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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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
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ZACK BLUMBERG

Daily Staff Reporter

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Daily News Editor

MAEVE O’BRIEN
Daily Staff Reporter

See IDEOLOGY, Page 3

