%;; Monday, October 24, 2014 - 3A
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom N ew s Monday, October 20,2014-
NEWS BRIEFS
DETROIT
Groups discuss
water shutoffs
with UN experts
Advocacy groups and Detroit
residents testified Sunday about
city water shutoffs as United
Nations human rights experts
arrived to observe the impact on
low-income residents.
Hundreds of people attended a
town hall meeting Sunday after-
noon.
"Once again, the international
spotlight was on Detroiters trying
to carve out dignified lives while
being denied basic necessities of
life," Maureen Taylor, spokesman
for the Michigan Welfare Rights
Organization and the Detroit
People's Water Board, said in pre-
pared remarks.
The groups, which helped
organize the event, said in a state-
ment that a judge overseeing
Detroit's municipal bankruptcy
case "denied residents a right to
water and a water affordability
plan, both of which make the lack
of access to water and sanitation
dire for poor families and critical
for public health."
HONOLULU
Hawaii residents
relax as hurricane
threat eases
Hurricane Ana has passed
the Hawaiian island of Niihau,
leaving the state wet but largely
unscathed.
Hawaii residents are begin-
ning to relax after days of keeping
a cautious eye on Hurricane Ana.
National Weather Service fore-
casters say the closest Ana got to
Hawaii was about 70 miles south-
west of Niihau Sunday.
Hurricane Ana had been
churning dangerously close for
several days, spinning parallel to
the islands where residents were
urged to be ready.
Instead the storm mainly
stayed to the southwest, bringing
little more than heavy rain and
big waves.
A tropical storm warning
remains in effect Sunday for the
islands of Kauai and Niihau, and a
hurricane watch has been issued
for parts of remote northwestern
islands, home to a largely unin-
habited marine sanctuary.
JAKARTA
Kerry seeks Asian
allies in anti-
Islamic State push
U.S. Secretary of State John
Kerry is in Indonesia for a brief
visit aimed at building Asian sup-
port for the fights against Islamic
State extremists and the deadly
Ebola virus.
Highlighting the Obama
administration's commitment to
the Asia-Pacific region, Kerry is
leading the U.S. delegation to the
inauguration of new Indonesian
President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo,
a reformer who won hotly con-
tested elections in July.
Kerry arrived in the capital,
Jakarta, on Monday after more
than 26 hours of trans-oceanic
flights that began Saturday in his
hometown of Boston, where he
held two days of talks with Chi-
nese State Councillor Yang Jiechi.
MADRID
Test shows
Spaniard with
Ebola in recovery
A Spanish nursing assistant
infected with Ebola after treat-
ing missionary priests with the
disease repatriated from West
Africa has managed to beat it
after nearly two weeks of treat-
ment in Madrid and has no
traces of the virus in her blood-
stream, according to test results
released Sunday night by Spain's
government.
Teresa Romero, 44, is
believed to be the first person to
have caught Ebola via transmis-
sion outside of West Africa in
the current outbreak.
-Compiled from
Daily wire reports
DANCE
From Page 1A
"It felt good to finish first for
the Dance Marathon 5K, not
necessarily because of the place
finish, but because of what the
5K means for the kids," Dobmei-
er said. "Through an event like
this with every person raising
$20, you can raise over $2,000
for a great organization really
quick just by having people
show up. It's really exciting that
we were able to do that for the
children."
This year, DMUM is empha-
sizing collaboration with other
student organizations and
the Ann Arbor community.
Throughout the year, the group
will partner with MRelay, Blood
Battle and Musket to host fund-
raisingevents.
"We've been focusing a lot on
student organization partner-
shipsthis year because there's so
many student orgs and we're all
competing for the same things:
participation and fundraising,"
said Amal Muzaffar, a Business
senior and DMUM fundraising
events chair.
"We've seen this year that
partnering with other student
organizations really helps us
achieve our goals with fundrais-
ing and just getting the word
out."
Some of DMUM's upcoming
events include a Halloween Bar
Night at Scorekeepers Bar and
Grille thisweekend and a formal
gala at the Sheraton Ann Arbor
Hotel in early November where
participants will get to meet
many of the DMUM families.
There will also be a fundraising
competition against Ohio State
University's chapter of Dance
Marathon in the 10days leading
up to the Michigan-Ohio State
football game.
"I'm excited to get to meet
the families and to get to know
the kids that we actually get to
help," said Kinesiology sopho-
more Rachel Tomassi, DMUM
fundraising events coordinator.
"When you're fundraisingyou're
actually partnered with a family
and you get to see someone and
you get to say, 'OK, my money
is actually helping this person
standing right in front of me,'
and that's what's really special
about Dance Marathon."
HEALTH
From Page 1A
the importance of not only under-
standing medicine, but also the
social issues that surround it.
Jonathan Shaffer, coordinator
for community engagement at the
global health nonprofit Partners
In Health, was the second key-
note speaker. He discussed health
care as a fundamental human
right and the work that Partners
In Health performs, including
building hospitals in countries
such as Haiti and Rwanda.
The daylong event was a testa-
ment not only to Parikh's legacy,
but also to the issues that he cared
about.
Parikh's father, Manoj Parikh,
began taking his son to volunteer
at their Hindu temple in Dallas,
Texas each Sunday when Sujal
was four years old. This early
exposure to volunteerism as well
as the work of civil rights leader
Mahatma Gandhi inspired Sujal
to devote his life to promoting
peace and social justice around
the world.
Parikh was an Eagle Scout,
earned degrees in neurobiology
and public health from the Uni-
versity of California, Berkeley,
served on the Student Advisory
Board of Physicians for Human
Rights and won a Campus Inde-
pendent Journalism Award for
best political commentary for his
2006 piece condemningthe death
penalty, titled "A New Vision of
Justice."
"He told me one time, 'Dad, I'd
like to go on the edge of an active
volcano, on the crater of an active
volcano,' and he did that in Rwan-
da in 2007, the Gometz Volcano,"
Manoj Parikh said about his son.
Medical student Megha Trive-
di, Parikh's cousin, emphasized
Parikh's passion for serving man-
kind and eradicating the injustic-
es he encountered.
"If he saw this today he would
want it to be more about the issues
- social justice, global health
disparities, more than himself,"
Trivedi said. "And that's what he
worked for all his life."
SSD
From Page 1A
sity an inclusive environmentfor
those with disabilities.
Whittington said it is often
difficult to reach out to stu-
dents with disabilities and
encourage themtoget involved
in support groups because
of the stigma that can come
with being labeled as disabled.
Beyond the stigma that makes
it difficult to involve students
with available support groups,
Whittington said having a dis-
ability also impacts the way he
interacts with others.
"Being a native stutterer, it
really just forces you to choose
your words in a certain type of
way," he said.
Shelton added that, like
race, having a disability is
another aspect of identity that
can be marginalizing and can
add another layer of difficulty
to his life.
"The more identities we
have that are different from
the norm, the more energy we
have to exert," Shelton said.
"The further you differenti-
ate from that profile of white,
male, able-bodied, straight ...
the harder you have to try."
The conference also includ-
ed remarks from Dean of Stu-
dents Laura Blake Jones; E.
Royster Harper, vice president
for Student Life; Jack Bernard,
associate general counsel and
chair of the University's Coun-
cil for Disability Concerns;
and Regent Katherine White,
who serves as chair of the Uni-
versity's Board of Regents.
The first keynote speaker,
John Greden, director of the
University's Comprehen-
sive Depression Center, said
though depression is the dis-
ability that impacts themost
people in the world, many peo-
ple don't view it as a disability.
Law Prof. Samuel Bagens-
tos gave an hour-long talk on
the history of disability law
and the growth of the disabil-
ity movement in the United
States, which was followed
by a lecture on the future of
mobility technology delivered
by Engineering Prof. Law-
rence Burns.
@MICHIGANDAILY
< Digitizing
RacesEr
DETROIT
From Page 1A
participants, and was the day's
most popular event.
Mike Andersen of Walled
Lake, Mich. who coaches cross
country at Milford High School,
was the first to cross the mara-
thon's finish line in 2:24:54.
Andersen overcame University
alum Zach Ornelas, who won
the 2013 marathon, in their final
strides of the race. Ornelas, who
dealt with a hip injury through-
out the year, finished in 2:25:13.
The Detroit Marathon isan
the rise. Hitting a record-break-'
ing number of participants this
year with 27,389 runners, the
marathon is more than an event;
it's a spectacle. Sandwiched
between two of the most popu-
lar marathons in the world - the
Bank of America Chicago Mara-
thon and the New York City
Marathon on Oct. 12 and Nov.
2, respectively - runners have a
host of options for their choice of
marathon. And for Detroit, the
runners keep coming.
Executive Race Director
Barbara Bennage said runners
represented 48 states and 19
countries. She attributed the
marathon's success to "the vibe
that's coming out of Detroit" and
the appeal of the international
component to the race. Despite
its national draw, she said 80
percent of participants come
from the Metro Detroit area.
"I think it's people that love
the city and love what's happen-
ing to it," Bennage said after one
of her staff members handed her
a paper reporting the record-
breaking total of the partici-
pants.
Each runner has a specific
reason for running the 13.1 or
26.2 miles. Some, as Bennage
said, want to cross it off their
bucket lists. Some want to set
a personal record. Some want
to qualify for the Boston Mara-
thon. Others are influenced by
loved ones.
Randal Brown, who lives in
Detroit, decided to run the mar-
athon after his close friend and
mentor passed away. Though he
did not consider himself a run-
ner before, he completed the
marathon in 3:27:39 - which
beat the average marathon time
for men in 2013 of 4:16:00.
"It was a lot of fun and a lot of
people cheered. It's worth it. It's
good for the city," Brown said
at the finish line, catching his
breath.
Tom Claflin of Brighton,
Mich. has run 20 marathons,
and said the Detroit Marathon
stands out due to its unique
course. At age 66, Claflin started
tunning eight years ago, and said
he had the "perfect race" Sun-
day.
"It's terrific," he said. "Over
the bridge with the sunrise and
back through the tunnel, it's
much better than anybody who
would go through the tunnel
with a car would know."
With two of his sons based in
Ann Arbor, Claflin said he usual-
ly visits there more than Detroit,
though he hopes to travel back to
the city more often.
For Ornelas, a former member
of the University's men's cross
country team and winner of his
first marathon in Detroit's 2013
event, the spirit of Detroit drew
him to the marathon for a sec-
ond go. Having lived in Texas
before attending the University,
Ornelas said the marathon gave
him a unique tour of the city that
seems so far from the Ann Arbor
"bubble," as he called it.
After graduating from the
School of Education, Ornelas
now teaches at the Jalen Rose
Leadership Academy in Detroit
- a job, he said, he earned with
help from his 2013 Detroit
Marathon performance. The
experience gave him a unique
perspective of Detroit - one
that students may not always
see. In a survey conducted by
The Michigan Daily, only 22
percent of the 230 randomly
selected undergraduates said
they would consider living in
the city after graduation.
For many college students,
Detroit's portrayal in popular
media paints a negative pic-
ture of the city. While in col-
lege, Ornelas said he found it
"di-heartening" when friends
w'' Id make jokes about Detroit,
calling it dangerous and warn-
ing others against traveling to
it.
"I'd encourage students to
stop talking about Detroit nega-
tively," he said in an interview
before Sunday's marathon.
"They're quick to do it - and
that's because that's what we're
used to - but they need to stop."
Ornelas said he was exposed
to 'parts of tfie 'city by running
through it that he had never
seen and had previously only
imagined based on the image of
Detroit painted in the media.
"I got to see just how tough
a lot of the people have it," he
said. "We all think we know, but
it's different once you're there."
Behind the finish line and
throughout the race, 3,000 vol-
unteers handed participants
water, offered motivation and
greeted finishers with Gatorade,
water, bananas and medals.
University alum Leah Ouel-
let, one of the volunteers,
brought high school students to
help at the race. Ouellet works
at buildOn - a nonprofit based
in Detroit that aims to engage
students with community ser-
vice in the city. Ouellet said she
knew she would work in Detroit
immediately after graduating
from the University in 2013.
"Having it happen in Detroit
at this time, you can tell there
are a lot of people who don't live
or work here that came down,
so it's a cool cosmopolitan event
with a lot of people in the city
to help with the rebranding of
Detroit," she said.
As participants recover and
take a week - or many - off
from running, the preparation
for next year's race has only just
begun.
Daily News Editor Will
Greenberg contributed reporting.
Lisa Nakamnra
Gwendolyn Calvert Baker Collegiate
Professor of American Culture and
Screen Arts and Cultures
COUNCIL
From Page 1A
The street closure will last
from 2 p.m. until midnight, but
the actual event will run from
3 p.m. to 10 p.m., which allows
time for setup and cleanup.
Grant to construct sidewalks
The Council will discuss
approval of a grant from the
Michigan Department of Trans-
portation for the Clague Safe
Routes to School Project. The
project includes the construction
of sidewalks along a portion of
Nixon Road and the installation
of a Rectangular Rapid Flash-
ing Beacon on Green Road to
improve the safety of students
walking to and from nearby
schools.
The project is funded by the
Safe Routes to School grant,
which covers100percent ofeligi-
ble construction costs, and by the
Alternative Transportation Fund
and Special Assessments, which
covers other project costs such
as design and testing. The project
is expected to total $221,067 and
construction will start in 2015.
Non-discrimination
ordinance
Councilmembers Jack Eaton
(D-Ward 4), Sumi Kailasapa-
thy (D-Ward 1), Christopher
Taylor (D-Ward 3), Margie
Teall (D-Ward 4) and Chuck
Warpehoski (D-Ward 5),
together with the city's Human
Rights Commission, sponsored
an amendment to the non-
discrimination ordinance. The
ordinance currently does not
comply with state law since
affirmative action was banned
by Proposal 2, a 2006 ballot ini-
tiative.
The amendment features
extensive changes, such as
clarification to some language
throughout the ordinance,
alignment of provisions with
state and federal legislation and
additional protections based
on gender expression, veteran
status, victims of domestic
violence, political alignment,
genetic information, arrest
record and familial status.