The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Wednesday, February 12, 2014 - 3A
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Wednesday, February 12, 2014 - 3A
PEACE CORPS
From Page 1A
Smyser said. "The Peace Corps
sees University of Michigan
undergrads as well prepared for
Peace Corps service, and so I
think that's a positive thing that
makes Peace Corps take atten-
tion of undergrads here."
Smyser served in the Corps
from 2010 to 2012 in Malawi. He
said the University's branch is
particularly tight-knit, with for-
mer volunteers often returning
to the program as staff members
or continuing to help.
"Returning Peace Corps vol-
unteers are attracted to Michi-
gan as a graduate program, and
that kind of maintains conti-
nuity between undergraduate
and graduate programs, kind
of establishing a larger ethic
of Peace Corps service, public
service, volunteerism, stuff like
that," he said.
In terms of the composition of
volunteers from the University,
Smyser said the group is highly
qualified, many with high lan-
guage skills and experience
in environmental studies and
health. He said the Corps draws
most students from LSA and
the College of Engineering, but
also has members from the Ross
School of Business and the Ford
School of Public Policy. Volun-
teers work on a variety of proj-
ects ranging from manual labor
and infrastructure to education.
Nate Gire is another former
Peace Corps volunteer and Uni-
versity alum, and worked in
Peru promoting public health
from 2010 to 2012. He also said
the University has a strong
ethic of volunteerism, adding
that Peace Corps members form
bonds together through their
shared experiences abroad -
even between students working
in different parts of the globe.
"There's a reason they call
it the toughest job you'll ever
love," Gire said. "It's inspired me
to go more into public service
and to come to U of M for grad
school. I think that both U of
M and Peace Corps go hand-in-
hand." I
In the press release from
Tuesday, Hessler-Radelet said
graduating college students are
still able to apply for a 2015 pro-
gram; the deadline is March 1.
SEXPERTISE
From Page 1A
ual choices. Based on research
conducted in the Detroit suburb
of Grosse Pointe, Neale found
many young people are being
forced or pressured into engag-
ing in sexual activity.
"Lots of young girls are hav-
ing sex that they are not choos-
ing to have," she said.
Neale also provided three
main pointers for a happy,
healthy sex life, including
"knowing your body," "granting
yourself permission for plea-
sure, and understanding that
pleasure is both your right and
your responsibility",and "decid-
ing for yourself what's right and
what's wrong," in terms of your
sexual behavior.
She concluded her address
by encouraging the audience
to stop judging others on their
sexual choices, and to instead
become empowered to make
their own.
Elizabeth Armstrong, asso-
ciate professor of sociology &
organizational studies, dis-
cussed her research, which she
saidwasinspiredbyherstudents
in her section of a sexual diver-
sity class she taught at Indiana
University. In her inquiry, she
surveyed more than 20,000 col-
lege students across the United
States about their experiences
with hooking up and sexual rela-
tionships on campus.
Armstrong found that, on
average, students reported
abouteighthookups, seven dates
and two relationships by their
senior year of college.
"The notion that relation-
ships are dead, dating is dead
on college campuses, is just not
true," she said.
Additionally, Armstrong
found that not many students
are engaging solely in random
hookups. In her survey, 46 per-
cent of students reported they
knew the other person moder-
ately to very well in their last
hookup. She also found that
both women and men reported
a better sexual experience after
repeated sex with one person,
and that men and women actu-
ally have a similar desire for
lasting relationships.
Both speakers. emphasized
the importance of students tak-
ing charge of their sexuality.
In an interview after the
event, Neale said it is crucial for
students to put what they know
about sexual activity into prac-
tice.
"I don't think the question
is whether or not students are
informed. It's whether or not
they use that information,"
Neale said. "There aren't many
students who aren't aware of
the concept of safer sex, not all
students know that safer sex
supplies are available for free at
UHS and not all students recog-
nize that they are personally at
risk for negative consequences."
Armstrong said events such
as Sexpertise are an important
part of that learning process.
"I think what most of what
people learn in college they
learn from each other. I think
one of the ways that people can
become better educated about
sexuality is talking," she said.
"To their friends, to their lovers,
to their partners ... and finding
out what sex means to them."
Over the next three days,
Sexpertise will continue with a
series of events, including pre-
sentations titled "Finding Plea-
sure," "Kink for Beginners" and
"Mobile Love."
As part of the event, anony-
mous HIV testing will be held
throughout the week at UHS
and on Wednesday and Thurs-
day at the Safe Sex Store on
South University Avenue.
UHS
From Page 1A
sibly within the next decade, the
same idea of combining the Uni-
versity's wellness groups would
apply.
"If given the option many years
forward I would like to see a larg-
er facility that could co-locate the
UHS, CAPS, Wolverine Wellness,
SAPAC and other health related
services" Winfield wrote in an
e-mail interview.
Agreeing on the common agen-
da is an essential first step before
any plans can be made for a new
facility, Desprez said.
In the next month, Wolverine
Wellness will be surveying the
student body to see if they agree
with the four goals proposed in
the agenda before moving for-
COLEMAN
From Page 1A
"Few individuals have matched
the indelible mark she has made
on the face of American higher
education, from fostering initia-
tives that greatly improved the
academic lives of her students
to speaking out about the edu-
cational importance of diver-
sity and helping launch efforts
to increase our nation's ability to
better compete on the global eco-
nomic stage," Broad said in a press
release.
ACE cited Coleman's impact
CSG
From Page 1A
within the current legislation to
help enroll African-Americans of
deserved stature into the Univer-
sity of Michigan," Mays said.
Rackham student Samuel Mol-
nar, a CSG representative who
co-authored the resolution, said
BSU's withdrawal of support was
a detriment to the bill but not a
coincidence.
"The point of this is to get all
these (student) groups to be allies
and I think that we're going to
be a lot stronger if we can stick
together," Molnar said. "The
schism between these groups is
not new and it's not by accident,
it's meant to keep us from build-
ing a real, strong movement."
Mays' amendment was one of
roughly 10 to the resolution, five
of which were passed.
one amendment added Native
Americans and Native Alaskans
ward.
Students know the facts and
know what is good for their per-
sonal well-being, Desprez said,
but that does not necessarily
correlate with a typical college
social life. The hope is that Wol-
verine Wellness shows up more
in a student's everyday life as a
reminder to make responsible
decisions.
Wolverine Wellness recently
piloted a new wellness coach-
ing program where students can
make an appointment with awell-
ness coach to talk and set goals for
themselves.
Mobile applications including
the Stress Buster and Stay In The
Blue apps are other ways Wolver-
ine Wellness is trying to stay at
the forefront in students' lives.
Another goal Desprez has for
the Wolverine Wellness program
on improving student life - spe-
cifically residential life and inter-
disciplinary studies - as well as
innovation and creativity as top
considerations for the award. The
announcement also noted Cole-
man's expansion of academic
partnerships, both with univer-
sities around the world and with
Google, which will "enable the
public to search the text of the
University's 7-million-volume
library."
During her tenure at the Uni-
versity, Coleman spearheaded
The Michigan Difference cam-
paign, which raised $3.2 billion
for a variety of programs and
to minority groups in need of
more representation on the Uni-
versity campus.
CSG President Michael Proppe
moved to change a line that origi-
nally stated, "... and be it further
resolved that CSG defends the
right of minority and anti-racist
students to speak the plain truth
about racism ..." to "CSG defends
the right freedom of speech for all
students."
Molnar said this wasn't a
worthwhile rewrite.
"This isn't a resolution about
free speech, it's a resolution about
racism," Molnar said. "Should we
defend to the free speech of stu-
dents to be racist?"
Eventually, this language
changed to say "CSG defends the
right of all students to speak the
plain truth about racism," avoid-
ing the problem of free speech but
including the entire student body
rather than restricting the resolu-
tion to minorities.
Public Policy junior Carly
is to cross-train coaches to know
the connections between sexual
health, eating and body image and
alcohol- and drug-related issues,
so they can properly educate and
help students.
Winfield said alcohol use on
campus is clearly related to issues
of serious harm, including sexual
assault, violence and academic
failure, and hopes that the Wol-
verine Wellness program can
work to address these issues and
their causes.
Wolverine Wellness will also
work to eradicate the stigma sur-
rounding mental and behavior
issues that students have, a con-
cern voiced by students as well as
administrators, Desprez said.
"I hope that students will be
more accepting of imperfection,
void of the stigma associated with
mental and emotional health, and
initiatives. Additionally, Cole-
man created the Residential Life
Initiative to renovate residential
halls across campus.
The organization also noted
Coleman's selection as one of
six university presidents to help
launch the Advanced Manufac-
turing Partnership an effort that
fosters collaboration between
industry, universities and the fed-
eral government.
Coleman will receive the award
on March 9 at ACE's 96th Annual
Meeting in San Diego. She will
also deliver the annual Robert H.
Atwell Lecture, which focuses on
a timely higher education topic.
Manes, an LSA representative in
the Assembly and the 2014 forUM
presidential candidate, suggested
an amendment stating "the CSG
assembly requests that the presi-
dent of CSG shall express his sup-
port for this resolution at the next
regent meeting." This amend-
ment was passed as well.
Prior to discussing the resolu-
tion, speakers from The Coalition
to Defend Affirmative Action,
Integration, and Immigrant
Rights and Fight for Equality By
Any Means Necessary, or BAMN,
asked CSG to declare direct sup-
port for 10-percent minority
enrollment, a policy that BAMN
claimed the University promised
to achieve over 40 years ago,
BAMN members in attendance
included a University alum, cur-
rent University students and sev-
eral high school students mostly
from the Detroit area.
Mays said that the focus on
overturning Michigan's ban on
affirmative action ban would
free from spaces that threaten
the safety and wellbeing of oth-
ers in the community," Engineer-
ing senior Jake Heller, a student
focus group participant, wrote in
an e-mail.
This past weekend, Desprez
and 29 University students and
staff traveled to Purdue Univer-
sity and the University of Illinois
to examine how other universities
approach wellness in rec sports
programs.
University staff from Student
Life, Recreational Sports, Uni-
versity Unions, Auxiliary Capi-
tal Projects and Architecture,
Engineering and Construction
observed newly renovated spaces,
including leisure pools, multi-
activity courts and group exercise
rooms and had the opportunity to
speak to students and staff at the
respective campuses.
Last March, more than 1,500
leaders in higher education con-"
vened in Washington, D.C. for the
four-day meeting, which focused
on massive open online courses,
or MOOCs.
Since announcing her retire-
ment last spring, Coleman has
been awarded several honorary
degrees, including ones at Michi-
gan State University and Indiana
University.
President-elect Mark Schlis-
sel, the current provost at Brown
University, was announced as
Coleman's successor at the end of
January. His term will begin July
1.
reward BAMN's "past behavior,"
which he labeled as aggressive
and not worthy of merit. Maya,
added that affirmative action
should have a resolution to itself,
separate from the BSU's more
attainable goals.
Public Policy junior Bobby
Dishell, CSG vice president;
reminded the assembly that while
a well-formed proposal support-
ing diversity was important, rep-
resentatives needed to keep the
feasibility of new initiatives in
perspective as a student-based
organization.
"It's very effective to work with
the administration with active
action plans that we at CSG can
do, and not necessarily take posi-
tions on national policy issues
that aren't going to be decided
here in this room," Dishell said.
Now, the resolution will head
to the Senate Advisory Commit-
tee on University Affairs and
eventually to E. Royster Harper,
vice president for student affairs.
Afghanistan domestic violence law
draws international response, outcry
ASTEROID
From Page 2A
ging asteroids around in the
Moon's orbit.
Apart from colonization
of the solar system, another
potential purpose for mining
asteroids is bringing materials
back to Earth for environmen-
tal and commercial purposes.
"t think one of the best prod-
ucts from (asteroid mining),
whether you're mining for pre-
cious metals that are rare on
earth or water for propulsion,
is that there's the opportunity
for us to stop destroying the
Earth's environment," said
Engineering senior Bradley
Costa.
U.S. embassy
becomes involved in
recent limitations to
women's testimony
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP)
- A new draft law in Afghani-
stan that would limit testimony
in domestic violence cases is
drawing international outcry,
with activists warning it is part
of a broader trend toward roll-
ing back women's rights in the
nation.
Afghanistan's parliament
last month approved changes
to the country's criminal code
that would prevent relatives. of
alleged abusers from testify-
ing against them. Legal experts
say this would have a chilling
effect on prosecutions involving
violence against women, where
relatives are often the only wit-
nesses.
As the law awaits final signa-
ture from President Hamid Kar-
zai, a growing chorus of Afghan
activists and of Kabul's Western
allies alike are urging him to
veto the legislation.
The issue is buried in about
100 pages of Afghanistan's new
criminal code - labeled Article
26. While it does not specifically
mention women or domestic
violence, Article 26 bars a broad
swath of "relatives" for acting as
witnesses - an issue in a coun-
try where the bulk of violence
against women is committed by
or in front of family members,
especially given how restricted
freedom of movement is for
many women.
In practice, legal experts say,
it would mean that a woman
cannot testify that her uncle
raped her, that a mother who
sees her daughter beaten by her
father or brother, cannot testify;
that family members witness-
ing a young woman being forced
into marriage by her father can-
not be used in a prosecution,
that a sister or brother who wit-
nesses an honor killing cannot
be questioned.
They say it would mean there
would have been no short-term
justice for Sahar Gul, a child
bride who became the bruised
and bloodied face of women's
rights in Afghanistan when it
emerged that her in-laws had
kept her in a basement for six
months after her arranged mar-
riage, tortured her with hot
irons, and ripped out her finger-
nails.
Her in-laws were sentenced
to 10 years in prison - an out-
come that never would have been
possible if Gul's relatives were
unable to testify.
Kimberley Motley, who repre-
sented Gul, called the new legis*
lation a "catastrophic nightmare
for women's rights" in AfghaniW
stan and goes against the nation'sg
constitution and Shariah law.
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