talking about and creating policies 
for invisible identities on campus 
— survivors of sexual assault, 
students of low (socioeconomic 
status), members of the LGBT 
community,” Baer said. “These 
identities 
are 
not 
as 
seen 

within our assembly right now 
because they aren’t talked about. 
Something we can improve on is 
talking about policies and cultures 
surrounding these groups on 
campus and with that, that’s how 
we create platforms and policies 
that positively affect them.”

MomentUM 
lauded 
voter 

registration as one of CSG’s 
greatest successes from the past 
year. However, vice presidential 
candidate 
Charlie 
Bingham, 

an LSA junior, pointed out the 
tokenization of minorities as one of 
the largest failures in CSG.

“I think the biggest failure of 

CSG is we still, in this organization, 
have a culture that makes students 
of color feel that they are only 
wanted because of the color of 
their skin,” Bingham said. “We still 
have representatives sitting on this 
assembly right now who have done 
incredible work who feel they have 
been used in this election to get 
votes — that is not acceptable.”

The debate went on to focus 

on what each party viewed as the 

most relevant issues facing the 
campus, which were also within 
CSG’s power to control. 

Let’s Keep Michigan Time 

called on CSG to use their influence 
on campus to speak out against 
issues like gun control through 
forms of organized protests.

“CSG has so much power, CSG 

can organize protests not just at 
the University but of Washtenaw 
County and the area to keep us 
safe,” Tappen said. “Gun control 
isn’t a huge issue just for school 
shootings but suicides too. Gun 
control is by far probably one of the 
biggest issue affecting us and CSG 
has the power as an organization 
to be protesting, going against the 
norm and saying what we really 
want.”

The Defend Affirmative Action 

Party followed on the theme of 
national issues and emphasized 
their stance on raising awareness 
about issues of discrimination, 
immigration and sexism with CSG 
influence.

“The school needs to send out 

a warning if ICE (Immigration 
and Customs Enforcement) is 
on campus, they need to protect 
our profs, they need to protect 
our students that are remanding 
residence,” LSA senior Lauren 
Kay, 
the 
Defend 
Affirmative 

Action Party candidate, said. “It’s 
unacceptable that they do not 
already do things like this.” 

The next question asked about 

the kind of relationship each 
party sought to have with the 
University 
administration 
and 

Board of Regents. Law School 
student 
Matthew 
Williams, 

vice presidential candidate for 
aMplify, discussed their party’s 
hope to leverage their ties with 
the administration in order to 
establish a partnership, which 
would then allow them to pass 
resolutions.

“If 
we’re 
going 
to 
move 

forward, we’re going to move 
forward in partnership with the 
administration,” Williams said. 
“They have power to block our 
initiatives, and we have to be able 
to partner with them.” 

However, Kay had a less 

diplomatic approach to dealing 
with the administration. The party 
emphasized their desire to ensure 
the University complies with the 
wishes of the student body, and not 
vice versa.

“How are we going to work with 

the administration?” Kay said. 
“The administration has to work 
for us first. We do not deny our own 
power, the anti-war movement, the 
civil rights movement, the various 
campus protests of the 1960s and 
1970s the students took action and 
power into their own hands and 
didn’t ask for the administration to 
give them permission.”

corporations to sever relationships 
with the NRA),” Davis said. 
“Amazing. Nothing happens in 
two days, but two dozen companies 
basically cut ties with the NRA on 
the threat of a boycott, not even an 
actual boycott. So that just seemed 
pretty remarkable.”

While Davis said corporations 

typically shy away from political 
statements, it becomes increasingly 
difficult to avoid taking a stand 
in 
2018. 
With 
social 
media, 

consumers have a louder voice, 
making corporate practices and 
partnerships much more visible 
and subject to scrutiny.

“The speed of concerns or 

grievances to go viral or to become 
really 
well-known, 
that’s 
the 

biggest one,” Davis said. “The fact 
that Applebee’s fires a hostess 
because she posted something 
funny 
about 
a 
customer 
on 

Instagram, and this becomes 
some (issue of controversy) with 
thousands 
of 
people 
flooding 

Applebee’s 
with 
negative 

comments. That couldn’t happen 
before social media.”

Though social media has had a 

monumental effect in corporations 
renouncing the NRA recently, 
several 
mass 
shootings 
have 

occurred in the age of Twitter 
and Facebook without the same 
response from businesses. This 
time is different, as Stoneman 
Douglas students have gone viral 
for their videos, speeches and social 
media posts for the #NeverAgain 
movement, challenging powerful 
adults in Washington, D.C. and 
the NRA. Davis noted the role of 
the Parkland survivors has likely 

changed the conversation.

“The narrative seems to be that 

this is an unusually well-spoken 
group of kids that were clearly 
victims of this life-changing event, 
and they were speaking from an 
untarnished place,” Davis said. “It 
wasn’t that they came in with an 
agenda. They did not choose to be 
in this situation, and now they’re 
trying to find a way out of it. And 
that just has a moral clarity that’s 
hard to find.”

In the wake of the Parkland 

shooting, 
Dick’s 
Sporting 

Goodsannounced that it would no 
longer sell firearms or ammunition 
to anyone under 21 and that it 
would also end its sales of assault-
style rifles.

Though LSA junior Ryan Roose 

said he was encouraged to hear 
about Dick’s Sporting Goods’s 
statement, this same act can turn 
other customers away.

“My brothers and I talked about 

how Dick’s is doing that, we thought 
it was good, and we just supported 
that, and we want to shop more at 
their stores now,” Roose said. “We 
had friends that they didn’t want to 
shop there anymore because they 
didn’t think that Dick’s should be 
making political stances.”

While Davidson said Bivouac 

vocally supports environmental 
nonprofits, such as the Leslie 
Science and Nature Center and the 
Conservation Resource Alliance, 
they do not make overtly political 
statements or support political 
candidates as a business. Davidson 
echoed Roose’s concerns about 
deterring individuals with differing 
political opinions from purchasing 
products from Bivouac and said 
there’s a balance businesses have 
to strike to be competitive but also 
speak out on issues.

“It’s always a fine line of, once 

again, we feel like we know there 
are two beliefs on some things, and 
as a business you don’t want to do 
too much to discourage a group of 
people from shopping in the store,” 
Davidson said.

Part of toeing the fine line for 

Bivouac is giving customers the 
option to support different social 
causes. At the checkout line, 
customers can buy a Pincause pin 
for causes such as the National 
Student Walkout, the Women’s 
March and animal rescue. Though 
some consumers want companies 
to tread lightly on politics, Roose 
said he wants corporations to be 
openly political because he wants 
to align his shopping choices with 
his ideology.

“I 
definitely 
prefer 
when 

companies come out and make 
political statements,” Roose said. “I 
think users, for one, should know 
what their company stands for, and 
I think companies should be able to 
stand for what they want.”

While some consumers, like 

Roose, enjoy forthright political 
stances from companies, Davidson 
said Bivouac tries to support its 
values without being too “in your 
face.” However, he also said U.S. 
gun violence is not an issue in 
which to remain silent.

“I think there are certain issues 

that are so important and so big and 
so crucial to the future of America 
that at some point you got to say 
something, and you’ve got to take 
a stand somewhere,” Davidson 
said. “And I think this is one of 
those issues where it’s getting out 
of control. We need to start making 
change, so we’re going to do what 
we can do, as small as it might be, 
to show where we stand and where 
our values are.”

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Tuesday, March 20, 2018 — 3

representative 
elections. 

Six assembly members were 
nominated to fill the three 
seats being vacated at the end 
of April by SACUA members 
Dave 
Wright 
and 
Stefan 

Szymanski, and SACUA Chair 
Robert Ortega. All nominated 
assembly members presented 
a short speech to the Assembly 
immediately 
preceding 
the 

vote. 
Currently, 
only 
two 

women sit on SACUA, but 
beginning April 30, five of the 
nine members will be women.

At the close of the meeting, 

assembly members were given 
the opportunity to vote, and 
after the ballots were counted, 
Colleen Conway, Sarah Lippert 
and Deirdre Spencer were 
awarded the three seats.

Conway, professor of music 

education, noted in her speech 
that she works in the School 
of Education as well as in 
the School of Music, Theatre 
and Dance, which broadens 
her 
understanding 
and 

connections across the school. 

She 
also 
has student 

teachers working in schools 
across the area, which she 
attributed to her knowledge 
of the region and offering her 
additional perspectives.

“I also believe that my work 

specifically 
with 
education 

crosses over the boundaries,” 
Conway said. “Most of my 
colleagues in the School of 
Music, Theatre and Dance are 
in the creative arts areas only.”

Lippert, associate professor 

of art history, and the only 
nominee from the U-M Flint 
campus, spoke to the lack 
of representation from her 
campus.

“As 
a 
matter 
of 
fair 

representation, it is time for 
Flint to have a seat at the 
table,” Lippert said.

Lippert is the chair of the 

Tri-Campus 
Task 
Force, 
a 

board 
of 
representatives 

from all three University of 
Michigan campuses aimed at 
improving faculty governance.

“Recent 
newsworthy 

events means that our place 
within the institution needs 
to be heard, and we hope that 
(SACUA) contact will help us 
overcome our challenges that 

are unique to the Flint campus, 
as students and as community 
partners,” Lippert said.

Deirdre Spencer, librarian 

for History of Art, emphasized 
in her speech she always 
lobbies for resources for the 
Flint and Dearborn campuses, 
and highlighted racial tension 
and bigotry on campus. All 
three campuses have suffered 
spates of racist vandalism and 
bias incidents in year following 
the 2016 presidential election. 

“Historically, the University 

of Michigan is a champion for 
cause of humanity and social 
justice,” Spencer said. “This 
has led to the creation of new 
areas of scholarship, and new 
programs and services, which 
have benefitted many. As a 
university, we have come so far 
and done so much. But progress 
is cyclical. Each generation 
fights new versions of the 
same battle. For excellence to 
continue during this period 
of 
escalating 
uncertainty, 

representative leadership is 
needed.”

Conway, 
Lippert 
and 

Spencer will serve three-year 
terms on SACUA. 

SACUA
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DEBATE
From Page 1

to bust myths that students cannot 
do well in certain classes. With 
this data, students can evaluate the 
difficulty of courses and evaluate 
when they should take a course 
and how to best build a schedule 
that works for them.

“When we talk about ART 

2.0, one of the things we talk 
about is myth-busting,” Homkes-
Hayes 
said. 
“Our 
intent 
to 

show (grade distributions) was 
because students demonstrated 
they wanted to see it and we can 
de-mysticize 
any 
information 

about how grades are distributed.”

The ART 2.0 team worked 

directly 
with 
Vice 
Provost 

James Holloway’s office in order 
to develop the tool and utilize 
accurate data. For example, they 
will only show substantiated data 
in classes with enough information 
to do so in regards to instructor 
ratings and scores so in a class 
with fewer grade samples, the 
distribution doesn’t deter students 
from registering for certain classes 
with smaller class size caps.

“We are being really intentional 

about what has been shown and 
we will follow the guidelines of the 
Provost’s office in order to do so,” 
Homkes-Hayes said.

The 
Office 
of 
Academic 

Innovation continually engages 
with students and faculty to 
identify the future areas where 
they can help students. Homkes-

Hayes 
mentioned 
potential 

alumni data for showing students 
pathways they can take following 
degree completion as an idea for 
future ART 2.0 updates.

Engineering 
junior 
Kevin 

Zheng works with the program, 
analyzing the data ART 2.0 collects 
and comparing the grades between 
schools, subjects and courses. He 
also works to improve interfaces 
for instructors to get feedback 
from students. Zheng pointed out 
the workload metric could provide 
skewed results because students in 
difficult, lower-level courses have a 
high proportion of students rating 
it as “high workload” but higher-
level, more self-selective courses 
are less likely to have this workload 
rating.”

“Providing grade distributions 

is 
especially 
useful 
because 

students can use it in conjunction 
with the workload metric,” Zheng 
wrote. “In some situations, the 
workload metric is less useful 
under the assumption that students 
in different levels of a subject may 
perceive 
workload 
differently. 

Grade distributions help to reduce 
some of this uncertainty.”

Zheng uses ART 2.0 during 

backpacking and registration and 
said the new grade distribution 
element helps him evaluate which 
courses to take. He checks ART’s 
student evaluations, instruction 
evaluations, class size outputs and 
which courses students take before 
or during this course.

“I use ART during backpacking 

and registration all the time,” 

Zheng wrote. “Grade distributions 
would fit nicely into my workflow 
using ART to evaluate whether 
a course is a good fit for me. I 
imagine myself looking at the grade 
distributions to help balance my 
workload so that I don’t overload 
myself.”

Despite 
excitement 
from 

students, faculty members have 
historically had some concerns 
about 
the 
tool, 
which 
was 

originally only available to faculty 
members. 
When 
the 
original 

tool premiered in 2016, SACUA 
member and Kinesiology Professor 
Stephen Symanski said he was 
worried the effectiveness of ART 
2.0 would change when it opened 
to user input. 

“Among people of goodwill, 

there are never problems really,” 
Szymanski said. “But sadly, we are 
not 100 percent goodwill.”

According 
to 
Tim 
McKay, 

LSA professor and director of the 
Digital Innovation Greenhouse, 
some faculty members also think 
making grade distribution data 
available may lead students to 
chose classes based solely on that 
information. 

“There is little evidence, on any 

campus, that this actually happens, 
but I think it’s a well intended 
concern,” McKay wrote in an email 
to The Daily. “Personally, I trust 
students to consider information 
like this wisely — at least as wisely 
as anyone would. 

ART 2.0
From Page 1

NRA
From Page 1

the 13 recommended members, 
TJW 
continued 
to 
press 

for changes in the council’s 
resolution.

In a press release, TJW 

called the council to task, 
demanding the council establish 
TJW member Lori Saginaw as 
chair of the task force. Several 
Ann Arbor citizens called for 
Saginaw’s instatement as chair, 
including Amory Vhou, who 
praised Saginaw’s leadership 
abilities.

“As chair, she will elicit and 

synthesize 
everyone’s 
best 

contributions,” Vhou said.

In 
a 
last-minute 
change 

prior to the meeting, Taylor 
attempted to appease TJW by 
placing Saginaw as a co-chair 
with University of Michigan 
Law School professor Richard 
Friedman.

Amid contention over the 

selection process for the task 
force, 
Taylor 
explained 
his 

selection process by saying not 
only was it a difficult process, 
but there were many factors the 
council took into consideration 
throughout.

“There 
are 
more 
people 

in Ann Arbor with skills and 
abilities than there are places 
to serve and that was the case 
with the task force,” Taylor 

said. “There will be other 
opportunities to serve. Even if 
you weren’t selected your role is 
not done.”

Taylor’s statement, which was 

in reference to the contested 
omission of Shirley Beckley, 
was met with controversy from 
residents as well as council 
members. Councilmember Jack 
Eaton, D-Ward 4, attempted to 
amend the resolution to include 
Beckley by arguing for Beckley’s 
vast experience as an activist in 
Ann Arbor.

“One of the things that have 

driven the process from the very 
beginning is our friend Shirley 
Beckley,” 
Eaton 
said. 
“Ms. 

Beckley has a historical grasp 
on why this community needs to 
have a civilian review process. 
She needs to be a part of the task 
force.”

Despite cheers from the crowd 

at Eaton’s declaration as well as 
support from Councilmembers 
Sumi Kailasapathy, D-Ward 1, 
and Anne Bannister, D-Ward 
1, Eaton’s amendment did not 
pass. 
Taylor 
explained 
his 

reasoning in excluding Beckley, 
referencing an incident from 
more than two years ago when 
Beckley called the council out 
regarding a lack of consequences 
for Officer David Ried after he 
shot and killed Rosser.

“If you won’t at least fire 

officer Ried, then … Let’s string 
him up,” Beckley said in a quote 

to MLive during a previous 
meeting.

Taylor 
said 
Beckley 

disqualified herself from the 
task force through her statement 
of violence towards Ried.

“This drew applause from the 

audience,” Taylor said regarding 
Beckley’s previous statement. 
“A call for violence against an 
officer or a call for violence 
against city staff is unacceptable 
in my view and a disqualification 
for participation.”

Even after the council passed 

the finalized roster for the 
task force — one that excluded 
Beckley 
— 
TJW 
members 

continued to call for Beckley’s 
reinstatement in the task force. 
Saginaw argued Beckley was 
not only a valuable member of 
the task force, but her words and 
anger were understandable.

“We know that Officer Ried 

is not, nor will ever be in danger 
of being lynched by Shirley 
Beckley,” Saginaw said.

Beckley even came to the 

podium to defend herself and 
her statement from more than 
two years ago during the public 
comment session, refusing to 
apologize for her words towards 
Ried.

“Back then it was very hurtful 

to see a Black woman killed and 
not helped, especially when 
she was a mental health patient 
and you all know that,” Beckley 
said. “My ancestors have been 

strung up, lynched, run over, 
babies cut out of their bellies, 
families separated. We’re still 
looking for families. I’m not 
going to apologize for my anger. 
Yes, I’m angry. Yes, I’ve been 
here 75 years. No, I haven’t seen 
any progress. We have made 
progress to have a task force and 
I’m happy about that. It doesn’t 
really matter if I’m on there or 
not. The fact that you did it is a 
plus, and I’m very happy about 
that.”

Despite 
tension 
regarding 

the selection of task force 
members, citizens and council 
members agreed the assembly 
of task force members was a 
long-awaited step in the right 
direction. 
Councilmember 

Graydon Krapohl, D-Ward 4, 
said the AAPD is ready for a 
change.

“I’ve spoken to many within 

the force who are looking 
forward 
to 
this 
process,” 

Krapohl said.

Councilmember Julie Grand, 

D-Ward 3, went on to say the 
next police chief would be 
chosen in line with this vision of 
racial justice in the AAPD.

“We are putting off our search 

for our police chief because we 
respect this process,” Grand 
said. “It will be such a key part 
of the role that we will not even 
post the position until we know 
what this commission will look 
like.”

Read more at 
MichiganDaily.com

Read more at 
MichiganDaily.com

COUNCIL
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