ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM Wednesday, December 2, 2015
Ann Arbor, Michigan
michigandaily.com
Flint Water Crisis Timeline March 2013 Flint City Council votes to join Karegnondi Water Authority. The next day, Detroit tells Flint it will no longer sell water to the city beginning in April. March 2014 The city of Flint announces it will begin sourcing its water from the Flint River on a plan managed by the city’s emergency manager. April 25, 2014 Flint residents begin drinking water from the Flint River. Resident complaints about water quality begin a few weeks later. September, 2014 The city issues a boil-water advisory after bacteria is discovered in some Flint water samples.
The Flint Water Plant is quiet now that all of the Flint River water has been emptied from the plant and the city returns to using water from the Detroit River.
In Flint, lead contamination spurs fight for clean water Residents struggle with crisis’ lasting impacts as leaders seek to rebuild trust By SAM GRINGLAS Managing News Editor
FLINT, Mich. — On a Saturday evening in October, several hundred trick-or-treaters streamed up
and down Calumet Street on the city’s east side. Traffic clogged the neighborhood’s streets, lined with well-maintained Tudors, Colonials and mature trees cloaked in hues of red and yellow. Princesses, ninja turtles, witches and firemen darted between the cars, and on their front lawn, Bob and Melodee Mabbitt passed out candy from beneath a rain umbrella. The Mabbitt’s stretch of Calumet is wealthier than most of Flint’s neighborhoods, and draws kids from all over town on
Halloween. But this year, along with Snickers, Crunch bars and boxes of Nerds, the Mabbitts were handing out leaflets. The letters were bold and black, and they warned Flint parents their kids may have been exposed to toxic lead from their drinking water. “You are getting this as a courtesy to let you know that one or more of your neighbors had their tap water tested and was informed they have very high contents of lead and other pollutants in their water,” the
EVENT PREVIEW
Basement Arts’ sci-fi drama ‘The Nether’ comes to Walgreen Center Student-run dystopian play explores high-tech future By BAILEY KADIAN Daily Arts Writer
“Just because it’s virtual, doesn’t mean it isn’t real.” In a divide between a virtual world and reality, Jennifer Haley’s “The Nether” explores morality’s place The Nether within the digital realm. Walgreen This weekend at Drama Center, Studio One of the Studio One Walgreen Drama Center, Basement Dec. 3 at 7 p.m., Arts, a student- Dec. 4 at 7 & 11 run theater p.m. and Dec. 5 at 7 p.m. organization, presents “The Nether,” a sciencefiction drama set in a futuristic world. As I sat in on rehearsal, I quickly realized I was observing something
far from familiar. The actors warned me about the dark nature of the play — and I soon discovered why. “The Nether” is set in a dystopian, futuristic society where the Internet has become a series of virtual realms, called The Nether, requiring users to sign in and indulge in any desire they please. Detective Morris discovers one particular world, the Hideaway, and chooses to investigate this virtual reality. This fictitious universe centers on crime, specifically pedophilia, and it raises questions of what’s considered ethical within the world and how behavior should be policed accordingly. For some clients of the Hideaway, the virtual is just as real as “reality.” Though there’s immense darkness in the Hideaway, there’s also beauty. The joys of this virtual world are seen through visual design and the relationships between characters. “The Nether has been able to capture trees and sensorial things that the real world no longer has,” director Maddie Rouverol, a junior in the School See NETHER, Page 5A
the statement WEATHER TOMORROW
HI: 45 LO: 26
fliers read. Nayyirah Shariff, a Flint community organizer and friend of Melodee’s, slid the white, folded fliers into dozens of old pillowcases and plastic buckets shaped like jacko’-lanterns. “Don’t worry, there’s candy, too,” she assured a group of kids clad in raincoats. “Happy Halloween!” In October, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) announced the city of Flint’s drinking water contained elevated levels of lead. A local See FLINT, Page 3A
January, 2015 Residents are notified the city has violated the Safe Drinking Water Act due to unsafe levels of TTHMs. Several members of City Council say the city should stop using water from the Flint River, and Detroit offers to begin selling Flint water again. Flint’s emergency manager opts to stay the course. The city later invests in new filters designed to curb the problem. September 2, 2015 A Virginia Tech professor’s report says the water’s corrosivity is causing lead from the pipes to leach into the city’s water supply. September 24, 2015 Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha reports her findings showing a correlation between blood lead-level spikes in children and zip codes with heightened levels of lead in water samples. September 25, 2015 Gov. Rick Snyder says the state will provide additional water filters for Flint, expand lead exposure testing and work to improve corrosion control during the water treatment. The administration says it is reviewing the option to return Flint to Detroit water. October 8, 2015 Snyder announces a $12 million plan to reconnect the city of Flint to Detroit water.
G I V I N G B A C K O N G I V I N G B L U E D AY
ADMINISTRATION
Report: ‘U’ to begin the search for a new AD Jim Hackett has served in interim role since Oct. 2014 By LEV FACHER
RITA MORRIS/Daily
Caroline Rebello, program assistant of student philanthropy, adds cards to the “challenge wall” with the names of organizations chosen by students that should receive donations on Giving Blueday in Pierpont Commons on Tuesday.
ACADEMICS
University to offer more massive open online courses Available classes have nearly doubled since semester’s start By BRIAN KUANG Daily Staff Reporter
Since the summer, the University has nearly doubled the number of massively open online courses, MOOCs, it offers on
both the Coursera and edX online platforms. This includes 42 currently available courses on Coursera and two courses that will be available in the spring of 2016 on the edX platform, covering subjects ranging from programming and finance to classical music. James DeVaney, associate vice provost for Digital Education and Innovation, wrote in an e-mail interview that MOOCs not only help
faculty members teach larger audiences, but also serve as a testing ground for new educational technologies and strategies. MOOCs are largely administered through the Office of Digital Education and Innovation, which partners with interested faculty members and helps them in planning and implementing their online courses. “Our growing portfolio See MOOCS, Page 3A
Managing Editor
The University will soon launch a search for a permanent athletic director, and Jim Hackett, who currently holds the position on an interim basis, will not be among the candidates, according to a Tuesday report in the Detroit Free Press. Since being appointed interim Athletic Director on Oct. 31, Hackett has made waves around the Athletic Department. Most notably, he inked Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh to a sevenyear contract worth roughly $5 million annually, not including incentives, in December 2014. Harbaugh has led the Wolverines’ charge to a 9-3 regular-season record in his first year at the helm. Hiring Hackett, in light of former Athletic Director Dave Brandon’s resignation, was one of the first major administrative decisions University President Mark Schlissel made after assuming the presidency in July See SEARCH, Page 3A
The intersection of two often distinct campus communities
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by Emily Schumer
RUBY WALLAU/Daily
NEW ON MICHIGANDAILY.COM Giving Blue Day raises more than $4 million MICHIGANDAILY.COM/SECTION/NEWS
INDEX
Vol. CXXV, No. 39 ©2015 The Michigan Daily michigandaily.com
NEWS......................... 2A OPINION.....................4A ARTS.....................5A
» INSIDE S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7A CL ASSIFIEDS...............6A T H E S TAT E M E N T. . . . . 1 B