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Thursday, May 7, 2015

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com NEWS

Ben Carson to run in 2016 presidential race

Former pediatric
director announces
candidacy from his

native Detroit

By ALYSSA BRANDON

Summer Managing News Editor

Ben Carson, a University alum

and
renowned
neurosurgeon,

announced his candidacy for the
2016 presidential race Monday
afternoon.

Carson, who will seek a nomi-

nation from the Republican Party,
said he is not focused on votes, but
rather is asking the voting public

to consider his ideas and views.

“I’m not even asking people to

vote for me. I’m just asking people
to listen,” he said. “The real pedi-
gree we need to heal this country
is someone who believes in our
constitution.”

The 63-year-old is anticipated

to be the only African American
entering the pool of candidates
vying for the Republican nomi-
nation. Senators Marco Rubio of
Florida, Ted Cruz of Texas and
Rand Paul of Kentucky are also
seeking Republican nominations.

Several unannounced candi-

dates for the Republican nomina-
tion remain, including Michigan
Gov. Rick Snyder. Last week, Sny-

der released a statement saying he
was considering running, and he
will make a formal decision within
the “next couple of months or so.”

A Detroit native, Carson has

never run for public office, but
earned national recognition dur-
ing his leadership in the pediatric
unit of Johns Hopkins Children’s
Center in Baltimore.

“I’m not politically correct, and

I will probably never be politi-
cally correct,” Carson said. “I’m
not a politician, I don’t want to be
a politician. Politicians do what’s
politically expedient. I want to do
what’s right.”

At 33, Carson was the youngest

director of the center’s pediatric

unit. In 1987, Carson performed
the world’s first operation to sepa-
rate twins who were conjoined at
the head. The success of the oper-
ation was the subject of the auto-
biographical film “Gifted Hands,”
in which Carson was portrayed by
actor Cuba Gooding Jr.

Carson
holds
conservative

political views, which he attri-
butes to his Christian faith and
upbringing. Opposing both abor-
tion and same-sex marriage, he
has made many notable appear-
ances before the Christian com-
munity, including at the 2013
National Prayer Breakfast.

Carson’s speech at the break-

fast, of which Obama was in atten-

dance, was considered critical of
the Obama administration’s health
care policy. The speech earned
him support from the conservative
community. Carson encouraged a
program in which newborn babies
are given health savings accounts
as an alternative to Obamacare.

“When a person is born, give

him a birth certificate, an elec-
tronic medical record and a health
savings account to which money
can be contributed — pretax —
from the time you’re born ‘til the
time you die,” Carson said. “When
you die, you can pass it on to your
family members, so that when
you’re 85 years old and you got



ALLISON FARRAND/Daily

Members of the Class of 2015 celebrate their graduation at Spring Com-
mencement at Michigan Stadium on Saturday

CE LE BR ATE GOOD TIMES

“I think today has larger mean-

ing because of what’s going on in
Baltimore, Terrance Kellom shoot-
ing in Detroit on Tuesday as well,”
McCoy said. “So this is for Aura
Rosser, but it’s also about all the
Black folks who’ve been shot.”

The protests began in Liberty

Square and moved to State Street
and Main Street before reaching
the Ann Arbor City Council office.
Traffic stalled in all streets where
the protest took place, and many
protesters shouted, “no justice, no
driving,” at cars. Two police cars
trailed behind the rally.

Protesters held signs saying

“Black Lives Matter,” “We Will
Never Let You Forget Aura Ross-
er,” “Justice for Aura Rosser” and
“Strong Communities Make Police
Obsolete.”

Jeffrey Sorensen, a University

alum and co-founder of the startup
optiMize, participated in the pro-

test. He said he attended the protest
because of his continued frustra-
tion over police brutality.

“It’s just this story that keeps

coming up again and again and
again, and yet a huge, huge per-
centage of people just don’t pay
attention at all, or are totally mis-
informed, or stop paying attention
after an hour and just go about their
lives,” he said. “Just the response
is really sad to me. A lot of people I
grew up around, a lot of white peo-
ple, just don’t give a shit at all.”

Ypsilanti resident Anthony Mor-

gan also participated in the protest,
and brought along his two young
daughters. He said he has been fol-
lowing Ann Arbor to Ferguson’s
movement since its beginning, and
finds it important to teach younger
generations about social justice and
community activism.

“It’s a necessity, I’m at an age

where we’re transferring the wis-
dom of the elders to the energy of
the youth, kind of like Common
said in ‘Glory.’ It’s a way to use new
school understanding with old

school experience and still fight
some of the same shit, though. It’s
constant, the fight never ends.”

Many pedestrians on the streets

looked on and recorded the march
on their cell phones. Some onlook-
ers yelled back at the protesters in
frustration, while others showed
solidarity by honking their horns or
raising their hands in reference to
the “hands up, don’t shoot” phrase
and gesture that originated in the
shooting of Michael Brown in Fer-
guson, Mo.

Engineering junior Josh John-

son saw the protest while he was on
Main Street, and said even though
it caused traffic standstill, because
there was no property damage, he
appreciated the demonstration.

“If they’re not hurting anyone,

if they’re not causing damage, I
appreciate their opinion, but if they
are destroying peoples’ property,
then I think that’s wrong,” Johnson
said. “If they are peacefully protest-
ing, then I appreciate their opin-
ions, no matter what side it’s on.”

PROTEST
From Page 1

funding, the University has relied
more heavily on the General Fund.

In an interview with The Michi-

gan Daily before elections ended,
representative Jeff Irwin (D–Ann
Arbor) said he supported the pro-
posal, but he anticipated voters
would not pass the resolution.

“I think its going to fail today

because citizens are very frustrated
that the Republicans are continu-
ing to lower taxes on the wealthy
and increase taxes on the lower and

middle class,” Irwin said.

In an interview with the Daily

following the election, Rep. Adam
Zemke (D–Ann Arbor) said he was
disappointed in the results of the
proposal, but he believes voters sent
a clear message.

“I think that the message is that

they want the roads fixed, but they
do not trust the Legislature to do it
in the manner that was proposed
by Proposal 1,” he said. “I think
that the leadership that has been
in place for the last four years has
given them plenty of reason not to
trust the current Legislature.”

Economics Prof. Donald Grimes

said effects of Proposal 1’s fail-
ure may be felt in five to 10 years,
by which point costs to repair the
roads will drastically increase.

“Five or ten years from now this

is going to be a severe blow to the
Michigan economy and the quality
of life of residents,” Grimes said.

The state Legislature is consider-

ing alternative plans for road repair,
including one proposed by House
Speaker Jase Bolger, which passed
in the state House, but not the state
Senate, last term. If passed, the ini-

PROPOSAL
From Page 1

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

See CANDIDACY, Page 8