ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SEVEN YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
Friday, February 16, 2018
Ann Arbor, Michigan
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CAMPUS LIFE
Host of ‘1A’ holds debate on issues of free speech Faculty-student panel discusses Richard Spencer, conservatism in the classroom REFAEL KUBERSKY For the Daily
ALEXANDRIA POMPEI/Daily
Ian Robinson, President of LEO and LSA lecturer, speaks about the unjust compensation University lecturers receive at the Michigan Union Thursday.
Lecturers hold press conference to outline frustrations with ‘U’ LEO demands pay raises and job security, calls University counteroffer “insulting” LEAH GRAHAM Daily Staff Reporter
After receiving what members called an “insulting” response to their salary proposal from the University of Michigan Monday night, the Lecturers’ Employee Organization held a press conference at the Michigan Union prior to the University Board of Regents meeting Thursday. Lecturers and allies addressed the board and University President Mark
Schlissel directly, emphasizing the union’s core demands, which include higher wages, enhanced job security and improved benefits. More than 75 people, including lecturers, allies, students and members of the Graduate Employees’ Organization gathered in support of LEO, many with signs, buttons and T-shirts. The press conference featured lecturers from the School of Social Work and University of Michigan-Dearborn, as well as LEO President Ian Robinson
and Heather Ann Thompson, professor of Afroamerican and African Studies. Robinson, a sociology lecturer, expressed worry at the meeting that in light of the University’s “shockingly low” offer, the union may not be able to conclude negotiations before its current contract ends on April 20. “We are not going to get to a contract by our goal of early April unless the administration rethinks the role that we play and the respect that we deserve and makes a much bigger offer
in response to our demands,” Robinson said. LEO, which represents nearly 1,700 non-tenure track faculty members across all three University campuses, has been bargaining for a new contract with the University since last semester. Right now, the minimum salary for a full-time lecturer is $34,500 at University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, $28,300 in Dearborn and $27,300 in Flint. In its counterproposal, the University offered a $1,000 See LEO, Page 3
Joshua Johnson — host of NPR’s “1A” — navigated the issue of free speech on college campuses, and how to encourage free dialogue while also maintaining a comfortable and safe environment for students, at a live taping of his show Thursday night. The panel discussion “Speak Freely: Debating the First Amendment in a Changing America” was co-sponsored by Michigan Radio and Wallace House, a fellowship program for journalists at the University of Michigan, and drew hundreds of people to Rackham Auditorium. Johnson, a journalist for the show that focuses on politics, policy and technology daily, sat down with a panel featuring University faculty members Angela Dillard and Faith Sparr, who teach in the Departments of Afroamerican and African Studies and Communications Studies, respectively, as well as Rackham student Maximillian Alvarez and
LSA senior Jesse Arm. The conversation started with the panelists responding to the question of how universities should respond to controversial far-right personalities, such as white supremacist Richard Spencer, and whether universities are obligated to host these speakers. In October, Spencer requested to speak at the University without invitation, and after a lengthy negotiation process, the University announced in January Spencer would not be speaking this semester, though they would offer him potential dates to speak once the semester is over. Dillard acknowledged the University’s legal obligation of protecting free speech, but said people must acknowledge “the idea that we would have such a divisive, potentially dangerous person… and how disruptive that might be on our campus to the real work of our campus.” “It is not something that the University of Michigan is at one mind about,” Dillard said. See DEBATE, Page 3
‘U’ study finds correlation between Diversity in LEO given Kines. seen worsening air quality and crime levels no answer
ACADEMICS
ADMINISTRATION
as obstacle to students
Anxiety caused by air pollution believed to lead to unethical behavior, crime
According to department, Kines. school is 77 percent white, 12.6 percent URM
More than 125 million Americans are exposed to dangerous levels of air pollution, according to the American Lung Association’s 2017 State of the Air Report. The environmental and health ramifications of air pollution are well documented: Haze, ozone depletion, acid rain and lung cancer are among many of the consequences that result. But social costs, like increased criminal activity, may also result from the worsening air quality, according to research by a University of Michigan professor. Julia Lee, assistant professor of management and organizations at the Ross School of Business, explored the correlation between unethical behavior and air pollution in a study with researchers from Columbia University and Harvard University. The findings, soon to be published in the Psychological Science journal, demonstrate a relationship between the anxiety caused by pollution and social ills. Lee first became interested in behavioral ethics while earning her doctorate degree in Public Policy at Harvard. She began to look at the relationship between air pollution and unethical behavior with her former adviser Francesca Gino, a professor of business administration at Harvard Business School. “We had some initial data from
RACHEL CUNNINGHAM Daily Staff Reporter
When Kinesiology junior Okpalefe Edevbie transferred from Wayne State University to the University of Michigan’s School of Kinesiology, he was excited to learn about a major WSU didn’t offer — Sports Management — which focuses on the interactions of sports and business.” He knew there was less diversity at the University in comparison to WSU, but was surprised at how often he felt he was the only minority student in his courses, specifically in the sport management program. “In my classes, I’m usually one… if not the only minority student in a lot of my classes, which I thought was interesting particularly in sport management because African Americans influence sports and sports culture so much in this country,” Edevbie said. “But, I thought that there would be at least more African Americans like myself in the program.” According to La’Joya Orr, managing director for recruitment and admissions for the Kinesiology School, the school’s student population is 77 percent white, See KINESIOLOGY, Page 3
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FBI and EPA, but realized that putting together a large dataset and accounting for many possible confounds (e.g., demographics, # of police officers, etc) may be a daunting task, and that’s when we decided to team up with Jackson Lu and Adam Galinsky at Columbia Business School,” Lee wrote in an email interview. Lee and her colleagues analyzed vast datasets, combining the Environmental Protection Agency’s city-level
pollution data with the FBI’s citylevel crime data, allowing them to analyze 9,360 American cities in total. “Jackson loved talking about how comprehensive this dataset was by reporting that the data had 17 different cities across different states that were all named ‘Springfield,’” Lee wrote. Ultimately, the team found strong correlations between unethical behavior and pollution, and believe anxiety related to
pollution may be at the heart of the issue. “There is an existing body of work showing that air pollution increases stress and anxiety,” Lee wrote. “Francesca Gino and I had already done some work on how engaging in unethical behavior might reduce people’s anxiety at least temporarily, and demonstrated that cheating resulted in the reduction in participants’ stress See POLLUTION, Page 3
N E W Y E A R C E L E B R AT I O N
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Performers dance on stage during the CSSA Chinese New Year Celebration Gala at the Michigan Theater Saturday.
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INDEX
Vol. CXXVII, No. 78 ©2018 The Michigan Daily
from Board of Regents
During public comment, Regents respond to IFC speaker, silent for LEO JORDYN BAKER & AMARA SHAIKH Daily Staff Reporters
On Thursday afternoon, the University of Michigan Board of Regents met for the first meeting of the semester, with many representatives of the Lecturers’ Employee Organization and Stop Spencer voicing their concerns during public comments. Topics discussed included increasing wages and benefits for lecturers, #StopSpencer, allocation of funds to several investments and renovations, and actions currently being taken by the Interfraternity Council to create a safer Greek life community. During University President Mark Schlissel’s opening statements, he offered his sympathies to the victims of the recent shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. “Before we get started, I’d like to acknowledge in great sadness the events in Florida and extend the sympathies of the entire University of Michigan community to the families and survivors of yet another terrible mass shooting See REGENTS, Page 2
NEWS.........................2 OPINION.....................4 ARTS......................6
SUDOKU.....................2 CLASSIFIEDS...............6 SPORTS....................7