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
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