To deter suicides by jumping
or falling off of Ann Arbor
parking structures, the Ann
Arbor Downtown Development
Authority
is
further
committing
to
constructing
more permanent fences on city
parking
structure
rooftops.
Installment of the fences began
last fall when city officials
noticed a pattern of attempted
or
successfully
completed
suicides by individuals jumping
or falling off of the garages in
the last three years.
Between
November
2015
and
December
2016,
three
people died, and two were
injured after falling or jumping
from city parking structures.
Other incidents occurred in
September and October 2017,
when two men fell from the
South
Fourth
Avenue
and
East William Street parking
structures. These deaths were
ruled as suicides.
The project will be funded
through fees charged to those
who park their vehicles in the
city’s structures. The DDA
board determined in a meeting
last week bids will be due by
Jan. 16, and work is projected to
be underway by the end of the
month.
City Councilmember Kirk
Westphal, D-Ward 2, described
the importance of having the
fencing installed in the first
place to help deter individuals
from ending their lives.
“As
councilmembers,
our
first priority is public safety,”
Westphal said. “As an urgent
public safety need, the opinion
we got from mental health
experts is that, while not full
proof, this temporary fencing
was a prudent strategy to help
interrupt the determination of
some individuals to take their
life.”
According to Susan Pollay,
executive
director
of
the
DDA, temporary fencing was
installed
on
garages
when
the bid for the project cost $1
million more than estimated.
Contractor
availability
was
also low during this time,
leading to the more expensive
estimates. As a result, the DDA
board approved an installment
of chain-link fencing on the
structures rather than more
permanent materials.
Pollay
said
city
administrators hopes to add
fencing to other levels within
the parking structures, not just
the rooftops. She also said it is
important to install the fences
in order to better serve the
needs of Ann Arbor residents.
“It is perhaps most important
to focus on the needs of people
in our community that are not
being met,” Pollay said.
The
University
Council
convened on Monday night for
its first biweekly meeting of
the semester, discussing topics
including the Office of Diversity,
Equality,
and
Inclusion
and
changes to the academic calendar.
The meeting opened with a
guest speaker, the Vice Provost
for Equity and Inclusion and
Chief
Diversity
Officer
Dr.
Robert Sellers. Sellers touched
on the DEI plan’s progress and
various initiatives that have been
implemented for the past year.
Sellers
presented
council
members with the goals of DEI,
which includes making their
strategic plan as inclusive as
possible, noting the diversity
of experience students possess
across
various
schools
and
programs on campus. There are
currently 49 strategic unit plans,
and
each
respective
school,
college, and campus unit has their
own plan suited to their specific
needs. There is also a campuswide
strategic plan being implemented
by DEI, aiming to promote
collaboration across programs
michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Tuesday, January 9, 2018
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INDEX
Vol. CXXVII, No. 52
©2018 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 DEI, Page 3
UC meets
for 1st time
in 2018 on
DEI & aid
STUDENT GOVERNMENT
Student reps ask Sellers
if Guarantee can help
students above $65,000
DANIELLE PASEKOFF
Daily Staff Reporter
ALEXANDRIA POMPEI/Daily
The Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority will construct more fences on parking structure rooftops to aid in
deterring suicides.
City to install more permanent fencing
in four parking garages to deter suicide
Budget for fences currently set at 400K, comes after seven deaths, injuries in 2 years
RACHEL CUNNINGHAM
Daily Staff Reporter
michigandaily.com
For more stories and coverage, visit
See FENCES, Page 3
As the second decade after
9/11 approaches, the question
of
counterterrorism
efforts
remains pertinent to national
and global discourse, from the
rise and fall of ISIS to President
Donald
Trump’s
promises
to tighten security policies.
Terrorism experts questioned
this evolution of governmental
policy Monday afternoon at
the University of Michigan’s
Ford School of Public Policy
event, “Terrorism at Home and
Abroad: Where are we 16 years
after 9/11?”
Nicholas
Rasmussen,
a
former
State
Department
official and director of the
National
Counterterrorism
Center, discussed his role in the
U.S government in its efforts
to eliminate terrorism. He was
accompanied by John Ciorciari,
the director of the international
policy at the Public Policy
School and facilitator of the
event.
Rasmussen first discussed
the early stages of his work,
especially pertaining to 9/11.
See TRUMP, Page 3
Terrorism
experts talk
security in
Trump era
CAMPUS LIFE
Former Counterterrorism
Center director fears more
decentralized landscape
KATHERINA SOURINE
Daily Staff Reporter
Issues of free speech on the
University of Michigan’s campus
this year haven’t exactly been
fun and games, but an outside
conservative group sought to
change that Monday afternoon.
Students played with and
scribbled on a huge beach
ball
labeled
“Free
Speech”
on the Diag, open to anyone
and everyone who wanted to
share their thoughts and write
something on the ball.
Nathan Williamson, one of
the facilitators of the event and
a Field Representative at the
Leadership Institute, an institute
intending to provide training for
conservative activists, has done
this activity at universities all
around Michigan in an effort to
promote free speech on college
campuses.
“It’s a beach ball we roll
around campus to promote free
speech, and we let anybody
write whatever they want to
on it as a practice of the First
Amendment,” Williamson said.
In recent months, the line
between free speech and hate
speech has been heavily debated
by
University
students
and
administration. In response to
a speech by Charles Murray, a
controversial
social
scientist
who promotes a since-debunked
relationship between race and
IQ, last October, protests were
organized, claiming his ideas
were discriminatory and did
not qualify as free speech. With
the impending decision by the
University as to whether or
not white supremacist Richard
Spencer will be given a date
and place to speak on campus
assuming the safety of students
can be assured, the University
has organizedevents during the
winter semester to examine
what free speech means on
campus.
Williamson said he brought
the beach ball to the University
because of FIRE, — Foundation
for
Individual
Rights
and
Education — a free speech
watchdog
organization
that
Right-wing
activists lob
free speech
Diag debates
City Council approves ordinance
to include member removal policy
See SPEECH, Page 3
MAX KUANG/Daily
Mayor Christopher Taylor-D discusses the ordinance to amend the city code at the City Council meeting at City Hall Monday.
CAMPUS LIFE
Off-campus conservatives prompt student
discussion on hate speech with beach ball
MOLLY NORRIS
Daily Staff Reporter
After two years of drafting, councilmembers pass measure for “proper course of action”
At the City Council meeting
on Monday evening, council
members passed an ordinance
to amend city code to include a
chapter outlining procedures
for removal of councilmembers.
The
Council
also
honored
Carolyn
Grawi
for
her
disability
awareness
efforts
and work toward implementing
independent living for people
with disabilities.
According to the Council
Internal
Regulation
Ordinance, cause for removal
of a councilmember includes
conviction of a felony, violation
of an oath of office, repeated
violation of council ethics or
administrative rules, conviction
of state criminal misconduct
or conviction of city or state
election laws. Upon requests for
removal of a councilmember, the
ordinance specifies the Council
Administrative Committee as
the investigative staff who must
recommend
the
appropriate
action for the request, such
as dismissing without merit,
scheduling a Council meeting
or referring to a government
or law enforcement agency. At
least
eight
councilmembers
must approve the removal of a
councilmember based on valid
evidence.
After two years of developing
the chapter, the Council passed
the ordinance unanimously.
Councilmember
Sumi
Kailasapathy,
D-Ward
1,
emphasized how the ordinance
is an essential and relevant
element to the code of the
city and enacts a system of
checks and balances among
councilmembers.
“I feel having (the ordinance)
is very essential that council
members don’t have a double
standard,” Kailasapathy said.
“That we too have to have code
of conduct, ethics and our
standards.”
With
council
member
terms increasing from two to
four years starting next year,
Kailasapathy also highlighted
ALEX COTT
Daily Staff Reporter
See COUNCIL, Page 3