Thursday, July 31, 2014 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Catching up with Amanda Chidester Thursday,;July 31, 2014 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 3 CITY A2 increases push for sustalnablity By KELLY HALL Daily Sports Writer In Brighton, Michigan, a 2012 University alumna helps young girls hone their softball skills when she's not off winning the World Cup of Softball. For former Michigan softball player Amanda Chidester, the future of the USA Softball Women's National Team is bright, and the game of softball is a lifelong passion. This summer is Chidester's third straight with Team USA, and she has learned a great deal about being both a teacher and a teammate since graduation. In her spare time, she also holds local softball clinics in her hometown of Allen Park, Michi- gan, but right now, she's with the national team. Team USA won the World Cup of Softball on July 13 in Irvine, California, but is currently preparing for the most important competition of the summer - the World Championships in the Netherlands starting Aug. 15. Though Chidester was never able to play for the U. S. in the Olympics (the International Olympic Committee cut baseball and softball from the Games in 2012), she believes that she'll be playing in the 2020 Olympics. And who knows? Maybe some of her students will be as well. Chidester spoke with the Daily recently to discuss her time with Team USA, her outlook on the future of softball and the con- stant support she receives from the Michigan softball community and coaches. The Michigan Daily: What has changed for you since you Amanda Chidester was a two-time All-American at Michigan and is now in her third summer of playing for Team USA. were first on Team USA in 2012? Amanda Chidester: I was out of college so I, myself, changed a lot. For me, I love softball, so I decided to continue with soft- ball. Being a part of representing Team USA was huge, but coming from the University of Michigan helped me too. All of the opportu- nities I was given through Team USA and the University of Michi- gan have been awesome. TMD: Have any of Michigan softball coach Carol Hutchins' mantras really stuck with you and helped you during your time with Team USA? AC: Oh yeah, there are so many. "Leave the place better than you found it" is a huge one for me. She says that one a lot, and everywhere I go, I want to leave a mark and be an important par of whatever it is that I'm doing Never settle for anything lest than your best and give it you: all. One hundred percent effort That's something I carry with me with my work, with whatevet I'm doing, and with dealing with people. It goes a long way. TMD: How often do you get to talk to Coach Hutchins about your game and how has your rela- tionship with her developed over the years? AC: I was able to be an assistant after graduation and saw a whole different side, the coaching side of the game with (Hutchins) and Buy 1 Sandwich, Get 1 FREE! Limit One offer per customer with coupon. Cannot be combined with any other offer Valid at Barry Bagels Ann Arbor location ONLY BAGELS slm Me arry Bagels Westgate Shoppins Center 2515 Jackson Ave, Ann Arbor, MI 48103. (734) 662-2435 www.barrybagels.com Expires: August 7th, 2014I L. -J. . ... . . saw behind the scenes. There's so much that goes into it that we t don't even know about as players. Going through that whole year s was pretty awesome. r Last year, I was able to go to games and stuff, butI was kind of on my own. I didn't get a chance r to see (Hutchins) as much as I would've liked to, but when I did, we always had great talks. She t was right there to congratulate t me when I made the USA team again. I was able to go in and talk with her a little bit on one of my breaks. She's always there for me t - for all of us - which is awe- some, absolutely awesome. She always says, "You're a Wolverine forever." That's what makes her so great. TMD: How has the culture of Michigan softball impacted your career? AC: Those people that were around me during my four years in college have continued to sup- port me through my time with USA. There's a big family that continues to stick around and when I go back and watch a game, everyone's there to ask me how I'm doing and to tell me they miss me. It's just a great, great family with everybody. To go back and be a part of that family is pretty awesome. TMD: You and your team- mates posted a 7-0 record during the World Cup of Softball Cham- pionships. You had five RBI and batted .385. How were you feeling throughout the tournament and what was the energy like? AC: It was good. The whole team had great energy the whole time. The team is just so deep. Any of the 17 players could be on that field at any point in time, which is pretty awesome. The last couple of years, we didn't have that. This year, the event is a lot deeper, and I think that's great. We just feed off of each other. TMD: What have you and your teammates been focusing on as the World Championships get closer? AC: This year there are some returners, but there are also some new players, so just growing together and continuing to get to know each other more, work- ing together more and just grow- ing as a team. I think that will be our biggest thing, just continuing to get that experience with each other. We're not used to playing with each other all the time so it's a growing process for us, and I think we've comea long way. USA has given us the opportunity to play a lot of different teams and continue to grow. TMD: What do you see your- self doing after the World Cham- pionships this year? AC: I work in a facility in Brigh- ton so I'll be back there again and training little girls to become softball players and do the best they can. I'll be doing camps with. some of my USA teammates as well. TMD: Though your dreams of playing Olympic softball were stolen from you when the IOC decided to get rid of softball and baseball, you've still been able to travel the world with Team USA. What's the message you send to the girls at your softball clinics that just love to play the game? AC: We're fighting to get it back. In my mind, it's coming back in 2020 and I'm going to play in 2020. While giving lessons and doing camps, we just tell these girls that we're fighting like heck to give you guys the opportunity to do this, but just because it's not an Olympic sport doesn't mean that they can't have their passion in college and continue to play after that. There are still oppor- tunities, but it's everyone's dream to play in the Olympics. We're going to do everything we can to get it back. City moves to next phase of three- year rental energy efficiency project By MATT JACKONEN Daily StaffReporter This summer and fallAnnArbor is stepping up its sustainability efforts. City officials have recently commenced a survey designed to improve energy efficiency among rental properties, many of which students hold leases to, over the course of the next few years. The effort is part of a three-year project spurred by the city's receipt of a grant in the beginning of 2012 with the goal to increase energy efficiency in existing rental houses. The project places the city in a partnership with 14 other cities, led by Bloomington, Ind. across the country known as Rent Rocket. Rent Rocket's goal is to crowdsource energy data to create more efficient housing. Through the survey, Ann Arbor renters are being encouraged to share their energy bills on the city's website. Based on the costs and energy usage in accordance with the property size, project members will then gauge the efficiency of rental properties. Jamie Kidwell, an Ann Arbor sustainability associate, said one of the hurdles in the city's research is gaining an accurate overview of the city's rental properties, which is why the city is asking those respondingto the survey to directly upload their electricity bills from DTE Energy. "The accuracy of getting data on utilities through a simple survey is very difficult, and that's one of the reasons we're trying to do the direct upload," Kidwell said. "That way we will at least have a lot of historical data that we know is accurate." Kidwell said the survey has yielded about 30 responses in the past month, with reported costs that were "all across the board". While the survey officially was opened in late June, there will be another period in which renters can respond to the survey early this fall, through September and October. Kidwell noted that due to many students currently being away from the city for the summer, the data that has been collected so far has been scant, but they hope to get at least over 100 responses by the end of the fall round of data collection. "It's a tough time of the year to gather data given that a large portion of our renters are student renters," she said. However, she said the team will publicize the project heavily this fall, and will use avenues such as the Earthfest, postering and making announcements in University classes, with the hope of getting more input from students. The project's goal is to result in both energy-efficient improvements to existing properties as well as an expansion of education for renters within the city about the efficiency ratings of certain properties. Kidwell said one of the ways of educating renters, if feasible, will be in the form of a mobile application and website that will essentially provide potential renters with information on the energy efficiency of rental properties. "If we could plot the energy efficiency on a map when you're looking for your rental housing, you could see the historical energy use, that might lead you to pick a more energy efficient house," Kidwell said. PRIMARY From Page 1 about $5,886 on campaign con- sulting, $1,288 on Facebook and Google promotions, and thousands on local advertising, including $2,414 for advertising from MLive and other mediagroups. "That was intentional, we decid- ed at the get-go that we were going to fund this about 50%," Petersen said. "We didn't hirea professional staff to work day by day like other candidates, we relied on a small group of volunteers who work full time. It's been alot of time focused on the messaging. My time is more important, rather than doing the fundraising, spent with the vot- ers." Briere raised about $26,680, $1,000 of which was from a fam- ily member, and the rest of which was from various property com- panies, University affiliates from LSA and other community mem- bers. Notable donors include Sava Lelcaj, owner of local restaurants Sava's and Aventura and Dennis Dahlmann, owner of Dahlmann Properties in Ann Arbor. Kunselman raised $7,474, most of which was from fellow city council members and other local community donors. "You have candidates that are raising lots of money from the wealthy, and I think it is hypo- critical for someone to raise a lot of money for a campaign to win an election while promising to pro- vide for government subsidies and affordable housing, it just doesn't add up," he said of the reports. Relationship withthe University Though the August primaries occur a few weeks before most students return to campus, and typically, student votes in the pri- maries are low, along with finances the University's relationship with the city has also been a major theme leading up to it. Candidates are quick to admit the importance of a positive rela- tionship between the University's president and Ann Arbor's next mayor, but University representa- tive Rick Fitzgerald said the future for University and city relations is still up in the air, especially as President Schlissel enters the first year of his presidency. "I don't anticipate a dramatic shift, but at this point, he is still getting to know the campus and the Ann Arbor community, and Ann Arbor will have a new mayor, so we will have to wait and see exactly how that takes shape," Fitzgerald said. When it comes to the city's posi- SOLAR From Page 2 of the race. However, by the time they reached the first checkpoint, they were back in first place and held the lead for the remainder of the race. "It's not hard to build a very aerodynamic and very efficient solar car," he said. "It's very hard to build a very successful team. And thankfully, we've had 25 years of experience building a very successful team, and I think that's what sets us apart from any of our competition in the United States and in the world." Business junior Mikhail Gore- lik, a member of the team's busi- ness division, said organization, efficiency and speed also set the team apart from its competitors. "Some of the other teams, they would be coming out and they would be walking towards their array and they might not be rushing as much, whereas I've had some people tell me that you guys ran out to that car so fast, I thought it was on fire," he said. "So it was just everybody knowing that as soon as the car stops here, my job is to sprint to it and do this, and just having that ready to go was, I think, what gave us a large advantage on the competition." Engineering senior Ian Larson, who serves as the team's crew chief, said this victory is particu- larly exciting because the team was able to overcome its ninth place finish in the 2013 World Solar Challenge and multiple set- backs before and during this year's race. "That, I think, showed to every- one, both at home and abroad, that the University of Michigan Solar Car Team is going to be back in 2015 and we're going to be doing everything we can to finally win the World Solar Challenge," Lar- son said. tion,land ownership is the name of the game, an issue that has often left theUniversityand cityatoppo- sites with each other on major pur- chases. Whenever the University purchases a property, itis removed from the city's tax rolls. Though all of the Democratic candidates have some history with the University, be it Taylor's four degrees from the University or Kunselman's ten years as the University's Environmental Con- servation Liaison, none see exactly eye-to-eye or necessarily have a clear solution when it comes to dif- fusing University-city tensions. In January, Taylor said the pos- sibility of requesting a payment in lieu of taxes from the University was both appropriate and reason- able, but all of the candidates for mayor seem to be singing the same tune on the possibility of voluntary payments to the city. "As much as I would like a pay- ment in lieu of taxes, no, that is not something I would bring to the table at this point," Taylor said. Petersen said that any conversa- tion of a voluntary payment from the University to the city would negatively affect the city's rela- tionship with the University. RRead the rest of this artidle at 'MichiganDailyxomn SUMMER IS ALMOST OVER: LOOKING FOR A GOOD WAY TO CONTINUE PROCRASTINATING IN THE FALL? JOIN THE DAILY. NOW HIRING FOR ALL SECTIONS. Engineering senior Ian Larson shines the team's first place trophy next to their car, Quantum, at the Wilson Center Wednesday.