ONE-HUNDRED-TWENTY-FOUR YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM Tuesday, February 11, 2014
Ann Arbor, Michigan
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TRANSPORTATION
Night Owl closes first month with many riders Ridership averaged around 320 per day during trial period By MICHAEL SUGERMAN Daily Staff Reporter ADAM GLANZMAN/Daily
Republican Gov. Rick Snyder speaks about his transition from business to politics at Blau Auditorium at the Ross School of Business Monday.
Snyder appeals to students Govenor encourages graduates to stay in Michigan and help rebuild economy By ALICIA ADAMCZYK Daily Staff Reporter
After kicking off his reelection campaign with an unconventional ad during the Super Bowl last Sunday, the nerd returned to the University Monday night. Over 300 students filled the Blau Auditorium at the Ross
School of Business as Gov. Rick Snyder (R) — who holds a BGS, MBA and JD from the University — addressed his transition from the private to the public sector. Before becoming governor, Snyder served as the chairman of the board of Gateway, Inc. from 2005 to 2007 and founded two venture capital firms based in Ann Arbor. Snyder’s speech was part of Ross’ 100/100 Initiative, a series of events for graduating BBA and MBA students in the 100 days leading up to graduation. However, the event was not just limited to the Business School as students from across
campus attended the governor’s speech. During the hour-long event, Snyder touted his record in office, particularly the transformation of Michigan’s $1.5 billion budget deficit into a billion-dollar surplus. He also emphasized Michigan’s, and specifically Detroit’s, potential for future job creation and a high standard of living. “It’s one of the coolest places in the country,” Snyder said of Detroit. “I’ve told people, if you want to be another yuppie, go to Chicago. If you want to make a difference, move to Detroit.” During his speech, Sny-
C L AY C R E AT I O N S
STUDENT GOVERNMENT
Parties begin to announce their CSG nominees Make Michigan and forUM have named their candidates for top leadership By GIACOMO BOLOGNA Daily Staff Reporter
Asking students to join its members in the “movement to ‘Make Michigan,’” campus’ newest party plans to enter the race for Central Student Government president and vice president. Public Policy junior Bobby Dishell, CSG vice president, and LSA sophomore Meagan Shokar, speaker of the CSG assembly, will represent the new Make Michigan movement, running for president and vice president, respectively. The Make Michigan party hopes to focus their party on providing for students rather than on politics. LSA junior Emily Lustig and LSA senior Andrew Craft, the chairs of Make Michigan, said Make Michigan is not a party; rather, it is a movement that will focus on concrete, achievable goals including health and safety on campus. While it is uncommon for two high-ranking CSG members to run on the same ticket, Dishell and Shokar will square off against Public Policy junior Carly Manes, the only other declared candidate in the race.
WEATHER TOMORROW
HI: 20 LO: 8
Manes is an LSA representative in the CSG assembly and was nominated Sunday as forUM’s presidential candidate. Outside of student government, Manes founded Students for Choice her freshman year. The organization advocates for reproductive rights and has roughly 32 active members. forUM has not yet announced its vice presidential candidate. After two consecutive years of elections marred by hearings and lengthy court battles, Lustig and Craft said maintaining a positive election focused on the issues is paramount. “The political garbage that’s been happening … it takes away from the goal,” Lustig said. forUM won a plurality of CSG’s Assembly seats in last year’s election and initially won the presidential vote, but forUM’s executive candidates were disqualified for influencing students while voting. LSA senior Chris Osborn ran for president on the forUM ticket in 2013, winning the popular election. However, he was later disqualified from the election after reviews by the University Election Commission found him in violation of the election code. During the April 2013 Central Student Judiciary hearing on the matter, Rackham student Chris Stevens—CSJ chief justice—told the Daily it “sickened” him for elections to be decided by court See PARTIES, Page 3
der also discussed other topics including his career path, renewable energy and entrepreneurship. However, he returned multiple times to addressing the need for graduates to stay in the state and help with Detroit’s revival, which he said is already well under way. The governor said many students aren’t aware of the highpaying career options that are already available in Detroit. He also emphasized that while reviving the city would be a challenge, University graduates would be essential to rebuilding and recreating the city from See SNYDER, Page 3
At the beginning of the Winter 2014 semester, Central Student Government and the Interfraternity Council unveiled their late-night bus route, the Night Owl. The pilot program fulfilled what Business senior Michael Proppe, CSG president, called his “most difficult-toachieve campaign promise.” A month after the system’s launch, the Night Owl has been met with positive student feedback, Proppe said. Running Thursday through Saturday from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. each night, the Night Owl buses have amassed 320 riders per night on average, according to data from the University’s Parking and Transportation Services, which have been contracted to run the service. The Night Owl bus route currently employs two Blue Buses, making stops at popular off-campus locations, as well as Oxford Residence Hall, East University
Avenue and the Thompson street area. There are also transfers for North Campus and the Central Campus Transit Center. Proppe said his goal is to eventually have 500 riders per night, adding that this cutoff would make a good return on CSG’s investment. CSG and the IFC each spent $15,000 to start the Night Owl bus program, which covers the service fees for the Winter 2014 semester. The CSG assembly contributed an additional $10,000 to cover advertising and other incidental costs. The system came as a response to a perceived increase in crime near campus. In a January press release, CSG officials said 84 percent of University crime alerts occurred late at night, with 67 percent of them happening offcampus. “People feel safer now when they’re not on campus,” said LSA sophomore Michael Fakhoury, CSG chair of off-campus transportation and safety. “They have a safe ride to get home. It’s free, it’s accessible and they’re able to maneuver easily.” Fakhoury said the current rider rate is good but has room for improvement. Now, CSG is reaching out to offSee TRANSPORTATION, Page 3
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
New contest hopes to up new business innovation Michigan Collegiate Innovation Prize to award $100K in prize money By IAN DILLINGHAM Daily News Editor LUNA ARCHEY/Daily
Business senior Sijia Hao works on her 3D piece in Clay for Non-Majors at the Art & Architecture Building Monday.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Researchers probe West Nile and Dengue fevers New understanding of protein behavior gives clues for eventual vaccine By ANASTASSIOS ADAMOPOULOS Daily Staff Reporter
In a recently published study, researchers from the University and Purdue University reported new findings that could help better understand and treat of a pair of deadly mosquito-born diseases: West Nile fever and Dengue fever.
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The report was the first to outline the structure of the NS1 protein responsible for helping the viruses spread. The research was led by Biological Chemistry Prof. Janet Smith and Richard Kuhn, director of the Bindley Bioscience Center at Purdue University. “We’ve had it in our sights for about 10 years,” Smith said. “We’ve been working pretty intensively on it, I would say, for five or six years.” West Nile fever, which was first introduced to North America in 1999, and has since been found in each of the lower 48 states. In 2013, there were
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36 reported cases of the disease in Michigan, resulting in two deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control. More than 400 million people worldwide are infected by Dengue fever annually, with seven reported cases in Michigan in 2013, according to the CDC and the U.S. Geological Survey. The disease affects most of the countries in the equatorial belt and has reached the southern United States. Both West Nile and Dengue fever are transmitted to humans via infected mosquitoes and can result in high fever, muscle pain, headaches See FEVER, Page 3
Vol. CXXIV, No. 65 ©2014 The Michigan Daily michigandaily.com
Entrepreneurialism could mean big bucks for some students — even before their companies are off the ground. As students at the University work to create a new entrepreneurial climate on campus though organizations such as MPowered, the Michigan Collegiate Innovation Prize aims to encourage similar endeavors across the state. This contest, which will award $90,000 in prize money on Friday, will offer students financial and academic resources to pursue a variety of business ventures. “This is a way to keep Michigan talent in the state,” said Contest Director Amy Klinke, associate director of corporate relations at the University’s Center for Entrepreneurship in a press release. Teams of college students from 16 institutions of higher education across the state were interviewed before judges selected the 23 finalists that will receive prize money. Judges made evaluations, in part, based See INNOVATION, Page 3
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