Anderson
cited
this
characterization
as
her
major qualm with the title.
“Notoriously, philosophy
and also math and physics
are places where you have
people believe you have to
be a ‘genius’ to succeed in
them,” Anderson said. “And
those are also disciplines
— especially physics and
philosophy — where there
are very few women, so
I’m not keen on calling the
MacArthur Awards ‘Genius
Awards.’”
In her studies, Anderson
mainly examines problems
in the circulation of ideas
among people. She operates
under
the
pragmatist
tradition,
which
she
described
as
a
way
of
reviewing
problematic
experiences to diagnose the
issue at hand. This line of
reasoning, Anderson said,
uses normative thinking to
find solutions.
When Anderson arrived
at the University in 1987,
she was the only woman
on
tenure-track
in
the
Philosophy
Department
and in 1993, she became the
first woman to be awarded
tenure
from
within
the
department.
Anderson’s experience as
the only woman on tenure-
track in the department led
her to seek out colleagues
in women’s studies to help
her better understand her
experience at the University.
This collaboration prompted
her to think about feminist
philosophy, which she said
has gone on to shape her
work.
Anderson theorizes under
non-ideal
theory,
which
requires
philosophers
to
think
about
what
is
appropriate in an imperfect
world, rather than operating
under the assumption the
world is perfect.
“It was a very problematic
experience which actually
led me to my colleagues
in women’s studies, and
really
led
me
to
start
thinking
seriously
about
feminist
philosophy,
partly just to understand
my
own
experiences
of
what it’s like to kind of be
a gatecrasher in an all-
male
domain,”
Anderson
said. “It’s interesting that
a large number of feminist
philosophers are attracted
to the pragmatist tradition,
because pragmatism always
starts with problems, not
with utopia.”
Peter Railton, professor of
philosophy, said Anderson’s
research
on
democratic
theory
and
equality
in
political
philosophy
is
unmatched. He explained
her interest in the historical
dimension of all political
changes
and
ways
to
translate
understanding
into action makes her unique
in the philosophy world.
Railton said he is unaware
of any living philosopher
whose
work
better
understands the value of
philosophy in a changing
world. He compared her
work to that of John Dewey,
Anderson’s
profesorship’s
namesake
who
was
an
American
philosopher
whose
work
influenced
education and social reform.
“She is certainly one of
the leading contemporary
philosophers
working
in
English and her work is
known worldwide … but
this fellowship I don’t think
is for being well-known,
or even being widely read,
it’s for being distinctive,”
Railton said. “She has really
been a pioneer in a half-
dozen fields, and she’s done
seminal work, so it’s easy to
see why she was viewed as a
distinctive philosopher.”
Additionally,
Railton
said her work has enriched
diversity and inclusion, and
she has both personally and
professionally enhanced the
University community.
Rackham student Mercy
Corredor said Anderson’s
reputation
for
enhancing
the
University
is
well
known among philosophy
students. When Corredor
first arrived as a graduate
student in philosophy, she
said she felt out of place, but
taking Anderson’s class first
semester made her feel at
home in the discipline.
After building a rapport
with
Anderson
through
the class, Corredor asked
Anderson
to
chair
her
dissertation
committee.
Now in her fifth year of
graduate school, Corredor
described Anderson as a
teacher who is genuinely
happy to work with students.
“She
just
genuinely
gets really excited about
hearing ideas put in new and
interesting ways,” Corredor
said. “From the student side
of it, nothing feels better
than that — the advisor you
respect so much genuinely
getting excited about the
things you think about.”
As for why Anderson’s
work
is
worthy
of
recognition
from
the
MacArthur
Foundation,
Corredor
described
her
work
in
democracy
and
equality
has
been
“revolutionary.”
Corredor
also noted the importance
of
Anderson’s
problem-
focused,
solution-oriented
approach to philosophy.
“She has an incredible
nose for finding important
problems that are affecting
people in the world, and
she goes there and then
theorizes
as
a
way
of
alleviating those problems,”
Corredor said. “A lot of
philosophers like to look in
the other direction, where
they
do
the
theorizing
first, and then go out into
the world and see if they
can apply the theories to
the people — and that’s
the opposite of what she’s
doing.
She
really
cares
about
people
and
their
problems. That’s part of her
pragmatist approach, and
so that is what motivates
her work first and foremost
and this is what makes her
a really incredible scholar.”
Currently, Anderson is on
leave from the University
to work on two books —
one on the history and
contemporary significance
of the Protestant work ethic
and the other on the ethics
of political communication.
Anderson
said
she
is
interested in writing for a
broad audience so people
can understand her work
and apply it to the social-
political problems present
in their everyday lives.
Anderson, who has been
as LSA professor for more
than three decades, said
the
University
has
seen
many changes from when
she was the only female
tenure-track professor in
her department in the late
1980s. However, Anderson
said she has always been
impressed
with
the
University’s commitment to
interdisciplinary research.
“University of Michigan
is just a fantastic place
to be doing research like
this
because
there
are
so few barriers between
departments, schools, units
and programs,” Anderson
said. “Everybody is really
interested
in
talking
to
everyone else — interested
in each other’s research
— and it’s not like at other
schools where departments
are siloed and insulated
from each other. So that’s
the reason why I’ve chosen
to stay here and make my
career here, because it’s
just an amazing intellectual
environment.”
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Thursday, October 3, 2019 — 3A
MACARTHUR
From Page 1A
State
Rep.
Yousef
Rabhi,
D-Ann Arbor, said the budgets
that made it to Whitmer’s
desk fell short compared to
the
proposal
Whitmer
first
offered in March, which called
for a 3 percent increase in
funding to Michigan colleges
and universities while capping
tuition hikes at 3.2 percent.
“The governor proposed a
budget with funding that was a
lot higher than what the House
ended up sending her, and I was
disappointed to see that,” Rabhi
said. “I was very supportive of
the governor’s budget as she
initially introduced it, I think
that the increase that she had
included was still even not
enough, but way better than the
1 percent, or in some cases, less
than 1 percent increase that the
legislature gave, which to our 15
public universities, in my beliefs,
is completely unacceptable.”
In
a
statement,
Cynthia
Wilbanks, vice president for
government relations, also said
she found the approved budget
disappointing.
“We know that in order for
our state economy to be strong,
we will need a more educated
workforce in the years to come,”
Wilbanks said. “Unfortunately,
this
budget
falls
short
in
addressing our state’s pressing
need and shifts even more of the
cost burden to our students and
families.”
Rabhi said the governor’s
decision to veto certain items
was a result of her limited
options.
“Part
of
the
issue
that
Governor Whitmer was facing
is that she can only veto items
and
move
funding
around
within a departmental budget,”
Rabhi said. “But she cannot
add funding to a departmental
budget, so she was not able
to add any money. She was
basically faced, I think, with
the decision of do we want to
eliminate all funding to our
universities and renegotiate it,
or do we take what we can get
for now, and negotiate for more
later.”
Rabhi
said
Democratic
lawmakers wanted a larger
increase in funding for higher
education funding.
“I
wanted
more
money,”
Rabhi said. “I ultimately voted
no on the higher education
budget, because I wanted to
send a strong message and
the rest of the Democratic
Caucus wanted to send a strong
message I think it was, you
know, near-unanimous within
the Democratic Caucus, that
we were opposed to the higher
education budget as it was
presented.”
The budget kept funding
constant for two financial aid
programs utilized by University
students:
the
Michigan
Competitive
Scholarship,
which supports students with
a qualifying score on the ACT
or SAT who have demonstrated
financial need, and the Tuition
Incentive
Program,
which
benefits
students
of
lower
socioeconomic
status
with
tuition assistance. Each of the
programs received $6 million in
additional funding last year.
Public Policy junior Camille
Mancuso,
communications
director for the University’s
chapter of College Democrats,
said
the
state
failed
to
meaningfully invest in post-
secondary education.
“While the state of Michigan
has increased funding for U-M,
there is still an apparent lack
of meaningful investment in
higher
education,”
Mancuso
said. “The University’s tuition
has increased over the past
years,
and
there
remains
significant inequities between
funding granted to U-M Ann
Arbor compared to U-M Flint or
U-M Dearborn.”
The
Board
of
Regents
approved a budget for the
University in June based in part
on expected state funds, which
they calculated would be $375.9
million. The actual amount of
state funding — a total of $373
across the University’s three
campuses — falls short of that
project, leaving a revenue gap
for the University to address.
Rabhi
framed
funding
decisions for universities as an
issue of accessibility.
“Regardless of where you
live in the state of Michigan or
how much money you make, it’s
important that our universities
do
serve
everyone,”
Rabhi
said. “Now that should be, in
my opinion, a call to action
for universities to ensure that
they
focus
on
accessibility
so that every student in the
state of Michigan feels that
they can draw value from our
15 universities in the state of
Michigan. They should serve
everyone.”
A representative from the
University’s chapter of College
Republicans
declined
to
comment.
BUDGET
From Page 1A
Following
the
doctor’s
decision,
a
Facebook
page
titled
“Save
Bobby”
was
created by the Reyes family’s
friends and relatives. The page
is intended to raise awareness
about
Bobby’s
case,
offer
support to those close to him,
and share information about
potential medical alternatives.
In the page’s description, the
family pleads for community
support and time.
“I’m trying to be strong even
though I don’t feel strong,”
Jones said to The Daily. “I’m
so weak. I’m tired. But I’m
not going to quit fighting for
my son as long as his heart is
beating. I will be fighting for
him to my last breath. And I
said, whatever happens, it’s in
God’s hands. If God takes my
son while he’s on life support,
you know, we’ll make peace
with it, but I’ll never have
peace with knowing that I
consented to pulling the plug
on my son when he’s still here.”
A GoFundMe page was set
up to help the family pay for
legal fees associated with the
court order and other costs to
assist the family during this
difficult time. Since it was
published six days ago, it has
raised more than $8,200.
“Every
minute
we
have
with him is a miracle,” Jones
said. “He’s fighting, and I’m
fighting harder for him. But
we just want to bring attention
to what’s going on at the
hospitals, because I’m not the
only one.”
Mary Masson, director of
public relations for Michigan
Medicine, said in an email
statement
to
The
Daily
Tuesday the hospital would
continue to support the family.
“All of us empathize with
the extraordinarily emotional
process that families facing
such matters go through,”
Masson
wrote.
“Michigan
Medicine follows the State of
Michigan law on determination
of
death,
and
conducts
extensive
testing
before
determining there is brain
death due to the irreversible
cessation of all functions of the
entire brain. Our team of highly
experienced and specialized
nurses,
doctors
and
other
health professionals exhaust
every available option to help
patients who are critically ill.”
William Amadeo is one of
the attorneys helping out the
family. He said he heard about
the case through social media.
“There were so many people
that reached out to me on
Facebook about a kid that’s
dying,” Amadeo said. “I want
to do my role to try to help
the family. I mean, if there’s a
chance that Bobby could live I
thought I was obligated to try
to help.”
Amadeo
said
his
work
typically focuses on criminal
law, but he felt compelled to
take on Bobby’s case pro bono.
“There
are
cases
when
people are in need, I’ll jump
in,” Amadeo said. “But this was
the first actual situation with
somebody who was actually
deemed brain dead and I was
trying to help them out, so it
was kind of a new experience
for everybody.”
Amadeo said he worked with
an attorney for the University
to get the hospital records
straightened
out
for
the
family and asked for people to
continue to support the family.
“At this point, you need to
find another doctor, and the
family is doing everything
possible for that,” Amadeo
said.
Jones said she’s trying to
move her son to a different
hospital.
“Now we need to find a place
to get him out of here because
he needs to go someplace else
that wants to help him and
doesn’t want to talk about, you
know, pressuring his parents
to do something that they don’t
agree with,” Jones said. “You
got to go with your gut as a
mother and my gut is telling
me to fight ‘til my last breath
for my son.”
LIFE-SUPPORT
From Page 1A
They also discussed neighbor
outreach, with plans for meetings
with library staff, Kempf House
Museum staff, nearby residents,
nearby business owners, Ann
Arbor Transportation Authority
representatives and Downtown
Development
Authority
members.
Task force members Norman
Tyler and Ann Dilcher proposed
an activity for the public meeting
where the group is shown photos
of urban spaces, in order to find
out what aspects Ann Arbor
residents envision for this space.
“We’re trying to get some
feedback on the kinds of urban
space that people would feel
most comfortable with,” Tyler
said. “It’s a very simple device
to see what people like and
they don’t like, and then ask
for comments. I think people
need to be educated, and we’re
educating ourselves with this
input.”
LSA
senior
Hannah
Boettcher, the only student on
the committee, described her
role as a student spokesperson
and her excitement to engage
with the community.
“Organization has been our
big struggle lately, just to get
things moving, get the ball
rolling on events,” Boettcher
said. “But I’m hopeful towards
the future because we have
these community engagement
events on the records. It’s
important to me that these
community engagement events
are really inclusive of the actual
community, and I’m speaking
specifically now towards the
university student community,
that’s a voice that can very easily
be lost in these discussions.”
The agenda for the next
meeting will include further
discussion of mailing, plans for
the Nov. 6 meeting, discussion of
public engagement, and website
development.
TASK FORCE
From Page 1A
On Monday, Court of Claims
Judge Cynthia Stevens denied a
request to temporarily postpone
Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s
ban on flavored e-cigarettes
that took effect Tuesday.
The emergency order, which
bans the sale of all flavored
nicotine liquid and the use of
flavors to market e-cigarettes,
was announced on Sept. 17.
Retailers were given two weeks
from the announcement to sell
or dispose of their products.
The request was part of a
lawsuit filed by Mark Slis, owner
of 906 Vapor in Houghton,
Michigan. U.S. District Court
Judge Robert Jonker denied a
similar request made by Mister
E-Liquid, a Grand Rapids-based
vape shop on Monday.
Slis’s lawsuit was filed in
Houghton County Circuit Court.
It claimed the rules violate
Michigan state laws and asked
for a temporary restraining
order
and
a
preliminary
injunction to postpone the ban.
The
temporary
restraining
order
was
denied,
and
a
hearing was held Monday for
the
preliminary
injunction.
The judge took no action and
postponed the hearing until
Oct. 8.
In his testimony before the
Michigan House Oversight
Committee, Slis offered a
personal story about flavored
e-cigarettes helping him with
his smoking addiction. He
also discussed how the ban
will affect his business and
similar businesses across the
state.
“If
the
governor’s
order
stands and flavors are banned,
I
will
go
immediately
go
out of business,” Slis said.
“I will immediately file for
bankruptcy.
No
question.
I
think my experience will be
mirrored across the state.”
The lawsuit filed by Mister-E
Liquid cites similar concerns,
saying the company would be
forced to shut down, leave the
state of Michigan, and lay off
employees.
LSA junior Blake Richards
used to use a Juul electronic
cigarette
but
has
recently
quit
because
of
mental
health effects and decreased
motivation and energy levels.
He explained how he thought
the ban would affect vape
shops in Ann Arbor.
“From
what
I’ve
heard,
several
vape
shops
will
essentially
replace
e-liquid
with CBD oils, tinctures, etc.
as CBD is becoming more and
more popular,” Richards said.
“I would imagine that this is
why Gretchen Whitmer gave
about a month’s notice.”
He also explained he thought
the ban would work and was
worth
possible
short-term
harm.
“While I couldn’t speculate
the percentage, I do think
a large amount of kids will
quit smoking,” Richards said.
“Especially if they’re relatively
new smokers. From personal
experience,
tobacco-flavored
e-liquid was only tolerable for
a few hits in the morning and
just a few more throughout
the day. And cigarettes leave
a horrible taste in your mouth
and most people know they are
filled with carcinogens, tar and
about a dozen other chemicals
that shouldn’t ever be in your
lungs.”
When she announced the
ban, Whitmer said her order
followed a finding by Joneigh
Khaldun,
Michigan’s
chief
medical executive, that youth
vaping was a public health
crisis. In a statement, Khaldun
said the increase in vaping
among
young
people
was
alarming.
“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.”
There have been concerns the
ban would cause users to switch
to cigarettes in the absence of
an alternative.
Michigan was the first state
to enact a ban on flavored
nicotine liquid. Since Whitmer
announced
the
order,
New
York,
Massachusetts,
Rhode
Island
and
California
have
taken
similar
actions.
The
Trump
administration
has
also announced an interest in
enacting a similar policy.
“We’re
looking
at
very
strong rules and regulations.
We already have laws as we
need them,” President Donald
Trump said in a Sept. 11 press
conference. “But we want to get
to the bottom of a very unusual
situation. It’s so new, and it’s
become so big, so fast. And it
could be a potential very severe
problem.”
Alex Azar, United States
Secretary
of
Health
and
Human
Services,
also
gave
a brief statement about the
administration’s
ban
and
explained its goal of reducing
the number of children using
e-cigarettes.
“So, with the President’s
support, the Food and Drug
Administration
intends
to
finalize a guidance document
that
would
commence
enforcement to require that
all flavors, other than tobacco
flavor, would be removed from
the market,” Azar said. “So,
once the FDA would finalize
this guidance, we would begin
enforcement actions to remove
all such products from the
marketplace.”
EMMA RUBERG
Daily Staff Reporter
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s prohibition survives legal challenges
Judges decline to halt ban
on flavored vape products