The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Thursday, January 11, 2018 — 3

RUCHITA IYER/Daily

Second year psychology graduate student Rachel Fine presents her research on the perceived loyalty of dual nationals as part of the Social 
Brown Bag speaker series at East Hall Wednesday.

SOCIAL BROWN BAG

to house the new minor, if 
approved.

LSA SG President Nicholas 

Fadanelli, 
an 
LSA 
senior, 

reviewed A.R. 7-026, a resolution 
calling upon the University 
to compensate CSG members 
for their time and their work. 
This proposal was previously 
approved, then vetoed by CSG. 

On Jan. 9, CSG President 

Anushka Sarkar, LSA senior, 
reiterated her reasoning for 
vetoing the proposal, stating 
she had worries about how the 
resolution would affect students 
without the organization. 

“I 
support 
the 
spirit 
of 

the resolution and I believe 

in 
financial 
support 
in 

compensation for just labor 
as 
we 
and 
other 
student 

governments do, but I take issue 
with some of the specifics of how 
the resolution would actually 
impact students in CSG and the 
organization’s integrity,” she 
said.

Sarkar stated she would be 

open to discussing other forms 
of compensation that would 
not 
risk 
exposing 
personal 

information or affecting internal 
decisions. However, at the LSA 
SG meeting, Fadanelli said he 
put out an LSA executive board 
statement against the proposal 
as many members in LSA SG 
have expressed concerns. 

LSA SG also discussed a 

resolution 
in 
support 
of 
a 

revision 
to 
the 
2020-2021 

academic 
calendar 
proposed 

by the Office of the Registrar, 
which 
would 
begin 
classes 

before Labor Day. 

Fadanelli advocated for the 

proposal, stating starting the 
school year one week earlier 
would 
prevent 
final 
exams 

continuing through Dec. 23, as 
they have in previous years. 

The University of Michigan 

is one of the five universities 
in the Big Ten that begins after 
Labor Day. The list includes 
Northwestern University, which 
uses the quarter system instead 
of the semester system.

According to a survey of 

about 800 students, Fadanelli 
stated about 70 percent were in 
favor of starting the academic 
year a week before Labor Day, 
 

with 20 percent opposed and 12 

percent indifferent. The main 
concerns with the proposal 
were how it would affect spring/
summer programs and move-in 
for University housing.

“The one thing we have to do 

as a government is weigh the 
pros and cons of a solution,” he 
said.

If the resolution is passed, 

students and University staff 
would have two-years notice to 
accommodate for summer and 
move-in plans.

LSA SG also discussed a 

resolution that would recognize 
United States Election Day as 
an academic holiday and would 
discourage course exams on all 
local, state and federal election 
days. Wyatt Puscas, LSA SG 
student advisory council for 
departmental affairs vice chair, 

argued 
this 
would 
improve 

student turnout at elections, 
and cited studies that showed 
involvement in elections at a 
young age encourages continued 
involvement throughout one’s 
lifetime. Main concerns of the 
proposal included the financial 
cost of missing an entire day of 
classes and whether students 
would actually use the day to 
exercise their civic duties.

Fadanelli 
reiterated 
the 

University is required to have 
a minimum number of days in 
class and if the University were 
to not hold class on Election Day, 
there would simply be another 
day of class added another time 
in the year, perhaps in the week 
before Labor Day. Other schools, 
he said, may not provide accurate 
parallels for the University to 

model policy off of.

“Sometimes we have to be the 

leaders and the best,” Fadanelli 
said.

LSA SG also discussed a 

resolution 
advocating 
for 

the 
improved 
conditions 
of 

staircases within the Mason, 
Angell, Tisch and Haven Hall 
complex, sponsored by LSA SG 
representatives Patrick Miller 
and Brian Wang. Miller and 
Wang expressed this complex 
is one of the most visited and 
decrepit locations on campus, 
and that LSA SG has received 
various complaints that the 
stairwell, especially in the math 
wing, is bordering hazardous. 

The facilities director has 

reportedly been responsive and 
expressed interest to renovate 
soon.

University; Lydia Wileden, public 
policy 
Ph.D. 
candidate; 
and 

Saundra Little, a founding partner 
at Centric Design Studio— a 
sustainable, design-focused firm 
in Detroit.

Foremost, 
the 
panelists 

brought to light the difficulty 
in standardizing a definition of 
gentrification. 
They 
generally 

agreed, though, the trend involves 
strategic, 
accelerated 
change 

in a neighborhood, and often 
comprises 
increasing 
wealth 

disaprities. 

They continued to discuss 

how neighborhoods shape our 
lives, and examined the costs and 
benefits of neighborhood change.

Detroit 
and 
other 
large 

metropolitan 
areas 
are 
not 

the only places impacted by 
gentrification. To that effect, 
students 
themselves 
can 
be 

involved in the gentrification 
process. Gentrification in Ann 
Arbor is particularly prominent, 
with costs of housing surrounding 

campus on the rise. A report 
by The Daily last fall found the 
median rent in the city increased 
by 14 percent from 2010 to 2015 
— the survey showed the average 
monthly rent of respondents to 
be approximately $772. Luxury 
high rise apartments sprouting 
up close to campus have some 
students worried about being 
priced out. 

The event’s audience consisted 

largely of community members 
and University students interested 
in gentrification and sociology.

LSA 
sophomore 
Grace 

Lees said she attended the 
symposium because it related 
to her Undergraduate Research 
Opportunity Program project on 
neighborhood segregation and 
community health.

“I think it’s really cool that U 

of M hosts these events during 
the 
month 
of 
January. 
It’s 

evident, especially where I grew 
up in Boston, that there is racial 
segregation in certain areas,” she 
said. “It’s such a dynamic issue 
— economically, politically and 
socially. I’m at this event to hear a 
couple different sides.”

MLK
From Page 1

LSA SG
From Page 1

has 
been 
criticized 
for 
its 

high concentration of upper-
class students —t he median 
family income of a student at 
the University is $154,000 — 
multitudes 
of 
high-income 

students say they find themselves 
reconciling their tax cuts with 
the burdens low-income students 
could face. The average University 
student, then, would stand to gain 
approximately $2,094 in the next 
fiscal year under the new tax plan. 
The 3,000 students on campus 
recieving free tuition via the new 
Go Blue Guarantee, on the other 
hand, hail from families with 
household incomes of $65,000 or 
less. At most, these lower income 
brackets will recieve 150 percent 
less than the average University 
student. The lowest brackets 
could lose as much as $384 over 
the next two years. 

Public Policy junior Lauren 

Schandevel said the tax increases 
on low-income households could 
generate issues for them while 
upper-class 
students 
remain 

untouched.

“The eventual tax increase 

and healthcare premium hike 
on lower- and middle-income 
households will make paying for 
college –– and necessities like 
rent, food and textbooks –– even 
less likely, while the sustained 
cut for higher-income households 
will allow wealthier students to 
purchase all of these things with 
plenty to spare,” Schandevel said.

However, 
Engineering 

sophomore 
Lincoln 
Merrill, 

publicity chair of the University’s 
chapter of College Republicans, 
said people will face different 
financial impacts from the tax bill 
because of factors like size of the 
household. He said blaming the 
differences on high or low income 
is for purely political reasons.

“Overall, most people will 

benefit with only a few people 
not benefitting from the new 
bill,” Merrill said. “However, 
this has nothing to do with 
high-income versus low-income 
households but rather depends 
on other factors such as size and 
location of the household among 
other factors. The claims that the 
new bill will help high-income 
students while hurting lower 
income students are completely 
false and likely have been made 
on political grounds alone as even 

low-income students will benefit, 
in some cases more than high-
income students.”

Nursing 
sophomore 
Lori 

Fong said her parents now make 
a relatively high income, but 
originally came from a lower 
socioeconomic status. She said the 
tax bill will only reinforce cycles 
of poverty, something her family 
was lucky to escape.

“If you have parents who make 

a generally high income, then 
you are going to be more likely to 
succeed. You have that advantage 
already. People who complain 
about money going to lower-
income people, but then complain 
about there being lower-income 
people… it’s just hypocritical,” 
Fong said.

Smith said articles written 

usually quote people who make 
around six figures, leaving little 
context for those who are already 
marginalized. Still, he said he 
doesn’t 
feel 
any 
resentment 

toward people who will benefit 
from the bill.

“I don’t feel any resentment,” 

he said. I just try to inform people 
of the privilege they do have, but 
at the same time, not shame them. 
“I just need people to think about 
it.”

TAX
From Page 1

CASEY TIN/Daily

members of Friends of Ann 
Arbor Wildlife in Nature, a 
local 
animal 
rights 
group, 

claimed to have seen people 
entering Ann Arbor parks while 
sharpshooters were working, 
uninformed 
the 
contractors 

were shooting at the time.

Lisa 
Abrams, 
a 
FAAWN 

organizer, 
suggested 
other 

homeless people may be living 
near the cull areas. FAAWN 
is urging the city to postpone 
further cull operations until 
more thorough safety protocols 
are established.

City 
officials 
emphasize 

that 
the 
hired 
contractor, 

White Buffalo, Inc., continues 
to follow the safety measures 
outlined 
by 
City 
Council. 

According 
to 
MLive, 
Lisa 

Wondrash, 
communications 

director at White Buffalo, said 
the contractor is continually 
observing the area to look 
for any other people or safety 
hazards. White Buffalo also 
utilizes night-vision technology, 

allowing 
sharpshooters 

distinguish between deer and 
people or other animals. They 
also 
have 
enacted 
security 

protocols, like the use of night 
vision technology, to make sure 
people don’t enter the cull areas 
while operations are taking 
place.

This is the city’s third annual 

deer cull, and the contractor 
aims to eliminate 250 deer by 
Jan. 31. The cull will likely 
continue as planned in the 
coming days. 

Although 
the 
cull 
began 

from 
complaints 
regarding 

deer harming their properties 
— it has always been a subject 
of controversy in Ann Arbor. 
Supporters, such as University 
bioligists, claim it is the most 
effective 
way 
to 
prevent 

car 
accidents, 
the 
spread 

of 
disease, 
and 
ecological 

damage. However, oppononents 
criticize the city for not being 
transparent 
enough 
in 
its 

dealings regarding the cull.

DEER
From Page 1

The University of 

Michigan is not playing 
around — on Jan. 13 and 14, 
the University of Michigan 
School of Music, Theatre & 
Dance will host for the first 
time the North American 
Conference on Video Game 
Music for its fifth annual 
gathering. The conference 
will feature discussions 
on the different aspects of 
video game music, such as 
composition and music theory, 
and seeks to bring together 
scholars who specialize in 
these topics.

The first annual 

conference was hosted at 
Youngstown State University 
in 2014 and the conference 
is now levelling up to the 
University of Michigan. The 
2014 conference was the 
first conference to address 
video game music relative to 
academia. William Gibbons, 

a conference organizer at the 
event, spoke of the influence 
such a topic can have within 

the scholarly world, especially 
considering the rising 
popularity of video game 

music studies.

“I think it’s an extremely 

important event that’s 
happening at a great time for 
game studies. Video games 
as an academic pursuit have 
been increasingly popular 
and increasingly relevant to 
scholars, and game music 
studies are starting to catch 
up to that. I think it has 
the potential to be a really 
important event for the field,” 
Gibbons said.

Music, Theatre & Dance 

assistant professor Matthew 
Thompson, who teaches a 
minicourse at the University 
on video game music and 
doubles as a classical pianist, 
is the lead organizer of this 
year’s event. He stated the 
impact of video game music 
extends beyond technology 
and gaming as it also utilizes 
the work of traditional 
orchestras across the world. 

“The number one reason 

that video game music exists 
is to increase immersion,” 
Thompson said. “Early on, the 
programmers were the same 
people who composed. Game 
audio has progressed so much 
since then, that now there are 
huge music budgets for these 
AAA games that are recorded 
by the top orchestras in the 
world and highly interactive, 
complex musical scores.”

The program committee 

also includes professors from 
the University of Hartford, 
University of Texas at Austin, 
Davidson College, Ithaca 
College, Ohio State University 
and Youngstown State 
University. The conference 
will offer eight sessions, 
each highlighting a different 
theme and bringing forward a 
variety of presenters.

ON THE DAILY: VIDEO GAME MUSIC CONFERENCE TAKES ANN ARBOR

Read more at 
MichiganDaily.com

The number 

one reason that 

video game 
music exists 
is to increase 
immersion

