Though
many
of
the
campaign promises made by
the newMich platform were
attacked as idealistic by their
opposition, the University of
Michigan
Central
Student
Government’s
administration
led by President David Schafer,
LSA senior, and Vice President
Micah Griggs, LSA senior, has
laid considerable groundwork
to fulfill some of their directives
for the next semester.
While many of the body’s
directives, like mental health
or divestment, are not being
introduced for the first time
this semester, the assembly
has also contended with issues
surrounding racial tension — in
particular, tension surrounding
undocumented
students
and
minorities
on
campus
mounted after President-elect
Donald
Trump’s
November
victory. During the campaign,
Trump called for an increase
in
immigration
restrictions
and perpetuated anti-Muslim
rhetoric.
In response to this — in
particular,
Trump’s
stated
intention to reverse a executive
order, the Deferred Action for
Childhood
Arrival
program,
allowing many undocumented
students to stay in the country
— CSG passed a resolution in
For Art & Design senior
Kelsi Franzino, helping cities
and neighborhoods like Detroit
which are facing infrastructural
issues is not about intervention
— it’s about support.
During
the
winter
2016
semester, Franzino and her
classmates in Art & Design
Prof. Hannah Smotrich’s visual
identity design class partnered
with Brightmoor Maker Space,
a community workshop for
building skills to design a logo
and marketing platform for
BMS. BMS was founded by Art
& Design Prof. Nick Tobier and
Bart Eddy, Detroit Community
Schools co-founder, in 2015,
though it is currently facilitated
by the community of Brightmoor
and
Detroit
Community
Schools and is located at their
warehouse on the campus of
Detroit Community Schools.
At the end of the semester,
Franzino’s logo, featuring the
words Brightmoor and Makers,
connected
by
geometrical
supports,
was
chosen
to
be implemented across the
organization.
“I kind of created this support
system in it,” she said. “Showing
that support and how (BMS)
helps out their neighbors (was
important).”
Located near the northwest
border of Detroit, Brightmoor
is one of the most impoverished
neighborhoods in the city. From
2000 ti 2010, the city saw a 36
percent drop in population to
12,836. Several journalists who
have visited the areas have
painted pictures that aren’t
positive by far, such as Rollo
Romig’s article in The New
Yorker, “When You’ve Had
Detroit.”
“Much
of
Brightmoor
matches what Detroit looks like
in the popular imagination—an
alarming amalgam of city dump,
crime scene, and wild prairie,”
Romig wrote.
However, residents of the
community are quick to point
to
increasing
beautification
efforts in the neighborhood,
such as large murals on the sides
of buildings and community
gardens. Many believe that
through
neighborhood
organizations, church groups
and
innovation
from
both
residents and the University,
perceptions of the area are
beginning to shift.
In a video produced by BMS,
Dennis Talbert, interim chair
of the Brightmoor Community
Center,
said
outsiders
can
misconstrue the strength of the
community, and BMS is working
to combat this negative rhetoric
through innovation.
“When
you
think
about
Brightmoor, you have to kind
Researchers at the University of
Michigan have been taking a new
approach to the long unresolved
challenge of developing a working
cure for HIV/AIDS by looking
at natural properties possessed
by bacteria that live on coral,
according to research released this
week.
The bacteria — called marine
actinomycetes
—
produce
substances that inhibit a protein in
HIV cells, enabling the bacteria to
resist the human body’s immune
system in a curative, rather than
preventative, way. Unlike other
research, which has attempted
to target the HIV virus’s ability
to infect cells, this approach
seeks to develop a new type of
drug that would target already
infected
cells,
according
to
Kathleen Collins, lead researcher
and
University
professor
of
immunology and microbiology, in
an email interview.
Collins wrote in an email
interview that many existing
drugs are able to reduce levels
of the virus present in the body,
but fail to eradicate cells already
michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Tuesday, December 13, 2016
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INDEX
Vol. CXXVI, No. 46
©2016 The Michigan Daily
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
See CSG, Page 2
KEVIN ZHENG/Daily
Engineering sophomore Jessica Covan sells care packages in Mason Hall Monday.
It’s not uncommon for students
at the University of Michigan
to come across a number of
administration-sponsored
fliers,
emails and posting boards in the
Diag touting the University as the
Leaders and Best — a trend that
spiked following this October’s
release of a five-year strategic plan
for diversity, equity and inclusion.
University
President
Mark
Schlissel’s DEI initiative was met
with state and national media
attention following its release,
but many also questioned the
University’s planned $85 million
investment into the initiative over
the next five years.
Despite national attention on
the University’s diversity plans, a
survey of the DEI plan alongside
those of peer institutions reveals
the initiative is not unlike those
at similar institutions, but rather
builds on existing practices with
a unique decentralized planning
process, coordination and new
measures of accountability.
Planning for the University’s
initiative began in September 2015,
when 49 units across campus were
charged with submitting a strategic
plan for their respective areas, all of
See CURE, Page 3
AARON BAKER/Daily
Ann Arbor residents Max Williams and Tim Vaduva play Netrunner at Get Your Game On on State Street.
Back home again
Coming off a road loss at No.
2 UCLA, Zak Irvin and the
Michigan men’s basketball
team look to bounce back
against Central Arkansas at
Crisler Center Tuesday.
» Page 7
michigandaily.com
For more stories and coverage, visit
See SCHOOLS, Page 3
See DEI, Page 3
Monday
night,
about
50
Ann Arbor residents attended
the Ann Arbor City Council’s
annual budget planning session,
with the majority expressing a
desire for increased attention
on
pedestrian
safety.
Most
of the audience consisted of
members of A2 Safe Transport,
a citizen’s group advocating for
improvements to transportation
safety in Ann Arbor.
A2 Safe Transport formed
in response to a recent series of
accidents that have resulted in
the injury and death of several
pedestrians –– most recently, the
death of Ann Arbor high school
student Qi-Xuan “Justin” Tang at
a crosswalk on Fuller Road near
Huron High School.
A2 Safe Transport member
Claire Duvernoy, an Ann Arbor
resident, stressed the need for
immediate City Council action
on pedestrian safety during
public commentary.
“My child crosses Fuller Road
every single day to go to Huron
High School, and Justin Tang
was his friend,” Duvernoy said.
See SAFETY, Page 3
TABLE TIME
GAME ON
CSG reflects
on past year,
looks to the
winter term
University’s diversity plan builds
on programs at peer institutions
STUDENT GOVERNMENT
Student leaders plan initiatives about
regents, mental health and diversity
Structure of DEI initiative stands out when compared to those of other universities
RIYAH BASHA &
ALLANA AKHTAR
Daily Staff Reporter &
Daily News Editor
‘U’ research
leads to new
approach to
AIDS cure
SCIENCE
Researchers turn
away from focus on
preventative care
KEVIN LINDER
Daily Staff Reporter
Student creates logo for organization
aimed at bolstering Detroit schools
Visual identity class creates new marketing platform for community project
MATT HARMON
Daily Staff Reporter
Council
discusses
pedestrian
safety law
ANN ARBOR
Local group attends
city budget meeting to
express their concerns
ANDREW HIYAMA
Daily Staff Reporter
NISA KHAN & ALEX COTT
Daily Staff Reporters