The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Tuesday, January 27, 2015 — 3

LANSING
Snyder outlines
priorities for civil
rights in rare visit

Gov. Rick Snyder, in a rare visit

Monday, urged the state’s Civil
Rights Commission to consider a
range of issues including drones,
police body cameras and race
relations while saying Native
American culture should be
celebrated more.

Declining
to
give
many

specifics,
the
Republican

governor
also
mentioned

priorities such as immigration
— specifically migrant farm
workers
—
disabilities,
and

mental
health
and
criminal

justice issues.

In response to a question from

a commission member, Snyder
apologized for forgetting to
mention his hope that the new
Legislature continues discussing
a bill to add protections for
the lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgender
community
to

the state’s civil rights law. The
measure died in November.

NEW YORK CITY
Northeast winter
storm could set
weather record

NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio said

at a press conference Sunday,
“This could be the biggest snow-
storm in the history of this city.”
The National Weather Service
(NWS) and Weather Channel
meteorologist Chris Dolce have
both said the impending storm is
“potentially historic.”

So, what does historic mean,

and how strong is this “poten-
tially”? It depends on your defi-
nition, but this storm could be
one for the record books, and not
just in the highest-3 point-shoot-
ing-percentage-in-the-third-
quarter-with-two-bench-play-
ers-on-the-court-on-a-Tuesday
type of statistic.

MONTGOMERY
Alabama appeals
decision blocking
marriage ban

Alabama on Monday began

the process of appealing a federal
judge’s decision that overturned
the state’s ban on same-sex mar-
riage — a decision that was put
on hold to allow time for the
appeal.

At least two same-sex couples

sought and were refused mar-
riage licenses because of the
delay, officials said, but there
were no reports of widespread
problems or confusion over the
issue.

Attorney
General
Luther

Strange’s
office
filed
notice

with the 11th U.S. Circuit Court
of Appeals in Atlanta saying it
would challenge the ruling by
U.S. District Judge Callie V.S.
Granade of Mobile.

QATAR
Freed Al Qaeda
agent was part of
proposed swap for
jailed Americans

Before he was released from a

U.S. maximum-security prison
last week, a confessed al Qaeda
sleeper agent was offered up in
a potential prisoner swap that
would have freed two Americans
held abroad.

According to two individu-

als with direct knowledge of
the case, the proposition was
made shortly after the Obama
administration traded five Tali-
ban fighters for Army Sgt. Bowe
Bergdahl. Those fighters were
also sent to Qatar, where they’re
to remain under government
watch until later this year. U.S.
officials have said they’re at
risk of plotting further attacks
against the United States.

—Compiled from
Daily wire reports

plan during winter semester to
address the topic.

Pollack said she is hopeful

that the University’s efforts to
reach out to high performance
students
from
low-income

areas, such as initiatives to
waive application fees, will
improve diversity on campus.

University funding was also

a point of discussion. Noting
that the majority of public
higher education institutions
face a challenge fiscal climate,
Pollack cited state disinvest-
ment in higher education as a
continuing challenge for pub-
lic colleges and universities.

“One thing that then hap-

pens is we become more reli-
ant on philanthropy,” Pollack
said. “The future remains
challenging and we’ll have
to work together to address
them.”

In recent years, the Univer-

sity has ramped up its private
fundraising.
In
November

2013, the University launched
the Victors for Michigan cam-
paign. The fundraising effort
is intended to raise $4 billion,
a quarter of which will be ear-
marked for scholarships and
other forms of financial assis-
tance.

During the session, Micro-

biology and Immunity Prof.
Patrick Schloss asked how
President
Barack
Obama’s

higher
education
proposal

— to make two years of com-
munity college free for many
Americans — would impact
the University.

Pollack responded that the

more the federal government
recognizes the value of higher
education, the better. She said
it is important that a Universi-
ty education can be affordable
as well.

“If you’re an in-state stu-

dent from a low-income fam-
ily, a Michigan education can
be essentially free,” Pollack
said.

After Pollack concluded her

presentation, the Assembly
passed a resolution discour-
aging members from signing
confidentiality agreements or
orally agreeing to not disclose
information from executive
sessions.

In recent months, SACUA

members have discussed con-
cerns related to confidentiality
agreements, particularly the
agreement for members of the
University’s Advisory Board
on Intercollegiate Athletics,
the body charged with provid-
ing input to the University’s
Athletic
Department.
The

current confidentiality agree-
ment prevents members of the
board from discussing con-
cerns with anyone apart from
the University’s president.

Scott Masten, chair of the

Senate
Advisory
Commit-

tee on University Affairs and
a professor of business eco-
nomics and public policy, said
assembly members are cur-
rently asked to serve on vari-
ous University committees
or advisory boards. Because
these policies or judgments
can be sensitive in nature,
SACUA proposed that con-
fidentiality only be invoked
for compelling reasons, rath-
er than to avoid debate or
accountability.

“Both I and SACUA object-

ed to the agreement as being
excessively broad and restric-
tive, as well as to the fiduciary
language” Masten wrote in a
November e-mail interview.
“We also felt that it conflicted
with the spirit of the regents’
Bylaws, which provide for
consultation between ABIA
and SACUA and the Senate
Assembly.”

The next Senate Assembly

meeting will be held Feb. 16.

fered the damages were Tree-
tops Resort in Gaylord, Mich.,
and Boyne Highlands in Harbor
Springs, Mich.

Treetops
Resort
manager

Barry Owens said Friday the
damages
would
likely
total

between $85,000 and $100,000.

In the letter, the three student

leaders note that those respon-
sible will be held accountable
and will make amends for their
behavior.

“We will work to restore the

good balance of our affiliates,
and we will be looking for ways
to begin repairing our relation-
ship and trust with each resort
as well as the communities in
northern Michigan,” the letter
said.

The Michigan State Police is

conducting an investigation on

the events. Owens also said the
resort plans to press charges and
is awaiting the recommendation
of the Michigan State Police to
the prosecutor.

Both the Interfraternity Coun-

cil and the Panhellenic Associa-
tion are carrying out a review of
the incidents.

University spokesperson Rick

Fitzgerald said the University
Office of Greek Life is in com-
munication with the local and
national chapters of the Greek
organizations
involved.
The

Dean of Students Office has also
been in contact with the two
resorts that were damaged.

Fitzgerald said the implica-

tions of a suspension vary by
national organization.

“This gives us the time and

space to continue to gather facts
and make sure that we under-
stand the details of the incident
very clearly,” he said. “It’s more
important to make sure we get

the right information and move
forward following our estab-
lished processes than to do it by
a specific deadline.”

Sam Bessey, executive direc-

tor of the Chi Psi fraternity, said
the University’s chapter can still
live in the house, however while
on suspension their social activi-
ties will be restricted.

Bessey did not provide a defi-

nite duration or timeline for the
chapter’s suspension.

“The purpose of the suspen-

sion is to gives us an opportunity
to investigate further and deter-
mine the best course of action,”
Bessey said. “Once we have done
that we will move forward in the
way we feel is most appropriate.”

Representatives for both the

local chapters and national orga-
nizations of Pi Kappa Alpha,
Sigma Delta Tau, Alpha Phi
and Delta Gamma could not be
reached for comment Monday
afternoon.

same brain pathway that
could unlock new methods for
addressing hypoglycemia, or
low blood sugar.

“We’re looking at the neu-

rons that live downstream
of these (CCK) because our
thought is that those neurons
are the ones that collect the
signals from the system that
we just studied, but then also
from a whole bunch of sys-
tems,” Myers said. “Those are
the ones that I think if we can
figure out what’s in them, we
can probably figure out a way
to target some kind of thera-
peutic agent for hypoglyce-
mia.”

LSA junior Krysta Walter,

president of Students for Dia-
betes Awareness, said type 1
diabetes affects her life every
day. To be prepared, for unex-
pected drops in blood glucose
levels she said she must always
carry her meter, glucose tab-

lets or a juice box.

Engineering senior Brianna

Wolin was diagnosed with
diabetes when she was four
years old and said monitoring
her insulin a critical part of
her daily life.

“You could literally go

into one day and eat exactly
the same thing at the same
time for every meal that you
did the day before and have
a completely different out-
come,” Wolin said. “It’s sort
of the understanding that you
always have to be on your toes,
because if you were to relax
for about more than five min-
utes, you could get yourself
into a problem. You have to
be hyper vigilant and aware
because in five minutes, your
entire existence could com-
pletely change.”

Scientists say this recent

discovery could help people
like Walter and Wolin who
suffer from hypoglycemia and
hope the research will contin-
ue to produce results.

DIABETES
From Page 1

heart transplant, as recipients
of this device currently must
be, but his ability to go home
and be among his family for the
holiday season is unique among
eligible recipients.

“They could call me any day

and tell me they’ve got that
heart,” Larkin said. “Any day.”

Don Isaacs, vice president of

communications for SynCardia
Systems, Inc., said the timing
was crucial.

“It’s a lot harder to bring back

a patient who has already expe-
rienced damage versus getting
our heart in there before the
organs suffer any type of dam-
age,” Isaacs said.

The Freedom Driver weighs

about 13 pounds and can be
carried around in a backpack.
SynCardia’s previous device
weighed 418-pound.

The device is constantly

pumping and makes consider-
able noise. It works by deliv-
ering compressed air into the
ventricles through two tubes
exiting the body.

Larkin said the machine

took some getting used to.

“I had to get used to the

tubes coming out of my stom-
ach,” he said. “I had no choice
but to get used to it, but it’s

helped me so far.”

Larkin said he was 16 when

he collapsed at a basketball
game and doctors discovered
a condition called arrhythmo-
genic right ventricular dys-
plasia. Since then, his heart
condition deteriorated until
Nov. 7, 2014, when his heart
was replaced with the Total
Artificial Heart.

Isaacs said the Freedom

Driver, which was approved
by the FDA in June 2014 as a
bridge to transplantation, is
calibrated to function as a heart
replacement.

“People don’t die from heart

disease; they die from heart
disease not providing enough
blood and nutrition and oxy-
gen to the vital organs,” Isaacs
said.
“Biventricular
failure

means that both the left and
right ventricles are going bad,
so the point of our device is to
prevent any damage to the vital
organs.”

Haft said the device has

proved beneficial so far.

“It’s not a burden for him,”

Haft said. “He’s delighted to not
have heart failure symptoms,
and I think he’s enjoying his life
out of the hospital, despite the
extra effort that’s made to deal
with the complexities of this
equipment.”

Larkin, meanwhile, is just

happy to just be out of the hospital.

HEART
From Page 1

The University of Califor-

nia, Los Angeles, for example,
employs a policy to govern the
ways in which the institution
uses data collected during the
admissions process, called the
Policy on Access to Student Data.
The policy allows access to stu-
dent data on a case-by-case basis
as determined by the registrar’s
office. The procedure also pro-
vides provisions for researchers
and student organizations access-
ing data as well.

Hilton said the University con-

tinues to explore new uses for
data analysis. The important part,
he said, is to do so with the right
policies and procedures in place.

“The question my office has

been looking at isn’t about collect-
ing new data, it’s about using data
already collected in new ways to

improve learning,” Hilton said.
“It’s about using data analytics to
inform the classroom and doing
that in ways that are secure and
honor privacy expectations.”

However, some students and

faculty have advised caution as
the project moves forward.

Pharmaceutical
Sciences

Prof. David Smith, a member of
SACUA, said while he believes the
collection of data is a good initia-
tive and can benefit students, he
is wary of the quality of collected
data.

During Hilton’s SACUA pre-

sentation
in
August,
Smith

raised concerns about how a
policy of optional data collec-
tion would create an unreliable
data set.

“If you only get people who

respond who do very well or very
poorly, you don’t have a good rep-
resentative of the class and the
data and interpretation would be
skewed,” Smith said. “There has

to be some way to determine if
the data is really representing the
group as a whole.”

LSA junior Michael Fakhoury

said students providing data
should have access to information
about the process.

“If the University is using

previously collected data, the
students should be aware and
consent that their information
will be used as part of a study,”
he said.

However, Hilton said the only

way for the data collected by
the University to be beneficial
is if it is analyzed and used for
research purposes.

“All of the data in the world,

without
asking
questions
or

analysis, is useless,” Hilton said.
“Large data sets render up a
whole lot of questions. A lot of
people think that data automati-
cally answers a lot of questions,
but it doesn’t. You have to figure
it out.”

DATA
From Page 1

SUSPENSION
From Page 1

SACUA
From Page 1

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