“neck-down” problems.
“Women’s sexual response is a
lot more complicated than men’s,”
Bruns said.
The female sexual stimulant
drug, often referred to as Addyi,
was made available in 2015 to help
address women with a low libido.
However, to this point, no such
therapy exists for improving the
sexual response of women relating
to their “neck-down” problems, or
problems in their genitalia.
In this published study, Bruns’s
lab used the same therapy that
exists to treat bladder issues
on 16 rats in order to see if this
would cause arousal. The process
includes injecting a needle into a
part of the rat’s leg, anesthetizing
them and watching their blood
flow. After 30 minutes, arousal
was determined by an increase in
their vaginal blood flow.
Bruns indicated he does not
know why the study results
showed this treatment causes
increased stimulation for the rats.
The lab intends to do the same
study on awake conscious rats and
get similar results.
At the same time as this work
is being published, the lab is also
working on a clinical study giving
women subjects the same therapy
the rats received. The purpose
of this is to see how the therapy
affects women with FSD.
Only women who scored a
certain number indicating their
levels of FSD on a survey were
included. Participants take the
survey before the trial, in the
middle and at the end in order to
see if their scores increase over
time. The results of this study will
be published later this year.
Bruns noted he received much
feedback throughout the study.
“One person who had low
sexual desire wrote this long story
about how her husband thinks she
is cheating on him and she is so
glad this work is being done,” he
said. “There is potential for a large
impact for this which I think is
really cool.”
Looking toward the future,
Bruns
noted
he
could
see
the therapy eventually being
transformed into a type of shoe
that women can wear. If anything,
he would like this research to
open up opportunities for people
to discuss their sexual habits and
functions.
“Part of my work is for people
realizing that they are not alone,”
Bruns said.
The prospect of this research
excites campus activists. LSA
junior Antonia Vrana, publicity
chair for Women’s Organization
on Rights to Health, a student
organization
committed
to
advocating for women’s health,
commented on how this type of
research can help bring women’s
health issues into the conversation
with in the University community.
“I think that the development
of drugs like this for women’s
health rights as a whole could
normalize taking a more active
role to embrace sexuality,” Vrana
said. “As students and people
from a young generation, it is
really promising to hear that for
the future, especially because
female sexual dysfunction is not
so discussed.”
Zimmerman first got involved
when
Bruns
explained
the
ongoing work to her. Zimmerman
was intrigued by the project
because “it struck a chord within
the feminist in me to work on a
project that is for women.”
new, that the reason they don’t
serve us that well is because they
haven’t yet adapted to our new,
growing population,” Navarrete
said. “Part of us addressing
that was creating this folder we
shared with all of our members,
you have access to and it’s open.
It adds historical context to our
issues.”
Over
the
years,
however,
the issues facing Latino and
undocumented
students
at
the University have, in some
ways, evolved. The Deferred
Action for Childhood Arrivals
policygranting
undocumented
students
certain
protections,
enacted via executive order by
President Obama in 2012, filled
Navarrete with optimism. She
acquired DACA status in 2013,
and from then on, focused on the
jobs, programs and opportunities
made available to her.
Yet, with the start of President
Donald Trump’s administration
and his promise to revoke DACA,
she no longer has this luxury —
now, the idea of being deported
remains at the forefront of her
thoughts.
“We have to regress and go
back to thinking about the very
real danger of being deported and
more intense ICE enforcement
and border control,” Navarrete
said. “That’s been the hardest
part. We were granted something
and then they took it away. That’s
the part that’s the scariest: the
uncertainty part.”
Postdoctoral fellow William
Lopez said this feeling is one
affecting
many
DACA-status
students, and can be crippling.
“What is it like to not know
if tomorrow when you wake if
you are going to be deportable
or not?” Lopez said. “Tomorrow
when you wake up you won’t
be able to go to your job and
you won’t be able to drive. You
know, this is having a real impact
on folks who have for the past
three to four years lived in some
relative safety from deportation
and now have no idea what the
future is going to hold from
them.”
The most basic benefit of
DACA is the two-year protection
against deportation of people
brought into the United States
illegally as children. The other
major
advantage
is
DACA
recipients’ ability to acquire
work permits, which can further
allow them to receive health care
and pay for higher education.
Trump’s
inauguration
into
the White House in 2017 brought
Engineering
senior
Javier
Contreras-Uribe back to reality,
just like Navarrete. He said during
the Obama administration, he
had allowed himself to let down
his guard and now, he is facing
the consequences.
“As
far
as
the
other
undocumented students that I
know, we all sort of have the same
feeling that things are getting
real, that we got too comfortable
and that now it is coming back to
bite us,” Contreras said. “A lot of
people stopped organizing, like I
said, we got too comfortable.”
And according to Navarrete,
being a part of the University
creates
this
false
sense
of
security. She said it can be easy
to feel safe on campus and forget
the danger surrounding her.
“When I’m in class or walking
through campus, I kind of live
in a bubble where I can almost
forget about things,” Navarrete
said. “This bubble, it’s false
because at any point you can get
deported. When you create a
distance between your at-home
community and this community,
at least for me, you almost feel
this false sense of safety.”
Undocumented students said
they felt the threat of deportation
last January when U.S. Customs
and Border Protection showed
up on campus. They parked their
vehicle behind the Michigan
Union, causing a panic among
students and faculty.
It ended up being that CBP
was on campus to recruit at a
career fair held in the Union. But
the sign of CBP’s presence was
enough to remind Navarrete of
her insecure status, even under
the protection of the University.
“Last year at the career center
they invited CBP and the CBP
patrol car parked crookedly on
the street, and the people in the
career center were all geared
up,” Navarrete said. “Those are
little things that can remind you
of the very real fears and dangers
that can happen anywhere you
are even when you’re safe on
campus.”
There are little differences
undocumented
students
experience going about their
daily lives, such as friends
discussing study abroad plans.
But LSA senior Hwi Sun Yoo said
the largest difference between
the daily lives of undocumented
students and those of others is
the amount of stress involved.
On top of schoolwork, clubs and
part-time jobs, these students
have
to
worry
about
their
residence in the U.S. Yoo also
noted his concern for his family’s
safety is especially high.
“I think just about anyone
you talk to will say that it’s their
family they’re most worried
about,” Yoo said. “Right now we
are protected under DACA even
if it’s temporary, but something
as minor as a traffic ticket could
really hurt our parents.”
Despite
these
fears,
Yoo
emphasized
the
importance
of
being
vocal
about
his
undocumented identity. He said
Trump’s election triggered his
decision to disclose his status. He
wanted to raise the awareness of
undocumented student issues.
“The fact that we’re such an
invisible community has always
been
a
double-edged
sword
because, on one hand, it’s really
hard to target undocumented
people
because
there’s
no
distinguishing physical feature,”
Yoo said. “On the other hand,
it does make us an invisible
community and without people
speaking up, and calling out,
and talking about the issues that
we’re facing other people have no
idea of knowing them.”
Navarrete acknowledged the
difficulty of disclosing — when
she first told her high school
counselor she was a DACA-
status student, her counselor
seemed startled. This reaction,
she said, made her wary of telling
anyone else. But she ultimately
became vocal in college for the
same reason as Yoo: To raise
awareness, and to better her
situation as an undocumented
student. She noted how the
recent discussions of DACA in
the government have increased
awareness significantly.
“It started this huge wave of
awareness and now everyone
knows what DACA is, which I feel
like is the silver lining of what’s
currently happening,” Navarrete
said. “It was way different a year
ago. I had to constantly explain it
no matter where I went.”
Navarrete and Yoo are part of a
student group for undocumented
students
called
Student
Community
of
Progressive
Empowerment. SCOPE aims to
build community and to advocate
for
undocumented
student
issues. Last semester, they held
a rally on the last day of DACA
renewal submissions to push
for more University support and
resources.
They
also
met
with
administrators and presented
them
with
four
demands:
Granting them a primary contact
person
for
undocumented
students,
fulfilling
financial
need, improving outreach to
prospective
undocumented
students and altering a policy
requiring students to enroll
28 months after high school
graduation — as 28 months, they
argued, is often not enough time
for students to gather enough
money for college.
The
first
demand
was
met
successfully
with
the
appointment of Hector Galvan
as
undocumented
students
program coordinator.
Yoo
said
she
feels
the
appointment of Galvan has been
helpful in working with the
administration.
“When
I
initially
got
more
involved
within
the
undocumented
community,
there were not many resources
to work with in the school, but
with the appointment of Hector,
I feel like a lot has changed, quite
rapidly to be honest,” Yoo said.
“We’ve gotten a lot of work done
this semester.”
Galvan’s role is to serve the
undocumented
students
and
DACA recipients on campus by
being the bridge between the
students and the administration.
In an email interview, he said he
is currently working on gaining
the support of more allies on
campus.
“As we know, this initiative
is fairly new to the university,
I am also working on building
a referral network of allies
throughout campus to provide
additional
support,”
Galvan
wrote.
Earlier this semester, La Casa
presented
the
administration
with their own list of demands.
These
demands
centered
around working to have more
Latinx
representation
within
the
administration,
more
support for Latinx students and
an
appreciative
environment
surrounding
the
Latinx
community. La Casa made sure
the document containing the
demands
was
comprehensive
and accessible to everyone.
The
reason
SCOPE’s
demands were less publicized,
Navarrete said, was because
that
community
is
smaller
and also more invisible. She
also said SCOPE had to have a
different approach with their
demands because it is hard for
the University to provide more
undocumented
representation,
as that community has less
access to those jobs.
SCOPE hasn’t yet compiled
documents
describing
the
history of undocumented student
struggles, but there certainly has
been a history in recent years. In
2013, the Coalition for Tuition
Equality fought for the right of
resident undocumented students
to receive in-state tuition — a
fight Contreras was a part of.
Contreras said since then,
the University has created a
program to help DACA students
financially each year, though the
existence of the program seems
precarious.
“The issue with DACA is
you can’t receive FAFSA, just
because it is federal aid, or loans
as well, so the University did set
up a pilot program, the keyword
is pilot,” Contreras said. “Every
year the Regents vote on it to
decide how much funding there
will be and if there will be any
funding at all. So far, we have
gotten lucky, ever since 2013 they
have been continuously voting to
fund it.”
The University has stated its
support for the undocumented
student
community
multiple
times. Last January, President
Schlissel released a statement
pledging his support of students
regardless of their immigration
status and his refusal to disclose
their statuses. This Friday, after
the Supreme Court refused to
hear the appeal of DACA ruling,
he released another statement
reiterating his support.
Galvan believes the University
should carry on with their
current work in supportingW
the undocumented community
and should aim to provide more
resources.
“The
university
should
support the student population
by continuing the efforts they
are
doing
now
in
addition
to
expanding
resources
thoughtfully,” Galvan wrote.
Navarrete
wishes,
though,
for the Office of Enrollment
Management
specifically
to
be more vocal. She thinks if
they voice their support, they
could
have
a
large
impact
in
encouraging
prospective
undocumented students to apply
to the University.
“I
think
the
Office
of
Enrollment
Management
is
the one I feel like has not been
responsive,”
Navarrete
said.
“And it can be the most powerful
one in serving undocumented
students because it encompasses
financial aid, admissions and the
registrar’s office, and those are
the three offices that obstruct
the people from coming to U-M.”
Yoo said even though resources
for undocumented students may
be improving right now with the
appointment of Galvan and the
continued discussions with the
administration, the struggle will
always be constant.
“Just because we’re doing well
right now, I don’t want people
thinking the issues are over,” Yoo
said. “It’s always going to be an
uphill battle.”
v. Board of Education, as well as
other events throughout the civil
rights movement. The students
also discussed the film, “The
Birth of a Nation” in detail since
the NAACP worked to stop the
distribution of this film featuring
the Ku Klux Klan.
“The NAACP has been around
since 1909,” Land said. “We want
to look at where we’ve been
and figure out where we can go,
maximizing our political power.”
The students then discussed the
beginning of the NAACP chapter
at
the
University
specifically.
Ravi Perry founded the NAACP
at the University in 2002 after
spending a summer as an intern
in Washington D.C., recalling
the lack of a Black experience on
campus with respect to socio-
political activism.
“In 2002, there was a lot going
on,” Land said. “They wanted to
get people out to vote.”
LSA junior Timberlee Whiteus
highlighted
the
differences
between the Black Student Union
and the NAACP, which include the
political nature of the NAACP.
“NAACP is seen as a national
organization,” Whiteus said. “And
this is a place where we can have
conversations about change and
protests and who we need to write
to.”
Land
explained
the
seven
committees of the University’s
chapter, which include Health
and
Awareness,
Membership,
Education, Finance, Program and
Research, Press and Publicity and
Political Action/Juvenile Justice.
Land
also
stressed
the
importance of the organization in
providing support and reaching
out to freshmen on campus.
“We really want to get traction
going into next year especially,”
Land said. “A lot of freshmen
come in and there’s culture shock
because they don’t understand that
Michigan isn’t the place that they
show you on the pamphlet.”
LSA
freshman
Darlena
York added from her personal
experience, getting in touch with
first-year students was important
for NAACP.
“It is difficult for freshmen,”
York said. “It was weird walking
in to see four Black people amidst
a bunch of people who don’t look
like me.”
The
event
concluded
with
Land urging students to sign up
for various committees and get
involved.
“We don’t have to change the
world in one day, but exercising
our power politically is something
we need to focus on,” Land said.
as the Big Ten Voting Challenge
and Turn Up Turnout, Promote
the Vote aims to garner backing
from the University and to show
students are seeking greater
access to voting.
Following the guest speakers,
CSG President Anushka Sarkar,
an LSA senior, announced the
upcoming release of the CSG
demographic
report,
which
will provide various data about
the majority of the current
assembly. In addition, Sarkar
discussed
the
possibility
of
presenting a resolution to invest
in revamping the University
Health Services as well as other
health resources on campus, due
to an alleged lack of funding
over the past few years. Efforts
are continually being made to
fight food insecurity on campus,
according to Sarkar.
In addition to referencing
the beginning of the revision
process
of
the
Campus
Affordability Guide, which was
criticized as out of touch and
insensitive to the issues faced
by low-income students, CSG
Vice President Nadine Jawad, a
Public Policy senior, proposed
a resolution to urge University
administration
to
include
Middle Eastern/North African
students
into
demographic
research.
Especially
with
the increased immigration of
ME/NA individuals to areas
such as Dearborn, Jawad said,
there is a heightened need for
representation of these groups
beyond
a
racial
or
ethnic
category marked “Other.”
“Not having this demographic
report information … means that
students are disadvantaged in
(the allocation of) resources,”
Jawad said.
CSG concluded their meeting
by
passing
resolutions
to
promote and fund new Battle of
the Orgs program and to support
and fund an event empowering
women and promoting the role
of women in government.
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Wednesday, March 7, 2018 — 3A
REPORT
From Page 1A
LATINX
From Page 1A
GOALS
From Page 1A
DRUGS
From Page 1A
MUSIC M ADNESS
Oren Levin performs at the first round of the Music Matters and Dance Marathon’s battle of the bands, “Music Madness” at Rick’s Tuesday.
CHRIS FCASNI/Daily
Read more at
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