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Monday, November 25, 2019

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Faculty 
directors 
of 
the 
Semester in Detroit program, an 
initiative that allows University 
of Michigan students to study 
and intern with community-
based organizations in the city 
of Detroit, published a statement 
Tuesday questioning the ethics 
and effectiveness of the newly-
announced Detroit Center for 
Innovation. 
The 
statement 
represents the views of SiD 
directors and does not speak on 
behalf of SiD as a University and 
Residential College program. 
The 
Center, 
which 
they 
anticipate will cost upwards 
of $300 million, will provide 
teaching 
in 
subjects 
like 
technology 
and 
artificial 
intelligence to undergraduate 
and graduate students. It will 
also serve as a conference center 
and hotel in downtown Detroit. 
Plans to open the 14-acre 
center have received backlash 
from 
students 
and 
faculty 

since the announcement was 
made on Oct. 30 by University 
of Michigan President Mark 
Schlissel. 
Days 
after 
the 
announcement, 
Amytess 
Girgis, 
One 
University 
spokesperson and LSA junior, 
circulated a petition calling 
on the University to consult 
with Detroit residents before 
undertaking large development 
projects. It also criticized the 
University for building the 
Center on the site of a since-
failed Wayne County jail. 
As 
of 
publication, 
almost 
400 people have signed the 
petition. 
Tuesday’s statement was 
written 
by 
SiD 
Director 
Stephen Ward in collaboration 
with other SiD faculty and poses 
four questions to the University 
related to the funding of the 
Center and the impact the 
project will have on Detroit 
residents. 

CAMPUS LIFE

Sunrise Movement activists occupy 
US Rep. Dingell’s office in protest

Staged sit-in advocates for Green New Deal, urges to fight climate change

ANCHAL MALH
For The Daily

Approximately 
200 
people 
attended a panel Friday entitled, 
“Who is Xi: A Chinese Political 
Saga of the New Era.” The event 
focused on Xi Jinping, the current 
leader of China and was hosted by 
the Michigan China Forum, a non-
profit student organization that 
seeks to empower future leaders 
in the U.S. and China to excel on a 
global landscape.
The event started off with an 
introduction 
of 
the 
panelists: 
associate professor of Public Policy 
Ann Lin, Public Policy professor 
Alan Deardorff, Weiser Center 
for Emerging Democracies fellow 
Jundai Liu and Political Science 
professor Mary Gallagher. After 
talking 
about 
their 
academic 
backgrounds, the panelists jumped 
into a discussion of several topics. 
The 
panelists 
discussed 
President Xi and his methods of 
reshaping contemporary Chinese 
politics. Lin explained how Xi came 
to power. For a long time before 
2013, there was a lack of central 
power in China, she said. Lin 
believed Xi was a very influential 
leader for China in that he was 
able to guide China’s growth and 
trigger significant change during a 
time of stagnation.

Panel looks 
at policies 
of Chinese 
President

GLOBAL POLITICS

‘Who is Xi’ examines 
socialism, economy of 
current administration

NEETI BHUTADA
For The Daily

RYAN LITTLE/Daily
Sunrise Movement activists hold a sit-in inside US Rep. Debbie Dingell’s office to advocate for the Green New Deal Friday.

The University of Michigan’s 
Outlaws 
and 
OUTreach 
student 
organizations 
hosted 
“#TransMatters in Law,” at the 
Trotter Multicultural Center on 
Friday. The event discussed the 
current status of name changes, 
gender markers and current law 
related to transgender rights.
The 
event 
started 
with 
an 
overview of the name-changing 
process of an individual in Michigan, 
which involves five major steps: filing 
a petition, going through fingerprint 
and 
background 
checks, 
filing 
required documents, publication of 
the name change in legal journals 
and attending a hearing. 
Law School student Richard 
Phillips is a member of OUTreach, 
a law-student-run, pro bono project 
team aimed at advocating for LGBTQ 
rights. Phillips explained the current 
state of name changing in Michigan. 
 
“I think there is this idea that 
doing legal changes and taking 
control of your own identity and 
changing something as intimate as 
your own name is something that 
one can do easily,” Phillips said. “But 
as you will find, with even just some 
cursory research, you will find that 
there is this convoluted process, and 
it cost a lot of money.”

Student organizations 
discuss current status of 
name changes, process

JIALIN ZHANG
Daily Staff Reporter

Program directors question recently 
announced U-M innovation project

LIAT WEINSTEIN
Daily Staff Reporter

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INDEX
Vol. CXXIX, No. 34
©2019 The Michigan Daily

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A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 B
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Activists 
from 
Sunrise 
Movement Ann Arbor, a group 
focused on climate change and 
committed to garnering support 
for the Green New Deal, occupied 
the office of U.S. Rep. Debbie 
Dingell, D-Ann Arbor, in Ypsilanti 
on Friday. About 50 students and 
community members participated 
in the sit-in which began at about 
4:30 p.m. They sang, chanted 

and shared stories about why the 
Green New Deal matters to them. 
Dingell was not present. After 
about two hours, a majority of 
protesters left, but a smaller group 
who said they were willing to 
take an “escalated risk” spent the 
night in her office. On Saturday, 
three of these protesters were 
arrested at about 2:15 p.m. 
Sunrise Movement Ann Arbor 
protesters have staged multiple 
sit-ins at Dingell’s office asking 
her to co-sponsor the Green 

New Deal, a resolution to fight 
climate change and economic 
inequality first introduced by 
U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-
Cortez, D-N.Y., and Sen. Edward 
Markey, 
D-Mass. 
Sunrise 
protesters initially met with 
Dingell in February to urge her 
to sign on, staging their first sit-in 
at her office last April and again 
this September. Dingell was not 
present at either protest and has 
not given a definitive response on 
whether she plans to sponsor the 

resolution. 
Although 
she 
is 
not 
a 
Green New Deal sponsor as 
of publication, Dingell has not 
been inactive in the fight against 
climate change. On Thursday, 
Dingell introduced the 100% 
Clean Economy Act of 2019, 
legislation setting a nationwide 
goal of achieving 100 percent 
clean energy economy with net-
zero climate pollution by 2050.

Palestinian-American activist 
speaks on intersectional feminism 

Arab Student Association hosts Linda Sarsour for discussion on identity

RYAN LITTLE/Daily
Palestinian-American activist Linda Sarsour speaks on intersectional feminism at Rackham Auditorium Friday.

ANGELINA LITTLE
Daily Staff Reporter 

SeeNEW DEAL PAGE 2A

Read more at 
MichiganDaily.com

Palestinian American political 
activist 
Linda 
Sarsour 
joined 
students on Friday as a part of the 
Arab Student Association’s Focus 
Week to discuss issues in the Arab 
community. Sarsour’s talk was the 
last event of the club’s Focus Week 
and touched upon feminism in Arab 
communities. About 100 students 
gathered in Rackham’s Auditorium 
on Friday night for the event. 
Sarsour hails from Brooklyn, 
New York, and identifies as an Arab, 
Muslim and Palestinian woman. 
During her talk, she discussed the 
importance of her identity and how 

all of her identities intertwine to 
make her the woman she is today. 
She also talked about how each 
identity intersects to influence her 
work as a political activist. 
Sarsour was the co-chair of 
the Women’s March in 2017 in 
Washington D.C. During the event 
at Rackham, she told the audience 
her perspective on becoming a 
representative for the Arab and 
Muslim community in America. 
Sarsour said when she joined the 
committee, it became a goal for 
her to ensure all of the groups she 
identifies with were heard during 
the event. 
“I had a pact to make and this is 
what women of color do,” Sarsour 

said. “If I’m on the table, I pull up 
chairs to the table that I’m at. It 
was my opportunity to say, ‘Who 
do I bring to the table from the 
communities that I come from?’” 
Sarsour also said through her 
work with the march she wanted to 
challenge stereotypes surrounding 
Muslim-American women.
“(The March is) figuring out 
how to kind of reintroduce what 
Muslim-American 
and 
Arab-
American women are, and that we 
too have a seat at the table when it 
comes to what feminism looks like,” 
Sarsour said.
Dentistry student Maya Youness 
told The Daily she was excited 
to get to hear Sarsour speak. She 

said her biggest takeaway from 
Friday’s event was learning not to 
sugarcoat the problems in different 
communities. 
“Don’t compensate,” Youness 
said. “Talk about things the way 
they are.” 
Sarsour 
said 
feminism 
in 
Western culture is often limited to 
a Caucasian perspective and leaves 
out what women of color experience. 
Sarsour explained white women 
often feel uncomfortable when she 
begins to discuss political and social 
conflict that affect women of color 
and their communities. 

Semester in 
Detroit calls 
out ‘U’ on new 
center, ethics

