TMD: What are you most
looking forward to in this new
position?
AC: There isn’t one answer
to that question. I think one of
the things I’m really looking
forward to is trying to make
sure that people understand the
value of a liberal arts education
and the life possibilities that
that brings up as well as the
impact of the research that we
do in LSA. That research has an
impact on some of the world’s
biggest problems, from climate
change and sustainability, to
mass incarceration, to the digital
world in which we now live,
to race relations. The work we
do matters for those questions
and the education we provide
is preparing students for that
world and allowing students
to be a part of that research
mission, and that to me is one of
the really exciting things.
I’m excited to connect with
students. LSA — we have over
17,000
undergraduates,
we
have over 2,500 grad students.
I have been a teacher for over
20 years. I love spending time
with students. I feel deeply
lucky that I have committed
my life to spending time with
young people and with students
… What we need to do is to be
talking with students because
my sense, and this is from years
and years of conversations with
students, is that our priorities
are aligned and to think about
how we partner given that we
have aligned priorities on many,
many things.
I’m excited to think about
think
about
some
possibly
changes
in
undergraduate
education.
I
co-chaired
a
task
force
for
the
provost
that was called the Future of
Undergraduate
Education
at
the University of Michigan in
the Third Century … It was a
remarkable
committee,
and
we spent over a year and a half
working on this project and came
up with some very exciting ideas
for ways forward in thinking
about undergraduate education.
One of the last things I’d say
is I’m excited to stay focused on
innovation, on making sure we
get the chance to explore new
questions both big and small, that
students are going to be involved
in asking those questions, and
that we never lose sight of the
fact that as we do rigorous,
challenging research, there is joy
in that. We should talk about the
joy of discovery and the play of
it. Sometimes the best questions
come out of play with ideas, and
those are words that I like to use
when we talk about the mission
of this place.
TMD: You recently hosted
a pop-up event to introduce
yourself
to
students.
Deans
often have less contact with
students than professors or other
University staff members. How
do you envision your relationship
with students in this role?
AC: I will continue to spend
a lot of time with students.
Students are the heartbeat of
this place, and they have been
an inspiration to me throughout
my career. They have made
me a better teacher, they have
shaped my research and I learn
from students. I’m a linguist
and I track how the language
changes. As linguists will often
say, young people are the movers
and shakers of language change,
so I actually feel very lucky to get
to hang out with the movers and
shakers of language change.
I will get back into the
classroom to some extent in
the next few years because
the energy of that space is
irreplaceable, so I will find ways
— they’ll be more limited — but
ways to be in the classroom, and
I’ve been meeting with student
leaders already to talk about
what student groups are doing
and to figure out where can we
partner, where are our missions
aligned
and
starting
those
conversations early. I would
welcome any and all student
leaders who want to meet with
me to contact me, because I love
meeting with students and I
want to start those conversations
early.
TMD: Before taking this role,
you previously served as the
Associate Dean of Humanities.
How do you plan to bring this
background into LSA’s wide-
reaching scope?
AC: I spent four years as the
Associate Dean of Humanities,
and one of the real joys as
someone
who’s
curious,
of
being in the dean’s office, was
getting to understand the scope
of the college beyond my own
department and beyond the
humanities. So I’m the associate
dean for humanities, but I’m
sitting in the room discussing
the entire scope of the college:
the
humanities,
the
social
sciences, the natural sciences,
all of undergraduate education.
That started to give me a sense
of the scope of this place. I loved
thinking about the different
methods people are using, the
different
kinds
of
research
people are doing, different ways
to think about impact. As you
move across the college the
impact of our scholarship looks
different.
One of my jobs was to make sure
that people could understand the
importance of the humanities,
why
the
humanities
matter
both for people’s education and
why our research matters, and
now I feel like I have this really
exciting opportunity to broaden
the scope of that and say now my
job is to explain why the liberal
arts matter and how that kind of
education and how the research
across the breadth of what we do
matters.
TMD: Last semester, The
Daily reported on the trend
of a declining number of
history majors. Nationally, it
is considered a time when the
liberal arts in general is at a
crossroads. What do you envision
for the future of LSA? How do
you plan to engage students in
the many areas of study housed
within LSA?
AC: I want students to see
LSA as a place where they can
explore fields and questions that
they had no idea that they could
explore. I say that in part out of
my own experience. I started
college as a math major. I really
like math, I had been good at
math. I took the intensive first-
year math course. I also liked
learning languages, so my first
year in college I took a linguistics
course … My sophomore year,
I took a course on the history
of the English language and I
just fell in love. I didn’t even
know that I wanted to know the
answers to those questions, and I
want to know the answers to all
of those questions.
I want LSA students to feel
like they get to explore and
find the questions that they get
excited about because that’s
how we get the best education,
is suddenly, we’re just curious,
and this is work that matters to
us, where we think, ‘I can make a
difference here. I have things to
say here. I want to get involved
with research in this area,’ so
that is certainly my goal for
students.
TMD: What do you believe
LSA’s strengths and weaknesses
are?
AC: When I look at LSA, the
things I am deeply impressed
with are the breadth and depth
of
(its)
excellence.
That
is
unusual. It is unusual even in our
peer institutions. We continue
to invest across the natural
sciences, the social sciences
and the humanities because we
believe that they’re all important
to a rich liberal arts education …
Another thing I am impressed
with is we are a top-ranked
research institution that cares
deeply
about
undergraduate
teaching, and that matters to
me. All our faculty are teaching
undergraduates
and
(are)
committed to that part of being
at Michigan.
I’m also really proud of our
commitment to Diversity, Equity
and Inclusion. This is something
where we’ve done a lot of
really important work. There’s
more work to do and we’re
committed to continuing to do
that in a thoughtful, sustained,
committed way … We’ll continue
to do work around helping
students connect their liberal
arts education to where they
want to go next. That, to me, is
one of the really exciting things
we’re working on …
Another place where we’ll
continue to do work is thinking
about well-being, and that’s for
all members of our community
so that this can be a place where
people feel like they can do
their best work. Here, I’ll think
particularly about students. We
hear from students the pressure
and stress and anxiety they are
experiencing is getting in the
way of learning.
For certain students receiving
financial
aid,
the
University
provides allowances for mandatory
additional course materials. Art
& Design students in need of this
monetary aid receive $939, and
Taubman students receive $708,
while all other undergraduate
students receive $524 per semester.
Though the University provides
monetary compensation for those
students who qualify for the aid,
students who do not meet the
requirements for the necessary
amount must pay for the supplies
themselves.
CSG Vice President Isabelle
Blanchard, LSA senior, said CSG is
making affordability on campus a
priority this year. She also discussed
open-source programs, which are
publically accessible programs for
students.
“If we could get the whole
University
to
switch
to
free,
open-source programs, then they
won’t have to pay for these out of
financial aid, and maybe then they
can use that financial aid money to
support more students in general,”
Blanchard said. “They won’t have
to pay as much for these supply
allowances.”
Other
courses
on
campus
— especially in STEM fields —
have extra registration fees for
digital learning systems on which
students are expected to complete
homework and quizzes. According
to Blanchard, the homework access
code for one of her physics courses
cost $70.
“I feel like the University should
work harder to provide these
resources or at least look into options
that are more affordable … just so
that it’s not all coming from the
students directly,” Blanchard said.
“I do think while some students can
afford them, it’s definitely a barrier
to entry. It can kind of scare people
away from doing certain programs,
or you can just easily fall behind too
if you can’t buy it right away at the
beginning of the semester.”
Some of her other courses on
campus that use programs that
require students to pay to access
homework
make
homework
optional, Blanchard said. However,
they give extra points for students
who choose to complete it.
“In one of my courses, they had
a program that you could choose to
pay for if you wanted to get those
extra points in your grade, but then
if you don’t want to pay for that
or you can’t afford it, then that’s
not fair,” Blanchard said. “You’re
not getting those points that other
students could get.”
In an attempt to help reduce
these additional costs for students
who do not qualify for an allowance
provided by the University, CSG
has been pursuing several different
initiatives,
according
to
CSG
President Ben Gerstein.
Gerstein suggested some steps
that need to be taken include direct
communication with departments
to better understand why there
is an added fee, and whether the
programs in question offer a value
that is interchangeable a different
program that is less expensive.
Additionally,
he
recommended
trying to figure out what solutions
can be worked on with professors
and programs to limit costs.
Specifically, CSG is working to
expand its Academic Affairs Task
Force, a project dedicated toward
reducing
barriers,
especially
financial ones, to students’ academic
success.
“I welcome students to get
involved in the Academic Affairs
Task Force,” Gerstein said. “It’s
open to any student who wants to
get involved, and so, if students are
interested in how to improve this
— because it’s a very real problem
— we want to hear their stories and
their voices and make sure that
their perspectives are heard in the
policies that we pursue and in the
changes that we aim to make.”
The
additional
costs
for
materials and online programs are
different for each course and each
department.
CSG is suggesting the University
hire specialists who would be
able to consult the departments
and provide a more cost-effective
alternative to the current programs
and methods these courses use.
According to Blanchard, certain
professors were concerned about
the monetary feasibility of hiring
these specialists.
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Tuesday, September 24, 2019 — 3
LSA
From Page 1
AFFORDABILITY
From Page 1
Read more at
MichiganDaily.com
As Judge S. Thomas Anderson
of the Sixth Circuit put it,
Tennessee’s
damages
were
“speculative,” and only contingent
upon the state not adhering to
federal statute.
“They just basically said, ‘Well,
the general assembly does not
have a right to bring the lawsuit
in the first place,’” Richard
Thompson, TMLC’s president and
chief counsel, said in an interview
with The Daily.
In early September, TMLC filed
a petition for a rehearing by the
Sixth Circuit, calling their verdict
“painfully at odds” with the
Supreme Court precedent.
Thompson said his organization
saw the federal government’s
requirement
of
the
state
to
afford refugees Medicaid as an
infringement on Tennessee’s right
to spend revenue in a way it sees
fit.
John
Bursch,
the
former
Michigan solicitor general and
founder of Bursch Law PLLC.,
delivered the argument on behalf
of the plaintiffs in July. In addition
to crafting TMLC’s case, Bursch
is currently preparing for a
separate argument in front of the
U.S. Supreme Court, defending
a Michigan funeral home in
a case regarding transgender
employment discrimination.
Bursch said TMLC’s petition
is based on the 10th Amendment
precedent that grants the states
any powers not expressly given to
the federal government.
“The petition for rehearing
en banc asks whether a state
legislature has the ability to bring
a lawsuit to challenge an action
by the federal government that
interferes with the legislature’s
authority,” Bursch said in an
email interview Friday. “Here, the
federal government has compelled
the State of Tennessee to pay for a
program from which Tennessee
has withdrawn.”
TMLC’s case has generated
controversy
from
immigrants’
rights advocates in the area.
Law student Kerry Martin, an
immigration representative at the
Michigan Immigration and Labor
Law Association, says Tennessee’s
use of the 10th Amendment as a
basis to nullify an order from the
federal government is invalid.
“There’s a lot of ways the federal
government can use its power
to affect what the states do,”
Martin said. “They’re definitely
not independent entities. But
there are some areas where if the
federal government coerces or
commandeers state power, quote
unquote, then that comes into
violation.”
LSA senior Ayah Kutmah,
co-president of the Michigan
Refugee Assistance Program, said
helping refugees resettle benefits
the states they moved to in the
long run.
“It’s actually in their best
interest that they do,” Kutmah
said. “Now, these refugees are able
to actually integrate into society
and become able bodied working
individuals who contribute back
to society. Obviously, you’re not
able to do that without any state
sponsorship, especially medically
when it comes to health care.”
While the Tennessee case
has brought TMLC increased
public attention, the group has
litigated dozens of cases, notably
representing several New Jersey
residents
who
opposed
the
construction of a mosque and
Muslim community center in
Bernards, N.J. The organization
is a nonprofit and received $1.6
million in private donations last
year.
Also central in the creation
of the organization was Tom
Monaghan,
Domino’s
Pizza
founder and former Detroit Tigers
owner, who has been involved in
various
other
Christian-based
ventures, including the foundation
of Ave Maria College in Ypsilanti,
Ave Maria School of Law in Naples,
Florida, and even a Florida town
based in Catholic values, currently
under development.
“Most of our cases deal outside
the state of Michigan, they’re
mostly in federal courts, although
we’re located in Ann Arbor
township at the Domino’s Farms
complex,” Thompson said. “We do
get involved in a lot of, I would say,
controversial cultural issues.”
TMLC is not Ann Arbor’s only
self-identified
Judeo-Christian-
interest law firm — the local
American Freedom Law Center
made headlines earlier this year
for being placed on the Southern
Poverty Law Center’s annual “hate
map” of American organizations
classified as hate groups.
Thompson is familiar with the
organization, and said the group’s
co-founder,
Michigan
lawyer
Robert Muise, was formerly a
senior trial counsel at TMLC for 12
years, before founding the AFLC
with lawyer David Yerushalmi.
Kutmah said she was not
entirely surprised to hear of
conservative Christian law firms
based in Ann Arbor.
“A lot of people might think and
say, ‘Oh, Ann Arbor is liberal bubble
in the Midwest,’ or something
like that but these bubbles are not
uniform,” Kutmah said. “There’s
always going to be actors or
organizations or things that might
display an interest in or lobby for
things that are against what the
general people (support)... I don’t
think it’s necessarily just because
we associate a state or a city as
having one type of ideology that
everyone in there is uniform.”
In
its
role
representing
Tennessee,
TMLC’s
legal
argument takes issue with more
than overuse of federal power. The
Tennessee lawsuit refers to the
Refugee Resettlement Act of 1980,
a law that was crafted to create
a uniform system for admitting
refugees into the United States.
At the time, many immigrants
from South Asia and the Soviet
Union
were
seeking
asylum,
and the new policy would allow
one refugee to resettle in an
area for every 4,000 Americans.
TMLC labels the bill as an
unconstitutional abuse of power,
allowing the federal government
to
commandeer
funds
for
resettlement from the states.
Michigan
Immigration
and Labor Law Association’s
Martin noted that other lawsuits
have argued about the federal
government’s right to withhold
funding, including the 1987 case
of South Dakota v. Dole, where
the court upheld the federal
government’s ability to block funds
for a state’s highway construction
and maintenance if the state
would not raise the drinking age to
21. Martin says a similar precedent
for federal spending power was set
several years ago, and involved the
passage of the Affordable Care Act,
often referred to as Obamacare.
According
to
Martin,
this
precedent makes it difficult for
Tennessee to build a viable case on
the basis of the 10th Amendment.
“Absolutely the government
can use its Medicaid spending
to require that states receiving
federal Medicaid funds pass those
funds on to resettled refugees,”
Martin said.
But for all of Tennessee’s
opposition
to
Medicaid
expenditures, the state stands to
lose far more by not complying,
Martin said. Should the state not
provide Medicaid to resettled
refugees, a March 2018 ruling
from the federal court in Jackson,
Tennessee estimated it could lose
up to $7 billion annually in federal
health care funds.
“They listed in their lawsuit,
this is their big complaint, the
state of Tennessee: that we
have to pay $20 million towards
refugee Medicaid expenses in
addition to some other expenses
like, God forbid, interpreters in
the public schools,” Martin said.
“$20 million. This is a state with a
massive budget.”
Additionally, Martin argues in
the wake of the Resettlement Act,
Tennessee had few or no objections
to taking in asylum seekers, often
from Eastern Europe or the Soviet
Union. He says this fact alone
hints that Tennessee and TMLC’s
fervent opposition to the inflow
of refugees is based on more than
just paying for their Medicaid
expenses.
“You’ve lived with this law
until, what, the year 2017?” Martin
said. “37 years. And now you’re
saying this is a commandeering of
your funds?”
Kutmah said prejudice often
plays a role in some of the rhetoric
used to describe refugees.
“For
humanitarian
reasons,
I think it’s morally atrocious
that you’re closing a door on a
threatened group of people,”
Kutmah said. “... (Refugees) are
what make these communities
vibrant, provide the jobs that
are needed. Again, like you have
the added cultural heritage and
diversity, which always increase
the
economic
and
cultural
strength of any city or state.”
TMLC
From Page 1
A limit of 28 of each facility
would
be
allowed
in
Ann
Arbor, adding up to a total of 84
recreational marijuana retailers
that would each cost $5,000.
A
10
percent
renewable
energy requirement would also
be required in each facility.
Lenart said this requirement
would help alleviate the energy
demand recreational marijuana
businesses often require.
“A lot of communities that are
further ahead in the revolution
of marijuana law and business
facilities have had significant
challenges
with
energy
consumption
and
demand,”
Lenart said. “We believe that
this is a reasonable step towards
trying to mitigate some of those
factors.”
Following
Lenart,
Kristen
Larcom, senior assistant aity
attorney, explained amendments
to permit ordinances to council
members. Larcom said the city
plans to enact very minimal
changes.
“What we have tried to do is
make as few changes as we need
to and just incorporate adult use
marijuana into the framework
we already have for medical
marijuana,” Larcom said.
Deputy City Attorney Kevin
McDonald
then
covered
the
permit
application
process.
He said the city would choose
applications
for
recreational
marijuana businesses that would
be in best compliance with the
state’s laws.
“If the state received more
applications than the city is
allowing, it really turns to the
city to make the decision as to
which applications it is supposed
to actually issue,” McDonald said.
“It’s supposed to be a somewhat
objective procedure so that we
can very quickly come up with
the applications that should rise
to the top of the pack.”
Applications will be scored
on four 25-point categories: past
performance and experience in
the community, business plan and
state compliance, location and
community interest. Those that
score best on this grading scale
will be granted permits until the
threshold is met.
Jane
Lumm,
I-Ward
2,
expressed
concern
regarding
the new ordinances. She said
she felt the process to approve
permits is being rushed to come
into effect at the same time the
state begins to accept applications
for
commercial
recreational
marijuana facilities Nov. 1.
“This is a really big deal,”
Lumm
said.
“Recreational
marijuana is obviously coming,
and we’re setting regulations that
determine how many facilities
there can be, where they can be
located, how they can operate.”
Lumm
advised
studying
what Boulder, Colo., and other
similar communities have done
to monitor marijuana, such as
creating a marijuana advisory
board. She said she will be asking
for a temporary opt-out when the
ordinance comes around for a
second reading.
“We work for the residents,
and I’m concerned about the
real impacts on them and our
community,” Lumm said. “I’m
more concerned about that then
perceived messages.”
Ali Ramlawi, D-Ward 5, said he
takes a different position on the
ordinances than Lumm. He said
he believes the council is listening
to
community
members
and
approving the ordinances will be
an economic benefit to Ann Arbor.
“This
is
something
that
has been talked about in our
community, in our state and in
our country for a very long time,”
Ramlawi said. “I think we are
doing our diligence.”
The
council
members
also
discussed
concerns
with regulations on smoking
marijuana outside. Julie Grand,
D-Ward 3, questioned the current
laws in place regarding smoking
marijuana
outside,
and
Jeff
Hayner, D-Ward 1, asked about
how this regulation would be
implemented.
Hayner also supported the idea
of a marijuana advisory board. As
a member of the liquor advisory
committee, he said a similar
board for recreational marijuana
businesses would be a great
aspect to add to the ordinances.
MARIJUANA
From Page 1
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Read more at
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