According to new research,
the chemical pollutant PFAS —
or polyfluorolalkyl substances
— can cause different kinds
of
chemical
mutations
depending on a person’s race.
Sung Kyun Park, associate
professor in the School of
Public
Health,
presented
this research in a seminar on
Tuesday sponsored by the
Integrated Health Sciences
Core of Michigan Center on
Lifestage
Environmental
Exposures and Disease, or
M-LEEaD.
PFAS have been used for
decades in industrial and
consumer products, such as
cookware, grease-proof food
packaging and fire-retardant
materials.
Park’s
research
highlighted
two
different
forms of PFAS, distinguished
by their functional groups:
PFOA
and
PFOS.
PFOA
and
PFOS
have
different
manufacturing processes and
are used in different products.
PFOA
is
most
often
contracted
when
an
individual’s
food
is
contaminated
by
products
that
use
PFOA,
such
as
greaseproof takeout boxes or
certain kinds of cookware.
PFOS is more commonly used
in the auto industry and can
contaminate drinking water.
In light of the continuing
Palestinian
refugee
crisis,
leaders from various Arab
culture
organizations
convened
for
a
teach-in
Tuesday night about the reality
of life in Lebanese refugee
camps.
The
information
session was hosted by Learning
for the Empowerment and
Advancement of Palestinians,
an
educational
enrichment
program
supporting
Palestinian youth in Lebanon,
along
with
the
Lebanese
Student
Association,
Arab
Student
Association
and
Students Allied for Freedom
and Equality.
LSA
sophomore
Nada
Eldawy, who is a copy editor
and Michigan in Color editor
for The Daily, and Jenna, a
LEAP volunteer who asked to
be identified by only her first
name, led the presentation to a
group of more than 30 students.
Since the adoption of United
Nations Resolution 181, which
partitioned
the
Palestinian
territory
into
Jewish
and
Arab states in 1947, around 5
million refugees qualify for
aid from the United Nations
Relief
and
Works
Agency,
a UN program that assists
Palestinians displaced by the
Arab-Israeli conflict. Most of
these displaced people settle in
the Israeli-occupied West Bank
and Gaza Strip. Hostilities
between Israel and Palestine
forced about one third of
Palestinian refugees to live in
camps in neighboring areas
such as Lebanon and Jordan.
According to the UNRWA,
there
are
currently
more
than 450,000 refugees living
in Lebanon. Jenna said the
UNRWA
was
established
to provide necessary aid to
Palestinian refugees. Despite
this, she said the program
often
discriminates
against
Palestinians and fails to offer
sustainable solutions to issues
like power shortages and lack
of health care.
“The
classes
are
over-
packed, that’s one of the
reasons
that
the
UNRWA
schools fail,” Jenna said. “A lot
of the kids don’t want to go, a
lot of them work in the middle
of the day, and it’s one teacher
with 50 students. They were
recently
criticized
because
the kids were not allowed
to sing the national anthem,
Fida’i, in the UNRWA schools.
UNRWA is trying to silence
the Palestinian identity of the
Palestinians.”
Last summer, Jenna and
about 20 others participated
in LEAP’s Project Shine, a
program that sends volunteers
to teach English and other
recreational activities at the
Burj Shemali and Rashidieh
refugee camps in Lebanon.
The
program
emphasizes
full English immersion in its
teaching in order to prepare
Palestinian refugees for their
high school admissions test,
which is administered solely in
English.
Jenna
said
the
lack
of
English
education
hurts
Palestinian refugees’ chance
of attending high school and
eventually
university.
She
noted many refugees do not
attend
secondary
schools
because of the lack of resources
and opportunity.
Following the swearing in
of 48 new members of the
Michigan Legislature last
month, a bipartisan coalition
of
representatives
has
proposed
a
constitutional
amendment to end the state’s
controversial
lame
duck
session.
In state legislatures, the
lame duck session is a period
between the election of new
representatives
and
their
swearing
in
procedures,
during
which
outgoing
politicians are able to craft
legislation relatively easily,
without the fear of public
scrutiny. Michigan remains
one of only a handful of
states in which this session
still exists.
According to state Rep.
Yousef Rabhi, D-Ann Arbor,
who was a co-sponsor of the
resolution, Michigan’s strict
six-year term limits also
makes the state particularly
susceptible to facing faulty
legislation during the lame
duck period.
michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Wednesday, February 6, 2019
ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-EIGHT YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
Prof. shares
research on
effects of
chemicals
Activists discuss identity, LGBT
inclusion at Love Beyond Bounds
See PFAS, Page 3A
ASHA LEWS/Daily
SAPAC hosts a Consent Outreach and Relatinship Education Program to talk about healthy relationships and queer identity on Tuesday in the League.
RESEARCH
Seminar focuses on impact of PFAS
contamination on different populations
ZAYNA SYED
Daily Staff Reporter
SAPAC event examines relationships in anticipation of Valentine’s Day
Tuesday night, the Consent,
Outreach and Relationship Edu-
cation program in the Sexual As-
sault Prevention and Awareness
Center welcomed Jari Jones and
Corey Kempster to the Michigan
League on Tuesday for “Love Be-
yond Bounds,” a discussion about
love and healthy relationships.
The event was also hosted by the
University of Michigan Spectrum
Center and the Center for Educa-
tion of Women Plus.
Jones and Kempster not only work
together as LGBTQ+ activists, but
are in a relationship themselves.
After meeting in college, the two
remained friends for years before
eventually entering into a romantic
relationship.
“We kind of met through activ-
ism,” Jones said. “She had just fin-
ished a show … and gay marriage
had just passed in New York. She
had a castmate who was opposing
of it. My lovely partner is an ex-
Facebook warrior, so she was she
was really digging into him, and I
just had the urge to message her
‘I love you’ … That blossomed into
this beautiful friendship we had
for about five years until we started
dating.”
MADELINE MCLAUGHLIN
Daily Staff Reporter
See LEGISLATION, Page 3A
Proposed
legislation
looks to kill
lame duck
GOVERNMENT
Minority Floor Leader
Yousef Rabhi introduces
bill to discontinue session
BEN ROSENFELD
Daily Staff Reporter
DARBY STIPE/ DAILY
LSA student Jenna speaks to her experiences volunteering in a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon and the difficul-
ties Palestinians face in East Quad Tuesday.
LEAP volunteers talk experience
of Palestinian refugees in camps
Students review time spent preparing children in Lebanon for high school admissions test
LIAT WEINSTEIN
Daily Staff Reporter
See LOVE, Page 3A
Near an isolated desert in
Patagonia, Argentina, a unique
community which, in 1980, was
classified as virtually “extinct,”
still resides. These descendants of
South African Boers immigrated
to Patagonia at the start of the
20th century and are bilingual,
speaking both Afrikaans and
the current dominant language,
Spanish.
Yet, it seems mostly the older
generation — those who are in
their 60s — speak Afrikaans, while
their children and grandchildren
have adapted to the prevailing
language of Spanish as the
community begins to consolidate
into modern Argentine society.
The bulk of those who have
mastered both of these languages
have begun to dissipate.
However,
for
Nicholas
Henriksen, associate professor
of
linguistics
and
principal
investigator of the Afrikaans-
Argentine Collaboratory project,
the distinct and relatively veteran
community provides insight for a
contemporary understanding of
cultural identity.
See PATAGONIA, Page 3A
Initiative
to explore
Patagonia,
linguistics
CAMPUS LIFE
Interdisciplinary effort
funds research into the
humanities in Argentina
SAMANTHA SMALL
Daily Staff Reporter
GOT A NEWS TIP?
Call 734-418-4115 or e-mail
news@michigandaily.com and let us know.
INDEX
Vol. CXXVII, No. 67
©2019 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 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
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statement
THE MICHIGAN DAILY | FEBRUARY 6, 2019
ILLUSTRATION BY GRACE CHO
l o v e i n c o l o r
statement
See LEBANON, Page 3A
the love in color