CELEBRATING OUR ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIFTH YEAR OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM Tuesday, November 11, 2014
Ann Arbor, Michigan
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Dingell set to receive high award for service CHARLES KOWALEC/Daily
University President Mark Schlissel, students and faculty prepare to cut the ribbon for the grand reopening of Mitchell Field on Monday.
Obama bestows retiring rep. with Presidential Medal of Freedom By RACHEL PREMACK Daily News Editor
CRIME
Blue Bus-related incidents prompt safety concerns Driver training protocols doubled over past year By MAX RADWIN Daily Staff Reporter
Since June, two members of the University community — a student and a staff member — have died from University bus accidentrelated injuries, raising concerns about the safety policies in place for University drivers. With a total of six bus-related accidents, deaths or instances of negligence having occurred in the last year and a half, a spokesper-
son at the University’s Parking and Transportation Services said they are always working to improve their methods of instructing drivers — including the implementation of a three-phase training system last April — to ensure that drivers are well equipped to operate transit vehicles. In October, a University bus hit 24-year-old engineering graduate student Derek Tat while he was on his bike. In June, University Housing employee Nancy Sanders was hit by a University bus and died from the resulting injuries. Last year, there were four busrelated incidents of driver error. In September 2013, a University bus crashed into and destroyed an
unoccupied bus shelter on the corner of Fuller Street and Bonisteel Boulevard, and during that same month, three students fell out of the back of a University bus on its way to Michigan Stadium. In October 2013, a University bus got stuck in a turnaround next to the Michigan Union. Then, in November 2013, a University bus driver was arrested for driving his vehicle off-route and abandoning it while he went into his house for several hours. Jeff Bidwell, who became director of PTS in April 2013, said training protocols have doubled since then so that incidents like those that have occurred in the past year and a half can be avoided.
“My first priority was to look at how we were doing training and see if there was anything we could improve or revise,” he said. Driver training is now a threephase process: First, a potential driver learns to maneuver the vehicle without passengers. Then he or she has to complete inservice training, which involves operating routes and picking up passengers alongside a licensed driver. A third party administers a commercial driver’s license exam, and if the potential driver passes, then he or she returns for any final additional training, if needed. LSA senior Meagan Tucker, who has been driving a UniverSee BLUE BUS, Page 3
President Barack Obama announced Monday that he will award U.S. Rep. John Dingell (D–Mich.) the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award an American citizen can win. After 58 years of representing Southeast Michigan in Washington, D.C., Dingell officially became the longest-serving member of congress in history last year. His district comprises Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, much of Downriver Detroit and other townships in Southeast Michigan. Dingell will retire next year, and his wife Debbie Dingell, currently a Wayne State University trustee and former General Motors lobbyist, was elected last week to succeed him. She will be the third consecutive member of the Dingell family to be elected to Congress, as John Dingell’s father served from 1932 until his death in 1955. In a statement on his Facebook page Monday evening, Dingell said he was humbled by the recognition. “There are few words that could
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CAMPUS LIFE
ACADEMICS
UMMA gets $1 million for academic integration
Students flock to A2 for nat’l co-op seminar Annual NASCO conference celebrates history of cooperative living arrangements By LINDSEY SCALLEY For the Daily
It was a cooperative presentation, so the audience participated. “What brought you folks to co-ops? Just shout some stuff out,” said Nikki Marín Baena, a keynote speaker and co-founder of Cooperation Texas, a nonprofit dedicated to creating sustainable employment for those affected by social and economic inequality. The audience members were quick to respond. “Community.” “Necessity.” “Affordable housing.” “Economic justice.” “Control.” “Food.” “Kindness.” Last weekend, from Nov. 7 to Nov. 9, 405 cooperative members from across the United
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States and Canada, about 30 of whom came from Ann Arbor co-ops, descended on the Michigan Union for the North American Students of Cooperation Institute, a conference held yearly in Ann Arbor since 1977. They came to network with other co-ops, share ideas and skills, and further the cooperative movement, a historical movement working to return ownership to the people. Co-ops are houses, frequently located near college campuses, where residents are required to share the responsibility for cooking, cleaning and other household activities. “This principle about co-ops, that we can decide what kind of a world we want to have and shape it for ourselves, is a really big thing,” Baena said. Before and after the keynote address, however, co-opers lined the hallways of the Union, occupied Au Bon Pain and Starbucks and wandered through the makeshift bookshop in the Art Lounge, which was filled with coffee, art, buttons and 300 pounds of chocolate donated by See CO-OPS, Page 5
accurately describe my thoughts and feelings in receiving this wonderful honor,” he said. “It is especially meaningful to me to receive this recognition alongside such a distinguished and diverse group of individuals that truly represents the ideals and values that have made this nation great.” Dingell’s stance in Congress has been characterized as moderate and liberal. He is staunch defender of the environment, having helped pen historic legislation such as the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act and National Environmental Policy Act. He also advocated for the Affordable Care Act. More recently, in a January interview with The Michigan Daily, Dingell discussed the need to ease college students’ struggles with student loans and raise the minimum wage. “That’s one of the biggest problems when I talk to the people I see and serve,” Dingell said on the topic of student loan debt. The Presidential Medal of Freedom was established in 1963 to honor those who have contributed to “the security or national interests of the United States, or world peace, or cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.” As of Nov. 20, 2013, the last update of the Medal’s website, Obama had awarded 61 medals. Previous recipients of this award under Obama include former President Bill Clinton, scientist Steven Hawking, former South
Grant from Mellon Foundation to fund several museum education initiatives By EMILIE PLESSET
TERESA MATHEW/Daily
Sophomore forward Zak Irvin scored 13 points during the Michigan men’s basketball team’s 86-43 win over Wayne State at Crisler Center on Tuesday.
HOSPITAL
UMHS, nurses association set Ebola prep. standards Agreement could be the first of its kind in U.S. By TOM MCBRIEN Daily Staff Reporter
Amid statewide and national clashes between nurses’ unions, hospital systems and state governments on the issue, the Michigan Nurses Association
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and the University of Michigan Health System have negotiated a contract to offer specific Ebola protections to nurses should the need arise. The contract, signed Monday between the MNA, the largest nurses association in the state, and UMHS, the largest hospital system in the state, outlines specific regulations for personal protective equipment, referred to as PPE, and safety training for Ebola preparation for all UMHS
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nurses. It also outlines the measures of job and salary security that nurses who may have to undergo quarantine or treatment for Ebola can expect. MNA Executive Director John Karebian said the agreement is a unique step forward in the protection it affords nurses. “I believe this is the only agreement of its kind anywhere in the country, at least from research that we’ve done,” KareSee EBOLA, Page 5
Vol. CXXIII, No. 56 ©2014 The Michigan Daily michigandaily.com
Daily Staff Reporter
The University of Michigan Museum of Art’s bank account just got a big boost. The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, a private institution dedicated to promoting higher education and art history, among other pursuits, endowed UMMA with a $1 million grant to sustain programs that promote integration with the University’s academic community and student experience. Among UMMA’s recent initiatives are the appointment of an academic coordinator and collections assistant and the creation of a History of Art Fellowship. Last year alone, efforts by UMMA to increase student academic outreach resulted in a 95-percent increase in collection use and 13,000 students participating in the museum’s educational programs. See UMMA, Page 5
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