3-News

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Wednesday, February 24, 2016 — 3A

RC Art Gallery 
displays student-
prisoner photos

The Residential College Art 

Gallery in East Quad will display 
student-prisoneer collaborative 
photos through April 8, a 
University press release reports. 
The project is the first ever 
photography workshop in the 
state that included both students 
and inmates, and it was part of 
Humanize the Numbers — an 
ongoing project that connects 
prisoners and community 
members in Southeast Michigan 
through art.

The photography workshop 

took place at Thumb 
Correctional Facility. During 
each session, the inmates would 
share their ideas for an image, 
and the students would then 
capture their vision. 

One of the photos feautured in 

the gallery depicts a chess board 
in which a single black piece lies 
in the shadow of white pieces. 
Another captures an inmate with 
their hands covered in red — 
inmate Johnnie Trice explained 
in a University press release that 
the photo signifies his journey at 
Thumb Correctional Facility. He 
entered with blood on his hands 
and left with paint, he said.

Food bank works 
to counter lead 
effects in Flint

Beginning Feb. 24, the Food 

Bank of Eastern Michigan along 
with the Michigan Department 
of Health and Human Services 
will offer 12 truckloads of food 
to Flint residents, according to 
MLive. The mobile food pantries 
offer choices rich in vitamin C, 
calcium and iron to reduce the 
effects of lead contamination.

Each distribution site expects 

to receive 400 families and 
provide them with healthful 
foods to limit the impact of lead 
exposure. Part of the funding 
was a part of the approved $28 
million supplemental budget 
approved in January.

The first event will be at noon 

on Feb. 24 at Prince of Peace 
Missionary Baptist Church. At 
1 p.m., another distribution site 
will be Salem Lutheran Church.

Retired judge 
expected to be 
DPS transition 
manager

Retired U.S. Bankruptcy 

Judge Steven Rhodes is slated 
to be the transition manager for 
Detroit Public Schools. He will 
meet with district teachers at 
Cass Technical High School on 
Wednesday to discuss his plans 
to transition the Detroit schools 
back to local authority, according 
to the Detroit Free Press.

Rhodes will asssume the 

transitional role after emergency 
manager Darnell Earley’s 
resignation on Feb. 29. Gov. 
Rick Snyder tasked Rhodes with 
guiding and implementing DPS 
reform legislation. He will head 
a leadership transition team, on 
which Tonya Allen, president and 
CEO of the Skillman Foundation, 
has been asked to serve. 

Allen has not yet confirmed 

the postiion. The Free Press 
reported that union officials 
have requested Rhodes consider 
a third person to serve on the 
transition team.

The Detroit school district 

faces a $3.5 billion debt 
and lawsuits rearding the 
teacher sick-outs and poor 
infrastructural conditions 
that closed numerous schools 
over the last several weeks. 
Rhodes played a role during the 
years leading up to the Detroit 
Bankruptcy and in the years 
following.

Rhodes and Snyder met with 

teachers and principals on 
Monday as well to hear feedback 
from the community. State 
lawmakers are still debating 
legislation; however, many of 
the bills still have yet to gain 
widespread support. 

—CAMY METWALLY

NEWS BRIEFS

United Kingdom due to their 
views.

In an e-mail interview with 

The Michigan Daily, University 
spokesman Rick Fitzgerald wrote 
that Bindel and Yiannopoulos 
were allowed to participate in 
the debate on campus because 
the University strives to allow 
freedom 
of 
speech 
for 
all 

students, 
including 
opinions 

from outside guests.

“The 
university 
feels 
so 

strongly about this topic that our 
commitment is codified in an 
official policy, called a Standard 
Practice 
Guide,” 
Fitzgerald 

wrote.

The 
guide 
states 
the 

expression of diverse viewpoints 
is of utmost importance to the 
University community because 
students should both be able to 
express their opinions and be 
able to be exposed to new ideas.

In response to the debate, the 

University’s Spectrum Center 
— which dedicates its efforts to 
LGBTQ awareness on campus — 
offered extended office hours to 
provide an alternative space for 
students who felt threatened by 
the debate.

Engineering freshman Conrad 

Stoll said he was surprised the 
center hosted a safe gathering 
space for members of the LGBTQ 
community during the debate, 
since both Yiannopoulos and 
Bindel are gay.

“I would think that would be 

good,” Stoll said. “There’s two 
renowned people who are in 
the queer community and I was 
really shocked that the Spectrum 
Center acted as if they were 
terrible.”

The Spectrum Center was 

not immediately available for 
comment Tuesday evening. A 
statement on their website reads, 
“We recognize that the rhetoric 
of the speakers featured in this 
event is incredibly harmful to 
many members of our campus 
community. 
The 
Spectrum 

Center will be providing a 
supportive alternative space this 
evening and holding extended 
staffed hours until 9pm. There 
will be no program; our intent is 
to offer a relaxing, positive space 
for students who want to gather 
in community.”

During 
the 
event, 
Bindel 

noted that she was banned from 
multiple academic institutions 
following The Guardian’s 2004 
publication of her article titled 
“Gender 
benders, 
beware,” 

which prompted many in the 
feminist community to label her 
as transphobic. In the article, 
Bindel argues that transgender 
women do not experience the 
same struggles of being women 
since they are born as men. 

“They 
decided 
I 
should 

never 
ever 
be 
redeemed,” 

Bindel said. “All my 35 years of 
unpaid 
activism 
disappeared 

because I was suddenly a vicious 
transphobe.”

Bindel said unlike modern 

day feminism, her feminism 
advocates for the prevention of 
violence against young women 
and girls.

In his remarks, Yiannopoulos 

said he thought modern day 
feminism is dangerous because 
it silences men, compromising 
freedom of speech.

“The problem is that the 

particular modern ground of 
feminism has a problem with 
free speech,” Yiannopoulos said. 
“There’s a particular brand of 
feminism which holds almost 
total sway in the media and in 
gender studies.”

During the debate, the pair 

touched on several gender equity 
issues, such as the wage gap 
between men and women.

Research 
from 
multiple 

sources, such as the federal 
government’s College Scorecard 

released last year, has shown a 
significant gap in pay between 
men and women in a variety of 
professions.

Bindel said the wage gap is 

caused by several factors, one 
of which is the perception of 
women in the workplace among 
their male colleagues.

“Women are punished and 

they’re treated very harshly for 
asking directly, assertively, for a 
pay rise,” she said.

Yiannopoulos countered by 

claiming the wage gap simply 
does not exist. He said instead, 
when women are presented with 
the same opportunities as men, 
such as pursuing a degree in the 
STEM field, they are not as likely 
to complete their education.

“Women don’t work as hard,” 

Yiannopoulos said.

LSA senior Andrea Filisko 

said she came to the debate 
because she believes there is a 
real freedom of speech problem 
on college campuses.

“I don’t know if it’s necessarily 

feminists, but I do think there’s a 
large amount of censorship of the 
right of the political spectrum on 
college campuses,” Filisko said.

Beyond gender, the discussion 

also considered several other 
equity issues.

Yiannopoulos applauded when 

a questioner noted that Michigan 
institutions of higher education 
can no longer take race into 
account during the admissions 
process due to the 2006 adoption 
of Proposal 2 in the state.

He charged that affirmative 

action policies are ineffective 
because real change to solve 
educational inequalities must 
occur at the childhood stage of 
educational development.

“You improve the quality 

of teaching, you don’t pretend 
people are going to deal with a 
course they can’t,” Yiannopoulos 
said.

Bindel said she supported 

affirmative 
action, 
since 

she 
herself 
was 
once 
an 

underprivileged 
student 
in 

England but was able to attend a 
university with the help of state 
provisions.

“I don’t think that African 

American people who are given a 
helping hand to get to university 
are stupid or have a low IQ,” 
Bindel said. “I think that they’re 
just socially disadvantaged.”

Bindel’s statement was met 

with a round of applause and loud 
cheering from several spectators.

LSA freshman Olive Scott 

said she wanted to hear from 
Yiannopoulos since she identifies 
as a feminist, an idea he rejects.

“Mainly I just wanted to hear 

what he had to say and why he 
believes the things he does,” 
Scott said.

The 
event 
also 
featured 

an open mic portion, during 
which attendees were allowed 
to share their views on topics 
discussed during the debate and 
ask Yiannopoulos and Bindel 
questions.

During the open mic portion, 

LSA sophomore Emily Kaufman 
attempted to climb onto the 
stage, 
which 
incited 
some 

audience members to chant GOP 
presidential candidates Donald 
Trump’s 
name 
repeatedly. 

Flyers for a University chapter 
of Students for Trump were on 
many of the seats in the League 
preceding the event.

Kaufman said she climbed on 

the stage to directly challenge 
Yiannopoulos.

After the event, Swogger said 

while the things both figures 
said were controversial, he hoped 
students realized it was all in 
good fun.

“They’re mainly just screwing 

around; 
they’re 
mainly 
just 

comedians,” he said. “They love 
making people laugh, they love 
making each other laugh and 
they don’t take themselves too 
seriously.”

AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) greets supporters at a rally in Grand Rapids on Tuesday evening. 

student loans,” Rubio said. 
“Current leaders don’t care 
about our debt. They just care 
about getting reelected.”

Along with helping students, 

Rubio discussed his plan to 
enhance the United States 
Department 
of 
Veterans 

Affairs, citing a recent misstep 
with the suicide hotline of 
the department that allowed 
calls to go to voicemail or 
otherwise not be responded 
to immediately. Moving to the 
broader topic of the military, he 
also touched on his plan to end a 
deal the Obama administration 
made with Iran, which reduces 
sanctions on the country in 
exchange for an agreement 
from Iran to severely restrict 
its nuclear program.

Also on the subject of the 

military, Rubio garnered a 
response from the crowd when 
he expressed dissatisfaction 
regarding the potential closure 
of Guantánamo Bay, a military 
prison known for its conduction 
of 
unethical 
interrogations, 

and his plans to start a real war 
on terror.

“When I am president, it 

will be my number one priority 
to rebuild the U.S. military,” 
Rubio said. “We aren’t going 
to have a fake war on terror. 
When I am president, we are 
going to have a real war. We are 
going to find them and we are 
going to destroy them with the 
best military in the world.”

Rubio, who is polling in third 

nationally with 16.4 percent, 
according to an aggregate of 
polls from RealClear Politics, 
has yet to win a Republican 
primary. His closest finish was 
a slight lead over Sen. Ted Cruz 
(R–Tex.) in the South Carolina 
primary this weekend to obtain 
second place behind Donald 
Trump.

However, 
Rubio 
said 
he 

remained confident about his 
chances in the election.

“This election is so much 

more, because after eight years 
of failure, this election will be 
what we want it to be for the 
21st century,” he said.

While 
Rubio 
was 

campaigning 
in 
Michigan, 

Nevada’s Republican caucus 
was called for frontrunner 
Donald Trump. The win places 
more pressure on Rubio, as 
well as Cruz, to perform well 
in later primary states such as 
Michigan.

During his speech, Rubio 

referred to Trump indirectly, 
saying he wasn’t asking his 
supporters to let the nation 
be divided by the presidential 
results.

“I will never ask you to be 

angry in order to win. If you 
elect me I will be president for 
all Americans, even the people 
that don’t like me or say nasty 
things about me on Twitter,” 
he said. “Because if you want 
to be president of the USA 
you have to love the American 
people, even the ones who don’t 
love you back.”

Rubio ended the rally by 

recounting his family’s history, 
which he said is the reason he 
is running for president. The 
son of two immigrants who he 
said worked their entire lives 
but were able to buy their own 
house and raise a family of four, 
Rubio said if elected he aims to 
protect the American dream.

“We owe everything to the 

Americans before us. Each 
generation left their children 
better off than themselves,” 
Rubio said. “Now the moment 
has arised for our generation 
to do our part … If you vote for 
me, we will leave our children 
with the greatest nation in the 
history of mankind.”

John Dunn sent out a public letter 
to the campus community Sunday 
noting the need for reform.

“We need to make adjustments 

in our own procedures to respond 
to extraordinary circumstances,” 
he wrote. “Last night’s incident 
clearly was one.”

WMU senior Austin Wines, a 

residential adviser and student 
organizer, put together an online 
petition the night of the shootings 
calling for improvements to the 
system. The petition garnered 
about 1,500 signatures in a day.

In an interview, Wines said 

the petition focuses on the 
emergency alert system as an 
obtainable goal, aiming to match 
the significant importance of 
alerts with system improvements 
to increase campus safety and 
timeliness of alerts.

“Such a large shooting gaining 

national attention shines a light 
on this issue people are now 
taking seriously,” he said. 

The University of Michigan’s 

Division of Public Safety and 
Security alert system differs 
from WMU in that it alerts the 
campus community to possible 
threats both on and off University 
property through e-mails, tweets, 

texts to registered devices and 
messages on the DPSS website 
and the UM digital gateway. 
According to DPSS spokesperson 
Diane Brown, DPSS filters threats 
before sending out an alert, 
with help from Ann Arbor city 
police help in determining the 
imminence of incidents.

“We work quite collaboratively 

with the city police as well as the 
county sheriff,” she wrote in an 
e-mail interview. “To determine 
whether or not to issue an alert 
for an incident not occurring 
on campus, we would analyze 
whether we perceive there is a 
threat to our campus community.”

Wines 
emphasized 
that 

though he was disappointed in 
the handling of the situation 
at WMU, he and other student 
leaders are focused on forward-
thinking reform.

“We’re going to be taking 

a hard look at what we can do 
now in the 21st century to reflect 
the type of campus students 
are calling for,” he said. “We 
appreciate the cooperation of a lot 
of different forces on campus to 
address this issue.” 

After holding a campus town 

hall, Dunn organized a campus life 
committee tasked with updating 
the emergency alert system that 
includes former members of the 
National Guard, a former county 

sheriff and student leaders. WMU 
spokeswoman Cheryl Roland said 
the administration is attentive 
to student concerns and looks 
forward to dialogue.

“As a university, we need 

to do better on this front,” she 
said. “We have a good system 
in place for alerting people to 
campus emergencies, and we 
probably need to formalize a 
system in which in extraordinary 
circumstances we can reach out 
to the community more quickly 
without setting up a pattern of 
too many warnings that might 
jeopardize the way people view 
them.”

RUBIO
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DEBATE
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ALERT
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emergency; and unless it applies 
to all substances, not just a 
narrow subset,” the resolution 
states. “The Medical Amnesty 
Policy desperately needed is 
one that provides complete 
protection for students of all 
ages.”

The vote resulted in a 26-0 

vote with one abstention, which 
barely qualified as a quorum 
for the body. LSA senior Noah 
Betman, speaker of the assembly, 
said if 24 representatives or less 
were present during the vote it 
could not have been held, and 
the resolution could not have 
been passed.

Attendance 
has 
been 
a 

recurring issue throughout the 
year. During the meeting, three 
representatives were recalled 
based on the premise that they 
were absent for more than the 
allotted number of absences 
without justification.

During 
his 
representative 

report, 
LSA 
junior 
David 

Schafer asked body members to 
look over the the survey, which 
he said has been reviewed by 
University 
researchers 
and 

officials. The survey, a series 
of questions regarding student 
awareness of mental health 
information and resources, is 
meant to gauge whether there 
is a need to improve the general 
mental health climate for faculty 
and students.

Schafer said he and the 

co-authors of the survey, LSA 
junior Yumi Taguchi and LSA 
senior Anna Chen, met with the 
Institutional Review Board in 
order to ensure the questions 
were not biased.

“We are doing this with a 

randomized sample, and hope to 
send this (survey) out by the end 
of March,” Schafer said. “We 
aim to analyze the data in April 
and throughout the rest of the 
summer, and come back in the 
fall with some pretty concrete 
initiatives for the 2016-2017 
academic year.”

Among 
the 
resolutions 

brought to the table were to 
add the 24-hour phone line of 
the 
University’s 
Counseling 

and Psychological Services to 
the back of student Mcards, 
and to fund the production of a 
video for the Prescription Drug 
Misuse Campaign.

The CAPS resolution aimed 

to have the number printed 
on Mcards starting with the 
class of 2020, with the intent 
of 
decreasing 
the 
stigma 

associated with mental illness.

“Everyone knows there’s a 

mental health crisis on campus,” 
said 
LSA 
senior 
Allison 

Williams, one of the resolution’s 
authors. “The goal for this 
resolution is to decrease the 
stigma that is associated with 
mental illness on campus, so 
many people feel uncomfortable 
going to CAPS who may need to 
can get the help they need.”

Williams added that printing 

the number on the back of 
Mcards would be a symbolic 

gesture to show students that 
the 
University 
cares 
about 

mental health issues.

Public Policy junior Jacob 

Pearlman, CSG student legal 
counsel, said he admired the 
presence of the resolution and 
thought it was a much needed 
resource.

In speaking to the second 

resolution, Schafer, a co-author, 
said it was part of the ongoing 
prescription 
drug 
misuse 

campaign. 
Beginning 
last 

semester, the body has been 
planning a week-long event to 
raise awareness in students on 
how academic pressure impacts 
drug abuse and what the effects 
of that abuse are particularly on 
college campuses.

The campaign was inspired in 

part by the death of University 
alum Josh Levine, who passed 
away from a drug overdose 
after 
mixing 
adderall 
with 

alcohol at a party. If approved, 
the resolution would allocate 
$900 to fund the production 
of a promotional video for the 
campaign.

Schafer said he believes the 

video will be a helpful resource 
for both current and future 
students.

“All 
those 
behind 
the 

campaign, myself included, hope 
that this video will be utilized 
by future student groups and 
orgs on campus,” Schafer said. 
“I hope this will last longer than 
than the campaign, and have a 
lasting effect that educates and 
protects students.”

CSG
From Page 1A

