about climate change following
the election.
“I’ve
been
struggling
with
optimism
related
to
the environment, but we’ve
been getting more active and
doing more education, so I
think the election has created
more
people
being
active
in the political realm and
environmental issues as the
whole,” Toweh said.
The
three
panelists
individually
presented
concerns
focusing
on
how
climate policy will be affected
in the future and what part
people can play in the issue.
Citing data from the National
Oceanic
and
Atmospheric
Association, Engineering Prof.
Richard Rood, who specializes
in climate impact, emphasized
the topic of climate science
including global temperatures,
rising sea levels and ocean
temperature.
He also underlined that the
scientific evidence supporting
the theory of climate change
was only one of the issues when
addressing climate change as a
society.
“The social and political
aspects are much more difficult
than the technological aspects
for how to deal with this
problem,” Rood said.
Stacy Coyle, a lecturer with
the Program in the Environment,
cited the Paris Agreement as one
social and political response to
climate change. The agreement,
which was signed on April 22,
2016, is an international pact
addressing political and financial
strategies
for
addressing
greenhouse gas emissions.
Coyle
emphasized
the
extensive
international
participation in the agreement
as ratified by 55 countries who
represent 55 percent of total
global
emissions.
She
also
addressed concerns over the
possibility and legality of the
United
States
withdrawing
from
the
treaty,
another
campaign promise of Trump’s.
“The U.S. cannot withdraw
until November of 2019,” Coyle
said. “It makes me breath just a
little easier.”
The
Paris
Agreement
outlines that the signed parties
like the United States cannot
withdraw from the treaty for
another three years, according
to Article 28 of the agreement
itself. However, under U.S.
law,
participation
in
any
international treaty can be
terminated by the president
under U.S. law. Scholars have
suggested potential effects of
leaving the treaty could range
from loss in global standing to
potential difficulties for the
U.S. on issues such as trade and
terrorism in the future.
Sally
Churchill,
professor
of
environmental
law
and
policy in the School of Natural
Resources and Environment,
noted
that
disassembling
environmental
regulations
would
be
difficult
and
unlikely. She emphasized the
importance of local action and
public recognition and concern
for the issue by highlighting a
New York Times article about
towns in Alaska threatened by
climate change.
“As an environmental lawyer,
I am very optimistic,” Churchill
said. “People care about climate
change. I walked into this room
on a Tuesday night thinking
there might be 15 to 20 people
and it’s packed. Climate change
is not going away.”
Churchill
also
said
she
thought it was important for
people to continue to engage
with
environmental
issues
across political divisions.
“Climate change is not an
issue of party,” Churchill said.
“We have to keep finding
allies everywhere to advance
the important activities and
address any disagreements we
may have.”
LSA
sophomore
Melanie
Chasseur, who attended the event,
said she was initially concerned
for the future of environmental
policy after the election, but
like Churchill, is focusing on
the potential for unity around
environmental issues.
“Feedback
is
really
important
between
people
that are knowledgeable on the
issue and people that aren’t
active about it, and we need to
integrate people that might not
understand,” Chasseur said.
LSA
freshman
Kristen
Hayden said she thought that
the discussion was effective in
addressing climate change due
to the different backgrounds of
the panelists.
“I liked that there were so
many
different
viewpoints,”
Hayden said. “They had such a
different range in experiences,
from the professor who worked
with NASA to the professor who
is an environmental lawyer,
and I thought those different
interests influenced how they
talked about the subject.”
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Wednesday, November 30, 2016 — 3A
it’ll show both sides, the coming
up of Detroit and the terrible
economic downfall.”
The trailer opens with the
jazzy Sammy Davis Jr.’s song
“Hello Detroit” and Richardson
and
Robinson
strutting
in
downtown Detroit with huge
grins on their faces, waving
to
other
pedestrians
and
bicyclists. The music cuts out
abruptly, as do the smiles when
the duo walk slowly past a
group of construction workers.
The phrases “What up doe?”
and
“What’s
poppin’?”
are
exchanged, the music strikes
back up and the two advertising
agents continue on with their
cheerful demeanor.
LSA senior Khairah Green,
who grew up on Detroit’s west
side, said she had concerns
about the show going too far
in terms of displaying the city
in a way that is humorous, but
inappropriate.
“The
issue
is
that,
I
understand that it’s supposed
to be funny but my worry is that
it’s going to make an even bigger
joke out of Detroit than it already
is, because Detroit already has
such
negative
connotations
associated with it as far as the
economy, frankly, the Black
people, that live there,” Green
said.
Green said the show should
neither glorify nor romanticize
the city in its depictions.
“When most people see or
when they hear Detroit, they
think of all the bad — the gang
violence, the violence in general,
the economy just going down,
the way that it looks right now
or from what they show, because
not all parts are bad,” Green
said. “With that, I hope they
would show more of the good
parts while still including the
bad so it’s not biased towards
one way.”
While
LSA
senior
Yara
Beydoun, who is from Dearborn
and works in Detroit, also
acknowledged that the city will
receive national attention from
the show, she said she was afraid
the show will focus solely on
select areas of Detroit, like the
Downtown-Midtown-Corktown
area. She said an overview of
the city might gloss over the
crucial problems facing the
lower-income
neighborhoods
of Detroit, including blight and
infrastructural damages.
“I’m a little bit confused,”
Beydoun said. “It just seemed
like
(the
trailer)
was
very
focused on the downtown area
of Detroit … but I don’t know
how representative of actual
Detroit the show is going to be.”
While a more clear sense
of how the show will depict
Detroit won’t be revealed until
its premiere, both Beydoun and
Riehs said they were glad that
the show chose to film in the city
instead of in another city set to
resemble Detroit.
Jenell
Leonard,
Michigan
Film & Digital Media Office
director, told the Detroit Free
Press this past January that
with no tax breaks or financial
incentives,
“Detroiters”
being filmed in Detroit takes
determination by the production
company,
“We thank Comedy Central
for taking a risk on us,” Leonard
said. “People think because it’s
called ‘Detroiters,’ it has to be
done in Detroit … To say that
we landed a TV series in a post-
incentives climate, that is huge.”
Legislation
providing
tax
incentives for film and television
is in place in many states across
the country in hopes that the
production
companies
bring
with their projects additional
revenue for the city and local
businesses
and
commonly
sought-after publicity. Michigan
provided incentives for several
years, but in July 2015, Michigan
Gov. Rick Snyder (R) signed
legislation
that
dissolved
Michigan’s
tax
incentive
programs for film and television
production companies. Before
the legislation, films such as
“Batman v. Superman: Dawn
of Justice,” “Red Dawn” and
multiple “Transformers” movies
were filmed in the state.
No matter what the show
chooses to satirize, Reihs said if
the city is making money from
this promotion, then the show
will have a positive effect on the
city’s economy.
“If (the show) is going to
bring people to Detroit and put
money into the city, that’s a good
thing,” he said.
Beydoun said she was glad
the show decided to film in
the city despite not knowing
what elements of Detroit the
show will explore. She added
that simply filming in the city
itself is a positive first step in
reforming the nation’s view of
real Detroiters.
“Detroit has a lot of negative
stereotypes, but it’s a beautiful
city with a lot of great people,”
she said. “I think everyone there
wants the best for the city.”
DETROIT
From Page 1A
twice weekly or more.
For this 16 percent of women,
the college environment can
feel isolating in a social scene of
alcohol consumption — making
them unique in a sea of students
drinking and partying.
In interviews, some of these
women said their decisions about
drinking are tied to religious
beliefs or stems from safety
concerns. They also said it is
impacted by their friends, family
and the resources available to
them at the University.
The data largely fits with
results from the University’s
2016 National College Health
Assessment survey — which
received a response from 2,515
undergraduates, graduate and
professional students. The survey
found that in the 30 days prior to
taking the survey, 28 percent of
students reported they had not
drank, while 72 percent reported
they
had.
Additionally,
40
percent of respondents reported
having experienced high-risk
drinking, defined as more than
four drinks for females and more
than five drinks for males in the
last two weeks.
Flores said she stressed to her
friends her choices stem simply
from personal preference — she
wasn’t judging them. She also
added that her decision to not
drink has been influenced by
her parents’ desire for her safety,
news stories about sexual assault,
the negative health effects and a
genuine aversion to the taste.
“I tried to tell them ‘I’m
not judging you guys,’ ” Flores
said. “It’s just my choice. I feel
like they thought I was there
thinking, ‘You guys are stupid.’
No, that wasn’t the case.”
Though both the University
and the Daily’s surveys show a
significant group of University
students do not engage in high-
risk
drinking,
research
has
shown that the majority of people
underage do, in a departure from
the campus trend. About 90
percent of the alcohol consumed
by youth under the age of 21 in
the United States is in the form
of binge drinks, according to the
Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention.
The
University
Health
Service website states, “Most
students grow up in a culture
which equates the consumption
of alcohol with having fun,
relaxing,
making
social
situations complete and reducing
tension.”
LSA junior Alexis Babbitt
cited her religion as one of
the reasons she doesn’t drink.
Babbitt said in the way she
understands
her
Christian
beliefs, drinking before it is
legal is not acceptable.
“I’ve
never
been
drunk,”
Babbitt said. “God tells me to
follow the law and the law is
to not drink under 21 and I am
under 21 so I don’t drink.”
LSA freshman Gabrielle de
Coster said she is not afraid to
drink, even though she chooses
not to in part for religious
reasons, because she believes
would know her limits. Instead,
for her, not drinking translates
to a more meaningful social
experiences.
“I don’t feel that I am serving
God to the best of my ability
or spreading light in any way
if my awareness of myself or
surroundings
is
deluded
by
any substance,” de Coster said.
“Faith and family history aside,
I don’t want to be forgetting
anything and I want the friends
who I surround myself with to
be friends who can make me
laugh when I am not under the
influence.”
Babbitt echoed her sentiments,
saying while she understands
college
students’
desire
to
drink, she prefers smaller social
environments to larger parties
where everyone’s drinking.
“I know people say it adds
an element of fun and lightness
to a night out,” Babbitt said. “I
have gone to parties but I don’t
like being the only sober one at
a party. I’d rather hang out with
a smaller group of friends and
watch a movie. I understand
that people drink but it is not
something that I find necessary.”
Flores said she is glad to
have never had the disorienting
experience of “blacking out”
from
alcohol
consumption,
noting that the kind of parties
she attends don’t present the
risks
associated
with
heavy
alcohol consumption.
“I like going to parties because
it’s fun, you’re just hanging
around with friends and things
like that; I just don’t like being
drunk,” Flores said. “After my
friends understood that, I still
liked to have fun even without
drinking and I’m OK with them
drinking … The environment
is fun and they forget I’m not
drunk sometimes. So I don’t feel
uncomfortable.”
The main reason for their
choices not to drink for some
students also isn’t just about
having fun. De Coster said her
reasons not to drink also stem
from a familial influence, but
in her case, experiences with
alcoholism have also impacted
her choices in college.
“I have alcoholism that runs
in my family and so I have seen
the other side that isn’t just light
dancing and a little giggling,” de
Coster said. “I have seen people
have to go to jail and the dark side
of alcohol. College is definitely
the stepping stone for that type
of alcohol consumption.”
That “other side” of drinking
is not absent from campus, even
though many students don’t
report heavily drinking regularly.
Alcohol-related incidents have
increased on campus in the past
year; there were 561 incidents
of students illegally consuming
or possessing alcohol at the
University last year, an increase
from the 515 incidents the year
prior, according to the Office
of Student Conflict Resolution
annual report.
The
University,
Central
Student
Government
and
UMix
have
also
expanded
the availability of resources
encouraging students to find
alternatives to parties in recent
years.
UMix, a program Flores said
she frequently attends, offers
late night activities — crafts,
live entertainment, recreational
sports, dances and other social
events — on about half of all Friday
nights in the semester to cater to
students who choose not to drink.
CSG also held its third sober
tailgate earlier this semester. LSA
sophomore Grant Rivas, CSG
chief programming officer, said
he felt the reputation of college
students drinking and partying
does not hold for everyone at the
University of Michigan.
“If you read the newspaper,
a lot of times you hear about
college students just partying
all the time, and that’s actually
kind of not what we’ve noticed
is representative of the whole
UMich population,” Rivas said.
Along with sober tailgating
efforts,
CSG
has
sponsored
hydration stations in front of
partnering Greek life houses as
well as begun funding University
Dining
to
open
earlier
on
Saturdays to encourage students
to eat before tailgating.
Ultimately, Rivas said it is
a necessity for resources to be
made available to the noticeable
population
of
students
who
do not drink — and for Flores,
University resources have helped
support her choice.
“If I can have fun without
alcohol, there’s no need for me
to add alcohol to the mix,” Flores
said.
SURVEY
From Page 1A
“Faith and family
aside, I don’t want
to be forgetting
anything...”
“If I can have fun
without alcohol,
there’s not need for
me to add alcohol
to the mix.”
AMANDA ALLEN/Daily
Engineering Prof. Richard Rood speaks about climate change at “Addressing Climate Change: US and International Policy
for the 21st Century” in the Dana Natural Resources Building Tuesday.
CLIMATE
From Page 1A
polarization by offering a wide
range of viewpoints, the natural
human
tendency
to
process
information with bias hinders
that goal. Biased information
processing, she added leads to
people
interpreting
articles
through their own prejudices.
“We have known for quite
many decades that people see
what they want to see,” she
said. “We tend to interpret
information
in
a
way
that
reinforces our beliefs.”
Wojcieszak
also
discussed
how
viewer
selectivity
and
polarization might be attenuated
in the media, her primary topic
of study. She highlighted data
from two experimental studies
she conducted which showed
individuals were more willing
to consider differing opinions
when they realized they shared
a common social identity with
others who held these opinions.
In
particular,
it
encouraged
viewer selection of balanced
content, lowered hostility and
social
distance
toward
out-
groups and increased individual
acceptance of messages from
outgroups.
“If we make this overarching
shared identity salient, biased
processing and polarization will
diminish and also selectivity will
be lower,” Wojcieszak said.
She said this research can be
applied to the current state of
media, as unlimited content and
social media have profoundly
changed the channels through
which
people
receive
their
information. Wojcieszak offered
several ideas on how to apply
her findings to projects in the
future, challenging media outlets
to present information in a way
that’s accessible to members of
all social groups.
“So for instance, in the context
of social networks, we can
think of priming the in-group
endorsement of an out-group
and that’s also something that I
would like to look at (in future
research),” she said.
Rackham student Sage Lee
said she attended the talk because
the topic tied into her interests
on the potential ways in which
media can reduce polarization
across various identities.
“My research is deeply related
to what she’s trying to do, like
intervening
political
spheres
and finding the role of the media
in terms of facilitating a more
constructive
public
sphere
that can motivate individuals
to lessen the chasms or gaps
among individuals when they’re
categorizing
themselves
as
in-groups and out-groups,” she
said.
Lee added that she appreciated
how Wojcieszak presented her
research and findings in an
organized,
easily
understood
way.
“I
think
she
showed
a
systematic approach in how her
research, how her efforts and
endeavors to this field, unfold
over time,” Lee said. “I think
those kinds of things were
the biggest strengths of the
conversation she presented to
us.”
MEDIA
From Page 1A
“We tend
to interpret
information
in a way that
reinforces our
beliefs.”
“If we make this
overarching shared
identity salient,
biased processing
and polarization
will diminish.”