The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Thursday, November 8, 2012 - 5A.
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Thursday, November 8, 2012 - 5A
REGENTS
From Page 1A
as a regent," Bernstein said. "I am
eager to begin to serve the Uni-
versity and the people of Michi-
gan."
Bernstein holds a bachelor's
degree, a law degree and an MBA
from the University and is cur-
rently the president of the Sam
Bernstein Law Firm, his father's
legal practice. He previously
worked on the Clinton admin-
istration and was appointed by
former Democratic Gov. Jennifer
Granholm to sit on the Michigan
Civil Rights Commission.
Bernstein attributed his elec-
toral success to an unortho-
dox campaign for the position,
including a bus tour of the state
to raise awareness about the
election.
"We ignored every piece of
conventional wisdom that was
imparted upon us," Bernstein
said. "We campaigned in a way
that I felt honored the extraor-
dinarily important role that the
University of Michigan plays in
our state, and the important role
in leading the University."
During his well-publicized
campaign, Bernstein consistent-
ly advocated for lowered under-
graduate tuition, the creation of
"Go Blue Bonds" to provide stu-
dents with access to lower interest
rate loans and the reallocation of
some portion of the University's
endowment to financial aid.
"The most important prior-
ity that faces higher education is
addressing skyrocketing tuition
and the burden of crushing stu-
dent debt," Bernstein said.
He added that in the long
term, he saw a coming divide
among public universities
between those who could adjust
to the new reality of funding for
public education and those who
could not.
"We are in a transformative
moment in'higher education and
there will be public universities
that will figure this out," Bern-
stein said. "There will be win-.
ners and losers. The losers will
be left behind and so will the
states in which they are located
... the stakes could not be higher."
Diggs, who holds undergradu-
ate and medical degrees from
the University, is currently the
owner of a laser and cosmetic
dermatology practice in Grosse
Pointe Farms. Inan Oct. 27 inter-
view with The Michigan Daily,
Diggs echoed Bernstein's assess-
ment that tuition and affordabil-
ity are the most pressing issue
facing the University and the
Board of Regents.
"I think there are ways to
make U of M just as financially
attractive as other institutions
around the country," Diggs said.
"I do think that the regents and
the administration ... could have
a leadership role in trying to
encourage the Legislature to
continue to pay appropriations
(to the) University."
Diggs could not be reached for
comment on Wednesday.
One of the Republican regent
nominees, Robert Steele, spoke
several hours before returns
came in and said the down-ticket
races would almost certainly fol-
low the trend set by higher races.
"The regents or any of the
State Board of Education-type
races are at the bottom of the
ballot and follow the top of the
ballot," Steele said. "If Obama
wins, I probably won't, if Rom-
ney wins, I probably will."
Steele, who ran unsuccessful-
ly against U.S. Rep. John Dingellt
(D-Mich.) in 2010, said he did
not have any plans to run for
office in the future.
Dan Horning, the other
Republican regent nominee, who
previously served as regent from
1995-2002, was not immediately
available for comment.
MCCORMACK
From Page 1A
ly hard and I'm happy that hard
work pays off, since that's what I
teach my kids every day," McCor-
mack said. "I received 10 out of
10 newspaper endorsements and
really worked hard to develop
relationships around the state to
make sure people understood that
I was committed to having a court
where politics didn't play a role
and everyone got a fair shake and I
think my message resonated."
McCormack's campaign
included a lengthy shout-out in a
political advertisement featuring
the cast of "The West Wing." In
the YouTube ad, the cast encour-
ages Michigan voters to fill out
the nonpartisan ballot, mention-
ing' that McCormack is on, the
ticket. They discussed McCor-
mack's platform to bring integrity
and fairness for ordinary people
to the court.
McCormack's sister, Mary,
starred in the last three seasons
of the show, and helped secure
the mention. A video of the ad
posted on YouTube by McCor-
mack has received more than 1
million views. McCormack also
appeared on the E! show "Chel-
sea Lately" in October to discuss
wrongful convictions with host
Chelsea Handler.
McCormack has been a law
professor at the University'since
1998. She serves as the associ-
ate dean for clinical affairs and
founded the Michigan Inno-
cence Clinic in 2009, a group
thai works in Michigan courts
to exonerate wrongfully accused
individuals using non-DNA evi-
dence.
McCormack will have to
resign from her work at the Uni-
versity when she begins her posi-
tion in the Michigan Supreme
Court to remain impartial.
RACE
From Page 1A
Harris said shewas approached
by a high school teacher from the
area who suggested bringing the
exhibit to the University so her
students could be exposed to
learning more about race issues.
"What's great about it is that it
gives people all kinds of ways to
start talking," Harris said.
Harris said the three primary
themes in the exhibit are science,
history and lived experiences. To
supplement the visiting exhibit,
the museum will also be incor-
porating a self-developed gallery,
"Race in This Place: A Communi-
ty Conversation," which will open
on Nov. 16.
The gallery seeks to address
issues revolving around race in
health, immigration, the educa-
tion system and the legal system.
It includes video, art and inter-
views with citizens about race in
Washtenaw County, according to
the Museum of Natural History's
website.
"We recognize that it is a
national focus," Harris said. "We
wanted to incorporate into peo-
ple's experience a look at what's
going on in our local community
around race ... The focus is to
identify what the issues are but
more importantly who is working
on trying to make things better."
A condensed version of the
exhibit will be brought to the'
University to accommodate the
space limitations at the museum.
However, Harris said nothinghas
been removed in the process of
condensingit.
The Understanding Race Proj-
ect faculty at the Museum of
Natural History trace student
perception on race throughout
the exhibit to see how their views
have been impacted and examine
how people have formed relation-
ships.
Involvement in the Under-
standing Race Project goes
beyond the LSA theme semes-
ter and includes a wide range of
community involvement among
Washtenaw County's 10 school
districts, the Ann Arbor District
Library and the Ypsilanti District
Library. Harris said community
efforts have been underway since
January 2012.
"The purpose of it is to stimu-
late a national conversation about
race," Harris said. "It's been so
successful and popular ... Our
vision for this exhibit is to use it as
an opportunity to encourage con-
versations about race not only on
campus but also in the Ann Arbor
and Washtenaw County commu-
nity and in the schools."
She added: "I hope that every
student at the University of Mich-
igan will see the exhibit. I hope
that they will take part in some of
'the amazing programs that they
are liningup."
Education graduate student
Clara Ng-Quinn, an Understand-
ing Race Theme Semester gradu-
ate intern and an Understanding
Race Student Steering Committee
adviser, said 133 courses in the
LSA Winter 2013 semester will
incorporate race and relate the
theme to a variety of topics.
"The ultimate goal of the
steering committee is to engage
as many students as possible in
this theme of understanding race
through big events, through small
events, through discussions,
bringing speakers in, bringing
performances in," Ng-Quinn said.
She would not release specific
details for events because they
are still in the planning stages
and there areno definite details
yet. However, she did say there
will be three to four major events
that will relate to a wide variety
of audience members in addition
to smaller niche events and col-
laboration with cultural student
organizations.
The steering committee is ana-
lyzing how sexuality, class and
gender relate to race. They are
trying to relate those sub-themes
into the courses offered as part
of the winter 2013 semester. Ng-
Quinn said though some subjects
obviously relate to race, other
topics, such as women's studies,
will incorporate aspects of race
through their relative topics, such
as gender and class.
"My hope, at least, is that this
theme semester will provide
opportunities for students to
engage in discussions about race
in a positive environment and to
hopefully chip away that stigma
about talking about race," Ng-
Quinn said. "I really think that
race is something-that is useful to
talk about; it doesn't matter what
race you are."
Ng-Quinn said any student
interested in joining the collabo-
ration effort is welcome to join
the student steeringcommittee.
Noel Gordon, an LSA senior
and student steering committee
member, said the committee is
looking to incorporate race into
various aspects of student life,
from medicine to sports to art.
"One of the things that I would
like to achieve is to really make
issues of race salient to people
as they sort of understand it,"
Gordon said. "It's equally impor-
tant to make sure students find
conversations about race very
accessible to them and relevant to
them."
Gordon said students might
refrain from having conversa-
tions about race in fear of saying
something wrong or offensive,
and promoting open dialogue is
important to removingstigmas.
"If we don't have these coh-
versations in sort of genuine and
authentic ways, while admitting
that some people will probably
say the wrong thing in the pro-
cess, then no one's ever going to
learn anything," Gordon said.
"It's important for me ... to help
students understand that it's okay
to make mistakes while talking
about race because that's the only
way we're ever going to get to a
better understanding."
BIKE WEEK
From Page 1A
Fund last fall, which will distrib-
ute $150,000 over a three-year
period to large-scale sustain-
ability projects, including biking
programs.
In 2011, Coleman announced
$50,000 of the fund was to be
used for the Bike Air Pumps and
Fix-it Station, the Reusable Con-
tainers Program, the Sustainable
Food Kiosk and the University
Campus Farm.
Arielle Fleisher, a Public
Health graduate student and
bike project leader, said she
came up with the idea for Bike
Week after she injured herself
on a beam on the repair station
shortly after it was installed
and wanted to educate students
about their use..
She added that Bike Week
should help students and Ann
Arbor residents use the installa-
tions properly.
"We don't want to just put
(station tools) on the ground and
walk away," Fleisher said. "The
goal is to get people to really use
these products and to use them
well. They only are as good as
they are used."
On Tuesday, the- Univer-
sity-held a bicycle resource fair
called Bike Fest at the Central
Campus Transport Station. Stu-
dent ambassadors at the event
helped explain how to use the
new stations ind throughout the
week more than 50 bike ambas-
sadors will take shifts explaining
their uses to passersby.
Fleisher said she hopes Bike
Week will not only inform stu-
dents on howr to use the new
installations, but also inspire
them to advocate for other
causes they believe in.
"This is your campus, and you
can make changes on it and advo-
cate things if you keep it going,"
Fleisher said. "If you really keep
the momentum going, this is a
great way to get things done."
University alum Andrew
Bradburn volunteered to be a
bike ambassador after moving
back to Ann Arbor recently. He
said he hopes the bike ambas-
sadors will help students learn
how to use the bike repair tools
and pumps.
"People are seeing the sta-
tions, interested in them, and
will touch the tools, but they
don't really know how to work
it," Bradburn said. "Just by being
out here and volunteering our
time to help fix bikes, pump tires
and just be around the pumps
will help. So when people swing
by and ask questions, we will
hopefully inform them how to
use these stations properly."
LSA senior Lauren Beriont,
a fellow bike ambassador, said
the project also promotes a bike-
friendly campus.
"It's just to get people outside
and make it easier for people to
pump their tires by letting them
know that all these resources
are around now," Beriont said. "I
think it's bringing a lot of people
excitement."
Social work student Braden
Latham-Jones, another bike
ambassador, said he believes Bike
Week will become an annual
event.
"I think we're looking to host
something that's annual, that's
regular, and that raises aware-
ness about biking in general and
commuting by bike as an oppor-
tunity so that bike-friendly
campuses can be built," Latham-
Jones said. "It's a part of a broad-
er idea of encouraging bikers as
opposed to cars as a means of
transportation."
Natural Resources and Envi-
ronment graduate student Ryan
Gourley went to the repair sta-
tion at the C.C. Little bus stop
after encountering difficulties
with his bike's gears. With the
help of Bradburn, Gourley's bike
was up and running within a few
minutes.
"It's great to have these stands
here, and it's really great this
week to have them manned with
experts who can help you out and
show you what you need to do,"
Gourley said.
MATISYAHU
From Page 1A
"I would just say it was more
of a slower process than I just
woke up and decided that," he
said in a phone interview with
the Michigan Daily.
Matis, as he's commonly
called, grew up in New York
in a Reconstructionist Jewish
family. As a teenager, he chal-
lenged his religious beliefs,
and went on the road follow-
ing Phish around the country.
In 1995, however, he attended
a program in Israel where he
explored his heritage and ulti-
mately found his Jewish identi-
ty. His time in Israel led him to
the more observant Orthodox
Judaism, which he practiced
until his decision to step away
in December.
Matisyahu's first three
plan (to work only with one pro-
ducer), but we started working
together and we would write
songs whenever I was in LA,
and then we had about half the
record finished" Matisyahu
said. "So, we decided we'd go to
Israel to work on it some more,
and at that point we realized
we would have a whole record
together."
While Matisyahu's music is
known throughout the world
- you probably know his song
"One Day" through NBC's
promotion of the 2012 Sum-
mer Olympics - he tends to
be pigeonholed publically as
the Hassidic reggae singer. In
Matis's mind, however, this was
never the case.
"(Being typecast) never real-
ly crossed my mind" he said.
"Everything I've done, you
know, the decisions I've made
in my life about my religion,
my ideology, my philosophy ...
the things that I think, the way
I represent myself to the world
- all of that comes from within.
All of that comes from what I
believe to be true."
"We don't need to become
famous or become successful,"
Matisyahu added. "People know-
who you are, you don't stop
living life from the inside ... it
always comes from the inside
out."
Matis revealed plans for an
acoustic album of songs "that
maybe are a bit more personal,"
and a new, reggae-feel record-
with his band. He also kicked
off a two-month college tour in
October, to "play some of the
smaller towns, play for the kids
and what not," and will stop
to play a show Thursday at the
Blind Pig.
He added: "I'll bring my win-
ter coat."
Michigan Football
A History of the Nation's
Winningest Program
albums, 2004's Shake Off the
Dust...Arise, 2005's Live at
Stubb's and 2006's Youth, not yl O
surprisingly, all have heavy ." P US dn
religious themes. While d trehent.
all three records were well The Department of Psy
reviewed, Youth (which, along at the University of Michigan is conducting a are looking r
with Live at Stubb's, went Gold)Fg
really brought Matisyahu int that includes receiving one dose of a AdsdigsewthAH
really brought Matisyahu into Aut wihNDs' diagnose d
commonly prescribed ADHD medication. We hope Healthy adults without AD
the mainstream. In 2009, he to learn how the brain functions of those adults with
released Light, his third stu- ADHD as well as healthy individuals without ADHD . mPaipants will be
din album, and in July of this.''''
year, he put out his latest release!,i 9 1W1 ,cmesto ;
Spark Seeker, which debuted at
no. 1 on the Billboard Reggae
Chart. -"" ';
Though he has changed since K U
his first record, Matisyahu said
his religion will always be inter-
twined with his music.
"It's something that's going
to continue to evolve and 1 3. 4 5
change and depending on how
important religion is in my 8
life at that time and what I'm
going through," Matisyahu G 2 8 6 3
explained. -
"Now, my first record, that's
all it was about - me explor- .7 4
ing my Jewish identity through
Hassidism and through Juda- 6 5 2 7 9 4
ism," he added. "As my relation-
ship with Judaism changes, my
relationship with myself and
God ... all of these things are
prevalent in the music." 6 7 3 9
Spark Seeker was a change for
Matis, as he chose to only work
with one producer on the album,
Kool Kojak. Although Kojak is
mostly known for his work with 7 2 6 5 8
pop stars like Ke$ha and Nicki
Minaj, Matisyahu said the pair '
had great chemistry together.
"Initially I didn't have that
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