In the first hours of the 

University of Michigan’s West 
Quad Residence Hall’s armed 
robbery in early December, 
residents 
and 
staff 
grew 

concerned with the sudden 
unexplained presence of police 
vehicles outside of the dorm 
and officers in the building. 
Many residents turned to social 
media and their friends to make 
sense of the situation, and very 
rapidly, a rumor about an active 
shooter spread through campus. 
Fortunately for residents, the 
matter was determined to be a 
robbery — not an active shooter 

situation — but the incident has 
students calling for a notification 
system that will advise the 
community about developing 
stories.

For many college campuses 

across the U.S., recent incidents 
have 
community 
members 

asking if relaying important 
information to students, faculty 
and community members as it 
develops should take precedence 
over communicating developed 
crime alerts hours after the crime 
has occurred. The verification 
process is lengthy and police 
departments are often afraid of 
spreading misinformation by 
reporting facts unless they are 
absolutely certain. 

There are tips on the DPSS 

In honor of International 

Data Privacy Day, the University 
of 
Michigan’s 
School 
of 

Information and the Office of 
Information Assurance hosted 
Privacy@Michigan, 
a 
series 

of interdisciplinary panels on 
internet privacy Tuesday in 
North Quad Residence Hall. 
Approximately 100 faculty and 
community members attended.

The 
first 
panel, 
“Privacy 

in a Connected World: An 
Oxymoron?” 
dealt 
with 

generational privacy differences 
and online personal privacy. 
Sol Bermann, interim Chief 
Information 
Security 
Officer, 

moderated 
the 
event. 
Each 

speaker discussed their personal 
privacy research as well as their 
common observances of privacy 
in today’s world. 

Prior to a question and answer 

session, each speaker gave a 
brief overview of their research. 
Susan Gelman, a professor of 
psychology and linguistics, spoke 
about her research on people’s 
feelings regarding a stranger 
tracking their personal items. 
She found a divide between the 
children 
and 
undergraduate 

students she studied.

According to Gelman, children, 

up to about age six, did not have an 
issue with — and sometimes even 
liked — when a stranger was able 

to track the number of items they 
owned. However, undergraduate 
students were almost entirely 
opposed to strangers having the 
ability to track their items, citing 
an invasion of their privacy as the 
main reason for the opposition. 
She wrapped up her section of 
the panel by pondering why 
this division occurs and what is 
significant about its timing.

The second speaker, Sarita 

Yardi Schoenebeck, an assistant 

professor 
in 
the 
School 
of 

Information, spoke on issues 
of privacy in social media. She 
showed the extensive range of 
ways parents have started to 
share everything by citing the 
specific nature of some parenting 
blogs. This opened up her main 
question of why parents post 
so much information online, to 
which she responded, “They feel 
validated as a good parent.”

“For the first time in history, 

children are growing up with 
this online (presence) established 
without their permission or 
consent often started before 
they’re even born,” Schoenebeck 
said.

The 
second 
part 
of 

Schoenebeck’s talk focused on 
older childrens’ comments about 
their past online posts. She said 
most undergraduate students on 
social media tend to keep their 

On Tuesday, the American 

Enterprise Institute Executive 
Council at the University of 
Michigan — the University’s 
branch 
of 
a 
conversative 

leaning think tank based in 
Washington D.C. — held a 
talk on the Iran Deal and its 
consequences for Iran and the 
United States. Michael Rubin, a 
resident scholar at the American 
Enterprise Institute and former 
Pentagon official, led the talk.

Rubin’s talk focused on the 

specifics of the Iran Deal and 
Iran protests and how the U.S. 
has reacted to the deal and its 
effects in the past.

“Rather than simply engage 

in the political fight between 
Democrats 
and 
Republicans 

about whether or not this deal 
is a good thing, the fact of the 
matter is we also need to be 
forward-looking in regard to 
our policy,” Rubin said.

One of the key points of the 

talk centered on the premise of 
the Iran Deal. The main focus 
of this deal was to ensure Iran 
reduced its nuclear facilities; 

michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Wednesday, January 31, 2018

ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SEVEN YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM

DPSS alerts 
seen as too 
delayed by 
community

Political groups and figures talk 
goals, focus points for rest of 2018

See ALERTS, Page 3A

MAITREYI ANANTHARAMAN/Daily

CRIME

After West Quad robbery, students 
ask for continuous emergency updates

RACHEL LEUNG 
& ZAYNA SYED
Daily Staff Reporters

DACA, economic policy, transparency important for politicians, students this year

As the year begins to kick into 

gear, activist groups and politicians 
are starting to implement goals for 
2018. It will no doubt prove to be 
another tumultuous year in U.S. 

politics, as the federal government 
will likely tackle immigration 
and entitlement reform — two 
long-standing 
and 
particularly 

contentious issues that tend to 
arouse high passions on either 
side of the political spectrum. 
Midterm elections in November 
will certainly be equally hard-
fought, as Democrats attempt to 

retake control of the House of 
Representatives and the Senate.

The Michigan political world 

may prove just as exciting, as 
the federal in 2018. Members of 
the legislature will be working 
to pass a budget during the first 
several 
months, 
with 
likely 

Republican victories in store. 
Michigan Democrats will use 

their comparatively smaller, but 
vocal, caucus to bring new issues 
into the statewide debate. Voters 
will choose a new governor on 
Nov. 6, bringing an end to current 
Governor Rick Snyder’s two terms 
in office.

The Michigan Daily contacted 

a number of local politicians and 

MAEVE O’BRIEN 

& RILEY LANGEFELD

Daily Staff Reporters

See IRAN, Page 3A

Ex-official 
talks Iran 
Deal future 
and impact

CAMPUS LIFE

Michael Rubin says no 
“magic formula” to solve 
problems in Middle East

CORY ZAYANCE
Daily Staff Reporter

HALEY MCLAUGHLIN/Daily

J Alex Halderman, Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, speaks about privacy and security in 
celebration of International Data Privacy Day at the Privacy@Michigan panel in North Quad Tuesday. 

Privacy@Michigan symposium covers 
internet privacy, security, censorship

Panelists highlight their individual research, ponder the future of privacy

SAYALI AMIN 
& MARIE HIGH
Daily Staff Reporter 

& For the Daily

Tech takes a seat in 

Ann Arbor

Why more tech startups 

are choosing to pass on San 

Francisco and laying roots in 

the Midwest

» Page 1B

See PRIVACY, Page 3A

See GOALS, Page 3A

Tuesday night, the University 

of Michigan’s Central Student 
Government met to hear the “State 
of the Campus” address from CSG 
President Anushka Sarkar, an LSA 
senior, and discuss critiques of 
the recent Campus Affordability 
Guide.

The assembly also hosted guest 

speakers 
from 
the 
Michigan 

Refugee Assistance Programand 
concerned campus bus-riders, and 
concluded with passing resolutions 
to ensure the transparency of CSG 
and to help fund the Career Center 
Suit Up event.

The evening began with a 

presentation from LSA junior 
Courtney Caulkins, an education 
advocacy chair for the Michigan 
Refugee Assistance Program, who 
seeks to get refugees resettled in 
the Washtenaw County area. After 
summarizing the extensive refugee 
process in the U.S., Caulkins 
went on to discuss changes in the 
refugee resettlement process under 
the Trump administration.

“The president does decide 

every year the ceiling for how 
many refugees will come into the 

See CSG, Page 3A

Resolution 
addresses 
openness 
from CSG

STUDENT GOVERNMENT

State of Campus speech 
focuses on sexual assault, 
current campus climate

HALEY MCLAUGHLIN

For the Daily

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

Check out the 
Daily’s News 
podcast, The 
Daily Weekly 

INDEX
Vol. CXXVII, No. 66
©2018 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 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
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THE MICHIGAN DAILY | JANUARY 31, 2018
statement

