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Thursday, April 14, 2016 — 3
Fisher added that the success of
the newly introduced sustainability
initiatives came from a push to
continue the group’s previous
collaboration with other groups on
campus.
Many
Greek
life
groups
participated as student volunteers
in the sustainability drive, such as
the sorority Sigma Kappa, which
set up a table to distribute 200 free
flowerpots and flower seeds. LSA
sophomore Becca Berman said
the initiative was in concert with
Inherit the Earth, Sigma Kappa’s
environmental program.
“One
of
our
national
philanthropies
is
Inherit
the
Earth,” Burman said. “Today at
SpringFest, we decided to sponsor
them by providing flowerpots and
flowers for people to take home
with them.”
LSA junior Elizabeth Morand,
senior producer of SpringFest,
spearheaded
the
zero-waste
portion of the event this year — a
program intended to eliminate
trash,
encourage
compostable
products and create sustainable
initiatives.
“We’re
really
focused
on
promoting positive social change,”
Morand said. “It only made
sense for us to also be concerned
about climate change and the
environment; it’s just incorporated
between the whole idea of social
changes.”
Morand said she hopes to
expand the event and its different
components
—
especially
sustainability — in the future.
Ideally, Morand said she would
like to see the entire SpringFest day
become zero-waste.
SonReal, one of the performers
at the daytime event, said in an
interview he enjoyed his first visit
to the University of Michigan, and
thought the event was important at
a college campus.
“It brings a lot of the students
together, and I also think it brings
the students together in a way that
they don’t get a chance to actually
do very often, which is bringing
them together through art, music,”
he said. “That’s the best way to
get to know people and be out and
about and enjoy your time as a
student.”
SpringFest also featured a row of
sustainability-driven food trucks
parked
outside
the
Michigan
League. This included Shimmy
Shack — owned by Engineering
lecturer Debra Levantrosser —
Michigan’s first and only vegan and
gluten-free food truck.
The Ann Arbor staple attracted
crowds of student by selling finger
foods like nachos, fries, hummus
and pita, as well as a variety of
flavored shakes.
Levantrosser, who has had
Shimmy Shack for three years, said
it has always had an environmental
focus.
“We
used
100
percent
biodegradable and compostable
materials
for
today’s
event.
Also, we are vegan, which is
environmentally conscious in and
of itself, in terms of what veganism
does for the environment,” she
said.
Levantrosser
added
that
it
was more than sustainable food
practices that made her business
renewable, pointing to the back of
the truck.
Read more online at
michigandaily.com
SUSTAINABILITY
From Page 1
for their seats. No Republicans
or independents are currently
running for Council. Kailasapathy
is being challenged for her Ward
1 seat by both longtime volunteer
coordinator Jason Frenzel and
local
entrepreneur
Will
Leaf.
Krapohl
is
running
against
Diane Giannola, manager of the
University of Michigan’s startup
company, Venture Accelerator, and
local attorney Eric Lipson.
All eight candidates stressed
affordable housing policies as one
of the city’s leading issues, though
most diverged on how to best
remedy the issue.
Lipson said rising rent rates
threaten to gentrify Ann Arbor and
drive out lower-income residents.
However, he also acknowledged
city policies on the issue must be
balanced.
“We don’t want Ann Arbor to
become an enclave for the rich,”
Lipson said. “At the same time, we
don’t want to destroy the values
that have made Ann Arbor such a
great place to live.”
Frenzel and Giannola proposed
encouraging
low-rent
housing
and accessory housing — small
housing units built on existing
lots — near downtown. However,
Leaf dismissed accessory units as
a “token solution” and asserted
the only systemic solution is
with reforming the city’s zoning
protocol to open more land for
residential development, which
Lipson echoed.
“City Council’s challenge is to
allow the supply of land to increase
in a way that’s acceptable to local
residents,” Leaf said, suggesting the
city allow for mixed commercial
and residential zoning instead of
allotting areas only for commercial
or residential use. “We can allow
more people to move into those
commercial corridors and have it
be more mixed-use.”
Warpehoski also supported a
mixed-use zoning proposal, but
said it isn’t a sufficient remedy
to rising rents. Rather, he said
subsidized housing is necessary to
create truly affordable housing for
low-income residents.
“We
also
need
a
housing
solution that addresses very low-
income households as well, and
that’s a situation where we can’t
solve that problem without some
form of subsidy,” Warpehoski
said, acknowledging new revenue
sources — such as the sale of a
vacant library lot — would be
needed to fund a subsidy.
“I think Ann Arbor’s a wealthy
enough
and
inclusive
enough
community where we should be
able to do that,” he added.
The issue of the chemical plume
— a slow-moving contaminated
with a carcinogenic chemical
mass of groundwater beneath Scio
Township and Ann Arbor that is
moving toward the Huron River —
was also raised during the debate,
with candidates disagreeing over
whether to petition for federal
intervention and cleanup.
Citing a lack of faith in the
state’s ability to manage the
contamination,
Ann
Arbor
Township, which is a separate
municipality from the city of
Ann Arbor, recently authorized
a petition for the Environmental
Protection Agency to designate
the plume to a superfund site for
cleanup. Ann Arbor city officials
have said they are concerned this
may hurt local property values but
have not yet ruled out supporting
the petition.
Warpehoski said though he
believes the Michigan Department
of Environmental Quality has
failed to contain the plume for
the past two decades, he would
prefer to work with the Michigan
Attorney General’s office to litigate
Gelman Sciences — the original
polluter — for a more stringent
cleanup
using
new
standards
from the DEQ, though he did not
rule out supporting an eventual
EPA petition. Leaf took a similar
position on the EPA position.
“We have seen so little action
by the state courts and the state
Department of Environmental
Quality to really do what it’s
going to take to address that
long-term threat,” Warpehoski
said.
“I
think
superfund
designation is something we
need to have on the table … but
we absolutely need to continue
fighting, whether it’s through
the courts or the MDEQ.”
Frenzel
also
criticized
the
state’s efforts in managing the
contaminated groundwater, but
said he would never support a
federal
intervention,
instead
suggesting local residents should
pressure state officials to take
stronger action.
“I’m really concerned about
superfund designation and its
implications
socially
for
our
community,” Frenzel said. “It is not
to say that I don’t find the DEQ’s
actions to be pretty reprehensible
at this point.”
COUNCIL
From Page 1
into the crowd. The trio also
brought
Michigan
football
coach Jim Harbaugh, as well
as members of the Michigan
football team onto the stage,
who all dabbed while Migos
perform their hit single “Look
at my Dab.”
In an interview with the
Daily after the concert, Quavo
said the group has a deep
respect for the University of
Michigan,
and
appreciates
always
being
welcome
to
campus with open arms.
The group previously took
the stage with Harbaugh at the
“Signing of the Stars” event in
March where they also dabbed
with former Detroit Tigers
manager Jim Leyland.
“Y’all have supported us
since day one,” Quavo said.
“I just like the way you all
construct things, and your
whole program, I respect it a
lot. We’re loyal people, so if
you rock with us, we’ll rock
with y’all.”
Hosted by MUSIC Matters,
the
group’s
performance
came after a day-long series
of activities for SpringFest,
stretching
from
the
Diag
to
North
University.
In
collaboration
with
several
other organizations at the
University, SpringFest featured
interactive booths, a fashion
show, live performances and
other activities.
Business
junior
Kaitlin
Smith,
who
attended
the
concert,
said
she
thought
SpringFest was an overall a
success.
“I think it went really well
this year,” she said. “Everyone
who participated this year was
really really phenomenal.”
As a part of MUSIC Matters’
mission, proceeds from the
Migos’ performance will be
used toward a Detroit summer
youth camp set to launch this
summer. During the camp,
which will be hosted at the
University, Detroit high school
students will participate in
workshops,
class
sessions
and other activities aimed
at inspiring participants to
pursue higher education in the
future.
Takeoff
told
the
Daily
he thought giving back to
the
community
was
very
important in inspiring more
hope in at-risk communities.
“It’s positive to give back to
the community with the things
that are going on, and to let
them know that there is still
hope,” he said.
In addition to planning the
summer youth camp, MUSIC
Matters
also
bussed
150
Detroit high school students
to the University Wednesday
so they could participate in the
day’s events.
Smith
said
she
thinks
interacting
with
Detroit
students
furthers
MUSIC
Matters’ mission, and gives
their
organization
the
opportunity to learn about
different communities.
“When we interact with
these
schools
in
Detroit,
it not only kind of helps
in
communicating
the
importance of education to
them, but it also teaches us
about the people that live very
close to us and people that live
different lifestyles,” she said.
Overall,
students
in
attendance
said
they
appreciated Migos’ enthusiasm
throughout the performance
and
their
continuous
interactions with the crowd.
In an interview after the show,
LSA junior Drew Merrill said
he thought the group brought
high energy to the stage.
“It
exceeded
my
expectations,” he said. “I wish
they stuck around a little while
longer.”
LSA junior Eman Jacksi said
she thought the concert was
a nice break from the stress
of finals, which members of
Migos mentioned during their
performance.
“It was awesome,” Jacksi
said. “It was definitely a good
break from writing papers and
a great time.”
TRIO
From Page 1