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Ann Arbor, Michigan
Thursday, December 10, 2015
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GOVERNMENT
See LAB SAFETY, Page 3A
See COMMISSION, Page 2A
From deer cull to
departure of key city
officials, 2015 marked
year of change
By ISOBEL FUTTER
Daily Staff Reporter
For City Hall and the Ann
Arbor City Council, the past year
has been one of major changes —
from an influx of new faces on
city staff to an unprecedented
decision to hire sharpshooters
to reduce Ann Arbor’s deer
population. As the year wraps up,
The Michigan Daily is reviewing
City Council’s major challenges
and successes throughout 2015,
and what the year’s progress, or
lack thereof, will mean for the
year ahead.
City staffing changes
In 2015, the city of Ann
Arbor lost upward of five key
city
leaders.
Among
these
were the police chief, the city
administrator, the city fire chief,
the city community services
area administrator and the city
planning manager.
A challenge for the city in
the coming months will be
finding the resources and staff
to accommodate council’s needs.
According to Councilmember
Zach Ackerman (D–Ward 3), an
LSA senior, council will need to
slow down with policy change in
the beginning of 2016.
“We have a leadership vacuum
in City Hall, five of them are
senior positions that all left the
city within a year,” Ackerman
said. “The responsible thing is to
slow down policy wise and make
sure that we have the key players
we need to make sure that what
we want to implement can be
implemented.”
Chuck Warpehoski (D–Ward
5) also said the openings will
slow down Ann Arbor for a while.
“There’s a lot of vacancies at
the top of the organization and
the organization is tight on staff
CITY COUNCIL
Supreme Court to
once again consider
use of race in college
admissions process
By SAMANTHA WINTNER
Daily Staff Reporter
Amid increased discussion of
race on college campuses across the
country, the U.S. Supreme Court
heard oral arguments Wednesday
in Fisher v. University of Texas, a
case that could diminish the use
of affirmative action in college
admissions processes.
The case considers the legality
of institutions of higher education
using race as one of many factors
when
making
admissions
decisions. Abigail Fisher, a white
woman from Texas, is suing the
University of Texas at Austin
because she believes she would
have been admitted to the school if
not for her race.
At the time, UT-Austin granted
automatic admission to students
who were in the top 10 percent of
their high school classes, which
makes up about 75 percent of
UT-Austin’s student body. Though
this plan does not explicitly
consider race as a factor, it is
intended to result in a more diverse
collegiate student body since high
schools in the state may not be
diverse. Fisher did not make this
cut at her high school.
The Supreme Court previously
heard the case in 2012, when the
justices remanded it to a lower
court. The case then made its way
back up through the court system
through the Fifth Circuit Court of
Appeals. The Fifth Circuit ruled
against Fisher, but that decision
was appealed and again sent to the
Supreme Court in 2014.
The case follows a line of
Supreme Court decisions ruling
on the use of affirmative action,
including two cases challenging
the
University
of
Michigan’s
admissions policies. In 2003, the
court ruled in Gratz v. Bollinger
that the University’s point system
for undergraduate admissions was
unconstitutional, but that the use
of race as one of many factors by the
See REVIEW, Page 3A
See SCOTUS, Page 2A
RESEARCH
TECHNOLOGY
Policy also creates
oversight board
to ensure best
research practices
By JACKIE CHARNIGA
Daily Staff Reporter
After
University
President
Mark Schlisselpledged in April
to enhance on-campus laboratory
safety,
the
University
has
implemented a standardized lab
safety policy, on top of creating
an
oversight
committee
on
laboratory and research safety.
The new Academic Laboratory
and
Research
Safety
Policy
applies to all University students,
faculty and staff. The policy
outlines
the
responsibilities
of those in a management or
supervisory
position
for
the
safety of those who serve under
them.
Danielle
Sheen,
associate
director
of
research
and
operations safety from the Office
of
Occupational
Safety
and
Environmental Health, said the
policy changes intend to put more
emphasis on following existing
policies and formalizing current
safety practices.
“There
have
been
some
recent tragedies on university
campuses across the nation and
University leadership wanted to
be proactive to emphasize the
importance of safe research to
prevent any similar outcomes on
our campus,” Sheen wrote in an
e-mail interview.
The
policy
begins
with
emphasizing
reporting
and
resolving health and safety issues.
Position-specific responsibilities
increase
with
the
level
of
authority, the majority of which
rests with the laboratory director.
“A culture of safety is a shared
responsibility and this policy
formalizes the role of everyone
in the U-M research community,”
Sheen wrote. “This information
did not previously exist in a
policy format for individuals to
reference.”
The new policy also defines the
roles of those on the University
Human Rights
Commission holds
forum on proposed
civilian commission
By RIYAH BASHA
Daily Staff Reporter
The Ann Arbor Human Rights
Commission met at Larcom City
Hall on Tuesday night to discuss
an advisory report on improving
police-community
relations.
The commission, which reports
directly to the Ann Arbor City
Council, opened the meeting
to the public. More than 30
community members attended,
over half of whom voiced
concerns about the 42-page
report released last month.
In the report, the commission
calls for the formation of an
independent
civilian
review
board,
the
hiring
of
an
independent
police
auditor
and the formation of crisis
intervention
teams.
The
discussion of the proposals
comes at a critical time for
the
city’s
police
force,
as
James
White,
an
assistant
chief with the Detroit Police
Department, will take over as
the department’s new chief in
January.
Commissioner
Dwight
Wilson,
who
said
he
met
extensively with various local
organizations and community
members before drafting the
Device has already
saved the lives of
four children, pends
FDA approval
By ALEXA ST. JOHN
Daily Staff Reporter
The University plans to take its
3D pringing initiatives one step
further.
The University has signed
a
license
agreement
with
Materialise, a 3D printing and
software company headquartered
in Belgium, to commercialize
3D-printed
tracheal
splints
developed at the University.
The
splints
already
saved
the
lives
of
four
children,
and
are
used
to
mitigate
complications
associated
tracheobronchomalacia,
a
condition
resulting
from
the
malformation
of
vascular
structures in a person’s airway.
The malformation can result in
a weakened trachea or bronchi,
which can cause the airway to
See PRINTING, Page 3A
DAVID SONG/Daily
Linda Winkler, vice chair of the Human Rights Commission, listens to citizen complaints about the Police
Oversight Resolution at Larcom City Hall on Wednesday.
DAVID SONG/Daily
LSA sophomore Sarah Gizzi and LSA freshman Marielle Dewicki make sugar cookies after a cookie baking demonstration by a Michigan Dining chef at the
Michigan Union on Wednesday.
SWE ETE N YOUR DAY
Year in Review: Ann Arbor
leadership faces transition
New policy to
standardize
safety in labs
Residents say more debate
needed for police oversight
‘U’ licenses
3D-printed
tracheal
splint device
Court hears
arguments
in Fisher v.
Texas case
INDEX
Vol. CXXV, No. 43
©2015 The Michigan Daily
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