Two prominent educational
and professional institutions
— the American Association of
University Professors and the
American
Political
Science
Association
—
are
urging
the University of Michigan
to
reconsider
sanctions
imposed on American Culture
professor
John
Cheney-
Lippold.
Cheney-Lippold
recently
became
ineligible
for a salary raise for one year
and ineligible for sabbatical
credits for two years after
rescinding his offer to write
a letter of recommendation
for
a
student
studying
abroad in Israel, as part of an
academic
boycott.
Cheney-
Lippold was joined last week
by Rackham student Lucy
Peterson, a Political Science
graduate student instructor
who also declined to write a
letter for a student studying
in Israel. Political Science
prof. Juan Cole published a
blog post over the weekend
announcing he would also
refuse
reccommendations
for students studying in the
occupied West Bank.
University
graduate
students also published an
open letter last week with
over 200 signatures affirming
their support for Cheney-
Lippold and Peterson.
Interim
LSA
Dean
Elizabeth
Cole
informed
Cheney-Lippold of sanctions
in a letter dated Oct. 3.
“Your conduct has fallen
far short of the University’s
and
College’s
expectations
for how LSA faculty interact
with and treat students,” Cole
wrote.
In a letter from AAUP
Associate
Secretary
Hans-
Joerg Tiede dated Oct. 16,
Tiede claimed the sanctions
on
Cheney-Lippold
violate
the association’s standards
of
due
process.
These
standards first call for an
informal inquiry by a faculty
committee
to
determine
whether
proceedings
to
impose
sanctions
are
necessary and then call for the
Wednesday
night,
students filled the Ford
School of Public Policy’s
Weill
Hall
to
listen
to
Reihan Salam, a political
commentator, columnist and
executive editor of National
Review magazine, talk about
his ideas on immigration
policy in his new book
“Melting Pot or Civil War?”
The American Enterprise
Institute at the University
of Michigan, along with the
National Review Institute
and Young Americans for
Freedom,
hosted
Salam.
Clare Ath, the NRI campus
outreach coordinator, said
one of the main goals of her
organization is to promote
civil
public
discourse,
which is why she helps
bring conservative voices to
college campuses.
“Our focus is to show that
no political ideology should
be trying to prove that
they’re right, but they should
be
working
to
convince
people to their side,” Ath
said. “It isn’t a ‘we beat you,’
it’s a ‘let’s see where we
can find commonality and
come to the best solution
together.’”
Salam noted the difficulty
of having civil debate on
a
hot-button
issue
like
immigration, for which both
sides are so impassioned.
“Immigration is not an
easy, slam dunk question
at all,” Salam said. “There
are
very
decent,
good-
hearted people on every side
of this debate, and there
is a tendency we have to
talk past each other in the
debate, and the reason is
because many of us feel so
passionate about it.”
Salam
spoke
to
the
audience
about
how
his
proposed
system,
which
calls for limited immigration
and
prioritizing
high-
skilled immigrants, would
better
address
issues
of
inequality, foster a sense
of national solidarity, and
create a balance of diversity
and assimilation. Critics of
merit-based
immigration
point out many industries
in the United States rely
on
low-skill
labor
that
generally raises economic
output and reduces prices.
He
first
talked
about
this
idea
of
solidarity,
referencing the book “The
Paradox of Vulnerability:
States,
Nationalism,
and
the Financial Crisis” by
John Campbell and John
Hall, which claims societies
that are smaller and more
vulnerable
to
outside
threats
are
more
likely
to
develop
cooperative
institutions. With a higher
influx of immigrants and a
lower birth rate of American
citizens,
Salam
said,
U.S. society may feel less
inclined to bond together for
Four individuals have
been
recommended
to
receive honorary degrees
at
the
University
of
Michigan’s
2018
Winter
Commencement:
Lynn
Conway,
a
transgender
activist
and
computer
scientist;
Rita
Dove,
a
former U.S. poet laureate;
James
Hackett,
an
alum and CEO of Ford
Motor
Company;
and
Elizabeth Nabel, Michigan
Medicine’s
first
female
chief of cardiology. All are
pending approval by the
Board of Regents.
Conway,
who
is
scheduled to receive an
honorary Doctor of Science
degree, will be delivering
the commencement speech
at the ceremony. She is a
former University professor
and associate dean of the
College
of
Engineering,
whose
research
focused
on visual communications
and
control.
She
made
significant contributions to
michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Thursday, October 18, 2018
ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SEVEN YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
Professional
orgs support
faculty right
to ideology
Water quality raises concerns
about pollutants across Michigan
ACADEMICS
2 associations, 200 grad students ask ‘U’
to roll back Cheney-Lippold punishment
Not much known about high levels of PFAS chemicals linked to increased risk of cancer
More than four years after
the Flint water crisis, Michigan
officials encountered a new
challenge this summer when the
Department of Environmental
Quality revealed some water
quality tests around the state
— including in Ann Arbor —
contained a toxic chemical called
perfluorooctanesulfonic acid.
Brian Steglitz, manager of the
Ann Arbor Water Treatment
Plant, believes on a local level
there is very little to worry
about and the plant is handling
the situation well. He explained
the risks associated with PFAS
were still largely unknown,
though the chemical has been
linked to an potential increased
risk for cancer and other health
problems in some studies. In
September, Steglitz announced a
“do-not-eat foam” warning at an
Ann Arbor City Council meeting.
“The challenge with PFAS
is that it is emerging,” Steglitz
said. “We don’t have all the
information we really need to
assess what the risks are and
what the safe levels are. I think a
lot of that is going to come in the
coming months and maybe even
years.”
According to Steglitz, the
water treatment plant has been
testing treatment technologies
for the past year and the
city recently spent $850,000
to
implement
an
effective
technology in all of the city’s
filters.
“In terms of PFAS, I think
we’re very well-prepared to deal
with this emerging contaminant.
I feel extremely confident that
See GRADUATES, Page 3
‘U’ releases
names of
honorary
graduates
ACADEMICS
Recipients range from a
former US poet laureate to
Ford chief exective officer
CARTER FOX/DAILY
Reihan Salam speaks about his new book “Melting Pot or Civil War?” which discusses an argument against open
borders at Weill Hall Wednesday evening.
National Review editor discusses
immigration policy, new book release
Reihan Salam advocated for a new system which prioritizes highly-skilled immigrants
ELIZABETH LAWRENCE
Daily Staff Reporter
See IMMIGRATION, Page 3
See POLLUTANTS, Page 2
Though
their
research
on turning algae into an
environmentally-friendly
source of diesel fuel has
been ongoing, a team of
University
researchers’
funding has been extended
with a new $2 million grant
from the U.S. Department of
Energy.
Headed
by
professors
in conjunction with the
University of Pennsylvania,
the group has been working
to develop a cheaper fuel,
according to research leader
Brad Cardinale, professor in
the School for Environment
and Sustainability.
“We’re trying to grow
algal biofuels in a way that’s
more sustainable, that we
produce more energy but do
so without creating a lot of
environmental pollution or
genetically modified species
that might be a problem,”
Cardinale said.
The
research
team
is
composed of environmental
sustainability
professors,
See ALGO-FUELS, Page 3
Fed funds
enable new
research on
algo-fuels
RESEARCH
$2 million from the US
Department of Energy
will help ‘U’ scientists
ATTICUS RAASCH
Daily Staff Reporter
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Daily’s News
podcast, The
Daily Weekly
INDEX
Vol. CXXVIII, No. 13
©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
DESIGN BY JACK SILBERMAN
ZACK BLUMBERG
Daily Staff Reporter
ANDREW HIYAMA
Daily News Editor
MAEVE O’BRIEN
Daily Staff Reporter
See IDEOLOGY, Page 3