The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
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Thursday, September 5, 2019 — 3

P O L I C Y T A L K S @ T H E F O R D S C H O O L

STEPHEN BIEGUN 

U.S. Special Representative 
for North Korea

Photo: Josh Burek/Belfer Center

Free and open to the public. 
Reception to follow. 

Info: fspp-events@umich.edu 
fordschool.umich.edu

@fordschool #policytalks

W E I S E R D I P LO M ACY C E N T E R L A U N C H S E R I E S 
International diplomacy 
challenges: North Korea

Friday, September 06, 2019 
1:30 - 3:00 pm

Rackham Amphitheatre (4th Floor)
915 E. Washington St.

 

Hosted as part of the Ford School's Conversations Across Difference Initiative. 
Co-sponsored by the Nam Center for Korean Studies.

According to the University 
Library’s announcement, the 
cameras will only be installed 
in entrances, exits, elevator 
lobbies and stairwell landings. 
They will be carefully placed 
in order to protect the privacy 
of library goers. 
Despite 
the 
limited 
placement of the cameras, 
they will still be instrumental 
in helping DPSS solve reported 
crimes, DPSS deputy chief of 
police Melissa Overton wrote 
in an email to The Daily.
“Security cameras can be 
a useful tool used to identify 
those in the facilities if a crime 
has been committed and a 
suspect description or time 
frame of the crime has been 
identified,” Overton wrote.
Engineering junior Hadley 
Peterson had her wallet stolen 
at the Graduate Library last 
February. She said she briefly 
left her belongings alone in 
a cubicle in the stacks, then 
came back to find her wallet 
missing. Due to the secluded 
nature of the stacks, no one 
else saw the theft. 
“I was up in Hatcher on the 

fifth floor,” Peterson said. “It 
was the morning of one of my 
exams. I was studying, and I 
just kind of figured I could run 
to the bathroom real quick, 
and so I was only gone for a 
couple of minutes, and then 
when I came back, all my stuff, 
like my backpack, was opened 
up. Of course, no one saw 
anything.”
Peterson said she turned 
to look for the potential 
perpetrator and saw a tall man 
leaving with her blue wallet 
sticking out of his pocket, but 
he went down a side stairwell 
before she could confront him. 
She then called the police 
and tried to get it sorted out, 
but because there were no 
cameras at the time, not much 
could be done.
“I just called the police and I 
ended up talking to an officer,” 
Peterson said. “They weren’t 
able to really help much with 
the case because there wasn’t 
really much to do other than 
get a description, and it’s not 
really the sort of thing that 
will get resolved typically.” 
Peterson said the addition 
of the cameras might have 
helped her get her wallet back 
and feel more secure because 
DPSS could potentially use 

them to identify a face. 
Dunkle said the University 
Library 
is 
dedicated 
to 
student 
privacy, 
and 
the 
reason the cameras are placed 
strategically is to protect the 
students in their work. She 
said neither the University or 
DPSS will actively watch or 
check the security cameras, 
and they will only be used in 
the case of a criminal incident. 
“We do not want to know 
what people are looking at 
in the library, what subjects 
they are studying, what print 
or online resources they are 
looking at, who they are sitting 
with or generally anything 
else they are doing,” Dunkle 
said. “We are careful to install 
the cameras where they will 
record people coming and 
going in the stairwells and 
entrances 
but 
not 
record 
what they are looking at on a 
computer screen or checking 
out at a service desk.”
Peterson 
said 
she 
isn’t 
sure if she would appreciate 
more cameras in the main 
study areas of the library. She 
explained she prefers to have 
her computer activity private 
for security reasons, but could 
see the importance of cameras 
in terms of catching a thief. 

SECURITY
From Page 1

Many 
students 
have 
insurance 
coverage 
through their parents, and 
when plans are billed, an 
Explanation of Benefits is 
often sent to the insurance 
policy holder to detail the 
services provided at UHS. 
If students want to avoid 
this, they have the option to 
pay for STI testing out-of-
pocket. The fee is $90.
In the comments of the 
petition and on social media, 
students wrote about the 
importance of accessibility 
of STI testing, especially for 
those in vulnerable medical 
situations and in the context 
of the University’s Diversity, 
Equity & Inclusion goals. 
Engineering 
sophomore 
Kaleb Clover signed the 
petition. 
Clover 
said 
he 
recently came out as gay, 
and explained to The Daily 
if these changes had been 
made before he had came 
out, he would not have 
gotten tested for STIs. He 
would have feared his family 
would know he was gay and 
sexually active before he felt 

comfortable telling them.
“I wasn’t going to have 
them (my parents) know 
before I wanted them to 
know,” Clover said.
Information 
junior 
Harrison 
McCabe 
also 
signed the petition and noted 
his 
disappointment 
with 
UHS 
Executive 
Director 
Dr. Robert Ernst. Ernst told 
The Daily last week students 
should consider obtaining 
their 
“own 
personal 
health 
insurance 
plan” 
if 
they’re 
uncomfortable 
with their parents finding 
out about STI testing from 
an 
insurance 
statement. 
McCabe felt Ernst didn’t 
take insurance accessibility 
into account when making 
those recommendations. 
“I thought that comment 
about how students should 
get their own insurance 
was 
very 
insulting 
and 
condescending 
because 
it’s not that easy to find 
insurance,” McCabe said. 
“Looking at me, I’ve had a 
lot of chronic health issues 
and I’ve gone through a lot 
of insurances and it’s been 
very difficult for me.” 
The 
University 
does 
offer a health insurance 

plan through the Blue Care 
Network of Michigan. The 
cost for a full-year plan 
for domestic students is 
$1,709 annually with a $100 
deductible. 
McCabe 
also 
said 
he 
wonders why the services 
were being cut in light of 
increasing tuition rates. 
“My tuition has gone up 
every year since I’ve gone 
here,” McCabe said. “Why 
are you cutting the cost 
when we’re paying more? 
We’re paying more for less.” 
In an earlier interview 
with The Daily, Ernst said 
billing changes were a result 
of creating new revenue 
streams for UHS. 
“In the context of being 
asked 
to 
stay 
creative, 
stay innovative, and hold 
increases 
in 
the 
health 
service fees to a minimum, 
the easiest first step is to let 
the hospital bill what they’re 
doing, instead of us just 
paying for them,” Ernst said.
University spokesperson 
Rick Fitzgerald told The 
Daily the University was 
aware of the petition but had 
no new information to add at 
this time. 

PETITION
From Page 1

Migrant 
Justice 
co-organizer and Helen 
Zell 
Writers’ 
Program 
visiting 
professor 
in 
poetry, opened the event 
by explaining the group’s 
background 
and 
its 
mission within a national 
context.
“This 
started 
as 
a 
nationwide 
movement 
when a few poets got 
together 
and 
thought, 
‘Hey, 
while 
America 
has always been a fairly 
inhospitable 
place 
to 
a 
bunch 
of 
varieties 
of 
people, 
this 
is 
an 
especially 
cruel 
and 
brutal period of time in 
America for folks who are 
migrants seeking refuge 
and immigrants and racial 
minorities,’” Chakraborty 
said. “We wanted to raise 
some money to benefit 
some organizations that 
were directly targeting 
and trying to ameliorate 
the worst effects of this.”
Brittany Rogers, one of 
the evening’s performers, 
teaches in Detroit Public 

Schools 
in 
addition 
to her work as a poet. 
Rogers 
commented 
on 
the urgency of donating 
money to organizations 
that support immigrant 
communities.
 “A lot of our students 
come 
from 
migrant 
families,” 
Rogers 
said. “Seeing how our 
students are affected by 
(immigration 
issues) 
is 
one of the hardest things 
for us to watch.”
Samantha 
Magdaleno, 
director of One Michigan, 
elaborated 
on 
the 
continued 
necessity 
of the local support to 
immigrant 
communities 
her organization provides. 
“A lot of folks, since 
(immigration issues are) 
popular 
on 
the 
news 
now, they’re like ‘I want 
to do something, I want 
to get involved in it,’” 
Magdaleno said. “And all 
this money is going to new 
(organizations), who are 
kind of thinking they’re 
reinventing 
the 
wheel, 
right — but we’ve been 
doing this work, and we’ve 
been having strategies in 
place, and we have these 

connections.”
Many 
of 
the 
poems 
and 
short 
literature 
pieces focused on themes 
regarding 
migration, 
oppression, 
cultural 
belonging, undocumented 
experiences 
and 
first-
generation experiences in 
the United States. 
 LSA sophomore Hannah 
Martin attended the event 
and said she particularly 
resonated with one poet’s 
commentary 
on 
the 
absurdity of referring to a 
human being as “illegal.”
“How can you be that 
when you’re everything 
this country’s built on?” 
Martin said. “That was a 
very, very powerful piece 
that I would love to hear 
again.”
The 
group 
hosted 
more 
than 
40 
similar 
fundraising events across 
the country on Sept. 4, 
with the goal of raising 
$5,000. By the time the 
final speaker performed 
at 
the 
University 
of 
Michigan event, Michigan 
Writers 
for 
Migrant 
Justice had raised nearly 
$2,000.

MIGRANTS
From Page 1

“In 2009, the city put out 
a request for proposals as (to) 
what should happen on top of 
the parking structure, and at that 
time I and another person with 
a larger group put in a proposal 
for the Ann Arbor community 
commons,” Haber said. “The 
city, under the table, had decided, 
already, that this was going to be 
a kind of conference center ... So 
our proposal for a community 
commons was not considered 
nor another proposal for a town 
square.”
LSA senior Hannah Boettcher 
is the sole University of Michigan 
student 
voice 
on 
the 
task 
force. Boettcher is a part of the 
Roosevelt Institute, a think tank 
and campus network at U-M 
focused on public policy. The 
Institute originally campaigned 
against the proposal, instead 
advocating for an affordable 
housing complex at the same 
location.
“The 
alternative 
to 
the 
Proposal A in the center of 
the city would have been an 
affordable housing building,” 
Boettcher said. “So we as a 
student body took the opinion 
that affordable housing near 
campus would have been more 
beneficial, not only to students, 
but also to the community at 
large.”
Following the approval of 
Proposal A, Boettcher applied 
to be on the committee in order 
to represent the student body 

and ensure the project took all 
community members’ needs into 
account.
“All that aside, I’m interested as 
a student on this project, because 
it does lie in the intersection 
of 
student 
neighborhoods,” 
Boettcher 
said. 
“There 
are 
student neighborhoods pretty 
much all around this location, 
so to me it’s really important to 
have a student voice representing 
this so it doesn’t become another 
wasteland park in the middle of 
downtown that nobody uses.”
At the top of the agenda on 
Wednesday 
was 
community 
engagement, and members of 
the task force proposed several 
tactics to gather local support 
and inform the community.
Heather Seyfarth, an Ann 
Arbor city planner, suggested 
several methods of increasing 
awareness, 
including 
invite 
letters, 
town 
social 
media 
accounts, holiday letters and 
posting flyers across town. 
However, 
Councilmember 
Chip Smith, D-Ward 5, warned 
against the use of mailings to 
consolidate community support, 
explaining they tend to be less 
effective than other means of 
spreading information. 
“It’s been my experience, 
because I do this work for a living 
and I’ve organized more than a 
few political campaigns, that we 
shouldn’t spend any money on 
mailings,” Smith said. “Mailings 
don’t generate any feedback, they 
don’t get people to meetings, 
generally if they’re looked at at 
all, they’re quickly tossed in the 
recycling bin. I think we need 

to prioritize what’s going to be 
the most effective way to reach 
the different populations we’re 
trying to reach for each event.”
The task force also set out 
goals for the next several months 
of project development. By the 
end of October, the committee 
hopes to complete outreach to 
the public and members of the 
community who have vested 
interests in the project. During 
November 
and 
December, 
a 
public 
proposal 
will 
be 
written, and by February, final 
discussions will be had about 
gaining approval from the Ann 
Arbor City Council. 
While 
members 
of 
the 
committee are eager to see the 
projects progress in the next 
few months, Boettcher explains 
she has some reservations about 
the task force’s composition. 
Boettcher says the multitude 
of city planners and local 
officials on the task force gives 
it a diversity of opinion, though 
not 
necessarily 
of 
race 
or 
socioeconomic background.
“I’m disappointed in the 
lack of minority voices, when 
we’re talking about the ethnic 
diversity and the racial diversity 
of this task force, and likely the 
socioeconomic diversity of this 
task force,” Boettcher said. 
“I don’t think it’s been well-
considered that this is an 
area downtown that maybe 
is not the most welcoming 
to all walks of life. That’s 
disappointing in that regard, 
but I think we’re mindful of 
that, and I think we all have a 
vision of inclusivity.”

TASK FORCE 
From Page 1

Khaldun 
commended 
Whitmer for her move to 
block the sale of flavored 
e-cigarettes.
“In the past few years, we’ve 
seen an explosive increase in 
the number of Michigan kids 
exposed to vaping products,” 
Khaldun said. “This is a public 
health crisis. These products 
can contain harmful chemicals 
that put our kids’ health at risk. 
I’m looking forward to working 
with Governor Whitmer to 
mitigate these effects and keep 
our kids healthy.”
Though the University of 
Michigan is deemed a smoke-
free 
campus, 
e-cigarettes 
are popular on campus. LSA 
junior Blake Richards owns a 
Juul electronic cigarette and 
said he is trying to use it less 
because of the negative health 
effects. 
“Juul 
already 
stopped 
selling fruit flavors so I’m not 
really affected by that, but 
people like my brother would 
probably be pissed,” Richards 
said. “From my experience the 
addiction is strong enough that 
if people have already started 
smoking this (ban) won’t stop 
them. But it could probably 
make it much less attractive for 
non smokers to start smoking.”
The ban goes into effect 
immediately, giving retailers 
30 days to days to comply with 

the mandate. 
In a statement, Juul Labs, 
a popular e-cigarette startup 
based in San Francisco, said 
the company had not reviewed 
Whitmer’s order, but supports 

guidelines from the Food and 
Drug Administration calling 
for 
more 
restrictions 
on 
e-cigarettes and that “strong 
and serious actions need to be 
taken around certain flavored 
products.”
“There is simply no place 
for kid-appealing flavors in the 
marketplace,” the statement 
reads.. “That is why we would 
also support an outright ban 

on such flavors, including 
those that mimic kid-specific 
candies, foods, and drinks.”
The statement also said Juul 
Labs backs laws prohibiting 
minors 
from 
purchasing 
tobacco, but added electronic 
nicotine 
delivery 
systems 
can help people quit smoking 
traditional 
combustible 
cigarettes, 
a 
claim 
that 
has 
faced 
scrutiny 
from 
scientists 
and 
researchers. 
While 
e-cigarettes 
are 
often marketed as smoking 
alternatives, the FDA has not 
formally certified them as 
cessation aids.
In June, Whitmer signed a 
senate bill, which banned the 
sale of e-cigarettes to minors, 
and another senate bill, which 
mandated electronic nicotine 
delivery systems be sold in 
child-proof 
containers 
and 
“vapor products or alternative 
nicotine products” sold in 
retail stores be kept behind the 
counter.
In a press release, Michigan 
Attorney General Dana Nessel 
praised Whitmer for instating 
the ban.
“With a more than 1.5 
million increase in the number 
of students using vaping 
products in just one year, 
the governor’s emergency 
actions today are exactly 
the bold measures we must 
take to protect Michigan’s 
children from the dangerous 
effects of vaping,” Nessel 
said in the press release. 

While e-cigarettes 
are often marked 
as smoking 
alternatives, the 
FDA has not 
formally certified 
them as cessation 
aids

E-CIGARETTES
From Page 1

