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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

