by felons and the mentally ill, two
aspects that background checks
are used to flag.
“It’s not a serious argument
under current Supreme Court
doctrine,” he said. “The idea that
background checks would be
anything other than a reasonable
technical method of achieving
what the Supreme Court has
basically said is perfectly fine is
too much to swallow. I would not
want to be the lawyer who had to
argue that case.”
Looking
to
the
state
of
Michigan, state Rep. Jeff Irwin
(D–Ann Arbor) said Michigan
state law does little to expand
on federal law in terms of gun
control, though multiple bills have
been introduced over past years to
change that.
He pointed specifically to the
inclusion of the right to own a gun
in the state constitution.
“Michigan is one of many states
that has not taken any opportunity
to go further than the federal
regulations,” he said. “Michigan
also has a constitutional provision
referencing gun rights. It has
language that basically says you
have the right to own a gun in a
way that is more straightforward
than in the U.S. Constitution.”
In May, Irwin co-sponsored
House Bill 4590, which would take
a step beyond the executive action
and require universal background
checks for all firearm purchases.
The bill was first introduced in
2011 and has subsequently been
introduced each year following,
but has not been brought to a vote.
The legislation aims to ensure
firearm transactions are done
with background checks in order
to increase public safety.
“That’s the kind of thing that
needs to happen at the state level,”
Irwin said. “We need to close
the loophole and make sure as
many sales as possible are being
performed with a background
check so we keep guns out of the
hands of violent criminals.”
Public
Health
Prof.
Marc
Zimmerman
said
the
issue
surrounding gun control should
not be viewed as a rights issue, but
a public safety one.
“The more we talk about guns as
public safety the more reasonable
we can all be,” he said. “As a public
health professor, anything we can
do to prevent injury whether it’s
a fall from snow or shooting from
guns, I think it’s a good thing,
and I don’t think this infringes on
people’s rights.”
Irwin said background checks
are one of the best ways to improve
public safety and that the majority
of Americans support universal
background checks. An October
CBS/New York Times poll found
that 92 percent of Americans
support background checks on all
buyers.
“This is an idea that Democrats
in general and myself have been
talking about for years,” Irwin
said. “This is the simplest, easiest
thing we can do to increase safety
in a way that almost all Americans
agree with.”
GUNS
From Page 1
2 — Friday, January 8, 2016
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
THREE THINGS YOU
SHOULD KNOW TODAY
Prince George, the son
of Prince William and
Catherine, Duchess of
Cambridge, went to his first
day of nursery school. The
young prince attended his
first day on Jan. 6 in Norfolk,
England.
2
CAMPUS EVENTS & NOTES
Yiddish
Leyenkrayz
WHAT: This weekly
reading group is open
to anyone interested in
discovering the classics
of Yiddish culture.
WHO: Judaic Studies
WHEN: 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.
WHERE: 202 S. Thayer,
room 2000
Photographs
from Migration
WHAT: This exhibition
will feature Michael Wells’
original photgraphs from
Jason De Leon’s Undocu-
mented Migration Project.
WHO: Institute for
the Humanities
WHEN: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
WHERE: Institute
for the Humanities,
Common Room #1022
Despite
previous
headlines, CNN reported
that North Korea does
not have a hydrogen
bomb. Data collected from
monitoring stations is not
consistent with what was
typically
found
after
the
detenation of an H-bomb.
1
A capella
auditions
WHAT: Amazin’ Blue
student organization will
be hosting auditions for the
Winter semester
WHO: Maize Pages
WHEN: 5 p.m to 10 p.m.
WHERE: Michigan Union,
UAC office
The American Kennel
Club recognizes two
new
breeds
to
join
the largest registry of
purebreeds in the world,
raising the total to 189 breeds.
The two breeds are called the
American Hairless Terriers
and the Sloughis.
3
Investigating
algal bloom
WHAT: The Smith
Lecture will discuss the
environmental drivers of
cyanobacterial harmful algal
bloom growth and toxicity in
Lake Erie.
WHO: Earth and
Environmental Sciences
WHEN: 3:30 p.m. to 4:30
p.m.
WHERE: Clarence Cook
Little Building, room 1528
Concert of
One
WHAT: The Understorey’s
Jess McCumons is giving
a performance covering
various genres of music
and taking influence from a
multitude of artists.
WHO: Michigan Union
Ticket Office
WHEN: 8 p.m.
WHERE: The Ark, 316 S.
Main St.
This Too is
Iran
WHAT: The U-M Detroit
Center is hosting a
collection of assorted
photos that showcase the
life, vibrancy and tradition
from Iranian culture.
WHO: University of
Michigan Detroit Center
WHEN: 10 a.m. to 5:30
p.m.
WHERE: Monts Hall, U-M
Detroit Center
A Ballerina’s
Tale
WHAT: The first Friday
Flicks of the semester will
be screening a feature
documentary on Misty
Copeland, an African
American ballerina.
WHO: Center for Campus
Involvement
WHEN: 9 p.m. to 11 p.m.
WHERE: Michigan Union
Anderson Room
Change agents
WHAT: Taubman college
aims to explore the con-
nection between diversity,
campus climate and sudent
and faculty engagment.
WHO: Taubman Col-
lege of Architecture
and Urban Planning
WHEN: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
on January 8 to 22
WHERE: Duderstat
Center Gallery
Impact of Asian carp on Great
Lakes could be overestimated
Using a computer
model, researchers
find new population
predictions
By MEGAN DOYLE
Daily Staff Reporter
For many years, experts have
investigated the effects of inva-
sive species on the Great Lakes.
However, using a new computer
model, University researchers have
discovered new information that
shows the impact of Asian Carp in
Lake Erie could have previously
been overestimated.
According to the new findings,
a few species of fish would see a
population increase in response
to the influx of Asian carp, includ-
ing smallmouth bass. Others could
see a decrease of up to 37 percent,
which is lower than the decrease
in native fish population that some
experts have previously predicted.
The new study, conducted
by Hongyan Zhang, assistant
research scientist at the School
of Natural Resources and Envi-
ronment, along with professors
from other universities across the
nation, primarily focused on aid-
ing water quality management in
the Great Lakes. The team also
included researchers from the
U.S. Forest Service, Fisheries and
Oceans Canada and the Ontario
Ministry of Natural Resources
and Forestry.
The plankton-eating Asian carp
are not currently present in Lake
Erie, though they are established in
watersheds near the Great Lakes,
creating interest for such research.
“We found that the Asian carp,
if they come into the Great Lakes,
into Lake Erie, they could be very
abundant,” Zhang said. “They
could become one-third of the total
fish weight. That is quite a lot.”
If they were to successfully
invade Lake Erie, Asian carp would
likely affect the food web in two
regards: The carp would likely
compete with native fish by eat-
ing plankton, the food source for
both native fish and the carp, and
native fish could potentially feed on
younger Asian carp if they became
a part of the lake’s ecosystem.
Scientific predictions of the
impact of Asian carp on the Great
Lakes differ. Some experts say they
would decimate the fish popula-
tions and food webs, similar to their
effect on the Illinois River, where
Asian carp have become a large
part of the ecosystem.
Other experts argue that the
Great Lakes are an unsuitable habi-
tat for Asian carp, so the effects
of introducing the fish would be
minimal. This new study falls in
between these two predictions.
“Compared to what happened
in the Illinois River, where more
than 80 percent of the fish is Asian
carp in that area, the percentage is
not very high for Lake Erie,” Zhang
said. “But it is a big lake, and it has
a lot of fish, more than the other
Great Lakes, and if one-third of the
fish population will be Asian carp,
that is very abundant. The impact
on the population is to decrease
most of the fish species. That is not
a good thing.”
This project is the first to use a
food-web model to examine the
effects of Asian carp in Lake Erie.
The team of researchers inter-
viewed 11 experts on Asian carp
and Great Lakes ecology. They then
incorporated their predictions into
a computerized model projecting
the effect of the Asian carp. The
experts were then asked to indicate
their level of uncertainty with each
statement they provided, and this
was included in the model as a mar-
gin of error.
Ed Rutherford, a co-author of
the study and a research fishery
biologist at the NOAA Great Lakes
Environmental Research Labora-
tory, said the unique methodology
of their research was instrumental
in addressing the issue.
“What was interesting to me was
that with our model, we were able
to put numbers to the estimates
about the impact of Asian carp,”
Rutherford said. “So we were able
to fill in knowledge gaps of exactly
News
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The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is published Monday through Friday during the fall and winter terms by
students at the University of Michigan. One copy is available free of charge to all readers. Additional copies may
be picked up at the Daily’s office for $2. Subscriptions for fall term, starting in September, via U.S. mail are $110.
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be prepaid. The Michigan Daily is a member of The Associated Press and The Associated Collegiate Press.
Sigma Alpha Mu leaders opt to
take plea deals in criminal cases
Kaplan, Levin
charged with giving
alcohol to minors
By CAITLIN REEDY
Daily Staff Reporter
Two former leaders of the Uni-
versity’s now-disbanded frater-
nity, Sigma Alpha Mu, will enter
pleas in a case pertaining to last
year’s ski trip vandalism at Tree-
tops Resorts, according to the
Gaylord Herald Times.
Joshua Kaplan and Zach-
ary Levin — former president and
treasurer of SAM, respectively —
both face one count each of pro-
viding alcohol to minors over the
incident.
According
to
the
Herald-
Times, Otsego County Prosecutor
Michael Rola received an e-mail
Tuesday from the defense coun-
sel for Kaplan and Levin indicat-
ing that both would sign a plea
agreement.
Criminal charges have also
been leveled against four other
SAM members over the incident.
Treetops has also brought a civil
suit against multiple members of
the fraternity, citing the damage
done to the resort and alleged lack
of cooperation at the time from
members of the fraternity pres-
ent.
The incident additionally led
University President Mark Schlis-
sel to ban SAM from campus for at
least four years in February.
During
the
January
2015
weekend trip, SAM and a Uni-
versity sorority, Sigma Delta Tau,
caused an estimated $430,000 in
damage, according to the resort.
Treetops has alleged that the stu-
dents intentionally inflicted dam-
age and did not cooperate with
the resort’s efforts to halt it. The
amount of damage stems from
$234,000 in property damage and
an estimated $250,000 from busi-
ness interruptions, as estimated
by Treetops accountants. The
vandalism included destroying
ceiling tiles and exit signs, break-
ing furniture and urinating on
carpets.
Other former fraternity mem-
bers who been sentenced in the
case include Mathew Vlasic, Jesse
Krumholz and Daniel Orleans.
Vlasic and Krumholz received
misdemeanor charges for mali-
cious destruction of a building,
and Orleans was sentenced with
a charge of malicious destruction
of property less than $200. All
received two years of probation,
$5,000 in restitution, various
fees and 100 community service
hours.
By accepting pleas, Kaplan and
Levin will avoid a trial originally
scheduled for Jan. 13. Their sen-
tencing will now be scheduled for
a future date.
The misdemeanor charge fac-
ing the two carries up to 30 days
in jail or a $1,000 fine, though
in each of the previous cases for
SAM members, the court has
chosen to levy probation, fees and
community services instead.
TUESDAY:
Campus Voices
THURSDAY:
Twitter Talk
FRIDAY:
Photos of the Week
WEDNESDAY:
In Other Ivory Towers
MONDAY:
This Week in History
LEFT: May Evans, daughter of Ann
Arbor resident Nancy Evans who
is against the deer cull resolution,
listens to speakers with antlers and
a stuffed deer at an Ann Arbor City
Council meeting at 220 N. Main St. on
Monday. (AMANDA ALLEN/Daily)
RIGHT: Flint resident Tassy Abeare
dances with Ann Arbor resident
Richard Field III Wednesday during
the Wednesday Night Swing Dance
held weekly in the Michigan League
(RITA MORRIS/Daily)
NEED MORE
PHOTOS?
See more Photos of the
Week on our website,
michigandaily.com.
See CARP, Page 3