adults destroy our village and
our country,” Kayongo said. “I
wondered who are these people,
when do you become an adult
who destroys an environment
in which people must exist. So
for me, adults were the most
untrustworthy people you could
ever meet.”
Eventually, Kayongo’s family
fled to Kenya as refugees fleeing
the civil war in Uganda. After
receiving a scholarship to attend
Tufts University, Kayongo moved
to Philadelphia, which became
the birthplace of his idea for the
Global Soap Program. Kayongo
remembered staying in a hotel
upon his arrival to the U.S, and
his surprise upon discovering
800 million bars of used hotel
soap are thrown away each year.
“Can you imagine delivering
children as a refugee woman
and the midwife goes in to
deliver your child and doesn’t
wash her hands and leaves you
with a germ that kills you in two
weeks?” Kayongo said. “It’s called
childbed fever. Yet here we are
in this country with 2 million
dead children every year to lower
respiratory disease.”
Kayongo then went on to
offer
important
lessons
he
learned while developing the
Global Soap Project including
leadership, service, and business.
He
explained
the
value
of
observation, valuing each person
and their contributions and how
true leaders are born through
service.
“A human being who walks
around
arrogant,
and
they
assume they know everything
… They lie because they have
never been at the ground level
to understand that housekeeper
mama, they’ve never been at the
ground level to see that refugee
child,” Kayongo said.
He
also
tied
his
own
experience to University students
and explained the importance
of believing in one another to
succeed as a unit.
“Remember
as
you
go
out and finish school here at
the
University
of
Michigan,
that the only way this school
becomes permanent in its status
intellectually … is if you have faith
in all of us to be part of the story,”
Kayongo said.
Kinesiology
and
Business
senior Abigail Ruch said she
resonated
with
Kayongo’s
message
and
explained
she
appreciated how he was able to
make his experiences relatable to
the audience.
“It was really valuable that he
catered his speech to students,”
Ruch said. “We have a lot of
speakers who come in here
and kind of talk about their
experiences
but
don’t
really
understand how they’re going to
connect it back to their audience.
I think for him, it was really smart
not to make himself like a hero
but make him seem relatable, and
be like anyone can do this, anyone
can achieve this.”
Ruch
also
discussed
the
relationship between Kayongo’s
efforts and Delta Gamma’s values,
especially in regards to spending
time with those in vulnerable
communities.
“We’re
really
focused
on
actually giving our time,” Ruch
said. “(Delta Gamma is) not
focused on giving money, and
that’s a valuable cause, don’t get
me wrong. I think it’s great that
we have so many chapters here
on campus who focus on raising
money and giving it to a good
cause. For me, I think the value is
in going out and doing things and
meeting people because you’ll
learn things you’ve never learned
before.”
Ira shared Ruch’s sentiments
and discussed how many people
on the University’s campus can
relate to what Kayongo had to
say.
“I really liked his message
especially that all good leaders
have engaged in service before,”
Ira said. “I think all aspects
of his talk are something that
every Michigan student can
take throughout the rest of
their career here and whatever
career or passions they pursue
post-graduation. I think what
he said about being a leader, an
active and engaged leader, in
everything you do with a service
mindset is so important.”
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Thursday, March 13, 2018 — 3
SACUA
DARBY STIPE/Daily
Senate Advisory Committee on Univeristy Affairs Chair Robert Ortega discusses campus programs and faculty responsibility at the SACUA meeting
at the Fleming Administration Building Monday.
State Sen. Margaret O’Brien,
R-Kalamazoo,
is
the
lead
sponsor of the bills. She said in
a statement these are “much-
needed protections.”
“It is important that our
laws protect those who are
most vulnerable, including our
children,” O’Brien said. “This
legislation would put fear into the
heart of any possible perpetrator.
Justice must be served.”
The bills would also allow
victims of childhood sexual abuse
to remain publicly anonymous
when bringing a claim in the
Michigan Court of Claims and
increase reporting requirements
for college employees and youth
sports coaches, making them
mandatory reporters of child
abuse. Failing to report could
result in a felony of up to two
years imprisonment and/or up to
a $5,000 fine.
An analysis of the legislation
by the nonpartisan Senate Fiscal
Agency said the financial impact
would be “indeterminate.”
O’Brien told the Associated
Press
the
pushback
is
“not
surprising
but
very
disappointing.”
“I don’t understand what a
delay would do except delay
justice, or maybe the hope is to
stop it entirely,” O’Brien said.
LSA
freshman
Morgan
McCaul was sexually assaulted
by Nassar when she was 12. On
Twitter, she berated MASU’s
request to delay a vote on the bills.
“I am ASHAMED to attend
a public university in this state,”
she wrote. “How much is a child
worth? They’ve just given their
answer.”
populations
such
as
racial
minorities, women and members
of the LGBTQ community.
After
the
University
of
Michigan
Substance
Abuse
Research Center closed in 2016,
there was a need for a new
interdisciplinary
center
for
substance use research. Boyd
then conceptualized the DASH
center.
In particular, Boyd said she is
interested in the intersections
between
drug
misuse
and
minority
populations
and
believes that the center can work
toward mitigating these issues.
“Sexual, ethnic and gender
minorities,
adolescents,
pregnant women, veterans and
the elderly are at highest risk
for the negative consequences
of substance use, including HIV,
injury, birth defects, suicide,
cancer, and liver disease,” she
wrote in an email interview.
“These
at-risk
populations
are the primary focus of the
DASH
Center
scholars;
we
are
faculty
committed
to
advancing
knowledge
of
substance
use
and
its
consequences
through
pioneering
scholarship,
evidence-based
prevention,
innovative clinical training and
timely public policy and service.”
Stephen Strobbe, a clinical
associate
professor
at
the
Nursing School, is a researcher
affiliated with DASH. He said
his interest lies in integrating
substance use screening and
youth psychiatric care. Strobbe
is working on a clinical initiative
supported by a grant from the
Flinn Foundation to educate and
train clinicians in adolescent
psychiatric care.
“The plan is to train members,
across disciplines from the entire
clinical team … toward youth
ages 14 to 18 who are receiving
inpatient psychiatric care,” he
wrote in an email interview.
“Across the lifespan, individuals
with mental health disorders
are
at
markedly
increased
risk for lifetime and concurrent
substance
use
and
related
disorders,
which
otherwise
complicates care, and leads to
poorer
treatment
outcomes.
Our
hope
is
that
earlier
identification,
intervention,
and treatment may help to
reduce
or
eliminate
some
(of) these potentially avoidable
complications,
leading
to
improved outcomes.”
Strobbe
emphasized
the
DASH center is a good place for
this initiative to happen.
“The
DASH
initiative
allows for robust collaboration
across
disciplines
to
better
address issues related to social
determinants,
risk
factors,
clinical care, and recovery,” he
wrote.
Yasamin
Kusunoki,
an
assistant
professor
in
the
Department
of
Systems,
Populations
and
Leadership,
works for the new DASH center.
Kusunoki explains why taking an
interdisciplinary look at health
and substance use is crucial.
“It is important to have a
variety of voices at the table in
order to most effectively and
creatively address these issues,”
she wrote in an email interview.
“Individuals
are
embedded
in
multiple
interdependent
social contexts, such as their
intimate relationships, families,
and communities, that have
both short-term and long-term
consequences for their health.
Therefore,
it
is
important
that researchers continue to
investigate
the
connection
between
social
factors
and
health.”
Similarly, the Addiction Center
conducts
multidisciplinary
research
on
vulnerable
populations such as adolescents,
pregnant women, older adults
and veterans.
Angela Galka, an assistant
to the director of the Addiction
Center, outlined one of the
Addiction Center’s major goals:
Examining
root
causes
of
substance misuse.
“Specifically,
one
of
our
major research themes focuses
on
the
identification
of
genetic,
neuropsychological,
and psychosocial factors that
contribute to alcohol and drug
use and/or disorders,” Galka
said.
Boyd
explained
DASH
offers
a
new
perspective
as a center because of its
unique combination of faculty
members.
Boyd
herself
is
also a professor of Women’s
Studies.
“As a director of DASH faculty
I bring together faculty that
focus on vulnerable populations
such as sexual minorities and
youth,” she wrote.
DASH is working toward its
three-year goals: Establishing
strong
connections
with
researchers who share in their
mission
and
establishing
a
mentorship
program
in
the
Nursing School. The mentees
would consist of undergraduates,
graduates, post-doctorates and
faculty interested in becoming
scholars of substance use.
As Boyd looks further into
the future, she envisions greater
training in the field.
“The
long-term
goal
is
to
increase
the
number
of
substance
use
scholars
who
are also nurses, and to build a
critical mass of substance use
scholars in schools of nursing,”
she wrote.
DASH
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NASSAR
From Page 1
KAYONGO
From Page 1
When
Sandra
Levitsky,
an
associate professor of sociology at
the University of Michigan, walked
into a meeting last Thursday, she
he hadn’t even had her morning
caffeine yet. She wasn’t expecting
anything out of the ordinary to
happen, and she definitely wasn’t
expecting to be presented with this
year’s Golden Apple Award.
“It was a surprise,” Levitsky said.
“I, unfortunately, had not had my
first hit of caffeine so I was trying
to process why all of these people
were walking into my meeting
from all different parts of my
professional life. It’s one thing to
sort of hear the news in the abstract
and it’s another to actually look
in the faces of your students. That
makes it all the more special … This
is the award that nobody expects! It
feels impossible.”
Winning the Golden Apple
Award shows Levitsky not only has
a love for teaching, but a talent for
it, too. The honor is the University’s
only
student-selected
faculty
award, and for the past 28 years,
professors and lecturers have been
nominated by their students for
the prestigious award. This year,
Levitsky was chosen out of a pool of
almost 700 nominees.
While in college herself, Levitsky
didn’t want to go into teaching. She
comes from a family of teachers, and
said she “fought the teaching gene”
by going to law school. But much
to her chagrin, she found herself
drawn
towards
the
discipline
anyway.
“About halfway through law
school, I had won a best brief
competition, and the dean asked
me if I would teach the first year
legal writing class,” she said. “It’s
supposed to be a really boring class
but it was my first opportunity to
sort of stand up in front of a class
and teach material and I found it to
be exhilarating. I found that this is
a value my family has had for a long
time, and no matter how much I
ignored it, I had it too.”
LSA sophomore Ellie Benson,
marketing chair for the Golden
Apple Award selection committee,
said the group chooses a winner
based
on
both
quality
and
quantity of nominations. This
year, Levitsky’s nominations were
clear stand-outs, and Benson said
students’ enthusiasm for Levitsky
came across as clearly as Levitsky’s
enthusiasm for her students and her
subject.
“A lot of times we see stuff about
how passionate people are about
these professors and how this is
much more than a class to them,”
she said. “But one of the things
I thought was really interesting
(about Levitsky’s nominations) was
how they thought her lectures were
like a TED talk and how fun they
were, and how she’s really good at
connecting class topics to things
that are going on right now.”
Though the award is student-
selected, Levitsky’s colleagues also
hold her in high regard. Sociology
Department Chair Karin Martin,
a sociology professor, said in a
University press release Levitsky
has worked hard to make her
classes as inclusive as possible
for
students,
especially
those
who are first-generation college
students.
“She’s
a
really
passionate
teacher,” Martin said. “She has a lot
of respect for students and thinks
students deserve the best education
that this university can give them.
And I think she really cares about
students as people — individuals
with goals and aspirations of their
own as well as whatever it is she
wants to teach them.”
Indeed, LSA junior Kia Schwert,
a first-generation college student,
sees Levitsky as a major source of
inspiration.
“I just want to say having
you as a professor at my first
semester here at the University as
a first-generation college student,
and you making yourself apparent
that you can be a resource here and
help make a place like this accessible
to me has inspired me and keeps me
going,” Schwert told Levitsky at the
initial award presentation.
The award is presented through
the University’s Hillel, and was
inspired by teacher Rabbi Eliezer
ben Hurkanos, who taught that
everyone should “get your life
in order one day before you
die.” In the spirit of Rabbi ben
Hyrkanos,
each
winner
of
the
Golden
Apple
gets
the
opportunity to give their Last
Lecture — the lecture they would
want to give if it were the last of
their career.
Levitsky hasn’t yet decided on a
theme for her talk. She joked that
she’s been glad in the past to not
win the award because of the stress
coming up with the perfect Last
Lecture would entail.
“When I first heard about
this award when I came to the
University as a postdoc 10 years ago
and I heard about the last lecture
part, I thought ‘Oh thank god I’ll
never win that award, that seems
impossible!’ and now the universe
has come around to haunt me!’”
Levitsky said. “So I don’t know what
(my topic) will be … But usually, the
process of inspiration is a solitary
one so I’m sure it’ll come.”
Nonetheless, Levitsky said she
feels incredibly honored to have
won the award, and is excited
for inspiration to strike. Her Last
Lecture and official Golden Apple
Award ceremony will be open to all
on April 7 at Rackham Auditorium.
28th annual Golden Apple Award given to Sandra Levitsky
The sociology professor was nominated by students for her engaging lectures and ability to connect class topics to current events
MAYA GOLDMAN
Daily News Editor
Resource Management Plan.
Amid discussions of higher
water rates, Tom Crawford, chief
financial officer of Ann Arbor,
discussed capital financing.
Crawford explained the capital
financing policy as “(a) sinking
fund based on prioritization of
need.”
Financial Services explained
that a new capital financing policy
would allow the expenditure to
follow a steady rate rather than
causing the budget to go through
harsh
spikes
in
expenditure
through wear and tear.
Councilmember Jane Lumm,
I-Ward
2,
expressed
concern
regarding the capital financing
policy.
“Conceptually this makes sense,
but its obviously expensive up
front to prefund all of this,” Lumm
said. “Where will this money
come from?”
During the budget proposal,
Financial Services also discussed
increasing expenditure for street
lighting. Following the capital
financing policy, they proposed
increasing
the
street
lighting
budget by $295,000 to $595,000.
With this new budget, City
Council could install about 30 new
streetlights a year.
Financial Services also proposed
using proceeds from the mental
health millage for pedestrian
safety — including street lighting
and electronic speed limit signs
near schools — as well as climate
action and affordable housing.
While the budget addressed
issues with city hall security, street
lighting, and police transparency,
Crawford also addressed future
issues for the city such as medical
marijuana,
increasing
parking
meter enforcement hours, the
Solid Waste Fund, as well as the
financial needs of a community
policing board.
During the special session,
which followed the budget meeting,
City Council passed an improved
contract of compensation for City
Administrator Howard Lazarus,
following a positive performance
review. The council agreed to a 4
percent raise to Lazarus’ current
salary of $215,000 to an annual
salary of $223,600, effective Jan.
1, 2018.
COUNCIL
From Page 1
Read more at
MichiganDaily.com