Design by Maggie Huang

Thursday, December 5, 2019

University of Michigan students 
gathered at the University Spectrum 
Center Wednesday evening for a 
town hall discussion on creating 
a plan to implement an informed 
consent model for gender-affirming 
care at University Health Services. 
At the event, ten students worked 
to identify and address health care 
disparities for transgender students 

at U-M. 
The students explained that 
at UHS, individuals who wish to 
receive gender-affirming care must 
first obtain a letter of support from 
a licensed mental health provider, 
following the standards of care 
outlined by the World Professional 
Association for Transgender Health. 
In place of receiving a clinical 
diagnosis, 
town 
hall 
attendees 
advocated for UHS to begin using an 
informed consent model. This would 
let individuals receive treatment on 

a consensual basis instead of having 
to receive a diagnosis. 
LSA senior Camomile Honey 
lead the town hall meeting. In 
an interview with The Daily, she 
said the WPATH Standards of 
Care followed by UHS puts up 
unnecessary barriers for students 
wishing to receive hormone therapy.
“When it comes to the WPATH 
Standards of Care, the big word that 
comes out is gatekeeping,” Honey 
said. “It’s fundamentally difficult 
for students, more difficult than an 

informed consent model, but it also 
sends the wrong message in a lot of 
ways.”
According to the UHS website, 
UHS currently follows the WPATH 
Standards of Care to give individuals 
the best care possible. The website 
also points users towards the Corner 
Health Care Center in Ypsilanti 
if they wish to receive gender-
affirming care using the informed 
consent model.

michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Thursday, December 5, 2019

ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-NINE YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM

For Business junior Dajana 
Korcari, Instagram is more 
than just a social outlet. As a 
brand ambassador for several 
companies — including Tinder 
and Ulta Beauty — Instagram 
is also her job. Koracari, an 
influencer, relies on revenue 
from her posts. But potential 
changes to Instagram’s format 
could impact her work on 
campus.
Instagram 
has 
started 
testing a new feature where 
users will no longer be able 
to see the number of likes on 

other users’ photos. Users will 
still be able to see the people 
who liked the post and the 
number of likes on their own 
photos, but no definite number 
will be attached to photos and 
videos posted for others to see. 
While Korcari does not 
think that getting rid of likes 
will stop her from working as 
a brand ambassador, but said it 
would change how companies 
work 
with 
Instagram 
influencers. 
“I think brands are going 
to come up with a different 
way to choose who they work 
with,” Korcari said. “However, 
with the brands I’ve worked 

with so far, most of them have 
been with me posting rather 
than amount of likes I get on a 
picture.”
Instagram had been testing 
the new feature in Australia, 
Brazil, Canada, Ireland, Italy, 
Japan and New Zealand as 
early as April 2019. 
In an email, Seine Kim, 
product communications lead 
at Instagram, said the company 
began a global expansion of the 
test eliminating the option to 
view likes on photos and videos 
on Nov. 14, including in the U.S. 
market.
“While 
the 
feedback 
from early testing has been 

positive, this is a fundamental 
change to Instagram, and so 
we’re continuing our test to 
learn more from our global 
community,” Kim wrote. 
The 
results 
from 
other 
countries who have undergone 
the testing have been positive 
according to Kim, but creators 
are still concerned about how 
the change will impact their 
work through the app. In 
response to concern regarding 
influencers, Instagram has said 
the company is evaluating ways 
to ensure creators are able to 
keep their sponsorships. 

While Juan Muñoz should be 
in the final stretch of completing 
his Bachelor of Science degree 
in Architecture, the would-
be Taubman senior is instead 
launching a GoFundMe to help 
pay the University of Michigan’s 
out-of-state tuition despite being 
a resident of Michigan since age 
four.
Muñoz, who is undocumented, 
is a recipient of Deferred Action 
for 
Childhood 
Arrivals, 
a 
program enacted under former 
President 
Barack 
Obama’s 
administration 
protecting 
undocumented child immigrants 
from deportation if they met 
certain requirements. President 
Donald Trump announced plans 
to rescind DACA in September 
2017. 
Muñoz transferred to the 
University as a junior after 
completing his associate’s degree 
in Architecture Technology and 
Industrial Design Technology at 
Henry Ford Community College. 
As the first person in his family to 
attend college, Muñoz completed 
his associate’s degree in a little 
less than five years, paying for 
his tuition out of pocket while 
balancing a job on top of his 
courses. 

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

INDEX
Vol. CXXIX, No. 41
©2019 The Michigan Daily

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

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

CL A SSIFIEDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

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

S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 B
michigandaily.com

For more stories and coverage, visit

Students talk 
benefits, costs 
of recreational 
marijuana sales

Commencement comes after passage of 
Proposal 1 in Michigan last November

The University of Michigan 
College 
of 
Engineering 
welcomed Brandi P. Jones, Vice 
Dean for Diversity and Strategic 
Initiatives 
at 
University 
of 
Southern California’s Viterbi 
School of Engineering as a 
part of the Diversity, Equity, 
and Inclusion lecture series in 
Pierpont Commons Tuesday 
afternoon. 
Jones 
spoke 
to 
Michigan 
faculty 
about 
supporting Black engineering 
students 
at 
the 
University. 
About 50 faculty and students 
attended the event. 
 Jones has over twenty 
years of experience working 
in higher education. Her job 
consists 
of 
overseeing 
the 
graduation and retention rates 
for underrepresented students 
at USC. During her talk, she 
highlighted 
the 
problems 
American institutions often fail 
to address when working with 
Black engineering students. 
“I 
think 
it’s 
critical 
to 
understand specific populations 
particularly when there are 
differences in the way those 
populations are experiencing 
colleges of engineering,” Jones 
said. 

USC Dean 
requests 
help for
engineers 

ACADEMICS 

ANCHAL MALH 
For The Daily 

Businesses, student influencers 
discuss Instagram hiding likes

Platform changes garner mixed responses, concern over impact on branding 

COMMUNITY AFFAIRS

Follow The Daily 

JASMIN LEE
Daily Staff Reporter

RITA VEGA/Daily
A group of 10 students come together to discuss trans healthcare discrepancies at U-M during the Trans Care Town Hall at the University Spectrum Center Wednesday evening.

Brandi P. Jones calls 
for support for Black 
engineering community
at DEI series lecture

See UHS, Page 2A

 

Undocumented student
unable to obtain state
resident prices, creates
page on GoFundMe

SONIA LEE 
Daily Staff Reporter

See ENGINEERS, Page 3A 

BARBARA COLLINS
Daily Staff Reporter

Following Sunday’s opening 
of six dispensaries officially 
selling recreational marijuana 
in Michigan, three of which 
are based in Ann Arbor, 
students are considering the 
impact of this new legislation 
in a historically cannabis-
friendly city.
The 
commencement 
of 
recreational 
sale 
comes 
a 
year 
after 
Michigan 
passed Proposal 1, allowing 
adults over the age of 21 to 
possess up to 2.5 ounces 
of 
marijuana. 
Under 
the 
proposal, recreational sales of 
marijuana are subject to a 10 
percent excise tax in addition 
to 
Michigan’s 
six-percent 
sales tax. 
Students like LSA senior 
Luke Gaines feel this new 
supply 
of 
recreational 
marijuana won’t change life 
on campus much since the 

University must still abide 
by federal laws regarding 
the 
possession, 
use 
and 
distribution 
of 
marijuana. 
He likened the restraints on 
its usage to those placed on 
alcohol use on campus. One 
of the greatest positives, he 
believes, is a generally safer 
use of the drug. 
“I think weed is healthier 
than alcohol — period — 
but also, now it’s regulated; 
people aren’t worried about 
it being laced with anything,” 
Gaines said. “I think it will be 
safer overall. I think people 
like to know where they’re 
getting it from and will like 
to know that it’s safe and 
regulated by the government, 
as opposed to needing to buy 
it from whomever.”
Exclusive Brands — one of 
the three businesses selling 
the drug in Ann Arbor — 

KATHERINA SOURINE
Daily Staff Reporter 

See MARIJUANA, Page 3A 

Town Hall proposes informed consent 
gender-affirming care model at UHS

See INSTAGRAM, Page 3A

See FUNDRAISER, Page 3A 

Senior at
‘U’ starts 
fundraiser
for tuition

Students call current Health Services policy outdated, difficult to maneuver 

the 
2010s b-side