The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Wednesday, March 17, 2021 — 3

City Council discusses uses for marijuana excise tax

CITY

Councilmembers commit to investing in community services, officially recognize Transgendender Day of Visibility

The Ann Arbor City Council 

met virtually Monday evening 
to 
discuss 
a 
resolution 
to 

acknowledge Ann Arbor resident 
Daniel 
Bicknell’s 
longstanding 

career in public service, the 
allocation of excise tax revenue 
from 
recreational 
marijuana 

and the implementation of a 
Transgender Day of Visibility.

The meeting began with a 

discussion of a resolution to 
commend Bicknell, the president 
of Global Environment Alliance 
LLC, for his acts of public service. 
Bicknell is credited for discovering 
the 1,4-dioxane pollution in the 
Third Sister Lake as a researcher at 
the University of Michigan in 1984. 
The pollution, which started from 
the company Gelman Sciences, 
eventually spread to a large plume 
in the underground water system 
in Ann Arbor. 

Councilmember Jeff Hayner, 

D-Ward 1, spoke in favor of the 
resolution, saying the recognition 
was well-deserved. He added 
that Ann Arbor resident Roger 
Rail should also be recognized for 
working alongside Bicknell.

“I think it’s great that the 

environmental commission has 
brought this forward to recognize 
Bicknell and the work he’s done 
over the years, decades really, 
on 
the 
Gelman 
plume 
issue 

specifically,” Hayner said. “He’s 
freely shared his knowledge and 
experience with us over the years 
about this issue, and I think that’s 
terrific.” 

The 
resolution 
passed 

unanimously. 

In October 2019, City Council 

debated 
whether 
or 
not 
to 

legalize the sale of recreational 
marijuana, which was passed 9-2 
at that meeting. When City Council 
passed 
this 
ordinance, 
there 

were no plans made for the excise 
taxes that would be collected, 
Councilmember 
Ali 
Ramlawi, 

D-Ward 5, said. 

Councilmembers debated item 

DC-3 on the agenda, which aims 
to use revenue from the excise tax 
placed on recreational marijuana 
“in a way that intentionally 
reinvests 
in 
our 
community, 

acknowledges the past harm of 
criminalization, 
and 
supports 

populations 
disproportionately 

and negatively impacted by the 
‘War on Drugs.’” 

Ann Arbor received 1% of the 

state’s revenue from the tax, 
totaling about $476,000 for Ann 
Arbor. 

Councilmembers are currently 

trying to figure out how exactly 
the revenue should be used in the 
community. 

In the original discussions in 

October 
2019, 
councilmembers 

discussed how these excise taxes 
could be used for social justice, 
mental 
health 
and 
substance 

abuse issues, Ramlawi said. More 
specifically, Ramlawi suggested 
putting the money toward unarmed 
crisis response teams that could 
serve as an alternative to police in 
mental health crises. These teams 
gained 
increasing 
mainstream 

traction after a summer of protests 
for racial justice and against police 
brutality.

“It is my intent and my wishes 

to see this money go to programs 
that currently don’t exist and 
that this can be used in ways that 
are innovative and responsive 
to the issues we hear from our 
community based on the need for 
unarmed 
emergency 
response 

(teams),” Ramlawi said.

Ann 
Arbor 
resident 
Aria 

Schugat called into the meeting 
in support for DC-3 but expressed 
concern about the vagueness of 
where the money from the excise 
taxes will go. Schugat proposed 
that the excise taxes go towards 
supporting the housing association 
of Washtenaw County and the 
Delonis Center. 

“I believe that if we help our 

most vulnerable members and help 
lift them up, we can lift everyone 
else up with them,” Schugat said. 

Hayner said he spoke with 

members of the community and 
people in the cannabis industry to 
discuss how the money from the 

excise taxes should be used.

“Overwhelmingly to the last 

person, the comment was it 
must have a community use and 
do public good in areas that are 
underfunded and have great need 
in our community,” Hayner said. 

DC-3 was sponsored by over 

half of the members on the council. 
Councilmembers 
intend 
to 

incorporate this resolution into the 
2022 budget, but have yet to decide 
exactly where the money will be 
allocated to. 

“Essentially what we’re asking 

this body to do is to agree in 
principle that this goes towards 
community uses and public good,” 
Hayner said.

The 
resolution 
passed 

unanimously.

The council also discussed 

a 
resolution 
to 
officially 

recognize a Transgender Day 
of 
Visibility. 
Councilmember 

Travis 
Radina, 
D-Ward 
3, 

said there is a need for more 
education and awareness around 
the topic of transgender rights, 
especially 
since 
transgender 

people 
face 
higher 
rates 
of 

discrimination. 

Councilmember 
Elizabeth 

Nelson, D-Ward 4, voiced her 
support for the resolution and 
discussed 
the 
generational 

differences 
in 
understanding 

issues 
of 
transgender 
rights. 

Nelson said this resolution is 
important for her son’s generation 
and 
future 
generations, 
who 

will 
grow 
up 
understanding 

systemic discrimination against 
transgender people.

“This is really an opportunity 

for those of us who are old enough 
to remember the terrible way 
things used to be to make a real 
effort to move forward,” Nelson 
said. “And I’d like to say I’m really 
optimistic about the future based 
on the conversations I have with 
my own children.”

The resolution was approved 

unanimously. 

Daily Staff Reporters Shannon 

Stocking and Julia Forrest can be 
reached at sstockin@umich.edu and 
 

juforres@umich.edu.

SHANNON STOCKING 

& JULIA FORREST

Daily Staff Reporters

Thursday, 
March 
11 
marks 

one year since the University of 
Michigan suspended all in-person 
classes in response to the COVID-
19 pandemic and transitioned the 
majority of academic activities to an 
online format. The same day, Gov. 
Gretchen Whitmer announced all 
Michigan high schools would be 
required to go online as well. 

A year later, another class of high 

school seniors is struggling to sift 
through hours of virtual resources 
and campus tours to choose if, 
and where, they want to pursue 
postsecondary education. Yet a 
handful of high school students are 
getting a taste of the University’s 
undergraduate experience in a 
unique way — by participating in the 
“dual enrollment” program, which 
allows students to earn college 
credit if they have “exhausted” the 
courses offered at their high school 
in a particular subject area and have 
demonstrated high performance on 
standardized tests and AP exams. 

University 
spokesman 
Rick 

Fitzgerald told The Daily there has 
been a “modest increase” in the 
number of high school students 
who elected to dual enroll at the 
University this academic year. 
For the fall 2020 and winter 2021 
semesters, 30 and 23 high school 
students dual enrolled in various 
University 
classes, 
respectively, 

compared to 18 and 17 students 
in the fall 2019 and winter 2020 
semesters.

Once a student’s dual enrollment 

application is accepted, they can 
register for the classes they selected 
on the application during the first 
day of the term, provided there are 

still open seats available. 

The cost of tuition for these 

students depends on the number of 
credit hours requested. Fitzgerald 
said for a four-credit course, tuition 
totals $2,843, which does not 
include additional costs associated 
with books or other class-specific 
materials. Though each high school 
covers a specific amount of this 
cost, determined by the Michigan 
Department 
of 
Education, 

the students are expected to 
individually pay for the remainder 
of their tuition and fees.

The 
Community 
Resource 

Program, however, allows high 
schoolers enrolled in Ann Arbor 
Public Schools with at least a 3.5 
grade point average to receive 
high school credit for auditing a 
University class — without paying 
tuition — so long as the individual 
professor grants permission.

Students who choose to engage 

in University coursework through 
the program are still expected 
to attend lectures, participate in 
any associated discussions or lab 
components and complete any 
assignments and exams to receive 
high school credit.

When 
discussing 
the 
67% 

increase 
in 
University 
dual 

enrollment from the fall 2019 to 
the fall 2020 semester, Christopher 
Kasper, a counselor at Pioneer 
High School in Ann Arbor, said 
he thinks the online environment 
might be more attractive to high 
school students with tight academic 
schedules, fewer transportation 
options or various extracurricular 
activities. 

“It’s been nice this year in the 

sense that if a student did want to 
dual enroll, they could technically 
be a little bit more flexible with 
the 
timeframe,” 
Kasper 
said. 

“Usually there are some logistical 
parameters that are in effect where 
most of our students can’t take a … 
college class during the school day 
and they have to look to the late 
afternoon or the evening.”

On the other hand, Kasper said 

some students might be deterred 
from paying for virtual dual 
enrollment courses due to Zoom 
fatigue from their high school 
classes and the lack of on-campus 
experiences.

Kimberly You, a sophomore 

at Pioneer High School, is dual 
enrolled in MATH 285 and 217. 
You said with the virtual format, 
she has enjoyed continuing her 
mathematical education beyond 
what the high school curriculum 
traditionally offers without having 
to sacrifice any high school classes 
she wanted to take.

“It was easier to adjust my 

schedule since I can still take 
seven classes,” You said. “If I was 
still at Pioneer in-person, I could 
only take six classes because of the 
commute.”

Haakam Aujla, a senior at 

Bloomfield Hills High School, said 
though the University was his first 
choice for dual enrollment this year, 
he would likely not have been able 
to consider it as an option if classes 
were in-person because of the 
45-minute commute.

Having 
previously 
taken 

other dual enrollment courses at 
local colleges, Aujla said his dual 
enrollment in the University for 
MATH 465 and 425 this year gives 
him an idea of what his freshman 
year might be like if he decides to 
accept his offer of admission to the 
University.

Online learning presents new 
opportunities for students in 
dual enrollment program 

Number of high schoolers taking U-M courses showed a ‘modest increase’

RONI KANE

Daily Staff Reporter

Read more at 
MichiganDaily.com

OIE violations increased almost 
every year. 

Unlike the DPSS report, the OIE 

report does not include information 
on sexual harassment. Because 
sexual 
harassment 
specifically 

is not a crime that is mandatory 
to report for data collection 
under the Clery Act, a consumer 
protection law that aims to provide 
transparency 
around 
campus 

crime statistics and policy, student-
reported 
sexual 
harrassment 

cases do not get directed to OIE 
by whomever the students reports 
it to.

OIE and DPSS are the two 

organizations at the University 
that oversee sexual misconduct 
reports and investigations. When a 
student reports sexual misconduct 
to a responsible employee, that 
employee is mandated in their 
employment contract to report 
the case to either OIE or DPSS, 
depending on the employee’s role. 

SAPAC is an additional resource 

that 
helps 
student 
survivors 

by 
offering 
peer-led 
support 

groups and directing them to 
further 
assistance 
through 

referrals. SAPAC is confidential, 
meaning they “will not share any 
information with anyone” unless 
there is a potential for harm to the 
student or others. Though SAPAC 
does not oversee reports and 
investigations, they do collect data 
to use in reports by the other two 
organizations due to the Clery Act.

SAPAC 
Director 
Kaaren 

Williamsen said SAPAC internally 
tracks the identities of students 
who report but does not include 
that information when giving it to 
DPSS to be included in their annual 
report, as specified by the Clery 
Act. OIE is also required to report 
sexual misconduct statistics to 
DPSS because of the Clery Act. 

University community 

discusses results of the reports

Elizabeth Seney, the OIE Title 

IX coordinator, discussed the 
increased cases in the two reports. 
Seney, who is in charge of deciding 
whether 
OIE 
will 
investigate 

sexual misconduct cases, collects 
data of these cases and looks at 
trends in internal aggregate data 
documents. 

Seney said the increase in 

reported cases does not necessarily 
mean there are more instances 
of sexual misconduct on campus, 
but instead that more people are 
reporting.

“In general, it is never the case 

where we can look at the numbers 
and the trends and pinpoint exactly 
what is going on,” Seney said. 
“But generally speaking, I don’t 
necessarily interpret an increase, 
or … decrease to mean that there is 
more or less of a particular type of 
conduct happening. I tend to first 
think about reasons why people 
might be reporting more or less.”

OIE does not require people to 

include their identities in reporting, 
but Seney said students who report 
as identifying as LGBTQ+ tend to 
have a higher risk of facing sexual 
misconduct. 

SAPAC has noticed a significant 

increase in the number of graduate 
students coming to the center 
as compared to undergraduate 

students in the past year, according 
to SAPAC Associate Director Anne 
Huhman. She said this increase 
may be a result of increased 
community outreach within the 
graduate student community in 
recent years. 

“The first thing that came to 

my mind in terms of a clear trend 
is actually more around undergrad 
versus 
grad,” 
Huhman 
said. 

“We’ve definitely seen a trend of 
more graduate students coming 
forward. We’ve possibly seen a 
connection 
between 
increased 

community outreach, education, 
and training efforts with the grad 
student population.” 

According 
to 
Seney, 
it 
is 

impossible to say what caused 
the number of sexual misconduct 
reports to go up, but she said there 
are several possible explanations 
for the data trend.

“Some of the factors that tend to 

influence (the number of reports), 
which I think align pretty well 
with those years (2017-2019), is an 
increase in the training that we 
do about reporting,” Seney said. 
“When there are policy changes, 
and … a refresh of training on 
reporting and required reporting, 
(the number of reports increases).”

A change in the definition 

of sexual misconduct in U-M 
policy documents may also have 
contributed to the increase. In 
2016, the definition of stalking 
was revised to be more specific 
and included it as a formal form of 
sexual misconduct. As a result, she 
said, there was an increase in the 
number of stalking cases that were 
reported starting in 2017.

Seney 
also 
said 
social 

movements 
and 
increased 

exposure of sexual misconduct 
in the media have a large impact 
on people’s perception of these 
offenses, which might influence 
survivors to come forward.

“The other thing is when 

there’s issues in the news, both 
nationally and at the University, 
(reports increase),” Seney said. 
“Every year, starting around the 
beginning and the height of the 
#MeToo movement in late 2017, 
we have seen more news coverage 
about particular cases, and about 
how universities … and other 
educational institutions handle 
these things. I think sometimes 
that can bring reports to the 
forefront because it’s on people’s 
mind.”

Huhman 
echoed 
Seney’s 

statement and said the increase 
in exposure of sexual misconduct 
cases could potentially influence 
people’s decision to come forward.

“We do know what some of the 

common complex barriers are 
for survivors to come forward,” 
Huhman said. “I do think if there’s 
heightened visibility around it, 
sometimes 
people 
see 
others 

having the courage to come 
forward, and that can always be a 
powerful influence.” 

There has been a number of 

high-profile sexual misconduct 
cases at the University in recent 
years, particularly among faculty 
and staff. In 2018, The Daily 
conducted an investigation that 
uncovered over 40 years of sexual 
misconduct from former Music, 
Theatre & Dance professor Stephen 
Shipps. 
David 
Daniels,another 

former Music, Theatre & Dance 
professor,was fired in March 2020 
over sexual assault allegations 

that occured during and before his 
tenure at the University. Former 
U-M Provost Martin Philbert 
was removed from his position in 
March 2020, leading to a report 
from WilmerHale finding over 20 
years of sexual misconduct during 
his time at the University. 

Robert E. Anderson, deceased 

former 
University 
athletics 

physician and University Health 
Services director, currently has 
over 
100 
sexual 
misconduct 

allegations being litigated going 
back 50 years in his time at the 
University. Engineering professor 
Jason Mars was accused of sexual 
misconduct in Feb. 2020, and 
Engineering professor Peter Chen 
is currently on administrative 
leave following criminal sexual 
misconduct charges. 

Tamiko 
Strickman, 
the 

University’s 
OIE 
director, 
is 

facing 
two 
lawsuits 
claiming 

she mishandled sexual assault 
and racial discrimination cases 
while working at the University 
of Nebraska-Lincoln. Strickman 
worked as an investigator, deputy 
Title IX coordinator, Title IX 
coordinator and OIE director at 
UNL from 2015 to 2019. 

LSA senior Samantha Schubert, 

co-president of University Students 
Against Rape and Take Back the 
Night Ann Arbor, wrote in an email 
to The Michigan Daily that the rise 
of the #MeToo movement and 
increased support for those who 
have been assaulted have helped 
survivors to come forward. 

However, Schubert added the 

general consensus on campus 
has “become less trusting of the 
University’s ability to handle these 
cases,” particularly when the 
University was required to amend 
its sexual assault guidelines in 
2019 after the Doe v. Baum ruling 
in 2018. The amended University 
policy required mandatory live 
cross-examination, during which 
the person who alleges assault 
is questioned by their alleged 
assaulter, which drew criticism 
from the University community. 
Policy from former President 
Donald Trump’s administration 
mandated 
these 
cross-

examinations for all universities 
but by a third-party such as a 
lawyer, which some on campus saw 
as a small win within what they 
believed to be still-problematic 
cross-examinations.

“The general sense in the 

community 
was 
that 
it 
was 

detrimental to survivors, who 
were already under a lot of 
pressure when going through the 
University’s reporting system,” 
Schubert wrote. “U-M student 
orgs advocating for survivors were 
especially appalled. I know that 
there was a huge amount of anger 
amongst the members of my own 
org.”

Students have also taken “matters 

into their own hands,” Schubert 
wrote, pointing to the Assaulters 
at Umich Twitter account that 
was created in June 2020 and shut 
down in November 2020. This 
account posted pictures and names 
of people who were accused of 
sexual assault by direct messages 
from anonymous students. None of 
the allegations on the account have 
been verified by The Daily or any 
other news organization.

MISCONDUCT
From Page 1

Read more at 
MichiganDaily.com