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6B Wednesday, Aprl1, 2012 // The Statement
"As an organization, we don't support any Fifty-three of those articles ran in the
affiliation with the Order," Martin said in the arts and sports sections - which Spar
article. "Therefore, any members associated read.
with Order cannot be part of BSU." Of the remaining eight articles, Stein-
Kulick said this alliance with dissenting berg said she didn't read any of them.
student groups presented a conflict of inter- However, on only one these eight articles
est, as he hopes to keep working with those is appended a note that says Steinberg
groups and continuing SOAP's mission the didn't edit the article due to her member-
best he can. Being in Order would've con- ship in order.
flicted with the collaborative nature of his «
group's work, he said. But thats exactly
While he added that he sees the value in
having a senior society of student leaders what it is it's his-
come together to work toward communal
betterment, he doesn't see Order as filling tory. The organiza-
that role.
Conflict of interest tion that Order of
According to the Society of Profession- Angell is today is not
al Journalists Code of Ethics, reporters
should "avoid conflicts of interest, real or the organization that
perceived." The Michigan Daily models its .v
bylaws after the SPJ- it was ... years ago
LSA senior Stephanie Steinberg, editor
in chief of the Daily from Winter semes- - and that's the beau-
ter 2011 through Fall semester 2011, joined
Order last April. She said the relation- tyof thei h-gereenta
ships she forged with other student lead-
ers ensured she was in the know, but that
these relationships did not compromise the turnover.
Daily's coverage. -Public Policy senior Vidhi
According to Steinberg, the first Daily
staffer to join Michigamua was Adver- Bamzai, Order of Angell's
tising Manager A.J. Jordan in 1930, and unofficial spokesperson
49 Order members have been Daily staff
members since. Over the past six years, When contacted about these articles, Spar
four out of the six Editor in Chiefs accept- said Steinberg was "judicious" in her han-
ed the tap. dling of all articles concerning order mem-
Steinberg said though there was a large bers.
gap in membership until recent years, it's not "Even if I had edited it, I never would've
unprecedented for Daily staffers to join the skewed a story so that someone appeared
organization. in more favorable light," Steinberg said. "I
Steinberg said she doesn't consider her would like to think that my journalistic eth-
involvement a conflict of interest. She ics and integrity would've never been com-
added that she never edited a story involv- promised."
ing another Order member. When present- However, countless other articles from
ed -with an article that mentioned a fellow each section of the newspaper mention the
Order member, she would pass it on to her organizations Order members participate in
managing editor, LSA senior Nick Spar, to and contribute to at the University.
"edit. Communication Studies lecturer Anthony
In 2006, Michigan Daily Editor in Chief Collings - who has worked as a reporter for
Donn Fresard accepted the tap from Order, The Wall Street Journal, The Associated
prompting Managing Editor Ashley Dinges Press, Newsweek and CNN - explained how
to step down. According to a July 2006 Daily he understands the SPJ's definition of a con-
article, Dinges said Fresard's involvement flict of interest.
was a conflict of interest. "My understanding is that it means any-
"I am very sad to leave the Daily, which thing that would lower the public's trust in
has been my second home since I came to the journalist because of the perception that
the University," Dinges said in the article. the journalist is not totally independent,"
"But the main reason I work at this paper is Collings said.
my love of journalism and Iam not willing to He added that a Daily staffer's involve-
compromise my journalistic integrity or my ment with Order could affect the reporter-
4 ethical beliefs." reader relationship because many continue
Dinges declined to comment on the issue, to harbor bad feelings toward the organiza-
writing in an e-mail that she didn't feel com- tion for its past.
fortable commenting on an issue from the "You'll have to decide whether being a
past. Fressard couldn't be reached for com- part of an organization that might be in the
ment. news could lead to a perceived conflict of
After the April article that announced interest," Collings said.
Steinberg amongthe 2012 members of Order, Yet, Steinberg said Order membership
61 Daily articles naming Order members ran is beneficial for Daily staff because they
during the remainder of Steinberg's tenure. gain access to information they wouldn't
have had otherwise. She cited former Assis-
tant Attorney General Andrew Shirvell's
personal attack on Chris Armstrong, the
former president of the Michigan Student
Assembly, as an example of such informa-
tion. Armstrong and former Daily Editor in
Chief Jacob Smilovitz were both in order
together.
The potential conflicts of interest stem
beyond journalism, as LSA senior Brendan
Campbell, vice president of Central Student
Government, said he worries students won't
feel comfortable approaching a governing
body that works with a closed-door organi-
zation like Order.
"If a student government is to truly
be an inclusive and representative voice
of students on campus, then I think it's
wrong for its leaders to be part of such a
divisive and problematic organization,"
Campbell said.
Campbell is the former chair of the Uni-
versity's chapter of College Democrats, and
the group has a policy that forbids members
from joining Order.
Campbell added that Order is a "uniquely
damaging organization" whose time on cam-
pus has run out.
History is history
Public Policy senior Vidhi Bamzai, Order's
unofficial spokesperson, said that as a
woman with a social justice background, she
can't deny Order's incurred civil rights viola-
tions in the past.
Bamzai is the former chair of the South
Asian Awareness Network, a social justice
organization at the University. She said her
involvement with SAAN led to her getting
tapped by Order last year.
Bamzai said Order operates with members
at equal standing and releases its member list
every April to remain transparent.
She added that order is trying to move
beyond its contentious past.
"But that's exactly what it is - it's history,"
Bamzai said. "The organization that Order of
Angell is today is not the organization that it
was ... five years ago - and that's the beauty of
the 100-percent turnover."
Bamzai said having a new class of mem-
bers each year fosters constant change. This
year's class organized a scholarship for stu-
dent leaders and held an event called Leaders
for Life created for 90 up-and-coming sopho-
mores and juniors.
Bamzai established a formal relationship
between SAAN and the Muslim Students
Association, which she hopes will continue
after she graduates. She added that honorary
members like James Toy - the founder of the
Spectrum Center and an order member since
2000 - help Order take a step back and real-
ize what's best for campus.
In 1999, Toy was approached by then-
member Cory Fryling - the first openly gay
member of Michigamua - who petitioned
him to join the organization. Fryling was
a member of the Queer Unity Project and
thought Toy would bring a valuable perspec-
tive to the organization.
Fryling brought a big folder of historical
information to allay Toy's skepticism about
joining the group.
"I was dubious aboutjoining because, hav-
ing been here on campus since the 1960s, I
was aware of Michigamua's reputation and
the concerns that many members of the Uni-
versity had about the group," Toy said.
Toy said he ultimately joined because he
was concerned about ethos, and he figured he
could inspire more change by getting inside
of the organization rather than banging on it
from the outside.
He said he lobbies the group for greater
diversity.
"The more diverse a group is in its mem-
bership, the better decisions it will make,"
Toy said.
While the group defers to the phrase
"humility in secrecy," Toy said he thinks
modesty is a better explanation for why the
contents of their Monday night meetings are
kept hush-hush.
Fryling said, from his vantage point in Cal-
ifornia, where he now lives, the core purpose
of the organization hasn't changed much,
although it'sgained women and new perspec-
tive. He added that persuading Toy to join the
group was his biggest accomplishment.
"He's the most profound legacy I've left
behind," Fryling said. "He's been integral-
ly involved, while I've been congenitally
"I don't think there's
any way they could
make themselves
acceptable or appro-
priate other than say,
'We're going to end
our organization."'
-'U' alum Joe Reilly, former
representative of the Students of
Color Coalition
involved at points."
Fryling said he challenges Order dissenters
to keep an open mind and do the research for
themselves.
Your call
You can make the trek to the Bentley on
North Campus. You can visit Order's Wikipe-
dia page. You can gossip with friends.
If you were to search "Order of Angell"
and "Michigamua" on the Daily's website or
in its bound volumes, you'd see that the soci-
ety stirs up a lot of ink. The Daily publishes
the list of new members each April and it will
again next week.
Butyou won't know what they do until you
actually accept the tap.
-Magazine Editor Dylan Cinti
contributed to this report.
WednedayApril11,'012B
tweets of the week
#mike wallace
Mitt Romney vK aNtKr m,
My experience with Mike Wallace - integrity, charm,
character. A great one goes home.
9 April
Ann Curry -Anm-ur
Tough questions are being asked in Heaven today. RIP
Mike Wallace
9 April
Nicholas Kristof N K SW'
Mike Wallace, ace journalist of '60 Minutes,' has died
at 93. RIP, Mike!
April
Michael Rosenberg chaelcserberg
When the death of a 93-year-old you never met
saddens you, you know that person was special.
9 April
a week of daily stories
what is college?
[status update] by alicia adamczyk
What are you currently listening to?
I listen to a lot of classical music, I've been listening to a lot
of Chopin lately I have weird music tastes, I guess.
Do you have any guilty pleasures?
Watching more TV than I should. I like "The Big Bang
Theory."
What are you currently reading?
"March" by Geraldine Brooks. I'm in this project to
read all the Pulitzer Prize winning novels. It's kind
of a re-telling of "Little Women" from Mr. March's
perspective.
Favorite movie growing up?
"Peter Pan."
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FILE PHOTO/Daily
Revered journalist and University alum Mike
Wallace died this weekend at the age of 93
Wallace was known for his tough interview-
ing style.
Ann Arbor's annual Hash Bash Festival
brought thousands of people to the Diag on
Saturday. Thirteen people were arrested on
suspicion of carrying marijuana.
Connie Shi
College Jeopardy! contestant
No. 404:
"Game of Thrones"
makes liking
"Dungeons and
Dragons" cool.
No. 405:
Yes, your internship
application was
due at midnight
last night.
THE rules
No. 406:
Hash Bash is the
one thing on earth
that is actually
dirtier than Ke$ha.
Last Thursday, more than 100 University
students gathered in the Diag to participate
in Take Back The Night, an event meant to
raise awareness about sexual assualt.
The North Campus Research Complex
hosted an event this Monday to celebrate
the state of Michigan's success in the field
of robotics.