ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SEVEN YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
Thursday, September 20, 2018
Ann Arbor, Michigan
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ACADEMICS
What’s in a name? Near East Studies, SAC rebrand CARTER FOX/Daily
Departments respond to student and employer confusion, outdated ideologies
Representative Joe Kennedy III speaks on current issues and voter turnout at the Michigan League Wednesday morning.
Rep. Joe Kennedy rallies with state Democrats to turn out student vote College Democrats bring Stabenow, Dingell, and more in advance of midterms MAEVE O’BRIEN Daily Staff Reporter
Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow and Massachusetts Rep. Joe Kennedy III joined Michigan Reps. Debbie Dingell and Dan Kildee, congressional
candidate Gretchen Driskell and University of Michigan Board of Regents candidate Paul Brown for an event Wednesday co-hosted by the University’s chapter of College Democrats. The special guests discussed important issues for young voters, voter turnout in the midterm elections and the
direction of the Democratic party. College Democrats Chair Kellie Lounds, a Public Policy senior, began organizing the event a few weeks ago when she heard Kennedy would be in Michigan doing events on the west side of the state. She contacted Stabenow’s team, and the event
began to gain momentum. “Obviously Congressman Joe Kennedy is a super exciting person to have — not someone we see around a lot,” Lounds said. “We’re always excited to see Debbie Stabenow and Debbie Dingell, but when you get someone from out See DEMS, Page 3A
ANDREW HIYAMA Daily News Editor
When LSA senior Sophia Georginis interviewed for a summer job at Comedy Central last year, then studying screen arts and cultures at the University of Michigan, she was asked was to define her major. Georginis explained she studied film, television and media and ended up getting the job, but realized her department’s name presented a significant obstacle to employment. “Screen arts and cultures to a lot of employers didn’t really mean much because it was a bunch of words strung together that didn’t mean a lot to people
in the industry,” Georginis said. “If they didn’t really know what we were studying, in a pool of thousands and thousands of kids, it was just difficult to be like, ‘Yes, this is film, television and media,’ if they look at your major and they don’t even know what it is.” However, on Sept. 1, the department changed its name after 14 years. Georginis, along with all other formerlycalled screen arts and cultures students, became Film, Television, and Media majors. Georginis said she was pleased with the change. “The new name change makes a lot of sense because it’s just so forward,” she said. “I See SAC, Page 2A
Former juvenile lifer turned paralegal University Panel talks announces details carceral education experience creativity
ADMINISTRATION
CAMPUS LIFE
initiatives in Detroit
Sanders spent 42-year sentence giving legal assistance, calls for campus involvement
Revived partnership series prompts city residents’ reflections on resources
More than 70 University of Michigan students and faculty members attended an interview Wednesday featuring former juvenile lifer Edward Sanders in a lecture titled “From Prison to Paralegal.” The Information Alliance for Community Development and the School of Information jointly hosted the event, which explored Sanders’ experience in prison and efforts to obtain an education, as well as his reintroduction into a technologically-focused society. Sanders was 17 years old when he was convicted with accessory to murder and imprisoned in 1975. As the lecture, he expressed his regret for what happened that day and explained how it changed his life forever. “I made a mistake when I was
SAYALI AMIN
Daily Staff Reporter
In this past week, the University of Michigan has announced several new initiatives centered in Detroit. Of these initiatives are a partnership with Harvard University to address the opioid crisis and the P-20 Partnership with Marygrove College to improve educational institutions. The P-20 Partnership implements a teacher residency, which allows teachers to work in rotations similar those of physicians, and a “cradle-to-career” pathway for students beginning as early as kindergarten. In the past year, the University also finalized the purchase of the remainder of the Horace H. Rackham Education Memorial Building in Detroit, which has been used previously for multiple projects and classes. James Holloway, vice provost of Global Engagement and Interdisciplinary Academic Affairs, said Detroit, as an important urban area, presents opportunities for faculty and staff. He also said there are several questions that arise when approaching a project in Detroit. “How do opportunities in Detroit align with our mission to develop generalizable knowledge and to educate a new generation?” Holloway said. “How do we do that in partnership and in ways building capacity and realizing opportunities for the various communities of Detroit?” American culture Associate See DETROIT, Page 3A
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KATHERINA SOURINE Daily Staff Reporter
17 years old and I recognize that someone lost their life. I didn’t pull the trigger, but I was there,” he said. “There’s no snapping my finger and getting them to come back. I know what death means.” After spending 42 years in prison, Sanders was released on July 6, 2017. Upon entry to prison, he described his education level was at approximately third grade, which was one of the reasons he was so motivated to spend time trying to earn an undergraduate degree. “Most of my time in prison was spent in four places: in the yard running, the inmates’ library, the school or Islamic services,” he said. He faced several challenges getting an education as a result of the prison institution structure. Because he received a life sentence, he was not prioritized for the provided
educational opportunities. He could only attend on the basis that another inmate would decide not to pursue education. “Every time that I made an effort to go to school, it was a challenge,” Sanders said. “I would have to wait to see if someone that intended to go didn’t go. And if they decided not to go, it was my fortune.” While he was in prison, Sanders received his associate’s degree from Jackson College in paralegal studies, as well as a bachelor’s degree from Spring Arbor University in behavioral science. Sanders then joined a group called the Lifer Law program, where he worked with other inmates, mostly veterans, to study legal texts and pay for attorneys to come lecture. The program also gave inmates resources to go to trial, even when discouraged by their attorneys.
Sanders said being able to use and benefit from this education was significant. Though he gained 40 years of paralegal experience, the likelihood of a career or even an entry-level job in the field of law is slim for former felons. “There’s no looking for a career, and that reality hurt. So I began to do what other inmates did before me, which is assisting my fellow inmates,” he said. Sanders highlighted prison institutional barriers to obtaining education, such as severe limitations on technology access. The prison in which he was incarcerated had ban on typewriters — they were considered a threat to security. Later, offline computers were provided to participate in legal research, but he explained the system was still inefficient. “There is an institutional bias See PARALEGAL, Page 3A
RUCHITA IYER/Daily
Paralegal Edward Sanders, who spent forty-two years in prison, discusses the importance of digital technology access and literacy skills for incarcerated individuals in North Quad Wednesday morning.
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INDEX
Vol. CXXVII, No. 139 ©2018 The Michigan Daily
in response to unrest
“Night and Day” born from directors’ political struggle under far-right ELIZABETH LAWRENCE Daily Staff Reporter
Polish President Andrzej Duda and U.S. President Donald Trump’s meeting wasn’t the only conference between the two countries this week. University of Michigan’s School of Music, Theatre and Dance hosted a panel discussing the joint production playwright Charles Mee’s “Day and Night” with Polish institutions AST National Academy of Theatre Arts, Kraków and Warsaw-based Adam Mickiewicz Institute. The Wednesday evening panel included directors Malcolm Tulip, a Music, Theatre & Dance assistant professor, and Dominika Knapik, a Polish actress, dancer and choreographer, as well as the designers and members of the Polish and American cast. Germanic languages and literature Visiting Scholar Teresa Kovacs moderated the discussion, first giving the background of “Night and Day.” The play premiered in 2014 and is actually two separate plays that can be performed together or apart. “Like all of Mee’s plays, ‘Night and Day’ are not psychological, narrative-based dramas,” Kovacs said. “We can think of them as a collage because he uses different materials: paintings, he refers to performances and even Youtube clips.” Tulip chose Night and Day See PANEL, Page 3A
NEWS.........................2 OPINION.....................4 ARTS...........................5
SUDOKU.....................2 CLASSIFIEDS...............6 SPORTS....................7