and Hunter, Biden’s second son,
survived). He and his young sons
grew closer as they coped with the
loss.
“As much as I raised them, they
raised me,” Biden said
As they grew older, Biden’s sons
became interested in public service,
and Beau was poised to become
governor of Delaware when he was
diagnosed with brain cancer. At
the event, Biden talked about how
much he looks up to Beau and his
other children for their courage and
their commitment to public service.
He also focused on his work with
the Biden Cancer Initiative, which
seeks to raise funds for research
and facilitate progress in the fight
against cancer. Biden and his wife,
Dr. Jill Biden, have spent a large
portion of their time over the last
year working on this project.
Biden brushed aside questions of
whether he will seek the Democratic
presidential nomination in 2020,
just as he has at a number of public
appearances in the last year.
Though Schefter attempted to work
the election into the conversation,
Biden chose to focus on his family
and personal experiences and gave
no commentary or thoughts on the
current American political world
for the duration of the conversation.
LSA freshman Maeve Skelly
has long been inspired by Biden.
She attended the event and spoke
positively
about
his
personal
qualities.
“I’ve always looked up to
Joe Biden as not only a political
figure, but as someone I admire
personally,” Skelly said. “I admire
his resilience and his courage
because it takes a lot to come and
talk about the stuff that he did —
especially writing about it in his
book and all the hardships he’s been
through — and using that as hope.
Hope was a key theme of Biden’s
book and the event. Before Beau
died, he urged his father and
the rest of his family to continue
working for the things they cared
about; he hoped that they wouldn’t
“turn inward” after his death.
Biden said he was motivated in his
work by Beau’s passionate public
service, and that he kept working
after Beau’s death because he knew
Beau would have wanted him to.
Biden ended the event on a
positive note, speaking about the
accomplishments of the Biden
Cancer Initiative. He offered some
hopeful parting words.
“Folks, in the next five to 10 years
you’re going see a radical change in
life expectancy with cancer. You’re
going to see some genuine cures,”
Biden said. “That’s the kind of stuff
that’s happening. That’s why I’m so
optimistic not just about cancer, but
quite frankly the country.”
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Tuesday, February 6, 2018 — 3
actions as insufficient and lacking
in consistent follow-ups after the
initial impact at the beginning of
the semester.
La
Casa
external
director
Yezenia Sandoval, an LSA junior,
said University officials have not
exhibited urgency in responding
to the needs of the Latino
community.
“We’ve had meetings with
Schlissel, (E. Royster Harper),
and Sellers and we saw that the
responses were like, ‘Yeah we
understand,’ but there was no
urgency attached to it,” Sandoval
said. “They said, ‘We don’t know
how we can help.’ Now, they’ve
had time to understand what we’re
going through. Now, it’s time to
act, to back up their work. This is
an accountability mechanism.”
At the time of publication,
University spokespersons did not
respond to requests for comment.
The
first
three
demands
concern hiring more Latino staff,
senior administrators and faculty
members. One point calls for a
strategic hiring plan endorsed
by Schlissel “to increase the
number of faculty with research
and teaching expertise in LatinX
communities and cultures.” The
demands claim no deans, executive
officers
or
senior
academic
officials at the University identify
as Latino.
E.
Royster
Harper,
vice
president for Student Life, wrote
in a December email she aims
to make hiring processes as
inclusive as possible, with a focus
on selecting the most qualified
candidates.
“When we are at our best,
we create a diverse candidate
pool and work in partnership to
identify strong candidates for any
position,” she wrote.
Sandoval said a lack of Latino
professors
across
programs
negatively affects Latino students
and their studies when they don’t
see more representation leading
the classroom.
“I’m a Political Science major
and I take a class with (Vanessa
Cruz) Nichols, the one junior
faculty member who is Latina in
the entire department,” she said.
“In a department dominated by
white men, just seeing someone
reflect my background and share
commonalities makes me feel
more comfortable. But that doesn’t
just have to be Latinx individuals,
but those who have experience
working
alongside
Latinx
community. It brings a sense of
belonging.”
The Latina/o Studies Program,
the fourth demand, called for
support for Latino faculty who
are doing the vast majority of
mentoring of Latino students.
The group requested resources
to nurture and establish research
relationships
between
Latino
undergraduate students, graduate
students and faculty members.
La Casa also requested a “LatinX
Campus Climate Study” to assess
the opinions of Latino students,
faculty and staff on campus and
to further support additional
programs.
Results from the Diversity,
Equity and Inclusion Campus
Climate survey released last fall
found Hispanic students are 132
percent more likely to experience
discrimination on campus
The next two demands — the
creation of an “Institute for Latinx
Research”
and
more
Latino-
inspired spaces on campus —
outlined the need for spaces in the
community that commemorated
Latino
people.
The
institute
would focus on the study of Latino
communities in the 21st century.
“We want a university in which
we can all learn and thrive,”
the report reads. “We want a
climate free from hostility. We
want to see ourselves reflected
in the University’s leadership, in
its student services staff, in its
faculty and in its classrooms. We
want classes and curricula where
Latinx contributions to literature,
arts, culture and society are not
ignored. We want support for
our research at all levels. We
want a space where our culture
is centered and we do not have
to feel like outsiders. We want a
university that reflects the reality
of a country that is now, and always
has been, shaped by our presence.”
Sandoval said the demands are
a product of several generations
of Latino activism on campus and
brought together students with
older faculty and staff.
“There’s history here,” she
said. We’ve never seen organizing
to this extent we’ve never seen
anything like this. It’s been really
cool for staff, faculty, and our
members to see that. Everyone’s
been very excited and hopeful, to
see our community come together
to advocate for ourselves.”
In order to remain sustainable,
the
demands
request
the
University recognize La Casa as a
central voice in the representation
of the Latino community, and
guarantee $65,000 in funding
for program support. La Casa
specifically requested financial
support of the Assisting Latinas to
Maximize Achievement program,
as well as allowing the program to
start before the University’s move-
in date.
Other
demands
include
“the creation of a University of
Michigan outreach initiative that
specifically targets underserved
communities with a significant
presence
of
Latino
students,
modifications to the Wolverine
Pathways
program,
sufficient
staffing to promote Latino student
outreach efforts, and a new
presidential advisory board on
Latino affairs.
Sandoval said the demands
are
meant
to
go
beyond
administrators, “all the way to the
Regents.”
“We just want recognition
that the Latinx community is
present,” Sandoval said. “And
then representation. It’s so cool
to usher this moment—hopefully,
one day we end up in the archives.”
Atlanta trio Migos to Hill. Louis
the Child will mark the first time
a group of this nature headlines
the festival.
“Electronic music has never
touched
the
stage
in
Hill
Auditorium at such a large scale,”
MUSIC
Matters
Talent
and
Concert Chair Sam Reisman said
in the release.
A portion of ticket sales for the
show will go towards funding
MUSIC Matters’s new initiative,
“CoMMunity
Partnership,”
a grant the organization will
provide to a philanthropic student
organization at the University.
This year, for its first partnership,
MUSIC Matters will be giving its
grant to Books for a Benefit.
Books for a Benefit seeks
to
promote
literacy
by
providing access to books and
other
academic
resources
to
underserved youth in Michigan
schools. Co-founded by CSG
Vice President Nadine Jawad,
the Books for Benefit Chapter
at the University has a network
of 200 volunteers. The festival
will feature a showcase of the
organization.
The
festival’s
social
focus
extends to all aspects of the
day, and 2018’s iteration will
be a zero-waste event with
environmentally-friendly
food
trucks
and
social
activism
showcases among the arts and
culture events.
A full line-up for the daytime
component of the festival is still
to come.
“We are thrilled with our artist
selection for the night portion
as well as the programming we
have in store for the day, all of
which should make for the most
dynamic SpringFest yet,” Ladis
said in the release.
Tickets to the show at Hill
will start at $9.99 for students
and $14.99 for the general public.
They will go on sale Thursday,
Feb. 8 at noon for in-person sales
through the Michigan Union
Ticket Office, by phone and
through MUSIC Matters’s official
site.
Not-Rich at UM.”
LSA
sophomore
Sydney
McKinstry
argued
there
needs to be more accessibility
in order to find important
information quickly in the
guide.
“I
definitely
think
that
there’s
value
in
having
sections and including the
all-in-one
document
that’s
accessible to everyone, but if
there are not sections that are
labeled or targeted for certain
groups I think that it can be
difficult to cipher through all
the information,” McKinstry
said.
“Somebody
who’s
looking for resources to find
an affordable place to live,
who are already struggling
with funds, aren’t going to
need to read an entire section
on obtaining money through
canceling services and other
budgeting-type stuff.”
The group generally agreed
the guide would need to go
through
reorganization
to
address this problem while
taking care not to single out
specific groups.
“I think we can think about
a way to format it where it
does dissect that information
because
homogenizing
all
budgeting
into
all
socioeconomic status was not
a good move, and I think that
there is a way to disseminate
that information in a better,
more organized way,” Jawad
said.
Later,
Engineering
sophomore Brendan Jackson
voiced
concern
over
the
section
regarding
debt
transfers, explaining it didn’t
include enough information
explaining how to do it safely.
The
discussion
continued
with a focus on how CSG can
implement subsequent events
focusing on financial literacy
at the University, especially
for first-year and second-year
students.
“That
section
can
be
extremely
dangerous
for
people who don’t know what
debt transfers are and don’t
know how to do them safely,
and it can actually lead to
a lot more financial trouble
than you started in. I think
definitely if it’s going to be
included in future versions,
it needs to be included with
resources with how to do it
safely,” Jackson said.
The
group
discussed
strategies
for
increasing
student
turnout
at
CSG-
facilitated student workshops
and
other
possible
means
of making this information
available for students. LSA
senior
Zoe
Proegler,
who
criticized the guide through
a Facebook post after its
initial publication, voiced her
opinion
regarding
student
participation in informational
programs.
“I think having some sort
of financial literacy training
could be helpful,” Proegler
said. “That is a huge thing that
most people on this campus
have to deal with, and not just
student loan debt. Talking in
a more responsible way about
safe ways to manage credit
card debt and planning around
that could be really helpful.”
Later, the group discussed
the history of tenant unions
at the University and the
possibility of re-instituting
them. In the past, tenant
unions have advocated for
fair housing costs and fair
treatment
by
landlords.
The group examined how a
possible tenant union could
benefit current housing costs
by advocating for reasonable
prices and helping students
with budgeting. This topic was
tabled for further discussion
in the future.
In the conclusion of the
meeting,
Jawad
expressed
CSG’s intention to conduct
a survey as a method to
more
effectively
gather
student opinion on specific
sections
of
the
original
guide.
Additionally,
she
included plans to have student
representatives from various
student
organizations
and
groups to vet drafts of the new
CSG affordability guide before
its re-publication.
SPRINGFEST
From Page 1
FEEDBACK
From Page 1
BIDEN
From Page 1
Not
only
did
residents
express discomfort with the
proposed task force resolution,
but many council members
added
in
criticism
of
the
seeming lack of trust between
civilians and elected officials,
perpetuated by provisions for
elected officials to sit on the
review board.
Before the amendments were
implemented, Councilmember
Sumi
Kailasapathy,
D-Ward
1,
said
she
believed
the
resolution fails to express basic
democratic principles.
“We
cannot
believe
in
democratic
principles
and
have an institution that is not
bound by checks and balances,”
Kailasapathy said. “Who would
want to do this? Do you want
to be just a PR person for the
police
department?
There
are lots of good parts to this
resolution but there are four
or five holes in it that need to
be changed otherwise it is just
going to be a feel-good party
that won’t really do anything.”
Councilmember Jack Eaton,
D-Ward 4, shared Kailasapthy’s
view. He said he believed the
task force and the review board
itself could be better and should
not limit civilian participation.
“If we are going to have a
citizen committee, it has to
be led by citizens, not staff,”
Eaton said. “I believe that
we must form a task force. It
should not include any city
member as a part of the voting
process. Nothing prohibits us
from giving (the review board)
more power than advised in the
charter. We should give it the
ability to act independently of
the police.”
In
the
review
of
the
resolution,
Eaton
initiated
many changes, touching on
every
bullet
point
within
the resolution. He called for
independence for the task force
and the board, investigative
privileges and the exclusion of
city employees.
With Eaton’s encouragement,
the
council
amended
the
resolution to allow grounds for
establishing a task force where
council members and AAPD
members are not allowed to
vote, and a police review board
to be staffed by individuals
recommended
by
the
City
Administrator, as well as the
Human Rights Commission.
Amid
these
recommendations, the council
will also look to fill the board
with a large representation
of individuals from heavily
policed areas, mental health
workers,
restorative
justice
workers and social workers.
Finally, the council also passed
an
amendment
to
create
procedures within the police
review board to receive civilian
complaints.
Many residents, including
members
of
Transforming
Justice Washtenaw, discussed
their frustration with lack of
transparency in the AAPD.
Ann
Arbor
resident
Dan
Michniewicz
said
he
has
attended four council meetings
and repeatedly asked for AAPD
transparency and reiterated his
frustration once more.
“I ask you again to listen
to
the
residents
and
stop
the
bureaucratic
nonsense,”
Michniewicz said.
While the council agreed
to pass the amendments and
the resolution itself, there was
discussion of allowing the task
force, as well as the board,
access to confidential data.
Originally, only the public data
regarding
policing
practices
was to be made available for
investigative purposes.
Despite
the
call
for
transparency, Councilmember
Chuck Warpehoski, D-Ward 5,
expressed concern regarding
confidentiality.
“Moving towards a general
level
of
transparency
is
important, but confidentiality
is also important,” Warpehoski
said.
“We
need
to
make
sure we are honoring the
confidentiality of people not
convicted of crimes, that we are
not endangering minors. If this
moves forward it brings us back
to the issue of confidentiality.”
Before the over two-hour
long discussion on the task force
resolution, City Council, as well
as several members of the local
school board, discussed school
transportation difficulties. The
council also passed a resolution
authorizing the city to seek
permission from the Michigan
Supreme
Court
to
file
an
amicus curiae brief in Michigan
Gun Owners, Inc. v. Ann Arbor
Public Schools.
COUNCIL
From Page 1
DEMANDS
From Page 1
I think it can
be difficult
to cipher
through all the
information.
Provost
Martin
Philbert
launched a new task force
this semester to investigate
the undergraduate education
experience at the University
of Michigan. The “Task Force
on a Michigan Undergraduate
Education
in
the
Third
Century,”
composed
of
11
professors, one lecturer and
two student representatives,
all from a wide variety of
departments
and
schools,
will meet until June. In their
meetings, held every other
week, the group will look into
what a University education
looks like now and what it
might look like in the future.
Philbert started the task
force to examine the ways
the University can alter its
approach to the undergraduate
education as it moves into its
third century.
“For the last 200 years, the
University of Michigan has
prepared undergraduates to
be leaders and public servants
in society,” Philbert said. “As
the University embarks on its
third century amid a rapidly
changing landscape in higher
education, we must seek to
understand how we deliver
this vital service and how we
might shape instruction and
the undergraduate experience
for the future.”
Some of the topics the group
will focus on include figuring
out what makes a University
of
Michigan
education
distinctive,
examining
how
shared goals impact teaching
and considering the role of
the University in preparing
the next generation of citizens
and professionals. They will
eventually create a preliminary
report with next steps for the
Provost.
Anne
Curzan,
associate
dean for the humanities and
co-chair of the task force, said
in a University press release
the group will also grapple
with the role the Diversity,
Equity and Inclusion plan
plays in an undergraduate
education.
“I think as part of that
mission we’re really interested
in thinking about what we
know about how people learn
and the extent to which we
want students to be thinking
about how they learn,” Curzan
said. “We also would like to
think hard about what it means
when you take the principles of
diversity, equity and inclusion
and put them at the center of
undergraduate education at
the University of Michigan.”
Engineering senior Kevin
Jiang, one of the two students
on the task force, thinks
creating a vision for the future
of education at the University
will
be
the
group’s
most
important job. While working
with such an accomplished
group of professors is a little
intimidating to Jiang, he’s
excited to get to work.
“I’m a really big visioning
person,” Jiang said. “I think
visioning is super important
to
guide
any
organization
forward. So I think this task
force is really setting the
vision for how education is
going to look at the University
of Michigan.”
MAYA GOLDMAN
Daily News Editor
New group will focus on Third Century classrooms, diversity
Provost launches undergrad
education task force on future
We must seek to
understand how
we deliver this
vital service.