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Tuesday, March 28, 2017 — 3

was originally mentioned back 
in October. She said LSA SG 
sent out a survey last semester 
to gauge student opinions on 
the announcement, and found 
some apprehension regarding 
the plans.

 “After polling 500 students 

(both seniors and younger), 
we found that 61% were upset 
that commencement wouldn’t 
follow the traditional pattern 
of having a speaker,” Gipps 
wrote. “I sent this information 
to 
President 
Schlissel 
in 

November 
... 
Unfortunately 

no changes were made to the 
original 
plan 
... 
Ultimately, 

our big day is shaping up to be 
underwhelming.”

LSA 
senior 
Nick 
Suárez 

echoed Gips and wrote in an 
email interview the current 
plan is very lackluster and 
doesn’t show a dedication from 
the University to its graduates.

“It was definitely a huge 

slap in the face to all the 

grads,” Suárez wrote. “The 
commencement 
speaker 
is 

really the only aspect of the 
whole event that many people 
even care about, so this is just 
another way the university 
shows its students how little it 
cares about us as individuals.”

Education 
senior 
Maggie 

Cowles wrote going from past 
commencement speakers such 
as former President Barack 
Obama and Michael Bloomberg 
to a recap of other speeches 
seems like a self-indulgent move 
from the University.

“I feel like we’ve spent four 

years building up to this, to our 
graduation, and hearing about 
all of these amazing speakers 
in the past,” Cowles wrote. “I’m 
from Ann Arbor, so I remember 
the 
year 
Obama 
came. 
I 

remember being so excited 
about 
who 
my 
graduation 

speaker 
would 
be, 
and 

anticipating it … It just really 
feels like the university is trying 
so hard to promote itself that it’s 
not at all concerned about what 
students actually want to see in 
commencement.”

Suárez wrote the tuition bill 

students have paid over their 
four years at the University 
merits 
a 
new 
speech 
for 

graduation.

“Considering the amount of 

money paid and debt accrued 
by so many of us, to reach 
our culminating moment and 
not have something to look 
forward to with this event is 
disheartening honestly,” Suárez 
wrote.

Cowles added the University 

is prioritizing the bicentennial 
over its students, emphasizing 
she would be able to watch 
old footage of commencement 
speeches at home but her own 
graduation should be something 
new.

“Nobody wants to sit in the 

big house and watch a video clip 
of graduation addresses aimed 
at different years — we want 
our own speaker with … our 
own ceremony,” Cowles wrote. 
“It’s taking away a huge part 
of graduation that, honestly, 
is the only part of the whole-
school graduation I was looking 
forward to.”

COMMENCEMENT
From Page 1

Griffin said.

The 
opioid 
usage 
online 

database, 
titled 
Michigan 

Automated 
Prescription 

System, will be implemented 
in April and provide a user-
friendly, comprehensive report 
of prescription history and 
usage to both the doctor and 
patient.

When 
announcing 
the 

system, Lt. Gov. Brian Calley 
(R) said database bill will be 
integral to monitoring opioid 
usage.

“It will give doctors real 

time information about the 
prescription 
history 
of 
the 

person they are dealing with,” 
Calley said. “You would think 
in this day and age that a doctor 
would have that ... but today 

that doesn’t exist.”

Additionally, 
state 
Sen. 

Tonya 
Schuitmaker 
(R–

Lawton) introduced legislation 
that 
mandates 
disciplinary 

action should a patient not 
report usage via the database.

To benefit those who already 

suffer from opioid addiction, 
state Rep. Andy Schor (D–
Lansing) introduced legislation 
that 
gives 
Medicaid 
users 

treatment options. Schor told 
U.S. News the opioid addiction 
is not a partisan issue, rather a 
universal one.

“We 
all 
know 
that 

prescription drug and opioid 
abuse is not a partisan issue, it’s 
not a Democrat or Republican 
issue, it’s happening in cities, 
it’s happening in townships, it’s 
happening in urban and rural 
areas,” Schor said.

Public Policy junior Rowan 

Conybeare, 
chair 
of 
the 

University’s chapter of College 
Democrats, agreed and said 
non-partisan cooperation will 
be integral to finding a solution.

“I’m very glad to see both 

parties working across the aisle 
to tackle this urgent problem in 
Michigan,” she said.

Michigan Attorney General 

Bill Schuette said in a statement 
arrests won’t solve the issue, 
and a systemic solution is 
needed.

“The 
opioid 
epidemic 
is 

sweeping 
across 
Michigan, 

with hardly a day going by 
that we don’t hear of an 
overdose 
or 
death 
caused 

by 
an 
opioid-based 
drug,” 

Schuette said. “We can’t arrest 
our way out of this problem. 
The bi-partisan package of 
legislation announced today is 
an important step in Michigan’s 
overall effort to curb this 
growing epidemic.”

OPIOIDS
From Page 1

mission of Michigan Medicine 
is to improve all three of these 
areas as much as possible.

“Our vision overall is to be 

outstanding in each of these 
areas, so in research, to really 
bring discovery to health as 
well as broaden the spectrum 
of research that we do; in 
education, to prepare today’s 
doctors 
and 
scientists 
for 

tomorrow,” Runge said.

Runge then outlined the 

curriculum 
changes 
the 

Medical School has undergone 
in the last few years. The new 
curriculum is meant to bring 
together the first two years 
of medical school into one, 
so students can start their 
clinical rotations and narrow 
in on a specialty sooner.

In the new curriculum, year 

one outlines the foundational 
medical 
sciences 
and 
year 

two goes over patient care 
and clinical practice. In year 
three, students start rotations 
to choose a clinical focus, and 
in year four, the focus is on 
developing physician leaders.

Runge also emphasized that, 

though 
Michigan 
Medicine 

can sometimes seem separated 
from the University, it shares 
many 
of 
the 
same 
goals, 

including increasing diversity, 
equity and inclusion, per this 
fall’s DEI plan.

“We also have … priorities 

in 
diversity, 
equity 
and 

inclusion,” he said. “This is 
really important in health 
care. People don’t think about 
it so much but people who are 
ill like to work with health 
care providers who understand 
them … When we’re ranked 
for 
diversity, 
among 
other 

academic 
medical 
centers, 

we look pretty good, but we 
don’t have nearly the level of 
diversity we need to. And it’s a 

tough uphill battle to increase 
that, so we’re focusing on 
starting 
with 
the 
medical 

students to do this.”

After Runge’s presentation, 

the committee moved into a 
Q&A session. SACUA member 
David Smith, a professor in the 
College of Pharmacy, began 
with an inquiry about how 
Runge felt clinical staff could 
be better integrated into the 
educational environment.

SACUA has spent a lot of time 

discussing whether or not they 
should extend the ability to 
become members of the Senate 
Assembly — a body traditionally 
reserved 
for 
tenure-track 

faculty — to clinical staff.

“We’ve had this discussion 

here as well, and it has to 
do with the status of the 
clinician 
scientist,” 
Smith 

said. “What are your views on 
how to integrate them into the 
Michigan culture? In other 
words, I don’t believe they’re 
part of the Senate (Assembly) 
… how do we get them more 
involved while also protecting 
some of the feelings of the 
people who have these tenure-
track appointments and want to 
preserve that integrity?”

Runge 
said 
Michigan 

Medicine has been considering 
this problem as well lately, 
and he finds the apprehension 
surrounding it to be well-
founded.

“There’s 
some 
of 
that 

tension in the Medical School 
but this group that we call 
‘clinical track’ is actually our 
largest group,” Runge said. 
“I think that group would 
like to feel like they’re more 
part of the mainstream, but 
I certainly understand the 
inherent 
tension, 
because 

they outnumber (tenure-track 
faculty members).”

SACUA Chair Bill Schultz, a 

professor of engineering, asked 
the next question. He wanted 
to know the pros and cons of 
having Runge act as both the 

dean of the medical school and 
the executive vice president of 
medical affairs.

“We were sort of blindsided 

by the president in the fall of 
last year in you becoming both 
the executive vice president 
and the dean simultaneously,” 
Schultz said. “He indicated 
that this wasn’t that uncommon 
in medical schools, but … I’m 
wondering if you could talk 
briefly about the advantages of 
becoming both the executive 
vice president and the dean, 
and the disadvantages?” 

According 
to 
Runge, 

University 
President 
Mark 

Schlissel was correct in saying 
this practice is not uncommon 
among 
top-tier 
medical 

schools that also own their 
own hospital systems. This 
helps the University, though, 
by allowing the two entities to 
work more collaboratively.

“It’s common among places 

we 
consider 
peers, 
which 

are the highest level medical 
schools who own their own 
hospitals,” Runge said. “The 
advantage is it really aligns 
decision-making on how you 
divide your resources … The 
big disadvantage is no one 
person can do all that, that’s 
just the reality. This allows us 
to have three really important 
vice deans who have important 
portfolios and it makes them 
work together.” 

Once Runge left, the SACUA 

members once again brought 
up the issue of clinical staff in 
the Senate Assembly. Smith 
ended the meeting by saying he 
felt it was important to gauge 
the interest in clinical staff 
of being part of the assembly 
before moving forward with 
any action.

“I think it’s important to see 

what level of interaction they 
want,” Smith said. “They may 
be perfectly happy not getting 
involved, and there may be 
some that want to get involved 
in different levels.”

SACUA
From Page 1

JOSHUA HAN/Daily

Dave Wright, SACUA Vice Chair and Business professor, discusses potential candidates for the SACUA board in the Fleming Administration 
Building on Monday. 

SACUA

graduating class of Stanford 
University in 2005.

“Imagine 
your 
memorial 

service,” he said. “Visualize 
your 
headstone 
with 
your 

name on it. What does your 
epigraph say?”

Eventually, 
Strecher 

turned to the idea of finding 
personal fulfillment. He spoke 
about the diagnosis of his 
daughter’s heart condition as 
the beginning of him living 
his life with purpose, saying 
he wanted to give her a big life 
while it was possible for her, 
which in turn made him want 
to live a more involved life.

Closing 
remarks 
were 

followed by large applause 
from the audience, after which 
he opened up for questions. 

Business and LSA junior 

Claire Yerman, the LSA Student 
Honor Council president, was 
excited Strecher was able to 
speak. 

“We reached out to Vick 

because we knew his deep 
commitment to talking about 
purpose 
and 
we 
thought 

that aligned really well with 
integrity, which is our main 
focus,” Yerman said. “We really 
felt that if he could talk about 
living your life authentically — 
which he did — then this really 
aligns with integrity, because 
unless you are staying true 
to yourself and living true to 

your values, you are really not 
showcasing integrity.”

Anna Moshkovich, an LSA 

senior presently taking a gap 
year, was initially drawn to 
the talk by emails sent by the 
Newnan Advising Center.

“I’m doing a gap year and I 

didn’t know (Dr. Strecher) was 
so big into gap years,” she said. 
“I have no idea where I’m going 
to be placed and it is through 
a 
Jewish 
Peace-Corps-type 

program. His whole talk was 
about how we should go out of 
our comfort zone and do things 
that scare us.” 

When 
asked 
if 
she 
felt 

confident in her current plans 
after listening to the talk, 
Moshkovich responded: “100 
percent.”

SPEAKER
From Page 1

identities, and we want to make 
sure minority students especially 
feel welcome here,” she said. “And 
then we realized that also there 
are a lot of minority students 
who might want to explore the 
realm of public service, like for 
example me — public service is 
something I see in my future 
career and I wanted to give them 
an opportunity to see people who 
have already done successful 
things in that realm.”

Given the recent political 

climate, the panel emphasized 
the 
importance 
of 
minority 

representation 
in 
the 

traditionally white-majority field 
of public service, and what steps 
need to be taken to continue 
to 
encourage 
more 
diverse 

involvement. The panel allowed 
five public service leaders to 
reflect on their experiences in 
the Michigan community.

Abdul El-Sayed, a physician 

and 
current 
candidate 
for 

governor of Michigan, was one 
of the panelists in attendance. 
El-Sayed explained that he left 
left his job as a professor at 
Columbia University to dedicate 
his efforts to public service 
in Detroit. One of his projects 
included creating a program that 
provided every child in Detroit 
with glasses.

“The fights are worth fighting, 

and justice will get done if you 
do it,” he said, explaining to the 
audience the importance of not 
being a victim of circumstance 
and encouraging minorities to 
push through discrimination.

Alford Young, the chair of 

the Department of Sociology, 
explained how the majority of 
his research was inspired by 
his background as an African-
American man. Growing up in 
a neighborhood in New York, 
Young saw how many of his 
friends were stereotyped based 
on their race.

“Almost all social service 

agencies think of Black men as 
men with problems,” he said. “I 
say there are more to these men 
than just problems.”

Martha Jones, director of the 

Michigan Law Program in Race, 
Law and History and professor of 
African-American studies, also 
learned about the dynamics of 
giving back in her childhood.

“In 
my 
family, 
whenever 

you got a break, the lesson was 
always how to pay that forward,” 
she said, explaining that this led 
to her own profession as a lawyer 
for 
people 
in 
marginalized 

communities.

Another 
panelist, 
Awilda 

Rodriguez, 
is 
an 
assistant 

professor in the Center for 
the 
Study 
of 
Higher 
and 

Postsecondary Education who 
researches the representation 

of Black, Latino, low-income 
and 
first-generation 
students 

in 
postsecondary 
education. 

Rodriguez 
shared 
her 
own 

childhood 
experience, 
saying 

she grew up valuing education, 
but noticed that fewer minority 
students tended to rise to higher 
schooling levels.

“There is such a lack of 

diversity, 
especially 
in 
high 

educational policy space where 
you could have a happy hour 
and easily fit everyone that 
was of color working on higher 
education policy in one corner,” 
she pointed out.

Student activists on campus 

also served as speakers for the 
events. LSA senior Nicole Khamis 
is the founder of the Michigan 
Refugee Assistance Program and 
is currently an intern for the U.S. 
State Department. Khamis was 
inspired to create MRAP because 
her parents are refugees from 
Palestine.

“I’ve tried to take my time here 

at Michigan to raise people up, 
and show that everyone deserves 
the same opportunities that I 
have,” she said.

Khamis also emphasized that 

people of color should be able to 
have their own operating spaces 
to cultivate an identity.

LSA
From Page 1

Read more at 
MichiganDaily.com

