ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SIX YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
Monday, March 6, 2017
Ann Arbor, Michigan
michigandaily.com
We meet again The Michigan men’s basketball team will meet old foe Illinois to open the Big Ten Tournament. But much has changed since the teams last squared off.
» Page 2B ACADEMICS
Threatening Phone Calls
‘U’ library to offer fake news minicourse in fall
sent to JCC’s on Feb. 27th
31 bomb threats sent to 27 Jewish day schools and community centers
there have been
incidents of crime
100@
81
locations nationwide in January and February
DESIGN BY: MICHELLE PHILLIPS
Ann Arbor Hebrew Day School recipient of hoax bomb threat
Jewish Community Center evacuated after report of backpack bomb on Monday MAYA GOLDMAN Daily Staff Reporter
Last Monday morning, Ann Arbor’s Jewish Community Center was evacuated after the Hebrew Day School of Ann Arbor, located within the center, received a call claiming a bomb
was hidden inside a backpack in the school. The school administration and Ann Arbor police determined there was no bomb after a thorough search of the school and community center, and the 200 students were allowed back into the building two hours after the bomb threat was made.
Over 20 Jewish schools in 11 states received similar threats on the same morning. Ann Arbor police Lt. Matthew Lige told ClickOn Detroit the police and school officials are collaborating with the FBI to determine the source of the call. Despite the phone calls that morning, there have been no
attacks on any of the schools. According to CNN, calls of the same nature have been received by 68 Jewish Community Centers across the nation since January. A bullet was shot through the window of a classroom in an Indiana synagogue last Sunday night, and three Jewish See THREAT, Page 3A
Course to be taught in response to political climate, will critically navigate media facts MAYA GOLDMAN Daily Staff Reporter
Next semester, a new onecredit class titled “Fake News, Lies, and Propaganda: How to Sort Fact from Fiction” will be offered to undergraduate students by the University of Michigan library system. The class will be aimed at dispelling biases about the news and teaching students how to look at media with a more critical eye. Though the topic of fake news has been widely discussed in the context of the current political climate, Doreen Bradley, the University’s director
of learning programs and initiatives—who is one of the four designers of the course— said the course has broader roots. “I think the whole political environment kind of raised the issue even more, but our sense was that this was a needed issue even before the political turmoil of the fall,” Bradley said. “It will include things, obviously, related to politics, but we really want to focus on things like if you get something about health news, how do you know if you can rely on that health news? So we really want to make it a course that applies to students’ entire lives.” See MINI-COURSE, Page 3A
City government approves funds for Plans for Interim Library Lot review of AAPD practices, perception director
ANN ARBOR
ADMINISTRATION
spurs local criticisms
$200,000 contract with Chicago-based security firm to inform civilian review board
Ann Arbor City Council to convene on March 16 in special work session
After years of citizen protests and government consideration, Ann Arbor officials are finally moving forward with the first phase of a proposal to review the practices of the Ann Arbor Police Department. At its Feb. 21 meeting, City Council approved a $200,000 contract with Hillard Heintze LLC, a Chicago-based security consulting firm, to assess community perceptions of AAPD and its practices and make recommendations for the implementation of a civilian review board. Though the firm’s plan states that it will “provide recommendations for a model and implementation plan for Civilian Oversight of the APD (sic),” any potential civilian board would likely not have any oversight power other than non-binding recommendations — the city charter charges City Council and the city administrator have sole oversight over the police department. According to Councilmember Chip Smith (D–Ward 5), however, part of Hillard Heintze’s research will be to assess how an advisory board could work in tandem with the council. “Ultimately as a council person, I look for a board like that to give me advice on actions to take,” he said. “You know if
ISHI MORI
Daily Staff Reporter
The future of a controversial high-rise plan on a contested piece of land in Ann Arbor is coming to an apex as the City Council has announced a special work session on March 16 to discuss the issue in more detail. The real estate, located between Liberty and Williams streets on 5th Avenue, is currently a surface and underground parking lot called the Library Lane Parking Structure. Last year, City Council selected Chicago developer Core Spaces as a finalist to redevelop the property as a $10 million, 17-story high-rise. The building would include 357 apartments and 131 hotel rooms, in addition to office and retail space as well as an outdoor plaza. However, such an ambitious project provoked ire and scrutiny from citizen groups who felt constructing another high-rise downtown was unnecessary. Last year, the Ann Arbor Committee for the Community Commons delivered a petition to put the future of the Library Lot to the November election ballot, but it fell short of signatures. Alan See LOT, Page 3A
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ANDREW HIYAMA Daily Staff Reporter
there are complaints about an action or an officer, certainly I want to know what Chief Baird says about it, but I also want the independent group to be able to provide me their interpretation of what happened and how to best proceed.” And even after the firm makes the recommendations for implementation of a civilian advisory board, its enactment would still have to
be passed by a vote from the council. Councilmember Julie Grand (D–Ward 3) expects the measure to go through. “I would like to believe that I would be very confident in supporting (the recommendation) and that my fellow council members would be very confident in supporting the recommendations of this group,” she said. Though Jim Baird, the Ann
Arbor police chief, wrote in a memo to the council last June he would support a civilian review board if it were recommended by a third-party audit. He maintained, however, he did not personally view the body as necessary. “Following an audit of the Ann Arbor Police Department is the logical time to evaluate whether a Civilian Police See CITY, Page 3A
JOSHUA HAN/Daily
Mayor Christopher Taylor speaks at a City Council meeting on February 21.
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INDEX
Vol. CXXVII, No. 38 ©2017 The Michigan Daily
for SAPAC appointed
Nadia Bazzy, former assistant director of OSCR, began Mar. 3 KAELA THEUT
Daily Staff Reporter
On Friday March 3, Nadia Bazzy began her new position as interim director of the University of Michigan Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center. Bazzy, previously assistant director of the Office of Student Conflict Resolution, will oversee SAPAC through the end of the year as organization leaders continue the search for a permanent director this spring. Bazzy replaced former SAPAC director Holly Rider-Milkovich, who announced Jan. 13 she was stepping down from her position to begin a new role as the senior director of prevention for EverFi, an educational technology innovator that works to empower students and adult learners. E. Royster Harper, vice president for student life, commended Bazzy in an email for her range of experience in the field of sexual assault. Bazzy worked to update the University’s new sexual misconduct policy, and advocated for survivors of See SAPAC, Page 3A
NEWS.........................2 OPINION.....................4 ARTS......................6
SUDOKU.....................2 CLASSIFIEDS...............6 SPORTS.......B SECTION