46F 46F ic in at 1, 4 ;;, a n 4'.3 IV O N E- 7 _ i1 1.J r, 1T1{ V?, , 0 l; I ..4 t 1ii Ia1 r 1 1 .Xl .i '. N. DO N _ 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 ..v... 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