ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM Monday, March 14, 2016
Ann Arbor, Michigan
michigandaily.com
CAMPUS LIFE
U-M Flint, 2 A students collaborate on crisis aid EVAN AARON/Daily
DJ Scout performs for dancers at VictorThon 2016 in the Intramural Sports Building on Saturday.
VictorThon raises $475K in annual capstone event Students stand, dance for 24 hours in charity fundraiser over weekend
By BRANDON SUMMERSMILLER Daily Staff Reporter
For 24 straight hours this weekend, University of Michigan students stood in solidarity with disabled children as they raised money to support both C.S. Mott Children’s and Women’s Hospital
and Beaumont Children’s Hospital during the 19th annual Dance Marathon. The event ended Sunday afternoon with an announcement of the final tally of a semester-long fundraising effort: $475, 807. Last year, Dance Marathon fundraising totals reached about $460,000. As an organization, Dance Marathon hosts several events throughout the year including mini marathons at local high schools and creative events such as pumpkin carving, where participants can interact with the children benefitting from the fundraisers. This year,
event organizers rebranded the capstone dance event from “Dance Marathon” to “VictorThon” to better incorporate and connect to the University community. Alyssa Allen, Dance Marathon’s public relations chair and recent University graduate, said the organization rebranded the marathon to build a stronger brand. Choosing to incorporate the University with the event led to several new initiatives, such as naming designated stations after campus landmarks and setting the event’s fundraising goal at $109,901 — one dollar for every seat in the Big House — she
added. “I think that it just makes for more cohesive programming and ‘VictorThon’ gets a lot more people excited because we’re all so spirited about this University,” Allen said. During VictorThon, dancers remained on their feet for 24 hours to show their support for children with mental and physical ailments. To raise money before the event, dancers register in teams that fundraise throughout the year through campaigns such as bake sales, asking for donations on street corners and hosting See VICTORTHON, Page 2A
Student governments aim to increase communication over city’s water By LARA MOEHLMAN Daily Staff Reporter
As months of public outcry surrounding Flint’s ongoing water crisis have unfolded, the University of Michigan-Flint’s Student Government and other student leaders have launched initiatives on their campus to provide resources to both students struggling with the water crisis and their community at large. Cameron Haskins, a UM-Flint junior in Senior Molecular Biology and a senator on UM-Flint’s Student Government, said student leaders on UM-Flint’s campus are in the process of planning several long-term projects that focus on reaching out to community members who don’t have access to safe drinking water.
STUDENT GOVERNMENT
ADMIN
CSG executive tickets debate campus issues In event hosted by the Daily, candidates discuss feasibility of goals
By BRANDON SUMMERSMILLER and ANNA HARITOS Daily Staff Reporters
Friday night’s Central Student Government debate, hosted by The Michigan Daily, was highlighted with emotion and tension, with many candidates using personal experiences at the University of Michigan to illustrate their policy platform. Issues of diversity, inclusivity, student mental health and platform feasibility took center stage as the president and vice president candidates from Your Michigan, newMICH and the Defend Affirmative Action Party answered questions from moderators and Twitter users over the course of the hour and a half long debate. All six candidates from the three parties offered several solutions to change the current social climate in CSG, saying it is not currently
not an inclusive student space that encourages open and honest dialogue. LSA junior David Schafer said if elected as CSG president, his party, newMICH, would aim to create a space which encourages the progressive communication each party wishes to see by hosting Q&A periods with not only students, but also administrators, faculty, staff and the Division of Public Safety and Security. Schafer is running with LSA junior Micah Griggs, newMICH’s vice-presidential candidate. “The diversity, equity and inclusion efforts were a fantastic step, but they didn’t go far enough,” Schafer said. “I think holding these open Q&As, which is something we called for, would provide the impetus to hold administration, faculty and staff accountable for improving diversity on campus inside and outside of CSG.” Ford junior Thomas Hislop, Your Michigan’s presidential candidate, highlighted inclusivity and diversity as important areas of Your Michigan’s platform as well. To best do that, he said, CSG needs to recruit from new areas of campus See CSG, Page 3A
One such project is a rally to be held toward the end of this month with members of the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor’s Central Student Government. Students plan on marching in East Lansing to advocate for the state to repeal the emergency manager laws many have cited that were largely at the root of the water crisis. Haskins said he is grateful for CSG’s support and increased communication with the UM-Flint campus. He added before the crisis, he had not seen much collaboration between CSG and UM-Flint’s Student Government. However, since then, there has been a significant amount of communication, including a Tri-Campus Summit promoting community organizational building and activism on each of the University’s three campuses. “Together we have more resources, more minds, more manpower,” Haskins said. Cooper Charlton, LSA senior and CSG president, attended a tricampus summit involving students See FLINT, Page 2A
City concerns cause ‘U’ to pause transit center plans Schlissel says administration should have consulted residents By DESIREE CHEW
AMELIA CACCHIONE /Daily
Brian Baker, DPSS liaison to student life, discusses campus safety and student-police relationships in regards to students of color at the Michigan Union on Saturday.
Community, police discuss race relations in Ann Arbor AAPD and DPSS address brutality concerns with students By RIYAH BASHA Daily Staff Reporter
The Black Student Union partnered with Students of Color of Rackham to host a daylong forum on local policing Saturday. Security officers and administrators from a variety
of University of Michigan departments took part as well, representing the University’s Division of Public Security and Safety and the Ann Arbor Police Department. About 50 students and police officers participated in workshops discussing students’ rights, the relationship between race and safety and the national conversations surrounding police brutality sparked by incidents such as the 2014 shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. Student organizers didn’t
shy away from acknowledging tension between students of color and law enforcement. Rackham student Pete Haviland-Eduah, SCOR Vice President, opened the forum by noting the need for students to know law enforcement on a personal level. “There is a deep rift of mistrust between the Black community and the law enforcement that serves them,” he said. “But these are the conversations that must be had ... we have to employ humility in order to listen to one See POLICE, Page 2A
Daily Staff Reporter
A proposed project to build a North Campus transit center was halted Saturday due to concerns from Ann Arbor residents. The University of Michigan’s Board of Regentsapproved initial schematic designs and bids for construction contracts for the center, slated to include a fullservice bus depot and maintenance site, called the Transportation Operations and Maintenance Facility, during a 2014 meeting. In January of this year, the University initiated the process for obtaining a State of Michigan Department of Environmental Quality permit for the project. The proposed $38.5 million facility was planned to be located near several residential neighborhoods. However, in a letter to residents dated Saturday, University See TRANSIT, Page 3A
By a Hair Michigan snagged one of the last spots in the Big Dance
WEATHER TOMORROW
HI: 61 LO: 47
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INDEX
Vol. CXXV, No. 88 ©2016 The Michigan Daily michigandaily.com
NEWS......................... 2A OPINION.....................4A CL ASSIFIEDS...............6A
SUDOKU.....................2A ARTS..................5A S P O R T S M O N DAY. . . . . . . . . .1 B