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Wednesday, February 8, 2017 — 3A
“We are aware of an email
such as the one you describe
and our IT security team is
looking into it,” he said. “I’m
not even sure what names are
that may be associated, but
clearly that’s one of the first
things they’ll be looking at, is
whether
someone’s
account
has been compromised.”
The uniqname of J. Alex
Halderman,
a
professor
of
computer
science
and
engineering,
was
used
in
the original emails sent out.
His name was also signed at
the bottom of the third anti-
Semitic
email.
Halderman
acknowledged the incidents in
an email statement to the Daily
early Wednesday morning.
“This evening many EECS
undergrads received emails
with racist and antisemitic
content that appeared to be
addressed from me or from my
Ph.D. student Matt Bernhard,”
Halderman
wrote.
“These
messages were spoofed. Matt
and I did not send them, and
we don’t know who did. As I
teach in my computer security
classes, it takes very little
technical
sophistication
to
forge the sender’s address in
an email.”
Halderman also addressed
this incident as in response
to his position as an election
security expert.
“This
appears
to
be
a
cowardly action by someone
who is unhappy about the
research that Matt and I do in
support of electoral integrity,”
Halderman wrote. “We study
cybersecurity and elections,
and in recent months we were
involved in efforts to recount
the presidential election to
confirm
that
the
outcome
hadn’t been changed by a
cyberattack. I wrote about why
these efforts were necessary
shortly after the election. In
any case, the content of these
emails is contemptible, and I’m
sorry that the EECS student
body was subjected to them.
The university is aware of
the situation, and I expect an
official response soon.”
The University Division of
Public Safety and Security
also tweeted a message stating
actions are being taken in
an
investigation
of
these
incidents.
In response to the emails,
a post was made in the public
Computer Science Facebook
group
for
the
University.
Comments
on
the
post
speculated as to how and why
the messages were sent.
“The uniqname is probably
being faked to a moderator/
owner on the group so the
email will bypass moderation,”
one comment reads. “The name
is being set to the victim’s name
along with reply-to field so he
receives the complaint.”
Engineering
junior
Noah
Martin-Ruben wrote in an
email interview he would not
speculate the named senders
are at fault.
“It looks like the person
sending the emails is trying to
anonymize themselves by using
a fake, somewhat untraceable
email,” Martin-Ruben wrote.
On
the
same
Facebook
page, it was speculated that
the emails did not come from
the senders they appeared to.
Instead, posters believed the
messages were routed from a
fake emkei.cz email.
EMAILS
From Page 1A
rather than from Christianity.
Murray
discussed
the
importance of the “Golden
Rule,” the concept that rather
than treating others kindly
because of a selfish desire
for
reciprocal
kindness,
humans
should
empathize
with all humans and foster
relationships bound by love.
“I want to leave you with
that,” he said. “Because if we
take in that message, and live
as somebody else, regardless
of
their
beliefs,
regardless
of their creeds, regardless of
their backgrounds, regardless
of their ethnicities, if we can
take in that message and live
like that, then maybe our
correct idea of what it means
to be human will ultimately be
restored.”
Murray
also
believes
relationships are failing due
to humans passing judgement
onto
others
rather
than
deriving intrinsic worth from
God.
“Our sense of connectedness
is cracked,” Murray said. “If our
connection to God is cracked,
our connection to each other is
cracked.”
Zacharias expanded upon
Murray’s
idea
of
intrinsic
worth
by
explaining
how
relationships are what help
make human beings unique,
despite being made in the
image of God.
“How God manages this
is absolutely remarkable, by
introducing the notion of the
family and love between the
fellow human being,” Zacharias
said. “While you and I share
the image of God, you have a
distinctive uniqueness where
your relationships give you the
privilege of a kind of love that
they cannot give to anybody
else. You are in a relationship
with that privilege to God.”
Zacharias
said
citizens
put too much value in their
governments rather than in
their own self-worth.
“Some
nations
actually
believe that the value of an
individual is made by those in
power,” he said. “That’s not
what the Bible reminds you and
me; it reminds us that you are
made with such essential worth
and intrinsic worth.”
Zacharias ended the event
with his disappointment in
the amount of social division
in
the
modern
world.
He
questioned what civil rights
activist Martin Luther King
Jr. would think of the hatred
being spewed — believing that
the words of intolerance send
a terrible message to today’s
youth.
“What has happened to us
now?” Zacharias said. “If we
can’t even talk to each other
in a civil way, we are sending
a horrible example to our
young — to say that unless you
think like me, I’m going to be
intolerant of you.”
Regardless of their religious
views, students in attendance
shared the opinion that the
speakers presented interesting
points and thought-provoking
ideas.
LSA sophomore Mary Kate
McNamara said she appreciated
how the talk allowed people of
many different worldviews to
come together and discuss a
topic relevant to all humans.
“I really liked the Q&A at
the
end,”
McNamara
said.
“I found it very interesting
and refreshing that people
with
such
different
world
perspectives, whether they are
Christian, of another religion
or non-religious, could discuss
a topic as important as human
worth and dignity with such
respect for one another.”
LSA senior Erin Finn said
she was excited to take part in
a forum where the Christian
perspective on the purpose
of life was illuminated, as too
many people view Christianity
as a strict set of rules rather
than guiding purpose of life.
She explained that message
of the speakers and how they
voiced her beliefs accurately
to a large group of people,
resonated within her.
“Ravi
and
Abdu
really
touched on how Christianity
is about an ultimate gift of love
from God, and how God’s love
for us gives our life purpose,”
Finn said. “They noted how
this his necessitates nothing
from us, but rather arises from
our intrinsic worth as human
beings made in God’s image.
As a Christian, I was really
happy that other people could
hear what I actually believe,
not what they might think I
believe.”
CHRISTIAN
From Page 1A
passed with two dissenting
votes, from Councilmember
Jack Eaton (D–Ward 4) and
Councilmember Jane Lumm
(I–Ward 2).
“I am vividly aware of the
cost of smoking, but I can’t
support this ordinance,” Eaton
said in a July City Council
meeting.
“The
Michigan
Tobacco Products Tax Act
says that we shall not impose
any
new
requirements
or
prohibitions
pertaining
to
the sale of tobacco, and that’s
exactly what we’re doing here.
I think that when there’s a
state law that tells us not to do
something, we’re ill-advised
to do it regardless of how
passionate we are about the
intent behind the law.”
The opinion, also issued
Monday, was requested by
state Sen. Rick Jones (R–Grand
Ledge). In it, Schuette argues
state law preempts local laws
in this case, and that it is
specifically in conflict with
the state’s Age of Majority Act.
“The Act expressly bars
laws that prescribe duties,
liabilities,
responsibilities,
rights and legal capacity of
persons who are 18 to 20 years
old that are ‘different’ from
those who are 21 years old,”
Schuette wrote. “The Age of
Majority Act’s rejection of a
difference of laws for those
between the ages of 18 to 20
years as a class from those 21
years and older was predicated
on the existence of a duty,
liability, responsibility, right,
or legal capacity related to the
sale or furnishing of tobacco
products.”
Though the minimum age of
21 for the purchase of alcohol
in the state appears in conflict
with this act, the Michigan
Court of Appeals ruled in 1984
that the general provisions in
the Age of Majority Act “did not
alter” the Liquor Control Act
passed by the state legislature,
which raised the minimum age
for purchase from 18 to 21.
Noting
that
Schuette’s
opinion did not have legal
weight, Grand implied the
opinion also might be factually
incorrect.
“Not being an attorney, I
won’t comment much on the
legal merits of the opinion,
except that I would like to point
out that the attorney general
has been wrong before,” she
said.
Furthermore,
Grand
questioned
the
motives
of
Attorney
General
Schuette
in issuing the opinion, saying
it was a failure of his duty to
protect the health of Michigan
residents, and making her own
motives clear.
“We have a couple public
officials who are supposed to
defend the health of Michigan
citizens,” she said, referring
to Schuette and Jones. “Why
would they have the audacity
to make it easier for our youth
to have access to tobacco
products?”
Grand referenced a study,
published in March 2015 by the
Institute of Medicine, which
concluded that Tobacco 21
ordinances would achieve their
intended effect of preventing
adolescents from taking up
smoking in the first place.
“The committee concludes
that overall, increasing the
(minimum age of legal access)
for tobacco products will likely
prevent or delay initiation of
tobacco use by adolescents and
young adults,” the study reads.
“The age group most impacted
will be those age 15 to 17 years.”
In addition to adolescents
who have access to tobacco
through
older
friends
or
siblings, the ordinance also
targets
18-to-20-year-olds
who may be on the path to
addiction, Grand said.
Though the ordinance does
not provide any resources
for people under 21 who are
already addicted, Washtenaw
County and the University of
Michigan both run tobacco
cessation programs to assist
residents
and
students
struggling
with
tobacco
addiction.
CITY
From Page 1A
recently met during the filming
process.
The woman, whose name
was not given, was waiting
for a local food pantry to be
opened with two other men, as
she had not eaten in four days,
only to be turned down by the
food bank for not having a
mailing address.
Toward the end of the event,
the authors stressed the need
for action to be taken.
“Whatever those things are
that we do, it is maybe not so
much what you do, as how you
do it,” Shaefer said.
Shannon
Powers,
a
University
alum
who
now
works at the Chelsea District
Library,
initially
read
the
book as part of the Washtenaw
Reads Planning Committee.
“It was so informative, but
in a great way,” Powers said.
“It was very narrative … so you
were able to raise awareness
and reach a larger audience as
it was accessible to the average
person.”
Kathy Daly, an Ann Arbor
resident, said she appreciates
how the book is so far-
reaching, and added that she
finds it groundbreaking.
“It’s sort of low-key as
it recounts stories of how
people are trying to survive,”
Daly said. “At the same time,
because it is low-key, it is
infinitely profound.”
$2
From Page 1A
If we can’t even
talk to each other
in a civil way,
we are sending a
horrible example
yet, with 34 against and 13 in favor.
Schrayer said the lunches would
not be open to the public nor to
students in general, but to only a
select group.
“We can very easily get this
funding from other places, but we
think it’s a really good thing for
CSG to pass,” Schrayer said.
CSG President David Schafer,
an LSA senior, was opposed to
the idea, as he believes that it’s not
within CSG’s jurisdiction to fund
resolutions of that nature.
“Quite simply, it’s not CSG’s
place to judicate on international
conflicts and international issues,”
Schafer said. “Our scope is narrow,
our priority, first and foremost,
is to address pressing campus
issues, and how students on this
campus feel. I’ll be very honest,
when people come up to me and
say, ‘David, why is CSG considering
(Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions), it
has no place in CSG’ — I believe that
BDS is far more relevant to CSG
than this resolution, because BDS
more directly impacts students
on this campus. This is judicating
on a conflict that ostensibly has
no effects on the students on this
campus directly.”
Schrayer disagreed, believing
CSG is the right avenue to address
campus climate. He said if Jewish
student
organization
Hillel
sponsored the event, it would look
too biased.
“I think this is 100 percent a
student government issue because
it’s campus climate, it’s how
students on campus are dealing
with
one
another
and
their
everyday lives on campus; people
feel this every single day,” Schrayer
argued. “If not here, then where
is the place? This is why I ran
for student government, to bring
issues that affect my community
here. We’re simply buying food for
people to come together and I don’t
see a downside to that.”
Rackham student Rep. Andy
Snow expressed that the amount
requested wasn’t outside of the
CSG budget’s means, and stated
that the resolution was showing
initiative in trying to improve
campus climate.
“This is 200 bucks, and we have
approximately $20,000 — that’s
0.01 percent of the money we have
for the next month,” Snow said.
“I don’t think it’s going to work
at all, but I see no reason why it’s
not worth trying when they’re the
only people who have tried to do
something through here. I find
the pushback on this absolutely
ridiculous.”
Schafer responded to Snow,
emphasizing that BDS has had little
consistent change when presented
to the body and that his opposition
to the resolution was not because of
its financial aspects.
“We’ve given BDS the same
chance that we’ve given this
resolution, and every year BDS has
failed, OK?” Schafer said.
CSG
From Page 1A
This appears to be
a cowardly action
by someone who
is unhappy
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