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November 03, 2017 - Image 1

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The Michigan Daily

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In November 2015, while

other students were focusing on
midterms, football games and
the fast-approaching Michigan
winter, then-LSA senior Zachary
Ackerman had something else
on his mind. He was running for
Ann Arbor City Council.

“I grew up in Ann Arbor and

grew up as a pretty nerdy kid.
When I was 15 and a student
at Pioneer High School, that
nerdiness
channeled
itself

into an interest in politics and
government.
Figuring
local

government
was
the
most

approachable, I started attending
City
Council
meetings,”

Ackerman wrote in an email
interview. “By early 2015, I had
grown pretty unhappy with my
representation on City Council
and went out to find an alternative
candidate.
Unfortunately,
I

couldn’t find one, so I threw my
hat in the ring instead.”

He was not the first person to

run for or sit on City Council as
a student, but his involvement
in local politics is certainly not
the current norm for University
of Michigan students. When
Ackerman ran in 2015, The Daily
reported a voter turnout of 0.81
percent of those registered in
Ward 1’s first and second precinct
and a voter turnout of 1.15 percent
for Ward 4’s first precinct — all
student-heavy areas. At Palmer
Commons that year, a total of
seven ballots were cast.

Ann Arbor has over 117,000

residents, but the University has
over 44,000 students. Students
make up a sizeable portion of
the city, and many issues in town
directly affect them. So why
aren’t they voting?

“Students were obviously a

very big part of that”

Low voter turnout among

students is nothing new, nor is it
unique to the University.

According to the Center for

Information and Research on

Civic Learning and Engagement
at Tufts University, voter turnout
at universities across the country
in 2014 was just 19 percent.
People under 30 voted at a rate
of only 21 percent. The rest of the
nation had a much higher turnout
rate of 36 percent.

As director of the Campus

Vote Project, an arm of the
Fair Elections Legal Network,
Michael Burns is hoping to
change that reality.

Business
junior
Matthew

Mansour was granted a personal
protection order against his
roommate,
Business
senior

Abhishek McFarland, based on
a tense living environment in
which Mansour was too afraid
to come back to his apartment at
Landmark Apartments on South
University Avenue. McFarland
will have to move out of the
apartment with police present.

The terms of the PPO also

mandate
McFarland
cannot

have any contact with Mansour.
While
McFarland’s
attorney

pointed out the two were in the
same school and possibly the
same apartment, Washtenaw
County judge Patrick J. Conlin
said McFarland should take
the effort to avoid him and
that Mansour should not go to
the police if he simply passes
McFarland in the apartment.

Close to 40 students packed

the Washtenaw County Trial
Court
Thursday
afternoon

to
support
Mansour,
who

claimed in a viral Facebook
post yesterday evening he was
targeted for being a gay man.

While McFarland’s attorney

argued it was an eviction
situation to be kept at a
Landmark level and Mansour
sought a PPO for his own
convenience,
Conlin
ruled

the environment was hostile
enough to grant the order.
Conlin expressed disbelief at
the McFarland’s stories and said
his witness recount involved
too many people and was too
inconsistent.

The case is also currently

an open investigation with the
Ann Arbor Police Department.
AAPD detective Jessica Oliverio
testified Thursday, but did not
have many details to add to the
case.

Mansour
said
while
he

was out on Fall Break, his
friend Michelle Vander Lugt,
Engineering senior, went to
borrow groceries from him
when she noticed all his kitchen
utensils and dog toys — later
estimated to be $600 in worth
— were missing. Additionally,
she said the roommate who
opened the door for her warned
her she might not find anything.
She then took pictures of knife
marks
on
Mansour’s
door,

a
damaged
doorknob
and

windowsill. Mansour said the
environment felt more life-
threatening after he came out
on National Coming Out Day
earlier this month.

Mansour
previously

petitioned the Office of Diversity,
Equity and Inclusion on the
basis of sexual discrimination.
Conlin, however, said he did
not see evidence of anti-gay
behavior strictly by McFarland,
but agreed there have been too
many incidents that targeted
Mansour.

Mansour testified Landmark

randomly assigned Mansour
to
McFarland’s
apartment

with two roommates. Mansour
owned a service dog for his
anxiety, to which McFarland
reacted harshly on the first
day and continued to call him
expletives.

During his time living with

his roommates this semester,
Mansour argued McFarland
created a toxic environment,
cheering on a roommate to
urinate in his dog’s bowl and
throwing his property out the
window. He said the roommates
were also stealing exit signs,
and when Mansour brought this
up to Landmark authorities, he
said McFarland called him a
“bitch” several times. He then
said he banged on the wall while
Mansour was in his bedroom,
saying “All gays go to hell.”

In his statement to the

court, McFarland said he was
frustrated with the situation
and admitted to swearing at
Mansour once. He said he
was allergic to dogs and did
not realize the service animal
was hypoallergenic. However,
Conlin
said
McFarland’s

frustrations with living with a
dog were targeted at Mansour
rather than brought up to
Landmark.

Mansour played a recording

of a male voice saying the
expletives
to
the
court.

McFarland countered the voice
belonged to his friend.

When McFarland came to

the stand, he insisted he would
be happy to welcome Mansour
back. While he admitted to the
other roommate urinating in
his dog’s bowl, he said he did
not urge neither did he say the
anti-gay slurs. He insisted it
was another friend. McFarland
also said the knife marks on the
door was because of another
friend during the weekend of
the University versus Michigan
State football game, not Fall
Break.

McFarland and Mansour’s

roommate came as another
witness on McFarland’s behalf.
As he approached the stand, the
witness’s gait was wavering and
speech slurred, prompting the
judge to ask him if he was under
the influence. The roommate
replied he was not.

The
witness’s
story

conflicted
with
Mansour’s

Former state Sen. Gretchen

Whitmer spoke to students and
answered their questions during
an event at the University of
Michigan on Thursday night at an
event sponsored by the University’s
chapter of College Democrats.

In January, Whitmer declared

her
candidacy
for
governor,

following 14 years in Michigan
legislature.
She
previously

served in the Michigan House
of Representatives and in the
Michigan Senate. Whitmer spoke
briefly about why she decided to
run, reminiscing on the state she
knew when she was growing up
and what she hopes to rebuild.
Some of her areas of concern are
public education, repealing the
emergency
manager
law
and

getting rid of gerrymandering in
the state of Michigan.

“And right now I look around at

the Michigan that you’re in, that
I’m in, that my kids are growing up
in and I see a state that ranks 41st in
fourth grade literacy in our country
because of 25 years of Betsy Devos
agenda by the way,” Whitmer said.
“I am proud of having been the

michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Friday, November 3, 2017

ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SEVEN 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. 23
©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

SPORTS..........B-SECTION

Hearing held
for student
attacked by
roommates

Black students 519% more likely to
face discrimination, survey reports

See HEARING, Page 3A

DESIGN BY CASEY TIN

CRIME

Court orders personal protection order
after claims of hostile environment

NISA KHAN &
RIYAH BASHA
Daily News Editors

Campus-wide DEI survey finds majority of student body satisfied with diversity climate

One in five students at the

University of Michigan — and 43.8
percent of all underrepresented
minority
undergraduates,

defined as non-white and non-
Asian — reported experiencing a

discriminatory event in the last
year.

These metrics and more were

released Thursday afternoon in
results of a campus-wide climate
survey on diversity, equity and
inclusion.

While a majority of campus

–– 72 percent of students, faculty
and staff –– reported overall

satisfaction
with
the
campus

climate with respect to diversity,
minority students are much more
likely to feel dissatisfied and
experience discrimination.

34.8 percent of Asian students

and 7.5 percent of white students
said
they
had
experienced

racial
discrimination.
Among

undergraduates,
37.1
percent

of
women,
29.3
percent
of

LGBTQ students, 28.1 percent
of
international
students
and

47.7 percent of disabled students
reported experiencing at least one
incident of discrimination in the
past 12 months.

Robert Sellers, vice provost

for equity and inclusion, said the

ANDREW HIYAMA

Daily Staff Reporter

See CAMPAIGN, Page 3A

Gretchen
Whitmer
campaigns
on campus

GOVERNMENT

Democrat vying in race
for governor stumps on
education, gun control

COLIN BERESFORD

Daily Staff Reporter

A2 council considers lack of
student voters before election

As elections approach, data suggests few students turn out

MAYA GOLDMAN

Daily Staff Reporter

Sarasota success

Karan Higdon beat the odds

in his hometown and used

football to get out Florida. He
couldn’t have done it without

the help of his mother and

high school coach.

» Page 1B

michigandaily.com

For more stories and coverage, visit

See ELECTION, Page 3A

See CLIMATE, Page 2A

DESIGN BY ROSEANNE CHAO

Back to Top

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