The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Tuesday, November 11, 2014 - 5

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BUILD YOUR BRAND

Niki Sunstrum, director of social media for the University, speaks at the "Coming of Age Online" event at the
Michigan Union on Monday.

EBOLA
From Page 1
bian said. "We don't believe that
there's any other place where the
union and management have come
together and said that they need
to prepare to take care of poten-
tial patients with Ebola and work
together to do that. So I think in
that respect, this is very unique,
but we plan to try to negotiate this
with other institutions as well."
Aside from an assurance that
nurses will receive proper PPE
and training, the contract contains
three major provisions. The first
and second provisions state that
nurses will not lose any salary or
be forced to use their "Paid Time
Off" or "Extended Sick Leave"
provisions if they are quaran-
tined due to Ebola or if they actu-
ally contract the disease. The third
provision states that the hospital
will pay for all medical treatment
and follow-ups, including psycho-
logical testing, if a nurse contracts
Ebola.
Throughout the negotiation
process, UMHS has implemented
measures as they've been agreed
uponso asto nothinder Ebolapre-
paredness, Karebian said. He also
said the contract will remain fluid-
to allow for further improvements
if necessary.
"It's going to change as we learn
more and nurses become more
trained," he said. "We will learn
from those things and we might

have to make some adjustments.
We have a nursing taskforce for
Ebola preparedness put together
that will meet twice per week to
continue to look at what we will
need to do to change and do bet-
ter."
To prepare for the unlikely sce-
nario that Ebola arrives in Ann
Arbor, UMHS has already estab-
lished a general response plan to
address the virus.
The contract comes in the midst
of conversation about statewide
preparedness for the disease.
Though Republican Gov. Rick Sny-
der has said Michigan hospitals
are prepared for Ebola, a recent
MNA poll showed that more than
80 percent of Michigan nurses
don't believe their hospital has
provided them with proper train-
ing on howto treat this virus.
"My message to the governor
and to the state is that we want
to see more consistent practices
in hospitals," Karebian said. "And
we believe that the Department of
Community Health and the gover-
nor shouldstep up andsay, 'Yes,we
need to ensure that hospitals are
prepared.' And it's not enough just
to say it; they have tobe prepared."
The MNA's complaints reflect
nationwide dissatisfaction
expressed by nurses through
National Nurses Unitedand state
nurses unions, which has orga-
nized a "Day of Action" Wednes-
day in protest of a perceived lack of
preparedness for Ebola. In Califor-
nia,18,000 nurses plan tostrike for
two days starting Tuesday.

The MNA is organizing its
own event. It is planning to send
a delegation to Snyder Wednesday
morning to ask him to meet with
the union.
"We decided that since we
couldn't get him to our building,
we would go to him,"said Ann Sin-
cox, public relations and commu-
nications liaison for the MNA. "So
we are going to meet on Wednes-
day at 11:30 in front of the Rom-
ney Building. We have quite a few
nurses coming and a mobile bill-
board and we are going to invite
him to come down and join us."
Sincox said the overall goal for
the MNA is to achieve a state stan-
dard for Ebolapreparation.
"We feel the governor needs to
work with the Michigan Depart-
ment of Community Health, and
of course we're more than happy
to join in on that, to make a state
standard so that everyone is pre-
pared adequately, regardless of
what happens," she said.
Sincox added that though nurs-
es in other states are taking more
drastic measures such as protests
and strikes, the MNA believes that
a state standard for Ebola prepara-
tion can be negotiated with state
officials.
"Some states are having pro-
tests; there are a couple of states
actually having nurses walk off,"
she said. "That's not really where
we're at on this. We think going
for the state standard makes more
sense. We think that's a more col-
laborative thing, an area we think
we can do some growth in."

cO-OPS
From Page 1
Equal Exchange, a worker coop-
erative focused on Fair Trade.
Hannah Rosenberg, a junior
at Oberlin College in Ohio living
in Harkness Co-op, sat at a Star-
bucks table in lively conversation
with two other co-opers, both of
whom she had just met.
"If we have any hope of the
cooperative movement being a
national or international thing
rather than a very localized
thing, it's important to know one
another," Rosenberg said. "And
that's chill."
In addition to presentations
by co-op members, attendees ate
meals together, watched films,
played games and taught and
attended classes - one of which
was titled "The Forgotten His-
tory of Group Equity Housing
Cooperatives."
Jim Jones, the two-time for-
mer executive director of NASCO,
former executive director of Ann
Arbor's Inter-Cooperative Coun-
cil and a 2009 Cooperative Hall
of Fame inductee, taught the
course.
Jones is a cooperative history
buff. The author of"Many Hands:
A History of the Austin Coopera-
tive Community," he is also in his
25th year of work on a book about
the history of student coopera-
tives.
Jones said the country's first
student-owned cooperatives
were opened in 1932 - one of
which was in Ann Arbor - dur-
ing the Great Depression.
Sharing housing, decisions,
food and labor was the Student
Socialist Club's way of coping
with the effects of the Great
Depression. They rented a house
and inaugurated the Michigan
Socialist House cooperative,
charging each member $2 per
week for room and board, Jones
said.
Ann Arbor's student coopera-
tive movement remained embod-
ied in the lone Michigan Socialist
House, until the Campus Cooper-
ative Council, now known as the
Inter-Cooperative Council, was
born in 1937.
By 1941, the student coop-
erative movement was expand-
ing. Eleven rented houses in
Ann Arbor housed student co-
ops, eight for men and three for
women, according to the ICC's
website.
"It wasn't until the war that
things became difficult," Jones
said.
The male population, he said,
was "devastated." Many co-ops
lost their leases and were closed
and many men coming to the Uni-
versity to train for World War II
filled the former co-op houses
instead.
Still, the ICC survived.
In 1944, the ICC purchased its
first house, A.K. Stevens House.
Before this, the ICC had only'
rented. Two years later, bol-
stered by the return of soldiers
from World War II, the co-op
movement rebounded. Three
hundred co-ops emerged on 144
student campuses, according to
the video "Working Together:
The Story of the ICC," found on
the ICC's website.

By 1967, the ICC owned 10
houses. With the war behind
them, co-ops were able to refi-
nance, repay loans and develop
equity, Jones said.
Finally, in 1968, the ICC
sponsored a conference that
formed NASCO, uniting the
cooperative movement across
the United States and Canada.
Ingrained in the coopera-
tive movement is a struggle for
social justice, a struggle made
more institutional by NASCO
and the ICC.
"The (ICC) is not inherently
political, but it does inherently
promote social justice by using
collective buying and democrat-
ic self-government to give more
equitable access to resources
within the organization," said
LSA senior John-Thomas Zaka-
la-Downs, president of ICC
co-op Black Elk.
The ICC has, however, been
political in the past.
In 1943, for example, Les-
ter House was recognized in
The Saturday Evening Post for
its success and persistence in

supporting integrated hous-
ing. Jones said co-opers once
picketed the barbershop in the
basement of the Union, which
refused to cut the hair of Black
patrons.
The front door of the Union
was another point of contention
for co-opers. Women were only
permitted to enter through back
doors.
"This was the men's Union,"
Jones said with feigned severity,
"so they (women) used to rush
the door! They used to rush past
this guy that was there. These
things go way back."
The co-ops' push toward
social justice again manifest-
ed itself in 1948 when the ICC
bought Nakamura, a house
named for Johnny Nakamura, a
Japanese-American student at
the University who fought and
died in World War II.
The name exhibited the ICC's
defense of its Japanese co-op
members during World War II,
as the U.S. government interned
almost 120,000 Japanese Amer-
icans.
"(The ICC) has been at the
forefront of a lot of important
social movements, so I'm proud
to say that co-ops have always
been on the right side of history
in that way," said ICC President
Maya Menlo, a Public Policy
senior.
Inside Nakamura's living
room laid Tyler Whittico, ICC
Board Representative for Naka-
mura and Washtenaw Commu-
nity College culinary student,
who was stretched out in a col-
orful hammock hanging just
above one of the couches.
Evan Bancroft, an Eastern
Michigan University junior, laid
in another hammock, one end
of which connected to the wall
just below the strand of lights
that spelled out "Nakamura" in
cursive.
It was 6:30 p.m. and the
cousins, along with a few other
Nakamura co-opers, were
relaxing before dinner at 7 p.m.
Jazz music came wandering
in from down the stairs in the
kitchen, where Wednesday's
cooks were preparing dinner.
The co-op has dinner togeth-
er every night from Sunday to
Thursday, and sometimes, resi-
dents play Super-Smash Bros.
after dinner.
According to Whittico, it's
hard to generalize and define a
house like theirs, a co-op with
diverse members.
They house members from all
different schools in the area, an
annual summer member in his
70s and people of many differ-
ent backgrounds.
"It's really unique," Bancroft
said. "A lot of people don't con-
sider co-ops asa housing option,
and it's a relatively cheap one
too, because you get everything
at a flat rate. We all decide what
we're going to budget our food
out to be."
According to the ICC's web-
site, every member living in an
ICC house this fall and win-
ter pays $459 in ICC charges
each month, which collectively
covers all of the ICC houses'
mortgages, taxes, maintenance,
administration, furniture, utili-

ties and internet fees.
In addition to ICC charges,
each house charges its members
a monthly amount voted on at
the beginning of each semester,
a charge that goes toward food,
cleaning supplies and laundry.
Nakamura's charge this year is
$122, making for a total charge
of $581 for monthly living and
boarding.
While it isn't quite the $2
from back in 1932, coopera-
tive living helps students save
money and makes living more
affordable.
"At the same time, you elimi-
nate that sense of privacy," Ban-
croft said. "In the co-ops you
have to build up seniority to get
your own single. It's a little bit
harder. Some people appreciate
that and some people don't. It's
just a matter of taste."
Nakamura President Alexan-
dria Carey, an LSA senior, coun-
tered by showing the other edge
of the privacy argument.
"I don't know, I think it's
awesome. Probably the best
place I've lived on campus,"
Carey said. "You get to live with

30 people who become like your
best friends."
Bancroft characterized
Nakamura as a "progressive
musician's house." Every sum-
mer it hosts Rockamura, an all-
day music festival at the house.
"We're one of the younger,
more lively houses," Carey said.
The walls just outside the
living room doors, with their
green mural of abstract faces,
echoed her sentiment.
Gregory House's walls are
much cleaner. In this sub-
stance-free co-op, white and
blue seem to be the theme.
The house was named after
Karl D. Gregory, a Gregory
House alum and professor of
economics at Oakland Univer-
sity, who donated $20,000 to
the ICC.
Gregory House also has din-
ners together, though its resi-
dents voted for six dinners per
week instead of Nakamura's
five.
"We all talk and we get into
long fights about ethics and
politics after dinner," said LSA
junior Emma Nagler. "We've
been having an ongoing debate
about whether or not people's
decisions are determined, or if
people have free will."
On the doorway to Gregory
House's living room is a check-
list, a monitor of house chores.
According to Nagler, each mem-
ber is required to do four hours
of work per week, whether it is
in the form of cleaning, cook-
ing or working as a leader in the
house.
Members of Black Elk, which
is just across the street from
Gregory House and has a large
sculpture of a hand planted in
its yard, are also required to
work four hours each week to
be a cooperative member of the
house.
Historically, Black Elk has
been characterized as a veg-
etarian co-op, according to
Zakala-Downs. Residents buy
their food from socially just
companies and sustainable
farms. They eat together four
times per week and offer a
vegan option at every meal.
"The people that have lived
there have chosen, if not to be
vegetarian as their lifestyle, to
be vegetarian as a community
for the sustainability of that,"
Zakala-Downs said.
The entire corridor of Black
Elk's entryway is plastered with
writing from past and current
members.
"At Black Elk we get a lot of
communication through writ-
ing from our past, from our
history, letters, posters from
parties, artwork, signatures
and notes painted on the walls,"
Zakala-Downs said.
According to Jones, this con-
nection to the past is part of
what makes a housing co-op
different from a normal group
of people living together.
"The co-op is institutional-
ized so that people move in and
out, and that entity of the co-op
stays there," Jones said. "Over
time, the longer that entity
lasts, the stronger it becomes.
It's almost like a mythology,
and the culture grew up around

it, and then it becomes every-
body's responsibility to make
sure it lasts for the next group."
ICC cooperative members of
the past preserved their co-ops
and present-day co-opers are
reaping the benefits, especially
in the context of today's rising
tuition costs and housing pric-
es.
"It's unmanageable for a lot
of people, even if they're using
loans or doing scholarships,"
Menlo said. "It's just very tough
for some people to go to school
and pay room and board. I think
now co-ops are serving an even
more important role than ever
before because of the financial
situations of alot of students."
The co-op movement is about
returning power to its mem-
bers as an act of social justice.
NASCO, the ICC, and each
co-op are making drastic strides
toward that end, each member
owning the co-op house they
live in, the worker co-ops they
work for or the consumer co-
ops they buy from.
"Collectively, we own every-
thing," Menlo said.


BLUE BUS
From Page 1
sity bus since May 2013, said she
felt very comfortable driving a bus
by the time she reached in-service
training, during which she would
operate a bus with alicensed driver
or observe strategies for driving,
such as scanning patterns and
knowingwhen to stop.
According to Bidwell, 70 per-
cent of students and temporary
hires who enter the training pro-
cess succeed. But 30 percent don't
reach proficiency, and if at any
point it becomes clear that they
aren't progressing at a satisfactory
pace, trainers then meet and dis-
cuss an improvement plan. If after
that meeting prospective drivers
still don't demonstrate sufficient
improvement, they are released.
Bidwell said PTS is always
observing its operations to identify
potential improvements. After an
accident, PTS officials review the
incident to see how it could have
UMMA
From Page 1
"We feel that UMMA has a
really special role to play in the
education of students here at
Michigan," said Carrie Throm,
UMMA deputy director for
development and external rela-
tions. "By exposing them to the
art of the world that awaits them
when they graduate, they will
have a deeper understanding of
all the possibilities in their pro-
fessional world."
The $1 million dollar grant is
split between several initiatives.
The academic coordinator
position will receive a $750,000
grant to continue efforts in col-
lections-based education. The
position will be endowed in
perpetuity if UMMA can find a
donor through the Victors for
Michigan campaign to match the
Mellon Foundation's grant.
An academic coordinator

been avoided. Bidwell said PTS is
also looking at route planning and
scheduling in order to add cush-
ion routes with extra travel time.
These routes allow drivers to focus
on safety first and discourages
them from rushing to their next
stop.
Tucker said schedule and route
planning changes have helped
immensely.
"We know safety comes first
and schedule comes last," she
said. "Even if I feel that I'm fall-
ing behind I don't worry about it
because there are different ways to
catch up."
However, Tucker said she feels
that drivers have developed a bad
reputation, partly as a result of
buses not always running on time
and partly as a reaction to some of
the incidents that have occurred
over the last few years.
"Idon'tthinkpeopleunderstand
what it takes tobea bus driver and
the amount of attention it requires
and the tests we have to pass," she
said. "People just get frustrated

because we're late."
Despite these incidents, Bidwell
said students make excellent driv-
ers and PTS should continue to
employ them.
"Students at the University of
Michigan are some of the best
and brightest young people that
we have in the country," he said.
"We're a great University, and
students go on to do great things,
and I think they do great things
while they're here being students.
Included in that is driving transit
coaches. They're fully capable and
they do a great job."
Bidwell declined to comment on
the details of the two most recent
accidents, their legal repercus-
sions or the disciplinary actions
taken against the drivers involved
inthem.
"Ourthoughts and prayersreally
go out to anybody affected by this.
We're really saddened by these
events," he said. "Our thoughts and
prayers are with the families and
the people that have been affected
by these things."


allows UMMA to collaborate
with other campus organizations
to better integrate the art center
with academic projects. Throm
said current Academic Coordina-
tor David Choberka has worked
with many professors to broaden
the curricular experience for
their students.
The museum's collections
assistant and History of Art Fel-
lowship will receive $250,000
to continue their work for three
more years.
UMMA's collections assistant
works alongside the academic
coordinator to encourage stu-
dents to use the museum's col-
lections and initiate research
projects. The assistant also builds
relationships with other colleges
and academic communities.
Throm said UMMA currently
services 37 percent of Univer-
sity schools and programs and 34
percent of LSA departments.
The grant will also fund
the History of Art Curatorial

Research Fellowship, which
allows a history of art doctoral
student to work with museum
collections in his or her academic
specializations.
Throm said the fellowship
provides doctoral students with a
broader understanding of profes-
sions in the art history field.
"Wehave putthe studentexpe-
rience at the top of our strategic
planning process," she said. "We
really think about how the stu-
dent experience is impacted by
our work at the museum. While
we serve a very important role
in the community to people who
aren't students, we are affiliated
with the University of Michigan
and we have alot to contribute to
the academic mission of the Uni-
versity."
An UMMA press release said
the museum will also expand
its focus in new fields of study,
update records and increase its
number of collections access
requests.


WEBSITE
From Page 2
Kotov said it is important for
the two groups to remember to
learn from each other.

"You can be opposed to some-
one's point of view or political
beliefs without demonizing a
person as a whole," Kotov said.
"For me, that has been very,
very important and I would
like to keep that going. I don't

want to think of them as sides
because they aren't opposites,
but we have a lot to learn from
each other. Pro-life and pro-
choice also have a lot to learn
from people who try to stay out
of that 'dichotomy."'

I