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Monday, October 23, 2017— 3A

IM AGINE DR AGONS

EVAN AARON/Daily

Imagine Dragons performs in Detroit last week.

Broek said. “We wanted someone 
who has done a lot of thinking about 
Trump and humility, or the lack of 
humility, to address the colloquium, 
but we wanted to open it up to the 
public.”

Blow’s presentation highlighted 

Trump’s 
continuous 
dispersion 

of 
false 
information 
to 
the 

public, 
emphasized 
how 
his 

grandiosity contributed to his 
ability to manipulate the public 
and expressed his exasperation 
at Trump’s lack of historical 
understanding. He also said even 
though the media contributed 
to Trump’s victory in the 2016 
election, their role was even more 
important now because of Trump’s 
constant sparring with the truth.

“One of the greatest threats 

we face by the bounty of lying is 
that is corrupts and corrode the 
absoluteness of truth,” Blow said. 
“We now have a president who 
wants absolute control over the 
flow of information and dictate 
his own version of it. Trump is in a 
battle to bend the truth.”

He ended his talk with a 

reminder about the value of the 
truth and how the media and 
public have a duty to continue to 
demand it.

“It may well be that the only 

thing that can protect America 
from its own president is a free 
press and the urgent insistence 
of the public to demand that the 
operation of our customs and the 
concept of accountability are not 
lost,” Blow said.

While much of the audience 

enjoyed 
the 
presentation 
and 

appreciated 
Blow’s 
opinions, 

some noticed the talk was missing 
crucial members of the community.

For instance, LSA freshman 

Julia Mati believed there was not 
much diversity in opinion present 
at the event. Mati explained 
though Blow’s message was well 
received by the audience, it may 
not have been the audience that 
needed to hear what he was saying.

“I agree with what he’s talking 

about, but I feel like people who 
were in there simply because 
they agreed with what he was 
presenting, not because they were 
looking for anything new,” Mati 
said.

Comprehensive studies lecturer 

Marcy Epstein pointed out another 
group that was lacking in numbers: 
the 
undergraduate 
student 

body. She felt the issues Blow 
discussed were relevant, and was 
disappointed the youngest group 
on campus was overshadowed by 
older audience members.

“I found it remarkable for 

the fact that we had an entirely 
packed 
house, 
we 
had 
the 

underrepresentation 
of 
the 

undergraduate body who goes 
here,” Epstein said. “It makes me 
feel that he had excellent things 
to say to an audience who was 
missing.”

On another note, Epstein praised 

Blow for his ability to speak beyond 
the people present at the talk and 
reach a nationwide audience. 

“One of the things I most enjoyed 

was the accessible way in which he 
could move between audiences — 
past the audience that was actually 
in the room — to the audience that 
is the greater American public who 

needs to consider their president 
and how he lies.”

LSA 
freshman 
Giovanna 

Bautista said she was interested in 
what Blow had to say about Trump 
and arrogance, and hoped to learn 
more about the issues at hand.

“The 
political 
climate 
that 

we’ve been in, especially here at 
a college campus, these problems 
aren’t invisible, and it’s something 
that we have to talk about,” 
Bautista said. “It’s an important 
conversation and I really wanted 
to be a part of it.”

Bautista also touched on Blow’s 

opinions on Trump’s attacks on 
minority groups and explained it 
was important for the University 
community to have more open 
conversations about these issues to 
create a more inclusive campus.

“It’s an issue here that everyone 

brings up, but no one has a solid 
answer,” Bautista said. “I do think 
that it begins with very simplistic 
conversations, brutal honesty and 
acknowledging intersectionalities 
and understanding that we all come 
from very different backgrounds. 
We can’t really know what the next 
step is until we start with listening 
to one another and acknowledging 
our differences.”

Vander Broek explained she 

was excited to see that audience 
members were still hopeful to 
create change in the years to come. 
She also praised Blow for his ability 
to encourage underrepresented 
groups to speak their minds.

“I was energized to see people 

thinking about 2020; he represents 
encouragement for getting more 
people to the table whose opinions 
have not been considered before,” 
Vander Broek said.

MEDIA
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WRAP-UP
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CONFERENCE
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technology comes out it’s not just 
engineers who help make the 
transition.”

He also added the unique 

approach provided a broader view 
that adds meaning to projected 
impact autonomous vehicles will 
have.

“I think the transition has a lot 

of potential to make transportation 
more energy efficient, not just by 
getting better gas milage or using 
better materials but by changing 
the overall role of the car,” said 
Jankowski.

One 
speaker, 
Kenneth 

Gillingham, 
an 
associate 

professor of economics at Yale 
University, presented his research 
on how Corporate Average Fuel 
Economy standards — which 
are government standards that 
require car companies to have 
fuel economy weighted by sales 
to average 54.5 mpg by 2025 for 
better fuel economy — and how 
they affect vehicle safety.

Contrary to the belief that 

more 
fuel-efficient 
vehicles 

are lighter and therefore more 
dangerous, Gillingham’s research 
found CAFE standards actually 
increased safety on roads because 
vehicle weights became more 
equal — there were fewer big-car-
versus-little-car crashes, which 
are more dangerous.

Gillingham also attested to 

the importance of the conference 
taking 
an 
interdisciplinary 

approach, writing in an email to 
The Daily, “ I had the opportunity 
to speak with stakeholders from 
several 
audiences—academia, 

government 
regulators, 
and 

industry—providing 
useful 

perspectives and feedback for 
further improving the work in 
preparation for submission to a 
journal.”

Researchers 
grappled 
with 

the 
cumbersome 
nature 
of 

transportation data. Even data 
on the cost of vehicles is hard 
to pin down because car prices 
are often haggled down from 
the 
manufacturer’s 
suggested 

retail price. Vehicle attributes 
can be difficult to compare 
directly because of the often-
different problems cars may 
exhibit and their customizable 
nature. Additionally, consumer 
habits change based on many 
factors, such as region and owner 
demographics.

Many presentations and panels 

focused on the topic of subsidies 
for electric vehicles, as well as the 
infrastructure needed for their 
rollout, and political attention 
that 
transforming 
mobility 

systems — like designated lanes 
and charging networks — will 
need.

One panelist, Rod Lache, a 

managing director at Deutsche 
Bank Securities in the autos and 
auto parts sector, was optimistic 
about the onset of autonomous 
technology.

“They’re taking the safety 

driver out of (driverless test) 
vehicles in the next few quarters, 
not years,” he said.

Panelists referred to driverless 

technology being synonymous 
with 
shared 
mobility, 
saying 

personal ownership of vehicles 
may soon be obsolete. Instead, 
the future could look like 
subscribing to a vehicle service 
where people are driven to 
their destinations and the car 
would move on to others. Lache 
added urgency to this principle, 
too, stating: “Shared mobility 
is going to happen a lot sooner 
than people believe.”

More panelists detailed the 

gravity of shared mobility.

“If you think about the elderly, 

they don’t have (mobility),” said 
Neil Schloss, vice president 
and chief financial officer of 

mobility at Ford. He added this 
principle has a broader scope 
than 
convenience, 
saying, 

“Mobility really is a right as we 
go forward.”

TE3 co-chair Ellen Hughes-

Cromwick, a senior economist 
and interim associate director 
of social science and policy 
at the U-M Energy Institute, 
spoke about the work of Fellipe 
Balieiro, a senior consultant 
at IHS Markit, which is a 
London-based 
consulting 

firm that advises companies 
in transportation, energy and 
aerospace matters.

“They have just completed 

a study to look at what the 
dimensions are in terms of 
takeoff of electrified, connected 
and autonomous vehicles, and 
they’ve done studies of each 
of the different markets — 
Asia, Europe, the U.S., Latin 
America, et cetera — and 
what they’re trying to do in 
the study is look at what the 
capacity is for the physical 
production of these units and 
also what kind of regulatory 
and policy framework is being 
developed to either hinder or 
promote the development and 
adoption of these new modes 
of 
transportation.” 
Hughes-

Cromwick said.

Hughes-Cromwick 
also 

spoke more generally about the 
conference’s nature of joining 
the private and public sectors 
with academia.

“Academics and this research 

enterprise 
here 
combined 

with teaching provides a really 
important 
framework 
for 

furthering thought in many 
areas and it’s a very valuable 
and necessary part of any kind 
of analysis that somebody would 
do whether they’re in the private 
sector or government, we rely 
substantially 
on 
academic 

research 
in 
these 
different 

areas.”

curriculum in schools to 
ensure instruction includes 
medically accurate sexuality 
education 
that 
is 
age 

appropriate.

State 
Sen. 
Hoon-Yung 

Hopgood, D-Taylor, proposed 
the 
bill. 
The 
proposed 

curriculum seeks to better 
prepare 
adolescents 
to 

become 
sexually 
healthy 

adults.

“Research 
continues 
to 

show that comprehensive sex 
education, which teaches both 
abstinence and contraception, 
is most effective for young 
people. Youth who receive 
this kind of education are 
more likely to initiate sexual 
activity later in life and use 
protection 
correctly 
and 

consistently when they do 
become 
sexually 
active,” 

Hopgood said in a press 
release.

Currently, 
state 
law 

encourages an abstinence-
only 
approach 
to 
sex 

education, which, the press 
release said, has not proved 
to be effective in increasing 
rates of abstinence despite 
$1.5 billion spent during the 
past decade on abstinence-
only programs.

HB 5074: This bill seeks to 

amend the Income Tax Act 
of 1967 to allow for student 
loan tax deductions, which 
reduces the amount of taxable 

income. The bill would permit 
taxpayers to deduct up to 
$5,000 for single filers and 
$10,000 for joint filers.

State 
Rep. 
Abdullah 

Hammoud, 
D-Dearborn, 

proposed 
the 
amendment, 

stating in a press release this 
bill will give some relief to 
students repaying loans.

“The cost of a college 

education 
has 
increased 

exponentially throughout the 
years. In addition to providing 
much-needed tax relief, this 
bill would provide the state a 
tool to help retain our talent 
in a competitive market. In 
today’s economy, talent is the 
number one determinant for 
a major corporation selecting 
Michigan as a place to do 
business,” said Hammoud.

The bill only applies to 

those who attend college, both 
public and private, in the state 
of Michigan.

HB 5082: This bill sets 

the goal of a 25-percent 
improvement in water quality 
by 2025 by amending the 
1994 Natural Resources and 
Environmental 
Protection 

Act, which regulates the use 
of natural resources, permits 
people to hunt and fish and 
controls what is discharged 
into the environment, among 
other things.

State Rep. Robert Kosowski, 

D-Westland, 
proposed 

the 
amendment, 
which 

requires several government 
departments work together to 
reach this goal.

“The 
department, 

the 
Department 
of 

Environmental Quality, the 
Department of Agriculture 
and Rural Development, the 
Department of Health and 
Human Services, the State 
Transportation Department, 
and the Office of the Great 
Lakes shall jointly conduct a 
broad public and stakeholder 
engagement process across this 
state seeking input on how to 
achieve the goal established 
under subsection (1),” the bill 
reads.

The bill makes no specific 

mention of the water quality in 
Flint and improving the city’s 
water.

HB 5085: This bill earmarks 

liquor tax to go to local 
community 
mental 
health 

clinics to combat substance 
abuse. 
Earmarking 
money 

designates it for a specific use.

State Rep. Steve Marino, 

R-Harrison 
Township, 

proposed the bill, saying in a 
press release the taxes would 
address 
serious 
issues 
in 

substance abuse in the state.

“Substance 
abuse 
is 
a 

major problem in Michigan. 
Our local community mental 
health agencies are in the best 
position to identify and develop 
programs to fight the abuse 
of alcohol, opioids and other 
drugs. This bill will deliver 
more resources to agencies on 
the front lines of this fight,” 
Marino said in the press release.

The bill could provide more 

than $17 million each year 
to combat alcohol and opioid 
addictions.

focused 
on 
student-client 

challenges in the Ford School of 
Public Policy and the Law School. 

Al-Lami 
workshopped 
her 

ideas with a staff member at the 
Office of Academic Innovation, 
and brainstormed solutions for 
problems faced by Ann Arbor 
immigrants such as creating video 
testimonials to display during 
teacher orientation programs and 
linking translation tools to client-
management platforms.

“Ann Arbor is not the same as 

30 years ago. We need to show 
immigrants that you are part of 
this society. We need to show that 
culture is important,” Al-Lami 
said. “We need to have classes to 
let everyone know about other 

race, other culture.”

The 
Office 
of 
Academic 

Innovation 
has 
been 
helping 

the 
University 
students 
and 

faculty 
solve 
problems 
like 

Al-Lami’s for the past three 
years. 
Formerly 
called 
the 

Office of Digital Education and 
Innovation, the office has evolved 
to solve academic problems with 
technological solutions and with 
new approaches or processes to 
learning.

Elisabeth Gerber, an associate 

dean for research and policy 
engagement and one of the hosts 
of the Traveling Innovation Hour, 
turned to the office when she 
sought to find a way to engage her 
students with public policy using 
simulations.

“The challenge is that people 

disagree. That’s why we have public 
policy, that’s why we have politics,” 
Gerber said. “That situation lends 

extremely well to simulations. 
Students can get a hand on what 
it means to come to an agreement 
with someone even though you 
might disagree.”

Gerber has been developing a 

tool with the Office of Academic 
Innovation 
called 
Policymaker, 

which 
allows 
instructors 
to 

“experience strategy development, 
collaboration, 
advocacy, 
and 

communication,” according to the 
tool’s website.

Michael 
Bloom, 
a 
clinical 

assistant professor of law and the 
other host of Traveling Innovation 
Hour, also used the office to develop 
a tool called Praktio. According to 
its website, Praktio utilizes games 
and repetitions to “provide instant 
feedback and explanation” when 
learning about contracts.

INNOVATION
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