4 -- Friday, December 2, 2011 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 4 - Friday, December 2, 2011 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom fiigian at" 1 Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 tothedaily@michigandaily.com MICHELLE DEWITT STEPHANIE STEINBERG and EMILY ORLEY NICK SPAR EDITOR IN CHIEF EDITORIAL PAGE EDITORS MANAGING EDITOR Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily's editorial board. All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors. Imran Syed is the public editor. He can be reached at publiceditor@michigandaily.com. Plant seeds for recovery Remove legal barriers on urban farms in Detroit t's no secret that there is a tremendous amount of abandoned land in Detroit. But that land is starting to pose an economic danger by straining the city's resources. However, as a par- tial solution, residents have replaced some of the blighted houses with urban farms and gardens. While the action violates state law, the urban farms benefit the city. The state Legislature should pass the bipartisan bill introduced earlier this week in the state Senate to remove bureaucratic weeds that could prevent the urban farms from sprouting up. The emotions ofpolitics uring a walk through cam- pus last weekend, a friend told me that she figured out the funda- mental differ- ence between liberals and con- servatives. Lib- erals, she said, feel personally hurt when they see someone else who is under- LIBBY served or unfair- ASHTON ly burdened. Conservatives just don't. So, in her mind, the com- plicated political philosophies of each camp are simply intellectual- ized justifications- for a deep-seed- ed emotional reaction - or lack thereof - to what's going on around them. I'm not sure I'm comfortable agreeing with her categorical dis- tinction of liberals and conser- vatives, but I think it raises an interesting question about what motivates our political and social beliefs and behavior. Do our unso- phisticated and conditioned feel- ings about the world and ourselves inform our dazzling and neatly packaged sets of ideals? And if that's the case, is it even possible to act without the primary intention being to gratify those basic - and sometimes barbaric - intuitions? One argument might be that everyone is ultimately motivated by self-interest and that even the most generous, spirited person wouldn't perform such generosity unless it gave him or her pleasure. With this view, the most socially conscious political activist is no more altru- istic than the demonized 1 percent. The activist is fundamentally moti- vated by his or her experience of pleasure when advocating for the underrepresented. The tax-evading millionaire is similarly motivated by his or her experience of plea- sure when accumulating wealth. Perhaps both have come to experi- ence pleasure from their respective behaviors because, in their commu- nities, such behavior earned them praise and high esteem. So the activist's political stance is no more legitimate than his desire to be well liked by his friends - and no less self-focused than the mil- lionaire's tendencyto vote on finan- cial policies that benefit him or her and seriously burden the majority of his or her fellow citizens. But, intuitively, this picture seems to be wrong. And, according to philoso- pher Joel Feinberg's critique of this theory of egoism, it is. A desire can be unselfish, even if the feelings that motivate it and the pleasure experienced when it's acted upon reside within the individual. Selfishness, Feinberg argues, concernsthe aimofa desire, not its origin. Because the activist's desire is to advance the interests of someone outside himself, he is unselfish - even though he is, as a by-product, emotionally benefitted by the satisfaction of that desire. The millionaire, on the other hand, wishes only to advance his or her own interests. So when our complicated politi- cal philosophies intend to advance the interests of others, our convic- tions to affect policy are unselfish, no matter how personally satisfied we feel when we win. But what if we intellectually recognize the importance of behaving unselfishly politically and otherwise, and our emotional selves don't follow suit? What happens when we know that we ought to care about a particular issuebutwe simplycan't make our- selves feel the conviction? The same friend who got me started on this thought is a passion- ate and strongly informed vegetar- ian. Her views on the issue of food and animal rights are nuanced and sophisticated. She'll never make an aggressive attempt to convert a meat-eater and she won'tgrimace if you ordera hamburger when you're out to dinner with her. If you ask her why she stopped eating meat, she'll explain that the overwhelm- ing evidence - from a political, environmental and ethical per- spective - convinced her that there were more reasons not to eat meat than to eat meat. Not all our beliefs have a rational basis. She relayed her evidence to me (because I asked), and I found myself similarly convinced. But I told her that, for whatever reason, this issue didn't arouse any feel- ing in me and that I'd likely keep eating meat because I just didn't care enough to change my habitual behavior. She said that she thought of me as someone who was especial- ly capable of acting in accordance with principles rather than conve- nience. What ultimately compelled me to commit to a (mostly) vegetar- ian lifestyle was that I wanted to honor and act upon my distinctly human capacity for rationality. We would exhaust ourselves if we attempted to ensure that every instinct and intuition we have matched our rational understand- ing of how we ought to feel and behave. But in our political stanc- es and social behavior, we should make an effort to introspect as to what, exactly, motivates us. Reflec- tion and critical thought is, after all, human nature. -Libby Ashton can be reached at eashton@umich.edu. 0 The bill - introduced by state Sen. virgil Smith (D-Detroit) and state Sen. Joe Hune (R-Livingston County) - would exempt Detroit from the 1981 Michigan Right to Farm Act. The law's original intent was to protect farmers from new neighbors who may move from the cityto expandingsuburbs and complain about farms' odors and traffic problems. As a result of the act, Detroit offi- cials cannot approve new farming operations because under the current law, city officials would be barred from addressing citizens' complaints about farming. The possibility of farm shutdowns cre- ates an incentive for farmers to stay out of the city, and leaves farmers who have risked setting up a farm in Detroit wondering if the city will force them to close. However, urban farms are growing in Detroit without complaints. While these farms are illegal, Detroit's strained resources have so far pre- vented police from closing any farms. Creating an exception for the farms in Detroit makes sense, as urban farming ben- efits the, city. With few supermarkets or grocery stores, many areas in Detroit are considered food deserts, and Detroiters can only shop for food at small markets or con- venience stores. These stores rarely carry fresh fruits or vegetables, and if they do, the produce is usually more expensive than the produce sold at supermarket chains. According to a study released by Michigan State University, allocating approximately 4,800 acres of land for farming could pro- vide up to 75 percent of Detroit's vegetable needs, and help replace unhealthy pre-pack- aged foods with fresh and local alterna- tives. Urban farming could also play a role in Detroit's economic recovery. And according to Crain's Detroit Business, the 2,000-acre RecoveryPark farming project - a joint pub- lit and private venture in Detroit - could add 4,000 jobs in farming, deconstruction of vacant homes, food processing and related operations over the next ten years. Additional large-scale farms would help lower Detroit's high unemployment rate and remove vacant homes - making the city more attractive to residents and businesses. Detroit's appetite for fresh and healthy food is evident - over 1,000 urban gardens have been registered with Garden Resource Program Collaborative, an umbrella organi- zation for Detroit agricultural groups. Addi- tional farmers are reluctant to move into the city without the city's legal approval, but the passage of the proposed bill would elimi- nate this problem and allow urban farms to expand in Detroit. W EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS: Aida Ali, Michelle DeWitt, Ashley Griesshammer, Nirbhay Jain, Jesse Klein, Patrick Maillet, Erika Mayer, Harsha Nahata, Emily Orley, Teddy Papes, Timothy Rabb; Vanessa Rychlinski, Caroline Syms, Seth Soderborg, Andrew Weiner LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Readers are encouraged to submit letters to the editor. Letters should be fewer than 300 words and must include the writer's full name and University affiliation. We do not print anonymous letters. Send letters to tothedaily@michigandaily.com L ETT ER S TO HE EDITR SEND LETTERS TO: TOTHEDAILY@MICHIGANDAILY.COM SEND LETTERS TO: TOTHEDAILY@MICHIGANDAILY.COM 'U' needs to invest more resources in sustainability threats to humanh If the Universit: sustainability, we prehensive carbon then will we exe TO THE DAILY: Best" and makea University President Mary Sue Coleman in the fight agains recently announced that the University the required steps would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by print have econom 25 percent by 2025. While this might sound shrinking the Un impressive, the fact remains that 674 uni- increasingly expet versities have signed the American College energy usage and and University Presidents' Climate Com- sumption of resou mitment which requires carbon neutrality savings. - a 100-percent reduction in emissions. I While the size find it hard to believe Coleman's statement tainly an obstacle that "sustainability defines the University resource. The stu of Michigan" when 674 other universities in holders can be key the United States have committed to reduc- carbon neutrality.' ing their carbon footprint by four times the as an example, cre percentage we pledged. graduate students As the European Union has committed to climate-neutrality an 80 to 95 percent emissions reduction by sity of Michigan sh 2050, our promise of a 25-percent reduction resources - engag pales in comparison. It seems other institu- community - toc tions have accepted what ours has not; the reduction plan to a current level of carbon dioxide in the atmo- time frame that be sphere is projected to double over the next 50 way, we will battle years, and carbon emissions need to be cut by allow ourselves to 8 billion metric tons per year to maintain our ability. current output levels. If this does not occur, scientists predict global warming, increased Lizzie Grobbel extreme weather, ecological disruption and Engineeringjunior health. y is truly to be defined by need to develop a com- -neutral action plan. Only mplify the "Leaders and a significant contribution t climate change. Many of in reducing carbon foot- sic payback. For example, iversity's dependence on nsive fossil fuels, reducing downsizing overall con- rces should result in cost of the University is cer- , it is also an invaluable dents, faculty and stake- contributors in achieving The University of Kansas, ated a capstone course for to develop the school's action plan. The Univer- hould employ its wealth of ging the entire University create a realistic carbon- chieve neutrality within a fits our institution. In this climate change and truly be "defined" by sustain- Implement infrastructure to boost a plethora of wel natedbike paths a alternative transportation official bicycle m get to their destin the other hand, cc TO THE DAILY: tion of on-road bi For the past several years, University students have walking-oriented led an initiative to pressure University regents and gerously swerve b Ann Arbor City Council members into investing in a Ifa bike-shari: bicycle-sharing program for the city of Ann Arbor and Ann Arbor today1 University campus. Bicycle-sharing programs - also the program wou known as "smart-bike" programs - aim to provide incomplete game bicycles to those who do not own them by constructing rental stations w' several bicycle rental stations around a city or campus. out an organized The main goal of bicycle-sharing programs, at least from one station according to its advocates, is to increase alternative an abundance of1 transportation and make it cheap, accessible, easy to inaccessibility an use and fun. While bicycle-sharing should be an even- importantly, the tual goal for both the city of Ann Arbor and University, several million do it is not realistic at this time. There is one vital piece in an idea in alter missing from the puzzle: bicycle infrastructure. system of implem Ann Arbor bike-sharing advocates point to Madison, tant objective in. Wis. and Boulder, Colo. as cities with successful smart- tion plan, but thec bike programs. Madison and Boulder, like Ann Arbor, the dots. after all, are mid-sized cities with large public universi- ties. When it comes to bicycle infrastructure, however, Matt Lonnerstat Madison and Boulder take the cake. Both cities feature LSA senior Bicycle-sharing program should mined solely base the existence of t he implementedfor students versus only two lI and flexibility. TO THE DAILY: Bicycle-sharini The University is currently in the process of imple- versities, includin menting a bicycle rental program that aims to promote State University.' an alternative way of commuting to and from campus. to implement a s The system, advocated by Parking and Transportation cial constraints.' Services and administered by RecSports, will have the construction: bicycles for rental at two locations - one on North intervals to serve Campus and one on Central Campus - and will have it might be diffic rent on a daily or weekend basis for $5 or $10 respec- period of time. G tively. There will also be the option of renting a few able for such proi bikes on a semester basis. option to mitigat Even though this system is commendable, a better ing an initial hig] idea would be to implement a bicycle-sharing program subsequent hours on campus, which would essentially consist of several albeit at the risk o bicycle docks around campus. The user can check out a pus community w bicycle at any dock, pay the necessary amount for usage such a system. No according to the amount time the bike is used and vides a fun, health return the bike at any dock. The benefit of this option as compared to the rental option is that the user does Sreya Vempatti not have to pay a flat fee, since usage fees are deter- LSA senior 1-designed on-road bike lanes, desig- nd multi-use paths and offer bicyclists aps to point out which route to take to ation. Ann Arbor's infrastructure, on onsists of a sparse and random collec- ike lanes that end abruptly and basic sidewalks that force bicyclists to dan- etween pedestrians. ng program were to be introduced in given its current bike infrastructure, ld go down in flames. Much like an of connect the dots, Ann Arbor bike ould serve no feasible purpose with- system of bike lanes and paths to get to another. City hall would receive user complaints about the program's d the lack of practical routes. Most city and University would be down ollars due to an ill-advised investment rnative transit rather than a cohesive entation. Bicycle sharing is an impor- Ann Arbor's alternative transporta- city and University must first connect ter d on length of time used. In addition, bikes in several locations on campus ocations means greater convenience g programs already exist at some uni- ng Tufts University and Washington The University of Michigan has yet imilar program largely due to finan- The vast camp s area would mean of several docking stations at suitable e the large campus community, and ult to generate revenue in a suitable overnment funding is usually avail- grams, so this could be one possible e the cost of implementation. Levy- Ih cost on usage with lower costs for might help keep the system running, f student opposition. The entire cam- ould benefit with the introduction of t only is it emissions-free, it also pro- hy way to get around campus. FOLLOW DAILY OPINION ON TWITTER Keep up with columnists, read Daily editorials, view cartoons and join in the debate. Check out @michdailyoped to get updates on Daily opinion content throughout the day.