ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SEVEN YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
Friday, February 23, 2018
Ann Arbor, Michigan
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ANN ARBOR
AAPD chief to relocate to Colorado skiing town Chief Jim Baird finishes 25 years with department, replacement unconfirmed ANDREW HIYAMA Daily News Editor
ROSEANNE CHAO/Daily
Confronting failures at MSU, ‘U’ begins prep for external review University has not begun considering firms for review of its sexual misconduct policy SHANNON ORS
Daily Staff Reporter
The University of Michigan will be hiring an “outside expert” to perform a review of how the University handles sexual misconduct reports and the policies that guide these practices. The announcement came eight days after the University’s revised sexual misconduct policies went into effect on Feb. 7. At the Feb. 15 Board of
Regents Meeting, University President Mark Schlissel laid out the purposes behind the Feb. 7 revision, which was in accordance with the policy’s annual review, and the decision to hire an outside firm. “Now we will seek a broader examination of our entire community,” Schlissel said. “This includes students, faculty, staff, visitors and patients. We will ask an outside expert to assess the quality of our current efforts and suggest what we can be doing better, so
that we can make any fixes that are necessary.” University of Michigan spokesman Rick Fitzgerald said while staff at the University “are already working on it,” many details of the review, such as which firms would be considered or how the review would be structured, were not yet worked out. Still, Fitzgerald said, the University wanted to demonstrate its commitment to overseeing an effective review. “I think what the president wanted to make clear very
quickly last week is that we’ve done a lot of work in this area, but of course we always want to take the opportunity to see if there’s more we should be doing, or if there’s a process that can be refined,” he said. “I would say that’s how we’ve done things in the past — pretty open and transparent. I don’t know how exactly this process will work because we haven’t gotten to that point yet.” A report released by the University’s Office of See REVIEW, Page 3
After 25 years with the Ann Arbor Police Department — the last two as the head of the department — Police Chief Jim Baird will be relocating to Breckenridge, Colo., according to the Summit Daily of Summit County, Colo. Howard Lazarus, Ann Arbor city administrator announced Baird’s retirement from the AAPD Tuesday at the City Council meeting, though not where he would be relocating. “I will leave it up to him to share as he deems appropriate what life’s next great adventure is, but we will be preparing for an orderly turnover and transition,” Lazarus said. “We all wish the chief well as he chases what lies around the curb and the trail.” Baird, who currently lives in Stockbridge, will officially step down on March 24, at which point Robert Pfannes, AAPD deputy police chief, will take over as interim chief. Baird will begin the job in Breckenridge on
April 23. Breckenridge, a town known for its ski resorts, has a population of approximately 5,000, much smaller than Ann Arbor’s population of about 120,000. However, due to the town’s large tourism industry, thousands more can flow in on short notice –– circumstances Baird compared to football games at the University of Michigan. “From what I’m hearing, on Breckenridge’s busiest days, the town will swell up to 30,000 people,” Baird told the Summit Daily. “For a home game, the University of Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor holds over three times that. So that difference in scale will be significant.” Baird’s departure comes as the city is considering the creation of a police review board that would review and potentially investigate complaints against the department.
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Historian outlines Native American Local teens Allowances participate political movements, activism in talk for learning
ANN ARBOR
ACADEMICS
in national gun protest
Heather Bruegl, member of Onieda Nation tribe, discusses legislation at MESA event
Ann Arbor school board gives encouragement to students after walkouts
Despite being a member of Oneida Nation of Wisconsin, historian Heather Bruegl had never been particularly passionate about Native American history or culture –– until she went to Wounded Knee, S.D., the site of the Wounded Knee Massacre in which 300 Native American men, women and children died at the hands of U.S. cavalry. Bruegl now travels the U.S. delivering talks on Native American history, and on Thursday gave a talk titled “A History of Native American Policy and Activism: From A.I.M. to Standing Rock to Present,” to about 40 people gathered in the Michigan League. The lecture, hosted by the University of Michigan’s Native American Student Association and Multi-Ethnic Student Affairs, focused on defining moments in the history of Native American policy and activism. Engineering senior Gabi May, chair of the Native American Student Association, discussed how the talk aimed to raise awareness of Native American culture among students at the University of Michigan. “We’re trying to do more publicly engaged events that are focused on educating the U-M students on Native American culture and history since I think it’s something we miss in
REMY FARKAS
Daily Staff Reporter
This Wednesday, hundreds of Ann Arbor high school students joined the scores of teenagers participating in national walkouts to protest gun violence in the wake of the Feb. 14 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting that killed 14 students and faculty members in Parkland, Fla. According to MLive, the Ann Arbor School Board is working to support students in the fight to secure the safety of their local schools. The district’s response contrasts with other national reactions, including Needville Independent School District near Houston whose superintendent threatened a three-day suspension for any student who participated in a walkout. Jeanice Swift, superintendent of Ann Arbor Public Schools, has for years worked to maintain weaponfree school zones and mental health support systems throughout the school district See TEENS, Page 3
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our curriculum a lot,” she said. Bruegl began the talk by explaining key government policies toward Native American tribes. She highlighted how many of these policies, including the Indian Removal Act, the Dawes Act and more, worked against the tribes’ favor, often stripping them of land, rights and representation. She explained the somewhat demeaning attitude U.S. policies have typically had toward Native American individuals. “You find through a lot of
policies that there is kind of a parental relationship between the United States government and Native populations,” she said. “Every policy, they say, is an act to cut ties and lose custody of us — they don’t want to have to deal with us anymore.” While the policies often inflicted pain on the Native American community, Bruegl stated they lead to the American Indian Movement, founded in 1968. The organization focuses on representation and action
among the Native American community. She went on to discuss some defining instances of activism from the group, all in an effort to raise awareness of injustices against their community and their generally painful history. While not all of their goals were achieved, they reportedly did succeed in effectively communicating Native American struggles to the larger population. “We didn’t exactly get what See ACTIVISM, Page 3
SARAH KUNKEL/Daily
Heather Bruegl speaks about Native American policy and activism at a talk titled “A History of Native American Policy and Activism: From A.I.M. to Standing Rock to Present” in the Michigan League Thursday.
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INDEX
Vol. CXXVII, No. 83 ©2018 The Michigan Daily
disabilities improving
Students with disabilities find ‘U’ accommodations “helpful”, individualized SAYALI AMIN
Daily Staff Reporter
When she was younger, LSA junior Felicity Harfield always took longer than her classmates to read and complete assignments in school. As a result, she was separated from the rest of the students in her high school and placed in the special needs department. Hartfield’s high school special education teacher told her she was crazy for applying to the University of Michigan since she has dyslexia. Harfield is now a member of the Services for Students with Disabilities Advisory Board. Harfield said her disability is something she has learned to deal with on her own. Other than the additional time she receives on exams and the permission to use a laptop in the classroom, Harfield explained she just spends more time on her coursework than others might need to. “My disorder, you can’t see it,” Harfield said. “You don’t even know unless you’ve read See DISABILITIES, Page 3
NEWS.........................2 OPINION.....................4 ARTS......................6
SUDOKU.....................2 CLASSIFIEDS...............6 SPORTS....................7