently
test
samples
from
monitoring
wells several times a year.
The plume of contaminated
water is heavily monitored to
avoid
human
consumption
and is undergoing gradual
cleanup.
More
than
120
private wells in the city have
been closed since 1985 due
to the contamination, but it
is currently not considered
a danger to the overall city
water supply.
“I was told there was
dioxane here, and in my
Students with
low income, less
education most
likely to struggle
By KIRSTY MCINNES
For the Daily
Cumulatively,
nearly
40
million Americans carry 1.3
trillion dollars worth of student
debt and one out of every
four Americans are either in
delinquency or default, Susan
Collins, dean of public policy,
said to a full room of 100 at
Weill Hall Wednesday.
At the University specifically,
she noted, last year’s graduating
class
cumulatively
owed
$35,000.
In light of those numbers,
Collins led a discussion with
Susan Dynarski, professor of
public policy, education and
economics, and Rohit Chopra,
senior adviser of the U.S.
Department of Education, about
whether there is a student debt
crisis in the U.S.
According
to
Dynarski,
University students often aren’t
the ones at risk of defaulting on
their student loans.
“Erase from your mind the
image of a Yale graduate, NYU
graduate, a Columbia graduate
or even a U of M graduate —
in fact, anyone who graduates
with a BA is relatively unlikely
to default (on their student
loans),” she said.
Rather, Dynarski said the
average victim of student debt
crisis is a college dropout from
a non-selective, community or
for-profit college.
“(Those who) grew up poor,
entered college late, in their
20s or 30s, to improve their job
market skills,” Dynarski said.
The amounts being borrowed
See DEBT, Page 2A
Michigan hires
former UConn A.D.
to same position,
source confirms
By LEV FACHER AND SIMON
KAUFMAN
Daily Sports Writer and Daily
Sports Editor
Warde Manuel, the current
athletic director at Connecticut
and a former Michigan football
player, will become Michigan’s
next athletic director, a source
close to the Connecticut athletic
department
said
Wednesday
in an interview with the Daily,
confirming earlier reports from
the Detroit Free Press and ESPN.
Manuel will replace interim
Athletic Director Jim Hackett,
who has held the post since
Dave Brandon’s resignation in
October 2014.
Connecticut has yet to publicly
confirm
Manuel’s
departure.
According to the source, who
spoke
on
the
condition
of
anonymity because he was not
yet authorized to speak publicly
on the matter, Manuel met
with the university’s board of
trustees Wednesday morning.
Susan Herbst, the university’s
president,
acknowledged
Manuel’s exit to donors and
others close to the program
following the meeting.
In a November interview
with the Daily at the Battle 4
Atlantis basketball tournament
in the Bahamas, Manuel spoke
effusively of Michigan football
coach
Jim
Harbaugh
and
Hackett, but declined to answer
questions about his long-term
interest in making the jump to
Ann Arbor.
Manuel
was
Harbaugh’s
teammate in 1986, when the
Schembechler-led
Wolverines
won the Big Ten, and he has
made no secret of his love for his
alma mater.
“I can tell you, wherever we
See MANUEL, Page 5A
Skeleton set to
be displayed at
Museum of Natural
History
By LYDIA MURRAY
Daily Staff Reporter
After
the
remains
of
a
mammoth
were
found
in
Chelsea,
Mich.
last
September,
Paleontology
Prof.
Daniel
Fisher
and
Adam
Rountrey,
manager
of the Research Museum
Vertebrate
Collection,
gathered to discuss the find’s
significance and future plans
for its display.
Fisher worked with farmer
James Bristle, who found the
remains, and a team of both
graduate and undergraduate
students on the excavation,
and over the course of a
single day they uncovered a
significant amount of fossil
matter.
The discussion, held at
Conor O’Neill’s Traditional
Irish Pub as one of UMNH’s
monthly
science
café
series,
consisted
of
brief
presentations from Fisher and
Rountrey on the story of the
discovery and some of their
work in the time following
and
included
time
for
conversations at individual
tables based on prompted
discussion questions.
According to Fisher, the
mammoth specimen provides
insights into the creature’s
life and interactions with
humans. Additionally, Fisher
said the mammoth appears
See WATER, Page 2A
Project to
simulate power
grid one of seven
efforts funded
By DESIREE CHEW
Daily Staff Reporter
Researchers
from
the
University have received a
$1.4 million grant from the
Department of Energy to help
develop data on power system
optimization in energy grids.
The team will work to
develop new test cases to
formulate
better
software
algorithms for transmission
operators to run the energy
grid — algorithms which
regulate
energy
amounts.
These operators are largely
non-profit
government
agencies. The need for such
research
stems
from
the
ongoing
energy
transition
from traditional, emission-
heavy sources such as coal
and nuclear power to cleaner,
renewable sources like wind
See MAMMOTH, Page 2A
See GRANT, Page 2A
CITY
Flint crisis
reignites A2
well water
concerns
Forum looks at populations
affected by student debt
SPORTS
Connecticut’s
Warde Manuel
to fill athletic
director spot
Experts lead community
event on mammoth finding
SCIENCE
‘U’ energy
researchers
receive $1.4
million grant
AVA RANDA/Daily
Rohit Chopra, senior adviser to the U.S. Department of Education, speaks about the population most affected by defaulting student loans at Weill Hall
Wednesday.
MARINA ROSS/Daily
Dr. David Fisher, director of the Museum of Paleontology, speaks about the wooly mammoth that was recently found
near Chelsea Michigan at Connor O’neills Irish Pub and Restaurant on Wednesday.