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Tuesday, January 31, 2017 — 3

since 1965.

Despite 
worry 
from 
union 

members and veterans, Spicer said 
the freeze is ultimately to protect 
the working class.

“Some people are working two, 

three jobs just to get by,” Spicer 
said. “And to see money get wasted 
in Washington on a job that is 
duplicative is insulting to the hard 
work that they do to pay their 
taxes.”

LSA junior Taiwo Dosunmu, 

communications director of the 
University’s chapter of College 
Democrats, said in an email 
interview he agrees with the 
sentiment that Americans are 
hardworking, but he questioned 
whether or not Trump’s motives 
were really to protect them.

“The 
vast 
majority 
of 

government 
employees 
and 

civil servants are talented and 
hardworking people who help 
government agencies run smoothly 
and effectively,” Dosunmu wrote. 
“President Trump, in contrast, 
has clear conflicts of interest 
and has nominated people to 
high 
government 
office 
that 

are beholden to Wall Street, oil 
companies, and other special 
interests. Even a week in, his 
administration is the embodiment 
of everything he falsely claims this 
executive order will help correct.”

Individuals who have been 

hired but who have not yet started 
working could still be affected by 
the freeze. Although the freeze 
is scheduled to last 90 days, 
until Trump’s budget director 
recommends a long-term plan, 
LSA senior Dominic Russel now 
worries for his job at the Consumer 
Financial Protection Bureau.

Russel expected to start his job 

in July, well after the scheduled 
90-day limit, but his employers are 
still unable guarantee the security 
of his job.

“They sent out an email a day or 

so after the freeze saying that the 
legal team is going to look more 
into it,” Russel said. “I’m definitely 
hoping for the best, but I would like 
a more definitive response.”

At risk of putting his position 

further 
in 
jeopardy, 
Russel 

declined to comment further on 
the broad effects of the freeze.

LSA freshman Helena Harmon 

has also been feeling the effects 
of the constraints. Harmon has 
a family member who works for 
the federal government, and the 
Environmental Protection Agency 
media blackout has forced her 
family to operate with discretion, 
especially considering the agency’s 
attrition program.

In addition to the stress felt by 

Harmon’s family caused by the 
hiring freeze, Harmon herself has 
goals that could be hindered by the 
precedence this legislation sets.

“I want to work for nonprofits, 

so I want to work for an (non-
governmental 
organization),” 

Harmon said. “When I graduate 
in four years, if the administration 
doesn’t change its tone, I would 
have to look at the private sector.”

Dosunmu 
also 
mentioned 

the private sector is a large part 
of freezes implemented by past 
administrations.

“First of all, the history of past 

federal hiring freezes, like the one 
under President Reagan, shows 
they don’t actually help to manage 
the size of the federal workforce,” 
he wrote. “Additionally, it ends 
up making the government spend 
more — not less — money as they 
hire expensive contractors.”

However, the private sector is 

affected by the hiring freeze as well. 
Trump wrote in his memorandum 
that contracting private sources to 
avoid the intent of the freeze is not 
permitted, a move Harmon found 
concerning.

“This is just a step further to 

prevent any work, no matter how 
important it is, from happening,” 
she said. 

Additionally, Dosunmu wrote 

he believes the freeze will not be 
effective in shrinking the federal 
workforce and is hypocritical in 
light of the large federal projects 
Trump plans to undertake.

“Trump’s hiring freeze is a 

tired old tactic of anti-government 
conservatives,” Dosunmu wrote. 
“Trump has returned to this tactic 
in an attempt to pander to Tea 
Party conservatives, while at the 
same time proposing policies like 
a wall with Mexico that would 
represent a massive increase in 
government spending and a clear 
waste of taxpayer money.”

RESPONSE
From Page 1

should respond to contrasting 
viewpoints.

Looking 
to 
the 
future, 

Sotomayor 
and 
Baer 

hypothesized 
about 
what 

universities will look like in 
the years to come. Sotomayor 
cited the low number of African 
American 
students 
at 
the 

University 
when 
discussing 

the 
future 
of 
university 

communities. This, Sotomayor 
said, is indicative of a lack of 
 

diversity on campus.

“I am going to be politically 

correct,” Sotomayor said. “It’s 
going to look a lot like Michigan 
but with even greater diversity. 
I don’t think we can get there 
without addressing it because 
it is an ideal to be a color-blind 
society.”

Baer stressed classism as the 

largest issue affecting the future 
of universities, encompassing 
other factors such as ethnicity 
or 
gender. 
The 
University 

released a 49-part Diversity, 
Equity and Inclusion plan last 
October aiming to diversify 
students’ race, ethnicity and 
socioeconomic status, but low-
income students are still widely 
underrepresented, according to 
a report released last month. 

“The moral of class manifests 

itself differently and is located 
within different segments of 
the population,” Baer said. 
“Money matters but shouldn’t 
matter as much when it comes 
to education.”

The 
panelists 
shared 

their experiences of “firsts”: 
Sotomayor received her law 
degree from Yale University 
1979 and was nominated to the 
U.S. Supreme Court by former 
President Barack Obama in 
2009 as the first Latina to 
serve on the Supreme Court. 
Baer, a University law alum, 
is currently serving a 12-year 
term as a justice of Germany’s 
Federal Constitutional Court. 
She is the first lesbian woman 
to serve on Germany’s high 
court.

Moderator Michele Norris 

has written for ABC News, The 

Washington Post and NPR and 
currently serves on the board 
of the University’s Knight-
Wallace Fellowships program.

Before 
the 
conversation 

began, Regent Mark Bernstein 
(D) 
presented 
Sotomayor 

with an honorary Doctor of 
Laws degree — Norris and 
Baer received their honorary 
doctorates from the University 
in 2013 and 2014 respectively. 
Bernstein 
said 
Sotomayor’s 

dedication to her work and 
her promotion of equal rights 
makes her a true Wolverine.

“Sonia 
Sotomayor’s 
keen 

legal mind and a commitment 
to fairness and social justice 
and public service inspires 
students, Hispanics, women, 
all those to work to create a 
better, more equitable world,” 
Bernstein said.

In response to her new 

degree, Sotomayor gave the 
crowd a short and powerful, 
“Go Blue.”

Sotomayor, Baer and Norris 

each also spoke about the 
importance 
of 
compromise 

in communities today. With 
Norris guiding the discussion, 
Sotomayor said she must rely on 
dialogue to execute her duties.

“As judges, I think we are 

often put in a situation where 
we’re forced into community,” 
Sotomayor said. “We … have 
to decide some of the most 
complex 
questions 
that 

this society is facing and in 
America, we can dissent and 
we can disagree, but we have to 
reach a decision.”

The University community 

has 
experienced 
many 

instances 
of 
conflict 
and 

charges of lack of dialogue 
between students of opposing 
viewpoints this school year, 
including the posting of racially 
charged fliers in September 
and ongoing protests of the 
Trump administration. With 
President 
Trump’s 
Supreme 

Court 
nomination 
being 

announced Tuesday, Baer said 
effective community members 
recognize, and prioritize, their 
opposition.

“This 
community 
is 

built on the willingness to 
compromise,” 
Baer 
said. 

“It’s about being fair … being 

forceful with your arguments, 
but yet being willing to respect 
the other as a legitimate voice, 
from another world maybe but 
still legitimate.”

Sotomayor 
and 
Baer 

reflected on their experiences 
at universities and how they 
have adjusted to their current 
judicial 
positions. 
Norris 

noted 
Sotomayor 
was 
very 

shy when she first entered the 
collegiate sphere. Sotomayor 
said throwing oneself into the 
unfamiliar is the best way to 
thrive in university and beyond.

“I live a life now where I do a 

lot of talking — hence why I’m 
here — but for a good part of my 
life, I did a lot of listening and 
a lot of observing,” Sotomayor 
said. 
“I 
think 
everyone 

needs to grow and needs the 
trauma 
of 
putting 
yourself 

in situations that make you 
uncomfortable because when 
you’re comfortable, you just 
don’t change.”

Baer said, at the University, 

she was afraid of being called 
on. Speaking from her own 
experience as coming from 
another country and not being 
out as a homosexual woman, 
she said if an individual has 
to run away from issues, they 
should 
always 
chase 
new 

opportunities instead of hiding.

“For me to have those two 

challenges in my life, one 
super private that no one 
talked about and the other, 
being an international student 
and everyone knows it, what’s 
difficult to hear yet again is, 
if I have the tendency to run 
away, it’s running to a more 
comfortable place where maybe 
you can start again,” Baer said. 
“Never leave the situation. 
Never leave the opportunity but 
create your next opportunity 
and start again.”

As Norris began reading 

questions 
from 
University 

students, Sotomayor and Baer 
got out of their seats, answered 
them among the students on 
stage and in the crowd, and 
greeted students and faculty. 
In response to a question 
about how her social identity is 
reflected in her work and how 
she works with her coworkers 
with her identity in mind, 

Sotomayor said she continues 
to be vocal and refuses to allow 
people’s view of her to get in the 
way.

“For most things I think are 

important, I say them and I say 
them because even if they don’t 
win in a particular case, I said 
them with a thought process 
of solution,” Sotomayor said. 
“I may not win tomorrow but 
down the line … the voices have 
been heard.

A student in the audience 

asked Baer how public opinion 
intersects with her job as a 
justice. Baer responded with 
how justices should embrace 
public opinion in order to have 
a deeper understanding of the 
people they are representing.

“If you’re acting with these 

people and start a discussion 
with what they expect from 
you, you come into much richer 
waters,” she said. “You can 
start a conversation.”

LSA junior Stephen Mitchell 

said in contrast to what the 
public has been seeing from the 
Trump administration in terms 
of dialogue, Sotomayor and 
Baer showed the crowd how 
compromise will work in the 
years to come.

“Hearing a different story 

of what’s going on in the world 
and the direction we’re headed 
as 
a 
university 
community 

too, I think that it’s a really 
empowering feeling,” Mitchell 
said.

Art 
& 
Design 
freshman 

Gabriella 
Pascual 
said 
the 

justices’ ideals aligned with 
those of the students attending 
today.

“Given that these people were 

agreeable toward the general 
outlook of the University, I 
think it helped incite a lot of 
inspiration and encouragement 
to go into this future with an 
optimistic outlook,” Pascual 
said. “It reminded me of why 
I’m here and what I’m looking 
to pursue in the legal force.”

Both 
guests 
joined 

students 
from 
the 
School 

of 
Music, 
Theater 
and 

Dance 
in 
the 
evening 
for 

a 
series 
of 
performances 

and 
conversations 
on 
the 

importance of the arts to social 
justice.

COLLOQUIUM
From Page 1

forward to implement a greater 
breadth of services in the area.

LSA junior Max Rothman, 

a member of the mental health 
task force, explained some of the 
difficulties students living on 
North Campus face.

“Students on North Campus 

feel that they don’t have equal 
access to utilizing mental health 
resources on campus,” Rothman 
said. “Of the students who 
currently live here on North 
Campus and who have utilized 
some sort of resource here on 
campus, 50 percent answered 
yes about whether the physical 
distance here on campus has 
deterred them from utilizing 
CAPS.”

The bus route itself can often 

create an issue for students 
who find themselves struggling 
with a sudden illness such as 
an anxiety attack. Engineering 
sophomore Natalie Baughan, 
another member of the task force, 
recalled an instance in which she 
developed the stomach flu while 
in class on North Campus and 

had to find a way to quickly get 
home.

“I had to try to get back to 

Central so I could go home, but it 
was a 20-minute bus ride, and I 
had to get off the bus at one point 
to go back to the bathroom,” she 
said. “It was so horrible, it was a 
traumatic experience, and then I 
thought: ‘What if this happened 
to someone with a mental 
illness? What if someone had a 
surprise anxiety attack and they 
were on North Campus?’ You 
(would) have to get on a crowded 
Blue Bus and ride 20 minutes to 
get home. It’s so hard; we need 
something up here.”

Other issues discussed include 

the fact that many students are 
aware of the resources CAPS 
provide but may choose not to 
seek them out because of previous 
negative 
experiences. 
The 

waiting time for an appointment 
and the business hours were 
issues of concern raised by the 
students.

“It’s really hard for students 

to prioritize mental health,” 
Rothman said. “There’s lots of 
insurance issues. We found in the 
data that people have mentioned 
about insurance not covering 

mental health resources, having 
to go to their parents and that 
being 
a 
barrier. 
Something 

that’s very applicable to North 
Campus is just the distance that 
we have from here to CAPS. We 
found that to be a barrier, as 
well as the business hours that 
are associated with CAPS, only 
being open 9 to 5 throughout the 
week.”

According 
to 
the 
CSG 

survey results, 73.6 percent of 
respondents felt professors, GSIs 
and lecturers are moderately 
or very obligated to provide 
accommodation to students with 
mental illnesses.

Attendees broke off into 

groups to discuss this result 
and other barriers surrounding 
those looking to seek support 
on campus, as well as make 
suggestions for the task force 
to improve overall campus 
climate. 
These 
suggestions 

were compiled into a document 
the task force will share with 
University 
administration, 

specifically hoping to increase 
the effectiveness of student-
professor 
interactions 

both inside and outside the 
classroom.

CSG
From Page 1

care providers and researchers, 
especially in light of the possible 
revocation of former President 
Barack Obama’s health care law.

Trosvig said the most important 

aspect of her position, especially 
concerning the interaction between 
IT and research, is constant review 
of the utility of programs.

“You can’t say, ‘this is a great 

service’ and leave it,” Trosvig said. 
“You need to do assessments every 
two or three years, say ‘is this still 
cost effective? Is this still the same 
way we do it? Is this still the best 
way to do it?’ You need to continually 
assess your services.”

Engineering 
sophomore 
AJ 

Ashman, senior policy advisor for 
Central Student Government, came 
to the meeting to talk about efforts 
to reduce textbook prices.

Ashman presented information 

about his and the University libraries’ 
efforts and answered questions 
concerning library resources that 
attempt to alleviate a portion of the 
cost of college textbooks. One such 
resource that Ashman is working 
to expand is the University Library 
course reserves, which keeps course 
materials on reserves at the library 
for students to use in four-hour 
increments.

Ashman 
said, 
according 
to 

research, about 30 percent of 
students often do not purchase 
textbooks for financial reasons, 
despite the impact that may have on 
their performance in the course.

“Textbooks are a hidden cost 

of college, but they’re crucial to 
succeeding,” he said. “And if we’re 
going to be taking kids here who 
are socioeconomically of lower 
statuses, we’re not giving them 
that opportunity without the books 
to succeed in the class … We’re 
really pricing kids out of a quality 
education.”

Ashman also discussed efforts 

to incorporate programs similar to 
those at the University of Indiana, 
which include increased usage of 
online textbooks at a lower cost to 
students.

He said these efforts represent 

the libraries’ efforts to be as relevant 
to students as possible, given the 
prevalence of technology.

“We have all these books on 

the shelves, that’s great,” Ashman 
said. “But are students really using 
them and are we catering to those 
needs? They’re as eager as I am to 
make themselves more relevant to 
students today.”

Ashman appealed to SACUA 

to help spread information about 
library resources to other faculty 
members and students. SACUA 
Chair William Schultz, professor 
of mechanical engineering, agreed, 
requesting specific documents of the 
resources Ashman had in order to 
disseminate the information more 
accurately.

SACUA
From Page 1

who knows what reason?’ ”

However, 
Community 

Relations 
Director 
Jim 

Kosteva told the Daily in 
a 
previousarticle 
that 
the 

Council’s decision to cull is 
supported by ample scientific 
evidence, 
an 
opinion 
with 

which 
many 
University 

biologists agree. Kosteva said 
deer grazing has significantly 
damaged University property 
in a way that is environmentally 
and financially unsustainable.

“The Nichols Arboretum, 

which 
is 
expected 
to 
be 

a 
showcase 
and 
living 

laboratory of diverse species, 
has been unable to establish 
many seedlings due to the 
overgrazing of the deer herd,” 
Kosteva wrote. “The University 

has also incurred a significant 
loss of landscape materials, 
particularly on North Campus, 
that have been consumed or 
damaged by deer. Replacing 
that material has required a 
costly diversion of funds that 
otherwise could support more 
mission centered activities.”

The protesters gathered at 

the corner of North University 
Avenue and State Street, and 
made their way across the Diag 
to the Arboretum chanting, 
“Hey hey, ho ho, U of M deer 
cull’s got to go” and, “Stop the 
shoot in the Arb.” 

Sergio 
Muniz, 

Transportation 
Research 

Institute visiting scholar, said 
in Brazil where he is from, 
people are against lethal animal 
control and wished to see that 
attitude grow in Ann Arbor.

“Our animals have the right 

to life and peace,” Muniz said. 

“In Brazil, hunting is illegal … 
There and here, we have the 
same concerns about hunting. 
It’s not the best way to keep 
nature safe and healthy.”

When the protesters reached 

the Arboretum, they formed 
a circle passed around LED 
candles and sang “We Shall 
Overcome,”

FAAWN member Nirmala 

Hanke 
read 
a 
speech 

condemning the University’s 
decision to allow the cull and 
criticized what she saw as 
inadequate safety procedures 
for students.

“We have, as human beings, 

created the problem of taking 
away the deer habitats with all 
of our development,” Hanke 
said. 

CULL
From Page 1

Read more online at 

michigandaily.com

