3-News

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Tuesday, September 13, 2016 — 3

disruptive technology that could 
benefit from Mcity.”

Zendrive — a company that 

utilizes smartphone sensors to 
understand 
driving 
behavior 

— was the first to announce its 
plans to work with TechLab. 
Zendrive supervised four UM 
undergraduate students last year 
and hosted two of those interns, at 
a summer internship at TechLab.

Morton said she hopes students 

will have a similarly positive and 
rewarding experience interning 
for Civil Maps and PolySync.

“They 
have 
been 
thrilled 

with the progress the students 
have made in regards to solving 
technology 
challenges 
the 

company faces,” Morton said of 
Zendrive. “The students have 
really relished the experience 
of 
working 
in 
a 
startup 

environment.”

Engineering senior Ziqi Guo 

and Engineering junior Mohan 
Kothari, the two summer interns 
with Zendrive, said they acquired 
valuable skills while assisting 
the company in developing and 
improving their technology.

Kothari 
said 
he 
became 

involved with Zendrive because 
of his interest in the technology 
of 
autonomous 
vehicles 
and 

desire to work at a startup, 
ultimately working on a main 
project 
to 
enhance 
machine 

learning algorithms to analyze 
the behavior of drivers in regard 
to hard braking.

“I learned a ton, everything 

from 
scaling 
a 
company 
to 

acquiring 
customers, 
building 

strategic relationships and signal 
processing, just to name a few,” 
Kothari said. “I definitely hope 
to work with TechLab for a long 
time to come.”

Guo said his main task over the 

summer was developing a media 
detector and data set to evaluate 
whether a driver makes a hard 
turn or not, adding that he was 
considering working for Zendrive 
in the future.

“After 
graduation, 
it 
is 

very possible that I will join 
Zendrive,” he said. “I am really 
passionate about their mission, 
which is to make the roads safer 
through an infrastructure that is 
already developed, which is the 
smartphone.”

One of the new startups 

coming to TechLab is Civil Maps, 
a 3-D mapping company utilizing 
localization technology, artificial 
intelligence 
and 
augmented 

reality to improve the safety 
and efficiency of self-driving 
cars. 
Richard 
Hurlock, 
Civil 

Maps vice president of business 
strategy and development, said 
the environment of Mcity — and 
the infamous cold winters of 

Michigan — will be conducive to 
the improvement of the mapping 
technology.

“We believe that for truly 

autonomous vehicles to provide 
a safe and comfortable ride, they 
have to work everywhere, under 
every 
possible 
combination 

of conditions,” Hurlock said. 
“Testing at the Mcity facility 
under those extreme conditions 
will inform our efforts to further 
strengthen the capabilities and 
performance of our technologies.”

Morton said one unique aspect 

of TechLab is the involvement 
of a large network including 
insurance 
companies 
and 

infrastructure providers.

“We 
create 
a 
real 
world 

laboratory where we can learn 
about legal implications, private 
security challenges and all other 
societal impacts,” she said. “We 
can learn about the potential 
impact of the technology on the 
reduction of greenhouse gas 
emissions and fuel consumption.”

Hurlock 
said 
Civil 
Maps 

is 
looking 
forward 
to 
the 

opportunity of working with the 
two other West Coast startups.

“We look forward to learning 

more 
about 
Zendrive 
and 

PolySync through the program,” 
he 
said. 
“If 
their 
products 

complement our crowdsourced, 
dynamic 3-D mapping technology, 
we’ll certainly explore options for 
working together.”

The third startup, PolySync, 

developed an operating system 
that allows software code writers 
to enable vehicles to perform 
more functions independently. 
Like Zendrive and Civil Maps, 
PolySync is enthusiastic about 
receiving input from UM students. 
Peter Brink, PolySync’s director 
of engineering, said while the 
students benefit from TechLab, 
the company also benefits from 
receiving the outside perspective 
of students who often offer 
valuable 
insights, 
potentially 

leading to innovation.

“We 
get 
students 
who 

know how to do software and 
systems 
engineering,” 
Brink 

said. “Students get a practical or 
empirical background in terms 
of what constitutes everyday 
engineering as opposed to what 
you might get out of just an 
academic context.”

As Mcity and TechLab move 

forward, 
Morton 
said 
there 

are still some major hurdles to 
overcome 
before 
autonomous 

vehicles can hit the roads and the 
work of PolySync, Zendrive and 
Civil Maps can be implemented.

“Some of the largest obstacles 

are the cost of the sensors that are 
on our current vehicles,” Morton 
said. “Also understanding the 
validation of the technology so 
we know that our cars are safe 
enough. We need to be critical to 
putting them on the roadway.”

MCITY
From Page 1

to 
the 
employee’s 
position, 

what does and does not count 
as inappropriate conduct, how 
to 
share 
information 
with 

the University and how to 
appropriately respond to and 
support students who privately 
want to disclose instances of 
misconduct.

According to a press release, 

the main goal of this training 
and online tool is to make it 
clear to University employees 
whether 
or 
not 
they 
are 

required to report sexual and 
gender-based 
misconduct 

under the policy.

Drop-in Q&A sessions will 

also be available on Sept. 16, 
Sept. 29 and Oct. 4 in various 
areas around campus.

According to the University, 

employees required to report 
include 
regents, 
executive 

officers, associate or assistant 
vice presidents and provosts, 
deans, directors, department 
heads and chairs (including 
interim, assistant, or associate 
heads and chairs), graduate 
and undergraduate chairs, and 
supervisors of employees who 
are not student employees or 
postdoctoral employees. 

New regulations for campus 

security 
authorities 
are 

also included as responsible 
employees in the new sexual 
misconduct 
guidelines, 
to 

align better with the Clery Act. 
The guidelines also designate 
advisers 
to 
University-

recognized 
student 
groups 

and all individuals working 
in the Student Life Division, 
the Division of Public Safety 

and Security, Intercollegiate 
Athletics 
and 
the 
Office 

for 
Institutional 
Equity 
as 

responsible employees.

Employees 
who 
handle 

confidential 
and 
private 

information are exempt from 
the 
reporting 
requirement, 

including 
employees 
of 

Counseling and Psychological 
Services and the Sexual Assault 
Prevention 
and 
Awareness 

Center.

“Creating a safe and inclusive 

environment at U-M is the 

responsibility of all members 
of our campus community,” 
University 
President 
Mark 

Schlissel wrote in a press 
release. 
“By 
understanding 

how the university responds 
to sexual and gender-based 
misconduct and interpersonal 
violence — and the role each of us 
has — together we can continue 
to create an environment that is 
safe for all.”

TOOL
From Page 1

that happens every four years is 
going to be news, but this one feels 
different,” Ball said. “I thought I 
knew everything about American 
politics and then this election 
came along and showed me how 
much I didn’t know. I learned so 
much about America — not all 
happy things — but it’s a hell of a 
story.”

Ball began by discussing the 

more obvious division found in 
the Republican Party following 
the nomination of Donald Trump 
— pointing toward the ways in 
which his platform differs from 
traditional GOP values. Where 
Republicans have historically been 
in favor of free trade and small 
government, the nominee has 
consistently beset trade deals such 
as the Trans-Pacific Partnership 
and favors policies that would 
expand the reach of the federal 
government. 
Though 
Trump’s 

rise has been a blatant example of 
the division, Ball said through her 
career in political journalism she 
has witnessed this change within 
the party.

“I, too, like my Republican 

friends, thought this was a battle 
of ideas and I’m now coming to 
believe it’s a battle of identity,” 
Ball said. “On the other hand, the 
Republican Party was already 
broken when Trump came along. 
I like to think of myself as a war 
correspondent: I’ve been covering 
the Republican Civil War since 
2010.”

Ball continued citing her time 

as a reporter, stating that along 
with the rise of the Tea Party, 
there have been other divisions 
within the Republican Party long 
before the emergence of Trump.

According to Ball, though, 

the 
GOP 
isn’t 
alone: 
The 

Democrats are also in the midst 
of an ideological divide. Pointing 
toward the unexpected success of 
the Bernie Sanders campaign, Ball 
highlighted the changes the party 
has experienced this election.

“The way I shorthand it — this 

isn’t a partisan statement; all of the 
Republicans I’ve talked to agreed 
with this — the Democrats moved 
to the center and the Republicans 
went nuts,” Ball said.

The movement toward the 

center was reflected in the issues 
the Democratic Party campaigns 
focused 
on 
throughout 
the 

primaries and into the general 

election, which differ from what 
the party has traditionally run on.

“The 
Democrats 
stopped 

talking about divisive cultural 
and class issues,” Ball said. “They 
stopped campaigning on taxing 
the rich and abortions for all, and 
they started talking about things 
like education and public safety.”

This shift isn’t true of the 

Republican 
party. 
While 
80 

percent 
of 
Republicans 
call 

themselves 
conservatives, 

according to Ball, only a small 
margin of Democrats refer to 
themselves as liberals. Ball said the 
millennial generation is perhaps 
the most liberal generation ever in 
the United States.

“A lot of these kids don’t see 

themselves as Democrats,” Ball 
said. “A lot of the supporters 
of Bernie Sanders were young 
people and a lot of them were 
political Independents. So there’s 
a potential time bomb for the 
Democratic Party if these young 
people decide the party has 
overlooked them and ignored their 
voices.”

This election, the movement 

was not large enough to make it 
to the White House, as shown 
through 
the 
unsuccessful 

Sanders campaign. Unlike the 

Republicans, 
Ball 
said, 
the 

Democratic establishment elected 
the candidate. In an interview 
after the event, Ball said though 
the youth vote impacted the 
primaries, it’s hard to tell how 
much of an impact it will have on 
the general election.

“Barack Obama’s enthusiasm 

among 
young 
voters 
was 

something he was able to carry 
on into the general election,” Ball 
said. “Now we have a Democratic 
candidate (who) did not have 
enthusiasm with young voters 
in the primary and there’s a real 
question about whether she can 
carry it into the general election.”

University 
President 
Mark 

Schlissel, who attended the event 
and gave the opening remarks, 
told the Daily he was happy to 
have Ball back on campus just 
eight weeks before the election 
and frequently reads her work in 
The Atlantic.

“I think she’s inspiring for our 

community, but she’s a young 
person who’s gotten herself in 
a position where she can write 
about interesting and important 
things and has developed a great 
audience — certainly around the 
time of the election,” Schlissel 
said.

PARTIES
From Page 1

due to their increasing prevalence.

Miech said he expected to 

find most students vaped due to 
an addiction to the drug, given 
the perception of e-cigarettes 
as a device to deliver nicotine. 
Instead, he found that roughly 
60 percent of students who had 
ever vaped reported vaping “just 
flavoring” without nicotine.

“The percentage that vaped 

non-nicotine, 
just 
flavoring, 

was the same pretty much in all 
the grades,” Miech said. “The 
percentage that vaped nicotine 
went up between eighth, 10th and 
12th grade as you would expect. 
But that’s difficult to interpret, 
because you might be tempted 
to think as they get older, people 
start with vaping non-nicotine, 
and then by 12th grade, they’ve 
switched over to nicotine. But it 
could very well be … that by 12th 
grade, a new group of people come 
in that were smoking cigarettes or 
whatever, and they didn’t vape in 
eighth and 10th grade, but they 
started vaping in 12th grade.”

E-cigarettes 
have 
become 

exponentially more popular each 
year since their introduction to 
the market in 2003. As of 2015, 16 
percent of high school students, 
and just over 5 percent of middle 
school students used e-cigarettes, 
according to the FDA.

SInce 
their 
introduction, 

there has been significant debate 
surrounding vaping over the 
balance between the potential 
benefits it could have on smoking 
cessation, versus the potential for 
negative health effects and the 
encouragement of behavior very 
similar to smoking. Additionally, 

researchers 
and 
policymakers 

have raised concerns about the 
regulation and sale of e-cigarettes.

This concern was amplified 

after the 2015 National Youth 
Tobacco Survey, conducted by 
the FDA, found that the use 
of 
e-cigarettes 
and 
hookah 

was increasing while the use 
of 
traditional 
cigarettes 
was 

decreasing. 
These 
results 

ultimately prompted the FDA 
to move to regulate e-cigarettes 
in the same way traditional 
cigarettes 
are 
regulated, 

instituting rules that went into 
effect last May.

The recent University study, 

which used data from the 2015 
Monitoring the Future Survey 
— a nationally representative 
survey sponsored by the National 
Institute on Drug Abuse and 
administered by the University – 
found that no matter the flavor, it 
was the taste encouraging eighth, 
10th and 12th graders to vape 
more so than the nicotine.

Joey Wylie, an employee of 

the Ann Arbor store Bongz & 
Thongz, which sells vaporizers, 
said he was surprised by the study 
results for a number of reasons, 
but particularly the age of the 
respondents.

“That’s pretty young, first off,” 

Wylie said. “For flavor, I can see 
that it would be popular for such 
young smokers. I don’t know how 
many of them are really smoking 
because 
it’s 
probably 
pretty 

difficult for them to get their 
hands on it for the most part.”

Miech said for young people, a 

culture now exists surrounding 
vaping as a hobby.

“There seems to be this kind of 

youth culture that seems to enjoy 
vaping not so much to get a hit of 
nicotine, but more to do smoke 

tricks and be part of a crowd of 
some type,” he said.

Currently the consequences 

are of vaping non-nicotine vapor 
into the lungs are unknown 
due to a lack of long-term data 
on the topic. Miech said he 
believes it has to be less harmful 
than traditional cigarettes or 
e-cigarettes containing nicotine.

“Cigarette 
smoke 
has 
at 

least 100 known carcinogenic 
chemicals in it, whereas vaping 
is mostly propylene glycol, so it’s 
not a known carcinogen, which 
makes me think it would be much 
harder to establish the contents 
of nicotine-free vaping vapor as 
harmful,” Miech said.

Wylie said while he has been 

working at the shop, he has 
encountered 
mostly 
college 

freshmen, though upperclassmen 
vape as well. He added that he 
thinks that if people are going 
to smoke, vaping is better than 
traditional cigarettes due to the 
ingredients used.

“If they enjoy smoking, it’s a 

safer alternative,” he said.

Overall, when it comes to 

regulation, Miech said he believes 
the same strategies used for 
preventing smoking traditional 
cigarettes are not as effective for 
e-cigarettes and vaping.

“I think a more strategic and 

potentially fruitful line of attack 
for those who are interested 
in such things is to say, maybe 
vaping is a risk factor for future 
smoking, regardless of what it is 
they’re vaping,” he said. “Even 
if they are not vaping nicotine, 
it could be that when you start 
vaping, it teaches you how to 
smoke. Vaporizers could very well 
serve as a device that desensitizes 
people to the dangers of smoking.”

VAPING
From Page 1

successful, especially given the 
amount of people who attended. 
The crowd was made up of 
graduate students, faculty, Ann 
Arbor community members and 
students.

He added that as a facilitator, 

his goal was to allow Kornbluh 

to share all his stories.

“In my experience, the trick to 

these things is to ask interesting 
questions and then shut up, 
because usually somebody who 
wrote a really good book is going 
to be really good at telling those 
same stories,” he said. “Pick 
out some stories that you know 
the audience would like to hear 
and ask questions that lead the 
author to tell those stories.”

LSA junior Jack Hibbard 

said the talk was especially 
interesting for him in the context 
of his study abroad experience 
this summer in Cuba.

“I just think there was a lot 

of interesting content,” he said. 
“There was some stuff I would 
have liked to hear a little more 
about, but it was a really good 
overview of the history.”

CUBA
From Page 1

the Japan/Korea desk at the 
OECD. According to Jones, 
implementing 
fair 
work 

standards and pay equity will 
benefit all newcomers to the 
workforce, especially unskilled 
laborers and women.

ZOEY HOLMSTROM/Daily

A mockup intersection of State St. and Liberty St. at MCity on North Campus.

JAPAN
From Page 2

