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Ann Arbor, Michigan
Monday, January 26, 2015

CELEBRATING OUR ONE-HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIFTH YEAR OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM

University 
to take part 
in study on 
misconduct

ADMINISTRATION

Twenty-eight 

institutions plan 
survey to analyze 

sexual assault

By MICHAEL SUGERMAN

Daily News Editor

In addition to developing a 

University-centric sexual assault 
survey, which will be randomly 
distributed to a pool of 3,000 stu-
dents, the University is teaming up 
with the Association of American 
Universities to conduct a uniform 
sexual assault survey across 28 col-
lege campuses.

The AAU is comprised of 62 top 

research universities in the United 
States and Canada. Twenty-seven 
of the participating schools, includ-
ing the University, are members of 
the AAU; Dartmouth College will 
also distribute the survey.

University 
President 
Mark 

Schlissel said the AAU survey, 
which is set to launch this April, 
will be campus-wide, and added 

that it will supplement the Univer-
sity’s data.

“I figured that it would be valu-

able to have us be able to compare 
our data to that at a lot of differ-
ent schools that are similar, big 
research universities, but different 
than us, to see how we’re doing,” 
he said in a January interview with 
The Michigan Daily.

On each campus, the AAU sur-

vey will be identical, apart from 
five school-specific questions per-
taining to resources for reporting 
and addressing sexual assault.

Westat, a global research firm, 

has been contracted to facilitate 
and assess the survey results, 
which the AAU plans to publically 
report upon completion. Experts 
from both Westat and participat-
ing universities are still putting the 
survey together based on standards 
set forth by the White House Task 
Force to Protect Students from 
Sexual Assault.

“Our primary purpose in con-

ducting this survey is to help our 
institutions gain a better under-
standing of this complex problem 

EnspiRED fashion show 
represents global trends

ROBERT DUNNE/Daily

EMU student Jamisha Kearney (left) and LSA sophomore Miranda Li model at the EnspiRED fashion show at the Biomedical Science and Research building 
Saturday. 

“The Red Express” 

features styles 

from cities in seven 

countries

By MAYA SHANKAR

Daily Staff Reporter

Models sporting clothing from 

around the world hit the runway 
Saturday night for EnspiRED’s 

charity fashion show.

EnspiRED, a student orga-

nization that aims to promote 
artistic expression at the Univer-
sity, brought fashions from seven 
cities to the Biomedical Science 
Research Building for their ninth 
annual showcase.

Featuring clothing designed 

by students and donated from 
local and Detroit-based bou-
tiques, the show displayed styles 
from the cities Moscow, Tokyo, 
Rio de Janeiro, London, Mum-

bai and Detroit, as well as Accra, 
Ghana.

EnspiRED President Cyrus 

Tetteh, an LSA senior, said the 
event’s schedule was designed to 
simulate a train on a track, refer-
enced by this year’s theme, “The 
Red Express.” The train symbol 
is meant to represent travel-
ing to the seven different cities 
throughout the fashion show, he 
said.

Tetteh said EnspiRED is an 

advocate of the arts on campus 

and in the community. This year, 
the organization plans to donate 
20 percent of the event’s profits to 
Arts & Scraps, a nonprofit organi-
zation that repurposes recycled 
material to create arts and crafts 
projects for elementary school 
students in Detroit.

University alum Chukwudi 

Nwamba, who graduated in 
December, volunteered to model 
in the annual show for her second 
time.

Conductor 

honored at Hill 

amid protest

ARTS

Valery Gergiev 
draws criticism 
from Ukrainians 

for support of Putin

By AMRUTHA SIVAKUMAR

Daily Arts Writer

As 
the 
University 
Musi-

cal Society prepared to award 
Mariinsky Orchestra Conductor 
Valery Gergiev with the presti-
gious University Musical Soci-
ety Distinguished Artist Award 
on Saturday at Hill Auditorium, 
Ukrainian protesters and anti-
Russia advocates collected on 
the steps outside in a die-in pro-
test.

Standing in solidarity with 

those 
affected 
by 
Russian 

aggressions, 
the 
protesters 

aimed to raise awareness among 
the concert’s attendees about 
Gergiev’s support of Russia’s 
annexation of Crimea earlier this 
year. Ann Arbor resident Eugene 
Bondarenko, one of the leading 
organizers of the demonstration, 
said the group was also protest-

ing UMS for granting Gergiev 
the award.

Returning to Ann Arbor for 

his 12th and 13th concert con-
ducting the Russian Mariinsky 
Orchestra with UMS, Gergiev 
is most well known for direct-
ing the Mariinsky Theatre for 
over 30 years. Recently, how-
ever, Gergiev has been criticized 
internationally for his outspoken 
support of Russian President 
Vladimir Putin’s anti-LGBTQ 
policies and antagonism against 
Ukraine.

“We think it’s quite hypo-

critical that he would say that 
at home and then come here 
and make money. You can’t have 
both,” Bondarenko said. “We 
also like to let people know that 
next time they buy tickets for 
something like this, UMS does 
not have the best discretion for 
who it invites.

“UMS has a great responsibil-

ity to have an ethical litmus test,” 
he added. “When you have an 
odious figure, you should really 
think about if you’re really inter-
ested in inviting them.”

While some passersby yelled 

SAAN conference focuses 
on social justice, activism

CHANMEE CHUNG/Daily

Engineering senior David Hiskens performs during the Engineering Games benefit show for the Detroit Area Pre-
College Engineering Program at Stamps Auditorium on Saturday.

Guest speakers 
share narratives, 

discuss South 

Asian community

By TANYA MADHANI

Daily Staff Reporter

Fighting 
stigma 
through 

personal narrative was one of 
the main themes at the South 

Asian Awareness Network con-
ference held over the weekend.

Parents, 
alumni, 
college 

and high school students from 
around the country gathered in 
both Rackham Auditorium and 
the Michigan League to partic-
ipate in the two-day event.

Titled “Threads: Connect-

ing Our Voice, Our Truths, Our 
Selves,” the conference attract-
ed over 300 attendees during 
its run from Friday night to 
Saturday afternoon. SAAN first 

launched the conference 13 
years ago to foster discussion 
on social justice issues relevant 
to the South Asian community, 
such as Islamaphobia after 
9/11. Since then, the event has 
evolved to address a broader 
spectrum of issues, such as 
mental health.

LSA senior Shaina Shetty, 

SAAN director and co-director 
of the conference, said it was a 
forum for productive discus-

TECHNOLOGY
Laboratory 
begins testing 
self-driving 
automobiles

‘U’ researchers work 
on Next Generation 
Vehicle project for 

driverless cars

By KRISTEN ANDERSON

For the Daily

Self-driving cars may no longer be 

confined to the scenes of science fic-
tion movies.

The Next Generation Vehicle 

project at the University’s Perceptual 
Robotics Laboratory is envisioning a 
21st century where car-related inju-
ries and deaths are preventable using 
software tested on the streets of Ann 
Arbor.

The project is working on a vari-

ety of vehicle components that could 
enable autonomous driving. The 
Perceptual 
Robotics 
Laboratory 

supports projects that develop algo-
rithms for research and development 
in image processing and systems 
engineering, among other fields.

Though the vehicle remained 

under the control of a manual driver 
during initial tests in Ann Arbor, the 
navigational system delivered cor-

See SURVEY, Page 3A
See FASHION, Page 3A

See CARS, Page 3A
See CONFERENCE, Page 3A
See PROTEST, Page 3A

E NGINE E R S GONE M AD - GICAL

INDEX
Vol. CXXIV, No. 55
©2015 The Michigan Daily
michigandaily.com

NEWS......................... 2A

OPINION.....................4A

ARTS...........................5A

SUDOKU..................... 2A

CL ASSIFIEDS...............6A

SPORTS MONDAY.........1B

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WEATHER 
TOMORROW

HI: 25

LO: 9

Conductor 

honored at Hill 

amid protest

Valery Gergiev 
draws criticism 

from Ukranians for 

support of Putin

By AMRUTHA SIVAKUMAR

Daily Arts Writer

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The Michigan men’s basketball 
team fell just short of a massive 
upset over Wisconsin Saturday.

» INSIDE
Hopes Derailed

