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3-News

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Tuesday, December 6, 2016 — 3

covering the tuition for children
to attend charter or private
schools. The practice is highly
criticized, as leading to the
defunding of public schools.

In a statement following her

appointment,
DeVos
stressed

she was dedicated to bolstering
education.

“I am very excited to get

to work and to talk about my
thoughts and ideas on making
American education great again,”
DeVos said. “The status quo is
not acceptable. I am committed
to transforming our education
system into the best in the world.”

The DeVos’s were also donors

to the Trump campaign.

Norton has worked with other

Michigan parents and activists
for increased funding of public
schools while working primarily
with grassroots organizations
and state legislature. He said
he frequently comes up against
DeVos-funded groups such as the
Great Lakes Education Project.

“It’s really stunning to see

folks out there who honestly
believe public schools ought to
be eliminated and left only to the
hopeless cases,” he said. “And
everyone feels like they ought to
be in private schools. The people,
through
their
government,

should have no role in actually
operating the schools. I find that
dismaying.”

He also noted DeVos served

as the chairwoman for the
Michigan Republican Party in
the 1990s, and her connection to
the party and her fortune make
it easier to pass her policies and

spread her influence.

“When they have such a strong

influence on one political party
and that political party controls
the state government, they can
do a lot of things they want to
do,” Norton said. “And it has been
a constant fight and I would say
we probably lost more than we
won.”

Erin Wright, a teacher at Ann

Arbor public school Eberwhite
Elementary, said she thought
DeVos’s influence on the state
with schools of choice and
vouchers has led to an increase in

racial and class segregation.

“I would say her actions at the

state level have been detrimental
to the public schools,” she said.
“They
have
been
funneling

millions of dollars to charter
schools
which
have
little

oversight
and
therefore
are

typically not successful and have
sometimes have lower (scoring)
schools than our public schools.
And I am worried about that on a
national scale.”

LSA
junior
Grant
Strobl,

national chairman of the Young
Americans for Freedom board of
governors, said he was thrilled to
hear about DeVos’ appointment.

“Frankly, the ineptitude and

corruption of the Detroit Public
Schools
has
squandered
the

future of generations of Detroit’s
children. Unfortunately, Detroit
is not alone,” he wrote in an
email. “Many public schools in
this country are keeping children
in the cycle of poverty. I am
confident Betsy DeVos will be
innovative, including the possible
creation of a voucher program,
to give each child the education
they need and deserve.”

Michigan
currently
has
a

lenient schools of choice policy,
giving citizens the ability to
choose what district they want
their children to attend. However,
there is a ban on vouchers in the
state constitution, which the
DeVos family has been working
to repeal.

Wright said DeVos’s hometown

of Holland has had a high number
of public schools shut down
because of her influence.

In
Holland,
schools
of

choice have led to high rates of
segregation and multiple public
school
shutdowns.
According

to the Holland Sentinel, white
students started leaving Holland
schools for less diverse districts,
a phenomenon generally referred
to as “white flight.” Michigan’s
schools are also facing troubles
academically, as the state is
currently falling behind in early
reading rates and has shown
negative growth since 2003.

Norton noted that Michigan

differs from most states as the
state calculates a school’s budget
based on how many students they
have. For example, in the average
Michigan school, a student is
worth $7,500. If a child leaves,
however, the money leaves with
them and the public school loses
the $7,500.

Wright said she thinks DeVos’s

argument that competition in
schools leads to more innovation
is faulty, since most public
schools, which do not have the
resources to pursue different
types of learning and unique
programs. She added that she
thinks DeVos is doing nothing to
help public schools become more
innovative.

“I am concerned (about) our

public schools, while not perfect
(they)
still
have
wonderful

attributes about them,” Wright
said. “When we take resources
away from them with vouchers
and schools of choice and give
money to other types of schools,
the public schools that are
struggling then have absolutely
no chance to correct and do
better. So we are just starving
schools who are struggling and
that’s not going to help them get
better. That is just going to end
the schools.”

Wright
also
said
DeVos

strongly
supports
Christian

private schools. Both she and
Norton agreed this could lead to
a further strain on the separation
of church and state doctrine.
Wright added that it could
create more funding for religious
schools over public schools.

“I can’t foresee myself teaching

at a private religious school ever,”
Wright said. “I would be looking a
different career. I hope that is not
what happens to public schools. I
hope that our country recognizes
the value of all different types
of schools, public schools being
the main option provided for
our country for decades of well-
educated citizens.”

Public Policy junior Nadine

Jawad, who is the co-president
and co-founder of Books for a

Benefit, a program that provides
supplies and workshops to cities
like Dearborn, Dearborn Heights
and Detroit, echoed the criticism.

“I think (DeVos’s policies)

can be very, very detrimental
to marginalized communities
across the United States but
especially
in
Michigan,
like

Detroit and other communities
here,” Jawad said.

Jawad said the voucher system

is only successful for families
who can pay the difference
between a public and private
school education. Voucher money

would come from the government
and then families are left to pay
the rest of the private school’s
fee. This, Jawad argues, leads to
more socioeconomic inequality.

“Even the idea of what she is

trying to do is, I think, is terrible,”
she said. “Right now, Michigan
ranks 42nd in terms of public
education quality. And if we are
the 42nd state and we know that
there are public schools that are
lagging behind, it doesn’t make
sense that she wants to create
an even larger division and even
more inequality.”

DeVos’s
appointment
has

also been criticized by the
American Civil Liberties Union
and the American Federation of
Teachers. AFT President Randi

Weingarten
denounced
the

choice in a press release.

“DeVos has no meaningful

experience in the classroom or
in our schools,” she wrote on
the AFT website. “The sum total
of her involvement has been
spending her family’s wealth
in an effort to dismantle public
education in Michigan. Every
American should be concerned
that she would impose her
reckless and extreme ideology on
the nation.”

However, conservatives like

Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander
(R) have said they appreciate
DeVos for her small government
policies. State Rep. Bill Huizenga
(R–Mich.) said on his website
DeVos’
policies
would
help

children get quality education
“no matter their zip code” and
that she will “disrupt business as
usual in Washington.”

Norton said his group’s next

steps are to reach out to other
education activists on a national
level and inform others of their
experiences in Michigan.

“(Our board hopes to) let

people know precisely what
this means,” Norton said. “I
think that a lot of people in the
country from other states didn’t
really understand how extreme
this choice was, how extreme
the positions of DeVos and her
husband and colleagues are.”

Though
his
appointment

of DeVos has been met with
much criticism, especially from
educators and activists, Trump
said in a statement that DeVos
is “a brilliant and passionate
education advocate” and will be
able to “break the bureaucracy
that is holding our children
back.”

DEVOS
From Page 1

factors
that
may
contribute

to behavior from fans — the
weather, which could include
hot, cold, rain, sleet, snow,” she
said. “They tend to impact how
much people might consume,
how much alcohol and food and
how much they might participate
in other activities. If it’s raining,
sleeting and snowing in the same
game, a lot of people won’t stay or
won’t even come.”

Business sophomore Maxwell

Frenkel said he was surprised at
the statistics from the final home
game against Indiana given the
snowy weather. Fifty-one people
were
treated
by
emergency

medical responders.

“For Indiana, the number of

individuals treated wasn’t high,
but it wasn’t super low,” he said.
“That was a freezing day and a
lot of people I know didn’t go
to the game. Most people didn’t
want to sit in the stadium. A lot of
people watched at home. So I’m
surprised the numbers are still
somewhat high.”

According to Brown, kickoff

times also play a big role. She said
games that start at 3:30 p.m. tend
to have more enforcement action
than games that begin at noon.

Engineering freshman Sam

Harris said he thought there
was
a
simple
reason
start

time of games was significant
in understanding why more
students might be treated for a
medical emergency. The football
games on Sept. 3 and Sept. 10,
which started at noon, found 74
and 55 individuals, respectively,
treated by emergency medical
responders,
while
at
the

following two games on Sept.
17 and Sept. 24, which started
at 3:30 p.m., 83 and 76 people,
respectively, were treated.

“It seems for 3:30 games,

there are more people taken to

the hospital, probably because
there’s more time to drink and
party,” he said.

This year specifically, the

first five football games were all
played at home, something Brown
said is almost unprecedented.

“At the beginning of the

semester, students and others
might not be quite so busy with
other activities as they are at
other times of the year,” she said.

Noting that only 11 people

were transported to the hospital
during the first game against
Hawaii, Frenkel said he thinks
this makes sense given it was the
first of the season.

“The most individuals were

taken to the hospital at the
Hawaii game probably because
it’s the first game of the year so a
lot of people are coming back,” he
said. “They haven’t been drinking
and partying over the summer,
so they may go especially hard.
It’s welcome weekend.”

Brown said the intensity of the

rivalry between the schools can
contribute to more drinking and
partying as well.

“There were opponents that

we didn’t play at home this year
where we have been known
to have to deal with more
enforcement action,” she said.

Similarly,
Frankel
said

the Big Ten rivalry between
Wisconsin and Michigan, as well
as the relatively small distance
between the schools, could have
contributed to the 64 people
ejected from the stadium — more

than in any other game.

“There were an abnormally

large amount of ejections at
the Wisconsin game, probably
because a lot of Wisconsin fans
travel here,” he said. “It was
one of the first big games of the
season.”

Harris said he expected there

would be more arrests during the
Indiana game since it is also a Big
Ten school, but as Brown noted,
the snowy weather could have
played a role. There were only
two arrests during this game
— the second lowest number of
arrests all season and the lowest
in a Big Ten game.

“There
aren’t
that
many

arrests for Indiana,” he said.
“You’d expect because it’s a Big
Ten that there would be a lot of
people doing stupid stuff.”

In response to high alcohol

consumption on game days,
University groups have taken
on several initiatives to increase
student safety.

This year, Central Student

Government
hosted
a
sober

tailgate before the Colorado
game. CSG has also taken other
initiatives to keep students safe
during high-risk times, including
Hydration
stations
outside

Greek life housing on game days
through a joint effort between
CSG and the Interfraternity
Council.

Public Policy senior Joe Shea,

CSG communications director,
said CSG tries to keep students
safe in any way they can, though
he noted the police are ultimately
responsible for student safety in
these instances.

“Our goal is to try to get

students to be responsible on
game days and we saw this as
an opportunity to promote a
fun event where students can
come out, have some pizza, stay
hydrated and have fun,” he said.

CRIME
From Page 1

A stellar start to the season

buoyed many of those numbers.
In the month of September alone,
he recorded 9.5 tackles for loss,
returned a punt for a touchdown
and totaled a whopping 332 all-
purpose yards, setting the stage
for early Heisman hype.

That hype reached a boiling

point at Rutgers, when Peppers
ran for two touchdowns in his
home state of New Jersey. After
the game, Michigan coach Jim
Harbaugh declared that Peppers
should be in New York for the
Heisman ceremony. Now, he will
be.

Jackson, a quarterback from

Louisville, is considered the

favorite to win the award after a
year in which he tallied 51 total
touchdowns.
Twenty-one
of

those scores came on the ground.

Jackson and the Cardinals

were long projected to face
off against Peppers and the
Wolverines in the Orange Bowl,
but after Louisville lost its season
finale to Kentucky, Florida State
earned the berth instead.

Watson, a returning finalist

from a year ago, came on strong
late to clinch another standout
season for the Tigers. Playing
against Virginia Tech in the
Atlantic
Coast
Conference

Championship Game, Watson’s
stellar passing — particularly on
third downs — kept the Hokies
at bay and sent his team to the
College Football Playoff.

The Sooners had two finalists,

sending a tandem to New York
that would have been hard
to
separate.
Mayfield
and

Westbrook were as dynamic
a combo as existed in college
football.

Westbrook
hauled
in
16

touchdowns
for
Oklahoma,

and
Mayfield
threw
38,

limiting himself to just eight
interceptions.

As
a
primarily
defensive

player, Peppers is not likely to
take home the trophy from New
York, though the most recent
defensive player to win the
award also went to Michigan —
Charles Woodson in 1997.

Desmond Howard (1991) and

Tom Harmon (1940) are the
other Wolverines to win the
award.

PEPPERS
From Page 1

the programs.

“I think the system sucks,”

said David Potter, professor of
classical studies. “The reason
we’re using (Box) is because
we’re not able to use CTools
and we’re being shoved into a
system that doesn’t seem to be as
functional as the old system.”

Szymanski,
who
also

frequently
uses
Box,
an

online file sharing and project
management tool, was surprised
that it is being used for anything

more than information sharing.

“It’s a sharing device, isn’t

it?” Szymanski asked. “It’s not a

device for filtering information.
I’m just shocked to hear it’s
being used for administrative

purposes. I use it all the time for
storing data and sharing with
researchers. Are you kidding
me, that it has an administrative
function?”

DeMonner’s overall response

to
the
concerns
was
that

problems associated with these
new programs can be attributed
to a lack of knowledge about
how to use them, making better
training the solution.

“There could be problems

with any of these programs if
they are misused, but that’s
more of a training problem than
an intrinsic problem with the
program,” DeMonner said.

SACUA
From Page 1

Stonington also bought in personal
stories in relation to the ideas of
Thai physicians, such as one of a
man who had abdominal pain, but
his pain was not treated until the
day he found out he had pancreatic
cancer.

“He said, ‘That day was the best

day of my life,’ ” Stonington said. “It
shifted him from this category, of

pain that wasn’t being treated, into
cancer pain.”

Stonington also shared another

story of a 76-year-old woman who
went to the doctor because of
pain in her legs. After two visits of
telling the doctor of her pain, she
received no help. After a third visit,
when she told the doctor her legs
felt “slow,” she received treatment
and had an X-ray taken on her legs.

“‘I don’t like taking X-rays,

especially for pain,’” Stonington
said a Thai doctor told him.

Stonington
concluded
the

lecture by posing a question
to the audience about what he
characterized as the overall issue
at hand — his attempts to try to
make sense owf something that
exists, yet is actively erased.

“How do you make sense of

sort of a silence where everyone
knows that something exists but no
one can name it or talk about it or
identify it?” he said.

CHRONIC
From Page 2

“I am committed
to transforming
our education

system.”

“I can’t forsee

myself teaching at
a private religious

school ever.”

“I think

the system

sucks.”

“They haven’t been

drinking and partying

over the summer, so

they may go especially

hard.”

Council,” Frenzel said. “It is a
very strange process to go through
being appointed in comparisons
to running and being elected, and
obviously the timeline has been very
fast and there is only eleven months
for the appointment by mind is both
spinning in the humbleness and the
work to be done.”

Last month, Briere announced

her intention to resign at the Dec.
5 City Council meeting to move to
California. After the announcement
was
made,
the
city
opened

applications to fill the soon-to-be-
vacant seat. Seven Ward 1 residents
– K.C. Lopata, Brent Eliason, Jason
Frenzel, Charles Bultman, Jeff
Hayner, David Moya, and Taha
Hussain – applied for the position.
All seven were interviewed by
the council on Nov. 28 at a public
meeting.

The meeting began with a tribute

to Briere’s service on council from
state Sen. Rebekah Warren (D–Ann
Arbor) and state Rep. Jeff Irwin
(D–Ann Arbor), thanking Briere
for the work she has done in the
community and wishing her the
best in her move to California.

In the last hour of the meeting,

Briere offered a resolution declaring
her resignation. After the council
approved the resolution, Briere
stepped away from her seat and
Council
began
discussion
on

selecting a replacement.

In an interview in a November,

Briere said she began working with
city officials early on when she
decided she would be vacating her
seat.

“In other situations in the past,

people have moved and resigned,
but because I have full warning
and I’m the kind of person I am,
when I understood that my son
was successful in purchasing the
house and I had a basic idea of when
I would move, I worked with the
Mayor and the city administrator
and the city attorney to create a
reasonable process proposal, and
council then looked at that process


proposal and improved it,” Briere
said.

A large portion of the meeting

before
the
vote
on
Briere’s

replacement was focused on an
ordinance to rezone 5.34 acres
of land from a Township District
land to a Multiple-Family Housing
District to allow for the creation of
a three-story, 75-unit condominium
structure as well as the development
of a regional water basin, which was
approved with an 8-3 vote. During
public comment, a dozen residents
of the Ascot Road/Village Oaks
Court area, where the proposed
development would be built, urged
the council to vote down the zoning
ordinance.

The residents argued that the

development would be damaging
to the area’s water systems and
would change the appearance of
a neighborhood that is all single-
family homes. Many argued that
the creation of a water detention
center would be beneficial for some

residents of the area but would
create far worse problems for those
near the new development, leading
to more flooding.

Paula Uche, an Ann Arbor

resident who spoke twice during
the public comment section, said
after the vote that he thought
the Council’s decision to pass
this ordinance disregarded their
ethical duty and the voices of their
constituents.

“The city has cut a deal with

a very wealthy developer, who is
going to get even wealthier with his
$75,000-a-year condos, when the
rest of us who suffered to pay off
our houses are going to get flooded
again
because
(the
council’s)

decision totally ignores one section
of the area and have neglected
our complaints, our concerns, our
warnings,” Uche said.

Councilmembers Jack Eaton (D–

Ward 4), Sumi Kailasapathy (D–
Ward 1) and Jane Lumm (I–Ward
2) voted against the ordinance. The
dissenting council members echoed
the concerns of the residents that
spoke. Eaton also stated that this
rezoning goes against the city’s
overarching master plan.

However,
Councilmember

Graydon Kraphol (D-Ward 4), who
voted in support of the proposal,
argued that the master plan is a
guide, not meant to be interpreted
as an absolute. Smith also noted
that that just because the area is
currently dominated by single-
family dwellings does not mean
non-single family housing is at risk.

COUNCIL
From Page 1

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