at the University of Michigan
… This (is) an issue that
connects all students,” Irwin
said.
As the election for new CSG
representatives
approaches,
the
assembly
touched
on
the need to remain civil and
fair during campaigning and
election season. Guest speaker
Brian Koziara, a University
Law Student and Yale School
of
Management
student,
stressed to assembly members
the importance of respect and
politeness during the election
process.
“Remember to be civil, and
to be kind, “ Koziara said.
“(You) should act like the CSG
you want to see in the world.”
Community
concerns
included
those
of
food
insecurity
on
campus.
The
University
is
the
only university in the Big
Ten that does not have a
university-sponsored
food
pantry available to students,
according to the assembly.
According to the speakers
and CSG President Anushka
Sarkar, an LSA senior, Ann
Arbor is currently considered
a food desert, with the nearest
grocery store a bus or car ride
away from campus.
“I think this is an important
first step,” Sarkar said.
Additionally,
with
the
limited dining hall hours and
lack of affordable nutritious
food options near campus,
pressure is being put on the
University to invest resources
into addressing this issue. A
resolution
was
introduced
during the meeting to push
the University to provide both
initial and consistent funding
for a food bank for students,
as well as the possibility
of granting financial aid to
students who are considered
“food insecure.”
Sarkar mentioned efforts
to implement a new Wellness
Zone
on
North
Campus,
following the creation of the
first location in the Michigan
Union in 2011. There are also
plans to host a meet-and-
greet event in the coming
weeks in order for students
to engage with their CSG
representatives. The release
of
CSG’s
second
annual
demographic report has been
proposed as well.
The
meeting
concluded
with the passing of multiple
resolutions,
including
further
exploration
into
the
University’s
potential
transition from fossil fuels to
cleaner energy sources, and
further revision of the CSG
election code.
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Monday, February 14, 2018 — 3A
SUCCULE NTS FOR SALE
LSA freshman Lauren McLean, LSA sophomore Leah Weingarten and LSA sophomore Anna Topping sell succulents for the women’s Club Water
Polo team in Mason Hall Tuesday.
HALEY MCLAUGHLIN/Daily
CODE
From Page 1A
members
said
they
found
themselves wishing for Baker
to share more of these quirky
anecdotes from his career as a
prolific journalist.
Engineering and Business
junior Kevin Li noted he
wanted to hear more of Baker’s
own experience reporting in
the White House.
“I think overall I wish he had
spent a little more time talking
about specific observations
he could have made as White
House
chief
correspondent
for The New York Times,”
he said. “I really enjoyed the
stuff about how Biden would
tap people on the shoulder
and kind of joke with them,
whereas Obama was more
like back with the message.
But, I think it is always really
insightful when you have such
a public figure who is so close
to the presidency physically
here in Ann Arbor.”
Business
junior
Abhi
Muchhal also attended Baker’s
talk and was struck by Baker’s
observations of how hallmark
issues unfolded within the
Obama administration.
“I
think
it
was
really
interesting how when you
first read news stories, they
are often polarized in one
direction or the other and
his perspective taking a lot
of the moments in Obama’s
history
was
talking
about
the nuance,” Muchhal said.
“How some people thought
about it this way, some people
thought about this way and
how Obama ended up deciding
it. So it was an interesting way
to think about Obama’s legacy
even though it has only been a
couple years.”
During
the
question
and
answer
period,
many
audience members echoed the
sentiment of Li and Muchhal
and expressed a desire to
hear more of Baker’s own
perspective on the issues that
defined the eight years of
the
Obama
administration.
However, Baker was quick
to point out his job is not
to insert his own opinions.
Baker’s talk was a collection
of observations and an attempt
to forecast how Obama will be
remembered in history.
“He is a very disciplined
guy, and I think we saw that,”
Baker said. “But, because of
that, we didn’t necessarily
always, you know, see the
world through his eyes. We
weren’t always sure you know
what he was thinking or where
he was going … Obama will
occupy an important place
in our history, we just don’t
know what it will be exactly
and that is what makes him so
interesting.”
new modular cabins would
be 300 square feet each and
include a sleeping and living
area and a bathroom with a
shower.
The
Johnston
Hall
recreational
facility,
which
was destroyed by a tree during
a storm, would be replaced
and feature open recreational
space,
restrooms
and
a
laundry room. The proposal
includes
required
upgrades
to the electrical, water supply
and septic systems as well. If
approved, the funding for the
project would come from LSA.
LSA
freshman
Kirsten
Nelson,
a
Camp
Davis
participant, said while she
hopes a couple of cabins are
preserved for their historical
value, they are definitely in
need of repair.
“I heard about the possible
cabin renovations before I
went out west and I was glad
I would get to stay in the neat
old cabins,” she said. “I love
‘roughing it’ while camping
but I was surprised to see that
my cabin had cracks going
across the entire floor with
a hole in the middle. A few
days I moved in, a chizzler dug
himself up through this hole
and into my cabin. Although
the cabins did not ruin my
experience by any means, I
would say that it is time for an
upgrade. I think a few of the
old cabins should stay at Camp
Davis for historical value, but I
definitely support the plan for
new cabins.”
Echoing Nelson’s tone of
appreciation for the cabin’s
rustic
nature,
LSA
junior
Kyle Doroudian said he has
sentimental
memories
of
battling the cold and wildlife
in his living quarters.
“The cabins were a lot of fun
unless you don’t like the cold
or are afraid of mice,” he said.
“I’m sure if you’d asked me this
question two summers ago,
I would’ve had a lot stronger
feelings about it but it’s sort of
a fond memory for me now, as
in it was part of the experience
out there.”
LSA
sophomore
Bailey
Delehant, who will attend
Camp Davis this summer, said
she feels comforted knowing
the University is putting effort
into maintaining the quality of
the camp accommodations.
“I’m really happy to see that
the UM cares just as much
about updating Camp Davis
as it does for the Ann Arbor
campus. I think the people that
work there and the students
that attend care about the
program a lot, and it makes me
happy to know that the school
cares just as much.”
concerns over the security of
University
email
accounts.
Wildfire’s
email
utilized
an old University logo and
welcomed students back to the
University after winter break,
using language such as ‘We’re
thrilled to have you back
Wolverines!’ The subject of the
email was ‘Wildfire App U-M’
and the email address was
seemingly chosen to mimic
those of the University.
School
of
Information
assistant
professor
Florian
Schaub explained companies
can find email addresses to
send
marketing
materials
to through various means,
including
targeting
institutions and paying third
party websites to release data.
“They try to find ways to
figure out email addresses,”
Schaub said. “For example we
have MCommunity, which is
a public portal and you can
search for people and see their
email
addresses
and
their
contact information.”
This
brings
up
another
salient concern on campus
of internet privacy. As the
University
is
increasingly
reliant on the internet, more
and more personal information
is being uploaded for anyone
to find. To highlight these
emerging issues, the School of
Information and the Office of
Information Assurance held
the
first
annual
Privacy@
Michigan symposium at the
end of January to call attention
to internet data privacy. Schaub
spoke at the event and gave
audience members strategies to
help them make good internet
privacy decisions.
As
for
situations
like
the
Wildfire
one,
where
information — like an email
address — has already been
gathered,
Schaub
suggests
email users be careful when
coming across an unexpected
email.
Overall,
Schaub
emphasized that users should
be suspicious whenever they
are accessing a link, website or
application, and urged them to
read the company’s data policy.
“When I’m signing up for
a service or a mobile app, (I
ask) what are they allowed
to do with my data,” Schaub
said. “Whenever you use an
email address you need to be
really cautious and think about
who they are sharing this data
with.”
Dana Fair, the University
Information and Technology
Services
senior
marketing
communications
specialist,
confirmed Wildfire was not
affiliated with the University.
However, Fair explained in an
email interview Wildfire was
just a marketing email and not
malicious software.
“Receiving
emails
from
entities outside the institution
does not suggest that U-M
email addresses or the privacy
of
individuals
have
been
compromised,” he wrote.
In an email, Interim U-M
Chief
Information
Security
Officer Sol Bermann echoed
Fair’s
statements
and
maintained while marketing
emails may be ‘junk’ and seen
as annoying, there is little
that can be done to prevent
unsolicited
emails
from
entering any inbox.
“The University community,
myself
included,
often
receives unsolicited marketing
emails,” Bermann said. “This
is not much different than
unsolicited email you get in
other email accounts you may
have, and it can certainly be a
nuisance.”
Many
email
accounts,
whether
through
the
University or personal, are
subjected to marketing emails.
However, Wildfire concerns
some because the application
claims to provide students
with safety alerts, similar to
the emergency alerts which
the
University
Division
of
Public Safety and Security
sends. Having an application
that is not affiliated with
the University advertise to
students
they
can
provide
emergency
notifications
about
matters
concerning
campus safety and security
may potentially conflict with
reliable information coming to
and from DPSS.
DPSS currently sends safety
and
crime
alerts
through
multiple channels, such as
the Michigan App and the
newly released DPSS App. In
addition, students and faculty
can sign up to receive text
message alerts in the event of
an emergency.
DPSS
Associate
Director
Melissa Overton said while
DPSS
has
not
evaluated
Wildfire, the Michigan and
DPSS apps are the only alert
systems
they
approve
of
because of their reliability.
“We continue to promote the
Michigan and DPSS apps for
accurate alert information,”
she said.
As
of
Tuesday
representatives for Wildfire
have not responded to requests
for comment. A link to the
developer’s website on the
Apple App Store leads to an
error message.
LSA sophomore Sean Yoon
shared
his
concern
that
Wildfire, an application not
approved by the University,
might
provide
students
and faculty with unreliable
information and sources.
“I definitely think reliability
comes really important when it
comes to this issue,” Yoon said.
“We know DPSS (alerts) are
credible and they are related
to the University and they are
giving us credible information,
whereas this one we don’t
know if they are credible or
not.”
LSA
junior
Evelyn
Kim
shared Yoon’s concerns about
the reliability of Wildfire but
saw some potential benefit
in having a student-reported
communication
app,
as
Wildfire depends on students
to report incidents in a social-
media type platform.
“I think that if there are
people who are saying they
witnessed something, that can
actually help the investigation
of the case — I think that’s
actually a helpful side of
Wildfire,” Kim said. “(But)
that application should require
people to at least provide
their phone numbers so that
they can provide some critical
information there.”
However, Yoon and Kim both
agreed the marketing of the
application in the email sent
to students was deceitful and
problematic because Wildfire
misrepresented themselves to
the community as a University-
sanctioned
application
for
campus safety information.
“The fact that they even used
the logo for the University of
Michigan is a problem in the
first place,” Yoon said.
EMAILS
From Page 1A
NYT
From Page 1A
USA’s core beliefs and his own
“conservatarian”
political
philosophy. He then addressed
the idea of ideological diversity
by discussing the future of
U.S. politics and emphasizing
the need to challenge the rise
of leftist ideals on college
campuses.
Kirk repeatedly expressed
his disagreement with what he
calls socialist or neo-Marxist
ideology, describing socialism
as
“the
greatest
killer
of
humanity in the last 100 years
and the worst idea of the 20th
century.”
“It baffles me, the rise
of
socialism
on
college
campuses,” Kirk said.
Kirk’s speech touched on
a variety of other subjects,
including
the
Boycott,
Divestment
and
Sanctions
movement,
which
pushes
for divestment from Israel.
A
#UMDivest
resolution
successfully passed in Central
Student
Government
last
November, for the first time
on the Ann Arbor campus. The
resolution
urges
University
Board of Regents to form a
committee to investigate three
companies operating in Israel
with alleged human rights
violations against Palestinians.
Kirk condemned the BDS
movement
as
anti-Semitic
and said, “Israel is a beacon of
freedom in the Middle East.”
Among
the
other
topics
Kirk discussed were political
philosophy,
human
nature,
religion and biases in the
media.
After speaking for about 40
minutes, Kirk opened the floor
up to questions. Participants
asked Kirk for his opinion
on a range of issues such as
President
Donald
Trump,
institutionalized
oppression,
regulating large corporations
and identity politics.
He also responded to several
questions about how young
conservatives can engage their
liberal peers in discussions.
Kirk encouraged the audience
to stay “as informed as you
possibly can, not just about
the
other
viewpoint,
but
other foundational ideas and
perspectives.”
Kirk responded to several
questions
intended
to
challenge
his
ideas.
One
student asked Kirk whether
his Facebook page actually
sparks dialogue, or whether
it’s simply “pandering” to his
base. Kirk said the Facebook
page does foster conversation.
According to Kirk, some of
the material he puts online
is “intentionally trying to be
edgy, spur discussion, spur
debate … And some of it is also,
I think, very good intellectual
content.”
Many
of
the
students
who attended Kirk’s speech
were
visiting
from
nearby
universities.
Spencer
Edwards,
a
sophomore
at
Jackson College, came to the
event to hear from a younger
conservative thinker.
“I grew up on a lot of
conservative
ideals
with
my
grandparents,
guys
like Michael Savage, Rush
Limbaugh … Those are the
guys for an older generation. I
feel like these guys like Charlie
are guys who represent our
generation
more,”
Edwards
said.
LSA
freshman
Michael
Dedecker
said
he
also
appreciated hearing Charlie
Kirk
speak,
especially
in
relation
to
his
humorous
retorts against liberal ideals.
“I’m probably going to start
following him around more on
Twitter, just because I thought
he was funny and he offered
some new perspectives on how
to combat socialism with new
arguments,” he said.
IDEOLOGICAL
From Page 1A
CABINS
From Page 1A
I’m really happy
to see that the
UM cares just
as much about
updating Camp
Davis as it does
for the Ann Arbor
campus. I think
the people that
work there and
the students that
attend care a lot