News
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Monday, September 18, 2017 — 3A
ROBERT BUECHLER/DAILY
George Hastings, a retired judge, speaks alongside distinguished Michigan
Daily alumni at Rackham on Friday.
Publications and Wallace House,
home
of
the
Knight-Wallace
Journalism Fellowship and The
Livingston
Awards
for
Young
Journalists.
Lisa Powers, event coordinator
and
Student
Publications
Development /Alumni Relations
Director,
said
the
panel
and
weekend sought to connect alumni
with current students and forge
relationships over a mutual respect
for the Daily.
“I wanted to bring as many
alumni and students together and
celebrate everything that makes the
Daily relevant and past, present and
future, it all comes together,” Powers
said. “We want our alumni events
and our student recognition to
happen at the same time whenever
possible so this was an opportunity
to do that.”
A discussion on sports journalism
and how the genre has changed with
the introduction and widespread
usage of social media kicked off the
panel series. Moderated by Leba
Hertz, the arts and entertainment
editor
of
the
San
Francisco
Chronicle,
the
panel
featured
prominent figures in sports media,
more recent University graduates
and Laney Byler, current Daily
senior sports editor.
Ken Davidoff, sports journalist
for the New York Post, said he leans
heavily on Twitter for his work
and it forces normally long-winded
journalists to be concise and direct
with their reporting.
“I think tweeting is an art form,”
Davidoff said. “I love tweeting. I’m
all about brevity and efficiency … I
think anyone who tweets twice in
a row should pay a fine. Anything
you can’t communicate in 140
characters on Twitter is not worth
communicating. I think social media
has made me a better writer because
it’s made me more efficient.”
With the increased amount of
social media in sports journalism
comes the added price of gender
discrimination from behind a screen
according to Shannon Lynch, recent
alum and social media coordinator
at MLB.com. She said women are
still highly scrutinized in sports
journalism, especially in the digital
age due to increased anonymity
online.
“I think it’s no secret that women
on Twitter who work in sports
are a target of a different kind of
hatred
and
misunderstanding
I would say,” Lynch said. “The
internet unfortunately gives people
that platform to say whatever
they feel without dealing with the
consequences of it.”
Byler echoed Lynch’s statements
as a panelist and said some
individuals online have questioned
her coverage because she is a woman
reporting on sports.
“I definitely think there is a little
bit of extra (pressure),” Byler said.
“We have to prove ourselves a little
bit more. … People would tweet ‘Are
you sure? Are you sure you know
what you’re talking about?’ and yes,
I do. I know as much as the next
person, but there is that little bit of
skepticism.”
The following panel, featuring
three
Pulitzer
Prize
winners,
expanded upon Lynch’s and Byler’s
comments on women in sports and
focused on diversity for women
and underrepresented minorities in
journalism today.
Eugene Robinson, columnist at
the Washington Post and MSNBC
commentator, was co-editor in chief
of the Daily in 1973. He was awarded
the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary
in 2009 for his columns on the
election of former President Barack
Obama. He also currently serves on
the Pulitzer Prize Board.
According
to
the
American
Society of News Editors 2016
Diversity Survey, 17 percent of
the workforce in newsrooms are
minority journalists. The same
survey reported about 33 percent of
newsroom employees are women.
Robinson said he has seen the entire
arc of newsroom diversity in his
career, from being one of the first
four African-American reporters at
the Post to seeing the recent dip in
newsroom diversity even at the Post.
“Things got a lot better and
now they’re starting to get worse,”
Robinson said. “If you look at
the (Washington Post’s) overall
numbers, in terms of minorities,
the Post newsroom is something
like 31 percent minority, which is
a lot better than it appears right
now. However, if you look at our
masthead, it’s way whiter and
more male than it was just a few
years ago and I think that is true
when you look around at who’s
running the various sections.”
Lisa Pollak, former Daily news
editor, won the 1997 Pulitzer for
Feature Writing while writing for
The Baltimore Sun for her story
on a baseball umpire whose son
died of a genetic disease. She said
journalists miss stories without
adequate diversity and she is
still seeing the same issues with
a lack of minority representation
in journalism today as she was
when she was on staff at the
Daily in the late ’80s.
“I’m struck by how 30 years
ago at the Daily, we were talking
at the Daily about how to increase
the
number
of
non-white
students who were on staff and
everywhere I’ve worked, I feel
like in 30 years, at newspapers
and public radio or a startup, it
is the same problem and that is
not what I would have expected
and it’s unfortunate,” Pollak
said.
Ann
Marie
Lipinski,
co-editor in chief of the Daily in
1977 and curator of the Nieman
Foundation for Journalism at
Harvard University, was part of
the team at The Chicago Tribune
that was awarded a Pulitzer in
1988 for Investigative Reporting
on issues of self-interest in
Chicago’s city council. She said
while it is possible to reprimand
specific instances of sexism and
racism in articles and in the
newsroom, the larger systemic
issues of diversity are difficult
to change.
PULITZER
From Page 1A
Read more at MichiganDaily.com
said he was appreciative of how
the University came together.
There will also be a MCSP
meeting Sunday night to discuss
the incident, he explained.
“Just this afternoon, I already
had people reach out to me.
President Schissel took to Twitter
and said it’s unacceptable,” he
said. “Campus security talked to
me to get the full story. I think the
campus is handling the situation
really well...action is definitely
being taken. The University is
really putting effort to get to the
bottom of this.”
What caught Stearns off
guard, he said, was that MCSP is
considered to be one of the most
inclusive spaces on campus. He
said he hopes people will take the
situation seriously.
“Because it’s not (a joke).
Maybe people do those things
as a joke but they don’t realize
what
psychologically
impact
that can have on a person,” he
said. “Especially since I am
at the University to study and
get an education. But then I
have to worry about the feeling
of oppression and not being
accepted. I have to watch my
back at all times. And that just
puts extra pressure on me on top
of regular college life.”
LSA junior Sydney Whack is
a friend of one of the students
whose door was marked —
she initially saw the photo on
Snapchat.
“I made sure he was good,”
she said. “He said he was
going to report it to the RA. I
know he was pretty upset.”
Pictures of the incidents
were
spread
by
angered
students across Twitter.
“Everyone’s pretty upset,”
Whack said. “I know some
people have made tweets
and
stuff
addressing
the
University. A lot of people
have
reposted
on
their
Snapchat
and
stuff
and
they’re just really really upset
because that’s vile.”
The
University
of
Michigan’s chapter of the
Black Student Union released
a statement on the incident
later
Sunday
afternoon,
standing in solidarity with
the three students.
“We expect an appropriate
response from The University,
including
an
investigation
and consequences for those
involved in the vandalism,” it
read. “In times like these, it is
important that we do not act
solely out of the frustration,
anger,
and
sadness
we
may be feeling. We have
to channel these emotions
into productive action, in an
attempt to leave the campus
better than we found it.”
The University of Michigan’s
College Democrats social justice
committee also made a statement
on
Twitter,
quoting
BSU’s
original tweet.
Michigan
Community
Scholars Program is a living
learning
community
in
West Quad centered around
intercultural
dialogue,
social
justice, and civic engagement.
Sociology
professor
David
Schoem has served as the
director of the program since
its formation in 1999. Schoem
sent a statement to the MCSP
community Sunday afternoon
denouncing the vandalism.
Schoem
wrote
in
the
statement;
“On
behalf
of
our entire MCSP staff and
community, I want to extend
our support and express our
profound
regret
that
some
of our students experienced
today a disgraceful, disgusting,
cowardly, racist act. Our first
concern is for the safety, security
and well-being of the students
involved
and
the
safety,
security and well-being of all
of our students.’
WRITING
From Page 1A
Read more at MichiganDaily.com
convince them to talk about this
issue with their friends, collect
signatures for the ballot, go to
town halls and help develop
a people’s platform that will
help talk about all of the issues
facing this country and this
state,” Fonda said.
Fonda
and
Tomlin
both
otably appeared in “9 to 5”
which premiered in 1980.
Lilly
Fink
Shapiro,
the
Sustainable
Food
Systems
coordinator at the University,
opened the event, and noted
there are 60 faculty and staff
members working together at
the University to explore issues
related
to
food
production
and distribution, as well as
the policies that shape the
emergence of different food
system models globally.
“The University of Michigan
is on the map for our world-
class
research,
curricular
and
interdisciplinary
study
of sustainable food systems,”
Shapiro said. “We are one of the
few Universities in the country
to offer both an undergraduate
minor, a graduate certificate in
sustainable food systems, and
we have five tenure-track faculty
who are a part of a cluster hire
to teach and conduct research in
this growing field.”
Tomlin was the first speaker
to take the stage: She performed
a monologue as Judith Beasley
— a character she portrayed in
sketches throughout her career
on Saturday Night Live. Tomlin
explained through her monologue
that
Beasley
represents
the
millions
of
waitresses,
like
herself, “who have worked hard
all their lives and yet cat can
barely eke out a living.”
Since the first minimum wage
law was passed in 1938, Tomlin
explained, restaurant workers’
wages had gone from zero dollars
per hour to $2.13 per hour at the
federal level and $3.38 dollars per
hour in Michigan — a raise of $3
over 80 years.
“And no, this is not fake news,”
said Tomlin, acting the part of
Beasley. “We restaurant workers
are facing the greatest level of
economic inequality since the
Gilded Age and 70 percent of tip
workers who earn that measly
3.38 an hour are — drumroll, wait
for it — women.”
Tomlin
described
an
overworked waitress — speed-
walking with multiple plates up
and down her arms, sometimes
with carpal tunnel syndrome in
her elbows.
Still acting the part of Beasley,
Tomlin said, she became the
primary breadwinner in her
household when her husband
became injured; she needed to
provide a good home for her
children.
“What was I to do?” she said.
“Working as a waitress was the
only skillset I had. I hope no one
snickered at that phrase, ‘skillset,’
because waiting on tables — to do
it right — requires one’s personal
best. Yes indeed, with low wages,
we still have high aspirations.”
Speaking as herself, Tomlin
used the term “breastaurant”
— referring to restaurants that
employ a female waiting staff. She
pointed out an irony of women
surrounded by food in their jobs,
and yet dependent on food stamps
to support themselves and their
families.
Speaking as herself, Tomlin
noted she was born and raised
in Detroit; her parents were both
blue collar workers – her father, a
factory worker, and her mother, a
nurse’s aide.
“I know what it’s like to live
paycheck to paycheck and not
have any savings,” she said. “I
went into food service very early.”
Tomlin said she got a job as
an usher at the Avalon Theater
in Detroit; she worked bringing
food trays to hospital patients
and later she worked at a Howard
Johnson’s in New York City.
In
her
opening
remarks,
Fonda noted she and Tomlin
advocated for female worker’s
rights in their 1980 comedy “9
to 5” — a film in which three
female workers attempt to get
even with their misogynistic
boss.
Fonda explained she, Tomlin
and Jayaraman are working to
get the One Fair Wage measure
on the ballot for the midterm
election in November 2018;
350,000 signatures are needed
for the petition. According to
Fonda, such act would raise
the minimum wage to $12 in
Michigan. It would also phase
out the two-tiered wage system
in which different groups of
workers receive different pays
and set the same wage for tip
and non-tip workers.
“It’s seems ridiculous that
we’re
applauding
for
$12
minimum wage, doesn’t it?”
Fonda said. “I mean it’s got to
eventually go much higher than
that. What on Earth does the
owner (of a restaurant) think
when he, or she — but they’re
mostly ‘he’s’ —knows that his
workers, and they’re mostly
women in Michigan — 80
percent of restaurant workers
are female and they have three
times the poverty level as other
workers, and they’re heavily
dependent on food stamps and
other social services — what
does an owner think when he
knows that his workers are
having to work two jobs, maybe
even three, just to make ends
meet?”
Fonda said she, Tomlin and
Jayaraman are in Michigan
because for decades it has
been a steadfast Democratic
stronghold,
it
was
the
birthplace of the American
labor movement and it has the
largest
Black-majority
city
in the country, among other
attributes.
“We’re
here
because
we
think Michigan can become
a template for the rest of the
country,” Fonda said.
According
to
Fonda,
the
National Restaurant Association,
which
represents
more
than
300,000
restaurants
in
the
United States, is very against the
One Fair Wage mission and the
ROC; it also favors the two-tiered
system because it guarantees big
restaurant chains can make a lot
of at the expense of waiters.
Fonda
explained
seven
states, including California and
Minnesota, have only one-tier
systems — where everyone earns
the same minimum wage — and
people working in restaurants
still get tips.
Jayaraman
noted
the
restaurant
industry
is
the
largest and fastest growing
sector of the U.S. economy,
comprising more than 12 million
workers.
“Despite the size of this
industry, despite its growth,
despite the fact that most of
us have worked in it, despite
the fact that we actually, just
last year, made world history
becoming the first nation on
Earth that is now spending
more money on food bought
outside of the home, rather than
food bought inside the home
— despite all of those things,
it continues to be the absolute
lowest paying wage job in the
United States,” Jayaraman said.
ECONOMICS
From Page 1A
Read more at MichiganDaily.com
response from the University,
including
an
investigation
and consequences for those
involved in the vandalism. In
times like these, it is important
that we do not act solely out
of the frustration, anger and
sadness we may be feeling. We
have to channel these emotions
into productive action, in an
attempt to leave the campus
better than we found it. That
being said, the Black Student
Union will remain a resource
to all Black students on campus
and will always act with the
community and not just for the
community. We are strategizing
ways to move forward and urge
everyone to come together right
now and, above all else, practice
self-care.
Peace, Love and Solidarity,
The Black Student Union
University of Michigan at
Ann Arbor
STATEMENT
From Page 1A
and executive director of the
United Tribes of Michigan,
discussed the Treaty of Fort
Meigs, which transferred land
from local Anishinabe tribes
and made the founding of the
University possible.
“The
struggle
to
fully
implement
the
treaty
took
many decades,” Ettawageshik
said, explaining the efforts to
improve Native American access
to education at the University.
“History teaches us, however,
that we must continually refresh
our agreements and assert our
rights,” he added, describing the
200th anniversary as a chance
to renew commitments to the
Michigan tribes who gave up
their lands.
Present at the festival were
several University departments
and student organizations with
ties to the metro Detroit area.
One such group is Seven
Mile
Music,
which
brings
music education to underserved
communities
in
Detroit.
According to LSA senior Tyler
Neiss, the organization was
founded in response to Detroit
Public Schools cutting arts and
music programing funds in 2013.
“Seven
Mile
Music
is
especially compelled by our
love for public access to music
because most of our members
went to public schools and
first were engaged with music
through our public education,”
said LSA sophomore Kirtana
Choragudi.
However,
Choragudi
and
Neiss were among the few
University students present at
the day’s celebration. The event
was open to the public, and
most of the several hundred
attendees
were
faculty
or
guests who were not associated
with the University.
“Detroit’s
a
really
great
place, and I wish people would
care about it more,” Choragudi
said.
DETROIT
From Page 1A
only two Black residents were
targeted.
“I’m just disappointed more
than anything else. … People
should be ashamed of themselves
— the people who did this — they
should be embarrassed,” she
said. “If anyone has any of idea
of who did this, or if you did it, I
encourage you to come forward.
… This is very serious.”
Students were made aware
of resources they can turn to
in response to for support in
response to this at: specifically,
the Dean of Students Office, as
well as the Bias Response Team
— a group of professional staff
who assist in managing incidents
of bias.
Students were also encouraged
to write the expressions “We
stand together for social justice”
and “#mcspstandstogether” and
tape it to all of the doors in the
living community.
After the speakers addressed
the attendees, students broke
into small groups to reflect on
the incident. The Daily was
asked to leave for this portion of
the event.
SOLIDARITY
From Page 1A