4A - Friday, October 21, 2011
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
4A - Friday, October 21, 2011The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom
I WC i an 4 at 11
Edited and managed by students at
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HANNAH DOW
E-MAIL HANNAH AT IIDOW@UMICH.EDU
STEPHANIE STEINBERG
EDITOR IN CHIEF
MICHELLE DEWITT
and EMILY ORLEY
EDITORIAL PAGE EDITORS
Saturday's football game
has cau sed major flooding
in the city of Ann Arbor
'Christmas' is about the spirit
NICK SPAR
MANAGING EDITOR
Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily's editorial board.
All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors.
A clear schedule
4
spent fall break staying with
Regents must ensure meeting times are known my best friend at Barnard Col-
legein New York City. Barnard
t cannot be said enough, the University Board of Regents
must maintain complete transparency. The public's trust was
violated when the start time of the Oct. 13 regents meeting
was unexpectedly changed. The regents also violated the Michigan
Open Meetings Act by moving the start time without enough prior
notice, according to an attorney familiar with the law. The regents
are entrusted with making important decisions that affect students
and must make every effort to ensure their doors are always open
- literally and metaphorically - to University students.
Last Thursday, the Board of Regents held*
its monthly meeting. The meeting was origi-
nally scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. in Flint. But
that morning, its start time was moved to 2
p.m. The Michigan Open Meetings Act of 1976
stipulates that a public body must give "a pub-
lic notice stating the date, time and place " no
less than 18 hours before a regular meeting is
being rescheduled.
University spokesman Rick Fitzgerald con-
firmed the decision to change the meeting
time was made Thursday morning. A notice
was posted on the board's website and certain
members of the University of Michigan-Flint
community were informed via e-mail.
While this wasn't considered a legal viola-
tion of the Open Meetings Act by the Univer-
sity's Office of General Counsel, it was still
unethical of the board to change the meeting's
start time on such short notice. The Univer-
sity is a public institution, and the regents are
electedbythe Michiganvoters. As aresult, the
public expects the regents to be open about
all proceedings and discussions at meetings
in accordance with state law. Thus, it should
strive to always keep the public informed
about meeting times and locations well in
advance, and ensure adequate notice of adjust-
ments.
The regents are responsible for making
important decisions concerning the student
body. As Southfield, Mich.-based attorney
Lisa Rycus Mikalonis told The Michigan
Daily, "you need to have access to the decision-
making processes of the public bodies." The
board's recent action limits students' access to
them and the decision making process.
Many important decisions were discussed
at Thursday's meeting, including granting an
honorary degree to Winter Commencement
speaker and New York Times Executive Edi-
tor Jill Abramson. The regents argue there
were no members of the public signed up to
speak during the public comment period, so
the time change had little effect. Though no
one was signed up to speak in advance, any
student should have the opportunity to attend
the meeting - even at the last minute - and
listen and contribute to the discussion.
The matter comes down to the principle
of transparency. Whether the meeting is well
attended or not, the regents have a duty to
ensure that everyone's voice can be heard.
This means making an effort to present cor-
rect information about the meeting and ensur-
ing that if any changes occur, the public is
notified according to the Open Meetings Act.
The regents cannot make decisions behind
closed doors, and students should always have
the opportunity to be a part of discussions.
is the women's
liberal arts col-
lege of Colum-
bia University
and is known for
its alternative
core curriculum
called "Nine
Ways of Know- LIBBY
ing," as well as ASHTON
its impressive
list of recent
commencement
speakers: Hillary Clinton in 2009,
Meryl Streep in 2010, Cheryl Sand-
berg in 2011.
I've visited Barnard five times,
which I believe - wrongly - earns
me dual school citizenship. I've
joined my friend more than once
as she guides prospective students
(and the occasional Rwandan prin-
cess) through campus, I've lurked
in the back row of three of her
classes (who knew dramaturgy was
a thing?) and I've bonded with a
handful of the college's employees
while watching the Dr. Drew show
at Barnard's student center. I even
crashed a Barnard event in London
in search of free hors d'eourves and
a babysitting job.
With each visit, I become a bet-
ter skilled Barnard poser. I am - for
all practical purposes - a Barnard
woman. Except that I go here, and
that "here" is aBig Tenschool. Until
last weekend, going to a school that
identifies strongly with its football
tradition didn't seem so relevant
to my identity. But last weekend at
Barnard, it was for that reason all
the Columbia students posed as me.
Well not me, us.
Last weekend was Colum-
bia's homecoming football game.
Homecoming at Columbia is called
Christmas, and it's a really big deal.
The goal, I think, is to flood the
streets of the (upper) Upper West-
side with the spirit, fandom and
debauchery of state school football
game days. Because I was the only
one celebrating Columbia Christ-
mas who knew intimately well their
ideal game day, I became a de facto
authority on wildness. (That always
happens.) I observed throughout
the day how "state school" these
city kids could be.
We woke up at 10:30 a.m. to buy
fresh fruit for our homemade pan-
cakes. We should have woken up at
8 a.m. to buy a case of cheap beer
to wash down (by way of a funnel)
our pancakes from a box. And we
should have done it all on the fire
escape, which, I guess, is the city's
version of a front porch.
We walked down Broadway on
our way to the fraternities, stopping
alongside children and the elderly to
admire baked goods that were being
sold at the Broadway street market.
Wrong. State schools don't contain
those demographics and, on game
day, the only thing we ever stop to
admire is an expertly carved ice luge.
By the time we got to the fraterni-
ties (by which I mean brownstones
filled with boys in bow ties), they
were almost out of beer and some-
one unqualified had hijacked the
iPod. But there was a trulylimitless
amount of bagels and schmear. Not
a state school, but awesome.
As the pregame thinned out,
groups of students in jerseys asked
each other with scrunched up faces,
"Are you going to the game?"''Yeah!
It's senior year! Plus, they're giving
away free stuff!" At state schools,
you make dumb excuses about why
you're not going to the game.
Then we started our trek to the
stadium. In New York City, that
means a 25-minute bus ride, which,
for me, means a25-minute nap.And
in New York City, when a friend
says she's grabbing something to
eat onthe way, she might come back
with a skewer of chocolate covered
strawberries instead of a Panche-
ro's burrito.
Barnard tries to
mirror Football
Saturdays at 'U.'
When we got to the stadium (let's
call it the little house), I felt like I
was at a carnival instead of a foot-
ball game. Face painters wanted to
draw C's on my cheeks, the pop-
corn machines flowed freely and
the moon bounces - yeah, there
were moon bounces - stood firm.
Columbia students wrestled their
way past the young children of
alumni to climb inflated surfaces.
I respected their determination
because at state school football
games, the students matter.
During our half-time subway
ride back to campus, I talked to
some guys in plaid about the day.
"Sowhat'd you think? Was it any-
thing like a Michigan game day?"
Yeah, I think it was. Isn't Christmas
all about the spirit?
-Libby Ashton can be reached
at eashton@umich.edu.
4
4
4
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR SEND LETTERS TO: TOTHEDAILY@MICHIGANDAILY.COM L O E
0
Coleman should continue to
push sustainability forward
TO THE DAILY:
Dear University President Mary Sue Cole-
man,
The Student Sustainability Initiative would
like to recognize and thank you for your com-
mitment to an environmentally sustainable
University. The long-awaited sustainability
goals you announced were widely celebrat-
ed across campus and represented a truly
momentous day for the University. We com-
mend you for your leadership and thank you
for listening to the voice of the students.
The first steps we take moving forward
now are crucial for setting the pace at which
we pursue a sustainable University. With
this commitment, the University has moved
towards institutionalizing the pursuit of sus-
tainability; however full institutionalization
requires translating the speech and written
commitments into a fully embraced culture of
sustainability. It means imparting in all Uni-
versity decision-makers a strong understand-
ing of what sustainability is and what it means
for them. It means integrating sustainabil-
ity into their decision-making processes and
instilling a willingness to make changes, try
out new things and even accept the occasional
failure. It means taking the responsibility for
the success or failure of a single event or ini-
tiative off the shoulders of an individual and
placing it inthe broader context of the Univer-
sity's commitment.
We embrace the boldness and vision in the
guiding principles of carbon neutrality and
zero waste, but the 2025 timeline and the
2006 baseline establish an incremental, not
a visionary, framework. These stated goals
do not capture the true potential of the Uni-
versity; however we are very optimistic about
the ability of the University to surpass the
quantitative targets that it has set for itself.
We encourage you, as the decision-makers,
to always keep the guiding principles in mind
and let their boldness drive and inspire you.
We should monitor global climate change
trends and listen closely to University cli-
mate scientists, realigning our goals periodi-
cally based on the latest data and analyses.
We should collaborate with other bold institu-
tions and strive to surpass them in our pursuit
of sustainability.
Now that you have defined long-term sus-
tainability goals for the University, the Student
Sustainability Initiative is excited to partici-
pate in making these goals a reality. We are
eager to build on recent developments and pur-
sue new initiatives. We thank you for support-
ing the Planet Blue Ambassadors Program,
which has already begun educating University
dorm residents on how they can live more sus-
tainably. We thank you for creating the Planet
Blue Student Innovation Fund, which will pro-
vide $150,000 over three years for large-scale
student projects. Moving forward, we should
pursue similarly bold initiatives: Making recy-
cling and composting available everywhere on
campus, instituting a zero-waste University
football season and creating a functional, sus-
tainable on-campus farm.
Thank you once again for your commitment
to advancing sustainability at the University.
We look forward to continuing our relationship
with you this year and into the future. We are
confident that the University will make great
strides going forward, and we are thrilled to be
a part of this historic commitment to sustain-
ability and social responsibility.
Respectfully,
The Student Sustainability Initiative
Roundtable and Board
Editor's Note: This letter was submitted to
University President Mary Sue Coleman and
The Michigan Daily.
Michigan has simple consent
process for bloodspot samples
TO THE DAILY:
The Life Sciences & Society Program at the School
of Public Health thanks The Michigan Daily and
reporter Paige Pearcy for the piece ('U' educates
community on state neonatal blood bank, 10/12/2011)
noting that millions of blood samples from Michi-
gan natives can be used for health research without
explicit consent.
Every Michigander born between July 1, 1984 and
April 30, 2010 has bloodspots in the Michigan Neo-
natal Biobank. Few realize it. LSS aims to let people
know. We'd like to clarify some key details on this
topic around the issue of informed consent.
The Michigan Department of Community of Health
has not banked any blood samples from babies born
after May 2010 without signed, parental permission.
But MDCH is allowed to keep samples collected
from more than 4 million Michiganders born before
last May, even though there was never a process in
Dining halls should go trayless for
significant enviornmental impact
SEND LETTERS TO: TOTHEDAILY@MICHIGANDAILY.COM
place for collecting permission. "Donors" age 18 or
older or the parents of minors can ask MDCH to
destroy or remove their samples from the Biobank.
These Michiganders have the option to opt out, but
they have never had the opportunity to opt in.
For practical reasons, MDCH has not tried to collect
consent for the bloodspots preserved before last May
that represent a potential treasure for researchers.
LSS has created a simple online consent form that
will not impact Michiganders' "participation" in the
Biobank from the state's perspective, but will provide
a way for stakeholders to tell us whether they'd like to
opt in, opt out, state no opinion or be contacted on a
case-by-case basis to say whether they'd allow Univer-
sity researchers, like me, to use their bloodspots.
There are three ways the University community can
participate: Fill out our consent form and find infor-
mation at www.mybloodspot.org; sign up via dbthiel@
umich.edu to pilot-test our website (one hour pays $25
through November) and tell friends.
0
Sharon Kardia
Chair of Epidemiology at the University and Director of
the Life Sciences ft Society
However, as wit
Sue Coleman's sus
ment is a little w
expect all dining h
less." The Universit
TO THE DAILY: will be trayless, onl
The Michigan Daily's article, (Dining halls goingtray- are expected tobe1
less, 10/11/2011), explains thatthe Universityis planning the renovations an
on going trayless. This idea materialized in the winter that a few dining h
of 2009 with a pilot projectby a group of students in the Students will al
ENV 391 class who ran a pilot program in the Mary Mar- less, but in order to
kley dining hall. This preliminary study for the Univer- institutional shifta
sity proved to be very effective,since there was noticing - of being sustain
a large drop in food waste during the project. efits of going trayle
The following year, another group of students from ate a healthier stud
the ENV 391 course conducted a study in the East Quad We have the knowi
dining hall that showed some very significant results. versity more susta
This data - 38 percent waste reduction, significant footprint, eating m
decrease in detergent, water use and waste and a recog- selves and our pee
nition of healthier eating choices - was then presented
to the dining services and used to inspire the current Avery Robinson
commitment to going trayless. LSA senior
h much of University President Mary
tainability address, the trayless ele-
eak. Coleman announced that "we
alls we renovate or build to go tray-
ty is not declaring that all dining halls
ly new and renovated dining facilities
trayless. So, in 25 or so years after all
d construction, there is a possibility
alls will be trayless.
ways have the option of going tray-
make a difference, there must be an
and a commitment - not a possibility
able. The University knows the ben-
ss - save money, prevent waste, cre-
dent body - but is still falling behind.
ledge, let's use it. Let's make the Uni-
inable. Let's commit to reducing our
ore consciously and proving to our-
rs that we are the Leaders and Best.
6
EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS:
Aida Ali, Michelle DeWitt, Ashley Griesshammer, Nirbhay Jain,
Patrick Maillet, Erika Mayer, Harsha Nahata, Emily Orley,
Teddy Papes, Timothy Rabb, Caroline Sims, Seth Soderborg, Andrew Weiner
0