CELEBRATING OUR ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIFTH YEAR OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM Tuesday, January 20, 2015
Ann Arbor, Michigan
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CAMPUS LIFE
‘U’ ref lects on #BBUM a year after demands Efforts to move multicultural center, increase minority enrollment continue
LEFT: Ndaba Mandela, grandson of Nelson Mandela, speaks at the Ross School of Business as part of the MLK Symposium Monday. (Andrew Cohen/Daily) UPPER RIGHT: Students join hands on the Diag for the Circle of Unity presented by the Michigan Commuity Scholars Program. (Virginia Lozano/Daily) LOWER RIGHT: Dr. Marc Lamont Hill speaks about Martin Luther King, Jr.’s legacy at Hill Auditorium . (David Song/Daily)
By ALYSSA BRANDON
Programs across campus honor Dr. King’s legacy
Discussions, panels kick off week-long symposium on race and social justice By ALLANA AKHTAR Daily Staff Reporter
Instead of attending classes Monday, University students and faculty honored the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. by host-
ing or attending various seminars and discussions to examine social justice in American society. The School of Social Work hosted “Policing Black Bodies: A Dialogue on Poverty, Police Brutality and the Way Out” to reflect on King’s legacy in modern America. Writer Shaun Ossei Owusu, Assistant Prof. Kamau Rashid and Rackham student Finn Bell discussed how poverty, race and police brutality have changed throughout U.S. his-
tory. “The historical configurations of race in the United States, within the context of slavery and colonialism, actually teaches us a great deal about the contemporary manifestations and expressions of racism today,” Rashid said. “Racism is both permanent and indestructible and I think that there’s a lot that we can learn from this.” Rackham student Loren Cahill, who is in the School of Social Work, said the most nota-
Daily Staff Reporter
ble part of the event was Rashid’s acknowledgement of racism’s permanency and inability to completely dissolve. “I thought it was phenomenal,” she said. “I liked the discussion about still fighting to do racial work and to end profiling, still striving to improve it. Bell spoke of his experience growing up white in the South and witnessing the racial discrimination his peers through an outside lens. He also warned See MLK, Page 3
On a cold Martin Luther King, Jr. Day last year, members of the University’s Black Student Union stood atop the steps of Hill Auditorium, holding black signs etched with white chalk. The organization gathered to protest stagnant minority enrollment and demand the University meet seven goals for improving campus climate. Engineering senior Robert Greenfield, BSU treasurer, said in early discussions, administrators expressed a genuine willingness to collaborate with the BSU. “University administration is made of the highest and best servants of our University, and the BSU is very appreciative of how they have collaborated with us,” he said. “However, as of now, it is the overall sentiment of the BSU that progress is not being made, and as an execu-
ADMINISTRATION
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Injured, sick ‘M’ readying for Rutgers With much of its roster depleted, Michigan faces an uphill battle By LEV FACHER Managing Editor
John Beilein was frank in assessing the Michigan men’s basketball team’s roster prior to its Tuesday night tilt with Rutgers in Piscataway. “We have more injured or sick players than we have healthy players right now,” Beilein said. The Wolverines’ eighth-year coach is barely exaggerating. As few as six players are entirely healthy and ready to contribute major minutes against a Rutgers team that upset then-No. 4 Wisconsin on Jan. 11, and the rest of Michigan’s roster is hurt, sick, ineligible or some combination thereof. Following the team’s announcement Sunday that junior guard Caris LeVert is out for the remainder of the season with a left foot injury, the Wolverines’ injury tally stands at four. Freshman forward D.J. Wilson may redshirt and has yet to be cleared for full-court play following a December knee sprain. Freshman forward Kameron Chatman is questionable thanks to a knee injury suffered Saturday against Northwestern. And sophomore guard Derrick Walton
WEATHER TOMORROW
HI: 29 LO: 19
Jr. remains limited by an injured toe on his right foot which has plagued him throughout the year. To make matters worse, freshman forward Ricky Doyle’s status is uncertain thanks to an illness, and junior guard Spike Albrecht is questionable because of an upper respiratory infection. Per Beilein, Albrecht has been “cleared to give it a shot and see how he feels.” That leaves just nine healthy players. But sophomore guard Andrew Dakich hasn’t played this season, and likely won’t — Beilein has said previously that Dakich will redshirt so that he has a fifth year of eligibility remaining should he choose to transfer. Duncan Robinson is also sitting out the season, because NCAA transfer policy precludes him from playing in the year following his move to Ann Arbor from Division III Williams College. But Robinson wouldn’t have been available, anyway — he suffered a sprained ankle in recent weeks, preventing him from contributing to the scout team during practice. The injuries have depleted the scout team and forced to Beilein took advantage of an NCAA rule that allows coaches to occasionally bring in former players to practice with the team. He invited David Merritt, a former Michigan point guard and 2009 graduate, to ensure that 5-on-5 competition was an option in practice. To stop Rutgers, the WolverSee RUTGERS, Page 3
tive board, we’re questioning the administration’s willingness due to how fast things are progressing.” Despite progress on several of the BSU’s demands, which included revising the Race and Ethnicity distribution requirement and providing emergency funding for students, Greenfield said he and other members of the BSU believe progress slowed over the last year, particularly in increasing minority enrollment and establishing a new multicultural center on Central Campus. “It’s been a year, and many of the things that still need to be done, the Black Student Union just can’t control,” he said. “Many of the solutions to the demands have been handed over to people who are very passionate about fulfilling the work, but just simply don’t have the resources to do so.” In November 2013, the BSU had launched the Twitter initiative #BBUM. Students of color used the hashtag, which stands for Being Black at the University of Michigan, to share thoughts and experiences about being a minority on campus. #BBUM soon went viral, accumulating over 10,000 tweets by 10 p.m. See BBUM, Page 3
Schlissel to strengthen connections during July trip to China Envoy to include meetings with several partner institutions ROBERT DUNNE/Daily
Washington University student Rohan Khopkar works on his team with Purdue University student Andrew Xia at MHacks Saturday on North Campus.
Hacking competition draws 1,200 participants to A2 Fifth annual MHacks event engages students over 36 hours By TANYA MADHANI Daily Staff Reporter
When the clock struck midnight on Friday, 1,200 people rushed to begin 36 hours of living and breathing one thing: programming. Over the weekend, MHacks, a hackathon competition organized by University students, held its fifth hacking competition. Saturday morning, 11 hours into the competition, teams
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filed into the nooks and crannies of the Bob and Betty Beyster building on North Campus to work on their projects. Rooms called “hacking spaces,” labeled with famous programmers such as Alan Turing, were filled to the brim with teams. Throughout the event, some hackers wore pajamas, others remained in the clothes they had arrived in. A few participants slept on benches outside of rooms or at their desks as the night wore on. Several sleeping bags were scattered in the hallways and on the floors, but a few resisted sleep through the entirety of the event. “There are people who haven’t gone to sleep yet from the (organizing) team,” said
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INDEX
MHacks Director John Zwick, an Engineering junior. “And I really appreciate that.” Started in 2013 by MPowered, a student organization that encourages entrepreneurship among college students, MHacks promotes programming innovation and encourages students to build both software and hardware they can continue to develop in the future. The closing ceremony of MHacks was held at Rackham Auditorium where family members and observers sat patiently for the top 10 teams to present the fruits of their labors. After each presentation, Zwick read off special prizes See MHACKS, Page 3
Vol. CXXIV, No. 50 ©2015 The Michigan Daily michigandaily.com
By MICHAEL SUGERMAN Daily News Editor
In his first international trip as the University’s chief administrator, University President Mark Schlissel will head to China early this July to continue collaboration with the country’s universities, as well as to meet alumni, faculty and students studying abroad. In an interview with The Michigan Daily on Friday, Schlissel said the visit — slated for the week of July 5 — is demonstrative of the University’s growing presence in China. “Michigan is a global university, and I think in the decades ahead more so,” he said. “The world is becoming smaller, people are traveling and communicating with one another, students are traveling the globe, so reaching out around the world is an important part of my job.” Schlissel visit Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Peking University. Fifty University undergraduates currently attend SJTU each summer through the UMSJTU Joint Institute to study See CHINA, Page 3
NEWS.........................2 OPINION.....................4 ARTS............................. 5
SPORTS......................7 SUDOKU.....................2 CLASSIFIEDS...............6