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Ann Arbor, Michigan
Friday, April 1, 2016
ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
Sexual misconduct
regulation expansion
could prompt more
Title IX cases
By CAMY METWALLY and
RIYAH BASHA
Daily Staff Reporters
Amid
other
impacts
of
a
planned new policy on student
sexual misconduct, University of
Michigan administrators said they
are expecting the changes will
prompt the number of Title IX
cases to increase.
Title IX investigations are cases
filed against the University for
possible violations of federal law
regarding the handling of sexual
misconduct. Up until this July, they
will be governed by regulations
laid out in the Student Sexual
Misconduct Policy. After that, the
University will adopt the University
of Michigan Policy and Procedures
on Student Sexual and Gender-
based Misconduct and Other Forms
of Interpersonal Violence.
The new policy, announced last
Tuesday, makes several changes,
including expanding to include
gender-based
harassment
—
violence suffered due to gender
identity, sexuality or orientation
— and intimate partner violence.
It also modifies the definition of
consent and the scope of prohibited
conduct, as well as restructuring
the
sanctioning
and
appeals
process.
Anthony
Walesby,
the
University’s Title IX coordinator,
wrote in an e-mail interview that
the Office of Institutional Equity —
the office responsible for processing
sexual misconduct complaints —
largely anticipates the rise in cases
because of the inclusion of gender-
based harassment and intimate
partner violence.
The revisions come after the
release of OIE’s annual sexual
misconduct report in January,
which showed that though the
number of reports increased by
33 percent from 2014 to 2015, the
number of cases investigated by
OIE stayed the same. According to
the report, 29 of the 172 cases OIE
Contrasts between
local and federal law
draw mix of student
reactions
By ALEXA ST. JOHN
Daily Staff Reporter
Hash Bash — an annual April
event when pot enthusiasts from
Ann Arbor and beyond gather to
smoke marijuana and meander
around campus — will be on the
University of Michigan’s Diag
Saturday afternoon. Nationally
recognized
since
1972,
Hash
Bash is meant as a rally for the
decriminalization of marijuana
and a more lenient drug policy
nationwide.
Marijuana legalization, long a
controversial topic nationwide,
has gained steam in recent years
as multiple states have chosen to
allow the drug either entirely, or
for medicinal purposes.
Over the past few decades,
studies have shown it has the
potential
to
have
powerful
medicinal effects on conditions
such as severe or chronic pain and
cancer. Advocates for the drug
also argue that overall prohibition
has been ineffective, and doesn’t
make sense when compared to
how alcohol is regulated.
Allen St. Pierre, executive
director
of
the
National
Organization for the Reform of
Marijuana Laws, an organization
that argues for reform of marijuana
laws, noted that the majority of the
American public is currently in
support of legalization.
“The Gallup polling of today
indicates
58
percent
of
the
population supports legalization,”
St. Pierre said. “When NORML
was founded in 1970, it was 10
percent.”
According to the University
Health
System,
however,
marijuana is not recommended
by
some
medical
experts
due to the fact it is not yet
approved by the Food and Drug
See MARIJUANA, Page 3
See MISCONDUCT, Page 2
Study says potential
spill could impact
720 miles of Great
Lakes shoreline
By LYDIA MURRAY
Daily Staff Reporter
A break in the Enbridge Line 5
pipeline — a 63-year-old pipeline
that runs beneath the Straits of
Mackinac and carries up to 23
million gallons of light crude oil
and natural gas per day — could
potentially spill into 720 miles of
Great Lakes shoreline, according
to a University of Michigan
study released Thursday.
Researchers created a model
to demonstrate 840 possible
simulations of an oil spill by
the pipeline and outlines of
where the oil could go. Based
on the model, up to 720 miles
of coastline could be affected
by a spill and require extensive
cleanup.
David Schwab, a research
scientist for the University’s
Graham Sustainability Institute
and designer of the simulation,
said due to the strong, rapidly
changing currents in the Great
Lakes, it would be difficult
to predict how and where
the oil would be distributed
to. However, Schwab noted
the spread would be vast and
disastrous.
“This is possibly the worst
place in the Great Lakes in
terms of how fast and how far
something would spread,” he
said. “If there were a spill it
would be really hard to predict
where that oil would end up.”
Schwab’s
research
in
Thursday’s
study
goes
into
detail about the movement of
the oil and the extent to which
shorelines could be damaged.
Based on the model, nearly 60
percent of Lake Huron’s open
water and more than 15 percent
of Lake Michigan’s open water
could have visible oil in the event
of a spill.
The effects an oil spill would
have on surrounding ecosystems
were beyond the scope of the
study, but Schwab said in a
press release prior to this study
that the potential effects of an
oil spill in the area were largely
unknown, this model shows the
extent of the possible impact.
“Until now, no one knew
exactly how much shoreline was
vulnerable to spills in the Straits
of Mackinac,” he said in the
release. “These findings show
that under the right conditions,
a spill in the Straits of Mackinac
could affect a significant amount
of shoreline and open-water
areas in either Lake Michigan
or Lake Huron, or both, very
quickly.”
Enbridge Line 5 and the
danger of a potential spill has
been a matter of concern for
the public over the past years,
including on campus. Earlier this
month, the University’s chapter
of College Democrats hosted a
discussion on water issues in
the state, which highlighted the
pipeline as a threat.
LSA junior Taiwo Dosunmu,
communications director for
See PIPELINE, Page 3
Monday’s meeting
will also include
resolutions for
construction grants
By BRIAN KUANG
Daily Staff Reporter
At Monday’s meeting, Ann
Arbor City Council will be
voting on $3.9 million worth of
appropriations for construction
contracts
and
equipment
purchases.
Construction
Four
separate
resolutions
related to granting construction
contracts, worth a total of 2.8
million, will be voted on.
The resolutions include a $1.6
million contract award to Doan
Construction Company to repair
20 percent of the deteriorating
sidewalks in the city, as well as
to increase access to handicap
ramps across the city. Also
pertaining to sidewalks, the
council will vote on a $197,940
contract award to Sidewalks Plus
USA for further repair services
to sidewalks across the city.
The other contracts are a
$243,077
allocation
to
P.K.
Contracting Inc. for pavement
marking
maintenance
and
to E.T. MacKenzie Company
for
on-demand
construction
services for the next three years
for $250,000 a year.
Construction Consulting
Noting seasonal fluctuations
in city construction activities,
another
resolution
proposes
See COUNCIL, Page 3
Discussion aims
to draw attention
to barriers facing
community
By IRENE PARK
Daily Staff Reporter
Thursday night at the Ford
School of Public Policy, four
panelists
discussed
various
obstacles
the
transgender
community
face,
especially
concerning health care, at the
Trans Health Access Panel.
Approximately 0.3 percent of
the U.S. population is estimated to
be transgender — about 700,000
adults — according to a study
from the University of California,
Los Angeles. Transgender is an
umbrella term for individuals
whose gender identity and/or
gender expression differs from
the sex they were assigned at
birth.
Laura
Jadwin-Cakmak,
the
panel’s
moderator
and
Health Behavior and Health
Education
research
director,
said
transgender
community
members face unique health
care issues for several reasons,
including discrimination when
their gender identity does not fit
in the binary male-female system.
Panelist
Leslie
Nicholas,
a
naturopathic
medicine
practitioner, noted how deeply
ingrained the binary system is in
people’s minds, saying it does not
include those who do not identify
themselves as simply male or
female.
“When someone has a baby,
we first ask them if it’s a boy or a
girl,” Nicholas said. “Why not ask
for the baby’s name? Why not ask
how the baby is doing?”
Several panelists emphasized
that several countries — including
Germany, New Zealand and
Australia — recognize that there
are more than just two genders.
Jadwin-Cakmak
highlighted
how
health
care
problems
DELANEY RYAN/Daily
Pediatrician and sociologist Kathryn Fessler speaks on challenges faced by the transgender community in health care
at the Ford School of Public Policy Thursday.
See PANEL, Page 3
ADMINISTRATION
Hash Bash highlights state,
campus marijuana policies
‘U’ expects
new policy
to increase
complaints
‘U’ simulation
tracks impacts
of oil pipe break
GOVERNMENT
City Council
set to vote on
purchases of
equipment
ANN ARBOR
Transgender health panel
emphasizes access to care
INDEX
Vol. CXXV, No. 101
©2016 The Michigan Daily
michigandaily.com
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A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
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