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Ann Arbor, Michigan
Monday, November 18, 2019
ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-NINE YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
Statement made
Michigan runs away from its
in-state rival, 44-10, sending
Michigan State into further
despair in a disastrous year.
» Page 1B
More than 100 Ann Arbor
residents and students marched
Sunday to raise awareness
about
affordable
housing
issues in the city. Gathering
initially in Liberty Plaza, many
members of the group spoke
about their personal housing
experiences and urged others
to contact their representatives
about housing issues.
According to the Washtenaw
General Defense Committee,
rent went up 15 percent in the
last year alone in some areas of
the city. Two different reports
from this August confirmed
Ann
Arbor’s
skyrocketing
rents, with a year-over-year
rent increase of 15.9 percent.
The committee also said about
80,000 individuals commute
to Ann Arbor as there isn’t
affordable
housing
closer
to their point of work. The
University of Michigan also
has a large effect on this issue,
as every year the number
of students trying to find
off-campus
housing
grows,
according to the Washtenaw
General Defense Committee.
Several
different
social
activism groups participated
in the march. The Washtenaw
General Defense Committee,
Interfaith
Council
for
Peace
&
Justice,
Journey
of Faith Christian Church,
Poor People’s Campaign of
Washtenaw County and Huron
Valley Democratic Socialists of
America all had representatives
present. Rackham student Meg
Berkobien,
co-chair
of
the
Huron Valley DSA, said housing
affordability is a systemic issue
that needs to be addressed.
“This is a systemic problem,
and
so
it
takes
systemic
answers,
right.
Coming
together, that’s exactly what
this is about.
STUDENT GOVERNMENT
Panelists voice concerns over hiring
practices in A/PIA studies program
Scott Kurishage, Emily Lawsin to appear in court in December after lawsuit
IULIA DOBRIN
For The Daily
The University of Michigan
Veteran and Military Services
organized and hosted a Women
in the Military panel Friday. The
six panelists, all female veterans,
spoke as part of the University
Veteran’s Week to an audience of
about 25 students, veterans and
other members of the Ann Arbor
community.
Jan Malaikal, a veteran who
served in the U.S. Army for 20
years, moderated the panel. She
began by asking the panelists to
introduce themselves, give a brief
overview of their service and
talk about why they joined the
military.
Jennifer Lamb, who served
as a mortar ballistic computer
weapons specialist and a supply
officer for the U.S. Marine Corps,
talked about how she was the first
woman in history to cross the
Arctic Circle in a rigid rubber raft,
and only the third woman ever to
be trained in her profession. She
said she joined the military to
fund her college education.
“I joined because I was poor,”
she said. “The military does help
pay for college. So, I was in the
Marine Corps reserves so I
could finish my college.”
Female vets
reflect on
role within
the military
GOVERNMENT
Women in U.S. armed
forces discuss challenges
in training, stereotypes
SUNSKRITI PARANJAPE
For The Daily
EMMA MATI/Daily
Former U-M professor Scott Kurashige and lecturer Emily Lawsin discuss corrupt structural practices at the University regarding administrative and sexual misconduct
policies at the #UMICHIsComplicit Town Hall at Weill Hall Sunday evening.
On Friday morning, LSA
freshman Adam Grimes visited
the University of Michigan
Counseling and Psychological
Services website to make an
appointment with a campus
counselor. His wait time was
13 days. On that same day, LSA
sophomore Andrew Goldman
received a wait time of 23 days.
“That means that if right now
you felt as though you needed
to talk to someone here at this
university regarding a mental
health issue or some other issue
you have — you want to go to
talk to someone you can trust
to give you good advice — you
have to wait all the way until
mid-December,
right
around
finals,” Goldman said. “That’s
absolutely unacceptable for any
student to have to wait that
long.”
Mental health and student
input
were
major
agendas
on policy platforms at the
LSA
Student
Government
representative
candidates’
forum on Friday. According to
LSA senior Lorraine Furtado,
LSA SG elections director, the
13 candidates are currently
uncontested.
13 positions discuss
issues including mental
health, transportation
AYSE ELDES
For The Daily
Activism groups draw attention to
issue in march through downtown
COOPER CLARK
For The Daily
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INDEX
Vol. CXXIX, No. 30
©2019 The Michigan Daily
N E WS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
O PI N I O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
CROSSWORD................6
M I C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 B
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LSA student
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University of Michigan students,
faculty and community members
discussed
discrimination
and
“sham” investigations at the “UM:
Corruption, Complicity, Coverups”
town hall in Weill Hall Sunday night.
The event was hosted by UMich is
Complicit: a movement dedicated
to combating discriminatory hiring
practices and sexual misconduct
policies at the University.
The
panel
featured
Scott
Kurashige, former director of the
Asian/Pacific Islander American
Studies
Program
and
tenured
professor at U-M, and his partner
Emily Lawsin, a lecturer in the
departments of Women’s Studies
and American Culture. They filed
a discrimination lawsuit against
the University under the Michigan
Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act in
December 2016.
Kurashige is now a professor
at the University of Washington.
He said he was removed from his
position as the director of the A/
PIA Studies Program, and while his
tenure prevented him from being
fired, the University pressured him
to quit.
“While I was here, I was an
advocate for students who had faced
different types of discrimination
or assault,” Kurashige said. “In
response,
I
faced
retaliation,
harassment. In essence, I was forced
to quit under threats and harassment
by administrators at this University.”
Lawsin
was
up
for
her
employment review in 2017 —
every few years, lecturers undergo
standard performance reviews. She
said she expected her contract to be
renewed, as she had been working at
the University since 2000. However,
both departments she works in
decided not to renew her contract.
She then submitted a rebuttal
letter
to
the
LSA
Executive
Committee.
Annual IASA show highlights
cultural dances at Michigan Theater
‘Kahaani’ features 240 student performers from hip hop to bhangra
RYAN LITTLE/Daily
Members of the Indian American Student Association participate in the annual IASA performance titled “Kahaani” at the Michigan Theater.
EMMA STEIN
Daily Staff Reporter
See A/PIA PAGE 2A
Read more at
MichiganDaily.com
On Friday night, the Indian
American Student Association put
on its annual cultural dance show
at the Michigan Theater. This
year’s show, titled “Kahaani: The
Tale of Our Time,” featured more
than 250 participants performing
for a sold-out audience. The show
featured 10 dances showcasing
a variety of styles, ranging from
traditional Bhangra and South
Indian dances, to Bollywood and
hip hop.
“Kahaani,”
which
means
“story,” was chosen as the show’s
theme by the show coordinators
and
show
core
team.
LSA
senior Karthik Pittala, IASA
co-president, talked about the
reasons behind the theme.
“They wanted to sort of make
it like a story, so we have ups
and downs in terms of tempo
or musicality trying to make it
dynamic as much as possible,”
Pittala said. “I think it’s just
something that resonated with all
of us.”
As co-presidents, Pittala and
LSA senior Sanjna Chokshi were
in charge of communicating with
the leadership team and the rest
of the IASA members, as well as
engaging with other organizations
on campus such as the United
Asian American Organizations
and Michigan Sahānā.
“We’re like the groundwork,
and then everyone else can build
their ideas based on some of our
suggestions,” Pittala said.
IASA also partners with a
charity each year to help raise
money and promote their cause.
This year’s community service
partner was Sakhi for South
Asian Women, a New York-based
charity that unites “survivors,
communities, and institutions to
eradicate gender-based violence
and form healthy communities.”
After the dancers of the
“Village”
performance
left
the stage in their traditional
costumes, taking with them the
aviator sunglasses they put on in
the middle of the dance, the show
took a brief pause from the high
energy and humor of the dances to
play a video about Sakhi’s mission
and impact.
As one of the community
service chairs for IASA, LSA
sophomore Jhanvi Garg was
involved with picking out the
charity for the season and creating
events throughout the year that
align with Sakhi’s values.
A2 residents
call for more
affordability
in city housing