The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Thursday, January 30, 2014 - 3A
FLOOD
From Page 1A
The Java Blue Cafe on the
main level of East Quad reopened
Wednesday afternoon, although
one entrance may still be impact-
ed by the damage. Logan said
the housing staff turned off the
water shortly after the flooding
occurred and is working to repair
any damage done to the affected
areas.
Per standard evacuation proce-
dures, students exited the build-
ing onto either Church Street
or East University Avenue. LSA
freshman Jackie Saplicki said stu-
dents from both evacuation zones
were then moved to the Ross
School of Business until they were
allowed to reenter the building at
around 10:45 a.m.
Saplicki said she evacuated
onto Church Street around 9:50
a.m. after the alarm was activat-
ed. She claimed there was a 20- to
30-minute delay before students
on that side of the building were
moved indoors, although Logan
said housing staff immediately
suggested that students move
inside once the evacuation was
complete.
"Everyone was totally compli-
ant, but people were obviously
enraged," Saplicki said. "All in all,
it was a little annoying."
Students were allowed to enter
the building around 10:45 a.m.
Saplicki said. She said a second
alarm was activated sometime
after students entered. Although
Logan could not confirm this,
he said a second alarm may have
sounded while the system was
being reset.
SAPAC
From Page 1A
The chat will be manned by an
on-call advocate at the SAPAC
office, which could be an intern,
Social Work student, or profes-
sional staff member. The chat can
support up to about five different
users at once, though Burandt
mentioned that there has not
been enough traffic on the site yet
to know for sure the maximum
capacity.
The goal of this program is to
make SAPAC's support services
more accessible to more people,
especially those who may not feel
comfortable speaking to someone
face-to-face or on the phone.
"We're really feeling like folks
are really shying away from talk-
ing on the phone ... so we thought
this might be a nice step for stu-
dents who don't like to do that,"
Burandt said.
She added that national pro-
grams such as 1in6 have been suc-
cessful in being able to reach out
to male survivors through their
online chat features, and SAPAC
hopes to see that benefit as well.
Burandt said she doesn't antici-
pate the feature becoming so
busy that the SAPAC office needs
to hire additional staff, but if it
does become a problem, they will
adapt.
For now she said she hopes
people will log on to ask any
questions they may have and feel
comfortable reaching out to their
staff.
The University's Sexual Assault
Prevention and Awareness Cen-
ter staffs a 24/7 crisis line at (734)
936-3333.
GIBBONS
From Page 1A
come of the disciplinary process
is not protected by FERPA.
Frank LoMonte, executive
director of the Student Press
Law Center, said FERPA does
not prohibit the disclosure of
the outcome of Gibbons' disci-
plinary case because University
investigators concluded that he
was responsible for behavior
that equates to a sexual offense.
"They're just wrong that
FERPA applies to a finding
that a person committed a
sexual assault," LoMonte said.
"So that's not a valid reason to
refuse comment on a disciplin-
ary outcome."
The text of FERPA notes that
the law shouldn't "be construed
to prohibit an institution of
postsecondary education from
disclosing the final results of
any disciplinary proceeding
conducted by such institu-
tion against a student who is
an alleged perpetrator of any
crime of violence ... or a non-
forcible sex offense, if the insti-
tution determines as.a result
of that disciplinary proceeding
that the student committed a
violation of the institution's
rules or policies with respect to
such crime or offense."
The provision, which was
added by Congress in 1998,
amended FERPA to allow the
release of the final decision in
cases related to offenses that
would be treated as a violent
or sexual crime in a court of
law.
The lone exception that
would allow the University to
invoke FERPA, LoMonte said,
would be if Gibbons had been
found responsible solely for
sexual harassment, as opposed
to a more violent, physical
crime like sexual assault or bat-
tery.
Documents reviewed by the
Daily do not disclose the spe-
cific conduct for which Gibbons
has been found responsible,
stating only that he was found
to have "engaged in unwanted
or unwelcome conduct of a sex-
ual nature, committed without
valid consent, and that conduct
was so severe as to create a hos-
tile, offensive or abusive envi-
ronment."
LoMonte acknowledged that
investigators could have found
Gibbons responsible for sexual
harassment, but said the severe
and rare punishment of per-
manent separation from the
University doesn't match the
offense based on similar occur-
rences at other schools.
"I suppose it's conceivable,
but I think that's highly doubt-
ful because of the penalty that
was assessed," LoMonte said.
"You just don't see people get-
ting removed from college for
sexual harassment."
Fitzgerald said the refusal to
release the results of the disci-
plinary proceedings should not
be used to infer the nature of
Gibbons' alleged conduct.
At the University, permanent
separation is a very rare result
of OSCR proceedings. In the
latest OSCR data available from
the 2011-2012 academic year,
there were zero permanent sep-
arations.
Mark Goodman, a media law
professor at Kent State Univer-
sity, said institutions can't cite
FERPA as a reason for refus-
ing to release the final results
of a disciplinary investigation
when a violent or nonforcible
sex offense has been alleged.
"If they're saying that,
they're flat-out wrong," Good-
man said. "That's all there is
to it. Assuming this is a crime
of violence or a nonforcible
sex offense, they are simply
wrong."
Though University officials
claim only Gibbons can release
information about his academ-
ic record, FERPA would not
prohibit the release of the final
outcome of the disciplinary
proceedings. Therefore, it is
possible that Michigan football
coach Brady Hoke could have
been informed of the disciplin-
ary process and sanctions. If
Hoke was informed, FERPA
would not have prevented him
from disclosing the permanent
separation to the media.
While FERPA prohibits cer-
tain information from being
released to the public, it does
not obligate their release.
Requests for such information
is handled through a Freedom
of Information Act process,
which obligates institutions
to release any documents not
exempted from FOIA, redact-
ing only what is exempt.
The University has a his-
tory of narrowly interpreting
Michigan's FOIA law. In 2011,
a Daily investigation found that
the University charged much
higher fees than other pub-
lic Big Ten schools to release
basic documents, such as park-
ing ticket and payment card
records. In 2012, the University
refused to release to the Daily
the graduate school application
of James Holmes, the 24-year-
old charged in the mass shoot-
ing that took place at an Aurora,
Colo., movie theater in July of
that year, despite the fact that
several universities with simi-
lar public records laws released
Holmes' application to their
institutions when asked.
The state's FOIA law con-
tains a provision exempting
documents that would prevent
the University from complying
with FERPA, but experts have
said FERPA does not apply to
the information in question.
In response to requests for the
Holmes application and many
other documents pertaining to
individuals, the University has
often cited a provision of FOIA
which exempts the release of
information that would con-
stitute "a clearly unwarranted
invasion of an individual's pri-
vacy."
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EPIDEMICS
From Page 1A
simulates how the population
would move given those compen-
satory behaviors. Shen said the
optimal choice would be the com-
bination of five different facilities
that spreads the population out
the most.
"After you think about it, you
kind of see the intuition behind
it," Shen said.
Shen added that when it comes
to modeling infectious diseases,
there are two main questions:
how much to invest in preventa-
tive measures, and how much to
invest in intervention after the
fact.
Prevention, measured in vac-
cination rates, is straightforward
- the more people getvaccinated,
the better a cityis protected in the
event of an outbreak. Interven-
tion on the other hand, is harder
to quantify. Policymakers might
close facilities or work with secu-
rity agencies to restrict travel
out of certain areas, among other
options.
"At the beginning we had sev-
eral very complicated models
involvingmore differentvariables
than this model," Shen said.
She said this led her team to a
number of "failed models," but
eventually they were able to nar-
row it down to the "most sensitive
part of the model" - how people
move around the city when cer-
tain places are closed.
Simplification of the model
also made it a more powerful
tool, Shen said. The simulation
takes data from 100 people mov-
ing between 195 locations. To use
this model, a city would have to
collect travel data from only 100
people. This includes information
about the disease and census data
to determine how susceptible
each person would be. It could
then help in showing what clos-
ings would disperse, and thereby
protect, the population the most.
The team chose Portland
because the data happened to
already be aggregated. Shen said
she's hoping to gather more data
from other cities to expand on the
model as the project moves for-
ward.
As for a potential epidemic at
the University, Shen said she'd
have to collect the data about
where students study first.
"I have no idea," she said. "I
guess italsovaries amongthe stu-
dents who are studying on North
Campus versus Central Campus."
HIGHRISE
From Page 1A
Moore likened the atmosphere
of these new apartments to an
"urban loft" style, adding that the
development company intends for
them to have a wide appeal.
The building is estimated to
cost $17 million, although the
specifics of the construction plan
are not yet solidified. After the
plan is approved and a building
permit received, the surrounding
area south of Pizza House will be
demolished.
In addition to housing units,
the new building will also feature
an outdoor seasonal dining area
on the first floor.
The housing addition near
pizza house has been in the works
for years. A decade ago, J. Bradley
Moore designed an addition to
Pizza House intending to expand
it in the future - including a
stronger foundation that would
accommodate a larger structure.
"When we designed the addi-
tion to the Pizza House, we actu-
ally had enough foresight to put
in extra large foundations to pre-
serve the ability to someday in the
future build vertically on top of
that part of the building," Moore
said.
The second high-rise, with
its construction overseen by a
Connecticut-based real estate
firm called Greenfield Partners,
will be located at 413 E. Huron
St. and Division Street. It will be
14 stories high and include 513
bedrooms and a two-floor under-
ground parking facility. The con-
struction is estimated to cost $45
million.
Both the former and cur-
rent owner of the property were
unavailable for comment.
The approval of its construc-
tion was a controversial move
by Ann Arbor City Council, The
Michigan Daily reported. The
Council was originally opposed
to the structure's potential com-
mercial infringement on the com-
munity's atmosphere but feared
that the developers would file
a lawsuit if their petition was
denied.
Moore acknowledged that
while receiving approval from
the Ann Arbor City Council is
challenging for larger downtown
construction projects, the process
went smoothly for the Church
Street structure.
"I think there's a great demand
right now for housing anywhere
in the downtown area," Moore
said.
KHALIL HAMRA/AP
In this photo taken with a fisheye lens over the city's perimeter highway known as "Spaghetti Junction," the ice-covered interstate system shows the remnants
of a winter snow storm that slammed the city with over 2 inches of snow that turned highways into parking lots when motorists abandoned their vehicles creat-
ing massive traffic jams lasting through, Wednesday, Jan. 29 in Atlanta.
Snow storm sends Atlanta reeling
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inches of snow, storm began, rather than dis-
missing everyone at the same
causes freeway time.
The result was gridlock on
down, stranded freeways that are jammed even
on normal days. Countless
mnotorists vehicles were stranded and
many of them abandoned.
ANTA (AP) - Thou- Georgia State Patrol officials
of Atlanta students said two traffic fatalities had
d all night long in their been reported in counties out-
were reunited with side of Atlanta. State troopers
rents Wednesday, while also responded to more than
s rushed to deliver blan- 1,460 crashes between Tues-
od, gas and a ride home day morning and Wednesday
ntless shivering motor- evening and said more than 175
pped cold bya storm that injuries had been reported.
ed the business capital Officials said 239 children
South with less than 3 spent Tuesday night aboard
of snow. school buses; thousands of oth-
National Guardsmen ers stayed overnightin their
te troopers fanned out, schools.
Kasim Reed and Geor- One woman's 12-mile com-
v. Nathan Deal found mute home took 16 hours.
ves on the defensive, Another woman gave birth
'ledging the storm prep- while stuck in traffic; police
s could have been better. arrived just in time to help.
al also blamed forecast- Drivers who gave up trying to
ing he was led to believe get home took shelter at fire
dn't be so bad. stations, churches and grocery
icy weather wreaked stores.
havoc across much of "I'm not thinking about a
tth, closing schools and grade right now," the mayor
ys, grounding flights said when asked about the
ntributing to at least a city's response. "I'm think-
leaths from traffic acci- ing about getting people out of
nd a mobile home fire. their cars."
it was Atlanta, home to National Guardsmen in
corporations and the Humvees, state troopers and
busiest airport, that transportation crews delivered
hibit A for howa South- food and other relief, and by
y could be sent reeling Wednesday night, Deal said all
er weather that, in the Atlanta-area schoolchildren
might be no more than were back home with their
nvenience. parents.
mayor admitted the city Atlanta was crippled by an
have directed schools, ice storm in 2011, and officials
ses and government had vowed not to be caught
to stagger their closings unprepared again. But in this
sday afternoon, as the case, few closings or other
measures were ordered ahead
of time.
Deal, who is up for re-elec-
tion in November, said warn-
ings could have been posted
along highways earlier and
farther out Tuesday. But he
also fended off criticism.
"I would have acted sooner,
and I think we learn from that
and then we will act sooner the
next time," Deal told reporters.
"But we don't want to
be accused of crying wolf.
Because if we had been wrong,
y'all would have all been in
here saying, 'Do you know
how many millions of dollars
you cost the economies of the
city of Atlanta and the state
of Georgia by shutting down
businesses all over this city
and this state?"'
Deal faulted government
forecasters, saying they
warned that the storm would
strike south of Atlanta and the
city would get no more than a
dusting of snow.
However, the National
Weather Service explicitly
cautioned on Monday that
snow-covered roads "will
make travel difficult or impos-
sible." And around 3:30 a.m.
Tuesday, the agency issued
a winter storm warning for
metro Atlanta and cautioned
people not to travel except in
an emergency.
Around the time the traf-
fic jam started, Deal and Reed
were at an award ceremony
recognizing the mayor as the
"2014 Georgian of the Year."
Deal spokesman Brian Rob-
inson said the governor left
before 1:30 p.m. and was in
constant contact with emer-
gency officials.
Among the commuters
trapped in the gridlock was
Jessica Troy, who described
her commute home to the
suburb of Smyrna as a slow-
motion obstacle course on
sheets of ice.
"We literally would go 5 feet
and sit for two hours," Troy
said after she and a co-work-
er who rode with her finally
made it home about 1P:30 a.m.
Wednesday. They spent more
than 16 hours in the car, cover-
ing 12 miles.
The standstill gave Troy
time to call her parents and
send text messages to friends,
letting them know she was OK.
By 3 a.m. her car was stuck
on a freeway entrance ramp.
She put it in park, left the heat
running and tried to get some
sleep.
"I slept for an hour and it
was not comfortable," Troy
said. "Most people sat the entire
night with no food, no water, no
bathroom. We saw people who
had children. It was a dire situ-
ation."
After daybreak, a few good
Samaritans appeared, goingcar-
to-car with bottles of water and
cookies. Traffic started moving
again about 8:30.
At Atlanta's Deerwood Ele-
mentary School, librarian Brian
Ashley spent Tuesday night
with a dozen of his colleagues
and 35 children on cots in the
gym.
The teachers and other staff
members opened up the pantry
in the cafeteria, making pizza
and chicken nuggets with cai-
rots and apples for dinner. Later,
some police officers dropped off
sandwiches, and parents living
nearby brought food.
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