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Schlissel to receive 3-percent pay raise Regents approve salary increase to $772,500 By MICHAEL SUGERMAN Daily News Editor
Now a year into his tenure, University President Mark Schlissel will receive a pay raise. The University’s Board of Regents unanimously voted at their September meeting Thursday to bump Schlissel’s salary by approximately 3 percent — effectively increasing his yearly earnings from $750,000 to $772,500. Schlissel’s five-year contract, which he signed in 2014, provided for annual salary increases at the regents’ discretion. Regent Andrew Richner (R–Grosse Pointe) proposed the salary increase, which was recommended by the board’s Personnel, Compensation and Governance Committee’s annual review of the president. Richner thanked Schlissel for getting to know the Michigan community as well as assessing its strengths and making moves to improve it. He touted Schlissel’s forthcoming diversity plan, efforts to “enhance campus climate and safety,” the sexual assault survey, new initiatives to increase the University’s affordability and his ability to “operate the business of the University with best-in-class efficiency.” “We very much appreciate the job President Schlissel has performed in his first year,” Richner See SCHLISSEL, Page 3A
ALLISON FARRAND/Daily
LSA sophomore Sydnee Koshar stops to read a memory of a lost loved one at the Send Silence Packing exhibit on the Diag on Thursday. The 1,100 backpacks placed on the lawn were part of an educational presentation by Active Minds intended to bring awareness to the high rate of mental illness and suicide on college campuses.
1,100 bags placed on Diag to promote mental health Active Minds seeks to raise awareness of suicide rates among college students By CHARLOTTE JENKINS Daily Staff Reporter
Thousands of backpacks — 1,100 in total — covered the Diag Thursday afternoon, representing the average number of college students who commit suicide every year in the United States. The display, titled Send Silence Packing, was organized by the University’s chapter of Active Minds, a
national organization that aims to raise mental health awareness on college campuses. The backpacks were collected in honor of students who have committed suicide. Many of the bags were dedicated to individual students and included fliers sharing memories about those lost. One flier included a message from a mother about her son, Zachary Brunt, who committed suicide three years ago during his freshman year at Yale University. “(Zach) was the last person anyone would ever associate with suicide because he was confident, engaged, curious, brilliant, handsome — the TOTAL package,” she wrote. “Please help us create a worthy legacy for
Zach by getting help if you need it and by helping out friends in need.” LSA junior Alexandria Kolenda, Active Minds active members chair, said the stigma attached to suicide and mental health issues make it more difficult for students to get help. “I hope people learn to not be as afraid to talk about mental health issues and I hope people find their own voices,” Kolenda said. “I want them to know that they’re not alone. We have so many resources to help with this.” Throughout the event, information was distributed by representatives from Counseling and Psychological Services, Pulse, Wolverine Support Network, the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System, Services for Students
New dean of med. school appointed
GOVERNMENT
Bill would alter how consent is explained
Marschall Runge to assume role, continue as Health System CEO, executive VP
If passed, K-12 public schools in Mich. would teach affirmative consent
By ALLANA AKHTAR Daily Staff Reporter
University President Mark Schlissel recommended Wednesday that Marschall Runge, the current executive vice president for medical affairs and CEO of the University of Michigan Health System, be additionally appointed dean of the Medical School, effective Jan. 1. Schlissel said he hopes the appointment will facilitate joint research between the Medical School and UMHS, sparking new collaborations between medical research, education and patient care. “I know he shares my enthusiasm for this shared alignment of all aspects of our mission and he looks forward to carrying it forward through the health system organization,” Schlissel said. Runge’s new position as dean is part of an effort to restructure leadership at UMHS. According to Runge, UMHS has not seen the same innovation or excellence in past decade as it has in prior years. “In many areas we continue to do well, but in others we have missed opportunities to build upon our success and on our potential,” he said. He said for UMHS to regain its position of excellence among top medical centers, the University must hire leaders willing to take risks, make better decisions and strengthen performance in the health system and medical school. See DEAN, Page 3A
with Disabilities, the Spectrum Center and the Depression Center. In addition to posters with facts about student suicide, Send Silence Packing featured memory boards for students to sign in solidarity with those suffering from mental illness and to share memories of friends lost to suicide. Kinesiology sophomore Serena Saake said she found the visual nature of the display extremely powerful. “The way it is spread across the Diag is really beautiful because of all the people coming through here all day every day,” Saake said. “You can really visualize how much suicide affects students.” See HEALTH, Page 3A
GRANT HARDY/Daily
Vice President Joe Biden announces additional funding for the Detroit Department of Transportation at DDOT headquarters on Thursday.
For Biden, Detroit embodies personal story, political future Vice president talks transit, economic recovery during brief Michigan stop By SAM GRINGLAS Managing News Editor
DETROIT — When Joe Biden arrived at the Detroit Department of Transportation headquarters Thursday, the group of shift workers and local dignitaries who came to see him offered the kind of welcome you’d extend to an old friend.
“I want to introduce the man who I keep saying is Detroit’s best friend: Vice President Joe Biden,” said Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, joking that the vice president has probably spent more time in the city than any place besides Washington, D.C. Biden is no stranger to Detroit. Thursday marked his fifth trip to the city since Duggan assumed office a year and a half ago. This time, the vice president stopped to herald the addition of 80 new buses to the city’s fleet, secured with the help of federal dollars. Biden loves Detroit, and should he decide to launch a bid for the presidency as several media reports insist
he is considering, he may look to the city and the state to love him back. “Detroit isn’t just an important city,” he told the crowd, a shining city bus behind him. “It’s an iconic city.” In his speech, Biden touted the city’s resurgence and the Obama administration’s efforts to assist in that process, such as securing funds to restore street lighting and locating a lightweight metals manufacturing research institute in the city. “We would never abandon the people of Detroit,” he said. “It’s like abandoning the heart of America.” Throughout the speech, Biden See BIDEN, Page 3A
By EMMA KINERY Daily Staff Reporter
Michigan Democrats are trying to change the way consent is discussed in the state — starting with how the concept is taught in schools. Though a bill jointly introduced Wednesday by state Sen. Curtis Hertel Jr. (D–Meridian Twp.) and state Rep. Tom Cochran (D–Mason) will not change the definition of consent in the state of Michigan as a whole, it will require Michigan public K-12 schools to focus on a conscious, affirmative “yes” as consent to having sex. The bill doesn’t impact University policies, but Hertel and Cochran said they hoped the bill would address the issue of sexual assault in college by educating Michigan students before they arrive on campus. Several universities in the state of Michigan have been or are currently under investigation by the See CONSENT, Page 3A
Football Saturday A look at what it’s like to be a Michigan football walk-on
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INDEX
Vol. CXXIV, No. 128 ©2015 The Michigan Daily michigandaily.com
NEWS........................2A OPINION.....................4A ARTS.........................5A
SUDOKU.....................2A CL ASSIFIEDS...............6A S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 B