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.