The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Monday, November 27, 2017 — 3A

speakers around the world. 
After Spanish, it’s the most 
spoken romance language and 
it has more speakers than all the 
others, French, Italian, Catalan, 
Romanian, all of them, except 
Spanish, 
combined. 
So 
that’s 

how big it is. It’s huge and yet … 
(Portuguese has) struggled to get (a 
program) because people don’t see 
the relevance of it. Even though the 
numbers are there, there’s nothing 
politically happening in Portugal or 
Brazil to spark interest.”

When the Parliament of Catalonia 

called for a referendum Sept. 6, the 
Spanish government met them with 
strong legal action, according to 
the Human Rights Watch, an NGO 
that compiles reports on human 
rights abuses worldwide. A few days 
later, the Spanish Constitutional 
Court deemed the referendum 
unconstitutional and illegal.

The 
referendum 
took 
place 

regardless. A 2005 amendment to 
Spain’s Penal Code decriminalized 
voting 
in 
an 
unconstitutional 

referendum and as citizens and 
proponents 
of 
the 
succession 

from Spain turned out to vote the 
day of the referendum, The New 
York Times reported Spanish and 
Catalonian police used excessive 
force 
against 
demonstrators. 

Catalonia’s 
health 
department 

estimated 893 people reported 
injuries after clashes with police.

Szpiech, 
who 
is 
currently 

teaching a Catalan class, said 
reports from the likes of the Times 
and the Human Rights Watch 
fail to mention the severity of the 
separatist movement that called 
for the referendum, claiming the 
movement does not strictly consist 
of peaceful protests and a desire for 
democratic voting practices.

“Everyone (in the department) 

is concerned,” Szpiech said. “This 
movement is very extreme, the 
Catalan independence movement. 
It’s not a centrist movement. It’s 

a pretty far-left movement, some 
people consider right because it’s 
kind of so conservative against the 
state, but it’s definitely something 
where most people are not in the 
zone of saying they’re willing to give 
up or cause injury or cause strife, 
cause war because who knows what 
this could bring? … Spanish society 
is, one way or another, suffering. 
Whether it splits or doesn’t split, 
there’s no good outcome to this, I 
don’t think.”

Coll-Ramirez said when she 

started to teach the first Catalan 
400-level class, she started to see 
a mobilization of this separatist 
movement and she said she 
wanted her students to know 
the background of the region 
and the current politics so they 
understand the reports shared in 
the media and online.

Currently, 
Coll-Ramirez’s 

Catalan class is divided into three 
units: social information, history 
and culture. After the third exam, 
she brings current events such as 
the referendum into conversation 

in order to contextualize political 
Catalanism so the conversations 
aren’t just opinions but rather 
full, informed debates.

“Usually we pull a lot of 

articles,” 
Coll-Ramirez 
said. 

“Students read some articles 
and then I use the class time to 
talk about different positions 
from the Catalan position, from 
the Spanish position and then 
I actually want students to talk 
about … their opinions but I think 
that … it is important that this 
(discussion) happens as the end of 
the semester because the students 
have had the whole semester to 
learn why some people may feel a 
certain way and why some people 
may demand certain things.”

Szpiech said he brings the 

referendum into his class to stress 
that what is taught in the classroom 
does not live solely in the classroom 
and these events are constantly 
evolving, so it’s important to stay 
informed.

“I’ve been trying to start class 

every day with the news, if there 

is some,” Szpiech said. “I put it on 
the screen and say ‘Hey, look what’s 
going on.’ This is a really big deal. 
If you’re a Spanish major, if you’re 
from a Spanish-speaking country, 
if you’re Catalan or interested in 
Catalonia, this is a big deal … It’s 
been good to just give us something 
to talk about and then to remind 
them too like ‘Okay, what are we 
studying?’”

Derechin 
said 
she 
believes 

mentioning 
global 
issues 
and 

promoting dialogue is important 
for a well-rounded education, but 
more discussions should take place 
in one-on-one discussions with the 
professor so individual views on 
the issue can be fine-tuned.

“I think (the referendum) should 

be presented in class, which it was, 
and if there’s a big issue in the 
world like this, have the professor 
say ‘I’m willing to talk to you about 
it if you want to’ and just go to office 
hours,” Derechin said. “I think the 
way (Coll-Ramirez) handled it is 
the right way to do it.”

As seen with Szpiech, many 

Spanish professors are teaching 
Catalan 
classes 
and 
pitching 

courses to appeal to students. 
While 
a 
dichotomy 
between 

Catalan and Spanish instructors 
in regards to the referendum 
may be drawn, Szpiech said the 
department 
is 
united 
against 

extremist movements and in both 
Spanish and Catalan politics.

“The conversations I’ve had 

have all been sort of in agreement 
about 
frustration, 
that 
there 

seems to be a very bold group 
of people who are leading this 
(independence movement) and it’s 
not at all clear that it’s going about 
it in a very representative way,” 
Szpiech said. “Certainly that’s not 
to say (unification) for or against 
independence but … nobody’s 
happy with the way the politicians 
are sort of imposing themselves 
on both sides. Everyone seems 
very heavy-handed so politically, 
I think I’ve been in agreement 
with all my colleagues that this 
is a very ugly thing for both 
sides.”

LANGUAGE
From Page 1A

passed earlier.

“If I was in the fourth or 

third year of the program, I 
would have probably dropped 
out,” Sural said.

He also noted concern over 

how 
the 
bill 
would 
affect 

current 
and 
prospective 

graduate students, specifically 
with 
international 
students 

due to visa laws and work 
restrictions. He said he has 
a friend from India who only 
applied to American schools.

“She now thinks that if this 

bill becomes (a) law, it would 
become financially impossible 
for her to come or to continue 
her Ph.D. here in the U.S.,” 
Sural said.

American students also share 

anxiety over the proposed law. 
University alum Jonté Jones has 
put his Ph.D. pursuit on hold, 
partially due to the reform.

“It’s not just grad students 

it affects, it affects people who 
are lower income,” Jones said. 
“It affects people who are even 
middle income and can’t afford 
a lot of things. It only seems to 
benefit the super wealthy ... it 

just seems like an all around bad 
idea.”

University alum Alex Fox 

fears she will not be able to 
consider graduate school at all 
if the bill passes. She said she 
already has student debt from 

earning 
her 
undergraduate 

degree, and said she did not earn 
enough income doing laboratory 
work for the University and 
hosting at a restaurant to have 
the opportunity to further her 
education. She now works at 
the restaurant full time while 
finding a new job related to her 
field of study.

“I still have been considering 

my Ph.D., and if this passes, 
there’s no way I’m gonna do a 
Ph.D.,” Fox said. “It’s definitely 

not going to happen. There’s no 
way I would be able to afford 
it...it’s a bummer to know that 
that is something I would not be 
able to consider at all.”

In an interview for a previous 

article by The Daily, Public 
Policy 
professor 
Stephanie 

Leiser noted the bill would 
increase 
the 
national 
debt 

and 
would 
burden 
future 

generations.

“The biggest downside of 

(the bill) is that it’s going to 
increase the deficit,” Leiser 
said. “They’re either going to 
increase debt or cut programs. 
Increased debt is nothing more 
than future taxes on our kids 
or grandkids, etc. Or cutting 
programs is obviously going to 
impact people who benefit from 
those programs right now.”

Advocates for the proposal 

argue the decreased costs to 
businesses will promote job 
growth, but some students are 
not convinced.

Rackham 
student 
Carrie 

Johnson, Ph.D. candidate in 
chemical biology, said the tax 
plan has implications far beyond 
the graduate level.

“It’s not good for big pharm to 

have less grad students, because 
that 
means 
less 
patients,” 

Johnson said. 

TAX PLAN
From Page 1A

According to Barbara Peitsch, 
the M2GATE’s senior lead 
program 
adviser, 
some 

primary 
ME/NA 
issues 

which teams may address 
include youth unemployment, 
women’s 
rights, 

environmental problems and 
recycling.

The initiative will consist 

of three sessions each lasting 
eight 
weeks 
and 
include 

approximately 200 students. 
The sessions will begin in 
January, 
April 
and 
May, 

respectively. 

During the sessions, teams 

of six will each address their 
social issue in the ME/NA 
region. They will create a 
three to five minute video 
to pitch their ideas. At the 
end, teams’ proposals will 
be entered in a competition. 
The winning ME/NA-based 
team members will have the 
opportunity to travel to Ann 
Arbor to meet their University-
based counterparts, meet with 
professors and pitch their 
proposal to an expert panel.

The initiative is described as 

a “virtual exchange” program, 
highlighting 
its 
intent 
to 

connect young people across 
cultures using technology.

According 
to 
the 
WDI 

website, the program will use 
“technology to empower young 

people from different cultures 
to participate in a kind of 
global classroom, where they 
regularly 
exchange 
ideas, 

work on projects together, and 
develop relationships built on 
mutual respect.’”

The program will utilize 

online 
learning 
modules, 

tutorials and assignments, as 
well online communication 
and 
collaboration 
with 

teammates, 
mentors, 

instructors 
and 
program 

managers.

Amy Gillett, vice president 

of 
Education 
Initiative 

at 
WDI, 
highlighted 
the 

necessary transition to virtual 
partnerships 
taking 
place 

across the world.

“Increasingly 
in 
today’s 

business environment, people 
are working virtually,” Gillett 
said. 
“They 
usually 
don’t 

have the luxury to meet in 
person to work on something 
together, so being able to 
collaborate virtually is a very 
neat skill and more and more 
in demand in the workplace.”

Pietsch 
explained 

M2GATE’s 
cross-cultural 

nature is integral to the 
program, 
as 
it 
aims 
to 

enhance friendly, productive 
and 
efficient 
collaboration 

among students from other 
countries.

“I think it’s very important 

in this day and age and going 
forward to learn how to work 
on 
multicultural 
change,” 

Pietsch said. “This is going 
to give students on both sides 
the 
opportunity 
to 
work 

on a concrete project while 
taking 
into 
consideration 

perspectives that they haven’t 
had to consider before.”

Applications 
for 
the 

program close Dec. 1, and 
several students have already 
submitted their applications 
— 
including 
Engineering 

senior Akihiro Ota.

“I 
hope 
to 
form 

relationships 
with 
like-

minded people to contribute 
to social uplift,” Ota said. 
“I also hope to broaden my 
world view (sic) and gain an 
understanding of how social 
issues 
in 
other 
countries 

compare to those in the U.S. 
I hope, by working with those 
from other countries, to find 
strategies that can be similarly 
be used in the U.S. to improve 
the world around me.”

Gillett is confident M2GATE 

will be valuable in various 
ways to its participants.

“I 
think 
the 
Michigan 

students 
will 
gain 

tremendously 
from 

participating in this project, 
from the skill, relationship, 
and 
resume 
building,” 

Gillett 
said. 
“We 
think 

that friendships and new 
businesses will form, but at 
the very least, people will 
gain greater cultural insight 
and experience collaborating 
virtually.”

PROGRAM
From Page 1A

places,” Wallander said. “You 
can really decide what matters 
most to you and support that.”

The University will offer 

$150,000 in matching fund for 
certain demographics, such as 
students and first-time donors. 
According 
to 
the 
Giving 

Blueday website, more than 
2,000 new donors contribute 
to Giving Blueday annually. 
Last year, more than 4,000 
programs and funds benefitted.

U-M 
Supermileage 
is 
a 

student 
engineering 
team 

which builds high tech, highly 
fuel efficient cars to compete 
in the Shell Eco-marathon, a 
national challenge in which 
students compete to build the 
most energy efficient vehicle. 
The money they raised through 
Giving Blueday last year went 
toward 
covering 
the 
costs 

associated with the materials 
and designs for their car.

Engineering junior Hannah 

Ferriby, 
PR 
lead 
for 
U-M 

Supermileage, said since the 
Shell Eco-Marathon recently 
relocated 
from 
Detroit 
to 

Sonoma, 
Calif., 
the 
team’s 

travel expenses have increased.

“This year we are mainly 

focusing our efforts within our 
organization since we are less-
known than other engineering 
design teams,” Ferriby said. 
“We 
are 
encouraging 
our 

members to tell their friends 
and family about the different 
opportunities 
for 
them 
to 

donate to our organization and 
we are promoting our giving 
link over our social media 
platforms.”

In 
celebration 
of 
the 

University’s 
Bicentennial, 

social media challenges offered 
throughout the day will award 
additional funds to winners.

“We want to make sure 

students can be a part of the 
day,” Wallander said. “There’s 
a lot of social media challenges 

to inspire everyone who loves 
the University to get involved, 
so students can participate in 
those as well.”

Students who visit the Diag or 

Pierpont Commons on Tuesday 
will have the opportunity to 
recommend programs to be 
randomly selected to win $50. 
Five suggestions will be chosen 
from each location and the 
Student 
Philanthropy 
team 

will make the donation in the 
student’s name.

“When we talk to them, we 

say, ‘What are the areas that 
you think really need more 
donations or more support?’” 
Wallander said. “It just gives 
them the opportunity to be 
asked that question, since that’s 
something that’s being asked 
of everyone who is going to 
participate in Giving Blueday.”

Dance 
Marathon 
at 
the 

University of Michigan has 
been part of Giving Blueday for 
the past three years. They will 
host events throughout the day, 
including selling coffee in the 

morning in the Chem Building 
and a fundraiser at Pizza 
House.

Recruitment and Outreach 

Chair 
Raza 
Khan 
said 

the 
money 
DMUM 
raises 

goes 
to 
support 
pediatric 

rehabilitation therapies at C.S. 
Mott Children’s Hospital.

“These 
therapies 
help 

provide children of all abilities 
with experiences that they may 
not necessarily have a chance to 
enjoy on their own,” Khan said. 
“This means that every dollar 
we raise goes toward helping a 
child climb a tree for the first 
time, ride a horse, go bowling, 
or even take a karate class. It is 
an incredibly meaningful cause 
that makes a huge impact on 
both the students in DMUM 
and the families we seek to 
help.”

Contributions 
made 
on 

Tuesday will go to Victors for 
Michigan, a fundraising effort 
launched in 2013 with the goal 
of raising $4 billion for the 
University. The campaign has 
surpassed its initial goal, and 
has made $4.33 billion as of 
October.

However, 
research 

conducted 
in 
May 
by 
the 

Indiana University Lilly Family 
School of Philanthropy found 
that proposed changes to tax 
policy proposed by Congress 
and the Trump administration 
could reduce charitable giving 
by an estimated $4.9 billion to 
$13.1 billion annually.

Wallander is still optimistic. 

The 
Student 
Philanthropy 

Team held information sessions 
prior to Giving Blueday to teach 
student organizations the “best 
practice” for raising money.

“We know that a lot of 

student 
organizations 
are 

passionate about raising funds 
for important causes at the 
University,” 
she 
said. 
“We 

want them to maximize their 
fundraising results for the day 
so that they can push forward 
their missions and have the 
impact that they really want to 
have in the upcoming year.”

GIVING BLUE
From Page 1A

The Wolverines maintained 

possession for over 10 minutes 
in the first quarter, as the 
defense shut down Barrett, 
running back J.K. Dobbins and 
the rest of the Buckeyes. They 
held the Buckeyes to three 
consecutive 
three-and-outs, 

sacked Barrett three times 
and even forced Ohio State to 
negative total yards.

In 
the 
second 
quarter, 

though, the Buckeyes amped 
up their play for 124 yards and 
two touchdowns. Barrett ran in 
the first for 21 yards and tossed 
the second touchdown 25 yards 
to tight end Marcus Bough.

While Ohio State’s offense 

was finally clicking, Michigan’s 
barely saw the field — playing 
for less than six minutes 
in that quarter and losing 
the 
opportunity 
to 
keep 

momentum going.

“After we were up 14-zip, 

we really didn’t touch the 
field 
most 
of 
the 
second 

quarter,” Hill said. “When 
you’re hot, you’re hot. You get 
your momentum going, and 
everybody’s in rhythm. That’s 
when you score points, but 
when you keep the offense off 
the field so long, it’s kind of 
hard to keep that up because 
you’re just sitting there.”

Michigan’s offense scored 

again 
soon 
after 
halftime, 

when junior Karan Higdon 
punched a two-yard run into 
the end zone, but after that, 
more 
Michigan 
mistakes 

followed, and the game quickly 
fell in Ohio State’s favor.

Nordin’s extra point was 

blocked, Dobbins ran in a 
touchdown and then Ohio State 
hit a field goal.

The Wolverines had one 

last-ditch effort, but O’Korn 
misread coverage and saw one 
of his final throws at Michigan 

Stadium land in the arms of a 
Buckeye.

One more touchdown from 

Ohio State’s Mike Weber sealed 
the deal, but the game was 
already over.

“It’s the most bitter pill 

that I’ve had to swallow, 
personally,” 
said 
redshirt 

junior defensive end Chase 
Winovich. “Coming here, four 
years, and not beating these 
guys once. It’s tough.”

The errors amounted, and 

the Wolverines couldn’t hold 
on to their 14-point lead.

O’Korn 
mentioned 

afterward that the game didn’t 
have to be close. It was never 
expected to be, either.

Ohio State was expected to 

run all over Michigan, but for 
one-and-a-half quarters, it was 
just the opposite.

But games don’t come down 

to just one-and-a-half quarters.

“We had to compete the 

whole four quarters,” Hill said. 
“But we just came up short.”

OHIO STATE
From Page 1A

It’s not just 

grad students 

it affects, it 

affects people 
who are lower 

income

There’s a 

lot of social 

media 

challenges 
to inspire 
everyone 

who loves the 

University 

to get 

involved, so 
students can 
participate in 
those as well.

