be an ambassador for the
importance
of
faculty
governance,”
Beatty
told
the assembly. “People aren’t
always aware of what we do,
so thank you for being here
and for standing up for faculty
governance.”
Later,
the
assembly
discussed
potential
improvements to their current
execution of meetings and
potential
guests
to
invite
to their future assemblies.
Members noted a disconnect
between the administration
and
the
Senate
Assembly,
except when the University
needs the faculty in times of
crisis.
David
Potter,
secretary
of the Faculty Senate and a
professor
at
U-M
Ann
Arbor, cited the instances
of white nationalist Richard
Spencer’s efforts to speak on
the University’s Ann Arbor
campus
earlier
this
year,
stressing the importance of
collaboration
between
the
University
administration
and Senate Faculty to unite
in these instances instead of
divide.
“I think that the ideal is
to create a dialogue between
faculty and the administration
through these organs of the
Senate, without waiting for
a crisis to take place,” Potter
said. “The University works
better when they’re actually
listening to the community.”
The
meeting
continued
with the introductions of two
resolutions. Sarah Lippert, an
associate professor at U-M
Flint, proposed a resolution
to create a permanent tri-
campus committee within the
Senate Assembly. Within the
three campuses, differences
in interpretations of various
policy documents and a lack
of communication between
each campus present issues
in terms of relaying accurate
information to all faculty.
The committee will serve
as a central repository for
all
policy
documents
and
resources
across
campuses
and standardize explanations
of
such
documents
to
prevent
confusion
and
miscommunication within the
entire University.
As stated in the resolution,
if
passed,
the
committee
will aim “to consider points
of interest... such as those
that relate to the relationship
between the three campuses
or
policies
across
the
institution.”
“One of the needs that
the
tri-campus
task
force
identified was that it would
be really helpful to have a
permanent group that people
could refer to when there are
interpretation issues,” Lippert
said. “It would be a committee
that looks at things relevant to
faculty across the institution,
not at local governance below
that.”
An ad hoc Tri Campus
Taskforce
already
exists
in
faculty
governance
after the Senate Advisory
Committee
on
University
Affairs
voted
to
reinstate
the body last fall, hoping
to improve communication
between the three campuses.
In April, members of Flint’s
Faculty Council penned a
letter opposing the creation
of a standing Tri Campus
taskforce due to a lack of
clarity on the proposed body’s
jurisdiction.
The meeting closed with
another resolution introduced
to the assembly, touching
on current issues regarding
quorum and the allowance
of electronic voting during
Senate Assembly meetings.
Scott
Masten,
rules
chair
and professor at the Ross
School of Business, mentioned
that since 2004, there have
only been quorums at three
Faculty Senate meetings. The
meetings in which quorum
was reached occurred only
during meetings related to
tenure, course evaluations and
other issues closely related to
the faculty. Quorum for the
Faculty Senate is 100 out of
the 3,000 total members.
This
continued
lack
of
participation is partially due
to the fact that most faculty
confuses the Faculty Senate
with the Senate Assembly,
a
much
smaller
body
of
University representatives.
“Most faculty don’t know
they’re on the Senate,” Masten
said. “People don’t understand
that they’re actually Senate
members.”
take a long time to discompose
and harm surrounding areas for
longer periods of time.
Steglitz said a do-not-eat foam
warning for the Huron River
would be issued soon.
We’ve
provided
some
communication to council on the
issue of foam in the river recently,
and that is something that is going
to be coming out in the next couple
days, is there will be a do-not-eat
the foam amended to the existing
fish
advisory
notifications,”
Steglitz said.
PFAS
levels
in
Michigan’s
public drinking water systems
are not regulated, and while
there is a federally designated
“health advisory level” of PFAS
in drinking water of 70 parts-per-
trillion, it is not an enforceable
guideline,
meaning
there
is
no
court-mandated
cleanup
standards cities and governments
have to follow.
City Council’s meeting also
included discussions on other
topics including a proposal for the
formation of a police oversight
board, which was debated during
a work session at City Hall in
March. Since then, City Council
has
fielded
recommendations
from
citizens
about
the
organization and content of the
board. Members of the citizen task
force that drafted the proposal
argued recommendations made
by Lazarus would undermine the
oversight board’s independence.
Councilmember
Sumi
Kailasapathy,
D-Ward
1,
said
she and fellow Councilmembers
Jack Eaton, D-Ward 4, and Anne
Bannister, D-Ward 1, would bring
forward the task force’s proposal
at the next City Council meeting
Oct. 1. Kailasapathy said it was
“what the residents want from
us.”
“I take it as my duty to put
forward the ordinance written
out by the task force,” she said.
City
Council
also
passed
a
resolution
setting
aside
$351,670 for a comprehensive
transportation plan update from
Sam Schwartz Engineering DPC.
The plan would ask Sam Schwartz
Engineering DPC to recommend
implementation
methods
for
multimodal
transportation
systems with the hopes of zero
fatalities on the road.
Councilmember
Zachary
Ackerman, D-Ward 3, supported
the resolution.
“For those of you have driven
in Ann Arbor at the rush hours
may use the term gridlock from
time to time,” he said. “I actually
found out that the term gridlock
was first coined by the consultant
we’re hiring. He for many years
was a senior traffic planner for
the city of New York, bringing a
lot of traffic congestion solutions
to
neighborhoods,
improving
quality of life, as well as taking
an incredibly progressive and
forward-thinking approach to his
practice, as to how do we deal with
pedestrians and cyclists in our
public right of way to ensure that
they are safe when surrounded by
cars.”
Eaton
voted
against
the
resolution, arguing it was “an
inappropriate use” of money.
“This is $351,000 we could
be using for actual pedestrian
improvements, on street lighting,
on
(rapid
flashing
beacons),
signage at some of the roundabouts
that are poorly marked at best for
pedestrians,” he said.
The Michigan Daily — www.michigandaily.com
News
Tuesday, September 18, 2018 — 3
RECL AIMING R ACIST NAMES
“Most faculty
don’t know
they’re on
the Senate.
People don’t
understand that
they’re actually...
members”
“Separate from
the project,
the university
is pursuing
renewable
energy options”
ALICE LIU/Daily
LSA professor Matthew Countryman speaks on issues of free speech and hate speech at a panel and discussion session hosted by A/PIA studies and WeListen at Hatcher Graduate Library
Monday evening.
legal right to block websites,
to throttle online services or
censor online content.”
Rosenworcel
emphasized
the importance of the non-
discriminatory protections of
net neutrality, which ensured
broadband
providers
could
not treat the traffic on their
networks differently based on
source or content. In order to
illustrate the meaning of non-
discrimination
protections,
Rosenworcel
compared
old telephone networks to
internet providers.
“Think
back
to
the
basic
telephone
network,”
Rosenworcel said. “It is a
given that if you went to a
wired phone on a wall, you
could call whoever you want.
The telephone company can’t
decide you can’t call that
person, nor can they go in
and edit your conversation. In
other words, you have a non-
discriminatory right to make
that phone call — it’s up to
you.”
To provide insight to the
other side of the aisle, Bernard
asked Rosenworcel to provide
a “steel man” instead of a
“straw man” argument for her
opposition.
“We want our broadband
providers to experiment and
come up with package plans
that
serve
everyone,
and
making revenue from online
platforms is an important
part of that mix, or setting
up services that only allow
people to reach small portions
of the internet could create
more and different packages,”
Rosenworcel said. “We want
them to have that freedom to
experiment.”
Though
Rosenworcel
provided the statement, she
quickly
added
she
could
refute what she had just said.
Rosenworcel said her support
of net neutrality protections
would be questionable if the
broadband provider market
was competitive, but that is
currently not the case.
“I believe you need less
oversight
if
you
have
a
competitive
marketplace,”
Rosenworcel
said.
“Competitive
marketplaces
are
themselves
the
best
regulator of activity. But when
you look at the broadband
provider
marketplace,
according
to
the
FCC’s
own data, about half of the
American public does not
have a choice of broadband
provider.”
Opponents to net neutrality
claim the protections hamper
business
and
innovation.
However, Rosenworcel insists the
opposite is true. Since broadband
providers are no longer legally
obligated to treat their internet
traffic
equally,
Rosenworcel
said
small
businesses
could
experience adverse effects.
“They have the right to
go to any entrepreneur or
creator that wants to put
something online, and say,
‘Hey if you want to reach that
customer, you have to pay us a
toll,’” Rosenworcel said.
As an engineer possibly
interested
in
government
work,
Business
and
Engineering
sophomore
Amulya
Parmar
found
Rosenworcel’s
comments
on entrepreneurs especially
important,
as
he
himself
started a small web-hosting
business in high school.
“To me this net neutrality
conversation is important,”
Parmar said. “It epitomizes
that I was, even as a high
school student, able to build
my own internet company.”
Gloria and Wayne Baker
attended
Rosenworcel’s
policy
talk
because
their
hometown
—
Manchester,
Michigan — recently voted
overwhelmingly against an
initiative to bring broadband
internet to the community.
Installing broadband internet
would have charged residents
based on how much land
they own, so people with
large
farms
generally
did
not support the initiative.
The Bakers rely on satellite
internet
access,
which
is
typically
slower
than
broadband internet.
“People
who
had
more
money had access to pay for
Wi-Fi as much as they wanted,
and those people who had
more money also had larger
land, so they would have been
charged more for it,” Gloria
said.
Rosenworcel is known for
coining the term “homework
gap,” referring to the lack
of internet access for many
low-income
and
rural
students to complete their
schoolwork.
Wayne
said
other Manchester residents
suggested simply waiting for
5G, a faster satellite internet
service, instead of installing
broadband internet. However,
waiting for the upgrade could
take years.
“The problem with that is
5G is not tomorrow, it’s years
and years away,” Wayne said.
“So in the interim, what can
people with young families
do whose kids need to do
homework and don’t have
access to good internet speeds
to do that?”
ATTENDANCE
From Page 1
RIVER
From Page 1
FCC
From Page 1
the word “slant” to present the
band’s perspective, or slant, on
life as people of color in the en-
tertainment industry. She reiter-
ated a question Tam brought up
in his lecture the week before.
“The question he really put
forward in his concert last
week is ‘Shouldn’t a commu-
nity really have the right to
name itself?’” Stillman said.
The
panelists’
presenta-
tions went beyond The Slants
case with panelists discussing
their own areas of specialty.
Lawrence La Fountain-Stokes,
an associate professor in the
American Culture Department
who specializes in LGBTQ and
Hispanic
Caribbean
studies,
spoke about examples of re-
claiming derogatory terms such
as “queer.” Law professor Leon-
ard Niehoff discussed the legal
complexities of the case. Beth-
any Hughes, an assistant pro-
fessor in the American Culture
Department who focuses on
Native American studies, talked
about the infamous Washing-
ton Redskins football team.
The Redskins, Niehoff noted,
are an example of a group ben-
efitting from the Supreme Court
decision and are not reclaiming
a hate term for empowerment
purposes.
Niehoff
explained
how other organizations too,
like the Ku Klux Klan, could po-
tentially use this case to trade-
mark hate speech of their own.
“The
First
Amendment
has a kind of fearful symme-
try to it,” Niehoff said. “What-
ever you get on one side, you
get on the other side as well.”
Building on this idea, Mat-
thew Countryman, an associate
professor of American Culture,
noted how the meaning and
intent of a disparaging word al-
ters based on which side is us-
ing it, specifically focusing on
the use of the n-word in white
and Black communities. He also
discussed
further
complexi-
ties within the Black commu-
nity about whether the n-word
should be used at all, recalling
a debate between two great
African-American thinkers dur-
ing his freshman year of college.
“I have this very distinct
memory when I was a col-
lege freshman of... the African-
American literary community
arguing about the word,” Coun-
tryman said. “(We argued) about
whether or not it was evidence
of the power of a kind of inter-
nalized self-hatred in the Black
community or whether it was
proof of a sense of masculine
solidarity in those communi-
ties. It’s always a contested
question, whether or not it’s
possible to reclaim the word.”
Following the panelists’ pre-
sentations, WeListen split at-
tendees into dialogue groups
to discuss the issue. LSA senior
Eli Rachlin, a leader of WeL-
isten, talked about the impor-
tance of The Slants case and
how he hopes the discussion
will delve into deeper themes.
“It pertains in a lot of way
to that Supreme Court case,
but also in a broader sense
just the idea of reclaim-
ing
derogatory
terms,
which shows up in many
situations,”
Rachlin
said.
LSA
freshman
Zhehao
Tong said as an international
student, he has much to learn
about reclaiming hate terms.
RECLAIMING
From Page 2
Read more at
MichiganDaily.com