michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Friday, April 10, 2015
CELEBRATING OUR ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIFTH YEAR OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
INDEX
Vol. CXXIV, No. 100
©2015 The Michigan Daily
michigandaily.com
NEWS........................... 2
OPINION.......................4
ARTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
SPORTS ........................9
SUDOKU....................... 2
CL ASSIFIEDS.................6
NEW ON MICHIGANDAILY.COM
Debate team places second in national tournament
MICHIGANDAILY.COM/BLOGS
GOT A NEWS TIP?
Call 734-418-4115 or e-mail
news@michigandaily.com and let us know.
WEATHER
TOMORROW
HI: 59
LO: 32
ADMINISTRATION
Trigger warning
before AAU sexual
assault survey
called insufficient
By ALLANA AKHTAR
Daily Staff Reporter
After the University distributed
a survey to students earlier this
month to gauge campus climate
around sexual misconduct, some
students have expressed concerns
with the terminology used in the
survey.
The survey is administered
by the Association of American
Universities. Twenty-eight public
and private research universities
employed the survey, making it one
of the largest surveys on this issue.
“Our
primary
purpose
in
conducting this survey is to help
our institutions gain a better
understanding of this complex
problem on their own campuses as
well as nationally,” AAU President
Hunter Rawlings said in a press
release. “Our first priority, and
theirs, is to ensure that students
not only are safe but feel safe.
Universities will be using their
data to inform their own policies
and practices regarding sexual
assault.”
However,
some
University
students said they stopped taking
or were advised by friends against
taking the AAU survey due to
triggering imagery and wording.
LSA junior Fabiana Diaz, who
said she is survivor of sexual
assault, received a warning not to
take the survey from a friend due
to graphic scenarios that could be
triggering for her.
“I was upset because I think
more
importantly
than
other
students, it needs the voice of the
survivors in order for something to
actually be done on our campus,”
Diaz said.
The survey asks students a
variety of questions regarding to
their experiences with campus
sexual
assault,
knowledge
of
prevention and available resources.
The survey is separated into
lettered sections, each asking
about a particular aspect of a
See SURVEY, Page 3
SAN PHAM/Daily
U.S. House Representative Debbie Dingell hosts a roundtable on college affordability at the Michigan Union on Thursday.
Students identify
affordable housing,
textbook costs as
key concerns
By ISOBEL FUTTER
Daily Staff Reporter
U.S. House Rep. Debbie Ding-
ell (D–Mich.) joined students
and college administrators from
across the state in Ann Arbor
on Thursday to discuss college
affordability.
Dingell, who hosted the event,
began the round table by outlin-
ing challenges faced by many stu-
dents, especially when it comes to
large amounts of loan debt.
“We’re all concerned at the
staggering amount of student
debt that we now see in this coun-
try,” she said. “Nearly 40 million
Americans owe $1.3 trillion in
student loan debt. And 1.5 million
people here in Michigan owe $39
billion.”
Dingell highlighted a particu-
lar bill she’s co-sponsoring, the
Bank on Students Emergency
Loan Refinancing Act, which
would allow borrowers with fed-
eral student loans to refinance
their loans. Refinancing loans can
lead to lower interest rates.
“You can refinance a mort-
gage, you can refinance a car, but
you can’t refinance your student
loans,” Dingell said. “We want to
be able to help you and those that
have gone before you that have got
some of this staggering debt refi-
nanced to a lower level.”
Dingell said at the undergradu-
ate level, refinancing could save
students $4,000 on a $30,000
loan.
She also touched on the various
restrictions on federal grants like
Pell Grants, such as the require-
ment that recipients complete
their education in six years.
“I believe that each student is a
different student,” she said. “The
UM-Dearborn campus and the
UM-Flint campus has students
with families ... that are working
to support a household and chil-
dren and trying to get an educa-
tion.”
See DINGELL, Page 3
POLICY
Statement of
Student Rights and
Responsibilities
could see changes
By GENEVIEVE HUMMER
Daily Staff Reporter
The University plans to review
its Statement of Student Rights and
Responsibilities during the 2015-
2016 academic year, according to
an e-mail from E. Royster Harper,
vice president for student life, sent
to students, faculty and staff on
Thursday.
The statement outlines student
conduct expectations consistent
with the University’s values, and
suggests sanctions and disciplin-
ary procedures if those expecta-
tions are not met.
“This community-owned docu-
ment sets forth the University‘s
values and expectations for resolv-
ing conflicts and is intended to
maintain a campus climate that
supports learning for all students,”
Harper wrote. “Similar to policies
articulating standards for academ-
ic behavior within the University’s
colleges and schools, the State-
ment sets forth the expectations
for non-academic behavior for all
students.”
University
spokesman
Rick
Fitzgerald said the timeline for
amendment years is set by the Stu-
dent Relations Advisory Commit-
tee, a committee of the faculty’s
central governing body, the Stu-
dent Advisory Committee on Uni-
versity Affairs.
“The SRAC committee sets the
timeline — my recollection is that
it has roughly been every three
years,” Fitzgerald said. “I think it
could be more frequently if there’s
a reason.”
According to the Office of Stu-
dent Conflict Resolution’s website,
the last statement amendment
cycle happened during the 2012-
2013 academic year. At this time,
five changes were made.
During the last review cycle, the
statement was amended to reflect
the current titles for Central Stu-
dent Government and Information
Technology Services and SRAC’s
affiliation with the Senate Assem-
bly — a governing body comprised
of 74 elected faculty members from
the University’s Ann Arbor, Flint
and Dearborn campuses.
In
addition,
bullying
was
included as a statement violation,
the University’s Student Sexual
Misconduct Policy was recon-
ciled with the statement and the
Respect for Medical Amnesty
was added as a related procedure.
Respect for Medical Amnesty is a
state law that seeks to remove bar-
riers for minors voluntarily seek-
ing medical help for themselves or
another after drinking.
Fitzgerald said he’s not yet
aware of what specific amend-
ments might be proposed for the
coming year.
“I’m not aware of any deep plans
for amendments that people have
in the works at this point,” he said.
“As you can see it’s quite a thor-
ough and long process so there’s
plenty of time for people to con-
See CODE, Page 3
Event explores
identity, raises
scholarship funds
By ALYSSA BRANDON
Daily Staff Reporter
Despite a delay due to severe
weather,
several
University
students took the stage in the
University’s Museum of Art
auditorium Thursday night to
perform songs, dance and spo-
ken word.
Hosted by PILOT — an orga-
nization dedicated to increas-
ing awareness of identity and
providing
opportunities
for
minority students on campus
— “Denied Voices: The Launch”
featured 10 performances relat-
ed to identity and acceptance.
The event was originally
located in the Museum of Art
lobby, but due to a tornado
warning just as the show was
about to begin, attendees and
performers relocated to the
museum’s
basement
audito-
rium.
Among the student per-
formers were LSA junior Dana
Mosa-Basha, who performed
“Hallelujah” by Jeff Buckley,
and LSA freshman JuJuan Grif-
fin, who performed an original
rap piece titled “Statistic.”
LSA
freshman
Emily
Kaufman also performed sever-
al poems discussing her experi-
ences as a transgender woman.
“Becoming the woman I
was meant to be is the only
way that I could live my life as
me,” Kaufman said in one of
her poems. “All I want is to be
my truest self, and I’m not doing
this for anybody else. This is for
me and me alone.”
Along with the performances,
the event was also the start of
fundraising toward the Denied
Voices Scholarship, which will
be awarded every year to mem-
bers of marginalized communi-
ties on campus.
During the show, PILOT
announced Josue Hervert as
this year’s scholarship recipient.
Hervert is currently a student at
Wayne County Community Col-
lege and hopes to transfer to the
University in the future.
LSA senior Swati Sudarsan,
a member of PILOT, was one
of the organizers of the event.
In an interview with after the
program, Sudarsan said talking
about identity and acceptance is
important in raising awareness
about the diverse identities on
campus.
“We live in a world where
only the most privileged identi-
ties are heard, so there’s always
a dominant narrative,” she said.
“Creating a platform and space
where these voices can be heard
creates an atmosphere where we
can start learning about them
and raising awareness about
ANDREW COHEN/Daily
Business sophomore Sarvani Yellayi performs a traditional Indian dance during “Denied Voices: The Launch,” a
variety show and fundraising campaign dedicated to celebrating diversity on campus, at UMMA on Thursday.
See VOICES, Page 3
CAMPUS LIFE
University officials,
students discuss
screening of “The
Hunting Ground”
By ALLANA AKHTAR
Daily Staff Reporter
In honor of Sexual Assault
Awareness Month, several local
and national officials involved in
sexual
misconduct
prevention
on college campuses, including
University officials, discussed the
issue in a conference call Thursday
morning.
Later in the day, along with a
screening of the documentary film
“The Hunting Ground” on campus,
a second panel of University
officials joined individuals involved
in the film to consider the topic.
The call featured Kirby Dick
and Amy Ziering, “The Hunting
Ground”
film’s
producer
and
director, respectively. From the
University, Holly Rider-Milkovich,
director of the Sexual Assault
Prevention
and
Awareness
Center, and Public Policy senior
Laurel Ruza, “It’s On Us” student
organizer, participated in the call.
Lisa Winchell-Caldwell, senior
program manager of the Michigan
Coalition to End Domestic and
Sexual
Violence,
and
Laura
Palumbo, National Sexual Violence
Resource
Center
prevention
campaign specialist, also joined the
call to discuss state and national
efforts.
Palumbo said the goal of the call
was to connect partners in locally
See AWARENESS, Page 3
‘U’ survey
prompts
student
complaints
Dingell hosts community
round table on higher ed.
Code of conduct
will be open for
review next year
Denied Voices seeks to
highlight campus diversity
Call, film
aim to raise
awareness of
sexual assault