The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Wednesday, February 22, 2017 — 3A
coming from Congressional
Republicans.
They
said
if
the ACA is repealed, it will
need to be replaced; however,
lawmakers have yet to bring
forth a definitive plan for
replacement.
“In the last year, we’ve
heard discussion of increasing
premium costs and higher
deductibles, and we do need
to worry about that, there’s no
question about it,” Dingell said.
“There are a lot of statistics
and numbers but we need to
know what the facts are, we
need to understand.”
Laurie
Burchett,
an
insurance
specialist
at
University
Health
Service,
stated that for students who
obtain an illness that needs
to be treated at an outside
facility, health insurance is a
requirement. She has found,
however, that many students
at the University do not have
their own health insurance
and
cannot
receive
this
treatment. She continued by
explaining that the portion
of the ACA that allows young
adults to stay on their parent’s
health insurance until age 26 is
crucial for college students.
Claire Fitzgerald, a senior
majoring in political science,
gender and health studies and
business, was also a member
of the panel. She described
her experiences as a college
student and how the ACA
has affected her and her
classmates.
“For college students in
particular, the ACA gives us
the ability to receive access
to
contraceptive
provision,
preventive
sexual
health
care and the mental health
support and flu shots we need
in a crucial and tumultuous
time without worrying about
obtaining coverage outside our
parents’ plan,” she said.
Fitzgerald
recalled
a
time when she contracted
mononucleosis and had to
be hospitalized for a week.
She said if she were not able
to be on her parent’s health
insurance, paying for the large
hospital bills would have been
extremely difficult.
Panelists
also
described
how women in particular are
affected by the ACA, as they
are provided contraceptives,
prenatal care, mammograms
and several other preventative
screenings.
When moderators opened
the floor to the audience,
many attendees had questions
regarding what they could do as
individuals to advocate for the
ACA. Panelist Michael Budros,
a Rackham student, stressed
the importance of outreach
and
education,
especially
toward those who may not
understand the entirety of the
current situation.
He said there are many
people
who
have
health
insurance
under
the
ACA
without realizing it and at the
same time hold a disdain for
the legislation under its more
common name, “Obamacare.”
“Don’t underestimate the
power of talking to your
friends and families, especially
people who live in different
areas,” he said. “They might
know that they’re benefiting
from the Affordable Care Act
but hate Obamacare.”
Dingell stressed situations
surrounding
controversial
issues like the ACA should not
be made political. She said in
cases that affect the well-being
of citizens, public health is not
a matter of political ideologies.
“This isn’t a partisan fight,
it’s about real people’s lives,”
she said. “There are a lot of
people that are just scared to
death about what’s going to
happen to them, so that’s why
I am so concerned about this
because this isn’t a political
game, it’s real people’s lives,
and that’s why it does matter
and it is so important.”
LSA freshman Kieran Byrne
attended the panel as a member
of a younger generation that
has seen the ACA in action
for the majority of their lives,
and who hasn’t personally
experienced any major effects
from other health care plans.
He explained the importance of
students from this generation
attending panels such as this
one and educating themselves
on issues that could change
very quickly in the near future.
“I
think
it’s
important
that people have a good idea
of what’s going on in terms
of
the
legislation
that’s
going to happen and what
laws are already doing for
us,” he said. “I think a lot
of news and information is
very sensationalized and it’s
important to hear from the
people who actually have an
impact.”
DINGELL
From Page 1A
identifying … to this day, they
are still regarded as white. So
basically, we don’t have a count
on how many Arab Americans
or Middle East Americans exist
in the United States, we don’t
know how many exist in the
University of Michigan.”
Public Policy junior Nadine
Jawad, who serves as senior
policy adviser to CSG, stressed
the importance of having a
record of how many ME/NA
students there are on campus
to allocate resources toward
that community and reach out
to members.
“When something goes on on
campus, if we want to connect
with Arab American students,
Middle Eastern students, or
Middle
Eastern
and
North
African students and people
identifying in this category,
it’s very hard to reach out to a
population of people that you
don’t even know where they
are, how many exist on this
campus,” Jawad said. “If we
want to advocate for resources
for our community, it’s very
hard to because we don’t have
a breakdown of how many
students there are so it makes
it hard to allocate resources for
this demographic of people on
campus.”
LSA junior Jad Elharake
said with all of the talk of
representation and outreach
from
students
and
the
University
of
Michigan
administration, it is important
to have an idea of how many
ME/NA
students
are
on
campus.
“This will be our third year
planning a graduation for ME/
NA students, and when we’re
trying to reach out to students
and graduates and seniors,
there isn’t a Listserv we can go
to, so we have to go by student
organizations
or
friends,”
Elharake said. “Just to show
you how dysfunctional it is … I
know we talk about access and
outreach and representation
amongst FSAs (faculty, staff
and administrators), but we
don’t even know how many of
us are on campus.”
Jones
said
the
authors
hoped
to
see
student
government support for the
resolution before approaching
administration
and
sending
the resolution to University
President Mark Schlissel.
“All you’re being asked to
do is show support for this —
you’re not asked to actually
create the box, you’re not asked
the logistics of the box,” he
said. “It’s basically going to be
in the racial category, when
applying to anything or under
distinctions, so there would
be a separate ethnic category
where
you
could
identify
distinctions. This is primarily
a racial category we are looking
to implement, and you would
just be supporting the idea.”
The
resolution
passed
unanimously
among
the
assembly.
Engineering
freshman
Mario Galindez, a member
of the Engineering Student
Government, proposed another
resolution during the meeting
to support an academic holiday
on Election Day.
He referred to the long
lines students had to wait in
on Election Day, and specified
these as being a potential factor
in discouraging students to
vote.
The resolution proposed an
academic holiday for Election
Day
2020
and
all
even-
numbered years after that.
The proposal was passed on to
the resolution committee for
further review.
CSG
From Page 1A
to Athletes Connected, an
initiative to support student-
athlete
mental
health
in
memory of Garrick Roemer,
a University student-athlete
who committed suicide in
2014.
In an effort to reach out
to the greater Ann Arbor
community
and
continue
encouraging
their
support
for treating mental illness,
the
organizations
choose
Fresh Start Clubhouse, a local
organization that helps adults
in the Ann Arbor Community
with
mental
illness
by
emphasizing
employment,
education,
housing
and
wellness programs as their
2017 beneficiary.
In
previous
years,
the
event has relied solely on
the audience to judge the
performances; however, this
year, Harbaugh was joined
by his wife, Sarah Harbaugh,
and University alum Summer
Berman, director of Fresh
Start Clubhouse, behind the
judges table.
In
the
middle
of
the
show,
current
members
and
employees
of
Fresh
Start Clubhouse took center
stage
to
be
recognized
and gave a performance to
share
their
message
that
no one is ever alone. One of
the
organization’s
current
members shared his personal
story
and
history
with
depression and how, with the
help of Fresh Start Clubhouse,
he was able to improve his
quality of life.
In
response
to
the
performance
by
Fresh
Start
and
the
story
of
overcoming depression, the
Harbaughs offered to match
every donation made. The
organization
received
a
standing ovation.
Co-host
Drake
Johnson,
a fifth-year senior running
back, shared how important
he felt the issue of mental
health for student-athletes
and the fervor he has to be
a part of a community that
supports it.
“As an athlete, it’s very
critical that we recognize
how important our mental
health is,” Johnson said. “Not
even in just our performance
but as people. I’m proud to be
a part of this place because
you’re not going to find this
support everywhere.”
To continue the theme of
mental health awareness, the
women’s field hockey team
dedicated its performance to
“those who felt they didn’t
have a message.” The team
lined the stages with signs of
the lyrics to Adele’s “Make
You Feel My Love,” as a
member of the team sang the
song.
Afterward,
Harbaugh
expressed his admiration for
the team’s performance.
“Talent,
presentation
and a compelling message,”
Harbaugh
said.
“Women’s
field hockey is in it to win it.”
Other teams went with
more
conventional
talent
show acts such as lip-syncing
and choreographed dances.
The men’s gymnastics team
did a hip-hop dance routine,
which was well received by
Harbaugh.
“I thought it was dope,”
Harbaugh said.
After the judges delegated,
first-place
went
to
a
tie
between
the
University’s
dance team and Fresh Start
Clubhouse.
Cheer team member Bailey
Hedman, an LSA sophomore,
came out to help fundraise for
mental health after finding
out about the event from her
team.
“I know one of our captains
is a really big supporter of
this,” Hedman said. “So, the
whole cheer team is here to
support.”
ATHLETES
From Page 1A
with the design of the Atrias-
series robot that we have in
our lab, and then (we) used the
mathematics to arrive at the
robot’s design,” he said. “Hence,
Cassie ended up looking like
a bird as a result of math, but
wasn’t designed that way in the
sense of bio-inspired.”
Grizzle’s
lab
will
be
programming and testing the
algorithm to control Cassie,
in the hopes they can steer
the
robot
toward
delivery-
based functions. Xingye Da, an
Engineering graduate student
who works in Grizzle’s lab, said
this functionality was designed
to maneuver through obstacles.
“Cassie
was
designed
for
carrying
and
delivering
packages,” he said. “In delivering
a package to the front of your
home, the robot will probably
have to climb up the stairs and
go through other obstacles.”
Da added Cassie would be
productive in delivering objects
because of its studier structure,
which can mitigate the amount of
damage coming from collisions
and falls.
Cassie’s
functions
surpass
those of older robots: Grizzle’s
current
robot,
MARLO,
is
another biped that “walks,” but
it requires human assistance to
stand up and maneuver its path.
Moreover, Cassie is designed
to be able to reorient its “feet,”
which makes it able to turn in
its course of action — a function
MARLO lacks.
“The models for MARLO and
Cassie were designed for outdoor
walking, so the biggest challenge
for MARLO is that it’s very heavy
and when we take it to the place
where no mobile gantry can
work, like the Michigan Wave
Field or the woods ... we have to
carry it on a boom to support its
weight in case it falls,” Grizzle
said. “Cassie does not need this
and is more durable.”
Along with this engineered
mobility,
Cassie
is
set
to
transform energy efficiency in
robots. Da explained robots,
compared to humans, are very
inefficient in terms of expending
energy.
“Compared to humans’ energy
efficiency, MARLO is five times
less
efficient
than
humans
whereas other robots are 100
times less efficient,” he said. “I
expect Cassie will be even more
efficient than MARLO because
of its lighter weight.”
Da
expects
this
energy
efficiency to be a main feature
of Cassie. He explained per
its design for the outdoors,
conserving
energy
will
be
a necessity for carrying out
missions.
“If you think about doing
outdoor exploring or rescue, the
biggest concern is the battery
life,” he said. “If you carry more
power, of course you’ll end up
weighing heavier, so there’s a
tradeoff. But Cassie was designed
to counter this.”
Cassie,
along
with
other
bipedal robots, was designed
to harness a variety of human
mobility.
Dmitry
Berenson,
assistant professor of electrical
engineering
and
computer
science, predicted future robots
will integrate more humanoid-
type parts.
“Cassie is a pair of legs, but
to do useful things you would
need some way to interact
with the world (with arms),”
Berenson said. “It’s good to
develop arm and leg capabilities
independently so we can focus
on the core problems of each.
However, we’re moving toward
a point where both technologies
are maturing and need to be
integrated into a full humanoid
system.”
ROBOT
From Page 1A
problematic to the point where
I think it would almost be better
if it weren’t passed, because
some of the exceptions in it I
think are very dangerous.”
Along with several other
residents
at
the
meeting,
Councilmember Jack Eaton (D–
Ward 4) agreed the language of
the exceptions in the ordinance
needed to be revised.
“I find great substance to
the objections that were raised
by residents of the city,” he
said. “I’ve spoken to the city
attorney’s office regarding this,
and in consultation with them,
I will be working out a better
way to describe any exception
we will make for this.”
Councilmember
Sumi
Kailasapathy (D–Ward 1) said
she
understood
residents’
concerns with the exceptions,
but pointed out the council was
balancing multiple priorities
with
the
ordinance.
She
specifically noted the federal
funding that goes toward public
housing for the city’s low-
income residents, which could
be threatened by the passing of
such an ordinance.
“None
of
us
here
have
any doubt that the current
president is a very vindictive
person,” she said. “Some of you
have pleaded with us, asking
us why don’t we just declare
ourselves a sanctuary city and
then go fight it out in the courts,
because it’s a just war. And I do
agree with you, but the issue is
we come from a middle-class
perspective where we have a
safety net. The people who live
in public housing are not in the
safety net. They don’t have any
other safety net.”
Kailasapathy said the city
currently receives $1.25 million
per month from the federal
government in public housing
grants.
Councilmember
Zachary Ackerman (D–Ward
3) noted the funds provide
housing for more than 1,300
Ann Arbor residents.
CITY
From Page 1A
It’s very hard
to rech out to a
population of
people that you
don’t even know
where they are,
how many exist
on this campus
the substituted bill will be
voted on — less than a week
after the committee’s hearing
for the initial bill.
To reach the income tax level
of 3.9 percent, the new bill,
which will take effect Jan. 1,
2018, would reduce the income
tax by 0.1 percent each year for
three years — for the fourth
year, it would be lowered by 0.05
percent.
State Rep. Yousef Rabhi (D–
Ann Arbor) remarked that he
thinks both the initial proposal
and this new plan will negatively
affect the state.
“I think that the Republican
tax proposal and its amendment
are both fiscally irresponsible to
the state and the wrong move for
us to make — it’s irresponsible to
talk about cutting income to the
state,” he said. “That’s hundreds
of millions of dollars coming out
of police and fire departments,
coming out of schools.”
HALEY MCLAUGHLIN/Daily
Architecture professor Jim Chaffers introduces Dr. Ed Jackson Jr. at the Black History Month lecture in the Art & Architecture Auditorium on
Tuesday.
HISTORY IN THE M AKING
TAX
From Page 1A
We’re moving
toward a point
where both
technologies are
maturing