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Friday, March 11, 2016
ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
INDEX
Vol. CXXV, No. 87
©2016 The Michigan Daily
michigandaily.com
N E WS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
O PI N I O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
CL A S S I F I E DS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
S U D O K U . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
NEW ON MICHIGANDAILY.COM
“The Family” falls flat
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WEATHER
TOMORROW
HI: 63
LO: 42
GOVERNMENT
Candidates in both
parties release
comprehensive
plans on debt, tuition
By CAITLIN REEDY
Daily Staff Reporter
Among other unique qualities,
this presidential election stands
out in that it’s putting the spotlight
on and taking new approaches to
many previously under-the-radar
topics — such as campus issues like
college student debt and campus
sexual assault.
Seeking to appeal to young
voters,
all
major
GOP
and
Democratic
candidates
have
presented plans to address student
loan debt and restructure higher
education to benefit more young
Americans. From tuition-free state
universities to heavily subsidized
tuition to restructuring of student
loans, candidates on both sides
have highlighted reform efforts.
The Democrats were the first
to take on the policy focus, when
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.)
entered the race with higher
education reform as a key pillar
to his platform. His challenger,
Hillary Clinton, also proposed
her own solution, and leading
Republicans soon followed suit.
Now down to the last four in a
race that once had 17 — with U.S.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tx.), Sen. Marco
Rubio
(R-Fla.),
businessman
Donald Trump and Ohio Gov.
John Kasich — higher education
has
been
a
less
prominent
focus for the Republicans than
the Democrats overall, but an
emphasis nonetheless.
Cynthia
Wilbanks,
vice
president for government relations
at the University of Michigan,
in response to the call by all
candidates for universities to take
more responsibility for managing
tuition costs, said the University
is working more closely with
students.
“The most important thing is
that we have receptive students
and families,” Wilbanks said. “One
See HIGHER ED, Page 3
MAZIE HYAMS/Daily
Information senior Sonia Doshi introduces a workshop at the Mental Health Monologues during the Depression on College Campuses Conference at Rackham Graduate School on Thursday.
Event part of two-
day conference
on depression on
college campuses
By MADELINE MCGERSON
Daily Staff Reporter
Thursday
afternoon,
about
60 students, faculty and social
workers from across the country
gathered to attend a Mental
Health Monologues workshop
led by Information senior Sonia
Doshi, founder of Healthy Minds
Student Leadership Coalition.
The
workshop
was
part
of the second day of the 14th
annual Depression on College
Campuses Conferences, hosted
by the University of Michigan’s
Depression Center.
Doshi created the event last year
with the aim of giving students the
opportunity to share their stories
and experiences with mental
health and reduce the stigma
of mental health on campus.
Three
students
performed
monologues during a series of
workshops, throughout which
Doshi explained the process and
intentions of the actual Mental
Health Monologues, which will
take place in April.
Speakers at the Monologues are
anonymous due to the sensitive
and personal nature of their
stories. One student shared her
story of living with obsessive-
compulsive disorder.
“When you have OCD, it is not
uncommon for your thoughts to
give you superpowers,” she said.
“Once you get rid of one fear,
another comes back.”
Following the first story, Doshi
asked the audience to create a
mental map, which encouraged
participants to explore a theme
such as pain, and then form a
script for a potential monologue of
their own.
“This activity simplifies the act
of taking your entire life story and
condensing it into a five minute
performance,” Doshi said.
Nyshourn
Price,
student
services specialist at the School
of Social Work, shared her
experiences as a single mother
during the exercise.
“I saw that I was able to pull
up something so quickly that is
so old for me,” Price said. “There
were two issues that came up for
me. Grief, as I lost my mother two
years ago, and my past relationship
See HEALTH, Page 3
Kalamazoo mass
shooting renews
calls for increased
regulations
By RIYAH BASHA
Daily Staff Reporter
Though
Uber
and
other
ridesharing services are facing
a nationwide call for increased
regulation on drivers — in Michigan
specifically,
following
a
mass
shooting carried out by an Uber
driver in Kalamazoo who killed six
— University of Michigan students
continue to use on Uber as a reliable
way to get around campus.
LSA junior Nadine Jawad said
she takes safety precautions when
using Uber, such as carrying
pepper spray and a charged phone,
but remains loyal to the service
even after the mass shootings.
“My parents strongly discourage
my use of Uber so often due to the
recent shooting in Kalamazoo,
so I can’t help but hold a tinge of
fear subconsciously,” she said.
“However, of the 50 times I’ve
used an Uber I’ve never had an
issue, (but) you never know what to
expect. Personally I’m not scared
so long as it’s light outside and I
have a phone and my pepper spray.”
In response to the Kalamazoo
incidents, as well as others that
have occured in the state and
beyond, critics of Uber and Lyft
have pointed to issues of safety
originating
with
companies’
verification process. Uber and Lyft
drivers go through a significantly
shorter interview process than rival
taxi companies and do not have to
submit government background
checks or pay fees to obtain city
licenses,
Newsweekreported.
Drivers found to be violent are
immediately suspended, according
to Uber’s policy, but if a customer
lodges
a
complaint
against
something subjective, like bad
driving, the driver may not be
immediately
punished.
Jeremy
Dalton, the shooter responsible
for six deaths in Kalamazoo, had a
“good” rating of 4.73 and favorable
feedback from riders, Time found.
In an interview, Fermaish Ali,
an Uber driver in Detroit, admitted
the company’s hiring practices
could use tweaking.
“Being scared is justified,” he
said. “You are given a service in
which even the employer does not
know the driver. Even when they
have done background research
on the drivers, there is no real
meetings or interview after being
hired. Everything from there on is
online or on the phone.”
LSA freshman Stephanie Harris
agreed with Jawad, saying she
feels Uber is more dependable than
other options for getting home at
night, such as walking or taking the
bus.
“I’ve always thought the concept
of Uber is sketchy, but walking
home from parties late at night
is sketchier,” she said. “Living on
North Campus doesn’t really give
me much of a choice since the buses
are so unreliable.”
University Police spokeswoman
Diane Brown said she woudn’t
dissuade
students
from
using
ride-sharing services, but warned
them to only request rides through
Uber and Lyft’s official apps and to
exercise caution.
DELANEY RYAN/Daily
Jeanice Swift, Ann Arbor Public Schools superintendent, speaks on the addition of crosswalks near Huron High
School at the Ann Arbor City Council meeting at City Hall on Thursday.
See UBER, Page 3
Council members
say transparency a
recurring issue in
department
By BRIAN KUANG
Daily Staff Reporter
Members of the Ann Arbor
Human
Rights
Commission
addressed
City
Council
Thursday as the body voted
to accept the commission’s
recommendations
regarding
police-community relations.
Prompted
by
the
police
shooting of Ann Arbor resident
Aura Rosser, a Black woman,
in 2014, the HRC extensively
studied
police
oversight
practices across the country and
published a report in November
2015.
Washtenaw
County
prosecutor’s office ultimately
declined
to
press
charges
against the officer involved in
the shooting in January 2015.
The
commission’s
report
calls for the appointment of an
independent police auditor, the
creation of a civilian board to
investigate complaints against
police and improved channels
for dispute resolution and crisis
intervention.
Several
members
of
the
locally appointed commission
— including two University
of Michigan law students —
were present at the meeting to
speak in favor of adopting the
recommendations put forth by
their report.
Commission
chair
Leslie
Stambaugh,
an
Ann
Arbor
resident, told councilmembers
the independent police auditor
should urgently be funded by the
city’s May budget deadline.
“We want council to provide
funding for this before the
budget deadline in May so that
it can get installed quickly and
effectively,” Stambaugh said.
“Otherwise, we fear it will get
delayed even further and be
implemented poorly, and that
would be a waste.”
Ann Arbor resident Robert
McGee, who was in attendance,
also
praised
the
report’s
recommendations and the drive
for greater police transparency,
but
cautioned
that
civilian
oversight should not directly
obstruct the operations of the
Ann Arbor Police Department.
“Nowadays
with
the
mounting societal pressure on
our men and women in blue,
I fully support any effort to
improve
relations
between
them and the public, and in the
same breadth I also support a
mechanism for the public to be
heard,” McGee said. “However,
I do caution the citizen oversight
board should not interfere with
ongoing criminal investigations,
departmental
disciplinary
actions, union issues and any
real-time events.”
As the council moved to
unanimously
approve
the
resolution
to
accept
the
report,
the
councilmembers
acknowledged
the
work
of
the commission — who are
unpaid volunteers — and the
State legislators
hope to open up
dialogue around
menstruation
By CAITLIN REEDY
Daily Staff Reporter
In a bid to increase access,
two
bills
were
introduced
in
the
Michigan
House
of
Representatives
last
week
to
provide tampons and sanitary
napkins for free in women’s
restrooms
in
public
school
buildings
and
state-owned
facilities.
House Bills 5427 and 5426,
introduced by Rep. Sarah Roberts
(D–St.
Clair
Shores),
follow
another bill focused on access,
HB 5234, introduced in January
2016
that
aimed
to
remove
sales taxes from all feminine
hygiene products. The bills join a
nationwide push to make feminine
hygiene products more accessible
to women, which started in
January when California State
Rep. Cristina Garcia (D–Calif.)
introduced the first piece of state
legislation to abolish the “tampon
tax.” As of now, only five states have
gotten rid of the tax: Minnesota,
Pennsylvania,
Maryland,
New
Jersey and Massachusetts.
Roberts said she was first
inspired to work toward making
feminine hygiene products more
readily available after hearing
about the work of an advocate
in New York. The three bills
concerning
tampon
access
currently in the House, she said,
are part of a package to open up
See COUNCIL, Page 3
See BILLS, Page 3
In 2016
elections,
a focus on
higher ed
Mental Health Monologue
addresses campus stigmas
After incidents,
‘U’ students still
riding with Uber
CRIME
LEGISLATURE
City Council plans reforms
to oversight of police in A2
Bills aim to
up access to
hygiene items
for women