University of Michigan - Michiganensian Yearbook (Ann Arbor, MI)

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VOICES 96 Voices

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900 million dollar project to improve life sciences was projected to be completed in the fall of 2005. The construction of the Life Sciences buildings that had dominated Palmer Field area was beginning to take shape and open new facilities. The construction distorts the image of the University. I can ' t wait until it ' s over so I can actually use the facilities and make the University look more traditional, said freshman biology major Michelle Zhao. Although similar feelings were shared by other students, they would be comforted to know that the project ' s completion was just around the corner. The first of the buildings scheduled to open was the Life Sciences Institute. The largest of the three sites, the Life Sciences Institute was a six story, 230,000 square foot laboratory.This SI 10,000 project held offices and labs for faculty research projects. The building was designed to encourage departments to collaborate and share work space, housing the chemistry, genetics, and cell biology research departments. Karl Bates, Director of Communications, explained, You need physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, mathematics to find how the living cell works. That ' s where disease occurs. That ' s a very difficult, dynamic complex environment and no one scientific discipline has been able to figure it out. So what [the University] decided to do was, ' let ' s put all these different people together in this new space. ' That ' s what this building supposed to do. Expected to open in early 2004 was the Commons, located next door to the Life Sciences Institute. Also six stories, this building was to become a space for offices, lecture auditoriums, and a food court. The construction cost was projected around $32 million. The first event that took place in the Commons was a national conference held by a group called Students Exploring the Life Sciences and Society, in early March. The final addition to the Palmer Drive site was the Undergraduate Science Building. This building was devoted to the science learning communities including the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program, Women in Science and Engineering, and the Life Sciences, Values and Society Program. As an academic peer advisor for UROP, junior mechanical and aerospace engineering major Adam Brezezinski commented, We don ' t have very much room [in the office] and there is a lot of stuff going on in the office. It would be really nice to spread out. We would have a lot more places to have private conversations, more computers, and just more resources in general. At a cost of $62 million, this L -shaped building sat on top of a 1,100 space parking garage. Bates summed up the importance of the buildings when he stated, It ' s right in the heart of all the other life sciences stuff and its kind of a neat location for it. So the three buildings taken together are a complete package of research and teaching, and collaborating to talk about research and teaching. life sciences institute brings new research and teaching Life Sciences Institute 95

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diverse nature of the student body made the University a forum for debate and the expression of voice. Students attracted political leaders, media, and general attention for their heated opinions and passionate responses to local, national and even international affairs. Protests, solicitations, rallies, and chalkings were among the many methods students, organizations, and outside parties used to spread their word. Whatever the nature of the voice, it came without question that for every opinion there was a counter- opinion. With the great number of students on campus, controversy was inevitable, but that fact was perhaps what made the University so strong. The student body was - not afraid to express themselves and in these moments of expression, the true depth within the University students could be uncovered. fo ' new- wa yti aa inftt fcve Wwtffuecu bfoengJfc. y - University President Mary Sue Coleman - ;;