michigandaily.com
Thursday, May 24, 2018
INDEX
Vol. CXXVII, No. 118 | © 2018 The Michigan Daily
michigandaily.com
NEWS ....................................
OPINION ...............................
ARTS/NEWS .........................
MiC.........................................
SPORTS................................
MICHIGAN IN COLOR
Morning Alarm
“My people are famous.”
Though news of life in Syria
seems far away, it’s closer
to home than you think.
>> SEE PAGE 9
NEWS
LEO Update
Dearborn and Flint push
for more equal wages
between campuses.
>> SEE PAGE 2
OPINION
Spring Semester
Refelction
Reema Baydoun talks
about the break between
semesters.
>> SEE PAGE 5
ARTS
Courtney Barnett
returns
Her second album is darker
and more honest than
other releases.
>> SEE PAGE 6
SPORTS
Baseball walks off
against Iowa
Michigan edges out
Hawkeyes in a defensive
battle in the Big Ten
Tournament
>> SEE PAGE 11
inside
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4
6
9
10
Students to launch new straw
bale house on Campus Farm
T
eam will unveil
sustainable design
next week
By ALICE TRACEY
Summer Daily News Editor
A University of Michigan green
building class plans to unveil a
sustainably-built, straw-bale house
located at the Campus Farm next
Monday, May 29. Led by Joseph
Trumpey, an assistant professor of
art in the School of Art & Design
and natural resources in the School
for Environment and Sustainability,
the team of about 20 students began
construction on May 2 and has since
spent six days a week at the build
site, many of the students living in
nearby tents. The straw-bale house
will be the first official student-
constructed building in Ann Arbor.
Last spring, Trumpey’s green
building class built a straw-bale
structure at the U-M biostation in
Pellston, Mich. Though the two
buildings are similar in design, the
first is smaller, with a 20-by-20-feet
interior and a different roof design.
Some
students,
like
Taubman
junior Wendy Zhuo, worked on the
project in Pellston and enrolled in
Trumpey’s course again this year.
Zhuo said she enjoyed being able
to help with funding and grants
this time, rather than doing purely
hands-on work as she did last spring.
“It’s nice being on the back side of
stuff and seeing more of the project
instead of just starting the build,”
Zhuo said.
The project is supported by about
20 donors. Most of the money for the
straw-bale house initiative comes
from University-affiliated sponsors,
including the Planet Blue Student
Innovation Fund and the Third
Century Initiative. The remaining
funds and materials come from
other donors, like Turner Electric.
Trumpey
hopes
the
new
building will serve as a community
gathering spot and a focal point for
the Campus Farm, which has few
other buildings on site. In the future,
classes and meetings will take
place in the straw-bale building, as
will sustainability-focused events
hosted by Michigan Dining, one of
Trumpey’s partners.
According
to
Trumpey,
the initiative is an exercise in
sustainable agriculture. Trumpey
values green living; in fact, both
the Pellston and Ann Arbor straw-
bale structures are smaller-scale
versions of his own home: a solar-
powered straw bale building that
has housed Trumpey and his family
for almost 10 years.
Like Trumpey’s home, the straw-
bale house will be completely off the
grid, relying fully on solar power
generated by a 1.5-kilowatt array
of roof panels attached to eight
golf-cart
batteries.
Additionally,
the house is built of sustainable
materials, mostly straw and mud.
“Being able to use a lot of local,
low-energy natural materials is
really the heart of this,” Trumpey
said,
adding
that
he
even
collaborated with Campus Forestry
to harvest wood for the structure’s
scaffolding.
Classes to
start before
Labor Day
2020’s academic year
to start on August 31
By RACHEL CUNNINGHAM
Summer Daily News Editor
The
University’s
academic
calendar year will begin before
Labor Day in 2020, according to a
statement released by Spokeswoman
Kim Broekhuizen.
This
is
the
first
time
the
University’s schedule will begin
before Labor Day according to the
available academic calendars on the
Office of the Registrar’s website
that go back to 2003.
According to the statement, the
fall term will begin Aug. 31 and end
Dec. 21. Winter term will begin Jan.
6 with commencement May 2.
With the new start date, there
will be a one-week break between
the end of summer semester and
the beginning of the fall semester,
according
to
Broekhuizen’s
statement. There will be two weeks
between the fall and winter semester,
with Spring Break running from Feb.
27 until March 7 and no classes the
day before Thanksgiving. Fall Break
dates will remain the same.
Regent Andrea Fischer Newman
(R) said in an email interview the
University changed the schedule so
final exams would end earlier.
“The way the calendar worked
that year finals would not have ended
until Christmas Eve,” Newman said.
“So rather than make students stay
in Ann Arbor until Christmas Eve,
the University pushed back the start
date of the school year.”
Newman also explained costs
regarding the new start date will not
change.
The
University
has
not
yet
determined the dates for the 2021-
2022 academic school year.
ALEC COHEN / DAILY
ONE-HUNDRED-TWENTY SEVEN YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
Academics
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