News
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Wednesday, September 13, 2017 — 3A
The idea of autonomous
travel discussed by speakers
highlighted current issues with
automotive transportation and
the goals that the Department
of Transportation hopes to
achieve with the release of their
new federal guidance. Bainwol
explained that more than 90
percent of crashes are related
to human error and the use of
driverless cars will primarily
address these issues — as well
as provide for a cleaner, more
efficient and more productive
form of transportation.
The factors necessary to
achieve such an autonomous
future,
Bainwol
explained,
include technology and public
policy.
“The idea of autonomous
cars has been a dream for a
long time, but now, following
decades of investment, it’s
becoming a reality,” he said.
“Policy can either harness
and slow down innovations or
it can help accelerate the life-
saving, life-changing benefits,
and that’s why what Secretary
Chao is announcing today is so
significant.”
The
speakers
also
emphasized
the
advantages
such methods of transportation
would
provide
those
with
disabilities,
specifically
the
blind. Riccobono noted that
while vision has always been a
necessity for driving, a society
in which automated vehicles
are used by everyone would
provide those with physical
disabilities the opportunity to
make use of these methods of
transportation.
“Equal access to reliable,
affordable,
flexible
and
barrier-free
transportation
is one of the most significant
obstacles
preventing
people
with
disabilities,
who
represent one out of every
five Americans, from fully
contributing their talents and
achieving
full
integration
in
our
communities,”
he
said.
“The
race
to
bring
fully
autonomous
vehicles
to America’s roads brings an
unprecedented opportunity to
ensure equal access for people
with disabilities.”
When
announcing
the
guidance,
which
includes
aspects from previous policy
but is updated with input
from public comments and
Congressional hearings, Chao
explained how the information
will help to ensure safety and
effective practice by states and
policymakers.
She stated that the vision “is
not a static document,” and that
the vehicles of tomorrow will
continue to build upon policies
established by the guidance.
While today’s vehicles include
many
automated
features,
the future of transportation
will include new computing
powers, sensors and cameras.
“The
future
of
this
innovative, new technology is
so full of promise,” she said.
“It’s a future where vehicles
increasingly help drivers avoid
crashes. It’s a future where
the time spent commuting is
dramatically
reduced,
and
where millions more, including
the elderly and people with
disabilities,
gain
access
to
the freedom of the open road.
Especially important, it’s a
future where highway fatalities
and injuries are significantly
reduced.”
A Vision for Safety 2.0,
developed with the assistance
of
the
National
Highway
Traffic Safety Administration,
is laid out in new booklet. This
replaces the previous Version
1.0, otherwise known as the
Federal Automated Vehicles
Policy, and seeks to provide
a productive path in which
safe and effective automated
vehicles
can
further
be
successful through four main
objectives: the encouragement
of
new
ideas,
updating
department
processes
by
following
private
sector
innovation
and
supporting
partnership with the public
and stakeholders in regard to
this innovation and making
use of the best practices and
assistance for state legislators.
“As technology advances and
the department gathers new
and more information from
stakeholders and consumers,
we will continue to refine and
update this guidance,” Chao
said. “In fact, the department,
and all of its modes, are already
planning for Version 3.0 to be
released in 2018.”
Chao also emphasized this is
not an enforcement document
and in conjunction with each
state’s interest in legislating
autonomous
vehicles
will
continue
to
provide
an
approach for a world with
increasing
technological
changes to make use of such
resources for public efficiency
and safety.
The
new
announcement
mirrors
legislation
which
was recently passed by the
House of Representatives. In
a statement released following
the
conference,
Dingell
expressed her support of the
new measures.
“This
updated
policy
guidance
also
compliments
legislation passed unanimously
in the House of Representatives,
the SELF DRIVE Act, which
establishes a framework for
the regulation of self-driving
vehicles for the first time,”
Dingell said in the statement.
“Automated vehicles have the
potential to transform mobility
in this country — improving
our economy and saving lives
on the road. This is a unique
opportunity for members of
both parties to come together
to improve safety, support
the auto industry’s comeback,
and help create more cutting-
edge jobs in our state. Today’s
announcement brings us one
step closer to making this new
technology a reality.”
MCITY
From Page 1A
may seem like a hefty price tag
for a bike-and-pedestrian trail,
Lazarus explained the costs
are all in the name of safety.
“The master plan has a lot
of great separated crossings,
so that pedestrians don’t have
to compete with cars to cross
intersections,”
he
said.
“I
think that’s what gives some
of the cost. Particularly when
you get to the North Bank, the
connection to the Border-to-
Border trail, there’s some pretty
heavy infrastructure required.”
Furthermore,
the
city
is
exploring options of private
funding so that the trail will not
have to be funded entirely by
taxpayers.
“We would find a way to set
funding aside,” Lazarus said.
“We want to look for grant
opportunities as well. The city
also does bring some property
along the Border-to-Border trail
that we could leverage for some
secure funding.”
Ann
Arbor
residents
are excited about the new
recreation and transportation
opportunities
the
trail
will
bring
them.
According
to
Councilmember Jason Frenzel,
D-Ward 1, who represents a
large part of the city that the
trail is slated to run through,
citizens like the master plan
because it ensures the trail will
line up with the core values the
city holds.
“The response kept getting
more and more positive over
time,” Frenzel said. “When I talk
to the residents who have not
been involved in that planning
and they see it for the first time,
they’re generally really, really
positive. It’s shiny and cool-
looking, and it’s an innovative
idea that holds Ann Arbor’s
value sets with stewardship
and
active
recreation
and
placemaking all to standard. I
hear people excited because of
those components.”
On
the
other
hand,
the
University
is
not
quite
as
on
board
with
the
master
plan as Ann Arbor residents.
Lazarus said the school has
some concerns about the trail
interfering with its own master
plan.
“We’re going to continue
to work with them on that,”
Lazarus said. “They are first
and foremost an educational
institution, so they need to be
concerned with how to support
their
educational
mission.
But they do realize that the
connection to the community
is
important
to
students,
faculty, and visitors. … It’ll run
along the periphery of campus.
Having
a
facility
students
can use is important. At some
point in the future it may cross
through
different
parts
of
campus.”
For his part, Kinesiology
senior Connor Mora is excited
for the trail. Though Mora will
graduate before the trail is
completed, as a member of the
men’s cross country team, he is
enthusiastic the opportunities
it opens for the future team.
“Some of our routes can
get
pretty
monotonous,
so
new routes are always very
exciting,” Mora said. “The
new track is being built right
now, and it would be really
convenient
for
the
teams
located in the South Campus
area to be able to use the trail,
too.”
Frenzel said the trail still has
to undergo many stages before
it can be used by citizens.
City Council has accepted it
for public comment, and staff
will
be
seeking
additional
input from future stakeholders
of the trail. Then the council will
review the revised plan again,
look for funding and then begin
construction.
“I think it’s really important for
people to recognize that a lot of the
really big and important things
that we have in our community
have taken decades to implement,”
Frenzel said. “We can do really big
things on moderate time horizons.
This is one of those things that will
take a few years, but when we get it
done it will be a treasure for this
community.”
TRAIL
From Page 1A
said.
She went on to reaffirm the motives of the
committee and CSG as solely purposed in
getting better student voter turnout rates in
elections.
“The whole point of this is to get people to
register to vote; we don’t really care where
they’re voting,” Sarkar spoke.
Fulfilling an initiative outlined in their
platform
as
candidates
last
semester,
Jawad announced at assembly she will be
meeting with the University’s Information
Technology Services as soon as next week
to discuss initiatives of installing Wi-Fi on
Central Campus’s Diag.
With the widespread campaign efforts
of the eMerge party during last winter, the
Information and Technology Services began
working on the initiative in June, Sarkar told
the committee.
With due diligence, Sarkar told the
committee that students could see Wi-Fi
on the Diag as soon as the latter half of the
Winter 2018 semester.
In rewriting Article VI of the University
Election Commission, CSG also instituted
the position of special prosecutor for Student
Government elections, citing a need for a
more impartial hearing process for parties
filing complaints to the elections director.
Under the new position, the special
prosecutor will serve as a petitioner for
any case whose complainant requests and
be responsible for gathering evidence and
presenting cases at hearing before the
elections counsel.
CSG
From Page 1A
said.
Additionally, the majority
leader is interested in starting
a signature-gathering effort to
repeal existing wage laws.
State
Senate
Minority
Leader Jim Ananich, D-Flint
Flint still does not have
clean water, landing a solution
to the water crisis at the
top of state Sen. Ananich’s
agenda. In addition to local
solutions, Ananich said he is
intent on preventing similar
water crises from happening
around the state. He said
despite Michigan having such
large amount of fresh water,
many communities have had
issues with housing over the
price of water, which he said is
inacceptable.
“We need to protect all of
our waterways, not just the
Great Lakes,” Ananich said.
“We shouldn’t have any more
crises –– it happened to me
personally and I have no other
motivation than making sure
it doesn’t happen to other
people.”
For those who have had to
endure the crisis, Ananich is
hoping to establish a need-
based scholarship by the end
of the year. The scholarship,
named
the
Flint
Promise,
would make Flint the 11th
city in Michigan designated
a “promise zone,” or a city
offering free tuition to those
in need.
Ananich
also
said
with
so
much
insecurity
in
Washington,
the
state
is
looking
to
provide
policy
solutions
for
issues
not
federally
addressed,
such as price gouging in
pharmaceutical companies.
State House Speaker Tom
Leonard, R-DeWitt
State House Speaker Tom
Leonard wrote in an email
interview he has three top
priorities for the fall, with
mental health reform topping
the list.
“This is a problem that does
not have easy answers, but it
is something we must address.
I created a special task force
this summer to travel around
the state and talk to people
who have been affected and
learn what we can do to make
a difference,” Leonard wrote.
Leonard
also
wants
to
support skilled trade schools,
giving high school students
more education options and
adding more skilled labor to
the economy.
“We created new options
for high school students this
spring, and we are working on
new reforms to help prepare
future students for the modern
economy,” he said.
Like
Meekhof,
Leonard
expressed interest in auto
insurance reform, citing the
same high rates.
“Michigan
families
currently
pay
the
highest
rates in the country for auto
insurance, and it is not close.
We have to do whatever we can
to lower rates for Michigan
drivers,” he said.
State Rep. Peter Lucido,
D-Macomb
State
Rep.
Lucido
has
introduced the most bills this
term compared to the rest of
the Michigan representatives.
Hoping to find solutions for
auto
insurance
like
many
other
congressmen,
Lucido
mentioned
the
need
to
efficiently
create
reform.
He said that 22 percent of
Michigan drivers currently do
not have insurance, creating a
sluggish Secretary of State.
“We will know when you
got insurance, how long it
was purchased for, and so it
goes right from the company
to the secretary of state,”
Lucido said. “As soon as police
officers pull you over, they
will know whether or not you
have insurance.”
In addition to predictions
that 2018 will see legislation
on medical marijuana, Lucido
said alleviating the opioid
epidemic requires continued
education for doctors and
patients, and that correction
reform is needed.
“We currently spend $2
million
on
corrections
––
that’s too much,” he said.
MICHIGAN
From Page 1A
that are based solely on
routine.
Pink also noted many
professions,
such
as
accounting
and
law,
are
slowly
becoming
automated
as
the
steps for each job are
becoming
more
and
more present on the
internet. Finally, Pink
explained
the
large
amount of goods present
in the country is also
becoming
problematic
for the working class.
“There
is
this
incessant need to come
up with something new
or
create
something
better,” Pink said.
Pink
also
touched
on the importance of
students
becoming
T-shaped;
in
other
words, having not only
a specialized knowledge
of a certain subject,
but also a more general
understanding of other
subjects.
He
acknowledged
the danger of hyper-
specialization in today’s
economy,
especially
given how quickly it can
change.
“You can specialize
in
a
programming
language
that
ends
up
disappearing,
or
you can specialize in
a type of technology
that ends up becoming
obsolete pretty quickly,”
he said. “I think that
some specialization is
okay, but I think hyper-
specialization
at
this
age is really dangerous
because the world is
going to be different in
20 years. What you need
is a versatile portfolio of
skills, a great mindset
and the ability to learn.”
The
presentation
also
highlighted
the
value of the arts and
creativity
in
today’s
economy.
However,
Pink acknowledged the
challenge many of this
generation’s
students
face in terms of feeling
the need to focus only on
developing logical skills,
calling
for
educators
to incorporate a multi-
faceted
definition
of
subjects
included
in
STEM fields.
“I think that we short-
sell STEM by thinking of
it as a purely reductive
linear thing — it’s not,”
Pink
said.
“I
think
AUTHOR
From Page 1A
We created
new options
for high school
students
this spring,
and we are
working on
new reforms
to help
prepare future
students for
the modern
economy
that in our school system we
often think of STEM as the AP
biology where you’re answering
multiple choice questions, when
that’s not what STEM is. It’s
exploration, experimentation,
multidisciplinary,
teams
working together. You basically
have to give your generation
a reality check on what STEM
actually is.”
Pink ended his talk with an
explanation of benefits of the
arts — specifically regarding
composition,
coordination
and compassion. He explained
while not everyone might be
naturally gifted in areas like
art or music, they can work
towards
having
sufficient
skills. He commended both the
Ross School of Business and
the University on taking an
interdisciplinary approach to
education.
“I think that being part of the
overall University of Michigan
is
really
valuable
because
tonight somewhere there was a
dance performance, there was
a play, there was a concert,”
he said. “You’re not in just a
specialized area. I think that
Ross lodged in the context of
the U of M is in a pretty good
place.”
In terms of the future, Pink
speculated the economy will
focus more on a search for
meaning.
“I think that one thing I can
see happening is the economy
becoming more focused on the
search for meaning. I think that
human beings in general want
to live a life of meaning which
can be hard to do if you’re just
trying to survive, and if more
people aren’t simply trying to
survive you might encourage
more people to try and find a
sense of meaning.”
There is this
incessant need
to come up with
something new or
create something
better,