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Friday, April 10, 2015

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Vol. CXXIV, No. 100
©2015 The Michigan Daily
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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

