If all had gone to plan on 

Thursday 
morning, 
student 

employees of the University 
Unions would be sitting in the 
Board of Regents meeting room 
in protest of white nationalist 
Richard Spencer’s potentially 
speaking on campus. After 
a 
meeting 
with 
Unions 

administrators 
earlier 
this 

week, the employees shifted 
their efforts to public spaces to 
avoid risk of termination.

As the board convenes two 

weeks after the University 
agreed to negotiate Spencer’s 
presence, 
and 
as 
students 

across campus continue to 

protest threats to their safety, 
questions still swirl around the 
roles of — and accommodations 
for — student workers who 
might be asked to facilitate his 
appearance.

LSA senior Zoe Proegler, 

Michigan 
League 
building 

manager, 
was 
central 
to 

the planning of the original 
nightlong sit-in. She believes 
any event featuring Spencer 
and his racist, often violent 
rhetoric cannot be held safely 
on campus. Protesters goaded 
by Spencer at rallies this 
year have left injuries and, in 
Charlottesville, Va., death, in 
their wake. 

Proegler 
said 
student 

workers 
setting 
up 
and 

The University of Michigan 

College of Engineering and 
Qualcomm 
Incorporated 

have partnered to form the 
Qualcomm Thinkabit Lab, an 
interactive workshop for high 
school students to learn about 
STEM careers and experience a 
hands-on learning experience. 
Thinkabit officially opened 
its doors last Thursday in the 
Detroit area.

While dialogue between the 

Qualcomm and the College of 
Engineering has existed in the 
past regarding other projects, 
the Thinkabit Lab has been 
the first to materialize.

The Michigan Engineering 

Zone was elected as a now-
shared 
location 
for 
the 

Thinkabit Lab, continuing its 
work as the rendezvous for 
various Detroit high schools’ 
FIRST Robotics teams, which 
take place after the regular 
school day. Zone Director 
Julian 
Pate 
believes 
the 

integration of the Thinkabit 
Lab in the Zone will inspire 
potential programs for high 
school students.

“The Michigan Engineering 

Zone was opened nine years 
ago; the objective was to 
offer 
year-round 
activities 

to engage the students in the 
city of Detroit,” Pate said. 
“That has been accomplished 
partly with the nine years of 
the high school program. The 

Thinkabit Lab provides the 
opportunity to do that down 
the grade ladder, across the 
entire school year.”

Engineering 
graduate 

student Wayne Lester has 
been involved with the MEZ 
since he was a student at 
Cass Tech High School in 
Detroit. He now works with 
the organization as a FIRST 
Robotics mentor, and echoes 
Pate’s enthusiasm about the 

partnership with Thinkabit. 

“I’ve seen a lot of students 

come in and out learning a lot 
about STEM fields and just 
getting a good opportunity to 
be exposed to the field,” Lester 
said. “With the Thinkabit Lab, 
it definitely just expands on the 
mission of the MEZ. It’s really 
to be a collaborative space 
and really engage students 
in STEM fields, and with the 
Thinkabit Lab it’s the perfect 

opportunity for… giving more 
students the opportunity to 
navigate the STEM field and 
really be educated on what it 
is.” 

The 
Thinkabit 
Lab 

functions much like a school 
field 
trip 
for 
the 
middle 

school students. It is split 
into two halves: the first of 
which focuses on engaging 
students, 
with 
experiences 

When 
the 
University 
of 

Michigan 
started 
teaching 

Chinese and Japanese in the 
summer of 1936, the Asian 
Languages 
and 
Cultures 

Department didn’t exist.

As World War II approached, 

these classes became much 
more 
pertinent, 
and 
the 

Department of Far Eastern 
Languages 
and 
Literatures 

was created. The program 
grew rapidly, and in 1985, it 
was renamed the Department 
of 
Asian 
Languages 
and 

Cultures. Now, the department 
offers 11 languages that qualify 
for an Asian languages and 
cultures minor, and two more 
— Bengali and Punjabi — that 
students can take for a two-
year sequence. 

The department continues 

to grow and attract student 
attention, 
and 
the 
Asian 

languages and cultures minor 
is currently ranked as the 
seventh-most-declared minor 
in LSA. But though over 100 
students graduate with the 
minor each year, some of them, 

michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Thursday, December 7, 2017

ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SEVEN YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM

GOT A NEWS TIP?
Call 734-418-4115 or e-mail 
news@michigandaily.com and let us know.

INDEX
Vol. CXXVII, No. 44
©2017 The Michigan Daily

N E WS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

O PI N I O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

S U D O K U . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

CL A S S I F I E DS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Unions staff 
find admin. 
reluctant to 
talk Spencer

 A Neo-Nazi college tour: 

How other schools dealt with Spencer 

See UNIONS, Page 3A

DESIGN BY CASEY TIN

CAMPUS LIFE

Student employees blast consequences
if asked to facilitate his appearance 

RIYAH BASHA
Daily News Editor

Some universities remain in legal battles with him, while others mitigate the aftermath

The “college tour” of Neo-Nazi 

and white supremacist Richard 
Spencer will possibly include a 

stop at the University of Michigan, 
eliciting outraged reactions from 
students, faculty and staff from 
both sides of the political sphere.

Conservative 
speakers 

have 
regularly 
been 
using 

college campuses this year as 
platforms 
through 
which 
to 

put forth their agendas. From 
Milo Yiannopoulos in Berkeley, 

Calif., to Charles Murray at the 
University earlier this semester, 
students and administration have 
been in conflict over whether 
these controversial figures should 
be allowed to speak on campus. 
With Spencer, who is banned 
from several European countries, 
there is the fear of violence to 
follow him.

This article is part three of 

a series in which The Daily 
looks at universities similar to 
the University of Michigan on 
the issue of reacting in a tense 
campus climate. As the university 
administration 
and 
students 

face their own numerous bias 
incidents, The Daily will look 

JENNIFER MEER & 

NISA KHAN

Daily Staff Reporter & 

Daily News Editor

See LANGUAGE, Page 3A

Language 
minors ask 
if program 
is equitable 

ACADEMICS

Asian Languages and 
Culture dept. comes under 
scrutiny for blanket degree

MAYA GOLDMAN

Daily Staff Reporter

COURTESY OF HALEY HART

High school students learn at the Qualcomm Thinkabit Lab, an interactive workshop for high school students inter-
ested in STEM careers, in Detroit.

College of Engineering launches STEM 
laboratory for Detroit high schoolers

Michigan Engineering Zone will serve as shared learning site for 3,000 students 

KATHERINA SOURINE

Daily Staff Reporter

B-Side: Architecture

In this week’s B-Side, Daily 

Arts takes a look at the 

fascinating intersection of 

art and architecture

» Page 1B

michigandaily.com

For more stories and coverage, visit

See STEM, Page 3A

See SPENCER, Page 3A

Earlier this week, Ann Arbor 

City Council introduced its 
2018 deer management plan 
to the public. The city aims 
to eliminate up to 250 deer 
from Jan. 8 to Jan. 31 in the 
third year of its four-year deer 
management program. This is 
a large increase from winter 
2017, when the city aimed to 
eliminate up to 100 deer.

Furthermore, the plan states 

that up to 26 deer will be 
nonlethally sterilized between 
Jan. 2 and 7. Last year they 
planned to sterilize up to 60 
deer and sterilized 54.

The program began out of 

resident complaints about deer 
harming their properties.

Like last year, the lethal 

portion of the plan will be 
carried out by sharpshooters 
through the city’s contractor, 
White Buffalo Inc. It will 
comply with the Michigan 
Department 
of 
Natural 

Resources 
research 
permit. 

During the elimination, select 
public 
parks 
and 
private 

properties will be closed from 

See CULL, Page 2A

A2 Council 
introduces 
2018 deer 
cull plan

ANN ARBOR 

250 deer will be shot, 
up to 60 sterilized this 
January, some on ‘U’ land

ZOE BAXTER

For the Daily

