Pointing to pictures of her
childhood displayed on the
screen behind her, Katayama
talked
about
how
she
struggled with the physical
differences between her and
other children her age.
“I
thought
once
I
amputated my legs, I could
wear the same shoes other
people wore,” Katayama said
through a translator. “Once
my legs were amputated,
what I had was a reality that
was different from what I
thought. So, there was a gap
between my ideal situation
and my real situation.”
Katayama said it is this
difference
that
fueled
her art. When she was a
teenager, Katayama began
painting
her
prosthetic
legs with intricate flower
designs. At this age, she was
also a model in student-run
fashion shows as well as her
own photography. Later, she
turned to sewing as a form
of artistic expression. She
explained that her process
began by first taking her
own picture, then uploading
it to a computer and editing
it, then printing it on to
fabric
and
then
sewing
the
fabric
together.
In
some of her earlier pieces,
Katayama posed with her
sewn creations in self-taken
photographs.
“The reason why I did
everything myself is because
I just didn’t want anybody
to see me like this, I was too
shy,” Katayama said.
In a Q&A segment during
the presentation, Katayama
was asked about her courage
in showing her body in the
era of social media and
Photoshop. Katayama said
she views her body as a
material in her art.
“Maybe because I don’t
consider these images as
myself,” Katayama said. “I’m
objectifying my own body
and using it as a material. …
I’m actually not accepting
the way I am, my daughter
loves my body, but to me, I
still pursue a perfect body.”
Art & Design freshman
Nehema Kariuki attended
the event and enjoyed seeing
the artist behind the work,
which she said she does not
get to experience often.
“In a lot of artists’ art, you
see the art but you don’t see
the artists themselves — you
don’t see who they are, you
don’t see their emotion,”
Kariuki
said.
“It’s
nice
seeing her in her work and
her emotion tied into it.”
“Unfortunately, we cannot
control some of the construction
traffic. But for students, keeping
a little bit of extra time to get to
where they need to go is a good
strategy.”
LSA senior Selene Yang has
lived on North Campus all
four years at the University.
Especially
in
the
morning,
Yang said the detours have
lengthened her commute from
about 15 minutes to about 30 to
45 minutes.
“Today
and
Tuesday,
I
was really late to my 9 a.m.
class because all the buses
are getting stuck on Central
Campus, and they can’t get up
to North Campus,” Yang said.
“There’s a lot of traffic, and a
lot of people trying to get down
to Central.”
Engineering junior Zachary
Wernet said he often has
to
travel
between
Central
and North Campuses for his
classes. Though he believes
construction benefits the city
overall, Wernet said he thinks
the projects should have been
more spread out over time.
“I just think it’s excessive
how many different routes have
changed in all these different
ways,” Wernet said. “(The city)
could’ve
done
construction
to affect one or two routes at
a time, rather than an entire
dictionary of changes.”
Solomon
explained
that
LTP notifies the University
community of route changes
with transit alerts on their
website.
The
transit
live-
tracking app DoubleMap, which
shows bus routes and locations,
has also been updated to reflect
the detours.
Yang said the route detours
announcement,
which
was
formatted
as
a
list,
could
be hard to understand. She
wondered
whether
a
map
showing all the detours would
be more effective.
“The post they made was just
about (the detours) was just a
huge block of text instead of
maybe showing it on a map,”
Yang said. “That could visually
show which stops might’ve
been changed or how the route
looks now as compared to how
it used to be.”
Solomon explained some of
the detours will last a relatively
short amount of time, so LTP
did not think a visual aid was
needed.
“So, sometimes we do this, it
just depends on the length and
nature of the detour,” Solomon
said. “Some of the detours are
less complicated or pretty short,
and so we may not do it for that.
But if they are about to take a
route, and if operating, they can
definitely pull it up in the live
app.”
Prior to Solomon speaking
with The Daily, none of the
recent transit alerts included
any maps. Since then, a map has
been attached in the Washtenaw
Avenue lane closures alert for
the Bursley-Baits, Northwood
Express,
Commuter
North,
Diag-to-Diag
Express
and
Oxford Shuttle routes.
Overall, Yang said the detours
have exacerbated an already-
frustrating morning commute.
“Billy Magic didn’t warn me
for this,” Yang said.
Ann Arbor attorney Angie
Martell
is
representing
all
trespassers in the case. Two of
the defendants were excused
from Thursday’s hearing due to
travel.
Approximately 90 people sat
in the audience. Many attendees
wore green in solidarity with
the Washtenaw County Climate
Action Movement, which was
responsible for organizing the
climate strike and sit-in.
Martell began by stating she
only received five out of the
seven compact disks containing
footage
she
expected
to
receive. She said the disks she
did receive did not have audio,
which she said does not align
with what she was told in
discovery. Martell also noted
the potential information from
the additional CDs and audio
could impact how she presents
her case.
Additionally,
Martell
described
the
lawsuit
against her clients as a “civil
disobedience” case, in which
people disobey the law to
prevent greater harm. In this
instance,
Martell
said
the
demonstrators were trespassing
to avoid climate change-related
harm in the future.
“We feel that without this
information — which is only in
the hands of the University —
we are hampered in having a
fair trial in this case,” Martell
said. “This case is not just about
the trespass; it’s about one day
in which, across the globe, 1.4
million young people came out
to talk about bringing light
to the current situation and
the threat of climate change
inaction. And it’s the belief
of many of the defendants
in this case, or members of
the University at large, that
the University been slow and
reluctant to address some of
these issues.”
However,
Joseph
Simon,
an Ann Arbor-based criminal
attorney
representing
the
University, said the power of
discovery in a criminal case is
not the same as in other cases.
He said attorneys do not have
vehicles of discovery in any
criminal case, so it would be
unfair to allow the defense to
obtain evidence in this lawsuit.
Washtenaw County Assistant
Prosecutor,
Ashley
Londy,
brought all the disks in her
possession
to
the
pretrial
and said she could provide
additional copies if Martell was
missing any of them. Londy said
there was no bad faith displayed
in her team’s handling of the
footage.
“No one is editing any of
these
videos,”
Londy
said.
“We’ve turned over everything
that we have, and if we haven’t,
we absolutely will. We are in
a pretrial phase in this case —
it is not the morning of trial.
We’re not ambushing anyone,
because we don’t believe in trial
by ambush.”
Martell responded by saying
she
was
not
accusing
the
prosecution of editing footage,
but rather making sure the
University had disclosed all the
evidence.
After both sides spoke, Judge
Karen
Quinlan
Valvo
said
she did not feel Martell acted
maliciously in her requests and
was not placing sanctions on
her. However, she said Martell’s
requests for evidence would not
be completed.
There was a short break
for
attorneys
to
check
in
with their clients. Once back
on the record, one of the
demonstrators took a plea deal
that was made available to all
defendants charged.
The settlement conference
was
scheduled
for
Jan.
2
and the trial for Jan. 13 at 9
a.m. Valvo said the trial will
continue on Jan. 14 at 10 a.m.
if necessary.
The defense pleaded not
guilty
and
were
arraigned
during the first pretrial on
June 17. A trespassing charge
bears a maximum charge of a
$250 fine with a potential of
30 days in jail. At this hearing,
demonstrators were released
on a personal recognizance
bond, meaning they did not
have to pay bail. They were told
they cannot enter the Fleming
Administration Building, leave
the state without permission
of the court or use alcohol or
marijuana.
However,
Valvo
lifted the ban for defendants
over 21 to accommodate for the
Jewish holiday.
Groups such as the Huron
Valley Area Labor Federation
and
Young
Democratic
Socialists of America, as well
as politicians including former
gubernatorial
candidate
Abdul El-Sayed and current
candidate
for
Washtenaw
County prosecutor Eli Savit,
have expressed support for the
defendants.
On
April
9,
Schlissel
and other members of the
President’s
Commission
on
Carbon Neutrality held a public
session to discuss some of
the demonstrators’ concerns
and strategies to move the
University closer to carbon
neutrality.
The
Commision
also held a forum on Sept. 25
to address concerns about the
University’s progress in this
area.
In a September interview
with The Daily, Schlissel said
the Commission on Carbon
Neutrality is still working on
solutions on how to achieve
carbon
neutrality
while
maintaining
the
magnitude
of
the
University’s
heating
system and building plans. He
acknowledged, though, that in
the long term carbon neutrality
must happen.
“It costs more money, so
it’ll slow down some of our
ambitions, but we’re going to
try to strike the right balance
between continuing to be a
great place to go to school and
a research university and a
great health system, and then
being proper stewards of the
environment,” Schlissel said.
“So, in the short term, I can’t
envision a way to get out of
fossil fuel use entirely, but
longer term I think we have to,
and the challenge is, how long
it’s going to take and what the
options are to get there.”
After the hearing, LSA senior
Kristen Hayden told The Daily
she attended the pretrial in
solidarity
with
the
people
charged.
Hayden
also
said
she felt the University should
acknowledge its role in the trial
and withdraw so the prosecutor
does not have a strong case
against the defendants.
Later in the conversation,
Clinton
weighed
in
on
current
impeachment
proceedings against Trump,
describing
the
role
of
Ukraine’s “growing pains”
to modernize their economy
and stabilize politically. She
explained how Ukraine is in
a difficult position, needing
to deter Russian aggression
while relying on U.S. aid. She
believes
the
impeachment
proceedings are justified but
must be thorough.
“The
whole
Ukrainian
scandal in the midst of the
impeachment
inquiry,
in
and of itself, is troubling
because of what it shows
about abuse of power and
the
use
of
threats
and
extortion by the President
of the United States,” she
said. “Withholding military
aid that they so desperately
need to defend themselves.
So, it’s a scandal, it’s an
absolutely
inappropriate
scandal and it should trigger
an impeachment inquiry.”
Sen. Gary Peters is the
only Michigan Democrat not
to have voiced support for
impeachment investigations.
Senator
Debbie
Stabenow,
D-Mich.,
announced
her
support
for
beginning
proceedings in July. In a
statement,
Peters
echoed
concerns
for
national
security.
Clinton also shared her
personal views on U.S. policy
in the Middle East, reflecting
on
the
role
of
former
President
Barack
Obama’s
administration in the Syrian
war. According to Clinton,
current
international
relations could lead to a
possible
ISIS
resurgence,
and the multitude of national
interests complicate the path
toward a diplomatic solution.
“This is going to be a
difficult
period,
and
it
requires intense, intelligent
diplomacy. And right now,
we have very little of that,”
Clinton said.
The event was not without
controversy. Half a dozen
demonstrators,
voicing
support for Trump, protested
outside of Rackham during
Clinton’s talk. The protestors
held signs reading “TRUMP
2020”
and
wore
“Make
America Great Again” hats as
a crowd of counter-protestors
surrounded them.
One of the protestors, who
chose to remain nameless,
stated she was protesting in
order to show support for
President Trump.
“I
was
supporting
my
president,
didn’t
you
see
that?” the protester said. “I
support my president all the
time.”
About 50 students and
community members urged
the
protestors
to
leave
campus
and
yelled
they
were not “on the right side
of history.” LSA sophomore
Tiahna Pantovich took part in
the counter-protest, calling
out to the protestors holding
Trump signs on campus.
“Nobody’s
really
on
your side,” Pantovich said,
pointing at the protestors. “I
hope you know that.”
Throughout the protest,
the demonstrators remained
silent
aside
from
a
few
remarks in response to the
counter-protestors’ yelling.
Ann Arbor resident Robin
Wonder also attended the
counter-protest.
After
the
incident, Wonder said he
was protesting in response
to
Trump’s
policies
on
immigration, which he said
are oppressive and inhumane.
“Guess
what?”
Wonder
said. “They’re not welcome
here, right? I’m not OK with
Trump. Trump deported my
mom, and she did nothing
wrong. Nothing. She just
came here for a better life.
They’re just trying to get
everybody out for no fucking
reason.”
After Clinton spoke, LSA
junior
Brianna
Morigney
told The Daily she came to
the event to learn more about
Clinton’s
perspective
on
international policy.
“I think the biggest thing
that stuck with me is when
she said we need to help
people abroad to make our
borders safer, which is an
interesting
perspective
because usually you hear
border safety coming from
the other side,” Morigney
said. “It’s important to have
that view of, ‘We’re not
helping who we need to help,
and that’s why our borders
are at risk.’”
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Guest
speakers
from
South Africa, Colombia and
Michigan State University
discussed
transitional
justice in their communities
on
Thursday
afternoon
in
Weill
Hall.
About
65
students attended the event,
titled “Critical Engagement
with
Transitional
Justice:
Perspectives from Africa and
Latin America.”
The
Center
for
Latin
American
and
Caribbean
Studies, the African Studies
Center, the Donia Human
Rights Center and the Ford
School
of
Public
Policy
sponsored the event.
Yazier Henry, lecturer of
public policy in the Public
Policy School, moderated the
event. Henry and the speakers
had
met
previously
at
a
conference in Berlin, and this
was the first time they had
reunited since that encounter.
Henry
said
transitional
justice
—
how
countries
address large-scale human
rights abuses — played a role
in his decision to become a
lecturer at the Public Policy
School.
“From the engagement —
past, present, future — in the
context of societies building
peace,
that
the
things
through this promise of what
(it means to have) greater
democracy, what it means to
have greater social justice,
what it means to have human
rights systems as accepted,”
Henry said.
Henry asked the panelists
about their experiences with
transitional justice.
Within
the
idea
of
transitional justice, much of
the conversation surrounded
the Truth and Reconciliation
Committee that formed in
South Africa after the end of
Apartheid.
The
Truth
and
Reconciliation
Committee
was
created
for
victims
of
Apartheid
to
express
their
grievances
toward
the
victimizers
in
order
to receive justice for the
crimes
committed
under
the regime. When Henry
asked the speakers about the
disappointments
they
had
with transitional justice in
their own countries, panelist
Litheko Modisane of South
Africa spoke to the flaws of
the Truth and Reconciliation
Committee.
“Now the South African
case
is
quite
complex,
because on the one hand, the
truth, whatever you may call
that truth, it was exposed
during the TRC,” Modisane
said. “There are other larger
questions that still remain.
For instance, part of the
mechanism of the TRC was
that there will be reparations
for the victims of violence
and human rights abuses.
However, to this day, that has
not really happened.”
Castillejo-Cuellar, who is a
professor at the Universidad
de
los
Andes,
went
to
graduate school in Colombia
and
published
“Memories
and
Violence:
Problems
and Debates in a Global
Perspective,” a book about
memory and displacement in
an international context. His
initial research was about
the effects of violence in
Colombia.
Panelist
Alejandro
Castillejo-Cuellar discussed
how his work in Colombia
inspired his first book and
research interests.
“As an anthropologist, I
was interested in fieldwork,
and try to understand how
actual
people
reconstruct
the
world
with
a
world
that is broken by violence,”
Castillejo-Cuellar said.
Rackham
student
Tim
Berke
said
he
found
it
interesting to hear about
the role of colonialism in
restorative justice.
“I
think
hearing
some
of the questions from the
group and the response from
some of those was really
interesting and to think about
restorative justice, in a sense,
and about colonialism,” Berke
said. “And how that applies
really opened my mind up
to what that can imply and
how far back we think about
transitional
justice
and
restorative justice.”
Panel examines downfalls
of transitional justice process
Speakers discuss truth commission, reconciliation efforts
JASMIN LEE
Daily Staff Reporter
LSA senior Molly Mearn, an
executive board member for the
Squirrel Club, said she thought
the research was great, as long
as it did not pose a threat to the
safety of the squirrels.
“If there’s a valid scientific
motivation
to
the
tagging,
and the tagging is done in a
way that minimizes harm to
the squirrels, I think it’s not
too bad,” Mearns said. “But if
there isn’t really a benefit to
it and it harms the squirrels,
then I don’t see a reason for it.
I think, compared to previous
years, there are slightly fewer
squirrels around campus and
in the Diag in particular, so I’m
not sure if there is a population
control
issue
right
now.
Additionally, I haven’t really
noticed any aggression from
squirrels, so I hope that isn’t
part of the concern.”
In terms of work being done
to ensure the safety of the
squirrels, Dantzer said wild
animal researchers must follow
a set of rules that govern how
invasive tagging can be. The
rules state that a tag or monitor
can be no more than 5 percent
of the animal’s body weight.
He and Devits adhere to this
strictly.
He said that a great deal of
research has been conducted on
how squirrels are affected by
being tagged and collared, and
so far, no studies have indicated
any sort of negative outcomes
from human intervention.
Dantzer said he has big
plans for the future of squirrel
research,
as
he
plans
to
hopefully use microchips to
track squirrels’ heart rates
and brain activity in order to
determine sleep patterns. This
information
will
hopefully
give scientists insight into
why
humans
and
animals
need sleep in order to survive.
However, Dantzer said he is
hesitant to do this now, as he
would not want to introduce a
more invasive tracking device
that would negatively impact
the campus squirrels.
“We’re not yet going to do
these implants in the squirrels
(on campus), and part of it is
because I think that, for most
people, each day the only
wildlife they ever interact with
is these squirrels, and that’s
a very valuable thing for us to
have because it maintains some
sense of awareness of nature,”
Dantzer said.
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