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Ann Arbor, Michigan
Friday, February 21,2014
RENOVATIONS
Biology
building
project
to begin
Regents approve host
of construction and
renovation plans
By CLAIRE BRYAN
Daily Staff Reporter
At their meeting on Thursday, the
University's Board of Regents unan-
imously voted to commence ahost of
construction projects with project-
ed costs of more than $510 million.
The projects span across campus,
including the construction of a new
300,000-square-foot Biological Sci-
ence Building and renovations of the
older sections of the Ross School of
Business, West Quad Residence Hall
and the historic President's House.
Regents approve constructionof a
new Biological S cience Building
The construction of the Biological
Sciences Building - the project that
will bring about the biggest change
to the landscape of Central Campus
- will cost an estimated $261 mil-
lion. Funding will come from LSA
and Office of the Provost resources.
The BSB will be built adjacent to
the Life Sciences Institute, on the
site of the historic North Hall and
the Museums Annex, both of which
will be demolished.
The new facility will include new
research laboratories, offices, class-
rooms and vivarium services, and
will adopt portions of the four muse-
um collections currently housed in
the Ruthven Museums Building.
Additionally, the new BSB will con-
nect to the Life Sciences Institute,
See BUILDING, Page 3
michigandaily.com
DIVERSITY
Coleman
addresses
inclusion
concerns
JA MES COLL ER
LSA seniors Tyrell Collier (left), Darrartu Ali (center) and Jeremy Tyler (right), members of the Black Student Union, si
solidarity during the University's Board of Regents meeting Thursday.
GREEK LIFE
IFC restricts type
of alcohol allowed
Policy shift will
prohibit hard
liquor at large
fraternity events
ByYARDAINAMRON
Daily StaffReporter
Some fraternity parties will
now be a little easier on the
liver.
In a nearly unanimous vote
Wednesday night, the Inter-
fraternity Council amended its
Social Environment Manage-
ment Policy to ban hard liquor
at fraternities' open parties.
The new policy will be effective
immediately.
Business senior Michael
Proppe, Central Student
Government president, first
announced the policy change at
the meeting of the University's
Board of Regents Thursday.
"This is a proactive step that
Michigan students are taking
to improve our safety on cam-
pus, and I commend the IFC
leadership," Proppe said.
The new policy comes less
than two months into IFC
President Tommy Wydra's first
term as the organization's lead-
er. Proppe said Wydra is getting
off to a successful start.
The SEMP amendment
applies to Tier IIIA and Tier
IIIB parties, known as "open
parties," which are limited
to 200 guests, along with the
hosting fraternity members.
"Due to the elimination of
hard liquor at Tier IIIA and
IIIB events, students will enjoy
a safer social scene at the Uni-
versity of Michigan for years to
come," the IFC stated ina press
release.
The policy will not apply to
National Pan-Hellenic Council
or Multicultural Greek Coun-
cil parties because SEMP only
applies to the IFC and Pan-Hel-
lenic Association.
Wydra said the new policy
extends only to open par-
ties and not lower-tier parties
because the former tend to be
the riskiest, such as those dur-
ing Welcome Week or on Hal-
loween.
"Many of the Greeks get so
much training, whether it's
sober monitor training or alco-
See IFC, Page 3
University President
says administration
has refocused on
increasing diversity
By YARDAIN AMRON and
CLAIRE BRYAN
Daily StaffReporters
At Thursday's meeting of the
University's Board of Regents,
University President Mary Sue
Coleman opened with a lengthy
speech addressing campus
diversity, climate and inclu-
sion. As she spoke, members
of the Black Student Union sat
in the front row with duct tape
over their mouths that read "Go
Blue!"
In the address, Coleman
cited the University's role in the
two 2003 Supreme Court cases
addressing affirmative action
as one of the proudest moments
during her presidency. In Grut-
ter v. Bollinger, the court upheld
the University's consideration
of race in admissions as part of
a holistic review of each candi-
date.
"At the time, many people
asked why the University was
taking on such a divisive issue
in such a public way," Coleman
said. "My answer was always the
same: It was the right thing to
do. It was a long, difficult strug-
gle, it was hard on many levels,
and it was the right thing to do."
Coleman said the University's
struggle to make progress in
increasing diversity is troubling.
She ascribed part of the chal-
lenge to the passage of Proposal
2, a 2006 ballot initiative that
banned the use of affirmative
action in public institutions of
higher education, among other
areas.
In fall 2006, shortly before
Proposal 2 was passed, Black
students constituted about seven
percent of the undergraduate
population. By the fall of 2013,
Black undergraduate enroll-
ment had fallen to 4.65 percent.
Hispanic and Native American
students also experienced a
decline in terms of percentage of
the overallundergraduate popu-
lation during the same period.
Students from the Coalition
to Defend Affirmative Action
and some high-school age stu-
dents from Northwestern High
School in Detroit spoke and pro-
tested during the public com-
ments section of the meeting.
"We want to call on students
on campus to jointhe movement
and to recognize that we have
that power because we have no
confidence in the administra-
tion," said Kate Stenvig, Univer-
sity alum and national BAMN
See INCLUSION, Page 3
WORK OF ART
CAMPUS LIFE
LSA Student Government
hosts alumniin career talks
JAMES CLLER/Daily
Engineering graduate student Charles Wyman paints a landscape scene during the "Mochas & Masterpieces" event
Thursday in the Union.
HEALTH
U ofers assistance to those
fighting seasonal depression
Former students
offer advice on how
to best utilize a
liberal arts degree
By MICHAEL SUGERMAN
Daily StaffReporter
Seeking to "connect, learn,
emphasize and unlock," the LSA
Student Government held its
inaugural Alumni Connections
event Thursday night, bringing
in a panel of five LSA alumni to
highlight the values of a liberal
arts degree.
The panel was sponsored by
the LSA Dean's Young Alumni
Council and the LSA Sophomore
Initiative, and hosted by LSA-
SG.
With underclassmen in mind,
the event looked to show stu-
dents the value of an LSA degree
and provide them with the
chance to see firsthand the kind
of success it can offer.
Business senior Sagar Lathia,
LSA-SG president, said the event
was everything he hoped it
would be. He said the goal was
to reassure LSA students that
choosing a major is about follow-
ing passion, not worrying about
the future.
"Ever since I was campaign-
ing last year one of the biggest
complaints I found was that
LSA students love what they are
learning, but theyare very afraid
of the applicability of their
majors in the future," he said. "I
got to thinking, what could we
do to rebrand the LSA degree, or
at least change the perspective
that students have. It shouldn't
be about fear."
Roughly 40 students attended
Thursday's forum at the Union,
which hosted five LSA alumni,
four of whom are currently Uni-
versity graduate students. They
talked with current students,
taking questions, addressing
concerns and offering advice.
LSA sophomore Emma Sar-
aff, a member of the Sophomore
Initiative's advisory board,
identified a kind of sophomore
limbo, in which students strug-
gle between the "eagerness" of
freshman year and the more
"intense focus" of juniors and
seniors who generally have con-
crete, long-term academic goals.
With this in mind, she said hav-
ing alumni speak to the nor-
malcy of this sensation was both
necessary and relevant.
First-year medical student
Julia Stella, a panelist who grad-
uated from the University with a
degree in Neuroscience, spoke to
this point, noting the struggle to
choose a major is not a bad thing.
"Don't worry about it," Stella
said. "It's not the biggest deal in
the world if you decide on a cer-
tain major and then you're like,
'Oh my gosh, I want to do some-
thing completely different."'
Law student John Lin, a Cen-
tral Student Government repre-
sentative, said choosing a major
is far easier when students let
their passions guide them rather
than picking classes because
they potentially look good on a
rasum6. He added that a liberal
arts major is valuable in many
professions.
"Being a liberal arts major has
such a versatile background and
pedagogy, and when you leave
this University, it makes you a
more well-rounded person," he
said. "We're multi-dimensional
majors and people."
First-year Business graduate
student Neil Tambe, who gradu-
ated from the University in 2009
with degrees in political sci-
ence and organizational studies,
highlighted Lin's words with an
anecdote.
"One of my best buds talks
about getting reps in things,"
Tambe said. "It's like weightlift-
ing. If you can get reps in some-
thing that is a little bit off the
beaten path, you can get some-
thing out of it that is more than
just listening to a lecture and
writing a paper on it or taking an
exam on it."
For this reason, first-year
Social Work graduate student
Kate Balzer said changing a
major should not be looked
down upon.
"Nothing is permanent," she
said. "Most of us here had some
point where we either did switch
or thought about switching.
There are a lot of opportunities
See LSA, Page 3
Common disorder
challenges students
during academic year
By ARIANA ASSAF
Daily Staff Reporter
Bad weather has a knack for
getting people down. But when
sad leads to SAD, there's more
that students can do beside count-
ing the days until summer.
Seasonal affective disorder,
- known as SAD - is a form of
depression that is most prevalent
in regions of the country such as
the Midwest, where it is particu-
larly cold and dark between mid-
October and mid-March.
Though many students tend
to experience what is known as
"winter blues," Victoria Hays,
associate director at the Univer-
sity's Counseling and Psychology
Services, said being formally diag-
nosed with SAD does not happen
as frequently.
Often, people who have already
experienced some depression
come to realize that it worsens in
the winter after consulting with a
healthcare professional.
"It's not as common to get
someone coming in who's never
had difficulties with depression
before and whose first diagnosis
is SAD," Hays said.
Information on the University
Health System's website explains
See DEPRESSION, Page 3
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