ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-EIGHT YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
Wednesday, October 3, 2018
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Remote Telemetry and Graham Crackers:
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U-M nurses describe cuts to patient care
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ACADEMICS
University labor unions draw parallels with past strikes Recent slew of near-strikes a reaction to “new model” at U-M prioritizing profit over public, union president says
Remote Telemetry and Graham Crackers: NOLAN FELICIDARIO/Daily
GRACE KAY
Daily Staff Reporter
Over the course of two years, three different unions — the University of Michigan Professional Nurse Council, the Lecturers’ Employee Organization and Graduate Employees’ Organization — have threatened to strike in response to budget cuts and staffing levels at the University. LEO President Ian Robinson said these incidents are a reaction to a broader shift at the University, related primarily to what Robinson sees as a prioritization of financial concerns. “It’s a new model that is taking place at the University,” Robinson
U-M nurses describe cuts to patient care
said. “It is a model that has moved from focusing on the interests of the public to profit. Really the birth of these unions is the result of this new model. These strikes are the same fight as the fight that made these unions form.” As the University of Michigan Professional Nurse Councilprepares to vote on the tentative contract agreement with the University after 100 days of bargaining and an impending strike, UMPNC Chief Grievance Chair John Armelagos said the demands and concerns of nurses at the University have not changed since the union’s formation in 1974. The primary motivation behind the union’s formation was a need to improve working conditions. Staff were exposed to an unlimited
number of consecutive work days, multiple shift changes within a week and mandatory overtime. Though in current negotiations with Michigan Medicine, nurses were able to reach a tentative contract agreement without having to implement work stoppage, in 1981 and 1989 hundreds of nurses were forced to walk the picket line before they could come to a satisfactory agreement with the administration. In ’81 the nurses went on a 3-week strike and in ’89 the nurses went on a 19-day strike. Armelagos said he participated in the strike of ’89. “I was active on the picket line,” Armelagos said. “The main reason we picketed was due to mandatory overtime. Nurses were subjected to working in an
unlimited fashion. The hours that nurses were expected to work were excessive.” Anne Jackson, the onsite representative for the ambulatory care services at the University, said she sees connections between the strikes of ’81 and ’89 and nurses’ demands for their current contract. “The common thread is nursing as patient care advocates attempting to do the best we can as registered nurses,” Jackson said. “’81 was about nurses gaining more professional economy. In ’89 it was about nurses being too exhausted to deliver safe care. Today, the main issue is also patient care.” Jackson, who joined as a
RESEARCH
See UNIONS, Page 3A
ACADEMICS
Redistricting proposal on upcoming ballot to address gerrymandering The citizen-initiated proposition calls for independent commission, meets mixed reviews from students ZACK BLUMBERG For the Daily
This November, Michigan voters will decide the fate of Proposal 2, a citizen-initiated proposition to move the power of creating legislative districts from
the state House of Representatives to an Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission. The proposal aims to end the practice of “gerrymandering,” or strategically creating districts to See PROPOSAL, Page 2A
STUDENT GOVERNMENT
University professor awarded Nobel Prize work in physics Professor Gerard Mourou pioneered field for high-speed lasers JORDYN BAKER Daily Staff Reporter
Gérard Mourou, an A. D. Moore distinguished University professor emeritus in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department, received a Nobel Prize in physics on Tuesday for pioneering the field of highspeed and high-intensity lasers. The University of Michigan ranks among the top 50
universities in the world with of America in 1995 as well as the most Nobel Prize winners. the Edgerton Prize from the Mourou served as a founding International Society for Optics director at the Center for and Phonics in 1997, among Ultrafast Optical Science, other accomplishments, such a research facility within as the 2005 Willis E. Lamb the College of Engineering Awardfor Laser Science and that studies the application Quantum Optics and Charles of ultrashort laser pulses Hard Townes Award also by in a variety of disciplines. the Optical Society of America Mourou is an established in 2009. expert in his field, and Mourou shares half of the has received the Wood Prize from the Optical Society See PHYSICS, Page 3A
PRASHANTH PANICKER/Daily CSG representatives rearrange their seating for a group dialogue at the Central Student Government meeting Tuesday.
CSG confirms newly elected UHS launches new service to expand student positions, resolutions RESEARCH
healthcare to transgender students
In eighth assembly meeting, community concerns including requiring representatives to hold monthly office hours
Trans Care Team to provide hormone therapy, HIV prevention REMY FARKAS
Daily Staff Reporter
University Health Service announced a new service in the Trans Care Department called the Trans Care Team, which will provide hormone therapy for gender affirmation,
prescriptions to prevent HIV, and other services and resources for the University of Michigan transgender community. The team is a group of trained health care providers that provide advice and general care in addition to hormone therapy.
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UHS Care Manager Diana Parrish said the new Trans Care Team is comprised of health care providers who possess the knowledge and experience in caring for transgender and non-binary students. Prior to this specialized care team, insurance coverage and limited See RESEARCH, Page 3A
ABBY TAKAS
Daily Staff Reporter
The University of Michigan’s Central Student Government convened Tuesday night to complete an Intergroup Relations training, address community concerns, and confirm election results. The Program on Intergroup
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INDEX
Relations, a social justice education program on campus, facilitates workshops for various clubs and organizations to teach participants about empathetic communication in a multicultural society. “Today’s training, common ground training, is critical to our success in helping CSG become more inclusive
Vol. CXXVIII, No.3 ©2018 The Michigan Daily
and ensuring that we better understand intersectionality and the role of identities in the policy work in efficacy we do,” CSG President Daniel Greene, a Public Policy senior, said. CSG also approved several new elected students at the meeting. Elizabeth Fakhoury, a See CSG, Page 2A
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