michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Tuesday, April 14, 2015 

CELEBRATING OUR ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIFTH YEAR OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM

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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