“And also staff who work directly
with students in res (sic) life… especially
directors of halls close to the incident,
they didn’t receive those calls. But the
(IT employee) I know on staff doesn’t
work directly with students at all and
they received that phone call. That was
upsetting for me.”
On North Campus, LSA freshman
Alexandra Dortzbach was in Bursley
Residence Hall when text messages
started streaming in. Dortzbach said
she heard about the potential active
shooter situation through multiple
group chats about 30 minutes before
receiving a push notification alert
through the University of Michigan
app.
Dortzbach expressed activity on
North Campus seemed minimally
affected by the active shooter threat.
“I’d say it was business as normal,”
Dortzbach said. “We felt pretty
removed. There was just a lot of talk
and speculation about what was going
on … all panic I saw was on behalf of
people on Central Campus and their
friends. None of it was about something
actually occurring on North Campus.”
Sonya
Lewis,
Medical
School
instructor
and
member
of
the
executive committee of Physicians for
the Prevention of Gun Violence, was
in the Diag just before the incident,
attending the Women’s March. She
said people got alerts before she did
and she did not know what was going
on until her daughter’s friend told her,
and the misinformation being spread
contributed to her confusion and fear.
“Because these mass shootings are
so common in our society, it didn’t seem
outlandish, it didn’t seem like we were
overreacting, it seemed — with the
information we were getting — very,
very real, and our fear was very real,”
Lewis said.
Lewis also said throughout the
incident, she was receiving conflicting
reports. She noted people attributing
it to balloon popping, a report from
The Daily Twitter account of multiple
students wounded — which was later
deleted and apologized for — and stories
of different shooters in different places.
“We started seeing things about
balloons and that it wasn’t really a gun
situation,” Lewis said. “These things
were happening in parallel with tweets
about people being wounded and stuff
like that. It was very hard to know what
was actually happening.”
Ashur expressed the University’s
alert system especially affects the Arab
and Muslim community and wants the
University to specifically apologize to
these communities.
“I want the University of Michigan
just to acknowledge ‘We were not clear
during this situation,’” Ashur said. “There
was a general statement of ‘Everyone
has suffered, here’s some counseling.’
But people who were struggling to hold
onto their identity of Arab, Muslim, and
American … University of Michigan is
not acknowledging we are suffering
the most. … There was a failure on (the
University’s) part, why not just say,
‘You guys not only suffered after what
happened in New Zealand, you suffered
once again in this (active shooter scare)
and we are so sincerely apologetic.’”
III. Run, hide, fight
LSA sophomore Soraya Zrikem ran
from the Diag to the Law Quad when
police interrupted the vigil, ultimately
separating her from her mother and
godmother, who had attended the vigil
with her. Once in the Law Quad, she said
employees did a good job of making sure
there were barricades, but were unable
to answer important questions.
Zrikem holds an on-campus job
overseeing a study space and said she
received no training for emergency
events like what took place Saturday.
However, she said she was aware of
some faculty who did.
“While most of the time when you’re
monitoring those spaces, not a lot is
expected of you, if there is an emergency,
you are the person that needs to be
able to lead that group automatically,
otherwise panic will ensue,” Zrikem
said. “I don’t think it should be expected
of me — as a random student — to know
where a safe space is in all of my school
buildings. That’s just not reasonable,
and it would just be a lot to expect out
of students, so at least employees should
have that.”
An FBI study found the majority of
shootings last less than five minutes.
The study also exerted said civilians
should be well-trained because many
end before police arrive.
The slogan “Run, Hide, Fight”
was created as a protocol for people
in active shooter situations. It is on
DPSS web pages related to active
shooter preparedness and was included
in a message from the alert system
on Saturday. This slogan is widely
considered a universal practice for
active shooter situations, according to
Cosgrove.
According to a Department of
Homeland Security document, run, the
first step, means flee the scene if you
can. Hide, the next step, means find a
place that’s out of the attacker’s sight
while remaining quiet and to create
a barricade if possible. The final step,
fight, means to find an object to use as
a weapon — such as a fire extinguisher,
backpack, book or chair — and attempt
to incapacitate the attacker as the last
resort.
However, not everyone in the
community was aware of this protocol
before the incident. Williams said
she thought the “Run, Hide, Fight”
portion of this alert lacked clarification,
especially since some students may not
have understood the instructions given
without context.
“The (Run, Hide, Fight) notification
just added to what was turning into
mass
hysteria
in
that
moment,”
Williams said. “People are already
anxious because they don’t know what’s
going on, now they receive a formal
notification that there is some sort of
incident, whether unconfirmed or not,
and what they’re instructed to do has
no clarification. … Three of the people
in the room (with me) were in a group
chat with a lot of students in it, and a
lot of the responses in the chat were
like ‘What does ‘Run, Hide, Fight’ even
mean?’”
Currently, DPSS requires students to
watch an active shooter safety training
video during orientation. Beyond that,
University community members can
request training workshops by going to
the Presentations and Training section
under
Prevention
and
Education
on DPSS’ website. Overton said the
decision to make other training sessions
mandatory would have to come from a
higher University authority.
Fakhoury said the advisory board
has been discussing further mandatory
training, but brought up the point
that students may be less interested
in required courses. She highlighted
DPSS’ capable guardian course — a
training meant for people who want
to be able to step up in an emergency
situation.
“Looking into what the capable
guardian is, it really fits those people
who have that vested interest, so
possibly marketing it more to those
freshmen and other people who have an
interest is something that we can look
at,” Fakhoury said.
This issue of getting all students to
engage with safety training is a large
obstacle for DPSS, Tabbah said.
“How do we get all of the students
this general training, and something
that they don’t forget after freshman
orientation,” Tabbah said. “I think
that’s in general DPSS’ biggest struggle
with students — how do you get them to
care about safety when it’s not usually
our number one priority?”
Overton acknowledged the video
may not resonate with incoming
freshmen who are already getting
bombarded
with
information
at
orientation. However, she encouraged
students and other University affiliates
to sign up for training, as many officers
are readily available to conduct them.
Zrikem
said
it
is
important
employees are ready to take action
in emergencies and, depending on
location, know how to get information
from superiors. She also noted how
DPSS was called in for the vigil because
organizers knew this could be a space
that could attract hate, so she hopes this
is a learning experience for them.
“If I was an employee in Mason,
I should not be waiting to hear what
higher-ups are telling me — I should
know exactly how to respond in these
types of emergencies,” Zrikem said.
“In places that were farther away from
the immediate panic zone, higher-ups
should’ve been more in conversation
with them, but I think that in the places
close by, it was important people knew
Demonstrators had no plan
to leave until Schlissel agreed
to a one-hour public meeting in
which questions regarding the
University’s plan to address climate
change and carbon neutrality were
not screened beforehand. Medintz
noted they changed their demand
from the public meeting to a full
commitment to a transition to
carbon neutrality by 2030.
After seven and a half hours in
and around the Administration
Building,
Washtenaw
County
Climate Strike demonstrators left
the area at approximately 9:30
p.m.
Friday.
Melissa
Overton,
deputy chief of police and public
information officer for the Division
of Public Safety and Security, wrote
in a message to The Daily stating
10 demonstrators — including two
minors — chose to remain in the
building after multiple warnings.
The 10 were arrested and given
citations for trespassing, and the
minors were held inside until their
guardians arrived, Overton wrote.
Along with issues regarding
citations, students have also voiced
concern over the composition of the
President’s Commission on Carbon
Neutrality.
However,
Schlissel
addressed this matter.
In a monthly interview with
The Daily last week, Schlissel said
this person is one of two members
from major energy corporations,
making them a minority on the
16-person commission. Schlissel
also said the two corporations, DTE
and Consumers Energy, have a
personal incentive to improve their
sustainability practices.
“I quite purposefully asked
those two major energy companies
to suggest someone they thought
would
be
helpful,
and
the
reason why is they provide the
overwhelming amount of energy
throughout our state and region
and to say we don’t want to hear
their thoughts and learn their
plans because of their emissions
of greenhouse gas,” Schlissel said.
“They’re not going away, they are
the major suppliers of electricity
for the University, the city of Ann
Arbor, et cetera., so ignoring them
because of past behavior, I don’t
think that serves any purpose.”
The Climate Strike was part
of a youth-led global movement
calling for action on climate change.
Organizers estimated 2,500 to 3,000
attended the Washtenaw County
rally in the Diag at noon, which led
to a march to the Administration
Building and the sit-in.
In a statement about last Friday’s
events, University spokesman Rick
Fitzgerald wrote that Schlissel
shares students’ concerns and
encouraged anyone interested to
attend the Commission on Carbon
Neutrality’s town hall meetings.
“We appreciate the urgency
our
students
feel
regarding
climate
change,”
Fitzgerald
wrote. “President Mark Schlissel
shares that sense of urgency.
President Schlissel has committed
the campus to carbon neutrality
and has appointed a special
commission to explore a pathway
to achieving that goal including
solutions to climate change that
go well beyond the borders of the
campus. That critical work is now
under way.”
As a University with a lot of
resources, Taubman sophomore
Josh Kuh said it is important
to
keep
pressure
on
the
administration because climate
change and carbon neutrality are
major issues. He also said he came
to the study-in to show support of
the demonstrators’ requests.
Kuh said it’s time for the
University to “walk the walk” and
events like the study-in are ways
to create change.
“Events
like
marches
and
strikes are really good — they’re
powerful in the moment — but
they don’t always have a lasting
impact,” Kuh said. “It’s not always
the flashiest thing and the most
exciting thing in the moment that
ends up having the most change
or the biggest effect, so I think
something like this … and that
continued pressure might be more
important in the long run.”
In a statement Thursday evening
to The Daily, Fitzgerald wrote that
Schlissel met with several Climate
Action Movement members and
discussed their concerns during his
open student office hours on Feb. 28.
Fitzgerald also noted the president’s
commission co-chairs met with
Climate
Action
Committee
members on Feb. 27.
Journalism is not a dirty word,
period.”
English
Department
Chair
David Porter made it clear the
potential new minor would not
be a journalism program, even
though the descriptions of the
potential minor provided to The
Daily include such terminology.
According to Porter, efforts have
not been made to rejuvenate the
journalism program that closed
nearly 90 years ago.
“Michigan used to have a
journalism program that closed
decades ago and there really
hasn’t been any effort to replace
that,” Porter said. “What we’re
talking about is not intended to, by
any means, replicate or duplicate
or replace something like a
traditional journalism program
… in fact, we’ve largely avoided
the use of the term ‘journalism’
and sought to think about the
program more capaciously.”
Instead of being explicitly
about journalism, Porter wrote
that the Narrative Arts minor,
if conceived, is intended to be
interdepartmental, echoing the
structural goals of the Social Class
and Inequality Studies minor as
well as the Digital Studies minor.
“(The minor is) designed to
provide students interested in
careers
involving
journalism
(and story-making more broadly)
structured opportunities to study
the history, theory and craft of a
variety of nonfiction narrative
forms,
including
long-form/
literary journalism, travel writing,
memoir and ethnography,” Porter
wrote in an email interview with
The Daily.
The University’s relationship
with journalism education and
a curriculum surrounding the
profession is long and complex.
The
Communication
Studies
Department began as “English
Language and Literature” in
1869, and after multiple name
changes,
became
“Rhetoric
and Journalism” in 1921. Eight
years
later,
the
department
was
referred
to
as
simply
“Journalism,” but dropped the
word “journalism” from its name
in 1932 and has not re-adopted
it since. The Communication
Studies Department, as it is
currently named, formed in 1995.
There have been recent efforts
in the English Department to
enhance the journalism courses
and
opportunities
available
to
students.
The
English
Department added a new page to
their website announcing their
new summer internship program
in journalism. According to the
website, the department will offer
funding for at least five applicants
to complete a summer internship
at a media outlet in the Detroit
or Ann Arbor area. While this
announcement implies support
for journalism education from the
English Department, Porter said
including the word “journalism”
in the new minor would isolate
stakeholders in the department,
resulting in a rejection of the
initial proposal.
“A department like ours has
many different constituencies
and many different stakeholders,
and trying to do something
new requires (using rhetorical
strategies) that everyone can get
on board with and that try to
avoid significantly antagonizing
one group or another,” Porter
said. “Had this proposal been
pitched as primarily a journalistic
undertaking,
it
would
have
deeply antagonized a significant
subset of the department and
the powerful subset of the
department.”
Discussion about the minor
began
when
students
asked
their professors if more classes
were available in the realms
of
journalism
and
creative
nonfiction writing. According
to Porter, the potential minor
is
geared
towards
students
aspiring to careers in storytelling,
documentary-making,
podcasting and other forms
of journalism. However, the
interdisciplinary aspect of the
proposed minor aims to attract
students from other academic
realms
who
are
seeking
a
complementary minor to their
major studies.
English
professor
Anne
Curzan,
associate
dean
for
humanities in LSA, mentioned the
importance of interdisciplinary
studies within LSA, as well as the
idea for a student-driven program
pioneered by those interested
in journalism and nonfiction
writing.
“We know that a good number
of students are interested in
journalistic writing and creative
nonfiction,” Curzan wrote in an
email interview with The Daily.
“In LSA, we can effectively
ground this kind of writing in
questions that are foundational to
the liberal arts. Interdisciplinarity
is one of the great strengths of
LSA, and we always think about
how best to coordinate proposed
new minors across departments,
when relevant.”
Courses
such
as
English
425, and English 345 highlight
conventions of nonfiction writing
and their intersection with media.
These classes were designed to
meet the student need for creative
and journalistic course work, and
are some of the efforts made in
recent years to include diverse
journalistic classes in the English
department. English Lecturer
Jeremiah Chamberlin recognized
students’ desire to learn more
about nonfiction writing, while
also echoing Curzan’s emphasis
on interdisciplinarity.
“Many of us began to hear from
more and more of our students
who wanted to continue working
in the genre, but who felt like they
didn’t have many options … the
course offerings for nonfiction
were
limited,”
Chamberlin
wrote in an email interview
with The Daily. “As more and
more of our nonfiction students
go on to work in such fields as
journalism, media or publishing,
for example, the more they report
back that they wish they’d had a
more interdisciplinary approach
to their education; the work
they’re doing draws more across
disciplines than they might have
imagined.”
University alum Yoshiko Iwai,
currently in graduate school at
Columbia University, was a dual-
major in neuroscience and dance.
Iwai, who worked for The Daily
while at the University, utilized
some courses in the English
department, especially through
Chamberlin, to further explore
her interest in narrative medicine
and creative nonfiction, which she
currently studies as a graduate
student.
Iwai echoed Chamberlin’s point
regarding the limited amount of
journalism and narrative-related
courses available at the University.
She explained that attaining some
pitching and reporting skills to
add to her repertoire while an
undergraduate would have better
prepared her for a post-graduate
career in the field. A curriculum
centered on the skills and lessons
needed to succeed in journalism
would allow students to explore
their passion without being bound
to a more general degree, Iwai
said.
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Friday, March 22, 2019 — 3
ALERT
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SPRING INTO MARCH MADNESS
The Michigan Daily men’s basketball beat walks back to the car after practice and availability before the first round of the NCAA tournament in Des Moines, Iowa Wednesday.
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MINOR
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