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Ann Arbor, Michigan
Tuesday, January 14, 2020

ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-NINE YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM

The University of Michigan 
Senate Assembly met Monday 
afternoon at the Michigan 
League to discuss the structure 
of faculty governance, changes 
to policy regarding faculty pay 
during University misconduct 
trials, the status of U-M Flint 
and the purpose of University 
Ombuds. The Ombuds is an 
independent 
body 
working 
to resolve conflicts between 
faculty members. 
MaryJo Banasik, director 
of the University’s Faculty 
Senate Office, began with a 

presentation explaining the 
structure of the University’s 
faculty governance. 
“There’s 
an 
opportunity 
for the faculty to reach all 
these 
different 
levels 
of 
administration, but it really 
needs to be done through 
central faculty government,” 
Banasik said. “So when people 
do 
get 
involved 
— 
when 
they participate in faculty 
governments — that’s when 
faculty voices can be heard the 
most.” 
Ann Sales, a professor of 
Learning Health Sciences in 
the Medical School, raised 
concerns with the lack of 

representation of University 
staff on faculty governance. 
“When we went through 
the list of who was involved 
in faculty governance as it’s 
currently set up, there are 
clearly some important groups 
missing,” 
Sales 
said. 
“So 
critical faculty are missing, 
as are lecturers and other 
adjunct roles, and I’m sure this 
gets addressed frequently, but 
are there mechanisms for this 
ongoing discussion?” 
Information 
professor 
Kentaro Toyama, chair of the 
Academic 
Affairs 
Advisory 
Committee, presented updates 
on resolved and ongoing policy 

debates between the AAAC 
and the Office of the Provost. 
Toyoma 
discussed 
how 
issues of expediting tenure 
trials and cutting pay for 
egregious faculty misconduct 
have 
split 
the 
committee. 
He said he errs on the side 
of protecting faculty rights 
while recognizing the need to 
sanction harmful faculty. 
“(Faculty 
members) 
are 
paid through the time of 
the hearing until the final 
decision is made by the 
University 
whether 
to 
terminate 
them 
or 
not,” 
Toyama said. 

Approximately 100 students 
and faculty attended the first 
session of the LSA 2020 Great 
Lakes Theme Semester speaker 
series 
on 
Monday 
evening. 
The event was hosted by the 
School for Environment and 
Sustainability at the University 
of Michigan Museum of Art 
auditorium. 
The session addressed key 
issues dealing with the rising 
water levels in the Great Lakes 
and their consequences. The 
panel consisted of four speaker 
presentations 
followed 
by a question and answer 
panel moderated by Richard 
Norton, professor of Urban 
and Regional Planning and 
Program in the Environment. 
Addressing 
the 
critical 
nature of studying the Great 
Lakes’ water levels, Leland 
Township Supervisor Susan 
Och shared an experience 
from her work when she was 
at a beach on Lake Michigan 
discussing rip currents. 
“A gentleman came out of 
his house, swaying with his 
cocktail, and gave me the best 
piece of advice I could ever 
use:

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INDEX
Vol. CXXIX, No. 49
©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 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

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

S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
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Ann Arbor City Council met 
Monday night for a work session 
in conjunction with Jennifer Hall, 
executive director of the Housing 
Commission. 
The 
discussion 
surrounded the creation of more 
affordable housing in Ann Arbor. 
Approximately 60 Ann Arbor 
residents attended the meeting. 
Hall said those with an annual 
income ranging between $20,000-
60,000, around 60 percent of Ann 
Arbor’s population, would be 
eligible for these housing units.
Residents 
had 
concerns 
about these units, ranging from 
preserving historical chimneys 
to ensuring old trees remain 
in original locations. Positive 
features of the housing plan would 
be its walkability score, Low 
Income Housing Tax Credits and 
the possibility for the creation of 
mixed-use buildings. 
Hall said the building plan 
notes properties owned by the city 
that are not being used to their 
full extent, making them good 
candidates for a remodel. 
Hall, along with her colleagues, 
said the plan would require an 
experienced private developer, but 
the Housing Commission would 
still have autonomy over the plans. 
 

A2 council 
discusses 
affordable 
housing

ANN ARBOR

Executive Director 
of Housing Committee 
joins councilmembers, 
explores new living units

Senate Assembly talks pay through 
misconduct trials, governance 
Group convened on Monday to share updates about faculty issues

Panel on 
MI water 
level talks 
climate

RESEARCH

VARSHA VEDAPUDI
Daily Staff Reporter

Follow The Daily 
on Instagram, 
@michigandaily

KYTO BATT/Daily
SACUA Chair Joy Beatty discusses potential policies on sexual and gender-based misconduct at a SACUA meeting in the Fleming Administration Building Monday.
See COUNCIL, Page 3

JOJO RUBIN
Daily Staff Reporter

Experts weigh in on 
rising precipitation 
in Great Lakes during 
first talk of semester

See ASSEMBLY , Page 3

Michigan Union opens after 
20 months of renovation

NATALIE STEPHENS/Daily
Students and staff gather around the Michigan Union to celebrate the reopening after 20 months of renovations Monday afternoon.

Twenty months and two 
new graduating classes later, 
the Michigan Union opened its 
doors Monday morning to more 
than 500 waiting students and 
alumni. 
The Michigan Union first 
opened in 1919 and has since 
served as a meeting space for 
various student organizations, 
study spaces and University 
programs. 
Renovation 
plans 
for the building began nine 
years ago through the student 
advisory 
group 
Building 

a Better Michigan and its 
coalition with Central Student 
Government, the University’s 
colleges and various student 
organizations. 
The Union’s closed its doors 
in April 2018 for renovations 
and the building has been 
under construction and closed 
to visitors since. The Union 
celebrated its 100th birthday 
on the Diag in October and The 
Daily was offered a sneak peek 
of the renovations in December.
After the doors opened, about 
one hundred people gathered 
in the courtyard of the Union 
to hear formal remarks from a 
variety of speakers, including 
E. Royster Harper, outgoing 

vice 
president 
of 
Student 
Life, 
Amy 
White, 
director 
of the Michigan Union, and 
University 
President 
Mark 
Schlissel. Other visitors during 
this time previewed the student 
spaces and businesses housed 
in the Union.
In an interview with the 
Daily before opening remarks, 
Regent 
Paul 
Brown 
(D) 
commented on the value of the 
Union for students on campus. 
“I 
definitely 
appreciated 
the building as a student here, 
and I’m glad it’s reopened to 
the kids and hopefully more 
useful than ever,” Brown said. 

REBECCA HIRSH & 
HANNAH MACKAY
Daily Staff Reporters 

Community members lined up around block in anticipation 

See UNION, Page 3

Students react to restaraunts 
remaining closed on first day

Only a small handful of stores begin serving customers

Following the announcement 
of 
the 
Michigan 
Union 
restaurant 
lineup 
in 
mid-
October, 
only 
Sweetwaters 
Coffee & Tea, Blue Market 
and Barnes & Noble opened 
in the newly renovated Union 
Monday 
afternoon. 
Other 
restaurants opening later in 
the semester in the Union 
include 
favorites 
such 
as 
Subway, Panda Express and 
the new addition of Panera 
Bread and Taco Bell. 
One of the biggest draws 
of the Union may be its 
restaurants. Susan Pile, senior 

director for University Unions 
and Auxiliary Services, said 
the other franchises will be 
available to students in the 
coming weeks. 
“Sweetwaters Coffee & Tea, 
Blue Market and Barnes and 
Noble will be open,” Pile said. 
“The others will be open over 
the next couple of weeks.” 
Pile spoke about the process 
of 
selecting 
restaurants. 
Through student surveys and 
committees, Union directors 
selected 
which 
restaurants 
would be in the Union. 
“Some of the restaurants 
are 
returning, 
depending 
on where they were in their 
lease agreement,” Pile said. 

“And some of them we went 
out for what’s called a request 
for proposal process where 
we 
work 
with 
University 
procurement. Any interested 
vendors bid on the spaces and 
we worked through a selection 
process identifying a diverse 
array of menu options and 
price points and menu types.” 
Many students said they 
feared most restaurants may 
not open until after spring 
break. LSA senior Alexandra 
Niforos 
admitted 
she 
was 
fearful she would not be able 
to enjoy the Union to its fullest 
in her last semester. 

ALYSSA MCMURTRY 
Daily Staff Reporter

See RESTAURANTS, Page 3

See LAKES, Page 3

JENNA SITEMAN
Daily Staff Reporter

