ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SIX YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
Wednesday, March 29, 2017
Ann Arbor, Michigan
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statement T H E M I CH I GA N DAI LY | M A RCH 2 9, 2017
CAMPUS LIFE
Vigil mourns Syrian, Iraqi victims slain in airstrike HALEY MCLAUGHLIN/Daily
Students organize commemoration in honor of civilians killed in U.S.-led action
Members of the Graduate Employees Organization host a sit-in at the Fleming Administration Building on Tuesday.
Graduate student labor union holds sit-in, demands equitable pay
400 students demonstrate in Fleming Administration Building throughout the day ALON SAMUEL
Daily Staff Reporter
Hundreds of protesters crowded the Fleming Administration Building on Tuesday afternoon, chanting, “UM works because we do,” as part of a sit-in organized
by the Graduate Employees’ Organization. GEO — the labor union representing about 2,000 graduate-student employees at the University of Michigan — stated its proposals to make graduate employment more equitable at the University have not been taken seriously during the contract-negotiation
process. About 400 people, most of them graduate students, filtered in and out of the building and the courtyard surrounding it between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. to show support for GEO. The narrow hallway of the bottom f loor of the building was almost entirely crowded by
graduate-student instructors and graduate-student staff assistants throughout the day, similar to an earlier “grade-in” held by GEO February in Haven Hall, when representatives first communicated dissatisfaction with the University’s response to their proposals. See SIT-IN, Page 3A
KAELA THEUT
Daily Staff Reporter
More than 50 University of Michigan students and community members gathered Tuesday night in the Diag as part of a vigil commemorating the deaths of civilians due to a U.S-led coalition of airstrikes in Aleppo, Syria, and Mosul, Iraq. On March 16, an explosion in a Syrian mosque left 46 civilians dead, and between March 17 and March 23, more than 200 civilians were killed in Mosul, as the United States fought to clear members of the Islamic State from the city. As many speakers
mentioned, human-rights group Amnesty International noted the high civilian toll in Mosul suggested U.S.-led coalition forces had failed to take adequate precautions to prevent civilian deaths. LSA sophomore Abbas Alhassan said he attended the vigil because he is of Iraqi descent and believes it is important to represent his heritage at the University. “You know, I really feel like the Arabs here are very underrepresented, so whenever we have a chance to come out and show who we are, it’s very important,” he said. “You have to show up. Otherwise, things like this See VIGIL, Page 3A
Last CSG meeting of semester brings App aids Prof. talks students in various speakers, final ideas presented Attica riots
BUSINESS
CAMPUS LIFE
Fall course selection
David Schafer, Micah Griggs deliver closing remarks after year in executive positions
ClassAl predicts chances of getting into classes based on registration date
Tuesday evening, Central Student Government held its last meeting for the 2016-17 school year. The meeting began by featuring several guest speakers, starting with Chief Diversity Officer Rob Sellers, the University of Michigan vice provost for equity and inclusion. Sellers presented details of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion plan, a five-year plan launched in October to help create a more diverse and inclusive campus. Sellers explained the planning process, creation and initiatives of the plan, but stated the most crucial aspect of the plan is accountability. “It is extremely important that the plan be one that is about metrics and accountability,” he said. Sellers stated the Board of Regents, University President Mark Schlissel, and individual school and college deans are all included when listing the members of administration who should be held accountable for upholding the plan. He explained the difficulty faculty has had in previous years dealing with issues like microaggressions in the classroom. Part of the plan works to tackle this issue, providing faculty with specific training to
KEVIN BIGLIN
Daily Staff Reporter
As course-backpacking season begins, University of Michigan students can now use ClassAI, a new web app that uses a model to analyze the chances students have of getting into a class based on the date and time they register. The web app was co-founded and designed by Business senior Jordan Katz and Engineering junior Tyler Laredo to save students an estimated five to 10 hours during backpacking for open courses. “The big thing about this is this doesn’t exist,” Katz said. “We had to create this from scratch. I wanted to create something for all students to avoid having these problems in the future.” Katz said he has spent hours rearranging his schedules and searching for courses ever since he was a freshman. The app gives students the percentage points of their chances of successfully enrolling for a course, as well as graphs on how quickly sections fill up. “I came in as a freshman with not the most favorable See APP, Page 3A
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JORDYN BAKER Daily Staff Reporter
understand how to address problems of discrimination in the classroom and act on this understanding. “Diversity is a necessary component but not a sufficient one,” he said. “We also have to have an environment that is equitable and inclusive for diversity to work.” He also highlighted the idea that, while it is important for
the plan to continue to create new initiatives, it is helpful to recognize the University has a number of programs already in place that are ready to be built upon and improved. LSA senior Anna Wibbelman and Engineering sophomore Jason Comstock of Building a Better Michigan — a student advisory group involved with the
development of University Unions and recreation centers — were also included in the lineup of guest speakers. They discussed the renovation of the Michigan Union, which was founded in 1904 and is the third-oldest student union in the country. They explained that last year, architects began gathering student input See CSG, Page 3A
JULIA LAWSON/Daily
Dr. Rob Sellers, U-M Vice Provost for Equity and Inclusoin and Chief Diversity Officer, speaks at the CSG meeting at the CSG Chambers on Tuesday.
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INDEX
Vol. CXXVII, No. 55 ©2017 The Michigan Daily
at inmate art exhibit
Acclaimed book reveals documents on prisoner uprising, state cover-up COLIN BERESFORD Daily Staff Reporter
As part of the 22nd Annual Exhibition of Art by Michigan Prisoners, Heather Thompson, a University of Michigan history professor, discussed the Attica Prison Uprising and its context within today’s mass incarceration, as well as her book “Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy” in a lecture Tuesday night at the Duderstadt Center. Thompson was the first to uncover the events that unfolded at the Attica Prison Uprising in full. She went on to discuss the difficulties she faced over the course of the 13 years she spent researching and writing the book, including unveiling the documents that detailed the events that unfolded at Attica Correctional Facility in 1971. Thompson said she hoped to give light to incarceration in the United States today. “When we look at our past, we don’t do it just because it’s interesting — we do it because See ATTICA, Page 3A
NEWS.........................2 OPINION.....................4 ARTS......................6
SUDOKU.....................2 CLASSIFIEDS...............6 SPORTS....................7