Michigan Senate bills 152 

and 153 and House Bill 4190 
make up a recent bipartisan 
legislative 
initiative 
that 

seeks to offer more support to 
sexual assault survirors.

The 
senate 
bills 
were 

co-sponsored by Sens. Tonya 
Schuitmaker 
(R–Lawton) 

and Rebekah Warren (D–
Ann Arbor), and the house 
bill was sponsored by Rep. 
Laura 
Cox 
(R–Livonia). 

Collectively, the legislation 
will create consistency in the 
way health care providers are 
compensated for their support 
of sexual assault survivors, 

allow 
courts 
to 
consider 

a suspect or perpetrators’ 
history of sexual assault prior 
to the case at hand and support 
medical providers that aid 
sexual assault survivors with 
increased reimbursements.

Schuitmaker 
said 
the 

legislation was brought to the 
Michigan state government 
by the Michigan Domestic and 
Sexual Violence Prevention 
and Treatment Board, which 
forced holes in current sexual 
assault support law.

“Because 
victims 
of 

sexual assault may or may 
not want to cooperate with 
law enforcement, this bill 
clarifies the prompt reporting 
requirement,” 
Schuitmaker 

The 
National 
Academy 

of 
Engineers 
named 
two 

University of Michigan faculty 
to its ranks last Monday. 
Mechanical 
Engineering 

Prof. Ellen Arruda, and Mark 
Daskin, professor and chair 
of Industrial and Operations 
Engineering, were selected 
by the NAE in one of the 
highest possible professional 
distinctions for engineers.

Candidates’ 
selection 

is based on broad factors, 
specifically 
involvement 

in and contributions to the 
engineering 
community, 

according 
to 
the 
NAE 

website. The award also seeks 
individuals in the engineering 
field developing “innovative 
approaches” to education.

Arruda and Daskin will join 

the approximately 21 other 
engineering professors at the 
University who are part of 
the NAE. Arruda is the only 
woman on the list.

The 
Academy 
applauded 

Arruda 
for 
her 
research 

on 
polymer 
and 
tissue 

mechanics and her ability to 
use her findings in real-world 
products. Arruda is currently 
working 
on 
developing 
a 

shock-absorbing helmet that 
uses polymer structures to 
more evenly distribute the 
blow when there is an accident 
affecting the brain.

She is also researching the 

soft tissues in knees to do 
simulations to try to improve 
knee repair surgery after an 
injury such as an ACL tear. 

“The simulations tell us 

things about how you might 
alter the stresses or strains 
that you put on the knee after 
ACL replacement or how you 
might design a better graft if 
you tear your ACL,” she said.

For Arruda, being named 

to the NAE is especially 

important, as she knows that 
her 
peers 
and 
colleagues 

nominated and voted for her.

“It’s 
an 
incredibly 

exciting honor, it’s almost 
overwhelming,” she said. “It’s 
always rewarding when you 
get an award that is the result 
of several of your peers voting 
for you, and in this case it’s a 
large group of people voting on 
this process so it’s rewarding 
and humbling to know that 

a lot of my peers thought to 
recognize me.” 

Daskin, an editor for the 

Institute of Industrial and 
Systems 
Engineers, 
was 

commended for his creative 
work on location optimization 
and its relevance in industrial, 
service 
and 
medical 

systems. He also studies the 
effectiveness of supply chain 
design 
and 
the 
problems 

The first episode of “The Next 

Four Years,” a web series created 
by University of Michigan alum 
Nick 
Blaemire, 
was 
released 

Wednesday on the web series’ 
website, 
thenextfouryearsshow.

com. The series will comprise 
eight episodes, which will all be 
released online.

The show follows Ana and 

Phil, two recent college graduates 
attempting to make sense of their 
newly discovered reality. The first 
episode centers on the struggle of 
finding work after graduation—
particularly after majoring in a 
field based on passion rather than 
practicality.

Blaemire 
said 
he 
was 

enthusiastic to do a show about the 
job market and these post-college 
years when it was pitched to him 
because he knew exactly what the 
state of limbo felt like.

“Millennials think that there 

will be work for them just because 
you’re raised to believe that you 
can have or do anything you want, 
and that altruism that our parents 
give us is incredible, but it creates 
a very strange disconnect after you 

michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Thursday, February 16, 2017

ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SIX YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM

GOT A NEWS TIP?
Call 734-418-4115 or e-mail 
news@michigandaily.com and let us know.

INDEX
Vol. CXXVII, No. 31
©2017 The Michigan Daily

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

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

ARTS..............B SECTION

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

CL A S S I F I E DS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Bills seek to 
aid survivors
of sexual 
assault in MI 

City begins internal investigation 
into potential conflicts of interest 

See LEGISLATION, Page 3A

AARON BAKER/Daily

Ann Arbor Mayor Christopher Taylor listens at a city council meeting on February 2, 2017.

GOVERNMENT

Bipartisan legislation for increased legal
support introduced in state House, Senate

HEATHER COLLEY

Daily Staff Reporter

Contracts awarded to companies affiliated with appointees to municipal boards 

City Administrator Howard 

Lazarus requested an internal 

investigation 
into 
potential 

conflicts of interest in the 
awarding 
of 
city 
contracts, 

according to emails obtained 
by the Daily and verified by 
Lazarus and members of City 
Council.

In an email addressed to 

City Council and the mayor on 
Saturday, Lazarus wrote he had 

requested the city’s purchasing 
department to inquire whether 
ethics 
rules 
were 
violated 

in 
awarding 
approximately 

$1.3 million in city contracts 
to companies affiliated with 
seven political appointees to 
city boards and commissions 
between 2010 and 2016.

Lazarus 
also 
wrote 
this 

was initiated in response to 
a concerned email from Ann 
Arbor resident Patricia Lesko 
and a formal request from City 
Councilmember 
Jack 
Eaton 

(D–Ward 4). Eaton confirmed 
the authenticity of the email 
obtained by the Daily. The Daily 
also confirmed these numbers 

SOPHIE SHERRY, ISHI MORI 

& BRIAN KUANG

Daily News Editor, 

Daily Staff Reporter & 

Deputy Statement Editor

See SERIES, Page 3A

Web series 
highlights 
post-grad 
experience

CAMPUS LIFE

“Next Four Years” focuses 
on millenial experiences 
in beginning episodes

MOLLY NORRIS

For the Daily

Engineering professors awarded for 
innovative research contributions

Two faculty members join distinct academy of engineers based on peer evaluations

ERIN DOHERTY
Daily Staff Reporter

michigandaily.com

For more stories and coverage, visit

See AWARDED, Page 3A

See CITY, Page 3A

When University of Michigan 

alum Patton Doyle, co-founder 
of Decode Detroit, opened his 
first escape room in Ann Arbor 
last October, he knew it was 
one unlike the rest. Doyle took 
his passion and knowledge of 
puzzles to create escape rooms 
as a tool for urban planning in 
Ann Arbor and Detroit.

“I started Decode Detroit 

because I was trying to come 
up with a way that we could 
take our knowledge of puzzles 
and 
escaping 
and 
creating 

fun games, and putting that 
into a way to use as an urban 
planning 
tool,” 
Doyle 
said. 

“(We’re) binding together areas 
of southeast Michigan as a 
single sort of urban unit. Retail 
is suffering in the age of the 
internet. So, we’re trying to use 
this trend (of escape rooms) to 
promote local tourism.”

The 
multi-dimensional, 

“urban adventuring” Minerva 
Project 
is 
an 
intellectual 

challenge 
that 
first 
takes 

players through part one of a 
one-hour excursion where they 

See CHALLENGE, Page 3A

‘U’ alum 
opens new 
A2 puzzle 
challenge

BUSINESS

Latest installment in 
escape room franchise 
aims to bolster tourism

KEVIN BIGLIN
Daily Staff Reporter

ARNOLD ZHOU/Daily

LSA sophomore Eli Schrayer talks with students at Emerge’s meet and greet in the Annenberg Auditorium 
in the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy on Wednesday. 

EME RGE CAMPAIGN

the b-side

Coming at you from the 
Arts section this week is 

an all-about Detroit issue 

celebrating the city and the 
incredible people and things 

it has to offer

» b-section