Ann 
Arbor’s 
water 
treatment 
plant 
manager 
Brian Steglitz spoke to City 
Council Monday night about 
contamination 
warnings 
along 
the 
Huron 
River, 
including the expansion of 
a do-not-eat fish advisory to 

include a warning against 
consuming foam from the 
river.
In August, the Michigan 
Department of Health and 
Human Services announced 
polyfluoroalkyl 
substance 
tests showed fish in five 
counties along the Huron 
River 
were 
contaminated 
beyond 
safe 
levels. 
PFAS 
have been linked to health 

problems including increased 
risk of cancer and higher 
cholesterol 
levels. 
PFAS 
compounds 
are 
used 
in 
various industrial processes 
and consumer products, such 
as non-stick cookware and 
fast food wrappers. Because 
the PFAS compounds don’t 
occur naturally, they can 

GOT A NEWS TIP?
Call 734-418-4115 or e-mail 
news@michigandaily.com and let us know.

Check out the 
Daily’s News 
podcast, The 
Daily Weekly 

INDEX
Vol. CXXVII, No.137
©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
michigandaily.com

For more stories and coverage, visit

COMMUNITY AFFAIRS

Commissioner 
Jessica 
Rosenworcel of the Federal 
Communications Commission 
visited 
the 
University 
of 
Michigan Monday night to 
discuss net neutrality with 
Jack 
Bernard, 
associate 
general 
counsel 
of 
the 
University, to a crowd of 
about 150 students, staff and 
community members at the 
Ford School of Public Policy.
The FCC decided to repeal 
net neutrality rules on Dec. 
14, and the repeal took effect 
June 11. This decision allows 
broadband providers to change 
the 
pricing 
packages 
for 

different users and different 
content. Rosenworcel was one 
of the two dissenters in the 
agency’s decision to repeal 
net neutrality and has since 
been a vocal supporter of the 
protections.
Bernard said a cloud of 
confusion 
often 
surrounds 
net neutrality, so he began 
the policy talk by asking 
Rosenworcel to define the 
term.
“It means that you can 
go where you want and do 
what you want online, and 
your 
broadband 
provider 
does not make decisions for 
you,” Rosenworcel explained. 
“It means your broadband 
provider does not have the 

Commissioner of FCC 
talks political battle 
for net neutrality laws

GOVERNMENT

Jessica Rosenworcel one of the two dissenters in 
body’s decision to ban net neutrality last December

ROSEANNE CHAO/Daily

Ann Arbor water treatment 
manager warns residents not 
to eat foam in Huron River

City Council also discussed last week’s police oversight 
board proposal, comprehensive transportation update plan

The 
University 
of 
Michigan’s Senate Assembly 
convened Monday afternoon 
for its first meeting of the 
academic 
year. 
The 
group 
discussed a motion to create 
a tri-campus committee for 
the Senate Assembly, as well 
as a resolution to change the 
assembly rules to allow remote 
attendance 
and 
electronic 
voting for representatives.
The meeting opened with 
remarks by Joy Beatty, vice 
chair of the Senate Assembly 
and an associate professor at 
U-M Dearborn, in which Beatty 
explained 
the 
foundational 
principles 
of 
the 
Senate 
Assembly to new members, as 
well as the assembly’s position 
in regard to other governing 
bodies at the University. The 
assembly consists of 74 elected 
faculty members from across 
schools and departments on 
the University of Michigan’s 
three campuses.
“I’d 
encourage 
you 
to 

University 
of 
Michigan 
professor 
John 
Cheney-
Lippold 
is 
facing 
claims 
of 
anti-Semitism 
after 
rescinding his offer to write 
a recommendation letter for 
LSA junior Abigail Ingber, 
who requested the letter for an 
application for a study abroad 
program in Israel.
Cheney-Lippold, who works 
in 
the 
American 
Culture 
Department, 
expressed 
his 
apologies in the email but 
claimed that as part of an 
academic 
boycott 
against 
Israel, he would be unable to 
write a recommendation for 
the student.
Club Z, an organization 
that works to empower and 
network Jewish students who 
are committed to Zionism, 
posted the screenshot of the 
email exchange to Facebook 
Sunday afternoon. The group 
criticized the email, claiming 
the message was anti-Semitic. 
The post also noted the U.S. 
Department 
of 
Education 
recent changes its definition 

of anti-Semitism to include 
situations that hold Israel to a 
double standard in comparison 
to other democratic states.
“As you may know, many 
University departments have 
pledged an academic boycott 
against 
Israel 
in 
support 
of 
Palestinians 
living 
in 
Palestine,” the email read. 
“This boycott includes writing 
letters of recommendation for 
students planning to study 
there.”
This boycott follows last 
year’s controversy regarding 
the #UMDivest movement and 
the 
Central 
Student 
Government resolution that 
called 
for 
the 
University 
to 
investigate 
divestment 
from companies that violate 
Palestinian 
human 
rights. 
The resolution passed last 
November with 23 votes in 
favor, 17 against and five 
abstentions. 
The 
following 
December, 
the 
Board 
of 
Regents 
rejected 
the 
resolution.
Michigan 
Hillel 
Chair 
Kendall Coden, an LSA senior, 
described her disappointment 

Assembly 
considers 
issues with 
attendance

ACADEMICS

Faculty Senate members 
also suggest permanent 
Tri-Campus committee

RACHEL CUNNINGHAM

Daily Staff Reporter

MATT VAILLIENCOURT/Daily
Ann Arbor City Council member Julia Grand (D-Ward 3) asks a question after a presentation by the city’s water 
treatment manager during a City Council meeting at City Hall Monday evening. 

‘U’ admin., Jewish community condemn 
boycott by prof. in support of Palestinians

Prof. revokes 
offer to write 
Israel study 
abroad letter

The University of Michigan 
Professional Nurses Council 
announced Monday morning 
that 
Michigan 
Medicine 

nurses voted overwhelmingly 
to strike for three days amid 
bargaining efforts. Over 4,000 
nurses voted in favor of a 
strike.
UMPNC 
represents 
more 
than 5,700 registered nurses at 
University Michigan hospitals, 
clinics and other health care 
facilities.
UMPNC 
members 
have 
filed 
unfair 
labor 
practice 
charges against the University 
for failing to bargain in good 
faith, making changes in work 
shift 
without 
notification 
and discrimination against 
free speech. 
In 
a 
press 
release, 
Michigan 
Medicine 
nurse Katie Scott said the 
University created barriers to 
negotiation.
“The 
University 
keeps 
violating our rights,” Scott said. 
“They’ve created a wall that’s 
blocking us from negotiating 
the issues that are important to 
nurses and our patients. We’re 
saying, break down that wall so 
we can bargain in good faith.”
Michigan 
Medicine 
spokeswoman Mary Masson 
wrote 
in 
a 
statement 
to 
The 
Daily 
that 
hospital 
administrators 
were 
disappointed 
to 
hear 
the 
outcome of the vote. Since it 
is illegal for public employees 
to strike, Masson wrote the 
hospital is willing to take legal 
action to avoid one. 
“Nurses are critical 
to the delivery of 
safe 

patient care,” she wrote. “The 
most critically ill patients in 
the state come to Michigan 
Medicine. A strike could put 
patient safety at serious risk.”
The statement goes on to 
clarify how patient care will be 
handled in the event of a work 
stoppage. 
“Since UMPNC announced it 
was seeking the vote, Michigan 
Medicine leaders have been 
developing a comprehensive 
continuity 
of 
operations 
plan in place in the event of a 
strike,” the statement reads. 
“This will include hiring and 
training 
temporary 
nurses 
to replace absent employees, 
deferring 
and 
rescheduling 
select procedures and making 
staff scheduling adjustments 
as needed. Michigan Medicine 
remains committed to patient 
safety 
during 
any 
union 
activity, and will do everything 
possible to maintain the highest 
quality of care during a strike... 
We remain ready to continue 
bargaining with the UMPNC 
and are eager to resolve the 
contract negotiations.”
Katie 
Oppenheim, 
Michigan 
Medicine 
nurse 
and chair of UMPNC, said the 
nurses’ goal is to create a fair 
contract for all of its members. 
“Our goal is not a work 
stoppage,” Oppenheim said. 
“Our goal is a fair agreement 
which respects nurses and 
guarantees safe staffing. The 
University can remedy this 
situation 
immediately, 
by 
stopping their unfair labor 
practices and bargaining in 
good faith.”

Michigan Medicine nurses vote in 
favor of authorizing work stoppage

Hospital says strike illegal for public employees, both sides continue contract bargaining

See FCC, Page 3
See ATTENDANCE, Page 3

See RIVER, Page 3

See LETTER, Page 2

michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Tuesday, September 18, 2018

ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SEVEN YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM

KATHERINA SOURINE
Daily Staff Reporter

JULIA FORD
Daily Staff Reporter

DANIELLE PASEKOFF
Daily Staff Reporter

MATT VAILLIENCOURT/Daily
FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel discusses net neutrality at a policy 
talk put on by the Ford school Monday afternoon. 

LEAH GRAHAM
Daily Staff Reporter

