After free-speech watchdog group Speech First filed a lawsuitagainst the University of Michigan last May, the University has restricted the housing staff, such as resident advisors and diversity peer educators, from removing speech from student doors — including hate speech. The lawsuit was filed against the University’s Bias Response Team and accused the school of limiting students’ abilities to express themselves freely. Since then, the University has attempted to show its commitment to the First Amendment by allowing more student expression. In the dormitories, this means no writings or postings can be removed from a student’s door without the student’s permission. One RA, who has chosen to remain anonymous due to legal concerns, believes the implementation of a policy restricting how racist speech is handled could be problematic. They think the policy will negatively affect the students it targets. “I most definitely think it can have an emotional impact,” they said. “If you wake up in the morning and you open your door and see something [offensive], it can make you feel like you don’t belong, it can make you feel like you’re not a valued member of the community and that you’re out of place.” The RA also brought up past incidents involving racist messages on student doors. Last year there was an incident in West Quad involving three Black students’ whose doors were vandalized with hate speech, including the N-word. The RA emphasized how having to be in an environment where derogatory speech is present can have an impact on students’ wellbeing. “Even last year’s event of the n-word being on the door... ” they said. “I knew some of those people [who saw were affected by it] and it most definitely has an impact on you and other people who have those same identities or simply empathize with you. It can have an emotional toll because as a human being, sometimes you say, ‘This is wrong,’ but it gets a lot into what is right and wrong and who constitutes that, so I do think it can be difficult to maneuver and that’s where morality and University policies have trouble interplaying.” LSA sophomore Ruchi Wankhede also reflected on the incident in West Quad Residence Hall when considering the policy. As someone who has lived in West Quad for the last two years, she recalled how upsetting the situation was. She said she’s wary of RAs and DPEs losing their ability to remove oppressive speech. “Last year, I was in West Quad when the whole incident with racist slurs on doors happened,” Wankhede said. “Those are my hallmates. It was so jarring for everyone involved, everyone in the community. The fact that the free speech is there, the fact that the University didn’t help out that much with the investigation is very upsetting. We still don’t even know who did it to this day.” michigandaily.com Ann Arbor, Michigan Tuesday, February 5, 2019 ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-EIGHT YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM Less than a year after the Trump administration and the Environmental Protection Agency received backlash for attempting to block the publication of a federal study that concluded PFAS chemicals at low concentrations were dangerous, it is expected the Trump administration will not set a limit for PFAS chemicals in drinking water. According to the city of Ann Arbor’s site, samples collected from the city’s drinking water in the fall of 2018 revealed a rise in PFAS levels since 2016. Since the reported increase, Ann Arbor has been committed to monitoring PFAS levels. In late 2018, City Council approved a proposal to replace all of the city’s old carbon filters with new filters. PFAS chemicals have been used for several decades in industrial and consumer products such as cookware and fire-retardant materials. Some scientific studies have shown PFAS chemicals can have significant health consequences such as learning and growth impairments in children, weakened immune systems, and increased risk of cancer. The EPA’s decision against a PFAS limit in drinking water would mean PFAS chemicals would remain largely unregulated. In response to news of the EPA’s impending decision to continue to allow PFAS levels to be unregulated, 20 U.S. senators, including Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., and Gary Peters, D-Mich., penned a letter this week to acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler to urge the EPA to set a limit for PFAS. Devin Pascoe, a sophomore environmental engineering major, expressed her displeasure with the government’s lack of response to the health risks associated with PFAS. She said she believes the government could do more to address the health risks. “It seems like the government is not addressing the issue in the manner that they should, especially since they were making citizens pay for testing their water themselves,” Pascoe said. On Monday night, Ann Arbor City Council passed resolutions to encourage members of the community to support the boycott of Wendy’s, to strengthen nuclear emergency planning and to support a strong Clean Air Act and strong Clean Water Rule. At City Hall, before the city council meeting began, the A2 Safe Transport, a citizens advocacy group working to ensure pedestrian safety, rallied for their cause. They are attempting to implement Vision Zero, a multidisciplinary approach to address local traffic technologies and policies. LSA junior Cindy Lin, intern for Councilmember Kathy Griswold, D-Ward 2, is on the A2 Safe Transport committee. She discussed how the New York-based organization can bring its initiatives to Ann Arbor. GOT A NEWS TIP? Call 734-418-4115 or e-mail news@michigandaily.com and let us know. INDEX Vol. CXXVIII, No. 67 ©2019 The Michigan Daily N E WS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 O PI N I O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 CL A SSIFIEDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 S U D O K U . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 michigandaily.com For more stories and coverage, visit University adopts felony disclosure amendment Employees must reveal their criminal felony charges within week of incident AMARA SHAIKH Daily News Editor The Ford School of Public Policy hosted a talk Monday to debate different frames of mind surrounding gun control and its effectiveness. Each panelist discussed opposing perspectives on firearm policy as well as the pros and cons of looking at the issue in terms of injury prevention, mental health, education, politics and journalism. Michael Barr, dean of the Public Policy School, began the event by highlighting the frequency of mass shootings in the news cycle. Panelist Rebecca Cunningham, professor of emergency medicine, said she views gun policy from a public health perspective – the same way she would look at any other harmful situation. “Firearms are not really different than any other injury prevention framework, not to be thought of any differently from a vehicle crash to a fire and burn,” Cunningham said. Ford panel discusses gun safety perspectives CAMPUS LIFE Forum talks firearm policy, mental health, injury prevention EMMA STEIN Daily Staff Reporter Trump administration refuses to set limit for PFAS chemicals in Michigan EPA faces pressure by President to leave poisonous substance unregulated in water RACHEL LEUNG Daily Staff Reporter Council supports Wendy’s boycott ANN ARBOR Members pass nuclear emergency plan for Ann Arbor community CATHERINE NOUHAN Daily Staff Reporter See SPEECH, Page 3 Follow The Daily on Instagram, @michigandaily See PFAS, Page 3A The University of Michigan implemented a new policy Monday requiring members of the community to disclose all charges and convictions of felonies within a week of the charge or conviction. The policy applies to all faculty and staff, including student employees, volunteers and visiting scholars. According to the policy, those who do not disclose felonies will face serious consequences and potential dismissal. After the felony charge or conviction has been self- reported, the University Human Resources department will assess the incident based on the gravity of the offense, the timeliness and accuracy of the disclosure and the relevancy to the role held at the University. The reporting of a felony does not necessarily mean the individual will face disciplinary action. Laurita Thomas, associate vice president for Human Resources, said the University implemented the new policy to ensure the campus is as safe as possible. “We became aware of circumstances where we were not aware of this kind of situation across higher ed, not necessarily at Michigan,” Thomas said. “And many institutions have moved to enhance the safety of our community and this knowledge will help us do that.” When asked about how Human Resources will determine what consequences, if any, are deemed appropriate, Thomas said they will use similar standards to the criminal history questions and background checks all applicants are required to go through before employment. “We indicated in the announcement we would use criteria similar to our background check policy,” Thomas said. According to the U-M Graduate Employees’ Organization, the new policy applies to residential advisers but does not apply to graduate student instructors or other graduate students covered by the collective bargaining unit. See SAFETY, Page 3 LANE KIZZIAH/Daily ‘U’ policy prevents residential staff from removing hate speech in dorms Housing no longer allows RAs from interfering with oppressive speech posted on student doors See WENDY’S , Page 3 See EMPLOYEES, Page 3 EMMA STEIN Daily Staff Reporter ROSEANNE CHAO/Daily