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Friday, January 29, 2016
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City ranks 6th in state
in Michigan attorney
general survey
By EMMA KERR and
RIYAH BASHA
Managing News Editor,
Daily Staff Reporter
The Ann Arbor Police Depart-
ment ranks 6th highest out of
548
Michigan
police
depart-
ments in number of untested rape
kits, according to survey results
released Thursday by Michigan
Attorney General Bill Schuette.
The attorney general’s survey
found 1,189 untested kits in total,
not including police departments
in Wayne County. The survey was
prompted by a 2009 study that
found 11,000 untested rape kits in
Wayne County, which is why the
county was excluded in the survey.
According to the survey, AAPD
currently has 65 untested rape
kits.
Overall, the number of untested
rape kits in Washtenaw County
ranked 6th-highest out of the 83
counties in Michigan.
The vast majority of counties
included in the survey data had
zero or nearly zero untested rape
kits. 14 had 30 or more untested
rape kits. Of those counties with
30 or more untested rape kits, 50
percent are home to a university or
college.
The University of Michigan
Police Department reported 0
untested rape kits. UMPD’s juris-
diction includes sexual assaults
that occur on University property
or at a university function.
Other universities, however,
reported significant numbers. Of
the 11 university police depart-
ments
in
Michigan,
Western
Michigan
University
Police
Department reported 40 untested
rape kits, Eastern Michigan Uni-
versity Police Department report-
At Michigan
League, faculty
and students talk
diversity efforts
By ANDREW HIYAMA
For the Daily
LSA Dean Andrew Martin
hosted about 20 students and
faculty in the Hussey Room of
the Michigan League Thurs-
day to discuss the University’s
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Plan.
The event, #withDeanMar-
tin, was one of a series of ongo-
ing town hall-style forums
held by Martin with the aim of
facilitating communication and
openness between the students
and administration.
In the first of three planned
guided forums on diversity, the
discussion began with high-
lighting the role of admissions
in diversifying the University.
Martin said while the admis-
sions process is fundamental,
recruitment is perhaps more
important in creating a diverse
environment.
“The way in which we recruit
students, and the way in which
we orient students, and the way
in which we sort of welcome
students to join our community
defines the climate for what
we end up having on campus,”
Martin said.
The explicit use of race and
other demographic factors in
admissions for public colleges in
Michigan was banned in 2006
by a statewide ballot proposal.
Martin noted the importance
of reaching out to communities
from which — due to differences
of socioeconomic status — the
University doesn’t receive many
applicants.
Angela
Dillard,
associate
dean of undergraduate educa-
tion, also addressed facilitating
more inclusivity in study abroad
See INCLUSION, Page 3
See DIVERSITY, Page 2
See APP, Page 3
See KITS, Page 3
“Branch,”
developed by two
seniors, links like-
minded individuals
By KATHERINE CURRAN
For the Daily
Almost two years ago, LSA
senior Ryan Wolande and
Engineering senior Kevin Lee
felt frustrated with connec-
tions present-day social media
provided — sparking a desire
to create an app that made
connecting online a more per-
sonal and interactive experi-
ence.
For Wolande and Lee, that
desire turned into developing
Branch, a social app that aims
to harnesses people’s desire to
connect with others in a more
personal way. After users of
the app post anonymously
to a “Spot” on campus, such
as the Shapiro Undergradu-
ate Library or the Michigan
Union, anyone can respond to
their post and start a conver-
sation. If the users convers-
ing feel comfortable, they can
later send each other a “profile
share request” to reveal their
identities and meet up in the
real world.
“People are glued to their
phones,”
Wolande
said.
“Social media today is not a
social experience, it’s an expe-
rience with a phone.”
Wolande said Branch, now
available on iOS and coming to
Android mid-February, allows
users to connect one-on-one
and post exact locations. He
added that Branch is different
than apps like Tinder, which
people also use to meet each
other in person, because it
focuses more on real connec-
tions rather than appearance.
“It’s the only one that allows
you to start as anonymous so
you can express yourself fully
without being concerned of
being judged, while it still has
the potential of meeting peo-
ple in the real world,” Wolan-
de said.
Currently, Branch has about
100 active users and a total of
300 to 400 downloads. How-
ever, Wolande said he and Lee
hope the usage of the app will
increase exponentially once
they start marketing Branch
in mid-to-late February.
He noted that the Branch
team has secured a $20,000
investment from an unex-
pected angel investor and plan
to use the money to promote
the app by hosting events at
bars and handing out free
merchandise,
like
T-shirts,
koozies and lighters.
“We hope to have 5,000
to 10,000 users by the end of
the semester and then hope-
fully
achieve
campus-wide
use after the beginning of next
semester,” Wolande said.
If Branch becomes more
popular campuswide, Wolan-
de said he thinks it will be a
useful social tool for incom-
ing freshmen in particular by
making the University seem
less overwhelming.
Panel aims to
promotes awareness,
responsibility about
equity
By CAITLIN REEDY
Daily Staff Reporter
As part of the University’s
ongoing initiative to build cam-
pus diversity and inclusion, Uni-
versity President Mark Schlissel
hosted a public panel discussion
with various leaders in higher
education Thursday. The talk,
titled “Facing the Challenge:
the continued commitment to
diversity in higher education,”
took place at the Rackham
Graduate School.
The
University’s
National
Center for Institutional Diver-
sity partnered with the Ameri-
can Council on Education to
bring together higher educa-
tion leaders and leading faculty
members the University. For
the event, representatives from
Rutgers University, the Univer-
sity of Maryland, the University
of New Mexico and Education-
Counsel, an education consult-
ing firm, were present at the
discussion.
Schlissel kicked off the con-
versation with comments on
the role of public institutions in
today’s society and the respon-
sibility they have to encourage
diversity.
“Ensuring the diversity of its
academic community is perhaps
the biggest challenge facing
institutes of higher education,”
Schlissel said. “Racial strife has
exposed wounds and inspired
students to protest. All must feel
welcome. Those of us at public
institutions have a special role
to serve all of humanity. Race
and ethnicity are undoubtedly
key factors in expanding our
reach.”
Robert Sellers, vice provost
for Equity, Inclusion, and Aca-
demic Affairs, said he thought
the panel brought in leaders to
address the changes happening
in our world in regard to diver-
sity.
“This special panel is part of a
larger ongoing two-day confer-
ence … The panel today is par-
ticularly timely given a lot of the
activism going on in our cam-
pus today,” Sellers said. “Most
importantly, the panel today is
timely because of what is going
on in our society. If higher edu-
cation is going to meet the needs
of this more diverse society, we
need to open access to com-
munities that have never had
access before.”
The night’s discussion also
came at a significant time judi-
cially, as a landmark case is
being heard this term by the
U.S. Supreme Court against the
University of Texas-Austin for
Officials seek
to limit effects
of second-hand
smoke
By ALEXA ST. JOHN
Daily Staff Reporter
Starting Monday, a smok-
ing
restriction
for
Ann
Arbor city parks will expand
from prohibiting smoking
in 77 parks to including 79
additional parks, the city
announced last Friday.
The ordinance now applies
to a total of 156 out of 159 city
parks. The smoking prohibi-
tion not only applies to smok-
ing traditional cigarettes, but
also to cigars and pipes and
e-cigarettes.
In April 2014, the Ann
Arbor City Council approved
the outdoor smoking ban
that allowed the city admin-
istrator to select certain
parks to become smoke-free.
Following collaboration with
the city’s Park Advisory
Commission, the ban went
into effect February 2015,
but only affected 77 parks in
the city.
The
only
recreational
areas that will be exempt are
Cobblestone Farm, Huron
Hills Golf Course and Leslie
Park Golf Course.
Josh Landefeld, deputy
manager of Parks and Rec-
reation, said there never was
a huge issue with smoking in
parks prior to the ordinance.
However, he said having a
See PARKS, Page 3
MATT VAILLIENCOURT/Daily
Kedra Ishop, Associate Vice President for Enrollment Management at the University of Michigan, addresses the crowd
gathered for the discussion of the importance of diversity in higher education at Rackham Amphitheater on Thursday.
CAMPUS LIFE
LSA dean
discusses
inclusivity
on campus
Ann Arbor Police Dept.
has 65 untested rape kits
App aims to
spark student
connections
Schlissel, higher ed. leaders
talk about campus diversity
79 parks
added to
A2 ban on
smoking
BUSINESS
ANN ARBOR
INDEX
Vol. CXXV, No. 61
©2016 The Michigan Daily
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