Citing modern and historical
human rights crises, Sheri Fink,
a Pulitzer Prize-winning author
and University alum, challenged
an audience of over 100 students
and
community
members
gathered Monday evening in the
University of Michigan Museum
of Art to consider how they would
aid the most vulnerable members
of society in an emergency.
Fink spent the majority of
her lecture delineating how
government
agencies
and
response teams handled various
emergencies, ranging from the
Balkan Wars to Hurricane Irma,
and subsequent effects on the
critically injured and sick.
She
noted
emergencies
function as a sort of test for
the level of human rights in a
society. The way individuals and
organizations
work
together
under extreme pressure, she
argued, has the potential to have
a major effect on the outcome of
the crisis at hand.
“How much power do we
have when our infrastructure
is not what it should be? When
we’re in situations that we can’t
control that have problems,” she
said. “Even in these situations
of
extreme
emergency,
that
individual decisions and the way
organizations are setup to run,
all of that can have a really big
impact, a life and death impact.”
Fink, who won a Pulitzer
Prize in 2010 for her reporting
on doctors’ decisions during
Hurricane Katrina and in 2015 for
her work during the 2014 Ebola
crisis, described the immense
rationing
of
medical
and
comfort supplies that occurred
inside the volunteer tents. She
questioned the rationale used in
the division of the supplies, and
said Americans usually received
a much higher level of care.
“Who gets access to the
higher standard of care?” she
asked. “Can you really set up
an advanced treatment unit on
Liberian soil for Americans when
the Liberians are losing their
lives?”
She stated hospitals have
a difficult time procuring the
highest
attainable
standard
of health care during times of
relative tranquility, so these
disparities become especially
pronounced in emergency due
to the scarcity of medicine and
intense need for health care.
Fink concluded by asking
students to consider what they
would do if faced with such a
situation — once again noting the
importance of thinking critically
and responding rapidly in an
emergency where hundreds of
lives are at stake.
“That
ability
to
retain
flexibility, to think clearly
about what your goals are,
whether
it’s
maintaining
health care or promoting
human rights or the best
possible medical ethics, in
situations of great stress and
emergency — that these are
possible,” she said.
LSA
sophomore
Jordan
Brady said she attended the
event as an addendum to
her political science class, as
well as its relevance to recent
natural disasters and what she
wants to study.
“Just discussing how we
go about choosing who lives
through these situations, and
it really stuck out to me how
hospitals and big organizations
don’t really have a great plan
until the last minute hits
and then they’re panicking
trying to help people and save
people,” she said.
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The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Pulitzer Prize-winning author and
alum discusses human rights crises
Sheri Fink talks reporting on treatment decisions during Hurricane Katrina
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CAMPUS EVENTS & NOTES
Maize, Blue and
Lavender: Revisiting
U-M’s LGBTQ Past
WHAT: Prof. Tim Retzloff, a
U-M alum, will examine the
history of LGBTQ students and
faculty at the University.
WHO: LSA Bicentennial Theme
Semester
WHEN: 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
WHERE: Angell Hall, Room
3222
Politics of Water Panel
WHAT: The weaponsization of
water will be examined through
controveries like the Dakota Acces
Pipeline and the Israeli diversion
of water.
WHO: Middle East and Arab
Network
WHEN: 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
WHERE: Michigan League,
Room D (3rd Floor)
Intersex Bodies in
Tosefta Bikkurim
WHAT: The work of Tosefta
Bikkurim will be analyzed to see
if it offers a new perspective on
gender, or still confines us to a
gender binary.
WHO: Judaic Studies
WHEN: 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
WHERE: 202 S. Thayer St.
Strings Showcase
WHAT: This monthly
performance will feature
outstanding Music, Theatre
& Dance students who were
selected by faculty to perform.
WHO: School of Music, Theatre
& Dance
WHEN: 3 p.m.
WHERE: Britton Recital Hall
Schokoladenstunde
WHAT: The Language Resource
Center will host students for
German games and chocolate
eating.
WHO: Germanic Languages &
Literatures
WHEN: 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.
WHERE: North Quad, Language
Resource Center
‘All the Difference’ Film
Screening
WHAT: This film, which was
filmed over five years, follows the
life of two young Black men who
overcame the odds of their high-
risk Chicago upbringing.
WHO: Department of Psychology
WHEN: 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
WHERE: East Hall, Room 4448
Sleep Deprivation:
Habits, Solutions, and
Strategies
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is an opportunity to learn about
sleep and the dangers of not
getting enough of it.
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Managing Anxiety
WHAT: A class on managing
depression and anxiety will be
offered to all U-M students.
WHO: Depression Center
WHEN: 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.
WHERE: Chrylser Center, Room 265
and Mason Hall, Room 3314
PRASHANTH PANICKER/Daily
LSA freshman Sydney Falle and LSA sophomore Michael Reis compete at
the Badger Ballroom Dancesport Classic ballroom competition at the Uni-
versity of Wisconsin-Madison Saturday.
T WO TO TANGO
First lady Melania Trump
and Secretary of Education
Betsy Devos visited Orchard
Lake Middle School in West
Bloomfield Township, Mich., to
kick off the “Week of Inclusion,”
a part of National Bullying
Prevention Month.
The first lady urged the
students she spoke with to make
new friends through sitting
with people they didn’t know
and promoting an inclusive
environment.
“I encourage you to find a
new friend and eat lunch with
the new friend — you know a
friend — ask them what they
like, what their problems are —
so nobody becomes sad,” said
the first lady, according to CBS
Detroit.
In a statement released by
the White House, the visit was
part of the first lady’s anti-
bullying initiative, “No One Eats
Alone.”
“As part of my ongoing
commitment to the overall
well-being of children, I am
looking forward to today’s
visit,” the first lady said. “By our
own example, we must teach
children to be good stewards of
the world they will inherit. We
need to remember that they are
always watching and listening.
It is our responsibility to take
the lead in teaching children
the values of empathy and
communication that are at the
core of kindness, mindfulness,
integrity and leadership.”
The first lady’s anti-bullying
initiative has not been very
popular in light of her husband’s
use of Twitter to often belittle
others.
- COLIN BERESFORD
ON THE DAILY: FLOTUS AND
DEVOS VISIT LOCAL SCHOOL
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