The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Thursday, October 30, 2014 - 3A


SENATE
From Page 1A
concerns of poor management,
some coming from within her
own party. She's faced criti-
cisms both about her policies,
which have been seen as out-of-
touch with the state, and about
her interactions with the public
and the media, which have been
characterized as limited and
awkward.
Earlier this month, the Nation-
al Republican Senatorial Com-
mittee, a major group working to
fund the GOP push for the Sen-
ate, pulled funding for advertise-
ments for Land, concentrating
instead on races in other states.
Both the Land campaign and the
NRSC said at the time that the
funding was pulled because Land
had resources from other groups.
Neither responded to requests
for comment about potential
reinvestment in the race by the
NRSC.
Sandler said it seems like a
narrative has been constructed
around Land, one he said hasn't
done her justice.
"I think the criticism has been
unfair," he said. "Terri has done
a variety of public appearances,
she's done a variety of media
appearances. For some reason, a
narrative started about her being
less willing to be in public, which
I thinkisa falsenarrative. Ithink
it's unfair, because I think she's
been out quite a bit."
This narrative can also be
defined by Land's policy deci-
sions, Political Science Prof. Vin-
cent Hutchings said. He pointed
to issues that have been promi-
nent in political messaging dur-
ing the campaign such as pay
equity, climate change and affili-
DDA
From Page 1A
I look forward continuing with
it," Taylor said.
DDA Executive Director
Susan Pollay said she looks for-
ward to building downtown and
ensuring the high quality of life
that is associated with down-
townAsn Arbor.
"As we have with the previ-
ous mayors, the DDA will strive
to find projects and initiatives
* that serve its mission, which is
to strengthen downtown and
encourage private investment
that also serve the city admin-
istrator, mayor and city council
goals," Pollay said in an e-mail
interview. "We all are working
toward community prosperity
and quality of life."
Taylor said the DDA is cur-
rently working on long term
transportation issues, one of

ation with the Koch brothers - a
pair of Republican billionaires
tied to the more hardline side of
the party - as having the most
impact on how Land is viewed.
Though Land has fired back on
those messages in several ways,
namely emphasizing her cam-
paign message that she's a mom,
and moms "get things done,"
Hutchings said the narrative is
prominent because there's some
truth to many of the issues pre-
sented.
"I haven't seen any accusa-
tionsthat appeartobewhollyoff-
base," he said. "Now, there's a lot
more going on as well of course
- Land hasa whole range of dif-
ferent characteristics. She can't
be reduced to those in particular.
But the pointcissthatcthey're quali-
ties that are associated with that
candidate."
The Land campaign did not
return requests for comment.
This has been the most expen-
sive Senate race in Michigan's
history - more than $50 million
has been spent on either Land
or Peters' behalf thus far, most
coming from contributors out-
side of the state. Over the past
few election cycles in Michigan,
Democrats have typically been
more successful for federal posi-
tions, making winning roles like
U.S. Senator an uphill battle for
Republicans.
Ultimately, Hutchings said,
instead of an external factor
that's causing Land to perform
poorly, the negativity that's fol-
lowed Land throughout the cam-
paign may actually be a reflection
of her poor showing in the polls.
"I don't think that the candi-
date is doing poorly because of
a poor public image," he said. "I
think that the candidate has a
poor public image because she is
his priorities, and is exploring
other areas of concern. Though
the DDA requests city assis-
tance on downtown matters
and has to receive city approval
of development and financing
plans, Taylor said he doesn't
want to overstep boundaries
and exert too much influence on
the DDA.
"The DDA takes a pretty
careful approach to the issues
that it tackles," Taylor said. "I
don't want to get in the way of
that."
"It is a weak mayor admin-
istrative system," he added.
"The DDA is a separate entity,
which has budget review from
City Council, but makes its own
decisions."
The free decision-making
process has led to concerns,
often raised by Councilman
Stephen Kunselman (D-Ward
3), regarding the lack of trans-
parency with the DDA.

ENROLLMENT
From Page 1A
process of bringing any student
to the University of Michigan:
outreach, admittance and conver-
sion, a term used to describe the
process of convincing admitted
students to enroll.
William Collins, executive
director of the University's Cen-
ter for Educational Outreach,
said when it comes to increas-
ing minority enrollment without
affirmative action, each of those
steps presents unique challenges.
He said University officials have
grown more cognizant of those
challenges in the years since Pro-
posal 2.
"It's not simply a matter of 'can
you get people to apply?' although
that's an issue," Collins said. "It's
not simply a matter of admit-
ting (people), although that's an
issue. So when you look at it as a
constellation of issues here, from
aspirations to preparation to
application to admission to con-
version to matriculation, those
are the things that I think there is
a growing awareness of"
In 1996, Black students made
up nearly nine percent of the stu-
dent body, the highest it has ever
been. By 2006, right before Pro-
posali2 came into play, that num-
ber had already dropped slightly,
to 7.2 percent. The federal guide-
lines for measuringrace changed
in 2010, so the numbers aren't
entirely comparable, but over the
next eight years, the percentages
began a slow and steady decline
to an even lower point. Accord-
ing to figures released last week
by the Office of the Registrar,
Black enrollment stands at 4.63
percent of the undergraduate
population. When that number
also includes a breakdown of stu-
dents who identify as more than
one race, as is in data compiled

by the Office of Budget and Plan-
ning, that figure stands at 5.8
percent. On this year's freshman
class alone, the number is sig-
nificantly lower for Black enroll-
ment - 3.84 percent.
In contrast, roughly 19 percent
of Michigan's college-aged popu-
lation is Black.
During last year's BBUM
protest, students cited a host of
ways low minority enrollment
impacted their experiences at
the University, including facing
harmful stereotypes and repeat-
ed instances of microaggressions.
The protest went viral on Twit-
ter, resonating with students in
schools across the country.
LSA senior Arnold Reed, BSU
president, said the low numbers
aren't always visible from a dis-
tance, but their impact becomes
evident once students arrive on
campus.
"Coming for a huge football
game, you're going to see a huge
diverse crowd of people," he said.
"It really actually kind of hit me
when I was here, how big of an
issue it was."
At the University, the first
efforts after Proposal 2 passed
in 2006 were centered largely
around outreach and recruitment,
focusing on building pipelines
from underserved communi-
ties to the University, following
the recommendations of a 2007
Diversity Blueprints committee.
When it comes to measuring
the long-term outcomes of these
programs, there are anecdotal
stories of success but not much
concrete data as of yet.
"It's a complicated issue, and
an easy, direct yes or no type of
answer is probably not appro-
priate," he said. "We have lots of
recruitment efforts underway
- our admissions staff does an
excellent job in getting out to high
schools, summer programs, we
do reach students in high schools,

try to cultivate interest in going
to college and so forth. At the
same time, what We know is that
many first generation, low income
students, or underrepresented
minority students, who perform
well in high school apply to no
college whatsoever."
Ongoing initiatives
As Michigan's affirmative
action ban moved from district
court, to state court, to a six-
month wait before the Supreme
Court, and also amid renewed
student protests such as BBUM,
the University broadened its
efforts in the two other steps of
the admissions process - admit-
tance and conversion - and
beyond into addressing the cli-
mate on campus.
Last spring, the University's
Board of Regents appointed two
new administrators - Robert
Sellers, vice provost for diver-
sity, equity and inclusion Kedra
Ishop, associate vice president for
enrollment management.
In an e-mail interview in early
October, Sellers pointed to sev-
eral factors as representative of
the diversity, equity and inclusiv-
ity in his job title, including both
recruitment and retention not
only of students, but also staff
and faculty, along with improving
their campus experience.
Earlier thisyear, Sellers chaired
the newly formed Provost's Com-
mittee on Diversity, Equity and
Inclusion, which released a report
in May. The committee was struc-
tured to continue the work start-
ed by the original 2007 Blueprints
on Diversity task force, which
spawned the CEO, among other
initiatives.
Beyond the numbers
Since the release of the latest
enrollment data, the University's
Black enrollment still currently
hovers around 5 percent, capping

off a decade-plus longslide in per-
centage.
However, many of the Uni-
versity's initiatives are long term
with impacts that won't be visible
for multiple year, Sellers, Ishop
and Collins all pointed out, espe-
cially those launched during the
last school year and even those
started back in 2006-2008.
Whether they'll be able to fix
the problem eventually is unclear,
especially when it comes to the
BSU's goal of 10 percent - a man-
date that technically, under Pro-
posal 2, the University is unable
to directly aim for, because it con-
stitutes a quota.
"Could itchappenYes, itcould,"
Collins said of achieving 10 per-
cent. "But I think that means
working closely with some school
districts. I think it may mean the
admissions office giving a broader
look at characteristics that stu-
dents bring with them. I'm not
saying they don't do that now, but
such things such as your leader-
ship- we're the leaders and best,
so one could theoretically saythat
ifyouwere presidentofyour class,
we could give you some extra con-
sideration."
For now, though, the low num-
bers still matter, even if the Uni-
versity is working to changethem.
Reed said in talkingto a potential
student about attending the Univer-
sity, given his experience on cam-
pus, he would highlight two things
- both that the numbers have a
presence, but also that there's alot
the University has to offer.
"The statistics - you can't real-
ly fight numbers," Reed said. "It's
real. It's a real thing, and you will
feel it. I would definitely never
sugarcoat that. I feel like that's
also part of what makes our expe-
rience unique. I would also tell
that student that if you do choose
to come here, there are a lot of
things that the University does
have at your disposal."


REGENT
From Page 1A
George W. Bush appointed Weiser
as Ambassador to the Slovak
Republic for four years. During
his time, he organized three inter-
national investment conferences
for the country and coordinated
American support for the restora-
tion of the medieval Trencin Cas-
tle.
His diplomatic service inspired
him to create the Ronald and
Eileen Weiser Center for Europe
and Eurasia and the Weiser Cen-
ter for Emerging Democracies at
the University.
The former ambassador has
also been an active member of the
Republican Party, serving as the
Chair of the Michigan Republican
Party in 2009 and the National

Finance Chair of the Republican
National Committee in 2011.
Weiser intends to bring his
wide array of skill sets to the
Board on a platform of keeping
tuition low and strengthening the
University's satellite campuses in
Flint and Dearborn.
"I've got political background,
diplomatic background, busi-
ness background, financial back-
ground - that is different and
unique compared to the current
regents we have," he said.
Weiser said the University's
current budgeting method does
not incentivize savings and
does not allow budgets from one
area to be moved to other, more
constrained areas. He plans to
change the way the University
budgets funds as a method for
bringing down tuition. He also
plans to provide prospective stu-

dents with a clear understanding
of what their tuition will be over
the entirety of their undergradu-
ate career.
In addition, Weiser said he
understands the importance of
the University's satellite campus-
es for lower-income, part-time
working students, as the cost of,
living in Flint and Dearborn is
much less expensive than in Ann
Arbor.
He plans on developing classes
and programs at the Flint and
Dearborn campuses at the same
educational standard as in Ann
Arbor through increasing online
learning and requesting Ann
Arbor professors commute to the
other campuses.
"It's not difficult - assuming
there's the demand for courses
that are offered here that are not
offered in those campuses - for

professors or whoever is teaching
to puta section into those schools
and give them the same opportu-
nity," he said.
Weiser also said he recognizes
the importance of a diverse stu-
dent body to the overall educa-
tional atmosphere.
Lastschoolyear,manystudents,
expressed discontent with the
lack of diversity at the University,
most notably through the Black
Student Union's viral #BBUM
Twitter campaign that garnered
national attention. Weiser said he
plans to increase diversity in part
by lowering tuition. .
"There's all kinds of diversi-
ties that I think are important to
give everybody the opportunity
to have the broadest interaction
and to have the best ability to
work and live in the world that we
have," he said.


PROTEST
From Page 1A
University spokesperson Rick
Fitzgerald said the University
offers a variety of effective pro-
grams and that it is continually
looking for ways to improve how
it responds to and prevents sexual
assault.
"There are lots of programs, and
in fact, the University of Michigan
is often looked to as a leader in this
area among other higher institu-
tions," Fitzgerald said. "I think the
most effective thing we can do is to
engage the students who are pas-
sionate about this topic, to engage
in conversation and work through
these issues."
The anonymous list of demands
presented on the Diag and pub-
lished in The Michigan Daily may
be in conjunction with the Carry
That Weight day of action. Women
carrying mattresses walked
through campus, stopping in the
Diag in front of the list of demands
to display their mattresses, marked
with the Twitter hashtag #car-
rythatweight. Other college
campuses, including Stanford Uni-
versity and Harvard University,
participated in similar protests and
calls to action.
LSA junior Fabiana Diaz said
she hopes to use her own experi-
ences through this event to offer
support to other survivors.
"I'm a survivor of sexual assault,
so this is very personal for me,"
Diaz said. "This is a day to show
solidarity and be symbolic of the
weight that all women carry as
a result of sexual assault. As a
woman, even if you aren't directly
involved in sexual assault, you still
carry that burden. Our goal really
is to get even one person to just
Google it."

The Carry That Weight event
at the University is officially spon-
sored by the Feminist Forum,
but student volunteers at SAPAC
actively participated and orga-
nized volunteers for the event.
"It's not just SAPAC, but we did
want to show our support for this
event," Gillies said. "It's not just to
raise awareness, but it's to show
support for survivors. There are a
lot of survivors on campus and you
can feel very alone, so this is our
way of saying we support you."
An analysis done by the Wash-
ington Post in July found that
the University ranks second in
number of reported instances of
sexual assault. Though the direc-
tor of SAPAC interpreted this data
as showing their sexual assault
awareness programs to be effec-
tive in encouraging individuals to
report misconduct instances, the
anonymous group making these
demands believes SAPAC and its
resources are not enough.
LSA freshman Kate Heinz, who
noticed the installments while
walking to class, said she knows
sexual assault happens on campus,
but that statistics of how often sex-
ual assault occurs are still shock-
ing.
"Everyone knows it's a big thing
on college campuses but it's hard to
really see," Heinz said. "You would
never know that the University is
second in the nation for reported
assaults. It's hard to gauge, so it's
just a matter of understanding the
scope of it and bridging the gap
between reports and actual hap-
penings. It's a matter of communi-
cation between the administration
and students."
LSA junior Kathleen Abenes,
a Resident Adviser, said existing
initiatives are not sufficient for
incomingstudents.
"I know we have the AlcoholE-

du program but why don't we have
something just as serious for sexual
assault? I know that there is Rela-
tionship Remix and the Change it
Up initiative going on, and I know
that they swipe MCards, but as an
RA there is no way for me to make
sure they go," she said. "There are
no consequences for not going to
these workshops."
The AlchoholEdu initiative, an
online program that addresses the
use of alcohol and other substanc-
es on campus and is required for
all incoming students, discusses
sexual assault in the context of a
person's ability to give consent and
discusses the sexual assaults that
occur while under the influence of
alcohol. LSA senior Stephen Gold-
enthal said sexual assault isn't just,
a result of alcohol consumption or
attending Greek life events.
"You hear of things on cam-
pus, I know people who have been
sexually assaulted, so it just really
changes your perspective," Gold-
enthal said. "I think that the people
committing sexual assault might
not even see their actions as being
sexual assault. And it doesn't just
occur at parties or when you are
under the influence, it's an entire
cultural issue."
The second demand calls for all
fraternity, sorority and coopera-
tive houses to put up asign defining
consent in common areas, similar
to signs prohibiting anyone under
the age of 21 from consuming alco-
hol.
Furthermore, the list demands
that athletes be held to the same
sexual conduct standards as non-
athletes. This demand appears to
be related to the University's han-
dling of sexual assault allegations
on campus following student and
legal scrutiny surrounding the
"permanent separation" of Bren-
dan Gibbons, the Michigan football

team's former starting kicker, for
violating the Student Sexual Mis-
conduct Policy. His removal came
nearly four years after the incident
of assault, which is reported to
have occurred Nov. 22, 2009, dur-
ing Gibbons' freshman year at the
University.
One month after the incident
was brought to light, Central
Student Government formed an
executive task force aimed at inves-
tigating Gibbons' sexual miscon-
duct case, ultimately finding the
University's administration and
athletic department responsible
for failing to investigate the Gib-
bons case in a timely, transparent
manner.
Fitzgerald said the University's
policy already aligns with this
demand and affirms the equal
treatment of athletes and non-ath-
letes.
"Athletes are treated exactly
the same as every other student,"
Fitzgerald said. "There is no sepa-
rate process when it comes to sex-
ual misconduct as the new policy
makes clear."
The fourth demand calls into
question the education of Universi-
ty staff and DPS in issues of sexual
assault response, stating that cur-
rent training is surface level and
insufficient.
The list of demands goes on to
call for providing survivors of sex-
ual violence the option to have the
responsible party expelled from
the University.
The demands also ask that sup-
port be increased for survivors
of sexual violence beyond the
resources offered through SAPAC.
This would include an increase in
widely-known, immediate coun-
seling services and would require
that the parties found respon-
sible for an act of sexual assault be
restrained from interacting with

the survivor in his or her personal and limited resources, so we do the
community. best with what we have," Gillies
LSA sophomore Meredith Gil- said. "We still have a lot we could
lies, a SAPAC student volunteer, do in terms of name-recognition
said because of the broad issues becausetherearestillstudentswho
SAPAC attempts to address, there really don't know what SAPAC is.
is room for improvement within When it comes to giving students a
the organization. voice, we really need students to be
"We do have a limited budget educated and that takes time."
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