ONE-HUNDRED-TWENTY-FOUR YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM Friday, April 11, 2014
Ann Arbor, Michigan
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ADMINISTRATION
‘U’ appoints first shared services ctr. director Pamela Gabel to head 275-person staff after location opens in August By YARDAIN AMRON Daily Staff Reporter
On Thursday, the University appointed an executive director to run the Shared Services Center that will consolidate some University support staff into a central location near Wolverine Tower. The center is part of the University’s larger Administrative Services Transformation, a cost containment measure aiming to save $120 million from fiscal years 2013 to 2017. Pamela Gabel, current director of My Service Center, a division of the building supplier Masco Corporation that employees 15,000 people, will head the 275-person staff at the shared services center when it opens in August. She will begin her role on April 28. Al Franzblau, vice provost for academic and budgetary affairs,
said in a University press release that over 70 applicants were considered for the job. He added that the search and selection processes included faculty and staff feedback. “Our selection process included bringing finalists to campus to make presentations and take questions from audiences that included staff from the project team, administrators from academic units and central offices, faculty members and some of the future staff members of the Shared Services Center,” Franzblau said. “Their collective guidance was very important to the final selection of our service center’s leader.” The Shared Services Center is slated to open in August with a small number of staff. The center will be fully staffed and at operational capacity by winter 2015. Over the course of the center’s planning period, there has been significant controversy regarding its implementation. In November and December, staff and faculty spoke out strongly against the University’s handling of the project. A petition that circulated the faculty See LEADER, Page 3
RUBY WALLAU/Daily
Rapper 2 Chainz performs at Hill Auditorium as a part of the SpringFest festivities Thursday. Ben Folds and J. Cole were the headlining acts in previous years.
2 Chainz headlines daylong SpringFest festivities MUSIC Matters presents largest installment of annual event By MICHAEL SUGERMAN Daily Staff Reporter
In the third installment of its annual SpringFest celebration, MUSIC Matters pulled out all the stops Thursday.
Rain served as an enforced recess between the afternoon’s activities and the night’s capstone concert — which climaxed as rapper 2 Chainz strolled onto the Hill Auditorium stage, bellowing his moniker to the heavens. During the day, food trucks and live entertainment stretched along North University Avenue from Hatcher Graduate Library to North University Avenue, while 40 student organizations, organized
ANN ARBOR
UW chancellor talks inequality problems in U.S. Rebecca Blank offers her stance on opportunity gaps
City calls on ‘U’ to consider S. State Street Corridor plan during site planning Daily Staff Reporter
The University is currently developing more specific plans for the recently acquired 16.7-acre Edwards Brothers Malloy property on South State Street, but the city might have a few things to say about their ambitions. Ann Arbor’s Planning Commission drafted a resolution that was passed by city council Monday that includes suggestions to the University in their usage of the property. The Planning Commission and city council requests that the University act in accordance with the city’s master plan – specifically with the “South State Street Corridor Plan.” The Ann Arbor City Council has had numerous discussions on the Edwards Brothers property. A 6-5 vote on Feb. 24 voted against implementing their right to purchase the site before the University, allowing the University to instead take possession of the property. Some of those in favor of the purchase argued that if the University was allowed to purchase the land, future revenue from taxes would come off the books since the See COUNCIL, Page 3
WEATHER TOMORROW
HI: 68 LO: 55
that kind of projects to the crowd. It’s organic. People like it and I appreciate it.” LSA senior Phil Schermer, MUSIC Matters president, said SpringFest as a whole – which was revamped to resemble Austin music and technology festival South By Southwest – exceeded his expectations. “My phone was dead for 45 minutes,” he said. “I turned it back on – had 46 texts from people who were excited about See SPRINGFEST, Page 3
GOVERNMENT
Council vote asks to limit athletic dept. construction disruptions
By MATT JACKONEN
by themed tents, presented their year’s work. Lasting from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., the festivities built up to 2 Chainz: the day’s headlining act. After his performance, 2 Chainz explained in an interview how he connects to a diverse set of audiences. “I just think I’m very transparent,” he said. “What you see is what you get. I’m like this on and off camera — at home, chillin’ out. I’ve got a good spirit. I’m very blessed and I think
By NEALA BERKOWSKI JAMES COLLER/Daily
A student from Lawrence Tech University operates a Lego robot that plays the piano at Robotics Day at the North Campus Research Complex Thursday. The event showcased robotics advancements from around Ann Arbor.
Annual event celebrates advancements in robotics Students, local businesses give demonstrations of new technology By ALLANA AKHTAR Daily Staff Reporter
Robots invaded campus Thursday when government agencies, businesses and students showcased the latest in robotic and automated vehicle innovations at a daylong showcase for the fourth annual Robotics Day. The event highlighted local advancements in robotics with demonstrations by students from the College of Engineering, local high schools and representatives from local businesses. The conference also featured panel
discussions on topics ranging from the commercial applications for drones to the future of robots in aiding health and rehabilitation. Many small businesses showcased their latest products, including Cybernet Systems Corporation, an Ann Arbor business that invented today’s fastest selling robotic consumer technology, and SkySpecs, an Ann Arbor drone-making operation. Though the event placed an emphasis on private innovation, it did not ignore the role that government agencies have played in the development of robotic technology. In a speech at the event, state Rep. Gretchen Driskell (D–Saline) recognized the state’s involvement in developing robotics at the University and establishing a partnership between industry and the gov-
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ernment. Dawn Tilbury, associate dean for research and graduate education at the College of Engineering, said the University frequently combines public and private funding to launch research projects. She said 75 percent of College of Engineering research is funded by federal and state governments and businesses contribute a fraction of the overall budget as well. “Sometimes you can’t get the money just from the University, you need to partner with industry to get the federal funds,” Tilbury said. “It’s complicated, but a lot of times those projects are very successful in transferring the results of the research into industry because you’re partnering with the company right up front.” See ROBOTICS, Page 3
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INDEX
Daily Staff Reporter
The national discussion on income inequality reached campus Thursday afternoon as Rebecca Blank, chancellor of University of Wisconsin-Madison, gave her interpretation of the disparity of opportunity in the United States. Before her role as chancellor at Wisconsin, Blank served as dean and professor of public policy and economics in the Gerald Ford School of Public Policy from 1998 to 2008 and as Deputy Secretary and Acting Secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce. She spoke in Rackham Auditorium to a crowd of Public Policy undergraduate and graduate students, faculty and community members. Blank opened her lecture by challenging common perceptions about American opportunity in the United States. “New starts may be hard, but not impossible,” Blank said. “Opportunity for those at the very bottom may be very limited, hard work may not lead to economic advancement and it turns out, not everyone can be president or CEO.” She discussed how, in the developing world competition with other countries, technologi-
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cal advances and the entrance of women into the workforce all have contributed to the rising inequality. However, she said because these factors have also played a positive role in economic advancement, eliminating them would not reduce inequality. “Many of the causes of rising inequality are not clearly negative,” she said. “In fact, not just the people in this room, but many lower- and middle-income families as well, have benefitted enormously from the very forces that also caused some of this rising inequality.” Effects of inequality such as residential segregation by income, family composition and disparities in enrichment expenditures on children were also discussed. While she suggested legislative solutions that would be effective — such as wealth redistribution and better education funding — Blank was pessimistic about any short-term progress, pointing to the political gridlock in Washington. Public Policy graduate student Mo Torres said he attended the event because inequality is one of the biggest policy issues the United States is currently facing. “At the University, we talk about how after we graduate we’ll have all of these opportunities,” Torres said. “We forget that a lot of people don’t have the opportunities that, as students, we’ve had. If we don’t care about See INEQUALITY, Page 3
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