their transition to the University.

Additionally, Miars said the 

Commission on Transfer Student 
Resources holds “coffee hours,” 
during which former transfer 
students are available to advise 
new students and share their 
own experience and knowledge.

Though 
transfer 
students 

meet with an academic adviser at 
orientation, Klootwyk said one 
session couldn’t provide any new 
student with all the information 
they need to know.

Michael 
Hartman, 

coordinator of Transfer Student 
Programs at Newnan Academic 
Advising 
Center, 
noted 
that 

Newnan tries to explain at 
orientation the purpose of a 
college adviser, in the hope that 
new students will seek guidance 
from their advisers during their 
time at the University.

“For 
transfer 
students, 

depending on where they’re 
transferring 
from, 
we 

emphasize that (advising) might 
be different from what they’re 
used to in terms of our goal is 
not just to be there to help make 
sure they meet their degree 
requirements, but to make sure 
that they get everything out of 
their degree that they want,” 
Hartman said.

Miars said the proportion 

of transfer students who are of 
lower socioeconomic is greater 
than for the student body at large, 
citing the fact that many choose 
to transfer to the University after 

attending another institution to 
save money. Consequently, she 
said, many transfer students 
feel pressure to graduate in four 
years despite having spent fewer 
years at the University than most 
students.

“That 
pressure 
manifests 

itself in: ‘I need all my credits to 
transfer so I can be at the same 
place I was when I went to my 
former institution,’” she said.

She also noted that, often 

the University accepts fewer 
credits than transfer students 
had hoped, or accepts classes 
for departmental credit and not 
as the equivalent of a specific 
class. As a result, both Klootwyk 
and Miars said it is common for 
transfer students to petition for 
University credit.

Miars said students have had 

success with this procedure, but 
that for a while she did not know 
it was an option, and she said 
she is sure that other transfer 
students are unaware of it as well.

Hartman said students see 

a presentation at orientation 
that explains the process of 
transferring credits and what it 
means to receive departmental 
credit. 
He 
said 
Newnan 

understands 
that 
students 

receive a lot of information 
during orientation and that they 
may not remember some details 
from the presentation. However, 
he said they hope students will 
ask for clarification from their 
advisors in the event that they 
forget what they need to know.

Miars said the University 

will make students aware of 
the resources available to them, 

goal, like the other elements 
of SpringFest, was to engage 
students through their music 
improvisation.

While 
musical 
acts 
were 

performed periodically on the 
event’s main stage on North 
University Avenue on Friday, 
other collaborative activities were 
also held in the area, including a 
fashion show and MTank.

The fashion show incorporated 

numerous 
fashion 
groups 
on 

campus: NOiR, SHEI Magazine, 
EnspiRED and Bronze Elegance. 
Students lined the sidewalks on 
either side of North University to 
watch the show, which used the 
street as a runway.

LSA 
senior 
Karen 
Doh, 

president of NOiR, said NOiR 
was responsible for recruiting 
models and selecting the music 
and visuals to accompany their 
runway walks.

“We felt like one together,” 

Doh said. “It wasn’t just the motto 
… It was the students and the 
attendees, really cheering each 
other on and supporting fashion 
for a cause. It was very successful.”

Doh also noted that the models’ 

runway walks were organized to 
represent the five groups of student 
organizations 
represented 
at 

MUSIC Matters: arts, innovation, 
sustainability, social identity and 
philanthropy.

For example, she said, one of the 

walks involved numerous models 
to represent the construct of social 
identity — four models surrounded 
one central model for the first 
portion of the walk, and ultimately 
the central person walked to the 
front of the pack as an expression 
of individual identity.

MTank, the other major event 

on the SpringFest main stage, 
showcased 
numerous 
student 

startups and made its debut at 
the event this year. Modeled 
after the television show “Shark 
Tank,” University-based judges, or 
“sharks,” fielded startup pitches, 
provided critiques and offered 
monetary prizes to help further 
the startups’ mission.

LSA 
junior 
Saad 
Jangda, 

co-founder of MTank, said the 
group’s second iteration was a 
fun way to increase visibility 
for entrepreneurial efforts on 
campus.

He 
said 
MTank 
featured 

companies 
that 
had 
already 

gone through more formal pitch 
processes, including optiMize’s 
Social Innovation Challenge and 
MPowered’s 1000 Pitches event.

“An event like MTank shows 

that part of entrepreneurship that 
is exciting, that is creativity, that 
is innovation — all in one event 
where every student is walking on 
campus,” Jangda said.

Tom 
Frank, 
director 
of 

the 
University’s 
Center 
for 

Entrepreneurship, was one of 
the MTank “sharks,” and echoed 
Jangda’s feeling that it is important 
to acknowledge and encourage 
student entrepreneurship.

“I think one of the most 

important things we can keep 
doing as a community is that, 
when 
we 
identify 
would-be 

entrepreneurs, 
we 
continue 

to nurture them and provide 
help and support through every 
milestone, so that they stick with 
their ventures for as long as they 
have opportunities for it.”

Frank said his favorite of the 

pitches came from a company 
called Get Up and Go, which 
makes and sells caffeinated food 
products. The startup was one 
of the MTank competition’s 
collective 
judge 
favorites, 

subsequently winning a $1,000 
prize.

The day’s events were not 

exclusive to members of the 
University community — for the 
second year, MUSIC Matters 
also organized a program for 150 
Detroit-area students to come 
and participate in workshops, talk 
to University students and walk 
around SpringFest.

SpringFest culminated with 

the Common concert, throughout 
which 
the 
theme 
of 
people 

working to make collaborative 
change was apparent.

Video 7, a Detroit-based jazz 

collaborative 
that 
involves 

University 
alum 
Brendan 

Asante among others, opened 
for Common.

As the group was launching 

into song, one of its lead singers, 
Antwaun Stanley, told students, 
“I want you to know tonight that 
you have the ability … to change 
the world.”

Common 
held 
students 
to 

a similar standard in a small 
preamble to his performance of 
“Glory” — a song from the movie 
“Selma” that won a Golden Globe 
Award and an Academy Award.

He spoke to recent waves of 

racism in the form of nationwide 
police brutality toward Black 
people, and urged students to take 
part in making a change.

“It’s going to be up to us to 

change the system,” he said. “It’s 
up to us to go out and change the 

situation. We can’t just tweet 
about it and Instagram about it, we 
gotta plan and strategize and be 
active out there — support groups, 
vote, organize groups that will get 
better education for our youth.

“As you all go out as college 

students and people in the 
community, the things that you 
want to change, change them 
yourself,” he said.

After the concert, Common 

told 
event 
organizers 
and 

reporters from The Michigan 
Daily that he appreciated the 
cause MUSIC Matters proceeds 
will go to: establishing a summer 
program at the University for 
Detroit youth that will launch 
in the summer of 2016.

“You all are students,” he 

said. “That is very important. 
I appreciate you all having me 
be a representative of what you 
all are doing because I think 
it’s super important that we 
provide opportunities … for the 
young people that are coming 
up after us.”

“I know hip hop, for me, was 

a way to express myself in ways 
I never had done ever before,” he 
added. “Art and music and culture 
and just being able to be you 
through the art is an important 
thing. So if we empower our young 
people to be able to do that through 
MUSIC 
Matters 
and 
other 

organizations that are supporting 
that, I’m telling you we’re going to 
make a better world.”

Michigan 
and 
Lawrence 

Technological University, but did 
not graduate from either. 

“This company and all that you 

stand for were among the greatest 
joys of his life,” the statement read. 
“Just last month he was in Puerto 
Rico to celebrate with us the grand 
opening of The Mall of San Juan. 
He was so proud of what this 
wonderful company he founded 65 
years ago has accomplished.”

Over the past several decades 

Taubman — whose net worth is 
estimated at $3.1 billion by Forbes 
— gave over $150 million to the 
University. 

He also donated to multiple 

other colleges, including Harvard 
University and Brown University

In 1999, in his first major gift 

to the University, the Taubman 
College 
of 
Architecture 
and 

Urban Planning was renamed 
for Taubman after he donated 
$30 million. The gift was one of 
the largest ever received by the 
University at the time

Starting in 2007, he also gave a 

total of $100 million to start up and 
fund projects within the Taubman 
Medical Institute, part of the 
University’s Medical School. This 
included initiatives such as a $56 
million endowment for research 
into stem-cell therapy and Lou 
Gehrig’s disease. The institute 
also supports a group of scholars 

each year in pursuing individual 
research objectives. 

Last year, Taubman was one 

of several donors to support an 
expansion of the Taubman College, 
pledging $12.5 million of the $28 
million cost. The expansion was 
approved by the University’s Board 
of Regents last March. 

At a 2008 stem cell symposium 

on campus, he also announced 
plans to leave $22 million to the 
University’s Medical School as a 
bequest after his death. 

In a statement to the Detroit 

News Friday evening, University 
spokesman Rick Fitzgerald called 
Taubman a “great friend of the 
University of Michigan.”

Over 
the 
course 
of 
his 

career, Taubman faced several 
controversies, namely allegations 
of price fixing and misconduct. In 
his capacity as the former chairman 
of Sotheby’s auction house, he 
was convicted of conspiring with 
rival 
auction 
house 
Christie’s 

International in 2001 to artificially 
inflate prices and commissions 
received by both, serving close to a 
year in jail. 

In response to the conviction, 

Taubman 
did 
not 
deny 
the 

possibility of price fixing, but told 
the court he wasn’t aware it was 
taking place.

Additionally, in 2012 he was sued 

by a former employee for multiple 
counts of sex discrimination. The 
suit was dropped by the employee 
several weeks later. 

to 
educate 
themselves 
about 

cancer prevention, detection and 
treatment options — even if they 
haven’t been affected by cancer.

“It’s an opportunity to learn 

about breast health and the latest 
advancements in detecting breast 
cancer early as well as types of 
breast cancer that are genetically 
passed 
on 
from 
one 
family 

member to another,” Laatsch said.

Rep. Debbie Dingell (D–Mich.) 

delivered the summit’s opening 
remarks and emphasized the 
importance of continued efforts to 
fight breast cancer.

“Because of the talent like we 

have at the University of Michigan, 
we are going to kill this disease and 
make sure it stops killing people, 
God willing, within the lifetime 
of many of you in this room,” she 
said. “The University of Michigan, 
we thank you for creating this 
coalition 
of 
people 
to 
come 

together to learn, to educate, to 
advocate, to take care of yourself, 
your friends and family and make 
sure that this is a community that 
takes breast cancer on and tries to 
eliminate it forever.”

A panel of University oncologists 

also gave a presentation explaining 
how doctors detect and treat 
breast cancer. They focused on a 
case study from cancer survivor 
and former Cancer Center patient 

Melonie Mitchell, who also spoke 
during the event.

The panel talked extensively 

about 
the 
treatment 
options 

available to patients, including 
surgery, 
radiation, 
counseling, 

breast reconstruction, supportive 
care and drug therapy.

After the panel presentation, 

Mitchell thanked the University 
for playing a role in her treatment 
and recovery from breast cancer.

“I’m thankful for U of M and 

to have been here, all of the 
wonderful research and all of 
the wonderful practitioners and 
providers,“ Mitchell said.

In 
another 
presentation, 

Radiation Oncology Prof. Lori 
Pierce, 
the 
University’s 
vice 

provost for academic and faculty 
affairs, said it’s vital for the 
community to understand the 
modern techniques doctors are 
using to fight breast cancer.

“It’s very important to know 

what goes on behind the scenes,” 
Pierce said. “There has been a 
lot of work that has gone into 
the planning of these treatments 
before patients come in. We 
want to make sure we optimize 
the treatment for our patients 
by giving them the best possible 
chance of cure.”

The 
summit’s 
afternoon 

session, titled “Continuing to 
Thrive,” turned the focus from 
cancer treatment to a discussion 
of healthy living habits designed 
to benefit all types of people — 

including patients, survivors and 
those without cancer.

Katherine 
Goldberg, 
a 

culinary 
specialist 
with 
the 

University’s MHealthy Health 
and 
Well-Being 
Services, 

discussed the role a balanced, 
organic diet plays in good health 
and cancer prevention.

“By eating well, you don’t just 

reduce your risk of cancer but so 
many other types of diseases like 
obesity, Alzheimer’s disease, heart 
disease, macular degeneration and 
diabetes,” Goldberg said.

Public Health Prof. Vic Strecher 

closed the event with a talk about 
the process of finding purpose, 
happiness and comfort.

“Very 
importantly, 
in 
the 

cancer field, we’re starting to give 
meaning-centered 
therapy 
or 

purpose-in-life therapy to patients 
who have cancer and have been 
finding really super promising 
outcomes on well-being,” Strecher 
said. “So my own purpose is to 
help other people find a purpose.”

Ann Arbor resident Jennifer 

Wrisbrod, 
who 
is 
a 
cancer 

survivor, said the event was the 
perfect opportunity to familiarize 
herself with the new research 
available in the field.

“I live with the possibility of 

a recurrence,” said Wrisbrod. 
“It’s not behind me. It’s with me 
everyday and I learned here what’s 
in the future, which provides more 
hope and helps me live every day a 
little better.”

during Hurricane Katrina. He 
later testified before the House 
Committee on Oversight and 
Government Reform, accusing 
the 
Bush 
administration 
of 

censoring 
his 
public 
health 

research because it did not align 
with its political stance.

During the talk, Carmona 

told anecdotes related to various 
public health issues, including 
Guantanamo Bay, tobacco, the 
AIDS epidemic and Hurricane 
Katrina. He said Washington 
politics 
hindered 
potential 

solutions to all of these challenges.

Carmona 
detailed 
how 

partisan politics and special 
interests influenced both the 
state and federal response to 
Hurricane Katrina.

“The system (in Katrina) broke 

down because of special interest 
politics,” Carmona said

He 
also 
warned 
against 

appointing 
surgeons 
general 

and 
other 
officials 
without 

backgrounds in public health.

“All clinical practitioners should 

be, first and foremost, public 
health practitioners,” he said. “As 
public health professionals, we 
deserve the most qualified person 
who merits the position, not the 

person who most aligns with a 
political party... “We must work to 
prevent the politicization of public 
health. I was not the doctor of the 
Republican or the Democratic 
Party; I was the doctor of the 
people of the United States.”

Charley 
Willison, 
a 
first-

year doctoral student in Health 
Management and Policy, said 
Carmona’s 
comments 
were 

insightful.

“I appreciated his sharing his 

experiences and the importance 
of growing the network of 
public health as an authority to 
counteract politics and help to 
validate the credibility of these 
institutions,” Willison said.

TAUBMAN
From Page 1A

SPRINGFEST
From Page 1A

BREAST CANCER
From Page 1A

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Monday, April 20, 2015 — 3A

CONNOR BADE/Daily

Richard Carmona, former surgeon general of the United States, speaks about the intersection of public health, politics 
and his experience serving in the Bush Administration at the School of Public Health on Friday. 

ROBERT DUNNE/Daily

LSA senior Olivia Hobson models for the Spring Fest fashion show on North University St. on Friday. 

SURGEON
From Page 1A

TRANSFER
From Page 2A

but will not babysit students by 
reminding them about transfer 
student 
policies 
and 
about 

making 
appointments 
with 

advisers.

Improving resources

Klootwyk said as LSA-SG vice 

president, he has been working 
to 
update 
University 
policy 

to provide admitted transfer 
applicants the opportunity to 
defer 
enrollment, 
an 
option 

available for freshmen applicants 
that want to take a gap year.

He said he would have liked 

to have had that opportunity 
and that a gap year would have 
enriched his education and given 
him the chance to learn more 
about himself before coming to 
the University.

Miars said the Commission 

on Transfer Student Resources 
works with the administration 
to improve policies that already 

exist, as well as create new 
programs catered to the specific 
needs of transfer students.

She said finding housing has 

always been a difficult process 
for transfer students.

“We’re the last ones that get to 

apply for on-campus housing and 
typically transfer students end 
up getting placed in Northwood 
on North Campus,” Miars said.

The commission has been 

working to try and secure more 
housing on Central Campus 
for transfer students to help 
facilitate an easier transition 
for sophomores and juniors who 
may already feel removed from 
social groups that their peers 
have already formed.

“(We are trying to) make sure 

they’re not further isolated by 
being put on North Campus,” 
Miars said.

Miars 
said 
Housing 
has 

reserved spaces for transfers on 
Central Campus for next year.

She said the commission is 

also in the process of developing 
a Transfer Student Resource 
Center on campus that would 
be used as a study and hang out 
space for transfer students where 
they could meet other transfers 
and receive advice.

Newnan 
has 
offered 
the 

commission 
space 
in 
their 

basement for the center, which 
is still in its early planning 
stages, and Miars said it has 
been a very helpful resource for 
the commission as well as for 
transfer students in general.

“The (immediate) hope is to 

create a center where we can 
offer ongoing programming and 
drop in advising specifically for 
transfer students,” he said.

Miars 
also 
said 
the 

commission is in the process of 

producing a website that pools 
all transfer resources in one 
place and would ultimately be 
run by the University.

She 
said 
consolidating 

resources 
will 
be 
helpful 

because it can be difficult to 
find University resources online 
through many different websites.

Miars said she has noticed the 

administration paying a lot more 
attention to transfer student 
concerns in the last few years. 
She said University officials have 
been working to create programs 
that target concerns specifically 
impacting transfer students.

“Five 
years 
ago, 
the 

University of Michigan had a 
bad reputation when it came to 
transfer students; It wasn’t seen 
as the most transfer-friendly 
institution,” Miars said. “Now 
they’re trying to change that and 
making the effort.”

