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 ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SEVEN YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM GOT A NEWS TIP? Call 734-418-4115 or e-mail news@michigandaily.com and let us know. 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