Posts by Kelly Fraser
‘U’ scientists lent hand in developing atom smasher
By Kelly Fraser, written on Sep. 9, 2008
By Elaine LaFay
Daily Staff Reporter
If all goes well early Wednesday morning, a beam of subatomic particles will zoom around a track deep underground in Europe and scientists will come close to answering some burning questions about the formation of matter and some of the deeper secrets of the Universe.
“We are attempting to discover the fundamental principles of matter and their interactions,” said Homer Neal, the University’s team leader for ATLAS, one of two particle detectors that are part of the larger experiment.
Scientists hope this experiment will shed light on the early moments of the Universe, which will provide answers to questions like the creation of matter and where tiny protons — particles found in the center of atoms — get their masses.
At 4 a.m. Wednesday – 10 a.m. in Geneva – someone will flip the switch of a particle accelerator called the Large Hadron Collider – a massive contraption that allows physicists to study the smallest particles in the Universe. The LHC, buried 300 meters beneath Switzerland and France, is operated by CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research.
It is a global undertaking that involves more than 80 countries and nearly 2000 scientists. Twenty-five of those scientists are from the University. “It’s one of the most important scientific endeavors of our time,” said Neal.
University physicists contributed to the construction of ATLAS, and many parts of the experiment were designed and built in Ann Arbor, tested and shipped over to Switzerland. The LHC is the centerpiece to the discovery of the elusive Higgs boson, a particle thought to exist throughout the universe and that is so unstable it can only last for fractions of a second before it changes into different particles.
“The Higgs boson is assumed to be responsible for giving all other particles their mass,” said Neal. “There’s an enormous amount of interest in discovering it and we should be able to discover it at the LHC.”
University scientists did work on muon detectors, specialized machines which look for the remnants of the Higgs particle, said Bing Zhou, head of the U.S. ATLAS muon detector development and construction.
She said they also hoped the LHC would harness the component of dark matter, a mysterious substance thought to compose around 95 percent of the Universe. Physics Prof. Rudolf Thun said tomorrow is only the first stage in a series of protons beams at different settings.
He said CERN would start small and work their way up to higher densities and energies in the proton beams over a period of weeks.
Paper reports record enrollment at U-M Flint
By Kelly Fraser, written on Sep. 3, 2008
A preliminary head count yesterday at the University of Michigan-Flint shows a dramatic increase in the size of this year’s freshman class, The Flint Journal reported.
According to an internal e-mail sent to U-M Flint employees obtained by the Journal, 890 first-time freshmen are enrolled this year, compared to 626 students last year.
Mel Serow, a spokesman for the campus, declined to comment about the enrollment figures. The University will not release enrollment data until the official 10-day count on Sept. 10 is completed, he said. The school has planned a press conference for Sept. 11, he added.
One factor attracting new students may be the campus’ new dormitories, which opened this fall.
Ann Arbor police offer reward for information in abduction cases
By Kelly Fraser, written on Sep. 3, 2008
Correction Appended: The Ann Arbor Police Department has revised the description of the suspect.
Police are still searching for a man suspected of trying to abduct two female joggers in separate incidents near campus Sunday night.
The Ann Arbor Police Department is now offering up to a $1,000 reward to anyone with information in the connection to the attacks.
The attacks occurred about an hour apart — at 8:30 p.m. and 9:40 p.m., respectively — in the area of Packard Street and Independence Boulevard.
Both joggers were able to fight the attacker off, and escaped with minor injures.
Police suspect that the same man is behind both attacks.
Both women provided similar physical descriptions of the man: a white male about 5 feet 11 inches to 6 feet tall, 25 to 45 years old, with a medium build, facial stubble, graying dark hair a missing or chipped front tooth and a hairy chest.
In the first incident, the attacker was wearing navy blue swim trunks with an orange band and no shirt.
In the second incident, the attacker was wearing blue jeans and a dark-colored hooded sweatshirt.
Anyone with information in the case should call the AAPD tip line at (734) 996-3199.
Obama overnights in city
By Kelly Fraser, written on Sep. 2, 2008
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama stayed overnight in Ann Arbor Sunday night, The Ann Arbor News reported.
Obama stayed in the Courtyard by Mariott in the 3200 block of Boardwalk Street, near the Briarwood Mall, and also briefly worked out at a nearby Bally Total Fitness Monday morning, before leaving the city for campaign stops in other parts of the state.
Security during the senator’s stay was high and his stay was kept a secret, except for a few surprised residents on treadmills.
Grease causes stink at Markley
By Kelly Fraser, written on Feb. 8, 2008
An awful smell has engulfed Mary Markley Residence Hall, annoying residents.
In an e-mail to Markley residents, the hall’s director John Janulis, explained that the smell is coming from the dorm’s grease traps, which needed an emergency cleaning earlier today.
The traps collect grease and other substances that would clog the building’s drains and sewers.
The cleaning is expected to be completed within the next few hours and in the meantime the truck collecting the grease was moved farther away from the building to try and lessen the smell.
In the e-mail, Janulis assured residents that an Occupational Safety and Environmental Health Department inspector confirmed that neither the grease, nor the cleaning pose a health risk.
Supporters say “Huck Yea” for Huckabee
By Kelly Fraser, written on Jan. 13, 2008
Compiled by Daily Staff Reporters Julie Rowe and Sara Lynne Thelen
One distinction that Republican presidential candidate and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee has over his competition for the Republican nomination is that his unusual sounding name makes for some creative posters.
Here is a sampling of supporters’ posters during a campaign stop Saturday at Amway Grand Hotel in Grand Rapids:
“Huck-yea!”
“Mike Huckabee is our guitar hero”
“Huckabee/Colbert ‘08″
“I choose FAITH, FAMILY, and FREEDOM in my change!”
“Indiana <3 Huckabee”
“MIKE FOR PREZ: HUCK Yeah!”
McKinley Towne Centre approved for expansion
By Kelly Fraser, written on Jan. 8, 2008
Correction appended: Although McKinley expressed interest in accquiring the Lamplighter Buliding, home of Encore Records and Orchid Lane, in its proposal to City Council, the buliding will not be affected by this phase of the expansion.
The Ann Arbor City Council unanimously approved expansion plans for the McKinley Towne Centre on Liberty Street last night.The center, which includes office space for Google’s AdWords division, will now stretch from Division Street to the Michigan Theater.
According to its proposal to the council, McKinley plans tear down the vacant Liberty Square and National City Back Bulidings, which the company accquired last year, and replace them with a two-story buliding.
In the proposal the company also expressed interest in purchasing the Lamplighter Bulding — which houses Encore Records and Orchid Lane — on the other side of the alley.
Several State and Liberty Street business owners spoke in favor of the expansion during the meeting. Many said the opening of the McKinley Towne Centre has revitalized a dead section of Liberty Street by adding more foot traffic and restaurants to the stretch.
Concerns over what would become of Liberty Street alley — the popular shortcut between Orchid Lane and the Liberty Square Building — dominated the meeting.
The billionaire in the next desk
By Kelly Fraser, written on Dec. 3, 2007
Creative writing students at Stanford University were in for a shock when they learned that that old guy sharing his thoughts on “The Sun Also Rises” came to class via private jet.
Over the past few years Nike founder and billionaire Phil Knight has been taking creative writing classes at his alma mater reports Nicholas Casey of the Wall Street Journal.
Knight’s not the only campus celebrity to drop in on a class or two at his former school. Last fall, former Michigan Football Coach Bo Schembechler audited an undergraduate Public Policy course shortly before his death.
Knight did not comment for the Wall Street Journal’s article but his classmates described him as private and authoritative with a soft spot for Hemingway. Knight has also mentioned a novel in progress to several of his classmates but has been tight-lipped on the details.
It seems Knight wasn’t all business though.
Though notably older than his fellow students, Mr. Knight soon became a popular fixture on the Stanford campus, known for hosting after-class gatherings at Palo Alto bars with his wife, Penny, before taking a private jet back to his home outside Portland, Ore. “He’d always pay,” recalls Mr. Stillman.
The festivities — some attended by senior professors in the English department — included little trips to the Stanford Park Hotel and Blue Chalk, a lounge whose Web site invites guests to “kick back and enjoy a cold beer or one of the signature margaritas.” Mr. Knight even found his way onto online social-networking site Facebook: He appears in a photo posted there, his arms around two undergraduates, with a third student holding what appears to be a drained margarita.
At North Dakota State, researchers now closer to studying hemp
By Kelly Fraser, written on Nov. 30, 2007
Researchers at North Dakota State University may soon be authorized to grow industrial-grade hemp. Currently, the University of Mississippi is the only college with government authorization to grow hemp.
The U.S Drug Enforcement Administration officials delivered a “memorandum of agreement” to the school earlier this month allowing researchers to grow hemp, reported The Chronicle of Higher Education. For the project to move forward, researchers now need to address security issues concerning the lab where the plants would be grown. Eventually researchers hope to cultivate roughly 140,000 plants.
Wednesday, a federal judge rejected Two North Dakota farmers’ lawsuit challenging the ban on commercial hemp farming. North Dakota State University supported the farmers’ lawsuit.
Students stage silent demonstration for North Korea
By Kelly Fraser, written on Oct. 31, 2007
Joe Stapleton
Daily Staff Reporter
North Korea has been in the news a lot lately. But Project: Hope N.K. says not for the right reasons.
Yesterday on the Diag, members of the on-campus student group Project: Hope N.K., formerly Liberty in North Korea, placed duct tape over their mouths to represent how they say people living in North Korea have no voice and are almost completely shut off from the outside world.
The student protesters also held up signs with facts about the living conditions in North Korea as well as headlines about the situation like, “Forced abortions and baby killing numerous in the concentration camps” from San Diego Union-Tribune.
The handful of demonstrators at the rally were silent, but there was a booth where students who were interested in the issue could pick up pamphlets.
LSA junior Sarah Hur said North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and his nuclear weapons policies overshadow the struggles of everyday life.
“I think most of the time the face of North Korea is Kim Jong Il,” Hur, a main organizer of the rally said, “but I think what most people don’t know about is the ongoing genocide that is going on in North Korea.”
Hur said North Korea has concentration camps for people who speak ill of the government. Even thinking about overthrowing the government can somehow get a person thrown into a camp.
“A lot of people try to get out of the country.” Hur said, “They try to cross the border into China.”
However, the treatment there is not much better, according to group members.
“Chinese law says that they can’t force anyone to leave when they know they know they will be persecuted,” said LSA senior Andy Krebsbach. “But they haven’t really been keeping up with that.”
A few dissenters in North Korea have set up a system of safe house leading to China, similar to the Underground Railroad network used in the United States during the time of slavery.
The main idea behind the rally was to bring this crisis to people’s attention, said Project: Hope N.K. executive board member and LSA senior Irene Pak.
The organization hopes that they raise enough awareness to bring the same amount of attention that has been paid to the Darfur region recently.
Sarah Hur was upbeat about student reception to the rally.
“I think the rally went a lot better than expected,” Hur said. “We were silent, but we still caught people’s attention just with the information we were showing them.”