unnamed dystopian society with 
its main character, Katurian, as a 
short-story writer. After detectives 
discover 
an 
eerie 
similarity 

between the gruesome violence 
of Katurian’s stories and several 
recent child murders, he is brought 
in for questioning. When Katurian 
hears that his brother Michael has 
confessed to the murders, including 
sharing details on their twisted 
upbringing, 
Katurian 
suffocates 

him as a kind of mercy killing. His 
mission is to save his stories from 
destruction. Many of these stories 
are recounted within the play.

With two weeks to put together 

this five-week production, Rich 
casted the show based on the ability 
to capture the emotional depth of 
these highly complex and troubled 
characters.

“Each character is so specific 

and different in what they’ve 
gone through in life, and really 
an understanding of that and an 
understanding of drama is what I 
was looking for from actors,” Rich 
said.

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Friday, November 13, 2015 — 3A

PILLOWMAN
From Page 1A

one as recently as last week, and 
prompted calls for change in the 
department.

The 
officer 
was 
found 
to 

have been acting in lawful self-
defense by the Washtenaw County 
prosecutor’s office in January, who 
chose not to press charges.

On Oct. 4, the city’s Human 

Rights 
Commission 
released 
a 

42-page report on strengthening 
police-community relations in Ann 
Arbor specifically citing Rosser’s 
death and including a number 
of 
recommendations 
for 
the 

department.

In an interview Thursday, City 

Councilmember 
Kirk 
Westphal 

(D-Ward 2) said he was still 
reflecting on the recommendation, 
but that White left a good impression 
during prior opportunities Council 
had to meet with him.

“He struck me as being very 

thoughtful and professional, and 
highly experienced,” he said.

Speaking to some of the current 

events surrounding the AAPD, 
namely the HRC’s report, Westphal 
added that White noted having 
experience in such situations.

“He expressed having experience 

collaborating 
with 
citizen 

committees, and look(ing) forward 
to working with one here, if that’s 
the direction we go in,” he said.

Incoming City Councilmember 

Zachary Ackerman (D-Ward 3), a 
LSA senior, said he thought White 
was highly qualified for the job. 
Ackerman will formally assume 
his position at Monday’s Council 

meeting.

“I think (White) brings an 

incredible 
amount 
of 
diverse 

organizational 
skills, 
tactical 

skills, civil rights knowledge and 
psychology education,” Ackerman 
said. “And I think the four of those 
things, when brought together, 
will be incredibly valuable to the 
department.”

City 
Councilmember 
Sabra 

Briere (D-Ward 1) echoed those 
sentiments, noting that in meetings 
with Council White had expressed 
an interest in having a position in 
the department to foster community 
relations. 

She added that she thought his 

experiences in Detroit, including 
operating 
under 
the 
increased 

scrutiny of an emergency manager 
while the city was emerging from 
bankruptcy, would be beneficial in 
building trust in the community. 

White has served in his current 

position with the Detroit Police 
Department since February 2013. 
He began as an officer with the 
department in 1996, and has also 
served as deputy chief, commander, 
lieutenant and sergeant.

The Detroit Police Department 

said Thursday afternoon that they 
would not have a statement on 
White’s selection until Monday.

He received a bachelor’s degree 

in sociology from Wayne State 
University and is currently finishing 
a master’s degree from Central 
Michigan University in counseling, 
according to the release.

If approved, White will begin the 

job on January 11. 

Daily Staff Reporter Emma Kinery 

contributed reporting.

“That’s a great thing,” 

she 
said. 
“However, 
it’s 

not 
perfect. 
Particularly 

for 
those 
staff 
who 

identified as racial or ethnic 
minorities, they question the 
University’s 
commitment 

to diversity, because when 
they looked around, they 
didn’t see a lot of people like 
themselves reflected among 
their colleagues, among the 
leaders in their departments 
or 
at 
the 
University 

administrative level.”

In 
Fall 
2014, 
69.9 

percent of employees at 
the University’s Ann Arbor 
campus were white. When 
only considering faculty, the 
population is 72.5 percent 
white. Women made up 41.2 
percent of the faculty.

During 
the 
discussion, 

attendees broke into groups 
to 
give 
the 
committee 

feedback on their process 
and final report. Laurita 
Thomas, 
associate 
vice 

president 
for 
human 

resources who lead the staff 
committee, said feedback 
would be incorporated into 
the committee’s strategic 
plan.

“When we do the strategic 

planning 
action 
planning 

next term, we will reflect 
what we learned today and 
that should influence the 
overall 
direction 
of 
the 

strategic plan,” she said.

The 
report 
chiefly 

suggested 
the 
University 

include the concerns and 
aspirations of staff members 
in 
University’s 
larger 

diversity 
strategic 
plans. 

They also touted efforts to 
increase awareness about 
the value of diversity, equity 
and inclusion, as well as 
respect, in the workplace.

In 
particular, 
they 

recommended the University 
invest in training for staff 
involved 
in 
recruitment, 

hiring 
and 
promotion 

processes. 
Along 
with 

training, they requested the 
University enhance current 
leadership 
training 
to 

include elements of diversity, 
equity and inclusion.

Nichols 
noted 
that 

because of the University’s 
status as a federal contractor, 

it is an affirmative action 
employer. That means it has 
target numbers for hiring 
underrepresented 
groups. 

However, in the 2013-2014 
fiscal year, it only hired four 
members of those groups out 
of a target of 27.

The 
committee’s 

recommendations 
also 

called for the creation of an 
independent ombuds office, 
responsible for resolving the 
concerns of staff members. 
The aim: encourage staff to 
feel comfortable addressing 
workplace issues.

During 
the 
dialogues, 

many attendees said they 
were excited by the training 
and ombudsperson proposals 
because of their potential to 
be measurably implemented 
and achieve tangible results.

Event 
facilitators 

requested that the Michigan 
Daily not directly quote 
or record the small-group 
discussion portion of the 
event.

Speaking during the event, 

Linh 
Nguyen, 
associate 

director of the Office of 
Multi-Ethnic 
Student 

Affairs, said there was a 
need to create a confidential 
ombuds 
because 
not 
all 

units have an environment 
where staff and faculty feel 
comfortable talking about 
experiences with bias or 
discrimination.

“(It’s the) need to have 

someone who can hold that 
in confidence, support you 
through that, and connect 
you to the resources you 
need so that they can bring 
that to a larger space,” she 
said. “And that the unit or 
the department can really 
address 
it 
intentionally 

and specifically so we can 
actually move and resolve 
issues that were experiencing 
as staff, because we know 
that that impacts the rest of 
the campus climate.”

Overall, 
Thomas 
said 

from her perspective, the 
proposal for an ombuds and 
for increased training were 
the most mentioned during 
the event.

Other 
proposals 
were 

met with a more muted 
reaction, based on concerns 
that some of the committee’s 
recommendations 
could 

be more difficult to initiate 
in ways that would hold 

individuals accountable for 
success.

Multiple attendees also 

said though they thought 
the work of the committee 
was insightful, they worried 
the University would still 
be grappling with the same 
issues in the future if their 
recommendations failed to 
take hold within the larger 
University community.

Residence 
educator 

Miriam 
Rosado, 
who 

attended the event, said she 
thought 
the 
conversation 

was 
valuable 
because 
it 

seemed more substantive 
than past discussions.

“Right now, we have sort 

of the overall comprehensive 
formula, where we can really 
start the kind of work that 
we really need to do around 
diversity,” she said. “So I 
think this is much more 
comprehensive than other 
initiatives that I’ve seen — 
and that’s what really excites 
me. Because we have all the 
information and the data, we 
know where the barriers are 
and the challenges, and so 
then we could really begin 
the work.”

John Lofy, an assistant 

campaign director in the 
Office of Development, said 
he thought the dialogue was 
a valuable experience.

“It 
was 
a 
terrific 

opportunity to hear what 
the University is planning, 
to hear from my colleagues 
around the University who 
really care about this and 
want to do right by the 
University and its staff,” he 
said.

Thomas said she thought 

the Diversity Summit overall 
is an instructive experience 
for the University.

“The challenge that we’ve 

heard, the anger that we’ve 
heard, the stories that have 
been told, the enthusiasm 
we’ve heard for the way 
(Schlissel) is doing it this time 
is very, very encouraging,” 
she said. “This president 
has said that he wants to 
hear everybody’s voice, and 
therefore we’ve created a 
process of diversity, equity 
and 
inclusion 
strategic 

planning that should give 
everybody an opportunity to 
be heard about the Michigan 
we want to be.”

DIVERSITY
From Page 1A

CHIEF
From Page 1A

thought many of the patients facing 
issues with Medicare Plan D will see 
some changes moving forward due to 
recent changes in federal health care 
policy.

“Under the Affordable Care Act, 

this coverage gap known as the ‘donut 
hole’ will slowly be closed by 2020,” 
she said.

In terms of how a physician might 

use the model, Levine said she hoped 
clinicians would consider criteria for 
selecting a drug beyond going only 
physical well-being, and include met-
rics for cost and patient affinity.

“Certainly, we have to weigh the 

patient’s values and preferences when 
making these decisions about which 
drugs to choose,” she said.

countries currently use the platform.

She gave an example of Diane 

Kleiner, a professor of art history 
at Yale University, who teaches a 
Roman Archaeology MOOC. While 
Kleiner was already well-traveled, 
she was able to learn even more 
about her field from pictures her 
international students sent her.

Koller also addressed the other 

side of the Coursera platform — the 
type of individuals who take the 
course. With MOOCs, she said, there 
are three different types of learners: 
college-focused 
learners, 
enrich-

ment learners, and career-focused 
learners.

The college-focused learners, she 

said, take Coursera not as a substi-
tute to college courses, but rather to 
prepare for a different level of edu-
cation or to supplement a college 
course they are currently taking.

Engineering student Karen Lin, 

who attended the event, said she was 
an example of a college learner — as 
an international student from China, 
she took four Coursera courses in 
order to prepare for American col-
lege courses.

“The reason I took it was because 

I wanted to apply to (an) overseas 
school, but I didn’t have any experi-
ence in overseas classes,” Lin said. 
“I thought I would gain education 
experience in some U.S. institution.”

The majority of users, accord-

ing to Koller, are the career-focused 
ones, who are largely 25 to 35 years 
old. MOOCs, she noted, especially 
help millennials who switch jobs 
early on in their career, a trend she 
said is growing.

“Think of marketing,” she said. 

“Most people, when they learned 
marketing a decade ago, learned all 
about how to post ads in newspa-
pers. Now they don’t learn that. They 
learn how to post things on Twitter.”

Overall, Koller said, no matter 

the type of learner category they fall 
into, Coursera has made a large dif-
ference in many participants’ lives.

She cited, in particular, a Cours-

era user from Alabama, Scotty Rush-
ing, who was poor and living out of 
his car. Taking MOOCs — including 
one of Severance’s— turned his life 
around.

Severance said for him, hearing 

Rushing’s story served as a reminder 
of how meaningful the courses can 
be.

“For the students, this is some-

thing very, very special,” he said. 
“With so little effort on our part, we 
can share this with so many people 
and affect so many of their lives.”

STROKE
From Page 2A

COURSERA
From Page 2A

to protect and respect the privacy 
of those sharing their stories. 
Microphones were placed both 
at the front and back of the room, 
providing individuals the option 
hide their identity by speaking 
from behind the crowd.

Many speakers said they were 

driven to share their personal 
experiences 
in 
light 
of 
the 

national debate surrounding calls 
for Congress to defund Planned 
Parenthood, 
as 
well 
as 
the 

prospect of the Supreme Court 
taking up Whole Woman’s Health 
v. Cole. If the justices uphold a 
lower court ruling in the case, 
almost half of Texas’s abortion 
clinics would close. The case 
considers whether Texas legally 
enforce laws that would have the 
result of limiting the number of 
abortion clinics.

Caroline 
Kagan, 
a 
Music, 

Theatre & Dance senior, said she 
had heard about the speak out 
since she was a freshmen, but this 
year felt particularly compelled to 
attend.

“I thought it would be interesting 

to come and hear everyone’s 
stories,” she said. “I wanted to 
come and support people who 
had actually been through a very 
serious issue that maybe Planned 

Parenthood guided them in.”

Business junior Nikki Yadon 

said she sees efforts to defund 
Planned Parenthood as a “bunch of 
political propaganda.”

“I 
think 
organizations 
are 

getting a really bad rep for 
providing these services and that 
shouldn’t be happening,” she said.

Many who shared their stories 

hoped to convey the various 
aspects of going through an 
abortion and the importance of 
having a right to choose. Others 
said they hoped sharing their 
stories would help them feel more 
at peace, as well as educate those 
in attendance — a key goal of the 
event.

LSA 
senior 
Connie 
Gao, 

Students for Choice co-president, 
said organizations like Planned 
Parenthood not only serve women, 
but also people of all kinds of 
gender identities. She said Students 
for Choice plays an important role 
in furthering that mission.

“We try to take a holistic 

approach to this issue,” she 
said. “We operate through a 
reproductive justice framework, 
where 
we 
recognize 
both 
a 

person’s right to choose and a 
person’s right to parent their child 
in a safe and healthy environment. 
I think having a campus presence 
that specifically reaches out to 
students is very important. I’m 
a strong believer in grassroots 
action.”

SPEAK OUT
From Page 1A

read more at 

michigandaily.com

DELANEY RYAN/Daily

LSA senior Dominic Sweeney participates in the Million Student March, which is in support of tuition 
free public college, cancellation of all student debt, and a $15 minimum wage on the Diag on Thursday. 

M ARCH TO R AISE MINIMUM WAGE

