it
is
not
uncommon
for
institutions with expertise on
a certain issue to submit briefs
to the Supreme Court. He said
in this particular case, the
University can draw on its own
experience to help the court
make a sensible decision.
In 2006, Michigan voters
approved an amendment to
the state’s constitution, called
Proposal
2,
which
banned
colleges and universities from
granting preferential treatment
to any student based on race,
ethnicity, sex or national origin.
Accordingly,
the
University
abandoned
race-based
affirmative action, and attempts
to achieve racial diversity on its
campus through a race-neutral
admissions process.
Regardless, in the brief, the
University said it continues
to
believe
the
limited
consideration
of
race
is
necessary to attain institutional
diversity.
“To
identify
promising
candidates
effectively,
admissions officers must be
able to consider the fullness of
each applicant’s background
and
experience,
including
socioeconomic
profile,
challenges overcome, cultural
background — and also the
applicant’s race,” the brief said.
In the case of Fisher v.
University of Texas at Austin,
a student named Abigail Fisher,
who is white, is arguing that
she would have been admitted
to the UT Austin if not for her
race. Currently, the University
of Texas employs two parallel
admissions systems: one is an
automatic admissions program
for
in-state
students
who
graduate in the top 10 percent
of their classes — known as the
10 percent plan — and the other
is a holistic process used to
evaluate out-of-state students
as well as Texans who did not
graduate at the top of their
classes. The court originally
heard the Fisher case in 2013,
but sent it back to a lower
court at the time for further
review. The court will hear the
case again in oral arguments
scheduled for December.
In
the
Fisher
case,
the
court will decide the future
of the consideration of race in
admissions procedures — if
it rules in favor of Fisher, all
universities, including Texas,
would be required to remove
any consideration of race from
their admissions programs.
As the result of previous
affirmative
action
cases,
universities may not use quota
or point systems to achieve
racial
diversity,
but
may
qualitatively
consider
race
as one of many factors when
making admissions decisions.
In 2003, the court upheld
the University of Michigan’s
holistic
affirmative
action
admissions policies practicied
in the Law School, but in
another case that same year,
struck down the University’s
undergraduate
policy
which
employed a point system.
The outcome of the Fisher
case could be determined by the
potential swing vote of Justice
Anthony
Kennedy.
He
has
tended to side with the more
conservative justices against
affirmative action in the past, if
that is any indication of how the
case could unfold.
Along these lines, Primus
said the University’s brief is
important as an example of
an institution that currently
operates how the University
of Texas would be required to
if the court ruled in favor of
Fisher.
“One of the big questions for
Justice Kennedy, and therefore
for
the
Supreme
Court
—
because Justice Kennedy is the
median justice on this issue — is
the extent to which universities
can be racially diverse without
race-based affirmative action,”
he said. “We are a good
example of a university that
is trying hard to be racially
diverse without (race-based)
affirmative action.”
In
support
of
the
UT
position, the University held
in the brief that since race-
conscious admission programs
were banned in Michigan, the
University has had trouble
meeting its goals for diversity
on its campuses.
“Despite
persistent
and
varied
efforts
to
increase
student-body racial and ethnic
diversity
by
race-neutral
means;
despite
committed
efforts by University faculty,
staff, students, and alumni
to
conduct
race-neutral
recruiting
and
admissions
programs;
and
despite
admissions
consideration
and
extensive
financial
aid
for
socioeconomically
disadvantaged
students,
admission
and
enrollment
of
underrepresented
minority students have fallen
precipitously in many of U-M’s
schools
and
colleges
since
Proposal 2 was enacted,” the
brief said.
To
this
end,
the
brief
cited
two
Michigan
Daily
articles concerning minority
enrollment at the University.
While the ruling in Fisher
will not legally affect the
University (as it is already
banned from employing race
considerations in admissions
decisions
based
on
state
law),
it
could
have
broad
policy implications for other
universities
and
colleges
nationwide.
Primus
said
other
institutions
currently
employ the kinds of race-
based
admissions
processes
the
University
previously
employed.
“Nationwide, the Supreme
Court has left the door open for
certain kinds of consideration
of race in admissions, so long
as the system of admissions
overall is careful to treat each
applicant
as
an
individual
instead of as a manifestation of
a racial category,” he said. “One
of the questions is whether
other states can continue to use
the method that we used to use
successfully here.”
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Tuesday, November 3, 2015 — 3
Student the subject
of armed robbery
on Halloween
This
Halloween,
at
approximately
8:20
p.m.,
a
student was robbed by an armed,
unknown male at the 1100 block of
Oakland Street at East University
Avenue.
The student’s cell phone was
taken and the suspect fled on foot.
The suspect was described to
Ann Arbor Police by the witness
as being a Black male in his early
20s, of medium build, wearing a
backwards black hat.
Diane Brown, University Police
spokeswoman, said AAPD has no
further
information
regarding
this incident at this time.
Students were notified of the
armed robbery Nov. 2 at 12:49
p.m., three days after it took place
on Oct. 31.
On Oct. 19, students were
notified of a home invasion at the
700 block of Oakland Street. This
suspect involved in this incident
had a similar description — a
Black male in his 20s of medium
build wearing a backwards denim
baseball hat.
Supreme Court
rejects hearing
Armstrong case
The U.S. Supreme Court on
Monday said it won’t hear an
appeal from the former Michigan
assistant attorney general who
lost a defamation suit filed by a
former University student body
president.
Chris Armstrong was the first
openly gay Michigan Student
Assembly (now Central Student
Government) president. Shirvell,
former state attorney general, was
fired in 2010 for anti-gay rhetoric
against Armstrong, which then
attorney
general
Mike
Cox
deemed “harassing conduct.”
In February, a circuit court
upheld
the
defamation
suit,
though it reduced the damages
Shirvell owed to $3.5 million.
Armstrong alleged that Shirvell
stalked and harassed him because
of his sexuality. Shirvell was
ultimately fired from his position
after creating a blog titled “Chris
Armstrong Watch” where he
argued Armstrong was using
his position as MSA president to
promote a “radical homosexual
agenda.”
Alum John Wu
donates $10M to
China partnership
John Wu and his wife Jane Sun
donated $10 million to the Univer-
sity of Michigan’s Shanghai Jiao-
tong University Joint Institute;
the University’s largest global
partnership.
The donation will go toward
the creation of the John Wu and
Jane Sun Endowment Fund to
fund scholarships, professors, fac-
ulty awards and student entrepre-
neurship funds.
Though the China-based insti-
tute is the largest global partner-
ship the University is involved in,
the University sponsors initiatives
in Ghana, India and Ethiopia.
University to aid in
regional data hub
The National Science Founda-
tion is working to create a national
data hub, and the University was
chosen as one of five universities
to take charge of the Midwest
Big Data Innovation Hub. Other
universities involved are Illinois,
Indiana, North Dakota and Iowa
State.
The Midwestern hub is one of
four regional data hubs created
across the United States.
By creating the date hubs, the
NSF hopes to create partnerships
to utilize the data to fix regional
problems. The city of Detroit, Gen-
eral Motors, TechTown Detroit,
the Henry Ford Health System,
Domino’s Pizza, Ford Motor Com-
pany and Quicken Loans are all
partners on the project.
The Midwest hub will focus on
societal infrastructure, nature
and health care.
—EMMA KINERY
NEWS BRIEFS
sphere,” Klein said. “This is how
our current system deals with
climate change.”
With
weak
support
for
constructive
public
policy
in times of natural disasters,
Klein argued, there is a great
need to change the political
infrastructure
to
implement
preventative measures against
future environmental disasters
and better accommodate the
victims of climate change.
Klein also spoke about the
power
of
corporations
that
wield finances to exert political
influence.
She
referenced
billionaires Charles and David
Koch’s $889 million contribution
to a network of conservative
advocacy groups as an example
of “slowing down the march
toward collectivism.”
By contrast, Klein pointed
to the water crisis in nearby
Flint, Mich. as an illustration
of the power a collective efforts
in
addressing
environmental
justice issues. The discovery of
lead in the water supply created
a host of problems for the
community, but local pressure
to address the issue has led to
progress mitigating it.
“This region is so blessed to
have some of the most inspiring
grassroots organizers … with a
vision of a future that could be
so much better,” Klein said.
Klein also spoke about how
benefits related to recycling, watching
waste, composting and eating less
meat could lower individual carbon
footprints — but stressed that
individual efforts cannot come in lieu
of regulatory policy.
“If
we
aren’t
regulating
corporations, we’re going to get
nowhere,” she said.
“It’s not just enough that we
have a green economy … we need
a fair economy. That means we
need principles,” Klein later
added. “The first principle: no
new fossil fuel infrastructure …
The money we need to pay for
this great transformation is out
there, we just have to go after
it, whether that means an end
to fossil fuel subsidies, financial
transaction
taxes,
increased
royalties for fossil fuel extraction
and cuts to military spendings.”
LSA senior Nicholas Jansen,
who
is
involved
with
the
Divest and Invest organization
on campus, an international
environmentalist
group
that
lobbies universities to divest
from fossil fuels, said Klein
spoke to several points the
organization aims to promote.
“We’ve really, especially this
past year, started incorporating
this climate justice narrative
around
our
issues,”
Jansen
said. “Naomi, she touched on
perfectly today why these issues
are important, mainly that those
who have contributed the least
are being affected the most.”
LSA senior Valeriya Epshteyn,
also a member of Divest and
Invest in attendance Monday
night, said she envisions a world
wherein special interests and
individuals don’t overshadow the
collective good.
“We hope to achieve this
collective power and a collective
vision toward climate justice
which pushes forth a just energy
transition where the people that
are most directly affected by
climate change are lifted up as the
center of a narrative,” she said.
NAOMI KLEIN
From Page 1
AMICUS
From Page 1
for the Prechter Lab, said she
thought the lecture provided the
audience with the science behind
depression and bipolar disorder.
“It was a lot to take in, but it
was really interesting to see how
far we’ve come,” Eter said.
Eter said Hood’s view on
genetic diagnosis is a developing
topic in health care.
“It isn’t a big focus right now,
but it should be,” Eter said.
“(The Prechter Lab) looks at a
lot of things that relate to that
disorder, and one of those things
is genetics.”
Melvin
McInnis,
principal
investigator of the Prechter Fund,
said the study of bipolar disorder
is intriguing because the disorder
in many ways represents the
spectrum of human emotion.
“The study of bipolar disorder
is truly the study of humanity, the
range of human experience, the
depth of the depression, the top of
the highs,” he said. “The range of
expression, emotion and behavior
is the range of human behavior as
we know it today.”
BIPOLAR
From Page 1
ALLISON FARRAND/Daily
A fire broke out in a vacant property behind Sava’s restaurant on State Street on Monday afternoon.
FIRE AT VACANT BUILDING
CLAIRE ABDO/Daily
Music, Theatre & Dance sophomore Kristine Overman sings at the Voice Department Recital Monday Evening at
the School of Music, Theatre & Dance accompanied by Graduate Student Trevor Chartrand.
BE LT IT
@MICHIGANDAILY