ONE-HUNDRED-TWENTY-FOUR YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM Wednesday, February 5, 2014
Ann Arbor, Michigan
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STUDENT GOVERNMENT
CSG backs BSU calls for campus inclusion New intiative aligns with the Black Student Union’s seven demands ALEX GALEL/Daily
Kinesiology senior Fitz Tavernier Jr. facilities a dialogue to engage students in a discussion about the hypersexualization of Black men in the media at the Telling the Untold Truth meeting Tuesday at the Michigan League.
Talk looks at stereotypes Discussion examines hypersexualization of Black men in modern media By AMIA DAVIS Daily Staff Reporter
The Black male student support group Here Earning a Destiny Through Honesty, Eagerness and Determination partnered with the Sexual Assault Protection and Aware-
ness Center and the LSA Student Government’s Diversity Affairs Committee to kick off the first event of the Telling the Untold Truth series Tuesday evening. Telling the Untold Truth consists of a series of three panels aimed to confront the myths of sexual violence. The series also hopes to discuss types of sexual violence that are rarely discussed. Along with the panel presented by HEADS, the Spectrum Center will present an event on LGBTQ victims of
sexual assault and the Coalition for Queer People of Color will host a panel on institutionalized homophobia in minority communities. Dozens of students gathered inside the Michigan Room of the League to discuss the first topic of the series: black male hypersexualization, or the portrayal of Black men in the media as sexual aggressors, as well as other negative stereotypes of Black men related to sexual assault. Both SAPAC and HEADS facilitators discussed negative
stereotypes associated with the sexuality of Black men and how individuals can diminish these associations. “Throughout the small discussions and dialogue, I’ve seen a lot of faces perk up like, ‘Oh, I never realized that,’ and … even when we brought up some of the modern-day examples in the media, even though a lot of these people have seen these pictures before, they never really looked at the deeper meaning behind them,” Kinesiology senior Fitz Tavernier, Jr., co-vice chairman See STEREOTYPES, Page 3A
By KRISTEN FEDOR Daily Staff Reporter
Central Student Government Assembly representatives completed an initial read of a new diversity initiative at Tuesday night’s meeting that is aimed to increase minority representation on campus. The proposal includes CSG’s support of the seven demands of the Black Student Union, an increase in admissions recruiting among minorities and the creation of the Dream Scholarship for undocumented students. Additionally, the resolution demands that the minority enrollment for the 2014 to 2015 year doubles. Disagreement regarding the resolution arose among representatives and attending members of the BSU, specifically about the CSG’s formal support of the reversal of
GREENING UP
HOSPITAL
TRANSPORTATION
UMHS doctors implant world’s first bionic eye Retina surgeons use new practice to develop basic eyesight for the blind By AMABEL KAROUB Daily Staff Reporter
Ever thought about what it might be like to have a bionic eye? Surgeons at the University of Michigan Health System have. On Jan. 16 and 22, UMHS retina surgeons performed the firstever surgeries that implanted artificial retinas into the eyes of patients with retinitis pigmentosa, a degenerative eye disease that eventually causes blindness. Formally named the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System, the bionic eye device was developed by California-based Second Sight Medical Products, Inc. Thiran Jayasundera and David N. Zacks, professors of ophthalmology and visual sciences at the University’s Kellogg Eye Center, are the first surgeons to implant the device
since it gained approval from the Food and Drug Administration last year. UMHS has been chosen as one of 12 centers nationally to offer the retinal prosthesis to patients. Jayasundera said UMHS contacted Second Sight and requested access to the product. The company then visited UMHS to complete a site inspection. “We wanted to offer this to our patients because we see a lot of patients with advanced pigmentosa,” Jayasundera said. “We wanted our patients in Michigan to be able to have access to this technology.” Retinitis pigmentosa is an inherited disease that causes blindness through a gradual loss of light-sensitive retinal cells. Jayasundera said the retinal prosthesis works wirelessly through a camera connected to electrodes. The electrodes stimulate remaining retinal nerve fibers, causing the perception of light in the brain. “You’re wearing a video camera on your glasses,” Jayusundera See EYE, Page 3A
Proposal 2, which banned affirmative action in the college admissions process in Michigan. Business senior Shayla Scales, a member of the BSU who attended the meeting, said she was pleased with CSG’s initiative to support #BBUM and hopes to see changes in the wording that align more with the specified demands of the organization. “This is not an affirmative action model; a lot of people get that misinformed,” Scales said. “We actually just want more diversification in how we recruit undergraduates and graduates here at the University to increase diversity. And not only just race, but in thought, socioeconomic status, gender, everything.” Representatives are divided on the goals of the proposal. Rackham student Rae Scevers, co-author of the resolution, said she is open to shifting the emphasis away from affirmative action. “Being stuck on that one goal might actually be detrimental to our larger goal, which is to increase minority representation,” Scevers See CSG, Page 3A
M-TRAC announces funding for first studies In inaugural event, program awarded as much as $75,000 for innovative ideas LILY ANGELL/Daily
Lab manager Aubry Aubain and Rackham student Anita Narwani tend to an algae farm residing in the basement of the Dana building. They are currently studying the potential of algae as an alternative energy source.
GOVERNMENT
State scholarship grant funding drops significantly University hopes to subsidize loss of need-based aid By BROOKE PEARCY Daily Staff Reporter
Last year, University students receiving the Michigan Competitive Scholarship, a
need- and merit-based grant funded through the state, were awarded about $500 per year. However, in the 2001-2002 school year, these same students would have received a maximum amount of $1,300 from the scholarship. This $800 decrease in MCS funds awarded to students reflects a larger, growing trend at the University: a drastic
decline in state-funded financial aid over the past decade. In 2001, University students received about $11.1 million in financial aid from the state, but by 2012 this figure had decreased to about $2.3 million, according to Pamela Fowler, executive director of financial aid. Fowler said the UniverSee AID, Page 3A
By MICHAEL SUGERMAN Daily Staff Reporter
After the University unveiled a new, transportation-based branch of the Michigan Translational Research and Commercialization Program last year, the program announced its inaugural grant winners on Jan. 23. M-TRAC Transportation provides University professors and graduate students the opportunity to pitch proposals for prospective innovations in the transportation industry to a board of experts. The M-TRAC Oversight Committee awards selected projects as much as $75,000, as well as professional guidance to phase their research into the market. “It provides a direct link for researchers to industry,” said See M-TRAC, Page 3A
Students are pushing for a change in the racial climate at the ‘U.’
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INDEX
Vol. CXXIV, No. 61 ©2014 The Michigan Daily michigandaily.com
NEWS......................... 2A SUDOKU.....................2A OPINION.....................4A
CL ASSIFIEDS...............6A A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7A T H E S TAT E M E N T. . . . . . . . . .1 B