currently
provides
financial
support to over 300 active
student organizations.
“It’s about rewarding the
student orgs that come back to
us … and see what impact their
making,” said Lansey.
CSG discussed a resolution
to amend its current elections
code,
authored
by
Medical
student Whit Froehlich and
Law student Kevin Deutsch.
During the CSG assembly held
last week, the representatives
addressed the concerns shaping
their elections. The assembly
established that CSG’s cannot
prohibit these distinct separate
parties
from
forming
in
elections
However, to improve the
state
of
elections
within
their purview, CSG approved
several
new
guidelines.
A
separate Elections Court will
be
implemented
to
address
future party-related concerns,
failure to meet deadlines will be
reprimanded, names on election
ballots
will
be
randomized
rather
than
alphabetized
and
transparent
campaign
endorsements will be mandated.
After the approval of this
resolution, CSG continued its
conversation on how to better
its governing body.
The student representatives
discussed
a
resolution
to
implement
a
definition
of
“executive official,” which is
not included in the current
CSG
Constitution.
Froehlich
and Rackham student Sammi
Meister proposed a resolution.
“This lack of clarity hinders
the President’s ability to staff
the
Executive
branch,”
the
students wrote.
In an effort to hear more
student voices, CSG discussed
a
resolution
to
re-establish
elected
representative
office
hours.
The
author
of
the
resolution, Benjamin Gerstein,
an
LSA
sophomore,
looked
to
the
LSA
and
Rackham
Student Governments’ policies
to shape those of CSG. Both
LSA SG and RSG require each
elected representative to hold
office
hours
to
meet
with
their constituents, which has
improved
their
respective
reaches with the students they
are representing.
This resolution was passed
and will now require CSG
elected representatives to hold
monthly office hours to speak
with students and hear their
opinions
and
perspectives.
CSG plans to measure the
effectiveness of their office
hours
by
surveying
both
students who attended and the
representatives.
“Central
Student
Government’s . . . mission is
to
encourage
student
civic
engagement,
give
voices
to
student
concerns,
and
enhance student welfare and
the Michigan experience for
everyone,” Gerstein wrote.
The Michigan Daily — www.michigandaily.com
News
Wednesday, October 3, 2018 — 3A
REVELER S AT THE ARK
AARON BAKER/Daily
The Revelers, a Louisiana music group that mixes a variety of southern styles, performs at the Ark Tuesday night.
CSG
From Page 2A
transportation inhibited many
students from receiving local
health care services.
“One clear solution was
to have UHS offer these
services,” Parish wrote in an
email. “We’ve been working
hard
to
design
processes,
train staff and make changes
to the UHS environment (like
gender-inclusive forms and
bathrooms) in collaboration
with CAPS, Spectrum Center
and of course trans and non-
binary students themselves.”
Parish said access to reliable
health
care
can
improve
mental health and quality of
life for transgender and non-
binary students.
“These new UHS services
are a very welcome addition
to the network of support
U-M is able to offer our trans
and
non-binary
students,”
Parish wrote. “Since we began
advertising UHS Trans Care
Services
during
Welcome
Week, I have heard from
many trans and non-binary
students who are interested in
learning more and scheduling
appointments.”
UHS
physician
Rachelle
Wilcox described how the
Trans Care Team will combat
health disparities impacting
members of the trans and non-
binary community experience
due
to
marginalization,
oppression and violence.
“We hope that offering
accessible, affirming health
care to our trans and non-
binary
students
will
help
complement
the
other
services available to them
through our campus partners
and contribute to a culture
of support and inclusion on
campus,” Wilcox said.
TransForm
Tech
Chair
Jay Hash, an Engineering
junior, said the new UHS
services make transitioning
more accessible for students.
TransForm,
an
advocacy
and support group for trans
and non-gender conforming
people,
helps
connect
transgender
students
with
resources.
“For the people who want
to pursue a medical transition,
(the Trans Care Team) makes
it much easier for them,” Hash
said. “Making formal therapy
accessible to trans people on
campus is important because
there
are
people
coming
from all over the world and
all over the country so they
might not have access to that
… For people who think that
hormone therapy is not an
option at home, they can come
to the University and get it
here.”
Hash
said
he
will
be
transferring
their
medical
care to UHS because it is more
accessible. However, Hash is
concerned the new services
might
pressure
students,
who may be uncertain of
transitioning,
to
transition
because of its easy campus
accessibility.
“There are trans people
who do not want to medically
transition and it may put
pressure on them; but for
people who do, it is a very good
service and is very helpful,”
Hash said “Those who do not
want to medically transition
might feel pressure to do so
because the University makes
it possible.”
LSA
sophomore
Jordan
Furr, a transgender student,
disagrees with the comment
that this may add pressure
for transgender students to
transition.
“It’s
not
like
they
are
advertising for their team,”
Furr said. “So in a way you
only find out about them if
you identify being trans and
are looking for the resources.
So
anyone
who
already
found them might want to
transition.”
Furr said he will be also
shift his medical care from
Detroit to UHS. He is glad
UHS
is
becoming
more
trans-friendly
but
still
feels
the
health
services
could be more sensitive to
the trans community. Furr
said UHS often uses the
wrong names and pronouns,
adding it would be helpful
for the health services to be
more
conscientious,
from
receptionists to doctors.
Furr was first directed to
the Trans Care Team when
he received a testosterone
prescription but did not know
how to inject it. He said the
health care providers were
helpful and provided advice
and resources.
“I think that (the Trans
Care Team) helps,” Furr said.
“From talking to other people,
I know it’s a good resource. I
know another guy who is doing
it, and my friend sees one of
the doctors and they are all
really nice, understanding and
accepting, and it’s important
because if we are paying so
much to go here we should at
least have doctors that know
what they are doing.”
nurse at the University in 1984,
said the main difference between
previous strikes and the nurses’
current
efforts,
however,
is
communication.
“Back then, because we didn’t
have the same technology to be
able to communicate that we have
today, I don’t think we were as
aware of what was going on at the
bargaining table,” Jackson said.
Armelagos said through the
years UMPNC has worked to
build a positive relationship with
hospital administration, but over
time, with the development of new
bargaining techniques, the nurses’
relationship with the hospital has
eroded.
“We built the respect that got
us
interest-based
bargaining,”
Armelagos said. “We built the
respect to work as equal partners
with the University. (Interest-
based bargaining) motivated the
two parties to come together and
work together.”
Interest-based bargaining is a
problem-solving approach during
which the two parties jointly define
the issues, brainstorm solutions
and seek creative solutions that
address shared interests. Unlike
traditional bargaining, interest-
based bargaining does not involve
coercion, instead relying on both
parties seeking to fulfill each
other’s interests.
Armelagos explained during
negotiations between the nurses
and
the
administration
in
2001, 2004, 2008 and 2011, the
University
employed
interest-
based bargaining techniques.
“The
parties
tried
to
understand and appreciate the
other’s perspective,” Armelagos
said. “If one side had a problem,
the other side had one too.”
Armelagos said the hospital
owes its success to the unity that
was developed between the nurses
and the administration through
interest-based bargaining.
“That’s how we gained magnet
status,” Armelagos said. “It was a
dual partnership. When you have
a strong union, nurses can stand
up for their patients, but a strong
union makes it more difficult for
a corporate hospital. Our bottom
line is the patients, the hospitals
bottom line should be the patients.
Make no mistake, now, there is
a new regime in place that has
no interest in an interest-based
process.”
One of the main differences
Armelagos and Jackson cited
in current negotiations was the
hospital’s treatment of the nurses
during the bargaining process.
Jackson said it was particularly
disheartening for nurses when
they had to file an unfair labor
charge.
“This particular work stoppage
vote is especially about how we
were treated at the bargaining
table,” Jackson said.
The nurses filed the charge
against Michigan Medicine for
prohibiting them from wearing
their red union shirts and pro-
union buttons.
Lecturers’ concerns
While LEO, an organization
representing nearly 1,700 non-
tenure track faculty members
across the University’s three
campuses, did not have to file an
unfair labor charge Robinson
believes LEO and the UMPNC
represent similar issues at the
University.
“Both
unions
represent
employees that are very oriented
to the people they provide their
services to,” Robinson said. “It’s
very care-oriented work and there
are a lot of overlapping interests
between the two groups.”
When LEO authorized a strike
for April 9, they were bargaining
with the University for salary
increases.
At the time, the minimum
starting salary for a U-M lecturer
was $34,500 in Ann Arbor,
$28,300 in Dearborn and $27,300
in Flint. LEO asked the minimum
be raised to $60,000 in Ann Arbor
and $56,000 in Dearborn and
Flint. After bargaining for months
with the University when LEO’s
contract expired May 29, LEO
voted to ratify a new contract
that included a significant salary
increase.
By
September
2020,
the
minimum salary at which the
University can hire lecturers will
increase across the three campus.
In Ann Arbor, the base salary
will increase 47.8 percent from
$34,500 to $51,000. In Flint, there
will be a 50.2 percent increase
from $27,300 to $41,000. Finally,
in Dearborn, the starting salary
will increase 44.9 percent from
$28,300 to $41,000.
Robinson said LEO owes the
success of its new contract to the
imminent threat posed by work
stoppage.
“It (the impending strike) made
a very big difference in the case of
LEO,” Robinson said. “In fact, I
would say that was the first time
the administration began to take
us seriously and bargaining began
to move in the right direction.”
Graduate students’ concerns
Similarly, in April 2017 the
Graduate Employee Organization,
a union representing graduate
student instructors and graduate
student staff at the University,
authorized a walkout in an effort
to create paid positions and
guarantee union protection for
graduate students working on
diversity programs as part of the
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
plan.
The University launched the
five-year DEI plan in October
2016 to achieve a more diverse and
equitable campus, which some
have criticized for a lack of swift
action.
Current GEO President Emily
Gauld said the union decided
collective
graduate
student
action was the only way to get
the administration to take their
concerns seriously.
“Our walkout authorization
showed we were willing to fight
for it in a very real and tangible
way,” Gauld said. “It showed the
graduate students were willing to
take action to see the changes that
we believe are necessary.”
While University spokesman
Rick Fitzgerald was unable to
comment on negotiations with
the UMPNC as the nurses are
still voting on the contract, he
said the University does not make
bargaining decisions based on
threats.
“The university does not believe
a strike or the threat of a strike is
necessary to move the negotiations
toward a settlement,” Fitzgerald
wrote in an email interview. “We
also do not believe a strike or the
threat of a strike influences the
final, negotiated settlement. We
also need to point out that under
state law, labor strikes by public
employees are prohibited.”
Much
as
the
UMPNC
and LEO reached a tentative
agreement shortly after the strike
authorizations, Gauld says GEO
reached a tentative agreement the
day before the walkout was set to
take place.
Ultimately, Gauld said the
number of walkout authorizations
that have occurred over the course
of two years is a positive sign for
unions at the University.
“It is really exciting to see
increased
labor
organization,”
Gauld said. “The strength of
unions is increasing, especially
at the University of Michigan.
Unions are becoming more united
even in the face of institutions that
seek to divide unions and I think
that is powerful.”
“These new UHS
services are a
very welcome
addition to the
network of
support U-M is
able to offer our
trans and non-
binary students,”
RESOURCES
From Page 1A
more than $1 million award
with
Donna
Strickland,
Canadian physicist and 2013
director of the Optical Society
of America, while the other half
was awarded to Arthur Ashkin,
an affiliate of Bell Laboratories
in New Jersey. Mourou and
Strickland
published
an
article
in
1985
on
their
development of the chirped
pulse amplification, a process
that creates short and intense
laser pulses through stretching
and
quickly
compressing
light matter. These pulses are
now widely applied for the
industrial and medical uses,
including laser eye surgery.
Ashkin received the award
for his work developing optical
tweezers that utilize laser light
to maneuver tiny particles,
such as viruses. At age 96, he is
the oldest Nobel laureate.
In a video statement released
by
Ecole
Polytechnique,
a
top
French
college,
Mourou explained the effects
of their achievement.
“It’s something that sort of
never happens at this level. I
am very, very happy to share
this distinction with my former
student
Donna
Strickland
and also to share it with Art
Ashkin, for whom I have a lot
of respect … We invented a
technique that made the laser
extremely powerful. With the
technology we have developed,
laser power has been increased
about a million times, maybe
even a billion.”
Strickland
is
the
first
woman to receive the Nobel
Prize in physics since Maria
Goeppert Mayer in 1963, who
was awarded for her work in
nuclear physics. The only other
woman to receive this award
was Marie Curie in 1903. In
a interview with the academy
after the award announcement,
Strickland
highlighted
the
importance
of
recognizing
female physicists and their
achievements.
“Obviously
we
need
to
celebrate
women
physicists,
because
we’re
out
there,”
Strickland said. “Hopefully in
time it’ll start to move forward
at a faster rate, maybe.”
Michael Moloney, CEO of
the
American
Institute
of
Physics, congratulated all of
the laureates and expressed
support of Strickland’s work
and achievements.
“It is also a personal delight
to see Dr. Strickland break the
55-year hiatus since a woman
has been awarded the Nobel
Prize in physics, making this
year’s award all the more
historic.”
PHYSICS
From Page 1A
UNIONS
From Page 1A