3-News

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Thursday, March 24, 2016 — 3A

CLAIRE ABDO/Daily

LSA sophomore Lindsay Randolph, president of Students for Kasich, discusses her thoughts on the 2016 presidential election on the Diag Monday.

you make one of those objects soft 
like rubber, then when you try to 
push off the hard object, it makes 
the rubber deform,” Golovin said. 
“That deformation creates a stress 
concentrator between the hard 
object, which in this case is the 
ice, and the rubber. That actually 
causes it to detach with a lot lower 
force than you would normally 
need.”

This 
phenomenon, 
called 

interfacial 
cavitation, 
is 
what 

explains the science behind this 
technology.

Though putting additives such 

as oils or silicone into the rubber 
makes it more slippery and helps to 
ease off ice, Golovin said the main 
goal of their project is to make 
the rubber softer by changing its 
properties.

“The reason rubber is hard or 

soft is something known as how 
many chemical crosslinks are in 
the rubber,” Golovin said. “That’s 
sort of a covalent bond inside and 
… the more there are, the harder 
the rubber is. You can tune the 

chemistry to make it softer just 
by lowering how many crosslinks 
there are.”

The spray-on coating could 

prove to be important for multiple 
industries, Golovin said, including 
those that produce airplanes, 
boats, 
food 
packaging 
and 

refrigerator linings. He added it 
may be difficult to put the product 
into use on airplanes because there 
are such stringent requirements 
for equipment used in aircrafts, but 
it would be possible for the product 
to be commercialized for boats that 
go through shipping lanes in the 
Arctic, as well as for food-based 
products.

“For 
different 
applications, 

we 
might 
have 
different 

requirements,” Tuteja said. “For 
example, if I was working with 
a food application with making 
packaging for frozen foods, then 
we can only work with materials 
that are approved by the FDA. 
That’s a limited number of rubbers 
that are approved.”

Golovin said there are multiple 

advantages to the spray-on coating, 
including 
its 
versatility 
and 

durability.

“One of the main motivations 

for this work was to make 
(coatings) that you wouldn’t need 
to constantly repaint on, so they 
effectively last as long as you 
need them to last,” Golovin said. 
“There’s no reason they should 
degrade over time.”

The coating itself, researchers 

also noted, is not just a single 
formula; formulas were developed 
to 
accommodate 
multiple 

materials.

“What we’ve done here is 

made well over 100 different 
coatings, and they’re all made of 
different rubbers and different 
oils, all different chemistries 
and compositions,” Tuteja said. 
“The reason was really to show 
that we understood these two 
new mechanisms that can show 
how ice detaches from rubbers 
and by being able to work with a 
wide range of different materials, 
we showed the principles that 
are applicable for a number of 
different materials.”

Researchers noted that one 

potential 
challenge 
for 
the 

coating is whether it will still 
work under extremely harsh and 
cold conditions. Golovin said 
rubbers have a property called 

glass transition temperature, at 
which the rubber becomes too 
cold and begins to act more like a 
glass than a rubber.

“How 
the 
coating 
works, 

you need the rubber to still be 
soft, so for certain rubbers, the 
temperature at which they stop 
being soft is the temperature at 
which they would stop working,” 
Golovin said. “Much like how 
you can choose the material to 
work with whatever underlying 
substrate, you can also choose 
rubber that have different glass 
transition temperatures so that 
you can make sure it still works 
at whatever temperature you’re 
expecting to see.”

Tuteja said the goal is to 

commercialize the coating in 
partnership 
with 
companies 

in 
multiple 
disciplines 
and 

industries, as well as create a 
spray that can be sold for use 
directly in households. He was 
co-founded a startup company, 
which is now licensing the 
technology and partnering with 
different companies for use in 
different fields. The technology is 
expected to be put into use within 
a year.

plume of the toxin 1,4-dioxane 
underneath Washtenaw County. 
The plume has contaminated 
groundwater and is expected by 
local officials to reach the Huron 
River in the coming decades.

Though 
the 
Michigan 

Department 
of 
Environmental 

Quality has maintained a network 
of monitoring wells to track the 
plume since 1992, city leaders have 
long been critical of the state’s 
response, and the Flint water crisis 
has re-energized public scrutiny 
on this issue.

In a February meeting of county 

leaders, Ann Arbor Township 
Supervisor Michael Moran told 
Michigan DEQ representatives 
he had “lost his confidence” in 
the state’s ability to control the 
contamination. Moran also said 
his township was exploring the 
option of turning the plume into a 
superfund site.

Monday night, the Board of 

Trustees for Ann Arbor Charter 
Township — which is a separate 
municipality from the city of Ann 
Arbor — unanimously authorized 
Moran to petition the EPA for 
superfund status.

In 
an 
interview, 
Moran 

said 
Michigan’s 
regulatory 

environment 
has 
failed 
to 

meaningfully 
manage 
the 

contaminated water, and the 
state’s recent promises to increase 
funding 
on 
monitoring 
and 

introduce more stringent cleanup 
standards for 1,4-dioxane are 
insufficient.

“Michigan statutes are not 

aimed at getting a cleanup of 
pollution, but rather managing 
the risk of pollution, and those are 
wildly different concepts,” Moran 
said, adding the EPA doesn’t 
operate under these constraints.

However, other local leaders 

say they are still unsure if the 
township’s 
decision 
was 
the 

best choice. Ann Arbor Mayor 
Christopher Taylor (D) said in 
an interview with the Daily that 
while the EPA would likely lead 
a more comprehensive cleanup 
of the contaminated water, the 

stigma of superfund status could 
damage property values in the city.

“The EPA is obviously very 

well-respected and tremendously 
valuable; however, the declaration 
of a superfund site has other 
consequences,” Taylor said. “If a 
portion of Ann Arbor is declared 
a superfund site, one expects 
that will reduce property values, 
even though the toxicity is of 
no immediate concerns to the 
immediately proximate residents.”

Taylor 
did 
not 
completely 

rule out supporting the petition 
and said the city will need to 
study the issue further before 
making a decision. He added the 
city’s current plan is to work the 
Michigan DEQ and Michigan 
Attorney General’s office to push 
the original polluter to perform a 
more comprehensive cleanup. In 
interviews, City Councilmembers 
Chip Smith (D–Ward 5) and 
Graydon Krapohl (D–Ward 4) 
echoed Taylor’s points.

Moran said he does not intend 

to move forward with a superfund 
petition without consensus from 
the city of Ann Arbor and the 
rest of Washtenaw County. He 
noted a consultant working for 
a consortium of county officials 
had reported superfund status 
would not significantly hurt local 
property values, based on previous 
studies.

“It’s 
an 
issue 
that 
needs 

consideration 
from 
all 
local 

governments,” Moran said.

However, he also noted the 

township could still move forward 
without the approval of all the 
county’s municipalities.

Moran said the Michigan DEQ 

has failed, and other options to 
control the pollution need to be 
explored.

“After 20 years, the pollution 

plume is getting bigger and 
bigger, and there’s an inadequate 
response,” Moran said. “How long 
are you willing to keep playing 
with the same people?”

When reached for comment 

on 
Tuesday, 
Robert 
Wagner, 

Michigan 
DEQ 
remediation 

chief, said he respects Ann Arbor 
Charter Township’s decisions and 
is willing to work with the EPA if 
necessary.

RESEARCH
From Page 1A

WATER
From Page 1A

County.

In a series of interviews with 

The Michigan Daily, students 
shared their political views, why 
they support different candidates 
and what they hope for the future 
following the election. Quotes 
were chosen from each interview 
to reflect the students’ beliefs.

Brendan Schroder

LSA junior, supports Sanders. 
“My father left when my mother 

was pregnant with me, so I had 
a single mother growing up,” he 
said. “It was very interesting to 
see from her point of view also as 
a teacher who hasn’t made that 
much. When you go through the 
education system a lot of teachers 
are very liberal, so that came 
across through my mother, but she 
also taught me to be loving and 
compassionate.”

“Surprisingly, 
I 
was 
very 

religious 
between 
sixth 
and 

12th grade. That actually is what 
formed me to what I am today. 
What all of the pastors taught me 
is that you should love one another; 
you should help one another. 
Right now those same people are 
voting for Ted Cruz and Donald 
Trump, so I don’t know where the 
disconnect happened that I ended 
up leaning towards Bernie Sanders 
and they ended up leaning towards 
that, but I feel like the messages 
they taught me, I interpreted as to 
believe in Bernie’s policies where 
we have to help people.”

“The 
college 
campus 
has 

changed a lot for me. Coming 
out of high school, I was kind of 
uneducated on a lot of issues. Being 
around a diverse group of people 
has helped me understand people 
better and probably made me more 
liberal leaning.”

Madeline Jursek

School of Information senior, 

supports Kasich.

Chair of the University chapter 

of the College Republicans

“My parents are both very 

strong, right-wing conservatives, 
and that obviously has a very 
strong say in what I believe now,” 
she said. “I have changed a lot 
since I came to college. Before I 
came to college, I was really just 
aligned with my parents’ views, 
but when I came here I definitely 
became more moderate. A big part 

of that was in high school I was 
part of a very small community, 
but coming here I got to meet all 
of these wonderful people and that 
changed my viewpoints a lot.”

“For me it’s mainly the fiscal 

issues. Social issues for me are 
not as important. I’m really a fan 
of how he turned around Ohio in 
terms of the big budget surplus 
and doing tax cuts. I also like the 
fact he is a little bit more moderate 
on the social issues.”

“I like the fact that his temper is 

pretty mild. I think as a president 
you need to be kind of calm at all 
times and level headed, so I like 
that Kasich seems to be very not 
quiet, but easy going with an even 
heeled temper.”

Anushka Sarkar

LSA 
sophomore, 
supports 

Hillary Clinton

Outreach director and event 

coordinator 
for 
Students 
for 

Hillary

“The trait that really draws me 

to Clinton is that she is a fighter,” 
she said. “There is a lot of sexism 
in the media, there is a lot of 
criticisms of Clinton even though 
she’s done some truly incredible 
things for people. Day in and day 
out she comes back and continues 
to fight for the people who criticize 
her — that’s the kind of selflessness 
that I would like in a leader — 
someone who has insults hurled 
at them in a rally and still goes out 
to fight for legislation that defends 
those people.”

“There are three policies that 

I am most passionate about: 
mental health, sexual assault on 
college campuses and college 
affordability. The sexual assault on 
college campuses is particularly 
important to me because Hillary 
is the only presidential candidate 
to have a platform about this. It’s 
an issue that, as a female college 
student, I’m afraid of every single 
day. It’s very validating to know 
that the person I support for 
president cares about my safety on 
campus.”

“People 
tend 
to 
view 
a 

woman who is commanding or 
authoritative or assertive in any 
way as bossy. If you have a man 
who speaks commandingly or has 
years of experience, that person 
wouldn’t be seen as a liar or 
someone who is untrustworthy, 
they would be seen as a commander 
in chief. Another reason people see 
her as a liar is that she has evolved 

on issues, which is something 
every candidate has done, and 
is necessary. You can’t hold onto 
your views from the ‘70s to 2016 
because while your views are 
important, what is most important 
is that you represent the people 
who elected you or who support 
you.”

Molly Grant

LSA 
sophomore, 
supports 

Trump.

Member 
of 
the 
College 

Republicans

 “His tax and immigration 

policy are most appealing to me,” 
she said. “When you think of 
Trump, you do not think of taxes. 
I’ve been encouraging people to 
look at his tax policy. It’s a four 
bracket system — the highest is 
25 percent on income. That is 
something I really like about him 
and I encourage others to look 
at it. Also, I really support him in 
immigration. We aren’t a country 
if we don’t have borders. I’m very 
pro-immigration, but it has to be 
legal. With him, I am confident 
that he will do something about 
immigration.”

“No matter what side you are 

on, the youth enthusiasm for 
voting in this election is crazy. 
Trump and Sanders are drawing 
huge crowds of college voters 
in, and that’s awesome. In terms 
of being at Michigan, I’m a very 
proud Trump supporter. I know I 
am in the really small minority, but 
I have found that with the Sanders 
supporters I have had great 
discussions with some of them. 
Talking about policies, not getting 
into arguments, but seeing where 
each other stands on these issues 
and gathering an understanding of 
why the other person thinks that 
way.”

“Do I agree with everything 

Trump says? No. But I think 
people are quick to judge on what 
they hear without sitting down 
and looking at his policies — things 
that aren’t brought up in the news 
such as his tax policy.”

Erin Kokoszka

LSA 
sophomore, 
supports 

Sanders. Member of Students for 
Sanders.

“I first heard about him last 

summer, maybe a couple of 
months before he entered the 
race,” she said. “I didn’t get that 
much of a realistic impression of 
him. I had heard of him as this 
outsider, socialist Democrat who 

didn’t really have a chance but had 
some really cool ideas. But then in 
the fall I joined up with Students 
for Sanders.”

“I think he is a really genuine 

candidate. He doesn’t have any 
super PACs. He doesn’t take any 
money 
from 
corporations 
or 

wealthy individual donors. You 
can tell who’s funding him, and in 
that sense he is more credible. He 
does seem very trustworthy. He’s 
consistent; he has a record. You 
can look up what he’s been doing 
and the values that he’s held for the 
past few decades.”

“I’d like to see a revitalizing 

our democracy. That’s what his 
campaign is really about, just 
taking the people’s voice and 
letting it be heard again. Having 
people actually represented in 
Washington by people who will 
actually protect their interests.”

Lindsay Randolph

LSA 
sophomore, 
supports 

Kasich

President of Students for Kasich
“He’s such a nice guy,” she said. 

“You look at Ted Cruz or Donald 
Trump. There are people getting 
beat up at his rallies. Whereas with 
Kasich — at least at the town halls 
I’ve been to — people are crying, 
he’s hugging them. It’s just a 
complete opposite of what you are 
seeing from the other Republican 
candidates. He shows compassion 
and genuine interest in the well-
being of Americans.”

“I would like to see a presidency 

that brings Americans together. 
At the end of the day, we can work 
together for a common purpose 
and not be so divided. Kasich 
speaks a lot about knowing your 
neighbor and having a community, 
and I think once we unite and work 
together to solve our problems 
and focus on our neighbors and 
our community then America can 
begin to thrive.”

“I grew up in a somewhat 

working-class 
home. 
College 

is where I started becoming 
interested in politics. I became 
much more informed and more 
interested in social issues. You 
can practically solve issues that 
the Republicans are not focused 
on, and I think you get that with 
Kasich. He wants to focus on the 
environment, he wants to not be so 
divided on gay rights.”

The Daily was unable to contact 

any supporters for Sen. Ted Cruz 
(R–Texas) on campus.

said.

Tyson said integrating the 

sciences into popular culture 
will help citizens become more 
scientifically literate, noting that 
the United States has both a low 
global ranking for math literacy 
in standardized assessments and 
a low percentage of people who 
believe in evolution. 

In particular, Tyson is known 

for using Twitter to share his 
passion for science to a broader 
audience. During an interview 
prior to his lecture on Wednesday 
with the Fox affiliate in Grand 
Rapids, Tyson said he uses social 
media to help people understand 
the sciences.

“I offer people a way to see the 

world that maybe they have never 
been taught,” Tyson said in the 
interview. “You don’t have to be 
fluent in math or fluent in physics, 
but you should at least be open to 
what’s going on around you.”

Tyson ended his talk with a 

quote from “Pale Blue Dot,” a 
book written by Carl Sagan, a late 

astronomy professor at Cornell 
University. The quote emphasizes 
how small and alone Earth is 
in the universe and how “there 
is no hint that help will come 
from elsewhere to save us from 
ourselves.”

LSA senior Trevor Picard said 

the quote was the perfect way to 
end the talk.

“That quote is my favorite,” 

Picard said. “(I) definitely liked 
the part where seeing the pale blue 
dot underscores our responsibility 
to deal kindly with one another.”

Samantha 
Musil, 
an 

event 
adviser 
with 
Campus 

Involvement, said Tyson almost 
did not speak at the University 
of Michigan, as his promoter 
originally considered just doing 
two shows in Detroit.

“(Tyson’s promoter) thought it 

was possible to do two shows in 
Detroit because the market was 
big enough to support multiple 
events,” Musil said. “We were able 
to find a date for them for a show 
in Ann Arbor that coincided with 
a date in Detroit, which doesn’t 
always happen. So we’re very glad 
and fortunate that we were able to 
host Dr. Tyson in Ann Arbor.”

TSYON
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ELECTIONS
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