The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Monday, October 9, 2017 — 3A

MAX KUANG/Daily

LSA senior Mike Podesta paints a pumpkin at the Harvest Festival at the Campus Farm Saturday.

FINALLY FALL

from Rat Chat.

“Information 
tools 
and 

services can create new ways 
of 
collaborating 
with 
city 

governments and collaboration 
between 
citizens 
and 
cities 

or governments is really what 
citizenship is about,” Lampe 
said. 
“It’s 
about 
productive 

relationships and collaboration. 
We think information plays a 
huge role for that in the new 
digital future.”

On the academic side, assistant 

Information professor Steve Oney 
discussed why studying computer 
programming is a worthwhile 
endeavor past what the current 
occupational field looks like. He 
touched on how programming 
helps the modern world manage 
its online potential but a lack of 
accessibility is hurting the field’s 
future. He said tapping into the 
humanity of programming will 
make the field more accessible for 
those willing to learn.

“Programming tools need to 

not only scale up to handle more 
complex tasks that programming 
tools are mostly designed for, but 
they also need to scale down to 
make simple things easy to do,” 
Oney said. “In other words, we 
need to make programming more 
human.”

In a similar vein of social 

equality, Information professor 
Nicole Ellison presented her 
research on the cognitive impacts 
of social media on our concept 
of social capital. She related her 
research to how first-generation 
college students can use the 
massive web of social media to 
connect with college alumni. 
Ellison developed the app College 
Connect, with funding from the 
Gates Foundation, to show first-
generation students the resources 
they might not be aware of on 
their Facebook profiles.

Ellison said social media’s 

ability 
to 
do 
good 
should 

outweigh our criticism of the new 

technology.

“We shouldn’t really spend a 

whole lot of time worrying about 
why people are posting pictures 
of avocado toast on Instagram 
and rather really think about how 
we can use social media to benefit 
us and to make things happen 
and one of those things might 
be getting more first-generation 
students to place in colleges,” 
Ellison said.

The 
keynote 
panelists 

consisted of all University of 
Michigan alumni — Peter Lee, 
vice 
president 
of 
corporate 

research at Microsoft, Bradley 
Horowitz, 
vice 
president 
of 

product at Google, and Jamie 
Voris, chief technology officer at 
Walt Disney Studios.

To begin the panel discussion, 

moderator Thomas A. Finholt, 
dean of the University’s School 
of 
Information, 
asked 
the 

speakers for their predictions of 
technology in the next decade 
and century.

Horowitz’s future prediction 

discussed 
technology 
escape 

velocity — technology changing 
faster than society can absorb 
it. He also spoke on the relevant 
topics 
discussed 
in 
science 

fiction and how these are real 
possibilities for the future of 
technology.

“We get to see the collective 

societal thinking about where 
technology is going through 
science fiction,” Horowitz said. “ 
‘Black Mirror’ is looking at very 
near future scenarios — what 
happens when we can record 
every moment of our lives? How 
does that change things?”

Horowitz 
also 
related 

this 
notion 
to 
the 
student 

experience. 
The 
University’s 

future developments will greatly 
influence education, research and 
preparing future leaders. When 
hiring young employees in the 
technology industry, Horowitz 
considers a degree from the 
University of Michigan to speak 
to a candidate’s ability to get a job 
done.

Finholt asked panelists what 

they think are the essential skills 

students need today to achieve a 
tenured timeline.

Lee spoke about the issues 

surrounding losing touch with the 
purely curiosity-driven and open 
fundamentals of research that are 
in liberal forms of education. He 
further applied this idea to how 
bringing particular skills to the 
table can prepare students.

“It’s 
important 
to 
have 

an 
innate 
curiosity, 
open-

mindedness and an ability to 
work on a team of people,” Lee 
said. “I think that foundation is of 
a higher value to the future.”

Voris spoke about the special 

elements that the University of 
Michigan possesses in providing 
students with a well-rounded 
technological 
education. 

According to Voris, even in a 
career where you are the main 
player, having the tangibility of 
the University experience as a 
foundation allows students to 
continuously learn.

“I think from a research 

perspective, 
I 
think 
that 

partnership 
between 
the 

university 
and 
industry 
is 

incredibly 
important,” 
Voris 

said. “I think fundamentally the 
university experience, more than 
any specific piece of knowledge, 
is about learning how to learn.”

LSA 
freshman 
Dustin 

Stabinski, a preferred admissions 
student 
to 
the 
School 
of 

Information, said he felt excited 
about 
how 
these 
technology 

professionals believe currently 
stereotypical 
ideas 
of 
the 

future, such as “Black Mirror”, 
can become real possibilities. 
After attending this event, he 
felt 
reaffirmed 
in 
pursuing 

information studies and building 
a future for himself in the 
technology industry.

“I 
think 
this 
definitely 

reassured me of the information 
I want to go into because 
definitely being in a place where 
we’re socially not in the best 
place advancing towards the 
future, this gives us hope that 
as technology advances, there 
is definitely some positive out 
there.” 

SYMPOSIUM
From Page 1A

things can happen.”

Addressing 
recent 
racist 

incidents and subsequent protests 
on campus, Jon Lovett, co-host 
and 
another 
former 
Obama 

speechwriter, said he believes 
there is merit in pressuring 
the 
University 
of 
Michigan 

administration but also believes it 
is important to ensure the students 
feel safe on campus.

“I think there’s two parts to it. I 

think aiming some of the outrage 
at the college itself and at the 
University itself and pushing for 
a strong response is a really good 
idea,” Lovett said. “But ultimately 
it’s about everybody speaking out 
for a culture which treats people 
with respect and where people 
don’t feel as though … they can 
start writing racist things and 
think that that’s acceptable.”

Tommy Vietor, co-host and 

former National Security Council 
spokesman, encouraged students 
to get involved in whatever way 
they can and highlighting political 
groups such as Indivisible, Swing 
Left and College Democrats.

“I think after Trump got elected, 

people understood again what is at 
stake in these campaigns,” Vietor 
said. “The next step is helping 
people figure out how you can 
get involved, because it sounds 
complicated and it sounds hard but 
it’s actually really easy.” 

Lovett noted it is a unique time 

to be a student with Trump as 
president, but he again emphasized 
the need to get involved. 

“This is a really dark time. It’s 

actually a really unique thing to be 
coming of age and starting to really 
follow college a lot for the first 
time and see Donald Trump as 
president, that’s never happened 
before,” Lovett said. “And I think 
it can be discouraging because 
he’s our worst person, which is 
unfortunate. But at the same time 
there’s been this outpouring of 
activism that we’ve never seen 
before … People are engaged and 

active, and it’s not a silver lining, I 
don’t think that’s the right term for 
what’s going on, but there has been 
an equal and opposition reaction 
to what has been going on with 
Trump and being a part of that is 
important.”

During the show, the group 

discussed recent events including 
healthcare, 
new 
contraceptive 

guidelines 
and 
the 
newly 

uncovered links between white 
supremacy 
and 
Breitbart, 
a 

conversative media outlet. Sen. 
Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., also 
appeared in the middle of the show 
for a brief interview.

The 
Trump 
administration 

announced 
Friday 
it 
was 

rescinding 
Obama-era 
birth 

control mandate, which required 
employers to cover contraceptives 
in insurance plans. Ana Marie Cox, 
host of “With Friends Like These”, 
said the decision is important not 
just in the day-to-day impacts it 
will have, but also in the message 
it sends to women. 

“It’s consequential no matter 

what,” Cox said. “Because it sends 
a message to women primarily 
that you are not worth as much as 
men.”

On the same issue, Stabenow 

said she was disappointed in the 
decision and doubts Congress will 
take any action to reverse it.

“It’s terrible, and it’s just one 

more nail in the coffin in terms of 
trying to kill the ACA,” Stabenow 
said. “Unfortunately, the House 
and Senate, being in Republican 
hands, we are not going to be able 
to turn that around.”

Discussing the recent Buzzfeed 

article 
detailing 
direct 
links 

between 
white 
supremacist 

groups, 
Brietbart 
and 
Milo 

Yiannopoulos, 
former 
Senior 

White 
House 
Advisor, 
Dan 

Pfeiffer, co-host and Obama’s 
former communications director, 
expressed the danger in allowing 
publications with relations with 
white supremacist groups to be 
considered normal conservative 
media.

“Brietbart, which hangs out 

with Nazis, is in direct contact 

with them, as in rates Nazism, is 
now considered a mainstream 
conservative publication,” Pfeiffer 
said. “Mainstream media outlets 
cannot understand this because 
they have to immediately treat 
whatever is happening on the left 
as equal.”

On the subject of her rumored 

opponent in 2018, Robert Ritchie, 
better known as Kid Rock, 
Stabenow said she also played 
guitar in college and suggested a 
musical debate. 

“I actually worked my way 

through college playing acoustic 
guitar,” Stabenow said. “We may 
have to have dueling guitars, but 
we will wait and see. I love music 
and it could be very musical.”

Following 
Stabenow’s 

interview, Lovett imitated a game 
poking fun at Kid Rock and a 
specific tweet, which mocked 
Washington elites and praised his 
local state. Lovett asked his cohosts 
in the game to guess how much 
different items in the photo cost. 
Lovett concluded that the point 
of the game was that he believes 
Kid Rock would “campaign like 
Kid Rock but govern like Robert 
Ritchie.”

In the interview with the Daily, 

Lovett also stated his support for 
Michigan football ahead of the 
Michigan State game on Saturday.

“Obviously, 
I 
support 
the 

team from the campus that I am 
currently in. I am going to run for 
office,” Lovett said. “I support the 
Michigan team, the Wolverines. 
I love Harbaugh, the whole 
Harbaugh family.”

Ritam Mehta, an LSA senior, 

wrote in an interview with the 
Daily he is a fan of the podcast 
because of the lighthearted, yet 
important discusion of politics. 

“I think the show was a really 

good episode of the podcast. It 
includes a lot of good news analysis 
and talk about current events, 
which is why I like listening to 
the pod,” he wrote. “I also kind of 
idolize those four guys, especially 
Jon Lovett, who literally got a 
White House job because he’s 
funny.”

POD
From Page 1A

Mike Pence walked out on the 
Indianapolis Colts’ game against 
the San Francisco 49ers after a 
number of players took a knee in 
protest. He later tweeted he will 
not exalt any forms of protest he 
finds disrespectful to U.S. soldiers 
and the flag.

Demonstrations against racism, 

especially by Michigan student-
athletes, are not new. Last Fall, 

student-athletes raised fists or 
kneeled 
during 
the 
national 

anthem in almost every game, 
even when the cameras were not 
focused on them.

In an interview last year with 

the Daily, current LSA senior and 
cheerleader Priscille Huddleston 
explained why she decided to lead 
other athletes in raising their fists 
as a form of protest — emphasizing 
how her position as an athlete 
makes her more visible as an 
activist for social justice.

“It’s 
historically 
been 
the 

athlete’s position to empower their 
community,” Huddleston said. “It’s 
sparking conversations in classes. 
I only have a platform for four 
hours … I only matter in uniform, 
and I have to use that time and 
make it count. I have a block ‘M’ 
on and I’m not just supposed to 
wave a pom-pom and cheer you on. 
You can’t expect me to be silent. I 
didn’t understand how much of a 
platform I had until now.”

KNEEL
From Page 1A

Read more at 
MichiganDaily.com

