Anthony, an LSA junior at 

the University of Michigan, 
said he learned to shoot 
when he was 8 years old. 
His grandfather, a military 
veteran, taught him how to do 
it well and how to do it safely. 
He mainly uses guns for 
hunting and target shooting, 
and owns several different 
types of rifles, all of which he 
keeps in a locked safe.

Anthony, who asked to 

remain anonymous for fear 
of 
student 
repercussions, 

said 
he’s 
noticed 
some 

common misunderstandings 
about guns — and posed 

counterarguments 
often 

raised by gun owners. 

“That 
owning 
guns 
is 

‘dangerous,’ I’ve heard that 
one a lot,” he said. “They’re 
not dangerous to own, it’s 
people 
who 
lack 
proper 

knowledge and care.”

Anthony, 
who 
has 
had 

official training in gun safety 
and taken hunters’ safety 
courses, said he’s also seen 
people “fearing a gun based 
on how it looks,” citing recent 
calls to ban AR-15 rifles.

“People just need to have 

knowledge on guns and do 
their due diligence on the 
issue because most things 
they are told around the 
issue is false, but they have 

According to a recent study 

of demographics within the 
Ann Arbor Police Department, 
the demographics of the city’s 
police force do not match those 
of the Ann Arbor community. 
In a city that is 69 percent 
white according to a 2010 
census, 
a 
surveyconducted 

earlier this year shows the 
AAPD is 87 percent white or 
Caucasian.

Several members of the 

AAPD 
explained 
the 
lack 

of 
diversity 
within 
the 

department seems to be the 
result of an even greater lack 
of diversity within the pool 
of graduates from the police 
academy. 
Lieutenant 
Mike 

Scherba said in the state of 
Michigan, about 97 percent 
of the academy graduates are 
white males.

“What we found traditionally 

is that those coming out of the 
police academy in this area are 
white males and the tentative 
pool for the police department 
is then obviously primarily 
white males,” Scherba said. “As 
a result, we had to then look 
and think: ‘How do we better 
represent the diversity within 
our city?’”

A 
need 
for 
diversity 

representative 
of 
the 
Ann 

Arbor populace has also been 
emphasized 
due 
to 
recent 

racially-charged incidents in 
AAPD, such as the shooting of 

Aura Rosser in 2014 and the 
violent arrest of high school 
student 
Ciaeem 
Slaton 
in 

September, leading Ann Arbor 
citizens to call for increased 
transparency in the AAPD 
as well as a police review 
board. At an October rally in 
support of Slaton, Ann Arbor 
resident DaQuann Harrison 
said the incidents involving 
Slaton and Rosser –– both 
Black residents of the city –– 
were representative of a larger 
problem that existed in Ann 
Arbor as well as the rest of the 
country.

“(Ciaeem) is one of many 

youth of color who are targeted 

by police in here,” he said. “His 
situation is also one of many 
that has historically appeared 
here in Ann Arbor.” 

Members 
of 
minority 

communities 
at 
the 

University of Michigan as 
well, 
including 
Rackham 

student 
Javier 
Solorzano 

Parada, have experienced a 
lack of communication and 
understanding 
with 
AAPD 

that they feel is not on par 
with the relationship between 
the police and white student 
communities. When students 
were arrested at a tailgate 
hosted by Solorzano Parada’s 
former fraternity, which is 

predominantly 
Latino, 
he 

said 
officers 
provided 
no 

explanation.

“Communication is key with 

communities of color, and you 
need to tell us it’s not about race 
but safety, or size or whatever 
reason you may have,” he said. 
“And if I’m scared after all 
these years here, what must it 
be like for an undergraduate 
student? Or a first-generation 
student? We shouldn’t have 
to be afraid of the police. We 
shouldn’t have to live in fear.”

To combat the discrepancy 

between 
the 
community 

demographics and the lack 

Students know it is almost 

impossible to visit a social 
media 
site 
today 
without 

coming across an example 
of “trolling” or “fake news,” 
terms 
that 
have 
become 

prevalent in the wake of the 
2016 
presidential 
election. 

The University of Michigan 
has positioned itself on the 
academic front of combatting 
low news literacy with courses 
on campus and online, and 
is 
now 
making 
a 
bigger 

institutional commitment. The 
School of Information opened 
the Center for Social Media 
Responsibility 
last 
week, 

aiming to create strategies 
assisting social media makers, 
consumers and platforms in 
fending off these “trolls” to 
make internet news outlets 
more credible.

Information School Dean 

Thomas Finholt said when he 
was a candidate for the dean 
position in 2016, one of his 
major platforms was that the 
faculty had a responsibility 
to help social media be more 

michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Wednesday, March 14, 2018

ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SEVEN YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM

Gun control 
fuels debate 
btwn. state 
lawmakers

Depression on College Campuses 
keynote speaker talks technology

See GUN CONTROL, Page 3A

HALEY MCLAUGHLIN/Daily

Dr. Tom Insel, former director of the National Institute of Mental Health, discusses how digital technologies can help address depression at the Depression of Col-
lege Campuses Conference Keynote in Rackham Tuesday. 

GOVERNMENT

Students across Michigan prepare to 
walk out of class on Wednesday in protest

LEAH GRAHAM
Daily Staff Reporter

Other discussions include promoting campus wellness,aiding international student health

More than 100 people gathered 

inside Rackham Auditorium at the 
University of Michigan Tuesday 
afternoon to explore the benefits 
of digital technologies in helping 
depression on college campuses 

nationwide.

This discussion is just one of 

many events taking place during 
The 
Depression 
on 
College 

Campuses Conference held March 
13 through 14. The conference, 
which has been held annually 
for 16 years, includes a series of 
workshops, 
panel 
discussions 

and sessions that pertain to 

mental health awareness. These 
sessions include information on 
how to provide safe spaces for 
LGBTQ students, how to promote 
wellness on campus and how to 
aid international student mental 
health. There is a multitude of 
sessions specific to every kind of 
individual and demographic.

A campus task force last year 

found 96 percent of student 
respondents feel mental health 
should be accommodated on a 
college campus, but 74 percent do 
not feel comfortable addressing 
their concerns with faculty.

Tom Insel, co-founder and 

president of Mindstrong Health, 
kicked off the two-day conference. 

SAMANTHA SMALL

Daily Staff Reporter

See INVALIDATE, Page 3A

New center 
launches 
to combat 
fake news

RESEARCH

Former Obama social 
media manager to serve 
as head program director

MOLLY NORRIS
Daily Staff Reporter

ROSEANNE CHAO/Daily

AAPD seeks to promote diversity by 
increasing their pool of applicants

Department looks to new recruiting strategies to boost connections with underserved

GRACE KAY

Daily Staff Reporter

BBUM: Our history

Senior MiC editor Lorna 

Brown explores the history 

of multicultural lounges 

on campus
» Page 1B

See DEPRESSION, Page 3A

Engineering 
sophomore 

Hannah Rieske wanted her 
audience at the fifth annual 
SpeakABLE event Tuesday to 
know that her attention deficit 
hyperactivity disorder was not 
a disability, but a difference. 
Rieske was just one of many 
other University of Michigan 
students and staff who came 
together at Harlan Hatcher 
Graduate Library for a student 
panel. The event, organized 
by the Services for Students 
with 
Disabilities 
Advisory 

Board, provided a platform 
for students to speak on their 
disabilities and experience at 
the University.

Panelists at the event showed 

passion 
for 
advocating 
for 

disabilities rights. Many have 
chosen 
academic 
pathways 

that allow them to use their 
skills to help others in similar 
situations. LSA senior Henry 
Leor Schreibman uses their 
background in theater to speak 
on queer and disability rights. 
“The one area where both the 
narratives of queerness and 

See DISABILITIES, Page 3A

Students at 
panel talk 
navigating 
disabilities

CAMPUS LIFE

At SpeakABLE event, 
students call for more 
empathy and awareness

NATASHA PIETRUSCHKA

Daily Staff Reporter

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Call 734-418-4115 or e-mail 
news@michigandaily.com and let us know.

Check out the 
Daily’s News 
podcast, The 
Daily Weekly 

INDEX
Vol. CXXVII, No. 91
©2018 The Michigan Daily

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O PI N I O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

S U D O K U . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

CL A S S I F I E DS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
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For more stories and coverage, visit

See DIVERSITY, Page 2A

statement

THE MICHIGAN DAILY | MARCH 14, 2018