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Friday, January 27, 2017 — 3
in the democratic process without
the constraints of having to put a
label on yourself like Democrat or
Republican,” Jawad said.
Jawad also co-authored the
resolution urging Ann Arbor to
switch to nonpartisan November
elections. At CSG’s first meeting
of the winter semester, the
resolution passed 27-5 with five
abstentions and no additional
amendments. It pointed out the
University’s size makes students
a key constituency in Ann Arbor,
and reiterated the need for
student civil engagement. It also
mentioned students’ historically
low voter turnout rate, which has
been under 20 percent the past
few years.
“Ann Arbor is one of only three
cities in the state of Michigan that
has partisan primary elections and
general elections in November,
Ionia and Ypsilanti being the
other two, and … students, one of
the largest constituencies in Ann
Arbor, are largely unable to vote
in the August Primary elections
as most students are not on
campus during the summer,” the
resolution states.
Councilmember Kirk Westphal
(D–Ward 2) agreed nonpartisan
elections would be beneficial to
Ann Arbor residents. He argued
since most residents vote straight-
ticket Democrat, the meaningful
choice would occur during the
August primaries, when most
students are gone, rather than the
November general elections.
“Ten out of 11 members on
(City Council) are Democrats,”
Westphal said. “Part of the logic
for nonpartisan elections on the
local level is that more people will
be making a meaningful choice in
effectively a one-party town in the
general elections.”
However,
Councilmember
Zach Ackerman (D–Ward 3) said
a candidate’s party affiliation
is crucial in communicating a
candidate’s values.
“I believe parties are a critical
identifier of values,” Ackerman
wrote in an email. “While there
may be no partisan way to plow
roads or pick up trash, there is a
reason we do not have to debate
how we treat our immigrant,
LBGTQ,
and
low-income
neighbors.”
Increasing
anxieties
about
recent price surges in off-campus
housing for University students
is one motive for CSG’s ongoing
efforts to convince City Council
to approve election reform and
a stronger dialogue between
the city and the students. Since
the University only guarantees
on-campus housing to freshmen
students, many struggle to find
suitable houses or apartments.
REFORM
From Page 1
site.
Two of the people on the
list of roughly 150 come from
the
University
of
Michigan:
History Prof. Juan Cole and
Communications
Prof.
Susan
Douglas.
Exposing students to all
points of view
The idea of Professor Watchlist
first came up this past summer.
Matt Lamb, Turning Point USA’s
director of campus integrity,
helped start the list following one
of the organization’s conferences
for
high-school
and
college
students.
“We’d been hearing all these
stories about professors lashing
out at students or professors
putting odd things on Twitter,”
Lamb
said.
“We
thought:
‘Wouldn’t it be great if there was
one place we could put all of these
stories?’ It would be really great
for students to see what’s going on
at these campuses, or campuses
they’re considering going to.”
Lamb’s main concern is not that
professors have political opinions,
but that they aren’t presenting
both sides of the issue in the
classroom. He wants to use the
website to reach out to students
and notify them of professors on
their campuses who might not be
receptive to their views, or even
respectful of them.
“We know we’re not going to
change the professors’ minds,
but it’s more (about) getting our
point of view out to students who
are still forming their political
opinions and might be more
willing to listen to us,” Lamb
said. “Professors are supposed to
encourage debate. If a professor
wants to present a liberal point
of view, that’s absolutely fine,
but present it in such a way that
encourages debate, not shuts it
down.”
“It’s an odd time we’re in
right now”
In order to keep the site
verifiable,
Lamb
only
posts
submissions
that
come
with
proof that the professor in
question actually wrote, said
or did something to attack
conservative
views.
Douglas’s
name is accompanied by a link
to a commentary about an
article she wrote for the political
commentary website “In These
Times,” in which she stated that
she hated Republicans.
“I hate Republicans,” Douglas
wrote in the 2014 editorial. “I
can’t stand the thought of having
to spend the next two years
watching
Mitch
McConnell,
John Boehner, Ted Cruz, Darrell
Issa or any of the legions of other
blowhards
denying
climate
change, thwarting immigration
reform or championing fetal
‘personhood.’ ” She then went on
to say she misses the days when
people of two different political
parties could have respectful,
impactful discourse.
Douglas said she found out
her name was featured on the
Watchlist through an email from
a colleague. When she first heard
the news, she wasn’t quite sure
how to feel.
“It’s an odd time we’re in right
now,” Douglas said. “On the one
hand, you feel what the intent of
this is. Even though the founders
of the site said that their intent is
not to suppress expression, clearly
that’s one of the things they’re
trying to do. And in these times,
one has to take those concerns
seriously. And on the other hand,
I looked at it and was like, ‘I’m
not going to take this seriously,’
because these people have never
taken a class with me — they’ve
never seen what I’m like in a
class.”
What Douglas found most
intriguing about the situation was
that her article was actually meant
to lament the partisan divide the
country currently faces. The title
she wrote was “We Can’t All Just
Get Along,” but it was changed
by her editors to “It’s Okay to
Hate Republicans” — without her
consent — before it was published.
The title has since been changed
back to Douglas’s original line.
However,
Lamb
felt
the
intention of the piece wasn’t as
important as its content. And
although he’d never sat in on
one of Douglas’s classes, he was
concerned with how the article
might seep into her lessons.
“She said: ‘I hate Republicans.’
Well, okay, you can say that, but
if you’re teaching a class and
you have a Republican in your
classroom, what position does
that put them in?” Lamb said. “I
know she said she didn’t like the
title, but there’s still a line in her
editorial … you kind of assume
that creeps into the classroom
when these things come up.”
Douglas,
however,
isn’t
convinced her outside writing
affects the way she teaches.
And while she notes it would be
impossible to know the political
affiliation of every student in
her classroom, she does her best
to encourage them to look at all
points of view.
“There are faculty whose
scholarship often informs their
teaching, but who can be public
intellectuals and write about
things that never come up in
the classroom,” Douglas said.
“I wouldn’t bring it up in the
classroom because it would never
be appropriate … When I teach
a class of 300 students, I can’t
know all of their political views.
That just doesn’t happen. And
I don’t care what it is. What I
care about is teaching them how
to think analytically about the
media.”
Juan Cole, who is also on the
Watchlist, was targeted for a
blog article he wrote in 2015 in
response to the Charleston, S.C.
church shooting. According to
Professor Watchlist, Cole asserted
right-wing Jews and a culture of
Islamophobia contributed helped
inspire the shooter, Dylann Roof.
Cole declined to comment for the
Daily.
“Faculty have the right and
duty to teach controversial
subjects”
In the history department,
Prof. John Carson, the director
of
undergraduate
studies,
is
responsible for handling any
curriculum issues that might
arise.
This
would
include
complaints
of
a
professor
attacking or even not bringing
up the other side of a political
debate. Carson said he had not
had any curriculum complaints
in his two-and-a-half years as
director, but the department
makes sure students are hearing
the analytical argument, not the
professor’s opinion.
“If a student found something
controversial, we might talk to
the professor and make sure
things were being presented in a
scholarly way that accentuates not
passions, but scholarly analysis,”
Carson said. “And as long as that’s
the case, faculty have the right
and duty to teach controversial
subjects.”
Carson was upset to see the list
online in November. As a friend
and colleague of Cole, Carson
stood by him when he was added
to a similar site, Campus Watch,
in 2002, and he decided to submit
his own name to the website in a
show of solidarity.
He was not alone in this:
Professors from all across the
country submitted their names
to the site in droves, saying if the
purpose of the list was to target
academic freedom and shame
faculty who teach ideas Turning
Point rejected, they wanted their
names added, too.
When Lamb received the
submissions, he wasn’t amused.
He deleted the spam submissions,
but said it didn’t deter him from
working on the site. In fact, he felt
the swell of professors turning
themselves in only proved the list
wasn’t a threat to their freedom at
all.
“Professors would send in tips
… which I think confirms our
point, and dispels the myth that a
lot of these teacher organizations
are
promoting
that
this
is
somehow a threat to academic
freedom,” Lamb said. “But you
wouldn’t want to be on a list if
you thought this is a threat to
academic freedom, so I just take
this as an acknowledgement that
they’re lying, and that this is not
a threat.”
Communications
Prof.
Kristen
Harrison,
the
department’s associate director
of undergraduate studies, agreed
with Lamb that the list probably
isn’t a threat to anyone’s freedom.
However, she did see it as a way
to scare professors out of sharing
certain ideas — albeit a way that is
probably futile.
“The Professor Watchlist is
an intimidation tactic,” Harrison
said. “There’s nothing to watch
… professors are usually a pretty
benign group, and our most
radical actions are written down.
And so you go into the library
and find a book and say ‘Wow,
I disagree with that,’ and that’s
pretty much the best way to resist
our ideas.”
LSA junior Collin Kelly, the
chair of the University’s chapter
of College Democrats, also felt
the list isn’t going to accomplish
much, and his professors seem
to be making every effort to
encourage debate and differing
viewpoints.
“Every professor I’ve had has
gone out of their way to advocate
for both sides, and make sure
they weren’t taking one side of
the story or the other,” Kelly
said. “Then again, I don’t identify
as conservative … But calling
(professors) out without trying
to create some sort of dialogue
seems very shortsighted and kind
of inflammatory.”
Zalamea said he’s never had
a problem with any professors
discouraging his beliefs, and he
hasn’t heard of that happening
to any of his classmates, either.
In fact, he feels he can still make
meaningful relationships with
professors, even when they don’t
share his opinions. He said he
wouldn’t use the list to avoid
certain professors or classes,
though he doesn’t necessarily
think it’s a bad idea.
“If you’re a student who thinks
it’s so important to take a class
where the professor aligns with
your political views, it helps,”
Zalamea said. “I don’t think it
necessarily reflects a division,
but it reflects being on a liberal
campus and wanting to be with
people who share your political
beliefs.”
WATCHLIST
From Page 1
Terry McDonald, director of the
Bentley Historical Library, said the
development of the process is part
of a larger national conversation
on controversial building names
and legacies on college campuses.
In 2015, Georgetown University
renamed two buildings originally
named for school presidents who
sold slaves to settle debts, while
Yale University came under fire last
summer for housing students in a
residence hall named after John C.
Calhoun, one of the most prominent
defenders of slavery in the decades
preceding the Civil War.
“There has been a tremendous
national consideration of questions
about whether or not buildings
should be named after people whose
actions in their own time were
controversial,”
McDonald
said.
“One important context of this is
the national reconsideration of what
it means when you memorialize
someone on your campus, which is
different than teaching history or
something like that.”
Any member of the University
community can submit a proposal
to the president to change the name
of a building. The president then
decides whether to refer the case
to the committee. The committee
developed several guiding principles
with which they may evaluate
the proposal including pedagogy,
interpretation, due diligence and
consistency.
McDonald
specifically
highlighted
the
principle
of
pedagogy, which maintains that
the names of University buildings
should allow students to learn
about history and people who have
contributed to the school.
“Every name is a teachable
moment,” he said. “Our question
is: ‘What is it that this name
teaches on this campus? Why
would that name be important to
be remembered?’”
Former Physics Prof. Jens Zorn
wrote in an email interview he
disagrees with the former Dennison
Building’s name switch to Weiser
Hall in 2014 after a significant
donation from Regent Ron Weiser.
“My main issue is that we are
diminishing the history of our
University by entirely removing the
name of an honored, distinguished
professor from a building that
has carried that name for many
decades,” Zorn wrote.
The high-rise section of the
building is undergoing a renovation
and will no longer be used for
physics studies like it was in the past,
while the lower portion will remain
unchanged.
Zorn wrote he agrees with
changing the name of the high-rise
portion to Weiser to recognize the
donor. However, he opposes the
name change of the lower portion of
the building, seeing as that portion is
not undergoing a change.
“The low-rise portion is clearly
separate; its appearance is not
being altered,” he wrote. “Its use for
physics education remains much as
it was for many years. My colleagues
and I believe that the low-rise
building should retain the Dennison
name.
RENAMING
From Page 1
— where people come from, their
ethnic heritage, what their interests
are, sexual orientation — I want
students to see the Musical Society
as part of what they can be proud
of,” Fischer said. “We want students
to come and learn about the world
by experiencing what it is we bring
to the stage.”
When Aaron Dworkin, dean
of the School of Music, Theatre
& Dance, was a student at the
University, Fischer was a mentor
in his career-building. Dworkin
said he benefitted in his personal
professional development, as well
as organizational benefits, from
Fischer’s leadership once he became
dean.
“It’s incredibly honoring and
exciting to be part of bringing
some voice to this new transition,”
Dworkin said. “I’m so excited that
Matthew will succeed. No one
can replace Ken, but someone can
succeed Ken. As I think around the
world, I can think of no one better.”
VanBesien
echoed
Dworkin’s
sentiments.
“I think item number one is to
uphold a legacy of Ken and all that
he has done during his time there,”
VanBesien said. “The UMS team
is staggeringly good. They’re great
colleagues, they’re great people and
are great at what they do. So what
I hope to bring to the equation is
some additional perspectives from
my own career — not only work and
think creatively together about what
the next chapter for UMS will be,
but what it’ll be for the University
of Michigan, for Ann Arbor and
southeast Michigan.”
Fischer
emphasized
the
alignment of VanBesien’s vision
with UMS’s goals.
“The Music Society is the oldest
of our kind in the country at 138
years,” Fischer said. “His (New
York Philharmonic) is the oldest
orchestra in this country, so he has
great appreciation for tradition.
But he’s an innovator — he’s done
interesting things with the New
York Philharmonic and now he’s
going to want to do the same sorts of
things here and that’s what excites
me.”
Music, Theatre & Dance junior
Joshua
Devries
studies
cello
performance at the University and
spoke about the new opportunities
VanBesien’s leadership will bring.
“The New York Philharmonic
is heavily involved in educational
opportunities
throughout
New
York, so knowing that the new
UMS (director) will have those
experiences
and
bring
that
perspective to UMS is a good sign,”
Devries said.
UMS
From Page 1
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Brown said incoming freshmen
in each new student orientation last
summer as well as fall orientation
learned the protocol.
Many students, however, still
don’t feel prepared. LSA freshman
Sam Allen was not sure about the
proper response in an active shooter
situation,
despite
having
gone
through the training last summer.
“Honestly, I’m not sure about
the official protocol,” she said. “I
feel like there is a general idea of
staying hidden, but I wouldn’t have
any official plan if I found myself in a
situation that. I guess I haven’t really
thought about it.”
Research released by the Harvard
School of Public Health faculty in
2015 found mass public shootings
have steadily increased over the last
five years. According to Everytown,
a gun safety lobbying group, there
have been more than 200 school
shootings since 2013, 47 percent
of which took place on college or
university campuses.
DPSS
has
updated
its
presentations as recently as last
semester to include more training
materials. Additions include a UM
active
shooter
response
video,
available on the DPSS website, that
details how to appropriately respond
to an active shooter situation, as well
as revisions to the postcard that
highlights the basics of response
protocol.
Amir
Baghdadchi,
communications director for the
University Housing Administration,
said residence hall student staff
receive training on how to respond
to an active shooter situation
through the DPSS Building Incident
Response Team. The training also
teaches residential staff how to
respond to a variety of emergency
situations. BIRT also offers a
refresher course in emergency
situation response, which is offered
in the winter term.
“BIRT training discusses safety
(and) security for the staff and
residents
using
best
practices
from emergency first response
disciplines,” Baghdadchi said. “All
training is conducted by DPSS
officers and DPSS Community
Liaisons.”
Staff
units
make
up
a
majority
of
the
presentation
requests,
but
presentations
are also popular among large
student
organizations.
Safety
presentations
are
currently
optional and by request only,
but DPSS Chief of Police Robert
Neumann encourages all students,
faculty and staff to be informed,
either by viewing the website and
video information or attending an
in-person presentation.
“Immediate, decisive action
on the part of those facing such a
situation saves lives, and excellent
training is easily accessible,”
Neumann said.
Neumann also warns students
to remain vigilant and prepared
for any possibility, either on- or
off-campus.
“It is an unfortunate reality that
we as individuals and a community
need to think of preparation for
active violence events in much
the way we do for fires and severe
weather,” Neumann said. “While
the chances of one facing such a
situation are very remote, they
can occur at any time, in any
place, with little or no warning.
TRAINING
From Page 1