world to ensure a globally diverse
campus community.”
Despite these challenges, U-M’s
Ann Arbor campus has held up well,
with the number and percentage
of international students growing
almost
uninterrupted
for
10
years. In 2008, the percentage
of international students at the
University’s Ann Arbor campus
was 11.55, growing to 15.14 percent
in 2017.
Kedra Ishop, vice provost for
Enrollment
Management,
said
because government scholarships
are
running
out
in
foreign
countries, the few students who
do have funding will choose to go
to selective institutions where the
return on investment is high. She
explained U-M has an established
brand overseas that will continue
to pull students and prevent a big
drop in the number of international
applications.
“(Foreign) students are going
to be more selective in where they
choose to take the funding that
they have … They are looking at
institutions that will deliver on the
educational experience they expect
to have for that, and Michigan
is well-regarded nationally and
internationally,” Ishop said.
Aside from cost, Lucas Lu,
CEO of Forward Pathway, LLC,
a
Pittsburgh-based
educational
consulting company for Chinese
international students, explained
Chinese students are getting an
impression the U.S. is becoming less
safe because of gun violence and
terrorism reports in the media.
“Chinese parents worry about
this, we have several customers
who finished their application then
suddenly decided not to come to
U.S. due to the Las Vegas gunshot
report,” Lu wrote in an email
interview.
Judith Pennywell, the director
of the University’s International
Center,
added
the
University
undertakes educational campaigns
to counteract perceptions that the
United States is a dangerous place.
“International
students
are
welcomed and valued at Michigan,
and we want to make sure they
know this despite what they might
experience in — or feel about — the
current
political
environment,”
Pennywell wrote in an email
interview.
And
after
they
arrive,
international students can expect
to find support through advising,
workshops, field trips and social
events through the International
Center and other campus resources.
Toward new sources of revenue
The
trend
in
declining
international student enrollment
coincides with the general decline
in enrollment at public universities,
according
to
the
Michigan
Association of State Universities.
Ezzeddine said for regional
universities like Wayne State, the
economic downturn in Detroit
after the 2008 financial crisis
has affected enrollment numbers
adversely.
“When employers stop providing
tuition benefits, when jobs are
limited, school may not be the top
priority for a prospective student,”
Ezzeddine wrote. “So they drop
out of school or don’t pursue that
graduate degree in which they were
planning to enroll … And it becomes
a domino effect.”
Cotter said in response to the
drop in international enrollment,
MSU has ramped up efforts to
attract out-of-state students, who
also pay more for tuition, to balance
out the decline in international
students.
“What Michigan State’s been able
to do was grow our domestic out-
of-state to minimize the impact of
international decline,” Cotter said.
“We feel very fortunate as a flagship
institution to be able to recruit
students very, very successfully
across the state of Michigan, but
also from Los Angeles to New York
and around the world.”
When asked about the budgetary
implications
of
an
increasing
international population, Ishop said
there were no big changes.
“Our
international
students
pay the same rate as our domestic
non-resident students,” Ishop said.
“International is a part of (out-
of-state students) –– there’s not a
subsequent budgetary impact.”
For regional universities, the
push to make up for lost enrollment
takes a different course. Geoff
Larcom, executive director of Media
Relations at Eastern Michigan
University,
said
though
EMU
has seen its total enrollment and
international enrollment decrease
over the past 10 years, EMU is now
focusing on online degree courses,
for which many people pay out-of-
state tuition.
He also noted EMU is working
harder than ever to recruit and
retain
international
students
through its #YouAreWelcomeHere
campaign, which promotes the
university’s support network for
foreign students and proximity
to Detroit Metropolitan Airport.
EMU President James Smith also
visited China along with other
administrative officials last year to
build bridges with students there.
“One of the ways President Smith
wants to increase revenue and
continue improving the campus
is to increase our enrollment of
international
students,
despite
any of the forces that might be
acting in the opposite direction,”
Larcom said. “We adopted the
#YouAreWelcomeHere campaign,
which involves a video and a
powerful outreach campaign to
international students, banners, and
really featuring them in a variety of
ways that showcases what a good
experience they can have in the
Eastern Michigan campus.”
However, international students
may think differently. Lu pointed
out flagship and private schools
like the University of Michigan and
New York University are recruiting
more international students than
ever; in NYU’s case, international
enrollment shot up from 3,907 in
2005 to 13,735 in 2017, according
to their enrollment factbook. This
means with the same GPA and
SAT/ACT score, a Chinese student
now can attend a more selective
institution than they did if they had
the same stats 10 years ago.
“Because of Chinese culture,
Chinese students value ranking as
the first thing when choose school,”
Lu wrote. “So now, with GPA 3.0+
and TOEFL 90+ they can go to
Top 80 ranking colleges, why they
even need to consider non-flagship
universities?”
Though current trends may be
disheartening, the U.S. still remains
one of, if not the most popular
destination to study for students
and scholars around the world,
according to Masahiro Masaki,
a graduate student from Japan at
EMU.
“I believe education is one of the
most critical things to improve our
living and thinking,” he wrote in an
email interview. “The U.S. is? Was?
The country of freedom. Everyone
who wants to pursue their goals or
dreams should be given an equal
chance.”
Shi, echoed the sentiment, saying
the distance from her home country
did not deter her from pursuing the
best education she could obtain.
“Going abroad for me, 3 hours
away or 24 hours ride doesn’t
matter,” Shi said. “(The U.S.) is one
of the best countries that can offer
the best education.”
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Friday, February 9, 2018 — 3
ALEXANDRIA POMPEI/Daily
J. Mark Ramseyer, Mitsubishi Professor of Japenese Legal Studies at Harvard Law School, speaks about identity politics in Japan at
Weiser Hall Thursday.
did last night. My blue is a soft
blanket.”
Aravind discussed the struggle
of having so few other South Asian
trans women in her community,
discovering her trans identity
in
2014
while
experiencing
depression. She said she was
indebted to the friends she met
during that difficult time who
supported her and ultimately
helped her recognize her trans-
ness.
“My transition is primarily
the story of community and
solidarity,” Aravind said. “It’s the
story of people sacrificing time
and energy to care for me.”
In Mendez’s speech, they talked
about not fitting into a gender
category growing up and how this
made them feel isolated.
“I remember people always
calling me tomboy, that I was one
of the boys,” they said. “To me, that
meant I wasn’t doing girl right, but
I wasn’t quite boy enough to be
respected the way a real boy is.
I felt broken, like I wasn’t doing
gender right.”
Mendez
also
highlighted
certain obstacles they face as a
nonbinary person, such as being
forced to check either male or
female on a job application or
struggling to find a gender-neutral
bathroom. They conveyed their
desire to be accepted as who they
are.
“At the end of the day, I would
just like people to see me as who
I am,” they said. “Our existence
is too nebulous to be filled in one
box. We’re too full of possibilities.”
Sheng similarly talked about
being uncomfortable in his gender
as a child. He talked about his
rejection of anything considered
“feminine” as a child, joking that
to his friends, it was as if he was
a little Mulan. He then discussed
his coming out experience and the
medical transition that followed.
“My body was rapidly forming
to fit my soul, and while it was
something I’d wanted more than
anything for six years, it was
overwhelming,” he said.
He further noted the changes
in his thinking since his medical
transition
four
years
ago,
especially his acceptance of his
trans identity as being part of his
search for happiness.
“I spent so long thinking that
being trans was a roadblock to
happiness, but I know now that
while it doesn’t make it any easier,
my trans identity isn’t a roadblock,
but a part of that journey,” Sheng
said.
After the student speeches and
a reflective moment of silence, the
keynote speaker portion of the
event began. One of these speakers
was actor Brian Michael Smith, an
Ann Arbor native, who has had
roles in TV shows such as “Queen
Sugar,” “Chicago P.D.” and “Girls.”
Smith told the story of playing
for his high school football team,
despite the fears of his mother and
the stigmas surrounding it. He
connected this to his experience
as a trans person through the
lesson of going for goals even as
the people express their doubts.
“As a trans person, a lot of what
I’m struggling with is not my own
fear, not my own doubts, but other
people around me,” Smith said.
“So I’m here today to tell you don’t
let that happen to you. There’s so
much you can do, there’s so much
in your heart. If that’s something
you want to do, you have to go for
it. People will come around, people
will learn and most importantly
when you share your story, you’re
going to give somebody else the
courage to do that in their life.”
The next speaker was modal
Amiyah Scott, an actress on the
TV show, “Star.” She said she was
grateful for being able to attend
the event and exist as her trans self
against all odds.
“I’m thankful first of all because
the woman you see here today was
told she couldn’t exist,” Scott said.
“I was actually told I was crazy for
thinking she could exist. And I’m
here.”
She noted the times she’s
been
distressed
while
trying
to achieve her dreams and her
ultimate perseverance. She urged
the audience to always love
themselves and fight for their
ambitions.
“Self-love is very important,”
she said. “You have to love you.
Aside from that, you have to
believe in yourself, you have to
give yourself a chance.”
Activist Janet Mock, author of
memoirs “Redefining Realness”
and “Surpassing Certainty,” was
the last speaker. She talked about
coming from an unstable family
and a neighborhood filled with
poverty noting her eventual
success is a rare occurrence in
her community. She spoke of the
liberation telling her story gave
her.
Not wanting to wait outside the
closed library, Heyman turned to
the pricey alternative.
“When I saw the Uber fare was
so high, I decided to give it a try,
because 40 minutes is too much
of a wait for midnight,” she said.
“So I Ubered.”
The anonymous source said
such waits are rare. Factors
like weather, events and traffic,
she said, can all contribute to
extended wait times, and the
limited resources they have make
it hard to satisfy all demand.
“It all comes down to supply
and demand. If a lot of people are
using the system, we only have so
much supply,” she said. “We try to
do the best we can with as many
resources as we have.”
SafeRide’s app and website
TapRide
regularly
updates
the pick-up time. At 10 p.m. on
Wednesday night –– the time
of night when the anonymous
source
said
requests
usually
peak –– the average wait was 30
minutes.
The wait time can be longer on
the nights of football games, the
anonymous source said.
“There have been times when
a football game is getting out and
people are trying to use it,” she
said. “That is mostly because of
traffic and the amount of rides
coming in can impact the wait
time.”
For students who live even
farther away on North Campus,
transit services like SafeRide are
crucial. Although Bursley-Baits
and Northwood routes typically
run to about 2 a.m. on weekdays
and weekends, they only depart
from the C.C. Little bus stop.
For School of Music, Theatre,
and Dance freshman Kamryn
Thomas, the hike to the bus stop
was too long from South Campus,
where she had ended up after
playing with the marching band.
Not knowing whether buses were
running on a game day was an
incentive for her to try SafeRide.
“It ended up taking 30 to 50
minutes, or something outrageous
like that,” Thomas said. “And
it kept updating the ETA, and
I was like, ‘Is my phone broken
or something?’ I didn’t want to
cancel the ride in case they were
coming soon or something. So I
just sat there and waited.”
achieving results, and if we’re
not achieving results, you need
to say ‘Folks, you’re not doing
what you need to do.’”
The City of Ann Arbor has
outlined four theme areas for
its Sustainability Framework:
climate and energy, community,
land
use
and
access,
and
resource management. These
theme areas contain 16 specific
goals, or “smart goals,” where
progress is tracked using a
series of 38 different metrics.
Considering
these
measurement methods, Mirsky
said Ann Arbor’s sustainable
future will rely heavily on this
research.
“I think it’s self-evident that
a sustainable community is
what Ann Arborites value and
what we want,” Mirsky said.
Speaking
next
on
the
panel
was
Matthew
Naud,
environmental coordinator for
Ann Arbor, who commented on
Ann Arbor’s experience as being
one of 68 cities across the nation
involved with Sustainability
Tools
for
Assessing
and
Rating
Communities.
STAR
helps Ann Arbor compare its
sustainability progress with
other cities. Out of a five-star
rating, Ann Arbor received
four stars, ranking the same as
Columbus, Ohio and Portland,
Oregon.
Andrew Berki, director of the
University of Michigan’s Office
of Campus Sustainability, spoke
on behalf of the University
and its goals in regards to
sustainability.
According to Berki, by 2025,
the
University
will
reduce
greenhouse gas emissions by 25
percent and reduce University-
produced waste by 40 percent.
Much of the University’s
power is produced at the
Central Power Plant, which
converted to natural gas in
the 1960s and provides steam,
electricity, compressed air and
hot water to Central Campus
and
Michigan
Medicine.
Though natural gas is twice as
efficient as coal, the University
would like to increase the
power plant’s efficiency and
introduce a larger percentage of
renewable energy systems.
INSIDE CLIM ATE NEWS
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