The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Tuesday, April 8, 2014 - 3
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Tuesday, April 8, 2014 - 3
NEWS BRIEFS
DETROIT
Man found guilty
in family killings
A jury has found a 29-year-old
Detroit man guilty of first-degree
murder for gunning down his
7-year-old daughter, grandmoth-
er and aunt.
Police report that Ferdarius
Shine's mother told them he ran
from the house after the Feb. 15,
2013, shootings, screaming that
"the devil" made him do it.
He surrendered at a psychiatric
hospital the next day and under-
went a mental competency exam
before his trial in Wayne County
Circuit Court. A jury convicted
him Monday.
The victims were Shines'
daughter Amera Jones, his
49-year-old aunt Santangela Wil-
liams and his 68-year-old grand-
mother Geraldine Bates.
Investigators say he had a con-
cealed weapon license.
First-degree murder in Michi-
gan carries a mandatory penalty
of life in prison without the pos-
sibility of parole.
SAN FRANSISCO, Calif.
Several Smart cars
found vandalized
Four Smart cars were flipped
over in an apparent vandalism
spree Monday in two San Fran-
cisco neighborhoods.
Police said they didn't know
whether the attacks were a prank
or another episode in escalating
tensions among some residents
who blame the tech industry for
rising rents and cost of living.
"It'shardtodetermineamotive
without any suspects identified or
in custody," said Officer Gordon
Shyy, a police spokesman who
said the culprits would face felony
vandalism charges.
The first car was found flipped
on its roof around 1 a.m., and a
second was spotted on its side
around a couple of blocks away
about10 minutes later in the city's
Bernal Heights neighborhood,
said Shyy, a police spokesman.
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.
Driver investigated
in train derailing
An engineer driving a speed-
ing commuter train that derailed
last year, killing four people, had
a sleep disorder that interrupted
his rest dozens of times each
night and said he felt strangely
"dazed" right before the crash,
according to federal documents
released Monday.
Asked if he was clearheaded
enough to realize he was enter-
ing a curve just before the-Dec. 1
derailment inthe Bronx, engineer
William Rockefeller told investi-
gators "apparently not."
The Metro-North Railroad
train hit the curve, which has aO30
mph speed limit, at 82 mph. More
than 70 people were injured.
CAIRO
Four prominent
activists convicted
An appeals court on Mon-
day upheld the convictions and
three-year prison sentences
handed down to three of Egypt's
most prominent political activ-
ists, a ruling that is likely to
revive opposition to a draconian
protest law they were accused of
violating.
It is also certain to deepen the
rift between the current mil-
itary-backed government and
Egypt's liberal and secular pro-
democracy campaigners, many
of whom participated in the
2011 popular uprising against
Hosni Mubarak.
The ongoing campaign
against dissent and pro-democ-
racy activists has been over-
shadowed by a much larger
crackdown against the Muslim
Brotherhood group and other
Islamists. That push has led to
the death of hundreds and the
jailing of at least 16,000 people
since the July ouster of Presi-
dent Mohammed Morsi.
The verdict swiftly drew con-
demnation from international
rights groups.
-Compiled from
Daily wire reports
COUNCIL
From Page 1
possible need for it after evalu-
ating the effectiveness of the
ordinance's self-enforcement for
one year.
Warpehoski responded to
Kunselman's concerns regard-
ing the penalty by stating the
proposed legislation was not
simply a suggestion.
"We have a code of ordinanc-
es," Warpehoski said. "Not a
book of suggestions."
Warpehoski also responded
to concerns of some council-
members - including Lumm
and Kailasapathy - that imple-
mentation of this ordinance by
law enforcement officers would
detract from their focus on more
pressing issues.
Warpehoski cited a study
regarding a similar smoke-free
ordinance as evidence that
such claims are unsubstanti-
ated. A 2014 study of municipal
costs stemming from Ontario,
Canada's smoke-free ordinance
found that no significant costs
were incurred as a result of the
ordinance.
Ellen Rabinowitz, Washt-
enaw County's interim director
of public health, spoke at the
meeting in favor of the legisla-
tion. She noted that of the 12
years that a similar smoke-free
ordinances have been in place
throughout the county, only
about 400 complaints have been
made - none of which were
complaints about repeat offend-
ers. Rabinowitz noted that
the bill has been "largely self-
enforcing."
UHS director Robert Win-
field, the University's chief
health officer, also attended
Monday night's meeting to give
imput regardingthe University's
smoke-free policy.
"This is a difficult subject,
but when we were considering
the issues for the University of
Michiganweunderstoodthatwe
wanted to behave ina respectful
way to smokers," Winfield said.
"But we also wanted to set up a
healthy campus."
Winfield added that a com-
bination of social pressure and
education has limited the num-
ber of smokers causing issues on
the University's campus.
"Our central campus is a very
nice example of a practically
smoke-free place with no heavy-
handed enforcement," Winfield
said.
The council also unanimous-
ly passed a resolution against
Michigan Attorney General Bill
Schuette and Republican Gov.
Rick Snyder's efforts to appeal
the March 21, 2014 decision of
DeBoer v. Snyder overturning
the ban on same-sex marriage.
Although the resolution is
largely symbolic, it follows the
on city council's precedent of
supporting rights for LGBTQ
citizens.
While Councilmember Tay-
lor is the sponsored the resolu-
tion, five other members of city
council signed on as co-spon-
sored including Mayor John
Hieftje, Margie Teall (D-Ward
4), Lumm, Briere and Warpe-
hoski.
Taylor criticized Snyder's
defense of the appeal and the
lauded Judge Friedman's deci-
sion.
"It does not advance any con-
ceivable legitimate state inter-
est," Taylor said.
Warpehoski also spoke on
the issue, and said he hopes
the resolution will move the
city and state forward to a day
where "marriage is just mar-
riage for everybody who loves
each other."
MEDICAID
From Page 1
son whose income is lower than
138 percent of the federal pov-
erty line. Sommers said such an
expansion would help the bulk
of low-income individuals, who
many assumed it was helping
already.
"The ACA essentially said
forget about these categories -
if you are low-income and you
meet legal residence qualifica-
tions, you can get Medicaid,"
Sommers said. "It essentially
gives the country the Medicaid
program many people think we
already have."
Sommers said the expanded
Medicaid program looks great
on paper. If a state chooses to
expand Medicaid, the federal
government promises to cover
costs of the newly eligible for the
first three years and at least 90
percent until 2020. For citizens
formerly eligible for Medicaid,
government contribution will
remain the same -60 percent or
less, on average.
Although this seems large,
Sommers said states that have
not expanded harbor important
concerns, such as the affect of
expansion on state budgets. Due
to the immense outreach sur-
rounding the ACA, many people
who were previously eligible for
Medicaid but had not signed up
would enroll after expansion.
The federal government will not
increase coverage for previously
eligible enrollees, and the states
could face high costs.
"There are actually about 10
million people in the U.S. who
were already eligible for Med-
icaid but just hadn't signed up,"
Sommers said. "It could drive up
costs for the states. They have to
pay 25-50 percent of the costs for
those people."
Sommers said a majority of
states also believe the federal
government will not follow
through on covering costs.
"Two-thirds of these states
that are expanding Medicaid
predict that the federal govern-
ment is.not going to hold up its
end of the bargain," he said.
"These officials have no more
insight into that issue than I do
or than you do - they're guess-
ing."
Sommers spent a large part
of the lecture discussing what
states can expect when they
expand Medicaid. He cited
states that expanded Medicaid
relatively early, meaning in 2010
or 2011, including Connecticut,
New Jersey, Minnesota, Wash-
ington and California, lessons
and examples for the program's
implementation.
Sommers listed a few lessons
of these early expansions. He
said states gained many more
enrollees than expected and
the states that were not politi-
cally divided encountered fewer
problems when implementing
the Medicaid expansion.
Some states are choosing to
expand Medicaid using alter-
natives to the federal system.
Arkansas was the first state to
implement the 'private option,'
which takes the federal Med-
icaid funding and puts all
would-be enrollees into private
insurance plans.
In an article published Mon-
day in the Journal of the Ameri-
can Medical Association, Public
Policy Prof. John Ayanian, who
co-authored the JAMA view-
point with two graduate stu-
dents, wrote that the level of
state autonomy with regards to
ACA implementation has led to
uncertainty over the law's effec-
tiveness.
"State flexibility is a dou-
ble-edged sword," the authors
wrote. "By shifting some diffi-
cult decisions from the federal
government, states can tailor
health reform to the needs of
their stakeholders. But imple-
menting reform through the
states increases the number of
elected officials able to influence
implementation."
The article notes that, across
the nation, Michigan is one of
only five states to accept a fed-
eral Medicaid waiver, which
provides federal funding for
expansion while allowing states
to maintain a larger degree
of self-governance. Arkansas,
Iowa, Indiana and Pennsylvania
are the others that have either
implemented or are in the pro-
cess of implementing similar
programs.
While this option uses private
health insurance companies,
it appears to experience less
resistance from conservative
lawmakers, who want to avoid
increasing Medicaid enrollment,
the authors noted that the state-
run plans could become "vul-
nerable to shifts in the political
climate at the state and federal
levels," especially after the 2016
presidential election.
Public Health student Lau-
ren Kuenstner said she finds it
regrettable that some states have
not expanded Medicaid.
"It's unfortunate that so many
uninsured people are essentially
political pawns." Kuenstner
said. "A lot of governors don't
want to expand Medicaid purely
for ideological reasons, and the
people who are uninsured are
the ones suffering the conse-
quences."
SACUA
From Page 1
ing the University.
"This (video) has 807,749
views, while the University Cam-
pus Tour video only has 63,202
views," she said. "This is recruit-
ing students before we get to. I
might not play the whole thing,
because it sucks your soul."
"The social network and the
viral nature of the Internet is
in some ways is great on college
campuses, and it also hasa harder
time for us to manage in terms
of the perception of alcohol use,"
Desprez said.
Hower spoke about the chang-
es the University is considering
making to the orientation process
due to concerns that newstudents
have easy access to parties and
alcohol, posing a high risk of irre-
sponsible drinking.
Another concern expressed
is the time students have before
classe start, while many are
moving to Ann Arbor. Several
speakers expressed concerns that
Welcome Week fosters an unsafe
drinking environment-especial-
ly for new students.
Several SACUA members said
they were concern about the
issue, and requested additional
meetings to discussways in which
the administration is working to
make progress.
The last SACUA meeting of the
CAFFEINE
From Page 1
tions across Michigan. Campus
vendors include U-go's in the
Union, Bert's Cafe, Mujo Caf6, as
well as the cafe in the Architec-
ture School's Media Center.
Bogdan is also targeting other
universities, including Michi-
gan State as a new market for his
products.
LSA junior Brie Commons,
student manager at Ugo's in
the Michigan Union, said that
although she was unsure about
the idea of a "chocolate chip
blondie," it exceeded her expec-
tations. The campus convenience
store sells a variety of other Get
Up and Go products, the newest
being the espresso cookie, but
Commons said the traditional
chocolate chip cookies are the
best seller.
LSA senior Alma Worthy, also
a student manager at Ugo's, said
while it is difficult to advertise
the products, those who know
about them come in to buy them
frequently.
The startup will be launch-
ing an Indiegogo campaign on
April 15, with the goal of reach-
ing $10,000 to help fund its first
manufacturing order. Bogdan is
currently making the products
himself in a commercial kitchen,
which restricts the number of
items being produced. Once a
manufacturer is secured, Bogdan
projects his products will spread
to a couple of hundred stores
throughout Michigan by the end
of the year.
The products will soon feature
Indiegogo stickers to publicize
the campaign and Bogdan said he
will be giving out samples in cam-
pus libraries.
"People will definitely see us
around campus," Bogdan said.
ENGINEERING
From Page 1
Eisenberg presented results
from both nationwide and Uni-
versity studies on mental health.
According to a survey of 29
schools, 32 percent of students
face some type of mental health
challenge, and 9 percent suffer
from major depression.
However, Eisenberg said
engineering students at the Uni-
versity have a slightly higher
prevalence of mental health
problems, hovering around 40
percent of students surveyed.
He added that engineering
students have also proven to be
less likely to use mental health
services at the University, such
as Counseling and Psychological
Services. He said there is a rea-
son for this discrepancy.
"The first thing people usu-
ally think of is stigma and nega-
tive attitudes about seeking help
or about disclosing mental ill-
ness," Eisenberg said. "But we
actually see - and this is con-
sistent across, really, most of
the campuses - that very small
percentage of students actually
agree with the statement that's
intended to measure stigma: 'I
think less of people who receive
mental health treatment.'"
Following Eisenberg's pre-
sentation, University alum Blake
Wagner, a research specialist
in the School of Public Health,
screened a public service
announcement produced by Ink-
blots, an organization he started
with his father to address issues
of depression amongstudents.
The short film, "Treadmill,"
highlighted four major steps to
coping with stress and insecu-
rity: stop, breathe, reflect and
choose. Wagner said these are
a reflection of Inkblots' general
slogan: "Tiny shifts can lead to
big changes."
University alum Richard
Sheridan, the CEO of local Ann
Arbor tech company Menlo
Innovations, was the final
speaker at the event.
He said he founded Menlo
Innovations because he was
tired of the standard bureau-
cracy of software development,
which had at one point instilled
in him "a personal trough of dis-
illusionment."
According the Menlo Inno-
vations website, the company's
mission is to end human suffer-
ing in the world as it relates to
technology.
Sheridan said this concept
requires a unique working envi-
ronment with open workspace
that embraces "the serendipity
of noise" to maximize produc-
tivity. He added that this meth-
od is conducive to collaboration,
which is required of his employ-
ees.
Sheridan said students must
not be afraid to persevere in the
face of disappointment, because
fear of failure is an obstacle to
joy.
"I can tell you that in your
work lives, as you go forward,
most things you think about will
be shot down before you ever
try them," he said. "We pierce
through that at Menlo with one
simple phrase: 'Let's run the
experiment.'"
Angie Farrehi, the assistant
director of student affairs in the
College of Engineering and Own
It's faculty adviser, said this
mindset - fostering inclusion
and "running the experiment"
- is exactly what the student
movement seeks to encourage.
"Own It takes on the chal-
lenge of improving the climate
and connectedness of our com-
munity," she said. "Those two
pieces are integral to any key-
note event ... with the end result
of hopefully improving success
of our students."
Ships hunting for 'pings' in continuing plane search
Hunt reaches
critical stage as
beacon battery
nears depletion
PERTH, Australia (AP) -
Search crews hunting for the
missing Malaysia Airlines jet
have failed to relocate faint
sounds heard deep below the
Indian Ocean that officials said
were consistent with a plane's
black boxes, the head of the
search operation said Tuesday.
Angus Houston, the retired
Australian air chief marshal who
is heading the search far off Aus-
tralia's west coast, said sound
locating equipment on board the
Ocean Shield has picked up no
trace of the signals since they
were first heard late Saturday
and early Sunday.
Time may have already run
out to find the devices, whose
locator beacons have a battery
life of about a month. Tues-
day marks one month since the
plane vanished. Once the bea-
cons blink off, locating the black
boxes in such deep water would
be an immensely difficult, if not
impossible, task.
"There have been no further
contacts with any transmission
and we need to continue (search-
ing) for several days right up to
the point at which there's abso-
lutely no doubt that the batter-
ies will have expired," Houston
said.
If, by that point, the U.S. Navy
listening equipment beingtowed
behind the Ocean Shield has
failed to pick up any signals, a
sub on board the ship will be
deployed to try and chart out
any debris on the sea floor. If the
sub maps out a debris field, the
crew will replace the sonar sys-
tem with a camera unit to photo-
graph any wreckage.
Houston's comments contra-
dicted an earlier statement from
Australia's acting prime min-
ister, Warren Truss, who said
search crews would launch the
Bluefin 21 autonomous sub on
Tuesday.
The towed pinger locator
detected late Saturday and early
Sunday two distinct, long-last-
ing sounds underwater that are
consistent with the pings from
an aircraft's "black boxes" -
the flight data and cockpit voice
recorders, Houston said, dub-
bing the find a promising lead in
the monthlong hunt for clues to
the plane's fate.
Still, officials warned it could
take days to determine wheth-
er the sounds were connected
to Flight 370, which vanished
March 8 on a flight from Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia, to Beijing
with 239 on board.
"This is an herculean task -
it's over a very, very wide area,
the water is extremely deep,"
Defense Minister David John-
ston said. "We have at least sev-
eral days of intense action ahead
of us."
Houtson said finding the
sound again was critical to nar-
rowing down the search area
before the sub can be used. If
the vehicle went down now with
the sparse data collected so far,
it would take "many, many days"
for it to cover all the places the
pings might have come from.
"It's literally crawling at the
bottom of the ocean so it's going
to take a long, long time," Hous-
ton said.
Despite the excitement sur-
rounding the Ocean Shield's
sound detections, Houston
warned that the search had pre-
viously been marred by false
leads - such as ships detecting
their own signals. Because of
that, other ships cannot be sent
in to help with the underwater
search, as they may add unwant-
ed noise.
"We're very hopeful we will
find further evidence that will
confirm the aircraft is in that
location," Houston said. "There's
still a little bit of doubt there, but
I'm a lot more optimistic than I
was one week ago."
Finding the black boxes is key
to unraveling what happened
to the Boeing 777, because they
contain flight data and cock-
pit voice recordings that could
explain why the plane veered so
far off-course.
"Everyone's anxious about
the life of the batteries on the
black box flight recorders," said
Truss, who is acting prime min-
ister while Tony Abbott is over-
seas. "Sometimes they go on for
many, many weeks longer than
they're mandated to operate for
- we hope that'll be the case in
this instance. But clearly there
is an aura of urgency about the
investigation."
The first sound picked up
by the equipment on board the
Ocean Shield lasted two hours
and 20 minutes before it was
lost, Houston said. The ship then
turned around and picked up a
signal again - this time record-
ing two distinct "pinger returns"
that lasted 13 minutes. That
would be consistent with trans-
missions from both the flight
data recorder and the cockpit
voice recorder.
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