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
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The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
4 — Friday, December 11, 2015
Campus united for divestment
DIVEST AND INVEST | VIEWPOINT
W
hether it’s the end of
the current semester or
the beginning of a new
one,
it
seems
there’s no end
to the list of
things we find to
stress ourselves
out about. From
underclassmen
who
are
still
learning
the
ropes to upper-
classmen
who
are eagerly try-
ing to get their
last
remaining
distribution requirements out of
the way, there’s a lot to get done and
seemingly never enough time to
squeeze it all in.
At the start of this semester,
when I found myself showered in
more syllabi and pending deadlines
than I knew what to do with, I just
told myself there would be enough
time over the next couple of months
to get everything done. Most of my
pending deadlines were still far
away, anywhere from weeks (for the
first essays I would need to write)
to months (for my midterm and
final exams). Some matters were a
little more pressing, needing to be
taken care of ASAP — namely, get-
ting my hands on the coursepacks
and textbooks that contained read-
ings for class sessions less than a
week away. With regard to the rest,
I took a deep breath, took another
look at the syllabi I’d been given and
decided, at least for the time being,
to let everything slide. I would let
things play out as they wanted and
see where that took me.
Now, with finals weeks almost
here, I find myself in this same
mentality,
and,
oddly
enough,
utterly lacking in stress. Perhaps
that will pick up over the next cou-
ple of days when I’m studying for
and taking my finals, but somehow
I don’t really think so. It has been
my experience that things balance
one another out. If I read a little
bit or hammer out an essay draft
on Saturday and save other assign-
ments for Sunday so I can shop for
groceries instead of studying, I’m
left at no disadvantage come Mon-
day morning. Similarly, leaving my
reading untouched at the end of a
long Friday has no lasting repercus-
sions.
That has been the case across
numerous semesters, not just this
one. Saturday is not for homework
— it’s for down time, though there
have been some exceptions. Again
and again, I keep coming back to
a memory from last fall, when the
due date for a draft of my next
paper for my First Year Writing
Requirement course was approach-
ing. That weekend, I spent almost
my entire Saturday in my room,
wearing a fleece blanket and stand-
ing at my dresser, the surface in my
house that’s closest in height to a
standing desk. There, I wrote my
way through page after page of raw
concepts and unrefined ideas. After
long hours, I’d drafted almost 1,000
more words than I needed, and over
the next couple of weeks, I sanded
that excess down bit by bit. In the
end, I arrived at an essay that I still
look back on as one of the strongest
samples of my academic writing.
For that long Saturday in October,
it didn’t matter that I had a collage
due for my art class or a case study
for my class on sustainable agricul-
ture. I did them the day after, and
came into the week in much the same
standing I would have been in had I
chosen to get those tasks out of the
way on Saturday morning instead of
Sunday afternoon.
In my handouts from a CAPS
workshop
on
managing
stress,
there’s a list of suggestions for activi-
ties that can help to balance out a
load of academic tasks. These other
options include tidying your room or
your corner of the apartment; tak-
ing the time to prepare a meal for
yourself; or generally cleaning your
house. I’ve found that it can also
be beneficial to take a little break
from your immediate environment
by going to do something fun with
friends. And here’s something else
that’s never a bad idea: reading for
fun. Or going for a walk, or, oh yeah,
getting to the gym.
For me, I still don’t always man-
age to practice these fun and very
necessary tasks with quite as
much regularity as I’d like, but I
keep them in the back of my head.
Throughout each day and over the
course of weeks and months, I work
to keep academic work in check by
balancing it with everything else.
By doing so, I think I also help
those around me to practice a
healthy balancing act of their own.
Whether it’s because I am able
to help cook dinner one night or
because I need quiet for my home-
work and we all work on academic
things at the same time, the way
I choose to best use my time can
have an impact on others. By keep-
ing track of when my school work
is due, I’m able to communicate
clearly about it, and talking about
assignments can help to reduce
my own stress around them. Yes, I
have reading, but also, yes, I’ll help
with dishes and come with you to the
farmers market this morning. No, I
can’t come over today, but how about
tomorrow? Sorry, I can’t walk the
dog now — I’m working on a paper
— but don’t worry, I took her half an
hour ago and we had a great time.
More and more, I’m coming to
believe in the idea of making time for
the things I need in my life, not tak-
ing time. Time for necessary chores,
but also for family and friends, for
gym dates, for video games, for scrib-
bling one quick page of the novel I’m
writing. And while there may be a
piece of reading or an essay draft or
a final somewhere in my future, I can
be confident I’ll make the time for
studying tomorrow.
Sometimes, other things are just
a little more important.
— Susan LaMoreaux can be
reached at susanpl@umich.edu.
Last Friday, University President
Mark Schlissel wrote a letter from
the Office of the President titled
“Addressing Climate Change as a
Powerful Community.” We thank
Schlissel for taking an important
step to open a public dialogue
around divestment. This is the first
public response during our four-
year campaign explaining why our
university is not joining the nearly
500 other institutions worldwide
that have committed to divesting
from fossil fuel industries.
Schlissel’s
arguments
are
unsound. Regarding the two pre-
vious instances of divestment in
University history — the tobacco
industry and apartheid — he stat-
ed, “In the previous two instances
where we eventually divested, the
investments … were inextricably
linked to immoral and unethical
actions and ideologies” and that
fossil fuels are different because
they “...enable us to operate the
university, to conduct research and
to provide patient care.” He is cor-
rect regarding our reliance on fossil
fuels, but he fails to address the issue
of whether the fossil fuel industry is
morally suspect. Fossil fuel combus-
tion is causing climate change that
will have adverse, disproportionate
and irreversible effects on billions of
people — mostly on women, people
of color and others who have con-
tributed little to the problem.
Despite having known about
these threats for decades, fossil fuel
companies have contributed to cli-
mate denialism by funding lobby-
ing groups that, for instance, spread
disinformation about climate sci-
ence. Disinformation campaigns are
antithetical to the values of institu-
tions like the University, and these
companies must be held account-
able for their unethical and immoral
practices (see the New York attorney
general’s recent investigation into
Exxon Mobil).
As to the inevitableness of rely-
ing on fossil fuels, recall that the
past few years have bolstered the
competitiveness of renewables; the
actions of various financial decision
makers are foreshadowing a major
energy transition. For example,
Allianz, the world’s largest insur-
ance company, divested from coal
last month. The fact that we all are
still reliant on fossil fuels underlines
the urgency of shifting our energy
vision and infrastructure. Divest-
ment catalyzes this shift.
The University currently lacks
autonomy over energy infrastruc-
ture, but we do have autonomy over
financial decisions. These deci-
sions matter to the world beyond
Ann Arbor. The main argument for
divestment is that “if it’s wrong to
cause climate change, it’s wrong to
profit from causing climate change.”
So far, nearly 500 institutions have
acted on this clarion call by pledg-
ing to divest more than $3.4 trillion
from fossil fuels.
This is just the beginning. The
choice of divesting declares that —
along with other positive initiatives
that President Schlissel has champi-
oned — we are committed to build-
ing and ethically financing a more
sustainable world.
President Schlissel’s second point
is that divestment isn’t an effective
tool for transitioning to a clean ener-
gy future. It is unlikely that actions
taken by a leading public university
in the country would go unnoticed.
When the University acts, many in
the world listen. To say that divest-
ing would have no influence on
other institutions and no impact in
speeding the transition to cleaner
energy ignores the University’s
influence and obligation. Aligned
with
our
country’s
democratic
process, divestment is a vote for a
cleaner energy future — it serves as
an opportunity for universities to
engage in a public dialogue about a
just energy transition and to stand
in solidarity with those most hurt by
climate change.
Lastly, President Schlissel said,
“... the endowment should not be
used to further other causes, how-
ever noble.” First, it is difficult
to reconcile this statement with
Schlissel’s acknowledgement of the
precedent set by the University’s
two past divestment actions. These
actions paved the way for consider-
ing divestment when “...a particu-
lar issue involves serious moral or
ethical questions which are of con-
cern to many members of the Uni-
versity community.” Our campaign
has exposed the moral implications
of supporting fossil fuel industries.
Resolutions passed by the Central
Student Government and the Senate
Assembly in support of our position
urge the Board of Regents to form a
committee to examine divestment.
Clearly, this issue is “of concern
to many members of the Univer-
sity community.” Moreover, to see
any of the University’s divestment
campaigns as attempts to use the
endowment to further other causes
misrepresents the argument that the
University should divest in order to
respect the moral constraints inher-
ent in the pursuit of its mission, not
in order to further other causes that
are extrinsic to this mission.
President
Schlissel’s
article
expresses his personal view on
the issue of fossil fuel divestment.
The University, though, has clearly
defined an objective, three-pronged
standard that when met, warrants
the formation of an ad hoc commit-
tee to examine any divestment issue
of interest to University students and
faculty. We have met this standard.
Because of organized support for
fossil fuel divestment on campus
and the University’s unmistakable
role in a globally conscious society,
we request that President Schlis-
sel and the Board of Regents hold a
public meeting to continue discus-
sions on this critical issue in an open
manner. The formation of an ad hoc
committee is clearly warranted.
This article is written on behalf of
Divest and Invest, the University’s
fossil fuel divestment campaign,
by University students Nicholas
Jansen, Valeriya Epshteyn, Leon-
ard Kapiloff, Knute Nadelhoffer,
George Kling and Maria Aarnio.
SUSAN
LAMOREAUX
There’s enough time for everything
FROM THE DAILY
A correction, qualified
Course evaluations must be released by the University
I
n an editorial last month titled “Release course evaluation
data,” the Editorial Board stated that “course evaluations were
created as a method of improving professor performance rather
than a tool for scheduling classes.” This statement is incorrect.
Course evaluations were created in 1969 by students, for students,
as an effort toward a more informed course selection process.
Despite this error, our original argument
— that course evaluation data must be
available to students — still stands because
over time, course evaluations turned to
focusing on improving teacher performance.
The reality is that today, students wish to
use course evaluation data to become more
knowledgeable when registering for classes.
The University has a responsibility to
release the course evaluation data. It’s true the
data is publicly available through a Freedom
of Information Act request, but again,
obtaining this data is a challenging and time-
consuming task. That said, the data’s release
should be prefaced by the acknowledgement
that the evaluations are currently used as a
teaching improvement tool.
If faculty are concerned that the survey in
its current form cannot or should not be used
to aid students in registering for courses,
then the University should invest resources
in developing a survey that meets the
needs of students and the wishes of faculty.
Measures that increase course evaluation
completion should also be highly considered
in order to reduce the response bias that can
result when few students in a large course
complete the evaluation.
As we wrote previously, if done correctly,
releasing course evaluation data should not
be a contentious issue. Ultimately, this is a
matter of transparency, and being open with
course evaluation data works to the benefit
of the University, faculty and students.
I
have a confession: I never took a guided
college tour of the University. Or really
of any other school.
There just weren’t really
any other colleges I had
much interest in going to.
With two University alum-
ni parents and living close
enough to campus to visit
Ann Arbor often, it never
occurred to me that I’d ever
need a tour. I was lucky
enough to be accepted here
and just showed up — no
Campus Day or anything.
It’s not that I haven’t vis-
ited campuses elsewhere.
I think college campuses
are wonderful places, each with not only its
own unique layout and architecture, but also
with its own culture. When I was out in the
San Francisco Bay Area for a prospective job
a few months ago, I went out for a little over
a day just to walk around Stanford to observe
something different than my own campus
experience in Ann Arbor. My other memories
of roaming around other college campuses as
I traveled to watch Michigan football games
are much better than the scoreboard, as I’ve
yet to actually see a road win. I just never
had a guided tour and left it up to myself to
explore and discover.
Therefore, it’s only natural that I’m slightly
intrigued when I see the packs of high school
students and their families roaming the
campus, looking as out of place as they do. I
was never one of them; it was an experience
I simply skipped. So to compensate for not
having gone on a campus tour myself in high
school, I decided to stop and listen with the
tour groups at a couple spots around campus
because I am a senior and allowed to do what-
ever the heck I want to waste time.
I learned things on the tour that I didn’t
know despite all of my time at this campus.
Friday tea at Betsy Barbour Residence Hall is
actually a thing. Apparently there’s an urban
legend that the Law Quadrangle was a back-
up filming location for Hogwarts. And people
erroneously believe there’s a University of
Michigan flag on the moon. I wanted to ask a
tour guide if I’m allowed to step on the block
‘M’ if I’ve never taken a single blue book exam
in my entire college career here, but decided
there has to be some other stipulation in the
curse for engineers.
More intriguing than touring the build-
ings I live, work and play in every day were
the people on the tour. There were the high
school students, some clearly from some-
where down south and dressed way too warm
for 35-degree weather. There were com-
pletely uninterested, younger siblings being
dragged along. And then there were the loud-
est members of the tour: the parents. There
was the overzealous parent overly concerned
with whether her most beloved and precious
possession (their child) was going to get into
this school, pestering people with questions,
having memorized GPAs, SAT scores and
whatnot. There was another who saw a red
cup left over from a football Saturday tailgate
and became instantly concerned about her
kid partying. There was the parent who asked
a question about every single building.
And then there were the alumni parents.
They remarked on how the UGLi was actually
ugly when they went here before its remod-
eling, how they lived in the Law Library,
how lucky the freshmen are to live in dorm
rooms upgraded from glorified walk-in clos-
ets to air-conditioned glorified walk-in clos-
ets. They were walking “back in my day”
machines, proudly adorned with Michigan
hats and shirts. The campus has changed, but
the memories remained.
In a few short months, I’ll be an alum of
this university, too. I’m fortunate enough to
have a job, no doubt due to the prestige of
this school. That reputation is directly tied
to those alumni who one day bring their chil-
dren on these tours, where they walk through
and remember the hours toiled in libraries,
the club meetings in the Michigan Union
and the fun all over the rest of campus. The
value of my degree and every diploma issued
by this institution is directly tied to the value
contributed by them here, and so too does the
standing and character of this school rely on
all those who don a cap and gown in the Big
House. It comes full circle.
The tours will always keep coming, the
applications pouring in, the prospective stu-
dents walking into our libraries as we study
and roaming our campus among us. I might
never have been one of them, but perhaps the
very people on that tour, the kids and par-
ents alike who will and have attended, are
the ones on whom I am dependent to uphold
the reputation of the University. What has
been built through the years before us must
continue after, and I feel lucky to be a part
of that.
— David Harris can be reached
at daharr@umich.edu.
My first college tour
DAVID
HARRIS
Claire Bryan, Regan Detwiler, Caitlin Heenan, Ben Keller,
Minsoo Kim, Payton Luokkala, Aarica Marsh, Anna
Polumbo-Levy, Jason Rowland, Lauren Schandevel, Melissa
Scholke, Rebecca Tarnopol, Ashley Tjhung,
Stephanie Trierweiler, Mary Kate Winn, Derek Wolfe
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