ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SEVEN YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
Thursday, December 7, 2017
Ann Arbor, Michigan
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B-Side: Architecture
In this week’s B-Side, Daily Arts takes a look at the fascinating intersection of art and architecture
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CAMPUS LIFE
Unions staff find admin. reluctant to talk Spencer DESIGN BY CASEY TIN
A Neo-Nazi college tour: How other schools dealt with Spencer Some universities remain in legal battles with him, while others mitigate the aftermath stop at the University of Michigan, eliciting outraged reactions from students, faculty and staff from Daily Staff Reporter & both sides of the political sphere. Daily News Editor Conservative speakers have regularly been using college campuses this year as The “college tour” of Neo-Nazi platforms through which to and white supremacist Richard put forth their agendas. From Spencer will possibly include a Milo Yiannopoulos in Berkeley, JENNIFER MEER & NISA KHAN
Calif., to Charles Murray at the University earlier this semester, students and administration have been in conflict over whether these controversial figures should be allowed to speak on campus. With Spencer, who is banned from several European countries, there is the fear of violence to follow him.
This article is part three of a series in which The Daily looks at universities similar to the University of Michigan on the issue of reacting in a tense campus climate. As the university administration and students face their own numerous bias incidents, The Daily will look See SPENCER, Page 3A
Student employees blast consequences if asked to facilitate his appearance RIYAH BASHA Daily News Editor
If all had gone to plan on Thursday morning, student employees of the University Unions would be sitting in the Board of Regents meeting room in protest of white nationalist Richard Spencer’s potentially speaking on campus. After a meeting with Unions administrators earlier this week, the employees shifted their efforts to public spaces to avoid risk of termination. As the board convenes two weeks after the University agreed to negotiate Spencer’s presence, and as students across campus continue to
protest threats to their safety, questions still swirl around the roles of — and accommodations for — student workers who might be asked to facilitate his appearance. LSA senior Zoe Proegler, Michigan League building manager, was central to the planning of the original nightlong sit-in. She believes any event featuring Spencer and his racist, often violent rhetoric cannot be held safely on campus. Protesters goaded by Spencer at rallies this year have left injuries and, in Charlottesville, Va., death, in their wake. Proegler said student workers setting up and See UNIONS, Page 3A
College of Engineering launches STEM Language A2 Council minors ask laboratory for Detroit high schoolers introduces
ACADEMICS
ANN ARBOR
if program is equitable
Michigan Engineering Zone will serve as shared learning site for 3,000 students
Asian Languages and Culture dept. comes under scrutiny for blanket degree
The University of Michigan College of Engineering and Qualcomm Incorporated have partnered to form the Qualcomm Thinkabit Lab, an interactive workshop for high school students to learn about STEM careers and experience a hands-on learning experience. Thinkabit officially opened its doors last Thursday in the Detroit area. While dialogue between the Qualcomm and the College of Engineering has existed in the past regarding other projects, the Thinkabit Lab has been the first to materialize. The Michigan Engineering Zone was elected as a nowshared location for the Thinkabit Lab, continuing its work as the rendezvous for various Detroit high schools’ FIRST Robotics teams, which take place after the regular school day. Zone Director Julian Pate believes the integration of the Thinkabit Lab in the Zone will inspire potential programs for high school students. “The Michigan Engineering Zone was opened nine years ago; the objective was to offer year-round activities to engage the students in the city of Detroit,” Pate said. “That has been accomplished partly with the nine years of the high school program. The
MAYA GOLDMAN Daily Staff Reporter
When the University of Michigan started teaching Chinese and Japanese in the summer of 1936, the Asian Languages and Cultures Department didn’t exist. As World War II approached, these classes became much more pertinent, and the Department of Far Eastern Languages and Literatures was created. The program grew rapidly, and in 1985, it was renamed the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures. Now, the department offers 11 languages that qualify for an Asian languages and cultures minor, and two more — Bengali and Punjabi — that students can take for a twoyear sequence. The department continues to grow and attract student attention, and the Asian languages and cultures minor is currently ranked as the seventh-most-declared minor in LSA. But though over 100 students graduate with the minor each year, some of them, See LANGUAGE, Page 3A
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KATHERINA SOURINE Daily Staff Reporter
Thinkabit Lab provides the opportunity to do that down the grade ladder, across the entire school year.” Engineering graduate student Wayne Lester has been involved with the MEZ since he was a student at Cass Tech High School in Detroit. He now works with the organization as a FIRST Robotics mentor, and echoes Pate’s enthusiasm about the
partnership with Thinkabit. “I’ve seen a lot of students come in and out learning a lot about STEM fields and just getting a good opportunity to be exposed to the field,” Lester said. “With the Thinkabit Lab, it definitely just expands on the mission of the MEZ. It’s really to be a collaborative space and really engage students in STEM fields, and with the Thinkabit Lab it’s the perfect
opportunity for… giving more students the opportunity to navigate the STEM field and really be educated on what it is.” The Thinkabit Lab functions much like a school field trip for the middle school students. It is split into two halves: the first of which focuses on engaging students, with experiences See STEM, Page 3A
COURTESY OF HALEY HART
High school students learn at the Qualcomm Thinkabit Lab, an interactive workshop for high school students interested in STEM careers, in Detroit.
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INDEX
Vol. CXXVII, No. 44 ©2017 The Michigan Daily
2018 deer cull plan
250 deer will be shot, up to 60 sterilized this January, some on ‘U’ land ZOE BAXTER For the Daily
Earlier this week, Ann Arbor City Council introduced its 2018 deer management plan to the public. The city aims to eliminate up to 250 deer from Jan. 8 to Jan. 31 in the third year of its four-year deer management program. This is a large increase from winter 2017, when the city aimed to eliminate up to 100 deer. Furthermore, the plan states that up to 26 deer will be nonlethally sterilized between Jan. 2 and 7. Last year they planned to sterilize up to 60 deer and sterilized 54. The program began out of resident complaints about deer harming their properties. Like last year, the lethal portion of the plan will be carried out by sharpshooters through the city’s contractor, White Buffalo Inc. It will comply with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources research permit. During the elimination, select public parks and private properties will be closed from See CULL, Page 2A
NEWS.........................2 OPINION.....................4 ARTS......................6
SUDOKU.....................2 CLASSIFIEDS...............6 SPORTS....................5