ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-EIGHT YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
Thursday, December 6, 2018
Ann Arbor, Michigan
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Researcher is 1st Rhodes scholar pick from Saudi RUCHITA IYER/DAILY Spanish Lecturer Erin Levin facilitates the Lecturers’ Employee Organization discussion on financial equity across Ann Arbor, Dearborn, and Flint campuses at the LEO offices Wednesday night.
LEO holds community forum to discuss launch of the One University Campaign New lecturer initative working to make all three ‘U’ campuses more equitable in funding JULIETTE SIBLEY For The Daily
On Wednesday evening, the Lecturers’ Employee Organization held its first of several Ann Arbor community forums to discuss the launch of the One University Campaign, which strives to make all three University of Michigan campuses more equitable learning institutions. Despite the fact that the
LEO’s tumultuous contract bargaining process last semester resulted in significant budget increases for lecturers, the lecturers point out gains were not distributed equally across all three University campuses. LEO at U-M Dearborn and the U-M Flint has held parallel community forums to work toward parity. About 25 students, graduate student instructors and lecturers across all three campuses attended the Ann Arbor forum.
“Although we made real substantial progress last time around … that did not reduce the gap between Flint and Dearborn,” LEO President Ian Robinson, a sociology professor on the Ann Arbor campus, said. In fact, he explained despite the 50 percent increases in minimum wages on all three campuses, professors at U-M Flint and U-M Dearborn earn, on average, $10,000 less per year than the typical Ann Arbor professor. Not only are the professors at
U-M Flint and U-M Dearborn paid less in comparison to their Ann Arbor peers, but they work significantly more hours. “In Flint and Dearborn, (lecturers must) teach an extra course to be considered fulltime,” Robinson explained in an interview with The Michigan Daily. “Instead of teaching three courses a term (like Ann Arbor lecturers do), they teach four.”
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Majd Abdulghani is a genetics researcher and an award-winning NPR podcaster AMARA SHAIKH Daily Staff Reporter
Growing up, life sciences researcher Majd Abdulghani watched her mother overcome the various obstacles she faced as a Muslim female scientist working toward her Ph.D. in London. With her mother’s determination and bravery in mind, Abdulghani will have the opportunity to return to England to pursue her own doctoral degree in genetics as Saudi Arabia’s very first Rhodes Scholar. “My mom was doing her Ph.D., and that showed me a lot about the sort of effort it takes to be a scientist, but also at the same time, how wonderful it is and also how it’s possible to be a scientist, be a woman — and my mom is also a Muslim and wears a headscarf,” Abdulghani said. “She was doing all of this while raising three teenagers
and two children, so she was really an inspiration for me at that point in my life and continues to be.” Once her mother completed her Ph.D. and the family returned to Saudi Arabia, Abdulghani took a particular interest in genetics. She recalled how her mother encouraged her to pursue the field and since then, she has enjoyed it thoroughly. “When I went back to Saudi Arabia, I was ready to go to college and I chose to become a geneticist because I just really enjoyed it in high school,” Abdulghani said. “I remember my mom said to me, ‘Don’t you want to discover the gene that cures cancer?’ And while that’s probably not going to happen for biological reasons, that’s why I chose to study genetics. It’s been incredibly rewarding so far. See RHODES, Page 3A
‘U’ student environment advocates MSU pres. Archive of Hayner’s celebrate intro of national carbon bill closes fund
CITY
ADMINISTRATION
tweets call out Council Resident-sourced database of new Councilmember’s Twitter stokes criticism RACHEL CUNNINGHAM Daily Staff Reporter
Ann Arbor residents and City Council members are raising concerns over some past tweets from recently elected Councilmember Jeff Hayner, D-Ward 1, including inflammatory comments directed at sitting councilmembers and electoral opponents. Ann Arbor resident Chris Dzombak created a database with close to 7,000 tweets allegedly written by Hayner. The tweets date back to March 6, 2014. Hayner, defeated independent opponent Ryan Hughes, a Democratic Socialist, with amore than 70 percent of the vote. Hayner ran a campaign focused primarily on environmental issues such as the dioxane plume. Hayner declined to comment on the matter. “I don’t have a Twitter,” Hayner wrote in an email statement. “You must have received some bad info. Not interested.” Hayner admitted in See HAYNER, Page 3A
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Policy, though unlikely to pass, is new step in direction of taxing carbon emissions KATHERINA SOURINE Daily Staff Reporter
LSA sophomore Catherine Garton was motivated to found the University of Michigan’s chapter of the Citizens’ Climate Lobby this semester, because of a core belief that students’ voices are imperative for creating policy to combat climate change. For two years, Garton was a member of CCL’s Ann Arbor chapter, one of 489 active chapters the organization maintains. Its main goal is to lobby for national policies that address carbon emissions and climate change in every congressional district. On Nov. 27, the main policy for which the CCL had been advocating was introduced to Congress: a national carbon price, known as The Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act of 2018 (H.R.7173). The bill is sponsored by U.S. Reps. Theodore Deutch, D-Fla.; Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa.; John Delaney, D-Md.; Francis Rooney, R-Fla.; Charlie Crist, D-Fla.; and David Trott, R-Mich. In a statement regarding the introduction of the bill, CCL said it hoped Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., would co-sponsor the bill, “either now or when the bill is reintroduced in the new Congress.” Dingell, a member of the House Committee on
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Energy and Commerce, said Congress had act on climate change now, but did not specify whether she would cosponsor the bill. “It’s time that Congress takes action to address climate change and ensures that the US is a world leader in addressing global warming,” Dingell wrote in an email to The Michigan Daily. “In Michigan and on the Energy and Commerce Committee I’m having critical conversations about changing the status quo and taking action now. Our economy and environment are at stake and we must think outside the box to mitigate irreversible damage.”
The policy applies a fee on the carbon dioxide content of fossil fuel producers at a starting rate of $15 per ton in 2019 and increasing by $10 per ton annually. The revenue generated from this fee would be subsequently redistributed equally among U.S. households through tax rebates, and a border carbon adjustment fee protects U.S. manufacturers by applying that price to imported goods. The policy also restricts additional regulation and stops the yearly price rise beyond $15 if the annual 5 percent emission reduction target is being met. According to a 2014 study by Regional Economic Models
and Synapse Energy Economics, the policy’s would result in a 50 percent reduction of carbon emissions below 1990 levels in the next 20 years, an addition of 2.8 million jobs stimulated by the return of tax revenue and the prevention of 230,000 premature deaths from air pollution. Deutch, a University law alum, introduced the bill to the Congress f loor, emphasizing the need for American investment in clean energy technologies. “This aggressive carbon pricing scheme introduced by members from both parties See CARBON, Page 3A
DESIGN BY NOLAN FELICIDARIO
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INDEX
Vol. CXXVIII, No. 45 ©2018 The Michigan Daily
for Nassar survivors
Trustees slam Engler for close of Healing Assistance fund after fraud concerns MAEVE O’BRIEN Daily Staff reporter
On Wednesday, two Michigan State University board members, as well as two board members-elect, spoke out against Interim President John Engler’s decision to close a $10 million fund created to pay for mental health services for survivors of former MSU doctor Larry Nassar’s abuse. Engler announced the closure of the Healing Assistance fund Tuesday in light of MSU settling a $500 million lawsuit with more than 300 women who have been assaulted by Nassar. The fund has been frozen since July over concerns of fraud, and Engler said the remaining balance of $8.6 million will be used “to reduce the amount of our borrowing to pay the settlement.” Current board members Brian Mosallam and Dianne Byrum and recently elected board members Brianna Scott and Kelly Tebay released a statement on Twitter in opposition to the interim See ENGLER, Page 3A
NEWS......................... 2A OPINION.....................4A ARTS......................6A
SUDOKU.....................2A CL ASSIFIEDS............... 5A S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7A