Opinion

JENNIFER CALFAS

EDITOR IN CHIEF

AARICA MARSH 

and DEREK WOLFE 

EDITORIAL PAGE EDITORS

LEV FACHER

MANAGING EDITOR

420 Maynard St. 

Ann Arbor, MI 48109

 tothedaily@michigandaily.com

Edited and managed by students at 

the University of Michigan since 1890.

Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily’s editorial board. 

All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors.

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
4 — Friday, October 30, 2015

Last Friday marked the beginning 

of the three-day Yalla Vote sum-
mit conference at the University of 
Michigan-Dearborn. Hosted by the 
Arab American Institute, a national 
nonprofit, the conference aimed to 
provide refugees from the Middle 
East the chance to engage with presi-
dential candidates ahead of the 2016 
election. One of the keynote speakers 
was Democratic presidential candi-
date Martin O’Malley.

Before O’Malley spoke, three pan-

elists — Radhia Fakhrildeen and Noor 
Al Dabbagh from Iraq and Moustafa 
Assad from Syria — discussed their 
experiences migrating to the Unit-
ed States with me and the rest of 
 

the auditorium.

After the panel, there was a break 

in the conference while O’Malley 
arrived. Minutes before O’Malley 
gave his speech, he met the pan-
elists personally in a small room 
next to the auditorium. He came 
into the center of a circle of chairs 
where the refugees were sitting. 
The press buzzed around the edges 
of the circle. While he placed his 
hand on his chest and nodded his 
head and listened to each of their 
names, I couldn’t help but feel that 
this breakout circle was more about 
the refugees meeting O’Malley 
than O’Malley really hearing and 
addressing the refugees’ concerns.

If O’Malley had been at the panel, 

he could have spent his time in the 
small room engaging in a real, pro-
ductive conversation with the refu-
gees about how to solve the asylum 
process — the means by which 
refugees seek protection granted 
by the United States. Instead, he 
spent the time hearing the refugees 
recap the stories they had just told. 
He stated that he wants the United 
States to accept more refugees, but 
he did not generate a dialogue about 
how the United States is going to 
accommodate them. After all, he 
was sitting among Fakhrildeen, Al 
Dabbagh and Assad, who all have 
valuable insights into how the pro-
cess works, or more accurately, 
 

didn’t work.

My feeling was reinforced once 

O’Malley exited the small breakout 
room and entered the auditorium to 
give his speech.

O’Malley called for the United 

States to admit 65,000 Syrian refu-
gees. As of September, the United 
States has accepted 1,500 refugees. 
Last month, the Obama administra-
tion announced it will increase that 
number to 10,000 in 2016.

Beyond these numbers, O’Malley 

noted how some leaders of the Unit-
ed States are shaping a problematic 
culture.

“Ben Carson flat 

out said he would 
not be comfortable 
with a president 
who 
happened 

to 
be 
Muslim,” 

O’Malley 
said. 

“One 
wonders, 

from a man who 
understands 
the 

value of education, 
what sort of mes-
sage that sends to 
Muslim American 
little boys and girls 
studying American history.”

O’Malley called for the need of 

a culture shift: away from Islamo-
phobia and xenophobia and toward 
an understanding of the pain 
and struggles refugees face and 
a reminder that all of us should 
know our country is made up 
 

of immigrants.

“The image of our nation is not a 

barbed wire fence, it is the Statue of 
Liberty,” he said.

Accepting more refugees is the 

moral thing to do (O’Malley asked 
the audience, “If they don’t come, 
how is it going to affect our soul?”) 
and it has garnered support from 
the International Rescue Commit-
tee, other presidential candidates 
like Hillary Clinton and more 
than 100,000 signatures through 
an online petition. Nonetheless, 
O’Malley’s call to action did not get 
at the root of the problem voiced by 
the refugees I heard that day.

During the panel, the refugees 

didn’t spend time telling us about 
their time in Iraq or Syria and didn’t 

spend time telling us about their cur-
rent life in the United States. What 
they did describe was the lengthy 
struggle they endured with the 
Department of Homeland Security 
once in the United States attempt-
ing to gain citizenship. This transi-
tional period is problematic — the 
time when the most intense suffer-
ing and pain of refugees occurs. This 
transitional period is what needs 
O’Malley’s and all leaders’ attention.

Noor Al Dabbagh arrived in the 

United States in January 2014 with 

her 
husband 

and son and 
couldn’t 
get 

a job because 
she and her 
husband’s 
work 
autho-

rizations 
wouldn’t pro-
cess. Addition-
ally, 
because 

they had yet 
to receive asy-
lum 
status, 

they did not 

qualify for government assistance or 
medical insurance.

Radhia Fakhrildeen’s husband’s 

asylum application was denied upon 
entry. This has separated him from 
his family for almost a year now.

O’Malley did briefly address the 

asylum system, saying it needs to be 
modernized so that problems like 
these don’t occur, but he did not 
specify how this would happen, what 
DHS’ role should play and any other 
measures for how to improve the 
process of being granted asylum. 

It is wonderful that O’Malley 

wants to inspire each American to 
welcome refugees with open arms. 
However, his call to action lacked 
concrete plans that left me feeling 
more overwhelmed by the problem 
than inspired by his solution.

If 65,000 refugees are coming, are 

we going to be hearing 65,000 stories 
just like the ones of Fakhrildeen, Al 
Dabbagh and Assad?

— Claire Bryan is a senior 

editorial page editor. 

O’Malley’s call to 
action did not get 
at the root of the 
problem voiced by 
the refugees I heard 

that day.

Claire Bryan, Regan Detwiler, Ben Keller, Payton 

Luokkala, Aarica Marsh, Victoria Noble, Anna Polumbo-

Levy, Melissa Scholke, Michael Schramm, 

Stephanie Trierweiler, Mary Kate Winn, Derek Wolfe

EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS

Asylum process needs attention

T

he student lifestyle requires 
a lot of time spent sitting 
down. We sit in lecture halls 

and 
libraries 

and on the bus 
to class. And if 
we’re not sitting, 
we’re 
walking 

(or the more cre-
ative and rushed 
among 
us 
are 

skateboarding, 
biking or maybe 
just 
running) 

across campus to 
get 
somewhere 

or other. Some-
times we go to the gym or sports 
practice, where we can move our 
bodies and get sweaty and gross, but 
often it’s not for the point of feeling 
joy in the action — it’s to lose weight 
or burn calories or change the way 
we look. It’s all too easy to tune out 
the way a movement or action makes 
us feel, especially in a stressful 
schedule packed with classes, work 
obligations and extracurriculars.

But that’s the whole point of Nia, 

a 
dance-fusion 
exercise 

form that’s been around 
since the early 1980s. Nia 
stands for both non-impact 
aerobics (that’s the boring 
one) 
and 
neuromuscular 

integrative action, and the 
word itself also means “pur-
pose” in Swahili. It’s some-
thing I never know how to 
describe to people when I try to tell 
them that I do it. It’s dance and yoga, 
martial arts and a great workout. 
It’s challenging and so, so reward-
ing. It draws on elements of jazz 
and Feldenkrais and more, while 
still taking into consideration the 
way the body is put together, the 
way joints work and the way mus-
cles move. Nia is the original fusion 
exercise that combines three mar-
tial arts, three dance arts and three 
healing arts.

“It doesn’t just borrow move-

ments from those, it borrows the 
principles,” said Megan Sims, a Nia 
instructor at the Ann Arbor YMCA, 
A2 Yoga and several other venues 
around town.

Sims is also the owner of Me-

Again Dance Healing & Fitness, a 
counseling business based in the 
greater Ann Arbor area that pro-
vides therapy through methods such 
as interpretive dance and is geared 
toward helping each individual grow 
and find themselves.

“It’s very structured,” she added. 

“There’s just freedom within the 
structure to move at your own level 
or your own way.”

Nia does this by drawing on 52 

unique movements and 13 principles, 
connecting mind and body in a way 
that doesn’t happen in most people’s 
day-to-day walks across the Diag or 
time spent on a treadmill.

Of her own practice, Sims said, 

“Nia is my therapist, Nia is my gym 
… As a Nia teacher, I get to really 
express my authentic self on a daily 
basis, and I think that’s a really 
great opportunity.”

Sims teaches Nia to people in 

wheelchairs, people with Parkin-
son’s disease and people who have 
difficulty moving, as well as to 
people who are more physically 
able. She firmly believes that it can 
be valuable for everyone. No matter 
who you are or where you’re coming 
from, Nia can be something that’s 
meaningful, and it can help each 
dancer to feel whole.

“The research is finally catch-

ing up to what dancers have always 

known: that you have to move 
your body every day to feel good,” 
 

Sims said.

I find that to be true when I take 

daily walks around my neighborhood 
but more so in gym dates and partic-
ularly during my weekly hour of Nia, 
where I’m encouraged to go barefoot, 
where I can express pent-up stress 
with sharp punches or let emotions 
drip out through languid spinal rolls. 
While doing Nia, I allow myself to 
forget whatever’s on my mind, what-
ever’s weighing me down. Instead, I 
pour myself wholly into the motions, 
the sensation of that movement, and 
that’s what I’m focusing on — the act 
of dancing, not what it looks like so 
much as how it feels and whether or 
not it feels good. The whole point of 
Nia is to find joy in the movement, 
and honestly, that’s never hard to do.

Yes, dancing can be intimidating. 

At my first Nia class, I had absolutely 
no idea what was going on. There 
were mirrors plastering the class-
room walls, and I didn’t know where 

to put my feet or how to move my 
arms. But the thing about Nia is that 
it stays with you.

“Most people who take it take it 

more than once a week,” Sims said. 
“Many people take it two to three 
times a week, if they can.”

Once it gets into your routine, it’s 

hard to go without it (after all, why 
bother?). My Nia class is that one 
hour a week when I allow myself to 
forget about everything except the 
present moment. The clarity I get 
from this weekly routine is invalu-
able and infinitely more rewarding 
than a straight-backed walk across 
the Diag with a backpack in tow.

“You know you got a great work-

out,” Sims said. “You feel happier 
than when you walked in, and you 
feel like your mind has gotten a 
workout as well in some way.”

But there’s also so much more 

built into the form itself, and one of 
these principles is called Awareness 
of Dancing Through Life.

“Even as you’re driving, you’re 

putting away dishes, you’re walking 
to work, you’re shaking hands with 

someone — all of those move-
ments can be part of your life 
dance,” Sims continued. “And 
if you feel awareness in your 
movement, then you’re con-
nected to yourself, you’re 
connected 
to 
your 
body, 

you’re connected to people 
— you’re connected to the 
moment. That’s a pretty good 

way to live.”

If the life-dance of a college stu-

dent consists of sitting in class or sit-
ting down to study (with some gym 
time or sports practice thrown into 
the mix), how much joy can come 
from those sorts of motions? I’ve 
dedicated this entire article to Nia, 
and maybe I don’t have you con-
vinced, but it’s almost impossible 
to pin down what exactly it is if you 
aren’t already familiar with it for 
yourself. Like Sims said, “Nia is like 
chocolate — you have to try it.”

So go ahead — start dancing 

through life. Start being aware. Put 
on some fun tunes and walk to your 
next class with a bit of a spring in 
your step. And if you’re feeling too 
self-conscious to skip through Cen-
tral Campus on your way to class, try 
dropping in for a free hour of Nia at 
A2 Yoga. At least there, you know no 
one will be watching. 

— Susan LaMoreaux can be 

reached at susanpl@umich.edu.

SUSAN 

LAMOREAUX

Freedom to move

 

—Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R–Wis.) in his address to the 

House of Representatives.
“

NOTABLE QUOTABLE

We have nothing to fear from 

honest differences honestly stated. If 

you have ideas, let’s hear them.”

FROM THE DAILY

G

ov. Rick Snyder (R) recently signed into law an eight-bill 
package that aims to reform Michigan’s civil asset forfeiture 
laws. These laws allow the police to take citizens’ property, 

including televisions, cars, cash and houses, if it is believed to have been 
used in or acquired by way of criminal activity. The police department 
is then free to use those assets as it sees fit. Even if a person is not 
charged or convicted of a crime, he or she is assumed guilty and must 
go to court to get their property back.

Cease the seizures

Civil asset forfeiture laws need further reform

The reform legislation raises the standard 

for civil asset forfeiture from a preponderance 
of evidence to clear and convincing evidence. 
It has also increased the reporting and 
transparency of civil asset forfeiture. These 
changes are necessary and long overdue, but 
they are also not nearly enough. It is imperative 
that the standard of civil asset forfeiture is 
raised to “beyond a reasonable doubt” — the 
highest level of proof in the legal system. 
Further, the citizen must be presumed innocent 
and the funds raised by civil asset forfeiture 
must be used for the state’s general fund, not 
primarily for police departments. Only then 
could this matter of civil asset forfeiture be 
considered resolved.

Civil asset forfeiture laws became widely 

used throughout the United States as part 
of the War on Drugs in the early 1980s. The 
rationale behind these laws, generally, is that 
they deter criminal activity, punish criminals, 
prevent further criminal activity and raise 
funds for more crime-fighting. When used 
correctly, these laws make sense. Few 
would argue against the police confiscating 
contraband or using a drug lord’s profits 
from drug sales to help catch more criminals. 
However, it isn’t clear that this is how these 
laws actually play out. In fact, these laws 
have recently come under scrutiny because 
of many abuses that have been highlighted in 
the media, both in Michigan and nationwide.

An example of this abuse was reported 

by the Detroit Free Press, which details 
how a 72-year-old disabled cancer patient 
with a medical marijuana card was accused 
by the police of selling marijuana, then was 
handcuffed and had his house searched. The 
police found that he had extra marijuana 
seedlings, but never charged him with a 
crime. His personal property, including 
$11,000 in cash and his Dodge Journey, 
was still taken by the police. Many similar 
stories 
have 
surfaced, 
suggesting 
that 

this shakedown of a medical marijuana 
card-holder for money was not an isolated 

incident. Since there are legal and financial 
barriers to regaining property taken under 
civil asset forfeiture, many of these wrongs 
go uncorrected. According to the Michigan 
State Police, more than $24.3 million in cash 
and assets in 2013 were seized from Michigan 
citizens. The majority of these seizure cases 
went uncontested in court, despite the fact 
that many were not charged with a crime.

It has become increasingly apparent that 

civil asset forfeiture laws are designed in a way 
that at best does little to limit abuses and at 
worst encourages them. When police can profit 
from targeting individuals and squeezing them 
for their assets, it is hardly surprising that they 
do so.

The reforms signed into law by Snyder will 

make it slightly more difficult for police to 
abuse civil asset forfeiture. The government 
will be held to a higher standard to keep the 
seized property, but the burden will still be on 
the citizen to cough up legal fees and prove his 
or her innocence. The police still have incentive 
to abuse the laws, but their use of these laws will 
be documented more thoroughly and examined 
more carefully. Undoubtedly, abuses will 
decrease as a result of these reforms, but there 
is not enough protection for Michiganders.

Reform of civil forfeiture laws should 

not stop until the proceeds from civil asset 
forfeiture are used for Michigan’s general fund 
and the standards for seizing property are 
raised. The Institute for Justice recommends 
raising these standards by requiring a 
conviction before taking someone’s property. 
Michigan should follow this advice to make 
sure that the abuses stop and, considering the 
prevalence of this problem across the nation, 
other states should listen, too.

The abuses in the criminal justice system are 

simply too rampant, with the nation learning of 
something new nearly every day. While there 
is significant room for improvement in many 
aspects, at the very least, the police should be 
stopped from taking people’s possessions prior 
to a conviction.

CLAIRE BRYAN | VIEWPOINT

Cleaner air equals better 

health

 TO THE DAILY:

As a nursing student working in Univer-

sity of Michigan Health System hospitals, I 
have witnessed firsthand how the health of 
Michigan residents is negatively impacted 
by air pollution. Michigan relies heavily on 
coal-fired power plants for energy, yet the 
toxic chemicals released from burning coal 
are known to cause or exacerbate a variety 
of health conditions. These adverse health 
outcomes include asthma, cardiovascular 
disease and cancer. To put all of this into per-
spective, Michigan’s asthma rate is 25 per-

cent higher than the national average, and 
residents suffer the 10th-highest death rate 
from cardiovascular disease in the nation.

It is evident that air pollution continues to 

threaten our health every day. This is why it 
is so important for the state government to 
support Michigan’s transition to clean energy 
sources through strong renewable energy and 
energy optimization standards.

As a future nurse, I am passionate about 

preventative health care and promoting the 
well-being of the populations I will care for. 
By improving Michigan’s air quality, resi-
dents will experience a healthier future and 
increased quality of life. 

Anna Koenigsdorf
Nursing junior

