AMANDA CRISCI/Daily
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Tuesday, January 9, 2018 — 3
how the procedures outlined
in this ordinance would relieve
Ann Arbor residents of time-
consuming actions to remove
council members.
“If
residents
feel
that
someone misbehaved, let’s say
in being elected, they would
have to wait another three
years for that councilmember
to be replaced,” Kailasapathy
said. “We are putting an undue
burden on the residents to
collect the number of signatures
to recall that councilmember.”
Although
supporting
the
ordinance,
Councilmember
Westphal,
D-Ward
2,
also
brought
up
the
need
for
caution regarding the way the
procedures are implemented.
“I understand that recalls
are a great tool to have and
they can be effective but it is a
great burden,” Westphal said.
“Certainly if there is an inkling
of something like this be used
improperly, we would modify or
remove it, so I think we will be
keeping an eye on it.”
Mayor Christopher Taylor-D
emphasized the ordinance as
a necessary new chapter that
will provide a proper course of
action for Ann Arbor residents
to remove councilmembers.
“This is something that we
as a council have needed for
some time to put rules in place,”
Taylor said. “We need to have
an ordinance that provides a
structure for folks who have
concerns about the actions of
council members.”
However, Ann Arbor resident
Edward Vielmetti highlighted
how
the
ordinance
could
politicize a polarized council
and be used to oust a council
member
through
an
unfair
method.
“The process of removing a
Democrat being elected member
of Council by non-democratic
method
doesn’t
strike
me
as a particularly good one,”
Vielmetti said. “It strikes me
as something that in a climate
could be used as a political
weapon … and to fill this hole
(in the code) might come back to
haunt us in years to come.”
Yet,
Councilmember
Julie
Grand, D-Ward 3, explained the
need to enforce this ordinance
now rather than waiting for
a violation to occur. “A time
when we are not dealing with
a particular action with a
particular council member is
the time to impart rules so that
we are not trying to make up
things as we go.”
With
the
new
chapter’s
approval, the ordinance will
take effect ten days following
legal publication.
“I hope we can file this under
a never need to use category,”
Westphal
said.
“It
would
certainly be great to have in
a very unlikely event where it
would actually play a role.”
Some
garages,
like
the
Maynard
structure,
already
feature fencing. Pollay told The
Daily
in
October
structures
that will be prioritized include
the rooftop of the Fourth and
Williams streets structure —
topping the list due to its sheer
size — followed by the Ann and
Ashley streets structure, the
Fourth and Washington streets
structure, the Maynard structure,
the Liberty Square structure and
the Forest Avenue structure.
The DDA will also pursue other
tactics such as signage and
structure management.
After deaths last September
and October, city officials pivoted
to taking action on the temporary
fences. Matt Lige, an Ann Arbor
Police
Department
Lietenant,
was
one
such
official
who
expressed initial frustration.
“I’m frustrated by the volume
of deaths from parking structures
in the city of Ann Arbor,” he said
on the scene of the October fatal
fall. “I think it’s safe to say that
we’re all frustrated.”
The city has also installed
signage with the phone number
for
the
National
Suicide
Prevention Lifeline and other
psychiatric service information
to
deter
individuals
from
committing suicide.
University of Michigan-owned
structures do not have the same
barriers as city-owned structures
do.
In
an
email
interview,
Stephen
Dolen,
executive
director of University Logistics,
Transportation
and
Parking,
stated
options
are
currently
being evaluated to implement
similar deterrent methods to
University-owned
parking
structures.
“The Logistics, Transportation
and
Parking
unit
has
been
working with parking consultants
to evaluate options, reviewing
the
effectiveness,
operational
considerations
and
costs
of
adding some types of additional
preventative measures and it
continues to be a topic of ongoing
discussion,” Dolen wrote.
He highlighted the fear he
felt of future terrorist attacks,
both within his work with
colleagues
at
the
White
House as well as within
general society. He explained
officials’ general belief in
the last decade that another
attack was around the corner,
which further incited a race
to strengthen defense against
terrorism. These conditions,
he
offered,
have
outsize
influence on more aggressive
policies instituted by the U.S.
government after the attack.
Rasmussen also illustrated
the growing complexity of
anti-terrorism initiatives with
the diminishment of al-Qaeda
as a main player and the
introduction of ISIS.
“What we’ve seen with
the ISIS variant of global
terrorism over the last few
years, is that impact can be
achieved
with
frequency,
with randomness and the
terror that comes with being
unpredictable,”
Rasmussen
said.
Ciorciari
mentioned
the
operation
to
capture
and
kill Osama bin Laden, which
Rasmussen cited as a perceived
symbol of conclusive defeat
over terrorism in the U.S.
Still, the operation continued
to have varying implications
in its overall success.
“Much of the work that was
done against al-Qaeda was
focused on collecting really
finely-grained
intelligence
to
give
us
insight
into
what particular groups of
individuals were planning,”
Rasmussen said. “And we
had some pretty significant
advantages at the time. In
many ways the problem set
was more manageable then,
because we were dealing with
a relatively contained group
of terrorist actors around the
globe.”
In contrast, ISIS operates
organizationally
to
gain
as much global support as
possible.
Rasmussen also discussed
his
role
throughout
the
shift
into
the
Trump
administration, affirming that
consistency within national
security, especially during a
potentially more vulnerable
political
environment,
has
been prioritized.
“Much as President Obama,
when he assumed office after
President Bush, kept a number
of
senior
counterterrorism
officials in place, it was
obviously President Trump
and
his
administration’s
conclusion that continuity in
some of these areas was in the
national interest as well,” he
said.
In regards to a statement
about
President
Trump’s
potentially
destabilizing
remarks toward Muslim and
minority populations, as well
as foreign groups, Rasmussen
agreed any statements that
deepen distrust between the
government and communities
makes
the
process
of
counterterrorism increasingly
difficult.
However,
he
highlighted there is a holistic
need
for
the
government
to initiate efforts towards
structuring an approach to
community engagement that
encourages an environment of
mutual trust.
“There isn’t a single right-
sized federal program that
I think could be applied, at
scale, across the country, that
could account for all of the
differences in the way that
communities are responding
to
extremism
across
the
country,” he said.
LSA senior Anna Horton
attended the event out of a
general interest in foreign
policy as an international
studies minor.
“I figured it would be
helpful to get some insight
on what a former government
official
thought
about
terrorism in the U.S and
also
our
involvement
in
counterterrorism
overseas,”
she said. “I did really like his
comment about there needing
to
be
a
local
grassroots
response.”
looks at college campuses around
the country and rates their free
speech policies.
FIRE
rates
“green
light
schools” are campuses it views as
friendly to friend speech, while
red light schools are the worst.
FIRE rated the University as a red
light institution.
“U-M has red light policies
that basically show that the
school is less open to free speech,”
Williamson said. “So the purpose
of this specifically is to just
promote a culture of free speech
here on campus.”
FIRE has deemed some of
the University’s policies on hate
speech, bias-related incidents and
sexual harassment to be examples
of red light policies that restrict
students’ free speech.
Williamson had been to many
campuses around the state of
Michigan, and said that he hadn’t
been at the University’s campus
long enough to really tell how the
policies were enforced. However,
regardless
of
how
they
are
enforced, Williamson said the way
that the policies are written are
not necessarily welcoming to free
speech.
In addition to the Leadership
Institute’s
display
at
various
universities, other conservative
advocacy
groups
such
as
Turning Point USA have been
increasing
their
presence
in
higher education. Last year, a
website by Turning Point called
Professor
Watchlist
identified
about 150 professors around the
country as discriminating against
conservative students.
Williamson said at times, the
beach ball and other events he
has organized have been met
with protesters and even police
interference.
In
this
specific
display, the ball was met with
curious looks and some questions,
but no one seemed particularly
threatened by it.
Many students stopped to write
on the ball. While some students
wrote song lyrics or drew pictures,
others took a more political route
with their writing. One side of the
ball had “Palestine” written with a
heart under it, and the other had
“G-d Bless Israel.” There was one
comment that read “speech isn’t
free,” and some that were more
vulgar; for example, “F— Mike
Pence.”
One student who stopped
to write on the ball was LSA
sophomore Lucas Renno, who
thought while the beach ball
may not entirely get the point
across, it was a good start to
talking about free speech at the
University.
“I believe that free speech,
as in the very idea of the right
that anybody should be able
to express an opinion without
being censored or persecuted, is
a right that is fundamental to our
modern society, and to the very
concept of democracy itself,”
Renno said.
Engineering freshman Anu
Tuladhar, who stopped to look at
the ball, also said she believed it
was a “cool way” to promote free
speech.
“I think having a physical
representation to just put your
thoughts on is nice because it’s
not something online where
it’s completely anonymous, and
you feel completely protected
by cyberspace,” Tuladhar said.
“You still have this place where
you can just show everyone, ‘this
is what I’m thinking.’ ”
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and express solidarity regarding
certain topics.
The discussion then shifted
to questions regarding the Go
Blue Guarantee and its potential
effect on students. The Go Blue
Guarantee, effective January 2018,
promises free tuition for four years
to in-state undergraduate students
on the Ann Arbor campus with
family incomes under $65,000.
CSG Vice President Nadine
Jawad, a Public Policy senior,
expressed concerns for the lower
middle range of students applying
for aid but not meeting the income
threshold required for the new
effort.
Councilmembers
asked
questions regarding where the cut-
off income for the guarantee lies,
and which students truly benefit
from it.
“[The
Go
Blue
Guarantee]
is
a
gradually
need-based
policy,” Sellers said. “It is the
most affordable need-based aid
educational opportunity within
the state [of Michigan].
In terms of DEI’s progress
since its launch in October 2016,
Sellers
told
council
members
that the goal is to make DEI a
critical part of the University’s
core values, while inciting long-
term institutional change. The
fact that DEI is now a term widely
recognized by students is a sign of
its effectiveness over the past year,
according to Sellers.
LSA
Student
Government
President Nicholas Fadanelli, an
LSA senior, explained preliminary
efforts being made to potentially
change the academic calendar for
upcoming school years, specifically
extending
winter
break
or
shortening summer break. These
alterations to the calendar will
most likely not be effective until
the 2020-2021 school year.
“This
has
been
on
the
backburner for a couple years
now,” Fadanelli said. “There’s a
decent number of faculty members
who don’t want to lose a week from
their very long summer.”
There are varying opinions
across the University’s schools,
but council members discussed
sending out surveys to their
respective schools in order to
determine students’ opinions on
the proposition.
“A lot of people decide to do
internships in the summer, and
that week at the end [of break]
could make a difference,” Jawad
said.
Fadanelli told council members
that a consolidated opinion on
behalf of the entire University
Council could be more effective
when presenting the proposition
to administration, which they
are planning to have complete by
spring break.
DEI
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