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

