Diversity
The candidates all stressed
the importance of on-campus
diversity to their platforms, and
talked about the different ways
they planned on approaching the
issue.
Sarkar and Jawad mentioned
they have a wide range of
perspectives
in
their
party,
and their initiatives are based
on real experiences members
of their party have had. While
both of them believe they can
not represent people of other
identities, they emphasized the
importance
of
transcending
boundaries.
“eMerge
believes
diversity
is of utmost importance when
attempting to represent a wide
range of ideas, backgrounds and
identities on campus,” Sarkar said.
“We are the only party running
that has students from the most
schools represented, as well as
diversity of identities, diversity
of experiences on campus and
diversities
of
socioeconomic
status.”
Jawad also touched upon her
own experiences as a woman
of color and the rarity of seeing
her representation in student
government.
Sweeney said he doesn’t know
what it feels like to be a minority
student, but he advocates giving
students the tools to deal with
lack of diversity. Movement is
also in favor of making the Race
and Ethnicity requirement a first-
year requirement to encourage
freshmen
to
have
important
discussions about diversity as
soon as they step onto campus.
Sweeney also said he believed
every
student
belonged
on
campus,
regardless
of
their
political views, and that simply
being on campus and exposed to
ideas can help students learn and
grow.
“Yes, we should look for the
best candidates at this school,
period,” Sweeney said. “But I
believe there will be an overall
increase in diversity of minds and
perspectives joining CSG if we
are elected, because that’s what
we’re trying to do, we’re trying to
get people on this campus excited
about CSG.”
Wall
and
Kay
described
themselves as having diverse
identities and backgrounds, and
highlighted the integration of
their own party. They expressed
frustration with the fact that
administrators don’t push for
data collection of other identities,
such as queer populations. They
also want to push administrators
to adopt the Texas House Bill
588, better known as the Top 10
Percent plan, guarantees students
in the top 10 percent of their
high school class admissions to
state universities. This however,
would conflict with the state
of Michigan’s ban on race- and
gender-based affirmative action
prohibiting
discrimination
on
the basis of sex, gender and
socioeconomic status.
“(We need) to further integrate
this campus, and if you’re going
to have a (Diversity, Equity and
Inclusion) plan, have a DEI
plan that is actively working
to
integrate
this
campus,”
Wall said. “That means going
to Detroit schools and doing
on-site admissions. Aggressively,
aggressively courting students
from low-income areas, from
majority Black cities … These are
the steps that can easily, easily be
taken. This is something that’s not
on the student body to fix, but is
on us to set the example and the
tone for the administration, for
the people who would be able to
do something about this.”
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Tuesday, March 21, 2017 — 3
this is not unprecedented.”
Museum employee Mishaal
Khan, a University alum who
graduated in 2016, said the
schematics for the new space
show a renovated and larger
area compared to the Ruthven
Building.
“I am super, super excited
about the new changes,” Khan
said. “When you look at the
(museum)
sketches,
there’s
going to be a lot more space and
a lot more new exhibits … (The
Ruthven Building) is like 90 years
old and there’s no AC.”
In December, the Regents
approved
a
$150
million
renovation
project
for
the
Ruthven Building, which will
add 100,000 square feet for
classrooms
and
auditoriums
and will renovate spaces for dry
labs and the University’s central
administrative offices, currently
housed in the Fleming Building.
The
Fleming
Building
will
eventually be demolished.
LSA senior Kathryn Zoller
previously worked on a project
under German professor Kastin
Baindt researching the history
and the impact of museums
at the University. She said the
renovations
to
the
Ruthven
Building preserve the building’s
legacy and are a much better
option than destroying it.
“I’m very happy to hear that
they’re not going to tear down
the Ruthven Building, which was
a big concern for me with the
move,” she said. “I really like the
historic Ruthven Building.”
Khan is one of the employees
working
on
the
museum’s
newest
initiative,
Museum
Memories, which catalogs public
submissions of photos and stories
about experiences at the Ruthven
Building. She said the archive
celebrates the museum’s history
and the University’s bicentennial.
“So far, what’s been archived
and uploading to the site are some
really cool memories,” she said.
“People have come to the museum
for 90 years … People have really
sweet memories of their kids
there, too.”
Zoller
said
by
accepting
and
cataloging
the
public’s
experiences at the Ruthven, the
history of the museum can be
studied.
MUSEUM
From Page 1
Four of the nominees from
the Ann Arbor campus were
LSA Profs. Andreas Gailus and
Neil Marsh and Medical School
Profs. Kathryn Eaton and Sami
Malek.
Business
Prof.
Joy
Beatty was nominated from the
Dearborn campus and History
Prof. John Ellis was nominated
from the Flint campus.
Each candidate was given
time to speak to the Assembly
about why they wanted to serve
on SACUA.
Some candidates felt their
field expertise would be helpful
in this new position. Beatty
submitted a video with her
statement, as she is on sabbatical
in New Zealand. She stressed
to Assembly members that she
felt her organizational studies
background would help make
SACUA communicate better and
run in a smoother fashion.
“What I like to think I can
contribute, if I were elected,
is that I have organizational
expertise,
which
helps
me
be in tune to organizational
processes,” Beatty said. “I think
faculty governance is a tradition
we should cherish.”
Communication
was
a
popular
theme
among
candidates. Ellis said his main
goal if elected would be to
increase
communication
and
cooperation among all three of
the University’s campuses.
“We should continue to press
for more integration of Flint
and Dearborn into a single
University system and promote
communication,” Ellis said. “A
lot of times, things that happen
in SACUA tend to just appear
in Flint … I think in the end, we
will be stronger as one faculty,
in reality, than we would be as
three different campuses doing
the same thing.”
Malek
and
Gaius
both
shared the view that faculty
governance has a duty to protect
the institution of the University.
If elected, Malek promised to
hold on to traditional academic
values.
“I
have
fundamentally
stood for traditional academic
behavior … and commerce and
less
bottom-line
decisions,”
Malek
said.
“I
think
relationship-building
and
honesty are how you get people
to listen to you, and that’s what
I’m going to try to do for all of
you.”
Marsh
rounded
out
the
speeches. He said he wanted to
work on expanding the current
work of SACUA, as well as
making faculty governance more
reachable to and communicative
with the greater University
community.
“If I am elected, I would like to
be a builder,” he said. “I’d like to
build on the important work that
SACUA is doing. I’d like to build
support, enthusiasm and better
channels
of
communication
to
the
broader
faculty.
I
want to build bridges (to) the
administration
and
bridges
outside the administration. We
don’t need to be building walls,
and we certainly don’t need to
be living in our ivory tower.”
Once all the speeches were
heard,
Assembly
members
voted for the three candidates
they wanted to serve as SACUA
representatives. The votes were
tallied, and though it was a close
election, it was announced that
Beatty, Malek and Marsh had
been chosen to serve. Their
terms will begin this May.
The
meeting,
which
was
the
second-to-last
Assembly
meeting of the academic year,
ended with SACUA President
Bill
Schultz,
professor
of
mechanical
engineering,
welcoming the new members
into the committee. He will give
an official end-of-year statement
at next month’s meeting, but he
said a quick thanks to the body
for a good year and mentioned
the elections for a new president
will be held soon.
“It’s been a pleasure to serve
you, but it’s time to pass the
torch to someone else,” Schultz
said. “We hope to have that
election in the not-so-distant
future. That’s chosen by the
present members of SACUA.”
SENATE ASSEMBLY
From Page 1
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used to leverage. A dollar that
goes in yields a lot more than
a dollar in terms of community
good. But I also every now and
then get to hear some of the
personal stories of how these
funds make a difference in
people’s lives. We talk about
the numbers, but there are
lives behind these numbers.
These funds provide a lifeline
to
these
people,
and
to
threaten them is to threaten
some of the best members of
our community.”
Councilmember
Zachary
Ackerman
(D–Ward
3)
emphasized the real effects
the cuts would have on Ann
Arbor residents, specifically
mentioning
HUD-Veterans
Affairs Supportive Housing
vouchers,
which
provide
monetary
assistance
to
veterans in need of housing.
“As we dig deeper and ask
‘how does this affect our local
community in terms of the
most vulnerable,’ we’re also
looking at two to three million
dollars in cuts to the Ann
Arbor Housing Commission,”
Ackerman said. “And these
are programs that go to
house veterans, the disabled,
to house people of limited
income simply because this
society doesn’t provide enough
to them. We spent the last six
years in Washtenaw County
fighting veteran homelessness,
and in the past year got it to a
functional zero. And cuts to
the VASH voucher program
put that entirely at risk. These
cuts will put people on the
street.”
Councilmember Jack Eaton
(D–Ward 4) voted in favor
of the resolution but said he
thought the HUD cuts were
just one of many problems
with the new budget and the
resolution on its own was not
enough.
CITY
From Page 1
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DEBATE
From Page 1
communication between students
in government and the LSA
Opportunity ... Hub to better
prepare students for their career,”
Casson said.
LSA
freshman
candidate
Mohsin Arsiwala also emphasized
the importance of assisting LSA
students in their searches for
internships and careers. Arsiwala
proposed improving relations with
the Alumni Center, to increase
available
connections
between
students and University alumni.
Another recurring topic during
the speeches was how to increase
the dialogue on campus about
current events, especially given
the current political climate on
campus.
LSA
sophomore
Amanda
Delekta,
a
representative
candidate, proposed hosting an
event that would discuss how
to translate a passion for social
justice into social change. A panel
would be composed of different
policy experts to answer students’
questions
about
implementing
social change.
“I want to hold an event looking
into how to change an idea for
social change into tangible events,”
Delekta said.
LSA sophomore Eli Rachlin
talked
about
the
importance
of
facilitating
conversations
between students with different
political
beliefs
on
campus.
Citing the responses to the 2016
presidential
election,
including
the post-election protests, Rachlin
believes it is crucial for students
to be exposed to different ideas.
He proposed bringing experts
to campus to demonstrate the
importance
of
understanding
different viewpoints.
“People
don’t
have
the
opportunity, nor do they want to go
out of the way to find things outside
of their bubble,” Rachlin said. “It
would be cool to have people who
have experience with expressing
their opinions that may not be in
line with what they have to say.”
LSA
From Page 1
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