Health
Sciences
at
the
University of Michigan, said
lead exposure can lead to
inattention
and
behavioral
issues.
“Especially
the
neurocognition
effects;
I
think that’s where everyone
focuses their attention these
days, again, which can lead
to all inattention, (trouble in
school) and so on,” Nriagu
said.
The Detroit Public Schools
district announced in August
that it was shutting off its
water sources because of high
lead levels.
AAPS
has
voluntarily
tested
its
water
for
lead
annually
since
2016.
According to 2016 and 2017
water
amendment
reports,
all AAPS schools excluding
Huron
High
School
had
detectable amounts of lead in
the water. Thirteen schools
had at least one water source
test above 15 parts per billion.
Nriagu said the Burns Park
lead results are shocking.
“I’m shocked that we can let
something like that happen,”
Nriagu said. “The exposure in
children in schools is such a
high level of risk.”
This year’s lead testing
began this week.
Christine Stead, president
of the AAPS School Board,
said buildings had not been in
use at the time of testing and
that could have contributed to
the high lead readings.
“We did the testing when
most of our buildings were not
in use,” Stead said. “That was a
timing issue that was a known
issue but unfortunately the
water (intelligence) firm that
we used could not do it any
other time.”
According to Stead, faucets
were replaced if a site tested
above 15 parts per billion. The
district is also adding new
water bottle stations that have
lead filters. Stead believes this
is why Huron High School
did not have detectable lead
amounts.
“In 2016, we had two sites
(at Huron) … one read high,
so we replaced that faucet,”
Stead said. “That doesn’t mean
we won’t do something else in
2018. This is our commitment
to monitor this and see how
things go.”
“We would love to get to
zero parts per billion because
no lead in the water is good,”
Stead added. “We also know
that our city water is at least 3
ppb for lead … Each year we’ve
expanded how many faucets
or sites where water comes out
that we’re testing.”
According to a statement by
AAPS Superintendent Jeanice
Swift on the district’s website,
the district will implement
protocol when lead levels in
schools exceed 10 parts per
billion.
“With the overall goal of the
program to reduce exposure
to lead, in this next round of
testing we are also lowering
the threshold for when we
implement the AAPS protocol
for addressing an issue,” the
statement
reads.
“Starting
this fall, remediation efforts
will be implemented when
lead levels are at >10 ppb.
Additional attention will be
paid to water fixtures that are
between 5 and 10 ppb.”
Nriagu said the state of
Michigan has changed testing
requirements for lead and
these are more accurate in
determining lead levels in
water.
“What
they
(the
state)
recommend now is they should
collect the first 250 milliliters
of water and then the (fifth)
liter of water,” Nriagu said.
“Whichever one is higher (in
lead content) is what they
should use to determine what
to do next.”
Area
residents
are
also
concerned with perfluoroalkyl
and
polyfluoroalkyl
substances, known as PFAS,
in the Huron River. The river
serves as a main water source
for the city.
be really powerful to have
organizations that are leaders
in their communities all in one
room to celebrate different
cultures,
different
food,
different music.”
In
April,
along
with
PILOT,
an
organization
for
underrepresented
and
first-generation
students,
La Casa hosted its first joint
cultural
event
with
the
Arab
Student
Association,
providing their own unique
cultural
perspectives
for
prospective students visiting
the University. Public Policy
junior
Arwa
Gayar,
the
director of community action
for ASA, said the bond formed
between the two organizations
at that event was the impetus
for
“Cultural
Crossroads,”
which grew to include the
Muslim Students’ Association
and United Asian American
Organizations.
“Ever since (the La Casa and
ASA event), our communities
have been really comfortable
together and we’ve been able to
do a lot,” Gayar said. “They’ve
been really good allies for us.
This year we were like, ‘This
is such a great relationship we
have, and we need to expand it
with other organizations and
cultural groups on campus.’”
Previous
collaborative
events
between
student
cultural
organizations
only
involved two different groups,
Sandoval said, and La Casa saw
an opportunity for something
bigger.
Engineering
sophomore
Taha Shaukat, outreach chair
for MSA, said the food –– which
included fried plantains with
cream,
samosas,
Moroccan
puff pastry and vegetarian
spring rolls –– was one of the
hardest parts of the event to
organize, but still an essential
piece.
“We had to figure out food
–– ‘What’s something that’ll
entice people into coming?’
And obviously, we’re college
kids, free food is always the
way to go, so finding people
to actually go out and get
food, figuring out a budget
for the food, all that kind of
stuff was really important,
and it was hard, I’ll tell you
that
right
now,”
Shaukat
said. “The Muslim Student
Association, it’s kind of like
an umbrella group, and there’s
so many different ethnicities
underneath, so you can’t really
have one single food for it, so we
kind of let (the Arab Students
Association) run that kind of
stuff for us, because their food
is really good anyway.”
LSA
junior
Dim
Mang,
co-external chair for UAAO,
agreed
solidarity
was
an
important
function
of
the
event, saying students of color
often become isolated within
their own communities.
“I would hope that after
this event, people come out
to
support
other
people’s
organizations because I think
if you’re a part of a community
–– for me, I do go to a lot of
A/PIA community events but
then I don’t attend a lot of other
events in the Arab community,
or Latinx community,” Mang
said. “After this, I hope that
people go and seek those events
and make some friends.”
addressing the trauma of the
past week.
“It’s been an emotional,
difficult, and in many ways
traumatizing week,” Briggs
wrote in an email. “This
underscores
the
need
for
the community (Ann Arbor
and
the
University)
to
come together to show our
emotional support for each
other and to organize. We’re
proud that the event connected
community
members
to
supportive
resources,
such
as SAPAC (Sexual Assault
and
Prevention
Awareness
Center),
and
to
multiple
organizations
that
provide
ways to protest and resist.”
As
a
survivor,
LSA
sophomore Morgan McCaul
said
this
has
been
an
immensely challenging time.
She spoke to the crowd at
Thursday’s
rally,
stressing
the importance of believing
survivors
such
as
Ford,
Deborah
Ramirez,
Julie
Swetnick
and
Anita
Hill.
McCaul has been an outspoken
advocate for survivors’ rights
since her powerful impact
statement at Larry Nassar’s
trial in January.
“We live in a world that
systematically
oppresses
victims who speak up, and
we have a responsibility to
change that,” McCaul said. “It
is time to end victim shaming.
It is time to uplift survivors’
voices. It is time to start by
believing.”
McCaul
was
followed
by Krystle Rose DuPree, a
veteran and sexual assault
survivor.
“We are the backbone that
can’t be broken,” DuPree said.
“The sound that shall not be
silenced. We have survived
and we are empowered. Our
black bodies matter and the
amount of someone’s bank
account does not determine
their worth.”
Alethea
Phillips,
an
indigenous peoples activist,
built upon DuPree’s discussion
of race and assault, speaking
on the varying ways sexual
violence
manifests
itself
in
different
communities.
Phillips is a member of the
Omaha Tribe of Nebraska and
an advocate for missing and
murdered indigenous women.
One in three Native American
women is sexually assaulted in
their lifetime — the highest of
any ethnic group in the United
States.
“I
want
you
all
to
understand that when we
talk
about
survivors,
we
mean to talk about survivors
everywhere,” Phillips said.
Ypsilanti Township Trustee
Monica
Ross-Williams
and
LSA sophomore Dylan Gilbert
were also featured speakers.
Gilbert,
an
award-winning
slam poet, shared some of her
work with the crowded.
Heidi
Sproull,
an
area
psychotherapist, educator and
survivor, closed out the rally
breaking two wooden blocks
with the words “Kavanaugh
Nomination,” written across
them.In
Washington,
D.C.,
protesters
were
arrested
Thursday
afternoon
for
occupying the Hart Senate
Office Building. Ann Arbor
organizers
instructed
marchers to remain peaceful
following the route outlined
by event leaders.
Marchers
took
to
the
sidewalk
of
State
Street,
chanting in unison, “What do
we want? Respect. When do
we want it? Now!”
As the group made their
way back to the Diag, LSA
sophomore
Anna
Tropiano
and Engineering sophomore
Emily Bachwich took to the
steps
of
Harlan
Hatcher
Graduate
Library
standing
arm-in-arm.
Tropiano said she has run
into men on campus who
think Kavanaugh’s academic
achieves make him worthy of
“a pass.”
“I came here today to show
my support for Dr. Ford and
for all survivors and to show
that empathy toward them
should be our first instinct
rather than worrying about a
man’s reputation,” Tropiano
said.
Engineering
freshman
Lucas Crumb and Eastern
Michigan sophomore Hunter
Mellinger came to the rally
to stand in solidarity with
women and survivors.
“I think it’s important for
everyone to stand for women’s
rights, no matter if you’re
a man, woman or other,”
Mellinger said. “This is an
important cause that needs to
recognized.”
The full Senate is voting
on a procedural motion on
Kavanaugh’s
nomination
Friday morning. According to
organizers, this rally served
a moment to come together
before Friday’s events.
“Tonight was a symbolic act
of solidarity for Dr. Ford and
survivors of all walks of life;
I was honored to participate
and grateful to the Women’s
March and Progressives at
Michigan for making space for
our stories,” McCaul said.
more than you ever could in
words.”
Snapchat was created in
2011 by CEO Evan Spiegel
along
with
Reggie
Brown
and
Bobby
Murphy,
and
is
now
worth
$2
billion.
Adweek named Snapchat as the
fastest growing social media
platform out of the big four
networks in 2015 and a June
study found the app has 188
million users.
He graduated from LSA with
a degree in Art History and
interned at Apple during his
summers. Horowitz joined the
Snapchat team in 2015 after
working at Motorola, Apple,
Microsoft and Google, among
others.
Horowitz
stressed
the importance of passion in
addition to a course of study.
“I would still argue that your
Michigan degree is the most
valuable thing you’ll have and
will set you apart for sure,”
Horowitz said. “But it’s also
going to put you at the top
of the stack, but it’s still not
necessarily the thing that will
put you over the top. If you have,
or find your passion, pursue it,
do it. Find something that you
love to do. Find something that
is fun. Don’t do it just to find a
job, find something you enjoy
doing.”
Since he came on board,
Snapchat has made advances
in
body
tracking,
sky
segmentation,
real-time
sky
segmentation,
contextual
sequences and facial mapping.
Horowitz said Snapchat will
continue to work on these
features to make the user
experience better and change
how cameras are used.
LSA
sophomore
Aisling
O’Donnell said she enjoyed
Horowitz’s
description
of
augmented
reality
and
his
take on Snapchat’s place in the
world.
“It was interesting to learn
from the perspective of Steve
Horowitz and a big company
that I use, like Snapchat, all the
time,” O’Donnell said. “I really
enjoyed how he went through
his backstory and his history
and described the future of
Snapchat as well as his future
ideas for the world.”
Horowitz said the evolution
of
technology
will
always
happen, and in his experience
with Android, he believes this
constant
change
can
push
companies
to
make
better
products. From the first camera
to the current era of Snapchat
and the localization of content
such as weather, location and
music, Horowitz said he sees
a potential to change how
humans interact with each
other,
technology
and
the
world.
“For better or worse — I’d
like to think better — we are in
an era where technology allows
the transformation of the world
around us,” Horowitz said.
“And I think the more we sort
of adapt and focus on using
that for good, the better it will
be for society. I think if we are
afraid of it, we are not going to
be as well off. Everyone in the
industry has a duty to and has
a responsibility to use it for
good.”
Lily
Wang,
School
of
Information
development
associate and member of the
development
and
alumni
relations team, said the goal
in choosing a speaker is to
find someone who would be
interesting to both students and
alumni and would be interested
in coming to campus.
Wang said data science is
one of the most popular fields
in the School of Information.
This includes studying human-
computer
interaction
and
augmented
reality,
which
Wang said made Horowitz an
appealing guest.
“It’s kind of a mix of seeing
who would be interesting — the
fields that they study — as well
as how interested they are in
coming,” Wang said. “Someone
like Steve Horowitz, who works
on Snapchat hardware, is really
enticing to both alumni and
current students.”
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Friday, October 5, 2018 — 3A
Read more at
MichiganDaily.com
Read more at
MichiganDaily.com
PROTEST
From Page 1A
ALEXANDRIA POMPEI/Daily
Emory Douglas, former resident Revolutionary Artist and Minister of Culture for the Black Panther Party in the San Francisco Bay Area, discusses his artwork that depicts the
reality of racial injustice in America and that promotes the Black Panther Party’s Ideologies in the Stamps Gallery Thursday.
EMORY DOUGL A S AT STAMPS
SNAPCHAT
From Page 1A
LEAD
From Page 1A
CROSSROADS
From Page 1A