michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Friday, February 16, 2018
ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SEVEN YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
Joshua Johnson — host of
NPR’s “1A” — navigated the
issue of free speech on college
campuses, and how to encourage
free
dialogue
while
also
maintaining a comfortable and
safe environment for students, at
a live taping of his show Thursday
night.
The
panel
discussion
“Speak Freely: Debating the
First Amendment in a Changing
America” was co-sponsored by
Michigan Radio and Wallace
House, a fellowship program for
journalists at the University of
Michigan, and drew hundreds of
people to Rackham Auditorium.
Johnson, a journalist for the
show that focuses on politics,
policy and technology daily, sat
down with a panel featuring
University
faculty
members
Angela Dillard and Faith Sparr,
who teach in the Departments of
Afroamerican and African Studies
and Communications Studies,
respectively, as well as Rackham
student Maximillian Alvarez and
LSA senior Jesse Arm.
The conversation started with
the panelists responding to the
question of how universities
should respond to controversial
far-right
personalities,
such
as white supremacist Richard
Spencer, and whether universities
are obligated to host these
speakers. In October, Spencer
requested
to
speak
at
the
University
without
invitation,
and after a lengthy negotiation
process, the University announced
in January Spencer would not be
speaking this semester, though
they would offer him potential
dates to speak once the semester
is over.
Dillard
acknowledged
the
University’s legal obligation of
protecting free speech, but said
people must acknowledge “the
idea that we would have such a
divisive, potentially dangerous
person… and how disruptive that
might be on our campus to the real
work of our campus.”
“It is not something that the
University of Michigan is at one
mind about,” Dillard said.
Host of ‘1A’
holds debate
on issues of
free speech
See DEBATE, Page 3
ALEXANDRIA POMPEI/Daily
Ian Robinson, President of LEO and LSA lecturer, speaks about the unjust compensation University lecturers receive at the Michigan Union Thursday.
CAMPUS LIFE
Faculty-student panel discusses Richard
Spencer, conservatism in the classroom
REFAEL KUBERSKY
For the Daily
LEO demands pay raises and job security, calls University counteroffer “insulting”
After receiving what members
called an “insulting” response
to their salary proposal from
the
University
of
Michigan
Monday night, the Lecturers’
Employee
Organization
held
a
press
conference
at
the
Michigan Union prior to the
University Board of Regents
meeting
Thursday.
Lecturers
and allies addressed the board
and University President Mark
Schlissel directly, emphasizing
the union’s core demands, which
include higher wages, enhanced
job
security
and
improved
benefits.
More than 75 people, including
lecturers, allies, students and
members
of
the
Graduate
Employees’
Organization
gathered in support of LEO, many
with signs, buttons and T-shirts.
The press conference featured
lecturers from the School of
Social Work and University of
Michigan-Dearborn, as well as
LEO President Ian Robinson
and Heather Ann Thompson,
professor of Afroamerican and
African Studies.
Robinson, a sociology lecturer,
expressed worry at the meeting
that in light of the University’s
“shockingly low” offer, the union
may not be able to conclude
negotiations before its current
contract ends on April 20.
“We are not going to get to
a contract by our goal of early
April unless the administration
rethinks the role that we play
and the respect that we deserve
and makes a much bigger offer
in response to our demands,”
Robinson said.
LEO,
which
represents
nearly 1,700 non-tenure track
faculty members across all three
University campuses, has been
bargaining for a new contract
with
the
University
since
last semester. Right now, the
minimum salary for a full-time
lecturer is $34,500 at University
of Michigan-Ann Arbor, $28,300
in Dearborn and $27,300 in Flint.
In its counterproposal, the
University
offered
a
$1,000
LEAH GRAHAM
Daily Staff Reporter
See LEO, Page 3
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INDEX
Vol. CXXVII, No. 78
©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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Lecturers hold press conference
to outline frustrations with ‘U’
More
than
125
million
Americans
are
exposed
to
dangerous levels of air pollution,
according to the American Lung
Association’s 2017 State of the
Air Report. The environmental
and health ramifications of air
pollution are well documented:
Haze, ozone depletion, acid rain
and lung cancer are among many
of the consequences that result.
But social costs, like increased
criminal activity, may also result
from the worsening air quality,
according to research by a
University of Michigan professor.
Julia Lee, assistant professor of
management and organizations
at the Ross School of Business,
explored
the
correlation
between
unethical
behavior
and air pollution in a study with
researchers
from
Columbia
University
and
Harvard
University. The findings, soon to
be published in the Psychological
Science journal, demonstrate a
relationship between the anxiety
caused by pollution and social
ills.
Lee first became interested in
behavioral ethics while earning
her doctorate degree in Public
Policy at Harvard. She began to
look at the relationship between
air
pollution
and
unethical
behavior with her former adviser
Francesca Gino, a professor
of business administration at
Harvard Business School.
“We had some initial data from
FBI and EPA, but realized that
putting together a large dataset
and accounting for many possible
confounds (e.g., demographics,
# of police officers, etc) may be
a daunting task, and that’s when
we decided to team up with
Jackson Lu and Adam Galinsky
at Columbia Business School,”
Lee wrote in an email interview.
Lee
and
her
colleagues
analyzed
vast
datasets,
combining the Environmental
Protection Agency’s city-level
pollution data with the FBI’s city-
level crime data, allowing them
to analyze 9,360 American cities
in total.
“Jackson loved talking about
how comprehensive this dataset
was by reporting that the data
had 17 different cities across
different states that were all
named ‘Springfield,’” Lee wrote.
Ultimately, the team found
strong
correlations
between
unethical behavior and pollution,
and believe anxiety related to
pollution may be at the heart of
the issue.
“There is an existing body
of
work
showing
that
air
pollution increases stress and
anxiety,” Lee wrote. “Francesca
Gino and I had already done
some work on how engaging
in unethical behavior might
reduce people’s anxiety at least
temporarily, and demonstrated
that cheating resulted in the
reduction in participants’ stress
When
Kinesiology
junior
Okpalefe
Edevbie
transferred
from Wayne State University to the
University of Michigan’s School
of Kinesiology, he was excited to
learn about a major WSU didn’t
offer — Sports Management —
which focuses on the interactions
of sports and business.” He knew
there was less diversity at the
University in comparison to WSU,
but was surprised at how often
he felt he was the only minority
student in his courses, specifically
in the sport management program.
“In my classes, I’m usually one…
if not the only minority student in
a lot of my classes, which I thought
was
interesting
particularly
in sport management because
African
Americans
influence
sports and sports culture so much
in this country,” Edevbie said.
“But, I thought that there would be
at least more African Americans
like myself in the program.”
According
to
La’Joya
Orr,
managing director for recruitment
and admissions for the Kinesiology
School,
the
school’s
student
population is 77 percent white,
See KINESIOLOGY, Page 3
Diversity in
Kines. seen
as obstacle
to students
ACADEMICS
According to department,
Kines. school is 77 percent
white, 12.6 percent URM
RACHEL CUNNINGHAM
Daily Staff Reporter
‘U’ study finds correlation between
worsening air quality and crime levels
Anxiety caused by air pollution believed to lead to unethical behavior, crime
KATE JENKINS
Daily Staff Reporter
See POLLUTION, Page 3
On Thursday afternoon, the
University of Michigan Board of
Regents met for the first meeting
of
the
semester,
with
many
representatives of the Lecturers’
Employee Organization and Stop
Spencer voicing their concerns
during public comments. Topics
discussed
included
increasing
wages and benefits for lecturers,
#StopSpencer,
allocation
of
funds to several investments and
renovations, and actions currently
being taken by the Interfraternity
Council to create a safer Greek life
community.
During
University
President
Mark
Schlissel’s
opening
statements,
he
offered
his
sympathies to the victims of
the recent shooting at Marjory
Stoneman Douglas High School in
Parkland, Florida.
“Before we get started, I’d like
to acknowledge in great sadness
the events in Florida and extend
the sympathies of the entire
University of Michigan community
to the families and survivors of
yet another terrible mass shooting
See REGENTS, Page 2
LEO given
no answer
from Board
of Regents
ADMINISTRATION
During public comment,
Regents respond to IFC
speaker, silent for LEO
JORDYN BAKER
& AMARA SHAIKH
Daily Staff Reporters
NEW YE AR CE LE BR ATION
JOSHUA HAN/Daily
Performers dance on stage during the CSSA Chinese New Year Celebration Gala at the Michigan Theater
Saturday.