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

ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-NINE YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM

About 
200 
community 
members 
and 
students 
attended 
the 
Let’s 
End 
Sexual 
Assault 
Summit 
on 
Tuesday 
at 
Eastern 
Michigan University which 
featured a keynote speech 
by 
Governor 
Gretchen 
Whitmer. In its second year, 
the event included a full day 
of discussions, panels and 
break-out sessions on how 
to address sexual assault. 
During 
her 
speech, 
Whitmer 
reflected 
on 

her dedication to moving 
sexual assault prevention 
legislation onto the state 
Senate floor, as well as 
sharing 
her 
personal 
connection 
with 
the 
movement. Whitmer shared 
she was sexually assaulted 
as a college freshman and 
now, as a survivor, she 
plans to make sure the same 
doesn’t happen to any other 
young people on college 
campuses. 
She noted how one in 
five women, one in 16 men 
and one in four transgender 
or 
non-binary 
students 
will be sexually assaulted 
while in college. Whitmer 

added the statistic does 
not communicate the pain 
felt by survivors, and it can 
often take years to share 
one’s story of sexual assault. 
“I’ve 
been 
outspoken 
about my sexual assault for 
years now, but it took me a 
long time to get there: over 
two decades to find the 
courage to tell my story,” 
Whitmer said.
Whitmer described her 
first public address of her 
sexual assault on the Senate 
floor in 2013 during the 
discussion of a proposed 
rape insurance bill which 
would 
discontinue 
the 
eligibility of coverage for 

any 
rape-related 
health 
concerns, no matter the 
circumstance. 
Whitmer 
hoped that by telling her 
narrative, senators would 
be able to see just how many 
people this proposed bill 
would affect. 
“(The bill) even applied 
to rape survivors who’d 
been impregnated by their 
attacker. It told women in 
Michigan, you have to plan 
ahead for the unplannable,” 
Whitmer said. “And they 
wouldn’t even let women or 
doctors testify during the 
debate of the bill.” 

 For Astronomy 104, LSA 
sophomore 
Katie 
Charlic 
had 
to 
purchase 
“Alien 
Skies: A Travelogue of the 
Universe.” The book, which 
retails on Barnes & Noble’s 
website for upwards of $130, 
was written by astronomy 
professor 
Mario 
Mateo, 
who teaches the course. 
Charlic stopped reading 
the book part way through 
the 
course 
because 
she 
found the lectures provided 
identical 
information 
to 
what was presented in the 
book. She only referenced 
the book when homework 
questions required students 
to look at a specific chart or 
photo inside. In her eyes, 
she paid $200 for a few 
homework questions.
“You’re having to pay 
hundreds 
of 
dollars 
on 
top of the tuition price, 
which is really hard for a 
lot of people, especially 
those that are taking out 
loans or on a scholarship,” 
Charlic said. “It feels like 
you’re just putting money in 
their pocket, which you’re 
already doing by paying 
tuition here.”

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INDEX
Vol. CXXIX, No. 40
©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

Tuesday’s sixth annual Giving 
Blueday, a 24-hour fundraising 
campaign for the University of 
Michigan coinciding with the 
global philanthropic movement 
Giving Tuesday, raised $4,242,531 
from 15,887 gifts, according to a 
University press release.
The donations will go toward 
supporting hundreds of different 
causes such as colleges, programs, 
scholarships, 
research 
and 
organizations — including more 
than 150 student organizations — 
across the Ann Arbor, Flint and 
Dearborn campuses.
To 
encourage 
engagement 
throughout the day, the Giving 
Blueday campaign featured a 
variety of challenges and donation-
matching initiatives. For example, 
students who donated $25 or more 
to any program or cause received a 
match of $25, up to a maximum of 
$50,000 total cap, distributed on a 
first-come first-serve basis. More 
than a dozen causes, including the 
Program on Intergroup Relations 
and 
Department 
of 
Urology 
Prostate Cancer Research Fund, 
received donation matches thanks 
to contributions by individual 
sponsors.

University 
fundraises 
for Giving 
Blueday 

CAMPUS LIFE

UC-SD professor discusses crisis in 
US-China relations at lecture series

Susan Shirk analyzes consequences of overreaching intentions internationally

‘U’ faculty 
 
criticized 
for use of 
own books

ACADEMICS

Follow The Daily 
on Instagram, 
@michigandaily

GABRIEL BOUDAGH
For The Daily

statement

See BOOKS, Page 3A

CLAIRE HAO
Daily Staff Reporter

Community raises over 
$4 million for causes 
across all three campuses

Students question ethics 
of instructors assigning 
self- authored textbooks

ALEX HARRING
Daily Staff Reporter

At 
Central 
Student 
Government’s 
weekly 
assembly, CSG vice president 
Isabelle Blanchard, an LSA 
senior, announced she will 
resign from her position on 
CSG on the last day of the 
semester. 
“This 
decision 
has 
not 
been an easy one, and I have 
struggled 
with 
feelings 
of 
guilt during this time, as I do 
not want to let anyone down,” 
Blanchard said. “However, it 
has become increasingly clear 
that the time commitment 
and demands of the role are 
placing an undue amount of 
pressure on myself, negatively 
impacting my mental health. 
With the current state of my 
well-being, it would be unfair 
to the student body to continue 
in this role.”
Blanchard 
added 
she 

felt it was important to be 
transparent about her decision 
to prioritize her mental health. 
“I wanted to be genuine 
with you all about the impact 
of this work on my well-being, 
because I believe that, as 
student leaders, you expect 
honesty from me, and that we 
should model caring for our 
physical and mental health and 
well-being,” Blanchard said. 
Ben Gerstein, CSG President 
and 
Public 
Policy 
senior, 
released a statement regarding 
Blanchard’s resignation.
“The 
task 
of 
leading 
a 
48,000+ student body is one of 
great intensity that demands 
significant personal sacrifice,” 
the statement said. “I, and all 
of CSG, are incredibly proud of 
the work Isabelle has done. Her 
contributions to the University 
of Michigan have not gone 
unnoticed. 

The 
Lieberthal-Rogel 
Center for Chinese Studies at 
the University of Michigan 
hosted Susan Shirk, chair of 
the 21st Century China Center 
and research professor at the 
University of California, San 
Diego, for a discussion of the 
current 
tensions 
between 
the United States and China 
Tuesday 
at 
Weiser 
Hall. 

About 50 people attended the 
discussion of the overreach and 
overreactions of both Chinese 
and American foreign policy.
Shirk said in the last two 
decades 
the 
Chinese 
and 
American governments have 
had strained relations similar 
to the relationship between the 
United States and the U.S.S.R. 
“It’s very, very different,” 
Shirk said. “But it has a lot 
of the same intense, mutual 
suspicion and hostility that 

we had during the Cold War, 
as well as this ideological 
dimension and the clash of 
systems.” 
Shirk also discussed the 
reaction of both the Chinese 
and American governments to 
the tension between the two 
countries. 
“I 
do 
believe 
that 
the 
United States is overreacting 
to the perceived threat from 
China, and in the process, it’s 
harming itself,” Shirk said. “In 

particular, it’s the openness and 
vibrancy of our own economy 
and society, which are the 
ultimate sources of American 
strength and competitiveness.”
She 
said 
China’s 
overreaching has heightened 
fears of the “China threat” 
in 
America, 
sparking 
backlash that went beyond 
President 
Donald 
Trump’s 
administration. 

Blanchard to step down next week, 
new VP to be selected by Assembly

CSG Vice 
President 
announces 
resignation

Whitmer calls for end to campus 
sexual assault at EMU conference 

Governor announces texting option for survivors to receive counseling support

See RESIGNATION, Page 3A

 JENNA SITEMAN 
& SAINI KETHIREDDY 
Daily Staff Reporter & For The Daily

See CRISIS, Page 3A

See RELATIONS, Page 3A

ANGELINA LITTLE
Daily Staff Reporter
KELSEY PEASE/Daily
Susan Shirk, research professor at the School of Global Policy and Strategy at the University of California - San Diego, presents her lecture “Overreach and Overreaction: The 
Crisis in US-China relations in Weiser Hall Tuesday.

Read more at 
MichiganDaily.com
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 DESIGN BY JACK SILBERMAN 
 

