michigandaily.com
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

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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.

