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Thursday, March 8, 2018 — 3A
by attending a police-community
meeting.
The requirement was designed
to expose future lawyers to the
daily implementation of the law
and help them understand what it
is like to be a police officer.
Law School student Samantha
Jackson, whose father is the
deputy sheriff of St. Clair County,
took the elective because of
her familial connection to law
enforcement. Even though she’s
been exposed to police work from
a young age, during her ride-
along with the Wayne State Police
Department, she said she learned
just how much each department
can vary.
“In my town, my dad has so
much pride in his career and is
really passionate about helping
people, and that’s the kind of
perception I grew up with,”
Jackson said. “And it wasn’t until
I stepped out of that town that I
saw the corruption that many
police departments suffer from,
the unfair treatment, how it’s just
so incredibly different — every
single police department can
really vary a lot.”
Professor of Law Eve Primus,
who teaches Criminal Procedure,
a popular elective at the Law
School, encourages her students
to participate in ride-alongs , but
does not require them to take
part.
“When courts interpret laws
or interpret the constitution,
and when the legislature makes
laws, they do it in light of what
they think are concerns that
police officers face, so I think
it’s important for students to
have exposure and to meet with
police officers to form their own
judgments, whether they think
those concerns are accurate, or
valid, or things the law should
or shouldn’t take into account,”
Primus said.
Law
School
student
Thea
Marriott
said
aside
from
providing legal perspective, ride-
alongs allow people to amend
misconceptions
about
police
officers.
“I think it’s a really beneficial
thing to do,” Marriott said. “I
think a lot of people have sort of
an imaginary idea in their head of
what the police actually do, and a
lot of it is more social-community
work than policing robbers or
something like that.”
Law School student Asma
Husain believes understanding
how the police work is an
important part of being a
lawyer, because police officers
are the facet of law enforcement
that people interact with most
often.
“Criminal law and policing is
the vast majority of the average
person’s interaction with the
legal system, and most people
don’t interact with lawyers, they
interact with the police,” Husain
said. “I think it’s a responsibility
of people who deal with the law
to see (the legal system) from
the perspective that people are
most often going to, and being
aware of not just what police are
doing for communities but the
amount of power they have over
communities and how they’re
using the law.”
In the Policing and Public
Safety elective, about half of the
students chose to participate in a
ride-along. Jackson said that most
of them had positive experiences,
and it increased their respect for
the work police do.
“Some
of
my
classmates
expressed that they had a more
negative perspective of the police,
but after the ride-along, they
still saw problems, and it didn’t
completely change anything, but
they had a little more respect and
understanding for the work that
police try to do, as imperfect as it
can be,” Jackson said.
One
problem
discussed
frequently in the elective was
the copious amount of discretion
police have.
“Police
have
so
much
discretion,” Jackson said. “You
know, we have these laws, tons
of laws, but they’re not perfectly
enforced
and
unfortunately
they’re often not evenly enforced.
That’s the cynical view, and
there’s a lot of truth to that. We
literally don’t have the resources,
no
community,
no
police
department, has the resources
to fully enforce every single law,
to catch every person speeding
on the highway. So they have to
make choices, and it’s interesting
to see what forms those choices
and to be aware of it and to speak
up if you disagree.”
In recent years, this amount
of discretion has come under
fire, with activists suggesting
it
disproportionately
harms
communities of color. AAPD has
recently been the subject of public
scrutiny as the city attempts
to
implement
accountability
measures—almost
four
years
ago, a white AAPD officer shot
and killed Aura Rosser, a Black
Ann Arbor resident. Earlier in
February, City Council passed a
resolution allowing for citizen
oversight over the formation of a
police review board.
After participating in a ride-
along at the Washtenaw County
Sheriff’s Office, Husain said she
can understand how the amount
of freedom police officers are
granted could affect communities
of color in unassuming ways.
“I think I had kind of an
outsider’s perspective of the
statistical disparities in what
happens to communities of color
in dealing with the police and
what that looks like,” Husain said.
“But I think seeing how the police
operate on a day-to-day basis,
I got a more informed view of
how that might happen and what
attitudes might perpetuate that,
and not even to be too forgiving,
but it’s not a matter of, ‘Oh, here
are the police who go out saying
I’m going to be looking at people
of color harsher than I am going
to be looking at your typical white
citizen.’ I think seeing that from
the officer’s perspective as well
is useful, especially if you’re
working on remedying those
problems and actually coming up
with viable solutions.”
AAPD
From Page 1A
Called the arterial everter, it
could be applied to a multitude
of procedures including breast
mastectomies or severely injured
limbs suffered from car wrecks.
This medical success greatly
impacts the field of reconstructive
surgery and health care.
The arterial everter works in
addition to existing equipment
known as the GEM microvascular
anastomotic coupler system, made
by
Synovis
Micro
Companies
Alliance Inc., a supplementary
company owned by Baxter.
The GEM coupler is an appliance
that works adeptly with veins;
however, when attempting to sew
small
millimeter-sized
arteries
with extremely dense walls, it can
make tissue transfers incredibly
difficult.
The
arterial
everter
disperses the compact walls over
the coupler, effectively connecting
the wide arteries.
Paul
Cederna,
a
professor
and chief of plastic surgery at
the University Medical School,
and Albert Shih, a professor
of biomedical and mechanical
engineering, were co-teaching a
senior-level
engineering
design
course when they realized the
coupler deficit challenged their
students to devise a solution.
“The students struggled but then
they excelled at end and created
a great design,” Shih said. “Is this
significant? Yes. You dream about
your innovation being used by
someone so it can enact change.
Eventually it will happen, it hasn’t
happened yet, but it is in the right
pathway to reach an impact on
health care.”
Jeff
Plott,
a
mechanical
engineering research fellow and
doctoral student in Shih’s lab, serves
as the product development mentor
on the project. Plott revealed the
trials of the developmental process.
“We started our design process
with a ton of brainstorming by
conjuring
up
many
different
ideas, and then started narrowing
that down with a combination
of what we think works versus
what is feasible to make versus
how is it going to get through the
regulatory landscape? We then
starting thinking more of it; it can
be something that is commercially
viable,” Plott said. “You’re kind of
balancing all of those things. By the
end of the semester, the students
had prototyped a device that was a
first proof of concept. It showed that
it was possible to flip an artery over
the pin and that is where we left off.”
Plott then paired with other
surgeons at the University to
further evolve the concept and
transform it into a product that
could be monetized.
“That device made by the
students was far away from being
something that was usable by
surgeons in the future and also
something that was manufacturable
and economically viable,” he said.
“So, after that semester, I led the
development of transforming the
device into something that could
meet all of these requirements.”
In order to make the transition
from idea to marketed technology,
the Coulter Translational Research
Partnership Program, a sector of
the Department of Biomedical
Engineering,
provided
funding
for product design and testing. It
also gave expert advice to fully
develop the technology and place it
into the hands of the health care
business.
Baxter then signed the licensing
agreement with the University for
the arterial everter to be accessible
worldwide. However, Baxter will
first need to file for Food and Drug
Administration approval and other
licenses.
After working tirelessly with
students, surgeons and engineers,
Plott rejoices over the success of the
technology.
“This licensing agreement is a
great validation of our idea. Our end
goal, of course, is always to make a
difference. This partnership will
greatly accelerate that path and will
enable us to get us there as quickly
as possible,” he said.
SURGERY
From Page 1A
LSA SG President Nicholas
Fadanelli,
an
LSA
senior,
sponsored the resolution, citing
the mission of the government
to serve LSA students and their
concerns.
“Part of this is not only
to establish what our stance
should be, especially given that
our mission is to actively seek
the voice of LSA students and
their interests, but also to grant
students something where they
do have a say regarding this,”
Fadanelli said.
Counsel Nathan Wilson, an
LSA junior, was also in support of
the resolution.
“I
think
there’s
some
disagreement about the question
on
the
merit
of
changing
Michigan time,” Wilson said.
“The
opposition
that
I’m
understanding is getting bound
up into having to oppose the
replacement of Michigan time
because
of
(an)
instinctive
reaction
from
students
and
that on the merit we should be
opposing the change to Michigan
time just for the sake of a guttural
student instinct. I don’t think that
this opposition holds true in the
circumstances like these where
it is not an issue that students are
unfamiliar with.”
Elected
Representative
Amanda Delekta, an LSA junior,
raised concerns over the binding
nature of the proposal and a
potential lack of representation.
“I think there’s a difference
between asking a question and
being bound to their response,”
Delekta said. “We are in this
room to discuss these issues
and have a conversation … it’s
dangerous to just link yourself
to that binding question. Also, I
think we all need to think about
how though students may be
educated about Michigan time,
the number of students who vote
in our elections is so small, so it’s
not a representative sample of our
student body.”
A change.org petition has
734 signatures as of Wednesday
evening asking the administration
to not remove Michigan time,
citing concerns that professors
will not end class at the proper
time and may run over.
“As of May 1, they’re getting
rid of ‘Michigan Time,’ a long-
standing tradition and travel
time for students, and shifting it
to leaving 10 minutes before the
end of class,” the petition reads.
“We already know how often
professors spill over class time
and this will most likely end in
students arriving late to their
other classes and still showing up
on Michigan Time.”
The organization also voted on
the proposed topics for the student
government’s upcoming election
ballots. These topics include pass/
fail usage, an establishment of
a General Learning Center and
residence hall card readers.
Fadanelli
also
mentioned
LSA
SG
will
meet
with
University officials regarding the
University’s
endowment
fund
investments. Last month, the
Detroit Free Press released an
investigative report stating the
University invested $4 billion of
its $11 billion endowment into
global projects by top donors. The
Free Press is now in a legal battle
with the University regarding this
report.
“It’s the belief of LSA student
government that if there is
no issue like the University is
claiming, having an investigation
just to show the public, because
this is a public institution, that
everything is up to code would
clear the University’s name,”
Fadanelli said.
Two
resolutions
were
also proposed. One included
allocating $500 to LSA facilities
to install a water refill station
in Haven Hall, while the other
will make an amendment to the
student government’s bylaws to
standardize the designation of
subcommittees.
LSA SG
From Page 1A
“If you know your history, then
people can’t give it back to you in
the wrong form,” French said.
Lecturer Anne Berg explained
how
the
Nazi
party
used
fabricated scientific claims to
promote and encourage racism
in Germany and compared this to
the current eugenics argument.
In this respect, she admitted
society today is not too different
from Nazi Germany.
This past fall, protests broke
out across campus as students
groups called on the University
to change the name of C.C. Little
building and bus stop, as their
namesake was a former University
president and President of the
American Eugenics Society.
“Nazis were lucky that they
had so much of a rich history of
scientific evidence and visual
legacies to draw on to build a
racial state that thankfully has
not yet been paralleled,” Berg
said.
Associate professor Rudolph
“Butch” Ware highlighted the
roots of racism from an Islamic
perspective
in
18th
century
Africa. Despite the fact literacy
rates were higher in regions
of Africa than in any part of
Europe, African people were
nonetheless seen as slaves. Ware
cited classical Islamic teachings
that racism stems from pride,
and urged the audience to set
their pride aside and engage
in dialogue to understand how
white supremacy has occurred
and what it has done.
Several speakers also focused
on the historical inaccuracies
from a national perspective.
Assistant professor Matthew
Spooner referenced the Haitian
revolution and Rebecca J. Scott,
a Charles Gibson Distinguished
University professor of history,
discussed the Reconstruction-
era government of Louisiana to
highlight the lack of historical
knowledge many hold, and how
this ignorance warps views of
current social problems.
“If we can’t understand the
past, we will be blind to the
present,” Spooner said.
Associate professors Stephen
A. Berrey and assistant professor
Allan Lumba made clear how
historical
interpretations
of
racial minorities in the United
States has contributed to their
treatment today. Berrey focused
on the interpretations of African
Americans and Lumba on Asian
Americans. Both Berrey and
Lumba used narratives of racial
hate crimes to showcase how
easily the perpetrator can hide
their motives, and how the real
story can lie hidden for decades.
“(This can be fixed) by telling
our
stories,
challenging
lies,
hyperboles,
half-truths,
and
fictions,” Barry said.
Geoff Eley, a Karl Pohrt
Distinguished
University
professor
of
contemporary
history, and Prof. Rita Chin
examined the roots of xenophobia
and its current presence both
globally and nationally. Chin
discredited the widespread belief
that xenophobia toward Muslims
in Europe dates to before 9/11, and
Eley explained how globalization
has created anxieties it originally
aimed to abolish. Eley argued
against the common positive
interpretation of globalization,
stating the combined effects of
globalization lead to warfare-
related destruction, encouraging
the massive migration of peoples.
“(The) global creation of a
borderless world drive people to
want to create borders at home,”
Eley said.
TEACH-IN
From Page 1A
Read more at
MichiganDaily.com
vice
president
for
medical
affairs, and David Spahlinger,
executive vice dean for clinical
affairs, faculty members list
several reasons for their “deep
disappointment in the concept
and rollout of the Victors Care
Program.”
According
to
the
Victors
Care
website,
services
include “24 hour access to the
patient’s physician or covering
physician via telephone, text,
or email, Same or next day
appointments, Unhurried visits,
A yearly executive style physical
examination, Assistance with
scheduling tests and specialty
appointments,
Minimal
wait
times (and) A written summary
report detailing the doctor’s
findings and recommendations
from
the
yearly
physical.”
There are also several bullet
points listed for “executive style
physical examination.”
The
website
specifically
notes memberships purchased
on or before June 30, 2018 will
be available for $2,700, or $225
a month, until June 30, 2019.
Starting July 1, memberships
will increase to $3,600 per year.
All
memberships
purchased
will expire in July 2019, when
the annual membership fee for
all members will become the
same. Membership fees are said
to cover personalized care, take
place of billing insurance for
primary care visits and allow
the organization to limit the
number of patients physicians
can treat.
Drawing on the program
description, grievances listed
in the faculty letter include:
being unaware in the content
of the Victors Care program
invitation
letter,
video
and
website; discriminating against
the underserved; promotional
materials
suggesting
Victors
Care
patients
will
“receive
preferential
treatment
at
Michigan Medicine based on
ability
to
pay”;
implication
that if receiving Victors Care
is quality care, receiving care
from traditional primary care
physicians is not quality; and
a concern that Victors Care
promotional
materials
and
website recommend care that is
not evidence based.
“We ask that the institution
stop recruiting our patients to
this program and advertising it
as providing much better care
than all the rest of our primary
care clinics,” the letter reads.
“Victors Care purports to offer
‘better’ health care to those with
enough money to pay a large
access fee. The University of
Michigan is a public institution
and our commitment is to serve
the public, not a private few.”
The letter also includes direct
quotations
from
Michigan
Medicine faculty, one of which
notes: “This reinforces UM as
an elitist institution catering
to the wealthy.” The letter has
since been signed by more than
200 Michigan Medicine faculty
members.
Masson,
however,
claims
Victors Care supports equal
access to health care.
“We’re committed to ethical,
accessible
care
for
all
our
patients and whatever programs
we put in place should not
diminish that in any way. This
will not adversely affect the
access of other patients to our
outstanding health care system,”
Masson wrote in her statement.
Efforts
to
contact
Runge
and program organizer Kim
Eagle, an Albion Walter Hewlett
professor of internal medicine,
were forwarded to Michigan
Medicine spokespeople.
“Some faculty and staff have
raised concerns,” Masson wrote.
“We’ve listened to them and are
working together to come up
with solutions that are mutually
satisfactory for the benefit of our
patients.”
Daniel
Berland,
associate
professor of internal medicine,
voiced his disappointment in the
program.
MEDICINE
From Page 1A
Read more at
MichiganDaily.com