a
finance-dominated
field,”
Kaplan said. “We really want
the students to be able to
engage with the panelists and
create those relationships so
that they feel more comfortable
and empowered when they
choose to enter the field.”
Panelists
discussed
the
importance
of
diversity
in
finding
innovative
solutions
to problems and the struggles
many
women
face
when
balancing work and childcare.
Though
all
panelists
said
bridging the gender gap in
finance is beneficial for their
companies, they also noted how
filling a gender “quota” doesn’t
fully solve the issue. Panelist
Irena Alagic, a fixed income
strategist at J.P. Morgan Chase,
said diversity should go beyond
gender to include different
backgrounds and worldviews.
“We’re not playing a numbers
game here,” Alagic said. “If you
have a whole bunch of people
in the room who all grew up
the same way, who think the
same way, who have the same
set of beliefs that guide their
principles, you’re most likely
not going to come up with the
most efficient decision.”
Disparities
extend
back
to
academic
communities
here
on
campus
as
well.
A
study
published
last
year
found
women
are
underrepresented
in
senior
positions in the University’s
economics
department,
and
make up a smaller share of
graduate and PhD students in
the program.
Many
of
the
panelists
also noted how the #MeToo
movement, which has affected
women in many different fields,
has
changed
the
discourse
surrounding
the
gender
disparity in finance. Panelist
Charlene Reardon, the senior
financial life adviser at Telemus
Capital, LLC, said the issues
exposed by the movement are
not new but instead stem from
a history of inequality.
“The #MeToo movement, I
don’t think that in and of itself,
has changed anything really
significantly in the world of
finance that I work in,” Reardon
said. “It’s been an evolution,
not a revolution.”
Business
junior
Sonakshi
Agarwal said she liked how
the panelists represented large
companies, such as J.P. Morgan,
and smaller ones, such as
Telemus. Agarwal also said her
experiences as an international
student made her aware of how
events in the United States
impact other nations around
the world.
“I come from India, and
there is a big gender disparity
there,” Agarwal said. “I would
say I’ve been lucky enough not
to experience it myself, but I
have witnessed it and I have
seen it in so many instances
— workplace and even social
life. I understand why it’s good
that modern society is talking
about it and if more developed
nations like the United States
are talking about it, the effects
are going to trickle down to the
rest of the world.”
meet 10 times a year, but the
really interesting stuff comes
in the middle when you’re
learning and experiencing
what the University is doing.
You’re out on your own and
meeting with people and
talking to people … When
I started on the board, the
student
population
was
about a third of where it is
today in terms of the entering
freshmen class … There’s just
so much more that we can
do that we’re sort of on the
cusp of doing now and that’s
what made me really do it
again. At one point, I thought
it’s been fantastic but there’s
still more to do. I want to see
us consistently ranked the
number one public university
in the country.
TMD: Over your career
as regent, what goals do you
have of the board that still
haven’t quite been met?
AN:
Affordability
and
accessibility are the two big
ones. And you could argue
that well, “Why haven’t you
been working on this?” Well,
the fact of the matter is we
have but we’re finally now in
a position where we’ve been
able to raise the money. Back
in 2004-2006, as the tuition
started to go up because the
state funding went down,
I recognized that this was
becoming
unaffordable
for really the middle class.
The poor get loans and the
wealthy can afford it, but
it’s the middle class getting
squeezed out of an education.
I felt strongly that we needed
to raise money to endow
tuition if you will. We started
in 2006 with the President’s
Challenge and in the first
year raised $90 million for
financial
aid.
We’ve
just
raised $1.1 billion for student
scholarships.
It’s
a
great
number but it’s not enough
and the reason it’s not enough
is that’s only going to throw
off about $40 million a year.
We need to do more to make
education
affordable
and
accessible, and that’s why I’m
running again. My focus is on
scholarships, raising money,
cutting costs and making it
affordable so that everybody
can afford to be here who’s
admitted because right now
they can’t.
TMD: You’ve consistently
opposed tuition increases, but
how do you plan to counteract
the efforts of the board to
increase this amount?
AN: It’s interesting — the
board has been effective at
keeping the tuition increases
lower than I think some
might like them to be. I know
this budget really well, and I
know we don’t have to raise
tuition every year. I know
there are more creative things
we could be doing. One thing
I’ve learned on the campaign
is that this is the number one
issue and conveyed that to
my colleagues, I said, ‘Guys,
we live in this ivory tower
here but I think everybody
understands that affordability
and accessibility are the most
important issues ahead of us
because we can’t price people
out of an education.’ I think
you’ll see change, but it is all
about the budget. My concern
is that we’re not pushing hard
enough to keep the budget
down and I will keep pushing
… It’s hard to vote against
these increases, but it has to
be done.
TMD: I know an issue
that’s been brought up by
students and faculty in the
regents meetings this year
has been the issue of carbon
neutrality and the lack of a
set goal on the part of the
University. Do you have any
thoughts on this issue?
AN: The board is 100
percent behind this initiative
and has been. I’ve been
talking to Prof. Kelbaugh.
I
know
how
important
this is … The regents really
react to students as does
the administration. I try to
explain this to students if
there’s an issue, come and tell
us about it, don’t go and sit
and complain.
the immigration system in the
United States. According to
Reed, the modern immigration
system is rooted in an attempt
to preserve white dominance in
the country.
“Preservation
of
white
supremacy, of white dominance,
has always been and continues
to be both an explicit and
implicit
goal
of
the
U.S.
immigration system,” Reed said.
“Racism does not decline as
time passes — it fluidly adjusts
and
aligns
with
prevailing
political interests and that’s
really something you can see
as you trace the history of our
immigration policy.”
During
her
presentation,
Reed addressed the evolution of
struggle that the immigration
system has caused from the
Civil War to the present day.
Reed also said the problem has
become more imminent since
President Donald Trump took
office.
“The
system
has
always
been bad,” Reed said. “Even
the
(Obama)
administration
made some errors in judgment.
But this new administration
has
really
weaponized
the
immigration
system
around
larger goals of sending the
message that white dominance
will be preserved.”
Mentioning
the
common
question
surrounding
the
solution to the immigration
problem, Reed said the thought
process
behind
immigration
must
be
fundamentally
reconsidered to understand the
extent of the subject in the U.S.
“Somebody is always going
to ask me, ‘What is the solution
to the problem?’” Reed said. “I
always like to offer the idea that
people simply move. Migration
is not a problem to be solved —
migration is a part of human
existence. Saying ‘How are we
going to solve the problem of
immigration? We can solve it
with walls or militarization of
the border,’ it’s sort of like saying
we have a hunger problem in
America (so) how can we get
people to stop needing to eat.”
During
a
question-and-
answer
portion,
Reed
emphasized
the
difficulty
of working in the field of
immigration law, where she
is responsible for overseeing
the reunification of children
separated from their families.
According to Reed, it can
be damaging for children to
reunite with their parents after
being split up.
“The
children
are
going
back different,” Reed said. “I
would also say another really
bad consequence is that the
government took children that
were accompanied and stuck
them into its existing system
for unaccompanied immigrant
children.”
LSA senior Lisa Garcia said
before the discussion she hoped
it would offer information and
resources to help aid and inform
the immigration issue in the
country.
“I’m actually really interested
in
immigration
rights
and
immigrant
communities
in
Ann Arbor,” Garcia said. “If
anything, I hope to get resources
on how we can get involved to
promote immigrants rights in
Michigan.”
Kinesiology
junior
Grant
Floto echoed the importance of
giving students information on
how to get involved in the cause.
He said the student voices are
essential
to
addressing
the
concern of immigration in the
country.
“I think it’s important for us
as students especially and young
people our age to understand
the impact this can have on the
future and families and younger
kids and how we have a voice,”
Floto said. “It’s important for
us to work together to make
meaningful
impacts
and
especially
with
voting
and
everything
coming
up,
it’s
obviously really important for
us to be knowledgeable about
these things in this climate.”
Proposal
A.
She
clarified
votes on Proposal A would not
directly alter the development
proposal.
“The decision is not ‘Is this
a park or is it a building?’ or
‘Is it a great park or a great
building?’” Letaw said. “It is,
‘Do we hold this land in public
for perpetuity as an urban park
and civic center commons?’
That’s the question on the
ballot.”
Letaw said any development
on the land would have to
include 12,000 square feet of
space treated as a public plaza,
in accordance with a resolution
passed by City Council in 2014.
“We are here because for
the last decade and a half, Ann
Arbor residents and city staff
and city elected officials have
consistently said, ‘We know
Ann Arbor is growing, we
care very deeply about open
space,’” Letaw said. “Part of
the analysis of the Library Lot
is that any sale of that land is
required to donate 50 percent
of the proceeds the Affordable
Housing Fund, so we’re using
the public process to express
our values as a community.”
During
a
question-and-
answer session, Ann Arbor
resident Vince Caruso spoke
in favor of Proposal A and
emphasized the need for more
open space in the city.
“I think Ann Arbor needs a
green space in our downtown,”
Caruso
said.
“We
need
a
green space where people can
sit, meet their friends, not
have to spend money … We
have all these people moving
downtown. They need a place
to take their grandkids, to take
their kids. It’s not so much fun
to play in the streets in the
downtown, I’ll tell you that.”
In a statement, the Ann
Arbor District Library Board of
Trustees recently announced
its opposition to Proposal A
“due to its potential negative
lasting effect on the future of
the downtown library.”
Linh Song, vice president of
the AADL Board of Trustees,
spoke against Proposal A. Song
said both sides agreed on the
need for more public space,
but argued the library itself
functioned as a type of public
square.
“This is something that we
agree on,” she said. “There
is a need for that space.
What I don’t agree on is that
there should be a duplicate
of it. If you’re talking about
the
Library
Lot
becoming
another building, another civic
commons, the challenge to
the community is that if we’re
voting for that, it means we’re
funding it.”
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Friday, October 26, 2018 — 3
ALEXANDRIA POMPEI/Daily
Alice Rawsthorn, award-winning design critic and author, speaks on the world of design at The Michigan Theater Thursday.
THE WORLD OF DESIGN
NEWMAN
From Page 1
FINANCE
From Page 1
LIBRARY
From Page 1
I think Ann
Arbor needs a
green space in
our downtown.
We need a green
space where
people can sit,
meet their friends,
not have to spend
money...
BIASED
From Page 1
Read more online at
michigandaily.com
one on the hand of the United
States,” Salgado said. “This
same hand makes up the
percentage of brown people
on this campus, but I would
need twelve more of these to
show the percentage of white
students. Truth is each one
of us is a brown splash. If one
of us acts as a fool, we will all
be critiqued, our place on the
canvas is questioned.”
During
Aragonés’s
performance, he sang a few
original songs along with a
Pablo Neruda poem that he
gave a twist to.
“That was a song I wrote
a while ago, almost ten years
ago after I lost my father,”
Aragonés said. “He was a big
inspiration to me.”
LSA
senior
Yezenia
Sandoval, a board member of
La Casa, attended the event
and encouraged others to also
attend.
“Instead of having a La Casa
meeting, we’re having this
event,” Sandoval said. “We
really wanted to encourage
people to come because it’s
a great celebration of our
culture.”
In the two years since
La Casa’s inception, there
has been significant growth
in
Latinx
organizing
on
campus.
The
umbrella
organization now navigates
institutional parterships and
represents the fastest growing
underrepresented
minority
group on campus.
Toward the end of the
event,
Perez,
Aragonés
and Pedraza sat on a panel,
shared experiences and asked
questions of the audience.
Perez thanked the audience
for attending and fostering a
welcoming Latinx community
on campus.
“It’s been so long since I’ve
been on campus, it means so
much to have everybody here
in one room,” Perez said. “To
have the sense of community
that everyone has created
tonight is a really beautiful
thing to witness. Thank you
for allowing us to share our
music and our poetry.”
LATINX
From Page 1