The
proposed
process
would have the outgoing
SOFC chair nominate at least
two individuals to take their
place. Further, the chair of
the Executive Nominations
Committee would vet the
nominees and present them
to the Assembly, who would
vote to confirm the position.
Prior
to
last
week’s
CSG
meeting,
in
which
the
Assembly
discussed
the veto of the resolution,
Greene released a statement
describing his decision to
veto. According to Greene, if
certain changes were made to
the resolution, then he would
highly consider approving it.
“There’s a few changes
(I’d like to make),” Greene
said. “One is who does the
nomination of the successor
to the SOFC chair. Another
concern
was
about
this
philosophy or idea of business
not carrying over to the next
assembly… and there was
also the big question that
sometimes — not always — the
outgoing SOFC chair becomes
treasurer, and so if the SOFC
chair is nominating their
successor, do they nominate
themselves if they’re not a
graduating senior?”
In his report to the council,
Majeske described his issue
with Greene’s handling of the
resolution.
“He claimed further that
the
resolution
contained
certain provisions that it did
not, as well as contradicting
his previous statements and
claiming that if one seemingly
insignificant
change
was
made, he would be in favor of
the resolution,” Majeske said.
In
addition,
Majeske
claims,
in
Greene’s
introduction of the vetoed
resolution, the president led
people to believe the interests
of SOFC were not taken into
consideration when writing
the resolution.
According to Greene, he
spoke to Anthony Garvey, the
current chair of SOFC, and
Nico Beltramo, the former
chair, and both agreed with
Greene’s
concerns
with
the SOFC resolution. Both
members also approved of
the veto statement Greene
released.
“The veto statement went
through a vetting process
by
the
communications
director, the student general
council,
the
individuals
who helped me author the
letter, and no one took issue
with what is in the public
veto statements,” Greene
said. “I believe that the
issues the representative
is
concerned
about
are
political in nature in the
sense
that
it’s
different
interpretations and analysis
of what’s written there, not
matters of facts of what’s
physically there.”
After further discussion,
Speaker of the Assembly
and
Rackham
student
Austin Glass stated that
the first issue was resolved
and would no longer be
discussed by the Assembly.
The second issue Majeske
focused on pertained to
the
nomination
process
for new members of the
Assembly. Specifically, he
believes Greene engaged in
unethical behavior, which
resulted in the confirmation
of Saveri Nandigama as CSG
chief of staff.
The
president
came
to
the
Executive
Nominations
Committee
with recommendations for
three candidates for the
CSG positions of treasurer,
chair of a commission and
COS. The committee gave
positive recommendations
on two of the nominees,
but did not give a positive
recommendation to the COS
position.
Despite weather delays,
funeral services carried
on with a liturgy from Rev.
Terrence Kerner, who said
John Dingell wished for a
celebratory yet respectful
service.
Kerner
said
John Dingell was about
fighting for the ordinary
man, and shared stories
from constituents whose
lives
were
bettered
by
his policies. “But I think
when a common man knew
John Dingell, he probably
felt he was uncommon,”
Kerner said.
In
a
lighthearted
eulogy, Biden said John
Dingell was one of the few
politicians he looked up to
as an outspoken champion
of health care and labor
rights. He said it was John
Dingell’s belief that every
single
person
deserves
dignity that made him a
successful legislator.
“Dignity was how John
walked,”
Biden
said.
“Dignity was how John
talked. Dignity was how
John carried himself. And
more than that, it was how
he treated everyone — and
I mean everyone.”
Thursday, more funeral
services
will
be
held
in
Washington,
D.C.,
where former President
Bill Clinton and former
Speaker John Boehner are
expected to speak.
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Wednesday, February 13, 2019 — 3A
Elgass explained the team
aims to better sexual health
and literacy on campus and
beyond. She said BusyBox was
born when members of the
team recognized a gap in the
sexual-health market.
“What we found talking
to friends and people around
campus and customers, in
general, is that these products
are
very
widely
available,
but a lot times people feel
uncomfortable buying them,”
Elgass said. “As a result, it can
be a barrier for people using
these supplies.”
Smolinski
described
the
contents of the box, which
includes safe-sex items as
well as pamphlets discussing
relevant sexual health topics.
“(These products include)
internal
and
external
condoms, personal lubricant,
dental dams and pregnancy
and UTI tests,” Smolinski
said. “It also comes with
BusyBox-made
infographics
with topics such as consent,
healthy relationships, gender
and sexuality, and emergency
contraception.”
Carter said the team set
out to better the way college
students purchase and use
sexual
and
reproductive
health products.
“We want to foster people’s
ability
to
have
safe
and
consensual and pleasurable
and
informed
sexual
experiences,”
Carter
said.
“We want to market towards
anyone
out
there
who
is
having sex or thinking about
having sex soon and wants to
be prepared for it.”
Elgass
echoed
Carter’s
thoughts, and added that they
want to encourage people’s
confidence surrounding sex
while making sure they stay
safe.
“We are trying to be that
middle ground of, ‘Yeah, you
should be having sex in the
way you want to have sex
and that is a great thing, but
also be doing it safely and be
prepared,’” Elgass said. “Our
product is designed to make
you confident and prepared
so it’s not something that you
should be ashamed of in any
way.”
To appeal to individuals, the
process is catered to customers,
allowing them to select items
each month, Smolinski said.
“It is all tailored to the user,
so they have an online profile
where they click and choose
what they want in their box
and it comes to them either
once a month, every other
month or every two months,”
Smolinski said.
Smolinski
also
described
how the supplies come in a
discreet, unlabeled white box
in order to keep a customer’s
personal and sexual health
private. Additionally, since the
box is customizable, it is not
geared towards a particular
gender and the products can
be used for anyone.
LSA
sophomore
Soraya
Zrikem said the customizable
aspect
of
BusyBox
might
be
something
especially
appealing for customers.
“I think that a lot of people
do value privacy and what
they want to be buying and I
think that would be totally
valuable,” Zrikem said. “With
any of these services, if it is
something as personal as your
sex life, you would want to
customize it… that definitely
makes it more attractive.”
Zrikem
added
that
the
privacy of BusyBox is also a
draw, as many people might
be anxious when going into a
store to buy sex items.
“I don’t know how taboo
buying condoms and lube and
stuff is as an adult, but for
people who are uncomfortable
with that… they don’t have to
deal with the embarrassment
or social anxiety that can
come along with doing those
things,” Zrikem said.
However,
Zrikem
questioned the service being a
subscription, worrying people
might get the supplies but not
use them.
“I feel like it would be
more successful if it weren’t
a subscription,” Zrikem said.
“I feel like people’s sex lives…
they aren’t as regular, like
your period or shaving… It
would require people to know
how much they’d be having
sex. ”
This project is a years in the
making, and has recently put
up pre-order opportunities
on their website, according to
Elglass.
“This past year was about
taking the idea and developing
the
plans
and
getting
inventory,” Elgass said. “We
just launched our pre-orders
so our website is now live and
you can preorder your box
for the beginning of March —
right around spring break is
when we’ll start shipping.”
When
asked
about
the
future of BusyBox, Mason said
she is excited to see where
the first year of their startup
business is going to take her
and her teammates.
“This is a really exciting time
for us to see how much we can
grow in the first year.” Mason
said. “Ideally I would love to
do this full time … I hope that
we are able to be successful
and keep that success going for
years to come.”
DINGELL
From Page 1A
VIRTUAL
From Page 1A
WHITMER
From Page 1A
“Are we in some
ways impeding
their opportunities
to tell their own
stories? But,
around a series
of VR projects,
those questions
become even more
powerful.
BUSYBOX
From Page 1A
Justin
Schell,
director
of the Shapiro Design Lab,
has seen a spike in interest
in
the
incorporation
of
virtual reality in all types
of classrooms.
“Virtual
reality
was
something that more people
were interested in using
on central campus,” Schell
said.
“Different
faculty
wanted to use it to explore
and add it as part of their
classes. It ranges from fully
immersive
headsets
like
Oculus and HTC Vive and
PlayStation, to more lo-fi
VR like Google Cardboard.
There’s
been
interest
from
American
culture
and history classes; film,
television and media studies
classes — all the way to
electrical engineering and
computer science.”
English
professor
Sara
Blair
took
her
How
to
Read
Images
class
to
the design lab to create
a dialogue pertaining to
the way in which images
shape societies’ “collective
experience.” In this setting,
students were immersed in
a video experience related
to the Syrian civil war and
refugee crisis.
“One of the longstanding
concerns about imaging and
particular photography is
wondering
what
damage
or injury we might do to
other people by capturing
them in photographs and
sharing
and
responding
to their experience from
a
distance,”
Blair
said.
“Are
we
appropriating
the experience? Are we in
some ways impeding their
opportunities to tell their
own stories? But, around
a series of VR projects,
those
questions
become
even more powerful: What
does it mean to try to know
the experience of refugees
or people who have been
traumatized
by
wars
or
subject to disasters either
human or natural? What
kind of knowledge do we
get?”
Lisa Nakamura, director
of
the
Digital
Studies
Institute, brings many of
her classes including The
Internet is a Trash Fire to
the Design Lab to use virtual
reality as a way to relate to
marginalized people, and
thus create a greater scale
of understanding.
“I
was
originally
interested in virtual reality
because there is so much
journalism about how it
can create more empathy,”
Nakamura
said.
“People
who don’t understand or
want to feel more kind to
refugees, the blind, people
of color can now experience
life
through
their
point
of view and stand in their
shoes. Studies even show
that having a female avatar
in a video game can be
empowering because you
see yourself there.”
However,
one
of
Nakamura’s
students,
LSA
sophomore
Riley
McMahon, had a negative
experience with the device
when someone over virtual
reality
used
derogatory
terms in an attempt to have
a conversation with her.
“I
was
a
little
uncomfortable
using
the
device and talking to people
I didn’t know,” McMahon
said. “He got angry that I
wasn’t conversing with him
and started swearing.”
Nakamura acknowledges
this risk when working with
virtual reality and decided
to use the experience to
generate
a
conversation
about
the
negatives
spawned
by
the
certain
affordances
the
internet
provides.
“It became an interesting
lesson on how the internet
can
be
toxic
and
not
necessarily a kind place,”
Nakamura said.
The
Shapiro
Design
Lab is not just used by
humanities professors, but
by
humanities
students
as
well.
Jeff
Edelstein,
recent graduate from the
School of Education, has
used Shapiro’s VR within
his own work regarding
students with disabilities
and the ways in which they
are represented in video
games.
“I
worked
with
the
Shapiro
Design
Lab
in
partner with a group I ran
called
Disability
Culture
at U-M,” Edelstein said.
“VR is still relatively a new
thing; they are still finding
new ways to make it work.
One great game is ‘Moss.’
You are able to choose
a
mouse
character
that
communicates with you via
American Sign Language. It
helps start a conversation
related to inclusivity and
representation in gaming.”
VR is not just a tool for
STEM
fields,
Nakamura
said. It can be applicable
to any type of classroom
setting, even those in the
humanities. She hopes to
see a rise in this technology,
a technology she believes
can help create a new story.
“I
think
our
students
should
be
using
the
latest technology in our
humanities
classes,”
Nakamura
said.
“North
Campus has a lot of that,
and we take it for granted.
People
doing
arts
and
literature and media should
get the same access. It is a
new kind of storytelling,
and a new kind of medium,
where I feel like people
who are more interested in
the humanities are able to
talk about how it works on
emotions and what visual
traditions it’s in, and what
kind of experiences you
can have there, which is
different than using it as
just a tool. We’re talking
about it more as an object to
study, as well as a tool.”
Read more online at
michigandaily.com
CSG
From Page 1A
The
Michigan
Section
of
the
American
Society
of
Civil
Engineers
gave
Michigan a D+ grade in
infrastructure overall and
a D- grade for state roads in
their Infrastructure Report
Card, with only 18 percent
of roads being considered in
good
condition..
Whitmer
asked Michiganders to share
their personal experiences
with what she called an
“infrastructure crisis.”
“We
need
to
act
now
though, before a catastrophe
happens,
before
the
situation
becomes
truly
unrecoverable,”
Whitmer
said. “To everyone at home
who is tuning in: Share
your stories about what the
infrastructure crisis means
to you. Take a picture of your
damaged car or your repair
bill or a pothole outside
your house and post it with
#FTDR.”
Whitmer
further
expressed
concerns
over
education. A report from
researchers
at
Michigan
State University released in
January found Michigan’s
public school financing was
nearly 20 percent lower than
it was in the 1990s, a drop in
funding unparalleled in any
other state in the country.
Whitmer said the money in
the state budget typically
used for K-12 funding has
been used to fill other areas
of the state budget. She
blamed the government, not
the educators or students,
for
allowing
Michigan’s
education system to falter.
“I want to send a message
to all the devoted educators
across Michigan: You’re not
failing us. We have been
failing you,” Whitmer said.
“Our
educators
and
our
kids deserve our support,
not a funding crisis that
undermines the work in the
classroom, that weakens our
schools and compromises the
education.”
Whitmer laid out her plans
that included three separate
pathways for high school
graduates. For those already
in the workforce, Whitmer
detailed
her
“Michigan
Reconnect”
plan,
which
will teach already employed
individuals new skills to
adjust
to
the
changing
workplace.
Her
“My
Opportunity”
scholarship
program offers two years
of
community
college
free
to
graduating
high
school seniors seeking an
associate’s degree. The third
pathway would be another
scholarship under the “My
Opportunity” program, but
would give two years free to
students attending a public
four year institution.
In response to President
Donald Trump’s new health
care plans, Whitmer said
she wrote to the president to
defend the Affordable Care
Act. She personally thanked
Attorney
General
Dana
Nessel for leading the fight.
Whitmer
ended
her
address
by
promising
to
work with both parties. She
believes working together
is the best way to help
Michigan.
“The enemy is not the
person
across
the
aisle,”
Whitmer said. “The enemy is
apathy, the enemy is extreme
partisanship. The enemy is
self-interest. When we stand
together as Michiganders …
we can get the job done for
the people of our state.
One
of
Whitmer’s
administration’s
priorities
is
addressing
hazardous
water conditions, she said.
Even though Flint water was
tested and found to have its
lowest levels of lead since
before the water crisis, other
contaminants such as PFAS
are polluting the Great Lakes
and the state’s rivers.
In order to support the next
generation of entrepreneurs
in
the
region,
Whitmer
made a promise to connect
small
businesses
with
contracting
opportunities.
She said promoting economic
development
in
Michigan
meant
supporting
in-state
investment.
In her speech, Whitmer
noted
her
filing
of
an
executive directive to ban
the use of private emails
for governmental purposes.
She also extended the use
of Freedom of Information
Act requests to the executive
department
of
the
state
government. Whitmer also
filed
executive
directives
in
January
prohibiting
employers
from
asking
all
applicants
what
their
past salaries were as well
as
a
directive
banning
state
government
from
discriminating
based
on
gender identity or sexual
orientation.
State
Rep.
Matt
Hall,
R-Emmett, told The Daily he
was concerned Whitmer did
not offer a payment plan for
any of her initiatives.
“I thought there were a
lot of good sounding ideas,”
Hall said. “However, I want
to see how we’re going to
pay for it before I decided
whether I want to support
the proposals. I think that
anytime you’re promising
large expansions of new
government
programs,
you have to also identify
how you’re going to pay
for it and I did not hear
anything from the governor
about how she intends to
pay for these programs.
I will say that makes me
very concerned that she’s
proposing
enormous
tax
increases. The last time
Michigan was a high tax
state, we led the country in
job loss.”
Despite
some
worries
from Republican legislators,
Michigan’s
Democrats
seemed to leave the address
with largely positive feelings.
Minority Floor Leader Yousef
Rabhi, D-Ann Arbor, told The
Daily he was overall very
satisfied
with
Whitmer’s
speech.
“I thought it was amazing,”
Rabhi said. “It was great to
have an opportunity to listen
to a speech where I actually
wanted to stand up for a good
chunk of it and it was just so
cool to hear her talk about the
skills gap and how we’re going
to address it. Talking about
funding for our education,
community
colleges
and
higher education and then
our environment. The fact
that she talked about clean
water and the work we need
to do in that category. There’s
so much that this governor
is passionate about that she
outlined in the speech and
I am just so excited to work
with her and get some of this
stuff done.”
Paul Ajegba, director of
the
Michigan
Department
of Transportation, told The
Daily
he
was
especially
pleased with her plans to
improve the workplace.
“I was in the meetings
that
she
mentioned
with
all the executives,” Ajegba
said. “There was a common
theme Michigan workforce,
the supply is not meeting the
demand, which means a lot of
these companies are going to
out of state because we’re not
producing enough workforce
to meet that demand. I think
she did an outstanding job
today.”