Jewish Family Services of
Washtenaw County expects to
have resettled about 163 refugees
in the county by the conclusion
of its fiscal year this fall, nearly
doubling
its
previous
year’s
caseload, and plans to do so again
in the coming year.
In a March interview with
the Daily, JFS administrators
said their resettlement target
was still in the 80-person range.
However,
an
uptick
in
the
number of refugees the Obama
administration chose admit this
year — from an initial goal of
10,000 to 12,000 — led to a surge
in demand for JFS’s services
around May and June. These
new arrivals will primarily be
from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan,
Ethiopia, Somalia and Iran.
In an interview this week,
Shrina Eadeh, JFS’s director
of
resettlement,
said
her
organization plans to hire two
new resettlement caseworkers
in
addition
to
its
three
current resettlement staff to
accommodate the new demand.
JFS has also received additional
federal funding to meet the influx
of new clients, as the organization
The University of Michigan
hosted an event Thursday to
discuss the lasting impact of a
June 12 mass shooting at Pulse,
a gay nightclub in Florida where
nearly 50 people were killed, on
the Latino community.
The event began with a
moment of silence for victims,
before moving to a series of
speakers.
Ramón
Rivera-Servera,
associate professor and chair of
the Department of Performance
Studies
at
Northwestern
University, spoke at the forum,
highlighting
his
personal
experience as a queer Puerto
Rican.
Rivera-Servera said hatred
toward
LGBTQ,
Latino
individuals can be seen not only
through incidents such as the
shooting, but also through what
he called the “whitewashing”
of media narratives, or the
insertion of a white perspective
in news reports. He noted that
his research on queer Latino
nightlife has suggested this is an
issue in that space in particular.
“Latinos have always, in
a way, been present in this
nightlife history of the LBGTQ
community, but their presence
is often being marginalized
in our rendition of national
history,” Rivera-Servera said.
“This attack is a really extreme
manifestation of the kind of
violence and hate and phobias
that characterize the broader
experience of risk.”
A new policy to tax disposable
bags
in
Washtenaw
County
may be stymied by the state
legislature before it goes into
effect, depending on the outcome
of a vote in the state House this
week.
On June 1, the Washtenaw
County Board of Commissioners
voted 6-2 in favor of a law to
institute a 10-cent tax for every
disposable bag a consumer uses
at retail grocery stores, effective
April 22, 2017. The legislation
was approved by a House panel
on Tuesday, allowing it to move
to the House for a vote.
Aiming to block the “eco-
tax” from being passed and
michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Friday, September 30, 2016
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Call 734-418-4115 or e-mail
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INDEX
Vol. CXXVI, No. 1
©2016 The Michigan Daily
NEWS......................... 2A
OPINION.....................4A
CL ASSIFIEDS...............6A
SUDOKU..................... 2A
A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 A
FOOTBALL SATURDAY..1B
See REFUGEE, Page 3A
DESIGN BY: MICHELLE PHILLIPS/Daily
Left quote: LSA junior Lakyrra Magee. Right quote: LSA freshman Na’kia Channey. Source: Estimates from Daily reporters at each event.
Though the question has been
a
persistent
one
throughout
its history, over the past year
the University of Michigan has
focused in on how to become more
diverse, more inclusive and more
welcoming under a University
initiative to create a campus-wide
strategic plan for diversity.
On Oct. 6, that answer is
supposed to become clearer, when
the University formally launches
its campus-wide Diversity, Equity
& Inclusion plan, a year-long effort
started by University President
Mark Schlissel. However, after
the discovery of racially charged
fliers in University buildings
and a controversial debate over
the merits of Black Lives Matter
earlier
this
week
prompted
massive student protests, new
questions about issues of race on
campus and tensions between
the University and students have
surfaced. Though both the debate
and the posters have been a focus,
many students have also pointed
to systemic issues of climate they
said those incidents highlighted
— criticizing what they described
as years of University inaction
and citing the strategic plan as an
example.
LSA freshman Na’kia Channey,
who spoke at the protest Tuesday
night, said there was a lack of
trust between Black students
and the University, echoing the
sentiments of multiple other
students interviewed throughout
the week.
“As
far
as
I
know,
the
only
reason
we’re
having
discussions now is because it was
stimulated by those examples of
discrimination,” Channey said.
“I’m not sure if the University
of Michigan is really open about
having discussions, but I feel like
we should not have to wait until
an inciting incident for us to have
these dialogues. We shouldn’t feel
like we have to curate our space
for our voices to be heard.”
This consistent discussion of
larger campus issues throughout
the week illuminates a different
kind of question, one situated
between student concerns and
University efforts — why were
two days of protests able to draw
almost triple as many people
total as University events themed
around campus climate and the
diversity plan have drawn in past
weeks?
Until the protests began this
week, public participation in
discussion about the University’s
approach to diversity on campus
had been limited. Last week,
multiple
University-sanctioned
forums were held on campus
around campus climate, as LSA
See BAGS, Page 3A
PAUL AHNN/Daily
Dr. Ramon Rivera-Servera, chair of Performance Studies at Northwestern University, speaks about the Queer
Latinidad community at Haven Hall Thursday.
michigandaily.com
For more stories and coverage, visit
See PROTEST, Page 3A
Tesla
Motors,
Inc.,
an
American
automaker
and
renewable
energy
company,
filed a lawsuit last week against
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and
state lawmakers, urging them to
overturn a law, passed in 2014,
that banned Tesla’s direct-to-
consumer sales model from being
implemented in the state.
The recent lawsuit is the latest
in a list of grievances against the
state from the all-electric Silicon
Valley technology company. In
a press release, Tesla officials
said the law poses a threat to the
economy, and urged lawmakers
to reconsider it.
“Unfortunately, the local auto
See TESLA, Page 3A
Kenny the Kicker
A lot of pieces go into being a
successful kicker, and Kenny
Allen has them all, starting
with his family
» Page 4B
+400
+400
Protest attendees this week
“
”
“
”
40
40
40
40
30
30
120
120
We want
Schlissel to
address us…
about 2017,
not 2025.
We should not
have to wait
until an inciting
incident for us
to have these
dialogues.
Estimated staff members
at community forum
Estimated undergraduates
at community forum
Estimated faculty
at community forum
Estimated graduate students
at community forum
Read more online at:
MichiganDaily.com
Nonprofit
resettles
over 100
refugees
Finding outlets: Students lean on self-
organized events, not ‘U’, to talk diversity
ANN ARBOR
JFS doubles
numbers to meet
rising demand
BRIAN KUANG
Daily Staff Reporter
JACKIE CHARNIGA
Daily News Editor
Lawmakers
challenge
10-cent tax
for bags
GOVERNMENT
State House panel to
vote on bill that would
block county “eco-tax”
WILL FEUER
Daily Staff Reporter
Event explores impact of Pulse shooting
on LGBTQ and Latinx communities
Forum discusses misrepresentations in mainstream media and societal effects
ALEXA ST. JOHN
Daily Staff Reporter
Tesla sues
Michigan
over 2014
legislation
BUSINESS
Law blocks company
from operating in the
state
ETHAN LEVIN
For the Daily
Administrators grapple with addressing issues of race on campus following week of protests