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Monday, January 25, 2016

ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM

INDEX
Vol. CXXV, No. 57
©2016 The Michigan Daily
michigandaily.com

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

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

A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 A

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

CL ASSIFIEDS............... 5A

SPORTSMONDAY..........1B

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WEATHER 
TOMORROW

HI: 30

LO: 19

The Michigan wrestling team 
stayed hot over the weekend.

» INSIDE

The streak continues

College conducts 
surveys, forums 
to gauge student 

experiences

By CAMY METWALLY

Daily Staff Reporter

In coordination with diversi-

ty initiatives on campus, LSA is 
reviewing the impact of the cur-
rent race and ethnicity require-
ment.

In September 2015, Univer-

sity President Mark Schlissel 
announced goals for individual 
units to collaborate with facul-
ty, staff and students to design 
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion 
plans, which in turn would be 
used to create a comprehensive, 
University-wide strategic plan.

LSA is currently in the pro-

cess of gathering and analyzing 
data to better guide its DEI plan, 
which is due in mid-March. 
Angela Dillard, associate dean 
for undergraduate education, 
said the college is focusing on 

reviewing the race and ethnic-
ity requirement and the Com-
prehensive Studies Program, 
in particular, to improve access 
and equity on campus.

LSA junior Sean Pitt, CSG 

chief of staff and member of the 
R&E review committee, said 
the description of the require-
ment, where it addresses class 
focus, is vague.

“It provides a space in which 

faculty may be able to devi-
ate from the intention of the 
requirement,” Pitt said.

The LSA website describes 

the R&E requirement as a 
course that “addresses issues 
that arise from racial or eth-
nic intolerance.” The classes 
must also satisfy two criteria: 
required content and required 
focus. The required content 
encompasses specific guidelines 
for the class, and the required 
focus calls for R&E courses to 
“devote substantial, but not 
necessarily exclusive, attention 
to the required content.”

The LSA R&E review com-

mittee — charged with inves-

Clinton, Sanders vie 

for voter support 
in days leading to 
nation’s first caucus

By SAM GRINGLAS

Daily Staff Reporter

During the past weekend, Mich-

igan Daily journalists spent three 
days in Iowa covering candidates 

from both parties as they prepare 
for the state’s Democratic and 
Republican primaries on Feb. 1, the 
first in the nation. Look for con-
tinuing coverage from the Daily in 
the lead-up to the Iowa caucuses.

CLINTON, Iowa — There 

were two town halls. The first 
occupied an elementary school 
cafeteria; the other filled the 
basement of a Masonic Center 
about a mile away. On Saturday, 
in a town called Clinton, the two 
Democrats leading the race for 

their party’s presidential nomina-
tion convened separately to rally 
supporters and, with just days 
before the Iowa caucuses, draw 
contrasts between two platforms 
that are in many ways similar.

“As we go through this cam-

paign, and especially now in this 
last eight, nine days, we are draw-
ing contrasts, and I think that’s 
appropriate,” 
Hillary 
Clinton, 

former secretary of state, told 
a crowd of 500 gathered in the 
Eagle Heights Elementary cafete-

ria. 

But for much of her 30-min-

ute stump speech, which ticked 
off policy positions on topics like 
clean energy, health care and job 
creation, Clinton avoided direct 
mention of Vermont Sen. Ber-
nie Sanders, who according to a 
recent CNN poll has gained a lead 
in the state. An average of polling 
conducted in January has Clin-
ton with a six-point lead. Martin 
O’Malley, former Maryland gov-

See IOWA, Page 3A

Entrepreneurship 

407 hosts 

competition based 

on “The Voice”

By REBECCA SOLBERG

Daily Staff Reporter

Last 
week, 
Entrepreneur-

ship 407 was turned into a game 
show. T-shirts were flung into 
the crowd and “Eye of the Tiger” 
blared through Stamps Audito-
rium as students took their seats 
in the audience, as part of The 
Startup, an entrepreneurship 
event on campus.

The Center for Entrepreneur-

ship created The Startup, an 
opportunity for undergraduate 
and graduate students to com-
pete for $18,000 to launch their 
own startup business. The com-
petition consists of four rounds 
that each emphasize different 
aspects of starting a business, 
and is run by the class. Students 

from across campus can enter 
products into the competition. 
Auditions to be in the competi-
tion happened on January 12 and 
13, where 50 teams were whit-
tled down to the 21 who partici-
pated in the first round.

“Every round of the competi-

tion stresses something else,” 
Engineering junior Robert Levy, 
who took the class last year, said. 
“One round will stress product 
development, one will stress 
customer discovery, so I learned 
a lot about the steps necessary 
to grow a startup, not just from 
the back end of building a prod-
uct that is valuable but also going 
out and making sure that your 
product has value to other peo-
ple other than yourself.”

During the first round on Fri-

day, the judges had their backs to 
the participants, but if they were 
interested in their idea, they 
turned around and then became 
the team’s mentor for the rest of 
the rounds. If a judge didn’t turn 
around, then the team was elim-

See STARTUP, Page 3A

Former students 
cite experiences 

with broad range of 

student orgs

By TANYA MADHANI

Daily Staff Reporter

A hundred students, alumni 

and faculty gathered in Keene 
Auditorium on Friday for the 
#WhatIDidThen panel, com-
posed of student-activist alumni 
from various backgrounds and 

professional fields who have 
experience in community ser-
vice.

From various backgrounds 

and professional fields, the 
panelists included state Rep.
Stephanie Chang (D-Detroit), 
Government relations specialist 
Forrest Cox, Director of Opera-
tions (Brooklyn East Colle-
giate) Atiba Edwards, Research 
Assistant Diala Khalife, Consul-
tor Donovan McKinney, Field 
Director 
Priscilla 
Martinez 

and Clinical Social Work Intern 
Alex Ngo.

Edwards, a resident of Brook-

lyn, was a founding member of 
Fighting Obstacles Knowing 
Ultimate Success, also known 
as FOKUS, a student advocacy 
group for diversity, creativity 
and unity in a variety of art dis-
ciplines.

When he first arrived on 

campus, Edwards said, he felt 
there was something missing at 
the University, but didn’t know 
what it was. He said he did not 
feel like the University was a 
true community and it was dif-
ficult to get involved in creative 
arts without pursuing a degree 

See REQUIREMENT, Page 3A

ALLISON FARRAND/Daily

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks at a town hall at Eagle Elementary School in Clinton, Iowa on Saturday, nine days before the Iowa caucuses. 

Event touches on 
topics including 

tuition price, 
mental health

By ALLANA AKHTAR

Daily News Editor

University Regents Mark 

Bernstein 
(D–Ann 
Arbor) 

and Andrea Newman (R–Ann 
Arbor) used social media Fri-
day to engage with students 
and discuss campus issues like 
college affordability, sexual 
misconduct on campus and 
increasing minority enroll-
ment.

Central Student Govern-

ment hosted a “Twitter Talk” 
with Bernstein and Newman 
with LSA senior Cooper Charl-
ton, CSG president, facilitating 
questions through the hashtag 
#AskARegent.

During the talk, LSA senior 

Michael Chrzan asked Bern-
stein and Newman what role 
the University plays in help-
ing students at K-12 schools to 
build a stronger student body. 

AMANDA ALLEN/Daily

University alumni speak about their experiences as community leaders during their time as students and their cur-
rent work at the #WhatIdidnext panel at Keene Theater on Friday.

See ACTIVISM, Page 3A
See TWITTER PAGE 3A

LSA looks 
to improve 
R&E course 
curriculum

DIVERSITY

Democratic frontrunners 
aim to draw contrasts in Iowa 

Class organizes 
 

competition for 
$18,000 in seed 
startup funding

BUSINESS

Alums discuss how activism 
at ‘U’ shaped future careers

Regents 
tweet with 
students in 
Twitter talk

ADMIN

