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News
Thursday, November 14, 2019 — 3
Center of the city task force
focuses on community feedback
Ann Arbor opens online survey to hear residents’ concerns on transition process
AYSE ELDES
For The Daily
After a week of soliciting
community feedback through
a pop-up DecaDome in Ann
Arbor’s Library Lot, the Center
of the City Task Force met at
Larcom City Hall on Wednesday
to discuss residents’ ideas. The
task force, formed after voters
approved to amend the City
Charter, has been working to
decide how to make use of the
Fifth Avenue site.
According
to
Meghan
Mussolf, committee chair of
the Center of the City task
force, the committee has been
meeting for about four months
and is halfway through its
allotted time to formulate a
decision on the space. Mussolf
took time during the meeting to
thank the group for their effort
to gather community feedback
thus far.
“I
think
we’ve
done
a
tremendous amount of work
and
good
work
to
come
together and really move the
conversation forward,” Mussolf
said. “We now have the luxury
of having a lot of feedback.”
Heather Seyfarth, project
manager of the task force and
an Ann Arbor city manager,
reported
an
online
survey
posted on Nov. 12 received 247
responses within 24 hours. The
survey will be open until Dec. 6.
The group is now transitioning
toward compiling this data to
formulate an understanding on
how Ann Arbor residents want
the space to be utilized.
The main obstacle facing
the task force is efficiently
reviewing the feedback. Task
force member Norman Tyler
suggested delegating blocks of
survey responses to be reviewed
by each member. Tyler deemed
it unnecessary for each person
to read every response and
explained a common consensus
among members that time was
becoming a looming constraint.
Vocal critics of this comment
included task force member
Alan Haber and Ann Arbor
resident
Odile
Hugonot-
Haber. Though most members
expressed awareness minority
voices were missing in the
group, Haber said Ann Arbor
residents were generally not
aware of the city’s activity
around the “Center of City”
and the task force should focus
on informing residents about
their activity. He and member
John Haines were assigned to
a subcommittee tasked with
producing
an
informative
pamphlet to be sent as target
mail to the community.
“Of the people we talked to
at the DecaDome, very few of
them knew what was going
on,” Haber said. “I did not get
a sense that Ann Arbor people
know what’s happening. This
returns to my sense that we
should be sending out some
sort of invitation or report to
the whole community. And
basically, we’re dealing not
with a base that has thought
about this at all.”
During the Center of the City
Task Force’s next two meetings,
selected residents in Ann Arbor
will be invited to share their
input on the project. Invited
speakers will include business
owners, a representative from
the
police
department
and
other voices the group felt had
not yet been represented.
Feeling community backing
for a new park was not being
acknowledged
enough,
Hugonot-Haber
spoke
to
the
task
force
about
the
advantages this addition to
Ann Arbor would bring. Citing
benefits
such
as
common
space interaction and cultural
enrichment,
“In the city itself, the people
are a tremendous resource,”
Hugonot-Haber
said.
“They
have many ideas and solutions
to problems, and we should
capitalize more on the resource
we have within our city.”
Hugonot-Haber,
who
disagreed
with
task
force
member
and
LSA
senior
Hannah
Boettcher’s
dissent
of a formal partnership with
the Ann Arbor Library Green
Conservancy, urged the task
force to favor partnership with
the group in its future activity
with decision-making.
“I can understand you guys
don’t want to do things together,
but at least it should be, when
you talk about them it should
be a little more respectful,”
Hugonot-Haber said. “If not, I
think you’re doing a good job,
and I hope you get very excited
because it’s a very cutting
edge work that you are doing,
and I think it will make a big
difference.”
CONNIE MALLOY
JOCEYLN BENSON
CHRIS LAMAR
CHRISTOPHER THOMAS
P O L I C Y T A L K S @ T H E F O R D S C H O O L
CLOSUP LECTURE SERIES
“Communities of Interest”
and Michigan’s New
Approach to Redistricting
Free and open to the public.
Reception to follow.
Information: 734-647-4091 or
closup@umich.edu
@fordschool #policytalks
Monday, November 18, 2019
4:00 - 5:20 pm
Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy
Annenberg Auditorium, 1120 Weill Hall
735 S. State Street
MODERATOR:
NANCY WANG
“My
professional
ethical
obligation
to
maintain
confidentiality and the trust
placed in me as a mental health
subject
matter
expert
are
obligations that I had kept for
my 30 years of forensic work,”
McPherson said. “That is, until
2018 — in July 2018, after fully
considering this trust and my
ethical obligations as a physician
I became a whistleblower.”
McPherson’s work focuses
on
studying
children
and
adolescents,
known
as
unaccompanied
minors
in
immigration proceedings. In
the United States, different
agencies
have
different
control
over
different
facilities, providing a range
of
complicated
bureaucratic
difficulties
for
evaluating
conditions and policies. Legally
unaccompanied minors can be
held up to 72 hours in Customs
and Patrol Border facilities,
before they are transferred to
the Department of Health and
Human Services.
“The average length of stay
for an unaccompanied minor in
a DHH facility in 2018 was 60
days,” McPherson said.
The
number
of
unaccompanied
migrant
children has been continuously
increasing since 2015, as well
as the number of immigrants
in detention centers as a whole,
according to McPherson.
“In 2018, ICE held an average
of 42,000 per day, including
an average of 2,113 in family
detention, at a cost of over
8 million dollars per day,”
McPherson said.
With many of these centers
becoming
significantly
overcrowded, McPherson and
her colleagues observed the
harmful effects on everyone,
especially children as they were
separated from their families.
“I could barely contain my
outrage,”
McPherson
said.
“I’m a child and adolescent
psychiatrist.
I’m
a
medical
doctor
who
specializes
in
helping
children
with
overwhelming
emotions.
I
help children and families be
stronger, but I was watching
them be torn apart.”
She
explained
that
with
children, the trauma of being
detained causes them to regress,
and hinders their ability to
recognize
safe
relationships
upon release. Even when their
mother or father is simply
dropping them off at school for
the day, they may feel like they
are being abandoned all over
again, and become inconsolable.
These impacts increase the
longer they are detained, and
are especially exacerbated when
the length of their detention is
unknown.
“I knew children were being
harmed, and that I should act,
but I didn’t know what to do,”
McPherson said.
Robert Sain, a community
child psychiatrist in southeast
Michigan, attended the lecture
and told The Daily he related
to
McPherson’s
experiences
through his experience working
in
Detroit
with
Mexican
immigrants.
“It takes a lot out of me because
all of these families have been
traumatized — the kids have
been traumatized, their parents
have been traumatized, it goes
on for generations,” Sain said.
“I get very frustrated with the
lack of resources, or concern, for
helping these families.”
McPherson’s colleague Scott
Allen, also an expert for CRCL,
reached out after working in
the Department of Homeland
Security together in 2014 and
they discussed their course
of action. Both were worried
about the legal repercussions of
speaking out — on themselves,
and on their families, coworkers,
employers
and
patients.
McPherson
recalled
several
people
discouraging
them,
claiming that the letter would
not affect any real change and
that it was better to stay quiet,
considering the risks.
McPherson also discussed
the dilemma over working for
an organization that causes
the
harms
she
witnessed.
Margo
Schlanger,
professor
at the University of Michigan
Law School and the former
presidentially-appointed officer
for CRCL, elaborated on the
ethics of this in an interview
with The Daily.
“The question is, is reform the
right approach, or does reform
entrench
the
problematic
institution?” Schlanger posed.
“I’m a believer in trying to
address ongoing harm while you
also try to get rid of the thing
that causes the harm.”
The
pair
sought
legal
counsel from the Government
Accountability
Project,
and
decided to write a letter to
Congress, rather than an Op-ed
as originally planned.
“The fundamental flaw of
family detention is not just the
risk posed by the conditions
of
confinement
—
it’s
the
incarceration
of
innocent
children itself,” the letter reads.
“Detention of innocent children
should never occur in a civilized
society, especially if there are
less restrictive options, because
the risk of harm to children
simply cannot be justified.”
The New York Times caught
hold of their letter, garnering
the
attention
and
support
of
14
professional
medical
organizations. The president
of the American Psychological
Association reached out to them
personally, thanking them for
their moral courage. Allen and
McPherson also received letters
from children their letter had
affected, thanking them.
“I was reminded that our
children are always watching
and listening, [and] when we
use our voice, we give them
hope and teach them that
change is possible, if we take
action,”McPherson said.
Deborah Pinals, director of
the Program in Psychiatry, Law,
and Ethics at the University,
helped introduce McPherson
and later reflected on the
importance of the lecture in an
interview with The Daily.
“In today’s climate when
there’s so much in the press
about immigration, detention,
and detention of families and
children,” Pinals said. “I think
what
was
really
important
was to hear about the ethical
dilemma
of
the
physician
working trying to improve
conditions of confinement and
then finding out that the very
conditions were harmful in and
of themselves.”
ETHICS
From Page 1
Patwardhan said 20 working
groups within GEO have built
the platform over the last seven
months. He noted the importance
of showing up to membership
meetings and bargaining-related
events over the months ahead.
State
Rep.
Yousef
Rabhi,
D-Ann Arbor, shared his support
for GEO at the rally. He said
GEO is an example of what
graduate students elsewhere can
accomplish if they unionize.
“You’re fighting for an issue
that is about the future of our
state and that is about making
sure that everyone has access to
a good-quality education,” Rabhi
said. “On behalf of the people of
the 53rd District, I want to thank
you for your work in furthering
the issue of social justice and
furthering the issues of economic
justice in our state. What you’re
doing here in Ann Arbor is setting
the stage for what can happen in
other parts of the state, too, when
graduate employees organize,
stick together and fight for their
rights.”
After the rally, the group
marched to the Michigan League,
reciting
chants
encouraging
the University to listen to their
demands. Before the bargaining
team
went
inside
to
begin
negotiations, Devlin Mallory, a
Rackham student and member of
the team, addressed the crowd.
Mallory said the likelihood of
their demands being met is tied to
GEO’s organizing. He encouraged
members
and
supporters
to
continue showing up for events
and thanked the hundreds of
union members who contributed
to the building of their platform.
“Our strength at the bargaining
table doesn’t come from rhetorical
skills or the logical soundness
of our arguments, it comes from
the power of our membership,”
Mallory said. “As the bargaining
team, we’re excited to continue
the
progress
you’ve
started
and win an equitable and just
contract.”
University spokesperson Rick
Fitzgerald wrote in an email to
The Daily negotiations between
the University and GEO will
happen twice every week going
forward.
He
characterized
Wednesday’s initial session as
“productive.”
In a written statement to The
Daily, Sascha Matish, associate
vice
provost
for
academic
affairs and senior director of
academic human resources, said
the University is committed to
working with the GEO to develop
a contract both parties can agree
upon.
“We recognize the importance
of Graduate Student Instructors
and
graduate
student
staff
assistants
to
the
academic
mission of the university and
to the academic success of our
students,” Matish wrote. “We are
committed to bargaining in good
faith with GEO to reach a fair
agreement that serves the interest
of all parties.”
GEO
From Page 1
In the conference the doctors
explained the boy’s lungs were
damaged in a way they had not
previously seen, specifically citing
shocking inflammation, scarring
and dead tissue.
“This is an evil that I haven’t
faced before,” Nemeh said.
Dr.
Lisa
Allenspach,
a
pulmonologist at Henry Ford,
said the statement the vaping
has created a real issue for the
younger generations.
“Our adolescents are really
faced with a crisis,” Allenspach
said. “There was a study released
last week that surveyed over
10,000 middle school and high
school students. And 28 percent
of high school students reported
ongoing use of e-cigarettes and 11
percent of middle school students
reported using e-cigarettes.”
Dr.
Nicholas
Yeldo,
a
cardiothoracic anesthesiologist,
said in a statement he hopes the
incident brings awareness to
the greater issue in society with
vaping.
“We are here today to beg the
public to pay special attention to
the special steps that were taken
in this case. ... I beg of you, this
was not just the unlucky one,”
Yeldo said. “This is happening
way too much to turn our heads
to this.”
The family of the boy described
him as a typical 17-year-old, who
enjoys sailing, hanging out with
friends and playing video games.
In a statement, they said they
hope to bring awareness to the
dangers associated with vaping.
“Within a short period of
time, our lives have been forever
changed. He has gone from the
typical life of a perfectly healthy
16-year-old athlete...” the family
said, “to waking up intubated and
with two new lungs, facing a long
and painful recovery process as
he struggles to regain his strength
and mobility, which has been
severely impacted.”
The teen is on the road to
recovery, but it could take months.
In a statement to the Detroit Free
Press, Nemeh explained the use
of
extracorporeal
membrane
oxygenation
to
replace
the
function of the lungs.
“He is very close to being
transferred to rehab,” Nemeh
said. “However, because he was
on the ECMO machine for almost
a month with total sedation, he is
incredibly weak.”
VAPING
From Page 1
Read more at
MichiganDaily.com
“In
creating
an
equitable
environmental
future,
you’re
talking about the environment,
which is critically important,”
Strong said. “As you do your work,
you have to be very intentional
about who is a part of the
conversation, who’s impacted by
the work.”
Strong said to work toward
achieving carbon neutrality, the
community should value inclusion
by incorporating and valuing
differences on a shared platform.
She also said the community
should take into consideration
how the past shapes the present
and
social
advantages
and
disadvantages to address equity.
“For justice to really be just,
it has to come from everybody,”
Strong said. “You learn so much
more from having these diverse
perspectives in the room.”
Missy
Stults,
Ann
Arbor
sustainability
and
innovations
manager, also spoke at the town
hall. Like Strong, Stults said the
city must work together to be
successful in achieving carbon
neutrality
and
discussed
the
initiative
to
achieve
carbon
neutrality by 2030.
Stults also revealed the logo
for the new carbon neutrality
initiative, called A2Zero.
“Carbon neutrality probably
means something to all of you …
but for many people, it doesn’t,”
Stults said. “We want people to
know they’re part of this, part of
what it is we’re talking about. This
isn’t a four month journey, this is a
10-plus year journey.”
The town hall then moved to let
attendees express their ideas and
concerns about climate neutrality
through
writing
on
various
posters hung up throughout the
event space. Topics of discussion
included
energy,
adaptation,
mobility and resource reduction.
LSA senior Kristen Hayden,
a staff member of Ann Arbor’s
Department
of
Sustainability,
told The Daily the decision to
achieve carbon neutrality by 2030
is a reaffirmation of Ann Arbor’s
commitment to being a sustainable
city.
“Carbon neutrality ties into
all facets of community living,”
Hayden said. “This is not just about
emissions and pollution but about
people and their relationship to
the community.”
Ideally, Hayden said a carbon
neutrality plan should put frontline
communities first and support
their energy and lifestyle needs
while getting the community to
zero carbon emissions.
Ann
Arbor
resident
Mary
Garton volunteers with Citizen’s
Climate
Lobby
and
Climate
Reality Project. She told The
Daily working towards carbon
neutrality is an important step
in reducing the effects of climate
change.
“Efforts need to be taken at the
city, state, county and national
levels to reduce carbon emissions,
not only because of climate
change but because of air quality
and water quality,” Garton said.
“National legislation is needed as
is state legislation, but in reality,
cities need to pick up the ball
because we’re living here and this
is where the changes will happen.”
CARBON
From Page 1