ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM Monday, March 21, 2016
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SCIENCE
Study finds Twitter can show scope of disasters LUNA ANNA ARCHEY/Daily
LSA sophomore Olivia Furano, LSA senior Becca Langsam and LSA freshman Carly Marten demonstrate about how difficult it is to look at one’s own vagina at ‘The Vagina Monologues’ performance Saturday night at Rackham Auditorium.
‘The Vagina Monologues’ explores female sexuality Fourth annual performance discusses sexual assault, asexuality
By MADELEINE GERSON Daily Staff Reporter
“The Vagina Monologues”— a performance featuring a series of comical, inspiring and powerful
acts that aim to deliver women’s stories of sexuality and courage to the public — was held at Rackham Auditorium Friday and Saturday night. Students, faculty and community members gathered for the Students for Choice’s fourth annual student-run program, held by Students for Choice and directed by LSA junior Angelle Antoun. Many of the performers presented monologues from Eve Ensler’s 1996 play of the same
name, which served as inspiration for the event, but two others prese nted their own stories. Among the speeches throughout the night, a myriad of perspectives were explored, from the old and young, to heterosexual, homosexual and transgender, among others. “My Vagina was My Village,” from Ensler’s play, was presented by Art & Design senior Manami Maxted. It tells the story of a woman living in a war zone
who was systematically raped by soldiers. “There is something between my legs. I do not know where it is, what it is,” Maxted recited. “Not since they put their dirty sperm inside me. Not since a piece of my vagina came off in my hand. They butchered it and burned it down.” The first act Popcorn, a monologue written by LSA sophomore Clare Fairbanks and performed by LSA senior See VAGINA, Page 3A
Researchers find social media can predict how much public aid is requested By DESIREE CHEW Daily Staff Reporter
A group of researchers, including one from the University of Michigan, have found that social media could help the public and emergency responders gauge how much damage was inflicted following a natural disaster, and subsequently predict the amount of relief funds given to the community following a natural disaster. The study found a moderate positive correlation between Twitter activity in an area and the level of damage inflicted by Hurricane Sandy in 2012. Engineering Prof. Pascal Van Hentenryck initiated the project as part of his optimization research on how better predic-
BUSINESS
GOVERNMENT
Secretary of Education talks college affordability
Fred’s on South U. aims to offer healthy choices New restuarant focuses on sustainable, local ingredients By BECCA SOLBERG Daily Staff Reporter
Inspired by small health food cafes in California and New York, local resident Fred Lelcaj is bringing a new healthy flavor to South University Avenue with a new restaurant, Fred’s, which officially opened its doors Thursday. The menu includes smoothies, acai bowls and juices, bagels, avocado toast and sandwiches. In an interview Lelcaj said he has been in the restaurant business his whole life and has gained valuable experience in the operations side of the industry through working with his sister, Sava Lelcaj, at her restaurant Sava’s on State Street. He said his passion for organic and wholesome food, paired with the necessity of a cafe catering to the market of college students
in Ann Arbor, motivated him to found Fred’s. “The lack of a concept like this has really encouraged me to want to open here,” he said. “I saw a demographic imperative for something like this, especially in this neighborhood. We get a lot of people from California or New Jersey or New York in these bigger cities that are geared up for places like this.” Lelcaj said Fred’s strives to give their customers a completely satisfying experience every time they enter their store: from the food, to the interactions with the employees, to the aesthetics of the building. “I want everything to make you feel good,” Lelcaj said. “I want everything to bring you this calming sense, and the feeling that you have made the right choice and come to the right place.” All of the food’s ingredients are carefully sourced and organic, Lelcaj said, adding his belief in sustainability is a big driver behind the restaurant. They are very meticulous about all of their ingredients to ensure See FRED’S, Page 3A
tive models can be used to study complex infrastructure, natural phenomena and human behavior. Van Hentenryck said the idea for the research came as he was looking for alternatives to existing mechanisms currently used to assess and predict damage to power networks and electric generators caused by natural disasters. “One of the issues that I was dealing with at that point was the assessment and repair of the power system,” Van Hentenryck said. “How can we use social media to refine the prediction of damage of the network? Maybe it can give a better estimation of what is down and what is not down.” This curiosity about forming predictive methods for damage to electricity networks created the starting hypothesis for the research study. “We wanted to find out if there is some correlation between Twitter activity and the damage inside a power network. The See STUDY, Page 3A
John B. King discussed debt in interview with student journalists By LYDIA MURRAY Daily Staff Reporter
AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily
Rackham student Kimberly Brink presents the robot she has worked with for research, Nao, at the Living Lab Symposium at East Hall Saturday.
Research on children focus of Living Lab symposium Professors, students highlight progress in field in first annual event By JENNIFER MEER Daily Staff Reporter
In East Hall Saturday, researchers, graduate students, undergraduate students and community members examined research findings in
child development during the University of Michigan’s first annual Living Lab Symposium. First established at the Boston Museum of Science in 2004 by museum professionals and child development researchers, the Living Lab studies behavioral and cognitive development in children. Housed in the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum, the University’s Museum of Natural History and the downtown branch of the Ann Arbor District Library, Ann Arbor’s ver-
sion of the Living Lab invites families with children to participate in short studies and experiments, which examine children’s behavior and contribute to larger research projects. Living Lab Director Craig Smith brought the project to the University in 2012. He said the lab’s research is crucial to better understanding children. “We can impact the way that we interact with children and the way that we try to improve See LAB, Page 3A
U.S. Secretary of Education John B. King Jr. hosted a conference call with college journalists Friday afternoon to discuss the Obama administration’s efforts to support students. The call included statements from King and Ajita Talwalker Menon, senior policy adviser for higher education in the White House’s Domestic Policy Council, as well as a Q&A session with reporters. It was part of a series of seven events in the department’s College Opportunity Across America Tour, in which King will meet with students and faculty members from higher education institutions across the country to discuss ways to increase college affordability for all students. During his initial remarks, King highlighted two repayment See EDUCATION, Page 3A
End of the rainbown b-side Fighting Irish topple Wolverines, end Michigan’s season in Brooklyn.
» INSIDE WEATHER TOMORROW
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INDEX
Vol. CXXV No. 92 ©2016 The Michigan Daily michigandaily.com
NEWS......................... 2A OPINION.....................4A CLASSIFIEDS..............6A
SUDOKU.....................2A ARTS....................5A S P O R T S M O N D AY. . . . . . . . 1 B