speaker of the assembly. Reps.
Noah Betman and Ben Meisel,
both LSA sophomores, received
nominations.
Betman
was
ultimately elected to the post.
As speaker, Betman said he
hopes to improve the logistical
and transparency issues in the
assembly
through
initiatives
such as making the assembly’s
agenda known to the general
public before meetings and asking
representatives to submit reports
from their respective meetings.
Reps. Allie Lisner and Catherine
Bergin, both LSA sophomores,
received nominations for vice
speaker of the assembly.
Bergin, who was elected to the
position, emphasized the past
experiences she felt made her a
qualified nominee, such as acting
as the host and writer for her high
school broadcasting show.
“Despite it being my first year
here (on CSG), I feel I would
definitely be an asset as vice
speaker,” she said.
Third-year Law student Paige
Becker, who served as this year’s
CSG election director, was the
guest
speaker
at
Tuesday’s
meeting. The Undergraduate
Election Code requires Becker
to debrief the assembly after
each election.
Becker said there was a voter
turnout of 24 percent in this year’s
presidential and vice presidential
election, which rose from 22
percent in last year’s election.
Further, more than 100 candidates
ran for a seat on the assembly,
and 40 out of the 58 seats on the
assembly were contested.
Becker also suggested potential
changes to the election code.
These
included
limiting
the
number of complaints each party
is allowed to file, improving
campaign volunteer education and
the possible institution of a run-off
election in certain cases.
The only new piece of business
presented in Tuesday’s meeting
was a resolution requesting the
University’s Investment Office
conduct an audit every three years
of all companies the University
invests in that may be committing
unethical practices anywhere in
the world.
“I thought that I saw that
students weren’t very happy
with
how
the
University’s
endowment was being spent,”
said Engineering senior Andy
Modell, author of the resolution.
The
resolution
further
requested if these audits find
any companies responsible for
immoral actions, they present
a plan that will reposition the
University’s funds to a “materially
superior ethical state.”
The assembly requested the first
audit be presented by the end of
March 2016. The resolution moved
to the resolutions committee.
The complete list of CSG
representatives
elected
to
leadership positions:
Finance
Committee
Chair:
Business sophomore Jacob Metzger
Finance Committee Vice Chair:
Business sophomore Eva Scarano
Resolutions
Committee
Chair: LSA sophomore Swathi
Shanmugasundaram
Resolutions
Committee
Vice
Chair: LSA junior Lucky Mulpuri
Rules
Committee
Chair:
Rackham student Jared Ferguson
Rules Committee Vice Chair:
Rackham student Ramon Martinez
Communications
Committee
Chair: LSA junior Taylor Helber
Communications
Committee
Vice Chair: Engineering junior Katy
Culver
Executive
Nominations
Committee Chair: LSA sophomore
David Schafer
Executive
Nominations
Committee
Vice
Chair:
LSA
sophomore Andrew Simor
Ethics Committee Chair: LSA
sophomore Thomas Hislop
Ethics Committee Vice Chair:
LSA sophomore Joe Ambrose
Aaron King, associate professor
of
ecology
and
evolutionary
biology and mathematics at the
University, and his colleagues,
sought to answer what lead to this
overestimation.
In the study, King and the
other co-authors argue that faulty
modeling was the cause for the
errors in the initial predictions.
In an e-mail to the Michigan
Daily, King said no model is
perfect, as they work through
oversimplification.
“Like
maps,
(models)
oversimplify reality,” he wrote.
“Also like maps, that’s what makes
them useful. The challenge in
using models is to capture the
key elements while ignoring the
irrelevant details.”
King said one of the problems
was that the model ignored the
randomness in how Ebola is spread
from person to person. An infected
person can transmit the virus to
either a few or many people, he
said, so disease transmission is not
entirely predictable.
“Models
that
ignore
the
random element in disease spread
are simpler and easier to employ,
but overstate the predictability of
an outbreak,” he wrote.
Marisa Eisenberg, assistant
professor
of
epidemiology
and mathematics, wrote in an
e-mail to the Daily that making
predictions in the early phase of
an epidemic is also challenging
because
researchers
have
to
analyze with limited information.
“The
lack
of
data
and
unreliability of what data there is
can be very tricky to deal with,”
Eisenberg wrote. “It’s a bit like
weather prediction in some ways
— making short-term predictions
is more doable, but long-term
predictions are more difficult and
require more data.”
King
also
pointed
out
that
the
general
modeling
theory
commonly
used
to
predict outbreaks of diseases,
including Ebola, H1N1, cholera
and seasonal flu, assumes an
exponential growth of the cases.
Therefore, more Ebola cases lead
to a greater number of predicted
cases. Exponential growth is seen
at the early phases of a disease
outbreak.
Eden Wells, clinical associate
professor of epidemiology, said
changing conditions in the three
West African countries included
in the CDC predictions, such as
additional foreign aid workers
providing education about safe
burial practices and providing
medical help, could also have
been why the disease spread
much less than expected.
“Many of the assumptions
that the modelers used were
that the exponential growth
would continue,” Wells said.
“Because there were so many
things
rapidly
evolving
on
the ground, the (exponential
growth) didn’t happen. Models
can overestimate because the
assumptions change quickly.”
Wells added that although
the
model
led
to
incorrect
predictions of the outbreak, the
overestimation
was
probably
helpful in getting people to
quickly respond to the disease.
“To
me
though,
(overestimation) is not necessarily
a horrible thing,” she said. “When
we have to assume the worst
possible scenario, it is a great way
to get our government leaders and
our healthcare providers around
the world to move quickly.”
3-News
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Wednesday, April 15, 2015 — 3A
EBOLA
From Page 1A
amendment in section 168.641
of the Michigan Election Law,
elections in cities across the state
can take place in either February,
May,
August
or
November.
Kestenbaum said there has been
discussion at the state level about
eliminating the February option.
Grand said she is interested at
looking into changing term lengths
as well as the years elections occur.
Currently, city council terms are
two years, and elections take place
annually — with half of the seats
contested in odd years and half in
even years.
Holding elections every year
creates problems for City Council,
Grand said, as councilmembers are
less willing to make compromises
and cooperate when they are
focused on reelection.
“Having
gone
through
it
recently in the last couple of years, I
am concerned about the amount of
time and effort that it takes to run
an election versus governing so I
am interested in other ways that we
could structure elections,” she said.
Discussing term length, Grand
said a change to four-year terms
would help city councilmembers
engage
in
increased
coalition
building and more substantive
work. She also said elections
should only occur on even years, so
there would only be elections for
new councilmembers every two
years rather than every year.
“I would love to see us go to four
year terms and (only) even years,”
she said. “I think that would help
with voter turnout. I think it would
also help constituents so they
could more closely identify their
councilmembers. So if you have
someone for a longer term you can
develop a relationship with that
person, you know that’s my person
to go to.”
The
panel
also
discussed
partisanship in elections. Ann
Arbor is currently one of only
three municipalities in Michigan
that have partisan elections.
A
partisan
election
means
candidates are permitted to have
party labels attached to their
names on the ballot.
“I
am
inclined
to
think
partisanship is not problem, at least
in Ann Arbor, with the exception
of the fact that Republicans don’t
seem to want to run for office in
Ann Arbor because the label is
not something they wish to have
tagged to their name these days,”
Chamberlin said.
In places like Ann Arbor, where
most candidates represent one
party, party labels matter less, and
sub-parties or factions can form,
he added.
After
the
panel,
Westphal,
the
city
councilmember,
said
increasing voter turnout is critical.
To this end, he is open to hearing
new ideas, such as converting to a
nonpartisan system.
“My goal is to get meaningful
ballots in front of more people,”
Westphal said. “However that’s
done, I think the voters choose to
do that. I just want to have more
participation.”
Like
Westphal,
all
three
panelists
articulated
concerns
with voter turnout. Ohren said
the city does not need to increase
the number of voters, but the
engagement of those who vote.
“I think the question really is
how do we engage the community
in the decision making process.
I think that’s what’s important
to us,” Ohren said. Not how
many people vote but rather how
many people participate in the
ELECTIONS
From Page 1A
some groups should not have the
same protection and there’s an
inherent message in that that is
really stigmatizing of a group. So
if you think about young people
growing up in an environment
where they hear that, what kind
of consequences does that have
on their well-being?”
In response to backlash in
Indiana, other states’ versions
of the bills have died or stalled.
Last week, Gov. Rick Snyder said
in an interview with The Detroit
Free Press he would veto the bill
if it was given to him as a stand-
alone bill.
During last year’s lame-duck
session, the bill was introduced
alongside expansions to the
state’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights
Act to include protections for
sexual orientation. Protections
for gender identity were also
proposed, but were not supported
by the Republican caucus.
“Given all the events that are
happening in Indiana, I thought
it would be good to clarify
my position,” Snyder said. “I
would veto RFRA legislation in
Michigan if it is a stand-alone
piece of legislation.”
Snyder told the Free Press he
would not support the bill unless it
was accompanied by an expansion
of the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights
Act. He also said he does not
want the LGBTQ protections to
be included in the RFRA bill, and
that he wants the two pieces of
legislation to stay separate.
Woodford said he worried
that an adjoining bill for LBGTQ
rights would not be passed while
the RFRA would.
“My concern would be, if in
fact the legislation protecting
— so enumerating gay/lesbian
people and transgender people
and such — if that would actually
go through,” Woodford said.
Other experts on the issue
said
with
or
without
the
extension of the Elliott-Larsen
Act, the RFRA won’t have a
malicious impact on any group.
Dr. Douglas Laycock, a law
professor at the University of
Virginia with University of
Michigan ties, said even though
he supports same-sex marriage,
he doesn’t think the law will
have a discriminatory effect.
“Most of the applications
of
Religious
Freedom
and
Restoration Acts have nothing to
do with discrimination,” Laycock
said. “They’re about churches
feeding the homeless, they’re
about Muslim beards and head
scarves, they’re about Sabbath
observance. They’re about all the
different ways in which minority
religious practices come into
conflict with sometimes unusual
regulations.”
Laycock said some lawmakers
may
intend
to
discriminate
through RFRA laws, but said
viewing the laws through the lens
of nondiscrimination showed that
they have many more benefits and
do not segregate others.
“Your right to believe in a
religion doesn’t mean very much
if you don’t have the right to
practice it,” he said.
Wyatt Fore, spokesman for
Outlaws, the University’s LGBTQ
law student organization, said the
organization is against the RFRA
bill because it allows a group
to legally discriminate against
another. Like Woodford, Fore was
also unsure whether extending
the civil rights act would be
enough to protect others.
“We very much are glad that
Governor Snyder has threatened
to
veto
RFRA,
and
that
Governor Snyder has called for
an expansion of the civil rights
act, but we would need more
details before we could think
authoritatively on what that deal
would be,” Fore said.
Fore drew a parallel between
the federal government’s approach
to desegregation in the 1960s with
the path state governments are
currently pursuing with RFRAs.
He said when deliberating on the
scope of the Civil Rights Act of
1964, lawmakers had two choices:
ban segregation or discrimination
in
any
businesses,
or
allow
freedom of choice.
“These contemporary RFRA
bills very much adopt the same
sort of theory,” Fore said. “That is
why these bills are so dangerous,
not only for LGBT people, but also
for all people who are protected
under civil rights acts, because, if
a baker can say: we will not bake
for gay people, then they can also
say: we will not bake for Jewish
people, we will not bake for Black
people. That is very much a theory
of discrimination that the current
law very enthusiastically rejects.”
RFRA
From Page 1A
In other words, this switch
would
allow
either
the
complainant
or
respondent
to appeal the findings of the
OIE
investigation
first,
and
then appeal the sanctions after
findings were resolved.
The change would also create
two new outlets to field appeals.
OIE appeals would go to a panel
of three representatives, made
up of two faculty members — one
from the Law School — appointed
by the Senate Advisory Committee
on University Affairs and a student
representative appointed by the
Central Student Government.
This is a change from the
current policy, where the existing
general appeals panel includes one
faculty member appointed by the
Faculty Senate, one administrator
appointed
by
the
University
president
and
one
student
appointed by CSG.
Additionally,
OSCR
appeals
would
be
reviewed
by
a
representative from the Office of
the Provost. This measure, Rider-
Milkovich said, would allow for an
objective voice external from the
process to review documents and
determine sanctions’ fairness.
“We believe it is important
to have an outside perspective
because OSCR is crafting the
agreement itself,” she said.
Rider-Milkovich added that she
hopes the appeals process change
will shorten the time frame
from reporting misconduct to
carrying out the investigation and
delivering sanctions. However, she
said she recognizes that allowing
two opportunities to appeal could
have the reverse effect.
“This is our best thinking on
a way to create a more authentic
experience, but it’s possible that
it lengthens the process, which
is something that we know is a
significant issue,” she said.
Petrowski mentioned that many
universities do not separate their
appeals system to differentiate
case findings from sanctions.
Student attendees responded
positively to the change in the
process,
but
voiced
concerns
about the pending appeals process
structure. A main concern was
with the CSG’s role in choosing
the student representative for the
OIE panel.
“I really don’t like that CSG
picks the student,” LSA junior
Laura Meyer said, adding that
she has little trust in CSG or
knowledge about what it does.
LSA
senior
Kathryn
Abercrombie,
a
former
CSG
representative and a leader in
SAPAC,
echoed
Meyer’s
fear
that the CSG assembly does not
always represent every voice
on campus to the fullest extent.
She mentioned there could be
other areas on campus, such as
the Trotter Multicultural Center
or Intergroup Relations, from
which the OIE panel could draw a
student representative.
“I would argue that CSG is not
representative of the student body,
and that is I think the source of
concern with having CSG appoint
someone,” Abercrombie said.
A
number
of
students
participating in the roundtable
talks suggested that the OIE
panel
adopt
an
open-call
application
for
the
student
representative on the panel.
Another
change
Rider-
Milkovich
and
Petrowski
proposed
was
to
make
the
identity of any witnesses in the
case known in reports and to the
parties involved.
The current policy protects
witness’
identities
to
make
students feel more comfortable
coming forward and sharing their
stories without fear of retaliation
in their various social groups.
Rider-Milkovich and Petrowski
proposed naming the identities
of witnesses to afford both the
respondent and the complainant
the best opportunity to defend
themselves or prosecute their
claims, because they could give
more information regarding the
accuracy of witness statements
and motives.
Rider-Milkovich and Petrowski
said this is the current trend
for universities that are also
undergoing policy revisions. They
added that the OIE investigator
overseeing a case would have the
discretion to determine whether
or not to hide the witness identity
in cases where he or she believed
the witness would be in physical
danger otherwise.
Raina LaGrand, a graduate
student in the Schools of Social
Work and Public Health, said
giving an OIE officer the discretion
to grant witness anonymity could
have the potential to be dangerous
— especially given that the stigma
surrounding sexual misconduct
can vary among racial or cultural
social groups.
“I think that the way different
communities
experience
sexual assault on this campus,
and
protecting
complainants
or respondents, is drastically
different,” LaGrand said.
Another potential change to
the Student Sexual Misconduct
Policy
involves
setting
strict time limits during the
investigative procedure.
Currently, the policy says the
procedure aims to be complete 60
days after the report is filed. Rider-
Milkovich admitted, however, this
time frame is often extended.
“Less often we are able to meet
60 days than we go over 60 days,”
she said.
However, Petrowski said she
has concerns about the strict
timeline, adding that extensions
are typically granted for a good
reason, such as allowing for
the most careful reviewing of
documents possible.
“I can tell you as a former
litigator it is much, much, much
harder to draft a 10 or 15 page brief
than it is a 50 page brief if there are
a ton of facts,” she said. “You need to
be very considerate about the main
points you want to get across.”
Rider-Milkovich and Petrowski
also proposed separating the
appeals
procedure
from
the
Student
Sexual
Misconduct
Policy to make each item more
understandable. Petrowski added
that doing so would also make it
easier to adjust the appeals process
independently from the policy’s
review cycle.
The policy currently posted
to the University’s website is 20
pages long and includes a policy
statement, section for definitions
and appeals the process.
The proposed changes do
not currently include revisions
to the policy’s definition of
consent. Last week, a report
published in The Michigan Daily
noted a discrepancy between
the definition of consent applied
during University disciplinary
proceedings
and
the
more
stringent definition promoted
by SAPAC.
Other proposed changes include
adding a definition of “retaliation”
to the sexual misconduct policy
and approaching cases of dating
violence, domestic violence and
stalking in a non-sexual manner
in the same way as allegations of
sexual misconduct.
POLICY
From Page 1A
CSG
From Page 1A
BRIAN BECKWITH/Daily
Holly Rider-Milkovich, director of the Sexual Assault Preventation and Awareness Center, during the Sexual Assault Policy
Roundtable at the Michigan League on Tuesday.