michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Friday, October 2, 2015
ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY FIVE YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
New initiatives,
evaluative process
kick in a year after
Schlissel arrives
By ALLANA AKHTAR
Daily Staff Reporter
University Presi-
dent Mark Schlissel
and his administra-
tion have spent the
last
academic
year
working to roll out new
policy initiatives regarding sever-
al campus issues — most notably,
athletics, diversity, sexual assault,
alcohol abuse and Greek life. The
Michigan Daily concludes this
week’s “Campus Context” series
by delving into the chain of events
that has led to a closer examina-
tion of the University’s approach
toward sexual assault on campus.
The overview: Though dis-
cussion of sexual assault on col-
lege campuses has generated
discussion in the past, the case of
former football kicker Brendan
Gibbons brought the issue into
the increased public focus. In
January 2014, the Daily reported
that Gibbons had been perma-
nently separated from the Uni-
versity for violating the school’s
Student Sexual Misconduct Poli-
cy — four years after the case had
been reported.
The delay brought into ques-
tion the efficacy of the Uni-
versity’s adjudication policies.
Months later, the U.S. Depart-
ment of Education Office for
Civil Rights opened an investiga-
tion into the University and more
than 100 other schools’ handling
of sexual assault cases.
Since then, the University has
been working to improve its pre-
vention programs and make its
policies more effective and trans-
parent.
The changes: Some changes
are more visible than others. In
2013, the University updated
its sexual misconduct policy
to meet new standards recom-
mended by the U.S. Department
of Education. The updated policy
decreased the burden of proof
applied in sexual misconduct
cases. Under the policy, decisions
require a “preponderance of evi-
dence,” which means an incident
is more likely to have occurred
than not. The University took
part in two sexual assault sur-
veys under Schlissel’s aegis — one
New technology
improves ability
to view important
cellular interactions
By TOM McBRIEN
Daily Staff Reporter
In 2004, Eric Betzig was
unemployed, tinkering in his
friend Harald Hess’s living room.
In 2005, he was a research group
leader at the impressive Janelia
Research Campus in Virginia
on his way to winning the 2014
Nobel Prize in chemistry. The
tinkering had paid off, leading
Betzig to invent a microscope
that saw things no other micro-
scopes could.
Betzig spoke at the Medical
School on Thursday morning
about developing the photo-acti-
vated localization microscope,
or PALM, and gave an overview
of the recent developments in
microscopy.
Traditionally, the limiting fac-
tor for microscopes was not their
magnification. Instead, it was
a property called “resolution,”
which refers to the shortest dis-
tance between two separate
points in a microscope’s field
of view that can still be distin-
guished as distinct entities. If
you imagine a microscope as
drawing a picture, microscopes
with poor resolution draw with
Gathering supports
women’s health org.
amid accusations,
controversy
By EMMA KINERY
Daily Staff Reporter
Students pledged to “Stand
with Planned Parenthood” in an
event on the Diag on Thursday to
show support for the embattled
women’s health care organiza-
tion.
In recent months, Planned Par-
enthood has faced a firestorm of
accusations suggesting the non-
profit organization profits from
the sale of fetal tissue of aborted
fetuses to medical researchers —
which would violate federal law.
In July, an anti-abortion group
released a series of undercover
videos featuring Planned Parent-
hood representatives describing
the process of preserving aborted
fetuses for research purposes.
LSA senior Amanda Vita,
co-communications
chair
of
Students for Choice, the organi-
zation that hosted the event, said
the purpose of the event was to
show support for the organiza-
tion amid the controversy.
“We are trying to raise support
for Planned Parenthood amongst
the media firestorm that’s hap-
pening
surrounding
Planned
Parenthood and all of the con-
gressional opposition,” Vita said.
“We’re trying to show Planned
Parenthood that we still stand
with them.”
Planned
Parenthood
has
repeatedly stated it does not prof-
it from the sale of fetal tissue, and
that the videos are manipulated
to create a fabricated message.
Several state investigations have
found the organization has not
mishandled fetal tissue.
The House Oversight Com-
mittee and Government Reform
Committee grilled Planned Par-
enthood President Cecile Rich-
ards about the videos for more
than four hours Tuesday, and
many Republicans threatened
to block budget resolutions to
fund the federal government if
funding for the organization was
included.
A bill to fund the government
through December that included
funding for Planned Parenthood
was passed Wednesday.
During
the
day,
students
wrote letters to current Planned
Parenthood staff members and
launched an Instagram campaign
to rally support by taking photos
of students holding “Stand With
Planned Parenthood” signs.
By 12:00 p.m., Vita said she
estimated about 100 students had
stopped and spoke with members
of the organization.
“I’m really, really passionate
about this cause,” said Engineer-
ing sophomore Sonia Thosar,
who stopped by the event. “I just
think that women’s bodily auton-
Host Peter Sagal
talks Greek life,
Michigan football
at Hill Auditorium
By EMMA KERR
Daily News Editor
Peter Sagal, host of National
Public Radio’s “Wait, Wait…
Don’t Tell Me!,” opened Thurs-
day night’s live show to a sold-
out audience in Hill Auditorium.
Hosted in collaboration with
public radio affiliate WEMU
and the Ann Arbor Summer
Festival, the show returned to
Ann Arbor for the first time
since 2007, when it was hosted
at The Michigan Theater. Pro-
ducers and hosts of the show
entered the stage clad in maize
and blue hats and attire. Sagal
was not hesitant to joke with
the audience about the Univer-
sity’s recent notoriety in regard
to student alcohol consumption
and Greek life.
“This is the first time we have
been allowed to the University’s
campus. They had to make sure
we could handle our liquor —
I’m hoping to pledge a frat while
I’m here,” Sagal said.
Sagal continued, referencing
the Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity’s
suspension following a January
ski trip incident, saying, “As a
Jewish man myself, I felt proud.”
The famous quiz show’s spe-
cial guest this week was Uni-
versity lecturer John Bacon, an
award-winning sports journal-
ist and University alum. Bacon
is also a member of the Board
of Student Publications, which
works with The Michigan Daily.
Having written three of his
seven books specifically about
Michigan football, Bacon told
stories of his time interviewing
and even training with players.
By way of explanation for the
national
attention
Michigan
football receives, Bacon told
Sagal, “When you put your fist
Students talk
about how Black
identity is defined
on campus
By ALYSSA BRANDON
Daily Staff Reporter
Dozens of students crowded
into the main lobby of Trot-
ter Multicultural Center on
Thursday for “I’m Black and…”
— an open discussion that
parsed the various cultural,
ethnic and sexual identities
within the Black community.
Hosted by the Black Student
Union, the forum was geared
toward educating students on
intersectionality — the concept
of recognizing the intercon-
nections between identities,
particularly when it comes to
discrimination.
Public Policy senior Hattie
McKinney, BSU vice-speaker,
began the conversation by ask-
ing attendees how they would
define being Black.
While some attendees said
Blackness is defined by music,
dance, hair or fashion, LSA
sophomore Shavon Edwards
said she feels Blackness is often
misdefined by people within
the Black community.
“I feel like a lot of people in
our culture define Blackness
in terms of a textbook defini-
tion and by history, and as we
all know, history is never told
in our favor,” she said. “When
we are describing what Black
should be, we should not base
it off of books or how other
people told us how we were at
that time. For us to progress
as a people, we need to come
up with our own definition of
what Black is.”
McKinney then extended
the question and asked attend-
ees to think about what it
means to be a Black student at
the University.
Some
attendees
said
it
means to be from Detroit and
to be attending the University
on a need-based scholarship.
One student said it means to
be the sole liaison to the Black
community when any Black
CAMPUS LIFE
RESEARCH
ALLISON FARRAND/Daily
Host Bill Kurtis at a taping of National Public Radio’s “Wait Wait ... Don’t Tell Me!” at Hill Auditorium on Thursday. The show was presented by Eastern Michigan
University’s public radio station, 89.1 WEMU, in honor of their 50th anniversary.
GREG GOSS/Daily
LSA Senior Lania Robinson holds up self identifying sign during the Being Black Discussion at Trotter Multicultural
Center on Thursday.
See SCHLISSEL, Page 3
See NOBEL, Page 3
See BSU, Page 3
See PARENTHOOD, Page 2
See WAIT WAIT, Page 2
With survey
data, admins
assess sexual
assault at ‘U’
CAMPUS CONTEXT
Wait, Wait... Don’t Tell Me
brings famed show to A2
Black Student Union hosts
event on intersectionality
Students rally
for Planned
Parenthood
Nobel Prize
winner talks
advances in
microscopes
INDEX
Vol. CXXV, No. 3
©2015 The Michigan Daily
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