improvement of job security for
lecturers at the University.
Currently, full-time lecturers
receive a minimum salary of
$34,500 at the University of
Michigan-Ann Arbor, $28,30 at the
University of Michigan-Dearborn
and $27,300 at the University of
Michigan-Flint.
Frustrated with low salaries
and pay rates for lecturers across
the University’s campuses, LEO
has continued to meet with
University officials since October
demanding a new contract before
their current contract ends April
20. During Thursday’s meeting,
representatives
called
on
the
University administration to meet
the demands of lecturers who fall
at or below the poverty line.
Tony Hessenthaler, a Lecturer
I in the Spanish Department, told
The Daily prior to the meeting that
he’s currently a father of three, and
while he enjoys teaching, he doesn’t
know if his current salary will be
able to support his family, now with
a newborn diagnosed with Down
syndrome.
“For eight months out of the
year, we are just right above the
poverty line, which is shameful for
University of Michigan full-time
teaching position,” Hessenthaler
said. “We have a newborn, she’s
about five months old, and she
has Down syndrome, which was
a surprise when she was born.
Luckily she’s in relatively good
health, but now thinking long
term I don’t know if I can make
this a career. I would like it to be,
but I don’t know if I can make this
a long-term career and possibly
find a way to help support her.
I’ll be supporting her well into
adulthood.”
Hessenthaler explained over
80 percent of Lecturer I’s across
all three campuses earn less than
$50,000 a year. According to
Hessenthaler, many departments
pay new Lecturer I’s the minimum
salary,
giving
small
yearly
increases. In regard to decisions
from the regents, Hessenthaler
said LEO wants action, not words.
“We don’t want their pity and
we don’t want lip service, but we
would really like their support in
helping us talk to administration to
make a big market adjustment for
what lecturers should be making,”
Hessenthaler said.
During the current bargaining
session, Hessenthaler highlighted
demands from LEO including
salary increases, the ability for
departments to use the title
Teaching Professor instead of
Lecturer, and a longevity bonus
for career lecturers who have held
their positions for extended periods
and who might remain restricted
by current contract wages.
“I really hope that with the
regents’ support, lecturer support,
tenure-track faculty support and
student support that we can get
these wages up to where they
should be,” Hessenthaler said.
“We’re not asking for golden
parachute
pension
plans
and
health care that covers massages in
chiropractors, we don’t need that
stuff. We just need a living wage
to get by, especially in Ann Arbor
where the cost of living is relatively
high to everywhere else in the
area.”
As reported previously in The
Daily, the median rent in Ann
Arbor increased 14 percent from
2010 to 2015, according to the U.S.
Census Bureau, and currently sits
at approximately $1,075 per month.
Katie Oppenheim, chair of the
University
Professional
Nurse
Council, also spoke on behalf of
increasing wages and benefits for
faculty. Oppenheim claimed as
tuition rates rise, salaries have not
risen at the same rate.
“Only through the power we
get from collective bargaining can
we counteract the markets built-in
tendency to undervalue us in our
work,” Oppenheim said. “And I will
also add the University’s tendency
to undervalue us in our work.”
Central Student Government
President Anushka Sarkar, an
LSA senior, addressed the regents
during her CSG update. She
presented the support of student
governments across the three
University campuses, highlighting
all three bodies have passed
resolutions in support of LEO and
higher wages for lecturers.
“Student
Government
recognizes the vital role that
lecturers play at the University,
and call for higher wages, more job
security, and healthcare coverage
as conditions in the next contract
for lecturer employees,” the U-M
Dearborn Student Government
Regents Report reads.
Richard Spencer
The topic of the University’s
potential
visit
from
white
supremacist
Richard
Spencer
was
mentioned
consistently
throughout the remaining portion
of the meeting by various students.
Though the possible visit has been
delayed until potentially spring or
summer semester, students were
concerned for the safety of minority
students as well as frustrated with
the administration’s overall lack
of support for those targeted by
Spencer’s messages.
LSA senior Darian Razdar is
currently a member of the Stop
Spencer Coalition on campus.
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Friday, February 16, 2018 — 3
After
brief
discussion,
the
conversation’s focus quickly shifted
to whether conservative thoughts
are attacked on campus. Arm is
the co-chairman of the American
Enterprise Institute’s Michigan
Executive Council, a public policy
think tank responsible for bringing
controversial
social
scientist
Charles Murray to campus earlier
this year. Arm stressed how
professors are given the ability to
“teach policy as if it’s a matter of
fact” and said academically, he has
faced adverse consequences for his
conservative views.
“Grade retribution problems
exist,” he said.
Continuing,
Arm
criticized
the degree to which professors
expressed their personal political
opinions
in
the
classroom,
especially
during
the
2016
presidential election.
“You had University professors
openly endorsing one candidate …
in their classrooms and pushing
their agenda,” Arm said.
Arm said he thought the
most effective mechanism in
combatting controversial speakers
like Spencer on campus was not by
denying them a place to speak but
by not showing up to their event.
Alvarez refuted Arm’s claim,
questioning the legitimacy of
the narrative that conservative
viewpoints were being attacked
in the classroom, saying instead
they were being challenged as
all ideas should be in a university
setting, and alluded to the issue of
conservative victimization.
“This kind of narrative of
conservative
victimization
is
actually feeding the very thing
we are trying to fight against,
and … gives dangerous people
a protective blanket to come in
here with their violent supporters
under the banner of free speech,”
he said.
Alvarez
continued,
saying
Spencer’s
potential
presence
would inevitably attract other
white
supremacists
and
hate
groups to campus, creating a
dangerous environment.
Johnson
soon
sparked
a
discussion
regarding
Murray’s
talk at the University in October.
Murray is a libertarian political
scientist whose controversial book
“The Bell Curve”, which draws
connections between race and
intelligence, is denounced by many
other academics as racist.
Along with AEI, Arm thought
hosting Murray on campus would
bring students from both sides
of the aisle together and begin a
dialogue. Instead, Arm claimed
protesters at the event made a
deliberate effort to shun Murray
by turning off the lights during his
speech and projecting the words
“White Supremacist” on the wall
behind the speaker. Arm saw the
events that transpired as evidence
of the attack on conservative
views on the University’s campus.
The day after the event, the New
York Times published an op-ed
authored by Arm of his response to
the protesters.
Alvarez, who was a leading
protester at the event, refuted the
claim that protesters inhibited
Murray
from
expressing
his
ideas. However, Alvarez stressed
while protesters gave Murray
an opportunity to speak, it was
important to shed light on the
absurdity of Murray’s viewpoints.
“Murray’s pseudo-scholarship
has been rebutted and defamed for
decades,” Alvarez said.
LSA junior Anna Horton later
said she identified with Arm’s
struggle to express conservative
views in the classroom.
“I can say from a recent
discussion with a professor that
our views are not necessarily
welcomed,” she said.
Anthony Borden, a founding
member of Progressives at EMU,
discussed
his
concerns
with
Spencer and other controversial
conservative speakers coming to
speak on campus.
“If you are inciting violence,
your free speech should not be
protected,” he said.
An audience member inquired
about the intersection — or lack
thereof — between freedom of
speech, social media and fake
news. Johnson mentioned his
disdain for the phrase “fake news.”
“I hate the term fake news,
because if it’s fake, it’s not news,”
Johnson said.
Sparr added that in current
climate, it is important to be
cognizant of the media audiences
consume.
increase to the starting salary in
2019, $750 in 2020 and $500 in
2021. The deal also included a 1.5
percent annual raise for lecturers
in Ann Arbor, but not those in
Dearborn or Flint.
Though the Academic Human
Resources Office handles the
collective bargaining process,
LEO decided to make its case
before the board as well, who,
according
to
the
Michigan
Constitution of 1963, have
“general supervision” of the
University and “the control and
direction of all expenditures
from the institution’s funds.”
In an interview with The Daily
earlier this month, University
spokesman Rick Fitzgerald said
the administration was working
toward securing “a contract
that is economically fair to the
lecturers and fiscally responsible
for the University.”
“The
University
has
approached and prepared for
this round of negotiations very
much in the same way it has
with the other LEO negotiations
since 2004,” he said, referring to
the first contract the University
signed with the union. “This
includes
many
hours
and
levels of internal consultation
with leaders at UM-Dearborn,
UM-Flint and across the schools
and colleges on the Ann Arbor.”
According to Robinson, LEO’s
first contract, which improved
internal procedures for handling
employee dismissal and raised
the minimum salary for entry-
level lecturers, was “a quantum
leap.”
“It
was
a
major
change
compared to where we had been
before, not only in terms of wages
and salary, but also in terms of
job security,” he said. “However,
after that first contract, I would
say the University pushed back
hard and it became difficult for
us to make much headway.”
At the board meeting, LEO
members looked to make up
lost
ground,
sharing
their
perspectives on the ongoing
bargaining
process
and
protesting
what
they
said
are
stagnating
wages, while
allies and students expressed
solidarity.
Central
Student
Government President Anushka
Sarkar, an LSA senior, read a
statement signed by the student
body presidents from each of the
University campuses.
“Lecturers deserve to be paid
a fair living wage, commensurate
with their experience and the
revenue lecturers generate for
the
University
of
Michigan,
job security and health care
coverage,” Sarkar said.
In 2016, lecturers accounted
for $462 million in tuition
revenue, based on number of
credit hours taught, while the
University spent $85 million
on their salaries and benefits.
Lecturers
argued
the
$377
million surplus should be used
to meet the demands central to
their bargaining platform.
Unlike
LEO
members,
Thompson is tenure-track faculty
and currently a Visiting Scholar
in the Charles Warren Center for
Studies in American History at
Harvard University, but she said
it was important to her to return
to Ann Arbor to speak on LEO’s
behalf before the board.
“I think one of the things
you’ll hear from the University
administration is that they’re
paying what the market will
bear,” she said. “That is, we
should hire lecturers at the
lowest price we can get away
with and treat them as a casual
and indeed replaceable academic
labor force. In my opinion, this is
no way to run a great university
— to run any university.”
The board did not offer any
response to the testimony offered
by LEO members and their
supporters during the meeting.
5.8 percent Asian American, 3.5
percent Black/African American,
4.8 percent Hispanic/Latino, 4.3
percent multiracial and 4.6 percent
unknown. The University’s overall
student population is 65 percent
white, 15 percent Asian American,
5 percent Black/African American,
6
percent
Hispanic/Latino,
1
percent Native American and 10
percent unknown.
Edevbie said it took him some
time to adjust to the predominately
white community.
“For the first time in a while,
I was just surrounded by people
who didn’t necessarily look like me
or had the same background as me,
and that was a bit of an adjustment
for me personally,” Edevbie said.
Edevbie also serves as the
Central
Student
Government
representative for the Kinesiology
School. He says he tries to make
himself as available to Kinesiology
students as possible and apply
what he learns from them to his
work in CSG.
“I take my role in CSG really
seriously,” Edevbie said. “The fact
that I’m representing students
from the University of Michigan
as a whole but specifically the
school of Kinesiology, I try to
make myself as a resource … I try
to absorb the different experiences
of my classmates and people in my
classes because I think it’s also
important for me to learn about
and recognize their backgrounds.”
Kinesiology
junior
Cydney
Rogers grew up as an athlete and
fan of the University’s sports teams.
She first began studying athletic
training but switched to health and
fitness. Since she changed majors,
it has become harder for her to
connect with her peers.
“Now that I’m in health and
fitness, maybe it’s because I
switched into their major and I
didn’t get to go through all the
classes with them when they
started off as freshmen, but it’s a
little harder to communicate with
students,” Rogers said.
Rogers, who is Black, says she
hasn’t experienced issues with
professors regarding her race, but
she feels Kinesiology students do
not try to reach out to different
peers.
“Inside and outside of the class,
students tend to be very cliquey,”
Rogers said. “I know it’s like a
young-adult type of thing, but
they are really cliquey… maybe it’s
because they vibe with each other
off of freshman year.”
Other students have also noticed
friend groups contributing to a
lack of diversity in the Kinesiology
School outside of the classroom.
Kinesiology freshman Maya
Sankaran was inspired to study
movement science after an ankle
injury prompted her to receive
physical therapy. Sankaran is
biracial — Indian and white —
and though she has not taken
many Kinesiology courses yet,
she has already noticed the lack of
diversity within the Kinesiology
community, specifically within the
Kinesiology professional fraternity
Phi Epsilon Kappa.
“When I joined the Kinesiology
frat… I think that’s when I started
realizing that … there’s not that
many people of color,” Sankaran
said. “That was during one of the
rushing processes for it. I go up to
these different people and say hi
to them and that might have been
one way it identified in me, because
I was one of the non-white people
there. I didn’t look white.”
According to Sankaran, she was
one of three people of color in her
20-member pledge class.
Though Sankaran says she
worries about how her race
will be measured toward her
qualifications in the job-searching
process.
“I think when I meet someone,
I don’t take into account their race
or their gender, sex and what they
might perceive in me because of
mine,” Sankaran said. “It’s more of
when our initial interactions begin
that I’m starting to piece together
who this person might be and how
I might present myself. I think
it might come into place during
interviews for certain things, like
if they’re trying to meet a diversity
quota, that kind of crosses my
mind. Will they take me just
because I’m a person of color or if
I’m a female?”
Some
Kinesiology
students
hope
to
use
their
degrees
specifically to address minority
issues. Kinesiology junior Brianna
Kennedy
felt
drawn
toward
athletic training and physical
therapy as a senior in high school.
She began a work-study job in the
Department of Afroamerican and
African Studies, inspiring her to
seek a graduate degree in sports
psychology, where she hopes to
make the physical and mental
health of Black women the focus of
her work.
A
Black
woman
herself,
Kennedy has endured more than
one instance of racism while at
the University. At the beginning
of this school year, when a man
was arrested outside the Michigan
Union
for
disorderly
conduct
after calling student protesters
the n-word and getting in a fight
with one, Kennedy consoled her
friends who were present. Last
year, a classmate in an English
course, who she said was also
African American, wrote the word
“monkey” on her paper. She said
the experience caused her mental
distress, and she had to skip her
classes and clinicals to process
what had occurred.
“I texted my preceptors … I was
like, ‘I’m really emotional right
now so I can’t come,’ emailed
La’Joya (Orr), called my mom, and
I couldn’t end the day without
notifying these people, so it was
just a lot,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy said the classmate
apologized, but she did not accept
the apology.
“When I was sitting with my
academic adviser, she was like,
‘Well I talked with her and she
didn’t really mean it that way. She
just wants to apologize,’ and I was
like, ‘I don’t want to talk to her
ever again,’” Kennedy said. “I don’t
feel the need to accept her apology
because at 18, 19, 20, you should
know.”
In addition to advising students
academically, Orr said she also
acts as a supporter for students in
general.
“In terms of discussing campus
issues, just day-to-day life, whether
its academic related or not, I find
that I tend to be that person more
often than not,” Orr said.
To address the lack of diversity,
the Kinesiology Diversity, Equity
and Inclusion plan aims to create
a more representative and fair
environment for students, faculty
and staff.
“Our DEI plan proposes some
new programs and initiatives
relative to diversity, equity, and
inclusion,” the statement, written
by DEI Director Ketra Armstrong,
a professor for sport management,
reads.
“However, the overall essence
of the plan is for us to organically
weave,
infuse,
embed,
and
integrate a consciousness and
sensitivity to elements of diversity,
equity, and inclusion into our
existing culture — our ways of
doing (our policies, practices, and
procedures) and our ways of being
(our teaching, learning, research,
and service).”
Orr also recruits prospective
Kinesiology
students.
While she says she strives to
enhance diversity, be it racial,
socioeconomic or ethinicity, she
says changing the makeup of the
student population is not as easy as
it may seem.
“The University of Michigan
doesn’t have any problems getting
applications from students,” Orr
said. “So it’s not like you’re trying
to find people to apply for the sake
of applying, because we don’t have
that problem. But you can’t have
better numbers if students aren’t
applying or if students are being
admitted and they don’t see a
critical mass here. They don’t feel
comfortable … it’s just not as easy as
admitting more underrepresented
students… students also need to
feel that if they were to attend,
that they would be in the inclusive
environment.”
Orr also feels the issue with
inclusivity has become even more
prominent
among
prospective
students, as racist incidents on
campus have begun to pile up and
become visible issues off campus.
“I usually tend to be on the road
recruiting when there are issues
going on on campus,” she said. “It
pays to be truthful and I’m glad
that I tend to be forthright with the
state of campus, because these are
students who either have siblings
here or friends here and knew
what was going on on campus and
they’re like, ‘How am I going to be
supported? Tell me why I should
come.’”
When speaking with students,
Orr gives advice on how to feel
more included at the University.
The one thing she tells them all
is to seek out and identify allies —
both those who look like them and
those who don’t.
Sankaran hopes the Kinesiology
School can show its students
all career paths are possible,
regardless of identity.
“I think it’s important to show
that these career paths are open
to
everyone,”
Sankaran
said.
“There’s no boundaries of who can
participate in this and who can go
for the same goals.”
hormone (cortisol). Based on
these evidence, we predicted that
air pollution may be related to
unethical behavior by increasing
anxiety.”
These
results
demonstrate
costs associated with air pollution
are
higher
than
previously
recorded. Public Health junior
Faith Reynolds hopes research
on the social ills of pollution can
motivate behavioral and political
change.
“We have known for so long
that human actions and activity
have harmful effects on our
environment, but when it comes
to affecting behavioral patterns
it becomes more relevant to our
everyday lives and decisions,”
she said. “I really hope more
work is done in this field and that
it can motivate policymakers
and especially polluters to make
serious changes.”
Not
only
do
the
recent
findings impact cities, they also
have implications on university
campuses. It is possible air
pollutants
could
correlate
to
academic dishonesty in the same
way they do with crime and
cheating, Lee said.
“We haven’t tested whether
students tend to cheat more
on the days that were heavily
polluted,
but
in
general,
I
suspect that the overarching
psychological mechanism would
be the same,” she wrote. “I can
imagine that students who work
in the environment that is heavily
polluted may be more prone to
cheating.”
Previous studies had found
subjects who asked to look at
anxiety-inducing
images
of
pollution before completing an
unrelated task were more likely to
cheat than other participants.
Deputy
Assistant
Dean
Christine O’Neil handles LSA
judiciary cases. While intrigued
by the recent findings on pollution,
she is already very familiar with
the correlation between air quality
and cheating.
“With the connection between
pollution and anxiety, I don’t find
it surprising that individuals in
this study were more likely to
cheat if exposed to pictures of
pollution,” she wrote in an email.
“We see many cases where the
student didn’t set out to engage
in academic misconduct but did
so due to anxiety in the moment.
While we have little control
over pollution in the area, there
are ways we can try to mitigate
anxiety with students in order
to reduce instances of academic
misconduct.”
POLLUTION
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LEO
From Page 1
KINESIOLOGY
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DEBATE
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Read more at
MichiganDaily.com
Read more at
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REGENTS
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