If University of Michigan 

College 
of 
Engineering 

researchers 
continue 
to 

prototype 
their 
innovative 

work, you might soon be 
receiving 
packages 
from 

someone other than a mailman 
— instead, a robotic bird. 

The University will be the 

first institution to program 
and test “Cassie,” a robot with 
the mobility of a bird and 
the potential to transform 
efficient energy usage. The 
robot, created by the Agility 
Robotics program at Oregon 
State 
University, 
will 
be 

arriving at the lab belonging 
to Jessy Grizzle, professor of 

electrical 
engineering 
and 

computer science. Grizzle has 
also worked on robot bipeds 
— machines that use two legs 
to walk — similar to Cassie, 
which takes the form of a large 
bird. Grizzle is well-known 
throughout 
the 
nation 
for 

his work on bipeds and has 
collaborated with Oregon State 
University before — which is 
why Cassie will be tested by his 
lab. 

Grizzle 
said 
Cassie’s 

inventors did not plan on 
its 
aviary 
appearance, 
but 

tweaked their design when 
mathematics proved that the 
robot would perform better 
with this form.

“Agility 
Robotics 
started 

City 
Council 
voted 

unanimously 
Tuesday 
to 

postpone an initial vote on an 
ordinance intended to protect 
Ann Arbor’s undocumented 
residents, citing a need to 
tighten exceptions originally 
provided in the ordinance.

The ordinance comes after 

an executive order signed 
by President Donald Trump 
in January providing for the 
removal of federal grants for 
“sanctuary 
jurisdictions,” 

which the order defines as 
jurisdictions that refuse to 
assist 
federal 
agencies 
in 

identifying 
and 
detaining 

undocumented 
immigrants. 

Additionally, implementation 
memos for the order released 
Monday expanded the federal 
government’s 
authority 
to 

allow lower jurisdictions to 
carry out the duties of federal 
immigration agencies.

At the Feb. 6 meeting 

of City Council, members 
unanimously 
passed 
a 

resolution directing the city 
administrator to review the 
executive order and “provide 
advice 
regarding 
possible 

options or actions the city 
might take to protect the 
rights of the city and persons 
within its jurisdiction.”

The ordinance proposed 

Tuesday 
would 
prohibit 

city employees from asking 
residents 
about 
their 

immigration 
statuses, 
but 

provides several exceptions to 
the prohibition. According to 
the ordinance, city employees 
would be permitted to inquire 
into a resident’s immigration 
status while assisting federal 
law 
enforcement 
in 
the 

investigation of a criminal 
or civil offense, or while 
processing 
an 
arrested 

person.

Ann Arbor resident Jessica 

Prozinski said the exceptions 
defeated the original purpose 
of the ordinance, opposing it 

on those grounds.

“The resolution, I believe, 

had good intentions, as far as 
strengthening Ann Arbor’s 
don’t-ask-don’t-tell 
policy,” 

she said. “This resolution, I 
think, has actually become 

During 
Central 
Student 

Government’s 
Tuesday 

meeting, a resolution to support 
the 
creation 
of 
a 
Middle 

Eastern and North African 
racial category on University 
of Michigan documents passed 
unanimously.

LSA 
Rep. 
Devin 
Jones, 

SAFE member — one of the 
four authors who identifies 
as ME/NA — brought up the 
discrepancies in how he was 
classified in the U.S. census and 
other 
demographic 
surveys. 

Though 
he 
is 
Palestinian 

and the other authors of the 
proposal were Lebanese, Jones 
said they were all technically 
classified as “white.” Jones 
argued 
the 
demographic 

surveys did not take Middle 
Eastern heritage into account.

“In 1944, all Arabs were 

marked as white in the United 
States because whiteness was 
a prerequisite for citizenship,” 
Jones said. “That changed in 
1952, but the status for Arab 
Americans and others who are 
Middle East and North African 

michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Wednesday, February 22, 2017

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INDEX
Vol. CXXVII, No. 35
©2017 The Michigan Daily

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

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

A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

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

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

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

Engineering
professor to
test bipedal,
robotic bird

Debbie Dingell highlights impact of
Affordable Care Act to crowd of 100 

See ROBOT, Page 3A

ROBERT BUECHLER/Daily

Rep. Debbie Dingell (D–Dearborn) discusses the impact of the Affordable Care Act on students at Weill Hall on Tuesday.

RESEARCH

Jessy Grizzle, in collaboration with those 
at Oregon State, will test the prototype 

RASHEED ABDULLAH

Daily Staff Reporter

Current political discourse in GOP could repeal act which provides medical care to millions

Rep. 
Debbie 
Dingell 
(D–

Mich.) accompanied a panel 
at the University of Michigan 
Ford School of Public Policy 
Tuesday night to discuss the 
impacts 
of 
the 
Affordable 

Care Act. The panel, hosted by 
the University of Michigan’s 
chapter of College Democrats 
along with Progressives at the 
University of Michigan, also 
answered public questions to 
an audience of approximately 
100 
students, 
faculty 
and 

community members.

Panelists began by laying 

out 
facts 
about 
the 
ACA 

itself, 
explaining 
that 
20 

million previously uninsured 
Americans 
gained 
health 

insurance because of the act. 
In 
Michigan, 
the 
“Healthy 

Michigan” plan reduced the 
number of uninsured citizens 
by 50 percent, allowing nearly 
700,000 people in Michigan 

to 
gain 
health 
insurance, 

according to Dingell. 

The panel comes during a 

time of concerns surrounding 
a 
possible 
repeal 
of 
the 

ACA from GOP lawmakers. 
Panelists described the idea 
of “repeal and replace” as 
more of a slogan than a plan 

JORDYN BAKER
Daily Staff Reporter

See CSG, Page 3A

CSG passes 
resolution 
for ME/NA 
recognition

STUDENT GOVERNMENT

Middle Eastern authors 
said they had to put ‘white’ 
on demographic forms

RHEA CHEETI
Daily Staff Reporter

JOSHUA HAN/Daily

Ann Arbor resident Kathy Griswold speaks about road crossings at a City Council meeting on Tuesday.

Concerns over federal funding delays
immigration ordinance at City Council

Residents and council believe previous legislation had too many exceptions

ANDREW HIYAMA

Daily Staff Reporter

michigandaily.com

For more stories and coverage, visit

See CITY, Page 3A

See DINGELL, Page 3A

Coach Jim Harbaugh traded 

in his headset for a microphone 
Tuesday night to judge the 
annual Mock Rock charity 
talent show at the University 
of Michigan Power Center for 
the Performing Arts, where 
more than 200 students and 
community 
members 
came 

to 
watch 
student 
athletes 

help raise money for the local 
mental health organization 
Fresh Start Clubhouse.

Mock Rock is an annual 

fundraising event organized 
and led by the Student-Athlete 
Advisory 
Committee 
and 

the Ginsberg Center where 
each year, the organizations 
determine a local beneficiary 
to donate the funds the show 
raises to a place they feel 
aligns 
with 
the 
students’ 

passions.

Various 
varsity 
student-

athlete teams came together 
to create original talent acts to 
perform in front of their peers 
to help fundraise money.

Last year, the organizations 

chose to donate all proceeds 

See ATHLETES, Page 3A

Student 
athletes 
perform 
for charity

CAMPUS LIFE

Annual talent show, 
benefit Mock Rock judged 
by coach Jim Harbaugh

DYLAN LACROIX
Daily Staff Reporter

Looking in the Mirror
statement

The Push to Change History on Campus 

