increased, but especially given
a budget deficit of $460 million,
you’re talking about a lot of items
that we have to watch.”
Irwin said in an interview
Thursday
that
he
deemed
expanding
financial
aid
a
priority, but he was disappointed
that this priority wasn’t largely
reflected in the final budget.
“Michigan is currently 41st
in the nation by most estimates
in terms of providing financial
aid,” Irwin said. “Efforts to move
Michigan up the ladder, to try to
get Michigan out of the basement
in funding for financial aid were
rebuffed.”
Irwin also identified several
other
priorities
in
January,
including
bolstering
clean
energy
production
and
improving energy efficiency
in the state, as well as several
social justice measures.
Speaking
about
those
priorities Thursday, Irwin said
he believed one of the most
important pieces of legislature
passed this year was a bill
relating to criminal justice,
which he co-sponsored.
The bill, passed by the
Michigan
House,
would
prevent prisons from holding
prisoners past their sentences.
The bill is currently being
considered in the Senate.
“Michigan is one of the
toughest states for parole,” he
said. “What we are basically
saying to the parole board is
if you want to keep somebody
past their release date then
you have to justify it, and in
the future that could save the
state hundreds of millions of
dollars.”
Irwin has also introduced
several bills relating to the
environment, including House
Bill
4512,
which
imposes
regulations on the construction
of oil and natural gas pipelines,
and House Bill 5116, which
promotes home-based renewable
energy production.
Zemke — who was unavailable
for
comment
this
week
—
identified
several
priorities
in January along with higher
education
funding,
including
supporting
students
and
educators.
He introduced legislation this
year addressing the standards
for the kinds of support services
offered to students and parents
by schools.
Zemke
also
introduced
several other bills over the
session,
including
proposals
allowing
same-sex
couples
married in another state to have
their
marriages
recognized
in Michigan, changing how
veterans
relief
funds
are
distributed and making election
days a state holiday.
Overall, Irwin said, many of
his legislative priorities weren’t
realized to the extent he would
have hoped due to the current
GOP majority in Lansing. The
Michigan House is currently
Republican-controlled
by
a
margin of 16; the Michigan
Senate stands at 27 Republicans,
11 Democrats.
“I don’t want to be too
negative,” he said. “But the
reality
is
with
Republicans
having overwhelming control of
the legislature, and particularly
very conservative Republicans, it
is hard to imagine that we would
actually do the things I spent a
lot of my time advocating for.”
State Senate
In the Senate, state Sen.
Rebekah
Warren’s
(D–Ann
Arbor)
priorities
had
some
similarities to her colleagues
in the House — she identified
the environment as a particular
focus — but featured some unique
policy areas as well, including
mental health.
Warren
said
one
of
her
biggest
accomplishments
in the legislature this year
was aiding in the passage of
the
bipartisan
Great
Lakes
Restoration
Initiative,
which
requests more funding from the
federal government for proper
preservation of the Great Lakes.
“It would work on the cleanup
of pollution sites and do habitat
reconstruction to make sure we
are doing everything we can to
protect the Great Lakes, so I was
really thrilled that we could pass
that,” she said.
Warren also noted the success
of a bill she sponsored that allows
for citizens with family members
with mental illnesses to set up
savings accounts for them. Prior
to the passage of this bill, many
in that situation would lose
access to federal support if they
had any money in savings.
“What
we
know
is
for
those folks to have as much
independence as they can ever
have, they need to have some
funds saved up to help them with
that, so I was really excited to
see that get passed into law,” she
said.
Despite
the
Republican
control, she said, she was still
able to find some successes
during the year.
“I would say for myself,
the fact that I am in a super-
minority — I am the only woman
Democrat in the Senate — and I
can still say that I have bills that
were signed into laws, that is to
me a positive sign that I am still
able to get things done in this
climate,” she said.
to the lab to contribute data do not
have those high stakes settings that
you would have in a court setting,
like if you were defending your life,”
she said. “So that’s the reason why
we wanted real data when people
are truly lying.”
The videos include testimony
from both defendants and witnesses.
By comparing the testimony to the
court’s verdict, the researchers
deemed which subjects were being
deceptive. Through the comparison,
researchers found half of the clips
featured deceptive subjects.
Mihalcea said the team also used
some clips from The Innocence
Project, a national organization that
works to reexamine cases where
individuals were tried without the
benefit of DNA testing with the aim
of exonerating wrongfully convicted
individuals.
“The Innocence Project is all
about people being exonerated, so
they have people who eventually
tell the truth though they were
believed to tell a lie,” Mihalcea said.
“So in our data, there would be data
points with that truth label. That
data would show people who were
actually saying the truth.”
After the team gauged deception
by comparing the court’s verdict
with the testimony, the researchers
analyzed body language in the clips,
specifically looking for common
behaviors
in
subjects
deemed
deceptive.
Mihalcea said the team referred
to common deceptive gestures
identified in prior research when
analyzing the subjects.
According to a press release,
the researchers found that 70
percent of the deceptive subjects
looked directly at the questioner
when answering questions. They
also found that 40 percent of the
deceptive subjects often gestured
with both hands.
Mihalcea said after identifying
common gestures, researchers then
transcribed the audio from the
video clips of trials and analyzed
how often subjects labeled deceptive
used various words and phrases.
“We extracted individual words
and groups of words,” she said. “For
instance, there is a group of words
that reflect positive feelings, or
there is a group of words that would
reflect certainty. We looked for the
presence of words that would belong
to these categories.”
By
analyzing
the
speaker’s
common
gestures
and
words
together,
the
researchers
then
determined which overall behaviors
were typical for deceptive subjects.
After feeding the results of the
study into the software system,
Mihalcea said the rubric of deceptive
behaviors was 75-percent accurate
in identifying which subjects were
deceptive among the 120 videos
originally studied.
Though
Mihalcea
said
the
research
team
considered
the
software successful in the prototype
stage, she noted there were still
improvements to be made — in
particular, enhancing the formula to
consider cultural and demographic
differences.
Burzo wrote in a press release
that
examining
cultural
and
demographic differences adds a
different perspective in deception
research.
“Deception detection is a very
difficult problem,” he said. “We are
getting at it from several different
angles.”
Beyond the courtroom, Mihalcea
said, there might also be other
applications to which the software
can be adapted, such as job
interviews.
“It could be helpful in situations
where there is an interaction with
people and it is important to know
when the other side is telling the
truth,” she said. “I think a system
like this would give clues, or at
least give an indication that there
is a chance that this person is lying,
which, whatever the context would
be, humans could make use of.”
the community and produce
quality work with thorough
editing.
“I believe the quality and
ethical standards we hold
ourselves to in the news
section are impressive, and as
managing news editor, I plan
to continue that tradition,”
Kerr said. “Our goal in the
news section, in my opinion, is
to inform the public, creating
a
more
engaged
student
community on campus.
“This year, I’ll be focusing on
moving toward an online-first
model so we can best reach our
audience while maintaining a
consistent print paper — the
only daily print paper in Ann
Arbor,” she added. “I’ll also
be working to better train
the next generation of Daily
reporters
and
journalists,
encourage
strengthened
relationships
with
sources,
and facilitate a challenging and
inclusive community of student
journalists.”
Incorporating a broad array
of voices will be a priority
for LSA sophomore Regan
Detwiler and LSA junior Claire
Bryan, incoming editorial page
editors. They both said more
active recruitment for the
section will play an essential
role in reaching this goal.
“Claire and I really want to
be leaders in innovation and
in increasing diversity on the
Daily, especially within the
Opinion section. We want as
many voices to be heard as
possible,” Detwiler said. “We
also see ourselves as part of
student newspaper that needs
to be on the cutting edge of
journalism, doing new things
with web and increasing the
variety of content we have to
appeal to more readers.”
LSA junior Jake Lourim
and Public Policy junior Max
Bultman hope to create a
welcoming environment for
their writers as co-managing
sports editors. This is Lourim’s
second year in this position and
Bultman’s first. Bultman said
he feels he owes it to the section
to step up to this role.
“I think it’s important to
continue to grow our staff
and keep good opportunities
for people so that we have a
foundation for the future,”
Lourim said. “I think it’s also
important to create a good
atmosphere within the section
so that everyone feels welcome
and everyone feels like they’re
contributing. Doing this again,
I loved doing it the first time,
had a great co-editor, (Business
senior) Max Cohen, and I really
liked the responsibility, liked
being involved at the Daily,
liked covering football — which
I got to do this year. I’m excited
to give it another go.”
For
LSA
juniors
Emily
Campbell and Alexis Nowicki,
their collective passion for the
Daily combined with their love
of grammar will help them
lead their section as co-copy
chiefs, and create an open,
collaborative section, they said.
“I ran because I love the
Daily and I love the Copy Desk
— I’ve been a part of it since my
freshman year,” Campbell said.
“It’s a really great community
and I think that ties into my
goals because what I’d really
love is for the Copy Desk to be
a community in and of itself
and part of The Michigan Daily
community. A goal would be to
try and foster that community
for everyone.”
Incoming managing photo
editors, LSA junior Amanda
Allen and LSA sophomore
Grant Hardy, hope to produce
strong visual narratives for the
stories the Daily runs.
“My goals for next year
are to continue to put out
quality content,” Allen said.
“I think that Photo is a great
opportunity for photographers
to get a lot of experience and
learn from other people so I
want to keep that tradition
going.”
LSA juniors Adam Theisen
and
Kathleen
Davis
hope
that their love for the Daily
will be reflected in their
new roles as co-managing
arts editors — which Davis
said is representative of the
duo’s overall commitment to
journalism.
“Adam and I have a very
similar trajectory because we
both started very soon during
our freshman year,” Davis said.
“We both became senior arts
editors last year and we both
love the Daily. This is what I
want to do in my life, and Adam
I think is the same.”
LSA
sophomore
Anjali
Alangaden was selected for the
position of managing design
editor, and will be joined by
Art & Design senior Mariah
Gardziola for Winter 2016 and
Art & Design junior Francesca
Kielb for Fall 2016.
“In the coming year, there
are a lot of things that the
design section would like to
focus on,” Alangaden said. “Of
course, we want to continue
producing
innovative
and
interesting layouts and for the
feature sections like B-side and
SportsMonday, but we are also
working to update the overall
design of the paper, especially
the front page. The layout and
design of the paper plays a huge
role in attracting interest and
we want to make sure we are
staying up to date.”
The
current
semester’s
editors for Michigan in Color
—
Engineering
graduate
student Ryan Moody and LSA
seniors Sarah Khan, De’Mario
Longmire and Gabby Vasquez
— will continue to hold their
positions until their section
selects
new
leadership
in
February.
LSA junior Nivedita Karki
will serve as next year’s online
editor, and said she hopes to
create a teaching community
within the web team through
new innovative ideas.
“We’re working on two
apps right now,” Karki said.
“We’re working on a concept
app for The Michigan Daily
and
the
other
app
we’re
working on is a ‘marketplace.’
It’s definitely been a learning
process for everybody. More
than anything, I think the
team needs to be a productive
learning experience.”
The Daily video section will
be led by LSA sophomore Levin
Kim. The Statement Magazine
will be led by LSA junior Karl
Williams.
“I want the Statement to
be an intellectual forum that
will foster critical inquiry in
the Ann Arbor and University
community,” Williams said.
“I hope to give a voice to
underrepresented racial, social
and economic groups in both
print and, hopefully, in video.
Specifically, I want to work
with the homeless community,
which I think lacks a voice, and
I would love to make a short
documentary on the issues
they not only face, but live with
every day.”
avenues with the embodiment of
these principals.”
This
semester,
the
CSG
Executive Committee chose to
consolidate commissions related
to diversity, equity and inclusion
into a single Campus Inclusion
Committee. The decision was part
of a larger strategy to pare down
the number of commissions from
19 to eight.
Charlton told the CSG assembly
Dec. 1 that the decision was made
because there were too many
committees to function effectively,
and grouping similar initiatives
and issues under an umbrella
commission would increase its
efficiency.
2-News
LEGISLATURE
From Page 1
INCLUSION
From Page 1
LIES
From Page 1
EDITORS
From Page 1
3-News
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Friday, December 11, 2015 — 3
Senate votes in
favor of education
overhaul bill
The Every Student Succeeds
Act passed in the United States
Senate Wednesday, after passing
in the House of Representatives
last week.
The act is an overhaul of No
Child Left Behind and is the first
major education bill to be passed
since President George W. Bush
signed the expired education
policy reform program into law
in 2002.
According to The Huffington
Post, the Every Student Suceeds
Act maintains many of the policies
No Child Left Behind establsihed,
but the new act gives more power
to the states as opposed to the
federal government.
Like they were in No Child
Left Behind, the act still requires
annual math and reading exams
for students in third through
eighth grade and in one year
during high school. Unlike the
expired
education
program,
however, the act allows states
to decide for themselves how to
evaluate their teachers and how
they hold schools accountable for
their students’ performance.
MSU student
facing terrorism
charges for threats
Michigan
State
University
student Sydney Gort currently
faces charges for two counts of
“making a terrorist threat,” both
of which she reported to police.
According to the Detroit Free
Press, Gort’s first terror threat
was a bomb threat against MSU
in the Douglas J Aveda Institute
in August 2012.
In her threat she wrote, “I have
had enough of this school and the
associated peoples … ”
The student made the second
threat inside a bathroom stall
in MSU’s School of Packaging
building on Nov. 24, writing she
would “be administering the first
act of terrorism on this campus
… striking every third girl seen.”
Gort reported her threat to the
police at 5 p.m. that day.
The student was arrested last
month and faces charges for both
of her threats. She faces up to 20
years for each count.
An Ingham County District
Court judge has Gort’s bond set
at $100,000. Her next hearing is
Dec. 18.
Third former
SAM member
given community
service, probation
University
alum
Daniel
Orleans is the third former
brother of the now-disbanded
University
fraternity
Sigma
Alpha Mu to be sentenced for
malicious destruction of property
at Treetops Resort, which was
vandalized
by
the
fraternity
last January, the Petoskey News
reported.
Orleans pled guilty to the
charges on Monday, and was
sentenced Thursday.
Orleans faces two years of
probation, $5,000 in restitution
charges, 100 community service
hours and court fines worth
around $860.
Orleans’ sentencing follows
that
of
University
alumni
Matthew
Vlasic
and
Jesse
Krumholz,
the
two
other
members of SAM who were
charged with the destruction of
Treetops. The three members
were
handed
down
nearly
identical sentences.
The restitution cost Orleans
paid was instituted to cover a
portion of the $25,000 insurance
deductible
paid
by
Treetops
Resort to cover damages inflicted
by SAM. The resort estimated that
more than $200,000 in property
damages were perpetrated during
SAM’s January stay.
The University’s chapter of the
Sigma Delta Tau sorority, which
is
currently
suspended,
also
attended the ski trip.
—LEA GIOTTO and
TANYA MADHANI