AMANDA CRISCI/Daily

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
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.’ ”

SPEECH
From Page 1

TRUMP
From Page 1

COUNCIL
From Page 1

FENCES
From Page 1

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
From Page 1