talking about and creating policies
for invisible identities on campus
— survivors of sexual assault,
students of low (socioeconomic
status), members of the LGBT
community,” Baer said. “These
identities
are
not
as
seen
within our assembly right now
because they aren’t talked about.
Something we can improve on is
talking about policies and cultures
surrounding these groups on
campus and with that, that’s how
we create platforms and policies
that positively affect them.”
MomentUM
lauded
voter
registration as one of CSG’s
greatest successes from the past
year. However, vice presidential
candidate
Charlie
Bingham,
an LSA junior, pointed out the
tokenization of minorities as one of
the largest failures in CSG.
“I think the biggest failure of
CSG is we still, in this organization,
have a culture that makes students
of color feel that they are only
wanted because of the color of
their skin,” Bingham said. “We still
have representatives sitting on this
assembly right now who have done
incredible work who feel they have
been used in this election to get
votes — that is not acceptable.”
The debate went on to focus
on what each party viewed as the
most relevant issues facing the
campus, which were also within
CSG’s power to control.
Let’s Keep Michigan Time
called on CSG to use their influence
on campus to speak out against
issues like gun control through
forms of organized protests.
“CSG has so much power, CSG
can organize protests not just at
the University but of Washtenaw
County and the area to keep us
safe,” Tappen said. “Gun control
isn’t a huge issue just for school
shootings but suicides too. Gun
control is by far probably one of the
biggest issue affecting us and CSG
has the power as an organization
to be protesting, going against the
norm and saying what we really
want.”
The Defend Affirmative Action
Party followed on the theme of
national issues and emphasized
their stance on raising awareness
about issues of discrimination,
immigration and sexism with CSG
influence.
“The school needs to send out
a warning if ICE (Immigration
and Customs Enforcement) is
on campus, they need to protect
our profs, they need to protect
our students that are remanding
residence,” LSA senior Lauren
Kay,
the
Defend
Affirmative
Action Party candidate, said. “It’s
unacceptable that they do not
already do things like this.”
The next question asked about
the kind of relationship each
party sought to have with the
University
administration
and
Board of Regents. Law School
student
Matthew
Williams,
vice presidential candidate for
aMplify, discussed their party’s
hope to leverage their ties with
the administration in order to
establish a partnership, which
would then allow them to pass
resolutions.
“If
we’re
going
to
move
forward, we’re going to move
forward in partnership with the
administration,” Williams said.
“They have power to block our
initiatives, and we have to be able
to partner with them.”
However, Kay had a less
diplomatic approach to dealing
with the administration. The party
emphasized their desire to ensure
the University complies with the
wishes of the student body, and not
vice versa.
“How are we going to work with
the administration?” Kay said.
“The administration has to work
for us first. We do not deny our own
power, the anti-war movement, the
civil rights movement, the various
campus protests of the 1960s and
1970s the students took action and
power into their own hands and
didn’t ask for the administration to
give them permission.”
corporations to sever relationships
with the NRA),” Davis said.
“Amazing. Nothing happens in
two days, but two dozen companies
basically cut ties with the NRA on
the threat of a boycott, not even an
actual boycott. So that just seemed
pretty remarkable.”
While Davis said corporations
typically shy away from political
statements, it becomes increasingly
difficult to avoid taking a stand
in
2018.
With
social
media,
consumers have a louder voice,
making corporate practices and
partnerships much more visible
and subject to scrutiny.
“The speed of concerns or
grievances to go viral or to become
really
well-known,
that’s
the
biggest one,” Davis said. “The fact
that Applebee’s fires a hostess
because she posted something
funny
about
a
customer
on
Instagram, and this becomes
some (issue of controversy) with
thousands
of
people
flooding
Applebee’s
with
negative
comments. That couldn’t happen
before social media.”
Though social media has had a
monumental effect in corporations
renouncing the NRA recently,
several
mass
shootings
have
occurred in the age of Twitter
and Facebook without the same
response from businesses. This
time is different, as Stoneman
Douglas students have gone viral
for their videos, speeches and social
media posts for the #NeverAgain
movement, challenging powerful
adults in Washington, D.C. and
the NRA. Davis noted the role of
the Parkland survivors has likely
changed the conversation.
“The narrative seems to be that
this is an unusually well-spoken
group of kids that were clearly
victims of this life-changing event,
and they were speaking from an
untarnished place,” Davis said. “It
wasn’t that they came in with an
agenda. They did not choose to be
in this situation, and now they’re
trying to find a way out of it. And
that just has a moral clarity that’s
hard to find.”
In the wake of the Parkland
shooting,
Dick’s
Sporting
Goodsannounced that it would no
longer sell firearms or ammunition
to anyone under 21 and that it
would also end its sales of assault-
style rifles.
Though LSA junior Ryan Roose
said he was encouraged to hear
about Dick’s Sporting Goods’s
statement, this same act can turn
other customers away.
“My brothers and I talked about
how Dick’s is doing that, we thought
it was good, and we just supported
that, and we want to shop more at
their stores now,” Roose said. “We
had friends that they didn’t want to
shop there anymore because they
didn’t think that Dick’s should be
making political stances.”
While Davidson said Bivouac
vocally supports environmental
nonprofits, such as the Leslie
Science and Nature Center and the
Conservation Resource Alliance,
they do not make overtly political
statements or support political
candidates as a business. Davidson
echoed Roose’s concerns about
deterring individuals with differing
political opinions from purchasing
products from Bivouac and said
there’s a balance businesses have
to strike to be competitive but also
speak out on issues.
“It’s always a fine line of, once
again, we feel like we know there
are two beliefs on some things, and
as a business you don’t want to do
too much to discourage a group of
people from shopping in the store,”
Davidson said.
Part of toeing the fine line for
Bivouac is giving customers the
option to support different social
causes. At the checkout line,
customers can buy a Pincause pin
for causes such as the National
Student Walkout, the Women’s
March and animal rescue. Though
some consumers want companies
to tread lightly on politics, Roose
said he wants corporations to be
openly political because he wants
to align his shopping choices with
his ideology.
“I
definitely
prefer
when
companies come out and make
political statements,” Roose said. “I
think users, for one, should know
what their company stands for, and
I think companies should be able to
stand for what they want.”
While some consumers, like
Roose, enjoy forthright political
stances from companies, Davidson
said Bivouac tries to support its
values without being too “in your
face.” However, he also said U.S.
gun violence is not an issue in
which to remain silent.
“I think there are certain issues
that are so important and so big and
so crucial to the future of America
that at some point you got to say
something, and you’ve got to take
a stand somewhere,” Davidson
said. “And I think this is one of
those issues where it’s getting out
of control. We need to start making
change, so we’re going to do what
we can do, as small as it might be,
to show where we stand and where
our values are.”
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Tuesday, March 20, 2018 — 3
representative
elections.
Six assembly members were
nominated to fill the three
seats being vacated at the end
of April by SACUA members
Dave
Wright
and
Stefan
Szymanski, and SACUA Chair
Robert Ortega. All nominated
assembly members presented
a short speech to the Assembly
immediately
preceding
the
vote.
Currently,
only
two
women sit on SACUA, but
beginning April 30, five of the
nine members will be women.
At the close of the meeting,
assembly members were given
the opportunity to vote, and
after the ballots were counted,
Colleen Conway, Sarah Lippert
and Deirdre Spencer were
awarded the three seats.
Conway, professor of music
education, noted in her speech
that she works in the School
of Education as well as in
the School of Music, Theatre
and Dance, which broadens
her
understanding
and
connections across the school.
She
also
has student
teachers working in schools
across the area, which she
attributed to her knowledge
of the region and offering her
additional perspectives.
“I also believe that my work
specifically
with
education
crosses over the boundaries,”
Conway said. “Most of my
colleagues in the School of
Music, Theatre and Dance are
in the creative arts areas only.”
Lippert, associate professor
of art history, and the only
nominee from the U-M Flint
campus, spoke to the lack
of representation from her
campus.
“As
a
matter
of
fair
representation, it is time for
Flint to have a seat at the
table,” Lippert said.
Lippert is the chair of the
Tri-Campus
Task
Force,
a
board
of
representatives
from all three University of
Michigan campuses aimed at
improving faculty governance.
“Recent
newsworthy
events means that our place
within the institution needs
to be heard, and we hope that
(SACUA) contact will help us
overcome our challenges that
are unique to the Flint campus,
as students and as community
partners,” Lippert said.
Deirdre Spencer, librarian
for History of Art, emphasized
in her speech she always
lobbies for resources for the
Flint and Dearborn campuses,
and highlighted racial tension
and bigotry on campus. All
three campuses have suffered
spates of racist vandalism and
bias incidents in year following
the 2016 presidential election.
“Historically, the University
of Michigan is a champion for
cause of humanity and social
justice,” Spencer said. “This
has led to the creation of new
areas of scholarship, and new
programs and services, which
have benefitted many. As a
university, we have come so far
and done so much. But progress
is cyclical. Each generation
fights new versions of the
same battle. For excellence to
continue during this period
of
escalating
uncertainty,
representative leadership is
needed.”
Conway,
Lippert
and
Spencer will serve three-year
terms on SACUA.
SACUA
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DEBATE
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to bust myths that students cannot
do well in certain classes. With
this data, students can evaluate the
difficulty of courses and evaluate
when they should take a course
and how to best build a schedule
that works for them.
“When we talk about ART
2.0, one of the things we talk
about is myth-busting,” Homkes-
Hayes
said.
“Our
intent
to
show (grade distributions) was
because students demonstrated
they wanted to see it and we can
de-mysticize
any
information
about how grades are distributed.”
The ART 2.0 team worked
directly
with
Vice
Provost
James Holloway’s office in order
to develop the tool and utilize
accurate data. For example, they
will only show substantiated data
in classes with enough information
to do so in regards to instructor
ratings and scores so in a class
with fewer grade samples, the
distribution doesn’t deter students
from registering for certain classes
with smaller class size caps.
“We are being really intentional
about what has been shown and
we will follow the guidelines of the
Provost’s office in order to do so,”
Homkes-Hayes said.
The
Office
of
Academic
Innovation continually engages
with students and faculty to
identify the future areas where
they can help students. Homkes-
Hayes
mentioned
potential
alumni data for showing students
pathways they can take following
degree completion as an idea for
future ART 2.0 updates.
Engineering
junior
Kevin
Zheng works with the program,
analyzing the data ART 2.0 collects
and comparing the grades between
schools, subjects and courses. He
also works to improve interfaces
for instructors to get feedback
from students. Zheng pointed out
the workload metric could provide
skewed results because students in
difficult, lower-level courses have a
high proportion of students rating
it as “high workload” but higher-
level, more self-selective courses
are less likely to have this workload
rating.”
“Providing grade distributions
is
especially
useful
because
students can use it in conjunction
with the workload metric,” Zheng
wrote. “In some situations, the
workload metric is less useful
under the assumption that students
in different levels of a subject may
perceive
workload
differently.
Grade distributions help to reduce
some of this uncertainty.”
Zheng uses ART 2.0 during
backpacking and registration and
said the new grade distribution
element helps him evaluate which
courses to take. He checks ART’s
student evaluations, instruction
evaluations, class size outputs and
which courses students take before
or during this course.
“I use ART during backpacking
and registration all the time,”
Zheng wrote. “Grade distributions
would fit nicely into my workflow
using ART to evaluate whether
a course is a good fit for me. I
imagine myself looking at the grade
distributions to help balance my
workload so that I don’t overload
myself.”
Despite
excitement
from
students, faculty members have
historically had some concerns
about
the
tool,
which
was
originally only available to faculty
members.
When
the
original
tool premiered in 2016, SACUA
member and Kinesiology Professor
Stephen Symanski said he was
worried the effectiveness of ART
2.0 would change when it opened
to user input.
“Among people of goodwill,
there are never problems really,”
Szymanski said. “But sadly, we are
not 100 percent goodwill.”
According
to
Tim
McKay,
LSA professor and director of the
Digital Innovation Greenhouse,
some faculty members also think
making grade distribution data
available may lead students to
chose classes based solely on that
information.
“There is little evidence, on any
campus, that this actually happens,
but I think it’s a well intended
concern,” McKay wrote in an email
to The Daily. “Personally, I trust
students to consider information
like this wisely — at least as wisely
as anyone would.
ART 2.0
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NRA
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the 13 recommended members,
TJW
continued
to
press
for changes in the council’s
resolution.
In a press release, TJW
called the council to task,
demanding the council establish
TJW member Lori Saginaw as
chair of the task force. Several
Ann Arbor citizens called for
Saginaw’s instatement as chair,
including Amory Vhou, who
praised Saginaw’s leadership
abilities.
“As chair, she will elicit and
synthesize
everyone’s
best
contributions,” Vhou said.
In
a
last-minute
change
prior to the meeting, Taylor
attempted to appease TJW by
placing Saginaw as a co-chair
with University of Michigan
Law School professor Richard
Friedman.
Amid contention over the
selection process for the task
force,
Taylor
explained
his
selection process by saying not
only was it a difficult process,
but there were many factors the
council took into consideration
throughout.
“There
are
more
people
in Ann Arbor with skills and
abilities than there are places
to serve and that was the case
with the task force,” Taylor
said. “There will be other
opportunities to serve. Even if
you weren’t selected your role is
not done.”
Taylor’s statement, which was
in reference to the contested
omission of Shirley Beckley,
was met with controversy from
residents as well as council
members. Councilmember Jack
Eaton, D-Ward 4, attempted to
amend the resolution to include
Beckley by arguing for Beckley’s
vast experience as an activist in
Ann Arbor.
“One of the things that have
driven the process from the very
beginning is our friend Shirley
Beckley,”
Eaton
said.
“Ms.
Beckley has a historical grasp
on why this community needs to
have a civilian review process.
She needs to be a part of the task
force.”
Despite cheers from the crowd
at Eaton’s declaration as well as
support from Councilmembers
Sumi Kailasapathy, D-Ward 1,
and Anne Bannister, D-Ward
1, Eaton’s amendment did not
pass.
Taylor
explained
his
reasoning in excluding Beckley,
referencing an incident from
more than two years ago when
Beckley called the council out
regarding a lack of consequences
for Officer David Ried after he
shot and killed Rosser.
“If you won’t at least fire
officer Ried, then … Let’s string
him up,” Beckley said in a quote
to MLive during a previous
meeting.
Taylor
said
Beckley
disqualified herself from the
task force through her statement
of violence towards Ried.
“This drew applause from the
audience,” Taylor said regarding
Beckley’s previous statement.
“A call for violence against an
officer or a call for violence
against city staff is unacceptable
in my view and a disqualification
for participation.”
Even after the council passed
the finalized roster for the
task force — one that excluded
Beckley
—
TJW
members
continued to call for Beckley’s
reinstatement in the task force.
Saginaw argued Beckley was
not only a valuable member of
the task force, but her words and
anger were understandable.
“We know that Officer Ried
is not, nor will ever be in danger
of being lynched by Shirley
Beckley,” Saginaw said.
Beckley even came to the
podium to defend herself and
her statement from more than
two years ago during the public
comment session, refusing to
apologize for her words towards
Ried.
“Back then it was very hurtful
to see a Black woman killed and
not helped, especially when
she was a mental health patient
and you all know that,” Beckley
said. “My ancestors have been
strung up, lynched, run over,
babies cut out of their bellies,
families separated. We’re still
looking for families. I’m not
going to apologize for my anger.
Yes, I’m angry. Yes, I’ve been
here 75 years. No, I haven’t seen
any progress. We have made
progress to have a task force and
I’m happy about that. It doesn’t
really matter if I’m on there or
not. The fact that you did it is a
plus, and I’m very happy about
that.”
Despite
tension
regarding
the selection of task force
members, citizens and council
members agreed the assembly
of task force members was a
long-awaited step in the right
direction.
Councilmember
Graydon Krapohl, D-Ward 4,
said the AAPD is ready for a
change.
“I’ve spoken to many within
the force who are looking
forward
to
this
process,”
Krapohl said.
Councilmember Julie Grand,
D-Ward 3, went on to say the
next police chief would be
chosen in line with this vision of
racial justice in the AAPD.
“We are putting off our search
for our police chief because we
respect this process,” Grand
said. “It will be such a key part
of the role that we will not even
post the position until we know
what this commission will look
like.”
Read more at
MichiganDaily.com
Read more at
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