return to teaching in 2013. Prior 
to his appointment as interim vice 
president, Hu served as associate 
dean for academic affairs in the 
College of Engineering, and was 
also associate dean for research 
and graduate education.

Because 
then-current 

University President Mary Sue 
Coleman was retiring in the 
summer of 2014, Hu said she did 
not want to choose someone to 
serve in the position long-term.

Instead, 
Hu 
was 
given 
a 

two-year 
interim 
appointment 

from Coleman, who knew him 
through their work experience 
together 
on 
the 
Advanced 

Manufacturing 
Partnership, 
a 

selection of leaders assembled 
by President Barack Obama to 
develop 
recommendations 
on 

strengthening U.S. manufacturing.

During Hu’s tenure as interim 

vice president, two significant 
University 
initiatives 
were 

launched, including the M-City test 
environment at the University’s 
Mobility Transformation Center 
as well as a campus-wide initiative 
in data science.

Hu 
said 
moving 
forward, 

one key initiative he wants to 
facilitate at the University is 
creating more opportunities for 
undergraduate research. Because 
of the Undergraduate Research 
Opportunity Program, which is 
run by LSA, he said in the past 
the vice president’s office did not 
provide as much direct support for 
student research.

“Whether that is support or 

making the faculty more visible 
to the students, I want to enhance 
that,” Hu said. “I don’t have a 
concrete plan, but I had some ideas 
(being formulated) last year — that 
is to support student teams. I think 
we will have something hopefully 
in the fall that I can announce.”

Hu said he believes there could 

be research opportunities available 
for every student, though he noted 
the question remains as to how 
many students the University can 
support. However, he emphasized 
that he believed students from 
all disciplines should be able to 
participate in research.

“For the University, the goal 

is to continue to strengthen our 
reputation,” Hu said. “How do we 
make the University of Michigan 
a recognized research university? 
We are, but the question is whether 
we are at the top. We have to have 
certain strategies in continuing to 
promote our reputation.”

University 
Regent 
Andrew 

Richner (R–Grosse Pointe Park) 
said it is important for the vice 
president to have a strong academic 
background, be a well-respected 
academic leader and have vision 
and intellectual curiosity.

“(Hu) 
is 
widely 
respected 

among the campus community,” 
Richner said. “He is an outstanding 
academic leader … he brings 
real discipline and intellectual 
curiosity to his position.”

Along 
with 
new 
research 

opportunities, Hu said he also 
hopes to continue projects he 
began as an interim, including 
supporting 
research 
across 

all three University campuses 
and 
developing 
large-scale 

interdisciplinary 
research 

initiatives 
by 
facilitating 
the 

research that faculty members 
want to do.

Along with research initiatives 

on campus, Hu noted that much 
of his job encompasses obtaining 
funding for research.

Currently, 
the 
University 

receives 
one 
of 
the 
highest 

amounts of federal funding for 

research in the country, with an 
estimated $1.3 billion in research 
expenditures.

“I travel to D.C. and go to 

companies...to 
diversify 
the 

sources of funding for research,” 
Hu said. “The government funding 
has been on a decline for some time 
after the great recession. During 
that time, we had the American 
Reinvestment 
and 
Recovery 

Project, ARRA, so a lot of money 
was put into NIH, for example. 
But steadily we’re on a decline, 
so we have to find other sources 
of money to support our research 
effort.”

Beyond the government, the 

University also receives funding 
from a number of other sources, 
including industry, individuals and 
public and private foundations.

In an e-mail interview, White 

wrote that she saw increasing 
research activity and funding, 
identifying 
new 
research 

opportunities and promoting the 
commercialization of University 
discoveries, as key parts of the 
vice president for research’s role. 
Because the University is among 
the largest research institutions in 
the world, and competition is high 
for research funding, White said 
she looks forward to continued 
success in the competition for that 
funding under Hu.

Richner said he thought the has 

already had success, in terms of of 
federal grant funding and research 
funding, during Hu’s tenure as 
interim vice president.

“(Hu) 
recognizes 
that 
it’s 

really important to emphasize 
to policy makers and to other 
funding sources the importance 
of showing the progress that we’ve 
made in University research — 
what progress has been made in 
terms of research successes and 
what is being accomplished for 
the funding that we do receive,” 
Richner said.

Beyond funding, Hu noted 

that his position also requires 
him to extend his work through 
all three University campuses 
because his office supports the 
research process and manages 
their 
government 
compliance 

programs at all three. As well, 
his office works with the Office 
of Technology Transfer, an office 
that manages the University’s 
intellectual properties for all three 
campuses.

Overall, Hu said he wants to use 

several strategies to ensure the 
University maintains its reputation 
as an excellent research facility.

“(The 
University 
should) 

promote our faculty, nominate 
them for the most important 
prizes in the field, promote our 
research (and) try to demonstrate 
how we’re impacting society, 
impacting 
policy 
through 

research,” he said.

White wrote that she hopes that 

Hu finds new opportunities for the 
University to focus its research 
strengths on problems and issues 
of great importance to society.

“Finding innovative ways to 

utilize the depth and breadth of 
the University to solve societal 
problems is something I hope we 
continue to do,” she wrote.

Rackham student Marc Paff, 

a 
nuclear 
engineering 
Ph.D. 

candidate, said during his time 
at the University, the research 
programs have been beneficial, 
allowing him to further his own 
projects and network. Paff is 
currently working on devices 
often installed for border crossing 
that screen incoming vehicles and 
trucks, as well as airport baggage, 
for smuggled nuclear radiological 
material so nuclear weapons and 
bombs can be prevented from 
entering the United States.

“To me, the research that I do I 

think is really interesting from an 
intellectual standpoint,” Paff said. 
“I also see that it has real world 
application … it makes me feel like 
my research is relevant.”

Paff said he decided to attend 

graduate 
school 
at 
Michigan 

due to its highly ranked nuclear 
engineering program and its overall 
reputation as a well renowned 
research 
university. 
However, 

he also noted that he would like 
to see research at the University 
become more interdisciplinary 
and collaborative.

“Sometimes I feel like research 

at 
the 
University 
feels 
very 

particular,” Paff said. “You don’t 
collaborate with a lot of people 
outside of your immediate peers 
within your research program or 
department.”

Paff cited MCubed, a project 

that aims to bring together grad 
students 
and 
professors 
from 

departments across campus, as an 
example of good collaboration, and 
said he would like to see more like 
it.

Toni Antonucci, associate vice 

president 
for 
research, 
social 

sciences and humanities, said he 
agreed 
more 
interdisciplinary 

research would be good, but 
also noted that he thought Hu 
had been successful in working 
toward to creating opportunities 
for collaboration over the past few 
years.

“He’s 
committed 
to 
high-

quality research and to providing 
the support that our faculty needs 
to do the best research that they 
can do,” Antonucci said. “He is 
interested in disciplines and areas 
of expertise other than his own … 
When I compare what we do with 
many other universities, those 
I’ve visited or that I have former 
students at, it’s really impressive. 
We are committed to high quality 
work, we try to support our faculty 
in a lot of different ways.”

However, despite the positive 

things that University research 
has to offer, Antonucci said there 
are still many challenges that the 
University has to face.

Echoing Hu, she said it’s 

sometimes been difficult to receive 
funding from the government.

“We as a nation are not instilling 

in our citizens and in our young 
people an appreciation for what 
science can and has contributed,” 
Antonucci said. “What I think 
is a challenge that we’re facing 
right now is how to encourage 
interdisciplinary work within our 
current budget structure … We are 
facing challenges that need to be 
addressed in a different way (than 
they have been addressed in the 
past).”

Those challenges, she added, 

include genetic research, climate 
change and how to increase 
educational levels, particularly 
in light of the recently revealed 
educational issues in Detroit. In 
recent months, Detroit school 
teachers have protested poor 
school conditions, resulting in 
closings of over two-thirds of the 
city’s schools.

She noted that many of these 

issues have been considered by 
Hu, and that the importance of 
supporting collaboration is well 
ingrained at the University.

Ultimately, 
Richner 
said 

beyond his experience and ideas 
about research, he thought Hu’s 
knack for dealing with people in 
a friendly and positive way, were 
also what made him an ideal vice 
president for research.

“He’s just a pleasure to work 

with,” Richner said. “He really has 
just such a positive attitude and 
it’s contagious. I think that’s an 
important leadership skill. I think 
everyone that works with him 
enjoys working with him.”

3-News

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Tuesday, February 2, 2016 — 3

period 
is 
an 
extra 
health 

concern and brings it into the 
realm of luxury products is 
ridiculous,” Wilson said. “It is 
really degrading, being forced 
to buy certain products because 
it’s all you can afford when it’s 
such a personal choice on what 
to use and what you want to put 
into your body.”

Currently, only five states 

do not tax feminine hygiene 

products: 
Minnesota, 

Pennsylvania, Maryland, New 
Jersey 
and 
Massachusetts. 

Canada abolished their tax on 
feminine hygiene products in 
the entire country.

Roberts said she is hoping 

that Michigan can be one of the 
leading states in this movement.

“There 
is 
no 
other 

comparable good or product 
that has to be purchased by 
men, and this is something that 
only affects women, and I just 
don’t think they should be taxed 
for being women,” Roberts said. 
“I think that helps to level the 

playing field.”

Wilson 
said 
she 
sees 

the removal of the tampon 
tax as not only a financial 
assistance but making women 
feel comfortable with their 
bodies.

“If we start to take away 

the 
stigma 
around 
periods 

and really start to have open 
discussions about why these 
things are necessary, it can 
really help gender equality 
and get women’s health out 
of 
political 
discussion 
and 

into 
professional 
medical 

discussion,” Wilson said.

TAX
From Page 1

2-News

 KRISTINA PERKINS/Dailly

Ann Arbor resident Hope Carroll expresses her opposition to the deer cull at the Ann Arbor City Council meeting in the 
City Council Chambers on Monday. 

JACK HU
From Page 1

trended solidly to the right 
wing of the party, with Mike 
Huckabee and Rick Santorum 
winning 
in 
the 
past 
two 

elections. Neither succeeded in 
their push for the GOP’s overall 
nomination, 
with 
Huckabee 

ending 
his 
campaign 
eight 

months before the 2008 election 
and Santorum suspending his 
campaign seven months before 
the 2012 election.

Before Cruz took the stage, 

Sen. Cruz’s wife Heidi Cruz, 
father 
Rafael 
Cruz, 
U.S. 

Rep. 
Steve 
King 
(R–Iowa), 

“Duck 
Dynasty” 
star 
Phil 

Robertson 
and 
conservative 

TV personality Glenn Beck all 
praised his dedication to the 
Constitution and Christianity.

Heidi Cruz urged attendees 

to 
consider 
his 
consistent 

conservative 
ideology 
when 

voting.

“I want you to leave today 

knowing why I fell in love with 
Ted Cruz, and I want you to 
leave today having fallen in love 
with Ted too,” Cruz said.

During 
his 
remarks, 

Robertson said he attended 
the rally because he fervently 
believes 
religious 
freedoms 

are at stake in the election. 
The famed duck hunter faced 
scrutiny in December 2013 
after GQ published an article 
where he spoke against the 
LGBTQ community based on 
his religious principles, which 
left him briefly banned from the 
show. Though many found his 
comments offensive, Robertson 
emerged as a hero for others 

who supported his beliefs.

“Do you understand why I 

vote Godly?” Robertson asked 
the crowd. “The reason I came 
is because the political situation 
in our culture is collapsing 
around us. In this situation 
you say: Who has the power to 
change it? You do. You have the 
power … I have found out about 
Ted Cruz; he loves God, and he 
loves James Madison.”

Robertson said many of the 

issues affecting the United States 
stem from the lack of spiritual 
members within the government.

“God raises these empires 

up; it is God who brings 
them down,” Robertson said. 
“What we have in America is a 
spiritual problem. You get the 
spiritual problem of America 
fixed, and the guys who make 
the political decisions, they’ll 
at least be Godly, and God will 
be on their side.”

He also used his persona to 

poke fun at Trump, soliciting 
audience members to help him 
blow duck calls for him.

“Trump didn’t show up for 

the debate with our man Cruz 
last night,” Robertson said. 
“So let’s try one more time to 
get Trump. Let’s call Donald 
Duck to come meet with Cruz.” 
Glenn Beck, who has never 
endorsed a political candidate 
before Sen. Cruz, also offered 
remarks praising him. 

“There’s a lot of really good 

people who are running, there’s 
one of which I don’t think is 
very good,” Beck said, referring 
to Trump. “I don’t mean that as 
a joke; I really think that. He 
concerns me gravely. I look at 
what he says, and if you look at 
the transcripts he says the same 

thing: ‘I will make America 
great again.’ No man can provide 
that. It is we the people.”

Beck said he believes the past 

two decades of presidencies 
have not positively represented 
the strong legacy of honored 
presidents 
such 
as 
George 

Washington, 
but 
believes 

Sen. Cruz’s dedication to the 
Constitution makes him the 
strongest candidate.

“It’s been a rough 20 years 

in this country,” Beck said. “It 
has been a time when we have 
seen some nice highs in the 
economy, but we haven’t seen 
highs in our integrity in this 
country, and in our integrity 
around the world.”

Following the trend set by 

the earlier speakers, in his 
remarks Sunday Sen. Cruz 
highlighted a list all of the 
changes he would make on his 
first day in office.

“The first thing I intend to do 

(as president) is rescind every 
single illegal and unconstitutional 
action 
taken 
by 
President 

Obama,” Sen. Cruz said.

Additionally, Sen. Cruz said 

he will launch an investigation 
into Planned Parenthood, end 
the persecution of religious 
liberty, dismantle the Iran 
nuclear deal and begin the 
process of moving the American 
embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.

Sen. Cruz, Heidi Cruz told 

the crowd, stands apart from 
the rest of his opponents in 
terms of both his ideas and his 
morals and values. 

“This is the real deal,” 

she said. “Ted is a consistent 
conservative, not a campaign 
conservative. I knew that from 
the moment I met him.”

CRUZ
From Page 1

