ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SIX YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
Tuesday, December 13, 2016
Ann Arbor, Michigan
michigandaily.com
Back home again Coming off a road loss at No. 2 UCLA, Zak Irvin and the Michigan men’s basketball team look to bounce back against Central Arkansas at Crisler Center Tuesday.
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TA B L E T I M E
STUDENT GOVERNMENT
CSG reflects on past year, looks to the winter term KEVIN ZHENG/Daily
Engineering sophomore Jessica Covan sells care packages in Mason Hall Monday.
University’s diversity plan builds on programs at peer institutions
Structure of DEI initiative stands out when compared to those of other universities RIYAH BASHA & ALLANA AKHTAR Daily Staff Reporter & Daily News Editor
It’s not uncommon for students at the University of Michigan to come across a number of administration-sponsored fliers,
emails and posting boards in the Diag touting the University as the Leaders and Best — a trend that spiked following this October’s release of a five-year strategic plan for diversity, equity and inclusion. University President Mark Schlissel’s DEI initiative was met with state and national media attention following its release,
SCIENCE
‘U’ research leads to new approach to AIDS cure Researchers turn away from focus on preventative care KEVIN LINDER
Daily Staff Reporter
Researchers at the University of Michigan have been taking a new approach to the long unresolved challenge of developing a working cure for HIV/AIDS by looking at natural properties possessed by bacteria that live on coral, according to research released this week. The bacteria — called marine actinomycetes — produce substances that inhibit a protein in HIV cells, enabling the bacteria to resist the human body’s immune system in a curative, rather than preventative, way. Unlike other research, which has attempted to target the HIV virus’s ability to infect cells, this approach seeks to develop a new type of drug that would target already infected cells, according to Kathleen Collins, lead researcher and University professor of immunology and microbiology, in an email interview. Collins wrote in an email interview that many existing drugs are able to reduce levels of the virus present in the body, but fail to eradicate cells already See CURE, Page 3
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but many also questioned the University’s planned $85 million investment into the initiative over the next five years. Despite national attention on the University’s diversity plans, a survey of the DEI plan alongside those of peer institutions reveals the initiative is not unlike those at similar institutions, but rather
builds on existing practices with a unique decentralized planning process, coordination and new measures of accountability. Planning for the University’s initiative began in September 2015, when 49 units across campus were charged with submitting a strategic plan for their respective areas, all of See DEI, Page 3
Student leaders plan initiatives about regents, mental health and diversity NISA KHAN & ALEX COTT Daily Staff Reporters
Though many of the campaign promises made by the newMich platform were attacked as idealistic by their opposition, the University of Michigan Central Student Government’s administration led by President David Schafer, LSA senior, and Vice President Micah Griggs, LSA senior, has laid considerable groundwork to fulfill some of their directives for the next semester. While many of the body’s directives, like mental health or divestment, are not being introduced for the first time
this semester, the assembly has also contended with issues surrounding racial tension — in particular, tension surrounding undocumented students and minorities on campus mounted after President-elect Donald Trump’s November victory. During the campaign, Trump called for an increase in immigration restrictions and perpetuated anti-Muslim rhetoric. In response to this — in particular, Trump’s stated intention to reverse a executive order, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival program, allowing many undocumented students to stay in the country — CSG passed a resolution in See CSG, Page 2
Student creates logo for organization Council aimed at bolstering Detroit schools discusses ANN ARBOR
Visual identity class creates new marketing platform for community project MATT HARMON Daily Staff Reporter
For Art & Design senior Kelsi Franzino, helping cities and neighborhoods like Detroit which are facing infrastructural issues is not about intervention — it’s about support. During the winter 2016 semester, Franzino and her classmates in Art & Design Prof. Hannah Smotrich’s visual identity design class partnered with Brightmoor Maker Space, a community workshop for building skills to design a logo and marketing platform for BMS. BMS was founded by Art & Design Prof. Nick Tobier and Bart Eddy, Detroit Community Schools co-founder, in 2015, though it is currently facilitated by the community of Brightmoor and Detroit Community Schools and is located at their warehouse on the campus of Detroit Community Schools. At the end of the semester, Franzino’s logo, featuring the words Brightmoor and Makers, connected by geometrical supports, was chosen to be implemented across the organization. “I kind of created this support system in it,” she said. “Showing that support and how (BMS) helps out their neighbors (was important).” Located near the northwest border of Detroit, Brightmoor is one of the most impoverished neighborhoods in the city. From
2000 ti 2010, the city saw a 36 percent drop in population to 12,836. Several journalists who have visited the areas have painted pictures that aren’t positive by far, such as Rollo Romig’s article in The New Yorker, “When You’ve Had Detroit.” “Much of Brightmoor matches what Detroit looks like in the popular imagination—an alarming amalgam of city dump,
crime scene, and wild prairie,” Romig wrote. However, residents of the community are quick to point to increasing beautification efforts in the neighborhood, such as large murals on the sides of buildings and community gardens. Many believe that through neighborhood organizations, church groups and innovation from both residents and the University,
perceptions of the area are beginning to shift. In a video produced by BMS, Dennis Talbert, interim chair of the Brightmoor Community Center, said outsiders can misconstrue the strength of the community, and BMS is working to combat this negative rhetoric through innovation. “When you think about Brightmoor, you have to kind See SCHOOLS, Page 3
GAME ON
AARON BAKER/Daily
Ann Arbor residents Max Williams and Tim Vaduva play Netrunner at Get Your Game On on State Street.
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INDEX
Vol. CXXVI, No. 46 ©2016 The Michigan Daily
pedestrian safety law
Local group attends city budget meeting to express their concerns ANDREW HIYAMA Daily Staff Reporter
Monday night, about 50 Ann Arbor residents attended the Ann Arbor City Council’s annual budget planning session, with the majority expressing a desire for increased attention on pedestrian safety. Most of the audience consisted of members of A2 Safe Transport, a citizen’s group advocating for improvements to transportation safety in Ann Arbor. A2 Safe Transport formed in response to a recent series of accidents that have resulted in the injury and death of several pedestrians –– most recently, the death of Ann Arbor high school student Qi-Xuan “Justin” Tang at a crosswalk on Fuller Road near Huron High School. A2 Safe Transport member Claire Duvernoy, an Ann Arbor resident, stressed the need for immediate City Council action on pedestrian safety during public commentary. “My child crosses Fuller Road every single day to go to Huron High School, and Justin Tang was his friend,” Duvernoy said. See SAFETY, Page 3
NEWS.........................2 OPINION.....................4 CLASSIFIEDS...............6
SUDOKU.....................2 ARTS...................5 SPORTS....................7