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

