Hammoud, D-Dearborn, said
students should use this issue
as an opportunity to bring
strong civil rights leaders to
the University to overpower
Spencer’s ideas with powerful
representatives
of
racial
equality.
Ann
Arbor
City
Councilmember
Zachary
Ackerman, D-Ward 3, echoed
this sentiment, stating the
community should be focused
on positive action rather than
constant criticism.
“We need to focus on
the benefits we can bring,”
Ackerman said. “We need to
stop being hyperfocused on
the ‘alt-right’ failures and
instead what we can do to
make it better because the
‘alt-right’ is more focused
on us than Trump or his
failures.”
Throughout the panel, the
elected officials highlighted
the importance of the voice of
the student body.
“I believe that we can keep
our idealism and passion.
Hopefully we can bring them
along or push them along,”
Morgan
said,
regarding
the importance of young
perspectives
in politics.
In a room
where
every
seat was
filled
and
several
students
were
forced
to
stand, Brabec said
she was encouraged
to see how many
students had come
out
in
response
to
the
situation
despite the stress of
finals.
LSA
freshman
Amy Ransom said
she has participated in the
week of action because she
believes it is more important
than everyday work.
“It’s important that no
matter what is going on in
our lives — finals or papers —
we all participate and stand
against this issue,” Ransom
said.
Morgan said Spencer is
representative
of
a
much
larger issue. In the past year,
racist posters and graffiti
have been found in multiple
instances on campus.
“We are not as progressive
as we should be,” Morgan
said. “We should be the most
progressive.”
Students and officials alike
agreed
the
#StopSpencer
campaign was nowhere near
over and they would continue
to discuss ways to combat his
impending visit.
Earlier
in
the
evening,
the second teach-in of the
Week of Action for Protest
Safety Training was held
in an East Quad Residence
Hall classroom. The event
was hosted in part by the
Non-Compliance
Collective,
an Ann Arbor-based group
which,
according
to
its
Facebook page, aims to “reject
all compliance with the rules,
regulations, and norms that
any person or system intends
to impose on our bodies,
minds, or beings.”
The teach-in emphasized
ways
to
stay
safe
and
be
prepared
at
protests.
Attendees were advised to
take
several
measures
to
protect themselves. Among
other steps, they were advised
to use a fake name while
protesting and to not take
photos or record any aspect of
the protest.
Before the event began,
attendees were asked basic
questions, such as if
they were students or
police
to
ensure
the
safety
of everyone in
attendance.
The
speakers stressed that if
a protester is going to talk to
someone about their protest
participation, it should be
someone they trust.
Speakers
told
audience
members to consider how
far they would be willing to
go to protest. For example,
attendees
were
asked
to
consider if they would be
willing
to
get
arrested.
Though the speakers noted
it would be inconvenient to
get arrested, they explained
sometimes arrests and the
attention they draw may serve
to help the cause.
Additionally,
speakers
advised
attendees
to
not
bring their cell phones to the
protests, but if they must, to
disable the fingerprint and
face
recognition
features,
establish a strong passcode
and encrypt data so the police
do not have access to personal
information in the event of an
arrest.
Speakers also emphasized
creating an affinity group —
a small group of trustworthy
people, with whom protests
can be planned.
Finally,
the
speakers
discussed what the police
strategies
were
like
at
University
of
Florida, which
ultimately
allowed
Spencer
on
campus
after
facing
a
lawsuit,
and how to be safe around the
police. They also went over
the basic booking process so
the attendees will be prepared
in case of being arrested and
basic
medical
procedures,
such as giving someone with
symptoms of hypothermia a
jacket, and help for protecting
their identity and avoiding
a
higher
police
presence.
To conclude, the speakers
stressed the importance of
these procedures is so the
protestors are able to take
care of each other and get
their message across in the
most impactful way possible.
In cooperation with the
teach-in’s advice to engage
in self-protection measures,
after
the
event,
student
attendees asked to remain
anonymous.
“I think it’s important to
give people, protesters, the
idea that this a big deal,” a
student said. “It is important
to have knowledge of this
matter, particularly because
the other side has knowledge
on
that
matter
and
so
everything about this is all
about information and so
the more information
you have the more
successful
you’ll
be.”
Another student
emphasized
the
importance
of
ensuring
safety
and strategy while
protesting,
reiterating
the
key
concepts
put forth
in
the
event.
“This
is important
because
it’s
a
reality
that
might
happen,
the
protest,
and
if
you
choose
to
participate
in it or not
you want to
know
how
to stay safe
and
keep
others
safe
so it’s just a logical way
to protest — not just on
a whim, but have a plan
going into it,” the student
said.
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Friday, December 1, 2017 — 3
ALEC COHEN/Daily
Professor K. Rivet Amico, Health Behavior and Higher Education research
associate, speaks at the World AIDS Day Panel in the School of Public Health
Thursday.
AIDS AWARE NESS
currently
serving
member
of Congress, is considered a
prominent civil rights activist,
and some worry these allegations
will discredit the advancements
he has made for the Civil Rights
movement. However, Pelosi stood
by a zero tolerance perspective
regardless of the consequences.
“The
allegations
against
Congressman
Conyers,
as
we’ve heard more and more
since
Sunday,
are
serious,
disappointing and very credible,”
she said. “It’s very sad. A brave
woman came forward. … Zero
tolerance means consequences
for everyone — no matter how
great a legacy is no license to
harass or discriminate.”
However, Conyers’ attorney,
Arnold Reed, argued members
of Congress should hold no stake
in whether or not Conyers leaves
office, but rather it should be the
choice of his constituents.
“It is not up to Nancy Pelosi,
Nancy Pelosi did not elect Mr.
Conyers,” Reed said in a press
conference, according to NBC.
“And she sure as hell won’t be
the one to tell the congressman
to leave.”
Fellow longtime member of
the Congressional Black Caucus,
U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C.,
and U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga,
R-Mich., also agreed Conyers
should step down. Still, the rest
of
Michigan’s
congressional
delegation has yet to make a
statement on Conyers since last
week’s allegations.
Conyers has already stepped
down from his seat as the
ranking member of the House
Judiciary Committee, and was
hospitalized Thursday morning
due to to stress.
CONYERS
From Page 1
unnecessarily defensive.
LSA senior Hoai An Pham,
the press coordinator for the
Stop Spencer at the University
of Michigan coalition, said
Martin’s disinclination to send
the message that Spencer’s
trolling matters was akin to
calls to ignore Spencer and his
followers. She said this would
only allow Spencer’s ideas to
flourish.
“I think what a lot of people
have been saying is, ‘Why
don’t you just ignore him?
Why don’t you just ignore this
and let him do his thing?’ Are
we supposed to just ignore
actual Nazis when anything
has happened? Do we just say,
‘Oh, it’ll solve itself?’ ” Pham
said. “Let’s look at everything
else that has happened in
history. We can look at what
happened with Hitler, we
can look at slavery — a lot of
people sat there and said we’re
going to let this happen, but
if everybody had done that, if
everyone had said, ‘Let’s just
let them do their thing,’ it
never would have ended.”
Students also noted Martin
wasn’t answering questions
directed
at
him,
instead
letting Dillard answer for him.
“We’ve asked you questions
explicitly, and she answers,”
one student said. “Not saying
that she has to or you’re making
her, but I’m just saying that
you’re not saying anything.
And it’s frustrating.”
Following a long silence,
Martin
answered,
“What
questions can I address?” to
audible expressions of further
frustration from students.
After Martin said there
wasn’t anything happening
on campus Thursday that
put students in any physical
danger,
students
said
the
administration
didn’t
correctly
understand
their
concerns or what they were
protesting.
“So you think people are
lying?
You
think
people
are
lying
that
they
feel
unsafe? That’s what is really
frustrating — that people here
are literally telling you they
feel unsafe and you’re saying
that you don’t think it’s true,”
a student replied.
Pham said the issue was
also bigger than just Spencer’s
request.
“I think that what the
administration
don’t
understand is that this entire
week was not only to stop
Spencer, but to stop white
supremacy and to stop the
white supremacy that already
exists on this campus,” she
said. “We do not feel safe
in classrooms where people
wake up in the morning and
there’s the n-word written
on their door decorations.
They need to understand that
it’s not us just doing this for
fun. We don’t have a choice
as students when we have to
protest our own fundamental
human rights.”
After one student started
speaking through a bullhorn,
Martin and Dillard left the
room. It was symbolic, a
student said, that they could
step out while the students
were still there protesting.
STRIKE
From Page 2
CHUN SO/Daily
Waste platform, which aimed
to
provide
resources
and
information for other people to
join the zero waste movement.
In the spring of 2016, Samuel
was chosen to give a TED Talk at
the TEDxUofM event about his
journey and living zero waste. The
talk helped to publicize Live Zero
Waste on campus and catalyze the
development of the website.
The
McMullen
siblings
continued to run and grow the
platform by themselves until fall
2017, when Samuel enrolled in an
entrepreneurship course in which
students form groups and create
something based on an idea. It
was here that McMullen met
Business senior Debbie Cheng,
along
with
four
other students, to
help cultivate Live
Zero Waste.
“I looked on his
website, I saw the
TED Talk, and I
was really amazed
by it,” Cheng said.
“I wanted to be
part of it because
(Sam) was super
proactive
and
passionate
about
it
and
I
really
saw
that
we
could really make
something big on
campus and around the globe.”
Cheng works on the business
development side of Live Zero
Waste, reaching out to local
businesses such as Lucky’s Market
and Roo’s Roast to advertise
the brand. Two other students
work on developing the website
and a mobile application, while
another student, who is from
France, brings an international
perspective, as European culture
and institutions are more zero-
waste friendly.
Engineering
junior
Brett
Swiecicki is one of the members
working
to
create
a
mobile
application
which
will
allow
people to share their experience
going
waste-free
and
access
helpful resources. by allowing
users to post to the app when they
make a change. The application
would help involve millennials in
the movement, Live Zero Waste’s
target audience.
“The main motive to develop
the app was so that it would be
easier for users to maintain track
of their progress and have easier
access to educational content on
a variety of different platforms,”
Swiecicki said.
The application would ideally
involve a social media aspect in
which people could post when
they’ve made progress toward
living waste-free for their friends
to see.
“It really relies on having a
network effect to be successful,”
Cheng said. “Once you have your
friends doing it makes it a lot
easier to try it.”
The McMullens and Cheng
hope Live Zero Waste can help
increase awareness and action
among students and community
members who may already be
environmentally
conscious,
but
don’t
know
how
to
change
their
lifestyles to reflect
their beliefs.
“Mostly
it’s
getting
the
awareness
that
your
purchasing
decision
causes
a
huge
network
effect
that
most
people don’t think
about,”
Samuel
said. “I didn’t think
about it.”
Going
forward,
the team hopes to use the
University community as a launch
pad for Live Zero Waste.
“The local community here is
our first step,” Cheng said. “Once
we’ve got the website and the
mobile application off the ground,
which we’ve made a lot of good
strides, but we want to improve it
more, we can reach a bigger area.”
Even if only for a short period
of time, Live Zero Waste hopes
to encourage people to try out
a waste-free lifestyle so they
have heightened awareness of
consumption habits and make
more sustainable choices in the
future.
“It’s really just about getting
over the hump rather than trying
to just focus on a few people doing
it for like years and years and
years,” Cheng said. “It’s let’s try
to get them to do it for a day, then
a week, a month, a year.”
PLATFORM
From Page 1
up an academic dialogue in
order to achieve that goal,”
she wrote in an email.
The
federal
government
accounts for 54.8 percent of
the University’s expenditure
for research and development,
while other sources include
state and local government,
institution funds, businesses
and nonprofit organizations.
LSA
freshman
Annika
Mursten
works
with
UROP,
investigating
small
screen
media
and
scroll
culture,
focusing
largely
on social media businesses
like BuzzFeed as well as
individual
consumption
of
this media. She expressed
enthusiasm
for
continuing
her work next semester, and
has continued to expand her
interests in behavioral and
social research.
“Whether
we
notice
it
or not, while watching our
favorite pizza and late night
snack videos, we are absorbing
heavy
product
placement
and advertising,” she said.
“Overall, I am very thankful
to be participating in research
and I know that I wouldn’t be
able to have this experience at
any other place.”
LSA
senior
Jensyn
VanZalen
works
with
the
Extracorporeal
Life
Support
Program
and
researches
extracorporeal
membrane
oxygenation
there,
investigating
the
development
of
artificial
placenta,
cardiopulmonary
resuscitation
and
neonatal
artificial
lungs.
She
recognized the value of having
undergraduate
involvement
in research at the University,
especially
in
collaboration
with research professionals,
all at different stages within
their own careers.
“I would love to see U-M
research
to
continue
to
reach out to more of the
undergraduate
population
to get involved, because I
can attest to how invaluable
my
experience
has
been,
being involved in research,”
VanZalen said.
RESEARCH
From Page 1
TEACH-INS
From Page 1
It’s important that
no matter what
is going on in our
lives - finals or
papers - we all
participate and
stand against this
issue
Are we supposed
to just ignore
actual Nazis when
anything has
happened?
The main motive
to develop the
app was so that it
would be easier
for users to
maintain track of
their progress