Former U.S. President Donald 

Trump hosted a “Save America” rally 

at the Macomb Community College 

Sports & Expo Center in Warren, 

Mich. on Oct. 1 to campaign for 

Michigan Republican gubernatorial 

candidate Tudor Dixon and other 

Republican politicians running for 

election on Nov. 8. 

Trump took the stage to speak 

about his concerns over the security 

of American elections. Over the 

course of a nearly two-hour speech, 

he repeated unfounded claims of 

voter fraud and asserted that he was 

the legitimate winner of the 2020 

presidential election.

“Who would have thought our 

elections are so rigged and broken?” 

Trump said. “I don’t believe we’ll 

ever have a fair election again.” 

Trump also spoke about the 

Russian 
invasion 
in 
Ukraine, 

stating that it was a result of Biden’s 

administration and claimed the 

war would have been avoided under 

Trump’s 
‘America 
First’ 
policy 

that prioritized nationalism and 

isolationism. 

“Look at what we’ve been through 

together,” Trump said. “Russia, 

Russia, Russia, Ukraine, Ukraine, 

Ukraine — it never would have 

happened if I was president.” 

As Trump turned to discussing the 

impending gubernatorial election, 

he further criticized Michigan Gov. 

Gretchen Whitmer, who is running 

for reelection this November. Trump 

spoke on his issues with Whitmer’s 

policies on COVID-19, crime and 

abortion 
before 
reaffirming 
his 

support for Dixon’s campaign. 

“(Dixon) will fight for Michigan 

families like no one has ever fought 

before,” Trump said. “She’s a great 

person. We introduced her at my last 

rally up here, and she took off like a 

rocket ship.”

Republican 
gubernatorial 

candidate 
Tudor 
Dixon 
also 

addressed 
the 
thousands 
of 

attendees Saturday evening, calling 

attention to the Democrat-funded 

advertisements 
targeting 
Dixon’s 

anti-abortion stance. Dixon said 

Whitmer 
“stretches 
the 
truth” 

because she would not have the 

power to revoke abortion rights as 

governor. This decision, Dixon said, 

will be up to Michigan residents in 

voting on the Reproductive Freedom 

For All ballot initiative set to appear 

in the upcoming midterm election.

“(Democrats) have spent nearly 

$23 million going after me,” Dixon 

said. “You might have seen some 

of the ads saying that I’m pro-life. 

Again, ‘Stretchin’ Gretchen’ is out 

there saying that I’m going to be able 

to do something about that issue in 

the state. You all know it’s on the 

ballot, it’s been decided by a judge.”

Abortion rights have become 

a hot topic for this November’s 

election after The U.S. Supreme 

Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 

June, a court case that had previously 

established a constitutional right to 

abortion access nationwide. Dixon 

has said she opposes all abortions, 

including in cases of rape and incest, 

except when necessary to save the 

life of the pregnant person.

In 
the 
state 
of 
Michigan, 

abortions are still protected under a 

preliminary injunction that blocks 

a 1931 ban on abortions. Michigan 

voters will decide in the November 

general election whether to approve 

the 
Reproductive 
Freedom 
for 

All 
amendment, 
which 
would 

codify abortion rights in the state 

constitution.

Dixon 
won 
the 
Republican 

primary for governor in August 

following a last-minute endorsement 

from Trump on July 29. Dixon 

defeated four other GOP candidates, 

receiving 41.5% of the Republican 

vote in Michigan. Dixon has also 

been endorsed by the DeVos family, 

the 
Police 
Officers 
Association 

of Michigan and the Michigan 

Chamber of Commerce. 

During the primaries, Dixon 

outraised the other four Republican 

candidates 
for 
governor, 
and 

according 
to 
her 
most 
recent 

campaign finance report, she has 

reached an end balance of just under 

$524,000. In comparison, Whitmer 

has an end balance of over $14 

million. 

Dixon criticized Whitmer for her 

stance on supporting the “spirit” to 

defund the police amid increasing 

attention to police brutality and 

racial injustice in 2020. In addition, 

Dixon 
condemned 
Whitmer’s 

response to the COVID-19 pandemic, 

to which the crowd erupted in chants 

of ‘lock her up!’ The chant was an 

echo from Trump’s campaign rallies 

in 2016, when he ran against Hillary 

Clinton, former Secretary of State 

and Democratic opponent. 

“ 
This is the woman who knelt on 

the ground with people who held up 

signs that said ‘Defund the police,’ 

and then she said she supports the 

spirit of (defunding) the police,” 

Dixon said. “Are you going to let 

her get away with these lies today? 

… We are going to protect our law 

enforcement officers. We are going to 

make sure we stand behind our law 

enforcement officers.”

In her closing remarks, Dixon said 

she would work toward her campaign 

promises on public education, crime 

and economic security. 

“We 
are 
American, 
we 
are 

Michiganders, no one holds us 

down,” Dixon said. “We will make 

sure our schools will be the top 

schools in the nation. We will make 

sure that our cities are the safest 

cities in the country. And we will 

make sure that businesses are dying 

to get in here and (for) the businesses 

that we have, we will help them 

expand and grow.” 

Waterford resident Stephen Dail, 

student at Anderson University in 

Indiana, said he attended the rally 

with his girlfriend and her mother 

to show support for the Republican 

candidates running in Michigan. 

Dail said he supported the Trump 

administration during his time in 

office as well as former Michigan 

Gov. Rick Snyder’s tenure, and hopes 

to see Dixon elected this November. 

“I love obviously what Trump did 

and our previous governor before 

— he did a great job,” Dail said. “I 

think (Dixon) has the potential to 

be very good and take the state in a 

good direction because obviously the 

governor now has done nothing but 

drag us down.”

Undergraduate students at the 

University of Michigan Ross School 

of Business use a lot of paper.

In 
several 
of 
their 
classes, 

business students are required to 

print out lecture slides, practice 

problems and notes if they want to 

use them in class. The Michigan 

Daily obtained a copy of the lecture 

slides business juniors have been 

asked to print out for their core 

classes thus far this semester, which 

are released before the start of each 

class. If the average number of pages 

per week stays relatively stable, The 

Daily estimates that by the end of the 

term the more than 400 students in 

the third-year BBA cohort will have 

printed out more than 258,075 pages 

— the equivalent of 25.8 trees.

Business 
juniors 
follow 
a 

standard curriculum known as the 

Ross Integrative Semester (RIS) 

during which all students take the 

same four core classes: BCOM 350 

(Communication Strategies), BL 300 

(Business Law & Ethics), MO 300 

(Behavioral Theory in Management) 

and 
TO 
313 
(Operations 

Management) Every student in the 

RIS program is given the same set of 

syllabi and lessons and is advised to 

print out the same lecture materials.

Business junior Caroline Millen 

said the number of slides depends on 

the class. In Business Law and Ethics, 

she estimates she prints an average 

of 10 pages per class. In Behavioral 

Theory in Management, 15 pages, 

and in Operations Management, 10 

pages. Each of these classes meets 

twice a week. 

As of the winter 2022 semester, 

this year’s junior class in the 

Business School has an enrollment of 

465 students. Based on the average 

number of pages per week, if every 

business student in the junior class 

prints lecture slides on double-sided 

pages for every class, the class will 

use 17,205 pages every week.

Still, students say the school 

constantly 
impresses 
upon 

them the importance of being 

environmentally conscious in the 

academic 
and 
business 
worlds. 

Millen told The Daily she has been 

learning about sustainability since 

the day she started at the Business 

School two years ago.

Millen 
is 
an 
undergraduate 

fellow at the Erb Institute — a 

program that combines Program 

in the Environment (PitE) classes 

with business courses offered at 

the Business School to create a 

unique curriculum focused on the 

sustainability of businesses. While 

her PitE professors talk about 

the importance of protecting the 

environment, Millen said, she also 

often hears about sustainability in 

her business lectures.

“I’m 
very 
passionate 
about 

(environmentalism 
and 

sustainability),” 
Millen 
said. 
“I 

think a lot of us in (the Business 

School) are, considering (business 

professors) make such an effort to 

teach us that in all of our classes.”

According to the Business School 

spokesperson 
Bridget 
Vis, 
RIS 

is an active-learning experience 

for business students, preparing 

them 
to 
navigate 
complicated 

business situations. Vis said there 

are other U-M courses outside of 

the RIS curriculum that enforce an 

electronics-free classroom policy as 

well.

“The Ross Integrative Semester is 

a signature learning experience with 

action-based learning opportunities, 

designed to enhance BBA students’ 

capacity to analyze complex and 

pressing business problems using a 

boundaryless approach,” Vis said. 

“RIS core courses, like many courses 

around 
(the 
University), 
have 

traditionally maintained a largely 

electronics-free classroom policy 

to enhance student learning and 

engagement with their peers and 

faculty.”

Vis added that the Business 

School takes pride in its pursuit 

of sustainability. Vis said the RIS 

committee discussed whether to 

keep the electronics policy before 

the fall 2022 semester, considering 

sustainability 
as 
an 
important 

factor in the decision. Ultimately, 

the committee decided upholding 

the electronics-free classroom was 

consistent with RIS goals. 

“While sustainability was an 

important 
consideration, 
the 

committee agreed that maintaining 

an 
electronics-free 
classroom 

was the best approach for the RIS 

learning goals this semester,” Vis 

said. “In cases where electronics 

will help student learning, faculty 

will encourage students to bring an 

electronic device to that specific 

class session.”

Millen said a group of business 

students were concerned about 

the electronics policy’s negative 

environmental effects and contacted 

the Business School administration 

during the first few weeks of the fall 

2022 semester. GroupMe messages 

obtained by The Daily include a poll 

asking students if they support an 

option to use tablets to take notes 

in class. Of 198 respondents, 195 

voted “yes.” In an email response 

to a student query on the matter 

obtained by The Daily, Business Law 

Lecturer Lori Rogala said the RIS 

committee unanimously agreed to 

keep the electronics policy, adding 

that the current policy is the most 

consistent with the goals of RIS..

“During our discussions, the RIS 

committee weighed several of the 

concerns … including pedagogical 

best practices, classroom equity and 

an inclusive learning environment,” 

Rogala 
said. 
“Our 
ultimate 

determination is that the current 

policy strikes the best balance 

of competing goals and allowing 

widespread electronics usage is not 

the best vehicle for addressing many 

of the specific concerns cited.”

The 
Ross 
building 
itself 

earned Leadership in Energy and 

Environmental 
Design 
(LEED) 

silver certification for its sustainable 

design by the U.S. Green Building 

Council in 2010, a year after it 

opened. Jeff T. Blau Hall and Kresge 

Hall — which are attached to the 

Ross building and are a part of the 

business school — earned LEED gold 

certification in 2017.

LEED certification offers four 

levels — certified, silver, gold and 

platinum — and new construction 

can 
earn 
points 
toward 
these 

titles based on the application of 

a variety of categories. The Ross 

building earned points in indoor 

environmental quality, sustainable 

sites, 
energy 
and 
atmosphere, 

innovation 
and 
design 
process, 

materials and resources, and water 

efficiency. The Kresge and Blau Hall 

project earned points in each of the 

prior categories, along with regional 

priority points, earning them a gold 

certification.

However, 
Millen 
and 
other 

students have become concerned by 

the unsustainable practices they see 

in their own classrooms.

The RIS syllabus for fall 2022 

outlines an electronics policy that 

strictly prohibits the use of any 

electronic devices in the classroom 

for the four core classes. The same 

policy was in place in RIS classes in 

fall 2021 as well.

According to Millen, in lieu 

of digital copies of notes and 

assignments, professors of the RIS 

core courses advise students to print 

lecture presentation slides, as well 

as problem sets or exercises posted 

online, and bring them to class. 

Millen 
said 
many 
of 
her 

classmates and peers have brought 

up the issue in classes, asking for a 

reconsideration of the electronics 

policy due to the environmental 

impacts 
of 
printing. 
She 
said 

professors 
typically 
avoid 
the 

question or refuse to negotiate.

“Teachers are really quick to 

shrug it off and just continue to insist 

that we print slide decks for their 

class,” Millen said. “(Professors) 

reiterate constantly that businesses 

are the most powerful institutions 

for change. They always say that, but 

they’re not really letting us take our 

own action on that.”

In the first two weeks of the 

semester, Millen said the MO and 

TO courses used even more paper 

for team-building exercises. She said 

20 packs of notecards were used in 

her MO class for a game, and stacks 

of hundreds of pieces of paper were 

used in a house-building game in her 

TO class. 

Millen said RIS policies are 

particularly 
frustrating 
because 

she and the rest of the business 

junior class were required to read 

“Management as a Calling: Leading 

Business, 
Serving 
Society” 
by 

Andrew Hoffman, U-M Holcim 

(US), Inc. Professor of Sustainable 

Enterprise. Millen said the book 

emphasizes 
that 
sustainability 

practices begin at the individual 

level. She expressed frustration that 

the RIS policies allow very little 

room for sustainable choices. 

“(‘Management as a Calling’) 

stresses that a key point of systematic 

change, especially environmentally 

related, starts at the individual 

level,” Millen said. “I feel like (the 

Business School) is really preventing 

us from doing that with this policy. 

(The Business School) is even 

amplifying (the problem) by doing it 

at an organizational level.” 

Wednesday, October 5, 2022 — 3
News
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

NEWS

Ross students worry about environmental impact of no-technology policy

CAMPUS LIFE

Donald Trump rallies for Michigan gubernatorial candidate 
Tudor Dixon in Warren

Michigan Medicine nurses union ratifies new contract after 
six months of negotiations

NEWS

Some class policies require physical copies of lecture slides, notes when used in class

Thousands attend in support of Republican contenders in November general election

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

Design by Erin Shi
Read more at MichiganDaily.com

Agreement includes wage increases, end to mandatory overtime and safer staffing ratios

Members 
of 
the 
University 

of Michigan Professional Nurse 

Council (MNA-UMPNC) have voted 

“overwhelmingly” to approve a 

tentative agreement with Michigan 

Medicine, according to a press 

release Saturday night. The new 

four-year contract comes after six 

months of negotiations. Over 6,000 

union members had worked without 

a 
contract 
since 
the 
previous 

agreement expired on June 30.

Effective 
immediately, 
the 

new contract includes an end to 

mandatory 
overtime, 
a 
22.5% 

wage increase over four years 

and expanded guidelines for safe 

staffing 
ratios. 
The 
agreement 

also 
provides 
a 
$273 
million 

compensation package that covers a 

new salary step model and a $5,000 

bonus for each nurse. 

According to a UMPNC tweet, 

95% of voting members approved 

the agreement. The contract will 

run through March 31, 2026.

Negotiations between the union 

and the University stalled over the 

union’s demands for safe workload 

ratios 
as 
the 
administration 

maintained that employee staffing 

levels were not mandatory subjects 

of bargaining. In August, the union 

filed a lawsuit with the Michigan 

Court of Claims, alleging that 

the hospital’s administration was 

violating state law by refusing 

to bargain over staffing ratios. 

According to an MNA spokesperson, 

both the Court of Claims suit and 

ULP charge regarding workload 

ratios will be withdrawn.

In the press release, Renee 

Curtis, 
MNA-UMPNC 
president 

and registered nurse, said she was 

happy with the protections the 

contract provided for its nurses and 

patients.

“We’re excited about being able 

to hold the employer accountable 

for 
safe 
nurse-to-patient 
ratios 

and 
end 
dangerous 
mandatory 

overtime,” Curtis wrote. “Strong 

wage increases and bonuses will 

help attract and retain the nurses we 

need to take care of our patients.”

Anne Jackson, MNA-UMPNC 

member 
and 
registered 
nurse, 

expressed her gratitude for the 

union’s bargaining unit in the same 

press release.

“ 
I’m grateful to our bargaining 

team for fighting so hard for what 

nurses and patients need, and I was 

proud to join my colleagues in voting 

‘yes’ on this contract,” Jackson 

wrote. “This makes the University 

of Michigan an even better place to 

work and provide the best patient 

care possible for all our patients.”

Marschall S. Runge, Michigan 

Medicine CEO and U-M Medical 

School dean, said he was satisfied 

with the contract in a press release 

from U-M Health, the clinical 

division of Michigan Medicine.

“We are grateful that our nurses 

choose to work and build their 

careers at University of Michigan 

Health,” Runge wrote. “We are 

pleased to offer a very competitive 

package that recognizes the value 

our nurses bring to our patients and 

our organization.”

According to the U-M Health 

release, Michigan Medicine also 

launched an “aggressive” nurse 

recruitment 
program 
that 
is 

expected to hire a record-setting 

number of nurses this year, with 

1,058 nurses hired from July 2021 to 

May 2022. 

Former President Donald Trump hosts a Save America rally to encourage his supporters 
to vote for Michigan Republicans Saturday evening at the Macomb County Community 
College Sports & Expo Center in Warren, Michigan.

GRACE BEAL/Daily

ANNA FIFELSKI & 
SAMANTHA RICH
Daily News Editor & Daily Staff 
Reporter

IRENA LI
Daily Staff Reporter

CARLIN PENDELL
 Daily Staff Reporter 

