The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Friday, January 31, 2014 - 3 GIBBONS From Page 1A the Dec. 19 meeting described by Ablauf. Regardless of whether foot- ball officials were aware of the disciplinary investigations or OSCR's subsequent sanctions, legal experts told the Daily that OSCR could have informed foot- ball officials at any point during the disciplinary investigation and proceedings. As previously reported by the Daily, the outcomes. of disciplin- ary proceedings in relation to vio- lent or nonforcible sex offenses are not protected by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, a federal law that describes handling and privacy protocols for student records. But the law also doesn't pre- vent the University from sharing details of any disciplinary record internally if administrators deem it necessary, according to Frank LoMonte, executive director ofthe Student Press Law Center. "Even under FERPA, you can share disciplinaryoutcomes inter- nally if there's a business need to know," LoMonte said. "That would be a classic example of the kind of disciplinary information that could be shared regardless of FERPA." FERPA states that it does not prohibit a school agency from "disclosing such information to teachers and school officials, including teachers and school officials in other schools, who have legitimate educational interests in the behavior of the student." It's not clear whether OSCR directly informed athletic officials about Gibbons' case. University spokesman Rick Fitzgerald declined to comment. LoMonte said athletic officials are covered by this provision, as they should be understood to have an interest in the behavior of students in their program. Documents reviewed by the Daily show that Gibbons was found responsible for sexual misconduct on or before Nov. 20. OSCR officials could have noti- fied the Athletic Department of this finding prior to Michigan's Nov. 23 game at Iowa, in which Gibbons played. "It is routine for universities to share within themselves dis- ciplinary information when it relates to an activity of another department that needs to be aware of that outcome," said Mark Goodman, a media law professor at Kent State Univer- sity. "I would argue that an ath- letic department, when a claim involves a student-athlete, is a logical place for the outcome of a proceeding to be communicated to." RACE From Page 1A answer to how you begin those conversations is you bring more faculty in who are teaching these courses, who are well-resourced, who are not visitors, who are not adjuncts, but who are actual fac- ulty." University alum Amber Wil- liams,the community development program manager at the Trotter Multicultural Center, organized Thursday's event. She said she was happy to have someone address issues of race, especially in light of the recent events on campus. "Forsomanypeople,someofthe experiences that she talks about and issues that she talks about hit close to home," Williams said. Though Harris-Perry addressed serious issues, audience members applauded, snapped, cheered and laughed throughoutthe lecture. Engineering senior Breoshshala Martin said she enjoyed Harris- Perry's speech because of its "down-to-earth" approach to dis- cussing the lecture's themes. "It was really good to come here and hear her perspective on it," Martin said. "She wasn't talking over your head, she was just really personable with us." The speech comes nearly a week after the University's Black Stu- dent Union met with University administrators to discuss issues surrounding minority inclu- sion and diversity at the Univer- sity raised by the group's #BBUM Twittercampaign in December.As a result, the University pledged to allocate $300,000 to the Trotter Center for renovations, which are yet to be determined. WAGE From Page 1A recently but historically, around minimum wage, it takes some- thinglike this to get an increase done." In its initial announcement, Raise Michigan outlined three main goals for its campaign: raising the minimum wage from its current rate of $7.40 per hour to a figure between $9 and $10 per hour, raising the minimum wage for restaurant servers and tying the minimum wage to the inflation index. To place the question on the ballot, the group would have to gather either 258,088 voter sig- natures if the ballot question is for a new law, or 322,609 voter signatures if the question is a proposed amendment to the Michigan Constitution. Minimum wage has been a popular topic state-wide and nationally. Tuesday night, Pres- ident Barack Obama announced during his State of the Union address that he will be signing an executive order to raise the minimum wage of new federal contractors to $10.10. Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mark Schauer said in November that if he's elect- ed, he plans to raise the state's minimum wage to $9.25. Thurs- day, U.S. Rep. John Dingell (D- Mich.) and state Reps. Adam Zemke (D-Ann Arbor) and Jeff Irwin (D-Ann Arbor) held a lunch meeting at Zingerman's Delicatessen with the shop's co- owner, Paul Saginaw, to discuss raising the minimum wage. In their meeting, Zemke said nearly 85 percent of democrats and 50 percent of republicans support raising minimum wage. "I think it's kind of a no- brainer," he said. "I think if they put it on the ballot and they managed to get that, I think it would pass without a problem." While students are not the core demographic for all these measures - most have an emphasis on aiding full-time minimum wage workers - for those who do work, there could be several possible outcomes as a result of the new legislation. LSA freshman Cassandra Martinez, who works at the Vic- tors caf6 in Mosher-Jordan Res- idence Hall, said for her, even a small increase in wage would be significant because of the fewer number of hours students are typically able to work. "Even a dollar would make a big difference because we work like a minimum of maybe three, four hours a week," she said. "Everything makes a difference at this point." Martinez currently makes $9 per hour, but she added that even with that wage--which is the new minimum that the Raise Michigan coalition is cur- rently proposing--making ends meet as a student is difficult. "Trying to live off $9 an hour and dealing with schoolwork and extracurriculars - like for me, I play a club sport - and trying to do things that I want is really hard," Martinez said. University alum Emily Tay- lor, the general manager at Mia Za's Caf6, agreed that work- ing enough to satisfy financial needs as a student can be dif- ficult. "The whole purpose of my job my senior year was to pay rent, and I just barely made it, and I was working between 18-20 hours a week," Taylor said. "And my rent was low, it was a cheap place, and it was still only just barely coming in." She added that at least at Mia Za's, the move to increase mini- mum wage could decrease how many new positions are open to students, prompting instead a shift to more hours for existing workers. In terms of employment at the University, which provides a large number of the jobs stu- dents have, the impact might be less severe. In an e-mail interview, Vickie Crupper, associate director for Client Services in the Office of Financial Aid, wrote that when it comes to student jobs at the University, there have histori- cally been more vacant posi- tions than willing students. "Because each department at the University has control over their own operating budget, it is difficult for our office to know if there will be any impact," she wrote. "After the last minimum wage increase, the University still had more student tempo- rary positions available than there were students interested in filling them." Overall, Houston said when it comes to state-by-state compar- ison, Michigan isn't the worst in terms of minimum wage, but it's certainly not the best. "A lot of the states that actu- ally have lower unemployment than Michigan, and have high- er small business growth, and have similar inflation rates all have higher minimum wages for tipped employees and regu- lar employees," Houston said. "I think it's long overdue that Michigan joins the pack." OFFICIALS From Page 1A their representatives were doing to bring about the change. Irwin and Zemke both cited their co-sponsorship of state House Bill 4386 as the concrete action they are taking to increase wages. If passed, the bill would raise the minimum wage in the state of Michigan from $7.40 to $9 per hour. While the represen- tatives were pessimistic about the bill's chances, Zemke said he was hopeful that it would pass in the future ifa Democrat wins the gubernatorial election in Novem- ber. "More than just locally, I think this is going to be a huge campaign issue, quite frankly," Zemke said. "My hope is that former congress- man Mark Schauer gets elected governor, and he has made it a point of his campaign to increase the minimum wage to $9.25." Bess Anderson, who has worked at Zingerman's for five months, said an increase in minimum wage would lead to a significant improvement in people's lifestyles. "A dollar an hour can change my life significantly from the way I think about grocery shopping to what I can do for my family," Anderson said. Many of the employees dis- cussed their concerns about low minimum wage in the context of student loans and going back to school, adding that minimum wage job is not enough to pay for higher education. Mike Varney, who has worked COUNCIL From Page 1A art projects will be made possible by a combination of grants, private donations and money from the city. Changes to the ordinance were made in response to suggestions from a task force of City Council members. AAPAC Chair Bob Miller said although the City Council now wants to put Percent for Art funds back toward things such as sewer and road repairs, thisuwas not one of the task force's original recommen- dations. They did, however, suggest using some money from Percent for Art to aid the transition away from that program. Miller said the City Council would like to see AAPAC work with the city's Capital Improvement Plan, which will make physical improvements to Ann Arbor. The CIP contains a long list of planned projects, and City Council has asked AAPAC to make a similar list for public art and enhanced artwork. Lumm said to incorporate public art into upcoming building proj- CSG From Page 2A "For example, commissions like the Detroit Engagement Commission or the Social Justice Commission are doing great work and could use more money to fur- ther their efforts," he wrote. "So at Zingerman's for six months, said he has heard arguments alleging that those who work for minimum wage are lazy because they choose to work rather than pursue a higher education. "It's sort of a slap in the face because when I look around this table, I see every person who's working here is the opposite of lazy," Varney said. "Just because the amount of money you make per hour is lower than some- one else's doesn't make you lazy. In fact, I think it's the opposite. You're doing a job that nobodyelse wants to do for $7.50 an hour." Sanford Bledsoe, owner of The Espresso Bar in Kerrytown, said though his business is young, he has managed to pay his employ- ees consistently above minimum wage. He said his decision to pay his employees an increased wage stems from his observations of employees at chain coffee shops. "People who work in coffee shops do not usually make much money. It's eight or nine hours standing on your feet, living off a diet of pastries. It's not a sustain- able job, so I said I'm going to try and make it one," Bledsoe said. Dingell said hearing the stories of Zingerman's employees made him hopeful that other businesses will follow in their footsteps to help improve hourly employees' economic state. "You've got to admire them and you've got to admire Zinger- man's," Dingell said. "They are an honest, caring bunch of people who want to see to it that we do something which betters the soci- ety. They also want to do some- thing that betters the economy." ects, AAPAC must start planning early. The ordinance also requires AAPAC to submit its plans for the following year to City Council by Feb.1, but this has not happened yet. "When we last renewed the con- tract in August, we were told that, by year-end, the plan for the public arts program would be fleshed out, and we've seen nothing," Lumm said. In terms of raising private funds outside of the CIP, Miller said, "this is what we're trying totransfer into, but haven't gotten there yet. We're looking for more direction on how to get to that point." Lumm said being a member of the city's insurance board provides her with a personal reminder of the city's infrastructure needs. She said through her experience serving on various art boards, she has become confident that Ann Arbor is a city that can successfully fund a public arts program privately. Miller said the main focus is to transition the structure of AAPAC, and it is up to the City Council to make decisions concerningits fund- ing. "I'm here to move things for- ward, "he said. increasing the fee wouldn't guar- antee that the new money would come directly back to SOFC." Kibler, who has served on SOFC, said he enjoyed his work on the commission, but acknowl- edged it wasn't easy. "There are a lot of great orga- nizations out there," he said. "Our help, I think, can make or break events ... Every single decision is tough." Weekend roundup: Jan. 31-Feb. 2 By YARDAIN AMRON Daily StaffReporter With a warm front headed into Ann Arbor this weekend - a high of 31 degrees expected for Saturday - you may want to take advantage of the almost not freezing weather and get out to an event around town. Is your student group hosting an event this weekend? Tell us about it in our comments section or e-mail Alicia Adamczyk at aalicia@ umich.edu. FRIDAY, JANUARY 31 CULTURE Ann Arbor's 37th annual Folk Festival will begin at 6:30 p.m. at Hill Auditorium and run through Saturday night. Friday's lineup includes Iron and Wine, Neko Case, Jus- tin Townes Earle, Willie Nile, Pearl and The Beard, Thao and The Get Down Stay Down, The Appleseed Collective and Seth Walker, MC. Tickets range from $35 to $47.50 for a single night, while series tickets range from $60 to $85. Two-day passes are available as well. If you've been postponing a trip to see "Inside Llewyn Davis" or "American Hustle" at the State Theater, you might want to get on that because this weekend is the last of the films' run. But if movies aren't your thing, check out Pulitzer Prize- winning photographer and pro- fessor David Turnley's timely exhibit on Nelson Mandela at the Duderstadt Center. The dis- play will be open from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. and will cover the years Turley spent with Mandela and his family. SPORTS Men's Ice Hockey will take on No. 9 Wisconsin at 6:30 p.m. at Yost Arena, looking for their third straight win. Women's Gymnastics will also take on rival Michigan State at Crisler Arena beginning at 7 p.m. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 1 CULTURE The folk festival enters its second day at Hill Auditorium beginning at 6:30 p.m. The lineup is equally respectable as Friday's, with headliners Patty Griffin, Ingrid Michaelson and Michigan-native actor Jeff Dan- iels. The Michigan Theater will host a special Indian dance competition, Dandia Dhamaka, at 6:30 p.m. College teams from across the country will be com- peting for a $3,000 grand-prize. Tickets are $10 to $18. If you're looking to save a few dollars, 1981 science fiction thrill- er "Escape From New York" is playing at the State Theater as a midnight special. Tickets are only $7. SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 2 CULTURE Are you a fan of the Mtppets? Well you're in luck, because "The Muppet Movie" is playing at 1:30 p.m. at the Michigan 'T'heater. Oscar-nominated animated short films will follow at 4:30 p.m. Obama urges new training program for fed. workforce President reiterates importance of job improvement WAUKESHA, Wis. (AP) - Stressing the importance of hav- ing job-training programs that work, President Barack Obama on Thursday ordered a "soup to nuts" review of federal work- force training initiatives and pledged to copy the most suc- cessful ones. Emphasizing themes from his State of the Union address, Obama cast improved job train- ing as central to his efforts to make it easier for people to move up into and stay in the middle class. At a General Electric engine factory near Milwaukee, he signed a presidential memo directing Vice President Joe Biden to lead the review, and to work with cities, businesses and labor leaders to better match trainingto employer needs. "Not all of today's good jobs need a four-year degree. But the ones that don't need a college degree do need some specialized training," Obama said. Obama said he wants a "soup to nuts" review because not all federal job-training programs do what they're supposed to. He said he wants to move the government away from a "train and pray" approach to job training, where "you train workers first, and then you hope theyget ajob." The findings from the review will be applied later in the year to a competition to award $500 million in existing funds to design programs that pair com- munity colleges with industry. Obama called on Congress to be more reliable in funding proven programs, while vowing not to let congressional inaction stand in the way. "There are a lot of folks who do not have time to wait for Con- gress," Obama said. "They need to learn new skills right now to get a new job right now." House Republicans pushed back in a letter from Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and other GOP leaders to Obama on Thursday, arguing that Biden's review was duplicative because the Government Accountability Office identified redundancies in a comprehensive review it completed in 2011. They urged Obama to press the Demo- cratic-led Senate to vote on a House-passed bill to consolidate programs and link training to available jobs. White House press secretary Jay Carney couldn't explain how Biden's review would be differ- ent from the GAO's, but he said that whenever Biden "is put in charge of an effort like this, it gets done, and it will be effec- tive." At a high school later in Ten- nessee, Obama renewed his call for Congress to fund an expan- sion of pre-kindergarten pro- grams, and touted his pledge to ensure almost all students have access to high-speed Internet. "I want to build on what works. But to do that, we've got to reach more kids, and we've got to do it faster," Obama told stu- dents at Nashville's McGavock Comprehensive High School. Obama also announced Thursday he's secured com- mitments from major U.S. com- panies to support efforts to increase hiring for the long-term unemployed, a lingering prob- lem as the U.S. economy gradu- ally recovers from recession. Obama told CNN that Walmart, Apple and Ford are among the companies that will participate in a White House event Friday to outline the partnership. RESEAR HCEN[EI FOH HGROUP (YNAMICS Winter 2014 $emiuiar $eries: New Science on Race, Discrimination and the Social Lives of Black Americans AFecan Youth pl o-n tcoeueato RGerir Coeuniotios? F':b1 hyi3 2 titute fui SvLdal RBeat-jch Free and open to the public J-n e re so:#RCGDseminsar More mforrnal ion: htt p:// bit.ly/R CGO-semina r I 1 4