Sunday afternoon, students 
and 
Ann 
Arbor 
residents 
gathered 
for 
the 
annual 
FestiFools public art parade on 
South Main Street in downtown 
Ann 
Arbor. 
Papier-maché 
puppets created and controlled 
by 
University 
of 
Michigan 
students and volunteers, along 
with other artists and dancers, 
performed under the theme 
“Dancin’ FOOLS.”
The parade, organized by 
WonderFool productions, is one 
in a series of public art parades 
the group puts on throughout 
the year, including FOOLmoon 
and ypsiGLOW. All of the events 
feature puppets and luminaries 
— puppets lit up in the dark — 
parading in a public area to both 

entertain the community and to 
increase appreciation for arts and 
arts education.
Emilia Smith, a volunteer 
at FestiFools who had traveled 
from Chicago for FOOLMoon 
and FestiFools, said her first 
experience with the puppets at 
FOOLMoon amazed her.
“I went to the FOOLMoon 
on Friday night and that was 
incredible,” Smith said. “I made 
a luminary that was a worm and 
that was really fun. Everyone was 
taking photos and dancing and 
enjoying it together so that was 
great, definitely brings people 
together, and brings out their 
creative sides.”
First-year students in the 
Lloyd Hall Scholars Program 
along 
with 
community 
volunteers 
created 
a 
vast 
majority of the puppets, which 

are human-powered and made 
using wires, papier-maché, fabric 
and any other materials students 
found. Puppets included a cow 
representing climate change, a 
dragon and one of Ann Arbor 
Mayor Christopher Taylor.
Students in the Lloyd Hall 
Scholars Program class Art in 
Public Spaces were tasked with 
building puppets conveying a 
message important to them. 
Engineering freshman Shivangi 
Sinha is enrolled in the course 
and built a puppet together of 
Queen Elizabeth II.
Sinha emphasized the work 
the students put into making the 
puppets and hoped onlookers 
would appreciate the messages 
within the art.
“I hope everyone has fun and 
sees students spent weeks on the 
puppets,” she said. “This past 

week we spent so many hours 
finishing our puppets.”
FestiFools also collaborates 
with Ypsilanti Community High 
School students to build artwork 
for the parade as well. Ypsilanti 
Community High School seniors 
Alexis Smith and Maximilian 
Harper created boxes they would 
wear in the parade to convey 
social justice issues important to 
them.
“We made a total of seven 
different boxes,” Harper said. 
“We wanted them all to cover 
different social issues, so I did 
gun violence, we did pride, we 
did women’s equality. And on the 
back, we all had letters, which all 
spell out ‘We are one.’”

The 
first 
Undergraduate 
Research Symposium, organized 
entirely by undergraduates, was 
held Friday in the Chemistry 
Building Atrium to showcase 
students’ 
multidisciplinary 
research projects.
About 150 students from over 40 
academic departments presented 
their research to more than 100 
graduate and postdoctoral judges. 
Top presenters were given one of 
10 $500 awards funding travel for 
future conferences.
LSA junior Jenna Manske, 
a member of the nine-person 
committee 
that 
founded 
the 
symposium, said the idea came to 
their group when they realized 
there was not a low-pressure space 
on campus for undergraduate 
students in any department to 
display their research.
“We were just sitting down one 
day and we thought there isn’t 
really a place for undergraduate 
students at any stage of their 
research to present that’s campus-
wide 
and 
multidisciplinary,” 
Menske said. 

michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Monday, April 8, 2019

ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-EIGHT YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM

‘U’ students 
arrested in 
New York 
City protest

GOVERNMENT

Incoming LSA transfer 
and junior rally against 
Taglit-Birthright Israel

Annual ‘Festifools’ parade showcases 
puppets created by students, volunteers

Creative event aims to entertain, educate and increase appreciation of arts 

SONIA LEE
Daily Staff Reporter

Title-bound
Michigan women’s 
gymnastics moves to NCAA 
Championships after edging 
out Alabama for second-
place finish at regionals 
in Ann Arbor.

» Page 1B

Two University of Michigan 
students were arrested in New 
York City Friday for their role in 
protests outside the headquarters 
of Taglit-Birthright Israel. In total, 
seven students from the University 
were present at the demonstration, 
which included approximately 200 
Jewish members of IfNotNow, an 
activist group that opposes Israel’s 
presence in the Gaza Strip, East 
Jerusalem and the West Bank.
IfNotNow 
wants 
Birthright 
Israel 
to 
address 
political 
issues such as the treatment 
of Palestinians and to educate 
participants 
on 
Palestinian 
perspectives on Israel’s control 
over the region. The students 
protesting 
Friday 
demanded 
changes to the Birthright Israel 
trip, the free 10-day trip to Israel for 
young Jewish adults aged 18 to 32.
Incoming LSA transfer student 
Zu Weinger and LSA junior Becca 
Lubow were arrested along with 
13 other activists for blocking the 
entrance to the Birthright Israel 
building.

Symposium 
highlights 
work from 
undergrads

RESEARCH

150 students present 
research to over 100 
graduate, postdoc judges

SONIA LEE
Daily Staff Reporter

GOT A NEWS TIP?
Call 734-418-4115 or e-mail 
news@michigandaily.com and let us know.

INDEX
Vol. CXXVIII, No. 99
©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

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MichiganDaily.com
ALLISON ENGKIVIST/Daily
Ann Arbor residents show off their giant puppets and costumes as they march down Main Street during Festifools Sunday afternoon.

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on Instagram, 
@michigandaily

CATHERINE NOUHAN
 Daily Staff Reporter

For the past 48 years, the first 
Saturday of April is accompanied 
by a potent haze that drifts across 
the Diag and all the way down 
State Street. At “high noon,” the 
University of Michigan’s campus 
welcomes a swarm of marijuana 
activists, 
entrepreneurs 
and 
enthusiasts 
from 
across 
the 
globe, all raising a joint in unison 
in celebration of the annual Hash 
Bash festival. This year, though, 

marked the start of a new era in 
cannabis culture.
In a 56-44-percent margin, 
Michigan voters passed Proposal 
18-1, 
an 
initiative 
legalizing 
marijuana for those above the 
age of 21. Michigan is the first 
state in the midwest to pass this 
legislation, joining California, 
Colorado and the District of 
Columbia, among others.
This 
Saturday, 
following 

the victory at the ballot box in 
November, a banner underneath 
the Harlan Hatcher Library 
that last year read “LEGALIZE 
2018,” was adjusted with black 
spray paint to now proclaim: 
“LEGALIZED 2018.”
Originally, Hash Bash was 
held on April 1, 1972 in protest 
of the conviction placed upon 
cultural activist and poet John 
Sinclair. 

The decision, made by the 
Michigan 
Supreme 
Court, 
sentenced Sinclair to 9.5 to 10 
years in prison for the possession 
of two marijuana joints.
This 
conviction 
sparked 
national outrage, prompting The 
John Sinclair Freedom Rally 
in 
1971, 
bringing 
worldwide 
superstars like John Lennon, 
Yoko Ono, Bob Seger and Stevie 
Wonder to the Crisler Center. 

Shortly 
after 
the 
historic 
assembly, Sinclair was released 
in December of 1971.
This year, Sinclair stepped up 
to the microphone to perform 
his spoken word poetry with 
guitarist Laith Al-Saadi, who 
kicked off the celebration with 
an electric guitar cover of the 
“Star Spangled Banner.” Before 
delivering his poetry, Sinclair 
encouraged the crowd to “light 

up and join me, if you got one,” 
and touched on how he’s seen the 
legacy of Hash Bash grow. 
“Welcome to legalization in 
the state of Michigan,” Sinclair 
said. “You haven’t been here 
before unless you were here in 
1972 when we started it. 

Read more at 
MichiganDaily.com

HASH BASH
celebrates legalization

Festival hosts US representative Debbie 
Dingell and activist John Sinclair, 
among others

SAMANTHA SMALL 
Daily Staff Reporter

MAX KUANG/Daily

