The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Tuesday, February 23, 2016 — 3
Accused shooter in
Kalamazoo admits
to killings
Uber driver Jason Dalton —
who was accused of shooting
and killing six random people
— admitted to taking the lives of
those individuals on Saturday,
the Detroit Free Press reports.
Dalton allegedly shot and
killed six people while taking
Uber fares and injured two more
across three different locations.
He faces 16 charges including
six counts of murder, two counts
of assault with intent of murder
and eight counts of felony
firearm.
Evidence against Dalton
includes an eye-witness who
picked him out of a photo line-up
and video surveillance featuring
Dalton.
Dalton was arrested Sunday,
two hours after the shootings
began when a Kalamazoo
County sheriff’s deputy
recognized a car matching the
description of the shooter’s
vehicle. Dalton was arrested
peacefully, given a court-
appointed attorney and held
without bail.
Upon arrest, police seized a
semi-automatic handgun Dalton
had supposedly used in the
killings.
Police investigation has yet to
determine a motive for Dalton’s
suspected shootings.
Heavy snow,
wind expected to
reach Michigan
Wednesday
A winter storm moving up
from Texas is expected to bring
at about six inches or more
of snow and greatly reduced
visibility on the roads, according
to the National Weather Service.
The details of the storm
including its path and the
amount of snow is still unclear.
The bulk of the storm could
be preceded by rain Tuesday
night or Wednesday morning,
but will likely turn to snow by
Wednesday afternoon.
Following the start of the
snowfall, the storm is expected
to continue until Thursday with
winds of about 30 miles per hour
reducing visibility to a quarter
mile or less.
“Blowing and drifting of snow
will occur, ptentially leading to
near white-out conditions,” the
NWS said in a statement on its
website.
Areas further north of Detroit
could receive as much as 10
inches of snow as the storm
arrives.
Snyder to release
e-mails relating to
Flint dating back
to 2011
Gov. Rick Snyder’s
administration will release
e-mails dating back as far as 2011
on topics relating to the Flint
water crisis, the Detroit Free
Press reports.
Snyder released his
personal e-mails in January
and the remainder of the
executive branch — including
the Michigan Departments
of Environmental Quality,
Treasury, Health and Human
Services and Argriculture —
released more than 20,000 pages
of e-mails 10 days ago.
The e-mails revealed that
the bureaucracy downplayed
and disregarded the complaints
made by both residents and
researchers regarding the
quality and safety of the water.
In his State of the State
address in January, Snyder said
he would release his own e-mails
but initially opposed releasing
those of the members of his
executive cabinet. Under the
state’s Freedom of Information
law the executive branch and
state legislature are exempt from
public disclosure of documents.
Snyder’s stance changed last
week when he stated a goal of
increased transparency on all
levels involving the crisis.
—LYDIA MURRAY
NEWS BRIEFS
HALEY MCLAUGHLIN/Daily
Silke-Maria Weineck, SACUA chair, discusses revamped course evaluation
questions set for release in Fall 2016 in Palmer Commons on Monday.
“This
will
be
rare,”
Weineck said. ”Obviously, if
every teacher opts out then
it will make the data less
meaningful.”
The committees also worked
on modifying the questions
asked on course evaluation
surveys.
“These
questions
are
much
more
targeted
and
the committee worked with
quite a bit of research to see
which questions seemed to be
meaningful and worthwhile
asking,” Weineck said.
Central
Student
Governement
has
been
advocating for the release of
course evaluations since 2011,
when
the
assembly
made
a Freedom of Information
Act request to the Office of
the Provost for all course
evaluations data. In a recent
interview with The Michigan
Daily,
LSA
senior
Cooper
Charlton said the body hopes
evaluations will be released to
students by fall 2016.
SACUA
From Page 1
David Meyer
awarded Henry
Russel lectureship
By ALEXA ST. JOHN
Daily Staff Reporter
David Meyer — this year’s Henry
Russel lecturer as presented by
University of Michigan President
Mark Schlissel — dissected the
process of thinking and discussed
the importance of idea creation
during his lecture at Rackham
Amphitheatre on Monday.
Meyer,
professor
of
mathematical
psychology
and
cognitive science at the University,
focused particularly on what makes
an idea influential in society.
“One of our major missions is to
have big ideas,” Meyer said.
Each year, a Henry Russel
lecturer
is
chosen
based
on
a
person’s
achievements
in
research,
scholarship
and/or
creative endeavors, according to
the Rackham website. Nominees
are also supposed to display an
outstanding record of teaching,
mentoring and service to both
the University and communities
outside the University. The winner
receives an award of $10,000.
Meyer
emphasized
common
questions in explaining ideas as
a concept, such as what an idea
actually is and how big ideas should
be. In his lecture, titled “Toward
the Biggest Idea of Them All: 50
Years of Advances in Mathematical
Psychology and Cognitive Science,”
Meyer
specifically
emphasized
“big ideas,” which he said lead to
dramatic change in psychology
fields.
“Universities should be idea
factories,” he said.
Another key to understanding
and generating ideas is practicing
unique thinking, as each individual
has a unique perspective on how
to approach challenging subjects,
Meyer said. He cited chemist
Marie Curie as an example, who
he said thought differently from
astrophycisist
Neil
deGrasse
Tyson, though both were able to
make
successful
contributions
in physics. Physical and mental
diversity within a population is
responsible for such a diverse range
of successful ideas, he added.
“No one format is always best for
representing various ideas,” Meyer
noted. “Instead, the best format
depends on the person and the
context.”
Ideas come in many forms,
Meyer said, and three factors —
connectionism, computation and
control — are key to big ideas.
Ultimately, Meyer said combining
the big ideas of connectionism,
computation and control resolve
the
challenge
of
interrelating
science and the humanities, called
consilience.
Schlissel
presented
Meyer
with the Henry Russel Award at
Monday’s event.
Through models, theories and
experiments, Schlissel emphasized
that
Meyer
has
enhanced
knowledge in the fields of cognition
and mathematical psychology.
“His work spans the boundaries
of
psychology,
mathematics,
linguistics and computer science,”
Schlissel said.
Four
faculty
members
also
received the 2016 Henry Russel
award and were honored at the
event. Awardees include Julia Adler-
Milstein, assistant professor of
Information, Clare Croft, assistant
professor of Dance, Christopher
Friese,
assistant
professor
of
Nursing
and
Jeremy
Bassis,
associate professor of atmospheric,
oceanic and space sciences in the
College of Engineering. The award
is conferred to dinstinguished
faculty who have demonstrated
extraordinary accomplishments in
their fields.
Provost
Martha
Pollack
presented these winners with
their awards, highlighting their
professional
dedication
and
successes in research.
Following the lecture, LSA Dean
Andrew Martin said among the
things most important about it was
celebrating the University’s faculty
and their accomplishments.
“It’s also important to have talks
like this that are really aspirational
where our students can learn what
our most distinguished faculty
think are the horizons of knowledge
going forward,” Martin said.
Martin said he was interested
in many of the topics Meyer
touched on throughout the lecture,
particularly
Meyer’s
emphasis
on
the
intersection
between
natural and social sciences and the
humanities.
“(This) is something that many
of us in LSA think about and need
to continue thinking about going
forward,” Martin said.
Neuroscience graduate student
Sharena Rice said she is interested
in many of the topics that Meyer
planned on speaking about.
“I’m interested in computational
neuroscience and this is extremely
relevant,” Rice said. “It’s cognition
and cognitive neuroscience and
math and being able to put this
all together and having things at
this intersection is really great for
expanding one’s mind in terms of
thinking about the mind. I want
to learn more about the methods
behind this and what kinds of
things have arose over the last 50
years. Sometimes the history isn’t
discussed in class.”
Front
and
the
American
Civil Liberties Union over
alleged racial profiling in the
city’s police force, ultimately
leading to a series of reforms.
Rev. Damon Lynch III, a key
community leader in filing the
lawsuit who was a panelist at
the event, said there was a
clear need for change at the
time.
“Some
of
(the
killings)
were justified, some of them
were not, in our eyes,” Lynch
said.
“But
at
that
point
everybody dying was Black,
every officer that killed them
was white. And we felt there
was a problem in the city of
Cincinnati.”
Panelists cited the case of
Timothy Thomas, an unarmed
Black man shot and killed by
a Cincinnati police officer, in
explaining the situations that
led to the lawsuit. Thomas
was the 15th Black man killed
by Cincinnati police since 1995
according to the New York
Times, and shortly after his
death riots ensued throughout
the city. These riots were
prompted by a number of
factors, including statements
from the police officer in
question who charged that
Thomas was “reaching” for
the officer’s waist at the time
of the shooting.
“But of course there were
these
five
famous
words
that every officer will use
when they take a person’s
life: ‘I feared for my life,’ ”
Lynch said. “When Timothy
Thomas was killed, Cincinnati
divided.”
In
particular,
audience
members
and
speakers
discussed
a
collaborative
agreement between the police
and various stakeholders —
the result of the lawsuit —
enacted in 2002.
The
Collaborative
Agreement
calls
for
the
initiation
of
a
proactive
problem-solving method for
police officers rather than
letting incidents play out to
ultimately make an arrest.
Thacher said the model is
an effective, new approach
that fundamentally changes
the system, adding that the
brutal use of authority is a
problem that must be avoided
all across the country.
University
of
Cincinnati
Prof.
John
Eck,
another
panelist,
served
as
an
academic consultant for the
reforms team and was a part of
the negotiation processes. He
said he noticed many citizens
oscillating between wanting
fair policing and effective
policing, and realized the
Collaborative Agreement had
to break this cycle and resolve
underlying conditions.
“The one strategy of policing
I was aware of, since I worked
on it for 17 years, was problem-
oriented policing,” Eck said.
Eck
said
the
“problem
oriented” policing approach
addressed the kinds of things
for which police were getting
in trouble in Cincinnati, like
unnecessary shootings.
From the police perspective,
panelist James Whalen, former
Cincinnati assistant chief and
public safety director, said
community involvement was
not welcomed by the police
department at first. Whalen
was a part of the team that
adopted
the
change
and
helped decrease the number
of misdemeanors by working
with the community.
“We would listen to what
folks had to say and then when
they walked away we would
decide what we thought the
best way was to go,” Whalen
said. “I think we didn’t have a
sense of the whole.”
James
White,
assistant
chief of the Detroit Police
Department, also joined the
panel to reflect on ways local
communities may be able
to learn from Cincinnati’s
example.
He
said
that
engaging with the community
is the best way to make reform,
and that the old policies
should be changed in order to
more appropriately teach new
police.
“You have to be progressive
in
policing,”
White
said.
“There is no one-size-fit-all
type approach to policing.”
White
added
that
race
must also be addressed when
talking about policing.
“When
we
refuse
to
acknowledge the fact that
policing in urban America is
different, I think we miss an
opportunity for a discussion,”
White said.
After the event, Public
Policy
graduate
student
Sabiha Zainulbhai said she had
knowledge of the Department
of Justice working with cities
like New York, but wasn’t
sure what exactly happened
in Cincinnati until she took a
course with Thacher.
“I took a class at the Ford
School called Thinking About
Crime with David Thacher,”
Zainulbhai said. “We talked
about Cincinnati a little bit. I
didn’t really know much about
what went on there when, so
this was kind of like a more
comprehensive
picture
of
what it looks like when the
DOJ comes in and then like
what happens after that.”
Lynch noted that many
cities across America, such
as Ferguson, Cleveland and
Chicago, are seeking ways to
reform policing to deter the
use of deadly force by their
police officers.
In 2014, Ann Arbor resident
Aura Rosser, a Black woman,
was shot by a police officer
in her home. Since her death,
a group called Ann Arbor to
Ferguson has regularly held
protests and rallies calling for
reform and action to prevent
police brutality in Ann Arbor
and beyond.
Lynch
said
cities
must
constantly keep addressing
those
issues
in
order
to
effectively
focus
on
a
successful future.
“Somebody has to climb the
flagpole to make this country a
better place,” Lynch said.
POLICE
From Page 1
‘U’ professor looks at science of
creating new ideas, questions
Eta Chapter were to adhere to all
sanctions from the university and
the Fraternity. It is disappointing
that the chapter violated both the
university and fraternity sanctions
last week.”
In an e-mail to the Daily,
University
spokesperson
Rick
Fitzgerald
said
Theta
was
suspended
for
inappropriate
conduct.
“In January, Kappa Alpha Theta
was suspended through the Greek
Activities Review Panel process
for violations involving hazing and
under-age drinking,” he said.
A
video
obtained
by
The
Michigan
Daily
and
heavilty
circulated
throughout
the
University
community
depicts
Theta
members
consuming
alchohol.
Fitzegerald said the decision
to disband Theta was from the
organization’s national office.
“My understanding is that this
was a decision of the sorority’s
national office,” he said.
Theta is not the first Greek life
organization to face disbandment.
Sigma Alpha Mu wasdisbanded by
its national chapter after acrueing
more than $250,000 in damgages
during a January 2015 ski trip to
Treetops Resort.
Members of Theta were not
immediately available for comment
regarding their disbandment or
University sanctions.
According to the letter, all
chapter members in Kappa Alpha
Theta residing in the fraternity
house will be required to vacate the
area by no later than April 28.
THETA
From Page 1