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. STATS250 puzzle by sudokusyndication.com 2 — Tuesday, October 24, 2017 News 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 KAELA THEUT Daily Staff Reporter Tweets Follow @michigandaily Mackenzie Fransisco @mackenzie__fran my roommate will graduate with a BA in English without finishing a single book she’s been assigned for class anything is possible, kids Rebecca Marie @RebsMarieFortes s/o to the Ann Arbor bus driver who saw me chasing after the bus from a block away and waited, the world needs more people like you. Michigan Students @UMichStudents The chem building is the most train station building on campus, I think. skelleeton @sizzlingfajita rip to the cute selfie i was gonna take of my outfit the october rain soaked me to the bones 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 WHAT: This online teach-out is an opportunity to learn about sleep and the dangers of not getting enough of it. 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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 Read more at MichiganDaily.com