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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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