outlined the University’s plan
to reduce carbon emissions. He
said the University aims to cut
emissions by 25 percent by 2025.
One of the biggest contributors
to that goal will be the new
turbine, which uses natural gas to
produce electricity. Once in place,
Robben said, the turbine will
increase Central Campus’ power
plant efficiency significantly. The
plant is currently fueled by both
gas and oil.
“The central power plant is
a combined cycle, cogeneration
facility,” Robben said. “It is using
two technologies coupled together
to produce a very efficient design.
We were then able to use that to
create a facility that is operating at
80-percent efficiency.”
John Lawter, associate director
for building services and grounds,
discussed the University’s waste
reduction goals — a 40-percent
reduction in waste sent to landfills
by 2025.
He said while 40 percent is a
bold target, he hoped it would
motivate the campus community.
“We had an opportunity to
change it, but we decided not to
because we felt there is nothing
like an aggressive goal to inspire
and challenge the University
to
make
these
fundamental
changes.”
Lawter said one of the first
initiatives
the
University
is
working
on
is
standardizing
recycling
and
waste
signage
across campus.
“We have all these different
containers out there, different
signage, different locations and it
can be very confusing,” he said.
“We want to try to make this
simpler and make it better.”
Drew
Horning,
deputy
director and chief of staff of
the
Graham
Sustainability
Institute, also discussed the
University’s efforts to create a
“culture of sustainability” on
campus.
He said awareness and concern
for sustainability varies widely,
the goal is to find a way to reach
people across the spectrum.
“It quickly became aware that
people are at very different places
on this campus in regards to their
levels of awareness, dispositions
and behaviors, and we need to
recognize that,” Horning said.
“We cannot assume that everyone
is going to be gung-ho at the
forefront trying to be a leader on
this issue.”
Horning said the University
plans to employ major statement
events,
like
the
zero-waste
football game planned for the
2016 season, to draw attention to
sustainability.
“These are things that are
highly visible symbols that people
on campus and people who come
to campus from the outside will
see and will demonstrate a visible
commitment to sustainability,”
he said. “Zero-waste athletics is
one example how we show people
who don’t necessarily work for
or attend the University that this
is something that is important to
us.”
Terry
Alexander,
executive
director
of
the
Department
of
Occupational
Safety
and
Environmental Health and the
Office of Campus Sustainability,
concluded
the
events
by
addressing the need to change
people’s thinking.
“The common thread through
all of this is how do we get people
to adjust?” Alexander said. “We
can put all of these recycling bins
in place but if we can’t get people
to do it, we’re never going to make
it.”
LSA junior Jacob Grochowski,
who attended the event, said he
thought the ideas presented in
the talks were important, but
needed additional explanation.
“I think they are really
exciting,
but
I
hope
they
continue to iterate on them,”
Grochowksi said. “They are an
important first step and I’m glad
the University is taking action to
put these in motion, but I hope
that they will keep building on
them.”
cells
more
precisely
using
nanoparticles activated by low-
level red light illumination, as
opposed to the traditional high-
powered laser.
The treatment is a modified
version of a technique currently
used in cancer treatment, where
doctors mark target cells with
a chemical that makes them
sensitive to low-level red light,
according to Uma Mahesh Avula,
a postdoctoral research fellow
and member of the research
team. The light destroys only
the marked cells, leaving the
surrounding cells and tissue
unharmed.
“With this study, we developed
a specific nanoparticle that targets
a very specific cell type: cardiac
myocytes,” Avula said.
Cardiac myocytes are a type
of heart muscle cell that have
been linked to the development of
cardiac arrhythmias. Kalifa said
the specificity of the nanoparticle
in targeting these cells allows
for more flexibility in treatment,
decreased
complications,
and
increased protection of structures
within and around the heart.
“The goal of this project was to
adapt the tools that are working
well for cancer cells so that they
can recognize cardiac cells that
initiate and habituate cardiac
arrhythmias,” he said.
The team initially tried using
nanoparticles the same size as
those used for cancer treatment,
which are about 120 nanometers
in size. That approach, Avula said,
was unsuccessful, leading to the
team’s main challenge — figuring
out what size of nanoparticle to
develop. Ultimately, they settled
on a smaller size, developing
a particle that was only six
nanometers in size.
Chemistry
Prof.
Raoul
Kopelman, who led the team,
said the size they ended up with
was small even by nanotechnology
standards.
“The weight of one human hair
is 80 microns,” he said. “These
particles are over 10,000 times
smaller than that.”
Within
the
tiny
particle,
an amino acid that causes the
particular to target myocytes, as
well as a chemical that makes the
particle light sensitive and another
chemical to shield it from the
immune system. During the study,
the nanoparticles were injected
into the heart and absorbed by the
target cell. Low-level red light was
then used to destroy only the cells
with the nanoparticles in them.
“This technology allows us to
simplify the procedure for treating
cardiac arrhythmias, make it more
efficient, and safer,” Kalifa said.
The next step for the research
team will be to replicate their
successful results on rodents and
sheep in a trial with humans.
The
researchers
are
also
working to develop a method for
producing larger amounts of the
nanoparticles at pharmaceutical
grade standards.
“This is one of the first times that
a targeted therapy for arrhythmias
has been developed,” Kalifa said.
“It will be a while still, but should
we have the right resources, we
could contribute significantly to
improving treatment for patients
with arrhythmias.”
Kopelman, who has the very
disease he is targeting, said the
cross-disciplinary
research
between material chemistry and
cardiology represented an exciting
step forward in the field and for
him personally.
“I have been suffering from
heart arrhythmias since age 11, so
it has always been my ambition to
do something about it,” he said.
3-News
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Friday, November 6, 2015 — 3A
Man reportedly
assaults three on
the Diag
A man allegedly under the
influence of drugs was detained by
University Police
and eventually
taken away in an ambulance after
reportedly assaulting at least three
people on the Diag on
Wednesday
night around 8 p.m
.
Eyewitnesses
on
the
Diag
said the man attacked a group of
people — causing a small group of
students to intervene and hold him
down until the police arrived on
the scene.
As he was loaded into the
ambulance on a stretcher, he yelled
out, “Acid, LSD..
.” Minutes later, an
officer on the scene was overheard
saying, “Somebody was tripping on
acid, and it wasn’t good.”
The Division of Public Safety
and Security incident log said the
subject “may have been having a
drug reaction” and was taken to
the University of Michigan Health
System’s emergency department
for treatment. The incident is
currently listed as an open case.
Joint Institute
receives $10
million donation
John Wu and his wife, Jane
Sun, donated $10 million to the
University of Michigan-Shanghai
Jiao Tong University Joint Insti-
tute.
The gift will establish the John
Wu and Jane Sun Endowment
Fund. The fund will support pro-
fessorships, faculty awards, schol-
arships, student entrepreneurship
and other programs.
The Joint Institute, where
more than 1,280 students study
mechanical or electrical and com-
puter engineering, was founded
in 2006.
Mott launches
seatbelt program
The University’s C.S. Mott
Children’s Hospital announced
the launch of Buckle Up For Life,
a seatbelt safety program.
Over the course of six weeks,
trained specialists will educate
Ann Arbor families about child
passenger safety.
The program, which was cre-
ated by Toyota and the Cincin-
nati Children’s Hospital Medical
Center, will be available in English
and Spanish.
23 thousand people in 14 cities
have already participated in Buck-
le Up For Life.
More than half of children
under four who were killed in
car crashes between 2008 and
2012 in Michigan were either not
in a car seat or were improperly
restrained.
Schuette receives
funds to cover
SCOTUS litigation
The Michigan House Appro-
priations Committee voted this
week to transfer $2 million to the
Attorney General’s office to cover
litigation costs from defending
Michigan’s ban on same-sex mar-
riage.
The move drew some contro-
versy from Democrats on the com-
mittee, namely state Rep. Adam
Zemke (D–Ann Arbor), who filed
a motion to block the transfer
Wednesday. Zemke’s motion was
defeated along party lines.
“I’m disappointed members of
the Appropriations Committee
gave their tacit support today for
this waste of taxpayer money,”
Zemke said in a statement. “There
are dozens of more significant
and necessary areas to which this
money could be applied. We owe it
to our constituents to use a fund-
ing allotment of this magnitude
appropriately.”
The funding will come from the
Office of Urban Initiatives, which
the transfer document notes had
available funds due to a vacancy
and other non-specified savings.
Andrea Bitely, Michigan Attorney
General Bill Schuette’s commu-
nications director, declined com-
ment Thursday afternoon.
—DAILY STAFF
GREEN
From Page 1A
CARDIAC
From Page 1A
sole dissenting vote on both
resolutions.
In August, City Council
voted to establish a deer
management
program
designed to reduce the Ann
Arbor deer population —
both to decrease nuisance
caused by a well-stocked deer
population and to support
biological diversity. The city
plans to hire sharpshooters to
kill 100 deer with firearms to
control the population within
the city limits.
At
Thursday’s
council
meeting, about 50 Ann Arbor
residents spoke in opposition
to
the
deer
cull.
Many
Ann Arbor residents said
they were shocked to hear
the city would implement
such a program and raised
concerns about the safety of
local residents and the moral
considerations behind a cull.
“I was always in awe of
this cultural and intellectual
mecca,” Ann Arbor resident
Kim Johnson told the council.
“Imagine
my
shock
and
disbelief that this community
is planning to kill deer right
in the middle of its city. What
happened to seeking creative,
non-violent solutions? Where
are the best and brightest
now?”
Others
were
concerned
about
research
showing
that
deer
culling
proved
ineffective
in
neighboring
towns, such as Jackson. Many
urged the council to wait
on implementing the deer
cull until further research is
conducted, as the issue isn’t
an emergency.
“Culling
in
urban
environments offers precious
little in the terms of a
short-term solution, and is
in
the
meantime
tearing
our
community
apart,”
Ann Arbor resident Karen
Anderson said.
However,
not
all
were
opposed
to
the
implementation of culling. A
few long-time residents said
they have noticed a growth
in deer population compared
to
previous
decades
and
supported efforts to curb the
population.
“I am in favor of the
shooting of deer within city
limits, even expanding the
limits,” Ann Arbor resident
Gordon Roberts said. “If you
go below the breakeven point,
you are wasting time and
effort. I support anything we
can do to get rid of as many
deer as possible.”
Another
issue
debated
Thursday: investigation of
noise complaints directed
at the University’s chapter
of the Alpha Sigma Phi
fraternity at 920 Baldwin
Ave.
Councilmember
Stephen
Kunselman
(D–Ward
3)
proposed
a
resolution
Thursday
asking the city attorney
to investigate the house
and
determine
possible
methods for handling any
nuisance. The resolution was
ultimately passed.
Some
local
residents
said Thursday they were
concerned about the loud
nature of the fraternity in
what is primarily a residential
neighborhood.
“When you move into a
residential
neighborhood,
you enter into a community
contract, but the fraternity
brothers seem to ignore
that,” said Merton Shill,
Ann Arbor resident and
Alpha Sigma Phi neighbor.
“We had to call the police
five times in the past three
weeks just to get some sleep
at night. Why is it that these
people find it so hard to
follow the law?”
Fraternity president Tom
Allen, a Public Policy junior,
defended the fraternity at
council. Allen called on the
council to halt the city’s
investigation
into
their
house, claiming it would set
an unfeasible precedence for
the future, and place a large
burden on city employees.
“We make different kinds
of
headlines
than
other
fraternities do; we make a
difference on campus,” Allen
said. “I hope this shows that
we are just good students,
trying to coexist with the
neighbors next door.”
DEER
From Page 1A
central mission is to encourage
City Council to revoke Ried’s
contract with the AAPD, pay
restitution to Rosser’s family
and ultimately promote systemic
changes within the city’s law
enforcement system to combat
racially charged police brutality.
“We want laws to hold police
accountable for the things they
do in the community,” Ahmad-
Robinson said. “What happened
here and what happens around
the country a lot of the time is
police use excessive force, and
then when it’s time to hold them
accountable, someway, somehow
they are able to justify their force.”
The group additionally asks
for City Council to establish an
independent
Citizens
Review
Board dedicated to addressing
issues of police misconduct, as
well as to promote officer-training
reform.
Ahmad-Robinson,
who
has
experience organizing similar
events in Baltimore, said he was
impressed with the turnout at
City Hall. He added that the
city of Ann Arbor’s Human
Rights Commission — which
met Thursday to discuss the
plans — has been working to
initiate a policy that promotes
accountability within the law
enforcement system by allowing
citizens to file complaints about
officers.
“That’s getting going, but what
we want to see is that those laws
actually do something because a lot
of the times laws are written and
things are done, but nothing really
changes,” Ahmad-Robinson said.
Rackham student Scott Fox
attended the protest and said he
was motivated to join Ann Arbor
to Ferguson because he believes
police should not be permitted
to fire at citizens without loaded
firearms.
“Policemen shouldn’t be killing
unarmed people. It’s simple,” Fox
said.
Following the protest outside,
members
of
Ann
Arbor
to
Ferguson filed into the Ann
Arbor City Council chambers and
held signs advocating justice for
Rosser throughout the meeting.
Several
public
commenters
also demanded an end to police
brutality within the city.
PROTEST
From Page 1A
DELANEY RYAN/Daily
Rich Robben, executive director of University Plant Operations, speaks on reducing greenhouse gas emissions on campus at Hatcher Graduate Library on
Thursday.
NEWS BRIEFS