CLAIRE ABDO/Dailly

University President Mark Schlissel speaks at a Senate Assembly meeting about the Flint water crisis and other Univer-
sity business in the Palmer Commons on Monday.

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Tuesday, January 26, 2016 — 3

Rodents and mold
found during
Detroit schools
inspection

The City of Detroit conducted

inspections of 11 public schools as
a part of distrinct-wide review this
week. The inspections revealed
multiple code violations including
reports of mold, damaged roofs,
rodents and broken glass.

The district review is part of a

response to recent mass sick-out
protests by local teachers in protest
of the building conditions within
the school districts. The sick-outs
have resulted in school closings
and have left students without
school-provided meals.

The Detroit Public Schools’

buildings have been deteriorating
over time as the district has been
unable to pay for repairs. The
district’s debt currently stands at
an estimated $515 million.

City inspectors found a total

of 152 violations with each school
averaging at 14 violations. With
these discoveries, each school has
approximately a month to make
repairs.

Mayor Mike Duggan called for

the inspections on Jan. 13 after
seeing first hand the conditions of
four different schools.

Former Detroit FBI
chief to help in Flint
water investigation

Andrew Arena, former director

of the Detroit FBI office, has been
appointed by Michigan Attorney
General Bill Schuette as part of
the team investigating the lead
contamination of Flint’s drinking
water.

The water supply in Flint was

contaminated with lead beginning
in April 2014, following a switch
from the Detroit city water supply
to Flint River water. Since the
change, residents have reported
negative health effects including
hair loss and rotting teeth.

The investigation will examine

various public officials for
offences related to misfeasance or
malfeasance.

In addition to Arena — who

now heads the Detroit Crime
Commission — Ellis Stafford,
his deputy at the Detroit Crime
Commission, will also be assisting
with the investigation. Stafford is a
Flint native and former Michigan
state police inspector.

The investigatory team plans to

look into every aspect of the case
to find any instances of unlawful
conduct.

‘U’ partners with
Department of
Defense for brain
injury research

The University of Michigan

Center for Integrative Research in
Critical Care has paired up with
the U.S. Department of Defense for
new research into how the brain
is impacted by severe trauamtic
brain injuries, or TBIs.

The pair will work to host

the Massey Foundation TBI
Grand Challenge. The event will
encourage researchers to partner
for groundbreaking research and
submit project proposals.

A TBI is considered to be a

form of brain injury resulting
from a bump, blow or jolt to the
head, which causes a disruption to
normal brain function.

The challenge will reward

funding to teams who develop
diagnostic, device, therapeutic or
health information technologies
that deal with the initial “golden
hour,” the first hour following a
TBI, and the 24 to 48 of critical
treatment hours after a severe TBI.

Awarded projects will be

funded from a pool of up to
$500,000 across a 12-month time
period. Projects will be reviewed
by the Massey Grand Challenge
Steering Committte.

TBI results in 52,000 death per

year, making it the fourth leading
cause of death in the United States.
In 2010, approximately 2.5 million
people suffered from a TBI.

—LYDIA MURRAY

NEWS BRIEFS

residents not affiliated with the
University.

“This is a tragedy that

should not have happened,”
Borrego said. “We know it is
going to take time to address
the infrastructure issues, to
set up care for the children
who ingested lead, and to
determine how to prevent this
from ever happening again.
The University will continue
to work in partnership to
identify needs and contribute
our
faculty
expertise
and

our service in support of our
community.”

Earlier this week, Schlissel

also announced $100,000 in
seed funding would be allocated
for research projects designed
to address the Flint water crisis.

“At U-M, a crisis in the host

city of one of campuses is a crisis
that affects us all,” Schlissel said
in a statement. “We will do all we

can to ensure health and safety
for our campus community and
the people of Flint. We are all
one family.”

Student organizations at the

University have also worked
to aid residents of Flint and
other surrounding areas. The
Black Student Union launched
a GoFundMe page to collect
money for fresh fruits and
vegetables.
Additionally,
the

Prevention Research and the
Michigan
Youth
Violence

Prevention Center has partnered
for Fill-a-Truck for Flint’, an
initiative to raise donations and
collect bottled water for Flint
residents.

The University’s Center for

Engaged Academic Learning
will also host the Tri-Campus
Student Summit on February
6.
The
event
will
feature

workshops and consultations
for undergraduates, as well
as speakers who will discuss
how students can get involved
with providing aid for the Flint
community.

UPDATE
From Page 1

also
highlighted
UM-Flint’s

initiatives in a campus-wide
e-mail Monday afternoon.

“We’re quite confident of the

safety on campus,” Schlissel
said at the meeting. “We’ve been
doing ongoing outreach to Flint
students. Most of them don’t live
in University-owned facilities,
some live at home and some in
the surrounding communities.
We want to make sure that
in their own personal living
circumstances that they know
what’s going on, they have filters
on their sources of water, they
have access to testing and they’re
kept up to date and informed.”

Schlissel said the campus has

been working in partnership
with the community by offering
large-scale filter distribution
events, free lead screening and
other efforts.

“The
University
in
Flint

has been a vibrant part of the
community for 60 years,” Schlissel
said. “They are a longstanding
partner with the community, and
I admire the strength I’ve seen in
that city’s residents.”

Finally, Schlissel also provided

the Assembly with an update on
the University’s progress toward
a campus strategic plan for
diversity. The University started

a campus-wide initiative this
year to address diversity issues
on campus and improve campus
climate, with the plan serving as
a main focus. Currently, units
around campus are creating
individual plans, to be compiled
into an overall plan this fall.

“I met with the leads of this

planning process in all the
different units last week,” he
said. “They’re doing great work,
there are good ideas bubbling up
to the surface.”

Schlissel said he hopes by

creating multiple committees to
work on the issue, faculty and
students will both be dedicated
to the strategic plan.

“We’re looking to get good

ideas from as many creative
people from as many creative
parts of the campus as possible,”
Schlissel said. “The second part
of this is to get buy-in. We’re
much more likely to get true
buy-in in ongoing involvement
from colleagues involved in the
developmental plan themselves
and critiquing plans as they
emerge.”

The Senate Assembly also

voted on a new Nominating
Committee
for
upcoming

SACUA elections. SACUA will
be losing an unprecedented
six members in the coming
academic year.

“The
Nominating

Committee’s task will be to both

look at the nominations we have
and look at staff nominations,”
said
Comparative
Literature

Prof.
Silke-Maria
Weineck,

chair of SACUA. “It will also be
to solicit nominations.”

Weineck said she hopes the

nominating
committee
will

diversify SACUA, noting that
all the body’s female members,
including herself, are leaving the
committee.

The Senate Assembly also

voted unanimously to endorse
a
statement
of
support
to

the
Muslim
community
on

campus. SACUA, the Assembly’s
executive arm, endorsed the
statement at its last meeting.

“At the last Senate Assembly

meeting,
we
started
this

discussion
of
passing
a

statement in support of the
Muslim community at U of M,”
Weineck said. “SACUA passed
such a resolution of support at
our last meeting. But since we
started the discussion at the
assembly, we wanted to finish
this discussion to see if the
assembly itself might also want
to endorse the statement.”

The statement says that the

University’s
Senate
Advisory

Committee
supports
Muslim

members of the community. It
also condemns discrimination
on
campus,
regardless
of

religious, national or ethnic
affiliation.

SACUA
From Page 1

didn’t feel like putting the
effort in when my parents
would
drive
me
around,”

McKeon said. “I also didn’t
have money to buy a car so it
just wasn’t logical to get my
license.”

McKeon
is
not
alone

according
to
Sivak’s
and

Schoettle’s research; thirty-
seven
percent
of
people

surveyed claimed they did not
get a license because they were
simply too busy. Sivak and
Schoettle also reported that 32
percent of people who chose
not to get a driver’s license
were discouraged by costs of
owning a car.

In an interview, Schoettle

said
the
study
showed

socioeconomic
status

influenced the results of the
study.

“We
did
look
at

socioeconomic
issues
like

education and employment,”
Schoettle said. “We found that
those without a license tended
have less education and higher
unemployment.”

While
the
researchers

also attributed the decline to
increasing
costs
associated

with
driving,
Sivak
and

Schoettle said they did not
believe increases in gas prices
were a factor.

Adjusted
according
to

inflation, gas cost 70 cents more
per gallon at the end of 2013
than in January 1983 according
the Bureau of Transportation
Statistics. The Bureau reports

the biggest discrepancy in
prices during the past 31 years
was in May 2011 when gas
prices were at an all-time high
at $4.07 per gallon.

Along
with
fluctuating

gas
prices
and
automobile

costs,
environmental
issues

were tested as a factor in the
reduction.

Sivak
and
Schoettle’s

research
indicated
those

sentiments
have
moderate

effects on fewer people getting
their licenses — 8.6 percent
of people surveyed reported
wanting
to
protect
the

environment influenced their
decision.

Despite
the
nationwide

decrease,
Suhail
Bilbeisi,

owner of the Ann Arbor Driving
School, said he has not noticed
a decrease in enrollment since
opening his business in 2001.
Rather, he said enrollment has
risen despite class enrollment
fees increasing by $25.

“We’ve been getting more

students as the business has
progressed,” Bilbeisi said.

Schoettle said he was unable

to pinpoint the exact reasoning
why Bilbeisi’s business has not
noticed the trend, but said there
could be a difference between
local and national data.

“It is hard to say why a

driving school might not be
noticing this trend,” he said.
“It could be that locally, the
trend is a little different, or
possibly that older people
getting licenses are offsetting
the reductions in younger
drivers. It would be interesting
to see if the age breakdown has
changed for driving schools.”

DRIVER
From Page 1

attendees,
sharing
personal

anecdotes exemplifying their
experiences with Islamophobia
on
campus.
Many
audience

members became emotional, and
were moved to tears by many of
the stories.

“By sharing one’s story, I

think we can understand the
different ways that it actually
impacts
students
on
this

campus,”
Alsultany
said.
“I

hope that people (leave with) a
new sense of understanding of
how Islamophobia impacts our
community and also leave with
some ideas about how to be an
ally, not only to Muslim students,
but for any student on campus.”

LSA junior Tina Alkhersan,

who
served
on
the
LSA

committee that organized the
event, said the event aimed to
target non-Muslims and people
who did not identify similarly to
Muslims, so that students could
express their beliefs in a positive
and constructive manner.

“Ever since I was a freshman

here, I felt really attached to
the University of Michigan, and
certain Islamophobic incidences
would
happen
—
American

Sniper, Chapel Hill — and there
was never a sense of a safe
community,”
Alkhersan
said.

“There was always a sense of
fear and alarm,” referencing
an incident in 2015 involving
the University’s showing of the
controversial
film
American

Sniper and a shooting in which
three Muslim students were
killed.

Alkhersan said she wanted the

event to be a forum for opening
up and asking questions, as well

as making acquaintances and
forming friendships.

“I would feel accomplished

if just one person walked out
with their perception changed,”
Alkhersan said.

Alkhersan,
along
with

others
on
the
organizing

committee, shared a story from
an anonymous student who did
not want to present to attendees
during the event. She said there
was a fear among some students
of being ridiculed for their
vulnerability, so some committee
members agreed to help them
share
their
stories
without

releasing their identities.

Another student, who wished

to remain unnamed, shared her
story as well, discussing her
experience as a minority Muslim
student in high school. She
recounted how her classmates
shared Islamophobic opinions
during class.

“‘They’re
all
terrorists

anyway,” she said one of her
classmates said to her. “They’re
all evil,’”

Rackham graduate student

Banen
Al-Sheemary,
who

discussed
how
Islamophobia

impacts safety on campus, said
she decided to share her story at
the event because she believes it
is important for the student body
to realize how big of an issue
Islamophobia is.

“(The administration) needs

to understand these narratives,
they need to listen to these
narratives,” Al-Sheemary said.
“It’s so imperative and it really
does affect our success here and
our safety and our well-being.”

Al-Sheemary
added
there

have been specific incidences
where
she
has
felt
unsafe

and discriminated against on
campus.

“We are students who pay

tuition, we are students who
contribute to the community just
like any other student,” she said
during her story. “So what sets us
apart from the rest of the student
body that we have to walk in fear
even in the afternoon?”

Al-Sheemary
noted
that

there are many options that the
University can put into place
in order to ensure the concerns
from the Muslim student body
are acknowledged.

“The
administration
just

has to take the time to actually
listen and connect how social
hierarchy, class, gender, sexual
identity and racism shape the
student experience and how
difficult it is to navigate our
world,” Al-Sheemary said.

At the end of the event,

organizers
asked
attendees

how institutions, groups and
individuals on campus can show
solidarity with students who
experience Islamophobia.

LSA Dean Andrew Martin,

who attended the event, said
forums like this were important
for the campus climate because
one of the University’s challenges
is creating a community that
includes multiple identities. He
said these types of conversations
are crucial in creating the
accepting
community
that

people want to have on campus.

“It was an incredibly powerful

event,” Martin said. “We have
a lot of brave students who are
willing to share their stories
to help build community and
help understand things that
are happening on our campus
that many members of our
community don’t know much
about.”

Another student, who also

wished to remain anonymous,

spoke
during
the
open-mic

portion of the event that followed
the shared stories, retelling
her story of growing up as a
Palestinian Muslim-American.

“I honestly only felt safe

when I was with my high school
English teacher, who told me
that everything would be OK
once I entered the University
of Michigan,” the student said.
“However, nothing changed. I
escaped to Michigan with the
idea that I would be in a much
safer environment.”

Adrienne Dessel, co-associate

director of the Program on
Intergroup Relations, also held
a presentation toward the end of
the event on being a constructive
ally and encouraging positive
communication among different
ethnic and racial groups.

“The Program on Intergroup

Relations is very interested in
promoting ally work among
students
and
promoting

any event that will reduce
discrimination
and
bias
on

campus,” Dessel said.

Dessel
said
she
believes

Islamophobia is an issue that is
affecting some of the students
on campus as a result of national
racism
and
Islamophobia,

negative
media
portrayals

and lack of contact caused by
segregation
among
different

cultural groups that lead to
harmful stereotypes.

“(We
hope)
for
students’

stories to be shared and told
and to provide students with
some guidance and some skills,”
Dessel said.

Martin said he believes the

University needs to articulate
inclusion as a core value by taking
initiative and following up on the
issues identified during the event
to ensure that the University

is
fostering
an
inclusive

environment for all students.

“It’s
really
important,

particularly given the discourse
that’s happening in our broader
politics
today,
to
focus
on

Islamophobia and how it affects
our Muslim students,” Martin
said. “I’m really proud of the
work that the students put into
organizing this event. I found
that the stories that the students
brought to the front required a
great deal of courage, and I think
were painful to hear, but I think
will be constructive in community
building going forward.”

Angela Dillard, associate dean

for undergraduate education,
was also in attendance and said
she hopes those who attended
the event will be more sensitive
to Islamophobia on campus.

“Certainly (Islamophobia) is

one of the big issues that we’ve
been looking at and worried
about,” Dillard said. “I definitely
thought it was appropriate for
this group to take on, especially
right now, given what’s been
going on nationally, what’s been
going on internationally.”

Dillard said it was crucial to

lead initiatives on inclusivity with
students telling their own stories,
even though they are sometimes
shocking and upsetting.

“One of the things that has been

a little surprising to me is finding
out what might be the depth of
underreporting
of
incidents,

of bias, of microaggressions,”
Dillard said. “There seems to
be a little confusion about how
one goes about reporting, which
leads to ideas of what can we do
to make it clearer, what can we
do to make it safer and what can
we do to make sure that people
have a sense that something is
being done to follow up.”

SHARING
From Page 1

experience for receiving alerts
which needs to be smoothed
out,” she said.

She added that because the

notifications can only be 100
characters each, DPSS’s focus
for the upcoming months will
be on how to create precise and

informative alerts to ensure
each fits the formatting for
all messaging systems at their
disposal.

Surrounding
universities

such
as
Michigan
State,

Western Michigan and Central
Michigan all use e-mails and
texts to inform students of
any dangers on campus, but
have not developed anything
beyond that, according to their

websites.

Brown
said
focusing
on

improving safety within the
Ann Arbor community was the
project’s main focus.

“We have people on staff

who are aware of what they are
doing at other schools, but that
is not our main focus,” she said.
“We worry about getting the
message out as soon as we can,
as fast as we can.”

CAMPUS
From Page 1