Residents 
living 
adjacent 
to the proposed Lockwood 
Apartments issued complaints 
of the development worsening 
the dioxane plume as reason to 
stop the building of the senior 
complex. They also cited the 
alleged lack of care from the 
developer 
to 
environmental 
concerns 
as 
especially 
troubling. 
Public Policy senior Lauren 
Schandevel 
said 
although 
environmental 
concerns 
are 
most 
definitely 
valid 
in these discussions, in the 

history of affordable housing 
conversations, 
excuses 
like 
these are often used to shut 
down these developments. 
“I can understand if (the 
dioxane plume) is a genuine 
concern that they may have,” 
Schandevel 
said. 
“My 
only 
fear is that I’ve witnessed 
other 
conversations 
about 
affordable 
units 
and 
there 
are a lot of excuses made by 
community members that may 
be disingenuous because they 
don’t want ‘those people’ near 
their community, so I think 
that’s something that we have 
to keep in mind.”
Following the discussion of 
affordable housing, the council 

moved onto a vote to confirm the 
nominations to the Independent 
Community Police Oversight 
Commission. The commission 
has been an ongoing concern 
in City Council meetings since 
January 2018, when the Human 
Rights Commission called for 
increased accountability and 
transparency from the Ann 
Arbor Police Department in 
response to incidents linked to 
police brutality, most notably 
the shooting of Aura Rosser 
by an Ann Arbor police officer 
and the rough arrest of Ciaeem 
Slaton by Ann Arbor police 
officers at the Blake Transit 
Center. 
Since the initial call for 

increased 
oversight, 
City 
Council created a task force 
in March 2018 to develop a 
police oversight commission. 
Throughout the development 
of 
the 
commission, 
councilmembers and citizens 
alike have argued over the 
appointment 
of 
commission 
members and the agency of the 
commission.
After months of contentious 
discussion, on March 11, City 
Council announced the names 
of those nominated to the 
Independent Community Police 
Oversight Commission. They 
voted Monday to confirm the 
appointees of the commission. 
The confirmation was passed 

even with community concerns 
and audience interruptions. 
Sargeant 
Donovan-
Smith, a doctoral student in 
anthropology and history at 
the University of Michigan, 
continually 
raised 
concerns 
during City Council about the 
transparency of the selection 
process. Many of Donovan-
Smith’s 
comments 
were 
directed 
at 
Councilmember 
Jane Lumm, I-Ward 2.
“Why 
did 
you 
nominate 
someone 
who 
works 
for 
McKinley 
Properties?” 
Donovan 
asked. 
“Someone 
who 
has 
systematically 
discriminated against formerly 
incarcerated people in Ann 

Arbor? Tell us how these people 
are qualified.”
Mayor Christopher Taylor 
said 
he 
is 
proud 
of 
the 
commission that was chosen. 
The members were nominated 
by by Councilmembers Julie 
Grand, D-Ward 3; Ali Ramlawi, 
D-Ward 5; Elizabeth Nelson, 
D-Ward 4; and Lumm. 
“We strove to work with staff 
to find something that was both 
practical for their purposes and 
for councilmembers,” Taylor 
said. “No system is perfect. 
From my part, I’m comfortable 
with the core picks and the try-
it-out basis. In six months, if 
it’s a disaster, then we’ll either 
know it or they’ll tell us.” 

Argha is from New York City and is 
not running under a party name. After 
several light-hearted anecdotes in his 
opening statement, he highlighted 
how his platform includes improving 
campus sustainability by banning 
plastic water bottles and increasing 
the awareness of CSG across campus. 
He also focused on providing free 
feminine 
hygiene 
products 
to 
University students.
“The last time you went to a 
public restroom, how much did you 
pay for the toilet paper? Nothing, 
right?” Argha asked. “So why is it any 
different for period products? Period 
products are not a luxury but a basic 
human right. This should be free here 
at the University of Michigan and 
everywhere else.”
The event then proceeded with 
questions from Farkas, Kall and 
audience members. One of the first 
issues brought up by the moderators 
was regarding Saturday’s reports of 
an active shooter on campus, which 
were later proven to be unfounded.
Gerstein was randomly chosen 
to respond first via a coin toss. He 
began by describing the importance 
of 
acknowledging 
the 
reality 
of the active shooter threat. He 
emphasized the need of more student 
involvement in the Division of Public 
Safety and Security. Gerstein did not 
acknowledge the current 10-person 
DPSS Student Advisory Board.
“An integral part of Isabelle and 
my campaign … is to make sure there’s 
an active student voice connected 
to DPSS and advising them on ways 
to handle emergency situations on 
campus,” Gerstein said. “Obviously, 
one of the issues that was somewhat 
unclear throughout the entire process 

was the lines of communication and 
the misinformation that were being 
spread through the event.”
Argha responded to the question 
by stating the University community 
needs to take steps to ensure 
responders get to an emergency 
situation as quickly as possible. He 
then connected this issue to a bigger 
dilemma on campus regarding the 
lack of diversity.
“Diversity is a big issue in the 
University of Michigan, and at 
the same time, while we are the 
leaders and the best, we are not the 
leaders and the best when it comes 
to diversity,” Argha said. “That is an 
issue we should all work to resolve, 
and that comes with working with 
CSG and the administration …”
In light of the Climate Strike at the 
University on March 15, candidates 
also discussed their platform on 
sustainability and climate change on 
campus. Argha hopes to implement 
an initiative titled “Ban the Bottle” in 
which he would like to ban all plastic 
water bottles on campus.
“One of my main efforts is also 
to ‘Ban the Bottle’,” Argha said. 
“Banning plastic bottles on campus, 
while it may seem like a small step, 
increases student awareness and 
brings all students together to 
increase sustainability efforts in our 
community, and at the same time, it is 
part of a much bigger plan and a much 
bigger structure.”
Gerstein hopes to address issues 
of climate change and sustainability 
long term by integrating a five-
year sustainability plan. According 
to Engage Michigan, short-term, 
tangible solutions the party hopes 
to implement include providing a 
low-waste grocery shopping guide 
and encouraging students to not buy 
plastic bottles.
“We can work to incentivize 

students to not buy plastic bottles 
and working towards eventually 
becoming a plastic-free campus,” 
Gerstein said. “But ultimately, I think 
the crux of our sustainability platform 
is working with the student body and 
the students most invested in this 
issue to find a comprehensive solution 
we can present to the administration 
that puts our university on the track 
for positive sustainability in five 
years.”
Additionally, candidates discussed 
how, if elected, they would handle 
Title IX issues on campus. At last 
week’s 
CSG 
Student 
Assembly 
meeting, students voiced concerns 
regarding the Sixth Circuit Court of 
Appeals ruling the University must 
provide the chance for the accused 
party to cross-examine the accuser. 
Furthermore, current CSG President 
Daniel Greene, along with Shamina 
Merchant, Ohio State University’s 
student body president, recently sent 
a letter to U.S. Education Secretary 
Betsy 
DeVos 
voicing 
concerns 
regarding 
the 
Department 
of 
Education’s recently proposed Title 
IX regulations.
Gerstein answered by stating 
Engage 
Michigan 
believes 
and 
stands by survivors. He said he 
hopes to consult organizations such 
as the Sexual Assault Prevention 
and Awareness Center and Office 
of Student Conflict Resolution to 
create an environment supportive of 
survivors.
“We need to make sure we’re 
consulting 
relative 
campus 
organizations like SAPAC and OSCR 
and partnering with them on the 
support of this issue,” Gerstein said. 
“Overall, the great thing about how 
we should approach issues of sexual 
misconduct and, specifically, this 
cross-examination policy, is trying 
to create an environment most 

conducive to supporting survivors 
and allowing them to feel comfortable 
and safe at this University.”
Argha discussed placing resources 
like SAPAC and the Spectrum Center 
on the Michigan app as well as 
incorporating these resources into 
freshman orientation. He also hopes 
to change the mentality of sexual 
harassment on campus by working 
with other student organizations 
and does not believe the University 
should turn into a courtroom when 
dealing with Title IX issues.
“Many students at the University 
of Michigan have the Michigan app, 
but SAPAC’s hotline is not on there,” 
Argha 
said. 
“CAPS 
after-hours 
hotline is not on there. Let’s get them 
on there so when we need the help, 
we can get the help. I would also like 
to work with other organizations on 
campus to change our mentality of 
sexual harassment on campus.”
Later in the debate, Gerstein 
and Argha answered questions 
about racial equity and inclusion on 
campus. In a University of South 
California report on racial equity at 
public universities, the University 
received an F in racial equity. 
Candidates discussed the importance 
of diversity, equity and inclusion on 
campus as a whole.
Argha discusses how his identity, 
as someone who grew up in 
Bangladesh, has impacted his time 
at Michigan and encouraged the 
creation of an annual multi-cultural 
event.
“It is not enough for the University 
and our community to want more 
diversity,” Argha said. “We need to 
celebrate diversity in our community, 
and CSG must play an active role. … I 
would like to push for more cultural 
events, at least one every year where 
different organizations can come 
together and put on performances 

and share ideas and educate our 
whole community.”
Gerstein 
understands 
the 
importance of diversity, equity and 
inclusion. According to Gerstein, the 
students of color resolution mandates 
CSG representatives attend student 
of color organization meetings once 
per month.
“From those smaller initiatives, 
we allow the greater Michigan 
community 
to 
understand 
the 
perspectives 
and 
experiences 
of students of color and other 
marginalized 
students 
at 
the 
University, and can work through 
that understanding, to understand 
the importance of diversity, equity, 
and inclusion on our campus as a 
whole,” Gerstein said.
After a five-minute break, debate 
resumed with a town hall with 
Blanchard, the only vice-presidential 
candidate running this year.
One 
of 
the 
questions 
the 
moderators 
asked 
Blanchard 
pertained to the lack of diversity 
within CSG itself. The December 2018 
CSG demographic report revealed 
nearly 60 percent of representatives 
identified 
as 
white. 
Blanchard 
responded by acknowledging the 
statistic and expanding upon how to 
diversify.
“I think there’s definitely an 
issue with demographics of CSG,” 
Blanchard said. “I think especially for 
low socioeconomic-status students, 
this is definitely an issue prevalent for 
them. I think there is a lot of work that 
needs to be done, and I think the first 
step to that is really talking to these 
students who feel that they are facing 
these issues to gain more insight.”
Moderators further questioned 
Blanchard about affordability on 
campus. Blanchard explained the 
importance of affordability in regards 
to tuition but explains that there are 

other areas of affordability that should 
be addressed as well. Specifically, she 
touched upon academic affordability 
by increasing resources in the library 
and subsidizing homework access 
codes and food affordability.
“I 
think 
there’s 
also 
food 
affordability 
issues 
that 
were 
mentioned before, and I think 
increasing public microwaves on 
campus is an indirect solution to the 
problem where it helps encourage 
and allow students to bring their own 
food from home, rather than having 
to buy food from campus,” Blanchard 
said.
To end of both the presidential and 
vice-presidential debates, Kall asked 
each candidate to express something 
complimentary about their opponent 
and talk about how they look forward 
to working with their opponent in the 
future if they do not win the election.
Argha was selected to respond 
first, stating a common goal of 
bettering the University.
“I’ve spoken to Ben, I met with 
Isabelle, and I love that you guys are 
running such a great campaign. You 
have a beautiful website and I love 
the platform that you’re running on to 
get Michigan involved, and that is one 
of the main steps towards making 
Michigan beautiful just the way it is.”
Gerstein complemented Argha on 
his candidacy and hopes to improve 
the Michigan experience together.
“Shub, I want to compliment you 
on running as a first-year student and 
caring so much about the needs of 
this university and the needs of the 
students.” Gerstein said. “Regardless 
of whether I win or not, I look 
forward to continuing to advocate for 
our platform and continuing to make 
the Michigan experience better for 
every student, regardless of their 
identity.”

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Tuesday, March 19, 2019 — 3

CSG
From Page 1

Schandevel said while these 
extreme 
measures 
indicate 
how wealthy students are given 
numerous 
advantages 
during 
the college admissions process, 
the fact some public schools are 
given more extensive funding 
than others is one of the biggest 
ways students are benefited 
when applying to college. 
In January 2018, Schandevel 
started Being Not-Rich at UM: 
A Guide, a 115-page document 
offering advice to lower-income 
students about how to adapt to 
life at the University, to help 
bridge some of the gaps between 
students 
who 
come 
from 
wealthier school districts and 
those who do not.
“It’s really clear that higher 
education sort of reinforces 
this economic and subsequently 
racial hierarchy,” Schandevel 
said. “Even if you don’t send your 
kid to a private school, you still 
have a public school system that’s 

predicated on the notion that 
local taxes will supplement state 
and federal funding. When you 
have that policy, it advantages 
wealthy 
districts 
over 
poor 
districts and sets those poor 
districts up to fail automatically. 
So even if you’re in the public 
school system, the American 
education system is still favoring 
wealthy people.”
In response to the scandal, 
University 
Public 
Affairs 
released a statement condemning 
the indicted parents’ actions 
and reaffirming the University’s 
commitment to a fair admissions 
process.
“At the University of Michigan, 
we use a comprehensive, holistic 
approach 
to 
review 
every 
candidate 
for 
admission 
to 
identify a talented, diverse class 
of students who will flourish 
on our campus,” the statement 
reads. 
“We 
engage 
multiple 
readers and reviews in evaluating 
the full set of credentials offered 
for consideration.”
Students related the recent 
scandal with wealth disparities 

present at the University, even 
though 
the 
University 
was 
not involved with the scheme. 
Griffin St. Onge, LSA senior and 
co-chair of Affordable Michigan, 
a 
student 
organization 
representing 
low-income 
students, said she wished the 
University would focus more on 
the needs of students who are 
first-generation or come from 
schools with fewer resources.
“I think if Michigan as a public 
university that is always striving 
for that ‘uncommon education 
for the common man’ thing, I 
think if they feel an obligation to 
fulfill that goal, then there needs 
to be a lot more effort,” St. Onge 
said.
Even 
so, 
St. 
Onge 
said 
programs 
like 
the 
HAIL 
scholarship, which began in 
2016 and offers full tuition 
scholarships to accomplished 
students 
from 
low-income 
backgrounds, have made some 
progress in bridging the wealth 
disparity gap although there is 
still work to be done. 
“They’ve 
done 
a 
lot 
of 

previous things with the HAIL 
scholarship and they’ve been 
trying to go out to different 
communities, but I think there 
needs to be a bigger conversation 
of where are we getting our 
students from, how are we 
supporting our students who are 
low-income or first-generation 
who do come here and end up 
in a very different environment 
where 
they 
need 
additional 
support,” St. Onge said.
A report by the Equality of 
Opportunity Project — cited in 
The New York Times’ The Upshot 
in 2017 — found the median 
family income of a student at 
the University is $154,000, the 
highest of 27 public colleges 
classified as “highly selective”. 
A 
report 
from 
the 
Detroit 
Free Press also found that the 
graduation rate for Pell Grant 
recipients at the University is 
86.9 percent, as opposed to a 92.5 
percent graduation rate for non-
Pell Grant recipients.
University spokesman Rick 
Fitzgerald wrote in an email 
interview with The Daily that 

the University’s overall high 
graduation rates still make a 
University 
degree 
a 
worthy 
investment.
“A 
family’s 
investment 
in a University of Michigan 
education 
is 
a 
good 
one,” 
Fitzgerald wrote. “A consistent 
97 percent of students return 
for their sophomore year, and 
92 percent graduate from our 
Ann 
Arbor 
campus 
within 
six years — among the best 
retention and graduation rates 
in the nation. These are positive 
proof points that we share often 
with prospective students and 
families.”
Joseph 
Aranoff, 
LSA 
sophomore, said the scandal 
revealed some of the illegal 
ways wealthy parents give their 
children 
advantages 
in 
the 
college process, but also said 
he doesn’t think these illegal 
methods do not reflect the 
majority of wealthy students at a 
university. 
“I think everybody that’s 
here at this university deserves 
to be here, and if we’re judging 

people of means and of wealth 
and making the assumption 
that they don’t deserve to be 
here because somehow their 
wealth is equivalent to a bribe, 
it’s a dangerous precedent,” 
Aronoff said. “Just because you 
have the means to attend a good 
university doesn’t negate the 
work you had to do to get there.”
Students 
also 
noted 
how 
the 
consideration 
of 
legacy 
status in admissions decisions 
favors students from wealthier 
backgrounds. 
A 
student 
is 
considered a legacy applicant 
if a member of their family 
is an alum of the University. 
Fitzgerald wrote in an email 
interview with The Daily that 
while the University does take 
legacy status into account, that 
factor alone does not determine 
the admission of an applicant.
“The university also considers 
alumni ties, but it is not a 
primary factor in admissions 
decisions,” 
Fitzgerald 
wrote. 
“Alumni ties can be a useful 
indicator of a student’s interest 
in the university.”

COLLEGE
From Page 1

From there, he served as 
ambassador to Jordan from 1998 
to 2001; assistant secretary of state 
for Near Eastern Affairs from 2001 
to 2005; ambassador to Russia 
from 2005 to 2008; secretary for 
political affairs from 2008 to 2011; 
and deputy secretary of state to 
under the Obama administration 
from 2011 to 2014.
Burns is currently the president 
of the Carnegie Endowment for 
International Peace, a foreign 
policy think tank focused on 
promoting peaceful policy among 
government 
leaders, 
business 
leaders and civil society. 
Public Policy Dean Michael 
Barr facilitated the conversation 

as a promotional event for Burns’ 
new book, “The Back Channel: A 
Memoir of American Diplomacy 
and the Case for Its Renewal.” 
Barr asked Burns to define 
what diplomacy means to him and 
Burns started with a preliminary 
definition.
“Diplomacy is what we do to 
promote our interests and values 
abroad, to try and persuade other 
government to act in ways that are 
consistent with ours,” Burns said.
Burns attempted to clear up 
common 
misunderstandings 
about how diplomats work.
 “(There’s) the notion that 
diplomacy is just about talking 
nicely to people, or indulging 
foreign leadership — something 
that I think the president himself 
sometimes is guilty of — but the 
truth is, diplomacy is hard work, 

and it’s about that persistence,” 
Burns said.
Much of the discussion centered 
around Burns’ reflections on prior 
administrations and how they 
handled international relations. 
He described his work under 
the Reagan, H.W. Bush, Clinton, 
Bush, and Obama administrations 
within the Middle East, and 
emphasized that diplomacy can be 
a dangerous career. According to 
Burns, more American diplomats 
have died in the past several 
decades than military generals. 
Burns shared what he observed 
to be important for a leader to 
succeed in international relations.
“You’re never going to get 
very far in effective diplomacy 
or effective foreign policy if you 
don’t have a vision, if you don’t 
a strategy, if you don’t (have) a 

theory of what’s animating the 
international landscape, of what 
your own strengths are, and 
connecting ends to means,” Burns 
said. “You need to have that vision, 
and the best presidents and the 
best secretaries of state that I’ve 
seen and worked for have that.”
When discussing the tough 
decisions a diplomat has to make, 
Burns expressed regret in his role 
under then-Secretary of State 
Colin Powell regarding the choice 
to overthrow Saddam Hussein.
“Given 
all 
the 
sectarian 
differences and grievances and 
anger that that rigid and autocratic 
regime was sitting on, once 
you take that lid off, you could 
imagine some of the sectored and 
political consequences that would 
happen,” Burns said. “My greatest 
professional regret, as I say in the 

book, is not acting more effectively 
to underscore those concerns.”
Burns criticized how President 
Donald Trump’s State Department 
handles international relations, 
noting how following a process 
can seem inefficient at times, 
but the absence of process is also 
troublesome.
“My concern in the current era 
and this administration is that 
I don’t really see any process,” 
Burns said. “Policy gets driven 
from tweet to tweet. I say that 
because we’ve been fortunate that 
as we’re almost two and a half 
years into this administration, 
and there hasn’t been a prolonged 
international crisis yet. Those are 
the moments when you need a 
process that’s disciplined.”
Barr asked Burns about his 
views on a variety of prevalent 

international 
issues, 
including 
the country’s relationship with 
Russia, the Iran nuclear deal, the 
Syrian civil war and Saudi Arabia’s 
conflict with Yemen. Burns shared 
an anecdote from meeting Russian 
President Vladimir Putin on his 
first day as ambassador to the 
country.
“In your first meeting (as an 
ambassador), you present your 
credentials,” Burns said. “Before 
I can hand him my letter (of 
credentials), 
President 
Putin 
saunters forward and says, ‘You 
Americans need to listen more. 
You can’t have everything your 
own way anymore. We can have 
effective relations, but not just on 
your terms.’”

POLICY
From Page 1

CITY
From Page 1

Read more at 
MichiganDaily.com