among a list of illicit drugs used 
on campus, and that 11 percent of 
students in 2013 indicated they had 
taken the drug for a non-medical 
use in the past year.

“We’ve seen a lot of our 

friends plagued by these issues 
and now that we’re in a position 
to be heard and we have the 
foundation to do something we 
want to do something,” Schafer 
said. “Personally, I’ve seen my 
friends misuse in so many different 
occasions in so many different 
ways.”

Public 
Policy 
junior 
Lucky 

Lakshman 
Mulpuri, 
a 
CSG 

representative involved in the 
planning, said the campaign will 
focus on opioids, depressants and 
stimulants.

Mulpuri said he hopes the 

campaign will not demonize the 
drugs, but will instead focus on 
emphasizing the fact that they’re 
prescribed by doctors for a reason.

“It 
feels 
like 
a 
real 
and 

tangible step towards addressing 
prescription 
drug 
misuse 
on 

campus,” Mulpuri said.

The 
campaign, 
which 
will 

begin the last week of January 
and run until the first week of 
February, will contain five events 
that will alternate every other 
day. It’s slated to begin with an 
informational video on adderall 
abuse featuring the University 

football team, members of the 
University’s chapter of Theta Chi, 
the fraternity Levine belonged to, 
and other students willing to share 
their stories.

A 
panel 
discussion 
led 
by 

representatives 
of 
the 
School 

of 
Public 
Health, 
University 

Health Services and the College 
of Pharmacy is slated to focus 
on the dangers of prescription 
drug misuse. Levine’s mother, 
Julie Buckner, has also agreed to 
participate in the panel.

Third-year Pharmacy student 

Caroline Quinn, president of the 
Pharmacy Student Government 
Council, said the dean of student 
services for the Pharmacy School, 
expressed interest in the school 
supporting the initiative. Along 
with providing speakers for the 
panel, the school also plans to 
screen any factual information on 
stimulants before it is used in the 
campaign.

Schafer said it is important the 

campaign speaks to students while 
remaining 
inclusive 
for 
those 

affected by the problem.

“It shouldn’t come from a 

pedantic or overly condescending 
place,” Schafer said. “CSG members 
also face these unbelievably high 
academic pressures, and we don’t 
want to see students using these 
drugs.”

The campaign is expected to 

conclude with a signature drive 
asking students to pledge not to 
abuse prescription medicines. 

in building a stronger Black 
community at the University.

“Being a freshman here, 

when I first got here, I felt 
like I wasn’t a good enough 
Black student because I wasn’t 
involved yet. I didn’t know 
what Black organizations I 
wanted to join,” she said. “If 
we as upperclassmen are here 
and seeing new faces, let’s be 
inclusive and talk to Black 
people. Talk to people you 
haven’t seen before. Let’s have 
some type of inclusivity within 
our own culture so there isn’t a 
hierarchy of Blackness.”

Attendees also reflected on 

a 2014 Martin Luther King Jr. 
Day demonstration held by BSU 
members on the steps of Hill 
Auditorium.

Holding black signs with 

tweets written in white chalk, 
members protested low minority 
enrollment and demanded the 
University meet seven goals for 
improving campus climate and 
diversity of the student body.

A new location for the Trotter 

Center and an improved race 
and ethnicity requirement were 
among the demands made by 
the BSU. Additionally, the BSU 
demanded an increase to Black 
student enrollment equal to 10 
percent. 

The University has since 

addressed some of the demands 
outlined by the BSU, including 
granting 
the 
organization 

$60,000, for funding a variety 
of student groups on campus, 
an increase from the $37,000 
previously 
allocated 
to 
the 

organization. The University 
also 
approved 
Intergroup 

Relations 
courses 
to 
count 

toward the race and ethnicity 
distribution requirement, and 
increased the classes’ credit 
value from two credits to three.

Officials 
also 
digitized 

Bentley 
Historical 
Library 

documents with information 
on the Black Action Movement 
of the 1960s. The BSU made 
the demand with the aim of 
increasing 
the 
University’s 

transparency on past dealings 
with Black student activists.

During 
Thursday’s 
event, 

one student said he thinks it’s 
unnecessary to keep making 
new 
demands 
when 
the 

demands from previous Black 
activist 
movements 
haven’t 

been met.

Former 
BSU 
Treasurer 

Robert Greenfield, a University 
alum, said gaining total support 
from the Black community 
on campus is necessary to 
substantiate the demands.

“We first need 100-percent 

buy-in of the Black community, 
and the problem is that in the 
past, action movements and 
social action on campus, there 
hasn’t been that 100-percent 
buy-in,” he said. “The football 
players and basketball players, 
we need them. I think that in 
the University setting, that’s the 
only way we’re gonna really get 
those demands met.”

Discussions 
between 
the 

BSU, University administration 
and other community members 
are ongoing. Last week, the 
University held a weeklong 
Diversity 
Summit 
intended 

to 
garner 
input 
from 
the 

community about improving 

equality 
and 
inclusion 
on 

campus.

In a statement Thursday, 

University 
President 
Mark 

Schlissel thanked the BSU for 
participating in a meeting with 
him and E. Royster Harper, vice 
president for student life. 

“I would further like to 

thank the members of the Black 
Student Union who joined Vice 
President Harper and me last 
Friday for breakfast, as part of 
our ongoing dialogue over the 
past year,” he said. “Though the 
breakfast had been scheduled 
for weeks, the timing gave us 
the opportunity to discuss the 
nationwide campus issues of 
racism and inequality.”

Schlissel also lauded students 

for engaging in dialogues about 
racism and discrimination on 
college campuses. 

Along 
with 
discussing 

campus 
efforts 
over 
the 

past 
few 
years, 
presenters 

Thursday also dedicated time 
to celebrating how #BBUM had 
strengthened ties within the 
Black community.

BSU 
Political 
Action 

Chair Diego Zimmerman, a 
sophomore in the School of 
Music, Theatre & Dance and 
the College of Engineering, 
said he remembered the warm 
greetings he received when he 
came to his first BSU meeting.

“I remember my first BSU 

meeting: Everybody said ‘What’s 
up,’ met everyone, had the best 
time,” he said. “I remember that 
feeling of community I never got 
anywhere else. I remembered I 
need to stay here — my family is 
here.”

LSA senior Arnold Reed, 

former 
BSU 
speaker, 
said 

throwing tailgates on game days 
helped draw Black students 
closer together and is something 
younger students should also 
emulate.

“I want you guys to know, 

especially 
younger 
students, 

when it comes to throwing 
events or doing things that you 
feel like you don’t normally have 
access to, do it,” he said. “Know 
that this group right here is 
going to always support you.”

During the event, Kinesiology 

senior 
Cap 
Kendall 
said 

building 
relationships 
with 

faculty members would also be 
helpful in unifying the Black 
community.

“I 
think 
oftentimes 
as 

undergraduates 
you 
often 

forget that there are faculty and 
professional students who are 
also our allies (and) are here 
to help us,” she said. “We need 
to open up more and let them 
participate in conversation like 
this.”

In an interview with The 

Michigan Daily after the event, 
LSA senior Chris James, a BSU 
executive board member, said 
holding Thursday’s event was 
vital in inspiring younger Black 
students to continue the efforts 
of past BSU members.

“#BBUM started two years, 

so with the new incoming 
freshmen, they don’t always get 
to see the up close and personal 
of what happens on campus 
before they got here,” he said. 
“It’s so important to have 
this so they can carry it with 
themselves and keep holding 
the University accountable for 
what they say they’re gonna do. 
We have to keep this fire going.”

Miller, retired executive vice 
president for health affairs at 
Johns Hopkins University.

Johns was chosen last year to 

serve as interim chief executive 
officer of University of Michigan 
Health System through March.

The board’s trip to Los Angeles 

in 2013 involved meeting with 
Robert 
Birgeneau, 
former 

chancellor of the University of 
California, 
Berkeley, 
Stanford 

University 
President 
John 

Hennessy, Robert Berdahl, former 
president of the Association of 
American Universities and Dan 
Russell, a top Google research 
scientist.

Fitzgerald 
also 
said 
the 

strategic planning sessions serve 
as opportunities for the board to 
interact with University alumni. 
The board’s meeting in New York 
was accompanied by a fundraising 

dinner at Lincoln Center. At 
this year’s strategic planning 
meeting, the regents will interact 
with alumni in Detroit, an area 
heavily populated with University 
alumni.

There 
are 
almost 
60,000 

alumni in the greater Detroit area, 
one of the highest concentrations 
nationwide.

As he enters his second year, 

University 
President 
Mark 

Schlissel has also focused on 
strengthening the University’s 
connection to the city of Detroit. 
At an Amazon press conference 
in the city this past September, 
he emphasized the University’s 
annual 
student-led 
Detroit 

Partnership Day, in which 1,500 
students participate in projects 
across the city. In August, he 
hosted an event commending the 
work of students and interns in 
the city.

The 
next 
regular 
regents 

meeting will take place Dec 17. 

could prevent these dangerous 
infections, how the exact process 
works 
remains 
undiscovered. 

VanEpps said the key may be 
the nanoparticles’ shape, which 
enables them to inhibit certain 
enzymes important for bacterial 
growth.

Because 
zinc 
oxide 

nanopyramids 
can 
inhibit 

multiple bacterial enzymes while 
antibiotics 
normally 
disrupt 

just one, it may be much harder 

for bacteria to evolve resistance 
against the nanoparticles.

“We’ve seen that the zinc oxide 

nanopyramids 
hinder 
biofilm 

growth, and it’s been shown that 
they inhibit certain enzymes. 
Next, we want to figure out how 
these two facts fit together,” 
VanEpps said.

The researchers plan to learn 

more about the nanoparticles 
before they can be adapted for 
medical use. For example, they 
will observe whether different 
concentrations of particles can 
inhibit other types of bacteria 
without harming human cells.

the hopelessness as I felt that no 
one cared about the people who 
died the day before because they 
simply look different and came 
from a different part to the world.”

First-year Law student Asma 

Husain, who spoke during the 
rally, said she often feels like 
she must bear the burden of her 
entire culture as a Muslim and 
answer for things she doesn’t 
agree with, such as the actions of 
extremists.

“Being a Muslim in America 

now means you have this kind of 
tax placed upon you,” she said. 
“Which means when anything 
happens that involves anyone 
whose identity has any tenuous 
or 
untrue 
or 
contradictory 

connection to Islam or claims 
that connection, you feel like 
it is a weight put upon your 
shoulders to explain or apologize 
or distance yourself from those 
actions.”

First-year Law student Zahrah 

Fadel, who also spoke, echoed 
Husain’s sentiments.

She said groups like the Islamic 

State are trying to bring back 
the hatred and fear that existed 
following the 9/11 attacks.

“It took me years after I 

moved here from Lebanon. I 

was embarrassed to bring a pita 
sandwich to school for so long. I 
was embarrassed to admit that 
I was a Muslim, but I realized 
growing up that I’m American. 
I’m just as American as anyone 
else,” Fadel said. “We’ve (made) 
so much progress in this country 
to 
move 
from 
that 
divisive 

mindset, so let’s not go back. I 
don’t want this generation to 
grow up hopeless. I want us to 
grow up together.”

Along with speeches from 

community members, organizers 
also held a moment of silence 
for victims of terror worldwide, 
as well as taking a picture in 
solidarity with Parisians. 

Second 
year 
Law 
student 

Nicolas Kabat, president of the 
Racial Justice Coalition, said 
his inspiration for the rally 
came from how upset he saw 
members of his community were 
in response to the week’s events.

“I think everyone was very 

upset with the Paris attacks, and 
yet we were also equally upset by 
the response we were seeing from 
local politicians, from media 
pundits,” he said. “We wanted to 
have a rally that would show our 
solidarity with the victims of the 
Paris attacks and also show our 
solidarity with all Muslims in 
the U.S. and anyone experiencing 
hatred.”

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Friday, November 20, 2015 — 3

CSG
From Page 1

PEACE
From Page 1

REGENTS
From Page 1

 STORY
SLAM

The Daily aims to tell the story of campus, 
Ann Arbor, the state, and our society at large. 
But the Daily also wants to hear from you. 
What do you want to tell?

Friday, November 20 
7:00 to 9:00 p.m. 
420 Maynard St.

The Michigan Daily invites 
storytellers of all kinds to join 
us for a our first community story slam. 

Send entries to Sam Gringlas at gringlas@umich.edu by Nov. 13. 

We want to hear your 
poetry, short stories, essays -- 
anything you can read or perform aloud. 

SUNSCREEN
From Page 1

#BBUM
From Page 1

study linking autism with measles, 
mumps and rubella vaccines, but 
in 2010, the study was retracted by 
the publishing journal because the 
study used false data to reach its 
conclusion.

In 1975, one out of 5,000 people 

were diagnosed with autism, but in 
2009, one in 110 were. Smith said 
the increase is due to the change 
in the diagnosis criteria and raised 
awareness of the condition, not 
vaccinations. Smith cited the 1988 
movie “Rain Man,” starring Dustin 
Hoffman as an autistic savant, as 
one of the reasons autism gained 

recognition in the society, for both 
the public and physicians.

“(Numbers) really took off when 

the movie ‘Rain Man’ came out,” 
Smith said. “It changed the prac-
tice. Even physicians recognized 
the changes in the diagnosis crite-
ria.”

Finally, Smith rebuked anti-

vaxxers argument that parents 
have the right to choose whether 
they vaccinate their children. 
Smith said not vaccinating the chil-
dren will put other children who 
cannot get vaccinated at risk.

“The society has the duty to pro-

tect (children who cannot get vac-
cinated) from people who could be 
vaccinated but choose not to,” she 
said.

VACCINES
From Page 1A
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MICHIGAN DAILY 

ON TWITTER

@michigandaily

AND ‘LIKE’ US ON FACEBOOK

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