The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Friday, March 31, 2017 — 3
campus.
Garg said the demands posed
by Students4Justice will work
as a checklist for what the
University needs to fulfill.
“We will continue to do
everything necessary to fulfill
the demands from September,
reintroduced during the sit-in,”
Garg said.
LSA
freshman
Charde
Madoula-Bey, an organizer of a
police brutality protest, agreed,
saying activism will end when
the University makes tangible
improvements, not when the
activists become tired.
“Because of the lack of
change, I believe that activism
is always needed when the
demand for justice is not met,
so until there is a change in the
social climate towards minority
groups on campus, I promote all
activism,” she said.
While
political
activism
is usually seen in a positive
light, especially when dealing
with
younger
generations,
LSA freshman Tiana Brandon,
finance chair of S4J, said though
the organization will be working
hard to fulfill its long-term goals,
she hopes nothing will warrant
a political protest in the future.
“I am sure, based on the
current
behavior
already
portrayed by the incoming class
of 2021 and all of the political
turmoil in the country, that
something else will happen
and a similar protest will take
place,” Brandon said. “However,
I would like to stay hopeful that
an event will not occur that
requires such response.”
Madoula-Bey
agreed
and
said, though activism is positive,
it is also an indication of large-
scale issues, which she said are
becoming more prevalent on
campus.
“As far as any shift in the
political climate, specifically on
campus, the climate has become
negative,” Medoula-Bey said.
“The racism and discrimination
has
been
becoming
more
blatant since the election. But
for minority groups, there has
been a prevailing mood of hope
amongst our communities.”
As expressed in many of the
protests, the current power
ratios
in
Washington,
with
President Donald Trump in the
White House and a conservative-
controlled Congress, can be
a major obstacle or cause for
discouragement among young
activists.
However,
Engineering
senior Keanu Richardson, who
organized the protest outside
University
President
Mark
Schlissel’s home following the
racist and anti-semetic emails
sent to students, said now is not
the time to give up or ignore the
issues.
“The change we want to see
on campus probably won’t be
seen by anyone who’s on campus
right now,” Richardson said.
“But now’s not the time to get
discouraged, but motivated to
make sure that this campus is
better for future generations.”
Richardson
added
change
does not have to come from
large-scale protests. He said the
personal relationships he has
formed have been some of the
most conducive to change.
“I will say that students
need to stop equating people
to
institutions,”
Richardson
said. “President Schlissel isn’t
a bad guy. He’s very genuine
and wants to help, but he also
understands the limitations that
he has in his role as a leader of an
institution. I would say that the
same goes for a lot of members of
administration.”
Moving forward, Richardson
said he hopes student activism
can be more aware of its context
within a nation that is inevitably
more diverse than our campus.
He said ignorance can be avoided
by becoming more “teachable.”
“You have people who have
convinced
themselves
that
change is happening because
of a bubble they created,”
Richardson said. “If I unfriend
or block everyone who has a
different opinion than me, then
all I’m going to see are people
rallying toward my cause. I’ll
convince myself that the world is
changing because I’ve severely
limited who’s in my world, and
now I can only see what I want
to see.”
Madoula-Bey,
who
has
planned an April march and
speak
out
against
human
trafficking, said she doesn’t
see student activism waning
anytime
soon,
considering
the number of issues — such
as climate change and lack of
minority voice — she would like
to see addressed.
Regardless of the purpose
or
the
agitator
or
even
effectiveness,
Delekta
said
the recent student activism is
inherently positive, and hopes it
continues.
“I love to see so many
students
engaging
in
their
civil
freedoms
to
express
their opinions,” Delekta said.
“Insofar as protests that do
not infringe on the freedoms
of others, I think that student
protests are an inspiring symbol
of the political activism within
our generation.”
On the other side of the
debate,
more
conservative
students participate in forms
of
activism,
despite
being
an ideological minority on
campus.
LSA
sophomore
Ashley
Calcagno,
who
signed
the
#NotMyCampus
petition,
explained her perspective of
campus as a conservative.
“Part
of
attending
the
University of Michigan, as a
conservative, is understanding
that
you
are
entering
an
environment
where
the
majority of your peers have
differing political ideologies,”
she said.
Calcagno
added,
while
protests
often
facilitate
awareness,
they
don’t
necessarily bring about change.
For Calcagno, the role of the
University is not to behave as a
political actor.
“As for the future, I would
like to see the University
continue
to
work
toward
equally including the feelings
and emotions of people on both
sides of the political spectrum,”
she said.
Regardless, Calcagna said
if need arises, an appropriate
response to any bias furthered
by the University should be
expected.
ACTIVISTS
From Page 1
Terrence McDonald, director
of the Bentley, spoke to nearly
100 attendees at the Gerald R.
Ford Library on Thursday about
the significance of the digital
documentation of the Daily.
In an interview beforehand,
McDonald said the digitization
project involved partnerships
across multiple units at the
University, including the Bentley,
the IT department of the Harlan
Hatcher Graduate Library and
the Student Publications. The
resulted is an archive that holds
huge implications for future
understanding of the University.
“A great university, to stay
great, has to maintain a high level
of
historical
consciousness,”
McDonald said. “We have a
great history; certain members
of our community know about
that history, but the world
beyond that needs to know more
about that.”
Though
the
project
was
completed last October, the data
was originally only released to
faculty and students involved
in bicentennial-themed courses
last December.
“The idea of digitizing the
Daily was, to begin with, a way
of getting the story out; that
is, the digital initiative of the
Daily is already crafting more
scholarship on the history of
the University of Michigan in
the last three months with its
very limited release than we’ve
produced than in the previous
multiple years,” he said.
McDonald,
who
has
27
students in his bicentennial-
themed course “22 Ways to
Think about the History of The
University of Michigan,” said
his students have already made
great use of the archives in their
research.
“The
Daily,
because
of
its
editorial
independence,
its daily publication and its
journalistic
ambition
—
it’s
just a phenomenal newspaper
of record of the history of the
University,” McDonald said.
At the release, McDonald
introduced Kemp, who spoke
about the significance of the
archives with regard to his
extensive
family
background
with the University and the
memorializing of students’ time.
“It’ll allow a lot of people that
had great memories at Michigan
to be able to have tangible
evidence of that by getting a
Michigan Daily article about
it,” Kemp said. “Once you get to
Michigan, you build memories
that will last you a lifetime, you
make friends that will last you a
lifetime.”
Kemp spoke of his foundation’s
generosity for the program as a
form of repayment for what the
University has given his family.
“For four generations, our
family members have received
the many benefits of being
University of Michigan people,”
Kemp
said.
“I
really
don’t
want you to remember, I don’t
want you to note or recollect
everything I said today. I just
want you to remember all of
those things I described. If
you
insist
on
remembering
something I said, then let me ask
that you remember the last two
words: Go Blue.”
Afterward, Schlissel spoke,
musing
on
his
time
as
a
student journalist at Princeton
University. Schlissel credited
his
experience
reporting
as
preparation
for
his
career
as
University
president.
Princeton’s student publication,
the
Princetonian,
recently
digitized its archives, something
Schlissel noted has allowed him
to reflect on his time as a college
student and hopes the Daily’s
archives will do the same.
“The
new
archives
we’re
celebrating tonight represent
an
important
milestone
in
University of Michigan student
journalism,” Schlissel said. “In a
place like the U of M, a chronicle
of our university is also a record
of
the
larger
society.
This
project exemplifies the culture
of innovation that is thriving
throughout our university.”
Schlissel
then
performed
the first official online search
of the Daily’s digital archives,
searching for a column written
by former Daily columnist Haya
Alfarhan titled, “Sit with your
differences.”
“When privileged individuals
are unwilling to interrogate
their
internalized
biases
because
it
makes
them
uncomfortable,
it
forces
students
with
marginalized
identities to trigger themselves
emotionally to make a point,”
Alfarhan wrote in the column.
“Privileged comfort comes at the
cost of triggering marginalized
students. Students who trigger
themselves to do so because
these topics consume their lives
and a lack of discourse in class
is genuinely painful for them …
Yes, professors should be able to
facilitate their class discussions
better, but it’s also students’
responsibility
to
engage
wholeheartedly.”
Following Schlissel’s remarks,
a panel spoke, consisting of LSA
senior Shoham Geva, editor-in-
chief of the Daily for the 2016-
2017 academic year, Neil Chase,
executive editor of The Mercury
News in addition to being chair
of
the
Student
Publications
Board and Philip Power, founder
of The Center for Michigan, a
nonprofit organization aimed
at curing statewide political
culture.
The panelists — moderated by
McDonald — discussed a number
of topics, primarily challenges
in the field. Power experienced
issues with regard to coverage
of the Dean of Women and the
Vietnam War; Chase, however,
experienced financial barriers
when the Daily shifted from
being a paid publication to
free
distribution
under
his
tenure
and
Geva
discussed
the challenges she faced with
diversity
and
entering
the
digital age.
Power
highlighted
the
entrepreneurial
attempts
of
nonprofit journalism.
“The Daily is what honed
our interest and our capacity
to take complex things and put
them into sensible pros and
argumentative politics,” Power
said. “There is not enough
money
in
the
philanthropic
ecosystem to fund and sustain
nonprofit
journalism
in
the
scope and intensity that we need
in order to save this country.”
Ultimately,
the
panelists
concluded with a discussion of
maintaining public engagement
in current political context.
Micheline
Maynard,
Daily
alum
and
Knight-Wallace
fellow for 1999-2000, said in
an interview after the event
the
archives
serve
multiple
purposes that will be beneficial
to many communities.
“This is going to be an
incredibly
valuable
resource
for those of us who write books,
those of us who are interested in
journalism and especially those
of us who were born in Ann
Arbor, because this is a tool for
us to look back on our town,”
Maynard said. “It’s very rare to
find an archive this complete
and that goes back as far as it
does.”
BENTLEY
From Page 1
revenues from the state to
businesses.
Withholding
tax
capture
revenues
are
the
income
taxes
paid
by
businesses to the government
on behalf of the businesses’
employees by taking a portion
out of employees’ paychecks.
If the business overestimates
the amount of this income tax,
employees are refunded every
year when they file their taxes.
Under the bills, the money
withheld
from
employees’
checks would stay with the
businesses rather than going to
the state.
The program is capped at
a maximum value of $250
million, representing at most
15 agreements with a company
per year.
The
five
opposing
votes
in the Senate were all from
Republicans. In an interview
with the Detroit Free Press, one
of them, Sen. Patrick Colbeck
(R–Canton), argued the bills
would benefit too few people.
“This is a case that we need
to be pursuing broad-based
tax
incentives
that
benefit
everybody, not these targeted
benefits that benefit 15-some
odd companies,” Colbeck said.
“I’m tired of the business
being prioritized over the best
interests of everybody.”
In a statement last week, Gov.
Rick Snyder was tentatively
supportive of the bills.
“Both
packages
are
addressing areas that need to
be addressed,” he said. “There
still may be some issues that
can be improved, but I won’t
want to get into too many
specifics. And I think there’s
a need for a tool in the tool
box
for
potentially
large
manufacturers,
particularly
where they pay above average
wages.”
State Rep. Yousef Rabhi (D–
Ann Arbor) strongly opposed
the bill, states businesses in the
state have already been given
enough.
“The
net
amount
that
the state is taking in from
businesses
is
miniscule
compared
to
what
people
are paying in income tax and
sales tax and all that,” he said.
“We’ve given them a repeal of
the Michigan Business Tax, a
reform of the personal property
tax, and we’ve given, given,
given to businesses and I feel
like the whole argument behind
this is ridiculous. If businesses
can’t create jobs after we’ve
given them all this other stuff,
then I don’t know what else it’s
going to be.”
Calling the bill “corporate
welfare,” Rabhi argued the
money the state would lose
from the bill could be more
effectively spent by the state
itself.
“We have to be able to pay
our bills as a state,” he said.
“That’s
$250
million
that
could’ve gone to schools, that
could’ve gone to police and fire,
that could’ve gone to creating
jobs in infrastructure. We can
create jobs with that money
if we actually invest it in our
public infrastructure, which,
that’s where the money’s going
to be coming out of.”
Rowan
Conybeare,
chair
of College Democrats, Public
Policy junior said she supports
the bill if it follows through.
“If the bill delivers on its
promise
of
creating
well-
paying jobs, then it should be
an effective bipartisan effort,”
Conybeare said.
President
of
College
Republicans Enrique Zalamea,
an LSA junior, did not respond
to requests for comment.
TAX
From Page 1
the Deir Yassin massacre, a
1948 attack by Zionist military
forces
on
the
eponymous
Palestinian village that left
over 100 people dead in their
homes.
Henry
Herskovitz,
a
member of the board of
directors
for
Deir
Yassin
Remembered
and
later,
a
self-described “former Jew,”
stirred controversy in 2014
when he campaigned for the
release of Ernst Zundel from
prison, who was sentenced by
a German court to five years
in prison for inciting racial
hatred through literature he
published.
Zundel,
along
with
co-author
Eric
Thompson,
wrote a book entitled “The
Hitler We Loved and Why,”
published in 1977.
Though Herskovitz himself
has not expressed such strong
pro-Nazi sentiment, he does
question the existence of the
Holocaust. In a July 2016
video posted on the Deir
Yassin Remembered website,
Herskovitz
explained
his
doubts.
“Why do I support open
debate on the Holocaust?”
he asked. “Because I want to
know what happened and why
it happened. Because I resent
manipulation,
and
I
feel
manipulated and threatened
when decent people like Ernst
... are locked up for expressing
what they believe … If I say
passenger jets did not bring
down the two World Trade
Centers, I don’t go to prison.
But when I ask for a single
wartime photo of a homicidal
gas chamber, in Israel and a
dozen other countries, I put
myself at risk for prison time.”
A member of the Beth Israel
congregation, who wished to
remain anonymous for fear
of harassment by Deir Yassin
Remembered, said the group’s
apparent concern with the
Israeli-Palestinian
conflict
and Israeli apartheid were
superficial.
“That
is
the
nominal
organization to which they
are affiliated, but that is
ancillary to their primary
motivation,” the member said.
“Their primary motivation is
a deep anti-Semitism, in the
same way as the Ku Klux Klan
claims to be defending white
rights.”
Devin
Jones,
a
representative
of
Students
Allied
for
Freedom
and
Equality
––
a
student
organization that opposes the
Israeli apartheid, similarly
to DYR -– agreed that DYR’s
engagement with the Israeli-
Palestinian conflict was not
serious.
“Firstly,
I
think
that
any group that denies that
Holocaust participates in hate
speech and contributes to anti-
Semitism by denying one of
the worst genocides in human
history,” Jones said. “Thus, if
the SPLC found evidence that
DYR has denied the Holocaust
then their listing as a hate group
is justified.”
Jones continued to say that
DYR’s anti-Semitism did more
to hurt the BDS movement than
help it.
“Any type of racism, including
anti-Semitism, is not allowed
in the movement. It directly
violates the principled approach
that BDS takes to end Israeli
state racism and apartheid,”
he said. “Additionally, many
Jews support BDS, including
Jewish Voice for Peace, and any
anti-Semitism and Holocaust
denial that occurs by groups
supporting BDS excludes Jews
from being able to stand in
solidarity
with
Palestinians
and ending Israeli apartheid.
Thus, DYR cannot fully support
BDS until they renounce anti-
Semitism and holocaust denial.”
The synagogue has asked
that people not engage with the
picketers.
GROUP
From Page 1
The net amount
that the state is
taking in from
businesses
is miniscule
compared to what
people are paying
in income tax