The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Friday, September 16, 2016 —3A 

On June 10, 2016, the city 

gave ReCommunity notice that 
if perceived safety concerns 
continued, the city reserved the 
right to terminate the contract. 
On 
July 
7, 
ReCommunity 

was given a letter informing 
them their contract would be 
terminated effective July 11.

On Sept. 2, the city responded 

to the lawsuit with a motion for 
partial dismissal and a motion 
requesting extended time to 
answer complainants. Lazarus 
was unable to comment on 

questions relating directly to the 
lawsuit. 

Since 
January 
2016, 
the 

city has been working with 
consultants 
from 
energy 

infrastructure company CB&I to 
develop a new plan for recycling 
in Ann Arbor. City Administrator 
Howard Lazarus wrote in an 
email to the Daily on Wednesday 
that the development of that plan 
is still in progress.

“CB&I 
is 
under 
contract 

with the city to assist in the 
development 
of 
a 
long-term 

approach to recycling, including 
addressing 
composting 
of 

organics and recommendations 
for physical modifications to our 
MRF,” Lazarus said.

Ann Arbor is currently on 

the search for a more long-term 
interim operator to take over 
while it continues development 
of long-term ideas with CB&I.

“The 
city 
is 
currently 

soliciting a contract for an 
interim operator. The responses 
are due back at the end of 
September,” Lazarus said. “We 
anticipate an interim operational 
period of 12 to 18 months, during 
which time we will develop a 
long-term approach to recycling 
of materials for the city of Ann 
Arbor.”

Sean Duffy, ReCommunity 

president and chief operating 
officer, did not respond to a 
request for comment.

RECYCLE
From Page 1A

Regents approve new robotics 
lab for School of Engineering

‘U’ to partner with Ford Motor Company on project

Thursday, the University of 

Michigan’s Board of Regents 
approved 
an 
estimated 

$75 
million 
new 
robotics 

laboratory, 
made 
possible 

through a leasing partnership 
with Ford Motor Company, 
that will be used as a research 
lab and teaching space for the 
College of Engineering.

Ford will use the fourth 

floor of the lab to conduct its 
own research, an agreement 
to 
allow 
for 
collaboration 

between 
University 

engineering students and Ford 
researchers.

The new lab will include 

offices for 30 faculty members 

and more than 100 graduate 
students 
and 
postdoctoral 

researchers.

The amount of funding from 

Ford will be determined by the 
final cost of the project but 
will not exceed $22,822,909. 
Under the lease, Ford will pay 
for expenses incurred during 
the lab’s use and adhere to 
University 
rules 
regarding 

use.

Upon 
completion, 
the 

University will join a small 
group of colleges that have 
a robot-specific laboratory. 
Unique to the University, 
however, is the new lab’s 
close proximity to Mcity, a 
test facility for driverless 
cars.

The lab will be on the 

northeast 
corner 
of 
the 

University’s North Campus. 
Construction is expected to 
be completed by winter 2020.

Engineering 
prof. 
Jessy 

Grizzle 
noted 
that 
the 

University will be one of the 
only universities that offers 
both learning and hands-
on application in the field of 
robotics.

“Many places with strong 

robotics 
reputations 
are 

computer science-dominated 
and they don’t test their 
theories on machines to the 
extent that we do,” Grizzle 
said in a press release. “At 
UM, most of our faculty 
members have an in-house 
robot. We put our algorithms 
in motion.”

KATHERINE CURRAN

Daily Staff Reporter

to more spontaneous events 
depending 
on 
the 
needs 

reflected by students.

“What I wanted was for us 

to create the experience for 
all of our students, kind of the 
way in which we will show up 
all school year,” she said. “I 
wanted to give them a little 
taste of what we offer.”

Thompson added that her 

goal this year for the Trotter 
Center 
is 
to 
expand 
its 

outreach to all students and 
groups.

“I want to create those 

experiences 
where 
we 

are 
fostering 
stronger 

connections,” she said. “We 
are absolutely thinking about 
the communities who we have 
not yet reached and making 
sure the campus as a whole 
knows that we are a space for 
everyone.”

Social Work student Noran 

Alsabahi, who attended the 
event, said Trotter is a place 
she 
finds 
welcoming 
and 

where she enjoys spending her 
time.

“I love Trotter,” she said. 

“Trotter is basically a home 
away from home. It’s a safe 
place to be in; it’s a fun place 
to be in, a warm place to be in. 
I want to be here as much as 
possible.”

Medical 
School 
student 

Michael Bourke said he met 
many 
friends 
through 
the 

center the previous year, which 
motivated him to return.

“I came last year, and they 

had really good food,” he said. 
“By that I got involved in a lot 
of the Friday programs they 
have here and met a lot of my 
friends here, so I wanted to 
come back this year.”

Public 
Health 
student 

Wenwen Jiang said she had 
attended the Trotter Center’s 
final event of the semester last 
year and wanted to return.

“I saw the event on the 

Umich website, and I thought 

it might be interesting,” she 
said. “I went here last semester 
… and it was pretty great so I 
tried this time again to see if 
this looks fun to me and if I 
want to go for it.”

TROTTER
From Page 1A

most interesting or important. 
For example, Andre Geim and 
Konstantin Novoselov, who won 
the Nobel Prize in Physics in 
2010, first published their study 
on graphene — a material that 
has the thickness of one carbon 
atom and has unique properties 
enabling scientists to test several 
fundamental theories in physics 
— in 2004. According to Palca, 
only a few, small news outlets did 

a story on the study that year. It 
was not until Geim and Nobeselov 
received the Nobel Prize in 2010 
that more mainstream news 
outlets covered the story.

Palca’s latest efforts to address 

such issues has culminated into 
Joe’s Big Idea, a special series he 
said focuses on interesting and 
important 
scientific 
research 

rather than the latest trend.

Rackham 
student 
Midhat 

Farooq said she attended the talk 
because invited speakers are not 
usually from outside the world 
of academia. She said she even 

forwarded the event information 
to the rest of the physics graduate 
students.

“I think it would encourage 

the department to do more 
things like this if there’s a better 
turnout,” she said.

Farooq said she especially 

liked the format of Palca’s talk, 
which was different from what 
academic speakers usually use.

“(Palca) 
stood 
up 
and 

told stories, and it was very 
communicative 
with 
the 

audience instead of him giving a 
slideshow,” she said.

NPR
From Page 1A

drinks in a row.”

Though the study revealed 

alcohol use among college 
students has faced a sharp 
decline 
between 
1991 
and 

2000, the rate of having “been 
drunk” has remained steadily 
near the 60 percent prevalence 
level in more recent years. For 
lifetime use, the percentage is 
closer to 70 percent.

“In college we see about one 

in every nine college students 
indicate that in the past two 
weeks — two weeks before the 
survey — that they had had 10 
or more drinks in a row at least 
once,” Johnston said.

This 
nationwide 
trend 

increase seems to have been 
reflected in the number of 
alcohol-related offenses on the 
University campus in recent 
years. There were 515 incidents 
regarding illegal possession 
or use of alcohol in the 2013-
2014 school year, compared 
to 490 incidents in the year 
prior, according to the Office 
of Student Conflict Resolution 
annual report.

Johnston did not attribute 

the high rate of alcohol usage to 
any new developments, socially 
or otherwise. However, he said 
he has noticed a narrowing 
gap in alcohol consumption 
between males and females.

“Drinking 
and 
heavy 

drinking 
have 
been 

characteristic 
of 
American 

universities for a long time,” 
Johnston said. “There hasn’t 
been a lot of change in the 
drinking 
rates, 
except 
a 

little decrease over a long 
period of time among males 
but practically none among 
females. 
What’s 
happened 

actually is females have gotten 
close to catching up to their 
male 
counterparts 
in 
the 

amount that they drink.”

Marijuana
According to the report, 

college 
students’ 
use 
of 

marijuana 
has 
increased 

steadily since the survey’s 
initiation in 1975. More than 

50.4 percent of respondents 
reported using the drug in 
2015, a 4.1 percent increase 
since the survey’s inception.

In addition to an overall 

increase in use, Johnston also 
noted a rise in the daily use of 
marijuana. College student and 
young adult levels of daily use 
showed an increase of almost 
1 percent from 2007 to 2015, 
from 5.1 percent to 6 percent, 
respectively.

Johnston attributed both 

spikes to cultural shifts in 
perception 
and 
nationwide 

policy changes.

“With 
marijuana, 
the 

perception of risk has gone 
in 
the 
opposite 
direction 

(from 
narcotics),” 
he said. 

“We’ve seen a big drop in the 
proportion of college students 
or people their age who see 
even heavy marijuana use as 
risky.”

Johnston said the increase 

in public discussion about 
the advantages of medical 
marijuana has aligned with 
perceptions that the substance 
is less dangerous — an idea 
that he noted has not yet been 
confirmed due to a lack of 
long-term data on the topic.

There has been much debate 

surrounding the legalization 
of marijuana, along with its 
associated 
health 
effects 

nationwide.

One 
recent 
study 
from 

the University has indicated 
marijuana 
can 
negatively 

affect neurological responses 
such as pleasure, memory, 
judgment and coordination. 
However, 
some 
medical 

experts recommend marijuana 
— at least for medical use — 
due to its pain relieving and 
side-effect reducing qualities, 
according to the University 
Health System website

Johnston 
suggested 
that 

perhaps as more long-term data 
is accumulated — much like 
how cigarettes were found to 
be dangerous only after years 
of collecting usage data — more 
of the health consequences 
surrounding 
marijuana 
use 

will be established.

Narcotics
Johnston said in the past, 

perceived risk for narcotics 
has been relatively low among 
high school and college-aged 
populations. However, these 
perceptions have changed as 
college-aged adults recognize 
greater risk, according to the 
study — a trend that Johnston 
noted is particularly beneficial 
both in the short and long run.

“The fact that these two 

groups are not (using narcotics 
heavily) is important because 
they are not currently putting 
themselves at risk and because, 
as they grow older and replace 
the 
older 
generation, 
the 

less likely they’ll be carrying 
with them a narcotic habit,” 
Johnston said.

He said he believes this 

decline 
in 
narcotics 
use 

among young adults is likely 
due to social movements and 
news outlets outlining more 
sensationalized 
cases 
of 

overdose.

“Narcotics have been getting 

a lot of national press related 
to increase in overdose deaths 
and so I think that probably 
has 
influenced 
people’s 

willingness to use narcotics,” 
Johnston said.

Cigarettes 
The study also revealed a 

significant shift in cigarette 
usage among college students. 
Smoking among the young 
adult subgroup dropped to 17 
percent in 2015 from its recent 
peak of 31 percent in 1998.

One 
caveat 
Johnston 

mentioned was a discrepancy 
between the rate of cigarette 
smoking 
among 
college 

students 
and 
the 
rate 

of 
smoking 
among 
their 

unenrolled same-age peers. He 
found a dramatic difference 
between the two populations, 
highlighting 
more 
frequent 

smoking tendencies in the 
latter demographic.

“The change in cigarette 

smoking 
has 
been 
very 

substantial, 
particularly 

among 
college 
students,” 

Johnston 
said. 
“That, 
of 

course, bodes well for their 
future health and longevity, 
and for their present budget, 
since 
smoking 
is 
a 
very 

expensive habit.”

MARIJUANA
From Page 1A

DAVID SONG/Daily

Marwan M. Kraidy, the Anthony Shadid Chair in Global Media at the University of Pennsylvania, talks about the 
different roles women play in political uprisings at the Gerald Ford Library Thursday. 

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the project.

Repairs and remodeling of 

the Kraus Building and the 
first floor of the LSA Building 
approved Thursday will cost 
an estimated $120 million and 
$35 million, respectively. The 
LSA building will be renovated 
to 
house 
the 
new 
LSA 

Opportunity hub, a center for 
LSA internships and strategic 
advising.

“Our goal is to help students 

more 
fully 
explore 
their 

interests and passions, and 
to give them an even greater 
advantage 
to 
thrive 
after 

graduation in work and in life,” 
LSA Dean Andrew D. Martin 
told the University Record.

Donations
Jerry May, vice president of 

development at the University, 
announced 
the 
University 

received $440 million this past 
fiscal year in cash gifts, the 
most the University has ever 
received in cash donations. 
May attributed this success 
to President Schlissel and the 
regents.

He also announced that the 

University is 87.5 percent to its 
fundraising goal for this fiscal 
year, and expects to go well 
past their goal. He said the 
University plans to allocate 
extra resources to other needs 
of the University.

May also noted that student 

support 
is 
high 
compared 

to 
previous 
years, 
saying 

students have donated about 
$609 million, both in cash and 
pledges to be received within 
the next five years. Giving 

Blueday, an annual day of 
giving that will be held for the 
third time this year, has helped 
the University acquire more 
young alumni donors.

“This is the first time we 

have had students actively 
engage in fundraising,” May 
said of the event.

Students pledged $1 million 

of their own money and raised 
$3 billion from others during 
last year’s Giving Blueday and 
events centered around it.

CSG committee report
David 
Schafer, 
Central 

Student Government president, 
spoke to the board about CSG’s 
policy initiatives for this year. 
These included implementing 
safety precautions on game 
day, addressing the cost of off 
campus housing, dedicating 
more resources to student 
mental health and recognizing 
diversity throughout student 
groups on campus.

For the past two Saturdays, 

CSG has partnered with the 
Panhellenic Association, the 
Interfraternity Council and 
LSA student government to 
put hydration stations at high 
risk areas. Schafer reported 
that they served more than 
5,000 students water over 
the two game days. students 
water. CSG has also partnered 
with MDining to open South 
Quad Dining Hall at 8 a.m. 
on Saturday, allowing 865 
students 
to 
swipe 
in 
for 

breakfast 
between 
8 
a.m. 

and 9 a.m. This Saturday, 
CSG will additionally host an 
alternative tailgate with pizza 
and water.

Schafer 
also 
told 
the 

board that CSG is starting 
discussions with Ann Arbor 

City Council and committee 
officials about the potential 
rise in off-campus housing 
costs, especially in light of the 
approval of a new high-rise on 
East University Avenue.

“This issue of increasingly 

costly 
off-campus 
housing 

affects 
everyone,” 
Schafer 

said.

He 
also 
thanked 
the 

administration 
for 
its 

continued 
support 
in 

improving student access to 
mental health services and 
increasing both CAPS funding 
and staffing, saying CSG plans 
to release student surveys 
on the issue sometime this 
October.

“Once we collect data, we 

expect to reconvene to decide 
how to move forward,” he 
said. “We hope to best match 
student needs with policy 
initiatives.”

Additionally, Schafer urged 

the regents to reinstate bylaw 
7.1 
to 
incorporate 
student 

voices in the decision-making 
process. The regents voted to 
do so later in the meeting.

Dearborn 
Campus 

constructions

The board authorized an 

upgrade 
of 
UM-Dearborn’s 

Engineering 
Lab 
Building. 

The proposal will add teaching 
laboratories and interactive 
spaces for students, and is 
estimated to cost about $90 
million.

“[The 
project] 
will 

encourage 
multidisciplinary 

collaboration in the context 
of 21st century engineering, 
and offer academic pathways 
to 
exceptional 
careers 
for 

decades to come,” the proposal 
for the renovations reads.

REGENTS
From Page 1A

