Thursday, June 6, 2013 Thursday, June 6, 2013 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Thursday, June 6, 2013 1 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Ode to Detroit Problematic prisons MARLENE LACASSE/Daily Mayor John Hieftje and the council discussed the expansion of the Ann Arbor Transit Authority's services to include routes to Ypsilanti at the City Council meeting Monday. City CouncSl discusses expanding ATAServices Routes to Ypsilanti, other Ann Arbor- areas promoted By AMRUTHA SIVAKUMAR Daily StaffReporter Monday night, the Ann Arbor City Council was asked to review selected changes to the Ann Arbor Transport Authority's articles of incorporation that would expand its services to Ypsilanti. In an Ypsilanti City Council meeting in late April, council members formally agreed to allow AATA to serve Ypsilanti. As the city of Ypsilanti already levied its maximum property tax allowed on residents, services would allow the city to acquire additional funds for transportation through an alternate tax. Ann Arbor Mayor John Hieftje said he advocated the expansion, as there's a large population of Ann Arbor residents and Eastern Michigan University students who utilized Routes 5 and 6, which service Ypsilanti, noting that the service was "full both ways." The resolution incorporated a clause to add two additional positions to the existing seven- person AATA board, one of which would be held by a person nominated by the Ypsilanti City Council and the other a representative of Ann Arbor. Councilmember Stephen Kunselman (D- Ward 3) said the proposed amendment to the articles of incorporation to add additional seats was "a very small step" compared to the greater logistical obstacles that needed to be overcome. Nevertheless, he co-sponsored the item, as he said he believed it was important for the proposal to move forward. "I'm not sure that it is best that we do this before the AATA reviews it," he added, as the AATA board will likely propose additional recommendations that would warrant amendments to the resolution. While the item only accounted for Ypsilanti's association with AATA, it remains unclear whether other area townships will want to join the system. "I have been a staunch proponent of getting Ypsilanti or the other communities (to join) that use the AATA existing system quite extensively," Kunselman said. "These are the communities that bring in the vast majority of ridership that then brings in federal dollars." Council members also discussed possible name changes that would accompany an AATA expansion. The amended articles of incorporation proposed that the corporation be renamed to Ann Arbor Area Transport Authority and be referred to as The Authority. Councilmember Sally Peterson (D- Ward 2) said calling the public corporation AAATA when the only Ann Arbor area included was Ypsilanti was misleading. "Changing the name will certainly come around by the public when this makes its way," Kunselman said. The council unanimously approved the resolution by a vote of 10-0 to add Ypsilanti to the AATA. However, the resolution did not enforce or ensure a funding mechanism for the expansion. Jerry Lax, legal counsel for AATA, said he supported the resolution on the grounds that an additional millage could be imposed on Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti residents to fund AATA operations - subject to the approval of voters during the Nov. 6 general election. "This is a first step, it doesn't by itself create new funding," he said. "But it does give Ypsilanti a more active role in governance and does create a mechanism where the voters in both jurisdictions can approve of (additional funding through taxes)." ast week, former Michigan Supreme Court Justice Diane Hathaway was sentenced to one year in prison for bank fraud. In an attempt to qualify on a short sale, Hathaway x concealed her assets with family members; howev- er, she was caught DEREK in the process of WOLFE doing so. According to our written law and to most people, Hathaway's punishment is appropriate. She abused her power as a justice for her own benefit and deserves to suffer for a year - even if it's at Camp Cupcake, the site where TV personality Martha Stewart served her prison stint. However, with jail overcrowding becoming an ever-present issue, this approach and obsession for "sticking it to the man" is shortsighted. First and foremost, sentence lengths seem incredibly arbitrary to me. Why does Hathaway need to be incarcerated for one year to repent for her crime? Why not six months or two years? I have a feeling that she already feels guilty just by going through the trial process. Perhaps the greatest goal of criminal justice should be that of prevention. About half of prisoners incarcerated have a mental health problem. If these people had better mental health resources, then it's possible that many of these crimes may have never happened in the first place. But in cases where imprisonment is required, our prison system needs to become a more efficient experience. In order to do that, our philosophy of the prison system's purpose must change. Yes, criminals like murderers and rapists should be jailed for greater lengths of time seeing that they are threats to society. But shouldn't the overall purpose of incarceration be about rehabilitation? Prisons should be doing a better job of helping people function within society upon their release. Right now, this isn't the case. Within three years of release, 67 percent of former inmates are arrested and reenter the prison world. If the system adjusted its approach by providing opportunities for higher education - perhaps by taking advantage of trade school or websites like Coursera - that figure could certainly decrease. That being said, a new approach must be taken with fiscal responsibility. Because of the amount taxpayers are spending to incarcerate criminals, it's become a financially irresponsible venture. In most states, it costs over $30,000 each year to house one inmate. Think about it. That's enough to send a hopeful student to the University for a year on scholarship. There are plenty of other ways that money could be spent to improve how our society functions, including - but not limited to - schools, infrastructure, public transportation and health programs. We also must alter what types of offenses should require incarceration. Couldn't house arrest be an appropriate punishment for crimes like Hathaway's? It drove Lucille and George Bluth, Sr. from "Arrested Development" crazy, so why couldn't it work for her? While I make that comment in jest, she definitely isn't a physical threat to society, so let her be locked up in her own home. The era of mass incarceration must end. Also, many drug offenses thatcarry mandatory jail time could be changed to carry mandatory community service that actually benefits the community they harmed. And not only that, but it would also cost significantly less. There are countless options of punishments that would still make life difficult for offenders that wouldn't run up the bill and would be more effective in creating fever repeat offenders. The biggest barrier to change is the fact that our prison system has become increasingly privatized. This has incentivized keeping more criminals locked up for longer, suck- ing away funds that again could be used for a better purpose. The U.S. imprisons more people than any other country in the world because of this system, so it's obvious that new regu- lations are needed in order to stop this from spiraling out of control. While I admit what I've laid out is not concrete by any means, the era of mass incarceration must end. We can't continue to be trapped by the past and romanticize the days ofAlca- traz - even if "Lockup" does make for interesting TV. -Derek Wolfe can be reached at dewolfe@umich.edu. y very first memories for any excuse to remain in a of the city involve city that seemed to be a happy, summer days in blissful bubble. I took English strollers, 223 and spent spring semester staring at the reading and writing poetry with sun glancing a group of students who had off of the their own reasons for staying at river from school. One day, we read "Thirty the shores Years Rising," a poem by Olena of Belle Isle. Kalytiak Davis about returning I was lucky to her native city of Detroit after enough to PAIGE leaving to live her life elsewhere. live in a tall PFLEGER I was struck by the beauty and brick house rawness of her words as my nestled teacher read them aloud; about between how her brother had arrived at trees that were almost as old as the "heavy black X of destination the small neighborhood itself. on the inside of his forehead," Indian Village, one of the city's and how she had escaped the city many historic gems, was home and given it up for so many others to many firsts: I learned to walk that never felt like home. And holding on to my old bullmastiff finally, how Detroit had become a for support, played in leaf piles part ofher, just by being the place in the shade with small yellow that she grew up in. plastic tools and followed my "It's in my bones. My sternum older sister around in hopes runs like Woodward Avenue, that maybe one day I could be it's pinnated, parked on, full just like her. Throughout the of dirt, holding women in wigs entirety of what I consider to be a and cigarettes, bars beautiful childhood, I remained lit from the outside in, it's ignorant to the deterioration overflowing that surrounded my few square with pooltables and ashtrays. blocks of bliss. It wasn't until My ribs later, after I had been plucked are holding up factories and from the heart of the city, placed breweries, two-bedroom into public school in a metro houses and multi-storied lives, Detroit suburb and my childhood this strip, had become a distant memory this city, these sidestreets, that I began to recognize the abony feather." stigma that surrounded the city I So I started asking around held so dear - a stigma that told Ann Arbor to see what other me that Detroit isn't perfect. A people thought of Detroit, and stigma that told me Detroit was discovered something extremely scary, dangerous, a giant black strange - the great majority of sinkhole that was a blemish to people, whether they were from our state and our reputation and the East Coast or from another is talked negatively of or - better metro Detroit suburb, hadn'tever yet - not talked of at all. visited. A reputation permeated After finishing up freshman by Eminem's "8 Mile" and news year, I clung to Ann Arbor like stories of murders and robberies, a life preserver and opted to of bodies rolling up on the shore take spring classes, looking of the Detroit River or being found in abandoned buildings, was all that had reached most students at the University. Any word of beautiful summer days on Belle Isle, of family-owned coffee shops and bakeries, of good food and good people, had somehow been lost along the 45-minute drive down I-94. I didn't realize the stigma until later. It certainly isn't my place to tell you how to feel about Detroit, and I would never expect you to take my word for it. But before you embrace the city's bad rep, hop in your car and spend a day exploring Detroit. Learn about Detroit's bootlegging role in prohibition, eat a gyro in Greek- town, wander around botanical gardens, grab a cup of coffee at a hole in the wall caf6, eat a pas- try from Avalon, sunbathe on the shore of the river, stop and listen to bucket drummers on a street corner, hear the roar of Com- erica Park, visit the Heidelberg, see the art spray-painted on the walls or inside the Detroit Insti- tute of Arts, buy fresh produce at Eastern Market, ride the People Mover until you've memorized the city's skyline, take a picture with the Spirit and discover the beauty in urban decay. Give the city a chance and I know it will surprise you, because for me, home is where the heart is, and my heart is and always has been in Detroit. -Paige Pfleger can be reached at pspflegoqumich.edu u -E E TLE If those kits had not been forgotten on the shelf, these women could still be OK" -Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy, referring to 11,300 rape kits found in a storage facility in 2009. Worthy, Governor Rick Snyder and State Attorney General Bil Schuette are seeking $4 million from the state legislature in order to test the forgotten kits.