coming weeks before the end of
session, possibly as early as Thurs-
day morning.
Ann
Arbor
City
Council
approved the closure of Fourth
Avenue from Catherine to Kings-
ley on the day the court’s decision
is released, per a request from the
Jim Toy Community Center, an
Ann Arbor based gay rights advo-
cacy group. The street will remain
closed from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. during
which supporters are expected to
rally along with plaintiffs DeBoer
and Rowse.
Hopeful that the Supreme
Court will decide in favor of
same-sex marriage, Councilmem-
ber Julie Grand (D-Ward 3) said
a decision against couples repre-
sented in the cases could result
in the loss of valued Ann Arbor
residents. In an interview with
the Daily, Grand expressed her
support of closing roads in antici-
pation of the Ann Arbor and larger
Michigan response to the deci-
sion’s release.
“It puts our state, and by exten-
sion Ann Arbor, at a disadvantage
if we don’t have marriage equal-
ity,” Grand said. “I believe we have
been losing really valuable resi-
dents who are making important
contributions to our community...
because of this issue. For moral
and ethical reasons, of course,
I want to see us have marriage
equality. I believe it’s the right
thing to do.”
In addition to reactions that
may occur on the closed streets
downtown,
attorneys
repre-
senting DeBoer and Rowse will
appear in Braun Court to answer
questions
and
offer
remarks
on the court’s decision at noon.
DeBoer and Rowse will also offer
remarks outside Braun Court,
where supporters are expected to
our incoming students,” Rider-
Milkovich said.
Survey results show that 51
percent of female undergraduates
and 39.2 percent of male under-
graduates have attended or par-
ticipated in Relationship Remix,
a University program created
for first-year students that seeks
to educate students on relation-
ships, sex and decision-making.
Data from the survey revealed
that 42 percent of respondents
were “very likely” to report inci-
dents of sexual assault to the
University’s Sexual Assault Pre-
vention and Awareness Center.
Another
initiative
Rider-
Milkovich said is new to the
University is the expansion of
educational and prevention pro-
grams for graduate and profes-
sional students.
Schlissel said the level of the
survey’s detail should help the
University determine what meth-
ods of prevention and support
are working, and gaining a more
clear understanding of to which
avenues students feel most com-
fortable reporting cases of sexual
assault.
Though some students found
the survey to be emotionally trig-
gering, Schlissel said the detailed
nature of these questions meant
the survey was very explicit but
thorough.
The survey asked students to
identify themselves in differ-
ent demographics, an aspect of
this survey that Schlissel said is
unique to the University. Accord-
ing to the survey, females are 7.7
times more likely to experience
non-consensual oral, vaginal or
anal sex than males. Sorority and
fraternity members are 2.5 times
more likely to experience non-
consensual oral, vaginal or anal
sex than average students.
Axinn said verbal pressure was
another particularly important
new finding discovered through
the survey.
Eight percent of female under-
graduates answered yes when
asked if verbal pressuring was
involved in their experiences of
non consensual oral, vaginal, or
anal sex — a finding Schlissel and
Axinn cited as significant and
new. The issue of verbal coer-
cion, in addition to criticism of
the timeliness of the University’s
handling of sexual misconduct
cases, was key in one student’s
experience with sexual assault,
as detailed in an investigation
conducted by The Michigan Daily
in April.
Finally, the survey found that
among undergraduate students
who did experience some form
of sexual misconduct, 41.2 per-
cent of sexual misconduct cases
occurred off-campus.
“This was a baseline survey,”
Schlissel said. “We intend to dis-
cuss the findings more broadly in
the fall with our student, faculty
and staff.”be a time of significant
change in higher education,” she
said. “After much consideration
and consultation with my closest
advisers, friends, and family, I have
decided that I want to turn the
focus of my professional service to
the broader problems and opportu-
nities facing universities.”
3
Thursday, June 25, 2015
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com NEWS
Study finds discrepancy in graduation rates
Research highlights
gap among students
of different
backgrounds
By ALAINA WYGANT
Daily Staff Reporter
A recent study conducted by
University Prof. Susan Dynar-
ski, a public policy, education
and economics professor, high-
lights a discrepancy in college
graduation rates among stu-
dents who come from different
socioeconomic backgrounds.
According
to
Dynarski’s
article discussing her research,
which was featured the New
York Times, the study found
that across the country, 14 per-
cent of the poorest students
sampled in 2002 had gone to col-
lege and graduated, whereas 60
percent of the richest had gone
to college and graduated.
Both
students’
socioeco-
nomic and educational back-
grounds — for instance, if a
student’s parents had gone to
college — placed them in cat-
egories labeled as ‘advantaged’
and ‘disadvantaged.’ The study
found that the graduation gap
between the advantaged and the
disadvantaged is larger than the
enrollment gap. The advantaged
are more likely not only to go to
college and but to graduate as
well.
“Put bluntly, class trumps
ability when it comes to college
graduation,” Dynarski wrote.
She argued differences in test
scores and academic abilities
between socioeconomic classes
do not explain everything about
the difference in who graduates.
Ability by itself is not the only
factor that effects graduation
rates — it plays a smaller role in
the graduation rate difference
between rich and poor, accord-
ing to the article.
“Here’s
another
startling
comparison: A poor teenager
with top scores and a rich teen-
ager with mediocre scores are
equally likely to graduate with
a bachelor’s degree. In both
groups, 41 percent receive a
degree by their late 20s,” she
wrote.
Dynarski drew much evi-
dence for her analysis from the
Educational Longitude Study.
Conducted in 2002, the study
followed a sample of high school
sophomores across the U.S. as
they progressed through high
school and college.
The national graduation aver-
age in 2012 was 59 percent,
according to the National Cen-
ter for Educational Statistics. At
the University, it was 90 percent
in 2012.
According to the University’s
admissions website, the Univer-
sity is a less expensive option for
in-state students. For in-state
students, the University meets
100
percent
financial
need,
which is measured by subtract-
ing a student’s expected family
contribution from the Univer-
sity’s cost of attendance. It is
cheaper to attend the Univer-
sity as an in-state student and
receive
substantial
financial
aid than to attend a college that
See DISCREPANCY, Page 8
SURVEY
From Page 1
SCOTUS
From Page 1
ZACH MOORE/Daily
Imagine Dragons perform at the Palace of Auburn Hills on Tuesday.
PAL ACE OF SMOKE + MIRROR S
Read more at MichiganDaily.com