As University of Michigan students began school two weeks ago, approximately 30 international students were unable to matriculate because of delays in their United States visa applications, according to University spokeswoman Kim Broekhuizen. The three students interviewed in this article all requested anonymity due to fear of retaliation from the United States Department of State. Other identifying information, such as the students’ undergraduate institutions and programs of study at the University, will also not be disclosed. The students interviewed, who are referred to as John, Sue and Bob in this article, described poor communication from the State Department and uncertainty for their futures in separate interviews with The Daily. The University’s International Center is aware of approximently 30 students who could not begin classes in Ann Arbor because of delays in processing and approving visas from the State Department, Broekhuizen wrote in an email to The Daily. She noted the majority of the students affected were enrolled in graduate programs at the University. Foreign policy under the Trump administration has led to a sharp increase in visa delays and denials, according to an article published in the New York Times in August. In an email to The Daily, a State Department spokesperson noted 74 percent of student visa applications globally were approved in the 2018 fiscal year. The spokesperson said the department’s top priority when reviewing applicants was national security, which was the cause of any increased vetting. “While some campuses may report delays, we have also heard anecdotally that there is variation in what different campuses are experiencing,” the spokesperson wrote. The three students interviewed all said their applications were put through administrative processing, which has been likened to an elongated security check. michigandaily.com Ann Arbor, Michigan Tuesday, September 17, 2019 ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-EIGHT YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM In order to commemorate Constitution Day, the University of Michigan invited Rep. Justin Amash, I-Mich, to speak. The former undergraduate and Michigan law alum represents Michigan’s 3rd District. While the first half of the lecture largely centered around how Amash’s philosophy as a public servant centers around the powers of the constitution, he also spoke about political theatrics and the grim side of Congress. The conversation was moderated by Richard Primus, a Theodore J. St. Antoine Collegiate Professor of Law. Primus, who has previously clerked for Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, acknowledged that while he differs with Amash ideologically, he values their political discourse. “We disagree on things like taxation, health insurance, foreign policy,” Primus said. “We disagree in the constitutional realm about things like from the proper allocation of power among the federal government to the states. And these disagreements matter. They matter a lot. If Mr. Amash didn’t think they mattered, he wouldn’t be in public life. But when I talk with him about Constitutional law, I know that I am talking to someone who has a deep commitment to be principled in the conversation and to act upon the principles he arrives at.” Primus used to be Amash’s Common Law professor and fondly recounts teaching Amash. He remembers Amash always having deep reverence for the Constitution. “Mr. Amash sat, I think fourth row, and in the middle,” Primus said. “Almost in the center of the group. This spatially was not a reflection of his place in politics. The Ann Arbor City Council discussed a variety of legislative issues facing the community, ranging from zoning laws to policing to marijuana licensing, at their meeting Monday evening. To start the meeting, Mayor Christopher Taylor acknowledged September as National Recovery Month. He gave two recovering addicts a chance to testify to the wealth of addiction recovery resources in the Ann Arbor area, including the Dawn Farm outpatient and detoxification programs. Sam, seven years clean, commended Ann Arbor’s recovery resources. “This is one of the more supportive recovery communities that I have been a part of,” Sam said. “I have never been to a place that had such a celebration of recovery and professional opportunities... where I can stand up in a City Council meeting and declare that I am in recovery.” The council then moved forward with a resolution approving a purchase order of new police body cameras to be GOT A NEWS TIP? Call 734-418-4115 or e-mail news@michigandaily.com and let us know. INDEX Vol. CXXVIII, No. 132 ©2019 The Michigan Daily N E WS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 O PI N I O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 CL A SSIFIEDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 S U D O K U . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 michigandaily.com For more stories and coverage, visit Town hall reflects on influence of Blue Ribbon Graduate students give feedback on report about faculty responsibility BARBARA COLLINS & ALEX HARRING Daily Staff Reporters Members of the Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs met Monday afternoon in the Fleming Administrative Building to discuss the Big Ten Academic Alliance, which will be held this year at the University of Michigan starting on Oct. 17. The BTAA, which is a yearly consortium of the 14 Big Ten universities, convenes for three days to discuss research, academics, university resources and faculty governance. SACUA Chair Joy Beatty led the discussion Monday, and faculty representatives suggested potential talks and panels at the three-day meeting next month. The conference tends to be attended by several faculty representatives from each Big Ten university, Beatty said. “BTAA is all the heads of faculty senate from Big Ten schools, so the chair of faculty senate, the vice chair of faculty senate and any staff members they want to bring,” she said. “It’s actually kind of a small group that’s coming.” SACUA talks Big 10 event themes ACADEMICS Annual conference of 14 universities convenes to discuss research, academics BEN ROSENFELD Daily Staff Reporter U.S. Rep. Amash talks birth, death of Constitutionally-based policies Lawmaker commemorates day founding fathers signed Constitution Council discusses marijuana licensing ANN ARBOR JASON SIEGELIN Daily Staff Reporter Follow The Daily on Instagram, @michigandaily Rackham Graduate School hosted a town hall to garner graduate student feedback about a Blue Ribbon Panel report on Monday. The report addressed the question put forth by University Provost Martin A. Philbert: “What ought to be the intersection between political thought/ ideology and a faculty member’s responsibility to students?” The question and report followed last fall’s controversy of faculty rescinding recommendation letters for study abroad programs held in Israel and the University’s sanctions in response. Sociology professor Sandra Levitsky opened the town hall by summarizing the recommendation letter rescindment and sanctions controversy and why the Blue Ribbon Panel was created. “What the controversy really revealed is that the University of Michigan actually has no policy in place that governs situations of this kind that could offer clear guidance about what to do in this type of situation,” Levitsky said. “What should we do when a faculty acting on his or her perceived freedom of political thought conflicts with the freedom of another person? What should we do when the exercise of faculty freedom of thought conflicts with faculty responsibilities to students?” After gathering feedback from over 1,100 students through an anonymous form and holding four two-hour listening sessions at University campuses, the panel published its report on March 21, 2019 which included a Statement of Principle, stating faculty- student interactions “must be based solely on educational and professional reasons.” Levitsky explained that faculty need relevant and appropriate reasons to decline students letters of recommendations or research and lab work. Additionally, faculty should not treat students differently if they share or do not share similar political ideologies. ALEC COHEN/Daily U.S. Rep. Justin Amash, I-Mich., shares his reasoning for becoming an independent at an event to commemorate Constitution Day in Jeffries Hall Monday afternoon. Visa delays force international students to defer acceptance Chinese admittees left confused following State Deptartment review process See BLUE RIBBON, Page 3 See CITY COUNCIL, Page 3 SONIA LEE Daily News Editor DESIGN BY SHERRY CHEN See VISA, Page 3 JULIA FANZERES Daily Staff Reporter See AMASH, Page 3 Read more at MichiganDaily.com City representatives speak on cannabis permits, zoning laws and police cameras