The ichigan Daily - michigandaily.com SAPA DEMANDS lyn Mad From Page 1 while it where threat of disenrollment is unnec- campus, essary given the number of stu- athletes dents who already participate in life is no the training process. larger is "We already do have a man- "I thi datory, unified training that is valid c happening before they come to "I don't campus," Rider-Milkovich said. count t "Every student at our university life and has an opportunity to participate lem isn in online training. We have very only a f high participation rates for under- need to graduate students; nearly 99 per- entire cent rticipation in that online tors com cour ." grounds While participation rates for of life, the broad online training program those maybe high, only about 5,000 stu- remove dents ,participated in the focused, peerIn Relationship Remix in Thi 2014. These programs are open tr to all students, but are primarily intended for those living in resi- This dence halls. In 2014, the Universi- Univers ty admitted about 6,500 freshmen, tion of suggesting that a substantial por- Brenda tion of students did not take part the Un] in Relationship Remix. Miscon to perm Second Demand:Require a from th definitionofconsentinsorori- four yea ties and fraternities questio The anonymous group includ- occurre ed a demand addressing sexual The assault by members of Greek life "In all institutions, asking that a defi- respond nition of consent be posted in thoroug common areas of sorority and fra- effectiv ternity houses. a report In a November interview with to comp The Michigan Daily, University (60) cale President Mark Schlisselsaid such Whil a demand would be difficult for cases in the University to implement. not be "It's a tough thing to target this this cas specific subset of our community campus. and tell them what they have to the tim say to their guests at their private the inci establishments," he said. separati According to results from the tinued t National College Health Assess- football ment administered by the Univer- individu sity Health Services last February, hung a s individuals involved in Greek life the wo; are at a higher risk for instances of defends sexual assault as well as non-phys- ical violence. Three percent of fraternity and sorority members In reported having sex without giv- D ing sent in the past year, com- Begin pare to 1 percent of non-Greek versity i undergraduates, according to the training report. and staf Despite Schlissel's reservations, persona Panhellenic Association President issues, Sarah Blegen, an LSA senior, said The tra she hopes to promote discussions used thi of sexual assault within chapters, student adding that the Interfraternity being ex Council would be open to requir- staff. ing houses to post definitions of "All i consent in common areas. will be "I've talked to Tommy Wydra, ing as w thepresidentoftheInterfraternity issues," Council, and I think it's a brilliant "SAPAC idea," Blegen said. "We know we faculty could; eet that demand, no prob- rity offi lem, id that's just a great idea in tors, an general that is easy to incorporate the wor into any social events we have." Office o With the end of the semes- ter approaching, Blegen said she Fii would make the recommendation surviv to the incoming council president pe during the Winter 2015 semester. At th applaud PITCHES hv a From Page 1 "Thi was on world nations. attracte LSA freshman Sam Vetromile Michiga presented the winning pitch for the Uni the mobile app Voice with the a place help of four other team members. to take He said the app is a platform for right in microblogging that encourages Univers students to voice their opinions lab of et and ad those of others. LSA V omile said he hopes Voice the pit; launches successfully from the with ju University in a way similar to ticipatin Facebook's spread from Harvard differen University. compet University President Mark said the Schlissel opened the ceremony guidelin and put a spotlight on the Uni- "We versity's quickly growing inno- ing rub; vation culture. He described the in a p student body's enthusiastic shar- and effo ing of ideas as well as the inten- school j tion to use those ideas to better way," Ji the world as overwhelming, and LSA Tuesday, December 2, 2014 - 3 C student volunteerKate- dock, an LSA senior, said is important to consider sexual assault occurs on isolating groups such as and members of Greek t helpful to addressing the sue. link these demands are oncerns," Maddock said. think anyone should dis- hem, but isolating Greek athletes as beingthe prob- 't fair, because those are raction of our campus. We focus on everyone - the student body. Perpetra- ne from all different back- and all different walks so I don't think targeting communities alone will the problem." ird Demand: Equal eatment of athletes andnon-athletes call to action follows the ity's permanent separa- former Michigan kicker n Gibbons for violating iversity's Student Sexual duct Policy. The decision anently separate Gibbons e University came nearly ars after the incident in n, which is reportedly d Nov. 22, 2009. current policy states, cases, the University will to the report in a prompt, h, procedurally fair, and e manner. Upon receipt of , the University will strive lete its review within sixty odar days." e the policy does apply for which this timeline can- met, questions regarding e quickly swirled around . After news surfaced of e gap between the date of dent and that of Gibbons' on - duringwhich he con- o play for the University's team - one anonymous al or group of individuals ign from Mason Hall with rds "This administration rapists." Fourth Demand: creased training for ?S, faculty, and staff aning this week, the Uni- mplemented a new online system for new faculty ff addressing a variety of s health and protection including sexual assault. ining program was first is year to service graduate instructors, and it is now xpanded to all faculty and ncoming staff and faculty receiving an online train- ell about a range of these Rider-Milkovich said. also provides training to and staff, to housing secu- cers, to RAs and hall direc- d all of those complement k that have been from the f Institutional Equity." fth Demand:Giving vors the option to have rpetrators expelled is time, the Student Sex- ual Misconduct Policy allows for the "permanent separation," or expulsion, of individuals found guilty of violations of the policy, following results of a University review panel. While survivors of sexual assault may provide input to the panel, they do not make the final decision about whether or not the accused party is expelled. The policy also states that the accused perpetrator is assumed to be innocent unless sufficient evidence is presented to the panel provinghis or her violations. Schlissel said he agrees with the current policy as it regards this particular issue, citing this demand as one of the twp he took issue with - the other being the second demand imposing specific requirements on fraternities and sororities. "The survivors of assault ask that they have, in effect, the rights to determine results and the pun- ishment, and I think that is way tougher," Schlissel said. "I think that the University has to retain the right to develop policies and find ways to ensure the safety of survivors - the physical and psy- chological safety of survivors - but to define what the University must do in hypothetical future circumstances is tough to do." SAPAC student volunteer Laura Meyer, an LSA senior, said she believes there is no single change that could be made that would significantly decrease occurrences of sexual assault on campus. "It's not like we can change one policy and make a difference," Meyer said. "It's a cultural prob- lem, and sexual violence is just normalized within the culture so we do a lot already just to combat that." Sixth Demand: Increased support for survivors SAPAC offers a variety of options for survivors, but this demand asserts that these options are insufficient and are not widely advertised. Rider-Milkovich said she hopes to hear from students what exactly is missing from SAPAC's current program, but said many of the resources that students might want are already in place. "I think there are a lot of resources SAPAC does offer that students just don't know about," she said. "We always need to be talking to survivors about what ways you would feel supported effectively." SAPAC has also expressed interest in exploring continuing education programs for students beyond the training they receive during their first year at the Uni- versity. Rider-Milkovich said SAPAC's research indicates the impact of the messages con- veyed to incoming students begins to diminish after their first year on campus. As a student volunteer, Mad- dock said she focuses on provid- ing education and preventative measures for students on campus, adding that SAPAC's professional staff, which includes a handful of individuals with the appropriate qualifications, interacts with and helps survivors. "On our professional staff, we have four permanent staff that can do advocacy and all of that work," Maddock said. "Hav- ing that many people, we could always have more. Having more people on hand to support sur- vivors would really be helpful, because at our survivor center, I think having more people avail- able would help them get the best care possible, and we are trying to do that now with the limited resources we have." Seventh Demand: Recognition ofstudentvoices The final demand called for all student perspectives to be included in conversations about sexual assault, including those from underrepresented commu- nities on campus. Students have some impact on the types of pro- grams administered toincoming students in the form of Relation- ship Remix, which is at its core a peer-based program. Paid staff members oversee the Relation- ship Remix programs, and stu- dent volunteers can discuss their concerns and ideas, which are reviewed by SAPAC staff mem- bers. - This demand suggests a need for SAPAC staff and the voices being heard to adequately rep- resent different communities on campus. SAPAC student volunteers have yet to see any action in response to these demands. Meyer said some of the demands she read seemed unreasonable, and while she said SAPAC is continually striving to improve, none of the improve- ments she mentioned were related to the suggestions made by this anonymous group. "I don't know who was involved, but if I remember cor- rectly, taking steps like that, small things, to make a difference, I think the University should con- sider student ideas like that," Meyer said. "I don't think all of them are reasonable, but I think the University should consider taking small steps like that.' Schlissel calls for better educa- tion about services available University President Mark Schlissel responded to the protest during a Nov. 4 interview with The Michigan Daily, emphasizing the need for improvedprocedures regarding the handling of sexu- al assault on campus. Schlissel added that the University needs to commit to better informing the public about progress in this area. While he applauded the passion of the group responsible for the list of demands, Schlissel said he felt the ways those students chose to convey their thoughts and ideas were not conducive to developing a dialogue about the subject of sexual assault on campus. "The one thing I will object to, which drives me a little nutty, is framing things as demands," Schlissel said. "I think that makes it really difficult to have discussions." RIVALRY From Page 1A close," Rea said. "The goal of the competition is tosavethe mostlives possible. It was still a very large success because of the students, faculty and community members who took the time to volunteer and donate." Blood Drives United, the Ameri- can Red Cross Southeastern Michigan Blood Services and the University's Washtenaw County American Red Cross Club support- ed Blood Battle at the University this year. They encouraged dona- tions by ensuring convenient dona- tion locations and short wait times, as well as by distributing T-shirts and gift cards to localirestaurants. More than 30. drives occurred from Nov. 4 to Nov.27. - According to Rea, Blood Drives United said a single blood donation can save up to three lives. To date, Blood Battle donations have saved as many as 630,000 lives. Every two seconds, a patient in the Unit- ed States needs ablood transfusion. The schools' duel extended to encouraging registrations to become an organ donor or a bone marrowdonor. TheUniversitywon both of these competitions. In Michigan, 85,803 joined the organ donor list through the Wol- verine vs. Buckeye Challenge for Life, compared to 41,946in Ohio. Jennifer Tislerics, specialevents and partnerships coordinator at Gift of Life Michigan, an organ donor-focused nonprofit, said every state resident who signs up is counted in the challenge. This year marks the fifth consecutive COUNCIL From Page 1 Councilmembers Sabra Briere (D-Ward 1), Sumi Kailasapthy (D-Ward 1) and Eaton sponsored a successful resolution to direct City Administrator Steve Powers to revise the city's Freedom of Infor- mation Act policy, which provides a guide to making records available to the public. In early 2013, Pow- ers provided revisions to the city's policy regarding release of public documents. Along with these revi- sions, Dave Askins, former-editor of The Ann Arbor Chronicle, which no longer publishes, provided feedback tothe draftrevisions in2013. Along with its efforts to revise the policy, the Michigan Legislature con- sidered multiple amendments to the MichiganFOIA during2013 and 2014, butno changes were adopted aslaw. "In keeping with the Republi- can legislature, they didn't really accomplish anything on those points,"Eatonsaid. "Ithinkit'stime for us to revisit our FOIA policies." The city resolution permits Powers to "renew his efforts" to revise the release of public docu- ments, with the aim of increasing transparency. Some members have expressed interest in a policy that would waive fees for the media, appoint a FOIA officer for the city and the Council and create a pro- cess through which denials ofFOIA requests can be appealed. During the public commentary time the University has won the challenge, which was established in 2006. "We decided it would be a good use of this rivalry to help. save lives," Tislerics said. Wolverines For Life - a stu- dent group that partners with Gift of Life Michigan, the University of Michigan Health System, the Michigan Eye-Bank and others - promoted the challenges. Organ donation efforts. often extend beyond campus. For exam- ple, Tislerics said the University library system began to host donor registration days at its buildings. This initiative later spred to other college and public libraries throughout the state. "We love working with U of M," Tislerics said. "Between the health system, student groups and Athlet- ic Department, everyone has been so supportive of saving lives." While 79 people receive organ transplants every day, 150 are added daily to the vaiting list in need of kidneys, hearts, lungs and other vital organs. Hundreds of these surgeries are performed at UMHS each year. The third 'challenge was the Marrow Matchup, which enlisted 130 npw bone marrow donors through the University and 58 through Ohio State. Marrow dona- tions ensure those afflicted with leukemia, lymphoma and other blood diseases can find a cure. More than 10,000 patients seek a bone marrow match each year. Few similar competitions exist nationwide. Tislerics said the Michigan-Ohio State competition is the sole inter-state organ donor competition in the country.. portion of the meeting, Ann Arbor resident Katherine Wilkerson dis- cussed the fatal shooting of Aura Rosser by Ann Arbor police on Nov. 9 and argued that the Ann Arbor Police Department was not entirely transparent in the aftermath. "Now, 22 days after its awful occurrence, the continuing secrecy surrounding this homicide is an affront to the people and to prin- ciples of democracy and justice," Wilkerson said. Wilkerson cited the fact that in the Ferguson, Mo. incident, Darren Wilson, the police officer who shot and killed Michael Brown, a Black, allegedly unarmed teenager, was identified six days after the shooting. "The standard excuse for con- cealing the identities of cops that kill citizens is for the safety of the cops," Wilkerson said. "Michigan's Freedom of Information law allows that, but only supported by substan- tialjustificationandexplanation,not merely by conclusive reassertions." Even though Wilkerson said she knows Michigan's FOIA law can conceal the identity of a police offi- cer with justification and explana- tory support, she asked the Council what such justificationexists fornot identifying the officer in this par- ticular case. "What substantial justification and explanation exists to maintain the secrecy of the officers involved in the killing of Rosser?" Wilkerson said. "Is this what Chief (John) Seto means whenhetoutsthe importance of community tous as the police?" led the thousands who ken the initiative. s entrepreneurial spirit e of the reasons I was so d to the University of an," Schlissel said. "Iwant versity of Michigan to be where people aren't afraid chances. We have all the ngredients to make the ity of Michigan a working ntrepreneurship." junior Saif Jilani judges ches and often interacts udges from other par- ng schools. Though the nt universities do not e against one another, he y follow the same judging nes. provide them with ajudg- ric so that judging is done retty objective manner "rt is made so that every udges pitches in a similar lani said. sophomore Yianni Kon- torousis, one of three directors of 1KP, said the competition is unique in that it is eight weeks long and takes an interdisciplin- ary approach. He added that impacting students from coast to coast is the major initiative behind the 1KP's expansion. "Our ultimate goal is to cre- ate a network of entrepreneurs across the nation," Kontorousis said. "Getting these five schools on board is the first step." As the year goes on, the MPowered projects become increasingly specialized, and Kontorousis said the hope is that the 1KP winners continue par- ticipating in other projects in the future to help their ideas evolve into functioning business mod- els. A large portion of the event took an interactive approach as attendees rotated from one "workshop" station to the next. A different entrepreneurial organization ran each station. They included social innovation group optiMize, crash course convention group Miscella- nia and Makeathon, a weekend event that teaches students to turn their ideas into physical prototypes. Pillar Technology, an Ann Arbor business consult- ing company, also participated in the event by leading a station and sponsoring a winner. Engineering senior Ben Alberts has pitched an idea each year of his college career and made it to the final round of 90 pitches each year. "It's really good to have a col- laborative space where you can talk about your ideas and get advice," Alberts said. "Really when a lot of people come here, they just have this idea and they. don't really know the next steps and this gives you the resources if you really want to take your idea forward." POEMS es points of view at the end. that have influenced her writ- LSA junior Stephanie Choi Kasischke responded by saying ing, most notably the death of said attending the discussion From Page 1 when she does not think she her father. Though his death provided a unique opportunity has the ability to summarize inspired several of her poems to interact with literary texts. rely more heavily on repetition her poem as part of its ending, about grief, she said she strived "I thought that it was very and rhyme as her literary tools. she sometimes chooses to leave to add literary elements that enlightening and that it was Levad said she enjoys the it open-ended. would add a degree of mystery very nice to hear an actual mystery in Kasischke's poems Kasischke also discussed to her writing and camouflage poet's perspective on her own and how she often switch- some of the events in her life some of its more personal details. work." FOLLOW US ON TWITTER #TWITTER @MICHIGANDAILY I 1 A