ranking demonstrates how 
the University and its schools 
are deeply engaged with the 
world off campus.

“The 
continued 
growth 

of the research productivity 
of our faculty is important 
evidence 
of 
the 
amazing 

strength of the University of 
Michigan,” Schlissel said. “I 
am proud that U-M research 
spans the breadth of our 
outstanding university and 
addresses many of society’s 
most pressing questions and 
challenges.”

The 
federal 
investment 

in 
the 
University 
totaled 

$852 
million 
last 
year, 

covering 55 percent of the 
University’s 
total 
volume 

of research over the last 

year. 
Federal 
investment 

encourages research at the 
University 
that 
supports 

public 
health, 
national 

security 
and 
economic 

competitiveness. 
The 
U.S. 

Department of Health and 
Human Services, which is 
consistently 
the 
greatest 

external sponsor of research 
at the University, granted 
$579 million to the University 
in fiscal year 2018. Internal 
research spending increased 
8 percent from fiscal year 
2017, totaling $524 million in 
fiscal year 2018. These trends 
are consistent with the 2018 
budget signed by President 
Donald Trump in March, 
which approved the greatest 
increase in allocation to U.S. 
research in a decade. 

Industry expenditures also 

increased 9 percent, totaling 
a record high of $109 million 
in fiscal year 2018.

The 
increase 
in 

expenditures led to a tangible 
increase 
in 
research 
in 

fiscal year 2018. According 
to the report, there were a 
record breaking 484 new 

inventions 
last 
year, 
the 

number of startups almost 
doubled to 21, and the Office 
of 
Technology 
Transfer 

signed 218 license and option 
agreements with companies 
hoping 
to 
commercialize 

these discoveries made at the 
University.

S. 
Jack 
Hu, 
University 

vice president for research, 
said the financial support 
allowed the University to 
produce a large amount of 
valuable research under the 
vision Research to Serve the 
World.

“As credit to our innovative 

campus 
community 
and 

strong external collaboration, 
the University of Michigan 
has conducted the largest 
volume of research of any 
public 
university 
in 
the 

United 
States 
for 
eight 

consecutive years,” Hu said 
in the University release. 
“This type of support allows 
us to advance knowledge, 
solve 
challenging 
societal 

problems, 
create 
new 

products and services that 
enhance 
quality 
of 
life, 

and support students and 
postdoctoral 
fellows 
in 

research and training.”

impacts fake news has on public 
political opinion.

“What I want to answer for 

you today are some questions like 
these: How prevalent was fake 
news consumption in 2016, what 
effects does have on people’s 
political attitudes and behavior 
and 
how 
are 
people 
being 

exposed to this dubious content 
in the first place?” Nyhan said.

During his lecture, Nyhan 

put a particular emphasis on 
his findings that contradicted 
popular 
perceptions 
of 
the 

influence of fake news.

“The 
average 
person, 

regardless 
of 
party, 
is 
not 

consuming this heavily skewed 
diet that many folks would 
predict,” Nyhan said. “There’s a 
relatively small subset of people 
who have strong predispositions 
to seek out and consume pro-
attitudinal information.”

This 
subset 
of 
people, 

as 
Nyhan 
explained, 
were 

identified through a cognitive 
reflection test, or a measure of 
one’s capability for thinking 
analytically about information 
presented to them.

According 
to 
Nyhan, 
his 

survey demonstrated this subset 
of people were far more likely 
to believe fake news sources, 
particularly when information 
was presented more than once.

“These (fake news) stories 

come to seem familiar,” Nyhan 
said. “You’ve seen fake news 
before, now you see it again, 
maybe you think it’s more likely 
to be true. We did observe a small 
but 
statistically 
measurable 

effect here.”

As 
Nyhan 
explained, 
the 

foundations of his work were 
influenced by the crucial 2016 
report “Social Media and Fake 
News in the 2016 Election,” 
written by political scientists 
Hunt 
Allcott 
and 
Matthew 

Gentzkow. According to Allcott 
and Gentzkow’s report, fake news 
doesn’t rely on an established 
audience or reputation to reach 
digital readers.

“Content 
can 
be 
relayed 

among users with no significant 
third 
party 
filtering, 
fact-

checking, or editorial judgment,” 
Allcott and Gentzkow wrote. “An 
individual user with no track 
record or reputation can in some 

cases reach as many readers as 
Fox News, CNN or the New York 
Times.”

Alain 
Cohn, 
an 
assistant 

professor 
at 
the 
School 
of 

Information with a focus on 
economics and moral decision 
making, said he was particularly 
interested in Nyhan’s points 
about the strategies of persuasion 
utilized by fake news sources. 
According to Cohn, Nyhan’s 
work intersects with his own in 
several capacities.

“I teach a course on persuasion 

and social influence,” Cohn said. 
“In my course I try to teach 
students how they are going to be 
persuaded in political contexts 
but also in consumer contexts.”

Though his analysis of fake 

news impact presented serious 
implications, Nyhan contended 
fake news had a central impact 
on the outcome of the 2016 
election. As he explained, the 
impact of fake news is far more 
complex than many make it out 
to be.

“It’s pretty hard to tell a 

story about how vote choice 
was affected by fake news when 
the people you would expect 
to be the most unsure about 
which candidate to vote for are 
consuming very little fake news,” 
Nyhan said. “It really challenges 
this simplistic account of the 
2016 election.”

Cohn, on the other hand, 

worries 
fake 
news 
could 

have 
unforeseen 
yet 
drastic 

consequences.

“Those who consume fake 

news have already made up their 
opinion,” Cohn said. “However, 
if they become more extreme, 
that 
might 
be 
dangerous. 

There are other ways fake 
news consumption may affect 
society, even if it’s just among a 
minority.” 

Though 
faculty 
made 
up 

the majority of the audience 
Monday 
afternoon, 
students 

are also taking up the question 
of fake news, especially in 
the context of social media. LSA 
sophomore Mackenzie Freeman, 
a communication studies major, 
told The Daily in an interview 
last month fake news is an 
issue that, if left undetected, 
could alter the efficacy of news 
altogether.

“This is really problematic 

because people see the news as 
being able to express the truth 
and that feature is being taken 
away,” she said. 

the Michigan Union renovation 
so we actively informed the 
campus community, including 
student employees, over those 
years,” Pile wrote in an email 
interview.

Public 
Policy 
junior 
Nick 

Martire worked at the Union 
Starbucks for about seven months. 
Martire said he was aware of the 
closing before his employer told 
him.

“While my employer did tell 

me about the Union renovation, I 
knew about it already when they 
told me,” Martire wrote in an 
email interview.

Because Starbucks was a 

leased operation, Martire said 
he did not receive University 
assistance in finding his new 
job at the Alumni Association. 
But Pile said for those students 
employed by the University in 
the Union, alternate placements 
were arranged.

“In many cases, the students 

now work at the League and 
Pierpont,” Pile wrote. “Any 
student 
who 
was 
working 

in the Union and wanted 

another position was given that 
opportunity.”

Pile said the Union also 

hosted a job fair for students 
employed 
by 
non-University 

operations within the Union to 
assist in finding another job. 

As for the upcoming CCRB 

renovation, Widen said student 
employees were informed of the 
renovations through meetings 
and email announcements after 
the Regents voted on it in 
September, 
though 
many 

were aware of the project 
from 
other 
means. 
Similar 

to the Union, time was given 
before the start of the project 
to allow for the necessary 
changes of employment.

“The CCRB isn’t scheduled 

to close for replacement for 
two 
more 
years,” 
Widen 

wrote in an email interview. 
“As we get closer to that time, 
we will make adjustments to 
our hiring.”

Widen said students who 

may be working at the CCRB 
in two years will work with 
Recreational Sports to find 
alternate placement.

“We have other facilities 

like IMSB, NCRB, Sports 
Coliseum, Elbel Field, and 
Mitchell Field that all need 

student 
staffing,” 
Widen 

wrote. “In addition, we have 
a number of programs that 

need student employees as 
well, e.g. Group-X, Personal 
Training, Intramural Sports, 
Club 
Sports, 
Adventure 

Leadership.”

LSA junior Mikaela Bradley 

currently works at both the 
CCRB and the Intramural 
Sports Building. In an email 
interview, Bradley said she 
will no longer be a student 
at the University when the 
renovations begin; however 
she expected if she still 
were a student, she would 

try to continue working for 
Recreational Sports.

“If the CCRB was closing 

earlier, I would definitely try 
to ensure all of my shifts were 
at the IMSB so that I could 
still work with recreational 
sports,” Bradley wrote. 

Bradley also added some 

students 
are 
under 
the 

assumption that renovations 
will be occurring very soon.

“A lot of students that don’t 

work at rec sports seem to 
think the renovations are 
going to happen much sooner 
than they are,” Bradley wrote. 
“I have had several patrons 
ask me when the CCRB is 
closing and they are often 
surprised that the remodeling 
is still a few years away.”

Widen added Recreational 

Sports has experience with 
renovations over the past few 
years.

“We’ve gone through this 

same 
process 
of 
making 

adjustments 
for 
student 

employees 
recently 
with 

the IMSB (2015-2016) and 
the NCRB (2017-2018) were 
each closed for their own 
renovations,” Widen wrote. 

checked for correctness.

Senate Assembly Chair Neil 

Marsh expressed his belief that 
the resolution is something more 
abstract, that supporting CSG 
would not take away from the 
faculty assembly.

“I see this (resolution) as 

being fairly non-controversial 
and its heart is in the right 
place,” he said. “I don’t see any 
particular downside to us saying 
we support (their) resolution 
once it’s been passed.”

Next, the assembly welcomed 

Jerry 
May, 
University 
vice 

president 
for 
development. 

One of the largest projects for 
the Office of Development, the 
Victors for Michigan campaign, 
which began in 2011 and is 
coming to its close, has raised 
over $5 billion and is the 
most 
successful 
fundraising 

campaign in University history. 
May, 
who 
announced 
his 

upcoming retirement last spring, 
explained his role of overseeing 
all fundraising activities and 
answered 
the 
questions 
of 

assembly members.

Members 
of 
the 
assembly 

mentioned 
many 
University 

programs 
receive 
consistent 

funding, like the Ross School 
of Business, while other areas 
needing improvement do not 
recieve 
as 
many 
donations. 

Though donors cannot be told 
where to give their money, May 
said, many decide to donate to 
multiple areas instead of just 
one.

“I’m 
a 
huge 
believer 
in 

multiple 
relationships 
in 

multiple areas, and not having 
one development officer … that 
hoards your relationship with a 
donor,” May said. “What I find 
is the more (an individual) is 
exposed to the breadth of the 
university, the more likely they 
are to give to more than just 
their one degree.”

University 
Provost 
Martin 

Philbert 
then 
spoke 
to 
the 

assembly, highlighting the recent 

introduction of parental leave 
benefits for University faculty 
and staff. Philbert discussed 
how it’s a joint responsibility 
to child rear, and this benefit 
will make the University a more 
attractive place to work.

“In a time where there are 

lots of issues that divide us, this 
is one of those that unites us,” 
Philbert said. “We will support 
the members of our community 
who need time to bond with 
their children.”

The 
meeting 
concluded 

with questions from members 
of the assembly to Philbert, 
primarily 
regarding 
the 

Office 
of 
Institutional 

Equity amid criticism of the 
office’s 
sexual 
misconduct 

investigations, especially within 
the School of Music, Theater 
& Dance. OIE’s annual report 
released earlier this year found 
more reports were filed with 
the office, though the number of 
investigations dropped. Philbert 
voiced support for the policy and 
process as a whole.

“I’ve 
heard 
concerns 

about the length of time it 
takes to complete some OIE 
investigations,” Philbert said. 
“We’re always working to ensure 
that those investigations are fair, 
thorough and timely.”

The student sexual misconduct 

policy 
dictates 
OIE 
should 

strive to complete investgations 
within 60 days of their filing —
anecdotal 
evidence 
reported 

by The Daily found, however, 
students 
were 
waiting 
from 

five to six months at times for 
responses 
to 
their 
reports. 

Philbert 
said 
some 
factors 

delay the completion of certain 
investigations, 
and 
opened 

the 
conversation 
to 
include 

suggestions from the assembly 
to make this process more 
efficient and effective. Philbert 
concluded 
the 
meeting 
by 

explaining the implementation 
of 
mandatory 
online 
sexual 

misconduct training for faculty 
members in the years going 
forward.

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Tuesday, November 27, 2018 — 3

ASSEMBLY
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RESEARCH
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COUNCIL
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EMPLOYMENT
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I have had several 

patrons ask me 
when the CCRB 
is closing and they 
are often surprised 
that the remodeling 
is still a few years 

away

I am proud that 
U-M research 

spans the breadth 
of our outstanding 

university