The Ford School of Public Policy
and Education Policy Initiative held
a seminar Wednesday afternoon to
discuss findings on how the 2014 Flint
water crisis impacted educational
outcomes
for
younger
children.
During the discussion, the experts
shared research findings nearly eight
years after the crisis began, followed
by a discussion on the larger real-world
impacts on today’s youth.
Public policy professor Brian Jacob
led the talk and began by discussing
the timeline of the Flint water crisis.
He said despite previous insistence
from public policy officials who said
the water was safe to drink, it wasn’t
until 2016 when the crisis was declared
a state of emergency.
Mona Hanna-Attisha, a professor at
Michigan State University who helped
to uncover the water crisis, Kevelin
Jones, Flint Community Schools
Superintendent,
and
Sam
Trejo,
assistant professor of sociology at
Princeton University, were also invited
to discuss the impacts on K-12 students
within the community.
As the superintendent of the
district, Jones said he had personal
experiences dealing with the water
crisis and emphasized the significant
amount of time it took away from
teaching.
“I used to drink water out of
the water fountain at my school
with no problem and be able to just
enjoy my life,” Jones said. “As the
superintendent, it’s very difficult to
know that I walked the halls of these
same schools as a young man and
graduated from Flint Community
Schools and is now watching children
have to be careful with drinking
water. Being the principal, my job is to
educate scholars and motivate them to
learn, but now I have to father, and I
have to say don’t drink that. We had to
change the way we lived in the school.”
Hanna-Attisha also explained her
experience as a pediatrician giving
advice to mothers. She began her own
research once she heard there was a
possibility of lead in the water. Her
research was what helped to uncover
the water crisis.
“The day after releasing our
research and the state went after me
and said I’m wrong, the Flint schools
said no, we’re protecting kids and shut
off their drinking fountains” Hanna-
Attisha said.
Rackham student Eneida Hysi
attended the event and said the
information was eye-opening for how
the crisis affected student learning.
“The impacts on education were an
aspect I hadn’t really thought about,”
Hysi said. “My understanding was in
regards to the physiological effects.”
Trejo said that research from the
water crisis showed that there was an
increase in school-aged children with
special needs, and Hanna-Attisha also
shared research that supported these
findings.
“When we look at special needs, we
see an increase in them moving from
before the crisis to after the crisis,”
Trejo said. “There was about a 9%
increase in special needs.”
LSA senior Dilpreet Kaur, a member
of the Flint Justice Partnership, helped
coordinate the event and spoke on the
importance of spreading awareness.
“You don’t necessarily have to
belong to that community to be able
to speak on it,” Kaur said. “One thing
(the speaker) did mention was coming
into communities. For me, (I want to
continue) going into the community
and helping in any way I can.”
Hanna-Attisha
discussed
the
importance of learning about the
water crisis and how it is not just a
trivial story.
“What happened in Flint is not just
a story about this one city north of here
that had this water problem and there
was this big injustice,” Hanna-Attisha
said. “It was really an everywhere
story. It’s about inequity, it’s about
disinvestment in public health, it’s
about deteriorating infrastructure,
it’s about environmental injustice, it’s
about democracy, it’s about science.”
Two men convicted in August
for their role in the plot to kidnap
Gov.
Gretchen
Whitmer
were
denied a new trial Friday in an
order from Judge Robert Jonker
of the U.S. District Court for the
Western District of Michigan. A
jury convicted Adam Fox and Barry
Croft of conspiracy in an August
retrial following a mistrial in April.
In his ruling, the Court found
there was insufficient evidence to
pursue allegations of juror bias or to
convene a new trial.
Lawyers for Croft and Fox
claimed there was juror bias and
that Jonker unfairly targeted the
defendants while presiding over the
second trial. In his opinion Friday,
Jonker disputed these allegations,
pointing to the court record and
declaring his actions did not arise
to the level of judicial bias.
“Neither
the
authority
nor
the facts cited by Defendants
establish the appearance of judicial
bias requiring a new trial,” the
opinion read. “The Court was
quick to express frustration with
both parties when it believed the
party was wasting the jury’s time
unnecessarily; the Court did not
single out the defense.”
The first trial took place in April,
nearly two years after the plot was
uncovered and during that trial,
the jury convicted two of the other
conspirators in the plot. They were
unable to come to a unanimous
verdict for Croft and Fox, however,
resulting in a mistrial. The Attorney
General continued to press charges,
so the pair were tried again in
August. During the second trial,
Fox and Croft were convicted
of conspiracy and conspiring to
obtain and use weapons of mass
destruction.
In their request for a third trial,
attorneys for Fox and Croft reiterate
allegations made in the second trial
that a juror in the second trial was
eager to be on the jury because
they were “far left leaning.” In
the
opinion,
Jonker
dismissed
these allegations as insufficient to
warrant a new hearing.
News
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
GOVERNMENT
Ford School hosts panel examining lasting repercussions of past contamination
ISABELLA KASSA
Daily Staff Reporter
NEWS BRIEFS
4 — Wednesday, December 7, 2022
Judge denies third trial in Whitmer kidnapping plot
Co-conspirators to face sentencing Dec. 28
While climate policy is hotly
debated in national politics, many
programs
at
the
University
of
Michigan have been incorporating
sustainable
initiatives,
reducing
greenhouse
gas
emissions
and
minimizing waste sent to landfills.
One of these programs includes the
Department of Theatre & Drama at
the U-M School of Music, Theatre &
Dance (SMTD).
Music, Theatre & Dance senior
Jordan Pinet has been studying
theatre design and production at the
University for four years, focusing
particularly on stage management.
She recently looked into the school’s
theater program to evaluate if the
theater productions are sustainable.
Pinet conducted an independent
research study, which has not yet been
published, about theatre sustainability
during the summer of 2021 to
understand how theatre programs
can become more sustainable. Pinet
conducted her research within the
Department of Theatre & Drama,
studying
different
shops
within
theater production and their efforts to
become more sustainable in addition
to what needs to be improved.
She found that the University
is
effective
in
incorporating
environmental
sustainability
but
often overlooks other important
aspects of sustainability, such as social
sustainability. Based on her research,
Pinet said theater programs need to
focus more on social sustainability
because burnout is a relevant and
widespread issue in theatre.
“I did some research this past
summer, specifically an independent
study about theater sustainability,
looking into how we move past just
environmental sustainability,” Pinet
said. “Sustainability is talked about
as this three-branch concept, where
environmental sustainability is one
part of that, but there’s also social and
economic sustainability.”
Pinet
said
her
findings
revealed how the University takes
sustainability
into
account
for
necessities like props, costumes and
lighting by reusing or refurbishing
costumes and props and switching
to LED lights and motion sensors in
dressing rooms. Pinet said financial
and labor limitations prevent further
options to explore sustainability.
Pinet said she understands the
difficulty of achieving sustainability
within a university because of the
frequent turnover of students and
staff.
“Something that I think a lot of
places,
including
(U-M)
theatre,
(should consider is): How do you
put policies and practices in place
so that the sustainable things you’re
doing now keep happening even
when people change?” Pinet said.
“Especially with things like student
(organizations), where the entire
organization is run by people that’ll be
gone in four years?”
NEWS
Community members call on school to increase reuse, laud existing efforts
RACHEL MINTZ
Daily Staff Reporter
CAMPUS LIFE
University of Michigan students
don’t just have the football team to
cheer for. Earlier this month University
debate duo LSA junior Kelly Phil and
LSA senior Rafael Pierry won the 66th
annual Franklin R. Shirley Classic
with an undefeated record of 11-0.
The tournament, hosted by Wake
Forest University, is considered the
fall championship due to its status as
the last debate tournament of the fall
collegiate schedule. Phil and Pierry
went on to beat teams from institutions
such as Harvard, Dartmouth and
Emory, winning the tournament with
a final win over host Wake Forest
University.
This season is the first in which
Phil and Pierry have worked together
as debate partners, and Phil said she
thinks they work well together as a
team.
“He’s very motivated to win the
national championship from March,
and last year I wasn’t as successful as
him,” Phil said. “Being partners with
him this year, it’s reminded me that
this is kind of the year where I can also
win it all. And that’s really motivated
me as well. So because our goals are
aligned, it’s been really easy to work
together.”
Aaron Kall, the debate director
for the University, said he was
thrilled with the pair’s performance
throughout the fall semester.
“I’m elated with the performance,
just given that it’s such a major
tournament, and it’s the last major
tournament of the first semester,”
Kall said. “So it really provides a lot
of momentum for us heading into the
second semester.”
Pierry said their performance
from the tournament gives them
a confidence boost as he and Phil
prepare for the next semester of
tournaments.
“It’s really nice getting to spend
that Winter Break period, where
you’re preparing for the next wave
of tournaments, coming off a good
result,” Pierry said. “It’s also good
because it solidifies the perception
that you’re doing well amongst the
debate community as a whole. They
remember us as the team that won the
last tournament, so it’s a good feeling
to close out strong.”
Phil said the victories this semester
have helped take a weight off her
shoulders going into Winter Break.
“It really feels like we’ve ended the
season on a good note and going into
Winter Break, we can really know that
we’re in the best position we can be,”
Phil said. “So it takes a lot of weight
off of our shoulders, I think, whereas
if we didn’t do as well, then going into
Winter Break, we would have to try
really hard and make up for whatever
we didn’t do this semester.”
The pair currently have a 41-4
record entering the winter semester.
Phil said the debate team has
given her a lot of opportunities
throughout her time at the University
and encouraged students from a wide
range of backgrounds and majors to
look into the team.
“There were some members of
the debate team that were computer
science majors and math majors in
the past,” Phil said. “So I don’t think
it’s completely incompatible with the
subjects that (different students) might
be interested in.”
Phil said the current debate topics
often overlap with the interests of
STEM majors.
“I had to learn from the ground up
what all these basic AI concepts were,”
Phil said. “Whereas if you’re already
a computer science major, then it’ll
probably be way easier for someone
to really learn and understand a topic
much faster. So I think, especially
this year, there are a lot of topics that
overlap with what STEM majors might
be interested in.”
Pierry
said
they
were
not
intimidated by the prestige of their
competition, which included teams
from Ivy League universities such as
Harvard and Dartmouth who have
previously won the championship.
“(Kelly and I) tend to know most
of our competitors at an individual
level, so we don’t really think of them
as the school,” Pierry said. “We know
them; we’ve debated them many
times before. I think we’ve debated
Dartmouth something like five or
more times this semester alone. So I
wouldn’t really say it’s intimidating.”
Phil said she didn’t have any doubts
about her and Pierry’s performance
before any matches.
“I think that while going into the
tournaments, there haven’t been any
big doubts,” Phil said. “In terms of skill,
we felt pretty confident that we could
do well.”
Phil and Pierry compete in Policy
Debate, a form of debate in which
competitors propose policies related
to a topic, which remains the same for
the entire year. This year, the topic was
extending legal personhood, the idea
of having rights and responsibilities
in the legal system. Pierry said he and
Phil focused on artificial intelligence
when arguing in favor of the topic.
He said their argument focused on
making AI liable for crimes.
“I think we approached it pretty
creatively given what the topic has
presented us,” Phil said. “(We) made
a lot of new arguments before other
teams had in terms of new frontiers
for AI rights and duties … I think all in
all, we’re really taking advantage of the
broad nature of everything we can do
with the resolution.”
UMich Debate Team wins fall semester national debate championship
Policy duo conquers tournament at Wake Forest University
JOSHUA NICHOLSON
Daily Staff Reporter
Design by Evelyn Mousigian
SMTD students, faculty reflect on sustainability
Lead in the water: What are the
educational impacts on Flint students?
José Brenes/Daily
Erin Posas reports on her personal experience through COP27 at the Talkback even at the Michigan League Thursday evening.
MADDYN SHAPIRO &
HANNAH YORAN
Daily News Contributors
Read more at MichiganDaily.com
Read more at MichiganDaily.com
Read more at MichiganDaily.com
Read more at MichiganDaily.com
The University of Michigan Law
School announced on Nov. 20 that it
will no longer participate in the law
school ranking process by the U.S.
News & World Report.
In the statement, Dean Mark
West declared that the Law School
would be exiting the ranking
following other top-ranked law
schools that have opted out of the
ranking, such as Harvard and Yale.
West wrote that the U.S. News
report does not align with the
values of the Law School and no
longer serves its original purpose.
He added that there are other
valuable resources available for
students when comparing different
law schools, including the American
Bar Association.
“Over time, I increasingly have
come to believe that the U.S. News
law school rankings no longer
serve the public interest,” West
wrote. “This information (from
the American Bar Association)
dramatically
and
admirably
increases
transparency:
It
is
available for free, and reflects
informed thinking about what
information is most important and
relevant.”
West cited concerns about the
methodology and algorithm of the
rankings process, which he said is
often hidden from participating law
schools. U.S. News relies on surveys
of faculty members from each law
school — though Michigan will no
longer be participating.
U.S. News & World Report will
likely continue to rank Michigan
and other law schools without
the insight of faculty surveys,
West explained, and will rely
exclusively on public information
to rank the schools.
“I recognize, of course, that U.S.
News and other organizations will
continue to rank law schools, and
that our rank may fluctuate based
on differences in methodologies,”
West wrote. “No matter. We will
continue to focus on providing
the best legal education possible
and supporting our community —
including especially the people-
centric
factors
that
rankings
struggle to measure.”
Second-year
Law
student
Alexander
Gavulic,
a
CSG
representative, said he was not
surprised that Michigan decided
to drop out of the U.S. News
rankings after hearing that other
top-ranked
schools
had
also
dropped out. Gavulic said the
reception among law students
was somewhat varied, adding that
some questioned the potential
for ulterior motives among Law
School faculty.
“I myself am not entirely sure
how I feel because I see both
sides of it,” Gavulic said. “The
administration’s viewpoint seems
pretty clear as to why they’re
removing themselves.”
Gavulic said he feels this decision
will not have a severe impact on the
Law School and students in the
near future, as high-ranked schools
such as Michigan will retain their
reputation as elite institutions.
“I don’t think that this is going
to
substantially
impact
hiring
practices or even people looking
to apply to the Law School just
because I think it’ll still be viewed
as a top tier law school, regardless
of what U.S. News says,” Gavulic
said.
LSA sophomore Ruby Alseikhan
plans to apply to law school
and was excited by the school’s
announcement. She said the U.S.
News rankings have a negative
impact on the application process
for many pre-law students.
“I’m really proud to go to a school
that’s helping to realign the core
values of the legal community,”
Alseikhan said. “The U.S. News
rankings in particular carry a lot
of weight for those applying to
law school, regardless of if (the
ranking is) a true reflection of the
education.”
CARLIN PENDELL
Daily Staff Reporter
U-M Law withdraws from nationwide rankings
School joins others in leaving U.S. News and World Report list alleging unrepresentativeness
ACADEMICS
Read more at MichiganDaily.com