michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Thursday, January 7 , 2016

ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY FIVE YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM

INDEX
Vol. CXXIV, No. 47
©2016 The Michigan Daily
michigandaily.com

NEWS......................... 2A

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

SPORTS ......................7A

SUDOKU..................... 3A

CL ASSIFIEDS...............6A

B - S I D E . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 B

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WEATHER 
TOMORROW

HI: 23

LO: 17

Members teach 
incoming recruits 

how to fox trot, 
swing and rumba

By ANNA HARITOS

Daily Staff Reporter

The 
12-time 
national 

championship-winning 
Michigan 
Ballroom 
Dance 

Team 
opened 
its 
doors 

Wednesday 
evening 
to 

newcomers 
interested 
in 

joining the group this semester.

Students who attended the 

meeting learned the basics of 
ballroom dance, including how 
to swing and foxtrot. Amid 
lessons on how to dance, the 
team also showcased some of 
their best dancers.

The center of the Rogel 

Ballroom quickly filled with 
over 250 students as the lesson 
began by separating attendees 
by gender. First, the males 

were taught step by step how 
to lead a basic swing dance. As 
current members demonstrated 
the dance, the female side was 
then instructed.

“It was a lot easier than I 

expected, and I want more” 
said 
LSA 
freshman 
Erica 

Edwards “My friends on the 
team have been begging me to 
come out and give it a try and 
after seeing how fun it was, I’m 
definitely considering it.” 

Soon 
after 
experienced 

members 
finished 
teaching 

their planned steps, the team 
moved on to a showcase of 
their more seasoned members. 
It 
opened 
with 
a 
rumba 

performed by LSA sophomore 
Jenelle Rofe and Art & Design 
junior Jonny Pang. The couple 
has performed on the national 
level. Prior to joining the 
Ballroom Dance Team both had 
no experience whatsoever.

Rofe said her time on the 

team has been rewarding and 
has given her opportunities 

Barbour and 
Newberry 

residents respond 
to center’s move

By LARA MOEHLMAN

Daily Staff Reporter

A planned relocation of 

the 
Trotter 
Multicultural 

Center to Central Campus has 
garnered mixed reactions from 
the 
University 
community 

ranging from excitement to 
apprehension. 

Dec. 17, the University’s 

Board of Regents approved 
a proposal to relocate the 
Trotter 
Multicultural 

Center, currently located on 
Washtenaw Avenue, to State 
Street in an area behind Betsy 
Barbour and Helen Newberry 
Residence Halls on Central 
Campus.

In Winter 2014, the Black 

Student Union called for the 
relocation of Trotter as part 

of the #BBUM movement — 
a 
student-driven 
campaign 

sharing the experiences of 
Black students on campus.

After the years of public 

discourse on the issue, many 
students lauded the approval, 
including Rackham student 
Austin McCoy. 

McCoy, a leader of Ann Arbor 

to Ferguson, a protest group 
advocating 
against 
police 

brutality, said he welcomed 
the accessibility and visibility 
of the new location. He noted 
that replacing the current 
multicultural center with a 
facility on Central Campus 
illustrates the importance of 
issues of inclusion and equity. 

“I 
think 
students 
of 

color 
and 
some 
various 

underrepresented 
backgrounds need to have a 
space that’s more accessible 
than 
on 
the 
margins 
of 

campus,” McCoy said. “I think 
Trotter’s 
current 
location 

actually 
symbolizes 
how 

students 
feel 
marginalized 

Ballroom team welcomes 
new dancers with lessons

SINDUJA KILARU/Daily

LSA sophomore Nathan Harnden leads dance lessons for the University of Michigan Ballroom Dance Team in the Rogel Ballroom of the Union on Wednesday. 

RITA MORRIS/Daily

Ann Arbor resident Leanne Wade dances with LSA senior Ilya Beskin during the Wednesday Night Swing Dance held 
weekly in the Michigan League on Wednesday. 

DANCE THE NIGHT AWAY

Boilermakers’ stout 

defense matches 
up with Michigan’s 

sharpshooters

By LEV FACHER

Daily Sports Writer

John Beilein says he doesn’t 

decide until a season’s end which 
games are more important than 
the rest. It seems safe to assume, 
however, that Thursday’s trip to 
No. 20 Purdue (1-1 Big Ten, 13-2 
overall) will make the list. 

It’s 
the 
Michigan 
men’s 

basketball 
team’s 
(2-0, 
12-3) 

second visit of the year to a team 
ranked in the top 25. The first 
one — an 82-58 shellacking at the 
hands of then-No. 19 Southern 
Methodist — left plenty of room 
for improvement.

“You all can just go through 

your books,” Beilein said. “How 
many times has Michigan beaten 
a ranked opponent on the road? 
You won’t find very many times. I 
don’t care who the coaches were 
and who the players were. It is 
difficult to do.”

It 
won’t 
help 
if 
senior 

guard 
Caris 
LeVert 
remains 

unavailable as he recovers from 
an unspecified injury to his lower 
left leg. The plan, Beilein said, 
was for LeVert to attempt to 
practice Wednesday and do the 
same Thursday in West Lafayette 
prior to tipoff. Beilein declined 
to elaborate further on LeVert’s 
status or the nature of his injury, 
saying only that LeVert will play 
if he can practice without pain 
prior to tipoff.

With 
or 
without 
LeVert, 

Purdue’s 
perimeter 
defense 

presents a tall task. Though 
Michigan 
shooters 
such 
as 

redshirt 
sophomore 
guard 

Duncan Robinson have excelled 
in recent games from beyond the 
3-point line, the Boilermakers’ 
size from top to bottom will likely 
create a space crunch for the 
Wolverines. Michigan is shooting 
42.8 percent from beyond the arc 
as a team, but Purdue is holding 
opponents to 28.3 percent 3-point 
shooting.

To 
combat 
the 
size 

disadvantage, Michigan has been 
practicing with sticks and pads 
that extend defenders’ reach by 
inches or even feet.

Snyder accepts 

resignations of key 

city officials in 
light of issue

By CAITLIN REEDY

Daily Staff Reporter

After 
building 
concern 

about 
water 
quality 
and 

public 
outcry, 
Gov. 
Rick 

Snyder (R) declared a state 
of emergency for Genesee 
County Tuesday.

The move comes as part 

of an effort by the state 
to provide restitution for 
the health damages Flint’s 
residences experienced due 
to tainted water and ensure 
the city’s water safety in the 

future. Snyder had previously 
accepted the resignation of 
Dan Wyant, director of the 
Michigan 
Department 
of 

Environmental Quality, on 
Dec. 29. Brad Wurfel, the 
public information officer 
for 
the 
Department 
of 

Environmental Quality, also 
resigned.

 It followed a confirmation 

See BALLROOM, Page 3A
See TROTTER PAGE 3A

Alums draw 

from wide range 

of academic 
experiences

By REBECCA SOLBERG

Daily Staff Reporter

From helping on campaigns to 
running for office, University 
students are making an impact 
in politics, often with the 
help of classes focused on the 

election process.

University alum Zachary 

Ackerman, who graduated in 
the fall 2015 semester with 
a political science degree, 
is indeed making an impact 
in the city of Ann Arbor. He 
ran for city office this past 
November and defeated four-
term 
incumbent 
Stephen 

Kunselman, 
making 
him 

the youngest member of the 
council.

Ackerman’s age was an 

initial challenge during his 
campaign, but it forced him 
make personal connections 

See ALUMS, Page 3A
See FLINT, Page 3A

A look at how, why and where 
‘U’ students get their local grub

» INSIDE

 
 best of

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Attend a mass meeting in our newsroom on January 13th. 

Trotter site 

prompts 
mixed 

responses

Wolverines set 
for conference 
test at Purdue

University, state respond to 
ongoing Flint water crisis

‘U’ classes 
help inspire 
careers in 
government

MEN’S BASKETBALL

GOVERNMENT

POLITICS

DIVERSITY