michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Wednesday, January 7, 2015
CELEBRATING OUR ONE-HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIFTH YEAR OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
INDEX
Vol. CXXIV, No. 41
©2015 The Michigan Daily
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NEWS......................... 2A
OPINION.....................4A
A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7A
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T H E S TAT E M E N T . . . . . . 1 B
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WEATHER
TOMORROW
HI: 9
LO: 1
Blood Battle chair
says changes are
a step in the right
direction
By NABEEL CHOLLAMPAT
Daily Staff Reporter
After a ban that lasted more
than 30 years, gay and bisexual
men will soon be able to donate
blood.
The U.S. Food and Drug
Administration has recommend-
ed a change to the blood donor
deferral period for men who have
sex with men, or MSM. Previous-
ly, MSM were indefinitely barred
from donating blood. Now, they
are only prohibited from doing
so within one year of their last
sexual contact with a male.
The American Association of
Blood Banks, America’s Blood
Centers and the American Red
Cross issued a joint statement on
Dec. 23 endorsing the proposal
which stated the “current life-
time deferral is unwarranted.”
This is largely due to the effec-
tiveness with which donated
blood is now tested for diseases.
Under current policy, all blood
donations are tested for many
infectious
diseases,
includ-
ing HIV, Hepatitis B and C and
Syphilis.
LSA senior Samantha Rea,
chair of the University’s Blood
Battle, said the recommenda-
tion for change is encouraging,
but still not enough due to the
persisting regulation on MSM
to wait a year after male sexual
contact to donate. The Blood
Battle is an annual event held by
Blood Drives United, a Univer-
sity student organization. Last
year, BDU started an initiative
called Bleeding for Equality to
raise awareness about the FDA’s
blood donation policy pertaining
to MSM.
“It’s a step in the right direc-
tion, and it’s exciting that they
have considered changing the
policy,” Rea said. “We still don’t
think it’s enough because it still
discriminates based on sexual
orientation.”
The FDA enacted the ban on
homosexual males and bisexual
blood donors in 1983 as an early
response to the AIDS epidemic.
According to the Center for Dis-
ease Control, MSM are more
affected by HIV than any other
group in the United States. At the
end of 2011, 57 percent of persons
living with HIV in the United
States were gay or bisexual men.
According to a December
article in The New York Times,
blood can now be better tested
Prince Charles
presents symphony
conducting award
By TANYA MADHANI
Daily Staff Reporter
Last month Elim Chan, a
Music, Theatre & Dance graduate
student, became the first female
winner of the Donatella Flick LSO
Conducting Competition, a com-
petition sponsored by the Prince
of Wales to introduce young con-
ductors to the professional stage.
Initially competing against 225
other conductors, Chan and 19
other students were selected to
fly to London and compete in the
final three rounds with the Lon-
don Symphony Orchestra.
“Looking back it still feels kind
of surreal,” Chan said. “For a long
Regulation to
restrict building
heights for some
downtown properties
By EMMA KERR
Daily News Editor
The Ann Arbor City Coun-
cil unanimously voted Mon-
day to regulate future building
construction on the corner of
Main Street and William Street,
changing the zoning of the prop-
erty from D1, core downtown
area, to D2, or downtown inter-
face area.
Because there were previously
no lots zoned as D2 within the
Main Street character district,
which provides additional regu-
lations for buildings in that area,
a new rule was also created that
limits the heights of buildings to
60 feet on the south side and 120
feet on the north side when they
are both in the Main Street char-
acter district and zoned D2.
Property owners and inves-
tors, not the local government,
determine the types, designs
and quality of buildings built
in downtown Ann Arbor. Resi-
dents of Ann Arbor, however,
took to City Council Monday
night to voice opinions for and
against proposed regulations for
the property at Main Street and
William Street. The property is
currently owned by DTE Energy,
though there are no plans for
construction on the site at this
time.
Councilmember Jane Lumm
(I–Ward 2) said she hopes this
preventative
measure,
which
came out of a two-year-long pro-
cess of reviewing downtown zon-
Online platform
opens class for
Flint, Dearborn
students
By IAN DILLINGHAM
Magazine Editor
Imagine using “House of
Cards” as your political sci-
ence education.
Members of the School of
Public Health are launching a
course this semester that they
hope will engage students in
a unique dialogue about the
U.S. health care system based,
in part, on lessons from the
entertainment industry. First-
year medical and dental stu-
dents will be required to take
the course.
The six-week online class
beginning
Jan.
12,
titled
“Understanding and Improv-
ing U.S. Healthcare,” is the
brainchild of Matthew Davis,
professor of public policy,
pediatric and communicable
diseases and internal medi-
cine, and Public Health gradu-
ate student Michael Rubyan,
the course producer.
Students from any depart-
ment on campus — as well as
those at the University’s Flint
and Dearborn campuses — are
able to enroll in the course,
In new year,
state to consider
education funding,
LGBTQ proposal
By ALLANA AKHTAR
Daily Staff Reporter
Last week, Republican Gov.
Rick Snyder was sworn in for
another four years as Michi-
gan’s chief executive.
During his inaugural address,
Snyder expressed enthusiasm
about his first term and opti-
mism for his second.
“We were a broken state,” he
said. “We are a comeback state
now, a state that is growing and
thriving.”
Snyder called his efforts to
improve the state’s economy and
bring Detroit out of bankruptcy
as significant accomplishments
during his first term as gover-
nor. However, he said there is
more to accomplish in his sec-
ond term.
As discussed in his speech,
here are five things to keep track
of during the governor’s second
term.
Road improvements
The Snyder Administration’s
main focus is to develop a plan
to increase funds for Michigan’s
roads and infrastructure.
Last month, the state legis-
lature approved a ballot initia-
tive to pump an estimated $1.3
billion into transportation by
increasing the state sales tax
and removing the sales tax on
motor fuel. The proposal will be
on the May 2015 ballot.
Of the $1.3 billion, $1.2 billion
will be allotted to renovating
roads, and $112 million will go
toward public transit.
The bill passed through the
State House and Senate with
Regulators
relax blood
donation
restrictions
HEALTH
ALLISON FARRAND/Daily
Since The Michigan Daily’s last print edition, demonstrators held a “die-in” outside Winter Commencement and students organized a vigil for Pakistani
students killed by the Taliban. Read those stories and others on page 5A.
BRE AK IN REVIEW
Governor to focus on jobs,
roads during second term
GOVERNMENT
Council passes
zoning change
for Main St. lot
ANN ARBOR
CAMPUS LIFE
ACADEMICS
Course to foster dialogue
on U.S. health care system
Rackham
student wins
elite music
competition
See BLOOD, Page 3A
See SNYDER, Page 3A
See AWARD, Page 3A
See COURSE, Page 3A
See ZONING, Page 3A
The Bonderman Fellowship: a
chance to travel the world.
» INSIDE
The Statement
RUBY WALLAU/Daily
My father, brother, and I crawled under a barbed wire fence to sneak a peek at a secret beach in Kaupo, an isolated
part of the Island of Maui in Hawaii.
PHOTO STAFF ON HOLIDAY
In the end, Jim Harbaugh got the
job he always wanted.
» INSIDE
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