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Ann Arbor, Michigan
Tuesday, April 14, 2015
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Provost emphasizes
importance of
offering a broad
array of disciplines
By TANAZ AHMED
Daily Staff Reporter
Though LSA offers more than
75 majors, some majors are far less
popular than others.
According to the enrollment
report from the Office of the Regis-
trar, as of the current winter semes-
ter the Ancient Greek, Modern
Greek and Earth Sciences majors
each have only have one student
enrolled. Ancient and Modern
Greek are offered by the Classical
Studies Department, while Earth
Sciences is housed in the Depart-
ment of Earth and Environmental
Sciences.
However, Michelle Biggs, the
undergraduate coordinator for the
Classical Studies Department, said
there are five students enrolled in
the Modern Greek concentration.
There are also 14 students majoring
in Classical Language and Litera-
ture, seven of whom chose Greek as
their main language.
The Classical Languages and
Literature concentration requires
students to study both Greek and
Latin, but to choose one language
as their main focus.
The differences between the
information in the enrollment
report and the actual number of
students enrolled in a program
may be due to students studying
abroad. The report also does not
also include students who declared
their majors after the data for the
report is collected.
University Provost Martha Pol-
lack said there is no specific enroll-
ment number and the University
does not require concentration pro-
grams to retain a minimum number
of students because it is important
the University provide a large vari-
ety of subjects for students.
“What distinguishes us is our
breadth of excellence,” she said.
Pollack said the cost of maintain
each major and minor is only one of
the factors the University takes into
consideration. The importance of
the major or minor in the field also
impacts the University’s decisions.
“We are very, very concerned
with the cost of higher education,
but we are also concerned with
having the breadth that makes us
great,” Pollack said.
According to JoAnn Peraino, the
University’s curriculum and enroll-
ment manager, low enrollment does
not impact how majors are modified
or how their futures are decided.
“It’s driven by pedagogy,” she
said. “It’s about the subject, not the
numbers.”
Periano said the University as a
ACADEMICS
DAVID SONG/Daily
Melody Barnes, chair of the Aspen Institute Forum for Community Solutions, talks about the disconnect between policy makers and those affected by
policy and outlines a better way to provide opportunity to lower income, disadvantaged kids at the Annenberg Auditorium on Monday.
Melody Barnes
discusses people
who lack access to
education, jobs
By EMMA KINERY
Daily Staff Reporter
The Ford School of Public
Policy ended its yearly policy
talk series Monday with a lec-
ture from a University alum.
Melody Barnes, chair of the
Aspen Institute’s Forum for
Community Solutions, gave a
lecture to aspiring policy mak-
ers, titled “Creating Oppor-
tunity for America’s Youth:
Anatomy of a Public Policy
Challenge.”
Barnes received her law
degree from the University in
1989. Prior to becoming the
chair of the forum, Barnes
served as an assistant to the
president and director of the
White House Domestic Policy
Council from 2009 to 2012
under President Barack Obama.
In her opening remarks, Barnes
said she was happy to return to
Ann Arbor.
“I don’t think I’ve been back
in Ann Arbor for a number of
years,” Barnes said. “It’s terrific
to be back. I already had a Zing-
erman’s brownie, so I’m in good
shape.”
Barnes’
lecture
focused
on the issue of young adults
in America who are discon-
nected with the education sys-
tem — college and high school
dropouts — as well as those not
interacting with the economy
in a significant way or holding
jobs that cannot support them
or a family. Barnes refers to
the estimated 6.7 to 7 million
American 16- to 24-year-olds
who fall into this category as
“opportunity youth.”
Contrary to the common
narrative, which categorizes
these youths as disconnected
and uninterested in engaging in
the community, Barnes said she
and her counterparts discov-
ered their value while engaging
with the opportunity youth.
“I believe that, having spent
time with many of these young
people, that this is an untapped,
but vital resource for our coun-
try,” she said. “They have much
to contribute in intellectual
gifts and in grit, and a view of
the world that can help us solve
many of the challenges before
us.”
Barnes explained the impor-
tance of investing in opportu-
nity youth for both moral and
economic causes.
During the question and
answer period, Barnes said fail-
ing to address the challenges
faced by opportunity youth
costs taxpayers billions of dol-
lars — including loss of federal
revenue to funding the juvenile
justice system and healthcare,
as well as loss in federal tax
revenue.
Barnes said society’s percep-
tions of opportunity youth is
one of the biggest roadblocks to
finding solutions.
ADMINISTRATION
Board will also vote
to approve $38.5
million parking and
transport facility
By ALLANA AKHTAR
and GEN HUMMER
Daily Staff Reporters
The University’s Board of
Regents will meet Thursday to
approve the construction of a
brand new Transportation Oper-
ation and Maintenance Facility
project and the construction for
a $54 million robotics laboratory
on North Campus.
Doug Strong, the University’s
interim chief financial officer,
recommended constructing a new
research and teaching facility for
the robotics program through the
College of Engineering.
The new building will house
research
laboratories,
offices,
classroom
space
and
other
functions.
The project will be funded in
part through resources and gifts
from the College of Engineering.
Strong also proposed to replace
the current Parking Transporta-
tion Services Building with a larger
building to accommodate heavier
equipment and larger buses.
Though
the
Parking
and
Transportation Services Build-
ing is located currently on South
Campus, on Kipke Drive and
past the Yost Ice Arena, the new
building is to be located on North
Campus near Green Road and
Hubbard Street.
According to Strong, the move-
ment will allow the University to
save approximately $400,000
per year in operating expenses
by reducing miles out of service
buses travel to get to the farther
location. Furthermore, the new
facility would allow about 185
parking spaces to become avail-
able on the Stephen M. Ross Ath-
letic Campus.
The new site is estimated to
cost $38.5 million and construc-
tion is set to begin in fall 2017.
Construction proposals
The regents will also consider a
variety of construction proposals.
The North Quadrangle Resi-
dential and Academic Complex,
which opened in 2010, is in need
of a new roof. An investigation is
underway to determine the cause
of the roof’s premature deteriora-
tion. The proposal recommends
replacing approximately 25,000
square feet of the metal roofing
on the building’s south wing.
Committee also adds
new guidelines for
faculty grievance
procedures
By CARLY NOAH
Daily Staff Reporter
The Senate Advisory Commit-
tee on University Affairs convened
Monday afternoon for their sec-
ond-to-last meeting before newly
elected members take office on
May 1. The committee reviewed
the Statement of Student Rights
and Responsibilities and adopted
an edited version of the SACUA
Guidance on Grievability.
SACUA member David Potter,
a Classical Studies professor, dis-
cussed two main takeaways from
attending a recent luncheon spon-
sored by the University’s Office of
Student Conflict Resolution.
He noted the types of statement
violations reported to the Univer-
sity and the potential of adding an
additional honor code to supple-
ment the statement.
Potter said 600 statement viola-
tions were reported within the last
year, and the University issued no
expulsions or suspensions during
DAVID SONG/Daily
Producer Mike Dilbeck speaks to members of Sigma Delta Tau sorority about taking action in times of moral cri-
sis in the Michigan Union Ballroom on Monday evening.
Sigma Delta Tau
kicks off “Speak
Up! Michigan”
initiative
By EMMA KILBANE
Daily Staff Reporter
After the University placed
its chapter of the Sigma Delta
Tau sorority on a two-year
disciplinary suspension for
attending a January ski trip
that resulted in thousands of
dollars in damage, the sorority
is launching a bystander inter-
vention program.
The
newly
implemented
Speak Up! Michigan program
kicked off Monday evening
with a lecture by Mike Dil-
beck, who founded Response
Ability, a program providing
people with the tools to inter-
vene in difficult situations.
SDT organized the initiative
to promote bystander inter-
vention education on campus.
The audience was mostly
composed of students affiliat-
ed with Greek life. SDT mem-
bers made up a majority of the
audience.
Michelle
Carlson,
SDT
national
president,
also
attended, and referenced the
chapter’s current disciplinary
suspension. Dean of Students
Laura Blake Jones sanctioned
the chapter in February upon
the conclusion of the Univer-
sity’s disciplinary proceedings.
“Our women really believe
that they did not have the
FACULTY
See MAJORS, Page 3
See YOUTH, Page 3
See REGENTS, Page 3
See BYSTANDER, Page 3
See SACUA, Page 3
‘U’ maintains
unpopular
LSA majors
despite costs
Obama’s former domestic
policy director talks youth
Regents to
consider new
robotics lab
Sorority that attended ski
trip hosts bystander training
SACUA
considers
adding ‘U’
honor code
INDEX
Vol. CXXIV, No. 102
©2015 The Michigan Daily
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