There are five Ann Arbor 

City Council positions up for 
re-election this November, but 
Ward 5 on the city’s northwest 
side is the only contested race.

Incumbent 
Councilmember 

Chuck Warpehoski (D), who has 
served four years on City Council, 
is 
running 
against 
political 

newcomer David Silkworth (I), 
an insurance claim representative 
for homeowners and businesses.

In the August Democratic 

primary election, Warpehoski 
defeated challenger Kevin Leeser, 
a nurse in the University Health 
System, garnering 2,424 votes 
compared 
to 
Leeser’s 
1,120. 

Warpehoski was expected to run 

unopposed in the general election 
until Silkworth decided to enter 
the race as an independent in July.

Silkworth 
initially 
began 

collecting 
signatures 
to 
run 

as a Democrat in this year’s 
City Council election, but after 
attending the council’s meetings 
and further involving himself in 
local politics, he said he noticed 
his ideologies did not truly align 
with the sitting Democrats on 
the council, deciding to run as an 
independent.

Warpehoski 
and 
Silkworth 

hold opposing views on several 
issues, 
including 
property 

development in their ward and 
throughout the city.

In particular, Silkworth said 

he thinks there is currently a pro-

About 15 student leaders 

from 
organizations 
in 
the 

University 
of 
Michigan’s 

College 
of 
Engineering 

gathered Thursday night in 
Chesborough 
Auditorium 

on North Campus to hold 
a student-led review of the 
University 
President 
Mark 

Schlissel’s Diversity, Equity 
and Inclusion plan.

The 
forum, 
sponsored 

by 
Engineering 
Student 

Government, is the first review 
in the College of Engineering 
to be restricted strictly to 
students to discuss the DEI 
plan — a five-year initiative 
launched earlier this month 
with the goal of improving 
campus diversity. The DEI 
plan includes strategies for 
each individual college at the 
University to cater to its own 
needs for diversity.

Attendees discussed racial, 

gender and identity diversity in 
an effort to expand upon earlier 
town halls held by the college 
and further the concerns raised 
in the college’s statement about 
the plan previously published 
in The Michigan Daily.

At a town hall organized by 

the College of Engineering on 
Oct. 11, Engineering Dean Alec 
Gallimore and members of the 
DEI planning team outlined 
the college’s goals to attendees. 
Engineering graduate student 
Abbhinav Muralidharan said 

in an interview before the 
Thursday event he felt it was 
productive to have a different 
dynamic than forums held 
in the past, especially with 
no faculty or administration 
present.

Thursday’s review consisted 

of an open dialogue during 
which 
student 
attendees 

discussed 
the 
contents 
of 

the College of Engineering’s 

strategies 
for 
improving 

diversity — specifically the 
plans for driving innovation 
and 
fostering 
creativity 

while reflecting the changing 
diversity in higher education 
nationwide. 
Students 
who 

spoke 
during 
the 
forum 

remained anonymous. Speakers 
vocalized concerns about what 
they described as the vagueness 
of 
a 
phrase 
“compelling 

reasons for diversity” as well 
as the prioritization of its 
main objectives and whether 
the strategic objectives can 
be applied to each of their 
organizations in narrowing the 
college’s gender and minority 
gaps.

Following a fatal car crash 

Tuesday near Huron High School 
that resulted in one death, some 
Ann Arbor residents have raised 
questions about whether City 
Council has deferred funding 
for pedestrian safety in favor of 
downtown projects — putting off 
slated crosswalk improvements 
for areas including the site of the 
crash.

Ann Arbor Huron High School 

student Qi-Xuan “Justin” Tang 
was struck by a car and killed 
around 7:20 a.m. on Tuesday 
morning while crossing Fuller 
Road, according to Ann Arbor 
Police and Ann Arbor Public 
Schools.

There is no definitive link 

between 
the 
crosswalk 
and 

this accident, and the AAPD 
has not yet released its accident 
report on Tuesday’s incident. 
However, local residents, like 
Kathy Griswold, a former Ann 
Arbor School Board member, 
noted there is no lighting for the 
crosswalk to Huron High School. 

michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Friday, October 28, 2016

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Call 734-418-4115 or e-mail 
news@michigandaily.com and let us know.

N E WS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

O PI N I O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

C L A S S I F I E D S . . . . . . . . . . 6

S U D O K U . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

See COUNCIL, Page 2

PAUL AHNN/Daily

Samar Habib, associate researcher at the Centre for Gender Studies at the University of London, speaks about gender relations and sexuality in Islam at Weill Hall 
Thursday.

Three 
panelists 
discussed 

gender relations in the Quran, 
the 
decriminalization 
of 

homosexuality and the targeting 
of Yazidi women in Iraq by the 
Islamic State at a Digital Islamic 

Studies 
Curriculum 
event 

on human rights, gender and 
sexuality in the Islamic World 
Thursday night.

About 
75 
University 
of 

Michigan students, faculty and 
Ann Arbor residents were in 
attendance at the event, hosted 
as part of an ongoing series 
Contemporary Islamic Identities 

through 
the 
Islamic 
Studies 

Department among others.

Each panelist was given 15 

minutes to present their topic 
before Nobel Peace Prize Laureate 
Shirin Ebadi, a former judge in Iran 
and human rights activist, who 
provided 
remarks 
afterwards. 

Ebadi spoke Wednesday as part 
of the symposium on gender and 

sexuality in Islamic cultures, 
emphasizing 
that 
providing 

information on Islam is the best 
way to combat Islamophobia.

Asma 
Barlas, 
professor 
of 

politics at Ithaca College, spoke 
on the topic of sex and gender in 
the Islamic holy book, the Quran, 
by highlighting segments of the 

See CRASH, Page 2

ALEXIS RANKIN/Daily

Rackham student Abbhinav Muralidharan, Engineering Student Government President Rebekah Andrews, an 
Engineering senior and Rackham student Chris Reynolds facilitate the Engineering Student Government DEI plan 
review at Chesebrough Auditorium Thursday. 

Michigan in Color

Three pieces exploring how: 

a mother’s love crosses 

oceans; dissonant reflections 
do not define us; choices can 
unite or divide a community 

plagued by violence

» Page 3

michigandaily.com

For more stories and coverage, visit

See ISLAM, Page 2

The 
Chicago-based 
real 

estate agency that agreed to 
purchase the vacant Library 
Lot in Ann Arbor has backed 
out of a major redevelopment 
plan for the Fifth Avenue and 
Williams Street lot , according 
to the Ann Arbor News.

The 
Habitat 
Company 

terminated the contract after 
disagreements with the city’s 
requests 
that 
the 
company 

include 
more 
affordable 

housing and energy efficient 
practices in their plans for 
construction.

Habitat 
had 
planned 
to 

construct a building featuring 
233 apartments, office space 
and ground-floor shopping, in 
conjunction with CA Ventures 
and Hughes Properties.

However, Habitat Chairman 

Daniel Levin wrote in a letter 
to Mayor Christopher Taylor 
Wednesday that his company 
would no longer pursue the 
acquisition of the property, 
which is also located next to the 
Blake Transit Center.

“Although we have enjoyed 

See LIBRARY, Page 2

Paul Bunyan Battle 

The undefeated Michigan 
football team heads up to 
East Lansing on Saturday 
in search of its first win at 
Michigan State since 2007
» Page 7

Read more online at 
MichiganDaily.com

Read more online at 
MichiganDaily.com

INDEX
Vol. CXXVI, No. 18
©2016 The Michigan Daily

Development 
is top issue in 
Ward 5 City 
Council race

Panelists talk issues of gender and 
sexuality in Islam for event series

ANN ARBOR

In campaign for only contested seat, 
candidates emphasize housing

SOPHIE SHERRY
Daily Staff Reporter

Researchers from three institutions talk women’s and LGBTQ rights

MATT HARMON
Daily Staff Reporter

Fatal crash 
highlights 
pedestrian 
safety in A2

ANN ARBOR

Following Tuesday’s 
accident, city residents 
raise funding concerns 

BRIAN KUANG
Daily Staff Reporter

Town hall aims to create more comfortable, open environment for discussion

ALEXA ST. JOHN
Daily Staff Reporter

Company 
backs out 
of plan for 
library lot

CITY

Developers cite 
disagreements with city 
 

requests for project

LYDIA MURRAY
Daily Staff Reporter

Engineering Student Government hosts 
student-led review of diversity plan

