the controlled environment they
offer for future research.
“These mini lungs will allow
us to study diseases in a con-
trolled
environment
and
to
develop and test new drugs,” he
said.
Specifically, Spence said, sci-
entists will be able to take skin
samples from patients with a
particular form of a lung dis-
ease, reprogram the cells into
stem cells and then generate
lung tissue for further study. He
said by analyzing the disease
in a controlled environment,
researchers can gain insight
into the progression of various
diseases and then tailor drugs
for treatment.
Rackham student Briana Dye
was also a lead author of the
study. She said the team manip-
ulated numerous signaling path-
ways involved with cell growth
and organ formation to make
the miniature lungs.
First, Dye said the scientists
used proteins called growth fac-
tors to differentiate embryonic
stem cells into endoderm, the
germ layer that gives rise to the
lungs.
Different growth factors were
then used to cause the endo-
derm to become lung tissue.
“We add specific growth fac-
tors, proteins that turn on path-
ways in the cells, that will then
cause them to lift off the mono-
layer so that we have this 3D
spherical tissue,” she said.
Previous research has used
stem cells in a similar manner
to generate brain, intestine,
stomach and liver tissue. Dye
said one of the advantages of
stem cell research is its direct
path to studying human tis-
sue.
“We
have
worked
with
many animal models in the
past,” Dye said. “Animal mod-
els present obstacles because
they don’t exactly behave the
way human tissue and cells do.
This is why stem cells are so
promising.”
In the future, Spence said
researchers hope to use stem
cells to replace diseased lung
tissue and generate new lungs.
Though he said the future is
promising, he stressed patience
with the process.
“In terms of tissue replace-
ment and regenerating new
lungs for regenerative medicine,
that’s a much more ambitious
goal way down the road, we are
still far away from that.”
“Recently, the Vagina Mono-
logues has fallen under criticism
for its lack of diversity,” Smith
said. “Our cast and crew acknowl-
edge these criticisms and think
that dialogues surrounding issues
of intersectionality are produc-
tive and important to have.”
Intersectionality refers to the
intersections of identities such as
race and gender.
In keeping with the original
format of “The Vagina Mono-
logues,” students took turns
performing their versions of pop-
ular monologues, including “My
Angry Vagina,” “My Vagina was
My Village,” “Reclaiming Cunt”
and “My Revolution Begins in
the Body.” Students also per-
formed “They Beat the Girl Out
of My Boy,” a new monologue
that explores the identities and
difficulties of transgender life.
LSA senior Wendy Cortes per-
formed the role of a sex worker
in the monologue “The Woman
Who Loved to Make Vaginas
Happy.” Cortes said she was
thrilled to be part of an event that
opened discussions on a stigma-
tized subject.
“I hope everyone’s awareness
changes and that they can under-
stand issues impacting women’s
sexuality and identities,” she
said. “People should realize that
despite everything, women are
still powerful and independent.”
Business
sophomore
Edith
Zhang performed the monologue
“My Vagina Was My Village,”
which focuses on the experienc-
es of Bosnian women subjected
to rape. Zhang said the mono-
logues provide a powerful voice
to all women.
“Some of the monologues are
very comedic, such as ‘My Angry
Vagina,’ but others bring out
compelling issues,” she said. “As
a society, we definitely need to be
more aware of them.”
LSA junior Jayla Johnson,
another performer in the show,
said she believes the event is a
great way to introduce these top-
ics to students in a more intimate
setting.
“It’s a taboo topic but events
like these bring awareness to the
student population, especially
since it includes students from all
kinds of backgrounds,” she said.
LSA junior Rhani Franklin,
the show’s producer, said she
hoped the event will continue at
the University, in part because
90 percent of the show’s pro-
ceeds go to the SafeHouse Cen-
ter. The center provides services
to women experiencing domes-
tic violence and sexual assault
in Washtenaw County. The
other 10 percent supports the
V-Day campaign, which aims to
end violence against girls and
women.
“Through our events at the
University, we are certainly con-
tributing for a greater cause,” she
said.
3-News
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Monday, March 30, 2015 — 3A
LUNA ARCHEY/Daily
Taubman student Pankti Sanganee dances at the Holi “Color-Tag” event on the Diag hosted by The Hindu Students
Council on Sunday.
COLORFUL FESTIVAL
for attempting to report on an
anti-war protest outside.
In
her
speech,
Goodman
stressed the role of independent
media in bringing social justice
and peace. She said the personal
narratives investigated by inde-
pendent outlets can allow audi-
ences to break down stereotypes
and caricatures that lead to mis-
understanding and hate.
“I think the media can be
the greatest force for peace on
Earth,” Goodman said. “Instead,
all too often, from the Vietnam
War, to Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen
and Syria today, it is wielded as a
weapon of war. And that has to be
challenged.”
She described the challenges
reporters met in Vietnam in the
1960s, including how corporate
media agencies such as ABC, NBC
and CBS would not run their sto-
ries. For this reason, she said,
independent media is important
for telling the stories that are
sometimes too controversial for
corporately run outlets.
“We need a media that covers
power, not covers for power,” she
said. “We need media that covers
movements that create history
and make static.”
LSA junior Nicholas Jansen —
the president of Divest and Invest,
a student organization that pro-
motes sustainability — led chants
on the Diag and stressed the
necessity of divestment to fellow
protesters. He echoed Goodman’s
call for movements that challenge
the political landscape.
Divest and Invest has repeat-
edly called for the University to
divest from fossil fuel compa-
nies. Recently, Central Student
Government passed a resolution
in conjunction with Divest and
Invest which asks the University’s
Board of Regents to form a com-
mittee to investigate the propri-
ety the University’s oil and coal
investments.
Jansen said the University’s
Vietnam teach-in 50 years ago was
responsible for a domino effect of
activism that ultimately encour-
aged the United States to pull sol-
diers out of Vietnam and end the
war, adding that this example was
what inspired Sunday’s event.
“Now that’s what we hope to do
with this: start something here,
start something big,” Jansen said.
“Create some noise that make
institutions like the University
of Michigan — that have a lot of
power and influence on what this
country does — say we’re not put-
ting up with this anymore, we’re
done with fossil fuels.”
M. Jahi Chappell, the director
of agroecology and agriculture
policy at the Institute for Agricul-
ture and Trade Policy, was among
many speakers at Friday’s teach-
in who spoke prior to Goodman’s
keynote address. He said the issue
of global climate change “is even
bigger than the Vietnam War.”
Chappell added that, because
climate change happens in “slow
motion,” it can be difficult to
impress upon people the reality
of its severity. Oftentimes, he said,
economic barriers are what stop
people from acting on climate
change issues.
“But there’s a really good
recent presentation arguing we
could see 30-percent unemploy-
ment 80 years from now because
of the amount of damage from
climate change,” he said, referenc-
ing a Tufts University study called
“Macroeconomics in the Age of
Climate Change.”
“This is slow motion, but that
is a real possibility. We could see
huge unemployment in the future,
not to mention lots of other bad
effects and lives lost,” Chappell
said. “So this is to try and reenact
energy from the Vietnam era, on
something that’s even bigger than
that.”
Chants continued intermittent-
ly throughout the rally. A common
one was “Hey, Obama. Stop this
climate drama.”
Tom Hayden, author of the Port
Huron Statement of the Students
for a Democratic Society and a
former editor of The Michigan
Daily, gave the rally’s final speech
prior to the formal teach-in in
Angell Hall. He spoke about clean
energy sources that the University
and the rest of society have yet to
use. Citing wind and solar power
successes in other countries, he
questioned why the University
has not made similar strides.
“The Great Lakes should be
the source of wind power for the
whole region,” he said.
He further referenced the Uni-
versity’s potential in this area,
given the esteemed College of
Engineering and its students.
He acknowledged the signifi-
cant strides already being made
by engineers at the University,
though he believes more could be
done.
After Hayden’s speech, teach-
in participants filed into Angell
Hall to listen to Goodman’s key-
note address.
Engineering freshman Trevor
Hoffman said he attended the
teach-in because people need to
understand the reality of climate
change science and future conse-
quences.
“Why am I here? To save the
planet,” he said. “If we don’t edu-
cate the masses and get them all
to know, then we’re not going to
move forward and we’re not going
to make any progress. We just have
to keep moving, we have to edu-
cate more people, get more people
to know, spread the word, make it
known, get everyone to know.”
Marie Lynn Miranda, dean of
the School of Natural Resources
and Environment, gave the wel-
coming address prior to Good-
man’s presentation.
Miranda said events like the
teach-in are important for inspir-
ing others to promote change
through dispersing knowledge.
“I always say challenging times
are also times of opportunity,”
Miranda said.
During her speech, Goodman
used her experience in Selma,
Alabama on March 7, where she
went to commemorate the 50-year
anniversary of Bloody Sunday, to
emphasize that it is not enough to
simply remember the past — citi-
zens must use knowledge to make
social progress.
“I think we are seeing little
uprisings and larger ones around
the country that indicate some-
thing is afoot,” she said. “The
media doesn’t cover movements,
the media covers politicians, those
who cheerlead for war.”
LSA
sophomore
Valeriya
Epshteyn, outreach chair for
Divest and Invest, felt Goodman’s
speech spoke devoted attention to
voices that usually do not receive
recognition from other media out-
lets.
“Amy Goodman’s speech was
one of the most honest things I’ve
heard in a long time on campus,”
Epshteyn said. “It didn’t feel very
censored, and that’s what she said
about the independent voice.”
TEACH-IN
From Page 1A
MONOLOGUES
From Page 1A
LUNGS
From Page 1A
and LSA senior Andrew Loeb
for harvesting 534 e-mails; The
Team filed a similar suit against
Make Michigan for harvesting
5,719 e-mails; and Make Michigan
filed a suit against LSA junior Will
Royster, The Team’s presidential
candidate, for influencing a stu-
dent while voting.
E-mail violations are assessed
per e-mail recipient. Candidates
are not allowed to solicit votes
through listservs they don’t own,
for example. Candidates or cam-
paign volunteers are also not
allowed to harvest student e-mail
addresses for campaign purposes,
according to the CSG Compiled
Code.
“We’re going to fight them on
whatever we have,” LSA junior
Jacob Abudaram, The Team’s
campaign manager, said Saturday
morning. “Win or lose, we’re still
here.”
According to Law student
Paige Becker, the University’s
elections director, if both parties
are found guilty of harvesting
emails, their entire slates could be
disqualified. In this scenario, the
Defend Affirmative Action Party
would take office. DAAP’s execu-
tive slate amassed 742.05 votes —
over 3,000 votes less than either
Make Michigan or The Team.
“It would be all of the next
highest vote getters that are actu-
al students,” Becker said in an
interview Sunday. “So for exam-
ple, the DAAP ticket would take
over the presidential and vice
presidential seat, and every-
where where there were DAAP
candidates for the assembly or
independent candidates for the
assembly they would take over
the seats. Any that weren’t
filled were be filled in the fall.”
The election results came
in after Make Michigan filed
complaints against The Team
for destroying campaign mate-
rials. The party alleged that
members of The Team erased
a Make Michigan chalk adver-
tisement on the Diag and
replaced it with an advertise-
ment reading “Vote for the
Team.” The University Elec-
tions
Committee
ultimately
found The Team guilty of the
charges in a two-to-one vote
and assessed them four demer-
its. Demerits do not affect
a party unless it receives 10
demerits, which then disquali-
fies the candidates.
Make Michigan also filed a
complaint against The Team
for campaign finance disclo-
sure violations. However, The
Team filed a counterclaim
against Make Michigan for fil-
ing a frivolous complaint. Both
parties were found not guilty
Saturday night, yielding no
demerits on either side.
The Make Michigan plat-
form addresses several issues
regarding campus safety and
diversity. The party’s platform
outlines goals to improve cam-
pus safety by working with the
city of Ann Arbor to improve
off-campus lighting as well
as launch a new safety mobile
application.
The party also intends to
promote an inclusive cam-
pus environment through the
implementation of SEED facul-
ty training, a for-profit faculty
education program.
During CSG debates ear-
lier
this
month,
Charlton
addressed the party’s commit-
ment to improving diversity
and inclusion on campus.
“Diversity is more than skin
deep,” Charlton said. “The Uni-
versity of Michigan is where
great minds come. With Make
Michigan, we are going to be
able to make the difference.”
The release of the results
coincided with the deadline for
filing litigation. According to
Law student John Lin, CSG’s
student general counsel, this
change was implemented in
spring 2014 to expedite the liti-
gation process.
The former election policy
stated that results would be
announced after litigation was
resolved. Under the previous
policy, the announcement of
last year’s CSG election results
was delayed until five days
after polls closed.
“The intent behind this rule
change is that, say if you won,
you can drop all the claims you
filed against the other party
and that would reduce litigation
a little bit,” Lin said.
Daily News Editor Michael
Sugerman contributed reporting.
ELECTION
From Page 1A
last decade, the average differ-
ence in votes between the win-
ning and second place ticket was
793.9 votes. Excluding this year’s
margin, the average is 872.8 votes.
According to Law student
John Lin, CSG’s student general
counsel, including write-in can-
didates, about 22 percent of the
student body voted in this year’s
presidential election, a roughly 2
percent increase over last year’s
student body voter turnout.
He said while this year’s elec-
tion saw one of the highest voter
turnouts, the 2013 presidential
election saw the highest voter
turnout, with about 24 percent
of the student body voting in the
election.
Lin said the higher voter turn-
out could be attributed to the par-
ties’ intensified campaign tactics
and efforts to reach out to many
communities on campus. He
also said having multiple parties
contending for positions usually
increases voter turnout, citing
the 2013 election which saw stu-
dents voting for four major par-
ties, including forUM, youMICH,
momentUM and an independent
ticket.
Though
Make
Michigan
received the most votes in this
year’s election, Law student Paige
Becker, the University’s elections
director, said due to pending
litigation against the party, the
election results could flip in The
Team’s favor.
The University Elections Com-
mittee is still ruling on five com-
plaints, including three against
The Team for harvesting e-mails
and influencing voters while vot-
ing, and another against Make
Michigan for violating e-mail
regulations, which are assessed
on a per e-mail recipient basis.
Becker said Make Michigan
was accused of harvesting 5,719
e-mail addresses. If the party
were found guilty of violating
the CSG Compiled Code under
this allegation, they would gar-
ner enough demerits to disqualify
their party.
The next hearing will be Mon-
day night. Then the UEC will
have 36 hours to release an opin-
ion, at which point the parties
have an additional 24 hours to file
an appeal to the Central Student
Judiciary. Lin said assuming no
complaints are dropped, election
results will not be certified until
Thursday morning at the earliest.
If Make Michigan is disquali-
fied, this would not be the first
time a winning party is unable to
take office after being found to
have violated election regulations.
In 2013 forUM’s Chris Osborn
and Hayley Sakwa garnered 3,413
votes in the presidential and vice
presidential elections, beating
youMICH by 485 votes. How-
ever, the UEC later ruled that
Osborn had influenced voters,
thereby disqualifying the forUM
executive ticket and allowing
youMICH’s Michael Proppe, a
current Business graduate stu-
dent, and Bobby Dishell, current
CSG president and Public Policy
senior, to take office.
CLOSE RACE
From Page 1A