Each month, The Michigan Daily
publishes a compilation of bills in
the Michigan legislature for students
at the University of Michigan to be
aware of.
The following article explains five
bills that have been introduced, passed
or signed into law by the Michigan
legislature or Gov. Gretchen Whitmer
throughout the month of February.
1. Ban on discrimination of
hair styles typically associated
with race
Status:
Introduced
in
the
Senate
First introduced Feb. 21 by state
Sen. Sarah Anthony, D-Lansing,
Senate Bill 0090 would expand the
definition of race under the 1976
Elliot-Larsen Civil Rights Act which
bans discrimination on the basis
of religion, race, Color, national
origin, age, sex, weight and familial
and marital status in employment,
housing
and
public
resource
matters.
The bill, known as the “Creating
a Respectful and Open World for
Natural Hair,” or CROWN Act,
would amend the existing Act’s
racial
protections
by
banning
discrimination based on certain
hair styles and textures historically
associated with race. The bill would
protect hairstyles including, but
not limited to, “braids, locks, and
twists.”
The bill marks the third time the
CROWN Act has been introduced
in the Michigan state legislature
after the bill failed to make it out of
the Republican-controlled House
Operations Committee in 2019 and
2021.
“(Hair discrimination) is one of
the most pressing issues that I hear
about, particularly for our Black
women,” Anthony told WKAR News
earlier this month. “(This includes)
folks who have experienced real
discrimination,
not
received
promotions on their jobs, not been
able to take school pictures in
elementary schools, not been given
health care services based on how
they wear their hair.”
If
passed,
Michigan
would
join
over
a
dozen
states
in
ensuring protections against hair
discrimination. Though the U.S.
House of Representatives passed a
federal version of the CROWN Act
in March with bipartisan support,
the bill was unsuccessful in passing
the U.S. Senate.
The Michigan bill was referred
to the Committee on Civil Rights,
Judiciary and Public Safety for
further review.
2. Updated school emergency
procedures
Status:
Introduced
in
the
House
Introduced on Feb. 14 by state
Rep. Kathy Schmaltz, R-Jackson,
H.B. 4088 would amend Michigan’s
school
code
to
implement
recommendations from a bipartisan
legislative task force formed after
the November 2021 Oxford High
School shooting.
The bill proposes the formation
of a school-crisis team at all public
K-12 institutions in Michigan which
would “rapidly address” school
safety concerns and require all
parents be notified every time the
crisis team convene.
The bill was introduced just
one day after a mass shooting at
Michigan
State
University
left
three students dead and five others
critically injured. In a statement,
Schmaltz said she felt the timing of
the bill’s introduction represented
the urgency of passing legislation to
protect students.
“The
horrifying
events
that
unfolded
at
Michigan
State
University once again shattered
our sense of security and left people
across our state with a feeling of
deep despair,” Schmaltz said. “In the
days following the Oxford tragedy
and again today we ask ourselves
‘How could this happen?’ It’s a
complex issue with no one simple
solution, but the bipartisan bills we
introduced represent a willingness
to work together to improve school
safety and address the mental health
needs of Michigan students.”
The bill was referred to the
Committee on Education for further
review.
3.
Personal
finance
requirement in public schools
Status:
Introduced
in
the
House
H.B. 4057 was introduced by state
Rep. Lori Stone, D-Warren, at the
beginning of the month and would
enable K-12 students to obtain their
required economics credit through
completion of the personal finance
requirement. The introduction of
the bill comes after Whitmer signed
a law in June that requiring all K-12
students to take a personal finance
class prior to graduation.
Each month, The Michigan Daily’s
research beat publishes a feature on
one University of Michigan laboratory
to highlight the efforts of the lab team
and the importance of the research. The
following article is the lab spotlight for
the month of February 2023.
The
Michigan
Daily’s
second
lab spotlight focuses on the U-M
HomeLab, which opened in 2017
as part of the BioSocial Methods
Collaborative. The lab offers spaces
that can be adapted to the needs
of research groups outside of the
University seeking to pursue their
investigations.
The Lab
The basement of the Institute for
Social Research looks much like that
of any other building with its white
cinder blocks lining dimly-lit hallways,
but that all changes when entering the
HomeLab.
According to Alicia Carmichael,
research process manager for the
BioSocial Methods Collaborative, the
lab rooms are designed to simulate a
real household environment, which is
useful for researchers in a number of
fields, including psychology, sociology,
product development and kinesiology.
“(The
HomeLab)
really
is
a
playground
for
investigators,”
Carmichael said in an interview with
The Daily. “It’s (also) a great mental
space for designers. So if you’re trying
to design a medical product or just a
common household product that you
want to deploy to millions of homes
and millions of people, don’t just jump
to those homes and people. Start in
a playground like this, control the
settings and understand the responses
to certain things.”
The first space of the “home” is
the kitchen, which includes homelike
details ranging from a cereal box
resting on top of the refrigerator
to cookbooks sprawled across the
counter.
Although the “kitchen” is in
a basement, the window decals
portray an outdoor scene, allowing
researchers to study participants
from the other side of the windows
without distracting them. The lab also
utilizes a variety of wearable devices
to track metrics such as heart rate
and sweat response in participants,
while microphones and cameras
are incorporated throughout the
room. Although the devices are fairly
discreet, Carmichael said participants
are always aware they are being
monitored. She also explained how
the camera system can be adapted to
fit the researchers’ needs in different
studies.
“Depending on who’s coming
into the lab, or what we’re trying to
capture, we will redesign the camera
system,” Carmichael said. “So if we’re
working with adults, the cameras will
be kind of here at eye level. If we’re
working with kids, we need to bring
those cameras down to their level
because we want their perspective
… Sometimes we’re doing balance
studies, so what we really want to
know about is feet and so we’ll drop
the cameras to the ground to capture
the motion. It really depends on what
the investigator wants to do.”
The kitchen is connected to a
laundry room space and a bathroom
which features two different types
of showers: one with a traditional tub
and one that is barrier-free. According
to Carmichael, since many of the
lab’s projects explore accessibility,
occupational and physical therapists
were involved in the designing of
HomeLab. She explained how they
recommended inclusion of some
non-Americans with Disability Act
compliant features, since many people
with disabilities do not live in homes
with accessible features.
“(People with disabilities) might
live in a house that was built in the ’50s,
it’s retrofitted at most to accommodate
them,” Carmichael said. “So most
of the time, the (accessible) features
aren’t there. But (the physical therapist
and occupational therapists) said we
want you to be able to remove the
challenges whenever you can.”
Though the lab’s bedroom is usually
connected to the kitchen, the entrance
is currently closed while the room
is being used to simulate a medical
exam room for students to learn how
to give treatment and the impact of
different types of treatment. The exam
room setting is currently being used
to simulate the difference in treating
patients at home or in a clinical
environment. The blue lighting of the
exam room contrasts with the warm
tones of the “home,” and the “shelves”
on the wall are actually the underside
of a Murphy bed, which folds up into
the wall. The walls are dotted with two
anatomy posters, and a drape sheet has
been laid out neatly on the exam table.
“We (can change the room from
a bedroom to a clinic) in two hours,”
Carmichael said. “We know our stuff,
(and) we have so much documentation
for what item goes where.”
The Research
The HomeLab serves as a testing
space for projects across disciplines,
setting it apart from many other
U-M research environments which
primarily serve one area of research.
As a result, the lab staff has worked on
research in an assortment of areas.
One
recent
project
involved
tracking muscle activity in people
who recently had mastectomies and
reconstructive surgeries for breast
cancer. Participants were fitted with
motion sensors and electromyography
sensors to monitor muscle activity.
“The surgery causes your muscles
to be reattached in a way that they
weren’t before,” Carmichael said. “We
had (participants) just go through
everyday tasks, like here’s some
groceries, put them away. Here’s a
shirt, put on the shirt, and we were
able to demonstrate that their muscle
activity had changed … They had
changed the way that they were using
their muscles to accomplish the same
tasks as they were before.”
HomeLab
also
explored
the
cognitive-motor demands of the skills
that older women with arthritis of the
hands use to wash dishes in a recent
study. Jacqui Smith, co-director of the
BioSocial Methods Collaborative, told
The Daily older adults frequently adapt
to the challenges of aging without
noticing it, so direct observation is
important.
2 — Wednesday, March 8, 2023
News
February Lab Spotlight: U-M Homelab
RESEARCH
5 bills to watch in the Michigan legislature
The Daily’s research beat visited the Homelab, a lab space that looks like an apartment
Every month, the Daily tracks important bills on the Congress floor. Here’s 5 from February:
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