from it it’s just a whole better pic-
ture,” she said.

Thompson said misinforma-

tion is a pitfall for many students,
and perpetuates stereotypes.

“I’m from Michigan, and when

some people think of a Black girl
from Michigan, they’re probably
from Detroit,” Thompson said.
“But that is wrong; I’m from Mel-
vindale, which is a small subur-
ban city outside of Detroit. The
mentality of stereotypes have
to be changed and not just with
(Intergroup Relations) training.”

LSA
sophomore
Nicholas

Fadanelli said minority groups
feel they have difficulty getting
their voices heard, and part of
the responsibility to change those
notions rests on the shoulders of
student government.

“I want to reach out to other

groups that we mainly don’t hear
the voices of,” he said.

Mental health

Candidates also proposed mea-

sures that would improve mental
health on campus.

LSA junior John Steffes, chair

of the LSA SG health commit-
tee, said he hopes to work with
campus gyms to make sure stu-
dents are aware of their fitness
options. Steffes said knowing
what exercise options are avail-
able is important for maintain-
ing students’ physical and mental
health — especially for freshman
and transfer students, who are
less likely to know their options.

LSA junior Aditi Rao said put-

ting mental health resources
on syllabi — a proposal that has
already garnered support from
CSG — could benefit students.

Read more online at
michigandaily.com

said. “I was impressed then by
your intellect and stamina, and
most importantly with your
compassion and concern for the
city. That has not changed with
the 22 council members I’ve
worked with.”

Several
council
members

offered words of encouragement
and farewell to Powers.

“You leave huge shoes to fill,”

Councilmember Kirk Westphal
(D–Ward 2) told Powers. “If
there’s any downside to this, it’s
the expectations. You’ve set the
bar very high. I have to admire
your
professionalism,
your

intents, your listening abilities.
It’s a really hard job and I
admire that you’ve genuinely

respected all the views around
the
table
and
among
the

residents.”

Later in the meeting, the

council
discussed
winter

emergency
shelter
and

warming
centers
for
the

upcoming winter. They voted
unanimously to allocate up to
$89,040 for the initiative.

“The logic by doing it now

is that by Dec. 1, everything
should be in place,” Briere
said. “It remains my hope and
expectation that we can roll
money for the winter shelter
into the budget for next year.”

The
Washtenaw
Housing

Alliance and the Office of
Community
and
Economic

Development formed a winter
shelter work group to address
winter shelter needs in the
city. Led by Briere, the group

reviewed
shelter
operations

from the 2014-2015 winter.
They found that while the
city’s response worked well
overall, several logistics and
transportation
challenges

persisted.

Consequently,
the
group

recommended
the
council

provide
funding
for
two

overnight
warming
centers

in Ann Arbor, providing a
temporary shelter for homeless
individuals at night in churches
and community centers. The
group
also
suggested
the

council
allocate
$11,000
in

funding for hotel and motel
vouchers, as well as $18,000
to
fund
transportation
to

the
warming
center.
The

recommendations
anticipate

another winter of extreme cold
and aim to prioritize the needs

of homeless individuals in Ann
Arbor.

“This is pretty essential,”

Eaton said. “It’s not a great deal
of money, and yet it really goes
a long way ensuring that no
one dies on our watch. No one
should die because of extreme
weather.”

Councilmember
Chuck

Warpehoski (D–Ward 5) said
the council should consider
future funding by looking at the
large picture.

The council also voted to

postpone the rezoning of the
Nixon Farm properties until
the body’s second meeting in
December. The postponement
delayed a vote on the site plans
and zoning changes needed to
greenlight 472 new residences
on Nixon Road, near Dhu
Varren Road.

The proposals both drew

public
commentary,
mostly

from neighbors to the area.
Several community members
voiced their opinion and said
they felt that the city had not
conducted
enough
research

on
traffic
and
floodwater

ramifications.

Kailasapathy rallied for the

residents who felt the Nixon
Farm properties would damage
the nearby areas.

“My
advice
is
fix
the

problems,
we
don’t
want

another flooding lawsuit in our
hands,” Kailasapathy said.

Eaton also said he did not

feel
comfortable
approving

the plans. He proposed the
postponement and said the
extra time would allow for the
completion of additional studies
on traffic and wetland impacts.

committee,” he wrote in an e-mail
last spring.

Last March, the University’s

Central
Student
Government

overwhelmingly
voted
to

support the formation of such a
committee.

However,
in
April,
then-

CSG President Bobby Dishell
vetoed a resolution that would
have encouraged the University
to
become
a
signatory
on

the
American
College
and

University Presidents’ Climate
Commitment,
an
undertaking

by colleges and universities to
address global climate change.
Signatories pledge to eliminate
net greenhouse gas emissions
from certain campus operations.

In an e-mail statement issued at

the time, Dishell cited investment
concerns as one of his reasons for
vetoing the resolution.

“Though the aims and efforts

of the ACUPCC aspire to positive
sustainable change — an issue
that the University aligns with
and takes very seriously — it also

sets a specific target date for
achieving net climate neutrality,”
he wrote. “The University cannot,
with sound investment in mind,
commit to the ACUPCC because
there is no way to concretely
determine that these goals will be
met by that target date.”

The University has divested

for social reasons just twice in
the past — first from South Africa
during the apartheid, and again in
2000 from tobacco companies.

In 2005, Timothy Slottow,

the University’s former chief
financial officer at the time,
published a statement regarding
the
University’s
divestment

proceedings.

In
the
statement,
Slottow

said the regents would only
appoint an ad hoc committee to
investigate “the ethical and moral
implications of our investments”
if three conditions were met: the
concern is shared consistently
across campus, the behavior or
action contradicts the University’s
core mission and values and the
“organization, industry or entity”
identified is solely responsible for
the issue.

In a viewpoint written for

The Michigan Daily last month,
Jansen said University President
Mark Schlissel has said he does
not believe the campaign has
met the three pronged standard
for the formation of an ad hoc
committee.

Though fossil fuel divestment

campaigns have taken root on
hundreds of college campuses,
few universities have divested
from fossil fuels.

In
May
2014,
Stanford

University announced it would
divest
from
coal
companies,

becoming
the
first
major

university to begin divesting from
fossil fuels.

Athletics report

English Prof. Anne Curzan, the

faculty athletics representative,
and Business Prof. David Wooten,
both members of the Academic
Performance
Committee,

presented the committee’s annual
report to the assembly.

The Academic Performance

Committee is a subcommittee
of
the
Advisory
Board
on

Intercollegiate Athletics, which
reports to the provost on matters
pertaining
to
the
academic

welfare of student-athletes.

According to the report, the

University’s athletic department
is comprised of 25 sports teams
and 797 student-athletes.

Last
year,
the
University

recognized
eight
Academic

All-Americans. To receive this
honor, a student-athlete must
have a cumulative 3.3 GPA and
start more than 50 percent
of his or her games. During
the 2013-2014 academic year,
the University recognized six
Academic All-Americans, and
before that, the University had
not recognized more than four
since 2005.

During the 2014-2015 fall and

winter semesters, 184 student-
athletes
received
University

Honors. To qualify for this award,
the student must have a 3.5 GPA
for that semester and must be
taking 14 credits, 12 of which
must be graded.

An additional 260 student-

athletes
were
honored
as

Academic All-Big Ten, the most
in recent history. Academic All-
Big Ten honorees must maintain
a 3.0 GPA and must letter in their
sports.

Advisory
Committee,
which

is comprised of 12 faculty
members, four students and
one liaison from the Senate
Advisory
Committee
on

University
Affairs.
SRAC

is
currently
charged
with

reviewing
the
initial
batch

of proposals, including those
offered
by
Central
Student

Government.

Statistics
Prof.
Edward

Rothman, who serves as SRAC
chair
during
the
current

amendment
cycle,
said
the

committee aims to clarify the
proposed
amendments,
but

not question the merits of each
change.

“We spent about an hour

or
so
going
through
the

proposed amendments student
government brought forward,”
he said.

Rothman said he had been on

the committee for several years,
and proposals from students
are of particular interest to
the committee. He said the
committee heard a presentation
in
which
Public
Policy

sophomore
Jacob
Pearlman,

CSG general counsel, outlined
amendments suggested by CSG.

CSG
proposed
seven

revisions:
establish
formal

venues to gather input on
revisions, an honor pledge,
implement
formal
education

about the student statement
during new student orientation
and a consistent three-year
amendment cycle.

CSG
also
proposed
an

amendment to ensure students
aren’t disciplined for violating
revisions
to
the
statement

enacted after the action in
question occurred. They also
proposed
formalizing
the

University
president’s
need

to select amendments before
the end of the school year, and
allowing CSG access to records
related to the process.

Pearlman spearheaded the

process of composing CSG’s
proposals, and Rothman noted
that having a single person
author all the proposals was
incredibly useful.

“When proposals are written

by committees you’re trying
to incorporate a myriad of of
perspectives in the document,”
Rothman
said.
“It’s
much

more difficult to get a cohesive
message than what you might
get from having a single person
write the amendments.”

Pearlman
said
he
was

surprised by the lack of student
knowledge about the statement,
considering it pertains only to
students.

“The statement is supposed

to
be
a
‘community-owned

document’
that
highlights

the values of our institution,”
Pearlman said. “Unfortunately,
most
students
are
entirely

unaware of what the statement

is, and how it can affect them.”

He also said the current

CSG
administration
focused

on increasing student voice
and input in the University
decision-making
processes,

which resulted in amendments
pertaining
to
the
revision

process itself.

“The
amendment
process

as
it
stands
is
potentially

restrictive to student voice, and
much of the true power is held
by faculty and administrators,”
Pearlman said. “Faculty are not
subject to the rules outlined in
the statement.”

Though the process begins

with students’ participation,
it does not always end with
their input informing the final
amendments. During the 2001
amendment cycle, none of the
proposed
amendments
put

forth by student government
— then called the Michigan
Student Assembly — made it
into the statement.

Erik
Wessel,
director
of

the Office of Student Conflict
Resolution, said his office helps
guide the statement revision
process since they receive all
the
amendments
proposed

before they are sent for SRAC’s
consideration.

“OSCR is really the keeper of

the Statement of Student Rights
and Responsibilities,” Wessel
said. “Obviously we use it
everyday in our general work.”

Wessel
said
OSCR

emphasizes
a
restorative

process
for
addressing

statement
violations.
After

a student is notified of the
allegations against him or her,
he or she attends an intake
meeting where OSCR presents
options
for
resolving
the

violation.

He said the collaborative

relationship
between
CSG

and OSCR during this year’s
amendment process was more
cohesive compared to recent
years.

“I think that we’re seeing the

fruits of that labor here,” Wessel
said. “I’m not sure if we’ve seen
this caliber in the relationship
with CSG ever before.”

Rothman said he appreciated

that many of the proposals
focused on raising awareness
about the statement.

“Students should be aware

of having the implications of
having the proposed changes
in place,” he said. “Students
are taking the responsibility
to make modifications to put
a process in there to assure
that students coming to the
University will at least know
about these issues.”

He also said he respected

the honor code proposal, and
deemed it a proactive approach
to dealing with issues like the
January ski trip, during which
fraternity members inflicted
several
hundred
thousand

dollars worth of damages.

“It’s as though we imagine

the way to fight crime is by

building more prisons, and
that, of course, is nonsense,”
Rothman said. “We’ve got to
be proactive, and figure out
why it is people are engaged in
crime. And here with respect to
students, by moving upstream
and
attempting
to
build

awareness and engagement by
the students in these changes,
we hope to reduce the issues
that come about as a result of
bad behavior.”

Rothman said the manner

in which students treat one
another is essential to the
University experience, and the
statement is the best method of
clarifying appropriate behavior
before students enter murky
situations.

“The notion of what that

means needs to be made clear
at a point where you’re not at
that party and intoxicated and
reacting to the circumstances
in a way where your decision-
making skills may not be quite
as strong,” Rothman said.

After
SRAC’s
review,
E.

Royster Harper, vice president
for student life, will again
review the proposals before
University
President
Mark

Schlissel has the final say.

“Regardless of our advice,

President Schlissel will look at
the recommendations and it’s
his prerogative to say yea or
nay,” he said.

asking questions.”

Students
also
expressed

concern that many of the courses
that
technically
satisfy
the

requirement actually fail to meet
the criteria used by the LSA
administration to classify courses
as Race and Ethnicity. One such
course mentioned was Public
Health 200, which, although
containing
a
unit
examining

health care disparities by race,
focuses on data and fails to
have any discussion about the
underlying causes of inequality,
attendants said.

Evans
Young,
assistant

dean
for
undergraduate

education,
who
was
present

at
the
event,
acknowledged

student concerns and laid out
some tentative solutions, such
as
adding
questions
to
the

course evaluations of courses
satisfying the Race and Ethnicity
requirement so that departments
can have better feedback data,
and providing more training to
Graduate
Student
Instructors

of such classes to better engage
students.

Throughout
the
forum,

participants
reaffirmed
the

importance of the requirement,
citing ongoing racial tensions at
the University of Missouri and
on other college campuses, as
well as incidences of racism at the
University. Engineering senior
Erin Moore spoke at the forum,
providing a personal example of
this behavior.

“I was on a bus in North

Campus and I was reading an
article and watching videos about
what’s happening on another
college campus,” Moore said,
referring to the protests occurring
on the University of Missouri’s
campus, “and someone tapped me

on my shoulder and said, ‘We’re
sharpening our knives in case
you guys are planning on doing
something — just so you’re aware.’
”

A number of students also

argued
that
the
Race
and

Ethnicity
requirement
should

be universally required across
all
other
undergraduate

schools, including the College
of Engineering and Ross School
of Business. Currently, only LSA
students are required to satisfy
this requirement.

“We are in a moment where we

can change this requirement and
apply it to the entire University,”
said LSA senior Branden Shafer,
a CSG representative. “You can
take all the science courses you
want, all the engineering courses
you want and be brilliant, but
you also need that broader
knowledge of the people that you
interact with and the world you
live in.”

RACE & ETHNICITY
From Page 1

CANDIDATES
From Page 2

SENATE ASSEMBLY
From Page 1

CITY COUNCIL
From Page 1

STUDENT CODE
From Page 1

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Tuesday, November 17, 2015 — 3

Body found in river
at Ann Arbor park

Police responded to a call

Monday afternoon after a body
was discovered floating face down
in the river at Gallup Park.

The name of the man found has

not been released.

Police
are
currently

investigating how the man died,
but have ruled out foul play.

Gov. Snyder refuses
to allow in more
Syrian refugees

Sunday, Michigan Gov. Rick

Snyder joined 23 other states that
have announced they will not
accept Syrian refugees in their
states.

The statement came in response

to the Paris terrorist attack by
ISIS, which killed 132 people and
injured hundreds.

Governors have taken different

approaches to the blocking of
refugees. Some have completely
banned refugees from entering,
while others
— like Snyder — have

put a temporary ban on refugees
entering.

Snyder
has
welcomed

immigrants
and
refugees
in

the past. In September, Snyder
said he was working with the
federal government to increase
the number of Middle Eastern
refugees.

Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas,

Florida,
Georgia,
Idaho,

Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas,
Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts,
Mississippi,
Nebraska,
New

Hampshire,
North
Carolina,

Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina,
Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin
governors are among the other
states who are banning the
admittance of refugees from Syria.

Study abroad
increases 15 percent

More and more students are

packing their bags to experience
college life abroad.

For the second consecutive

year, the number of U.S. students
studying abroad increased by 15
percent, according to a Univer-
sity release Monday. In 2013-14,
the University had 2,719 students
earning credit abroad, compared
with 2,365 in the 2012-13 school
year.

This
increase
in
students

abroad raised the University in
standings among higher education
institutions with the most stu-
dents overseas. According to the
Open Doors report by the Insti-
tute of International Education,
the University rose from sixth to
fifth place. This puts the Univer-
sity behind New York University,
the University of Texas at Austin,
Texas A&M University and the
University of Southern California,
in that order.

The Open Doors report is the

most complete census of education
abroad in the United States. How-
ever, the study does not include
students who are not U.S. citizens.
It also does not include students
who go abroad for noncredit activ-
ities, like internships or volunteer
opportunities.

Michigan attorney
general to lead
national association

The
Republican
Attorneys

General Association announced
Monday that Michigan’s Attor-
ney General Bill Schuette will be
appointed chair of the national
association.

The association is composed of

27 Republican attorneys general.

In a press release, Schuette said

he is eager to take on the role.

“It is my honor to serve as chair

during this critical time in which
federal government overreach is
hurting job creation and economic
growth in our states and our coun-
try as a whole,” Schuette said. “I
look forward to working with the
other 26 Republican attorneys
general in the fight to protect free
enterprise, liberty and our consti-
tution.”

—EMMA KINERY

NEWS BRIEFS

STORY
SLAM

this Friday
Nov. 20
7 - 9 pm

at 420
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