CELEBRATING OUR ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIFTH YEAR OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM Friday November 14, 2014
Ann Arbor, Michigan
GOING VIRAL
GOVERNMENT
Legislators to consider civil rights proposals Democrats, GOP disagree on provisions to protect gender identity By SHOHAM GEVA Daily Staff Reporter
Sparking what was predicted to be contentious topic in both this year’s lame duck session of state legislature and beyond, there are now two different versions of an amendment to the state’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act up for consideration in Lansing. The act as it currently stands protects state residents from workplace, housing and other forms of discrimination on the basis of religion, race, color, national origin, age, sex, height, weight, familial status and marital status. The first proposed amendment, introduced concurrently by Rep. Sam Singh (D–East Lansing) in the House and by Sen. Rebekah Warren (D–Ann Arbor) in the Senate in September, proposes new protections for to include both sexual orientation and gender identity or expression as protected identities — a change
Democrats have unsuccessfully sought multiple times over the past few years. The second, introduced Wednesday afternoon by Rep. Frank Foster (R–Petoskey) in the House, only proposes including sexual orientation, and was met with criticism from both LGBTQ advocates and the Democratic caucus. Rep. Adam Zemke (D–Ann Arbor), who co-sponsored Singh’s bill, said the main issue with Foster’s proposal was his omission of proposed protections for gender identity and expression. “The important thing that we need to understand is that the bill that was introduced by Rep. Foster is not a compromise,” Zemke said. “It’s sending the message that discrimination against one group of people is okay as long as we’re protecting another group, and that’s not right.” Republicans in the state legislature have argued that a recent Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ruling, which found that discrimination against transgender people qualified as sex discrimination, could also apply to the ELCRA, which they say would effectively create protections for gender identity. Democrats and LGBTQ advocacy See RIGHTS, Page 3A
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ARTS
Writers unite for 10-hour session Espresso Royale to host comprehensive Write-a-thon VICKI LIU/Daily
Maris Eisenberg, assistant professor of Epidemiology, speaks about the global response to Ebola at the “Fear, Panic, and Isolation: Ebola and Public Health” panel at the School of Public Health Thursday.
ACADEMICS
Intergroup relations to introduce minor IGR courses will also satisfy LSA Race & Ethnicity req. next semester By AMABEL KAROUB Daily Staff Reporter
Beginning next semester, students will officially be able to minor in Intergroup Relations. In addition to a formal minor designation, an IGR class will count for the University’s Race and Ethnicity requirement for the first time.
PIANO MAN
IGR, now in its 26th year, is a social justice program designed to foster discussion and learning about social identity and inequality. The program focuses on open discussions between students, as well as promoting leadership experience for the students who facilitate these discussions. IGR’s seven courses have now been formalized into the minor, complete with core courses and multiple track options to fulfill the requirements. The minor involves a total of either eight or nine classes and totals between 19 and 22 credits. IGR Co-Director Kelly Max-
well said the minor emerged in response to high student demand. IGR previously offered a Certificate of Merit for students who took a number of IGR courses, but students taking multiple classes in IGR wanted their experience to appear officially on their transcripts. Over the past year, IGR has worked to develop a proposal and curriculum for the minor, which LSA approved this fall. Maxwell said the timing is particularly ideal, adding that it’s becoming increasingly important for students to communicate with others who have See MINOR, Page 3A
By ALEXANDER BERNARD Daily Arts Writer
On the outside of the glass, people hustle by, minds buried in their cell phones and Spotify playlists. The autumn wind sweeps across their face and underneath their scarves, sending chills through the fingertips that press against scratched phone screens. On the inside, fingers drum against keyboards and typewriters as undergraduates, young authors and writing instructors hash out the beginnings of short stories, novels, poems, memoirs and the “Acknowledgments” section of their books. People stop on the street, press their noses against the glass and, in my imagination at least, wonder, “Are we allowed to feed the writers?” This Friday, Nov. 14, the Undergraduate English Association and Fiction Writers Review will host the “November Write-a-thon,” a 10-hour event dedicated to writing, editing and creating new literature, all within the toasty confines of Espresso Royale on State Street. See WRITEATHON, Page 3A
ADMINISTRATION
Schlissel calls for review of ‘U’ sustainability plan Campus struggles to meet goals for waste, greenhouse gas reductions By GENEVIEVE HUMMER Daily Staff Reporter
CHANMEE CHUNG/Daily
San Cristobal plays at the 4th Annual New Beat Happening Battle of the Bands Thursday at the Michigan League Underground.
SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN
Despite improvement over last year, Detroit tops nation for violent crime Students have varied reaction to comprehensive 2013 FBI report By NEALA BERKOWSKI Daily Staff Reporter
As reported by the FBI earlier this week, Detroit had the highest rate of murder and violent crimes in 2013. Four offenses are categorized as violent crime in the report:
WEATHER TOMORROW
HI: 35 LO: 25
murder, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault. Out of Detroit’s 699,889 residents, there were 14,504 reported violent crimes, or 2,072 violent crimes per 100,000 people. Three hundred and sixteen of those crimes were murders, which is approximately 45 murders per 100,000 people. In contrast, Ann Arbor, with a population of 116,799, saw 247 violent crimes in 2013, three of which were murders. Overall, however, violent crime fell in the city and across the nation. The estimated number of violent crimes in the U.S.
decreased by 4.1 percent, while the estimated number of violent crimes in Detroit decreased by 3 percent. Murders fell by 18 percent in Detroit and by 4.4 percent nationwide. Despite high crime rates in Detroit, some University students and student groups working in Detroit say these statistics will not change their view of the city, mainly because Detroit’s crime issues are not new to them. LSA freshman Melissa Ramirez, who was born in See DETROIT, Page 3A
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University President Mark Schlissel announced in a release last week that the University plans to review its sustainability goals. “To be the model public university — and to be a responsible leader in the communities we serve — we must achieve our full potential in sustainability,” Schlissel wrote in a release. The goals, established by University President Emerita Mary Sue Coleman in 2011, included five operations-focused sustainability goals: to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, University transportation emissions and waste tonnage, to purchase sustainable food and to protect the Huron River. The year 2025 was set as the deadline for achieving the goals. Schlissel has recommended working groups review the University’s progress on meeting these goals and re-evaluate future plans related to sustainability. Hank Baier, associate vice president for facilities and operations, and Don Scavia, special counsel to the president for sus-
NEW ON MICHIGANDAILY.COM Video: Students react to Detroit’s crime statistics MICHIGANDAILY.COM/BLOGS
INDEX
tainability and director of the Graham Sustainability Institute, will lead the process. In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Scavia said Schlissel received a letter cosigned by the leaders of 50 student organizations expressing their continued interest in the 2011 sustainability goals, which many of them helped to create. In the letter, students urged Schlissel to review the existing goals and to enact more aggressive initiatives. A week or two later, he received a similar letter from members of the faculty. Scavia said a review of the sustainability goals was originally scheduled for next year, but after receiving letters from students and faculty, Schlissel decided to conduct the review this year. “He thought it was important as the new president to take a look at it (the sustainability goals) and he wanted definitely to engage the operations staff as well as faculty and students to take a look at it collectively,” Scavia said. Three teams of faculty, students and staff are now working to schedule their first meetings. One team will review greenhouse gas emissions, another waste reduction and the final group will focus on the culture of sustainability on campus. While initiatives to improve University transportation emissions and purchase sustainable
Vol. CXXIV, No. 27 ©2014 The Michigan Daily michigandaily.com
food have seen success, others have been more difficult to accomplish. Despite the 2011 goal to reduce carbon gas emissions by 25 percent, University data published by the Office of Campus Sustainability show that emissions decreased in 2012, but then increased in 2013. Transportation emissions have seen decreases, but waste production has actually increased since the adoption of the goals. “Greenhouse gas and waste reduction are priorities because those goals require the greatest investment to achieve, and our progress is not as rapid as we’d like,” Baier said in a release. Another goal of the review is to educate students, faculty and staff on campus about sustainability. Scavia said the Graham Sustainability Institute has created behavior change programs like Planet Blue Ambassadors and the Planet Blue Student Innovation Fund to engage students in current sustainability issues. The institute also works with the Institute for Social Research to conduct an annual survey that measures campus behaviors and knowledge of sustainability practices. The survey, which targets faculty, students and staff, has run for two consecutive years. The survey conducted in 2012 found that while students were more aware than faculty of camSee SUSTAINABILITY, Page 2A
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