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Ann Arbor, Michigan
Friday, December 5, 2014
michigandaily.com
v ". ..
GOVERNMENT
University
presidents
attend D.C.
conference
VICKI LIU/Daily
Steven Salalta speaks about his rescinded job offer from the University of Illinois Thursday at Hutchins Hall. His offer was rescinded over the summer after he
' criticized Israel's military action in Gaza, part of the Palestinian territories.
SAFE hosts de-hired pro
.from Uni versit of Illinois
Obama hosts
national Day of
Action on college
affordability
By AMABEL KAROUB and
ALLANA AKHTAR
Daily Staff Reporters
Severalmembers of the Uni-
versity community participated
in the White House's College
Opportunity Day of Action in
Washington D.C. Thursday,
a national event focusing on
increasing the number of stu-
dents able to attend college.
President Barack Obama,
First Lady Michelle Obama and
Vice President Joe Biden were
keynote speakers at the event.
More than 140 top college execu-
tives attended, including Daniel
Little, chancellor of University
of Michigan-Dearborn. Several
other higher education officials
and researchers, including Public
Policy Prof. Susan Dynarski, also
attended the event.
"(The speakers) focused on the
social justice importance and the
economic importance of extend-
ing access to disadvantaged peo-
ple in our country and being able
to help a segment of our popula-
tion that is historically very dis-
advantaged," Little said. "They
expressed values I think all of us
buy into."
In a conference call Wednes-
day, Josh Earnes, White House
Press Secretary; James Kvaal,
a deputy director of the White
House Domestic Policy Council;
Celia Munoz, deputy director of
the White House Domestic Policy
Council and Secretary of Educa-
tion Arne Duncan said the Col-
lege Opportunity Dayof Action is
a continuation of a similar event
that occurred in January of this
year, which included more than
100 leaders from different higher
education institutions around
the country. They added that
they hoped to outline progress
made since the first summit and
brainstorm ways to improve.
See AFFORDABILITY, Page 3
Steven Salaita
highlights
importance of
academic freedom
By SHOHAM GEVA
Daily StaffReporter
Indigenous studies scholar
Steven Salaita, who was de-
hired from the University ofIlli-
nois amidst controversy earlier
thisyear, spoke at the University
Thursday evening in an event
hosted by Students Allied for
Freedom and Equality.
Salaita, who was set to begin
a tenured position at Illinois this
fall, had his job offer retracted
after a number of donors, stu-
dents and faculty at the school
contended that he was anti-
Semitic.
The charge stemmed from
comments Salaita had tweet-
ed from his personal Twitter
account during the summer
amidst escalating tensions
between Gaza and Israel, in
which he condemned Israel's
July bombing of Gaza. The
bombing resulted in an estimat-
ed 2,000 deaths in the area.
Speakingto a receptive crowd
of nearly 100 professors and stu-
dents in Hutchins Hall, who
gave him a standing ovation
before he began speaking, Salai-
ta discussed the circumstances
surrounding his exit from Illi-
nois, along with broader themes
of academic freedom.
He said reactions to his fir-
ing have run the gamut of poli-
tics and opinions, but what
disappointed him most is what
he characterized as a lack of
honesty.
"If you want to support what
the (University of Illinois) did,
I don't begrudge you," he said.
"What I ask of you though, is
honesty. I don't want you to say
that Salaita wasn't actually hired
yet; anybody who has spent any
time in academe knows full well
See SAFE, Page 3
PUBLIC SAFETY
UMPD has
relatively little
EEXAMS ARE COMING
i
1
,
1
mTilitaiy surplus
Defense Dept. University applied to obtainthe
riflescopes in an effort to evalu-
supplied computer ate whether it wished to make
use of a similar type of scope on
repair equipment, its existing rifles. However, she
said the riflescopes that were
protective barriers obtained from the program
were in such a state of disrepair
By MAX RADWIN they could not be evaluated.
DailyStaff Reporter The scopes would be used
with long-gun rifles, which
Like many other schools Brown said are standard-issue
across the country, the Univer- to University police officers.
sityhasparticipatedin afederal She said the rifles are law-
government program to obtain enforcement grade, not mili-
reissued equipment from fed- tary grade. A standard long gun
eral agencies over the last two is also issued to officers in addi-
years,buton a relativelylimited tion to a sidearm.
basis.. The University has also
Since 2012, the University received six "Scene Privacy
has obtained arange of sec- Barriers" since 2012, which are
ondhand equipment from the used to tent over a victim on the
federal government, including ground during a crime scene,
riflescopes, computer hard- accordingto Brown.
ware and privacy scene barri- In addition, two listings of
ers, according to documents "Computer Repair Equipment"
obtained by The Michigan appeared on the equipment
Daily through a Freedom of inventory list, which Brown
Information Act request. said were "small tools to work
The 1033 program, which on computer hardware."
began in 1997, aims to reuse The Washington Post report-
"excess property" from mili- ed in September that many
tary units - which can include police departments respon-
air conditioners, clothing, com- sible for enforcement on pub-
puters, as well as weapons - by lic school districts - including
recycling it to local and state the Los Angeles School Police
police departments, according Department, the San Diego
to the Defense Logistics Agen- Unified Schools and Florida's
cy. The DLA claims that $2.2 Pinellas County Schools Police
billion worth of property is dis- Department - received much
tributed each year. more equipment than the Uni-
The University has obtained versity from the 1033 program,
two riflescopes since 2012. includingseveral M16 rifles and
Diane Brown, spokeswoman utilityvehicles.
for the University's Depart- Joy Rohde, an assistant pro-
ment of Public Safety, said the See SURPLUS, Page 3
LSA junior Brenda Martinez makes a caramel apple spice drink in the Union Starbucks on Thursday.
CAMPUS LIFE
Harvard professor talks
sexualviOlence and war
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
U'program
encourages
high school
innovators
Startup High School
initiative aims to
garner over 1,000
project pitches
By MICHAEL SUGERMAN
Daily StaffReporter
Two years ago, members of
MPowered - one of the Univer-
sity's main entrepreneurship-
focused student organizations
- went into classrooms at Ann
Arbor's Pioneer High School to
pilot a program of small entrepre-
neurship workshops for students.
After receiving positive feed-
back,, MPowered established the
initiative as a permanent program
called Startup High School, and
expanded to cater to schools in
Metro Detroit for the 2013-2014
academic year, offering workshops
only to students who are selected
through an application process
that involves pitching startup
ideas.
This year, Startup High School
will enter its third cycle, seeking
innovative high school students
not only from Detroit and its sur-
rounding suburbs, but also from
Grand Rapids. The group's online
application closes Dec. 31.
Engineering junior Eric Yu, co-
director of Startup High School,
said in the program's first official
year, the organization received
more than 350 pitches from high
school students in Detroit. This
time, it's aiming to garner more
than 1000.
See STARTUP, Page 3
Re
d
a
re
ports show rape Sierra Leone, El Salvador and
East Timor. Cohen discussed
uring wartime her work, describing the occur-
rence of rape during civil wars
ssociated with and across different factions
tactc within the same wars since
cruitment tactlCS 1980. The event was hosted by
the International Policy Center.
By ANASTASSIOS "There is a huge amount of
ADAMOPOULOS political will to do something
Daily StaffReporter about the problem of rape and
other forms of sexual violence
ara Kay Cohen, assistant during war," Cohen said.
essor of public policy at She added that there is no
vard University, spoke at consensus on the causes and
1 Hall at the Ford School consequences of rape during
sday, sharing details from wartime and that most litera-
book examining rape in ture on civil war violence is
ern civil wars. focused on lethal violence.
he book, which is yet to be Unlike other studies that
ished, is based on statistics have examined this type of
a number of civil wars conflict, Cohen's focus is on
draws on her fieldwork in the perpetrators themselves
and what types of armed forc-
es are more likely to engage in
gang rape. She noted that tra-
ditional arguments explaining
sexual violence in civil wars
are opportunism, greed of per-
petrators, ethnic hatred and
gender inequality.
In her book, Cohen devel-
ops her own argument, which
she calls "combatant socializa-
tion." The method of recruit-
ment is an important factor in
this argument, suggesting that
groups with forced recruitment
have to build cohesion. The
level of cohesion within armed
groups is an important predic-
tor of whether and how fre-
quently costly group violence
occurs.
She noted that criminol-
See CIVIL WAR, Page 3
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