On
Wednesday
evening,
the
United
Asian
American
Organizations at the University
of Michigan hosted a panel to
promote the Asian, Pacific Islander
American studies program on
campus and call attention to a
2017 lawsuit citing discrimination
against program faculty.
Panelists
included
graduate
and undergraduate students, as
well as Emily Lawsin, a lecturer
in American culture and women’s
studies, and Scott Kurashige, a
former professor in history and
American culture.
In 2017, Lawsin and Kurashige
brought a lawsuit against the
University under claims of racial
discrimination and harassment,
citing the Michigan Elliott-Larsen
Civil
Rights
Act.
Currently,
Kurashige explained, “the Dean
of LSA is working with the chairs
of the departments of women’s
studies and American culture to
fire Emily.”
Since
the
time
of
the
controversy,
students
and
community members have showed
strong solidarity with Lawsin and
actively tried to rebuild the A/PIA
studies program. Their efforts
include circulating a petition for
the University to fully restore the
A/PIA studies program, as well
as releasing op-eds calling out
the University’s actions against
Lawsin, one of which was written
by state Rep. Stephanie Chang.
As
tensions
surrounding
employment and administrative
responses mount, Lawsin and
Kurashige
have
continued
to
serve as activists fighting for
improvement of the A/PIA studies
program, which was founded in
1989 and offers courses and an
academic minor. The program
has gone from offering eight to 10
classes per semester to only two in
a previous winter semester.
Public
Health
sophomore
Ciara Timban serves as the
co-programming
chair
for
UAAO and said she hopes the
panel will bring attention to the
opportunities available within the
A/PIA studies program.
LSA sophomore Samuel Morse,
an internship coordinator for
Abdul El-Sayed’s gubernatorial
campaign, believes the circulation
of fake news on Facebook played a
decisive role in the 2016 election.
“58 percent of American adults
are on Facebook, and Facebook has
become a primary news source for
many of them,” Morse said. “So
when people are, instead of picking
up copies of The (Washington) Post
and The (New York) Times, seeing
that on their Facebook news feeds,
that will affect their thoughts on
the election.”
In light of the 2016 presidential
election
and
subsequent
findingsof
Robert
S.
Mueller
III, with the special counsel
investigating
Russia’s
electoral
interference, Facebook has now
been thrust into the center of a
national conversation about the
content-monitoring responsibilities
of social media platforms.
Even more recently, Facebook
found
itself
embroiled
in
controversy
when
The
New
York Times reported Cambridge
Analytica, a political firm hired
michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Thursday, April 12, 2018
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CAMPUS LIFE
Two
dozen
members
of Students Allied for Freedom
and Equalitydemonstrated at
a lecture by Nadav Tamir, a
prominent Israeli diplomat,
Wednesday
night
in
the
Ford School of Public Policy.
Tamir’s
lecture
marked
the
70th
anniversary
of
the
founding
of
Israel,
but
protesters
called
the
event
“ultra
nationalistic”
and insensitive in timing,
pointing to the deaths of 17
Palestinianprotesters
who
were killed in clashes with
Israel Defense Forces, Israel’s
military, two weeks ago in
Gaza.
The demonstrators lined
the back of the auditorium,
holding posters condemning
the IDF, of which Tamir was
a decorated soldier. Several
minutes
into
the
lecture,
three SAFE members staged
a die-in.
One SAFE member, who
asked to remain anonymous
for
safety
concerns,
said
he
wanted
make
sure
“Palestinian
voices
are
heard.”
“We wanted to show that
the people who died in the
protests and the people who
have died over the past years
have not been forgotten,” he
said. “We felt like this was
not an appropriate event at
the
time,
especially
with
how
ultra
nationalistic
it
was being portrayed as. We
wanted to show that there is
opposition.”
The Frankel Center for
Judaic Studies, Peres Center
for
Peace,
WolvPAC
and
Michigan Hillel co-sponsored
the lecture. The LSA Center
for
Middle
Eastern
and
North
African
Studies,
was previously listed as a
co-sponsor, but retracted its
support following complaints
about the branding of the
event.
In an email obtained by
The Daily, CMENAS Director
SAFE holds
die-in at talk
about Israel’s
beginnings
Students call attention to inequity
against faculty in A/PIA studies
CHUN SO/Daily
Emily Lawsin, Lecturer in American Culture (A/PIA Studies Program) and Women’s studies, speaks to concerns surrounding A/PIA Studies at the University during
a panel highlighting the program Wednesday evening.
Israeli statesman, ex-IDF soldier presents
on int’l relations despite demonstrations
LEAH GRAHAM
Daily Staff Reporter
After discrimination lawsuit from A/PIA faculty, UAAO holds panel to discuss resolutions
JORDYN BAKER
Daily Staff Reporter
Two months ago, University
of
Michigan
research
exposed
significant
female
underrepresentation
in
economics.
Top
women
economists convened at the
Ford
School
Wednesday
afternoon on the topic to
confirm such discrimination
and harassment at the highest
levels of government. They also,
however, lauded their peers’
work therein. The Education
Policy Initiative of the Ford
School of Public Policy’s panel
titled “What female economists
learned bringing research to
White House policy making”
featured a discussion with three
panelists, all of whom were
influential female economists
with extensive experience in
academia and public policy.
The
discussion
was
led
by
Susan
Dynarski,
the
co-director of the Education
Policy
Initiative
and
a
professor
of
economics,
education and public policy at
the University of Michigan.
The other two panelists were
Betsey Stevenson, an associate
professor of public policy, and
Sandra Black, an economics
professor at the University of
Texas, Austin. Stevenson and
Black both served on the White
House Council of Economic
Advisers from 2015 to 2017. All
three are research associates
at the National Bureau of
Economic Research.
The panelists discussed a
wide range of topics, focusing
in particular on Stevenson
and Black’s time at the White
House. Stevenson and Black
explained their roles during
President
Barack
Obama’s
administration and how their
academic experience informed
their work.
“One of the core functions
we do is link the academic
research to policy — to take
that research and put it in a
form that the president and
policymakers can understand,”
Black said.
Stevenson and Black also
discussed the difficulties of
driving effective policy at the
federal level, noting economists
generally hold more centrist
views than other policymakers
working in Washington, D.C.
Their ideas faced opposition at
some points from congressional
Democrats,
who
wanted
them to advocate for more
interventionist
economic
policies.
The
dynamic
in
the field of economics was
different
with
Obama,
the
pair
said,
praising
Obama
for his thoughtful leadership
and attention to the academic
research they used in their
work.
Much
of
public
attention
on
the
University
of
Michigan’s
Diversity,
Equity
and
Inclusion
strategic
plan
has
focused
on
the classroom, administration or
an incendiary stream of bias
incidents, but students in East
Quad are engaging with an even
more every day component of the
plan: food.
Towards the end of last
semester, the Hall Council of East
Quad Residence Hall canceled
an international food event due
to complications and concerns
around cultural sensitivity within
Michigan Dining. The event now
serves as a linchpin in changing
the building’s attitudes towards
food service and inclusion.
Abeng Multicultural Council
Co-Chair Josiah Walker, an LSA
freshman, said the Hall Council
director and resident advisers felt
it was necessary to halt the event.
“(Michigan) Dining took it
upon themselves to plan the
food they were going to serve,
but what happened is they ended
up mismatching the dishes,”
East Quad
dining halls
to be more
authentic
CAMPUS LIFE
Lack of sensitivity for
cultural food results in
new cuisine offerings
AMARA SHAIKH
Daily Staff Reporter
RUCHITA IYER/Daily
Associate Economics Professor Betsey Stevenson and Susan Dynarski, University of Texas Economics Professor,
share their experiences in White House policy making in Weill Hall Wednesday afternoon.
Former top White House economists
discuss female underrepresentation
Ranking women in economics confirm discrimination and harassment in government
RILEY LANGEFELD
Daily Staff Reporter
See PANEL, Page 3
See A/PIA, Page 3
See SAFE, Page 3
See FACEBOOK, Page 2
See DINING, Page 3
Facebook
trials draw
community
concerns
GOVERNMENT
Data breach from social
network results in hearing,
concerns about privacy
MAEVE O’BRIEN
Daily Staff Reporter