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Ann Arbor, Michigan
Friday, February 6, 2015
CELEBRATING OUR ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIFTH YEAR OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
New state policy
requires parents to
receive education
before opting out
By IRENE PARK
Daily Staff Reporter
Health officials declared mea-
sles eliminated from the United
States in 2000, but the recent
outbreak in December, originat-
ing in Disneyland, has resulted in
102 measles cases during January
alone, according to the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention.
Common
vaccines
protect
against serious diseases including
measles, mumps, rubella, hepatitis
B, polio, diphtheria, pertussis, tet-
anus and chickenpox. In an inter-
view with CBS on Sunday, CDC
Director Thomas Frieden said the
CDC has seen a growing number
of people who are not vaccinated
in recent years, which makes com-
munities more vulnerable to such
outbreaks.
“That number is building up
among young adults and adults in
society,” Frieden said. “And that
makes us vulnerable. We have to
make sure that measles doesn’t get
a foothold in the U.S.”
Richard Besser, ABC News’
chief health and medical editor,
said on ABC News last month that
unvaccinated children are at risk
of falling sick with various diseas-
es, and also put vaccinated people
around them at risk because vac-
cines are not 100-percent protec-
tive.
In an e-mail interview, Mary
Tocco, director of vaccine research
at Michigan Opposing Manda-
tory Vaccines, said unvaccinated
children are not the problem. She
said measles vaccines are ineffec-
tive and unvaccinated children are
blamed to hide this reality. Tocco
added that the media is overhyp-
ing how dangerous the outbreak
really is.
“This witch-hunt for unvacci-
nated children is a smokescreen
for vaccine failure!” Tocco wrote.
“(Measles) is not an epidemic! As
of Jan. 23, 2015, there are only 101
people in 11 states that have mea-
sles!”
Suzanne Waltman, president
of Michigan Opposing Manda-
tory Vaccines, said the risks of
vaccination outweigh the benefits,
mentioning severe side effects, the
City’s unique
makeup prompted
tension, clashes
between residents
By WILL GREENBERG
and ALLANA AKHTAR
Daily News Editor and
Daily Staff Reporter
Even in a country shaped by
race relations, Detroit stands out.
The story of race in the city has
its own complexity beyond that of
many others.
However, so often the story gets
reduced down to one topic: the
racial clashes in 1943 and 1967.
Those
events
are
notable
moments in Detroit history, but
the long-term circumstances and
story surrounding them are often
lost to oversimplification.
Melba Joyce Boyd is a distin-
guished professor and chair of the
Wayne State University Africana
Studies Department, with a long
list of literary accolades. Boyd
grew up in Detroit. Her family
started out in the southwest side
of the city but eventually moved
to Conant Gardens, where Boyd’s
mother still lives.
While discussing the racial
history of Detroit overall, Boyd is
quick to point out that the topic is
nuanced.
“It’s more complicated than
outsiders understand,” she said.
“Race relations in Detroit have
sort of been dynamic depending
what period of history you’re look-
ing at.”
From the outset of Detroit’s
founding, race helped develop of
the city, starting with the indig-
enous population who had already
formed a society before the French
arrived and created what is known
as Detroit today.
Boyd noted the unique racial
dynamic of Detroit’s early years,
pointing to both the role of free
Black explorers accompanying
the French in founding the city,
as well as the fact that a large por-
tion of the slaves held were Native
Americans.
Moving forward in the city’s
history, Detroit played a signifi-
cant role for Blacks during the
Civil War because of its proxim-
ity to Canada. The city’s Under-
ground Railroad network out of
the country offered freedom from
both slavery and oppression for
free Blacks.
Boyd said at the outset of the
Industrial Revolution, the begin-
nings of the auto industry in the
city and the subsequent appeal
of plentiful work attracted both
southern Blacks and whites to
Detroit. That demographic trend
meant that at the same time the
city was seen as a source of pros-
perity for many Black families, a
public sympathizer with the Ku
Klux Klan was also elected mayor
briefly in 1930.
Professors explore
implications of
‘The Interview,’
rights restrictions
By TANYA MADHANI
Daily Staff Reporter
While
buzz
surrounding
the release of “The Interview”
may not have resulted from the
movie’s merit, the cyber hack
in response to its approaching
release sparked a national con-
versation on freedom of speech
in the face of a possible terrorist
threat.
Recent international chal-
lenges to free speech in pop cul-
ture and in print were the topic
of the International Institute’s
Round Table on Thursday eve-
ning at the Michigan League.
The round table included
Prof. Juan Cole, director for the
Center for Middle Eastern and
North African Studies; Daniel
Herbert,
associate
professor
of screen arts and culture; and
Law Profs. Herzog and Steven
Ratner.
Prof. Karla Mallette, direc-
tor of the Center for European
Studies and Islamic Studies
Program, served as the modera-
tor for the discussion and said
the panel was held to consider
recent challenges to freedom of
speech, which she character-
ized as the “conceptual corner-
stone of liberal society.”
To open, Mallette cited the
recent controversy over “The
Interview” and how its plot,
which revolved around the
assassination of North Korean
dictator Kim Jong-un, resulted
in a cyber attack on Sony Pic-
tures.
“The movie essentially blew
up in Sony’s hands, making Sony
Pictures a target in one of the
most successful cyber-terrorism
City Council to
partner with DTE
to increase city
sustainability
By GENEVIEVE HUMMER
Daily Staff Reporter
Here comes the sun.
At the Ann Arbor City Coun-
cil meeting Monday night, coun-
cilmembers approved a contract
between the city of Ann Arbor and
DTE Energy to build a solar panel
farm at the Ann Arbor Municipal
Airport.
Nearly 14 acres of city-owned
land, located just south of Ann
Arbor, will be used to create the
solar farm. Councilmember Sabra
Briere (D–Ward 1), Ann Arbor
Mayor Christopher Taylor (D)
and Councilmember Mike Anglin
(D–Ward 5) co-sponsored the ini-
tiative.
Briere wrote in an e-mail inter-
view that the 20-year contract is
renewable and all revenue pro-
duced will go directly toward
funding
airport
improvement
projects like replacing aging han-
gars.
According to the contract,
DTE Energy will be responsible
for building and maintaining the
project.
“DTE will build the array, and
will pay the City based on solar
energy produced — between $41K
Appropriations
subcommittee
considers funding
history, financial aid
By EMMA KINERY
Daily Staff Reporter
LANSING — The Appropria-
tions subcommittee on Higher
Education met Thursday to dis-
cuss how the higher education
budget will be laid out for the
upcoming year.
Higher education advocates
have expressed several areas of
concern over the potential for a
cut in funding in the upcoming
budget, following both a project-
ed deficit and a proposed change
in where the University’s state
funding comes from. Republican
Gov. Rick Snyder is expected to
announce his budget Wednesday.
The deficit stems from an
unexpectedly high number of
businesses cashing in on previ-
ously allocated tax credits in the
state’s general budget. Initial
estimates from the House Fiscal
Agency put the deficit at $454.4
million, but more recent reports
from Michigan Budget Director
John Robert estimate about $325
million.
Rep.
Jeff
Irwin
(D–Ann
Arbor), a member of the com-
mittee, said in an interview after
the meeting that the deficit could
have a significant impact on high-
er education institutions in the
state.
“The budget deficit certainly
puts pressure on higher education
funding, and that’s going to make
it more difficult for us to continue
to make progress on funding our
institutions of higher learning in
a way that makes sense,” he said.
In May, the state’s electorate
will vote on a series of proposed
bills that are intended to provide
funding to fix Michigan’s roads.
As part of the plan, the School Aid
Fund will only be eligible for use
by community colleges and K-12
programs.
Public universities in the state
currently receive close to 13 per-
cent of their state funding from
HEALTH
GOVERNMENT
HISTORY
ZACH MOORE/Daily
Trumpet player Tomasz Stanko performs with the New Balladyna Quartet at the Michigan League on Thursday.
LET’S GET JA ZZ Y
ZACH MOORE/Daily
History Prof. Juan Cole speaks at the International Institute Round Table on Free Speech on the Front Lines at the
Michigan League on Thursday.
ANN ARBOR
See VACCINES, Page 3
See BUDGET, Page 3
See SOLAR, Page 2
See ROUND TABLE, Page 3
See DETROIT, Page 3
Outbreak
energizes
discussion
on vaccines
Before budget presentation,
lawmakers talk higher ed.
Race relations
shape Detroit’s
narrative
‘U’ round table examines
challenges to free speech
Proposal
to approve
solar panel
farm passes
INDEX
Vol. CXXIV, No. 61
©2015 The Michigan Daily
michigandaily.com
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OPINION.......................4
ARTS............................. 5
SPORTS.........................7
SUDOKU........................2
CL ASSIFIEDS.................6
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