ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM Monday, January 25, 2016
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DIVERSITY
LSA looks to improve R&E course curriculum
ALLISON FARRAND/Daily
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks at a town hall at Eagle Elementary School in Clinton, Iowa on Saturday, nine days before the Iowa caucuses.
Democratic frontrunners aim to draw contrasts in Iowa Clinton, Sanders vie for voter support in days leading to nation’s first caucus By SAM GRINGLAS Daily Staff Reporter
During the past weekend, Michigan Daily journalists spent three days in Iowa covering candidates
from both parties as they prepare for the state’s Democratic and Republican primaries on Feb. 1, the first in the nation. Look for continuing coverage from the Daily in the lead-up to the Iowa caucuses. CLINTON, Iowa — There were two town halls. The first occupied an elementary school cafeteria; the other filled the basement of a Masonic Center about a mile away. On Saturday, in a town called Clinton, the two Democrats leading the race for
their party’s presidential nomination convened separately to rally supporters and, with just days before the Iowa caucuses, draw contrasts between two platforms that are in many ways similar. “As we go through this campaign, and especially now in this last eight, nine days, we are drawing contrasts, and I think that’s appropriate,” Hillary Clinton, former secretary of state, told a crowd of 500 gathered in the Eagle Heights Elementary cafete-
ria. But for much of her 30-minute stump speech, which ticked off policy positions on topics like clean energy, health care and job creation, Clinton avoided direct mention of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who according to a recent CNN poll has gained a lead in the state. An average of polling conducted in January has Clinton with a six-point lead. Martin O’Malley, former Maryland govSee IOWA, Page 3A
College conducts surveys, forums to gauge student experiences By CAMY METWALLY Daily Staff Reporter
In coordination with diversity initiatives on campus, LSA is reviewing the impact of the current race and ethnicity requirement. In September 2015, University President Mark Schlissel announced goals for individual units to collaborate with faculty, staff and students to design Diversity, Equity and Inclusion plans, which in turn would be used to create a comprehensive, University-wide strategic plan. LSA is currently in the process of gathering and analyzing data to better guide its DEI plan, which is due in mid-March. Angela Dillard, associate dean for undergraduate education, said the college is focusing on
BUSINESS
ADMIN
Class organizes competition for $18,000 in seed startup funding Entrepreneurship 407 hosts competition based on “The Voice” By REBECCA SOLBERG Daily Staff Reporter
Last week, Entrepreneurship 407 was turned into a game show. T-shirts were flung into the crowd and “Eye of the Tiger” blared through Stamps Auditorium as students took their seats in the audience, as part of The Startup, an entrepreneurship event on campus. The Center for Entrepreneurship created The Startup, an opportunity for undergraduate and graduate students to compete for $18,000 to launch their own startup business. The competition consists of four rounds that each emphasize different aspects of starting a business, and is run by the class. Students
from across campus can enter products into the competition. Auditions to be in the competition happened on January 12 and 13, where 50 teams were whittled down to the 21 who participated in the first round. “Every round of the competition stresses something else,” Engineering junior Robert Levy, who took the class last year, said. “One round will stress product development, one will stress customer discovery, so I learned a lot about the steps necessary to grow a startup, not just from the back end of building a product that is valuable but also going out and making sure that your product has value to other people other than yourself.” During the first round on Friday, the judges had their backs to the participants, but if they were interested in their idea, they turned around and then became the team’s mentor for the rest of the rounds. If a judge didn’t turn around, then the team was elimSee STARTUP, Page 3A
reviewing the race and ethnicity requirement and the Comprehensive Studies Program, in particular, to improve access and equity on campus. LSA junior Sean Pitt, CSG chief of staff and member of the R&E review committee, said the description of the requirement, where it addresses class focus, is vague. “It provides a space in which faculty may be able to deviate from the intention of the requirement,” Pitt said. The LSA website describes the R&E requirement as a course that “addresses issues that arise from racial or ethnic intolerance.” The classes must also satisfy two criteria: required content and required focus. The required content encompasses specific guidelines for the class, and the required focus calls for R&E courses to “devote substantial, but not necessarily exclusive, attention to the required content.” The LSA R&E review committee — charged with invesSee REQUIREMENT, Page 3A
Regents tweet with students in Twitter talk Event touches on topics including tuition price, mental health AMANDA ALLEN/Daily
By ALLANA AKHTAR
University alumni speak about their experiences as community leaders during their time as students and their current work at the #WhatIdidnext panel at Keene Theater on Friday.
Alums discuss how activism at ‘U’ shaped future careers Former students cite experiences with broad range of student orgs By TANYA MADHANI Daily Staff Reporter
A hundred students, alumni and faculty gathered in Keene Auditorium on Friday for the #WhatIDidThen panel, composed of student-activist alumni from various backgrounds and
professional fields who have experience in community service. From various backgrounds and professional fields, the panelists included state Rep. Stephanie Chang (D-Detroit), Government relations specialist Forrest Cox, Director of Operations (Brooklyn East Collegiate) Atiba Edwards, Research Assistant Diala Khalife, Consultor Donovan McKinney, Field Director Priscilla Martinez and Clinical Social Work Intern Alex Ngo. Edwards, a resident of Brook-
lyn, was a founding member of Fighting Obstacles Knowing Ultimate Success, also known as FOKUS, a student advocacy group for diversity, creativity and unity in a variety of art disciplines. When he first arrived on campus, Edwards said, he felt there was something missing at the University, but didn’t know what it was. He said he did not feel like the University was a true community and it was difficult to get involved in creative arts without pursuing a degree See ACTIVISM, Page 3A
Daily News Editor
University Regents Mark Bernstein (D–Ann Arbor) and Andrea Newman (R–Ann Arbor) used social media Friday to engage with students and discuss campus issues like college affordability, sexual misconduct on campus and increasing minority enrollment. Central Student Government hosted a “Twitter Talk” with Bernstein and Newman with LSA senior Cooper Charlton, CSG president, facilitating questions through the hashtag #AskARegent. During the talk, LSA senior Michael Chrzan asked Bernstein and Newman what role the University plays in helping students at K-12 schools to build a stronger student body. See TWITTER PAGE 3A
The streak continues The Michigan wrestling team stayed hot over the weekend.
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INDEX
Vol. CXXV, No. 57 ©2016 The Michigan Daily michigandaily.com
NEWS......................... 2A OPINION.....................4A ARTS......................5A
SUDOKU..................... 3A CL ASSIFIEDS............... 5A S P O R T S M O N DAY. . . . . . . . . .1 B