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Ann Arbor, Michigan
Wednesday, September 30, 2015

ONE-HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM

CAMPUS CONTEXT

President slated to 
roll out strategic 

initiative on inclusion 

by spring 2016

By EMMA KINERY

Daily Staff Reporter

University 

President 
Mark 

Schlissel 
and 
his 

administration 
have 
spent 
the 

last academic year 

working to roll out new policy 
initiatives 
regarding 
several 

campus issues — most notably 
athletics, diversity, alcohol abuse 
and Greek life. This week, The 
Michigan Daily reviews the events 
that got the ball rolling. Today, 
we consider Schlissel’s work to 
address campus diversity, namely 
through the gradual unveiling 
of his administration’s strategic 
campus plan to be released by the 

end of this year.

The overview: Diversity has 

long been a battle-tested issue 
at 
the 
University. 
Currently, 

minority 
enrollment 
lies 
at 

11.53 percent — and in recent 
years, students have continually 
lobbied the University to make 
the campus more welcoming to 
minority students, both in terms 
of social climate and admissions.

The 
changes: 
University 

President Mark Schlissel has 
worked to address the school’s 
apparent lack of diversity by 
introducing 
a 
campus-wide 

strategic plan, which he will 
unveil at the end of this school 
year (also the end of his second 
year in office). Most recently, 
this 
has 
included 
launching 

the HAIL Scholarship, which 
offers full-ride tuition for high-
achieving, low-income students. 
Initiatives through the Office of 
Student Life have also sought to 
heavily incorporate students in 
catalyzing culture shift at the 

Speakers focus on 
humanizing those 

affected by 
the crisis

By TANYA MADHANI

Daily Staff Reporter

University students and Ann 

Arbor residents gathered on the 
Diag on Tuesday at a vigil for 

Syrian refugees.

The 
University’s 
Muslim 

Graduate Students Association 
and 
Muslim 
Law 
Students 

Association held the vigil to 
honor Syrian refugees who lost 
their lives and those who are 
still struggling to reach a safety. 
The flood of Syrian refugees 
into Europe has sparked debate 
in recent weeks as world leaders 
struggle with how to handle the 
influx of people fleeing unrest in 
their home country.

Third-year law student Omar 

El-Halwagi, 
co-president 
of 

MLSA, said he and the president 
of MGSA decided to hold the 
vigil to call attention to issues 
impacting Muslims globally.

“There is no greater human 

rights crisis right now than 
the Syrian refugee (crisis) and 
we’re all watching it unfold,” 
El-Halwagi said. “We’ve been 
watching it unfold for years. We 
finally felt there was enough 
momentum to get something 

done.”

El-Halwagi said he hopes 

students become better informed 
on the issue so that it will be more 
likely they will take action in the 
future.

“We have the next generation 

of leaders attending this school 
and they need to be able to be 
aware of what’s going on,” he said. 
“I also think college campuses 
are really ripe for activism and 
advocacy. By being able to put on 

Dimitri Nakassis 
wins $650,000 
to pursue study 

focused on classics

By TANYA MADHANI

Daily Staff Reporter

In the fall of 1993, then-LSA 

freshman Dimitri Nakassis was 
flipping through a course pack to 
decide which classes he wanted 
to take when he stumbled upon 
two courses that piqued his 
interest: Introduction to Field 
Archeology, and Intro to Greek 
Art and Architecture.

Twenty-two 
years 
later, 

Nakassis’ research on Mycenaean 
Greek society — which represents 
the last phase of the Bronze Age 
in Ancient Greece — and the 
relationship between its nobility 
and working class earned him the 
2015 MacArthur Fellowship. He 
is one of 24 individuals to receive 
the fellowship, a stipend of 
$625,000 that is often referred to 
as the “genius grant.” This year’s 

winners also include Atlantic 
correspondent Ta Nehisi-Coates 
and playwright and actor Lin 
Manuel Miranda. 

“It’s part of a bigger project of 

trying to understand Mycenae 
society, not just by looking at the 
people in the palace and not just 
looking at the palace, but also 
by looking at what’s happening 
outside the palace,” he said. “So, 
if you wanted to understand Ann 
Arbor, you couldn’t just look at 
the University campus, right?”

Much of Nakassis’s study is 

dedicated to researching ancient 
Greek linear tablets, which are 
scripts that recorded the earliest 
form of the Greek language. The 
tablets are administrative palatial 
documents that note the events 
at the palace and the individuals 
present.

“Like a lot of students, I 

wasn’t really sure what to major 
in,” 
Nakassis 
said. 
“Initially 

my plan was to double major or 
have a double concentration in 
history or economics. I was in 
my room at Markley and I was 

ACADEMICS

Study says 

emergency room 
talks could change 

risky behavior

By LYDIA MURRAY

For the Daily

The results of a recently 

released five-year trial from the 
University of Michigan Injury 

Center discovered that short 
interventions by hospital staff or 
computer programs correlated 
with decreases in underage 
alcohol consumption.

Patients ages 14-20 admitted 

to the emergency department 
were asked to report on their 
drinking 
behaviors, 
and 

researchers evaluated whether 
or not their behaviors were 
considered risky.

Those 
whom 
researchers 

found to be “risky drinkers” 

were then randomly assigned 
to receive a short intervention 
by means of a therapist or a 
computer program.

Associate 
Psychiatry 
Prof. 

Maureen Walton, one of the 
study’s lead authors, outlined the 
research metrics:

“We 
asked 
them 
three 

questions 
about 
how 
many 

drinks per week they have and 
how many days per week that 
they 
drink, 

HIGHER EDUCATION

President emerita 
to lead association 

of 62 research 
universities

By SAM GRINGLAS

Managing News Editor

University 
President 

Emerita Mary Sue Coleman 
has been named president of 
the Association of American 
Universities.

The 
appointment 
is 

effective June 1. Coleman 
succeeds Hunter Rawlings 
III, who led the organization 
since 2011 and announced his 
plans to retire from the post 
in May.

“Hunter Rawlings has done 

an exceptional job as AAU 
president in advancing our 
collective impact as research 
institutions,” 
Coleman 

wrote in a statement. “I am 
eager to continue the work 
of elevating the American 
research 
university 
as 

essential 
to 
our 
nation’s 

prosperity, 
security, 
and 

well-being.”

See VIGIL, Page 3A
See SCHLISSEL, Page 3A

See COLEMAN, Page 3A

See EMERGENCY, 

Page 3A
See GENIUS, Page 3A

RITA MORRIS/Daily

First-year Law student Shirin Makhkamova sets out candles over the block ‘M’ on the Diag to honor lives lost and in peril in the Syrian refugee crisis on Tuesday.

EMILIE FARRUGIA/Daily

LSA senior Aubrey O’Neal scales the side of the School of Dentistry during Michigan Parkour practice on Tuesday.

SPIDE R-WOM AN

RESEARCH

» 

INSIDE

A look at the Greek life crisis

THE STATEMENT

One year in, 
Schlissel says 
diversity plan
moves ahead

Student groups organize 
vigil for Syrian refugees

‘U’ alum given
MacArthur for 
research about 
ancient Greece

Small interventions shown 
to decrease youth drinking

Coleman 
appointed 
next AAU 
president

INDEX
Vol. CXXV, No. 1
©2015 The Michigan Daily
michigandaily.com

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

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

A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 A 

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

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

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

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