02-04-2015 by The Michigan Daily

CELEBRATING OUR ONE-HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIFTH YEAR OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Ann Arbor, Michigan

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GOVERNMENT

State bills could allow students to dual enroll Proposed legislation would enable high schoolers to take college courses By EMMA KINERY Daily Staff Reporter

In accordance with Republican Gov. Rick Snyder’s alternative education initiative, several bills were introduced into the Michigan legislature last week regarding higher education. In his State of the State address, Snyder said he aims for Michigan to become the number one state for skilled trades programs, and praised alternative education routes such as dual enrollment for high school students and apprenticeships. Dual enrollment for high school students State Sen. Darwin Booher (R– Evart) introduced Senate Bills 36 and 37 last week, which would allow high school students to

enroll in community college courses. Should these bills pass, high school teachers could receive qualifications to teach certain collegelevel classes, which the students could subsequently take without traveling to a community college campus. Booher, who is the Community Colleges chair, a subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee, noted that concurrent courses were the best way to put dual enrollment into practice, as not all high school students have the luxury of commuting to community college after school. “Part of the kids that didn’t have jobs after school or didn’t have some kind of requirement, they could go, but not every student can. A lot of them have jobs, and a lot of them have athletics,” Booher said. “This is the fair way to do it; they’re already there.” SB-36 proposes that any “school district or public school academy may partner with 1 or more postsecondary institutions or 1 or more intermediate school districts and See ENROLLMENT, Page 3A

BRIAN BECKWITH/Daily

Eastern Michigan University alumn Kamilah Davis-Wilson performs at the Body Monologues show where participants share their stories at the Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre in the Michigan League on Tuesday.

Body Monologues explore experiences with self-image Students examine self-acceptance with spoken-word performances By ALYSSA BRANDON Daily Staff Reporter

Inspired by the critically-aclaimed “Vagina Monologues,” a dozen University

students appeared on the Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre stage on Tuesday night to share their experiences grappling with body image. Sponsored by the University Health Service, the “Body Monologues” featured 12 spoken-word performances by University students. Though performers often stopped during their monologues for comical asides to the audience, the performance also

addressed more serious issues such as low self-esteem, eating disorders, suicide and sexual identity. Public Health student Tahiya Alam performed a monologue titled “Chai Tea or Latte?” which discussed how her struggles with gaining acceptance in both American culture and her native Bengali culture often made her feel like an outsider. “My skin will always stand

CAMPUS LIFE

DETROIT

Array of music styles shaped by Detroiters Jazz, punk, rock and techno all have deep roots in the city

By PAULA FRIEDRICH and STEPHANIE DILWORTH Daily Staff Reporters

DETROIT — From Berry Gordy’s Hitsville, USA to Eminem’s “8-Mile,” Detroit’s geography is strewn with music history. But the legacy of Detroit’s music runs far deeper than the names that first come to mind. It runs from the methodic din of factories, from unsatisfied suburban teens and from clubs now shuttered. It’s nearly impossible to name a genre that isn’t rooted in Detroit this history still affects musicians and venues working in the city today — from jazz to rock to techno. Detroit jazz and a ‘Culture of Mentorship’ Every Tuesday night at Cliff Bell’s, the Marcus Elliot Quartet

takes the stage. Audience members order drinks and chat while the guys on stage play — eyes closed, fingers dancing. Elliot leads on saxophone, throwing out rolling, brassy swells. He dips off stage every now and then to give space for another musician to solo: Michael Malis on the piano, Steven Boegehold on the drums or Ben Rolston on the bass. The quartet all came up together in Detroit’s close-knit jazz scene, and while they’re all still in their early to mid-twenties, they credit much of their development and success to the long lineage of musicians that played jazz before them. “Detroit has such a deep history, not only in jazz, but in Motown, techno, hip-hop — everything,” Elliot said. “It’s just really, really deep and I just wanted to make sure I tapped into that.” Detroit’s jazz scene stretches back to the early 1920s when 11or 12-piece bands like the Jean Goldkette Orchestra and the nationally famed McKinney’s Cotton Pickers played for crowds See DETROIT, Page 2A

out in this crowd,” Alam said. “Growing up in the Midwest, I was landlocked in a sea of white, forever an outsider.” In the monologue “Mischief Managed,” Engineering senior Jake Heller examined how his struggle to accept his weight led him to contemplate suicide. “I truly believed that being dead was better than being fat,” Heller said during his performance. See MONOLOGUES, Page 3A

Planet Blue web interface improves Online update allows users to track success with sustainability By NABEEL CHOLLAMPAT Daily Staff Reporter

SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily

LSA Dean Andrew Martin answers students’ questions at Desserts & Coffee #withDeanMartin in the UMMA multipurpose room Tuesday.

LSA Dean talks diversity, interdisciplinary initiatives Nearly 20 students convene in UMMA for candid talk By ANASTASSIOS ADAMOPOULOUS Daily Staff Reporters

Though the University’s Museum of Modern Art offers a number of renowned exhibitions, Tuesday night at the

UMMA was as much about literature and science as the arts. LSA Dean Andrew Martin, who assumed the dean’s office in September 2014, held a discussion with students in the Multipurpose Room of the UMMA, where he explained both his short- and long-term administrative goals. He held a similar discussion in November. The chat follows the inauguration of five new minors by LSA for this year’s winter term:

Yiddish Studies, Arab and Muslim American Culture, Art and Design, Intergroup Relations Education and Entrepreneurship. Martin spoke to about 20 students on a variety of issues, including interdisciplinary studies, the Race and Ethnicity requirement and his main priorities as LSA dean over the next few years. He said one of his main goals See DEAN, Page 3A

The University’s Planet Blue Ambassador program, an online sustainability initiative, received an upgrade this past month as new improvements were made to its user interface. PBA launched in 2013 as part of former University President Mary Sue Coleman’s campus-wide sustainability goals. The program aims to engage faculty, staff and students in campus sustainability through an online platform. Program Coordinator Nicole Berg said the program has received positive feedback since the program’s launch. “There is a lot of supSee PLANET BLUE, Page 3A

» INSIDE

the statement How do students interact with our local government?

WEATHER TOMORROW

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INDEX

NEWS......................... 2A OPINION.....................4A S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7A

SUDOKU.....................2A CL ASSIFIEDS...............6A T H E S TAT E M E N T. . . . . . . . . .1 B