LSA senior Kia Schwert was captivated by the research opportunities at the University when she attended the Michigan Community College Summer Research Fellowship as a fellow in 2017, inspiring her to transfer to the University to study sociology and women’s studies. She got involved as a research assistant in Profs. Elizabeth Armstrong and Sandra Levitsky’s Title IX lab in the Sociology Department, which involved LSA freshman Lucas Cole is more invested in school than the average freshman — not just when it comes to his classes in the University of Michigan’s Residential College, but all of Ann Arbor’s public schools. Shortly after graduating from Skyline High School last spring, Cole launched a campaign for the Ann Arbor School Board of Trustees. He said his experience as a former student informed his perspective as a candidate. “I think that if you talk to students in the district, from what I’ve experienced, students really know that they don’t have a voice, that people don’t really care what they think and they’re upset by it,” Cole said. michigandaily.com Ann Arbor, Michigan Monday, October 22, 2018 ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-EIGHT YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM Bernie Sanders rallies for Whitmer ANNIE KLUS AND MAX KUANG/Daily Michigan Gubernatorial candidate Gretchen Whitmer, Senator Bernie Sanders, D-Vermont, and Whitmer running mate Garlin Gilchrist speak at a rally for Gretchen Whitmer in Rackham Auditorium Friday evening. CITY With less than three weeks until midterm elections, over 1,000 students attend rally for Democrats With less than three weeks until midterm elections, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gretchen Whitmer is teaming up with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders to garner support. University of Michigan’s chapter of College Democrats hosted a rally Friday evening in support of Whitmer in Rackham Auditorium. Over 1,100 students, faculty members and Michigan residents filled the main auditorium and an overflow room on the fourth floor. In addition to Sanders and Whitmer, the event featured U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, U.S. Sen. Gary Peters and Garlin Gilchrist, Whitmer’s running mate for lieutenant governor, and various candidates for state and local office. Public Policy senior Kellie Lounds, chair for the College Democrats, spoke on Whitmer’s strengths in regard to mobilizing young people, noting the impact an endorsement from Sanders has made on her platform. “College students here love her because they know she’s going to fight for them, but there are also more moderate people that love her because they know she’s going to lead a strong government that’s transparent, effective and useful,” Lounds said. In light of historically low turnout rates among University students in recent elections, Lounds said building momentum is more important now. According to the Ford School of Public Policy, about 14 percent of University DANIELLE PASEKOFF Daily Staff Reporter Paul Bun-win Michigan beat in-state rival Michigan State, 21-7, to reclaim the Paul Bunyan Trophy once again. » Page 1B See BERNIE, Page 2A Freshman at ‘U’ runs for school board spot Lucas Cole, Skyline High School grad, running progressive campaign LEAH GRAHAM Daily Staff Reporter GOT A NEWS TIP? Call 734-418-4115 or e-mail news@michigandaily.com and let us know. Check out the Daily’s News podcast, The Daily Weekly INDEX Vol. CXXVIII, No. 14 ©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 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 B michigandaily.com For more stories and coverage, visit The Michigan Daily Administration Beat will be conducting interviews with the incumbent and challenging candidates for University of Michigan Board of Regents prior to the November midterm election. Our first interview is with Democratic challenger candidate Jordan Acker. Acker is a University alum and worked for the Barack Obama administration in Washington, D.C. He currently works at a law firm with his father and resides in Oakland County with his wife and two daughters. The Michigan Daily: What made you decide to run for regent this year? Jordan Acker: There’s two real days in my life that made me want to do this. The first one was where I graduated from undergrad … My parents signed me up for a bunch of (College Savings Programs) that allowed me to graduate free … The University of Michigan Weiser Center for Emerging Democracies hosted Anna Grzymala-Busse, a political science professor at Stanford University, Friday afternoon for a lecture about the modern challenges to democracy. More than 50 students and faculty attended the event, titled “Populism and the Erosion of Democracy,” and were able to engage in an active discussion concerning the implications of a recent surge in populist support. Busse, who is currently researching the surge in support for populism in former Communist countries, aimed to define the populist ideology and explain why it is on the rise in Eastern Europe. She also detailed how populism has contributed to the deterioration of democratic institutions worldwide. “All populist parties and movements basically make two claims,” she said. “The first claim is that the elites are a corrupt and self-serving cartel. So business elites, political elites, whether politicians or businessmen or journalists, they’re all in it for themselves.” According to Busse, this political stance has resulted in increasing distrust of liberal democratic institutions and a push to minimize their power. “The first target are the courts,” Busse stated. “What they do, basically, is to politicize the courts and reduce judicial autonomy, as that could be a major constraint on these parties.” Busse also cited recent populist policies of court packing, judicial age limits, changes to legal framework and, in some cases, large-scale revisions of national constitutions. In Hungary, she stated, one party member was put in charge of all national judicial appointments, all but eliminating the presence of checks on party power. In her explanation of this threat to democracy, Busse mainly cited the examples from Poland and Hungary, nations where the populist PiS and Fidesz parties gained supermajorities in their national congresses, giving them unchecked legislative power. “In both of these cases, they are going to be governing unconstrained by any coalition partner, or frankly any forms of checks and balances,” she said. As Busse’s research proved, recent surges in populist support have been largely linked to economic downturn and the failure of mainstream parties to respond appropriately to public concerns. “These mainstream parties have increasingly failed to absorb and to respond to popular fears,” Busse explained. “Fears about the economy, about immigration, about what’s going on in the world and how rapidly it’s changing. Instead, what they followed was basically a mainstream policy consensus.” LSA sophomore Yuting Chen is studying political science and expressed curiosity at the end of the lecture with the points brought up both by Busse and members of the audience. CAMERON HUNT/Daily Standford Professor Anna Grzymala-Busse speaks about populism and the erosion of democracy at the Weiser Center for Emerging Democracies Friday. Stanford political scientist discusses the rise of populism in Eastern Europe Anna Grzymala-Busse explained why such countries have faced democratic erosion BENJAMIN ROSENFIELD For the Daily Student explores ‘U’ sex assault policy contrasts ADMINISTRATION CAMPUS LIFE CAMPUS LIFE LSA Senior Kia Schwert worked under Profs Elizabeth Armstrong and Sandra Levitsky REMY FARKAS Daily Staff Reporter In Conversation: Regent candidate Jordan Acker Democratic challenger discusses his decision to run, carbon neutrality and campus affordability SAYALI AMIN Daily Staff Reporter Read more at MichiganDaily.com Read more at MichiganDaily.com Read more at MichiganDaily.com Read more at MichiganDaily.com