“For those of us who have
worked with Chief Cox in,
so far, nearly two months
on the job, it is evident
that we have welcomed a
person of integrity, great
vision
and
tremendous
leadership abilities to our
team,” Fournier said. “He
is a forward-thinking and
creative
problem
solver,
and has dived head-first
into the job, with all of the
joys and complications the
position may bring.”
After
Fournier
and
Taylor
spoke,
Cox
was
welcomed to the front of
the room and officially
presented with his badge.
Cox then took his oath of
office, led by City Clerk
Jackie Beaudry.
At
the
end
of
the
ceremony,
Chief
Cox
addressed the crowd to
share some of his personal
goals moving forward.
“I
believe
the
(Ann
Arbor) Police Department
is already very good, but
going forward, we’re going
to start to do things a little
differently,”
Cox
said.
“You will be able to see
men and women out there,
hopefully, talking amongst
you … (and) being part of the
community in a different
capacity
than
just,
you
know,
arresting
people.
Arresting people is part of
the job; however, being a
part of the community is a
bigger part of the job.”
He concluded his speech
by encouraging Ann Arbor
citizens to reach out to the
police department to keep
an open dialogue.
“Hopefully, you’ll talk
to us and tell us what you
expect,
what
you
want
from us, what you need,
what you don’t want from
us, so we can adjust our
practices,
tactics
and
policies to reflect what the
community here desires,”
Cox said.
Many
of
the
people
attending
the
ceremony
expressed their support for
Cox’s intention to bridge
any existing gaps between
the Ann Arbor police force
and the city’s community.
Lieutenant
Renee
Bush
volunteered
her
own
encouragement on behalf
of the department.
“We are very excited to
have Chief Michael Cox
here,” Bush said. “He came
from Boston, and he brings
a lot of experience, and
knowledge, and skills and
abilities to the city of Ann
Arbor. We are especially
excited about moving the
department forward with
some new things for our
community, and to become
closer with our community
partners.”
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Wednesday, September 25, 2019 — 3A
“It is our responsibility
as members of Congress to
protect the United States
of
America,”
Dingell’s
statement
on
Tuesday
read. “We take an oath to
protect our Constitution
and
to
protect
our
national security. That is
our moral responsibility.
It is critical for the future
of our democracy.”
Senator
Gary
Peters
is
the
only
Michigan
Democrat
to
not
have
voiced
support
for
investigations.
Senator
Debbie
Stabenow
announced her support for
impeachment in July. In a
statement, Peters echoed
concerns
for
national
security,
while
still
maintaining his stance.
“Given
the
deeply
troubling
allegations
before
us,
the
administration must turn
over
the
whistleblower
complaint to Congress so
we can evaluate the facts,”
the
statement
reads.
“As a former Lieutenant
Commander in the U.S.
Navy Reserve and now
serving on Senate Armed
Services
Committee,
I
know
there’s
nothing
more
important
than
protecting
our
national
security. I support the
House taking actions that
they deem necessary to get
the facts and meet their
constitutional
oversight
responsibility.”
The increasing calls for
impeachment comes after
Trump has acknowledged
withholding
aid
to
Ukraine, with allegations
surfacing it was a move
to
investigate
former
Vice President Joe Biden.
House
Speaker
Nancy
Pelosi
announced
on
Tuesday that the House of
Representatives will begin
formal
impeachment
proceedings.
Camille
Mancuso,
communications chair of
the University’s chapter
of College Democrats and
Public Policy junior, said
the student organization
supports
of
the
seven
House
Democrats
who
have come out in favor of
impeachment.
“We stand with Nancy
Pelosi and our Michigan
Delegation
—
including
Elissa
Slokin,
Debie
Dingell, Andy Levin, Haley
Stevens,
Rashida
Tlaib
and Dan Kildee — calling
for
an
impeachment
inquiry,” Mancuso wrote
in an email to The Daily.
“The president must be
held
accountable
for
his actions. The job of
Congress is to hold the
president
accountable
for his unlawful actions
and
vote
in
the
best
interest of the American
people.
Congress
needs
to
move
forward
with
an
investigation
into
these crimes and protect
the laws that we are all
expected to follow.”
The Daily reached out to
the University’s chapter
of
College
Republicans,
but the organization did
not respond in time for
publication.
IMPEACH
From Page 1A
POLICE
From Page 1A
“Part of what makes
it hard is that pronouns
aren’t like other nouns,”
Queen
said.
“Pronouns
are of a particular class of
word that’s what’s called
‘closed.’ You can’t
just add to it. We
can add all day
long to nouns and
verbs, we can have
new
verbs
and
new nouns and we
do it all the time.
But that’s because
those
types
of
words
are
open,
they’re in an open
class.
But
what
we’re seeing is that
you
can
change
(pronouns).
And
that’s
happening
right now.”
After
the
panelists
spoke,
Associate
Dean
Angela
Dillard
invited
audience
members,
consisting of around 40
students,
faculty
and
staff, to ask questions or
raise comments. That’s
when LSA junior Jordan
Furr, who identifies as
a trans person, stood in
front of the room and
voiced his concerns.
“The title is ‘The Power
of
the
Pronoun,’
and
I
think
it’s
ridiculous
that we got into so much
stress about grammatical
issues, when the power
of the pronoun should be
about how powerful it
is, how much pronouns
used matter when you
use
them
for
people,
and
how
misgendering
someone can be very, very
harmful,” Furr said.
His comment earned a
few snaps and claps from
the audience. After the
event, Queen responded
to
Furr’s
comment,
saying
her
intent
was
not to ignore the human
consequences of pronoun
usage.
“I’m sort of a nerdy,
language geek, and I think
it’s really fascinating to
see how this works within
the grammatical system,”
Queen
said.
“Perhaps
it
was
misguided
on
my part not to be more
specific about the ways in
which that has political
consequences for all kinds
of people … I apologize
for
that,
because
that
was not at all my intent,
and it is also not what
I believe personally or
academically.”
“Furr said he believes
trans
issues,
such
as
pronoun
usage,
should
be represented by trans-
identifying
individuals
who
are
personally
affected.
While
one
speaker at the event did
identify as trans, no one
on the panel used “they/
them” pronouns.
“I also would just like
to say I think that if
you’re going to have a sort
of debate on they/them
pronouns, it’s ridiculous
to not have someone who
uses they/them pronouns
to speak about why they
use them and how
they
feel
about
that,” Furr said.
“You
tokenize
Scott as a trans
person
to
give
the
rest
of
you
credibility. But at
the end of the day,
only trans people
should be talking
about
this.
And
yes,
whatever,
linguistics,
academia,
but
overall
I
think
that the University
of
Michigan
that claims to be
liberal could do a
lot better.”
However,
both
Furr
and
LSA
senior
Katrina
Stalcup, who identifies as
cisgender, believe Queen
was
symptomatic
of
a
system that privileges cis
identity and perspective.
“It’s not about just one
individual person doing
something
transphobic,
it’s
about
cis
people
getting away with doing
that,”
Stalcup
said.
“Everything she did isn’t
uniquely something that
only
she
does.
That’s
quantified
by
all
the
questions
that
came
afterwards where a cis
man
reiterated
what
Jordan said, and just
completely
invalidated
the thing that he had
said.”
PRONOUN
From Page 1A
Chludzinski
explained
they decided to sue the city
as a preventative measure,
to protect their consulting
firm from the threat of
legal action on the part of
the city.
“Every American should
be free to choose which
political beliefs they will
promote,”
Chludzinski
said. “So, instead of waiting
to be punished, we decided
to take a stand for freedom
for ourselves and others —
even those whose political
views we oppose.”
In
response
to
the
lawsuit,
the
city
ruled
that
ThinkRight
be
categorized as a special
interest consulting group,
exempting
it
from
the
public
accommodations
law. As a result, the court
dismissed the case.
Chludzinski
expressed
appreciation for the city’s
decision, citing it allowed
him
and
his
business
partner the freedom to
tailor their firm in the way
they saw fit.
“Grant
and
I
are
selective about the causes
and
messages
we
will
promote
through
our
services,”
Chludzinski
said. “That means that we
are now free to promote
our
conservative
beliefs
without the government
forcing us to also promote
political
beliefs
we
oppose.”
In the lawsuit, it was
established
ThinkRight
“cannot accept a project
that
requires
it
to
promote messages, causes
or
political
platforms
that violate its faith or
contradict its conservative
political beliefs.”
City Attorney Stephen
Postema represented the
city of Ann Arbor on the
case. In an interview with
The Daily, he explained
ThinkRight’s
case
was
unnecessary, as the city had
never argued they would
be
forced
to
represent
individuals holding views
in opposition to them.
“The city never believed
that the ordinance would
apply to the plaintiffs or
that they were in violation
of the ordinance,” Postema
said. “There was not any
city
enforcement
action
against them or even any
threatened
enforcement
against
them.
In
fact,
the city had never heard
about
the
plaintiffs’
claims until the city was
served with a lawsuit …
In the end, there was no
actual
legal
controversy
to burden the court with.
So, the plaintiffs correctly
dismissed their case.”
Ann
Arbor
Mayor
Christopher Taylor echoed
Postema’s
assertion,
explaining
city
officials
were caught off guard by
the lawsuit being filed in
the first place. Taylor said
neither he nor Postema had
received any contact from
ThinkRight
Strategies
before
the
consulting
group took legal action.
“There
was
no
interaction prior to the
lawsuit,”
Taylor
said.
“There was absolutely no
enforcement action against
them. There was, as far as
I know, no knowledge of
their existence prior to the
lawsuit. No cease and desist
letter, no communication
threatening one thing or
another.”
According to the website
of the Alliance Defending
Freedom,
a
Christian
conservative group which
funded ThinkRight’s case,
the lawsuit was filed in
response to Ann Arbor’s
city ordinance. However,
after the lawsuit was filed,
there was little, if any, legal
pushback by the city based
on the non-discrimination
ordinance, Taylor said.
“There was never any
threat
of
enforcement
against the group,” he told
The Daily.
Taylor also referenced
the 57-page lawsuit itself,
which includes extensive
background
on
the
origins of both Strobl and
Chludzinski’s conservative
beliefs, as well as on their
creation
of
ThinkRight
itself.
“If
you
read
the
complaint,
it
sounds
a
lot more like somebody’s
‘About Us’ page on the
website than a complaint
actually seeking remedy
against
actual
harm,”
Taylor said.
EXEMPTION
From Page 1A
“I also would just like
to say I think that if
you’re going to have a
sort of debate on they/
them pronouns, it’s
ridiculous to not have
someone who uses they/
them pronouns to speak
about why they use
them and how they feel
about that.”
“Those are main issue areas
that we thought we could
effectively categorize certain
issues on campus into, and
they’re pretty straight forward
but also holistic in the issues
that they cover,” Gerstein said.
“But also, the work that we’re
going to be doing is not just
limited to those areas. So, as
matters arise and students voice
specific concerns, just because
they might not fall in one of our
categories, that doesn’t mean
we’re not going to address them.”
One of the projects the
administration
has
worked
to implement with regard to
affordability is the installation
of microwaves across campus
in non-residential areas such
as the Michigan League, the
new Michigan Union and the
Shapiro Undergraduate Library.
According
to
Gerstein,
in
collaboration with University
Unions and University Library,
CSG has been working to
implement these microwaves
as soon as possible and develop
a map of where the microwaves
will be installed.
“The microwaves are not yet
up and running, but we know
that it’s a small, minute change
and by no means does that
address food insecurity, which
is a much larger, epidemic-like
issue on campus,” Gerstein said.
“But we receive email inquiries
from students asking about
microwaves a bunch … so the
addition of those in commonly
used spaces like the League
and the new Union will help
accommodate a lot of students.”
In his address, Gerstein also
discussed the lack of CAPS
resources on campus. According
to Gerstein, in just the first
month of this school year, CAPS
has already seen 20 percent of
the total number of students it
saw in the entirety of last year.
As a result, CSG is looking at
different ways it can increase
funding so the University can
hire more CAPS counselors
across campus.
“There
is
a
continuous
increase in demand for students
seeking counseling and mental
health
resources,”
Gerstein
said. “With the new union,
with increased space for CAPS
and with more of a demand for
the services, I think we can at
least do our part to add more
counselors and take away less of
the burden.”
The lack of wellness resources
are
especially
prevalent
on
North Campus, where students
have to commute in order to visit
the University Health Center or
the Sexual Assault Prevention
and Awareness Center.
His administration therefore
hopes
to
create
locations
on North for these wellness
resources. They also would like
to ensure students on North are
directly playing a role in terms
of how these decisions are made.
“North
Campus
is
very
resource-deficient in terms of
the University in that students
on North Campus who can’t
find access into the embedded
counselor model, or need other
wellness resources like SAPAC
or UHS, are forced to go to
central campus,” Gerstein said.
“When buses are crowded, when
buses are running limited routes
on weekends and when it’s bad
weather, there are large barriers
created for those students to
have access to those resources.”
During
the
community
concerns
portion
of
the
meeting, the Coalition to Defend
Affirmative Action, Integration,
and Immigrant Rights and Fight
for Equality By Any Means
Necessary (BAMN) addressed
the Assembly. Michigan alum
and BAMN organizer Kate
Stenvig asked CSG to consider
making
the
University
of
Michigan a sanctuary campus
for
immigrants,
especially
those who may be at risk of
deportation.
“Something that CSG has
taken a position on before is to
make U-M a sanctuary campus
for immigrants,” Stenvig said.
“We think that right now, that is
really the number one thing that
the University can do to make
clear that the University defends
its immigrants and can take a
stand against racism on this
campus and improve campus
climate.”
Considering
the
policies
the University already has in
place for immigrants, Selena
Bazzi, LSA junior and CSG vice
speaker, questioned Stenvig on
the purpose of taking the next
step in making the University a
sanctuary.
“You said the University has
some regulations that are set so
that undocumented students are
protected,” Bazzi said. “So, what
would be the point of making the
entire campus itself a sanctuary
campus if the students are
already protected?”
Stenvig
responded
by
describing how the University
plays an integral role in Ann
Arbor, and if it becomes a
sanctuary,
then
ideally
the
community
will
follow
its
footsteps
with
immigrant-
friendly policies.
“In terms of ICE, they have
come to businesses around the
area,” Stenvig said. “I think if
the University itself, since it’s so
much a part of what this whole
community is, if they’re saying
‘we’re a sanctuary campus,’ it
really protects the community,
and this community is so much
more than just the students, so it
would make a big example for so
many other places.”
The Assembly also voted to
approve the CSG budget for fall
2019. Gerstein has one week to
sign the budget, which would
officially put it into effect.
CSG
From Page 1A