Organizers
signified
them-
selves by wearing teal-colored
shirts, and counselors for anyone
who needed help during the event
wore white armbands. Survivors
were encouraged to wear teal
arm bands if they felt comfortable
doing so.
One of the speakers on behalf
of Take Back the Night noted the
organization’s frustration with
the lack of attention University
officials have given to the pre-
vention sexual assault. They said
when they reached out to Univer-
sity President Mark Schlissel to
speak at the event, he said he was
unavailable, but would send some-
one else from his administration.
However, they said, no one from
the administration came. Mem-
bers of the organization took this
as the University not making sexu-
al assault prevention a priority.
Quinn Davis, organizer and
community member, listed off
statistics about the rate of sexual
assault, as well as defining con-
sent. She said one-fifth of women
and one out of 71 men are raped
in their lifetime; one-fourth of all
women and one-sixth of all men
experience sexual assault in their
lifetime. She also said a majority of
individuals are raped before they
turn 24 and 42 percent are raped
before they turn 18.
“Are we making any progress?
Yes,” Davis said. “The Rape Abuse
and Incest National Network
estimates that the rate of sexual
assault has fallen by more than 50
percent in recent years.”
Before the march, Gretchen
Whitmer, former Michigan Sen-
ate minority leader, expressed her
experiences in combating sexual
assault. Whitmer is an advocate
of speaking against sexual assault.
During debates in the Michigan
Senate in December 2013 when a
proposed healthcare law would
not cover abortions for rape vic-
tims and the legislature would not
allow anyone to be brought in to
testify, she did.
Whitmer discussed her deci-
sion to break her silence as a sur-
vivor at 42 after being raped her
freshman year of college. She
recalled the frightening decision
to finally speak about her experi-
ence after years keeping it private.
Whitmer was upset when her
testimony did not sway any votes
and characterized it as the worst
time while she was in office.
However, her outlook changed
when she realized how important
the moment was for her when
she went to her office to find her
e-mail inbox and voicemail full
with messages from other survi-
vors thanking her.
“That’s when I realized it did
have value to talk about it,” Whit-
mer said. “It added to the con-
versation that is long overdue in
our state and in our country, long
overdue. To the extent that I was
involved in to encourage someone,
anyone, to share their story, it was
worth talking about. It’s at events
like these that help women like us
to know we are not alone, that we
do not have to be silent. We are not
alone. And we do not have to be
silent.”
After she spoke, organizers
asked men to sign a poster pledg-
ing to stand against sexual assault.
About 50 men signed the pledge.
LSA freshman Yong-Joon Kim
said she believes sexual assault
affects everyone on campus.
“Sexual assault and the prob-
lems that this culture faces with
rape and the gender gap really
drove me to come because it’s a
really important issue for me,” Kim
said “I have a younger sister and I
want the best for her. This isn’t just
an issue that affects women, it’s an
issue that affects every gender on
campus. I feel this is a really big
thing, and with the University of
Michigan still on Title IX’s watch
list ... it’s just something I feel has
to be changed.”
Organizers took turns read-
ing demands from a list of initia-
tives they hope will result from
the night’s events. Their demands
included: a call for the end to sex-
ual assault and violence, acknowl-
edgement that “no means no,” that
consent is only active and sober,
that domestic violence and assault
be considered human problems
instead of women’s issues and for
recognition that victims are never
responsible.
Throughout the past week,
there have been demonstrations
against sexual assault on campus
in honor of Sexual Assault Aware-
ness Month. Tuesday, there was a
Sharing with Survivors Speakout
in the Michigan League hosted by
Michigan Takes Back the Night,
and a Diag Day on Wednesday
hosted by SAPAC to inform stu-
dents on consent.
The ralliers left the Union at
8:30 p.m. and marched approxi-
mately 1.6 miles for one hour
around Ann Arbor to Liberty
Street before returning back to
have an electric-candlelight vigil
in the Union to the song “Lean on
Me.”
Armed with makeshift drums,
signs, and a handout of chants,
approximately 200 people of all
ages took to the streets. Organiz-
ers led chants such as, “We have
the power. We have the right. The
streets are ours! Take Back the
Night,” and “Hey hey, ho ho, sex-
ual assault has got to go!”
On Thompson Street, march-
ers were asked to be silent and
link arms to honor those who have
died as a result of sexual assault, as
well as release the balloons. Ann
Arbor residents left their homes
and apartments, and diners and
restaurant staff left businesses to
watch the ralliers go by. People
in cars and on buses took photos,
honked and chanted along with
the group in support.
The march was not only
attended by University students —
Washtenaw Community College
junior Michelle Smolarski said
her girlfriend encouraged her to
attend the event and that she felt
powerful during the march.
“I felt very amazing and brave
and very uplifted,” Smolarski said.
Action Party won one seat and 14
seats were awarded to indepen-
dent or write-in candidates.
In an interview Thursday
afternoon, Charlton, the newly
elected CSG president, said he
was looking forward to begin-
ning his role.
“It’s nice to finally come up for
air,” Charlton said. “It’s a long
process. Unfortunately it felt like
it got a little political towards the
end, which I don’t think is fair to
the students, and I apologize we
were going back and forth. But at
the end of the day I think both
The Team, the DAAP party and
Make Michigan all are highly
qualified and genuinely beautiful
people that are all trying to make
a difference and Steven and I are
just honored we have this oppor-
tunity.”
Discussing the litigation pro-
cess, which has delayed results
in CSG elections several times
in recent years, Charlton said it
should be a balance of promoting
fairness while not misusing the
process.
“It’s one of those things where
we need to have it in a case where
there’s been blatant cheating, but
we also have to hold ourselves
accountable,” he said. “We can’t
just use this resource to drag out
the process or to try to find the
loophole. It’s meant to specifi-
cally target blatant and provable
cheating. At the end of the day,
everyone wanted to win, but it’s
a very hard question to answer.”
LSA senior Annie Pidgeon,
Make Michigan party chair, said
the next step in the process is
bringing CSG together.
“I think a lot of times what
happens when you get elected to
CSG, especially when there’s two
big parties, is there’s not enough
collaboration,”
Pidgeon
said.
“I think the next step for Make
Michigan is to unify CSG.”
Charlton said he had already
collected descriptions of what
each representative, regardless
of party affiliation, wanted to
do with their term. He added
that he and Halperin hadn’t yet
selected other members of the
executive team, and planned to
invite members from all parties
to compete for selection.
LSA
junior
Jacob
Abuda-
ram, the campaign manager for
The Team, said though he dis-
agrees with University Elections
Commission’s decision, he still
respects the committee and the
election process. He said mem-
bers of The Team are looking
forward to keep working on the
party’s initiatives.
“Will and Matt will continue
to do their work,” he said. “Will
is bringing in 42 students from
underrepresented high schools
in Kalamazoo next week. We’re
excited to see what The Team
representatives will do and the
work they’ll do with the Make
Michigan reps.”
In a Facebook post Thursday
morning, LSA sophomore Matt
Fidel, vice presidential candidate
for The Team, called the experi-
ence of running difficult, but
rewarding.
“It wasn’t always easy, but this
election has been quite a valu-
able learning experience,” Fidel
said. “I am humbled and honored
to have been given the opportu-
nity to run for vice president of
the student body of the greatest
university in the world.”
Daily News Editor Shoham
Geva and Daily Staff Reporter
Tanaz Ahmed contributed to this
report.
From Page 1
articles that show women tend
to be more collaborative lead-
ers, to be very thorough, to work
with people and solve problems,
and those are things that women
tend to do on a day-to-day basis,”
Chang said. “Ultimately the goal
is not just to get more people into
office, but one of the results of that
is better policy — better policy
making especially for families, for
children, for women.”
White said for many of the posi-
tions she has held, she was the first
Black female to assume that role.
She echoed Chang’s sentiments on
the importance of increased rep-
resentation in government roles.
“Men have the same interest as
women do — we want to have rep-
resentative government that rep-
resents all,” White said. “It’s just
a better way to have great democ-
racy: by not excluding 50 percent
of the population.”
Whitmer agreed, emphasizing
the importance of diversity in the
legislature.
“The beauty of our system is it
is diverse, and it works best when
all voices are heard,” Whitmer
said. “You can be a farmer or a
pharmacist in the legislature, and
(that) works better when we have
many different voices that are part
of the debate.”
Questions from the audience
were taken throughout the event.
Attendees asked what made each
woman want to run for office, what
advice the panelists would give for
women interested in running for
office and what they wished some-
one would have told them when
they were starting their career.
The panelists also discussed
their experiences campaigning
and in elected office, encourag-
ing interested students to follow
in their footsteps. Many of the
panelists said they didn’t think
they would ever run for office and
had to be pushed by their friends
and mentors to do so, or ran only
after they saw an issue not being
addressed.
Whitmer noted that when she
entered Michigan’s state Sen-
ate the ratio between men and
women was at its historic height —
12 women to 38 men — which she
called both an accomplishment,
but also a sign that there was still a
ways to go. The current ratio is at
four women to 46 men.
“In the last session, there were
more men named John in the
Michigan Senate than women,”
Whitmer said. “It’s really impor-
tant that our voices are heard.
I’ve said it once and have repeated
many times: if you’re not at the
table, you’re on the menu.”
Dingell said she thought the
current
low
representation
stemmed equally from gender as
from disinterest and distrust in
government in this generation.
“I’m actually going to say: I
don’t think this is a gender issue,”
Dingell said. “I think we’ve got a
problem in this country that people
feel disconnected from the govern-
ment. Voting is at an all time low,
people don’t think that they mat-
ter and that they can make a dif-
ference, and we need to get people
engaged.”
PANEL
From Page 1
RALLY
From Page 1
living in our residence halls.”
When the plan for phase one
of the RLI — titled the Compre-
hensive Housing Plan— was first
presented to the University’s
Board of Regents in September
2004, it included proposals for a
new residence hall, renovations to
two existing residence halls and
upgrades for several campus din-
ing facilities.
Rullman said a handful of fac-
tors have allowed the University
to make significant improvements
to campus structures over the past
decade.
“We’ve had a very favorable
bond market, construction mar-
ket, very generous donors, very
supportive regents and very sup-
portive students who have partici-
pated,” Rullman said. “Those four
factors over the last 10 years have
been tremendous.”
Mosher-Jordan Residence Hall
was the first large renovation
completed under the RLI, during
the first phase. In 2008, Mosher-
Jordan reopened after a two-year,
$65 million renovation. The reno-
vation included a new, two-story
dining center and set a precedent
for campus dining facilities in
terms of number of food options,
scale and central location.
In 2010, construction of the
$175 million North Quad Residen-
tial and Academic Complex was
completed. The dorm, which is
restricted to upperclassmen, was
recently named one of the 30 most
luxurious student housing build-
ings in the country by Best College
Values. Before North Quad was
completed, Bursley Hall, opened
in 1967, was the newest residence
hall at the University.
Kicking off the second phase of
the project, East Quad and South
Quad underwent multi-million
dollar renovations, re-opening in
Fall 2013 and Fall 2014, respective-
ly. Both residence halls received
refurbished community rooms,
dining facilities and bathrooms.
This fall, West Quad, also a part
of the initiative’s second phase,
will see changes as well. Origi-
nally built in 1937, it will re-open
following a $114.5 million make-
over. The renovation will remove
the dining center to provide space
for additional community rooms.
The expanded South Quad dining
hall was designed to provide space
for the resulting influx of Central
Campus diners.
The RLI has been divided into
distinct phases — phase one, from
2004 to 2012, included renovating
the Hill Dining Center, Mosher-
Jordan Hall, Stockwell Residence
Hall, North Quad, Couzens Resi-
dence Hall and Alice Lloyd Resi-
dence Hall, while phase two has
included the East, West and South
Quad renovations.
Though Rullman said approxi-
mately one-third of the Univer-
sity’s housing inventory has yet to
be fully renovated, the first round
of improvements funded life safe-
ty systems for every residence hall.
“One of the things we’ve done
in all of our buildings already are
life safety improvements,” Rul-
lman said. “So all of our buildings
are incredibly safe, they just don’t
all have brand new finishes in the
bathroom and energy efficient fix-
tures and that kind of thing in all
the bathrooms.”
The construction portion of
phase two will conclude with the
re-opening of West Quad, but the
financing for phase two will carry
into 2017. Financing for phase two
entails a 3-percent increase on
room and board rates.
“We say phasing so people
understand you just can’t do it all
at once,” said Rullman. “We have
a commitment to make sure that
all of our students over time live
in good, healthy, productive facili-
ties.”
Henry Baier, associate vice
president for facilities and opera-
tions, added that many external
observers don’t see the extensive
planning that goes into the reno-
vations.
“I think a lot of students don’t
appreciate the length of time that
it takes,” he said. “It’s not because
we’re slow … they all take a while
because you have to plan it out and
get the construction underway.
Even once we decide where we’re
going there’s some start-up time
that the public doesn’t see.”
Choosing buildings for reno-
vation
Baier said the University uses a
deferred maintenance program to
keep up with campus renovations.
Through the program, the Uni-
versity conducts regular surveys
and tracks maintenance records to
see which buildings are in need of
upgrades. It is designed to include
day-to-day maintenance proce-
dures, planned renovations and
major updates.
Baier said though the Univer-
sity has used a deferred mainte-
nance program for a while, the
lack of regular upkeep in the years
prior to the RLI left many Univer-
sity buildings in need of renova-
tion.
“What happened in residen-
tial life and housing, basically the
housing system wasn’t re-invest-
ing in deferred maintenance,”
Baier said. “It’s an easy thing to do,
money gets tight, you don’t want
to charge a student more to stay in
University housing, so then the way
you do that is you don’t keep it up,
you just let stuff go. It just degrades,
and all of a sudden you have to put a
lot more money into it.”
Rullman said there is a common
formula used to determine which
buildings should be renovated.
The University conducts facil-
ity condition assessments prior to
renovations to determine which
buildings are in need of updates.
These assessments seek to deter-
mine both the state of the building
and whether or not the University
should keep the building.
Rullman said the buildings reno-
vated in phases one and two of the
RLI were chosen both because they
were in poor condition and because
the University saw them as “impor-
tant, distinctive buildings.”
“The West Quads and the East
Quads, they are iconic, they are
architecturally significant, they
have been here a very long time,
their location is great, it would be
unlikely we would not have resi-
dence halls there for the future,”
Rullman said. “So once you know
the condition, then you make a set
of institutional policy decisions —
in this case that we’re not going to
abandon our legacy buildings.”
Baier added that in planning
University renovations, they try
to be flexible because unexpected
factors such as increasing con-
struction and bond costs or large
donations often impact which
buildings are chosen for renova-
tion. He referenced in particular
University alum Charles Munger,
vice chairman of Berkshire Hatha-
way Corporation, who has donat-
ed significantly to the school.
Munger recently contributed $110
million to the construction of a
new graduate residence on central
campus.
“Along comes Charlie Munger
and he gives us $20 million to
help fix up the Lawyers Club,”
Baier said. “That had a $28 mil-
lion deferred maintenance on our
facility condition assessment and
we had a donor who was inter-
ested in contributing $20 million
toward an existing building to fix
it up, that’s unheard of. We might
have gone and done something
else, whatever it might have been,
but here’s $20 million and it made
it a big priority.”
After the plans were released,
many graduate students expressed
concerns related to the cost and
design of the project. However,
during a forum in 2013, E. Royster
Harper, vice president for student
life, noted the nature of the dona-
tion somewhat limits the Univer-
sity’s ability to make changes.
“If this were ‘just us’ and the
funding were ‘just us,’ we would
have some different kinds of
options,” Harper said. “But I think
when you are in partnership …
you make some agreements about
what you’re going to offer, then we
have to honor those agreements.”
Future renovations
Though Rullman said phase
two of the RLI will conclude in the
near future because all the allo-
cated money has been used, the
University still plans to continue
renovating.
Rullman said the University
will conduct facility condition
assessments and student satisfac-
tion surveys, on top of evaluating
the bond market and interest rates,
to determine which buildings will
be renovated in the next phase.
“We don’t know what we’re
going to renovate next, but we
think all of the buildings are safe
and adequate, we just need to
improve the experience,” he said.
Recent comments from admin-
istrators, as well as from the Uni-
versity’s Board of Regents, have
suggested that North Campus
might be the next area to undergo
construction.
In an October interview with
The Michigan Daily, Harper said
it’s likely that if a new undergradu-
ate dorm were constructed in the
future, North Campus would be
a potential location. She cited the
decreasing availability of open
Central Campus property, and the
desire to improve the community
on North Campus.
At a fireside chat in March ,
University President Mark Schlis-
sel acknowledged that the qual-
ity of life on North Campus is an
issue that has been brought up at
nearly every fireside chat in recent
months.
“The residential life is in the
midst of a 10- or 15-year effort to
really upgrade residential life, liv-
ing and eating on campus,” he said.
“The next frontier is the North
Campus.”
At last month’s Board of Regents
meeting, the regents approved
two North Campus construction
proposals — schematic designs for
the North Campus Grove project
and a $13 million renovation of the
North Campus Recreation Build-
ing.
During the March event, Schlis-
sel said the University wants to
improve North Campus so that it is
on par with the rest of the campus.
“The ultimate goal is to make
the North Campus as dense and
vibrant as the Central Campus,
and to have the businesses sur-
rounding North Campus sort of
grow up in a way that living up
there won’t require you to be down
here to socialize,” he said.
Baier said the University is
working on plans to increase
development of North Campus.
“We’ve actually done a lot of
work on North Campus in terms of
early planning and we have some
ideas about what we’d like it to be,”
he said. “It’s more of an aspiration,
it’s not concrete in terms of what it
would be.”
Both Baier and Rullman noted
that several renovations and addi-
tions have taken place on North
Campus in recent years — Mitchell
Field, the Fireside Café in Pierpont
Commons, the Walgreen Drama
Center, the Stamps Auditorium
and M City, a network of roads
used to test automated vehicle sys-
tems.
There are also plans for several
North Campus projects aside from
the grove and the NCRB renova-
tions. The construction of an addi-
tion to the School of Music, Theatre
& Dance is currently underway,
and there are plans to add on to the
Art and Architecture Building. In
addition, the Bursley Dining Hall
will receive new furniture and car-
pet over the summer.
Rullman said there has been an
emphasis on improving the den-
sity of North Campus.
“There’s a lot going on up there
… and we need to do more, frankly,
but what we’re doing now and
what we’ve done over the last
eight, nine, 10 years is try to make
it a much more livable place for
students, for faculty, for staff,”
Rullman said. “I think when you
look at all the improvements on
balance, it’s doing that. The chal-
lenge is it is such a big campus and
until you get this density you sort
of can’t notice it.”
DORMS
From Page 1
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Friday, April 3, 2015 — 3
3-News
News
of the unequal are below the
poverty line,” Robinson said.
Along with directly address-
ing the monetary inequities,
Rahbi said an additional way to
combat inequality within the
community was to remove bar-
riers that could prevent impov-
erished citizens from living a
comfortable life.
He mentioned, in particular,
the City Council’s plan to distrib-
ute Washtenaw County ID cards
for citizens who do not have
proof of documentation — usu-
ally undocumented immigrants,
the elderly and those under the
poverty line.
“All the people that live in
our county are people, and they
all deserve to be treated equally
when it comes to government
services or even just when you
go to get your birthday dinner
and they ask for your driver’s
license,” he said. “Your ID helps
you to be human, and so we
dehumanize a lot of our citizens
by not providing that.”
POVERTY
From Page 2
@michigandaily