Live Zero Waste is an
online platform that provides
resources and tools for those
interested in living a waste-
free lifestyle, started by LSA
senior Samuel McMullen and
his older sister, University
of
Michigan
alum
Lydia
McMullen, in 2016. The Live
Zero Waste team has recently
grown and is now composed of
six students who are working
to increase the initiative’s
presence online, on campus
and in the greater Ann Arbor
community.
Samuel
first
pledged
to
live “zero waste”, a lifestyle
that entails generating no
disposable waste and reusing
resources, during the summer
of
2015.
His
sister
was
writing a paper on renewable
energy policy in Beijing as a
side project for the Natural
Resources Defense Council,
and she brought him along as
a research assistant. Together,
they gave a presentation on
how living zero waste benefits
the environment.
In
researching
for
the
presentation, Samuel started
to learn how the vast majority
of waste is caused by the
production chain that yields a
purchased good.
“We started looking at the
numbers and how much trash
you can save not downstream
but upstream of where you
are,” he said. “By not buying
this
thing
you
prevented
all the trash that went into
making it.”
As part of the presentation,
both Lydia and Sam pledged to
live zero waste for a year.
“Part of her presentation
training was to make a promise
and a request,” Samuel said.
“We
decided
our
promise
would be that we would do
zero waste for a year, and our
request was that other people
join for like some amount of
time if they wanted to. At the
NRDC we got our first round
of pledges.”
After pledging to live zero
waste themselves and learning
more about the lifestyle, the
McMullen
siblings
became
invested in educating other
people and enabling them to
lead more sustainable lives.
“After
we
did
that
presentation we thought, ‘This
is a pretty good idea, let’s work
with it and make it a process
where people can pledge and
we’ll help them out,’” he said.
“A lot of the struggle with
zero waste is finding other
resources and figuring out
what it actually means.”
Throughout the following
year, the two worked on
developing
the
Live
Zero
The University of Michigan
was ranked No. 1 in research
and
development
spending
among
all
U.S.
public
universities by the National
Science Foundation, marking
the
University’s
seventh
consecutive year holding this
title. Following the University
is University of California, San
Francisco, and University of
Washington, Seattle.
In the 2016 fiscal year, the
University spent $1,436,448
dollars
in
research
and
development, surpassing UCSF
by more than $100,000.
LSA
junior
Gaby
Fabré
works with research in the
political science department,
and expressed her appreciation
of the research opportunities
available
for
students
on
campus.
“Research
is
important
because it allows for both
individuals and communities
to take that extra step forward
in providing an understanding
of a bigger picture in the grand
scheme of things. It also opens
michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Friday, December 1, 2017
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INDEX
Vol. CXXVII, No. 40
©2017 The Michigan Daily
N E WS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
O PI N I O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
S U D O K U . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
CL A S S I F I E DS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
See RESEARCH, Page 3
‘U’ receives
recognition
in research
endeavors
RESEARCH
University places first for
its efforts in research
development and spending
KATHERINA SOURINE
Daily Staff Reporter
ALEC COHEN/Daily
LSA senior Samuel McMullen and Ross senior Debbie Cheng share their reasons for becoming more environmentally
friendly in Ross Tuesday.
Student, alum launch online platform
to help others live a waste-free lifestyle
McMullen siblings started the website based on their own waste-free experiences
MAEVE O’BRIEN
Daily Staff Reporter
michigandaily.com
For more stories and coverage, visit
See PLATFORM, Page 3
Three
Michigan
representatives
are
now
calling for their colleague, U.S.
Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., to
resign following allegations of
sexual harassment.
U.S.
Rep.
Dan
Kildee,
D-Mich.,
was
the
first
Democratic congressman from
Michigan to urge Conyers step
down from the seat he first
won in 1964, telling CNN the
people cannot tolerate an act
that is an abuse of power.
“I
think
Congressman
Conyers should resign,” Kildee
said on CNN. “No person …
should have to tolerate what
has been alleged.”
Kildee is now joined by U.S.
Reps. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich.,
and Sander Levin, D-Mich., in
that request, according to the
Detroit Free Press.
Many other members of
Congress
have
called
for
Conyers’s resignation as well,
including
House
Speaker
Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and House
Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi,
D-Calif. Conyers, the longest
See CONYERS, Page 3
MI Dems,
Pelosi call
for Conyers
resignation
GOVERNMENT
Statements by Kildee, Levin
and Dingell follow sexual
harassment allegations
CARLY RYAN
Daily Staff Reporter
During a panel of local
elected
officials
in
the
weeklong
#StopSpencer
campaign,
officeholders
discussed how to combat hate
speech and white nationalism
without providing a platform
for a negative ideology, a
conversation that was held as
park of a teach-in. The teach-
in was just one event of their
“Week of Action” protesting
the University of Michigan’s
consideration to allow white
supremacist Richard Spencer
to speak on campus if a safe
venue and time is found.
Many students expressed
their frustration regarding
how to proceed in the face of
deciding between protesting if
Richard Spencer were to visit
and therefore providing him
with a platform or allowing
Spencer to spread his ideas
without resistance.
“This is the tip of the
iceberg,”
said
state
Rep.
Yousef Rabhi, D-Ann Arbor in
response. “Richard Spencer is
the tip of the iceberg. Richard
Spencer is just a mouthpiece.”
Rabhi cited the fact that
Ann Arbor is the fourth
highest metropolitan city in
terms of racial segregation.
“This
is
real
and
it’s
happening here,” Rabhi said.
“I hope we stop Spencer, but I
hope it doesn’t stop there.”
Many
elected
officials
such as Washtenaw County
Commissioners Felicia Brabec
and Jason Morgan, and Rabhi,
argued for students to stand
strong and not provide a
platform for Spencer’s hate
speech. The officials argued
students need to find a way
to be heard without giving
a voice to white supremacy,
whether by forcing Spencer
to speak to an empty room of
people, or offering alternative
rallies
preaching
positive
ideologies.
State
Rep.
Abdullah
Teach-ins
emphasize
safety while
protesting
Students strike,
conduct sit-in to
protest Spencer
See TEACH-INS, Page 3
AYUSH THAKAR/Daily
HALEY MCLAUGHLIN/Daily
CHUN SO/Daily
DANYEL THARAKAN/Daily
CAMPUS LIFE
WEEK OF ACTION
Events Thursday focused on protester
rights, safety for possible Spencer visit
ZOE BAXTER
& GRACE KAY
For the Daily
Week of action against white supremacist
Richard Spencer closes with strike on class
On Thursday, students across
campus participated in a strike
as part of the #StopSpencer
week of action. The event, hosted
in part by Students4Justice — a
student
organization
whose
mission is to hold the University
of
Michigan
administration
accountable for inequities on
campus — consisted of class
cancelations, accommodations
and a student sit-in.
On Nov. 23, Students4Justice
and other organizers called
for faculty, graduate student
instructors, research assistants
and staff to cancel classes
Thursday
to
pressure
the
administration to deny Richard
Spencer’s request to speak on
campus, following its decision
to consider allowing him to
speak if a safe time and venue is
found.
“The
recent
decision
to
‘begin discussions with Richard
Spencer’s group to determine
whether he will be allowed to
rent space’ on the University
of
Michigan’s
campus
demonstrates,
as
we
have
learned time and time again, the
administration’s refusal to truly
prioritize the needs and safety
of its students,” the statement
read. “Though President Mark
Schlissel stated ‘if we cannot
assure a reasonably safe setting
for the event, we will not allow
it to go forward,’ Spencer’s
history shows us there is no
‘safe’ setting possible when
white supremacists and neo-
Nazis are given permission to
come to college campuses.”
The
groups
explained
that
marginalized
students
on campus are in danger of
hate crimes on campus every
day; they fall victim to racist
flyering, graffiti and slurs. They
explained students come to the
University to learn and when
individuals like Spencer are
allowed to convene on campus,
there is a “barrier” to their
existence and education.
“We ask that you stand in
solidarity with us, marginalized
folx
across
campus
and
the broader community, by
canceling
class,
discussions,
labs and any other academic
obligations on Thursday, Nov.
30, 2017,” the statement read.
On
Tuesday,
LSA
Dean
Andrew Martin and Elizabeth
Birr Moje, dean of the School of
Education, announced classes
would not be canceled Thursday
in response to the ongoing
activities opposing Spencer.
Martin and Moje wrote in
ANDREW HIYAMA
&KATE JENKINS
Daily Staff Reporters
See STRIKE, Page 2