The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Tuesday, March 30, 2010 - 7
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Tuesday, March 30, 2010 -7
Students in residence halls get taste
. of local offerings at lunch yesterday
Meal was part of
University's Earth
No executions
took place in
Europe in'09
Day series of events
By SUZANNE JACOBS
Daily StaffReporter
Students who ate lunch in the
dininghalls yesterdaygot a taste of
Michigan as local ingredients took
center stage.
In recognition of the 40th annu-
al Earth Day celebration coming
this April, all residence halls and
University-operated restaurants
and caf6s featured locally pro-
duced and organic foods yesterday,
supporting the student-led "Go
Blue, Eat Local" program to pro-
mote sustainable dining.
Sustainable Dining, organized
by the University's Division of
Student Affairs, University Hous-
ing and University Unions, offered
students a variety of local ingre-
dients, including fruits, produce,
meats, dairy products and pasta.
The zero trans-fat frying oil used
for cooking also came from Michi-
gan.
According to the Housing web-
site, the residence halls used nap-
kins made of 100-percent recycled
fiber, and any raw food waste from
the meal preparation was collected
and taken to Ann Arbor's compost
site.
Among the items made from
local ingredients that were served
were whole wheat penne pasta,
spicy black beans, a local Michigan
quarter-pound burger, chicken and
dumplings, butternut squash ravi-
oli, Michigan fruit crisp and Mich-
igan French vanilla ice cream.
After eating lunch at South
Quadrangle, LSA freshman Lizzy
Head Chef Rob Sutch of The University Club in the Union gives a sneak peak at preparations for a local-produced meal y
Nagler said she enjoyed the meal
not necessarily because the food
tasted better than normal but
because she supported the cause.
"I wouldn't say it tasted better,
but I felt better about it," she said.
Engineering sophomore Ian
McDonald said the lunch at South
Quad was "definitely better than
what they normally have."
At East Quadrangle, Residen-
tial College sophomore Dafna
Eisbruch said she loved the but-
ternut squash ravioli and thought
the meal as a whole seemed extra
special.
"The chef (took) it up a notch,"
she said.
The chef at East Quad, Nelson
Cummings, known as Buzz, was
transferred to East Quad from
South Quad in 2006 in order to
develop a vegan and vegetarian
focus there.
University Housing spokesman
Peter Logan,, said 2006 was when
Cummings began seriously advo-
cating for the use of local foods in
the residence halls.
Since 2006, the portion of the
dining hall menus made from local
ingredients has grown to 20 per-
cent, Logan said.
Despite this significant
increase in the use of local foods,
Logan said the possibility of hav-
ing local foods constitute the
majority of dining hall menus is
very unlikely.
"It's not so much the financial
side," Logan said. "The challenge
is really finding the Michigan food
products, particularly produce,
that are available at this time of
the year."
Accordingto Logan, the increas-
ing number of local farmers and
regional producers using hot hous-
es - greenhouses meant to recre-
ate warmer climates - to grow
out-of-season crops can certainly
help the University's effort to use
local foods, but that alone will not
be enough to support a major shift
to locally grown products.
In addition to buying local
ingredients, Logan said Univer-
sity Housing is trying to make an
overall shift toward more sustain-
able practices in the food services
operations on campus.
Logan mentioned that the din-
ing halls are considering tray-less
dining. The endeavor could reduce
food waste, save water and energy
and reduce operational costs in the
dining halls.
Logan added that students also
play a big role in the move toward
sustainability.
"One of the key elements ...
comes down to the education of
the diner, that is, encouraging stu-
dents to be mindful of the amount
of food they take," he said.
But two executions
in Belarus quickly
ended the trend
LONDON (AP) - Europe had
its first year without executions
in 2009, human rights group
Amnesty International said last
Tuesday. But the London-based
organization said the spell was
recently broken by the execu-
tion of two men in Belarus - an
indication of the challenges the
group faces as it fights to abolish
capital punishment.
Amnesty International has
been tracking executions inter-
nationally since 1980, although
their figures don't include extra-
judicial killings or the casualties
of war. Western European coun-
tries such as France, Britain and
Germany abolished the death
penalties in the years follow-
ing World War II, and abolition
spread rapidly through Eastern
Europe with the collapse of Iron
Curtain.
Many former Soviet satel-
lites banned capital punishment
in the 1980s and '90s. Russia
and Ukraine have not executed
anyone more than a decade.
Amnesty said that Belarus,
Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and
Tajikistan have executed about
130 people between them over
the past 10 years, but since 2006
Belarus has been the only Euro-
pean state to carry out death
sentences.
The death penalty is "on its
way out," according to Amnesty's
interim Secretary General Clau-
dio Cordone, before acknowl-
edging that countries such as
Belarus were a "hard core" where
the practice would likely linger
for some time.
Amnesty said Belarus execut-
ed two convicts just under two
weeks ago. Death row prisoners
in the authoritarian country are
only given a few moments' notice
before they're killed. They're
then shot in the back of the
head and their bodies are buried
secretly, the group said.
Worldwide, the total number
of officially state-sanctioned
executions is as uncertain as ever
- in large part because China,
the world's largest executioner,
refuses to say how many prison-
ers it puts to death.
Unusually, Amnesty said it
would refuse to put a figure to
the scale of Chinese executions,
saying that previous estimates
- based on publicly available
data - have been far too low. In
2008, Amnesty put the minimum
figure of people put to death at
1,718.
OBAMA
From Page 1
less dedicated, and they would be
thrilled for you to challenge them
directly to meet the demands of the
21st century, as their forbears were
by John F. Kennedy."
Coleman added that the Uni-
versity not only has ties to past
presidents but to Obama's adminis-
tration as well.
"I would be remiss to close with-
out conveying how extremely proud
we are of the many University of
Michigan alums working for you
and your administration, who could
serve as a valuable resource as you
consider this invitation," she wrote.
But Coleman was not the only
one who lobbied the president to
come to campus. A group of 30 cam-
pus leaders sent a letter to Obama
requesting that he speak at the Big
House.
The letter from University stu-
dents discussed students' experi-
ences on election night in 2008,
when they celebrated on the
Diag after Obama's victory was
announced.
"And there we stood, all united as
students of University of Michigan
who had witnessed history being
made; shouting in one voice, 'YES
WE DID!"' the students wrote. "As
members and representatives of the
upcoming graduating class of the
University of Michigan, we feel a
RESEARCH
From Page 1
cap.
The first grants are expected to
be given in late June.
Stephen Forrest, vice president
for research at the University, said
in a press release that the new
research collaboration provides a
one-of-a-kind opportunity for the
University.
"By collaborating on renewable
energy and biomedical research
projects, we have a unique oppor-
tunity to move our innovations
much more quickly toward the
marketplace, where they can begin
to benefit people across the globe,"
Forrest said in the release. "I cannot
think of two other areas of research
that can have a greater impact on
the environment and the quality of
life of people worldwide."
The goal of the renewable energy
partnership is to identify renewable
energy projects that have commer-
cial potential to reduce global car-
bon emissions and that will attract
research funding from government
and industry in both the United
States and China, according to
the release. Possible topics to be
funded include clean coal technol-
ogy, building efficiency and clean
vehicles.
The program in biomedical tech-
nology aims to improve technology
used in the health care industry and
will focus on topics including diag-
nostic and therapeutic imaging,
special connection to this great day
in American history."
LSA senior Rebekah Sharpe,
assistant secretary of the Univer-
sity's chapter of the NAACP and
a signatory of the letter, said she
started an initiative last summer to
invite Obama to this year's spring
commencement.
Sharpe said she was put in touch
with Coleman's office, which was
already inthe process of recruiting
Obama, and the student represen-
tatives on the University's Honor-
ary Degree Committee, the group
responsible for determining the
commencement speaker and those
who will receive honorary degrees
during the commencement cer-
emony.
"I worked with the project man-
ager at the president's office, and
then we met with the studentrepre-
sentatives of the Honorary Degree
Committee to cultivate an innova-
tive and creative campaign to make
the University of Michigan stand
out," Sharpe said.
Business junior Alex Serwer, one
of the two student representatives
on the Honorary Degree Commit-
tee and a signatory of the letter to
Obama, said the letter was written
as a way to show student support,
without alerting the entire student
body, which may have been dis-
appointed if Obama declined the
request.
"We devised a plan so it wouldn't
get out to the general public,
minimal and non-invasive therapy
- used to minimize surgical risks
and recovery time - and bio-nan-
otechnology, which allows many
specific procedures to be carried
out at the microscopic level.
The biomedical technologies
part of the partnership will also
address tissue engineering and bio-
materials. In addition, researchers
will study biomedical devices like
surgical instruments and in vitro
diagnostics, neural engineeringand
rehabilitation and medical infor-
matics - the use of computers and
information within medicine.
Forrest wrote in the release that
he is looking forward to the part-
nership.
"The research strengths of our
two universities are quite comple-
mentary," he said in the release.
Yesterday's announcement ends
several months of University offi-
cials being tight lipped on the issue,
as Forrest made multiple trips to
China to continue negotiations.
When asked about the ongoing
negotiations in a January interview
with The Michigan Daily, Univer-
sity President Mary Sue Coleman
indicated that the project might
focus on alternative energy, since
matching money was available at
the federal level, but she said that
nothing had been formalized.
"We are looking for research
opportunities and partnerships
and there are some discussions, but
there's nothing that's happened.
Nothing has been signed," Coleman
said at the time. "I hope they're
because we didn't want students to
get all excited about it and then be
disappointed about it if he decided
not to come," Serwer said. "But,
instead, in order to show we had
student support, we decided that
writing a letter to the White House
would be something that would be
more appropriate."
Michigan football player David
Moosman said in a phone interview
last week that he signed the letter
because he believes Obama's speech
at the Big House will be "historic."
"It's a time of rejuvenation for
the country, and Obama, I think, is
leading that," Moosman said. "Him
speaking and giving his wisdom
and words to the next class of lead-
ers in the community and in the
global market will be inspiring and,
for lack of a better word, useful."
Engineering senior Meha Pan-
dey, the president of the Society of
Women Engineers, said she signed
the letter because she thought it
was important for students to show
the administration that they want-
ed Obama to be their commence-
ment speaker.
"I think it's a great opportunity
not only for my graduatingclass but
to have the president of the United
States come to this campus, and it
kind of brings recognition toward
the University and makes us real-
ize that Michigan is great," Pandey
said.
Lisa Connolly, project manager
in Coleman's office, also had fre-
interested because it would be a
good opportunity to do some inter-
esting research."
Coleman added, "I think there's
an opportunity particularly in areas
that might be of mutual interest."
University Provost Teresa Sulli-
van echoed Coleman's comments in
a January interview with the Daily.
"It's a little too soon to tell what
it might mature into, but I think
that there is interest on both sides
in the existing partnership in mak-
ing it deeper and more substantive
than it already is," Sullivan said at
the time, adding that the Univer-
sity's relationship with Shanghai
Jiao Tong has already proven valu-
able for some Engineering stu-
dents.
In December, Sullivan had hinted
at a possible research investment
with Shanghai Jiao Tong University
that would have financial benefits
for the University. However, in Janu-
ary, Sullivan said she was only using
the example as a way to explain non-
traditional partnerships.
"It's not an investment in the
sense that we're selling them stock
or something. It's more that we
have been talking about research
possibilities together," Sullivan said
at the time. "That's a conversation
that's ongoing."
Sullivan also said the research
collaboration could be a valuable
addition to the North Campus
Research Complex.
"We see (the NCRC) as a space
for collaboration that we didn't
really have before and now it opens
quent contact with Mastromo-
naco, according to the documents
obtained throughthe FOIA request.
On Nov. 6, 2009, Connolly wrote
to the White House and enclosed
two previously sent invitations to
Obama to speak at commencement
and a previously sent invitation for
Obama to come to Ann Arbor from
Oct. 13 to 15, 2010 to participate in
events celebrating the 50th anni-
versary of the announcement of the
Peace Corps.
Connolly's other correspondenc-
es with the White House, which
included an e-mail dated Dec. 18,
2009 and a letter dated Jan. 29,
2010, were both inquiries regard-
ing the timing of any decision made
about attending commencement.
Connolly also wrote that
Obama's presence at commence-
ment would send an unparalleled
message to the graduates.
"We believe President Obama's
presence at the University of Michi-
gan this spring would provide
an unsurpassable send-off to our
graduates as they enter a workforce
laden with challenges," she wrote.
University officials announced
that Obama would be the com-
mencement speaker on Feb. 11,
2010. Commencement will be held
on May 1 at 11 a.m. Approximate-
ly 3,500 undergraduates will be
graduating and, according to a Feb.
11 Daily article, more than 40,000
friends and family members of
graduates are expected to attend.
up this possibility and since Shang-
hai Jiao Tong we've had a really
good exchange now of student and
faculty going both ways," she said at
the time. "They were kind of a logi-
cal partner to talk to about whether
there was potential there." .
The new research partnerships
between the University and Shang-
hai Jiao Tong have come after years
of collaboration between the two
schools. The University became the
first American institution autho-
rized by the Chinese government to
give graduate degrees in engineer-
ing to students in China.
In 2005 the two universities
strengthened their partnership by
forming a joint institute to manage
and direct degree-granting pro-
grams offered by both universities
to students from both nations.
Ties with the Shanghai Jiao
Tong will be further strengthened
this summer when Coleman travels
to China.
Earlier this year Shanghai Jiao
Tong was reported to be associated
with cyberattacks made to Google.
A Feb. 18 New York Times article
reported that the cyberattacks were
traced to computers at Shanghai
Jiao Tong. The hackers got into the
Gmail accounts of human rights
activists as well as the accounts of
34 companies. SJTU representa-
tives denied that the University had
any involvement in the attack.
- Daily Staff Reporter Joseph
Lichterman and Lindsey Mandich
contributed to this report.
RESTAURANT
From Page 1
that embraces the casual culture of
the area.
Aronoffstarted her career with a
part-time cooking job in a local res-
taurant kitchen while studying at
Brandeis University in Massachu-
setts. Since that time, she said her
passion for food has grown.
Aronoff said that as a child
she always had a love for food
because she grew up in a family
that revolved around eating and
cooking. After graduating from
Brandeis, Aronoff took her cook-
ing skills to the next level and
studied at Le Cordon Bleu - a culi-
nary school in Paris.
Aronoff said she enjoys opening
restaurants because she loves the
many aspects of the food industry
- the food, the business and a res-
taurant's atmosphere.
"I wanted to do something per-
sonal and independent and just
really try to do something special,"
Aronoff said. "My style of cooking
is French philosophy with a lot of
influences from all over ... just try-
ing a bunch of different ingredients
together and paying attention to
the texture and contrasts."
ForAronoff, thethoughtofopen-
ing more restaurants is not out of
LESKO
From Page 1
solution to closing this projected
gap in the budget," Lesko wrote in
the post.
Inspired by the anonymous
political writings of Benjamin
Franklin and Thomas Paine, whose
anonymity enabled them to focus
solely on issues, Lesko decided to
make her blog anonymous.
"The point of political writing
is to focus on the issues and not
the person who's writing on the
issues," Lesko said.
According to Lesko, reader
responses to A2Politico were both
positive and widespread, withup to
7,500 visitors in a given month.
By tracking visitors to her blog,
Lesko said she found people log-
ging on from the University, Ann
Arbor's city hall and even Wash-
ingtonD.C.
"What I found is that thousands
of others were equally interested
in the issues facing our city," Lesko
said.
Lesko said writing the blog con-
vinced her to become more active
in local politics, and from there, she
began to consider the possibility of
running for office.
On Feb. 2, 2010, Lesko revealed
her identity on the blog and
announced her plans to run for
mayor.
Since then, she's been working to
pull together a campaign in prepa-
ration for the Aug. 3 primary, dur-
ing which she'll run against fellow
Democrat and current Ann Arbor
Mayor John Hieftje.
Lesko said she faces tough com-
petition from Hieftje, who has
served as the city's mayor since
2000.
Nevertheless, Lesko said she's
confident about her chances of
the question, butshe said she would
want the restaurants to be in places
similar to Ann Arbor, where she is
able to make food from scratch and
buy products from local farmers.
Because Aronoff will be head
chef and owner of both Eve and
Frita Batido, she said she plans to
have a sous chef at each restaurant
to help her run both places success-
fully and smoothly.
Aronoff has become somewhat of
a local celebrity for more than just
her restaurant. Last year, she com-
peted on season six ofBravo's reality
competition show "Top Chef."
Aronoff said she cannot com-
ment on the experience due to a
contract with the network, but she
said she learned that televised com-
petitions weren't her style.
"I thrive on real life challenges,
but reality television and televised
challenges were not my cup of tea,"
Aronoff said.
While "Top Chef" was a unique
and challenging cooking experi-
ence, Aronoff said she looks forward
to the challenges of owning two
businesses and creating a restaurant
that embodies her cooking and style.
"I really care about the qual-
ity and standard and creativity,"
Aronoff said. "I am such an infor-
mal person that I am really excited
tobedoingsomethinglikethat,that
is really special atthe same time."
winning the primary and plans to
start campaigning door-to-door
in April. She added that her door-
to-door campaigning will target
University students first - a sec-
tor of the population Lesko said
other local politicians frequently
overlook.
"Iknow that most ofthe students
will be gone (by the primary) and
only a very, very small percentage
will vote, but that won't keep me
from going door-to-door," Lesko
said.
University alum Hatim Elhady,
who was an LSA senior last year,
similarly targeted student-heavy
areas, including South Quadrangle
and East Quadrangle, in his cam-
paign for a City Council position
last November.
Elhady lost and, according to
a Nov. 3, 2009 Daily article, East
Quad and South Quad saw only
3.06-percent and 2.64-percent
voter turnouts, respectively.
Nevertheless, Lesko is confident
that the student voice matters and
that with a little prodding can be
heard.
"It's shortsighted to look at stu-
dents and say, 'I will get nothing
from them,"' Lesko said. "That's
not leadership."
Lesko added that the goals of her
campaign center around public ser-
vice.
"I'm not a career politician. This
is not a stepping stone," Lesko said.
"This is a run for public service, not
public office."
If elected, Lesko said she hopes
to manage city funds responsibly
without cutting or reducing key
services like police and firefighter
forces.
"Finances and responsible
spending - if you don't have those
covered, you can't grow as a city,"
Lesko said. "It's all about getting
back to the basics."