ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SEVEN YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
Wednesday, October 4, 2017
Ann Arbor, Michigan
michigandaily.com
“Anybody have a problem with that?” The experiences of an openly gay fraternity president. » See inside
CAMPUS LIFE
Murray IQ propaganda printed on racist poster BRIAN AUSTIN KOSASIH/Daily
President Schlissel discusses university initiatives in the Robertson Auditorium Tuesday morning.
Schlissel Leadership Breakfast focuses on DEI, role of faculty
Launches new Michigan Medicine Program using Big Data to analyze illness, disease ANDREW HIYAMA Daily Staff Reporter
About a dozen students came to the lobby of Angell Hall Tuesday night for LSA dean Andrew Martin’s Student Town Hall, looking for administrative answers to recent racist incidents on campus.
Almost all the students’ questions revolved around the campus climate with many students expressing worry, lack of safety and inability to focus on school. LSA sophomore Arwa Gayar said coming to events like the town hall was especially important for marginalized students and groups to make themselves heard by institutional
insiders. “I feel like it’s very important to establish those institutional connections and administrative connections because ultimately our voices need to be heard,” she said. “But also I’m just very interested to see what the dean feels is most pressing to talk about right now, considering recent events. I just
want to know what topics he’s going to discuss in general, just gauge what’s on his mind right now, what are his priorities right now?” Austin McCoy, a Michigan Mellon Humanities Postdoctoral fellow who studies protest movements, has emphasized only doing so when it won’t create a See DEI, Page 3A
“Bell Curve” author to speak at ‘U’ next Wednesday, despite controversy SOPHIE SHERRY Daily News Editor
Tuesday morning racist fliers were posted outside Stockwell Residence Hall, presenting the minority enrollment numbers at both the University of Michigan and Michigan State University, insinuating gaps in the average IQ of Black and white students. This correlation between race and mental ability was popularized in the late 1990s by Charles Murray, a political scientist slated to speak at the University next Wednesday. The forthcoming event is sponsored by the University’s chapter of College Republicans and the American Enterprise
Institute University of Michigan Executive Council, a public policy think tank where Murray serves as the W.H. Brady Scholar. The event’s Facebook description says Murray will be discussing his 2012 book “Coming Apart: The State of White America, 1960-2010.” The lecture will be followed by a Q&A section “at which students are encouraged to ask tough questions, but engage respectfully with the speaker.” Following incidents of racist flyering at the University in September, the LSA Diversity, Equity and Inclusion team released a statement disputing theories of biological See AUTHOR, Page 3A
Central Student Government passes Policy talk Possibility examines resolution for UGLi charging stations for state leg.
GOVERNMENT
GOVERNMENT
character, leadership
Assembly also proposes to stop giving copies of the LSA course guide to freshman
Columnist David Brooks, Historian Ronald C. White lead Public Policy event
Central Student Government met Tuesday night to pass a resolution to place a charging station in the Shapiro Undergraduate Library. The assembly also discussed removing the LSA course guides usually sent out to freshmen before they arrive for orientation due to the amount of paper used for a document that the representatives argued is not often utilized by incoming students. In addition, CSG brief ly touched on the racist f liers found on campus this morning. CSG President Anushka Sarkar, an LSA senior, spoke on the possibility amending the Statement of Student Rights and Responsibilities to address bias incidents, as the current version does not have a policy and thus has no means to punish violators. While Sarkar did not directly address the f lyers themselves, CSG Vice President Nadine Jawad, a Public Policy senior, mentioned the racist incident in passing and thanked those CSG representatives who took photos of the racist f lyers, saying if they received updates from the Dean of Students Office, students would be informed. Returning to the assembly’s agenda, CSG then allocated
ISHI MORI
Daily Staff Reporter
A discussion between two political experts held at Grand Valley State University was livestreamed to a crowd of around 40 attendees at the Ford School of Public Policy Tuesday night. The event, titled “Character and Presidency,” featured David Brooks, a New York Times columnist, and Ronald C. White, an award-winning presidential historian. The event began with former U.S. diplomat Peter F. Secchia presenting a clip from the documentary “Gerald R. Ford: A Test of Character.” The short segment displayed the 38th president’s moral conflict in pardoning his predecessor Richard Nixon, who resigned in the wake of the Watergate Scandal. Secchia said Ford was able to make the decision that cost him re-election because he was able to naturally see beyond short-term results and think about the public good. Character was ingrained in him, he explained. “It wasn’t the water he drank, it wasn’t the religion he had, it wasn’t See POLICY, Page 3A
GOT A NEWS TIP? Call 734-418-4115 or e-mail news@michigandaily.com and let us know.
MORGAN SHOWEN Daily Staff Reporter
funding for a charging station to be placed on the first f loor of the Undergraduate Library. The $699 charging station would be paid for solely by CSG. However, any costs associated with maintenance and upkeep would be furnished by the library. The resolution was written by LSA junior Ali Rosenblatt, vice speaker of CSG, and was passed unanimously 31 to 0. CSG also proposed the possibility of removing the
LSA course guides from new-student orientation packets. CSG representative Zoha Qureshi, an LSA junior, proposed the idea and spoke on the work she had done with Newnan Advising Center to implement a reduction in the course guide’s production. “It’s a really thick packet of a lot of paper that just gets wasted because a lot students don’t end up using it,” Qureshi said. She went on to advocate
for more student input in the matter of removing the course guides, as well as the reformation of the nowdefunct Student Advisory Committee to LSA Advising. CSG also used the short meeting to recall two Rackham representatives who had failed to attend any meetings throughout the entire seventh assembly. The vote to recall was the first in CSG history under the new rules for representative removal.
ALEC COHEN/Daily
LSA representative Zoha Qureshi discusses the possiblity of designating reflection rooms in the Union Tuesday.
For more stories and coverage, visit
michigandaily.com
INDEX
Vol. CXXVII, No. 3 ©2017 The Michigan Daily
limits to be lengthened
Michigan Chamber of Commerce seeks to aid efficiency with positions JORDYN BAKER Daily Staff Reporter
The Michigan Chamber of Commerce is currently advocating for an amendment to the Michigan Constitution, which would change term limits for state legislators. The specifics of the plan for revision of the 1992 state law remain ambiguous, but those behind it seek to provide for more effectiveness and representation of members of the state Congress. According to The Detroit News, in 2019, roughly 70 percent of state senators and over 20 percent of state representatives’ terms will expire, leaving an abundance of seats open for re-election. This also invites the possibility that inexperienced representatives will be given the responsibility of dealing with intricate matters of the previous administration. The amendment, if accepted for reform, would be placed on the 2018 voter ballot. On Sept. 27, the Michigan Chamber of Commerce voted to work with staff in contacting outside See LEGISLATURE, Page 3A
NEWS.........................2 OPINION.....................4 ARTS......................6
SUDOKU.....................2 CROSSWORD...............6 SPORTS.......................8