Ub~e ffid~igan 0aimj Ann Arbor, Michigan Wednesday, April 9, 2014 michigandaily.com Minimum wage efforts continue on 'U' campus T Oiur1MOU ay Brad Kelly of YRLK performs at "We Can All Change The Story: A Celebration of Hope," a free concert for suicide prevention at Michigan Theater Tuesday. v s Raise Michigan coalition calls for $10.10 per hour, echoing Obama By SHOHAM GEVA Daily StaffReporter Long before President Barack Obama visited campus last week, activists were laying the ground- work for a proposed increase in the minimum wage. A coalition of groups collectively called Raise Michigan announced plans Jan. 27 to put a question to raise the minimum wage on November's ballot, launching a campaign which started as an exploratory ballot committee and eventually became an organized force across the state, including at the University. To put the proposal on the bal- lot, the group will have to collect a minimum of 258,088 signatures, which is equal to 8 percent of the voters in the last gubernato- rial election, from across the state before May 28. Coalition leaders have indicated that they want to go above that threshold, with an ulti- mate goal of 350,000 signatures. Should the group collect enough signatures, the proposal will then go before the state legislature, which has 40 days to approve it. Evan if they don't approve it out- right and make it into a law, the initiative will go on the ballot. Engineeringsenior Ryan Moody and LSA junior Eleni Kastanis, who are gathering signatures in the Ann Arbor area as interns for Michigan United, one of the groups in the Raise Michigan coalition, said the coalition's goal for the area is 10,000 signatures. Moody, who coordinates on campus efforts, said her hope is that 6,500 of those signatures will come from the Uni- versity community. The pair currently has over 1,500 signatures from the area, though exact numbers are diffi- cult to discern because the peti- tions are disseminated so widely. Around 500 of those have come from campus. Moody said they are confident See WAGE, Page 3A Celebration of Hope encourages suicide prevention ByALYSSA BRANDON For the Daily Various University student groups entertained a crowded Michigan Theatre Tuesday night with powerful perfor- mances through song, dance and spoken word in the show- case "We Can All Change the Story: A Celebration of Hope." The Counseling and Psycho- logical Services Student Advi- sory board collaborated with Central Student Government to develop an event to advocate for the end of student suicides at the University. Asattendeeswalked through the doors of Michigan Theater, they were met with dozens of CSG and CAPS staff members passing out wristbands, post- cards and free pizza. CAPS also had a booth where students could write encouraging words on wooden tiles to hang around campus. LSA senior Carolina Ray- zel, who is a member of CSG's Health Issues Commission and served as a member of the plan- ning committee for the show- case, said the event aimed to educate students about psycho- logical services available at the University. "We hope this event will start a dialogue about the stu- dent suicide issue on campus, as well as bring an awareness to the different resources for mental health that are available on campus," she said before the start of the program. The showcase featured local artist YRLK performing his original guitar compositions and Music, Theatre & Dance graduate students Jonathan Hulting-Cohen and Jennifer R. Ellis playing the musical piece, "Moments of Hope" on clari- See PREVENTION, Page 3A IN REMEMBRANCE Student passes awayin car crash while abroad FREE CONE DAY LSA junior honored for her involvement in campus community By WILL GREENBERG Daily News Editor A University student died in a car accident Monday while study- ing abroad in South Africa. University spokesman Rick Fitzgerald confirmed the passing of LSA junior Rachel Smylie in a statement Tuesday. Smylie was in a car with members of her study abroad group while on a spring break trip to a national park in northern Namibia at the time. He said there are no other reports of fatalities from the incident and no other University students were in her group. Smylie had been studying in Cape Town, South Africa with the Council on International Educa- tional Exchange. While the pro- gram is run outside the University, Fitzgerald said many University students participate in it. As a student, Smylie was highly involved in volunteer work both in Ann Arbor and Cape Town, work- ing at the local HIV/Aids Resource Center in Washtenaw County and doingsimilar work in South Africa. She was also active in her sorority, Alpha Phi, serving as house man- ager last year. She was also selected as one of the Rho Omegas, a group that helps new members through the Greek recruitment process. Business sophomore Elizabeth Griffith, Alpha Phi president, released in a personal statement Tuesday lauding Smylie's friend- ship and involvement on campus. "Rachel had an amazing spirit and a presence that captivated everyone around her," she wrote. "She is veryloved and missed dear- ly." After taking his class "Memoir and Social Crisis" last fall, Smylie developed a close relationship with English Prof. Ralph Williams. Wil- liams said Smylie would often meet him during office hours for dis- See STUDENT, Page 3A LILY ANGELL/Daily Hundreds of students and Ann Arbor residents gather at the State Street Ben & Jerry's for the annual Free Cone Day Tuesday, a tradition started in 1979. Prof. selected for Internet Hall of Fam'204class STUDENT GOVERNMENT Brandon discusses ticketing policies Central Student Government hosts Athletic Director By KRISTEN FEDOR Daily Staff Reporter Though the Central Student Government encouraged the implementation of new football season ticket policy, the final meeting of the year indicated more conversations with the University Athletic Department are on the horizon for the future. Athletic Director Dave Bran- don and Hunter Lochmann, senior associate athletic direc- tor and chief marketing offi- cer, spoke to the CSG assembly Tuesday night at their weekly meeting. Lochmann delivered a review of the past year, followed by a question and answer ses- sion between representatives and Brandon. Representatives ques- tioned Brandon on an array of See BRANDON, Page 3A Researcher aided online initiatives to increase global access to data By ALLANA AKHTAR Daily Staff Reporter Douglas Van Houweling, associate dean for research and innovation at the School of Information, visited Hong Kong Tuesday to be inducted to the 201 4Internet Hall of Fame. The Internet Hall of Fame celebrates individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to the creation and progression of the Inter- net. The Internet Society inducts 24 members selected across 13 different countries annually. Van Houwelingwas inducted as a Global Connec- tor, a category that recog- nizes individuals who have helped expand the Internet on a global scale. Van Houweling previously served as chairman of the board of MERIT, a Michigan statewide computing net- work. At the request of the National Science Foundation, he worked to rebuild its over- loaded, dysfunctional net- work - NSFNET - that was See INTERNET, Page 3A od WEATHER HI 66 TOMORROW Lo:32 GOT A NEWS TIP? NEW ON MICHIGANDAILY.COM Call 734-418-411s or e-mail Tech Tuesday: Chasing J.A.R.V.I.S. news@michigandaily.com and let us know. MICHIGANDAILY.COM/BLOGS INDEX NEW S .........................2A ARTS...........................5A Vol. CXXIV, No. 98 SUDOKU.....................2A CLASSIFIEDS.......A.....6A ©204 TheMichiganDaily OPINION......................4A THE STATEMENT..........16 michigondoily.com t