ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SIX YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
Tuesday, March 14, 2017
Ann Arbor, Michigan
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Rally held in advance of GSI contract negotiations More than 150 graduate students marched to union bargaining meeting JENNIFER MEER Daily Staff Reporter
JOSHUA HAN/Daily
University of Michigan President Mark Schlissel announces new methods for dialogue between University faculty and the public in the Michigan League on Monday.
Schlissel announces new teach-out courses for academic innovation
Program to cover fake news, authoritarianism and Affordable Care Act in current climate TIM COHN & EMILY MIILLER Daily News Editor & Daily Staff Reporter
The introduction of a Teach-Out Series on topics ranging from “fake news” to the rise of increasingly authoritarian governments was announced by University of Michigan President Mark Schlissel at an Innovation Forum hosted by the University’s Office of Academic Innovation on Monday night.
There are four “global community learning” events scheduled so far in the series to be hosted on the edX platform — a digital education company which aims to improve education research at universities worldwide. The event was also a continuation of Schlissel’s Academic Innovation Initiative, which launched in fall 2016 in an effort to foster growth in technology use to further classroom learning. At the beginning of the event, Schlissel said he was excited the University is hosting these
teach-outs, which are modeled after the teach-ins that began at the University starting in 1965 to protest then-President Lyndon B. Johnson’s military escalation in the Vietnam War. The four course offerings available through the edX platform will cover: the transition from democratic to authoritarian rule, fake news, communication of scientific research, and the future of the Affordable Care Act, former President Barack Obama’s health care law. These topics were selected because of their relevance to
modern-day global politics — much like the inspiration for the teach-ins held at the University over 50 years ago. “Tonight’s event is keeping with the University’s historic ideals as we move forward into its third century,” Schlissel said at the event to an audience of over 100 attendees. However, unlike the teach-ins of the 1960s, which were in-person lectures given in university classrooms, the online teach-outs, according to Dean of Libraries James Hilton, the vice provost for See INNOVATION, Page 3
Nearly 160 graduate student employees rallied Monday afternoon in support of proposals to improve their contracts with the University of Michigan, which have hitherto been declined. Protesters began in the Diag before marching to Palmer Commons for the Graduate Employees’ Organization’s biweekly bargaining session with the University. The GEO — the union that represents graduate student instructors and graduate student staff assistants at the University — has been in the midst of contract negotiations since November. Their proposals were declined or not addressed sufficiently, according to GEO members. GEO President John Ware, a physics Ph.D. student and research assistant, said the rally was organized in an effort to make visible the continued struggles graduate employees face. “We’ve been at the table for
four months now and we’ve just seen very little progress,” he said. “We’re still a long way from where we need to be, especially on some of the core issues that we really need to get us to equitable and inclusive employment for graduate employees. We think that’s really an integral component of an equitable and inclusive University.” Ware noted the small bargaining team represents universal concerns. “The point we’re trying to make out here is that it’s not just the six dedicated volunteers that sit at the bargaining table, that these are issues that come from the University community,” Ware said. “They are widely felt and people care about them and we’re all watching.” One of the central proposals is to increase graduate employee pay, because the cost of living in Ann Arbor is higher than most other Michigan cities and the housing market for students is very competitive. “Two percent won’t pay See RALLY, Page 3
Michigan gubernatorial candidate, Panel talks Bathroom Trump era, alum Abdul El-Sayed pitches campaign policies, ‘U’
GOVERNMENT
ACADEMICS
issues with xenophobia
College Democrats hosts former Detroit Health Director and University alum
Professors outline history of “otherizing” in America, bipartisan racial priming
Michigan gubernatorial candidate Abdul El-Sayed discussed his candidacy and platform to more than 150 students and community members at the Ford School of Public Policy Monday night. The event, hosted by the University of Michigan’s chapter of College Democrats, allowed students to ask questions and hear the story of the 32-yearold University alum and Rhodes scholar. As the son of Egyptian immigrants, El-Sayed recognized the unlikeliness of his candidacy. However, he stressed that his background of coming from a biracial family reflects the goals he has for Michigan to become more inclusive. “This is the American family I grew up in,” El-Sayed said. “We didn’t always agree. The one thing we could agree upon was our future, that we could believe in this society regardless of background.” Opposite to what some have said about his campaign, El-Sayed said his background and religious differences won’t hinder him, but will hopefully inspire a more diverse government. “If you’re not going to vote for me because I’m Muslim, you weren’t going to vote for me anyway,” he said. The idea of more diverse representation was reflected
KATHERINA SOURINE For the Daily
A panel discussion addressing xenophobia under President Donald Trump’s administration was held Monday afternoon in the University of Michigan International Institute, where action against microaggressions and social threats were among the most highlighted topics. The panel, which more than 50 students and faculty attended, opened with Ann Arbor City Councilmember Chuck Warpehoski (D–Ward 5), director of the Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice, who led with a call to action against xenophobia not only in the rejection of visible hate crimes, but of microaggressions as well. “I’ve seen the importance that these social affirmations of values can have for people who are under attack,” he said. Warpehoski’s sentiments and the panel’s title — “Xenophobia in the Age of Trump: The Roots, Context See PANEL, Page 3
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CARLY RYAN
Daily Staff Reporter
by LSA junior Ali Safawi, also a member of the Michigan Daily edit board, who introduced El-Sayed for the event. “When you have a name like Ali, you get the feeling the politics isn’t for you, certainly less so than if your name was Bill or Craig,” Safawi said. “So I was very excited to hear that Dr. El-Sayed was running.” El-Sayed also said his background as the former director
of the Detroit Department of Health and Wellness Promotion will have a large impact on his candidacy, as it gave him a more intimate and open look into public health — an issue he intends to stress in his campaign. He said his unconventional background will help Michigan stray from “politics as usual,” which he believes is a mindset that hasn’t been working. “It’s not just public health that suffers when you run government
as a business,” he added. “It’s also things like public education.” In an interview, El-Sayed said millennials will have a large impact on this campaign, much like the 2016 presidential campaign, “Nobody has as large a stake in our future as students do,” El-Sayed said. “They have been very involved in my campaign and its message that we have to take See EL-SAYED, Page 3
MATT VAILLIENCOURT/Daily
Michigan gubernatorial candidate Abdul El-Sayed speaks in the Ford School on Monday.
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INDEX
Vol. CXXVII, No. 44 ©2017 The Michigan Daily
FOIA suit discussed
Faculty modifies policy to expand provisions for transgender community AARON DALAL
Daily Staff Reporter
The Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs met on Monday afternoon to discuss the bathroom policy for transgender students it passed last week, hoping to expand the resolution. The board also welcomed Cynthia Wilbanks, the University of Michigan’s vice president of government relations, to discuss the Freedom of Information Act. Last meeting, the board passed a bathroom policy that allows for members of the community to use the bathrooms they feel match their gender identity. SACUA derived its policy from the one in place at Oberlin College, but modified it slightly to include its own wording, while still capturing the essence of the other college’s policy. For this meeting, the members expanded their discussion to pinpoint more ways they could further provide for the LGBTQ community. SACUA member Robert Ortega, associate professor of social work, weighed in on the bathroom policy and suggested See SACUA, Page 3
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