ONE-HUNDRED-TWENTY-THREE YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM Friday, September 20, 2013
Ann Arbor, Michigan
michigandaily.com
ADMINISTRATION
Forrest to step down from VP of research Cites desire to rejoin faculty, work on developing private enterprises By PETER SHAHIN Daily News Editor
At the Board of Regents meeting Tuesday, Stephen Forrest, vice president for research, announced the University’s combined research budget for the fiscal year ending June 30 reached a record $1.33 billion — a $54.7-million increase over last year’s budget of $1.27 billion. Forrest also announced his intention to leave his current position to return to a normal faculty position. As in previous years, federal funding from a variety of agencies and departments makes up the majority of the research budget, contributing a combined 62 percent of the $1.33 billion. The National Institutes of Health, the single largest benefactor at $509.7 million, reduced its funding by $9.3 million from last year — but other agencies, including
the National Science Foundation, NASA, the Air Force and the Federal Highway Administration, more than made up that difference. Another bright spot in the portfolio is blossoming research partnerships with private industry, which grew 14 percent since last year to $73 million. Although partnerships remain a small part of the overall portfolio, their share has consistently grown over the last few years and will be increasingly important as federal support stagnates or declines. According to the National Science Foundation, the average institution derives five percent of its external research from industry — less than the University’s eight percent from such partnerships. Support for research from the state of Michigan increased sixfold over the past year, but still amounts to only $3.5 million. “The faculty are getting much more rewarded from the culture by working with industries,” Forrest said in an interview after the meeting. “That’s part of diversifying the portfolio as research See FORREST, Page 3
TERRA MOLENGRAFF/Daily
University officials cut the ribbon at the grand opening of the Michigan Union Grill dining area on Thursday.
MUG celebrates renovations Celebrations held for new, ‘brighter’ ground floor of Union By STEPHANIE SHENOUDA Daily Staff Reporter
With the smell of orange chicken wafting through the air, complimentary Frosties from
the Wendy’s mascot and the cutting of a ribbon, the Michigan Union Grill — the dining area in the Michigan Union’s basement — was officially opened. Though the pomp and circumstance of a grand opening took place Thursday, the MUG was opened to the public shortly before fall term began. The space was renovated to create a brighter and more inviting area — a community space for students as opposed to simply a
food court. E. Royster Harper, vice president for student affairs, spoke to the crowd about the historic importance of the MUG to the University. “The MUG has changed and so have we, depending when you hailed here,” Harper said. “There was a swimming pool on the ground floor that was made into the Alumni Center, that I’ve only heard about, but there’s a little bit of our past here, as well
as our commitment to sustainability.” Harper added that the wood paneling from the former bowling alley in the Union was preserved in the area by Ahmo’s Mediterranean Grill to be sustainable and give a nod to the University’s past. Harper also expressed pride at the amount of student involvement in planning the MUG’s renovation. See MUG, Page 3
CRIME
ADMINISTRATION
‘U’ alum suspect in device thefts
Munger Residences on track with regent approval for design Rackham students concerned with expensive costs of housing
Credit cards, cell phones and laptops found by police
By JENNIFER CALFAS Daily Staff Reporter
By ARIANA ASSAF Daily Staff Reporter
Laptop larceny is a relatively common crime on campus, and while police sometimes catch suspects red-handed, thieves don’t usually have their collection of loot at the scene of the crime. At the Art and Architecture Building on Wednesday, University Police arrested University alum Siddharth Kirtikar, a 28-year-old man who was in violation of a trespass warning issued by police. On his person, police found three laptops as well as multiple credit cards, cell phones and external computer hardware. University Police said they were unable to determine whether Kirtikar stole the goods at the same time or even if he See STEALING, Page 3
WEATHER TOMORROW
HI: 67 LO: 44
TERSEA MATHEW/Daily
Former Sen. Olympia Snowe speaks about her 40 years as a legislator at Rackham Auditorium Thursday.
Snowe: Partisanship at root of Congress’s dysfunction Former senator lectures as part of Ford series By BEN ATLAS Daily Staff Reporter
Former Senator Olympia Snowe, a moderate Republican from Maine, stunned many political observers in 2012 by
announcing that she would not seek reelection for a fourth term in the Senate. Her reasoning for doing so proved to be a sad indictment of the state of dysfunction in Congress: She felt she could better solve the body’s issues of polarization and hyper-partisanship from the outside. The former senator, known for being an advocate for compromise, came to campus
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Thursday to give a lecture entitled, “What’s Gone Wrong in Washington, and Why It Doesn’t Have to be this Way” as part of the Ford School’s Citi Foundation lecture series. Snowe spoke to the audience in Rackham Auditorium about how the federal government and Congress have gone offtrack, what has contributed to the undermining of the politiSee SNOWE, Page 3
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INDEX
As the former Blimpy Burger building sat unoccupied a block away, the University’s Board of Regents approved the schematic design for the residence hall set to take the burger joint’s place at the body’s meeting Thursday in the Michigan Union. The Munger Graduate Residences, which will cost about $180 million to build and is expected to be complete in 2015, is funded mostly by a $110-million donation from University alum Charles Munger, vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway. Munger funded a similar project at Stanford University in 2009. The regents announced Munger’s donation April 2013, noting that Munger will work closely with the administration in the construction process. Part of Munger’s donation is reserved for a fellowship pro-
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gram for graduate students. Before the board approved the design, Regent Andrea Fischer Newman (R) said Munger asked to name his $10-million fellowship endowment the Coleman-Munger Fellows. Newman said the name reflects Coleman’s commitment to the University. “Mary Sue will be remembered as a great part of this gift and bringing it in, and we’re honored that he chose to name the fellows after her,” Newman said. In a presentation to the board, Lee Becker of Hartman-Cox Architects said the site “couldn’t be better.” The Hartman-Cox Architects and Integrated Design Solutions architecture firm worked together to design the building. Hartman-Cox previously designed the Law School’s Robert B. Aikens Commons Addition and the school’s South Hall in 2011, and Integrated Design Solutions just finished designing East Quad Residence Hall. The building will include 96 apartments with a total of 632 bedrooms organized in sevenperson apartment spaces. Facing West Quad Residence Hall, the main entrance will come See MUNGER, Page 3
NEWS.........................2 OPINION.....................4 ARTS.......................5
SPORTS......................7 SUDOKU.....................2 CLASSIFIEDS...............6