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The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Wednesday, March 25, 2015 — 3A
Though not all of the build-
ing will be renovated, the focus
will be on improving the flow
of the facility, as well as chang-
ing its front entrance to make it
more aesthetically pleasing.
“You drive by it today … it
could be a warehouse, could be
a computer science lab, could
be a Costco without a sign,”
Lewis said, explaining that the
redesign will help passersby
easily identify the NCRB.
The changes will include
the addition of 18,000 square
feet, as well as a gymnasium
with
multipurpose
activity
courts, a 16-person whirlpool,
a table tennis room, locker
room
enhancements,
floor-
ing upgrades, air-conditioning
and large multipurpose group
space. There are also plans
to convert what are now five
racquetball courts into four
squash courts.
“I want to make sure that
we’re doing the right thing by
having this building scream
‘come workout, come recreate,’
” Lewis said.
During the initial phases
of construction, Lewis said,
the building will remain open.
However, it is set to close for a
year during later stages of the
renovations, starting in the
summer of 2016. The NCRB’s
closing will coincide with the
Intramural Sports Building’s
reopening, which closes the
summer of 2015 for renovations.
Those in attendance at the
event discussed the concerns
of students who live on North
Campus during the reconstruc-
tion, and those of individuals
who pay for membership and
workout at NCRB.
For
LSA
junior
Katelyn
Gaither, renovating the NCRB
is a top priority.
“Right now with the NCRB,
we don’t have the space neces-
sary to fulfill all the needs that
are obviously addressed here,”
she said.
She added that even though
students and those paying for
a membership can currently
use the facilities, the NCRB
struggles to accommodate at
the North Campus population.
“Once you get here, when
everyone’s trying to come in
here, in rush hour, in the hot
hours, there is no room. It’s
stuffy. It’s suffocating, and
it’s something they’re trying
to address with these renova-
tions,” Gaither said.
Despite
living
on
North
Campus, Gaither still believes
that inconveniencing users for
a year would only be a small
price to pay in order to gain
more modern facilities.
“We’re willing to go through
the change process in order
to
make
something
better
because we know it’s going to
make it better in the long run,”
said Gaither.
Business junior Ian Savas —
an executive board member for
Building a Better Michigan, a
student advisory group with
a voice in University develop-
ment projects — said students
often find themselves under-
represented at this type of
meeting.
“A trend I tend to notice in
these meetings is that students
are not as interested in attend-
ing a meeting that they get an
e-mail for, because they get 100
e-mails about 100 things to go
to,” he said.
Savas said the renovations
will ultimately help students
living on North Campus enjoy
using the NCRB facilities.
“No one likes working out in
a racquetball room where it’s
hot and sweaty,” he said.
of seven teams of researchers to
consider policy and management
options for shoreline residents,
businesses and government offi-
cials to adapt to the water level
instability.
Later this year, four or five of
the seven teams will be selected
as part of the University’s Great
Lakes Water Levels Integrated
Assessment to participate in a
more detailed project to help
communities determine options
to minimize the negative impacts
of the water level fluctuations.
According a report by The
Nature Conservancy and the
National Oceanic and Atmo-
spheric Administration, the Great
Lakes satisfy the needs of more
than 45 million people and “serve
as the backbone for a $4 trillion
regional U.S. economy.”
The report noted that the
lakes’ water levels can serve as
indicators of climate change.
Water levels rise and fall natu-
rally; however, the rate of this
fluctuation has been historically
high. In 2013, Lake Michigan and
Lake Huron in particular reached
historically low water levels.
NOAA has also noted the his-
toric speed at which Great Lakes
water levels rose from January
2013 to December 2014.
Because water level changes
impact many different commu-
nities, the funded projects will
focus on different aspects of
water level fluctuations.
Paul Drevnick, an assistant
research scientist at the Univer-
sity’s Biological Station and the
School of Natural Resources and
Environment, is researching land
damages caused by water level
fluctuation in Emmet County,
which is located in the northwest
tip of the Lower Peninsula. The
county is one of the oldest coastal
settlements of the Great Lakes
region, and includes populated
communities such as Mackinaw
City and Petoskey.
“Much of the shoreline of
Emmet County has low slopes,
resulting in major changes in
shoreline configuration between
low and high water,” he said.
Drevnick said his team’s goal is
to identify land that is vulnerable
to the water level fluctuations
and develop plans to monitor and
reduce damage.
Land damage can change local
land planning and zoning policy
decisions. Richard Norton, chair
and associate professor in the
Urban and Regional Planning
Program at Taubman College,
said predicting how much water
levels change would be important
for residents who want to live
near the lakeshore.
“The real challenge is when
lake levels are low for an extend-
ed periods of time, people tend to
want to build houses and cottages
closer to the water,” Norton said.
Frank Marsik, an associate
research scientist in the Depart-
ment of Atmospheric, Oceanic
and Space Science who was also
a grant recipient, wrote in an
e-mail interview that his project
will focus on forces that drive
water level fluctuation and how
this might affect fisheries in the
area.
Additionally, Marsik’s team
is aiming to help indigenous
people in the region, includ-
ing federally recognized Native
American tribes, adapt to the
changing water levels.
“For the indigenous peoples of
the Great Lakes, these issues are
not simply related to economics,
but also to tribal traditions and
spirituality,” he wrote.
NCRB
From Page 1A
GREAT LAKES
From Page 1A
SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily
Activist Alan Haber and Frithjof Bergmann, professor of philosophy, discuss the culture of politics during the Vietnam War
for the opening session of “Teach-In for Peace: 50th Anniversary of the First Anti-War Teach-In” in Angell Hall on Tuesday.
the CSG elections for a second
year, after its ticket successful-
ly earned Public Policy senior
Bobby Dishell the presidency
and secured several legislative
seats.
This year, LSA junior Cooper
Charlton and LSA sophomore
Steven Halperin are running
for president and vice presi-
dent, respectively.
Charlton is currently the
president
of
the
Student-
Athlete Advisory Committee,
and Halperin sits on the CSG
assembly as an LSA representa-
tive.
LSA senior Annie Pidgeon,
Make
Michigan
campaign
chair, said in a February inter-
view with the Daily that the
party aims to heavily involve
the campus community in CSG
affairs.
“We’re trying to hear as
many different voices as pos-
sible in order to continue to
be able to create such positive
change on campus as we’ve
done in the past,” Pidgeon said.
A major part of the Make
Michigan platform is improv-
ing campus safety by launching
a new safety mobile applica-
tion.
Make Michigan also wants
to address diversity by revamp-
ing the current Race and Eth-
nicity
Course
Certification
requirements. To further unify
the student body, Make Michi-
gan aims to expand the Wol-
verine Support Network and
further connect alumni with
students abroad.
In the recent vice presi-
dential debate, Halperin dis-
cussed how his experiences
with the Summer Bridge Pro-
gram — a program designed
to give students from various
backgrounds an earlier start on
campus — inspired his drive for
a unified campus.
“Our classroom was so unit-
ed, and so passionate that it
really felt like family,” he said.
“I want to bring a family sense
to the campus. I believe that we
can do this.”
Defend Affirmative
Action Party
DAAP — the political branch
of the affirmative action advo-
cacy group BAMN — will run
LSA junior Keysha Wall and
LSA sophomore Katie Ken-
nedy as its presidential and
vice presidential candidates,
respectively. The party aims
to improve campus diversity
by providing onsite admissions
within Ann Arbor and Detroit.
Wall said DAAP will provide
a space for students to speak
openly about issues they have
faced on campus.
“DAAP has provided a plat-
form for students like me and
other students who want to
mobilize to be able make real
positive change on campus,”
she said during the presidential
debate.
During last week’s debate,
Kennedy added that it is vital
for the University to improve
campus diversity.
“We have the responsibility
to provide an opportunity for
students to thrive socially and
academically,” she said. “Affir-
mative Action has clearly put
the minority enrollment rate
severely at risk and the lack of
diversity on campus is taking
away from the value of our edu-
cation.”
Students can vote today at
vote.umich.edu.
PLATFORMS
From Page 1A
people information about it can
be very helpful,” he said. “I sub-
sequently participated in about
20 different teach-ins on sev-
eral different subjects.”
Mayer also said that revis-
iting the teach-in and other
similar protests is important in
inspiring students to engage in
activism now.
“I’d like to see more student
engagement with more issues
of our time,” he said. “I think
that the sense that one has an
obligation to society as a whole
is weaker today. We have an
obligation to help society deal
with the problems it has.”
Tuesday’s event kicked off
a weeklong celebration of the
first teach-in. On Friday, a Diag
rally will feature a speech by
activist Tom Hayden, a former
editor at the Daily, and a march
to Angell Hall.
TEACH-IN
From Page 1A
Gottschalk, a member of Jew-
ish Voice for Peace, an organiza-
tion promoting education about
alleged human rights violations
against Palestinians, said divest-
ment is not an anti-Semitic move-
ment.
“I assure you, supporting this
organization is not anti-Semitic
because it does not target the Jew-
ish people,” Gottschalk said. “It
targets multi-national corpora-
tions that target human rights and
Palestinians.”
LSA junior Inbar Lev, a member
of Wolverines for Peace, a group
of University students working to
promote peace and mutual under-
standing about the Palestinian
and Israeli conflict, spoke against
the resolution.
“We invite CSG and all inter-
ested students to participate in
dialogue opportunities,” Lev said.
“We desire to be part of a solution
towards peace. Our responsibil-
ity can only be assumed through
mutual understanding, construc-
tive dialogue and the recognition
of the rights of all people.”
LSA senior Marianna Yamamo-
to is a member of Human Rights
Through Education, a student
group dedicated to promoting
awareness of human rights viola-
tions.
“When our University invests in
these companies, we, as students
and members of the University,
are saying yes, these human rights
abuses are okay; yes, these lives do
not matter; and yes, profit is more
important than human rights and
human lives,” she said.
The resolution was sent to be
approved by the resolutions com-
mittee. The assembly will vote on
its ultimate approval at CSG’s meet-
ing next Tuesday evening in the
Michigan Union’s Rogel Ballroom.
SAFE proposed a similar resolu-
tion to CSG last March, asking the
University to divest from compa-
nies that the same set of companies.
After the resolution was first
proposed to CSG, the assembly
voted that a vote on the proposal
be suspended indefinitely. The
decision resulted in a sit-in in the
CSG chambers. The next week,
however, former CSG President
Michael Proppe, who is a Busi-
ness graduate student, motioned
for the assembly to reconsider the
proposal. CSG ultimately voted
not to pass the resolution in a 25-9
vote with five abstentions.
The University has only com-
plied with divestment requests on
two accounts in its history. The
first case occurred in 1978 per
request by the University’s Board
of Regents that a committee look
into the “serious moral or ethi-
cal questions” of the investments
being made in South Africa during
the era of apartheid.
In 1999, a request to divest from
tobacco companies was made
because of their immoral execu-
tion of advertising, producing and
presenting health information.
The proposal ultimately received
approval.
Daily Staff Reporter Allana
Akhtar contributed reporting.
DIVEST
From Page 1A
otherwise.”
Jomaa said Kydd helped her
to understand the difference
between how people with anos-
mia and those without taste.
“Michelle Kydd said that
people with anosmia can taste
sweet and sour and bitter and
all of that kind of stuff,” Jomaa
said. “But they can’t get the
combination that the smell
gives them, which is flavor.
She compares it to eating food
while having a cold.”
Both said they wished that
congenital anosmia was a bet-
ter-known condition, and that
people who had it knew there
were more people affected by
it as well.
“A blind person, or a deaf
person, you can usually tell
when you interact with them
that they have this,” Riedel
said. “But a lot of my friends
don’t even know that I don’t
have a sense of smell.”
SMELL
From Page 2A
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