The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Thursday, March 13, 2014 - 3A
HEALTHCARE
From Page 1A
Managed Care/Student Insur-
ance manager, said in an inter-
view Wednesday afternoon that
the University is committed to
providing elective abortion cov-
erage for the domestic student
plan.
"This is something that we
cover, and we're going to contin-
ue to cover it," Burchett said.
Louise Baldwin, associate
director of the International
Institute, said for international
plans, the same applied.
"It would be technically con-
sidered as a rider, which is what
the plan specified, but all stu-
dents enrolled in the plan would
have the benefit," Baldwin said.
"Long story short, it's not going
to affect the coverage."
Baldwin added that students
should not see an increase in
what they pay for the plan based
on the addition of the rider.
Graduate students and faculty
at the University who receive cov-
erage through University plans,
such as GradCare, U-M Premier
Care or Blue Cross Blue Shield
of Michigan's Community Blue
PPO, will not see any change in
their coverage under the new law.
These self-insured plans - under
which the University assumes
financial risks instead of the pro-
vider - are not subject to changes
under the new law.
The three faculty and grad
plans all already offer some form
of elective abortion coverage cur-
rently, according to documents
on the University Benefits Office
website.
One faculty plan, the Health
Alliance Plan, is not self-insured,
but it already has a rider for
abortion coverage, David Reid,
senior director of Strategic Com-
munications, said in an e-mail
statement.
On campus, the law has pushed
students to act both for and
against the changes.
LSA junior Taylor Crookston,
vice president of Students for
Life, a pro-life organization, said
a lot of students among the orga-
nization got involved with advo-
cating and petition to get the law
through Congress.
"We did the petition drives,
most of us have signed it,"
Crookston said. "We didn't do a
lot of it on campus with holding
the petitions and getting people
to sign it, because most of it was
done over the summer."
LSA junior Sophia Kotov,
president of Students for Choice,
a pro-choice organization, said
she saw a strong campus reaction
after the abortion insurance law
passed last December.
"When the law actually passed,
a lot of people were showing up
for Students for Choice and were
saying 'Wow, this is ridiculous, I
should get involved somehow,"'
Kotov said. "It actually mobilized
a lot of people."
The law's official start date
also gathered attention at the
Michigan State Capitol. State
Sen. Gretchen Whitmer (D-East
Lansing) announced the launch
of a new nonprofit organiza-
tion Wednesday, called Right to
Health, in response.
"Through Right to Health, I'll
be traveling around Michigan this
year to talk to women & men about
the importance of protecting our
health care rights and the damage
that is caused when misogynistic
ideas like the new 'Rape Insur-
ance' law are allowed to happen,"
Whitmer wrote in a statement on
her Facebook page.
MARRIAGE
From Page 1A
decision to define marriage as
one man and one woman.
Both sides presented data
and statistics from numerous
scholars, including professors
and economists, to ascertain if
.children would be at a disad-
vantage if raised by same-sex
parents. According to Univer-
sity lecturer Mark Rosenbaum,
Chief Counsel for the American
Civil Liberties Union of South-
ern California, the data clearly
favored DeBoer and Rowse.
"There is no basis other than
sheer animus against all LGBT
individuals to prevent two peo-
ple who love one another to say
so or do so in the same ways as
heterosexual couples," Rosen-
baum said.
In 2004, Michigan residents
approved a ban on same-sex
marriage with around 59 per-
cent of voters favoring the
measure. DeBoer and Rowse's
suit may overturn this law and
raises the question whether
initiatives are appropriate ways
to make legislation.
Jay Kaplan, an attorney with
the ACLU of Michigan, said
he believes constitutionality
should not be judged solely on
majority opinion. He said the
Founding Fathers created three
branches of the U.S. Govern-
ment to prevent such action.
"Our government, our laws,
protect us from the tyranny of
the majority and clearly that
was a discriminatory prevision
that was approved by a wide
majority of voters in 2004,"
Kaplan said. "We've seen over
the last 10 years how attitudes
towards LGBT people in terms
of their support for the right
to marry has significantly
changed - I just think it was
unconstitutional back in 2004,
it is today and the decision to
overturn it is exactly the right
thing to do."
Rosenbaum also warned
against the dangers of majority
opinion when dealing with gov-
ernmental action. He said he
believes the role of the courts is
to represent the minority voice
in legislation to distinguish
between what is constitutional
and what is discrimination.
"In the area of whether it's
race or whether it's class or
whether it is gender or whether
it is sexual orientation: we need
to be very careful in saying the
majority's vote is the final say
so," he said.
An Michigan State Unviersi-
ty poll found earlier this month
that 54% of Michigan residents
support gay marriage.
The federal judge will take
weeks to issue his ruling.
Both the University's chap-
ter of the College Republicans
and the American Family
Association of Michigan were
unavailable for comment.
ELECTION
From Page 1A
lowing six years of his or her term.
University alum Tamara Gar-
wood, an Ann Arbor resident and
Detroit College of Law graduate,
has practiced in Ann Arbor for the
past 15 years. Garwood's legal spe-
cialties are divided between pro-
bate and family law cases, making
this available seat, Garwood said,
an ideal fit for herskill set and pas-
sions.
"I can only help so many peo-
ple in private practice. It sounds
altruistic, butI want to help more
people," Garwood said. "I want to
have a greater impact on the com-
munity, and in my mind the way to
do that to be able to help more peo-
ple each day is to become a judge."
Garwood is the only candi-
date to receive incumbent Judge
Wheeler's endorsement, Garwood
Campaign Manager Tiffany Mess-
er said.
After receiving her Masters of
Social Work from New York Uni-
versity, Ann Arbor resident Tracy
Van den Bergh moved to Michigan
14 years ago, attended Michigan
State University College of Law
and currently practices at Legal
Services of South Central Michi-
gan, where she specializes in both
probate and family law.
According to Van den Bergh,
her unique background in social
work, understanding of mental ill-
ness and ability to interact with a
wide range of individuals sets her
apart from other candidates.
"I would like to take my unique
education to the bench because I
believe it will enable people across
the board to have better access to
the justice system," Van den Bergh
said.
The importance of this bench,
Van den Bergh said, cannot be
overlooked, as the majority of peo-
ple in probate court are experienc-
ing a life crisis and require a fair
and compassionate judge.
Ann Arbor resident Connie
Jones, who grew up in Washt-
enaw County and attended the
University's Law School, worked
for the United Auto Workers-Gen-
eral Motors Legal Services before
opening her own practice in 1993.
She also worked for Ozone House,
a homeless shelter for youth, and
volunteers in the LGBTQ commu-
nity.
She said her passion of work-
ing with children and the elderly
inspired her to pursue a seat on the
probate court.
Ann Arbor resident Julia B.
Owdziej, who graduated from
Detroit College of Law, is cur-
rently the deputy register for
the Washtenaw County Probate
Court. She is also the referee
for Washtenaw County Juvenile
Court, in which she presides over
hearings.
She has lived in Washtenaw
County since 1991, and said that
her experience in a variety of
areas will help her better serve the
people of Washtenaw County.
"Having been an advocate, a
decision maker and administra-
tive work in probate court, I think
I have all of the areas covered to
be a successful judge for the most
vulnerable people in probate
court," Owdziej said.
Ann Arbor resident Jane Bas-
sett, a Detroit Mercy School of
Law graduate, opened her own
practice in 1994 concerning elder
law and family formation for
twenty years. A Washtenaw Coun-
ty resident since 1982, she said she
hopes to use her resources, con-
nections and experience to serve
in a personal and effective way.
"Some of my shining moments
have been small victories. Know-
ing the details of someone's life
and helping them have a better
quality of life in their last days,"
Bassett said. "When clients come
to me they know they are going
to get the service they need with
compassion about what they are
goingthrough."
Shelton's circuit court seat is
historically responsible for more
family law cases, personal protec-
tion orders, divorces and juvenile
court cases.
Ann Arbor resident Michael
Woodyard, Wayne County
assistant prosecutor, attended
Eastern Michigan University
and Wayne State University
Law School and will be running
again after losing the 2012 elec-
tion against incumbent Judge
Tim Connors.
Chelsea resident Patrick Con-
lin, another candidate who grew
up in the Ann Arbor area, has a
private practice in Chelsea. He
attended the University of Notre
Dame and became a high school
English teacher before attend-
ing Wayne State University Law
School.
"I am really eager to serve the
people of this county," Conlin
said. "I understand public service
from my family's own history of
serving the community, and I'm
really eager to be in a position to
make the decisions that are neces-
sary to bring resolution to people's
conflict."
Veronique Liem is an attor-
ney at Smith Haughey Rice &
Roegge, a law firm with four loca-
tions throughout Michigan. She
received her MBA and JD from
the University.
"I want to perform community
service as part of my work," Liem
said. "I also ata stage in my career
and my life where I think I have
the knowledge and skill to be a
good judge and to render sound
and impact decisions especially
in family law, which this seat will
predominantly preside."
I N NOvmVATO0RS!oi
A PANEL ON STUDENT ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Where: 420 Maynard St.
SrI March 32014,5-7p.
ST. PATRICK
From Page 1A
make it more difficult to take into
account the severity of the cold.
LSA sophomore Leo Weiss-
burg, the Interfraternity Coun-
cil's vice president for public
relations, said that the IFC has
various strategies in place to
ensure that students attending
events at fraternities have fun
and stay safe.
For example, "stay in blue
cups" - which are made with
standard drink lines - will be
provided to fraternity houses
that are hosting events. To con-
tinue with past years' practices,
fraternities will purchase food to
encourage students not to drink
on an empty stomach, and the
IFC will reimburse these pur-
chases.
Members of the Michigan
Ambassadors Program who are
trained by University Health
Services and the Ann Arbor
Police Department will also be
patrollingsocial events to ensure
that "everything is within con-
trol," Weissburg said.
Weissburg said LSA sopho-
more Alex Krupiak, IFC's vice
president of social responsibility,
created guidelines specifically
for the holiday to ensure safety.
For example, the policy discour-
ages the use of glass containers
and encourages fraternity mem-
bers to pick up trash through-
out the day, as well as be aware
of sound system set-ups to avoid
noise complaints.
In addition, Weissburg said
the guidelines encouraged fra-
ternities to hold events on Sat-
urday in lieu of Sunday, when
Honors Convocation will occur.
"We want students to know
that there's alternative events,
that there's other things to do
besides engaging in high-risk
drinking, or drinking at all,"
Daniels said.
EXPO
From Page 1A
instead of going to all the depart-
ments separately," Trame said.
Students of all class standings
stood in line at the front desk
in front of the Union Ballroom
to swipe their MCards to gain
admission to the event. According
to Trame, more than 100 students
attended the expo within the first
half-hour, which was a larger
turnout than last year's expo.
Many students wandered up
to various departments' stands
to browse concentrations and
requirements, discuss career
plans or set up advising appoint-
ments. However, some students
were already set on their academ-
ic plans.
LSA sophomore Lasherryn
Duncan said she had all her
of options in mind before she
attended the expo. As a Biopsy-
chology, Cognition and Neurosci-
ence and Spanish double major,
Duncan decided to attend the
expo to check and confirm all of
her options.
"It was good to see that with
each stand, there was a professor
there," Duncan said. "It was help-
ful to put a face with a name."
LSA freshman Mia Licciardi
said she came to the expo to fig-
ure out the next step for her cho-
sen major - English. But after
perusing the selections, she said
the event opened up her mind to
other majors she was interested
in, such as psychology.
LSA senior Hani Habra attend-
ed the event with a completed
major in mathematics. By attend-
ing the event, he hoped to explore
other opportunities for graduate
school, such as pursuing a degree
in Engineering.
"I'm still searching," Habra
said.
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