Faculty and graduate students
have recently responded with
personal
and
professional
concerns to President Donald
Trump’s
executive
order
restricting
immigration
from
seven Muslim-majority countries.
The order, met with much
opposition at the University of
Michigan
and
nationallyupon
its signing on Jan. 27, sparks
questions as to who will and will
not be able to travel in and out of
the United States. It also prevents
refugees
from
entering
the
country for at least 120 days.
Amal Fadlalla, a women’s
studies associate professor, is
originally from Sudan — one of
the banned countries — but is a
naturalized U.S. citizen. She is
currently on sabbatical.
In an email to the Daily,
Fadlalla noted that restrictions
like this order “are not new.”
“After 9/11, most of these
countries,
mentioned
in
the
new ban, were under heavy
restrictions,” she wrote. “This ban
made these restrictions harsher
and more visible. For instance,
whereas citizens from these
specified countries entering the
U.S. were subject to thorough
questioning and investigation,
now they may be denied visas or
entry all together.”
Fadlalla said she used to
experience questioning at the
border because of her Sudanese
citizenship. Once she received
a green card and, later, U.S.
citizenship, the questions became
more mild. Agents would merely
ask her where she was going, and
what she was doing there. She said
it helps to be affiliated with the
University of Michigan.
Fadlalla referenced a New York
Times article from Friday, citing
that up to 60,000 people from
the seven banned countries have
had their visas revoked since the
order’s implementation.
She also added that green-card
holders and citizens from the
banned countries may now be
subject to more questioning than
in the past.
On the national level, several
lawsuits have been filed against
the order. In Seattle, U.S. District
Judge James Robart temporarily
blocked the ban on Friday,
deciding the ban would do more
harm than good until a full case
could be heard, according to NPR.
Ann Donnelly, a federal judge
from Brooklyn who is a University
of Michigan alum, is among the
judges who issued a stay on the
ban.
With these measures in place,
there is still uncertainty as to what
happens next. Fadlallah wrote
that the order should be made
clearer so professionals from
the banned areas who may be
interested in coming to the United
States, as well as those who are
employed in the United States but
are working in the banned areas,
will know whether they will be
admitted.
“Well, this (executive order)
New legislation was introduced
last week in the Michigan state
Senate to remove the sales tax on
feminine hygiene products.
Feminine
hygiene
products
— which include tampons, pads
and reusable menstrual cups —
are classified under the tax code
as luxury items. This means
they are subjected to the state’s
6-percent sales tax. However,
Michigan’s code does exempt
medically necessary goods, such
as medications and catheters,
from the sales tax. Legislators
who proposed the bill argue that
feminine hygiene products fall
under this category.
An
attempt
was
made
to
introduce similar legislation during
last year’s session, but it did not
get a hearing in the Senate. Sen.
Rebekah Warren (D–Mich.), who
was one of the four legislators to
propose the bill, told the Daily she
thinks this time will be different.
“This year, we’re excited because
we had the bill (submitted) in the
beginning of the session really
quickly, just a few weeks after it
started,” Warren said. “We were
michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Thursday, February 9, 2017
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INDEX
Vol. CXXVII, No. 26
©2016 The Michigan Daily
N E WS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
O PI N I O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
S U D O K U . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
CL A S S I F I E DS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
See HYGIENE, Page 3
Removal of
tax on pads,
tampons
considered
GOVERNMENT
Availability, price of
items no longer viewed as
luxury purchases in state
MAYA GOLDMAN
Daily Staff Reporter
DESIGN BY JACOB BERGEN
Sources: NY Times, Migration Policy Center, UMDEI
International faculty respond to Trump
immigration ban by sharing experiences
New legislation raises questions about legality status of campus affiliates
JENNIFER MEER
Daily Staff Reporter
michigandaily.com
For more stories and coverage, visit
See FACULTY, Page 3
A
group
of
University
of
Michigan Engineering students
will travel to Cuba over Spring
Break in order to put their
prototypes and designs to work in
Cuban industry. The 22 students,
led by Prof. Brian Love, are going as
a part of the University’s innovative
“Design in a Resource-Constrained
Environment” course.
In a short newsletter describing
the objectives of the course,
students wrote that the unique
program will allow them to
work with Cuban resources in
the context of an import-export
economy.
“This
first-of-its-kind
engineering program is exposing
students
to
the
natural
and
financial resources in Cuba as they
are linked to its import/export
economy, as well as the current
state of opportunities in Cuban
industrial development,” the letter
read.
Love wrote in an email interview
he chose Cuba as a destination site
for the program because of his
experience teaching seminars at
the University of Havana, as well
See CUBA, Page 3
Students to
prototype
designs in
Cuba visit
CAMPUS LIFE
Engineering team, faculty
to represent University in
first-ever trip to island
KAELA THEUT
Daily Staff Reporter
When news of the three
racist
emails
from
Tuesday
night reached most of campus
Wednesday morning, students,
faculty
and
organizations
immediately
denounced
the
messages. Many, however, also
criticized
the
University
of
Michigan’s response, which was
similar to its responses to past
racially charged acts on campus.
The emails, which were sent
from three separate administrator
uniqnames, claimed to address
African-American and Jewish
diversity in the subject lines.
Engineering
Prof.
Alex
Halderman and Ph.D. student
Matt Bernhard were named by
the culprit as the senders of the
emails, however, it was later
confirmed by Halderman he was
not the sender.
Two of the emails read: “Hi
n*****s, I just wanted to say that
I plan to kill all of you. White
power! The KKK has returned!!!
Heil Trump!!!!”
The other one reads: “Hi you
fucking filthy jews, I just wanted
to say the SS will rise again and
kill all of your filthy souls. Die in
a pit of eternal fire! Sincerely, Dr.
Alex Halderman.”
The University’s Office of Public
Affairs released a statement early
this morning announcing the FBI
will be working with the Division
of Public Safety and Security in a
joint criminal investigation.
“The university’s Information
Assurance
group
also
is
involved in the investigation,”
the statement reads. “The U-M
Division of Public Safety and
Security has increased patrols in
the North Campus area where the
College of Engineering is located.
The content of the emails has been
condemned by the university in
general and by President Mark
Schlissel specifically.”
In
a
written
statement,
Halderman
denied
being
associated with the emails and
said the act itself is not difficult
to do.
“These
messages
were
spoofed,”
Halderman
wrote.
Students and
faculty voice
responses to
racist emails
TEDx event talks optimism, health
and policy change to over 1,300
See EMAILS, Page 3
ARNOLD ZHOU/Daily
Stamps School of Art and Design Assistant Professor Sophia Brueckner discusses the ethical design of new technologies at TEDxUofM at the Power Center on
Wednesday.
CAMPUS LIFE
Following messages sent to school list
servs, concerns raised over campus climate
MATT HARMON
Daily Staff Reporter
Notable speakers included Scott Matzka, Sophia Kruz and Dr. Abdulel Sayed
Wednesday night at the Power
Center, eight diverse speakers —
including University of Michigan
professors and international artists
— discussed their unique visions
for societal change and growth as
a part of the annual student-run
TEDxUofM event.
More than 1,000 students and
residents filled the auditorium to
hear the speakers’ ideas regarding
the conference theme: dreamers and
disruptors. The speakers covered a
wide array of topics including cancer
research, multiculturalism in a
globalized world and educational
reform.
One
event
organizer,
LSA
sophomore
Hannah
French,
noted the theme’s aim is to cause
introspection among the audience.
“So basically what we were
thinking is when you’re setting out
with an idea and you’re trying to
make this positive change in the
world, people are doing this usually
in one of two ways — they’re either
dreaming big or they’re trying to
disrupt the status quo,” French
said. “The theme encourages the
audience
to
question
whether
they are a dreamer or a disruptor
and how they can use that in their
everyday lives.”
Among event attendees, it was
this exposure to new ideas and
the opportunity to engage in self-
reflection on their applicability in
daily life that attracted many to go
to TEDxUofM.
One such event-goer, Engineering
senior Rachel Wallace, said events
like TEDx bring people together
and promote the sharing of different
ideas, experiences and cultures.
She further explained that the
conference prompts people to break
out of their social groups, and spend
time face-to-face with new people.
“I think events like this are great
because it gives you an opportunity
to hear about a lot of different ideas,
often different from your own,”
Wallace said. “… Also the interaction
around you and collaborating, you
know people tend to stay within
their own groups, and it’s a way
TIM COHN & KAELA THEUT
Daily News Editor &
Daily Staff Reporter
See TEDX, Page 3