Gov. Rick Snyder and state 

lawmakers 
are 
introducing 

bills to the state legislature 
that seek to combat the rising 
number of opioid overdoses by 
monitoring prescriptions more 
closely and enforcing opioid 
abuse education. Committees 
within the state House and 
Senate will begin testimony on 
more than a dozen measures to 
battle the epidemic.

The 
opioid 
epidemic 
in 

Michigan has been growing 
steadily, with the number 
of 
opioid 
prescriptions 

increasing from 180 million 
in 2007 to 690 million in 2016. 
Snyder said the new bills are 
a step in the right direction, 
though they aren’t an absolute 
solution.

“There is not just one step 

to solve this problem … it’s 
about our society, our culture 
changing,” Snyder stated. “So 
this is very comprehensive 
stuff. This won’t be the last 
step but another good step.”

Engineering 
freshman 

Lincoln 
Merrill, 
publicity 

chair of the University of 
Michigan’s chapter of College 
Republicans, agreed.

“At this point, any measure 

taken against the drug that 
will help stop the unnecessary 
deaths it causes is welcome,” 
he said. 

New legislation announced 

Thursday 
has 
received 

bipartisan support. The bill 
limits 
the 
prescription 
of 

opioids, 
requires 
parental 

consent when prescribing to 
minors and requires public 
schools to educate about abuse. 
Patients’ drug histories will be 
tracked through an electronic 
database, as required by a new 
law.

The 
mandate 
on 
opioid 

education is said to look 
similar to a bill in Ohio that 

requires 
K-12 
students 
to 

be taught about the dangers 
of opioid use. If the bill 
passes, the program would 
be implemented by the 2018 
school year by the Michigan 
Department 
of 
Education. 

The 
bill 
was 
introduced 

by state Rep. Beth Griffin 
(R–Mattawan) 
and 
allows 

Michigan’s Prescription Drug 
and Opioid Abuse Commission 
to design a curriculum for 

high school students.

In 
an 
interview 
with 

WWMT 
radio 
station, 

Griffin said even prescription 
medications 
pose 
dangers 

students need to be aware of.

“As a mom with kids in 

sports, it’s good to know 
that 
this 
legislation 
will 

help educate my kids on the 
dangers of taking a drug, even 
if a doctor prescribed it,” 

Monday 
evening, 
students 

and faculty crowded into the 
Anderson Room of the Michigan 
Union for a panel discussion 
about 
minorities 
in 
public 

service, 
organized 
by 
LSA 

Student Government and LSA 
junior Zoha Qureshi.

LSA senior Julia Gips, LSA 

Student Government president, 
explained LSA SG organized the 
event in the hopes of reaching 
out to minority groups at the 
University of Michigan.

“There are a lot of people who 

feel underrepresented on this 
campus, and as president of LSA 
Student Government we had a lot 
of conversations about how we 
can make minority voices better 
heard,” she said.

Quershi said organizing the 

event was personal to her. 

“Being on the Diversity Affairs 

Committee and being the vice 
chair with that along with Ibtihal 
(Makki, an LSA senior), the 
purpose of DAC is to make sure 
that this campus is as inclusive 
as possible to people of different 
backgrounds 
and 
different 

michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Tuesday, March 28, 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. 53
©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

See LSA, Page 3

Minorities
in public 
service 
recognized

STUDENT GOVERNMENT

Michigan gubernatorial 
candidate Abdul El-Sayed, 
faculty speak at event

AMARA SHAIKH

For the Daily

DESIGN BY NOAH SHERBIN

New opioid legislature introduced 
hopes to curb addiction in Michigan

Plans include tracking prescriptions and enforcing opioid abuse education

CARLY RYAN

Daily Staff Reporter

michigandaily.com

For more stories and coverage, visit

See OPIOIDS, Page 3

Marschall Runge, dean of 

the University of Michigan 
Medical School and executive 
vice 
president 
for 
medical 

affairs, stopped by the Senate 
Advisory 
Committee 
on 

University Affairs on Monday 
to talk about the Medical 
School and Michigan Medicine 
and how these institutions can 
better interact with faculty 
governance.

Runge, who has been with 

the Medical School for two 
years and is also CEO of 
Michigan Medicine, began his 
presentation to the committee 
with a PowerPoint outlining 
the 
missions 
and 
current 

affairs of all three roles of the 
University’s 
overall 
health 

system: research, education 
and clinical care.

“I strongly believe research 

drives innovation and clinical 
care and gives us the chance 
to be a real leader in this 
area,” Runge said. “None of 
that can occur … without our 
educational programs.”

According to Runge, the 

See SACUA, Page 3

Med School
Dean talks 
curriculum
at SACUA 

ACADEMICS

Marschall Runge, body
discuss improved relations
with faculty governance

MAYA GOLDMAN

Daily Staff Reporter

University 
of 
Michigan 

seniors have been expressing 
their 
dissatisfaction 
with 

the 
recent 
commencement 

announcement 
as 
there 

are no plans for a featured 
speaker. Many also believe the 
University is focusing too much 
on the bicentennial celebration 
instead of the graduating class 
of 2017.

The commencement speech 

will 
feature 
a 
multimedia 

project 
displaying 
current 

University faculty reading the 
words from previous speeches 
throughout the University’s 
history. 
Music, 
Theatre 

& 
Dance 
Prof. 
Malcolm 

Tulip, 
who 
is 
producing 

the 
exhibition, 
said 
the 

presentation 
will 
celebrate 

both the bicentennial and the 
current graduates.

“For years now, we have 

become used to seeing great 
speeches and events on video,” 
Tulip said in a University 

press release. “In the early 
days of the university this 
documentation did not exist 
or was lost. This project 
assembles a series of excerpts 
from 
significant 
speeches 

from the university’s past. In 
seven 
minutes, 
graduating 

students and their families 
will gain a sense of their place 
in the university and nation’s 
history.”

In the press release, Interim 

Provost Paul Courant said 
the 
bicentennial 
will 
not 

overshadow the students and 
their graduation.

“Graduation, as always, is 

principally about the academic 
achievements of the students 
who are graduating,” Courant 
said. “We are pleased and 
proud to honor them and their 
achievements.”

Despite Courant’s statement, 

seniors were frustrated with 
the speech presentation.

LSA Student Government 

President 
Julia 
Gips, 
an 

LSA senior, wrote she was 
disappointed when the plan 

Class of 2017
voices issues
over plan for
graduation

Motivational speaker highlights 
tips for engaging in satisfying life

See COMMENCEMENT, Page 3

MATT VAILLIENCOURT/Daily

Public health professor Dr. Victor Stretcher discusses ways to “design a happy life” during his motivational presentation at the Michigan League on Monday. 

ADMINISTRATION

Students expressed discontent over ‘U’ 
announcement to not have central speaker

MATT HARMON
Daily Staff Reporter

Panelist provide different insights to students, attendees in a packed Vandenberg Room

The Vandenberg Room of 

the 
Michigan 
League 
was 

overflowing 
Monday 
night 

with students waiting to hear 
Dr. Victor Strecher, a professor 
of health behavior and health 
education in the School of 
Public Health, speak about 
“Designing a Happy Life,” an 
event aiming to speak about 
personal development.

The event was the inaugural 

lecture in a series organized by 
the LSA Student Honor Council, 
an organization dedicated to 
the importance of honorable 
behavior in the context of 
academia 
and 
scholarship, 

which seeks to hold the event 
annually.

Strecher 
attempted 
to 

illustrate ways to compute the 
way to happiness. 

“This is about designing your 

life,” Strecher said. “(But) I’m 
not saying I know everything 
either.”

Strecher 
asked 
students 

to 
identify 
their 
age, 
and 

found the crowd was a mix 
of 
undergraduate 
students, 

graduate students and parents 
from the community.

“Very likely when you were 

getting into the University of 
Michigan, your parents had a 
résumé for you,” Strecher said. 
“They had written your résumé 
for you in their mind. I’m going 
to 
take 
that 
metaphorical 

résumé they have for you and 
tear it up. Because it is not their 
life. It’s your life.”

Over 
the 
course 
of 
the 

next 
hour, 
Strecher 
veered 

from personal anecdotes to 
discussion 
of 
philosophical 

texts, drawing from the works 
of Aristotle, Marcus Aurelius, 
Nietzsche, Buddhist philosophy 
and 
his 
own 
personal 

experiences to discuss factors 
that could lead to personal 
fulfillment and development.

At one point, Strecher asked 

the audience to think about 
their 
own 
deaths, 
taking 

inspiration from Steve Jobs’ 
commencement speech to the 

QUINN FALTER

For the Daily

See SPEAKER, Page 3

