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Monday, November 23, 2015

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GRANT HARDY /Daily

SNOW MUCH FU N

‘M’ Big 
Ten title 
chances 
still alive

ACADEMICS

WORLD
FOOTBALL

Union sees room 
for pay growth but 
notes above average 
wages, conditions

By LYDIA MURRAY

Daily Staff Reporter

Good 
— 
but 
not 
perfect. 

That’s 
how 
many 
University 

administrators 
and 
lecturers 

describe the current relationship 

between their two groups.

While 
this 
assessment 

acknowledges 
some 
lingering 

problems, especially when it 
comes to salaries, the climate 
places the University in a unique 
position. For the most part, the 
University stands in contrast to 
many other colleges across the 
country that have seen non-tenure 
track 
faculty, 
like 
lecturers, 

mobilizing around a number of 
issues — namely low pay and poor 
work conditions.

A 2014 report by the American 

Association 
of 
University 

Professors 
showed 
that 
on 

average in the United States, 
non-tenure track faculty make 
up 76.4 percent of instructional 
employees. 
In 
2013, 
NPR 

reported that adjunct professors 
— another term for lecturers — 
are paid on average $20,000 to 
$25,000 per year. Those salary 
numbers have inspired protests 
at various institutions over past 
years, including theUniversity 
of 
California, 
Berkeley; 

Northeastern 
University 
and 

Rutgers 
Universitysince 
April 

alone.

However, 
the 
University 

stands out as an anomaly to 
those numbers. Lecturers make 
up 18 percent of all University 
instructional employees, which 
also include tenure-track faculty 
and graduate student instructors. 
The salaries of lecturers vary, but 
they earn a mean salary of $70,358 
and a minimum salary of $34,000, 
according to the University’s 
2014-2015 
salary 
analysis. 

Professors earn an average salary 

of $161,511.

The reasons for the difference 

between the numbers nationally 
and at the University, according to 
both the University and lecturers 
interviewed for this story, is 
largely the Lecturer’s Employees 
Organization, a union formed in 
2003 to confront the University 
on its treatment of lecturers.

In 2004, the LEO negotiated its 

first contract with the University 
on behalf of the lecturers. The 
contract covered the Dearborn 
and Flint campuses in addition 

to the Ann Arbor campus, and set 
minimum salaries with regular 
raises and added increased job 
security and benefits.

In 
an 
interview 
with 

The 
Michigan 
Daily, 
LEO 

President 
Bonnie 
Halloran 

said the movement to form the 
organization was first based on 
the issues common to non-tenure 
track faculty nationwide — low 
pay and the lack of job security 
and proper benefits.

Before the LEO negotiated a 

Online applications, 
social media change 

the experience of 

volunteering abroad

By JACKIE CHARNIGA

Daily Staff Reporter

Last month marked the 55th 

anniversary of former President 
John F. Kennedy’s speech on 
the steps of the Michigan Union 
proposing the organization of a 
United States Peace Corps.

Many things have changed 

since the program’s inception 
in 
1961, 
most 
notably 
the 

advancement 
of 
technology— 

which 
has 
had 
a 
profound 

influence on the application, 
deployment 
and 
service 

experience 
of 
Peace 
Corps 

volunteers 
in 
recent 
years, 

particularly among University 
participants.

Application process
In August 2012, the Peace 

Corps officially switched to an 

online application process that 
allows applicants to apply only 
to regions in which they have an 
interest. The previous system 
accepted only general applications 
— volunteer assignment locations 
were later determined based on 
each location’s varying level of 
need.

Jeanne Paul, who served as a 

Peace Corps volunteer in Brazil 
from 1964 to 1966, said because 
applicants can choose which 
regions they apply to, certain 
less desirable locations may no 
longer have enough volunteers. 
She said the Peace Corps changed 
their method of application to 
appeal to more applicants with a 
wider variety of experiences and 
qualifications.

“The irony here is that when 

you allow people to make these 
choices and to feel that they can 
determine where they’re going to 
go and what they’re going to do, 
you may be attracting people at 
the same time who won’t easily 
adjust to the communities where 
they’re serving,” Paul said.

Celebrations feature 

array of customs, 
expressions of faith

By TANYA MADHANI

Daily Staff Reporter

More than 1,000 students 

and alumni gathered Friday at 
50 different locations across 
campus for a Shabbat dinner, 
which 
marks 
the 
Jewish 

Sabbath, or day of rest.

The event, called Shabbat at 

UM or ShabUM, was sponsored 
by 
University 
of 
Michigan 

Hillel and organized by a 
special committee.

LSA 
senior 
Ali 
Meisel, 

a member of the ShabUM 
committee, said Hillel hosted 
the event to celebrate all the 
different ways people observe 
Shabbat.

“When a Jewish person 

thinks of Shabbat, they think of 
the Friday night dinner and it’s 
a time where people can come 
together at the end of a week 
and really enjoy each other’s 
company and with their family 
and friends, and just really be 
grateful for the week that has 
just passed,” Meisel said.

Though Hillel hosts its own 

Shabbat dinner every Friday 
night, Meisel said, the point 

KRISTINA PERKINS / Daily

LSA junior Gabi Kirsch lights the Shabbat candles to begin prayers at her Shabbat dinner on Friday. Kirsch’s dinner 
was one of the many gatherings hosted by students across campus for ShabUM, an event organized by Hillel. 

Another strong day 
from Rudock helps 
Wolverines win in 
State College, 28-16

By ZACH SHAW

Daily Sports Editor

STATE COLLEGE — As the 

public-address 
announcer’s 

voice echoed throughout Beaver 
Stadium, the No. 12 Michigan 
football team streamed onto the 
field for postgame handshakes 
with wide smiles and a sense of 
purpose.

The announcer listed stats 

from the game, but the players 
weren’t 
listening. 
The 
13 

penalties, two turnovers and 
countless miscues mattered as 
little as the four touchdowns and 
margin of victory.

The Wolverines (6-1 Big Ten, 

9-2 overall) had just defeated 
Penn State, 28-16, and all that 

See ADJUNCT, Page 3A

See PEACE CORPS, Page 3A
See SHABUM, Page 3A
See PENN STATE, Page 3A

RYAN MCLOUGHLIN /Daily

LEFT: LSA sophomore Audrey Kim places a carrot on her snowman during the first snowfall of the season at Palmer Field on Saturday. RIGHT: West Quad residents attempt to hold off South Quad attackers in a West Quad vs. South Quad 
snowball fight on East Madison Street on Saturday night. 

‘U’ navigates relationship with lecturers

Peace Corps
impacted by
tech. advances

1,000 attend Shabbat 
dinners across campus

INDEX
Vol. CXXV, No. 35
©2015 The Michigan Daily
michigandaily.com

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OPINION.....................4A

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