partner’s social media passwords
and looking through a partner’s
cellphone records to see who they
are texting or calling.
Lead author of the study Lauren
Reed was a doctoral student in
the
University’s
Psychology
Department when the study began
and said she was interested in the
ways that new forms of media,
such as the Internet, cellphones,
texting and social media sites
impact dating relationships and
shape dating violence.
“What we do is we ask teens and
college students about what they
do in relationships and then we
also look at how is this associated
with other things,” Reed said.
“If you’re engaging in an activity
that makes your partner feel
uncomfortable or unsafe, or if
it’s one of many behaviors that
you’re engaging in that control or
manipulate or threaten or harass
your partner, then those are some
problematic behaviors that could
be abusive.”
According to a 2011 Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention
nationwide survey, 23 percent of
females and 14 percent of males
who have experienced a sexual
assault, act of physical violence or
cyber-stalking from an intimate
partner first experienced one
of these forms of relationship
violence between 11 and 17 years
of age.
The CDC reported that for the
person experiencing the abuse,
certain types of violence can lead
to engaging in alcohol and drug
abuse, reporting symptoms of
depression and increased anxiety
and ultimately having greater risk
to be on the receiving end of these
abusive behaviors during college
years.
Richard Tolman, School of
Social Work professor, said from
his previous workregarding forms
of dating violence, including non-
digital abuse, it was clear the
increasing use of social media and
the Internet to control a romantic
partner was becoming a major
aspect of relationship abuse.
“It was unusual to use media
that way (in the past),” Tolman
said. “Now with the dawn of the
digital age — not the dawn any
longer — pretty much everybody
has that kind of surveillance
monitoring technology available
to them in their pocket on a
smartphone. Eighth graders on
up have access to this kind of
technology that was once the
province
of
mega-controlling
abusive partners.”
The survey of teens was done
in response to a UM survey
done by Reed, she said, which
included questions about common
controlling behaviors such as
monitoring a romantic partner and
looking at a partner’s cellphone or
computers without their consent.
In both the University survey
and the high school student
survey, researchers included a
measure of attachment insecurity,
which was linked to executing
electronically abusive behaviors,
Tolman said.
The high school student study
surveyed 703 high school students
from ninth grade to 12th grade and
focused on more electronically
intrusive behaviors than did the
University survey, according to
Reed.
“The reason that we did it in
both age groups is that we wanted
to know if these findings were
consistent across age groups,”
Reed said. “High school students
(are) having their first dating
experience, they’re new to dating,
they might be more influenced by
these digital media, so we wanted
to replicate our college student
survey in the high school. We
had a better, more comprehensive
measure of electronic intrusion
than we did in the college survey,
but we found still pretty consistent
results across age groups.”
Reed said ultimately, these
findings are indicative of what she
calls a “cycle of anxiety.”
Insecurely
attached
high
school and college students are
more likely to engage in electronic
intrusion in their relationships,
Reed said. Seeing a photo or post
on social media could trigger their
anxiety, leading to increased use of
electronically intruding behaviors
in an attempt to alleviate their
anxiety.
“The more you look and the
more you intrude in your partner’s
privacy, probably the more anxiety
you’re going to have,” Reed said.
The question arises as to where
the line is between normal social
media and technology use in a
relationship, and digital abuse,
both researchers said.
“I don’t think we know enough
to say where the exact line
is,” Tolman said. “Part of that
depends on the perceptions of
the people involved to be sure.
Unquestionably, there is some
version of this that is normative.
(However)
saying
that
it’s
normative doesn’t mean it is
good or positive, it may be that
it’s something that just about
everybody does a little bit of.”
Social media use today is often
an acceptable way to check in
with one’s partner, Tolman said.
However, when social media use
becomes a pervasive behavior
that continuously proves harmful
to a partner and begins to define
that relationship, it can cause
psychological damage.
He added that was important,
particularly
for
insecurely
attached individuals, to know
their
personal
boundaries
as
well as what their partners are
comfortable with in terms of
checking social media and other
forms of technology to check in on
a relationship.
“The
findings
from
the
study hint that … there may be
aspects of times of insecurities
that somebody brings into a
relationship that could add to their
increasing this activity in a way
that could be problematic to the
relationship,” Tolman said.
Some previous findings have
indicated that it is possible that
young men and young women
have behavioral and emotional
differences in the way that they
use and interpret social media.
However, in this most recent
study, Tolman said few differences
were observed.
“We found that attachment and
insecurity predicted perpetration
of electronic intrusion similarly
for boys and girls,” he said. “But
we did find that, in our study,
girls reported more perpetration
of electronic intrusion than boys
did.”
He added that this might
simply be because females are
more likely to be more honest
reporters of their digital activities.
On the other hand, however, this
electronic intrusion could be
intended for positively preserving
and maintaining a relationship.
“Although
there
are
some
positive uses of digital media in
dating relationships, and it’s great
way to build intimacy and bond
between partners, for anxiously
attached teenagers and college
students, this might exacerbate
their anxiety and lead to potential
emotional abuse,” Reed said.
Ultimately,
Tolman
said
the
overuse
and
misuse
of
digital
media
in
adolescence
for the purpose of controlling
relationships can be predictive of
adult behavior, as has been seen in
other forms of non-digital dating
violence.
“The issue is not so much
stopping
or
somehow
trying
to temper the amount of use,
though that might be possible,
but certainly teaching people
about how to manage boundaries
more effectively and more self-
management strategies and coping
with this relational context that is
now an everyday reality,” Tolman
said. “It does signal a broader
societal need, and certainly an
individual need, for teaching
people how to better manage
these kind of relational issues
when social media is involved, and
when it’s not, too.”
3-News
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Thursday, February 18, 2016 — 3A
ANXIETY
From Page 1A
country needs to go through
on its own,” Cummings said.
“We can help them get more
for their money through the
immunization process.”
Cummings
explained
the
economic value of investing in
immunizations, saying there is
generally a positive return on
such an investment.
“Economists at PATH and a
number of groups have looked
at the cost effectiveness of
these
vaccines,”
Cummings
said. “The metric that is most
commonly used is disability-
adjusted life year. That is the
measurement for the average
amount of healthy years of life
that are spared by a particular
intervention.”
Cummings
noted
that
distribution systems differ for
lower income countries, Gavi
is involved in providing the
funding for vaccination, while
UNICEF is focused on the
distribution and procurement
of vaccines.
After
the
event,
Peiyu
Yu,
Public
Policy
senior,
agreed
that
there
is
a
significant economic benefit
to
vaccination,
but
raised
concerns over how vaccines
are implemented and received
in foreign countries.
“I
do
not
know
what
countries with a large aging
population will do and if they
are ready to cover term health
costs,” Yu said. “The resistance
of intervention is that some
countries
have
a
history
of
not
welcoming
Western
intervention because of deep
skepticism.”
Cummings also discussed
the organization’s challenges,
citing the expensive cost of new
vaccines as well as the problem
which
arises
as
countries
transition out of Gavi eligibility
and become responsible for the
cost of immunization.
With the rising costs of new
and expensive vaccines, PATH
is struggling to pay for the more
costly medication, he said.
Furthermore, as countries
gain wealth, they no longer
meet the threshold to attain
vaccinations
through
Gavi
and must pay for vaccines
themselves. The World Bank
defines low-income countries
as those which have a gross
national income per capita of
less than $1,045. To be eligible
for aid from Gavi, the country
has to have a GNI per capita of
below $1,580.
Ari Shwayder, lecturer of
business economics, said the
challenge
for
transitional
nations was significant.
“For me, the idea is that we
have to think about new ways
for getting the middle-income
countries vaccines,” Shwayder
said. “We need to work with
manufactures
to
develop
cheaper vaccines, to focus on
the supply side.”
The
World
Health
Organization
estimates
that 2.5 million deaths are
prevented per year due to
vaccines.
Cummings
said
amid some resistance and
controversy
surrounding
vaccines,
their
importance
remains clear.
“I hope I have given you
some appreciation for what
impact vaccines have had in
public health and in what
terms vaccines have had in
saving lives, and in doing so
economically,” Cummings told
the crowd.
PATH
From Page 1A
helps me make sure we are on
the right track.”
Stabenow said since the
time she attended college, the
percentage of funding provided
by the state to the University
of Michigan has decreased
from 70 to a percentage in
the mid-20s. More recently,
funding for higher education
was cut by 15 percent in 2011.
Overall, in recent years state
funding for higher education
has seen both cute — including
a 15 percent one in 2011
— and small increases. In
Gov. Rick Snyder’s recently
released budget proposal for
the upcoming fiscal year, he
recommended a 4.3 percent
increase in higher education
funding, which would bring
the total funding back to pre-
2011 levels.
The RED Act incorporates
portions of a bill proposed by
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s
(D–Mass.)
in
2014,
which
would
allow
student
loan
borrowers to refinance high-
interest
loans
and
create
fixed interest rates for future
borrowers,
in
contrast
to
the variable rates borrowers
face now. U.S. Rep. Debbie
Dingell (D–Dearborn) has also
cosponsored a similar bill in
Congress that would allow
student loan refinancing.
The bill would additionally
allow two years of tuition
and fees to be waived for
community
college
and
technical school and increase
the funding for federal Pell
Grants. In his State of the
Union address in January,
President Barack Obama called
for the former aspect of the
current bill.
Stabenow said these three
main aspects of the bill are
achievable if Congress can
come together in a bipartisan
effort.
“We basically have three
things that we are doing that
are very doable if we can get
the
bipartisan
support
we
need,” she said.
Pamela Fowler, executive
director
of
the
office
of
financial aid at the University
who was at the event, said in
recent years the University has
been increasing financial aid
by an average of 12 percent,
and students and prospective
students need to be more aware
of the resources available to
them to help alleviate debt.
“Affordability is something I
live personally every day,” she
said. “How do we let people
know that they can afford to
come here? Once they see that
they can afford to go here then
the word will get out.”
Stabenow
said
outside
groups, including the National
Association of Realtors, have
spoken up about the need to
aid the student debt crisis, as
it affects the overall economy.
She added that providing that
assistance
depends
on
the
government’s priorities, and
higher
education
strongly
influences the economy and
should be better supported.
“It’s a question of priorities
and
how
you
grow
the
economy,” she said. “Higher
education is an economic driver
and we ought to be heavily
supporting that at every level.”
Public Policy senior Max
Lerner, chair of the University’s
chapter of College Democrats
who was also at the event, said
he appreciates the support of
Stabenow and other Democrats
on this issue, as he does not see
the same urgency within the
Republican Party.
“It’s great to see Democrats
and Sen. Stabenow are taking
student issues and the college
debt crisis very seriously,” he
said. “Republicans clearly are
not. Snyder is continuing to
divest in public education and
higher education and it really
a shame as Michigan students
are literally being priced out of
a higher education because of
this governor’s policies.”
“He is a white man in a higher
position than me, and had just
implied that that I was dispensable.
I’m a woman of color with
seemingly no real authority in
that space,” she wrote, referencing
a member of CSG’s executive
committee. “Whose voice really
matters here? I felt as though the
LGBTQ community that I was
advocating for had suddenly lost
any voice that it may have ever had
in CSG.”
CSG chief of staff, LSA junior
Sean Pitt was integral in the
restructuring of the commissions
and
conveyed
the
executive
committee’s decision to combine
commissions, which was in part
the catalyst for the commision’s
disbandment. At the beginning
of the 2016 fall semester, CSG
launched a complete restructuring
of the body’s 19 commissions,
cutting 11. Some of these former
commissions were turned into sub-
commissions.
At a CSG meeting on Dec. 1,
after the Michigan in Color piece
had been published, CSG President
Cooper
Charlton
called
the
resignation a misunderstanding but
acknowledged the writer’s concerns
about the power structure.
“The author of this article felt
negatively about this proposal due
to the power dynamic in the room,”
Charlton said.
Charlton added there was further
misunderstanding
surrounding
the measures of restorative justice
that were agreed upon after the
perceived microaggression.
“Because full information was
not provided to the commission,
negative
sentiment
towards
the executive committee grew
surrounded in the idea that the
executive chose not to meet the
requests for restorative justice,”
Charlton said. “The sentiment that
grew within this commission is
founded on false information, and
there is no evidence to support
these claims.”
In interviews with The Michigan
Daily, CSG representatives said
the events of last semester were
troubling and full of confusion.
LSA
and
Education
senior
Michael Chrzan, a School of
Education representative, said in an
email interview hearing there were
issues with diversity in CSG spurred
him to run during the mid-term
elections last semester to reclaim
his seat on the assembly. Following
the incident, Chrzan contacted the
commission members who had
resigned to get their perspective.
“From
my
outsider
view
and someone who came into
this discussion really late, I’d
say personally it was a lack of
transparency and communication
on numerous levels,” Chrzan said.
Charlton said the restructuring
was necessary to actualize the
potential of these commissions,
which hadn’t been seen in the past.
“Of the 19 commissions, only five
of them were active, and by that
I mean had communication with
the executive team,” Charlton said.
“Of those five, only three of them
produced changes that students
actually
felt.
Fourteen
either
didn’t do anything because they
were vacant, didn’t have enough
members to function or frankly
just gave up halfway through the
semester.”
However, though the inclusivity
commission
was
disbanded,
members of CSG said the body
continued to make progress on
issues of campus inclusivity. LSA
sophomore Anushka Sarkar, CSG
chief programming officer, said the
initiatives they had been working
on were implemented in other ways.
“Maybe there was a vacuum
on paper, but the initiatives the
commission was being tasked with
fell to the executive committee or
the other body members,” Sarkar
said.
Chrzan wrote though he did
not have much experience with
the commissions prior to this
semester, he was in support of their
consolidation.
“That being said, I would argue
the decision could have been made
and communicated in a better way,”
Chrzan wrote. “I know that some
commissions were upset about the
change and also upset about how
it was communicated, specifically
those in the Campus Inclusion
Commission.”
Chrzan said he has seen more
of the commissions and their work
than he ever had before, but noted
he attributed the change to the CSG
chief of staff Sean Pitt, more than
the new structure.
Issues of transparency, identity
and power dynamics have also been
raised by members of newMich
and Your Michigan — two political
platforms which have emerged
in preparation for the upcoming
March CSG election — in reactions
to the commission’s walk-off.
Public Policy junior Thomas
Hislop, a CSG representative and
Your
Michigan’s
presidential
candidate, said CSG relies heavily
on its commissions to fulfill its
directives on campus.
“People
often
forget
that
commissions are such a resource for
us,” Hislop said. “I’m a deep believer
in the power of these commissions,
and I think Cooper’s administration
did a really great job of redesigning
those nine commissions that really
do have a voice and a power so that
they can go forward with their
initiatives.”
LSA
junior
David
Schafer,
a CSG representation heading
newMICH’s executive ticket, said
the events of last semester need to
be a wake-up call for the assembly.
“What happened last semester,
it’s entirely unfortunate. Anytime
a student feels silenced, where
their voice is not heard, regardless
of the circumstances, we need to
care about that and we need to do
something about that,” Schafer
said. “Of course when everyone
on the commission resigned, that
was not something you should look
happily upon.”
Hislop voiced similar sentiments
about the events surrounding the
commission.
“Obviously it was unfortunate
what
happened
last
semester,
and you know I know there was
some frustration with how it was
published as well,” Hislop said.
“It was a really unfortunate event
because that’s not what CSG is
about, and I think the people
behind Cooper, they do believe in
the importance of inclusivity and
diversity on this campus.”
CSG
representative
Micah
Griggs, an LSA junior running for
vice president with newMich, said
their knowledge of the current
power dynamics of the body sets
them apart as a party.
“I think what’s unique here
is that we realize the root of the
problem when someone didn’t
understand their power and their
privilege in a certain situation,”
Griggs said. “Having an IGR
mandatory workshop can prevent
those things from happening and
work towards being more inclusive
by understanding our identities and
how they impact others.”
Intergroup
Relations,
a
University
program
of
social
justice education, offers training
to student organizations to create
understanding of inequalities and
the influence of diverse identities.
Sarkar, who is the campaign
manager for newMich, said their
platform includes plans for opt-in
CSG newsletters and text alerts so
that the student body is informed of
what goes on behind closed doors.
“A commission chair resigning
would definitely be an alert that
would go out to people,” Sarkar said.
LSA junior Shamaila Ashraf,
who is running on newMich ticket
for the upcoming CSG election,
said though she was not on the
assembly at the time, she believed
it displayed a lack of transparency
and accountability on the side of the
executive committee.
“Transparency
in
terms
of
what is CSG doing, what are these
commissions? And then the other
side, the accountability, who are we
putting in those positions and how
are they trained?” Ashraf said.
Read more online at
michigandaily.com
STABENOW
From Page 1A
INCLUSION
From Page 1A