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MCKENZIE BEREZIN/Dainy
Recycling bins lined up on an Ann Arbor street. The city is taking steps to increase its sustainability initiatives.

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tives, each of which represents
an incremental effort in the
direction of less pollution, less
energy use, less carbon dioxide in
the atmosphere, less water run-
off, less transportation cost and
impact, and more of many things
that have positive effects on peo-
ple's lives," Graham wrote.
He added that a combination
of small sustainability programs
ultimately adds up to large-scale
environmental change in the city.
"The list of these things that
we are thinking about and/or
actively working on at any given
time is quite surprisingly long,"
he wrote. "It is the combination
of each small success that makes
progress overall."
Andrew Brix, city energy pro-
grams manager, said support
from the city has helped further
sustainability efforts.
"I think that we're one of the
cities here in the U.S. that has a
very supportive population," Brix
said. "We've got a lot of support
from the University, and we've
got support on City Council, from
the mayor, and that is fantastic,
we're really lucky to have that."
The next sustainability forum
will take place next week, and
will focus on land use and access
including city transportation,
infrastructure and public spaces.
Apart from the forums, Mat-
thew Naud, city environmen-
tal coordinator, said the PACE
program will help Ann Arbor
improve its energy efficiency by
allowing commercial property
owners to borrow money from
the city in order to improve their
building's energy efficiency.
CAKE
From Page 1A
know local farmers and arti-
sans."
After shopping at farmer's
markets in Italy, she became
committed to using local ingredi-
ents in her cakes.
"In Italy, at the farmers'
markets, you buy everything
directly from the farmers and
every cheese and vegetable is
named after the region it is
from," Leavitt said. "I was really
inspired by the food culture and
knew that I wanted to explore
this when I came back to Michi-
gan."
Leavitt, who works with fel-
low University alum Claudia
Kimbell, said using seasonal and
local ingredients in their signa-
ture cakes makes their shop -
located on Metty Drive and open
only for appointments - unique
from other businesses.
"Two things that set us apart
from other bakeries are the
focus on local ingredients and
our artistic ability," Leavitt said.
"Our olive oil almond cake with
blood orange curd uses seasonal
winter citrus and pays homage
to my time in Italy."
In addition to utilizing local
products, Leavitt aims to keep
up with food industry trends

According to Naud, the city
will wait until it has $1 million in
potential projects through PACE
before looking into obtaining
loans for the projects.
Naud added that PACE will
not only help the environment,
but also improve Ann Arbor's
economy.
"I think the PACE program is
a real game changer," Naud said.
"It goes a long way to making our
built building stock more sus-
tainable, more energy efficient,
cheaper to businessinAnn Arbor,
more comfortable, and ideally, it's
all local contractors and local
jobs doing that work so it's a huge
economic multiplier in the com-
munity."
According to Naud, Ann Arbor
spends about $250 million per
year on natural gas and electric-
ity, and he said he hopes PACE
will lower the city's spending by
improving inefficient heating in
buildings, particularly off-cam-
pus student housing.
Naud said he believes student
housing is the largest sustainabil-
ity issue in the city, and with the
University supplying about 7,000
new student renters every year,
Ann Arbor should continue to
make it a priority to improve.
"It's not hard to walk around
downtown and go through some
of the student neighborhoods
and you see the upstairs attic
room they've occupied with the
windows open in the wintertime
because it's so hot and the air
conditioner is actually still in the
window," Naud said. "It's a huge
waste of energy."
He added that the city hopes
to decrease energy waste in stu-
dent housing through a $3 million
grant that Washtenaw County
and the expectations of clients.
She works closely with her cus-
tomers to become familiar with
their style, in order to decide
what type of individualized cake
may appeal to them most.
"Each cake is totally unique
for each person," Leavitt said. "I
recreate their personality with
their cake. It's a varied process
starting with sketches and tast-
ings, all the way down to the
final details."
After graduating in 2007,
Leavitt gained hands-on baking
experience at local eateries such
as Decadent Delight, Cake Nou-
veau and Eve the Restaurant.
At Eve the Restaurant, Leavitt
developed recipes and refined
her taste palette as she worked
toward developing her small
business by baking for friends
and family - including baking
her first wedding cake, which
she made for her best friend's
nuptials.
Aside from working on her
business, Leavitt also competed
on the Food Network Chal-
lenge twice while working with
Courtney Clark of Cake Nou-
veau in Oct. 2008 and Jan. 2009.
On the show, cooks, pastry chefs
and culinary artists from across
the nation compete on television
in a food battle for cash prices,
according to foodnetwork.com.
"It was an amazing experi-

received from the U.S. Depart-
ment of Housing and Urban
Development in November.
Washtenaw County was one
of four communities to receive
the grant to make communities
more economically competitive
through initiatives that improve
housing, schools and transporta-
tion.
Naud said use of the grant
money has not yet been deter-
mined, but hopes that it will be
used for education on efficient
energy use for students in the
county.
"One of the things we proposed
is a three-year effort to hire a per-
son to really work with landlords,
renters and the universities to fig-
ure out what are the educational
efforts we can do," Naud said.
"How do we teach (students) how
to be sustainable on campus and
then live sustainably when they
move into off campus housing?"
Naud added that 20 percent of
the city's operations use renew-
able energy from the generation
of hydroelectric power at two
dams on the Huron River. The
city also uses a landfill gas col-
lection system and sells back
the energy from such facilities
to DTE Energy, which displaces
electricity in more sustainable
means.
The city also implemented
LED lighting on street and traf-
fic lights, and is in the process
of adding wind energy facilities,
Naud said.
Though the city is unsure of
where the wind turbines will be
installed, Naud said the land near
Forsyth Middle School, located
by the landfill on the south side of
the city, is a possible location.
ence to meet talented chefs from
all over the country," Leavitt
said. "I was competing against
(my) idols. I was never very com-
petitive in high school sports,
but I found a competitive edge
with cake decorating. It was a
cool place to share ideas and
techniques. The reality show
created a nationwide commu-
nity."
In additionto providingbaked
goods for the Ann Arbor com-
munity, Leavitt was also a guest
lecturer in the Penny W. Stamps
Speaker Series, an annual event
at the School of Art & Design.
"The art schoolis a really spe-
cial place," Leavitt said. "I made
a lot of connections and am still
in touch with my professors and
the school. I bake cakes for them
and have done some catering
work with the University."
Leavitt said the University's
supportive alumni network has
made Ann Arbor a prosperous
and rewarding location for her
cake shop, adding the company
has secured a space on North
Main Street and is planning to
move their business there soon.
"Baking personal cakes and
wedding cakes is a very inti-
mate process," Leavitt said. "It's
fabulous to hear from satisfied
customers and see the finished
product."

SIGNING
From Page 1A
due to a few unused scholarships
and a need to fill the void left on
the kick-return team when wide
receiver Darryl Stonum was dis-
missed in mid-January.
Just how late did Hoke and Co.
turn to the 5-foot-6 Norfleet?
"To be honest with you, it was
pretty much yesterday," Hoke
said.
Nonetheless, Norfleet quickly
flipped his commitment from
Cincinnati to Michigan and fired
up the fax machine, joining Ann
Arbor Pioneer's Drake Johnson
to form the class' running back
duo.
But the most important area of
need addressed by the staff was
in the trenches on both sides of
the ball.
Of the 25 commits, 12 will
be on the front lines. Michi-
gan graduated three starting
defensive linemen, two starting
offensive lineman and a pair of
tight ends from Team 132. These
freshmen will be expected to fill
those voids.
"We're always going to take
guys up front," Hoke said. "You
just think about the pounding of
the game of football. Most of it
wears at the line of scrimmage,
so we've always got to be recruit-
ing three, four, five offensive
linemen a year. Same thing with
DRUG
From Page 1A
can't tolerate.
In many cases, patients are
hesitant to undergo treatment
because of the intensity of the
medication, Lok said. To com-
bat this, the study found suc-
cess using a drug that does not
contain interferon, but rather, a
combination of two direct-act-
ing anti-viral agents.
"It's the first ever study to
prove that you can get a cure
even though the patients never
receive interferon," Lok said.
Lok said she and her col-
leagues dreamed of finding a
cure without using interferon
for years, but the possibility
seemed unlikely. She added that
this is the first study to show
that it's possible to better fight
hepatitis.
Lok said all 21 subjects in the
study had been diagnosed with
hepatitis C virus genotype 1, the
most difficult type to treat, and
that they had not responded to
treatment in the past. The sub-
jects were randomly assigned to
WEATHER
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million square feet.
Business sophomore Jon Lee
said the warmer weather has
positively impacted his daily
life, especially on a campus
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defensive linemen.
"So are we replenished? No,
but we're making progress."
Anchoring the trenches will
be a pair of Rivals.com five-star
behemoths. Hoke's staff flipped
offensive tackle Kyle Kalis from
an Ohio State commitment in
July and added defensive tackle
Ondre Pipkins - a 6-foot-3, 325-
pound specimen - a month later.
Hoke called Kalis "a road-
grading guy." And "Pee Wee"
Pipkins?
"Pee Wee, uhh, he's a big man,"
Hoke said.
Fair point. But the big men
might not all be off the board.
Four-star offensive lineman
Jordan Diamond from Chicago,
who will decide his college des-
tination tomorrow, has Michigan
among the handful of teams he is
considering.
When asked whether the 25
commits completed the recruit-
ing class, Hoke gave a smile.
"We'll see," he said.
Geographic proximity is the
most distinct feature of this
group of recruiting. Eighteen of
the incoming freshmen hail from
the states of Michigan and Ohio.
"You've got to protect the
backyard," said defensive coor-
dinator Greg Mattison.
Another crucial factor in the
coaches' recruiting process was
securing the majority of the
commitments early in the year,
before Michigan's season kicked
two testing groups.
The first group consisted
of 11 patients who were given
a combination of two direct-
acting anti-viral agents. Of the
11 patients, four achieved a
sustained virologic response -
meaning the hepatitis C virus
wasn't detected in the patients'
blood 12 weeks after treatment.
"Four out of 11 is not all that
great, but it's actually very excit-
ing because these are patients
who have not responded to any
previous treatment," Lok said.
"Getting any response is better
than nothing."
A second group of 10 patients
was treated with interferon, but
showed an improved response
rate. When they were given the
same two drugs paired with
pegylated interferon and riba-
virin, all 10 patients achieved a
sustained virologic response.
Lok said the study will be
conducted in two phases, and
it needs to go through another
phase of research before the
FDA can approve it. She added
that though most researched
drugs never become available
commercially, she was optimis-
where walking is the most com-
mon mode of transportation.
"Yesterday, I went out with
only a light jacket," Lee said.
"And I actually enjoyed walking
to class."
As students find more oppor-
tunity to use their bicycles due
to the milder conditions, Uni-

Thursday, February 2, 2012 - 5A
off in early September. By the
opener, 20 of the class's 25 mem-
bers had committed to the Wol-
verines.
According to Hoke, Michi-
gan's quality of education and
standing as the winningest pro-
gram in college football history
led to the early recruiting suc-
cess, beginning with offensive
lineman Ben Braden's commit-
ment in early March.
"Having those early com-
mitments definitely helped,"
Hoke said. "Because you see
those guys working and recruit-
ing guys that they want to play
with."
With the 2012 class all but
wrapped up, Mattison said the
coaching staff would take an
hour off and then get right back
to work to fill the 2013 recruit-
ing class in a similarly efficient
manner.
There's no rest for the weary,
but work on the recruiting trail
can make the coaching staff's
job easier down the road.
"The longer you're engaged
(with recruits) and building
those relationships and the
information and the commit-
ment, it's like going to the bank,"
Hoke said. "You're putting your
money in the bank. You're mak-
ing the commitment. It's no
different. When you commit to
people and they see that com-
mitment, usually things go pret-
ty well."
tic that it could be a possibility.
"I expect that the drugs in
this particular study will have
the chance to see daylight
because the results are good,"
Lok said.
Thelma King Thiel, chair of
the Hepatitis Foundation Inter-
national, said because hepatitis
C is not accompanied by strong
symptoms or signs, many people
with the infection are unaware
of their condition. Though
patients may not experience
much physical pain, Thiel said
they may suffer psychologically.
"Although they feel fine,
patients often are psychologi-
cally depressed knowing that
they have a communicable dis-
ease that can lead to cirrhosis
and cancer of the liver," Thiel
said.
Thiel said new cures for hepa-
titis C, such as the one studied
by Lok, reportedly have fewer
side effects and have the poten-
tial to cure patients who have not
responded to other treatments.
"We have hope that they
will be more effective treat-
ments than those currently pre-
scribed," Thiel said.
versity Department of Public
Safety Officials noted at Friday's
crime meeting that bike thefts
have been abnormally high this
year as a result of the warmer
weather.
-Daily Staff Reporter Andrew
Schulman contributed to this report

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