know 
where 
I 
was 
from,” 

Offendum said. “When I’d tell 
them I was from Syria, I’d get a 
weird joke about breakfast cereal 
or something. Now you can’t turn 
on the news without hearing 
about it at least once a day.”

Rackham 
student 
Yahya 

Alami Hafez, a graduate student 
instructor for Introduction to 
Arab-American 
Studies, 
said 

Offendum’s presentation showed 
how current artistic mediums 
such as rap actually trace back to a 
long and rich Arab history. Hafez 
said before each discussion, he 
shows the class a music video 
from an Arab region to highlight 
this connection.

“I think culture is a really good 

entry point to engage student 
learning,” Hafez said. “Cultural 
production 
is 
political, 
it’s 

something that shapes discourse. 
When folks are studying history, 
they’re looking toward material 
artifacts or something that they 
can examine — sometimes that’s 
archives and sometimes it’s 
museum exhibits or songs.”

Offendum 
performed 
a 

number of his own spoken word 
poems and raps, often prompting 
the audience to participate by 
motioning to sing portions of 
the lyrics. Offendum opened the 

lecture by rapping “Damascus,” 
an Arabic poem he strongly 
identifies with and ultimately 
transformed into a song.

“For a kid growing up with a 

mother from Damascus, I had 
memorized that poem when I 
was like 12,” Offendum said. “It’s 
been a big part of my life and 
it’s kind of a good introductory 
piece to my work because it has 
the element of poetry in it and 
rap and cultural translation and 
longing for Syria.”

Offendum said his work often 

contends with the changing idea 
of home, as he was born in Saudi 
Arabia but grew up just outside 
of Washington, D.C. He said he 
was especially inspired by one 
of his mentors, who told him 
he should look to the future to 
understand where home is.

“I was telling him how I feel 

this sort of transient feeling in 
my heart, like I don’t really feel 
like I’m from here even though 
I’ve been here pretty much my 
whole life,” Offendum said. 
“He’s like, ‘Listen, home is not 
where your grandparents are 
buried — home is where your 
grandchildren will be born. Look 
to the future, think about the 
future, think about what your 
purpose is here today.’”

more secure. They also touched 
on voter registration system 
issues, election audits, the 2016 
presidential election and their 
experiences with research.

“The Russians who hacked 

into state election systems and 
voter registration systems in 
several states in 2016, they had 
the ability to go much farther 
than 
they 
did,” 
Halderman 

said. “They chose not to pull the 
trigger. We’re right back in that 
position we were in in 2016. The 
question is not whether we’re 
safe because we’re not safe. The 
question is, are our adversaries 
going to decide to pull the 
trigger?”

In addition to his six-minute 

testimony in June, Halderman 
has returned to the Capitol 
frequently to discuss the $380 

million in funding for states 
to modernize and secure their 
equipment with state legislatures 
and 
congressional 
staff. 

Halderman has also assisted 
Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., on an 
election reform package.

According to an article in the 

Michigan Alumnus, Halderman 
said he was inspired to look 
into voting machines during a 
question-and-answer 
session 

in an Introduction to Computer 
Science class. Afterwards, he 
appeared with a United Nations 
ambassador 
to 
explain 
the 

Internet Freedom Technology 
Showcase 
and 
“refraction 

networking” — a way to allow 
users access to banned networks 
and services while tricking the 
computer into thinking they have 
not been granted access — in 
2015. Halderman went on to lead 
a coalition funded by the State 
Department on the concept.

“We’re 
much 
better 
at 

seeing unsuccessful intrusions 

than 
successful 
intrusions,” 

Halderman said. “It’s silly to 
know someone is trying to get 
in — you see someone jiggling 
the lock — but, if they found an 
open window on the side of the 
basement and climbed in through 
it where you didn’t have a sensor, 
well, you wouldn’t know that by 
monitoring the front door.”

Mebane focuses his research 

on “election forensics” — a term 
he created — with the goal of 
creating 
tools 
for 
detecting 

anomalies and fraud in voting. He 
said he uses statistical methods 
to look for patterns to see if 
voting reflects the intentions of 
the voters in elections around the 
world.

He was specifically asked 

about his experience helping 
with voting security in Kenya 
last year and in the 2004 
presidential election in Franklin, 
Ohio. 
Mebane 
said 
he 
did 

research on the Kenya election 
and recommended it should 

be annulled, with the Kenyan 
Supreme Court agreeing. He said 
election and voter registration 
data in the U.S., however, is more 
difficult to attain.

“The hard part is proving 

when something is unusual or 
when something is an anomaly … 
Is that due to fraud or is that due 
to just regular politics?” Mebane 
said. 
“Statistical 
methods 

can tell us when the votes are 
switched, but you can’t tell who 
switched them, and it makes 
a big difference if the voters 
switched them through strategic 
consideration compared to some 
bad guy switching them.”

In Michigan, Halderman said 

people vote on paper, but only a 
few companies handle counting 
of the votes. If the software is 
bugged, a hacker could alter 
election results without touching 
any machines. 

should be transparency about 
the University and its past 
dealings with race relations.”

In response to the 2014 

#BBUM 
demands, 
Terrence 

McDonald, 
director 
of 
the 

Bentley 
Historical 
Library, 

explained 
archivists 

began 
compiling 
recorded 

interactions 
between 

University officials and Black 
activists.

“The 
digitization 
project 

began when student members 
of the BSU, working on a history 
of the Black Action movements, 
asked if those records could be 
made more available through 
digitization,” McDonald said. 
“We prepared a digital edition 
of the demands from and 

University responses to those 
movements, and the idea for 
digitizing the collection grew 
from there.”

In 
addition 
to 
demands, 

#BBUM 
sparked 
a 

national 
conversation 

on 
Twitter 
around 
the 

experiences of Black students 
in 
higher 
education. 
The 

movement staged protests on 
campus 
to 
bring 
further 

attention to their cause.

According to the University 

Record, funds for the project 
were provided by the Office 
of the Provost and the process 
of digitizing the records took 
more than eight months to 
complete. 
The 
new 
online 

collection features audio and 
video recordings of visiting 
scholars 
and 
activists, 

including Rosa Parks and Jesse 
Jackson, newspaper clippings 

and other materials related to 
the Black Action Movements 
from 1969 to 1995.

The 
entire 
collection 

can 
be 
accessed 
digitally 

by 
all 
University 
students, 

researchers, faculty and staff, 
and to the public in person at 
the Bentley Historical Library.

Matthew 
Countryman, 

chair of the Department of 
Afroamerican 
and 
African 

Studies, said in a statement to 
the Record that he is especially 
thrilled that these historical 
documents have been digitized.

“As we approach the 50th 

anniversary of the Center for 
Afroamerican 
and 
African 

Studies’ founding, we could not 
be more excited to have these 
essential historical documents 
digitized 
and 
available 

online to students, scholars 
and 
community 
members,” 

Countryman said.

LSA senior Kayla McKinney, 

speaker of BSU, said the group 
called for digitization of the 
Bentley records to increase the 
accessibility of these materials. 
In addition, McKinney said 
the project grew out of the 
group’s desire to call attention 
to the relations between Black 
students and the University in 
the past.

“Since then the Bentley has 

worked tirelessly both with the 
BSU and on their own to gain 
and digitize these records and 
we appreciate them greatly,” 
McKinney said. “Having these 
records digitized is important 
because student activism is 
often erased in U-M’s diversity 
effort.”

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Friday, October 19, 2018 — 3A

MADELINE HINKLEY/Daily

University of Michigan professor Stephen Rush talks with musician panelists Tomeka Reid and Famadou Don Moye discuss the Edgefest 
concert series at East Quadrangle Thursday afternoon. 

WORLD PE RFOR M ANCE STUDIES

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gas emissions reduction is an 
ambitious goal and this project 
marks a significant step in the 
right direction as well as providing 
a sound financial projection for 
the university,” Hegarty said.

The Board of Regents also 

reviewed 
the 
University’s 

endowment, 
which 
increased 

$1 billion this past year to $11.9 
billion. According to U.S. News 
and World Report, the University 
of Michigan had the eighth largest 
endowment of all universities as 
of the end of the 2017 fiscal year.

“We have great confidence in 

the University’s overall approach 
to 
investments 
and 
in 
the 

stewardship of these important 
financial 
resources,” 
Regent 

Kathy White (D) said.

During the meeting, the Board 

of Regents also approved a model 

portfolio for the University’s 
long-term portfolio. The model 
portfolio provides a plan for 
the 
University’s 
long-term 

investment allocation of each 
asset class.

Regent Andrew Richner (R), 

the chair of the board, said the 
approval of the portfolio is an 
effort to monitor the returns on 
University investments.

“By putting this item on 

our agenda and approving the 
portfolio on an ongoing basis, 
the Board of Regents will keep 
current on the risks associated 
with the investment portfolio 
and 
further 
mitigate 
risks 

associated with noncompliance 
with University policy,” Richner 
said.

Baer addressed the board, 

outlining 
CSG’s 
newest 

initiatives. In order to increase 
student voter turnout, CSG is 
providing free transportation to 
polling places on Nov. 6, as well as 

stamped envelopes for absentee 
ballots. According to Baer, CSG 
plans to offer a series of town 
halls, the first of which is on 
Oct. 29 at 6 p.m. in the Michigan 
League.

“We will be hosting our first 

town hall this month focused 
on 
housing 
affordability 
on 

campus,” 
Baer 
said. 
“Based 

on student feedback we have 
determined housing affordability 
to be extremely salient amongst 
our student body, and while we 
are working on initiatives now 
to tackle this issue, we want 
to hear directly from students 
and community members about 
what they think would decrease 
housing 
costs 
and 
improve 

housing initiatives in the future.”

Baer 
also 
reported 
her 

administration has been working 
with MDining to improve dining 
experiences for students with 
dietary restrictions. According 
to Baer, South Quad dining hall 

will open a kosher kitchen in the 
coming weeks, and the dining 
app will be upgraded to include 
the ingredients of each dish.

“With the proliferation of 

food allergies, we have focused 
on ways to make all students feel 
confident and safe on campus,” 
Baer said. “As you may already 
know, all dining halls now carry 
Auvi-Qs, which is a device 
similar to EpiPens. The dining 
staff is now trained on how to 
administer them if a student 
suffers from an allergic reaction.”

Ganda 
spoke 
about 
her 

administration’s student voting 
initiatives and the need for more 
on-campus spaces for student 
organizations. 
Ganda 
also 

addressed the need for minority 
representation 
and 
cultural 

awareness among faculty and 
campus at large.

REGENT
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