The 
Graduate 
Employee 
Organization published a petition 
last 
month 
requesting 
more 
information about a recently 
approved University of Michigan 
fee 
for 
most 
international 
students. The additional expense 
was created to bolster support 
services 
for 
international 
students at the University. 
The 
petition, 
which 
was 
published on Change.org three 
weeks ago, has amassed more 

than 380 signatures as of press 
time.
GEO decided to create the 
petition to stand up for all 
University students who will face 
additional obstacles in their path 
to degree completion because of 
the fee, said Rackham student 
Allan Martell, co-chair of GEO’s 
International Students’ Caucus.
The fee doesn’t actually apply 
to all graduate students — for 
example, Ph.D. students currently 
have the fee waived. But GEO 
decided to create the petition 
to stand up for all University 

students who will face additional 
obstacles in their path to degree 
completion because of the fee, said 
Rackham student Allan Martell, 
co-chair of GEO’s International 
Students’ Caucus.
“I 
know 
many 
other 
international students who are 
masters and (undergraduates),” 
Martell said. “They, for the most 
part, are not covered under GEO — 
there is only a handful of students 
who are. Even if most members 
of our association wouldn’t be 
affected, we are acting out of 
solidarity and recognition that 

this is going to affect people other 
than ourselves and people who 
are making a lot of sacrifices so 
that they can find their studies 
here at Michigan.”
In the petition, GEO argued the 
fee contradicts the goals of the 
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion 
plan on campus. GEO wrote the 
fee not only creates additional 
financial burden but adds to the 
issues 
international 
students 
already 
face 
with 
national 
immigration policies and political 
discourse.

michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Wednesday, September 4, 2019

ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-EIGHT YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM

The 
Central 
Student 
Government discussed several 
upcoming 
executive 
projects 
including game day hydration 
stations as well as plans to address 
the change in University policy 
regarding coverage for sexually 
transmitted diseases during its 
first assembly of the school year 
Tuesday night.
At 
the 
beginning 
of 
the 
meeting, Isabelle Blanchard, CSG 

vice president and LSA senior, 
discussed the success of the first 
game day this previous Saturday 
with the creation of several 
hydration 
stations. 
Hydration 
stations located across campus 
provided water and food to 
ensure student safety. MDining, 
Center for Campus Involvement 
and Fraternity and Sorority Life 
donated hot dogs and water for 
the stations. Blanchard said CSG 
hopes to make these stations 
more sustainable this year by 
including compostable cups at 

water refill stations rather than 
distributing disposable plastic 
water bottles.
“This year we are trying 
to make them a little more 
sustainable,” Blanchard said. “we 
tried doing compostable cups 
instead of plastic water bottles, 
and that is a model we are trying 
to figure out how to do at other 
stations.”
Both 
Ben 
Gerstein, 
CSG 
president and Public Policy junior, 
and Blanchard addressed the 
recent changes to the University 

Health 
Service 
insurance, 
specifically with regard to the 
elimination 
of 
coverage 
for 
sexually transmitted infection 
screening. 
They 
expressed 
concern regarding the issue and 
the student response. 
“The 
change 
did 
happen 
in July, but there is a lot more 
traction on it now, and so we have 
been preparing for this already, 
starting by making a survey to 
gain feedback on this,” Blanchard 
said. 

Approximately 
280 
faculty 
parking spaces were converted 
to patient-only parking near the 
University of Michigan hospital 
in mid-August. The changes force 
many hospital staff members to 
park in off-site locations or find 
other methods of transportation.
The 
parking 
designation 
transfer is necessary for an 
improved 
patient 
experience, 
according to a statement from 
Beata 
Mostafavi, 
Michigan 
Medicine senior communications 
representative. 
“As 
Michigan 
Medicine 
continues to grow, parking around 
the main medical campus has 
become an increasing challenge 
for both patients and employees,” 
Mostafavi 
said. 
“The 
recent 
parking changes provided 280 
more spaces for our patients to 
make it easier to obtain care at the 
hospital.”
But according to Robin Carter, 
executive director of the House 
Officers Association at Michigan 
Medicine, the actions go against 
the HOA’s agreement with the 
University of Michigan Health 
System, 
which 
requires 
the 
hospital to provide designated 
parking spots to on-call employees. 

GOT A NEWS TIP?
Call 734-418-4115 or e-mail 
news@michigandaily.com and let us know.

INDEX
Vol. CXXVIII, No. 124
©2019 The Michigan Daily

N E WS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

O PI N I O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

CL A SSIFIEDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

S U D O K U . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
michigandaily.com

For more stories and coverage, visit

City calls out 
U-M for lack 
of help with 
housing issue

As ‘U’ looks to improve facilities, 
Council questions A2 affordability

Standing 
in 
Theatre 
Nova 
on Saturday night, Ann Arbor 
Community High School teacher 
Quinn Strassel welcomed dozens 
of audience members to a staged 
reading of the musical he spent 
the summer crafting. His subject: 
U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy 
DeVos, whom he dubs “the most 
controversial woman in the world” 
in the opening number. 
Strassel 
wrote 
and 
directed 
“Betsy 
DeVos! 
The 
Musical!” 
over the summer. DeVos — a 
prominent Republican donor and 
an advocate of charter schools — is 
heavily caricatured in the play and 
portrayed as a die-hard antagonist of 
public schools. 
Strassel said he uses humor to 
tackle complicated topics, adding 
that he hopes the show demonstrates 
the importance of public education 
as well as critically talking about 
proposals DeVos has put forward.
“I hope it starts a new conversation 
about public schools,” Strassel said. 
“I think sometimes humor can help 
tackle complex and difficult issues 
in public schools. I think public 
school policy is complicated, and 
people of every political persuasion, 
have difficulty making sense of it 
— and DeVos advocated for guns in 
schools.” 

A2 teacher 
pens play 
criticizing 
Sec. DeVos

GOVERNMENT

Satirical musical 
advocates for public 
education, mocks 
Education Secretary

LEAH GRAHAM
Daily News Editor

First CSG meeting discusses new 
projects, STI testing policy, SOFC 

Officers to send out survey regarding UHS insurance policy update

Parking 
changes 
result in 
conflict

ADMINISTRATION

ATTICUS RAASCH 
Daily Staff Reporter 

Follow The Daily 
on Instagram, 
@michigandaily

University 
representatives 
faced 
criticism 
from 
city 
councilmembers Monday night 
for what elected officials called its 
lack of involvement in combating 
Ann Arbor’s affordable housing 
shortage. 
The City Council meeting 
began with a presentation of 
infrastructure 
improvement 
plans by University Campus 
Planner Susan Gott and Director 
of Community Relations Michael 
Rein. The University’s newest 
plans are centered on enhancing 
campus life with an emphasis on 
sustainability. A large portion 
of the presentation focused on 
renovating University housing, 
including Mary Markley Hall 
and the Northwood IV & V 
apartments.
At the conclusion of the 
presentation, 
Jeff 
Hayner, 
D-Ward 1, asked if the University 
would consider aiding the crisis 
by building affordable housing in 

Ann Arbor.
“Is there any appetite for 
the 
University 
considering 
building additional housing for 
staff, students and faculty to 
take pressure off the housing 
market in the city?” Hayner 
said. “Because we know we 
have an affordability crisis, and 
a lot of that is demand — just 
basic demand for housing — and 
the open market isn’t able to 
supply it in a quality way that the 
University can.”
Rein said while the University 
creates initiatives to bring the 
Ann Arbor community and 
University together, the school 
does not want to compete against 
the marketplace and, except for 
student housing, building living 
spaces are “just not the mission 
of the University.”
This 
comment 
sparked 
pushback from several members 
urging that affordable housing 
should also be a University issue.

CLAIRE MEINGAST/Daily
The University of Michigan Central Student Government holds their first meeting of the school year at the Michigan League Tuesday evening. 

Read more at 
MichiganDaily.com

GEO demands more info on 
new international student fee
Graduate students union publishes petition seeking answers on additional expense

See PARKING, Page 3A

JULIA FANZERES
Daily Staff Reporter

Recent shifts in ‘U’ 
hospital’s new parking 
policy anger unions, 
medical employees

ALEX HARRING
Daily Staff Reporter

See GEO, Page 2A

REMY FARKAS
Daily News Editor

See CSG, Page 3A

ROSEANNE CHAO/Daily

Summer love stories

statement
THE MICHIGAN DAILY | SEPTEMBER 4, 2019

See DEVOS, Page 3A

