(1be 1Ji1iaV0i~ iiiI.,xhis Ill. michigandaily.com Ann Arbor, Michigan Tuesday, September 23,2014 JOB. PLEASE ADMINISTRATION Committee calls for diversity initiatives AMANDA ALLEN/Dally Engineering Graduate student Rohan Puranik speaks with a company representative at the Engineering Career Fair hosted by the Society of Women Engineers and Tau Beta Pi at the Duderstadt Center Monday. SENATE ASSEMBLY Schlissel talks emergency response at faculty senate Faculty outline recommendations to better campus climate in report to provost By ALLANA AKHTAR DailyStaff Reporter After the University's Black Student Union called on the Uni- versity last year to take steps toward building a more inclusive campus, the Office of the Provost is starting the school year with a new set of recommendations to foster diversity and improve campus climate. The Office of the Provost released reports Sept. 16 from three faculty-led committees, including the Committee on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. The report contained 13 recom- mendations designed to build a more diverse student body and faculty, create a welcoming cam- pus climate for minority students and establish programs to help members of the University com- munity recognize and address instances of discrimination. The committee consists of 11 faculty members from eight schools and colleges, plus one graduate student, one under- graduate student and two staff members. The committee was convened by University Pro- vost Martha Pollack in Decem- ber 2013, shortly after the BSU launched their #BBUM Twitter campaign. The committee met on weekly basis through last May to gather data and compose a plan to address issues related to diversity. In an announcement in Janu- ary, Pollack pledged to address several of the BSU's demands, including the allocation of funds for a renovation of the Trotter Multicultural Center. The committee's new recom- mendations include creating a strategic plan for diversity, form- ing a committee to study the experiences of faculty members of color and forming partner- ships with school districts to improve the pipeline of minor- ity students to the University's freshman class. See DIVERSITY, Page 3 President calls for administrative transparency By EMILIE PLESSET Daily StaffReporter As he continues to adjust to his new role, University Presi- dent Mark Schlissel turned to the faculty and staff in a ques- tion and answer session as he addressed the University Sen- ate Assembly on Monday. Before opening the floor for questions, Schlissel expressed his desire for cohesive and transparent leadership among staff and faculty. After the brief gun scare in the Chemistry Building earlier this month when a student in the NROTC was seen carrying a benign gun-shaped training device, many faculty and staff expressed concerns about gun safety on campus. Schlissel said while a simi- lar situation will probably not happen again, there is always a concern that as a large public center, the University could be a target for outside violence. In response to the incident, University administrators will take part in an exercise to dis- cuss the chain of command and response procedures during various gun violence scenarios. In a report by The Michigan Daily, several faculty members voiced concern about wheth- er they would be capable to respond to this situation appro- priately. See SACUA, Page 3 * ENTREPRENEURSHIP 'U', A2 startups - foster budding community Un ins bu By m Mic Silicon thread Ann A Stut entrep - nam and M tive fa the Ce and In up ide resour cepts i Even startup where. firms SPARK are in two ev dents tl Fur: the D in Aug ened e able s the U: entrep Unives Washt Tom direct preneu iversity alumni that Center's growth in the last six years reflects the growingcul- pired to pursue ture of entrepreneurship in Ann Arbor. siness ideas as He wrote that its location in the Duderstadt Center is twice undergrads as big as its original location, and added that these offices are "rap- ICHAEL SUGERMAN idly" reaching capacity. Daily StaffReporter "We are always looking for more spaces we can use to facili- higan has been called the tate student entrepreneurial Mitten - and an integral activity," Frank wrote. of that glove's stitching is In the past three years, he said rbor. the Center for Entrepreneurship dent organizations tout has had over 6,800 undergradu- reneurial spirit abound atesenroll in its entrepreneurship nely MPowered, optiMize program. In the same time, more Hacks - and administra- than 140 "business concepts" cilities and programs, like have been identified - and more nter for Entrepreneurship than 20 of these each year work snovate Blue, foster start- with TechArb to further develop as and passion, providing their ideas. ces that turn those con- As far as continuing to expand, nto realities. Frank wrote that the Center has n outside the University, been working with places like p enthusiasm is every- Ann Arbor SPARK to provide stu- Incubators and consulting dents with more space to learn like TechArb, Ann Arbor and explore. K and Menlo Innovations University alum Bill Mayer, high demand - the former SPARK's vice president of entre- ven partner with the stu- preneur services, said Ann through Innovate Blue. Arbor's demographics are condu- ther, the introduction of cive to the recent boom of innova- esai Family Accelerator tion. gust marked a strength- "I really enjoy the fact that not ffort to cater these valu- only is Ann Arbor a well-educat- ervices to parties outside ed city, but it's a nice-sized town," niversity, expanding both Mayer said. reneurial drive and the He added that many compa- sity's influence beyond nies headquartered in states more enaw County. well-known for entrepreneur- Frank, the executive ship, like California, plan to open or of the Center for Entre- offices in Ann Arbor to continue rship, wrote in an e-mail See STARTUP, Page 3 AMANDA ALLEN/Dail LSA senior Cooper Charlton, Student-Athlete Advisory Committee president, speaks at the Wolverine Support Network social media launch in the CSG chamber Monday. Ss o new mental health support network OBITUARY Professor remembered for personal engagement Pierre T.Kabamba passed away Saturday afterbattlewithcancer By STEPHANIE SHENOUDA DailyNewsEditor Students and faculty in the aerospace engineering depart- ment are mourning the loss of a teacher and colleague after Prof. Pierre T. Kabamba lost his battle with lung cancer Saturday, Sept. 20. He was 59 years old. Kabamba came to the Univer- sity in 1983 after receiving his undergraduate degree in Belgium and his doctorate from Columbia University. In the winter of 2013, Kabamba visited the doctor for what he thought was pneumo- nia, only to discover he had stage 4 lung cancer, which forced him to stop teaching. His health was reportedly improving and Kabam- ba was scheduled to teach two classes this term, before decid- ing in late August that his health wouldn't allowit, Kabamba taught Introduction to Aerospace Engineering and an advanced design course involving space and aircrafts. Additionally, he did research in controls design and scheduling operations, and addressed problems associated with spacecraft. Prof.Dan Inman, the Aerospace Engineering department chair, said he worked with Kabamba at the beginning of his career and even offered him his first job at See OBIT, Page 3 New initiative aims to help students maintain mental wellness By TANAZ AHMED Daily StaffReporter An array of student lead- ers gathered in the Michigan Union Monday for the launch of the Wolverine Support Net- work, a University-wide peer support program designed to improve mental health. The initiative aims to help students work through their issues with WSN student lead- ers in weekly meetings, which are set to begin in January. In addition to weekly meetings, the network will also host events on Fridays that will focus on community building and mental health education. The support network was one of the main initiatives that CSG President BobbyDishell, a Public Policy senior, based his platform on during last year's student government elections. "The number one place stu- dents turn to for a personal issue is their friends," Dishell said during the launch. "How- ever, there is currently not a space where this is encouraged or facilitated. That's why we came together to really create this... Our mission statement is that we empower University of Michigan students to create a community to support each other's mental health." CSG worked with the Uni- versity's Counseling and Psy- chological Services to create the program. CAPS will train WSN student leaders through a three-day retreat as well as consultations with CAPS staff throughout the semes- ter. Applications for students interested in becoming WSN leaders will be available Oct. 22. "I think it holds a promise of a wonderful idea to help complement all the other things on- campus around mental health," CAPS Direc- tor Todd Sevig said. "Some of that is CAPS, some of that is our Department of Psychiatry, some of that is the Depres- sion Center... I really want to promote the idea of peer edu- cation, peer support, friends helping friends and I think Wolverine Support Network holds the promise of that." See CSG, Page 3 WEATHER HI:74 GOT A NEWS TIP? Call 734-418-4115 or e-mail TOMORROW LO: 45 news@michigandaily.com and let us know. NEW ON MICHIGANDAILYCOM UMHS to expand surgery department MICHIGANDAILY.COM/BLOGS INDEX NEWS.........................2 SPORTS................5 Vol, CXXIV, No.t42 SUDOKU........................2 CLASSIFIEDS.................6 ©20t4TheMichigan Daily OPIN N .......... 4 ARTS...............7 michigandaiiy.com " " " " "" " A A