Ann
Arbor
residents
and
University of Michigan students
gathered Friday Night in the
tea room of Crazy Wisdom
Bookstore to discuss ways to
protest conservative author and
commentator Ben Shapiro’s visit
to campus, which is scheduled to
occur on March 12.
Those gathered at the meeting
went over a powerpoint on
strategies for the protest and
who Ben Shapiro is, followed by
a brainstorm session. Ann Arbor
activist Adam Nash, who helped
organize the meeting, stated the
goal was to simply create a solution
as a group to respond to Shapiro’s
event.
“We’re
here
because
Ben
Shapiro was invited to campus to
speak on March 12,” Nash said.
“We just want to talk about what
our community response should
be to this.”
Nash
broke
down
their
approach
through
St.
Paul’s
Principles. The principles include
solidarity
based
on
respect,
organization of tactics to maintain
a separation of time and space,
avoiding
public
denunciations
of other activist groups and not
engaging in any violent actions.
Nash then shared information
he had gathered about who
Shapiro is and how he conveys his
message to the masses.
LSA freshman Hiba Dagher
arrived at the University of
Michigan this past fall hoping to
find a close-knit Arab community
similar to the one she had at home
in Dearborn. But initially, Dagher
didn’t see this community on
campus. She recalled how she
didn’t meet people in her classes
who shared her culture.
“When I was applying to
Michigan, everyone always told
me that this was a very diverse
campus and you’ll see a lot of
people of color, a lot of people
who look like you or understand
where you’re coming from,”
Dagher said. “I was going to
my first classes and my first
discussions and I wasn’t really
seeing that, and I found people
treating me different … I didn’t
expect it at college and I didn’t
expect it at Michigan.”
Dagher learned about the Arab
Student
Association
through
a group chat she created with
members of her Dearborn Arab
community.
After
attending
events and meeting people with
similar backgrounds to her own,
Dagher became more involved in
the Arabesque Dance Troupe and
ASA. This past Saturday, Dagher
took part in Arab Xpressions, a
celebration of Arab heritage.
Xpressions
is
an
annual
performance
partnered
with
Arabesque
and
ASA
that
showcases Arab culture through
aspects such as music, poetry,
dance and song. The theme of
year’s performance was “Ajyal,”
Arabic for “generations.”
Dagher found herself involved
with many different parts of
Xpressions this year. She had a
role in a video for the freshman
skit and danced in the all-girls
Raqs Al-Banat Dabke. Dagher
also recited an original poem for
the spoken words portion of the
show and walked in the fashion
show at the conclusion of the
show.
“You see Xpressions and you
see, ‘Oh, this is a way that my
culture’s never been portrayed
to me before,’” Dagher said.
“It’s Arabs who are holding the
narrative in their hands and
they’re forging it in whatever way
they want to.”
Beginning
over
a
decade
ago and originally performed
in
the
Michigan
Union,
Xpressions moved into the Lydia
Mendelssohn Theatre in 2017.
The production moved again
to the Power Center last year,
a theater with 1,300-person
capacity. The show came close to
selling out in 2018 and completely
sold out this year, according to
Xpressions
Director
Nicolas
Nunu, an Engineering junior.
Nunu
became
involved
with
Xpressions
during
his
freshman year and directed this
year’s performance. The show
involved about 130 people and
preparations began in October.
He said the implemented theme,
generations, demonstrates the
changing Arab identity over time
and works to navigate the idea
of what it means to be an Arab
American on campus.
Citizens’ Climate Lobby, the
University’s chapter of College
Republicans and the Climate Action
Movement at the University of
Michigan hosted the Non-Partisan
Climate Solutions Forum Friday in
the Samuel T. Dana Building. The
forum fostered discussion on the
Energy Innovation and Carbon
Dividend Act of 2019.
Tim Dalrymple, LSA sophomore
and treasurer of Citizens Climate
Lobby,
began
the
event
by
describing and explaining each
aspect of the bill including the
fee, the return and the border tax
adjustment. The first aspect of the
bill places a fee on the extraction of
oil at the site.
“The fee is supposed to factor
in the environmental cost that our
economic system doesn’t factor
in to carbon emissions’ effect on
climate change,” Dalrymple said.
“What it does is it incentivizes
energy companies to produce less
fossil fuels and extract less fossil
fuels, given that a lot of current U.S.
energy companies have renewable
energy divisions.
michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Monday, February 25, 2019
ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-EIGHT YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
Community
convenes to
plan Shapiro
visit protest
TedxUofM puts on 10th annual
conference, talks joyful living
ANN ARBOR
Ann Arbor residents and ‘U’ students
organize against conservative author
ALYSSA MCMURTRY
Daily Staff Reporter
Presentations center around theme ‘absolute zero,’ discuss challenging assumptions
Over 1000 people gathered at the
Power Center on Friday evening
for
the
sold-out
tenth
annual
TedxUofM
conference
Absolute
Zero. Eight University of Michigan
faculty, alumni and students spoke
at the event, reflecting on their
personal experiences to share on
what “absolute zero” meant to them.
The event was also live streamed on
TEDxUofM’s website.
Clara Munkarah, LSA junior and
co-director of the event, discussed
the conference’s central mission of
celebrating members of the Ann Arbor
community who inspire innovation.
“Ted is all about ideas worth
spreading,”
she
said.
“For
us,
TedxUofM is about finding those
people who spread cool ideas in
the Ann Arbor and University of
Michigan community. We’re trying
to foster a community of intellect and
inspiration.”
She went on to reflect on the
conference’s
theme,
“Absolute
Zero,” which she expressed was
intentionally ambiguous to allow for
highly personal speaker reflections.
“We don’t have one interpretation
(of absolute zero) in mind, that’s what
we love about it — it’s so multifaceted,”
she said. “It’s more holistic for our
speakers to all be able to connect to
it in different ways, it leads to a broad
mix of ideologies.”
CLAIRE HAO & MADELINE
MCLAUGHLIN
Daily Staff Reporters
Dance, song
empowers
South Asian
survivors
CAMPUS LIFE
SAAN and Michigan
Sahana present Bloom,
address sexual assault
Arab Xpressions showcases culture,
highlights growing presence on campus
Theme ‘Ajyal,’ Arabic for ‘generations,’ celebrates heritage through art forms, spoken word
BARBARA COLLINS
Daily Staff Reporter
Rage On
Students lined up in the early
hours of Sunday morning,
hoping to secure their spot in
the Maize Rage for the game
against Michigan State, one
the Wolverines lost 77-70.
» Page 2B
Bloom, an interdisciplinary
performance
that
combined
classical Indian song, dance
and poetry with the discussion
of sexual assault, took place
Friday night in the Duderstadt
Center Visual Studio. Hosted
by the South Asian Awareness
Network and Michigan Sahānā,
Bloom
promoted
awareness
surrounding
sexual
assault
and the self-empowerment of
survivors in the South Asian
community.
Musicians and dancers from
Michigan Sahānā, a student
association of classical Indian
artists at the University of
Michigan,
focused
on
the
appreciation of the traditional art
forms of India.
The director of the event was
Anurima Kumar, a Public Health
junior and a podcast editor for
The Daily. Kumar said the idea
of Bloom came when she thought
of intergrating traditional Indian
dances and the experiences of
sexual assault together.
Non-partisan
forum talks
carbon bill,
cooperation
GOVERNMENT
Student organizations
discuss solutions, policy
behind climate change
JONATHAN WONG
For The Daily
GOT A NEWS TIP?
Call 734-418-4115 or e-mail
news@michigandaily.com and let us know.
INDEX
Vol. CXXVIII, No. 80
©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 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 B
michigandaily.com
For more stories and coverage, visit
Read more at
MichiganDaily.com
See TED, Page 2A
#rushKTP
Read more at
MichiganDaily.com
Read more at
MichiganDaily.com
CARTER FOX/Daily
Students perform “Wil3it Dabke,” choreographed by Sally Kafelghazal and Nicola Nunu, during the Arab Xpressions event at the Power Center Saturday evening.
Follow The Daily
on Instagram,
@michigandaily
JIALIN ZHANG
For The Daily
Read more at
MichiganDaily.com
MAX KUANG/Daily
Former Associate Athletic Director and Life Coach Greg Harden talks about making challenging life decisions at the TedxUofM Absolute Zero Conference at the Power
Center Friday evening.