8 - Friday, September 28, 2012

The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
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8 - Friday, September 28, 2012 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom

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Civil rights leader urges
political participation

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Students participate in a friendly pillow fight battle on the Diag Thursday.

UGLI
From Page 1
to accompany the 24-hour
access policy, and students
will be required to swipe their
MCards upon entrance between
midnight and 7 a.m. He added
the students can also still take
advantage of the Ride Home ser-
vice that runs from 2 to 7 a.m. to
provide free transit back home for
students studying late.
To accommodate for caffeine-
driven students, Bert's Cafd -
located in the lobby of the UGLi
- will soon test out a 24-hour

schedule a few days a week to
see how it's received by students,
according to Bert's manager,
Laura Golze. The caf6 is currently
open until 1 a.m., and Golze said
the trial period could begin as
early as after fall break.
LSA senior Satenig Mirzoyan
said she has been at the UGLi
until 5 a.m. during exam week
and plans to take advantage of the
new extended access.
"The fact that its 24 hours
now means if you are having a
late night or have a paper due
you don't have to go scavenge for
another place to study," Mirzoyan
said.

Mirzoyan also expressed inter-
est in a 24-hour cafe asa means to
fuel her late-night study sessions.
"I think it's a great idea," Golze
said. "I think a lot of students
want to study, especially dur-
ing exam time, so I'm happy that
they're going 24 hours. I think
they should have done this a long
time ago."
LSA sophomore Wayne Lam
said he especially likes the idea of
a 24-hour cafe.
"In the past I've always been
here pretty late studying for
classes," Lam'said. "I think it's
a good idea, but maybe Bert's
could stay a little later also."

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At lecture, world."
Political Science Prof. Vin-
Lafayette cent Hutchings, who participat-
ed in the lecture and question
aphasizes civil and answer session, said partic-
shts education ipation in the political system is
gt important to the progress of the
country.
By JEN CALFAS, "In order to maximize your
For theDaily influence, you ideally want to
vote," Hutchings said. "You
ugh the civil rights era want to exert your influence on
decades ago, the United the outside, and on the inside as
is still learning the les- well as politicians."
f the oppression and activ- In an interview after the
at surrounded it. lecture, Lafayette said the civil
nard Lafayette, the nation- rights movement has experi-
rdinator of the 1968 Poor enced backlash from today's
2's Campaign and a top aide generation.
rtin Luther King, Jr., spoke "While we've made some
owd of about 40 students very important changes in the
culty Thursday night. In movement in the past, we are
eech, Lafayette discussed finding that there is backlash
ight of African Americans with people who are trying to
rcoming oppression dur- turn back the clock," Lafayette
e civil rights movement said.
day. Lafayette pointed to a group
ayette, who currently in Selma, Ala. that is trying to
as a senior scholar-in-res- erect a statue of a Confederate
at the Candler School of General and early Ku Klux Klan
ogy at Emory University leader as an example of such
anta, said the civil rights pushback.
ment was unsuccessful in "Why do they want to lift up
orts to educate voters and that particular kind of image of
rage their participation in a person that was totally apa-
nment. thetic to the progress that we've
e failed," Lafayette said. made at this point?" he said.
mistake was not to set up In his lecture, Lafayette
ery county a citizenship recounted the oppression Afri-
tion school. We'd have cit- can Americans underwent
[earn how to participate." before and during the civil
ayette encouraged Uni- rights movement.
y students to fix the falts "Oppression is a system but it
movement by organiz- has to have maximum coopera-
uth groups so people can tion," Lafayette said. "You gotto
about voting rights before have techniques of refraction.
e legally allowed to cast There are going to be some that
s, adding that a successful try to resist oppression. Repres-
tion comes from the sup- sion means that you're going to
&others. have to put these people back in
revolution has ever been their place, and that's where all
without the sympathy or the violence took place."
support of the majority," He said that during the civil
id. "You have to occupy rights movement, activists
nscious of the rest of the responded to oppression by


CLINIC
From Page 1
dents proposed the idea to medi-
cal school officials at the end of
2010. Along with several faculty
members, the students - Alex-
ander Andrews, Karen Chow,
Lauren Dennisuk, Michael Gao
and Alexandra Pulst-Korenberg
- presented their ideas to Medi-
cal School administrators in the
summer of 2011 as part of their
effort to get the partnership
approved.
Conjeevaram said the benefits
of the clinic are two-fold as it
provides a free health care option
for the nearly 30 percent of Liv-
ingston county residents who
don't have health insurance, and
it also gives students a chance to
give back to the community while

gaining experience in their field.
"It's really important for us to
understand what's happening in
the community and how to help
people who really need help in
terms of being underinsured or
lack of insurance," Conjeevaram
said. We felt that it was very
important for.those needs to be
met."
Conjeevaram added that it's
empowering for students to use
their classroom skills to help
those in need.
"It promotes the sense of vol-
unteerism and what it means to
care for others," Conjeevaram
said. "This can show them that
they are capable of doing any-
thing they would like to in terms
of serving the community."
Gao, one of the medical stu-
dents who started the clinic,
wrote in an e-mail interview that

he thinks the clinic will fulfill the
needs of both patients and stu-
dents.
"I envision our clinic providing
volunteer and leadership oppor-
tunities to interested students and
physicians," Gao wrote. "Medical
care and medical education are
both very limited resources, and
our clinic provides a bit of each."
Chow, another student agreed
and wrote in an e-mail that she
is excited to see the group's ideas
finally come to fruition.
"There is nothing more excit-
ing than forming an idea and
seeing it turn into reality,"
Chow wrote. "Founding a clinic
required self-motivation, seam-
less teamwork, and selling an idea
to administration and community
figures, akin to starting a busi-
ness. These are skills that medical
schools do not teach."


CAIN
From Page 1
salient political issues in the
country today: the tax code,
energy dependence and go'ern-
ment spending.
During his address, Cain said
the path to achieving success
can only be achieved by follow-
ing a "a zigzag, not a straight
line." He spoke of his humble
beginnings in a small house in
Atlanta, Ga., the hard work his
parents endured to put him and
his brother through school and
the fluctuation of his career.
After detailing his personal
background, Cain discussed
what students can do to improve
the country. Though Cain
refrained from commenting on

the presidential race, he empha-
sized that students need to stay
informed, involved and inspired.
"If you sit on the sidelines and
you think this country's gonna
get back on the right track,
you're sadly mistaken," Cain
said.
Cain added that the students
of today will soon take on the
problems of the future, and that
it will be up to them to make a
difference.
"I'm challenging you to be
part of the solution, and not part
of the problem," Cain said.
Cain said his vision has
already been influenced by his
experiences on the tour. In an
interview after the event, Cain
said the most important thing
he has learned thus far is that
people want to know the truth.

overpowering fear with cour-
age.
"Courage does not mean that
you have fear," he said. "Yes we
had fear, but we were fearless.
Fear is there, but it's not the bar-
rier. It's not the force that keeps
you from action. You act in spite
of the fear."
Lafayette said in the inter-
view that he chose to visit the
University because of its his-
tory of support for civil rights.
He added that he has friends
and knows other activists who
attended the University.
"It's always been thought of
as a place where you would find
a strong interest and support
base for social change," he said.
Lafayette said he expects
students to focus on the points
he made during his lecture and
apply it in the future.
"I have a great expectation
that people are going to ben-
efit with what I've shared with
them and do something with it,"
Lafayette said. "This activism is
one of the images that the Uni-
versity of Michigan has."
On Friday and Saturday,
Lafayette is also scheduled to
hold a civil rights training ses-
sion on Kingian nonviolence
activism, a philosophy advo-
cated for by the King Center
for Nonviolent Social Change,
which was founded by Coretta
Scott King after her husband's
assassination.
LSA senior Rocci Maxwell
attended the lecture and said
she agreed with Lafayette's
sentiments toward youth voter
education.
"People might not vote
because they're not educated
about it," Maxwell said. "If you
start at an age before 18 where
you can learn the process, then
people will be more likely to
vote. Educating people before
the process would be extremely
beneficial."
He added that in the immedi-
ate future, his goal is to become
a media mogul to fight the lib-
eral media bias.
LSA senior Daniel Sterling
said though the crowd may have
appeared negative, Cain han-
dled it well.
"He seemed to really like the
crowd even though everyone
didn't agree in exact terms with
him," Sterling said. "He kind of
used that to his advantage. He
developed a personal connec-
tion with everyone."
LSA senior Shawn Gauden
said Cain's lack of emphasis on
the campaign was noticeable.
"It was interesting that he
didn't really focus on the can-
didate, he was focused on his
vision of success and how to get
there," Gauden said.
needed so much infrastructure -
it was in physically worse shape
than Baits II, not as close, and no
matter what we tried to do, we
just couldn't get it to work so that *
students felt really good about
it," Harper said. "So we decided
if we can't really have an experi-
ence that we feel good aboutthen
we're just not going to have stu-

dents there."
LSA freshman Alec Lybik, a
Baits II resident, expressed satis-
faction with the new complex.
"The renovations are fantas-
tic," Lybik said. "My suitemates
are sophomores and lived here
last year, so they keep telling me
how much better it is."
Engineering junior Chan- o
dramouli Nagarajan, a resident
adviser at Baits II, said the resi-
dence hall has changed signifi-
cantly since he lived there last
year as a community assistant.
"There are a.bunch of new
spaces that help a lot for studying y
and community building," Naga-
rajan said. "I think the students
are definitely more excited this
year."
said. "We may have to look at cut-
ting back some of the investments
we have made (for) the future.
The board also passed a function
that we will not provide any ser-
vice that we do not have funding
for."
-Stephanie Shenouda
contributed to this report.

Presidents of Sudan and S.
Sudan sign oil agreement


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Countries in January after accusing Sudan
of stealing its crude, which is
reach deal on transported in pipelines through
Sudan. Border clashes escalated
lemilitarized inAprilwhen South Sudan troops
took over an oil town in a region
border zone Sudan claims as its own.
With the deal sealed Thurs-
DIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) day, officials say only "technical
e presidents of Sudan and works" remain for oil exports to
Sudan signed economic and resume soon. Some officials.have
ty agreements Thursday said it will take months to clear the
ill allow a resumption of oil pipelines and get oil flowingagain.
ts from South Sudan. The U.N. Secretary Ban Ki-moon
ountries also reached deals welcomed the agreements, say-
lemilitarized zone between ing Sudan andSouth Sudan "have.
orders and a cessation of all written a new page in their com-
ties that brought the coun- mon history."
o the brink of all-out war He commended the two
ew months ago. presidents "for- again choosing
an President Ofnar al- peace over war" and said the
and SouthSudan President agreements "provide impor-
Kiir signed the agreement tant building blocks for a stable
iopia's capital, where they and prosperous future for both
been holding talks since countries." He urged both coun-
y. The talks were originally tries to continue their efforts to
uled to last only a day. The resolve the dispute over Abyei
ould not agree on a shared through dialogue "and avoid any
r or on how to address the unilateral decisions that would
ed region of Abyei. risk a return to violence."
h sides have been under Ban spoke at a ministerial
re from the U.N. Security forum on Sudan and South Sudan
il to resolve the outstand- on the sidelines of the U.N. Gen-
ues or risk sanctions. South eral Assembly's annual high-
broke away from Sudan level meeting that he co-chaired
ear after an independence with the African Union.
hat was the culmination of The forum's final communique
5 peace treaty that ended commended the two presidents
es of war that killed more "for demonstrating construe-
million people. But the bor- tive leadership and political will
ts never defined, and South to reach agreements" and urged
suspended oil production them to continue negotiations on

Abyei and the disputed border
areas.
The security agreement was
signed by the two countries'
defense ministers, while lead
negotiators inked economic and
trade agreements. AU mediators
say the two sides also signed a
deal to let their citizens freely
move between, reside in and
work in both countries.
Bashir and Kiir spent four days
in an apparent effort to overcome
the most contentious issues -
finalizing a border and determin-
ing the status of the border region
of Abyei - but failed.
Kiir said Thursday was a great
day in the history of the Sudan
region, though he said the lack
of an agreement over Abyei was
Khartoum's fault.
"As to Abyei it is very unfor-
tunate that we could not agree,"
he said. "My government and
I accepted unconditionally the
proposal of the AUHIP (the Afri-
can Union High-Level Imple-
mentation Panel) . unfortunately
my brother Bashir and his gov-
ernment totally rejected the pro-
posal in its totality." Kiir said. He
called on the African Union to
resolve the dispute urgently and
end what he called the continued.
suffering of the people of Abyei.
The top African Union media-
tor, former South African Presi-
dent Thabo Mbeki, called the
agreement's signing "a giant
step forward for both Sudan and
South Sudan."

BAITS it
From Page 1
University President Mary Sue
Coleman, who is in Brazil on a
University trip.
"We've not ever had (an open-
ing) where she's not been here,"
Harper said. "She said, 'I'll be
thinking about you guys, but I'll
be working hard in Brazil."':
Harper continued to express
her excitement about the renova-
tion, which she said the Univer-
sity administration believes to be
a "major" accomplishment.
* "When I walked through last
summer ... I just kept saying,
'Wow, wow, wow!"' Harper said.
Upon the ceremonial cutting
of the ribbon by Harper and Bri
Dumond, the. Baits II resident
director, a recording of "The Vic-
tors" immediately began playing,
and the crowd began singing in
unison.
After the ceremony, Harper
discussed the University's cur-
rent goals for future residence
hall renovations.
AATA
From Page 1
Board member David Nacht
said while the added expense
would hurt the authority, the
group's attention to spending will
keep the transit system from fal-
tering.

"Our students are so terrific,
and they really deserve won-
derful spaces to study and to be
together," Harper said. "What
we're trying to do is renovate all
of them starting with our heri-
tage halls and including Baits."
Upon the closure of Baits I last
year, University Housing spokes-
man Peter Logan said the Univer-
sity couldn't justify spending the
$6 million needed to renovate the
residence hall.
"We realized that over the
years, Baits I has not met the
expectation of students ... and
to really upgrade those facilities
would really require a lot more
than $6 million," Logan said last
November. "... It's really difficult
right now at this point to justify
spending a significant amount of
student dollars on infrastructure
and renovation for Baits I."
However, roughly $12 mil-
lion was spent renovating Baits
II, and Harper said the larger
expenditure is needed for more
thorough renovations on Baits I.
"What we decided is Baits I is
further away from Bursley, and it
"It's a shock but not an enor-
mous piece, 1 million out of $32
million," Nacht said.
Bernstein countered Nacht,
saying that the loss will hinder
AATA's ability to fund new proj-
ects.
"We now are at the end of our
ability to fund anything outside
our regular service," Bernstein

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