ONE-HUNDRED-TWENTY-THREE YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM Tuesday, September 17, 2013
Ann Arbor, Michigan
michigandaily.com
TIRE-D?
NAVY YARD SHOOTING
Students safe after deadly shooting in Washington Three ‘U’ students who work in Navy Yard not harmed in armed attack By TAYLOR WIZNER Daily News Editor
After at 13 people were shot and killed Monday morning in Washington D.C.’s Navy Yard area, three students in the Michigan in Washington Program who work in the area as interns were reported to be safe, according to a post on the program’s public Facebook group. The mass shooting began at 8:20 a.m. at Building 197, part of the main headquarters for the Naval Sea Systems Command, which buys, builds and maintains ships, submarines and combat systems. About 3,000 people, many civilians, work at the headquarters, which is located in the heart of D.C., less than four miles from the White House and two miles from the
Capitol. In a Facebook post this morning, MIW noted that the students, who work in the National Defense University’s Eisenhower Center in Navy Yard, were safe and no longer at the compound. In an e-mail sent to MIW alumni, a program staffer confirmed the students were safe, and said each student will continue to update program leaders on their whereabouts. “Two of the three students are at the Navy Yard but are safe, and another, who was on her way to work at Navy Yard, has been detoured on her shuttle bus to Fort McNair, and the bus has extra security en route now,” the e-mail said. The gunman, killed by police, was identified as Aaron Alexis, a 34-year-old former Navy reservist from Fort Worth, Texas. Alexis, an employee at a defense contractor, used his pass to get into the Washington Navy Yard and began shooting bullets in hallways and firing from a balcony on workers in an See SHOOTING, Page 5
JAMES COLLER/Daily
Amanda Brown, Battalion Assistant Operations Officer for Michigan Naval ROTC, works out by North Hall Monday afternoon.
ADMINISTRATION
‘U’ to renovate reactor Decommissioned nuclear reactor makes way for classrooms By JENNIFER CALFAS Daily Staff Reporter
After beginning the decommission process of the Ford Nuclear Reactor in 2004, the University’s Board of Regents
are set to approve a $11.4-million transformation of the building into a repurposed classroom and laboratory center. In a communication to the regents, Timothy Slottow, the University’s executive vice president and chief financial officer, said the University will demonstrate that the radioactive levels of the facility, located on Bonisteel Blvd. on North Campus, fits the standards of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission before beginning the reno-
vation and expansion plans. The project will add 5,200 square feet of space for laboratories, testing areas, offices and support spaces for the Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences Department. Since the building will no longer house a nuclear reactor, the building’s name may change to the “Nuclear Engineering Laboratories” upon approval by the regents. Ronald Gilgenbach, chair and Chihiro Kikuchi Colle-
giate Professor in the Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences Department, said the renovations will allow the program to expand into muchneeded research space. Since the program’s research funding has increased over the years, Gilgenbach said the current laboratory facilities do not meet the faculty’s needs. However, with this building’s thick-shielded walls and expansive space, it will serve as the See REACTOR, Page 5
TUNNEL VISION ANN ARBOR
PRESIDENTIAL SEARCH
Council looks at divesting from fossil fuel funds
Students to gather input on search for next pres.
Postponed vote may alter pension make-up By WILL GREENBERG Daily Staff Reporter JAMES COLLER/Daily
LSA Freshman Louis Hagopian longboards down Washington Heights towards Mary Markley residence hall Monday.
CRIME
UMPD: Solicitors are impersonating students Police cite several incidents of fraud in SE Michigan By ARIANA ASSAF Daily Staff Reporter
University Police are warning the campus community of fraudulent solicitation attempts in some southeast Michigan neighborhoods. Solicitors pretended to be University students who needed money for class trips, University Police said. Some said they were part of the Communications Department, while others said that they were from the School of Music, Theatre & Dance. University Police Chief
WEATHER TOMORROW
HI: 75 LO: 62
Joseph Piersante said it’s very unlikely that the people going door-to-door are legitimate University students. He said the University rarely, if ever, uses door-to-door fundraising methods. The most common methods for University fundraising are alumni outreach or mailings. If University affiliates do go door-to-door, they are required to provide legitimate University identification and information for a contact for follow up. The first report, which came to University Police on Aug. 28, said people who claimed to be University students were soliciting funds for an overseas trip to London. A second instance of soliciting was reported on Sept. 8.
This time, the solicitors were attempting to sell magazine subscriptions in order to fund a Communications Department trip. “I don’t know if that’s a coincidence or what,” Piersante said. “But these scams aren’t unusual. In this particular case (scammers) are targeting the University.” While these particular solicitations were door-todoor, Piersante said that both door-to-door and phone solicitors often try to raise money for charity groups they say benefit veterans or police survivors. Police are not currently aware whether or not these solicitors have been successful in raising any money, and Piersante said the police don’t See SOLICITORS, Page 5
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At the Ann Arbor City Council meeting Monday night, council members reconsidered the Ann Arbor Energy Commission’s resolution to divest the city’s pension fund of certain fossil fuel industries, but they postponed a vote on the matter. The original resolution, proposed at the Sept. 2 meeting, was one vote short of approval. Council decided to carry over the topic to Monday’s meeting to reconsider the issue after it failed to pass earlier in September. Council again opened discussion to vote on the resolution but eventually ended in postponing the item. The presented resolution, which was drafted by the Energy Commission, asked that council recommend ending any further investment of pension funds to fossil fuel industries. The resolution explains the city’s duty to support and maintain the public health of residents and also cites Ann Arbor’s Climate Action Plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent by 2025. Council members generally expressed interest in supporting the resolution but were hesitant to vote for the mea-
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sure because the move could result in a potential financial loss for the employee pension fund. Early on in the discussion, Councilmember Mike Anglin (D–Ward 5) reminded the council that the resolution was not a mandate to the pension board but still “urged” the council to divest. Council members discussed the viability of divesting from fossil fuel industries if the city adopted the policy. Generally, council members expressed concerns for the future of pension funding. Councilmember Stephen Kunselman (D–Ward 3) said he was wary of “meddling” in the pensions, noting the economic woes of Detroit over the summer in part due to that city’s pension obligations. Nancy Walker, executive director of the employees’ retirement system, told council members that the pension board hasn’t taken an official position on the issue. However, a preliminary analysis of index funds found that none that are completely free of fossil-fuel investment. “Organizations, such as pension funds, that do have fiduciary duty really struggle with how to balance that fiduciary duty with what look like an increase in cost,” Walker said. Six members of the public asked council to consider divestment, including two students and a University professor. Individuals cited divestments in the past See COUNCIL, Page 5
Vol. CXXIII, No. 132 ©2013 The Michigan Daily michigandaily.com
Group recognized by regents will advocate student concerns By RACHEL PREMACK Daily Staff Reporter
After demand for official student input in the search for the next University president, a student committee recognized by the University’s Board of Regents met yesterday for the first time. The committee was instituted to add a student voice to the next president with the presidential search that is lead by the presidential-search advisory committee, according to Engineering graduate student Michael Hand, a Rackham Student Government representative and committee member. It is comprised of 12 student leaders from a variety of campus organizations. Campus leaders have previously called for student representation on the 16-person advisory committee that gathered to selected UMPSC’s successor. In 2002, the 16-member committee that hired Coleman included two students: Matt Nolan, the student government president, and Lisa Jackson, a then-doctoral student. Though the committee will gather student input, the students are not directly involved in the search. The new student committee will garner student opinions on desired qualities of the new president via a five-question survey e-mailed to the entire student body and through See SEARCH, Page 5
NEWS......................... 2A OPINION.....................4A ARTS...........................6A
SPORTS......................8A SUDOKU.....................2A CL ASSIFIEDS...............6A