MARINA ROSS/Daily
Michigan Gov. Rick Synder (R), gives the State of the State address, speaking about issues such as the Flint water crisis,
at the Michigan State Capitol building on January 20.
3-News
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Thursday, February 11, 2016 — 3A
‘U’ participates
in blood donation
challenge against
MSU
The annual Face Off Blood
Challenge against Michigan State
University is now underway and
will run through Feb. 25.
To donate, faculty, staff and
students can make an appointment
to donate on the American Red
Cross website using the code
“goblue”.
Remaining campus blood
drives will be in the Michigan
League, Michigan Union, Pierpont
Commons and the University
Hospital throughout the next few
weeks.
All donors will receive a Face Off
t-shirt and food coupons, and will
be entered to win free rides from
Uber.
Those who want to donate
should be mindful of the blood
donation eligibility requirements as
set by the FDA.
Companies
seek out ethical
behavior in
employees
A recent study found that
companies and the government
rely too heavily on only having an
employee compliance program in
the workplace, and do not depend
enough on stopping bad employee
behavior.
David Hess, associate professor
of business law and the University
researcher who did the analysis,
found it is easy for researchers
to focus on measurable variables
of behavior, such as the number
of employee audits done or the
number of employees who received
training on workplace behavior.
Companies often disregard off-
paper, non-quantitative measures
as these measures of behavior are
harder to analyze.
“But to really have an ethical
infrastructure you need the right
culture, and that’s not easy to
measure,” Hess said in a press
release. “So over time, compliance
and culture became these two
separate things when they’re really
two sides of the same coin.”
Ultimately, Hess suggests
companies promote an informal
system supporting the goals of the
compliance programs set in place
and assess employee perception of
the workplace’s ethical climate.
BrightMatter
technology to
improve brain
surgeries
New technology developed by
the University will allow brain
tumor surgeons to combine two
types of image viewing during
surgery.
The technology, which is
expected to be in operating
rooms in July, will be
incorporated with technologies
already available in operating
rooms and combines multiple
imaging views a neurosurgeon
would use as they complete a
surgery. These two views include
breadth, the view during the
surgery focusing directly outside
the surgical field; and depth,
focusing on fine details within
the surgical field.
Used to operate on brain
tumors, aneurysms and other
skull- or brain-based medical
issues, the BrightMatter
technology will improve the
brain surgery process.
University neurosurgeon
Daniel Orringer said in a press
release the University is creating
the “operating room of the
future” with this technological
advance.
BrightMatter has an
automated arm linked to sensors
in the surgeon’s tools that
can provide detailed vision to
surgeons and allow them to
know where they are in the brain
throughout the entire surgery.
This will inform surgeons what
critical areas in the brain are to
be avoided.
—ALEXA ST. JOHN
NEWS BRIEFS
undocumented students.
“If you’re not a resident of
the state, why should you be
entitled to resident tuition?”
Weiser said.
Weiser ran for a seat on
the board in 2014, when he
was defeated by Mike Behm
(D) and Kathy White (D).
In December 2014, Weiser
donated $50 million to the
University, which motivated
regents to approve renaming
Dennison
Building
to
Weiser Hall. He has donated
$95.9 million in total to the
University.
This
year,
Weiser
is
campaigning on a platform of
conservative values. He has a
firm background in the state
Republican Party, serving as
the chairman of the Michigan
Republican Party from 2009
to 2011.
Weiser has contributed to
the campus and to the national
and global stage in several
ways throughout his career.
From 2001 to 2005, he served
as President George W. Bush’s
ambassador to Slovakia. Upon
his return, Weiser established
and funded the University’s
Weiser Center for Emerging
Democracies,
emphasizing
the importance of freedom
and democracy.
Weiser previously planned
to run again for regent in
2012,
a
year
after
being
elected to the Republican
National
Committee
as
finance chairman. However,
he said in a press release that
because he was determined
to prevent Proposal 2 from
passing, he devoted his energy
to the GOP’s national effort to
challenge the measure instead.
Proposal
2,
a
proposal
amendment
to
Michigan’s
constitution
on
the
state
ballor in 2012, was widely
favored among state unions,
but was ultimately voted down
by 58 percent . The measure
would have made the right
to collective bargaining for
labor unions constitutional,
reducing restrictions on union
efforts to negotiate working
conditions.
Essentially,
it
would have removed legal
barriers
to
join
unions
and
bargain
collectively.
In
the
process,
however,
approximately 170 laws would
have been invalidated.
Weiser said he believes
his experience in business
and government, both locally
and
internationally,
has
prepared him for a position as
University regent. He said he
is proud of being a Wolverine
and hopes to better serve the
community.
“We really are a world
university, and keeping our
quality of education is really
important,” Weiser said. “I
mean it when I say I’m a proud
alumni.”
No other candidates have
declared for the two open
seats. Both will be filled as
part of the statewide elections
in November.
WEISER
From Page 1A
“It’s about setting the
tone,” Dotson said. “We
want
to
give
people
a
different taste of CSG and
to understand that we are
here for them. This is Your
Michigan and we are here
to help you express your
opinions and views — you
should feel protected and
we want to empower you to
say how you feel and what
you want.”
LSA sophomore Patrick
Mullan-Koufopoulos
is
also running with Your
Michigan,
and
is
doing
community
outreach
for
the
party.
LSA
senior
Alyssa Gorenberg is acting
as the party’s director of
representatives.
“Everyday I walk around
this campus and think how
can we make this better for
the student body,” Hislop
said. “What I realized was,
the 10 of us, of course, can
see a lot of things that could
improve,
but
there
are
42,000 other students on
this campus and they see a
lot of different things every
single day, and we’d love
those students to reach out
to us and have their voice be
a part of our platform.”
While their platform is
still emerging — candidates
said they will release a
fuller list of goals and ideas
in the next two weeks —
Your Michigan said they’re
planning on stressing the
far-reaching
backgrounds
their
candidates
have
through varying leadership
positions on campus. Their
core members have acted
on four different student
governments
on
campus,
including LSA, CSG, Ford
School of Public Policy and
Rackham Graduate School.
They said they think their
range will help to bring
better communications and
interactions
with
other
student governments once
elected.
“We’ve
been
actively
participating in different
student
governments”
Mullan-Koufopoulos
said.
“Which
really
makes
it
a
much
more
cohesive
campus and plays into the
idea of Your Michigan being
your community and your
school.”
Another
strength
the
group is citing in their
campaign is their as of yet
incomplete platform.
“To
have
a
concrete
and final platform at this
point
would
be
unfair,”
Dotson said. “We’d really
be overlooking all the other
voices and opinions that we
can still hear if we keep our
ear to the ground.”
Your
Michigan
members
said
they’re
seeking
to
engage
with
clubs
on
campus
while
campaigning, with the aim
of establishing connections
and communications with
campus organizations that
carry over into their term if
elected.
“We
want
to
leave
behind
a
legacy
where
the executives are really
listening to the students,”
Hislop said. “You have to
reach out to groups that
only have 20-25 students
because they matter, and
there’s an echo effect there.
We also want to connect
with student organizations
on campus and ask them
what they need, and what
CSG can do for them. We
want to make them feel like
we are going to be their
advocates in the long run
and not just for the month
of campaigning. We want
to establish a sense of trust
moving forward.”
As part of their goals for
the year, candidates said
they also plan to reconstruct
CSG meetings to ensure
students’ voices are heard
and the meetings are as
open and approachable to
the public as possible. This
approach, they said, helps
further the party’s values
of
being
inclusive
and
promoting equity.
“Something we’ve talked
about a lot is that Your
Michigan is not just the 40
representatives,”
Mullan-
Koufopoulos
said.
“It’s
so much more than that.
We want any student who
wants to come to CSG to
come — you can go, you’re
welcome, you’re more than
invited. We want people
who might feel they might
be ‘othered’ to believe that
they can make a difference
on campus...This party was
created for us.”
CSG elections for the next
year will be held on March
23 and 24.
Dishell, the 2014 CSG president,
and
current
CSG
president
Cooper Charlton, a LSA senior,
ran on campaigns featuring safety
initiatives, increasing diversity and
fostering cultural awareness across
campus. In this past year’s election,
Make Michigan promised to make
transportation more convenient
on campus and encourage student-
led participation in initiatives
pertaining to student life.
Sarkar said though they were
inspired by previous objectives,
newMICH will be focusing on
student outreach in particular in an
effort to break away from the flaws
of the previous platforms.
“One thing that I’ve been very
proud of this group for doing is
really
cold-call
outreach,
like
reaching out to student groups
that aren’t represented in CSG
and finding out what they want,”
Sarkar said.
For Schafer, deviations from
the previous platforms stem from
student input and what they want
to see in CSG.
“In terms of the inspirations for
the platforms, I think a lot of it has
been in the room and having these
conversations with administrators
and students,” Schafer said.
newMICH’s manifesto hinges
on four pillars: student voice,
connection,
well-being
and
opportunity. Griggs said the party’s
goal is to place a student onto the
Board of Regents, ideally in a voting
capacity, a feature in multiple
previous CSG platforms.
Because the makeup of Board
of Regents is outlined in the state
Constitution, creating a voting
position specifically for a student
would require amending it, which
requires a statewide vote. As
well, to get on the state ballot, the
amendment would either have to
be approved and collect a minimum
number of signatures as a citizen-
led initiative, or be referred to the
ballot by the state legislature.
However, universities in several
other states with similar laws
to Michigan have provided for
student representation on their
boards through the creation of a de
facto, non-voting student member.
newMICH candidates said even
if the student were unable to have
voting rights, their voice would
be an invaluable source for the
assembly.
“It would be important to have
that non-voting member on (the)
Board of Regents and various
committees talking about diversity,
equity, curriculum,” Griggs said.
Having a presence on the Board
of Regents would satisfy one of
the party’s goals, well-being, as a
student present on the board would
be capable of voicing support for
the expansion and funding of
CAPS and SAPAC programs across
campus, Griggs added.
The party aims to attain their
goal of connection by connecting
students
with
the
Division
of Public Safety and Security
through 24-hour chat and texting
programs. On opportunity, the
party plans on hosting awareness
weeks during which CSG helps
to educate students and remove
stigma from issues on campus such
as drug use.
LSA junior Shamaila Ashraf, a
co-chair for the party, said each
year candidates pitch plans to make
CSG more diverse, yet the voice of
the majority remains the same
with each regime.
A 2015 Michigan Daily analysis
found that some groups have been
notably underrepresented among
CSG top positions over the past
22 years in comparison with the
overall student population, such as
Hispanic and female students.
Ashraf said she plans to stop the
continued instigation of old ideas
by requiring InterGroup Relations
training, an organization that
facilitates exercises and training
regarding identity and inclusion
for groups on campus, within the
organization.
“Everyone says that they’re
going to offer diversity, they’re
going to offer an inclusive space to
have those voices, but that doesn’t
always happen,” Ashraf said.
Griggs
echoed
Ashraf’s
sentiment, saying CSG requires
diversity moving forward. She
stressed that newMICH is making
productivity and inclusivity of the
student government a priority.
“In the past, CSG was and
currently is homogenous. We really
think that having a representative
and
inclusive
environment
is
productive, and contributes to
a holistic learning experience.”
Griggs said. “I think that’s what
separates us from other parties.”
For
Sarkar,
addressing
the
root problems on campus can be
accomplished by further distancing
their platform from predecessors.
Recent candidates, she said, have
had
similar
platforms,
which
she believes has lead to the
continuation of the same problems
each year regarding inclusivity.
In terms of transparency, the
party plans to implement open
Q&A sessions between CSG and the
commission, not just between the
assembly and students. Ashraf, who
ran her freshman year with Make
Michigan as a LSA representative,
said open conversation is just
one example of how they plan to
increase transparency.
Overall, the candidates said they
were looking forward to beginning
the campaign season. This year’s
CSG elections will be held on
March 23 and 24.
“Students are tired of being quiet
and feeling that the administration
doesn’t hear them,” Schafer said.
YOUR MICHIGAN
From Page 1A
NEWMICH
From Page 1A
Dearborn campuses will receive
5.1 and 4.8 increases in funding,
with a total of $21.8 million and
$24 million respectively.
In a press release, Cynthia
Wilbanks,
vice
president
of
government relations, said the
University was pleased with the
higher allocation.
“This is a great way to start the
state’s budgeting process and we
look forward to getting additional
details
and
working
with
legislators in the weeks ahead,”
Wilbanks said. “We have long said
that investing in higher education
contributes significantly to the
state’s economic well-being.”
Under
Snyder’s
recommendation, the cap on
tuition will also be raised, from
3.2 percent last year to 4.8 percent
this year. The increased tuition
cap comes in the wake of several
higher
education
institutions
breaking it over the past few years.
None of the University’s tuition
increases have broken the cap
since the practice was instituted
in 2012, with increases ranging
from almost exactly at the limit to
a percent or more below.
Oakland
University
and
Eastern University each surpassed
the cap last year and had to testify
to the Michigan House and Senate
appropriation
subcommittees
earlier this year about it.
Oakland, who increased their
tuition by 8.48 percent last year,
received the highest percent
increase in state funding in
this year’s budget proposal at 6
percent.
$107.5 million in the governor’s
overall budget request was also
included in the budget to go
towards financial aid services,
with an additional $2 million
was allocated to fund the state’s
Tuition
Incentive
Program,
which guarantees several years
of college funding to specific
populations of students as an
incentive to complete high school.
Snyder’s
recommenation
will now go to the legislature,
who will have to approve each
item, a process that typically
takes months and often results
in amendments to the initial
numbers.
BUDGET
From Page 1A
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