President Joe Biden met with congressional leaders May 9 in hopes of coming to an agreement to raise the country’s debt limit, or the cap on how much the federal government can borrow to pay for its functions and programs. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen announced that the country reached its debt limit in January, prompting “extraordinary measures” to maintain government functions as lawmakers negotiate a deal. On May 1, Yellen warned that the U.S. could hit its debt limit by June 1, which could trigger a national financial crisis. With the June 1 deadline looming, The Michigan Daily examined how a potential default on the national debt would impact University of Michigan students.

In an interview with The Daily, Justin Wolfers, U-M professor of economics and public policy, explained how the national debt works and why it has become a politically polarizing issue.

“In important respects, government debt is like regular debt, when you spend more than you take in,” Wolfers said. “The government doesn’t have any savings, so therefore if you decide to spend more than you take in, you must borrow. That’s what the government debt is.”

The federal government generally incurs financial debt by issuing bonds, a type of loan from the government to public and private buyers. According to Wolfers, historically, when the government ran out of bonds, Congress would increase the limit without stipulations. However, Wolfers said political polarization in the last 20 years has made raising the debt limit less politically feasible, risking economic distress.

“At various points in the last 20 years, one side or the other, but predominantly Republicans, said, ‘Oh if we don’t do this, we can hold the other side up for ransom,’” Wolfers said. “Historically, no one did this because not raising the debt limit would be bad for the economy, bad for the constituents.”

If Congress is unable to reach a deal by the X-date, or the date when government money runs out, Wolfers said the economy may enter a condition similar to the 2008 financial crisis.

“If we show that there’s no reason for global markets to be confident that they’ll be repaid when they lend money to the (United States), that will cause an enormous change in interest rates,” Wolfers said. “That would cause a financial shock of a form that we don’t fully know the answer (to). We do know if everyone’s running around worried that everyone else is secretly broke, that’s going to create the problems we saw in 2008 and 2009.”

Wolfers also emphasized the potential impact of a debt default for students who are on federal financial aid or working for professors with federal grants.

“I imagine there are some number of students on federal financial aid, and if they’re waiting for the next check from the government, it’s not coming,” Wolfers said. “I know many students work for faculty who are on federal grants, and those grants are not coming.”

In an email to The Daily, University spokesperson Kim Broekhuizen said the University is monitoring the situation, though at this point is unable to determine how students relying on financial aid would be affected.

“The impact that this would have on federal aid is not known at this time,” Broekhuizen wrote. “The situation is being monitored closely by the Office of Financial Aid, but there isn’t enough information available to speculate on how financial aid for U-M students would be affected, if at all. The underlying statutes and determinations of federal student aid do not change if the U.S. government were to default on its debts.”

Broekhuizen said the University would provide assistance to students affected by a default through OFA programs, but recognized that most difficulties students may face would be a product of broader effects on the economy.

“(The Office of Financial Aid) has existing practices to address the needs of students and families experiencing unique hardships and those will still be in place regardless of what happens with the debt ceiling conversations,” Broekhuizen wrote. “The impact of the U.S. government defaulting on its debts isn’t specific to Higher Education so the effect on U-M students will be tied to the effect on the overall economy. Not enough is known at this time to anticipate the resulting needs of U-M students and families.”

According to Broekhuizen, U-M students received $301.2 million in federal financial aid during the 2021-2022 school year, with 40.7% of presumed eligible students receiving some form of federal aid.

Citing evidence from the 2008 financial crisis, Wolfers said rising seniors may also face difficulties finding employment after graduation if the U.S. defaulted on its debt.

“If we have a financial crisis, the next generation of seniors are going to graduate into a recession,” Wolfers said. “The students who graduated in 2009 had a really hard time getting a job. In fact, there’s research to show that many years later, their wages are lower than folks who graduated during better economic times. So it changes your post-college life literally for decades.” 

Rising LSA sophomore Aaron Castro, who relies on federal financial aid and programs, said he feels worried about the potential harms of the debt default on the cost of his education. 

“Anyone receiving federal funding, like (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits) for example, they will probably not receive their funds very quickly or at all,” Castro said. “So that’s sort of concerning. And everything will probably get a little more expensive due to the possibility of another recession coming from this, so students would take a big hit if we couldn’t get this passed.”

House Republican and Democrat leaders met with Biden Tuesday and told reporters they expect a deal to raise the debt ceiling in the coming days. Speaking in a press conference at the White House on Wednesday, Biden said government leaders were focused on avoiding a debt default.

“Every leader in the room understands the consequences if we failed to pay our bills,” Biden said. “And it would be catastrophic for the American economy and the American people.”

While Congressional leaders may come to an agreement to raise the debt ceiling, Wolfers said it could be difficult to vote on the agreed-upon legislation, citing House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s slow election to the speakership, taking a historic 15 rounds of voting.

“The concern is that in the current Congress, (House Speaker Kevin) McCarthy couldn’t even organize his own party to elect himself Speaker of the House,” Wolfers said. “How confident are you that he can organize his own party to pass a debt limit raise?”

Daily Staff Reporter Joshua Nicholson can be reached at joshuni@umich.edu. Summer News Editor Astrid Code contributed reporting to this article.

The post Here’s what you need to know about the United States debt default appeared first on The Michigan Daily.

The Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs met in the Alexander G. Ruthven Building Monday afternoon to hear reports from the chairs of various SACUA subcommittees, including the Medical Affairs Committee, General Counsel Advisory Committee and the Committee for Fairness, Equity and Inclusion.

Tom Braun, professor of biostatistics and SACUA chair, opened the meeting with a discussion of a proposed resolution to an amendment that will be discussed at the upcoming special University Senate meeting on May 25. This resolution would expand the Senate to include medical faculty.

“There is one additional resolution that was submitted to us that we will be discussing on May 25,” Braun said. “This is an amendment as submitted by the authors to the original resolution to now include lecturers as well in our expansion of the Senate.”

The meeting then transitioned to hearing reports from various subcommittees. Analisa DiFeo, associate professor in the Department of Pathology and Obstetrics & Gynecology and chair of the Medical Affairs Committee, provided a report on issues the committee raised with Michigan Medicine CEO Marschall Runge, including faculty and staff burnout. DiFeo said faculty and staff burnout arises when physicians are not satisfied with the work they are tasked with doing.

“The stress and burnout really comes from the physicians feeling like they’re not actually getting to do the job that they’re supposed to be doing, because they’re doing a lot more administrative work, (as well as) the issues of lack of staff and inability to fill vacant positions,” DiFeo said. 

DiFeo said though there are many wellness initiatives across campus, it would be helpful if they were centralized and easier for faculty and staff experiencing burnout to find. 

“We should better coordinate a way to inform faculty of where (wellness initiatives) are (and) how they can access them,” DiFeo said. “It should not be siloed in various places or various departments. There should be a location where (staff) should be able to find them all in one place.”

Braun said he believes the committee should discuss DiFeo’s report and findings on faculty burnout when they speak with University Provost Laurie McCauley at a future meeting.

“When we first met with the provost, she said one of her major initiatives was faculty well-being (and) mental health, and I haven’t heard much since,” Braun said. “I think what you’re learning is useful for us to inform the Provost moving forward.”

Yasmina Laouar, associate professor of microbiology and immunology and chair of the Committee on the Economic and Social Well-Being of the Faculty, reported on the committee’s goal of producing a study on faculty salary by gender and race.

“The goal is, once we have this data within two years, we can identify whether discrepancy happened in (the) unit, and then at the level of SACUA we could reach out to chairs or deans to point to some discrepancy in salary,” Laouar said. “We agreed that the University is investing a lot of effort in diversity. Hopefully, in the next year we will have a more diverse cohort. Now what are we doing in terms of salary?”

Laouar said the committee raised the idea to McCauley, but they were told the study could not be completed by her office.

“We sent this letter through the former SACUA chair Allen Liu to Provost McCauley, and the answer came back negative,” Laouar said. “(It is a) complex subject (and) a little bit difficult to manage, (so) it will not be done at her level.”

Luke McCarthy, director of the Faculty Senate, told Laouar that the Faculty Senate would work on the salary study.

“In SACUA, there’s a lot of interest to go ahead, and if the provost isn’t going to do this, then this is something that the Faculty Senate can push through,” McCarthy said. “We’ve communicated to the provost our intention of ‘if you’re not going to do a salary study, then the faculty might run with this ball.’ ”

Yulia Sevryugina, chemistry librarian and chair of the Research Advisory Committee, said the committee focused on learning about a variety of research initiatives by the University.

“We learned about (the) Research Data Stewardship Initiative, (the) opioid epidemic initiative (in the) Opioid Research Institute, about research halls on campus and some issues (and) concerns,” Sevryugina said.

Nicolai Lehnert, professor of chemistry and biophysics and chair of the Committee for Fairness, Equity and Inclusion, said the committee had put forward ideas to analyze campus climate.

“In terms of tracking campus climate, there were two major things that we came up with,” Lehnert said. “We wanted to see if (the Equity, Civil Rights, and Title IX Office) could release a report on race-based misconduct … and then analyze the data. The other idea that we had was looking at exit interviews….if you look at the (ADVANCE Program) report, 40 to 50 percent of the faculty that they interviewed mentioned that campus climate was an important issue why they were leaving.”

However, Lehnert said it would be difficult to obtain data to research exit interviews because they are done by local departments rather than the University’s Department of Human Resources.

“This is more complicated than we had thought,” Lehnert. “When faculty decide to leave, this is all handled by the HR Department in their units and the University’s HR doesn’t even know about this until faculty have already left, so it’s very difficult to interview faculty when they’re already gone.”

Rogério Pinto, associate dean for research and innovation at the School of Social Work and chair of the General Counsel’s Advisory Committee, said the committee discussed how to handle student complaints such as emails about changing final grades, and the possibility of raising this issue to the Board of Regents.

“We were all very moved by how people described what they’re perceiving in the classroom, and the (General) Counsel was very open to us trying to create a statement which would then be used by the Regents that would in some ways not be legally binding but a statement of solidarity with faculty,” Pinto said.

Daily Staff Reporter Joshua Nicholson can be reached at joshuni@umich.edu. 

The post SACUA discusses May 25 University senate meeting, hears committee reports appeared first on The Michigan Daily.

The Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs met in the Alexander G. Ruthven Building Monday afternoon to hear reports from the chairs of various subcommittees, including the Information Technology Committee, Financial Affairs Advisory Committee and Committee on Anti-Racism.

Tom Braun, biostatistics professor and SACUA chair, opened the meeting with a brief discussion on nominating new members to head SACUA’s subcommittees for the 2023-2024 academic year and a resolution to expand the membership of the University Senate, which will be discussed at SACUA’s May 25 meeting. 

“We’re going to discuss a resolution for expanding the senate membership,” Braun said. “We have enough people registered right now that we would have a quorum if they all end up showing on that day, but we certainly would like more people there.”

Braun then opened the floor for committee reports. Heather O’Malley, assistant research scientist in the Department of Pharmacology and chair of the Information Technology Committee, provided a report on the committee’s work during the 2022-2023 academic year. This included the University-wide implementation of CrowdStrike Falcon, a cybersecurity platform, across about 100,000 devices. 

“It’s intended as a platform that will prevent breaches, so it should keep out threat actors —  things like malware (and) ransomware,” O’Malley said. “I think the security value is very clear … as ransomware and threat actors from foreign entities are happening, we can’t afford to have the University compromised.”

According to O’Malley, the CrowdStrike Falcon’s platform has access to all data on devices where it is installed. She said some faculty have expressed concern over the capability of the program to access to their personal documents, citing the release of former University President Mark Schlissel’s emails following his dismissal in January 2022.

“The biggest issue surrounding this right now is faculty trust,” O’Malley said. “I think the incident where past president Schlissel’s emails were released to the public, in a very overt way, did not help with faculty trust, so people were concerned about files such as student information (and) … health information.”

Rebekah Modrak, professor in the School of Art & Design and SACUA member, said she believes the data access required by this software is unacceptable and voiced support for further inquiry.

“I think having software on our computers that essentially monitors every keystroke we make and can monitor every file is highly problematic,” Modrak said. “I hope that the committee pursues this (issue) further, and I hope that there’s more information and a vote amongst the faculty, about our confidence in the software.”

Karen Downing, librarian and chair of the Development Advisory Committee, highlighted supporting the Office of University Development and improving knowledge of the fundraising process as two of the committee’s tasks for the 2022-2023 academic year.

“The committee has been collaborating with OUD to repurpose a presentation they’ve put together called ‘Demystifying Fundraising’ and to adapt it to a faculty audience so that people have a firmer understanding of what fundraising entails and how to get involved again.” Downing said. 

James Gulvas, acquisition librarian and chair of the Financial Affairs Advisory Committee, then reviewed the committee’s work during the 2022-2023 academic year. Gulvas said their role was primarily informational and educational.

“We didn’t actually do a lot of advising or have a lot of deliverables, which I think is hard to do when you don’t have the foundational aspect of finance or the University’s structure with budget,” Gulvas said. “I think it would be beneficial that we have an educational session to onboard new (committee) members so that we can get to the meat of advising the Chief Financial Officer.”

The meeting concluded with a report by Dinesh Pal, associate professor of anesthesiology and chair of the Committee on Anti-Racism. Pal discussed two resolutions the committee proposed and passed by the Faculty Senate during the 2022-2023 academic year, including a statement calling on the University to condemn racism toward Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and a resolution to create a new land acknowledgment memorial. 

Pal also discussed SACUA’s push to include protections against caste discrimination in the University’s non-discrimination policy. He said while the University has since included the category in its official policy, he believes they should take further action beyond changing its language. 

“The most that we could get out of the administration was that they included (caste) in their non-discrimination statement, which kind of falls short,” Pal said. “It’s not a big ask…it’s just providing safeguards (and) preventing bullying in the context of caste, because there are a lot of microaggressions that happen.”

The subcommittees will continue their work throughout the 2023-2024 academic year.

Daily Staff Reporter Joshua Nicholson can be reached at joshuni@umich.edu. 

The post SACUA discusses University use of Crowdstrike Falcon software, hears reports on 2022-2023 academic year appeared first on The Michigan Daily.

Each month, The Michigan Daily publishes a compilation of bills in the Michigan legislature for students at the University of Michigan to know about.

The following article explains five bills that have been introduced, passed or signed into law by the Michigan legislature or Gov. Gretchen Whitmer throughout the month of April. 

1. Implementation of “red flag” laws 

Status: Passed by both chambers

First introduced on Feb. 16 by state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, D-Royal Oak, Senate Bill 0083, formally known as the Extreme Risk Protection Order Act, would allow a court to temporarily confiscate an individual’s guns if there is a reasonable risk that they may seriously harm themselves or others with the firearms in their possession. The bill was passed by the House on April 19th. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has said she plans to sign the bill in the coming weeks. 

When the bill is signed, Michigan will join 19 other states with “red flag laws.” . A study by the Violence Prevention Research Program at the University of California-Davis credits California’s red flag law with preventing 58 instances of gun violence and suicide since its enactment in 2016, concluding that the law is an effective means to prevent gun violence. 

The bill follows other gun control measures signed by Whitmer in recent weeks, including universal background checks and secure storage laws. In a press release following the legislature’s passage of the bill, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel expressed her support for the policy.

“What is clear, after years of witnessing horrific gun violence across school campuses, places of worship, and elsewhere, is that some people simply should not have firearms,” Nessel said. “This law will allow concerned friends, family, and law enforcement to act in a way that prevents senseless gun violence and deaths in our state.”

2. Removal of A-F ranking system for public schools 

Status: Introduced in the Senate

Introduced by state Rep. Matt Koleszar, D-Plymouth, House Bill 4166 would revise 1976 PA 451 to eliminate the requirement for the Michigan Department of Education to assign letter grades to public schools based on student performance. Under the current law, the MDOE is required to annually rank Michigan public schools by Sept. 1 on a variety of metrics and implement accountability measures for schools ranked in the bottom 5%. If the bill is signed into law, the MDOE would rank schools on a list of individual metrics instead of assigning an overall letter grade.

When introducing the bill, Koleszar said the current law too heavily generalizes school performance across the state.

“The A through F system has also been criticized by many school officials, citing that it is too simplistic and could unfairly hit schools with a bad grade overall when the school is improving in some areas,” Koleszar said. “It is also argued that the system is overly general.”

The bill passed the House and was assigned to the Senate Committee on Education for review.

3. Ban on using mobile devices when driving 

Status: Introduced in the House

First introduced March 9 by state Rep. Matt Koleszar, House Bill 4250, which is part of a package alongside House Bill 4251 and House Bill 4252, would prohibit the use of mobile devices when operating a motor vehicle.

The bill amends the current law, which only prohibits texting and driving, to ban all uses of mobile devices while driving including phone calls and social media. The bill also prohibits using a mobile device when in a running vehicle, not just while actively driving. 

State Rep. Tyrone Carter, D-Detroit, who co-sponsored H.B. 4251, said he believes the current law is not up to date with current technology.

“Michigan’s distracted driving laws need to be updated to ensure the safety of our drivers,” Carter said. “Simply banning texting is not enough with the evolution of technology and the convenience of smartphones. I am hopeful these laws will help to protect our loved ones and get them home safely each day.”

The bill has been referred to a second reading in the House.

4. Cursive instruction in Michigan public schools 

Status: Introduced in the Senate

First introduced in February by state Rep. Brenda Carter, D-Pontiac, House Bill 4064 would allow the MDOE to develop and implement cursive instruction coursework for public schools. As passed by the House on April 13, the bill would not require the department to implement a cursive program, but would strongly encourage it in addition to making the program available by the 2024-2025 school year. 

If signed into law, the bill would make Michigan the 22nd state to mandate cursive writing instruction in public schools. While cursive is not included in Michigan’s most recent education standards, the MDOE has said it already has a model program for instruction which can be immediately implemented once the bill is signed.

In a statement issued after the bill’s passage by the House, Carter said cursive was key to improving cognitive skills in the state’s elementary students.

“The benefits of ensuring our kids are taught cursive in school are far more than just teaching them how to sign their names,” Carter wrote. “By passing this bill, we will help children develop better memories and improve their cognitive function. It is a well-known fact among the scientific community that children and adults alike need to learn and develop handwriting skills.”

The bill has been delivered to the Senate and referred to the Committee on Education.

5. Repeal Michigan’s law criminalizing sodomy 

Status: Introduced in the House

Introduced on April 19 by state Rep. Noah Arbit, D-West Bloomfield, House Bill 4431 would amend the Michigan Penal Code to repeal the state ban on sodomy. While Michigan’s sodomy law was deemed unconstitutional by the United States Supreme Court in the 2003 case Lawrence v. Texas, the ban is still in the penal code, and some activists have expressed concern over Justice Clarence Thomas’ comment that the court should reconsider the Lawrence case. If Lawrence v. Texas was overturned, Michigan’s sodomy ban would immediately go back into effect. 

The bill, alongside House Bill 4432 and House Bill 4433, would remove references to sodomy in the penal code and add in penalties for bestiality. Under the current law, sodomy is a Class E felony that could result in up to 15 years in prison. 

Daily Staff Reporter Joshua Nicholson can be reached at joshuni@umich.edu.

The post Five bills to watch in the Michigan State Legislature: April 2023 appeared first on The Michigan Daily.

The University of Michigan has long been considered one of the most bike-friendly campuses in the country, with over 50% of U-M students having ridden a bike in the past year. However, bike theft has plagued the campus for years, raising questions about whether bringing a bike to campus is worth the risk. The Michigan Daily spoke with students and campus safety officials to understand the current state of this enduring problem. 

U-M students looking to report a stolen bike can turn to either of two law enforcement agencies: the Division of Public Safety and Security and the Ann Arbor Police Department. Melissa Overton, deputy chief of police of DPSS, told The Daily in an email that it is not uncommon for DPSS to receive reports of stolen bikes.

“We had 88 bike thefts reported in 2022,” Overton wrote. “I am sure some go unreported — we don’t know what we don’t know.”

In an email to The Daily, AAPD spokesperson Chris Page said they also receive reports of bike theft throughout the school year, both on and off campus.

“In 2021, we had 193 bikes/mountain bikes reported stolen; and in 2022, we had 155 bikes/mountain bikes reported stolen,” Page wrote. “This year (so far), we’ve had 14 bikes/mountain bikes reported stolen. Typically, from May through September is when we get the most bikes reported stolen during the year.” 

Despite the efforts of DPSS and the AAPD, the vast majority of bike thefts go unreported. Rising LSA senior Phoebe Yi said she chose to accept that her bike was gone once it was stolen rather than report it to the appropriate authorities.

“I had that bike for a really long time,” Yi said. “It was a secondhand bike to begin with, and I just kind of let it go. Sometimes I go around looking at bike racks and go ‘oh, that kind of looks like my bike,’ but I just (decided to) accept it was gone.”

Rising LSA junior Maria Wajahat told The Daily she has had her bike stolen twice and did not report either of the thefts to DPSS. Wajahat said she doubted DPSS could do anything to help her get her bike back because she did not register it.

“The second time, I got a newer bike, a more expensive bike, (and) I did lock it,” Wajahat said. “Someone cut through the lock and stole the bike. So that time I also did not contact DPSS, although I did think about doing it more (than the first time). I don’t think there was anything they could do because I didn’t register the bike.”

Page said many bike thefts are the result of people improperly locking their bikes.

“A lot of the cases involve the bicycle not being properly secured,” Page wrote. “The bike’s owner should make sure the lock goes through the actual frame and not just a wheel.”

Overton echoed these sentiments and said people often use the wrong lock to secure bikes on campus. 

“The most common mistake is using the wrong lock,” Overton wrote. “Do not use a cable type lock or secure it via the wheel, etc. (Instead), use a U-bolt type lock.”

Neither Yi nor Wajahat used a U-bolt type lock to secure their bikes. Yi said she used a hard plastic lock, and thinks that the lock was cut through.

“I was using one of those hard plastic locks (with) a key to it,” Yi said. “Those (are) the ones people don’t recommend using because you can cut it off really easily, and I just assumed that was the case (with my bike). I think that they cut it off and took the lock with them.”

Page said one of the most important steps people can take to help AAPD track down their stolen bike as quickly as possible is knowing their bike’s serial number.

“The best way to (remember it) would be to flip the bike upside down and take a picture of the serial number,” Page wrote. “In most cases the bike that is stolen is mass produced, so knowing the serial number drastically increases the chances of the owner getting their bike back.”

To report a bike theft on campus, students can call DPSS at 734-763-1131 or report the theft online. For bikes stolen off campus, students can call the AAPD at 734-794-6911 or file a report in person at the police station on the second floor of 301 E. Huron St.

Summer Managing News Editor Mary Corey can be reached at mcorey@umich.edu. Daily Staff Reporter Joshua Nicholson can be reached at joshuni@umich.edu. 

The post A deep dive into bike theft at UMich appeared first on The Michigan Daily.

As “decision day” approaches for prospective Wolverines, many opt to take admitted-student tours and participate in Campus Day activities. Every year, admitted high school seniors have until May 1 to commit to their future college. Incoming members of the class of 2027, however, may have seen a new addition to the typical tour route: the ongoing Graduate Employees’ Organization strike. For tour guides and Campus Day leaders, navigating picket lines and protests has presented its fair share of challenges.

Public Policy senior Grace Watson has given multiple tours since the strike began. In an interview with The Michigan Daily, she said her tour groups often come across GEO picket lines as they walk around campus.

“The most obvious impact (of the strike) is simply the physical pickets on campus,” Watson said. “We take prospective students and their families around the main parts of Central Campus, including the Diag, the Michigan Union and Mason and Angell Halls, so at many of our stops the pickets are visible and sometimes we hear their chants.”

Campus Day leader Matthew Peal told The Michigan Daily he often finds himself taking minor detours on his campus tours to avoid any potential obstructions caused by the strike. 

“It hasn’t impacted (the tours) as much as you might think,” Peal said. “Minor changes to our tour routes have taken place, but for Campus Day, since each of us doesn’t do the exact same tour route, it’s just minor changes. If we’re talking about academics, maybe we’ll go to a different building where it’d be a better space to do so.”

Watson said she now avoids taking her tours through the Michigan Union or any buildings where she has to cross a picket line due to ongoing GEO demonstrations. 

“As a supporter of GEO, I do not feel comfortable crossing the picket line,” Watson said. “It’s also just not really possible to give information to families at the steps of the Union while the strikers are chanting, so I’ve had to forgo doing that stop entirely.”

Parents of prospective students have expressed concern about how the GEO strike has affected their children’s perception of campus culture. One incoming student’s mother — who has requested anonymity due to fear of harassment and will be referred to as Ann — recently attended a campus tour with her family. She said the tour guide declined to show them the building containing Mason, Angell, Tisch and Haven halls in order to avoid crossing a GEO picket line. 

“The student who was giving (my family) a tour didn’t want to cross the line to enter a building to take them in as part of their tour because they didn’t want to be (looked down upon) by other students for crossing that line,” Ann said. “I was really surprised. This is a college tour, and then here (at the University) a student felt intimidated and didn’t want to cross the line.”

Some tour guides have also incorporated the strike into the information they provide to potential students and their parents. Watson said she informs her tour groups about the strike and GEO’s demands at the start of each tour. 

“I always give my tours a heads up that we will be encountering striking graduate students, and explain briefly their ask for a livable wage, among other measures,” Watson said. 

While Ann said her family didn’t interact directly with GEO, she viewed GEO picketing during campus tours as a negative experience.

“I felt that (GEO was) only thinking about themselves,” Ann said. “This was during a time when kids are on spring break, so they’re touring different universities, (and) they had to be aware of that. I felt … that this was not going to come across as a positive, because when I talked to other parents and I shared my experience, they were shocked that (this) was going on.”

Watson said she and other tour guides have occasionally experienced GEO members yelling at or approaching tour groups, sometimes aggressively.

“While I support GEO and their platform, and thus do not wish to cross picket lines, myself and other guides have encountered picketers who have been aggressive, shouting loudly in families’ faces to not come to (the University),” Watson said.

In an interview with The Daily, GEO vice president Ember McCoy said she isn’t aware of any aggressive actions taken by picketers and instead has experienced the opposite. She said she has seen parents joining picket lines and expressing support to graduate students on strike.

“We’ve had parents join our picket lines that I’ve seen,” McCoy said. “We’ve had multiple prospective (undergraduate students) reach out and say they thought it was really cool to see the (graduate) students picketing. I had a parent come up to me and say they’re from New York City and so they’re very used to seeing people on the picket lines. So … we’ve only heard positive interactions with the picket lines and parents being supportive of what we’re out here doing.”

McCoy said GEO does “informational pickets,” where they provide information to undergraduate students and tour groups as they walk by. She said the picketers are happy to explain to prospective students and parents on tours why GEO.

“We’re doing informational pickets, so explaining why we’re on strike (and) why we’re out here,” McCoy said. “I think one important statistic that we say sometimes for the tours is that one semester of out-of-state tuition for one student is more money than graduate students get paid in an entire year.”

Though Watson said many guides provide resources to educate themselves on the strike during their tours, she said she is frustrated by some of the encounters she has had with GEO members while conducting campus tours.

“I understand GEO’s frustration, but I know that myself and my fellow guides have been frustrated by the few instances in which the strikers have been very in-the-face of tours, which are composed of young high school students who have little-to-no background on these issues,” Watson said. “While I appreciate and encourage GEO strikers to hand out flyers to my tour groups or vocalize general information as we walk through campus, I haven’t appreciated the aggressive nature myself and other guides have sometimes encountered.”

Daily Staff Reporter Joshua Nicholson can be reached at joshuni@umich.edu. Daily News Contributor Grace Lim can be reached at gracelim@umich.edu.

The post UMich tour guides discuss impact of GEO strike on campus tours appeared first on The Michigan Daily.

When the Graduate Employees’ Organization began their ongoing strike on March 29, some classes were temporarily canceled or modified across the University of Michigan, leaving many undergraduate students feeling uncertain about how the final weeks of the semester will unfold. Many U-M students have voiced their support for GEO’s demands for wage increases, though others voiced concern over additional proposals from GEO.

In an interview with The Michigan Daily, LSA freshman Gabriella Carnevale said her discussion sections for the semester were canceled as a result of her GSI going on strike. She said her professor also canceled some assignments and ended class early so students could attend the walkout.

“Our discussions sections have been canceled for the rest of the semester, and we had some assignments canceled,” Carnevale said. “And our professor ended class (on Wednesday) at 10:24.”

Standing at the back of the crowd gathered on the Diag for the walkout last Wednesday, Carnevale said she has been supportive of the strike in spite of the disruption to her class.

“I think the strike is an important show of solidarity, and I think it’s an important and necessary part of advocating for a living,” Carnevale said.

In response to GEO’s demands of a 60% pay increase to $38,537 a year, the University has proposed to instead increase GSI pay by 11.5% from $24,053 to $26,819. In an email sent to the campus community on March 24, University President Santa Ono wrote that the University was opposed to two other GEO proposals, including the creation of a non-police urgent response unit, which Ono said is outside the scope of current negotiations. Ono also wrote the University opposed demands for GSIs to have the ability to shift to remote instruction.

Among the other students in support of the strike are Karthik Pasupula and Major Stevens, current LSA representatives in Central Student Government. In an interview with The Daily, Pasupula denounced the offer the University gave GEO in response to their original demands.

“I fully support (the strike),” Pasupula said. “They have the right to strike, especially given how abysmal the wage offer is from the University. There’s clearly some misunderstanding from the University administration that GSI working conditions are student living conditions. They need to pay them a living wage and negotiate with fairness.”

Stevens agreed with Pasupula and expressed similar sentiments about the University’s offer to GEO.

“Most of the things that they’re asking for are completely within Michigan’s realm of possibility,” Stevens said. “Refusing to even acknowledge that they’re able to do that is simply downright stupid and frustrating.”

Other student organizations have also expressed their support for the GEO strike online. In an Instagram story, the University’s undergraduate chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union reposted GEO’s “Giving Blue Day” Instagram post, writing “@aclu_umich stands with @geo_3550.” The University’s chapter of the Young Democratic Socialists of America also posted on Instagram in support of the GEO strike, providing information on when and where undergraduate students can participate in protests.

Though some students have voiced support for the GEO strike, others indicated a sense of frustration with the effects of the strike on the undergraduate student body. LSA freshman Braxton Orban told The Daily some students he has talked to expressed anxiety over the lack of GSI support, especially in math classes.

“I know for MATH 115 and 116, people are saying they’re having a lot of difficulties with those classes if their GSI is striking,” Orban said. “I think that people are frustrated by it, not necessarily because they disagree with what the GSI’s are asking (for), but because it makes some learning a little more difficult.”

As the University enters its last month of instruction for winter 2023, Orban said he understands why some students feel more stressed with the lack of GSI assistance in class.

“We’re getting later in the semester, and final exams are coming up,” Orban said. “Some students might have questions they need to ask their GSIs or information they still need to be covered. With the strike going on, it’s harder to do that now. I understand why people are frustrated.”

Some students expressed concern about GEO’s proposal for a non-police urgent response unit while maintaining DPSS on campus. LSA junior Neo Kanamori told The Daily he thought the proposal was irrelevant and could potentially make students feel unsafe in the aftermath of the shooting at Michigan State University in February.

“I just think that was kind of irrelevant to the labor negotiations, and I thought it was dangerous even, considering what happened recently at Michigan State,” Kanamori said.

Kanamori also expressed concern about GEO’s effort to push the University to not voluntarily allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement on campus. In a March 24 email, Ono described this demand as preventing all federal agents from executing warrants on campus. Kanamori also said he thought the proposal could have a negative impact on campus safety.

“I read in the email (Ono sent) that GEO is trying to ask the University to bar federal agents from entering University property to execute search and arrest warrants,” Kanamori said. “I thought that was kind of dangerous, and maybe even ideologically motivated.”

Other students expressed curiosity and uncertainty in response to the second GEO strike in three years. Business freshman Carter Dvorak told The Daily he isn’t sure how the strike will affect his classes, if at all, and said he was more curious to see how the environment will change on campus.

“I’m really curious to see in the next coming weeks what it’s going to be,” Dvorak said. “I’m not in that many classes (that) have GSIs, being in the Business School we have more (teacher assistants), so it’s not as much a direct effect. I’m really curious to see how the energy changes on campus, what it’s going to be like when there are picket lines in front of buildings, I’m honestly more curious than anything else.”

In an email to the campus community sent out March 28, University Provost Laurie McCauley said that the strike would create a complicated campus atmosphere. However, McCauley encouraged students to be open-minded about their peers through campus, and that all parties should focus on preserving a safe campus environment.

“We recognize that these can be difficult and complicated decisions, and we urge all members of our community to respect each individual member’s decisions–including the right of union members not to strike,” McCauley wrote. “Everyone in our university community, including graduate students, have the right to travel safely throughout campus, enter and exit buildings, and continue to work if they choose, regardless of whether there is a strike.”

Rackham student Sovoya Davis, a member of GEO, said that no one in GEO wants to strike.

“You know, nobody wants to strike, we care about our students a lot, so it really just depends on the University of Michigan,” Davis said.

While Dvorak attended the March 29 walkout, he said he was there out of curiosity and wanted to be involved in campus history.

“I think I’m really curious, I think this is a big moment and a relatively important moment on campus,” Dvorak said. “I definitely want to be here with my own eyes and see what’s happening.”

Daily Staff Reporter Joshua Nicholson can be reached at joshuni@umich.edu.

The post UMich undergraduates divided over GEO strike appeared first on The Michigan Daily.

The Michigan Daily’s Campus Life Beat organized an interactive map of places to visit throughout campus and Ann Arbor, along with important traditions to participate in before graduating. Find the rest of the project here.

There’s a place on campus that has seen the highs and lows of student life. Left untouched despite heavy traffic in the 10 minutes between classes, the block ‘M’ on the Diag has remained virtually unchanged since its installation. A pillar of the campus community, its bronze cover, now turning green with age, has seen candlelit vigils, countless protests and the roars of students coming together for Diag snowball fights. Despite all of this, students still avoid directly stepping on the block ‘M’, adhering to the superstition that stepping on it means failing your first blue book exam. The Michigan Daily set out to ask the following question: Is there truth to the legend?

The block ‘M’ has only adorned the Diag for 70 years. Installed on May 8, 1953, to replace a previous brick design, the block ‘M’ was presented to former University President Harlan Hatcher on three days later as a gift to the University from the class of 1953. When presenting the block ‘M,’ John Flynn, chairman of the Senior Board, told The Daily freshmen were prohibited from stepping on it until they completed one full year of school. Just a few years later, 1958 orientation leaders were warning new students against ever stepping on the block ‘M’ before an exam. 

LSA freshman Matthew Peal, who works as a campus tour leader for the University, told The Daily though prospective students tend to laugh off the tradition when he tells them about it, others show some fear of the consequences.

“Usually, it seems more of a myth to them at the moment,” Peal said. “(They think,) ‘OK that’s cool, students just stay away from it,’ but maybe when they come and realize, ‘Oh wow, I actually have a blue book exam, this is something I need to stay away from.’ ”

If students happen to step on the block ‘M,’ legend dictates they must run naked from the steps of the Hatcher Graduate Library to the pumas outside of the Museum of Natural History before the Burton Memorial Tower chimes 12 times at midnight. Due to a change to a computerized system in the 1980s, the tower no longer sounds at midnight. If the tower still rang at midnight, students would need to run roughly half a mile in 10-15 seconds, a physically impossible feat even for Olympic athletes. 

Though he faces skepticism from his visitors, Peal said he fully believes in the tradition and has not stepped on the block ‘M.’

“Every time I walk through the Diag, I always think of my next exam, my next blue book exam that’s coming up,” Peal said. “(It) puts a little bit of fear into me.”

LSA freshman Teaghan Lathers told The Daily she was worried about failing her exam after unintentionally stepping on the block ‘M’ once. 

“I stepped on the ‘M’ the first time while I was on a phone call, and I freaked out because I had a Spanish quiz the next day,” Lathers said. “I was like, ‘Oh my god, I’m going to fail.’ I did fine on the quiz and realized that it’s just a superstition.”

After her experience, Lathers said she has deliberately stepped on the block ‘M’ while campus groups were around.

“I’ve accidentally stepped on (the block ‘M’) a few times since then, and then I started getting into the habit of stepping on it intentionally when there (are) Campus Day tour groups because I think it’s funny that they’re talking about the ‘M,’ and I’m completely unbothered by it,” Lathers said.

LSA sophomore Gwynn Bell told The Daily he likes to imagine the tradition was made to protect the integrity of the block ‘M’ from students walking across it.

“My headcanon is that the regents made up the superstition,” Bell said. “(They) indoctrinate students at orientation so the block (‘M’) doesn’t wear out and need replacement.”

In fact, the block ‘M’ has undergone renovations due to conventional wear and tear, most recently in the summer of 2019.

Though most students make their best efforts to avoid it, whether out of habit or to adhere to the tradition, the block ‘M’ has become an important symbol of the campus community and the centerpiece of the Diag. 

Kareem Rifai, Central Student Government communications director, wrote in an email to The Daily that CSG considers the block ‘M’ as an important gathering place for campus-wide events.

“The Diag represents the symbolic center of campus life,” Rifai wrote. “As a means to ensure that our programming reaches as many students as possible, CSG often uses the Diag to host our events.”

During the University’s annual football rivalry week with Michigan State University, U-M fraternity Theta Xi keeps a 24-hour vigil over the block ‘M’ in order to protect it from MSU students in an event known as “Defend the Diag.” While students from MSU used to vandalize the block ‘M’ since 1998, a 2000 Letter to the Editor from then LSA sophomore Brian Groesser called on students to protect the block ‘M’ in the nights leading up to the rivalry game. Since then, Theta Xi has used their annual vigil event to fundraise for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

While Peal diligently avoids stepping on the block ‘M,’ he said his adherence to the tradition makes him feel connected to his place at the University.

“Every time I go through the Diag,” Peal said. “It brings me back to, ‘Wow I’m at the University (of Michigan).”

Daily Staff Reporters Joshua Nicolson and Shao Hsuan Wu can be reached at joshuni@umich.edu and wjeannie@umich.edu.

The post ‘Watch where you step’: Diag ‘M’ tradition lasts 70 years appeared first on The Michigan Daily.

Located beneath the Six11 apartment complex along East University Avenue, a new cafe hosted a “soft-opening” Thursday. The Misfit Society Coffee Club is an Ann Arbor extension of the Grand Rapids-based Social Misfits — a restaurant that markets itself as a welcoming establishment for “nonconformity” and “the underdog.”

In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Misfit Society owner Spencer Raymond said he hoped to recreate the customer experience at Grand Rapids’ Social Misfits restaurant in Ann Arbor.

“We (want to) find people that relate to being a misfit in one way or another,” Raymond said. “That’s the core piece I wanted to try … and implement in a way that people can relate to.”

Standing next to wallpaper depicting various rock album covers of the ’70s and ’80s, Raymond said he aimed to depict the misfit mentality when designing the interior of the coffee shop.

“This is all (music) that’s (from the) ’70s and ’80s … but a lot of these albums, people wouldn’t know what they were,” Raymond said. “It’s just fun, different and eclectic. (The wallpaper) was a way to express (the misfit mentality and is) … meant to not feel perfect. There’s an art form in that, appreciating that it’s imperfect.”

Though the space is small compared to neighboring coffee shops, including M-36 Coffee Roasters and Revive + Replenish, The Misfit Society Coffee Club offers seating at a bar and long high table, elements that Raymond said convey a message of community.

“There’s a lot of community that we’re trying to drive,” Raymond said. “It’s like you’ve been spending the entire day at the library and now you can come here and recharge with coffee and unwind, have a conversation. It’s not meant to be one super uncomfortable chair sitting in a corner. … It is meant to be comfortable.” 

LSA sophomore Anya Gupta attended the soft launch and said she enjoyed the atmosphere and food. As a member of the Pi Sigma Epsilon business fraternity, Gupta said she has been helping Misfit Society with its marketing campaign. 

“(Pi Sigma Epsilon) is working on (an in-person) consulting project with Social Misfits just trying to help them with their launch and their new location,” Gupta said. “I’m a coffee girl. I have been everywhere around here and I haven’t seen the vibes and the energy they’ve encompassed here. I think they’re so cool and they’re so different, and I think they do a good job of owning how cool and different they are.”

Megan Seeley, marketing manager for Misfit Society, told The Daily she plans to bring Social Misfits’ videographer to Ann Arbor to create reels and advertise the new coffee shop. She also said Misfit Society plans to collaborate with other local businesses to advertise.

“Collaboration with other businesses is key,” Seeley said. “It’s worked great for us at Social Misfits. My main goal is once a month (to) have another business in-house.”

LSA junior Lilah Shandel, who lives in the Six11 apartment complex, wrote in an email to The Daily that she doesn’t have an opinion on the new cafe, saying it doesn’t stand out to her compared to nearby coffee shops.

“I honestly don’t have much of an opinion on the coffee shop,” Shandel wrote. “It’s a very cool space and has good coffee and food, but M-36 is across the street, Revive is next door, and Starbucks is around the corner, so there isn’t much change as a matter of convenience and availability of coffee.”

In response to nearby competition, Raymond said Misfit Society hopes to differentiate themselves by their location and convenience factor, including an app that allows users to order online and create a running tab of their orders.

“Once you get into the space, I think it speaks for itself,” Raymond said. “We have the ability with our app to place orders ahead of time, create a tab on our app and then rack up this tab whenever, (and) it’s all connected to Apple Pay. There’s definitely convenience where, if you’re upstairs and you just woke up, you can place your coffee (order) and (we’ll) text you when your order is ready. So (students) can just walk downstairs and grab it or on their way to class.”

Raymond said he thinks the main appeal of the Misfit Society is its atmosphere and decoration, which he said is unique when compared to other coffee shops.

“Our core competency is to sell coffee, but there’s this secret sauce,” Raymond said. “It’s a vibe, it’s the hangout. It’s coming in and finding something different, something that you don’t see every day.” 

Misfit Society Coffee Club’s grand opening is March 24. 

Daily Staff Reporter Joshua Nicholson can be reached at joshuni@umich.edu.

The post <strong>‘Being a Misfit’: Misfit Society Coffee Club opens near UMich Diag</strong> appeared first on The Michigan Daily.

The University of Michigan’s Oceanic Student Association hosted a cultural event in collaboration with Indiana University’s Pacific Islander Student Association titled Party for the Pasifika, on March 4 at Indiana University. The event included dance workshops, poetry and a kanikapila jam session in an effort to celebrate Pacific Islander communities. Fundraising from the event supported the Bloomington Community Kitchen and Brown Girl Woke, an organization that invests in the future of young people in Samoa.

Public Health graduate student Sarah McNally, OSA board member, told The Michigan Daily in an interview after the event that the collaboration was significant, especially because of the lack of Pacific Islander students in the Midwest. According to the 2020 U.S. Census data, Pacific Islander people make up less than 0.1% of the populations of Michigan and Indiana. McNally said allowing students from both universities to celebrate their shared culture helps build a sense of community in the region.

“It was significant in a lot of different ways,” McNally said. “First and foremost, there isn’t a well-established Pacific Islander community, particularly for students attending ( the University of Michigan). The fact that this event was not only hosted at Indiana University, but also included (the) University of Michigan and gave that space and sense of community for Pacific Islander students was really significant.”

Rackham student Wren Palmer, another OSA board member, told The Daily the event was part of an ongoing effort within the organization to build connections between various Pacific Islander communities in the Midwest. She said she was pleasantly surprised to see so many people who identify as Pacific Islander in one place.

“The main thing was really just building community and finding Pacific Islanders in the Midwest, because it doesn’t seem like there would be very many of us,” Palmer said. “But surprisingly, there were a lot.”

While Indiana University hosted the event, U-M OSA was involved in organizing it. Palmer said the idea for Party for the Pasifika arose when McNally told the OSA board she wanted to build Pacific Islander connections throughout the Midwest. The organization started working with Indiana University’s Pacific Islander Student Association to organize a student invitational and the rest was history, Palmer said.

She described the event, which featured a variety of speakers and activities over the course of a weekend.

“It was a three day thing for us, but essentially there were only two formal days of events,” Palmer said. “Friday, we had a dinner with a guest speaker, a professor from the University of Washington: Dr. David Palaita. Saturday, we had a day full of workshops that we could register for.”

The workshops included Tahitian Dance lessons, poetry writing and lei making sessions. Palmer said she participated in all of the dance workshops, and enjoyed the Haka workshop the most — where she learned a traditional war dance routine.

“Haka was the most transformative for me,” Palmer said. “I learned things that I didn’t know about, in the sense that the Haka is a war dance, but I didn’t know that it was supposed to be about a type of release. Check everything at the door and just let (out) pure rage. (I learned) just don’t be afraid of what the person next to us was thinking and embody a warrior, say things with our full chest.”

Aia Hawari, sponsor of U-M OSA and program manager at Multi-Ethnic Student Affairs, said in an interview with The Daily that she hopes attending the Party for the Pasifika has helped students in OSA connect with their identities and make new friends.

“I would say hoping they feel affirmed in the connectivity, despite distance being in (the) diaspora, despite the small number of Oceanian students and community in the midwest and at (the University of Michigan),” Hawari said. “I want them to feel connected to their roots and their identities and feel affirmed in them.”

Only 28 U-M students — including undergraduate, graduate and professional students — identified as Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander during the Fall 2022 semester according to U-M enrollment numbers. Palmer said she thinks there’s room to improve the representation of students of these identities at the University, though she appreciates the way student organizations like OSA are helping student voices be heard.

“I think we’re definitely trying our best to be heard,” Palmer said. “I want to recognize there are student organizations that are helping us and really uplifting us as Pacific Islander voices. There’s definitely room for improvement, but I’d say that I’m appreciative of the level that there is now in actively seeking out Pacific Islander students.”

As OSA plans future events at the University, McNally said the organization hopes to use their experience at the Party for the Pasifika to improve their own outreach efforts within the campus community and with other local universities. Currently, OSA is preparing for Pacific Islander Heritage Week in conjunction with MESA, which will be held on April 9–15. The annual event will aim to share Pacific Islander culture with the broader campus community.

“It definitely helped inform a lot of how we can do our programming here,” Mcnally said. “For example, even just replicating some of the events that (Indiana University) hosted. Essentially, doing more community events where we can educate the University of Michigan campus culture, and inform them of (Pacific Islander experiences on campus).

”Daily Staff Reporter Joshua Nicholson can be reached at joshuni@umich.edu.

The post ‘Party for the Pasifika’: A Pacific Islander heritage event appeared first on The Michigan Daily.