2017-07-06

Page 1

Weekly Summer Edition Ann Arbor, MI

inside NEWS

Local impeachment march Ann Arbor residents urge legislators to impeach Trump.

michigandaily.com

ONE-HUNDRED-TWENTY SIX YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM

Disagreement over impact of gerrymandering in MI

>> SEE PAGE 2

NEWS

City council

Thursday, July 6, 2017

ANN ARBOR

Prominent radio show personality headlines city festival Ira Glass discusses professional success, effective storytelling

Councilmembers discuss funding for Ann Arbor Police Department review. >> SEE PAGE 8

By DYLAN LACROIX

OPINION

Summer Daily News Editor

Science literacy “how does the scientific community engage with the public?...” >> SEE PAGE 4 DESIGN BY MICHELLE PHILLIPS

ARTS

Album Review: “4:44” New Jay-Z album inovates and reflects on self. >> SEE PAGE 6

Voters see their voice as less effective, since the majority opinion isn’t fulfilled, may breed apathy By CARLY RYAN Daily Staff Reporter

SPORTS

Walton, Irvin adjust to NBA The pair has found success in Summer League play. >> SEE PAGE 12

INDEX Vol. CXXVII, No. 79 | © 2017 The Michigan Daily michigandaily.com

NEWS .................................... 2 OPINION ...............................4 ARTS ......................................6 CLASSIFIEDS.........................8 MiC.........................................9 SPORTS................................ 10

Eastern Michigan University junior Allen Maxson looked at a map of Michigan’s congressional districts and saw something “like a map of Europe in the middle of World War 2.” State Rep. Jeremy Moss (D–Southfield) saw “a squiggly mess.” And Wayne State Prof. Kevin Deegan-Krause saw a “creepy lizard” in what is better known as Michigan’s 14th congressional district, according to the Detroit Free Press. Increasingly, fingers are being pointed at gerrymandering — the practice of manipulating voting districts to favor a certain party — to explain the state of Michigan’s election outcomes, which might seem incongruous with voting

habits. For example, in 2014, Republicans won 9 of the 14 congressional races, increasing their hold of the Michigan House of Representatives by 3 seats. But Republicans received fewer votes than the Democrats, who pulled ahead by 50,000. A similar scenario played out in 2016, contributing to the fact that though Michigan as a state votes “purple,” district by district, it’s really rather red. On the other end of the spectrum, Detroiters were unable to vote out state Sen. Virgil Smith (D–Detroit), despite his felony charges for opening fire at his wife’s car and assaulting her, and state Rep. Gary Glenn (R-Midland) was reelected despite controversy over being a card-carrying member of an alleged hate group, leaving many voters wondering whether they are picking their politicians or if politicians are picking them. Why Michigan? Redistricting in Michigan is no simple process. The U.S. constitution requires that each district, both federal and state, have

about the same size population. This is strictly enforced, as a congressional district map that has a 1 percent range from the smallest to largest population would be deemed unconstitutional. Additionally, districts must be drawn to ensure minorities not only have a vote, but they have an effective vote. Meaning, the amount of representatives who are favored by minority voters should be proportional to the amount of minority voters. The elected officials must reflect the voter base. States often create minoritymajority districts to ensure this — Michigan has two — and to prevent “cracking,” the splitting of a constituency so its majority is never voted into office. With all of these redistricting restrictions, it seems unlikely that further manipulation could occur. Yet Moss said Michigan is in a position that would allow gerrymandering to occur. Rarely is there one party in control of an entire state, but Michigan’s governor, secretary of state, See GERRYMANDERING, Page 3

Headlining the Ann Arbor Summer Festival, hundreds of community members came to watch renowned U.S. storyteller Ira Glass perform at the University of Michigan’s Power Center for the Performing Arts Saturday night. Weekly, Glass’s public radio show This American Life — which shares personal, thoughtprovoking narrative stories of everyday lives — reaches over 2.2 million audience members, with another 2.4 million downloading each episode. His performance that night titled “Seven Things I’ve Learned” — which ironically began to reach a total of 10 throughout the show — shared his path to success as a journalist and the quintessential elements of telling a story he discovered through his experience on radio. Glass began the show by discussing his technique for engaging audiences with stories, explaining how the presence of profound ideas and emotional depth are not what make a story worth telling; its momentum is. “In its simplest form, a story is just like a series of events,” Glass spoke. “Feelings might be in there or might not be in there. Ideas might be in there but might not be in there. There might be something you can relate to, but even that’s kind of optional.” See IRA GLASS, Page 3


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