ONE-HUNDRED-TWENTY-FOUR YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM Friday, February 21, 2014
Ann Arbor, Michigan
michigandaily.com
RENOVATIONS
DIVERSITY
Biology building project to begin
Coleman addresses inclusion concerns
Regents approve host of construction and renovation plans By CLAIRE BRYAN
JAMES COLLER/Daily
Daily Staff Reporter
LSA seniors Tyrell Collier (left), Darrartu Ali (center) and Jeremy Tyler (right), members of the Black Student Union, sat in solidarity during the University’s Board of Regents meeting Thursday.
At their meeting on Thursday, the University’s Board of Regents unanimously voted to commence a host of construction projects with projected costs of more than $510 million. The projects span across campus, including the construction of a new 300,000-square-foot Biological Science Building and renovations of the older sections of the Ross School of Business, West Quad Residence Hall and the historic President’s House. Regents approve construction of a new Biological S cience Building The construction of the Biological Sciences Building — the project that will bring about the biggest change to the landscape of Central Campus — will cost an estimated $261 million. Funding will come from LSA and Office of the Provost resources. The BSB will be built adjacent to the Life Sciences Institute, on the site of the historic North Hall and the Museums Annex, both of which will be demolished. The new facility will include new research laboratories, offices, classrooms and vivarium services, and will adopt portions of the four museum collections currently housed in the Ruthven Museums Building. Additionally, the new BSB will connect to the Life Sciences Institute, See BUILDING, Page 3
GREEK LIFE
IFC restricts type of alcohol allowed Policy shift will prohibit hard liquor at large fraternity events By YARDAIN AMRON Daily Staff Reporter
Some fraternity parties will now be a little easier on the liver. In a nearly unanimous vote Wednesday night, the Interfraternity Council amended its Social Environment Management Policy to ban hard liquor at fraternities’ open parties. The new policy will be effective immediately. Business senior Michael
Proppe, Central Student Government president, first announced the policy change at the meeting of the University’s Board of Regents Thursday. “This is a proactive step that Michigan students are taking to improve our safety on campus, and I commend the IFC leadership,” Proppe said. The new policy comes less than two months into IFC President Tommy Wydra’s first term as the organization’s leader. Proppe said Wydra is getting off to a successful start. The SEMP amendment applies to Tier IIIA and Tier IIIB parties, known as “open parties,” which are limited to 200 guests, along with the hosting fraternity members. “Due to the elimination of
WORK OF ART
hard liquor at Tier IIIA and IIIB events, students will enjoy a safer social scene at the University of Michigan for years to come,” the IFC stated in a press release. The policy will not apply to National Pan-Hellenic Council or Multicultural Greek Council parties because SEMP only applies to the IFC and Pan-Hellenic Association. Wydra said the new policy extends only to open parties and not lower-tier parties because the former tend to be the riskiest, such as those during Welcome Week or on Halloween. “Many of the Greeks get so much training, whether it’s sober monitor training or alcoSee IFC, Page 3
University President says administration has refocused on increasing diversity By YARDAIN AMRON and CLAIRE BRYAN Daily Staff Reporters
At Thursday’s meeting of the University’s Board of Regents, University President Mary Sue Coleman opened with a lengthy speech addressing campus diversity, climate and inclusion. As she spoke, members of the Black Student Union sat in the front row with duct tape over their mouths that read “Go Blue!” In the address, Coleman cited the University’s role in the two 2003 Supreme Court cases addressing affirmative action as one of the proudest moments during her presidency. In Grutter v. Bollinger, the court upheld the University’s consideration of race in admissions as part of a holistic review of each candidate. “At the time, many people asked why the University was taking on such a divisive issue in such a public way,” Coleman said. “My answer was always the same: It was the right thing to
do. It was a long, difficult struggle, it was hard on many levels, and it was the right thing to do.” Coleman said the University’s struggle to make progress in increasing diversity is troubling. She ascribed part of the challenge to the passage of Proposal 2, a 2006 ballot initiative that banned the use of affirmative action in public institutions of higher education, among other areas. In fall 2006, shortly before Proposal 2 was passed, Black students constituted about seven percent of the undergraduate population. By the fall of 2013, Black undergraduate enrollment had fallen to 4.65 percent. Hispanic and Native American students also experienced a decline in terms of percentage of the overall undergraduate population during the same period. Students from the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action and some high-school age students from Northwestern High School in Detroit spoke and protested during the public comments section of the meeting. “We want to call on students on campus to join the movement and to recognize that we have that power because we have no confidence in the administration,” said Kate Stenvig, University alum and national BAMN See INCLUSION, Page 3
CAMPUS LIFE
LSA Student Government hosts alumni in career talks Former students offer advice on how to best utilize a liberal arts degree By MICHAEL SUGERMAN Daily Staff Reporter
JAMES COLLER/Daily
Engineering graduate student Charles Wyman paints a landscape scene during the “Mochas & Masterpieces” event Thursday in the Union.
HEALTH
‘U’ offers assistance to those fighting seasonal depression Common disorder challenges students during academic year By ARIANA ASSAF Daily Staff Reporter
Bad weather has a knack for getting people down. But when sad leads to SAD, there’s more that students can do beside counting the days until summer.
WEATHER TOMORROW
HI: 38 LO: 24
Seasonal affective disorder — known as SAD — is a form of depression that is most prevalent in regions of the country such as the Midwest, where it is particularly cold and dark between midOctober and mid-March. Though many students tend to experience what is known as “winter blues,” Victoria Hays, associate director at the University’s Counseling and Psychology Services, said being formally diagnosed with SAD does not happen
as frequently. Often, people who have already experienced some depression come to realize that it worsens in the winter after consulting with a healthcare professional. “It’s not as common to get someone coming in who’s never had difficulties with depression before and whose first diagnosis is SAD,” Hays said. Information on the University Health System’s website explains See DEPRESSION, Page 3
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Seeking to “connect, learn, emphasize and unlock,” the LSA Student Government held its inaugural Alumni Connections event Thursday night, bringing in a panel of five LSA alumni to highlight the values of a liberal arts degree. The panel was sponsored by the LSA Dean’s Young Alumni Council and the LSA Sophomore Initiative, and hosted by LSASG. With underclassmen in mind, the event looked to show students the value of an LSA degree and provide them with the chance to see firsthand the kind of success it can offer. Business senior Sagar Lathia, LSA-SG president, said the event was everything he hoped it would be. He said the goal was to reassure LSA students that choosing a major is about following passion, not worrying about the future. “Ever since I was campaigning last year one of the biggest complaints I found was that LSA students love what they are learning, but they are very afraid
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of the applicability of their majors in the future,” he said. “I got to thinking, what could we do to rebrand the LSA degree, or at least change the perspective that students have. It shouldn’t be about fear.” Roughly 40 students attended Thursday’s forum at the Union, which hosted five LSA alumni, four of whom are currently University graduate students. They talked with current students, taking questions, addressing concerns and offering advice. LSA sophomore Emma Saraff, a member of the Sophomore Initiative’s advisory board, identified a kind of sophomore limbo, in which students struggle between the “eagerness” of freshman year and the more “intense focus” of juniors and seniors who generally have concrete, long-term academic goals. With this in mind, she said having alumni speak to the normalcy of this sensation was both necessary and relevant. First-year medical student Julia Stella, a panelist who graduated from the University with a degree in Neuroscience, spoke to this point, noting the struggle to choose a major is not a bad thing. “Don’t worry about it,” Stella said. “It’s not the biggest deal in the world if you decide on a certain major and then you’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, I want to do something completely different.’” Law student John Lin, a Central Student Government repre-
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sentative, said choosing a major is far easier when students let their passions guide them rather than picking classes because they potentially look good on a résumé. He added that a liberal arts major is valuable in many professions. “Being a liberal arts major has such a versatile background and pedagogy, and when you leave this University, it makes you a more well-rounded person,” he said. “We’re multi-dimensional majors and people.” First-year Business graduate student Neil Tambe, who graduated from the University in 2009 with degrees in political science and organizational studies, highlighted Lin’s words with an anecdote. “One of my best buds talks about getting reps in things,” Tambe said. “It’s like weightlifting. If you can get reps in something that is a little bit off the beaten path, you can get something out of it that is more than just listening to a lecture and writing a paper on it or taking an exam on it.” For this reason, first-year Social Work graduate student Kate Balzer said changing a major should not be looked down upon. “Nothing is permanent,” she said. “Most of us here had some point where we either did switch or thought about switching. There are a lot of opportunities See LSA, Page 3
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