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Ann Arbor, Michigan
Wednesday, April 15, 2015

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

SEXUAL MISCONDUCT POLICY

University considers 
changes to appeals 
process, witness 

testimony

By ALLANA AKHTAR

Daily Staff Reporter

University administrators sat 

down with students Monday and 
Tuesday night to discuss potential 
changes to the Student Sexual 
Misconduct Policy.

Holly Rider-Milkovich, director 

of the Sexual Assault Prevention 
and Awareness Center, and Patricia 
Petrowski, associate vice president 
and deputy general counsel, told 
students that revisions to the 
policy will be based on a variety of 
factors — including comparisons 
to peer institutions’ policies and 
suggestions voiced by students, 
faculty and SAPAC.

“As we’ve been gathering that 

information, we’ve been thinking 
about what are some ways we can 
strengthen the policy and respond 
to some of the concerns,” Rider-

Milkovich said.

The pending changes come two 

years after the Student Sexual 
Misconduct Policy was last revised 
in August 2013.

Rider-Milkovich and Petrowski 

had already proposed a number 
of changes to the current policy, 
which 
they 
discussed 
with 

students in a round table format.

Under the current policy, either 

the complainant or the respondent 
can appeal a case’s outcome after 
the Office for Institutional Equity 
reviews the report and the Office 
of Student Conflict Resolution 
decides sanctions.

According to Rider-Milkovich, 

this 
can 
render 
potential 

respondents 
and 
complainants 

unable to agree upon sanctions 
because they are not finished 
disputing evidence — which could 
lengthen the procedure.

Subsequently, she said, the 

first and most complex policy 
change would involve separating 
the appeals process to allow 
for objections at both the OIE 
and OSCR levels, as opposed to 
appealing them collectively.

AMANDA ALLEN/Daily

Political Science Prof. John Chamberlin speaks about the process of electing local public owfficials at “Ann Arbor Elections: Exploring Options” panel discussion 
hosted by The League of Women Voters of the Ann Arbor Area at the Ann Arbor downtown public library on Tuesday.

Several members of 
City Council attend 
discussion on local 
electoral system

By ANASTASSIOS 
ADAMOPOULOS

Daily Staff Reporter

With a heavily Democratic 

electorate, Ann Arbor City Council 
elections are typically determined 

during primary season. But since a 
large portion of Ann Arbor voters 
absent in August, some residents 
have called for changes to election 
dates.

According to an interactive 

panel discussion hosted Tuesday 
by the League of Women Voters 
of the Ann Arbor Area, the dates 
aren’t likely to change in the near 
future.

About 25 attendees, including 

councilmembers Jack Eaton (D–
Ward 4), Julie Grand (D–Ward 3) 
and Kirk Westphal (D–Ward 2), 

joined a panel of experts inside 
the Ann Arbor District Library 
to discuss election dates, voter 
turnout and partisanship in Ann 
Arbor elections.

Panelists first responded to 

questions prepared by the LWV 
— a nonpartisan organization 
that promotes political awareness 
and activism — and then took 
questions from attendees.

The panel consisted of John 

Chamberlin, a professor of public 
policy, Lawrence Kestenbaum, 
the Washtenaw County clerk and 

Joseph Ohren, a political science 
professor at Eastern Michigan 
University.

The panel stressed that election 

dates in Ann Arbor cannot change 
without changes to Michigan 
Election Law.

“When we talk about changing 

the schedules of elections in 
Ann Arbor, the elections pretty 
much have to be in November 
and the primaries in August,” 
Kestenbaum said.

According 
to 
a 
2005 

GOVERNMENT

After RFRA passes 
in Indiana, similar 
proposal generates 
discussion in Mich.

By EMMA KINERY

Daily Staff Reporter

A 
bill 
that 
would 
allow 

individuals to claim exemptions 
from certain laws on religious 
grounds 
has 
garnered 
new 

attention in Michigan following 
controversy over the passage 
of a similar Religious Freedom 
Restoration Act in Indiana.

A RFRA bill was originally 

introduced to the Michigan state 
Senate in January. Currently, 20 
states have passed versions of 
the RFRA following a 1997 U.S. 
Supreme Court decision that 
ruled a national version of the 
law was not applicable to state 
laws. Though they vary between 
states, 
RFRA 
bills 
generally 

allow businesses and citizens to 
claim exemptions from state laws 
if they can prove the laws violate 

strongly-held religious beliefs.

A similar version of the bill 

introduced last year failed to pass 
in the year’s lame-duck session.

Opponents of the bill have 

said the RFRA will hinder 
discrimination protections for 
multiple groups, namely the 
LGBTQ 
community. 
These 

concerns were highlighted after 
several incidents in Indiana have 
occurred — including a pizzeria 
that gained national attention 
saying it would refuse to cater to 
same-sex weddings.

Michael 
Woodford, 
an 

assistant professor of social work 
at Wilfrid Laurier University in 
Ontario, Canada who studies the 
LGBTQ community, said RFRAs 
are a concern for a variety 
of 
reasons, 
including 
their 

potential to imply that some 
groups have less legal protection 
than others.

“We think about the stigma 

and marginalization — especially 
when 
we’re 
talking 
about 

legislation,” Woodford said. “It’s 
basically saying the people we 
elect to make laws think that 

WILLIAM LYNCH/Daily

LSA sophomore Ben Meisel, a CSG representative, asks fellow representatives to consider him as the speaker of 
the assembly during the CSG meeting in the CSG chambers on Tuesday. 

Director also 

suggests changes 

to University 
Election Code

By LEA GIOTTO

Daily Staff Reporter

The newly elected 2015-2016 

Central Student Government 
assembly met for the first time 
Tuesday night.

The first order of business was 

swearing in LSA junior Cooper 
Charlton and LSA sophomore 
Steven Halperin as the new CSG 
president and vice president, 
respectively, 
and 
the 
fifth 

assembly as a whole.

“I ... do solemnly swear that 

I will to the best of my ability 
preserve and champion the 
all campus constitution of the 
Ann Arbor student body,” the 
assembly announced together.

After 
being 
sworn 
in, 

Charlton promised three things 

to the assembly: confidence, 
respect and execution.

“If we do not do the first two 

— confidence and respect — we 
will not be able to execute,” he 
said. “I hope we will all be able 
to work together to make sure 
next year is a hell of a year for 
not only our students but for 
the University of Michigan as 
a whole.”

The 
assembly 
also 
held 

elections 
for 
assembly 

leadership positions, including 

HEALTH

‘U’ researchers 

explain why officials 
overestimated the 
disease’s spread

By IRENE PARK

Daily Staff Reporter

According to figures updated 

generated by the Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention, 
the federal government likely 
overestimated 
the 
extent 
of 

Ebola’s spread.

In 
Septmember, 
the 
CDC 

predicted Sierra Leone, Guinea 
and Liberia would experience 
1.4 million cases of Ebola cases 
by Jan. 20, 2015 without the 
implementation 
of 
additional 

interventions.

As of Tuesday, the total number 

of suspected or confirmed cases 
totaled 25,611 in the three countries 
— 
far 
lower 
than 
originally 

predicted by the CDC.

In a recent study published in the 

Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 

See EBOLA, Page 3A
See CSG, Page 3A
See RFRA, Page 3A

See ELECTIONS, Page 3A
See POLICY, Page 3A

The year in review 

Students and photos of the year

» INSIDE

Admins talk 
changes to 
misconduct 
procedures 

Panel discusses election 
cycles, term lengths in A2

Snyder vows to 
veto religious 
freedom bill

CSG swears in leadership 
during inaugural meeting

CDC reports
fewer Ebola 
cases than 
anticipated

INDEX
Vol. CXXIV, No. 103
©2015 The Michigan Daily
michigandaily.com

NEWS......................... 2A

OPINION.....................4A

ARTS.......................... 5A

SPORTS ......................7A

CL ASSIFIEDS...............6A

THE STATEMENT..........1B

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