CELEBRATING OUR ONE-HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIFTH YEAR OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM Monday, January 26, 2015
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University to take part in study on misconduct ROBERT DUNNE/Daily
EMU student Jamisha Kearney (left) and LSA sophomore Miranda Li model at the EnspiRED fashion show at the Biomedical Science and Research building Saturday.
EnspiRED fashion show represents global trends “The Red Express” features styles from cities in seven countries By MAYA SHANKAR Daily Staff Reporter
Models sporting clothing from around the world hit the runway Saturday night for EnspiRED’s
charity fashion show. EnspiRED, a student organization that aims to promote artistic expression at the University, brought fashions from seven cities to the Biomedical Science Research Building for their ninth annual showcase. Featuring clothing designed by students and donated from local and Detroit-based boutiques, the show displayed styles from the cities Moscow, Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro, London, Mum-
bai and Detroit, as well as Accra, Ghana. EnspiRED President Cyrus Tetteh, an LSA senior, said the event’s schedule was designed to simulate a train on a track, referenced by this year’s theme, “The Red Express.” The train symbol is meant to represent traveling to the seven different cities throughout the fashion show, he said. Tetteh said EnspiRED is an advocate of the arts on campus
Conductor honored at Hill amid protest
By AMRUTHA SIVAKUMAR Daily Arts Writer
As the University Musical Society prepared to award Mariinsky Orchestra Conductor Valery Gergiev with the prestigious University Musical Society Distinguished Artist Award on Saturday at Hill Auditorium, Ukrainian protesters and antiRussia advocates collected on the steps outside in a die-in protest. Standing in solidarity with those affected by Russian aggressions, the protesters aimed to raise awareness among the concert’s attendees about Gergiev’s support of Russia’s annexation of Crimea earlier this year. Ann Arbor resident Eugene Bondarenko, one of the leading organizers of the demonstration, said the group was also protest-
ing UMS for granting Gergiev the award. Returning to Ann Arbor for his 12th and 13th concert conducting the Russian Mariinsky Orchestra with UMS, Gergiev is most well known for directing the Mariinsky Theatre for over 30 years. Recently, however, Gergiev has been criticized internationally for his outspoken support of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s anti-LGBTQ policies and antagonism against Ukraine. “We think it’s quite hypocritical that he would say that at home and then come here and make money. You can’t have both,” Bondarenko said. “We also like to let people know that next time they buy tickets for something like this, UMS does not have the best discretion for who it invites. “UMS has a great responsibility to have an ethical litmus test,” he added. “When you have an odious figure, you should really think about if you’re really interested in inviting them.” While some passersby yelled See PROTEST, Page 3A
By MICHAEL SUGERMAN Daily News Editor
and in the community. This year, the organization plans to donate 20 percent of the event’s profits to Arts & Scraps, a nonprofit organization that repurposes recycled material to create arts and crafts projects for elementary school students in Detroit. University alum Chukwudi Nwamba, who graduated in December, volunteered to model in the annual show for her second time. See FASHION, Page 3A
In addition to developing a University-centric sexual assault survey, which will be randomly distributed to a pool of 3,000 students, the University is teaming up with the Association of American Universities to conduct a uniform sexual assault survey across 28 college campuses. The AAU is comprised of 62 top research universities in the United States and Canada. Twenty-seven of the participating schools, including the University, are members of the AAU; Dartmouth College will also distribute the survey. University President Mark Schlissel said the AAU survey, which is set to launch this April, will be campus-wide, and added
ENGINEERS GONE MAD-GICAL
ARTS
Valery Gergiev draws criticism from Ukrainians for support of Putin
Twenty-eight institutions plan survey to analyze sexual assault
that it will supplement the University’s data. “I figured that it would be valuable to have us be able to compare our data to that at a lot of different schools that are similar, big research universities, but different than us, to see how we’re doing,” he said in a January interview with The Michigan Daily. On each campus, the AAU survey will be identical, apart from five school-specific questions pertaining to resources for reporting and addressing sexual assault. Westat, a global research firm, has been contracted to facilitate and assess the survey results, which the AAU plans to publically report upon completion. Experts from both Westat and participating universities are still putting the survey together based on standards set forth by the White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault. “Our primary purpose in conducting this survey is to help our institutions gain a better understanding of this complex problem See SURVEY, Page 3A
TECHNOLOGY
Laboratory begins testing self-driving automobiles ‘U’ researchers work on Next Generation Vehicle project for driverless cars CHANMEE CHUNG/Daily
Engineering senior David Hiskens performs during the Engineering Games benefit show for the Detroit Area PreCollege Engineering Program at Stamps Auditorium on Saturday.
SAAN conference focuses on social justice, activism Guest speakers share narratives, discuss South Asian community By TANYA MADHANI Daily Staff Reporter
Fighting stigma through personal narrative was one of the main themes at the South
Asian Awareness Network conference held over the weekend. Parents, alumni, college and high school students from around the country gathered in both Rackham Auditorium and the Michigan League to participate in the two-day event. Titled “Threads: Connecting Our Voice, Our Truths, Our Selves,” the conference attracted over 300 attendees during its run from Friday night to Saturday afternoon. SAAN first
launched the conference 13 years ago to foster discussion on social justice issues relevant to the South Asian community, such as Islamaphobia after 9/11. Since then, the event has evolved to address a broader spectrum of issues, such as mental health. LSA senior Shaina Shetty, SAAN director and co-director of the conference, said it was a forum for productive discusSee CONFERENCE, Page 3A
By KRISTEN ANDERSON For the Daily
Self-driving cars may no longer be confined to the scenes of science fiction movies. The Next Generation Vehicle project at the University’s Perceptual Robotics Laboratory is envisioning a 21st century where car-related injuries and deaths are preventable using software tested on the streets of Ann Arbor. The project is working on a variety of vehicle components that could enable autonomous driving. The Perceptual Robotics Laboratory supports projects that develop algorithms for research and development in image processing and systems engineering, among other fields. Though the vehicle remained under the control of a manual driver during initial tests in Ann Arbor, the navigational system delivered corSee CARS, Page 3A
» INSIDE
Hopes Derailed The Michigan men’s basketball team fell just short of a massive upset over Wisconsin Saturday.
WEATHER TOMORROW
HI: 25 LO: 9
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INDEX
Vol. CXXIV, No. 55 ©2015 The Michigan Daily michigandaily.com
NEWS......................... 2A OPINION.....................4A ARTS........................... 5A
SUDOKU.....................2A CL ASSIFIEDS...............6A S P O R T S M O N DAY. . . . . . . . .1 B
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