“I felt that two things
couldn’t be true at the
same time,” Zipursky said.
“I wish I could tell myself
that the joy I was feeling
was real, and just because I
was having fun didn’t mean
I wasn’t taking what I had
been through and my pain
seriously … We are allowed
to feel all of it and to feel
fully alive, whatever that
means for us.”
Zipursky
said
some
survivors
feel
they
are
incapable
of
developing
meaningful
connections
during the healing process,
such as through friendship
or a romantic partner. She
said helping others is a
community effort between
survivors and allies.
“Community is a source
of resiliency and healing,”
Zipursky said.
Zipursky said healing is
different for each survivor
due to a variety of factors,
including
socioeconomic
status,
sexuality,
race
and
gender.
She
said
prescriptive advice can lead
to a singular sexual assault
narrative being accepted,
and those who do not relate
to that experience or set of
identities can feel silenced.
“I am a cis white hetero
woman from a great deal
of financial and economic
privilege,
and
I
was
harmed by a cis man,”
Zipursky
said.
“That
follows a specific narrative
of survivorship. This is the
narrative that gets told
most. I have friends whose
story doesn’t follow this
same narrative and feel very
invalidated … Especially
when it comes to people
who are survivors who are
queer and/or trans. There
is this thing that happens
due
to
homophobia
and transphobia in our
country,
especially
for
child sex abuse survivors,
people
will
pathologize
survivors.”
Zipurksy also explained
how
the
#MeToo
movement
has
impacted
how survivors who are
privately coping perceive
their trauma.
“I see it a lot with
sharing our stories and
being a public survivor,”
Zipursky said. “Especially
in this moment in time, in
this
particular
iteration
of Tarana Burke’s MeToo
movement, we see a lot
of public survivors who
are being exalted as being
courageous and brave, and
it is having an unintended
effect of having survivors
who feel that doesn’t feel
that is part of their healing
journey feel less brave.”
In an interview with The
Daily after the event, LSA
senior Nicole Ireland said
she enjoyed the discussion
about using sex as a method
for reclaiming a sense of
control over one’s body.
“I like to hear about how
sex can be used in a positive
way and to take back your
bodily
autonomy,
just
having that control over
the choices you make and
how that can be helpful for
those who have felt their
choice has been taken away
in the past,” Ireland said.
LSA senior Celine Roest
said events such as these
are
crucial
to
creating
a
supportive
campus
environment.
“This is something that
is so prevalent in the news
and the media that we get,”
Roest said. “Bringing in
experts who can break it
down for us and answer
our specific questions is so
helpful.”
In an email to The Daily,
University
spokesperson
Rick Fitzgerald confirmed on
Tuesday that the president’s
office had received the letter
and that Schlissel would
respond directly to Climate
Blue once he had time to
review it.
In
the
letter,
Climate
Blue asks the University to
drop its charges against the
arrested climate advocacy
protestors who sought a
meeting with Schlissel at
the Fleming Administrative
Building on March 15, 2019.
Rackham student Akash
Shah, one of the co-directors
of
Climate
Blue
and
a
delegate at COP 25, said she
does not feel the group’s
requests are unreasonable.
“What we’re asking for
is not unreasonable,” Shah
said.
“We’re
asking
for
something that is important
for
us
and
for
future
generations.
So,
I
think
it’s wrong to punish us for
making these demands. And
I think that the University
should continue to provide
a platform where we can
express our views.”
According
to
Rackham
student Juan Jhong Chung,
who
participated
in
the
protests at COP 25, the
movement was a peaceful
demonstration
led
by
activists who felt their voices
were
excluded,
despite
climate change having a
disproportionate impact on
them. Jhong Chung claimed
the U.N. called security and
the Spanish police to remove
them from the conference
as they were protesting how
large oil companies had a
voice in the negotiations.
“It was really frustrating
to see politicians bend over
backwards to appease big
polluters
like
Chevron,
Exxon and BP and make
them
be
a
part
of
the
solution to climate change
when these companies have
not even acknowledged that
they are the main culprits
of these problems,” Jhong
Chung said.
Rackham student Alexa
White said this was her third
time attending the COP. She
said the idea to write the
letter to the administration
came
about
during
the
second week of COP 25 when
the member countries were
struggling to make progress
in the negotiations.
“Week-two delegates were
very interested in what we
could do on a larger scale,”
White said. “So, most of
the stakeholders and the
things that we were doing
were … not as impactful for
the administration of the
University … we just thought
we want U-M to respond with
urgency as it was presented
at the convention.”
Jhong Chung said while
the 13 delegates collectively
wrote the letter, he said he
worked to include specific
recommendations
for
the
University to divest from all
fossil fuel investments and
to center carbon neutrality
efforts around social justice.
“The connection between
indigenous
people
and
climate change is highly
interrelated,” Jhong Chung
said. “The fact that we have
taken their land, the fact
that so many construction
projects of fossil fuels or
other
natural
resources
are in indigenous people’s
lands are part of why we are
currently in this crisis.”
Bill
McAllister,
general
manager
of
transportation
at the University, noted they
also chose to partner with
Clever
Devices
because
many area transit agencies in
southeastern Michigan use the
same technology.
“It gives us a lot of synergy
with these other organizations
so we can pool our resources
together to troubleshoot items,
and also be competitive when
we ask for new features and
things that we want to see from
Clever Devices,” McAllister
said. “We are much stronger
stakeholders being together
like that.”
Michael
Berg,
a
Music,
Theatre & Dance and LSA
junior, said he uses the bus
almost every day, and the
change to U-M Magic Bus has
made planning trips to and
from North Campus easier.
“Overall, the new bus app is
an improvement,” Berg said.
“A greater proportion of blue
buses overall are displayed in
the new app versus the old one,
which makes a big difference,
because you can’t plan for
new buses that you can’t see.
Also, the estimated arrival
times in the new systems are
much more accurate than in
DoubleMap.”
According to Transportation
Senior
Supervisor
Michael
Denemy,
the
increased
visibility of buses on the map
is the result of drivers logging
into the Magic Bus system for
their shifts.
“In
the
current
system,
it’s a several-year-old tablet
on
a
vehicle
that
doesn’t
necessarily
update
in
real
time,” Denemy said. “So, if it’s
not communicating correctly
to the server, then your vehicle
isn’t going to correctly pop up
on the map. In the new system,
it’s
all
handled
internally,
so we shouldn’t see many
instances of that anymore.”
Denemy said the Magic Bus
system utilizes a prediction
algorithm that considers the
route, schedule database and
real-time
vehicle
location
data,
helping
increase
the
app’s accuracy.
“In the past, DoubleMap
did not consider the schedule
information or the historical
data,” Denemy said. “Now it’s
tied in there. It knows what
the trips are, it knows what
bus is performing that trip, so
it can better predict where the
vehicle is going to be, where
the vehicle is intending to be.
It also stores that information
over the past 30 days or so. It’s
a weighted average to make
that even more accurate than
it currently is, because it will
take in real traffic patterns
over the course of a month.”
Despite the perks, Berg still
thinks the app has much to
improve.
“The new app is still a bit
clunky,” Berg said. “It doesn’t
open directly to the live map,
which I think for students,
that’s the feature they use most.
It’s not terribly responsive,
and the bus positions don’t
update
terribly
frequently,
which makes it hard to tell if
you’re viewing buses live or
viewing buses that were there
when you closed it hours ago.”
LSA
freshman
Rachel
Himmel
downloaded
the
app so she could familiarize
herself with it before the
official transition.
“I’ve
definitely
noticed
some
problems
with
it,”
Himmel said. “Sometimes, I’ll
check it whenever (the bus is)
12 minutes out. When I check
it again five minutes later, and
whenever I try to do it and
load the exact same thing I had
previously done, it will tell me
that there’s an error and that
they’re experiencing technical
difficulties right now.”
Babut said when the U-M
Magic
Bus
app
was
first
released, many of the users’
difficulties were caused by
planned system outages. Babut
said he values the community
input on the app.
“We do welcome feedback
and acknowledge that all apps
are different, and we continue
to listen to feedback,” Babut
said. “It seems like the most
consistent
feedback
we’re
hearing is improving the rate
that the bus refreshes on the
app to provide a more fluid
experience. We’ve heard that,
and we’ve recognized that
feedback, and we’re working
with the supplier to improve
that frequency.”
JSAN
encouraged
scholars and educators from
colleges
and
universities
across the world to sign
the letter in support of
condemning
Trump’s
executive order. More than
100 names are attached to
the letter, including faculty
and staff at the University
such as Veidlinger, Karla
Goldman,
Sam
Shuman,
Anita Norich, Rachel Rafael
Neis and Shachar Pinsker.
Lila
Corwin
Berman,
Temple University history
professor and member of
the
JSAN
coordinating
committee,
said
the
order specifically targets
students who have origins
tied to Israel, including
Palestinian
and
Muslim
students. Berman discussed
the necessity of learning
about
the
histories
and
the
conflicts
related
to
Israel, which she said will
be hindered as the order is
implemented in college and
university campuses.
“Suddenly,
there
are
people who feel like they
don’t want to touch it, they
don’t want to get involved,”
Berman said. “You have
this area of study that is
incredibly
important
to
think
about
historically,
to think about politically,
economically, in all these
lenses that academia can
bring, that people are going
to feel like they can’t talk
about it or they will face
consequences.
And
that
some people, by virtue of
their identity, be seen as
suspects already for this.”
National Jewish affinity
groups
have
differed
in
their response to the order.
While
critics
question
if Trump is using it as a
political tool to lure in
Jewish support, prominent
organizations such as the
Anti-Defamation
League
and
American
Jewish
Committee have released
statements supporting the
order.
The AJC noted it will
continue
to
speak
out
against
any
“rational
criticism” of Israel, though
it does not see this order
as an attempt to stifle free
speech.
“We trust that a careful
application of this directive
will
enable
university
administrators
to
avoid
running afoul of free speech
protections as they seek to
root out anti-Semitism on
their campuses,” AJC CEO
David Harris wrote in a
statement.
Students, faculty split
on potential impacts of
order
In addition to noting his
department will not make
any
changes
because
of
the order, Veidlinger said
the order has no practical
purpose, besides signaling
to
academia
that
they
are being watched by the
government.
“I think they recognize
that universities promote
liberal values of tolerance,
diversity
—
and
those
values are an anathema to
the current government,”
Veidliner said.
LSA
sophomore
David
Zwick,
president
of
Wolverines
for
Israel,
acknowledged
that
academic
overreach
by
the federal government is
a prominent concern but
said anti-Semitism was a
problem that many Jewish
students face.
“Students
feel
frankly
scared
to
walk
around
wearing symbols of Judaism
publicly, like a yamaka or a
Star of David, on some of the
most diverse campuses that
we have, not only diverse but
one of the most prestigious
college campuses in this
country,” Zwick said.
Goldman,
a
professor
of
Judaic
studies
and
program director of Jewish
Communal Leadership who
signed the JSAN letter, said
the executive order may feel
unsettling for many in the
Jewish community because
she believes singling out
Jewish people may lead to
increased anti-Semitism.
“We discussed this in
class,
this
blurriness
of
what Jewish identity is in
general,”
Goldman
said.
“It’s not just a religion, it’s
not just a culture, it’s not
just a peoplehood. But these
things, like nationality or
race, are just very clumsy
fits, as well as religion.
Those
are
categories
that our culture gives us
that aren’t great fits for
describing an identity that
has lots of facets and means
different things to different
people.”
After the executive order
was signed, students and
activist groups on campus
alternatively praised and
criticized the move.
Social
Work
student
Simeon Adler is currently in
the first year of the Jewish
Communal
Leadership
Program.
Adler
said
Trump’s
decision
may
further
alienate
Jewish
students.
“It singles out the Jews
themselves, which I think a
lot of Jews on campus and in
general are really skeptical
about, and a little cautious
about,” Adler said. “This
whole idea of labeling us as
a nationality has people a
little uneasy.”
Students
also
acknowledged
that
the
order will influence the
academic freedom of faculty
teaching about Israel.
LSA
senior
Silan
Fadlallah, who took The
Arab-Israeli
Conflict
in
Middle Eastern Literature
and Film, noted that the
executive
order
could
have
a
negative
impact
on
discussions
in
the
classroom, specifically for
Palestinian students.
“Some
Palestinian
students, specifically, may
feel a little less encouraged
to be able to participate in
these types of discussions
for
fear
of
being
anti-
Semitic,”
Fadlallah
said.
“Personally,
I
have
no
problem
speaking
out
about it and standing up for
myself, but I know a lot of
students would take a step
back because of that.”
Deborah
Dash
Moore,
Frederick
G.L.
Huetwell
professor
of
history,
currently teaches several
courses related to Jewish
history and culture. Moore
said she will focus her
classes more on the history
and methods of combating
anti-Semitism.
“That approach I will
probably pay a little more
attention to because those
are efforts to dismantle
the practice of anti-Semitic
discrimination by explicitly
calling
upon
American
ideals,
rather
than
grounding it in definitions
of what constitutes as anti-
Semitism,” Moore said.
Moore’s classes examine
the
history
of
Zionism,
which
Israel’s
Ministry
of Foreign Affairs defines
as
“an
ideology
which
expresses the yearning of
Jews the world over for
their historical homeland —
Zion, the Land of Israel.”
Similar
to
Cheney-
Lippold, Fadlallah raised
concerns that anti-Zionism
could be considered anti-
Semitism when they are not
the same.
“Just because you are
against the state of Israel,
that does not mean you are
against
Jewish
people,”
Fadlallah said.
According
to
Zwick,
there are two main types
of discussion surrounding
Israel. The first is fair,
just
criticism
of
Israel
similar to how any person
could
criticize
the
U.S.
However, in Zwick’s eyes,
the second type — criticism
that
disproportionately
scrutinizes
Israel
—
is
unhealthy.
Zwick
thinks
that pro-Palestinian groups
are sometimes unable to
distinguish between those
discussions.
“Their
claim
that
is
that their free speech is
being stifled, specifically
disproportionately
being
stifled, I think that’s also
ridiculous,”
Zwick
said.
“The reason I say that is
because what they accuse
us of doing is conflating
criticism
of
Israel
and
anti-Semitism, but really,
it’s really they who are
conflating it.”
Education junior Diana
Yassin has taken History
244: The History of the
Arab-Israeli Conflict and
Political Science 353: The
Arab-Israeli Conflict. She
said the courses were taught
with a pro-Israeli focus.
“I really don’t agree with
the ways these classes are
taught often just because
I feel like it really neglects
a lot of the Palestinian
perspective
and
really
puts a lot of blame on
Palestinians,” Yassin said.
Zwick, however, said he
has not witnessed any bias
in
the
Middle
Eastern-
focused
classes
that
he
has taken. He noted anti-
Semitic
teachings
might
not always happen in the
topics strictly pertaining to
Middle Eastern or Judaic
studies.
“A lot of the issues of
anti-Semitism come from
classes that are completely
irrelevant
to
this
topic,
oftentimes in departments
that
you
wouldn’t
even
imagine this would come
up,” Zwick said. “Go and ask
so many pro-Israel students
on this campus … they will
be painfully familiar with
instances on this campus
and/or on other campuses
of
teachers
using
the
classroom as a platform
to
promote
anti-Semitic
movements against Israel.”
Goldman
said
universities
should
be
places
for
encouraging
conversations
and
broadening
perspectives,
and this order undermines
that goal. Because of this,
Goldman
said
she
sees
the order as a threat to
academic freedom.
“Most of us are here
because we want to have
access to voice, to financial
security — these things
that a university can help
provide — to legitimacy,”
Goldman said. “Our hopes
— our ideals — are that it’s a
place for opening discourse,
rather
than
shutting
it
down. And that’s why this
(executive order) feels bad.”
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Wednesday, February 12, 2020 — 3
LETTER
From Page 1A
ORDER
From Page 2
Rosenfeld discussed his
predictions of what would
happen
moving
forward
from
Hitler’s
theoretical
assassination.
“And over the next few
years, I argue two million
Jews are going to be shipped
to Palestine, largely thanks
to the efforts of French
German and Romania is the
Navy’s of French France,
Germany
and
Romania,”
Rosenfeld said.
After
Rosenfeld
spoke,
University professors Devi
Mays and Jeffrey Veidlinger
began
a
discussion
that
focused largely on the duty
of historians to follow in
Rosenfeld’s
footsteps
and
consider
alternatives
to
certain histories.
“I was very convinced by
the case you made in the
introduction to your book,”
Mays
said
to
Rosenfeld.
“There is something very
valuable
for
historians
in
doing
counterfactual
history. There are multiple
things that are valuable.”
When Ann Arbor resident
Ted Beimoel heard about
this seminar, he said he
was interested in learning
more about the “what ifs” of
Jewish history and decided
to attend.
“This
seemed
like
an
interesting
alternative
history,”
Beimoel
said.
“Other than that, I don’t
really know a lot about this
topic.”
LSA senior Maya Tinoco is
a Judaic studies minor and
is taking the class “Jews in
the Modern World: Texts,
Images, Ideas.” Tinoco said
the students in this class
were encouraged to attend
the event to learn more
about Jewish history and
what it could have been.
“I
thought
this
topic
would be really interesting,”
Tinoco said. “‘What if’ is
a really big topic in life in
general, specifically, in this
sort of history. It’s very
interesting, like ‘what ifs’
could change a lot of the
trajectory of history.”
HISTORY
From Page 1
APP
From Page 1
SAPAC
From Page 1