Teacher “sickout”
threatens to close
one-third of Detroit
public schools
Detroit Public Schools teachers
plan to stragically close at least 35
schools with a “sickout” today. The
sickout was coordinated by a group
of teachers calling themselves
“Detroit Strikes to Win.” The
group spent more than 90 minutes
discussing potential strikes last
Saunday before settling on the
sickout. Former teacher union
president Steve Conn leads the
group and other members of the
group are upset with what they
believe is the devastation of the
Detroit Public Schools system.
Detroit Public Schools teachers
are dissatisfied with their
compensation and the school
district’s poor finances, and today’s
planned sickout is only one of
several. Just last week, Cass Tech
High School closed because of a
strategic sickout, also planned by
Conn. Gov. Snyder wishes to pay off
the school system’s debt and spin
off a new district, but currently
lacks the support to do so.
According to Conn, it is believed
that at least 35 schools in the
district will be succsessfully closed
because of the strategic, collective
sick day. Approximately one-third
of DPS’s schools would be closed
should the 35 targeted schools fail
to open today.
$1.3 billion
Powerball jackpot
causes frenzy
As the Powerball jackpot
continues to approach world
record status, a growing number of
people are purchasing tickets for a
chance at the current largest prize
in the world. Estimates expect
the prize to grow to $1.3 billion by
Wednesday night’s drawing.
According to Executive Director
of the Texas Lottery, Gary Grief,
on Saturday night more than $1.2
million worth of Powerball tickets
were being purchased each minute.
The current expected prize is twice
as large as the previous national
lottery record — $656 million in
2012’s Mega Millions jackpot.
Last October, Powerball officials
adjusted the lottery’s matrix,
making it more difficult to win the
grand prize. While the previous
chance of winning the big payout
was one in 175 million, it is now
one in 292 million. However, the
chances of winning anything at all
rose from one in 32 to one in 25.
The recent chaos signals a
turnaround for the lotto industry
after recent declines in sales due
to competition from casinos and
scratch-off games.
Award-winning
Polish Jews
museum curator to
speak at UMMA
Barbara Kirshenblatt-
Gimblett, chief curator of the
core exhibition at the POLIN
Museum of the History of Polish
Jews, will speak this Wednesday
at 5:30 at the U-M Museum
of Art’s Stern Auditorium.
Traveling from the museum in
Warsaw, Kirshenblatt-Gimblett
will be offering a free lecture on
the history of Polish Jews and
what was once the largest Jewish
community in the world.
Kirschenblatt-Gimblett is a
leading expert in her field, having
authored several books, including
a photographic history of Jewish
life in Poland from the mid 19th
century up until Nazi Germany’s
invasion in 1939. Her lecture
is sposored by the University’s
Jean & Samuel Frankel Center
for Judaic Studies and the
Copernicus Program in Polish
Studies.
The POLIN museum sits
on the former Warsaw Jewish
ghetto, and has attracted over
one million visitors since its
opening in 2013. Kirshenblatt-
Gimblett was recently honored
with a medal from the president
of Poland for her role in the
creation of POLIN.
NEWS BRIEFS
ALLISON FARRAND/Daily
LSA junior Joanna Leung, president of Seven Mile Music, speaks about the funding issues her organization faces at a
Detroit Congress meeting in the Union on Sunday. The congress brought together student organizations that focus
on Detroit and was hosted by CSG’s Detroit Commission.
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Monday, January 11, 2016 — 3A
community service in Detroit
communities. She encouraged
organizations to participate in
their DP Day, an annual service
program in Detroit.
MBA student Steve Worthy
said the main opportunity his
group, Detroit Revitalization
and Business Initiative, offers
is the connections with the
people with whom his group
has
interacted.
The
group
works with entrepreneurs in the
Detroit area in order to foster
long-term relationships.
“The biggest thing my group
can offer is those connections
to the city both professional and
personal,” he said.
Transportation
between
Detroit and Ann Arbor was one
of the major issues discussed.
LSA junior Joanna Leung of
Seven Mile Music expressed
concern over funding for the
vans that transport students
to Detroit communities twice
a week to provide musical
instruction to young students.
“We need a lot of funding on
a consistent basis,” she said. “It’s
hard to put on paper, especially
when the application is asking
for a one-time event.”
CSG discussed the Detroit
Connector as a possible solution
for financial issues associated
with
travel.
The
Detroit
Connector is a bus providing
transportation
between
Ann
Arbor and Detroit. They plan
to make students more aware
of the Detroit Connector and to
work with the provost’s office to
make the bus schedule and stops
more convenient and efficient
for individual students and
student organizations.
The meeting ended with
a discussion of a question
concerning Detroit, a format
Rohin
Patel,
chair
of
the
Commission
on
Detroit
Engagement, wishes to continue
in order to continue [COPY:
use
different
word
since
“continue” is used twice in a
row] conversation about the city.
During this meeting he asked
why students may be disinclined
to travel to Detroit.
Setting offered an answer
regarding
this
inquiry
by
addressing what she thinks
are untrue assumptions about
Detroit.
“One of the biggest things
that’s
either
straining
the
relationship with Detroit or
limiting it is a lack of factual
knowledge,” she said. “People,
especially from out of state, hear
a lot of things about Detroit that
aren’t necessarily true.”
DETROIT
From Page 1A
march, who came out despite
the cold and fresh snow, shared
similar
sentiments.
Cheryl
Ervin, a retired teacher and
union leader, has not missed a
march since she moved here.
“This is a good way to show
that you strongly believe in
what you do and you get out on
days like this and march for it,”
she said.
Ervin said her involvement
in the civil rights movement
began in her hometown of
Birmingham, Alabama.
“I knew what it meant to be
segregated and not to have,” she
said. “So I always want to make
sure everybody has. Everybody
gets a share of the things that
are out here, not just a few. It’s
just like that saying, ‘a rising
tide lifts all boats.’ ”
The need to engage youth
in advocacy and social justice
was reinforced by Dr. Steven
J. Daniels Sr., the new pastor
of the Second Baptist Church.
Having
arrived
here
from
Virginia
just
nine
months
earlier, Daniels attended the
march for the first time and
brought his family along.
“When I tell my 9-year-
old son about MLK’s fight
for equality, it is kind of hard
— looking at the Ann Arbor
we live in now, when you see
classrooms filled with African
American, Caucasian, Asian,
Latino brothers and sisters —
for him to see them in class and
realize that there was a time
where he had to be with his
own race and own culture,” he
said.
He additionally stressed the
need to preserve the history
of struggle in the younger
generations.
“The
diversity
that
we
experience especially in the
public school system has been
incredible,” he added. “But it is
important for my son to realize
that this comes on the backs of
others. This is not a birthright,
but this is something that
was earned and we’ve got to
appreciate it.”
Stephon Smith, a 17-year-old
who serves as the drummer
on the church worship team,
readily assumed responsibility
to carry on the work that
Martin Luther King Jr. started.
“He inspires me to stand up
for what’s right and stand firm
for my beliefs, no matter who
thinks they are stupid or don’t
care,” Smith said.
The
march
was
not
exclusively attended by the
Black
community.
Other
members of the congregation
turned up to walk in solidarity
with the cause. Cindy O’Connor,
a first-time attendee of the
march, said she was compelled
to come by recent events.
“Because of Black Lives
Matter,
the
issue
of
race
inequality
has
been
so
prevalent,” she said. “It has
become unconscionable and
I can’t take it anymore. So I
wanted to make a physical
statement.”
MARCH
From Page 1A
to the announcement of the
wage increase. Campbell said
especially in a such a populated
building like Markley, when the
dining hall got busy and they
were short staffed, they had to
close sections of food and “not
serve certain dishes, or make
just pizza because we just didn’t
have enough people.”
Students
have
already
responded to the long-needed
wage increase — last week
alone, University dining had
already hired close to 200 new
students.
LSA
freshman
Julia
Bublitz, also a Markley dining
employee, described a similar
experience working in what she
believed was an understaffed
dining hall.
Campbell
said
fellow
employees were very happy
with the University’s decision
to increase wages.
“People are thrilled,” he said.
“It’s really nice to go to from $9
to $11. I think we are all really
grateful and really appreciate
it.”
WAGE
From Page 1A
surrounding sexual assault on
college campuses, they decided
to gather hard data on the
subject.
Mollie
Benz-Flounlacker,
AAU’s associate vice president
for
federal
relations,
said
the climate survey was an
important first step.
“It put a lot of pressure on
schools to do more and to do
it better and faster. Because if
you don’t have hard facts there
isn’t much you can do.,” Benz-
Flounlacker said. “We feel very
good about this first step and
giving our campuses some real
data on this issue.”
The
state
of
Michigan
and the University are no
exception to these significant
numbers
—
about
30
percent
of
undergraduate
women
at
the
University
reportedexperiencing
nonconsensual
penetration
or sexual touching by force
or
incapacitation
during
their time at the University.
However,
while
the
issue
of sexual assault on college
campuses has captured the
attention of both federal and
many state governments, who
have taken action to combat
sexual assaults on campus,
in the state of Michigan, the
formation of sexual assault
policy is left up to individual
universities.
Nationally,
legislation
requiring affirmative consent
by both parties was considered
by 13 states and ultimately
passed in two. Six states
discussed noting incidences
of
sexual
assault
on
the
perpetrators
transcript
and
three states created legislation
to have it noted under certain
circumstances.
Additionally,
seven states enacted legislation
to ensure victims have access
to medical assistance — such
as to Sexual Assault Forensic
Examination kits — free to
them on college campuses.
Other
legislation
included
mandatory
Memorandum
of
Understanding
which
explain the roles of municipal
governments and university
administrations in the case
of a sexual assault, requiring
confidential
advisors
for
students
on
campuses,
mandatory periodic campus
climate surveys, discussion of
“Good Samaritan” provisions
offering
drug
and
alcohol
amnesty to witnesses who
report a sexual assault, and
consideration of mandatory
minimum
punishments
for
perpetrators.
Michigan did not present
any state laws regarding the
above topics in recent years,
and
policies
at
individual
universities
vary.
However,
a
$500,000
appropriation
was approved by the state
legislature last year for projects
addressing the issue.
The appropriation, which
universities across the state
applied to in a competitive
process, aimed to encourage
students and school officials to
work together to prevent sexual
assault
on
their
campuses
through new initiatives.
At the University itself,
the current policy on sexual
misconduct has been in place
since August 2013, though
discussions about revisions to
it are ongoing. The policy aims
to explain how the University
will handle student sexual
misconduct,
maintain
their
institutional values and meet
legal obligations that fall under
Title IX. Title IX is part of
the Education Amendments
adopted in 1972. It states that
“no person in the United States
shall, on the basis of sex, be
excluded from participation
in, be denied the benefits of, or
be subjected to discrimination
under any education program
or activity receiving federal
financial assistance…” which
includes sexual misconduct as a
form of sexual discrimination.
The University is among 124
higher education institutions
currently under investigation
by the U.S. Department of
Education’s Office for Civil
Rights for mishandling sexual
assault cases, prompted by two
Title IX complaints, one of
which involved a 2009 sexual
misconduct
case
against
former
Michigan
football
kicker Brendan Gibbons.
LSA senior Nico Espinosa,
a
peer
educator
at
the
University’s
Sexual
Assault
Awareness
and
Prevention
Center, which is helping lead
the
revision
process,
said
the organization is currently
in the process of altering
various parts of the policy. In
particular, he said changes
being made include changing
some definitions and adding
in more language to the policy,
such
as
the
definition
of
consent.
The
University
currently
defines
consent
as
an
agreement expressed in either
words or actions to engage in a
particular activity.
POLICY
From Page 1A
“The previous policy didn’t
enforce the verbal component as
much as we did at SAPAC and we
would like to include it because
it came up in certain cases,”
Espinosa said.
Overall, with the influx of
data on campus sexual assaults,
including AAU’s survey, Benz-
Flounlacker said — as signalled
by the rise in legislatures tackling
the issue — policy changes are
likely on the horizon.
“There is already a lot of
national discussion about this
issue. There needs to be more
attention to this issue because
this is a major problem on
campuses,”
Benz-Flounlacker
said.
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