3-News

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Wednesday, February 10, 2016 — 3A

Snyder addresses 
Flint water crisis in 
budget

Gov. Rick Synder plans to 

include $195 million in the 2017 
budget to address the Flint 
water crisis, according to the 
Detroit Free Press. The budget 
will be proposed on Wednesday. 
The request for Flint is broken 
down to support several efforts, 
including safe drinking, nutrition 
and education. The majority of 
the budget serves to improve the 
physical and social wellbeing of 
residents.

An estimated $15 million from 

the budget was allocated to fund 
food and nutrition, such as school 
meal programs, food banks and 
restaurant inspections. 

Snyder also plans to test and 

replace deficient water fixtures 
in educational settings. Officials 
claim that the contamination 
began when the administration 
decided to switch from Detroit’s 
water supply to Flint River water. 
In October, Flint switched back to 
Detroit’s water supply; however, 
lead continues to contaminate 
pipes and water fixtures.

The state previously provided 

vulnerable areas with $28 million 
to purchase bottled water and 
filters as well as to support other 
measures to address the water 
crisis. 

Detroit teachers 
plan walk-ins

Detroit Public Schools teachers 

planned walk-ins on Tuesday, 
deviating from their series 
of sick-outs over the past few 
weeks, according to the Detroit 
Free Press. The goal was to keep 
classes going while participants 
gathered before the school day 
to see the schools and engage 
in honest dialogue about the 
conditions.

Cass Technical High School’s 

walk-in began at 7:40 a.m., 
and afternoon walk-ins were 
scheduled in a series of other 
schools, such as Greenfield Union 
Elementary-Middle School, and 
Cooke Elementary.

The previous sick-outs served 

to demand attention to the 
devastated conditions of DPS 
schools. Teachers called in sick 
to protest the poor infrastructure 
and building conditions. On Jan. 
15, approximately 64 Detroit 
schools were shut down and over 
31,000 students were affected. 

The Free Press reported that 

$300,000 from the DPS budget 
has recently been reallocated 
from other departments to fund 
building projects. Forty-six of 97 
DPS schools have been expected 
since the sick-outs, and Tuesday’s 
walk-ins were an example of 
the continued pressure the 
community is putting on local and 
state government officials. 

The district’s emergency 

manager, Darnell Earley, 
announced his decision to step 
down at the end of February 
following a lawsuit filed on Jan. 29 
 

calling for his dismissal, according 
to the Detroit Free Press. 

 

-CAMY METWALLY

NEWS BRIEFS

2-News

would be outweighed by the 
larger benefits to students, 
Kosowski said.

“This seems like a no-brain-

er,” LSA sophomore Cochise 
Jackson said about the bill. 
“When I was trying to buy 
my chem book for like $250, it 
would’ve been great if that was 
reduced even a little bit.”

LSA sophomore Jose Guz-

man echoed Jackson’s sen-
timent, 
saying 
he 
could 

definitely use extra funds and 
allocate them to other school-
related costs such as supplies.

LSA freshman Bryan Pol-

lard said when he came to the 
University he was nervous 
about the high prices of text-
books, but they actually ended 
up being less than what he was 
expecting. However, he said 
he still believes that having 
textbooks be sales tax exempt 
would be beneficial.

“I think this legislation 

would be great for a lot of 

manager of the Office of Campus 
Sustainability, stressed that the 
decision to suspend recycling was 
directly caused by the change at 
the Western Washtenaw Recy-
cling Authority.

“The decision to suspend glass 

recycling is due to our recycling 
facility’s decision to discontinue 
collecting the material because 
the local glass recycling market 
has ceased,” Berki said.

Berki added that glass consti-

tutes 1 percent of the 2,400 tons 
of material collected annually for 
recycling at the University. 

“In terms of Sustainability, the 

decision has a very low impact 
because glass comprises such a 
small percentage of U-M’s overall 
waste stream,” he wrote.

LSA junior Louisa Kane, a CSG 

University Sustainability Com-
mission member, said the Univer-
sity is taking steps to adjust to this 
change. 

“The University is already try-

ing to adjust accordingly by find-
ing new replacement products in 
recyclable materials, as well as 
developing a separate glass collec-
tion system for the glass products 
that are still floating around cam-
pus,” she said.

John Lawter, associate direc-

tor of University Plant Operations, 
said the suspension of glass col-
lection is not a significant blow 
to the recycling operations of the 
University. He added the change 
does serve as an indication of reli-
ance of the University’s recycling 
operations on external factors.

“The impact to our recycling 

rate will be minimal, however it 
does illustrate our need to have a 
flexible program that can respond 
to market fluctuations,” he said.

The change is one of the larger 

adjustments to recycling policy 
that the University has made in 
recent years, according to Lawter.

“This is probably the first time 

we have had to backtrack on a pro-
gram change of this magnitude, 
though it is still only 1 percent, and 

is somewhat of a warning on the 
volatility of the markets and their 
affects on our program,” he said.

Kane said since the suspension 

was forced by the decline of glass 
recycling markets, and wasn’t by 
University design, students and 
faculty involved in sustainability 
and environmental advocacy on 
campus did not have any say in the 
matter.

“I personally have heard buzz 

circulating around it in the sus-
tainability community, but not 
with much urgency or backlash,” 
Kane said. “It’s more of a worry 
of a messy transition into a new 
system within a such a large insti-
tution rather than an outcry of 
sustainability injustice.”

Berki wrote that Plant Opera-

tions 
has 
been 
listening 
to 

feedback from the University 
community regarding the sus-
pension, but cannot fully address 
concerns since the change was 
ultimately out of the University’s 
control.

“Plant Operations has fielded 

many inquiries from students, fac-
ulty and staff regarding this recent 
change however has not received 
any specific opposition from envi-
ronmental advocacy groups or 
organizations,” Berki said.

Lawter said he thought that 

the lack of opposition from the 
University community was due to 
the fact that the University had no 
choice in the decision.

“The campus community has 

been very understanding and 
cooperative which is good given 
this is something that is beyond 
our control,” Lawter said. “We are 
also getting a lot of good feedback 
on ideas to minimize the effects of 
market changes to our program in 
the future.”

Lawter said one of the biggest 

concerns that University Plant 
Operations currently holds is the 
worry that glass on campus will 
contaminate the single-stream 
recycling program. If too much 
glass is found in a given collection, 
he said the entire collection must 
be sent off to a landfill as waste.

“We need to broadly educate 

the campus community on this 

change to minimize contamina-
tion of our single-stream program 
with glass,” Lawter said. “We are 
working with University Com-
munications and the Office of 
Campus Sustainability on getting 
the word out in as many forms as 
possible.”

In regard to the University of 

Michigan’s image as an environ-
mentally friendly institution and 
campus, Kaine said he didn’t think 
things would change.

“As long as the University holds 

to its statements on accommodat-
ing for this change, then hopefully 
we will rise to the standards we’ve 
set for ourselves as a University,” 
he said.

With other campus sustain-

ability initiatives and goals still 
on track, Berki wrote that he 
feels that the glass suspension 
will not hinder the University’s 
improvement as an environmen-
tally friendly and sustainability 
conscious institution.

“Despite this setback with 

glass recycling, we feel the over-
all outlook for waste reduction 
on campus is very positive,” Berki 
wrote. “The campus community 
is working hard to achieve our 
campus-wide sustainability goal 
of reducing waste sent to landfills 
by 40%”.

When asked about whether or 

not glass would be re-listed as a 
collectable material, Lawter said 
he believes glass will “probably 
never” be re-added to the single 
stream. 

“Glass has been problematic at 

all the Material Recovery Facili-
ties who have converted to single 
stream, which is most everyone in 
our neighborhood,” he said.

Berki echoed Lawter’s senti-

ments, writing that he believed 
glass would likely not be re-added 
to the list of acceptable materials. 

“As always, we will continue to 

face these challenges head-on and 
hopefully find solutions to them.” 

TAX
From Page 1A

GLASS
From Page 1A

the things that put your health 
at risk and make it difficult for 
you to make good decisions in a 
situation,” Schlissel said.

He also pointed to a newly 

formed 30-member task force 
charged with suggesting policy 
reforms for the Greek commu-
nity. The task force includes 
former Panhellenic Associa-
tion President Maddy Walsh 
and Alex Krupiak, former 
Interfraternity Council presi-
dent.

Another area for improve-

ment 
Schlissel 
addressed 

Tuesday was the staffing and 
organization of the Univer-
sity’s Counseling and Psycho-
logical Services.

Both LSA sophomore Kelly 

Crosson and Business sopho-
more Sam Orley expressed con-
cern with the stigmatization of 
mental health on campus and 
how CAPS can improve as a 
whole.

Crosson said she had to wait 

seven weeks for a preliminary 
appointment at CAPS.

“Your story is really disap-

pointing,” Schlissel said in 
response.

“I’m a little concerned that 

there are areas that there is 
so much need that it’s going to 
be hard to keep up,” Schlissel 
added. “There are a lot of men-
tal health challenges that come 
with being a student here.”

He said the University is 

currently expanding the CAPS 
staff not only to have more pro-
fessionals available to help stu-
dents, but also to diversify their 
staff to ensure more identities 
and backgrounds are repre-
sented to help students feel at 
ease.

Orley, who is a member of 

Wolverine Wellness, a student 
group created to promote men-
tal heath resources and des-
tigmatization, said the group 
hopes more professors will 
include CAPS information on 
their syllabi. A discussion also 
took place about the inclusion 
of CAPS information on the 
back of Mcards.

“I believe this can only not 

happen if someone comes up 
with a compelling reason for it 
not to be done,” Schlissel said 
in support of the Mcard propo-
sition.

Students also asked ques-

tions that are often posed at 
the monthly fireside chat con-
cerning the improvement of 
the experience of students on 
North Campus, the ongoing 
increase of tuition and how to 
make the campus more diverse.

Throughout the hour-long 

discussion, Schlissel continued 
to express his gratitude for the 
questions posed by students, 
and urged each student in the 
room to ask one — causing the 
event to go over its marketed 
timeframe.

“I’ve only been here for a 

year and a half, and I’ve never 
taught my own class or had 
advisees, so my own learning 
about the student community 
and seeing the campus through 
your eyes helps me understand 
the job I have and make this 
place as good as it needs to be 
for you, and, more important-
ly, for those people who come 
after you,” he said.

PRESIDENT
From Page 1A

tion director Shelley Rodg-
ers wrote in an e-mail to The 
Michigan Daily. 

The Flint water crisis began 

in April 2014 when the city, 
under state emergency man-
agement, switched its water 
supply from Detroit city water 
to water treatment centers 
connected to the Flint River, 
which resulted in contamina-
tion after the more corrosive 
river water caused lead from 
the pipes to leak into the water. 
The water supply was not 
switched back until October 
2015. Though Snyder issued 
a formal apology last month, 
and has declared a national 
state of emergency in the city, 
protesters have alleged that 
the governor knew about the 
issues earlier than October, 
and should have taken action 
sooner. The governor’s office 
has maintained he learned 
about the issue in October. 

Ann Arbor Alliance For 

Black 
Lives 
representative 

Rebecca Ahmad-Robinson, a 
Public Health graduate stu-
dent, said Snyder should be 
held accountable not just for 
Flint, but also for deplor-
able conditions in the Detroit 
Public 
Schools 
and 
mass 

incarceration in state pris-
ons. At multiple points during 
the event, attendees linked 
#BlackLivesMatter to Flint.

“We can’t breathe under 

Snyder, but we also can’t drink 
water,” 
Ahmad-Robinson 

yelled during the march.

Besides students and other 

citizens upset with the cur-
rent state in Flint and state 
politics, the National Lawyers 
Guild from the University’s 
Law School sent some of its 
members. NLG is a national 
organization that aims to unite 
various people from the law 
force that seek to change the 
ill-structured components of 
the political and economic 
systems in the country. Law 
School student Reid Murdock, 
a member of the University’s 
chapter of NLG, said they 
attended the protest to raise 
awareness about human rights.

“We are here to ensure that 

people’s civil rights are pro-
tected. Everyone here is using 
their freedom of speech and 
freedom of assembly,” Mur-
dock said. “We are here to 
make sure things go smoothly 
and to be a resource and pos-
sibly a liaison with the police 
should they come.”

Other groups present includ-

ed the Socialist Equality Party. 
Lawrence 
Porter, 
assistant 

national secretary of the SEP, 
said he believes the water cri-
sis is not only a crisis but also 
an attack on the working class 
people of Flint.

“It’s a crime, without ques-

tion. It is a monumental crime 
that is being carried out,” Por-
ter said. “We believe that it’s 
not just by Snyder; it’s been 
carried out by both issues. It is 
a bipartisan attack.”

SNYDER
From Page 1A

was what ultimately allowed 
him, along with the newly 
formed Minority Council on 
campus, to create multicultural 
lounges in residence halls.

“From the Minority Council, 

we began to push for what we 
called Black Housing Units,” he 
said. “But what the concept was, 
was that we were going to take 
a whole half side of South Quad, 
and we were going to have it 
mixed between white and Black 
and other ethnic groups. But the 
idea was to have a predominant 
number to be African Ameri-
can, so for the first time African 
Americans could be in the major-
ity as opposed to being in the 
minority.”

Originally, 
the 
idea 
was 

approved by the Housing Policy 
Committee, Gill said, but the 
Board of Regents rejected it on 
the grounds that the policy was 
akin to segregation. The alter-
native that they offered was the 
creation of the multicultural 
lounges.

LSA junior Adelia Davis, a 

diversity peer education, said she 

was intrigued by the fact that the 
Black Action Movement of Gill’s 
time was responsible for the cre-
ation of the multicultural loung-
es in the University’s residence 
halls that she and other DPEs 
oversee.

“I found it very inspiring,” 

she said. “His story, the work 
he’s doing, and just his point of 
that the battle for freedom has 
to be won every generation. I get 
frustrated, because it’s a lot of 
the same issues that are recur-
ring, but it totally makes sense: 
Each generation has to struggle 
for this freedom. It’s disappoint-
ing, but at the same time it just 
empowers us to always be aware 
and active in our community,” 
Davis said. 

Public Policy senior Eric Riley 

said he was also surprised by 
the extent to which BAM was 
responsible for the multicultural 
lounges.

“We really are the fruits of his 

labor,” Riley said.

Leon Howard III, a program 

manager in the Office of Multi-
Ethnic Student Affairs, said 
while students today are fighting 
the same fight as those in Gill’s 
time, he thought progress was 
being made.

LECTURE
From Page 2A

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