While discussing his new book “How Democracies Die”, co-authored with Harvard professor Daniel Ziblatt, Steven Levitsky, a professor of government at Harvard University, noted the current Supreme Court nomination process of Brett Kavanaugh. Levitsky argued increased political polarization will result in increased conflict, while addressing a crowd of about 40 students and faculty members Saturday on the present state of democracy in the United States and the current administration’s role in the democratic landscape. “As we grow polarized, Americans on both the left and the right are willing to tolerate abuses against the other side,” Levitsky said. “Daniel and I had a really interesting meeting with seven Democratic senators earlier this week. One of them, Michael Bennett from Colorado, told us, ‘I’m quite sure that never again will a president without a majority in the Senate get his or her (Supreme Court justice) nomination passed. The days of a minority president nominating a person to the Supreme Court, ever, those days are done.’” Levitsky said President Donald Trump has contributed to the public’s declining faith in U.S. government. “There are things to worry about … the impact of his discourse is accelerating the erosion of the public trust in our institutions,” Levitsky said. “Same thing with the press. An independent media and press freedom are essential institutions in any democracy. And Trump’s discourse, that the media is conspiring against him … has accelerated the erosion of public trust in independent media.” However, according to Levitsky, the United States is still in a strong position in terms of democratic prosperity. “U.S. democracy isn’t dead, it’s not dying, it probably won’t die,” Levitsky said. “Social scientists don’t agree on too many things, but there are a couple of factors they agree contribute to the longevity of democracy — age and wealth.” 2A —Monday, October 1, 2018 The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com News TUESDAY: By Design THURSDAY: Twitter Talk FRIDAY: Behind the Story WEDNESDAY: This Week in History MONDAY: Looking at the Numbers Read more at MichiganDaily.com 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1327 www.michigandaily.com ARTS SECTION arts@michigandaily.com SPORTS SECTION sports@michigandaily.com ADVERTISING dailydisplay@gmail.com NEWS TIPS news@michigandaily.com LETTERS TO THE EDITOR tothedaily@michigandaily.com EDITORIAL PAGE opinion@michigandaily.com NATHAN GUPTA Business Manager 734-418-4115 ext. 1241 nathankg@michigandaily.com ALEXA ST. 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DAYTON HARE Managing Editor haredayt@michigandaily.com RIYAH BASHA and SOPHIE SHERRY Managing News Editor news@michigandaily.com ANU ROY-CHAUDHURY and ASHLEY ZHANG Editorial Page Editors tothedaily@michigandaily.com Senior Opinion Editors: Tara Jayaram, Joel Danilewitz, Jeremy Kaplan, Ben Charlson, Magdalena Mihaylova MIKE PERSAK and LANEY BYLER Managing Sports Editors sportseditors@michigandaily.com DANIELLE YACOBSON and MADELEINE GAUDIN Managing Arts Editors arts@michigandaily.com Senior Arts Editors: Becky Portman, Sam Rosenberg, Arya Naidu, Dominic Polsinelli Arts Beat Editors: Jack Brandon, Fallon Gates, Shima Sadaghiyani, Tess Garcia, Sofia Lynch ALEXIS RANKIN and KATELYN MULCAHY Managing Photo Editors photo@michigandaily.com ROSEANNE CHAO and CASEY TIN Managing Design Editors design@michigandaily.com Senior Design Editor: Jack Silberman BRIAN KUANG Statement Editor statement@michigandaily.com Deputy Editors: Colin Beresford, Jennifer Meer FINN STORER and ELISE LAARMAN Managing Copy Editors copydesk@michigandaily.com Senior Copy Editors: Emily Stillman and Allie Bopp BOB LESSER and JORDAN WOLFF Managing Online Editors lesserrc@michigandaily.com Senior Web Developers: Patricia Huang, Abna Panda, Hassaan Ali Wattoo, Rebecca Tung IAN HARRIS Managing Video Editor video@michigandaily.com Senior Video Editors: Abe Lofy, Robby Weinbaum, Jillian Drzinski, Danielle Kim JASON ROWLAND and ASHLEY TJHUNG Michigan in Color Editors michiganincolor@michigandaily.com Senior Michigan in Color Editors: Lorna Brown, Zainab Bhindarwala, Christian Paneda, Nisa Khan, Na’kia Channey Assistant Michigan in Color Editors: Angelo McKoy, Kareem Shunnar, Maya Mokh, Efe Osagie, Samuel So KAYLA WATERMAN Managing Social Media Editor Editorial Staff Business Staff CAMERON COANE Sales Manager JEFFREY ZHANG Local Accounts Manager ALEC SPELLER Marketing Consulting Manager DEANA ZHU Special Projects Manager MARIO DRESAJ Brand Manager ROHIT IYER Business Development Manager Senior Photo Editors: Amelia Cacchione, Emma Richter, Evan Aaron Assistant Photo Editors: Alice Liu, Darby Stipe, Max Kuang, Ryan McLoughlin, Alec Cohen Senior Sports Editors: Mark Calcagno, Robert Hefter, Max Marcovitch, Paige Voeffray, Anna Marcus Assistant Sports Editors: Aria Gerson, Ben Katz, Tien Le, Ethan Sears, Jacob Shames, Matthew Kennedy, Avi Sholkoff ADRIANNA KUSMIERCZYK Creative Director Senior News Editors: Andrew Hiyama, Carly Ryan, Kaela Theut, Matt Harmon, Maya Goldman Assistant News Editors: Jordyn Baker, Remy Farkas, Julia Ford, Elizabeth Lawrence, Rachel Cunninghaam, Molly Norris, Maeve O’Brien, Sayali Amin, Danielle Pasekoff, Katherina Sourine ANN UAL ORGAN CONFE RE NCE RE HE R SAL A recent University of Michigan study found each federal dollar the United States government spends on the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative leads to an extra $3.35 of economic activity in the region. These results are conclusive through the year 2036. The GLRI was launched in 2010 and Congress has funded over $2.5 billion worth of projects to improve the region’s environmental concerns. The economic benefits were not initially intended to be part of the initiative, but through the GLRI, approximately 1,700 new jobs in tourism have been created or supported. John Linc Stine, chair of the Great Lakes Commission, said in a Water Canada article these results leave a positive legacy for the area. “This study describes what we already know in facts and figures: Cleaning up legacy pollution and restoring aquatic habitat on the Great Lakes isn’t only good for the environment, it creates jobs and fuels the regional economy,” Linc Stine said. “It’s a positive legacy that states and our partner organizations can leave for future generations. The Great Lakes states are ready and excited to continue this critical work until the job is finished.” The study also found the federal dollars increased quality of life throughout coastal areas. Housing values improved by $1.08 per home, an overall increase of $900 million. GLRI was also found to increase new real estate development, water- based recreation, tourism and a permanent young population. MAX KUANG/Daily School of Music, Theatre and Dance professors Joan Holland and Kola Owolabi rehearse on the harp and organ, respectively, for the 58th Annual Organ Conference at Hill Auditorium Sunday. CASEY TIN/Daily ON THE DAILY: STUDY FINDS INVESTING IN GREAT LAKES BRINGS ECONOMIC BENEFITS TO REGION Harvard professor speaks on political polarization, importance of voting ZACH BLUMBERG For The Daily BY THE NUMBERS BY THE NUMBERS Nurses Contract Agreement The University of Michigan Professional Nurses Council reached a tentative 3-year contract agreement with Michigan Medicine administrators on Saturday. In upcoming weeks, the more than 5,700 Michigan Medicine nurses plan to ratify the agreement. According to the 2017-2018 Sustainability Cultural Indicators Program survey, 75% of University of Michigan students, an almost 10% increase from 2015, are “extremely sure” climate change is occurring. In contrast, a 2017 Yale University survey found that 45% of Americans were “extremely sure” climate change is real. Student Climate Change Survey Doctoral Student Survey The Rackham Institutional Research office's first Michigan Doctoral Experience Study, conducted in 2017 now publicly available , found that 72 percent of surveyed students pursuing a master’s in social sciences reported they wanted to teach after earning their degrees. In contrast, the study found that only about 43 percent of surveyed students pursuing their master’s in the physical sciences or engineering reported they wanted to teach after earning their degrees. On Tuesday, the Zell Lurie Institute at the Ross School of Business announced a $100,000 investment from its Founders Fund into organic snack company SMPL. SMPL was started by University alum Ellis Fried, whom earned more than $17,000 in the 2017 Michigan Business Challenge while an undergraduate student. Ross Invests in Alum’s Healthy Snack Company