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

ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SIX YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM

GOT A NEWS TIP?
Call 734-418-4115 or e-mail 
news@michigandaily.com and let us know.

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