As
Robinson
noted,
the
campaign has a great deal of data at
its disposal. According to Robinson,
42 percent of U-M Dearborn and
39 percent of U-M Flint students
qualify for the Pell Grant, a federal
grant awarded to high-achieving
students with financial need, yet
none are covered under the Go Blue
Guarantee, the University’s offer
of free tuition for in-state families
with incomes under $65,000,
because this is offered only to
Ann Arbor students. None of the
$85 million Diversity, Equity and
Inclusion funds go to the Dearborn
and Flint campuses, despite a
significant number of students of
color.
The list of numbers goes on,
and so do the ways these numbers
manifest themselves in the daily
and long-term operations of U-M
Dearborn and Flint, according
to members of the 1U campaign.
These numbers and stories are
the basis for 1U’s demands of the
University.
The 1U coalition and campaign
Rackham
student
Corey
Bowen, who works as an organizer
for
the
Graduate
Employees’
Organization, didn’t apply to the
University of Michigan as a senior
in high school. Hailing from a small
town upstate, Ann Arbor didn’t
seem like a place she could access
at the time.
“I didn’t even apply to University
of
Michigan
for
undergrad,”
Bowen said. “My perception was
the University of Michigan is for
wealthy, affluent families and not
for rural communities.”
Now, as a graduate student here,
Bowen is involved in 1U’s growing
coalition. Her interest in this work
spurred from her experience with
GEO bargaining in 2017 when
she said the University wouldn’t
budge on equal pay for graduate
student instructors across the
three campuses, even when other
progressive changes were made.
She sees this issue, among others
1U advocates for, as a question
of the University’s values and an
example of what 1U calls an “unfair
silo system” budget model used by
University administrators, which
hurts the Flint and Dearborn
campuses.
For
Bowen
and
other
1U
organizers, disparities across the
University system are noticeable.
1U has specifically listed the Go
Blue Guarantee’s lack of extension
to Flint and Dearborn, Flint and
Dearborn not receiving any of the
$85 millionearmarked for DEI over
five years nor any of the $1 billion in
funding for student support from
the Victors For Michigancampaign
and Flint and Dearborn lecturers
being paid less than Ann Arbor,
while 1U research shows workloads
are 30-50 percent greater for Flint
and Dearborn lecturers, as issues
the campaign hopes to address.
Dan
Birchok,
an
assistant
professor of anthropology at U-M
Flint is also working on 1U. He
said many of his coworkers notice
the issues 1U raises. There is also
widespread concern, Birchok said,
among faculty about the future
of the Flint campus if the current
level of monetary support from the
University continues.
“There’s been a large cross-
section of interest from across
the U-M Flint campus, and that
appears to only be growing as we
talk more and circulate what’s
going on,” Birchok said. “These are
all people who are invested in the
institution and who fear if we don’t
solve this problem then the already
dire situation there will be worse,
then we won’t be able to support
our students.”
The overarching goals of the
campaign include addressing a
budget model the group believes
perpetuates inequality among the
three campuses. They also seek to
press the University and state of
Michigan to allocate more funding
and resources to the Dearborn and
Flint campuses.
According to Robinson, 1U’s
goals are complex and made for
long-term achievement. Currently,
the coalition focuses on spreading
their message across the three
campuses ahead of the June 2019
budget deadlines for both the
University and state of Michigan.
Robinson said some of the points
of the campaign are still undecided
because as a large coalition, all
parts of the group need to decide on
priorities. He also said the coalition
has begun communicating with
members of the state legislature
and University Board of Regents
and will continue talking with
decision-makers until the budget
deadlines.
“A kind of fundamental shift to a
vision of what we should be doing
— that puts our three campuses on
a more equal footing — is a long-
term project, but there is a sort
of immediate target, which is the
budgets,” Robinson said. “Part of
the reason we’re building a big
coalition is because it’s not going
to be easy, but … we’re cautiously
optimistic that we can make real
progress.”
To do this, the coalition has
held community forums and tables
on all three campuses, circulated
leaflets and created a listserv to
build a support base. Going into
winter semester, Robinson said the
campaign is planning to increase
its outreach efforts.
Lia Fabbri, a student on the
Dearborn campus who joined 1U
to address inequities she’s noticed
on her campus, said one of her
challenges is making 1U and its
campaign points known to other
U-M Dearborn students.
“I think a lot of people come to
school and get their education and
they go home, which is fine, but
I think people need to realize —
need to be shown — there are these
issues we can be fighting for and
that they will directly impact our
education and make our experience
at this University a better one,”
Fabbri said. “It does sometimes feel
that we’re secondary, that we’re
forgotten, that we’re the end of
the list where resources are being
allocated.”
How
the
discrepancies
1U
claims are reflected
Studying abroad is popular on
the Ann Arbor campus, with a
plethora of opportunities within
the University and non-University
programs offered. Funding is
available through the Office of
Financial Aid, as well as through a
variety of University scholarships.
Birchok is involved with helping
students go abroad through the
International and Global Studies
Program at U-M Flint. Birchok
explained Flint students face a
number of obstacles when trying
to apply to these trips and the
program office doesn’t have the
funds to overcome them.
“For our around 40-percent Pell
Grant students, for those students
to take a two-week trip overseas,
for them to have to pay for their
trip but then in many cases lose the
opportunity cost of not being able
to work during that time, some of
our students have children or are
responsible for children, there’s
a lot of hidden costs for them,”
Birchok said.
dining staff and housing security
officers, to possess epinephrine.
“In the past, our position
on epinephrine and having it
available in the unit was we
did not have a way of procuring
epinephrine because prior to
some
recent
legislation,
we
couldn’t purchase it,” Whiteside
said. “Recently the legislation
changed in the state of Michigan
and it became possible for us
to get a prescription that is
associated with the organization,
not with an individual, and that
would allow us to get epipens
and get them in our first aid kits...
We’ve had students asking for us
to be able to do this for years and
we weren’t legally able to.”
Whiteside
said
personnel
authorized
to
administer
the
epipen
have
undergone
appropriate training.
“The
professional
dining
staff, the management teams in
the dining hall, have taken the
red cross training for how to
administer an epipen,” Whiteside
said.
Whiteside said she hopes
access to the program will
eventually expand to more of
the student body. There will
potentially
be
epinephrine
available at student recreation
centers and other locations in the
event that a student experiences
a delayed food allergy reaction.
Whiteside
said
college
students are more likely to take
risks while trying foods despite
known allergies, one of the
reasons the University sought to
implement the new epinephrine
program. Food Allergy Research
& Education stated teenagers and
young adults are a population at
the highest risk of experiencing
fatal food-induced anaphylaxis.
“The percent of the population
we
see,
they
are
adults,”
Whiteside said. “As adults they
are responsible for themselves,
but also the age group that
we see are the population of
individuals that take the most
risks when managing their own
food allergies.”
Whiteside said the emergency
epinephrine
program
is
important
to
maintain
the
safety of students because many
people do not know they have a
food allergy and can experience
a severe reaction. According
to
FARE,
approximately
20-25 percent of epinephrine
administrations
in
schools
involve individuals who were
unaware of their allergy at the
time of the reaction.
“There’s a large percentage
of the population that doesn’t
know they have a food allergy
and could have an anaphylactic
reaction and not even know it at
that point, not even know that
they have an allergy,” Whiteside
said. “And the percentage of that
population is high enough that
we felt like it was a win win for
us to have epipens available.”
Whiteside
explained
the
immediate procedure to deal
with an anaphylactic reaction to
a food allergy prior to the auto-
injection program was to call 911.
“Up until we had the epipens
available, that would be our
standard
safety
procedure,”
Whiteside said. “You call for
assistance immediately.”
In
addition
to
the
new
epinephrine
auto-injectors,
the University has worked to
accommodate students with food
allergies in the past using online
databases to present nutritional
and allergen facts. Ingredient
information can be found on
digital menus throughout dining
halls, physical signage, websites
and mobile apps which include
allergen information for all food
served in residential dining halls
and catered campus events.
The
MDining
website
“MyNutrition” allows students
to filter menus for the some of
the most most common allergens
such as eggs, fish, milk and
peanuts, as well as gluten-free,
halal, spicy, vegan and vegetarian
options. According to the press
release, MyNutrition displays all
ingredients for every single item
found in the dining hall.
“On MyNutrition you can
actually read the ingredients like
you would on a label in a grocery
store,” Whiteside said.
A disclaimer is provided on the
MyNutrition site states accuracy
of nutrition information is not
guaranteed.
“The University of Michigan
does not guarantee the accuracy
of
nutrition
information;
ingredient and nutrition content
of foods may vary due to
changes in product formulation,
recipe
substitutions,
portion
size and other factors,” the
disclaimer reads. “The nutrition
analyses
provided
here
are
approximations
only.
Guests
with food allergies or other
food intolerances should consult
a Chef or Dining Manager for
specific ingredient questions.”
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Friday, February 1, 2019 — 3
1U
From Page 1
DINING
From Page 1
MINOR
From Page 1
HAIL TO THE SNOW DAYS
Students trek across State Street during winter storm Jayden amongst frigid temperatures.
ALEC COHEN/Daily
Read more online at
michigandaily.com
Read more online at
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GENDER
From Page 1
The minor in Digital Studies
is available to all students, and,
according
to
DSI
Coordinator
Lisa Nakamura, a professor of
American culture, many students
in the past have used the minor as a
complement to their studies.
“A lot of our minors were in
communications or film, but we
also had minors in the School of
Engineering, or minors in the
Information School,” Nakamura
said. “(Students) said, ‘In my
engineering classes, I learn how to
make technology, but in my digital
studies classes, I learn why I make
technology.’”
LSA sophomore Ellie Metni is
majoring in history and political
science and pursuing the minor
in digital studies. Metni was
interested in the program because
of its integrative nature that bridges
politics
and
technology
with
aspects of communications and
social media. Metni believes even
more students would be interested
in the program if they expanded the
curriculum to form a major.
“It seems like a really good
intersection
of
things
like
communications and (sociology),
and film and American culture,”
Metni said. “If they made it a major,
and it would be super appealing
to students who are into multiple
topics.”
The Digital Studies Institute will
be the first of its kind in the United
States, as mentioned on its website.
The institute will provide students
and faculty with opportunities for
research, primarily focused on the
intersections of technology and
human identity, but also focused on
digital culture and art.
The requirements for the digital
studies minor remain the same, and
many faculty members from the
American Culture Department and
across the University are joining the
effort to bring various resources to
one central location. The ultimate
goal of the DSI is to make students
more aware of the minor by giving
the program a name and location on
campus. According to Nakamura,
some students didn’t know the
program existed and wished they
knew about it while they were
undergraduates.
“There may have been students
who were really interested in this,”
Nakamura said. “I’ve had a student
who graduated say, ‘I want to come
back and get this degree.’”
Ann Arbor has continued to
gain momentum as a top location
to study technology in the country,
earning itself a reputation as a hub
for start-up companies. The Google
Ads program has a secondary
office in Ann Arbor, and successful
technology companies like Duo
Security were started in the city.
This adds to the appeal of the new
Digital Studies Institute, because
resources are available both on
and off campus to connect with
leaders in the tech industry in
ways unparalleled to the rest of the
nation.
Plans for the Digital Studies
Institute are underway, with hopes
to incorporate research regarding
both the positive and negative
effects of technology into their
overall mission. Anne Curzan,
associate dean for the humanities
in LSA, is looking forward to
connecting the University with
experts around the world through
the growing resources the DSI will
provide.
“There
are
important
ethical questions in play as new
technologies emerge,” Curzan said
in an email interview with The
Daily. “We are excited that the
researchers at the Digital Studies
Institute will be positioned to
respond quickly and be part of
national and global conversations
about the design and impact of
these technologies.”
“I tried to become interested
in the consulting industry in
the beginning of my sophomore
year,” Levey said. “I applied to a
lot of the Ross consulting clubs
to see if I could learn about the
industry and get some real-world
experience doing so, and I found
that these clubs are really, really
hard to get into if you don’t know
anything about what’s called a case
interview.”
In a case interview, an applicant
is presented with a hypothetical
business
scenario
that
the
interviewee
must
assess
and
propose a solution to. Consulting
clubs often utilize this interview
style to assess potential members.
Levey went on to discuss how
Alliance Consulting combats a
culture of exclusivity by focusing
on new member education and
developing skills for consulting,
including how to complete a
successful case interview.
“I thought it was unfair that
people who don’t know about an
industry are assessed on a learned
skill they don’t know,” Levey said.
“I felt that there needed to be a club
on campus for students who, even if
they don’t know what consulting is,
if they want to become interested
in it, they can have the opportunity
to do so.”
Business junior Thejas Suvarna,
president of APEX Consulting
Group, one of the most selective
consulting groups, stated that in an
effort to provide all students with
an equal opportunity to succeed
in the recruitment process, case
interview workshops are held
to explain what they are and
provide applicants with examples
of how to approach problems.
APEX Consulting Group focuses
on offering pro-bono consulting
for local Ann Arbor businesses
and is known to have selective
membership.
“At the end of the day, we really
emphasize that while there’s a
formal name to this case interview,
really it’s just a way to gauge your
thought process and see how you
break down a problem, and those
are inherent traits people will
have,” Suvarna said.
“We do so much work with
clients and we have to manage
those relationships,” Suvarna said.
“Clients give us their personal
information. We have to make sure
that we’re respecting their privacy
and serving them a purpose and
doing a good job, and it’s not feasible
for us to do that well with a club
that’s too big for us to manage.”
Suvarna went on to discuss the
firm’s applicant selection process
is based on anonymity to ensure a
more holistic process at large.
“Our application process is
completely anonymous,” Suvarna
said. “We go through and read the
responses to our essays because, for
us, what is most important is, ‘Did
these people do their homework
and learn about what APEX has to
offer? Is there a legitimate reason
that they want to be in APEX,
to contribute to the community
rather than to just use it as a step
to the next thing?’ That all comes
first.”
Ed Huebner, assistant director
of Counseling and Psychological
Services, noted the positive aspects
of selective clubs, as they instill a
strong sense of community among
members within a large campus.
“I think the idea goes back to
connection and feeling a sense
of belonging — and that could be
belonging to a group, a club, an
organization or a department,”
Huebner said. “There’s a sense of
identity that can come from feeling
like, ‘This is my group, this is my
connection, these are my people,
and from that there’s a closeness
that we feel.’”
Huebner discussed how the
feeling of belonging contributes
to the mental health of students
on campus, both positively and
negatively.
“For a lot of our students that
come in, this can be a very big
place,” Huebner said. “So that idea
of, ‘Who can I connect with and feel
belonging with?’ on campus ends
up being a really big factor when it
comes to their mental health.”
Norm Bishara, the associate
dean for undergraduate programs
at the Ross School of Business,
provided an email statement on
behalf of the Business School
discussing how success on a college
campus goes beyond admission to
any one organization.
“The clubs provide benefits to
students by creating opportunities
for
leadership
and
real-world
experiences, offering fellowship
and a like-minded community,
and creating positive impact,”
Bishara wrote in the email. “…
We recognize that the student
leaders
of
some
clubs
have
implemented
competitive
application processes. While clubs
and student organizations are an
important part of the Michigan
Ross experience, student success is
independent of participation in any
single club or activity on campus.”
Business junior Jack Geiger, vice
president of clubs for the Bachelor
of
Business
Administration
Council,
said
the
competitive
nature of business-oriented clubs
is appropriate, given the rigorous
work students participate in once
admitted.
“I think for the most part it’s
justified, based on the fact that a
lot of these clubs are operating as
businesses in a way,” Geiger said.
“A lot have clients and will be
managing funds where it definitely
makes sense to have a merit-based
application process.”
Geiger went on to discuss how a
small club environment is beneficial
to students, as it resembles the
competitiveness of the professional
world and prepares students for the
future.
“Business school in general is a
pretty competitive environment
and I think the point of that is to
prepare you for the real world,
which is the next step in everyone’s
process,” Geiger said. “So, as we
recruit for jobs or are applying
for internships, it’s obviously very
selective. … I think having a mini-
environment when joining clubs is
beneficial because it prepares you
for what you can expect in the real
world.”