Stratagies and 

long-term solutions 
discussed at Active 

Minds event

By NISA KHAN

For the Daily

About 20 people gathered in 

the Michigan Union Wednesday 
evening to participate in a dialogue 

on eating disorders, hosted by 
campus mental health organization 
Active Mind. The panel is one of six 
events the organization is holding 
in conjunction with Project Heal, 
a nonprofit established to provide 
treatment scholarships for those 
with eating disorders, for National 
Eating Disorder Awareness Week.

During the event, Kate Fawcett, 

a program social worker and 
therapist at the University of 
Michigan Comprehensive Eating 
Disorders Program, stressed the 

importance of interventions. Most 
people who suffer from eating 
disorders will not readily recognize 
or admit the problem, so friends 
who are aware should be ready to 
help, she said.

“The eating disorder comes in 

and eclipses your life,” she said, 
noting that she had battled an 
eating disorder herself for years. 
“Food, eating, exercise, weight, 
body management — the eating 
disorder speaks on your behalf.”

She 
asked 
students 
to 

acknowledge 
and 
respond 
to 

warning signs, such as someone 
becoming more withdrawn, less 
social at events that involve food, 
skipping meals, or engaging in 
unhealthy habits.

“If someone is really in danger, 

you owe it to them to help them get 
some help,” she said.

Student 
organizers 
also 

presented findings from a recent 
U-SHAPE survey, which garnered 
statistics specific to eating disorders 

michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Thursday, February 25, 2016

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©2016 The Michigan Daily
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Over past eight 
years, University 
researchers make 
progress in field

By ALEXA ST. JOHN

Daily Staff Reporter

With 
the 
aim 
of 
treating 

conditions 
such 
as 
diabetes, 

Alzheimer’s 
and 
some 
types 

of cancers, the University of 
Michigan’s stem cell research 
program 
has 
advanced 

exponentially over the past eight 
years, making it a state leader in the 
area.

The 
growth 
follows 
the 

passage of a controversial 2008 
state proposal, Proposal 2, which 
allowed the use of human embryos 
for stem cell research under 
certain conditions. The proposal 
has prompted a huge spike at the 
University in research projects and 
funding for stem cells — an area 
of study that today, researchers 
say, remains with opportunities 
to grow, but also still faces some 

controversy 
on 
campus 
and 

beyond.

What a stem cell does:
To understand what stem cell 

research means for the University, 
it’s first important to understand 
what it is. Stem cells are cells 
that have the capacity to produce 
different kinds of cells in a given 
tissue as well as make copies 
of themselves — making them 
uniquely useful in research.

Ivan 
Maillard, 
associate 

professor of cell and developmental 
biology, is one of several at the 
University who utilizes stem cells 
in research. Maillard’s research 
focuses on blood-forming stem 
cells — cells that create other cells 
in the blood system and allow for 
normal production of blood cells. 
Blood-forming stem cells are adult 
stem cells typically retrieved out of 
individual tissues.

“(Stem cells) have the potential to 

be used themselves as a treatment 
for 
patients,” 
Maillard 
said. 

“The only ones that are actually 
routinely used as a treatment for 
patients are the blood-forming 
stem cells. The other types of stem 

Teachers, ‘U’ 

students discuss 
continuing issues 

in district

By ISOBEL FUTTER

Daily Staff Reporter

LSA junior Maura Drabik 

was walking through Festifall 
during her sophomore year 
when she came across a 
table advertising the Detroit 
Partnership Program. Drabik 
stopped — she had taught a 
religious education class in 
high school and knew she 
wanted to work with children 
in some way. 

The Detroit Partnership is a 

student-run organization that 
aims to foster partnerships 
between the University of 
Michigan and Detroit. Many 
of the program’s volunteers 
are placed in Detroit Public 
Schools’ elementary schools 
to help teachers by grading 
papers, working with students 
and supervising the class. 
Drabik quickly joined the 

organization and was placed 
in 
Bennett 
Elementary 

school, located in southwest 
Detroit. Since then, she has 
been working in a third grade 
classroom.

“A lot of the time I’m just 

there to take the load off (the 
teacher),” she said. “I’ll grade 
papers, I’ll work with them 
on art projects, sometimes 
I’ll help them with their 
individual work.”

Drabik has been paired 

with the same teacher for two 
years and has watched the 
classroom change as the city, 
and the public school system, 
have struggled to cope with 
debt. Detroit Public Schools 
is nearing $3.5 billion in debt, 
according to a report released 
by 
the 
Citizens 
Research 

Council of Michigan early 
January, and many building 
and 
teaching 
conditions 

are falling far below the 
state average. Of the $7,400 
allocated 
per 
student 
per 

year in Detroit, over $1,100 
per student is being spent to 
service debt in the city school 
system rather than heading 

See PANEL, Page 3A
See RESEARCH, Page 3A

See DPS, Page 2A

CSG aims to launch 
series of events on 
topic for students

By DESIREE CHEW

Daily Staff Reporter

Student financial literacy was 

the focus of a talk sponsored 
by the University of Michigan 
Central 
Student 
Government 

and the Office of Financial Aid 

Wednesday.

LSA sophomore Grant Strobl, 

chair 
for 
CSG 
government 

relations, said the body hoped the 
event would help UM students be 
more financially independent.

“It is our first attempt to have 

a large-scale event,” Strobl said. 
“(It) is part of the CSG initiative to 
bring in the focus on what college 
students hold near and dear, 
and that is the price of college. 
(Financial literacy) is something 
that we might be carrying with us 

some time after we graduate.”

He also noted that the financial 

aid office found many students 
struggled 
with 
debt, 
which 

suggested that financial literacy 
might be something that would 
aid the student body.

“One of the reasons why 

students might have a hard time 
paying back their loans is that they 
don’t know how to manage their 
personal finances,” he said.

Kristen Bhaumik, president 

See FINANCES, Page 3A

Government 

partners, University 
give first updates on 
project since 2013

By CAMY METWALLY

Daily Staff Reporter

Multiple Ann Arbor institutions 

are banding together to bring a 
monorail to the city.

Officials from the city of Ann 

Arbor, the University of Michigan, 
the Ann Arbor Area Transportation 
Authority and the Downtown 
Development Authority gathered 
at the Michigan Union Wednesday 
for a press conference on the 
Ann Arbor Connector, a project 
that has not announced any new 
developments since 2013.

The project is envisioned as a 

light rail transit system that will 
connect students and residents to 
busy city centers. Phase one of the 
Connector is slated to run through 
downtown, Central Campus, North 
Campus and the Medical Center, 
while phase two would focus on 
connecting the southern areas of 

See TRANSIT, Page 3A

MARINA ROSS/Daily

Kate Fawcett, licensed clinical social worker at the Comprehensive Eating Disorders Program at Mott Children’s Hospital, speaks at Let’s Talk About Eating Dis-
orders Panel in the Michigan Union on Wednesday.

AVA RANDA/Daily

Kristin Bhaumik, assistant director for Special Programs at the University of Michigan Office of Financial Aid, 
discusses how students can better manage their money in the Michigan Union on Wednesday.

SCIENCE

Panel on eating disorders 
emphasizes taking action

DETROIT

Sickouts, debt 
and underfunding
prevalent at DPS

Financial literacy forum advises 
students on debt management

CITY
New plans 
for light rail 
transit in A2 

announced

After change 
in law, stem 
cell research 
sees growth

