said. “He has hit the ground
running … on the completion of
President Schlissel’s first year
in office, the Board of Regents
would like to recognize and
acknowledge a job well done.
Regent Shauna Ryder-Diggs
(D–Grosse Pointe) emphasized
her appreciation for the work
Schlissel has done in the realm
of campus diversity, and spoke
specifically about the recent
diversity summit he hosted.
“It was wonderful to see rep-
resentation from all over this
campus,
including
students,
staff, faculty and administra-
tion,” she said.
“The engagement was pal-
pable,” she added, noting that
the board will look forward to
the strategies that will follow
further community insight and
internal reviews.
In her first year at the Uni-
versity,
President
Emerita
Mary Sue Coleman netted
$475,000 per year. By her
third year in office, her salary
had risen by roughly 4.5 per-
cent to $484,500. By the end
of her tenure at the University,
Coleman was earning just over
$603,000 per year.
U.S. Department of Education
for their handling of sexual
assault cases, including the
University and Michigan State
University.
“There’s an epidemic of sexu-
al assault on college campuses,”
Hertel said. “One in five women
will be a victim of sexual assault
while in those college years. I
think we need to do something
to change the paradigm of what
kids are learning before they
get to college so we can actu-
ally give them the tools that will
help alleviate this.”
Affirmative
consent
aims
to go against the common “no
means no” definition, which
says an individual must clearly
say no for a situation to be non-
consensual.
The bill would require stu-
dents be taught that silence and
lack of resistance does not con-
stitute consent, nor does rela-
tionship status, and that consent
can be revoked at any time.
The Michigan Daily report-
ed last year that the standard
of consent in the University’s
Student
Sexual
Misconduct
Policy defines consent as “clear
and unambiguous agreement,
expressed in mutually under-
standable words or actions, to
engage in a particular activity.
Consent can be withdrawn by
either party at any point.” The
University’s
Sexual
Assault
Prevention
and
Awareness
Center promotes the affirma-
tive consent definition in many
of its educational materials,
prompting SAPAC to clarify
language defining consent on
its website.
Earlier this month, Univer-
sity President Mark Schlissel
told the Daily that he wanted to
update the University’s Student
Sexual Misconduct Policy by
next semester.
In a September interview
with the Daily, Schlissel said he
didn’t think a change in defini-
tion would effectively reduce
sexual assault on campus.
“I don’t think that a change
in the definition of consent is
adequate to result in a faster
process or diminish incidences
of sexual assault,” Schlissel
said. “I’m open to considering it;
I think time will tell whether it
makes a difference.”
However, Schlissel said he
would be interested to see the
impact of legislation passed in
California that changed the def-
inition of consent in the state to
require explicit verbal consent,
including for the state’s univer-
sities.
“The states that are pushing
hard on this will be our labora-
tories,” he said. “If California all
of the sudden has a huge drop in
sexual assault or misconduct,
then oh boy I’m ready to do that,
too.”
In a written statement Thurs-
day,
SAPAC
Director
Holly
Rider-Milkovich said she would
continue to watch the legisla-
tion closely.
“The components of consent
outlined in this proposed legis-
lation closely reflect what the
University of Michigan has been
teaching students for more than
a decade,” Milkovich wrote.
“We are committed to creating
a safe and healthy campus com-
munity that is free of sexual vio-
lence and teaching consent is a
fundamental part of this effort.
Efforts to educate students ear-
lier than college about sexual
violence are consistent with our
own overall educational objec-
tives.”
The University has imple-
mented several education pro-
grams of its own to address the
issue of sexual assault. Relation-
ship Remix, which is required
for freshmen, aims to pro-
mote healthy relationships and
informs students on the Univer-
sity’s definition of consent.
Rackham student Geneva
Langeland said though she
was initially confused by the
backpacks covering the Diag,
the display’s deeper meaning
quickly dawned on her.
“I didn’t realize what was
going on today so when I
walked up and saw back-
packs scattered I thought
there had been some sort of
student rapture, all these stu-
dents doing homework out
on the lawn and then they
just disappeared,” she said.
“And then, I kind of realized
– that’s exactly what hap-
pened. There all these stu-
dents that should have been
here, and aren’t.”
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Friday, September 18, 2015 — 3A
Expelled Michigan
representative to
run for seat again
State
Rep.
Cindy
Gamrat
(R-Plainwell) was expelled from
her seat in the state House. She
was accused of being involved
in a sex and cover-up scandal
with state Rep. Todd Courser
(R-Lapeer).
Last Friday, just after 4 a.m.,
Gamrat was expelled by a 91-12
vote. Despite this, she told the
Detroit Free Press that she was
not concerned about going back.
Five other people have filed for
the seat in Lapeer County. They
include Republicans Chris Tuski,
Jake Davison, Ian Kempf, Gary
Howell and James Dewilde.
Courser, on the other hand,
has not filed for the seat that he
resigned from last week.
Ann Arbor crepe
eatery appears to
have closed doors
The popular downtown Ann
Arbor restaurant, What Crepe, is
suspected to have closed.
According
to
MLive,
the
restaurant
was
closed
on
Tuesday during normal business
hours.
They
also
reported
equipment was being loaded into
trucks on Monday.
This is the fourth eatery in
Liberty and State Street area to
have closed.
Flint, Detroit named
among top poorest
cities in America
According to a U.S. Cen-
sus Bureau report released on
Wednesday, Flint and Detroit
rank among the most impover-
ished cities in the country. Flint
has 40.1 percent of its popula-
tion living below the poverty
line. Based on the city’s size, this
makes Flint the second-poorest
city in the country.
According
to
the
Michi-
gan Department of Health and
Human Services, 130,095 people
in Genessee County, where Flint
is located, are using food stamp
assistance. This is about a 48%
increase since 2005.
Detroit has an improverished
population of 39.3 percent. This
means that Detroit is the poorest
major city in America.
Man found dead
near Wolverine
Tower in June died
of natural causes
Police confirmed Thursday
morning that a man found dead
in June near Wolverine Tower, a
University administrative build-
ing, passed away from natural
causes.
Diane Brown, spokesperson
for the University’s Division of
Public Safety and Security, said
the man, identified as 22-year
old Ypsilanti resident Lezester
Sample, died from diabetic keto-
acidosis. Diabetic ketoacidosis is
a complication of type 1 diabetes.
Sample was not affiliated with
the University.
In June, police had indicated
that the cause of death was likely
non-suspicious.
Circuit Court says
Mich. college does
not have to offer
contraceptives
The U.S. 8th Circuit Court of
Appeals upheld a decision that
a Michigan college did not have
to offer contraceptive insurance
coverage.
Cornerstone
University,
a
private and religious college in
Grand Rapids, challenged the
contraceptive mandate alongside
Dordt University. According to
the Detroit Free Press, they felt
that the government was coerc-
ing them to violate their reli-
gious beliefs.
—ISOBEL FUTTER
NEWS BRIEFS
recalled his own working-class
roots, describing a time when
his father climbed the stairs
to young Biden’s bedroom. Joe
Biden Sr. told his son he’d need
to seek work in another city, but
assured him everything would
be OK.
Biden, who expressed a love
for automobiles and spoke of a
father who sold cars his whole
life, was telling Detroit’s story by
telling his own.
“We’ve got a lot further to
go,” he said, his shirtsleeves now
rolled up. “We won’t give up until
everyone in Detroit who wants to
work makes a decent wage and
can make that walk over and say,
‘Honey, it’s going to be all right.’”
Mayor Duggan told another
anecdote.
When Biden met with him in
2014, not long into the new may-
or’s term, he asked what the one
thing was the Obama adminis-
tration could do to lend a hand.
Duggan’s answer: buses. Dug-
gan saw Detroiters braving the
January snow, waiting for buses
that often didn’t show up.
So Biden called Duggan every
week. The vice president said he’d
do his best to come up with a solu-
tion.
Even as Biden dealt with a for-
eign policy crisis in Ukraine last
year, the vice president kept calling.
“I want you to know, I haven’t
forgotten about the buses,” Biden
told him.
And he didn’t. The adminis-
tration created a grant competi-
tion, told Duggan to apply, and
the city ultimately secured the
funds to bring 80 new buses to
the city of Detroit.
When White House adviser
Gene Sperling and Transporta-
tion Secretary Ray LaHood, who
served as the administration’s
point people for revitalization
efforts in Detroit, left office,
U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D–
Dearborn) said she told Biden
Detroit needed a new champion
in Washington.
“He’s really been that person,”
she told The Michigan Daily. “He
understands the importance of it.
You’ve got to have somebody that
is fighting for people, and Joe
Biden cares deeply about want-
ing to see the city come back.”
Dingell, however, wasn’t ready
to commit her support to Biden,
were he to declare his candidacy.
She said Democratic frontrun-
ner Hillary Clinton, the former
secretary of state, doesn’t have
Michigan locked down.
She thinks the primary would
be competitive if Biden were on
the ballot.
“I love Joe Biden. I love Hill-
ary. I hope I don’t have to make
the decision between the two of
them,” she said. “They’re both
two talented, wonderful people
and they would both be good
presidents of the United States.”
Aaron Kall, an expert on elec-
tion politics and the University’s
director of debate, said Biden’s
base would likely focus on Rust
Belt states, including Michigan.
“He’s always been a defender
of the working person and I think
Detroit really embodies that,” he
said. “He relates to the history of
the city and the work ethic of the
community, and he wants to do
whatever he can to support it.”
Kall said he thinks Biden
could carry Michigan in the pri-
mary, were he to challenge the
current Democratic contenders.
“If you compared visits (to
Michigan) with him and Hillary
Clinton and Bernie Sanders, he’s
just going to have a much higher
name recognition,” he said. “I do
think the race would be up for
grabs. I think his past history and
experience would serve him well.”
As he sipped a glass of wine at
the Great Lakes Coffee Roasting
Company on Woodward Avenue,
where Biden made a Labor Day
stop last year, Detroit resident Don-
nie Sackey said Biden could add to
the race, but he doesn’t see the vice
president as a viable candidate.
“Do I think that Joe Biden
has a shot at becoming presi-
dent? This (would be) his third
time running,” he said. “I think
people look at that and say, “You
lost, why do you want to run for
president?’ ”
George Robinson, a DDOT
shift supervisor who listed to
Biden’s speech on Thursday,
hasn’t committed his support
to a candidate yet, but said he’s
followed
Biden’s
career
for
quite some time, since before he
assumed the vice presidency.
“I would definitely consider
him,” he said. “No doubt about
it. He has a history of supporting
the middle class. He’s a down-to-
Earth type of guy, just a regular
man right next door. He can real-
ly relate to me. He’s not someone
who’s so high up that he (doesn’t)
understand the issues that peo-
ple day to day deal with.”
Cindy Reese, a Detroit trans-
portation activist who spoke at
Thursday’s event, said she was
impressed by the vice president’s
grasp of Detroit’s transit issues.
“I listened to him today, and
I’ve heard some other speeches,
but he really touched my heart
today,” she said. “My struggle
was his struggle and that’s what
you want — a person in office to
understand and be part of your
struggle, too.”
CONSENT
From Page 1A
HEALTH
From Page 1A
SCHLISSEL
From Page 1A
BIDEN
From Page 1A
Runge was appointed by the
regents to lead UMHS in 2014.
He previously served as the
executive dean for the School
of Medicine at the University
of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill. Dr. Michael Johns, former
Emory chancellor and executive
vice president for health affairs,
had filled the role in an interim
capacity after the departure of
former UMHS CEO Ora Pesco-
vitz. She announced she her
departure from the University
after five years in the position.
James
Woolliscroft,
the
school’s current dean, said in
an e-mail to the Medical School
Community, obtained by The
Michigan Daily, that he has long
advocated for combining the
two roles. He said he would step
down in January after serving
as dean since 2007.
“By explicitly and visibly
linking these pieces in our …
mission of research, education
and patient care in one person,
we enable the seamless connec-
tion between the people and
resources of the medical school
and the hospitals and health
centers, while creating a trans-
parent structure for both timely
action
and
accountability,”
Schlissel said.
Regent
Shauna
Ryder-
Diggs (D) said the integration
of patient care, research and
education will make UMHS
a national leader in these
realms.
“This merging of our respon-
sibilities we are discussing
today is the next logical step in
this process,” Ryder-Diggs said.
The first new leadership
position is the executive vice
dean for clinical affairs at the
Medical School and president
of the University of Michigan
Hospitals and Health Centers
and University of Michigan
Medical Group.
Internal
Medicine
Prof.
David Spahlinger, currently the
senior associate dean for clini-
cal affairs and executive direc-
tor of UMMG, will take this
position beginning Jan. 1.
Runge
said
integrating
the clinical enterprise with
the Medical School is part of
his plan to better integrate
research, patient care and edu-
cation within UMHS and the
Medical School.
“This will drive for greater
innovation,
better
progress
and ultimately better care for
patients,” he said.
Before serving as senior
associate dean, Spahlinger was
chief medical resident at the
University during his residency
in the 1980s. In 1997, he became
the first medical director of the
University Faculty Group Prac-
tice when it was formed.
A
senior
vice
president
and chief operating officer of
the University Hospitals and
Health Centers and the Uni-
versity Medical Group was also
appointed. T. Anthony Denton,
current CEO of University of
Michigan Hospitals and Health
Centers, will serve in the role.
Denton will work to align
medical school education and
research with clinical enter-
prise operations.
Denton began as an adminis-
trative fellow at UHMS in 1981
and served as CEO of UMHHC
DEAN
From Page 1A
GRANT HARDY/Daily
LEFT: Vice President Biden laments that citizens have to worry about finding employment at the Detroit Department of Transportation on Thursday. RIGHT: Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (MI–12)
discusses the 2016 elections at the Detroit Department of Transportation on Thursday.