of ShabUM was to foster a 
comfortable space for those who 
may not feel comfortable going 
to a Hillel dinner.

“We know that’s not for 

everybody and not everybody 
wants 
to 
come 
to 
Hillel,” 

she said. “This event is an 
opportunity, as the slogan says, 
to ‘bring Shabbat home,’ which 
means that different people 
with particular interests are 
able to have their own personal 
Shabbat dinners.”

The 
ShabUM 
committee 

supplied each Shabbat host with 
a goodie bag that included the 
weekly Torah portion, matches 
with “Michigan” written in 
Hebrew on the box and a cloth 
cover for challah, a type of 
Jewish egg bread, also inscribed 
with 
Michigan 
in 
Hebrew. 

Hosts were welcome to use any 

or all of the items, which are 
included in traditional Shabbat 
dinners.

Meisel said the event meant 

a lot to her because of the 
significance Shabbat has for her 
personally.

“Judaism is a really big part 

of my identity and I’ve always 
loved Shabbat dinners,” she 
said. “Even though the general, 
basic 
aspects 
of 
Shabbat 

dinners can be the same, if that 
means eating challah, one of the 
ritual breads, or if it’s lighting 
candles, 
the 
experience 
is 

different no matter where you 
are. I’m really excited that I 
get to facilitate other people 
having their unique individual 
Shabbat experiences, especially 
for people who don’t usually 
celebrate it at all.”

LSA senior Gabi Kirsch, 

co-president 
of 
Ahava, 
an 

LGBTQ student organization 
that is part of Hillel, hosted a 
Shabbat dinner that aimed to be 
inclusive of queer individuals.

“The actual name of the 

event, actually, is One Fish, 
Two Fish, Queer Fish, Jew 
Fish,” she said.

Kirsch said she thought it 

was important to give Jews a 
queer space on campus that 
isn’t necessarily in a straight or 
heteronormative 
perspective, 

such as for traditional events 
like Shabbat.

“It’s important to have a 

queer space in general, just 
because I think a lot time queer 
Jews have to sort of self-censor,” 
she said. “Either they’re in a 
queer space and they have to 
censor being Jewish, because 
it’s not so typical, or they’re in 
a Jewish space and they have 
to censor being queer. It gets 
really tiring and exhausting 
having to censor like that and 
always being aware of how 
you’re coming off.”

Noting 
the 
integral 
role 

Shabbat plays for many Jews 
growing up, Kirsch said she 
felt that significance made it 

especially important to host a 
specifically LGBTQ dinner.

“It’s not that everyone is 

having a conversation about 
being queer out there,” she 
said. “The goal is that they can 
have it and not feel like they’re 
the only one in the room who’s 
feeling that way or have had 
those experiences.”

LSA 
sophomore 
Sara 

Bender-Bier spent the most of 
her Friday cooking to get ready 
for her dinner, which mostly 
included freshmen. People in 
her apartment, she said, had 
always been eager to host Hillel 
events, which is why they 
decided to host Shabbat dinner.

“We like cooking and we 

really like the idea of having 
a bunch of people over for 
Shabbat and making it more of a 
homey feel,” she said. “At Hillel, 
you have so many people there, 
sometimes it can be really 
overwhelming even though it’s 
a really great community, but 
when you’re here in a home, it 

feels more comfortable.”

Bender-Bier said her dinner 

didn’t include any religious 
services 
before 
it 
started 

because she wanted to make 
her guests feel as comfortable 
as possible.

“There are some people that 

don’t feel comfortable going to 
Hillel because they don’t feel 
that observant, that religious,” 
she said. “We didn’t have any 
rituals beforehand, we just 
have the prayers and if you want 
to go to the services at Hillel 
before you can, but there’s no 
pressure to do anything super 
religious.”

Overall, she said she hoped 

that by coming to ShabUM, 
her guests could form new 
friendships 
and 
explore 

Judaism more.

“There are so many ways to 

be Jewish and not a lot of people 
realize that there’s more than 
one way,” she said. “Hopefully 
this makes them feel more 
comfortable.”

Paul is the founder and 

administrator of the Southeast 
Michigan Returned Peace Corps 
Volunteer Applicant-Mentoring 
Program, 
a 
program 
which 

matches 
former 
volunteers 

with students and community 
members 
interested 
in 

applying. The program works 
in conjunction with the School 
of Information and the Peace 
Corps.

Rackham student Benjamin 

Morse, a former Peace Corps 
volunteer and strategic campus 
recruiter for the corps, served in 
Hawzen, Ethiopia from 2011 to 
2013.

In addition to being able to 

apply to specific regions, Morse 
said 
the 
online 
application 

process 
has 
also 
allowed 

volunteers 
to 
gain 
more 

information about where they’re 
going before they leave. When he 
was deployed, prior to the online 
application, he said he had no 
information until right before he 
departed.

“It was this elusive process 

where you never really knew 
where you were going until right 
at the end,” Morse said.

Because he could not, at that 

time, apply to any particular 
region, after being admitted, 
Morse was nominated by the 
corps for a specific region. 
Morse was asked to serve in 
sub-Saharan Africa, and told 
he would depart that October. 
Morse said he was not permitted 
to know what country he was 
going to until 10 days after he 
was told his region.

Technology 
access 
during 

service

University 
alum 
Rachel 

Bielajew 
currently 
serves 

as a math education Peace 
Corps 
volunteer 
in 
Malawi 

and will complete her service 
in September 2017. Rackham 
student Megan Barnes served 
as a Peace Corps volunteer in 
Guatemala.

Though 
technological 

advancement is seen as vital 
in the Western world, both 
Barnes and Bielajew said they 
found little use for advanced 
technology in the field.

Bielajew 
said 
her 
work 

teaching math largely lacks 
technological tools.

“In my work as a teacher I 

use very little (technology),” 
Bielajew said. “Day to day, it’s 
just a chalkboard, chalk and 
me.”

Bielajew said her school is 

currently 
trying 
to 
acquire 

a computer, despite limited 
funds. She brought her laptop 
to Malawi and is using it to 
teach her fellow teachers and 
community members how to 
use a computer, or to show films 
to her students to help them 
practice English.

In contrast, Barnes said she 

remembered visiting a remote 
community with no electricity 
that had been gifted a complete 
solar-powered computer lab. 
She said the gift went largely 
unused.

“It was reputed that no 

one knew how to use or fix 
the computers so they went 
unused,” Barnes said. “I thought 
a thing like that would be nice 
for my community, but saw the 
sustainability challenges with 
installing a ‘gifted’ technology 
suite’that would then be left to 
gather dust.”

Charging a cell phone is 

quite a feat in the Peace Corps. 
Using car batteries to charge 
phones or traveling to a city to 
sit in a coffee shop are the norm 
for many volunteers who are 
seeking electricity. Paul said 
she’s had return volunteers tell 
her they have to walk to the 
highest elevation in the area to 
find cell phone reception, even if 
that spot is hours away. Even so, 
she said, every volunteer brings a 
cell phone.

Though technology is not 

largely 
used 
for 
teaching 

purposes, 
both 
Barnes 
and 

Bielajew brought cell phones to 
their countries of deployment, 
and 
used 
them 
regularly. 

Bielajew said she was one of few 
community members to have a 
smartphone. 

“I use my smartphone all the 

time for personal reasons, like 
talking with other volunteers 
and 
friends 
back 
at 
home 

through WhatsApp,” Bielajew 
said. “Many of the members 
of my community have a cell 
phone, but only a few of the 
more well-off people have a 
smartphone.”

Barnes said she was unsure 

of what to expect of the 
technology in Guatemala, and 
she heard mixed accounts of cell 
phone access and the presence 
of Internet cafes. She said as 
unpredictable as it was, media 
access provided her comfort 
during her service.

“I use Facebook occasionally 

to update friends and family 
back home and try to share 
with them some of what I’m 
learning about the culture of 
Malawi,” Bielajew said. “ I don’t 
remember the last time I read 
or watched the news because it 
just takes too long to load on my 
phone.”

Reintegration into society
It can be difficult for Peace 

Corps volunteers to reintegrate 
into society upon return.

Paul said a smooth integration 

to a new society is influenced 
by the volunteers’ expectations. 
Negative expectations can make 
reintegration difficult for those 
returning. She said volunteers 
return with one foot in the 
culture of the host community 
and another foot in their native 
culture, which can be difficult to 
reconcile.

“They expect culture shock 

when they go, they don’t expect 
culture shock when they come 
back and it’s very painful to 
discover most Americans are not 
interested in what they learned,” 
Paul said. “And when they come 
back 
they’re 
very 
different 

people.”

When Paul returned, the 

landscape of American culture 
had gone through an upheaval 
during her 27 months in Brazil.

“Women were ironing their 

hair on an ironing board, women 
were all wearing miniskirts, 
there was mass murder in this 
country for the first time and 
there was inflation — a term 
we’d never heard before,” Paul 
said.

For Barnes, the reintegration 

period was not as difficult, largely 
due to access to technology, 
which Paul did not have during 
his service. Due to access to 
communication mediums like 
e-mail and Facebook, Barnes 
said, it did not feel as though the 
world had moved on without her.

“I was a little behind the times 

as far as popular culture and 
music went,” Barnes said. “But 
I had at least heard of ‘Game of 
Thrones’ — even if I didn’t know 
what it was.”

contract with the University, 
Halloran, who is also a lecturer, 
said she was not a full-time 
employee 
and 
made 
only 

$19,700. After the contract, she 
said, she saw a 43-percent raise 
in pay.

“This is the kind of thing that 

galvanized people to form a 
union,” Halloran said. “The pay 
rates were so low that they were 
basically poverty wages.”

At 
the 
time 
when 

negotiations began, Halloran 
said, the University recognized 
the problem that existed in the 
community.

“The University was willing 

to work with the unions. They 
did not start from the point that 
unions are hostile,” she said. 
“They knew that what we were 
asking for was reasonable and a 
public embarrassment.”

Jeffery Frumkin, associate 

vice provost for academic and 
faculty affairs and director of 
academic 
human 
resources, 

expressed similar sentiments.

“There are other institutions 

who took a pretty hard stance 
when their lecturers organized, 
but for the leaders of this 
institution that was never really 
on the table,” Frumkin said. 
“My sense was there’s a reason 
that they wanted to unionize, 
and there were treatments 
of people that had go one for 
time and time without being 
reviewed.”

In terms of relations between 

the LEO and the University, 
Halloran said the negotiations 
have yielded positive results 
and 
that 
adjuncts 
at 
the 

University have one of the best 
contracts in the country.

However, she and other 

lecturers noted that despite the 
strides made in the last 10 years, 
issues still remain.

In particular, Halloran said, 

lecturers are still underpaid 
for the skills they bring to their 
jobs.

“These 
are 
people 
with 

advanced degrees and this is 
the type of pay they get,” she 

said. “We are teaching these 
really key classes that are all 
essential parts of the students’ 
education, and the people who 
are teaching them are well 
trained but poorly paid.”

Melinda Matice, a lecturer in 

the English Language Institute, 
echoed Halloran’s statement, 
pointing to the impacts of 
lecturers 
on 
defraying 
the 

University’s costs.

“As universities have become 

more expensive I think it is 
important to add that the 
amount 
of 
teaching 
that 

lecturers do really helps keep 
the costs down,” she said. “I 
think it would be fair to inquire 
why costs continue to rise when 
our pay isn’t rising accordingly, 
that rise is not reflected in 
the people who are doing the 
majority of the teaching.”

Frumkin said the University 

has done a lot to meet the needs 
of the union, but understands 
that there is more the union 
wants to address.

“I think the first contract 

went a long way to meeting 
the objectives of the union,” 
Frumkin said. “It’s still not 
everything they want, but that 
is OK because that is what 
unions do.”

Alexandra Matish, associate 

director of academic human 
resources at the University, 
said the University has a solid 
working 
relationship 
with 

the LEO, but they still have 
disagreements.

“We 
have 
a 
very 
good 

working 
relationship 
with 

them,” Matish said. “We don’t 
always agree but we have a very 
good working relationship. I 
would be surprised if they were 
pleased with it, but that is part 
of the job of a union to continue 
to advocate for their members.”

Speaking to wages, which 

is what both sides identified 
as 
the 
largest 
point 
of 

contention, Halloran said lack 
of prioritization is the reason 
lecturer pay isn’t higher.

“The University could set 

different kinds of priorities,” 
Halloran 
said. 
“They 

could put more money into 
undergraduate education and 

pay their lecturers a fair salary 
for what they are doing.”

Frumkin 
disagreed 
with 

Halloran’s 
assessment 
of 

the situation and cited the 
decentralized 
nature 
of 

budgets instead as the reason 
for variation in salaries across 
different disciplines.

“The 
dean 
has 
the 

responsibility 
for 
managing 

his or her resources,” Frumkin 
said. “We have a wide range of 
salaries on campus, but that is 
not unique to the lecturers. The 
salary ranges for tenure-track 
faculty vary all over the place.”

Overall, both sides said they 

agree that the University has 
done a lot to compromise with 
the unions, but disagreements 
on issues like wages still exist 
between the two groups.

Judy Dyer, lecturer in the 

English Language Institute, 
said while she still thinks 
pay is still too low, she is 
grateful for what the union has 
accomplished.

“Salaries are pitifully low,” 

she said. “However, I would 
hate to work in a university 
as a lecturer without a union 
because all of the things we got, 
we got together.”

Frumkin 
said 
he 
had 

heard 
about 
the 
types 
of 

poor relationships that many 
universities have with their 
non-tenure track faculty and 
feels the one at the University is 
above the standard.

“We are so far removed from 

that now, but that doesn’t mean 
everything is perfect,” he said. 
“From an overall standpoint, 
looking at what has been 
accomplished by LEO and the 
University in the three areas of 
salary, benefits, and job security, 
it’s a very different kind of 
supportive 
and 
protective 

relationship in comparison to 
other institutions.”

Halloran said she is proud 

to work for the University, but 
still hopes for improvement, 
especially in regard to wages.

“It’s a good place to work, but 

it doesn’t mean it’s perfect,” she 
said. “It’s not as embarrassing 
now as it used to be, but it is still 
really low pay.”

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Monday, November 23, 2015 — 3A

‘U’ takes American 
Campuses Act on 
Climate Pledge

The 
University, 
along 

with more than 200 other 
colleges, 
has 
signed 
the 

American Campuses Act on 
Climate pledge, according to a 
University press release. The 
pledge supports world leaders 
taking strong actions against 
climate change.

The 
list 
of 
supporters 

was released by the White 
House Office of Science and 
Technology last Thursday, and 
a group of 10 faculty members 
and students will be attending 
the United Nations Climate 
Change Conference in Paris 
beginning Nov. 30 as part of the 
pledge.

Participants 
in 
the 
U.N. 

conference will be from the 
School 
of 
Information, 
the 

School of Natural Resources 
and Environment, the College 
of Engineering and the Public 
Policy School. 
Ann Arbor receives 
record-hitting 10.7 
inches of snow 

Snowfall 
in 
Ann 
Arbor 

hit an all-time record for a 
24-hour period in the month 
of November, with almost a 
foot of snow accumulating 
across the city on Saturday.

The 
first 
records 
date 

back 
to 
1880. 
Saturday’s 

snow totaled 10.7 inches on 
the 
University’s 
campus, 

according 
to 
the 
National 

Weather Service.

Snowfall 
tallies 
varied 

across 
the 
county. 
Some 

parts of town received less, 
like 
southeast 
Ann 
Arbor, 

where 9.6 inches of snow was 
recorded. 
In 
Manchester, 

in the southwest corner of 
Washtenaw 
County, 
more 

than 14 inches of snow fell 
Saturday.

According 
to 
Dennis 

Kahlbaum, the University’s 
staff 
meteorologist, 
this 

variance was due to a dry 
pocket in the weather system 
that formed during the storm, 
causing the county’s northern 
and western parts experienced 
more snow than other areas.

Even though Ann Arbor saw 

a record for a 24-hour period, 
the overall snowfall was not 
the biggest in the state. Howell. 
recorded 16.5 inches of snow as 
of 8:45 a.m. Saturday. 

—TANYA MADHANI

NEWS BRIEFS

ADJUNCT
From Page 1A

PEACE CORPS
From Page 1A

SHABUM
From Page 1A

mattered now was Ohio State.

Michigan overcame a slew of 

untimely penalties, a poor run 
game and a hostile Penn State 
crowd to not only win, but also 
keep its Big Ten Championship 
hopes alive.

“It was a great win,” said 

Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh. 
“The amount of players that 
contributed to this win was 
very higher — probably our 
highest total of the season. … 
There was a lot of guys sucking 
it up and playing good, winning 
football.”

Much of that good, winning 

football came from fifth-year 
senior quarterback Jake Rudock. 
After compiling 777 yards and 
eight touchdowns in the last 
two weeks, Rudock was back at 
it against the Nittany Lions (4-3, 
7-4) on Saturday.

In a back-and-forth game, the 

reigning Big Ten Co-Offensive 
Player of the Week threw for 
256 yards and two touchdowns 
on 25-for-38 passing. Both of his 
touchdowns came immediately 
after the defense allowed a 
score.

After the Nittany Lions scored 

a field goal on the opening drive, 
Rudock found junior tight end 
Jake Butt for a touchdown on 
the ensuing possession. Later, 
when Penn State took a 10-7 
lead with a touchdown, Rudock 
connected with redshirt junior 
wide receiver Amara Darboh for 
an 11-yard score to close the first 
half.

“Just finding a way,” Rudock 

said. 
“Scratching, 
itching, 

clawing, whatever you have to 
do to get points on the board. It’s 
what we have to do.”

With 
the 
performance, 

Rudock 
became 
the 
first 

quarterback in Michigan history 
to throw for 250 yards or more 
in three consecutive weeks.

As in recent games, the run 

game continued to struggle 
for the Wolverines. Five backs 
combined for just 87 yards on 30 
carries, but senior fullback Sione 
Houma found the end zone after 
the Nittany Lions fumbled a 
punt, setting Michigan up for an 
easy score.

And 
with 
just 
over 
five 

minutes to go in the game and 
Penn State trailing just 21-16, 
junior running back De’Veon 
Smith scored from two yards out 
to provide the dagger Michigan 
needed.

Before that dagger came, the 

Wolverines’ defense continued 
to exhibit the big-play woes 
that have plagued it all month. 
Penn 
State 
running 
back 

Saquon Barkley broke loose for 
a 56-yard run on the game’s 
opening drive to set up a field 
goal, and quarterback Christian 
Hackenberg 
found 
receiver 

Saeed Blacknall for a 25-yard 
touchdown in the first half’s 
waning moments.

Michigan’s defense buckled 

down 
in 
the 
second 
half, 

however, ending the game with 
10 tackles for loss and just 207 
yards — including just 74 in the 
second half — allowed on 54 
plays. In four trips to the red 
zone, Penn State mustered just 
nine points.

“It’s been remarkable the 

way our defense is playing, 
and I can’t imagine anyone’s 
playing any better,” Harbaugh 
said. “The amount of guys that 
stepped up was really a lot. … 
I’m really trying to single one 
guy out, but I can’t.”

With each defensive stop and 

ensuing score, the Wolverines 
quieted the crowd of 107,418 in 
Beaver Stadium. As the players 
left the field, the hundreds 
of Michigan fans that made 
the trip remained and began 
chanting “Beat Ohio.”

Michigan had conquered its 

latest opponent, and was on to 
the next week.

“Whenever 
you 
win 
a 

road game, you’re not just 
overcoming the other team, 
you’re overcoming the other 
team’s fans,” Harbaugh said. 
“That really makes you feel like 
a man when you do that.”

Despite 
the 
win, 
the 

Wolverines’ hopes of winning 
the Big Ten East took a hit 
on Saturday when, later in 
the 
afternoon, 
Michigan 

State defeated Ohio State in 
Columbus. Michigan’s path to 
the Big Ten Championship Game 
now hinges on not only a win 
over Buckeyes, but also Penn 
State upsetting the Spartans in 
East Lansing.

However, after a long and 

hectic season, the Wolverines 
can tune out the noise and focus 
solely on Ohio State. With wide 
smiles and a sense of purpose, 
Michigan’s dreams are still 
alive.

“It’s 
fun 
to 
be 
in 
this 

environment and this position,” 
Harbaugh said. “It’s fun to be in 
the playoffs. In our minds, we’ve 
been in it for weeks.

“We’re right where we want 

to be, and we’re playing for the 
championship.”

PENN STATE
From Page 1A

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