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.

Do you know who Adam Zemke is? Can you 

name what position Chris Taylor holds? Join the 

Michigan Daily’s news section. 

Come to 420 Maynard at 7pm Jan. 13, 19 or 21

