offers the greatest possible
safeguards to Michigan’s waters
while
maintaining
critical
connections to ensure Michigan
residents
have
the
energy
resources they need,” Gov. Rick
Snyder wrote in a press release.
“The historic agreement will
result in eliminating nearly
every risk of an oil leak in the
Straits
and
provide
added
protections to the Great Lakes.
It also will allow for multiple
utilities to be housed and
protected, better connecting
our
peninsulas,
improving
energy security and supporting
economic
development.
The
taxpayers of Michigan will
benefit greatly from this project
but won’t have to pay for it.”
According
to
the
press
release, the agreement will
demand Enbridge follow certain
safety
measures
to
reduce
risk during construction. The
measures
include
shutting
down the pipelines when waves
are high, providing a new radar
system, maintaining $1.8 billion
in available funds in case of an
oil spill and installing cameras
in the Straits to prohibit ships
from dropping their anchors
atop a pipeline.
Both Enbridge and Snyder’s
administration claim the deal
is an environmental victory
because it decommissions the
existing controversial Line 5
pipelines and expands safety
measures for the new tunnel.
However, critics are wary of
the environmental implications
of constructing a tunnel in
the Straits of Mackinac and
concerned about the risk of an
oil spill in the process.
The Straits’ pivotal location is
a main cause of concern. A spill
could potentially affect two of
the five Great Lakes, the largest
group of lakes on Earth by area.
The Great Lakes collectively
house over 20 percent of the
global supply of surface fresh
water.
University
of
Michigan
researcher
Dave
Schwab
modeled
how
a
potential oil spill in the Straits
of Mackinac would impact the
Great Lakes ecology, wildlife
and coasts.
“I believe an oil spill from
Line 5 in the Straits could cause
severe environmental economic
and cultural damage over a wide
area because of the unique water
flow conditions in the Straits,”
Schwab said.
Schwab
foresees
at
least
three sets of environmental
implications for the construction
of the tunnel, beyond the risk
of an oil spill: the immediate
effects of the drilling on the
north and south shores of the
Straits,
potential
geological
impact on the subsurface in the
Straits and long-term impact
to the atmosphere from the
continued use of any fossil fuels,
which Line 5 transports.
Schwab said the tunnel would
eventually be an improvement
on the existing pipelines, but
nonetheless extends the lifetime
of oil transport through the
Great Lakes.
“The tunnel project would
eventually result in a lower
likelihood of an oil spill from
the Line 5 pipeline, but it
would prolong the period of
risk for a spill from the current
pipeline until the tunnel was
approved,
constructed
and
made operational, which could
easily take more than 10 years,”
Schwab said.
LSA junior Cameron Leitz,
president
of
the
Program
in
the
Environment
Club,
is also concerned about the
construction of the project,
fearing it could result in an oil
spill.
“I’m concerned because this
plan could create an oil spill in
the Great Lakes,” Leitz said.
“The Great Lakes are pristine
bodies of water that are used
for recreation and drinking
water. Freshwater is becoming
more scarce and it is becoming
increasingly
important
to
protect
our
freshwater
resources.”
Both
Leitz
and
Schwab
believe Line 5 should be shut
down permanently.
“I personally don’t believe
that the benefits Line 5 provides
to the people of Michigan are
anywhere near sufficient to
justify the risk of an oil spill
from the pipeline,” Schwab said.
The
agreement
between
Snyder’s
administration
and
Enbridge
is
contentious,
with
midterm
elections
on
the
horizon.
Democratic
gubernatorial
candidate
Gretchen Whitmer has said she
will shut down Line 5 if elected,
while Republican gubernatorial
candidate Bill Schuette has
endorsed Snyder’s plan.
Leitz
heavily
considers
the environmental policy of
candidates when voting.
“Climate change and other
environmental
problems
are
some of the most important
problems
facing
the
world,
so I heavily consider each
candidates’
stance
on
environmental
policy,”
Leitz
said. “Individual actions are
great
for
helping
to
solve
climate change, but changing
environmental policy is the only
way to have a bigger impact on
solving these problems.”
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Wednesday, October 17 2018 — 3A
students
in
engineering
are
sometimes incapable of producing
original solutions without some
form of guidelines for their work.
“If you show them solutions
that might work, it’s very hard for
them to come up with new things
that don’t include those solutions,”
White said. “A task that I tried
with students with ADHD was
to show them examples and say,
‘Don’t use these examples’ and,
in fact, they were able to create
high-quality product labels for
an imaginary company, and they
were able to come up with these
and not use the elements that were
shown in the examples.”
As a result of her study, White
concluded
that
individuals
with ADHD are more creative
when it comes to innovative
problem-solving. Arash Zaghi, an
associate professor of civil and
environmental engineering at the
University of Connecticut, was
not involved with the study, but
has done research on students
with ADHD in the past. He said
curiosity
is
“domain-specific”
and cannot be given a blanket
definition. However, he said the
intense focus many students with
ADHD put into work they have a
keen interest in allows them to
produce original and complex
thought.
“When they (individuals with
ADHD) hyperfocus on something,
and they have an interest in
something, the amount of work
that they can do is just mind
boggling,” Zaghi said.
James Kaufman, a professor
of educational psychology at the
University of Connecticut, also
mentioned how creativity varies
by discipline, but is ultimately,
“the ability to develop something
that is both new and that is task-
appropriate.”
Kaufman classified creativity
in four distinct ways: mini-c
(personal
insights),
little-c
(everyday
creativity),
pro-c
(expert level) and big-c (creative
genius). Kaufman said the kind of
creativity exhibited by students
with ADHD is often undervalued
because it encourages others to be
open to newness, which is scary
for those who are accustomed to
rhythm and order.
“Creative people are more
likely to take risks, be open to
new ideas, defy authority and
seek challenges, which pays off
big-time in the long run, but in
general we’re not great as a society
at looking at long-term benefits,”
Kaufman wrote in an email. “Most
people want a small, measured
amount of creativity that solves
small, existing problems.”
Public
Policy
junior
Lena
Dreves, who has ADHD, said she
often struggles with disappointing
parents and teachers because her
creativity manifests itself in ways
many perceive to be daydreaming
and forgetful thinking.
“Walking home from school,
instead of thinking ‘I need to
pay rent’ or ‘I need to do that
homework tonight,’ I’m thinking
of some historical moment in
history and how the philosophy of
a certain leader really affected this
generation,” Dreves said. “Yes, it’s
daydreaming and I get that, but
at the same time, it’s a beautiful
break for the mind.”
White also said neurodiverse
perspectives are often seen solely
as impairments rather than useful
assets in fields that may actually
benefit from unique modes of
thinking.
“I don’t want to say there’s no
impairment with ADHD, because
of course it’s going to be something
where people are having trouble
focusing and paying attention,”
White said. “But I want to
underscore that it’s a different way
of thinking that, in some contexts
and for some types of problems, is
definitely an advantage.”
According to Zaghi, including
the perspectives and viewpoints
of students with ADHD is often
challenging in the short-term,
but can have long-lasting benefits.
He said while students with
ADHD may have some difficulties
completing certain tasks during
a
project,
their
ideas
often
complement those of students
without ADHD and enhance the
overall product.
“We need diverse types of
skills,” Zaghi said. “Some of the
students are very task-oriented,
they
are
very
comfortable
adhering
to
process
and
presenting a very refined, polished
product. We cannot only, for
example, say ‘ADHD students,
because they have these creative
ideas, can produce the best
product.’ They need to work to get
there. That’s why we need to have
a neurodiverse group of students.”
Dreves said another challenge
she faces is others’ unwillingness
to legitimize ADHD and see it as
a real disorder that can have both
positive and negative effects. With
the growing use of medication
such as Adderall and Ritalin
among
non-ADHD
students,
Dreves said she often has to
justify her condition to herself and
actively create her own sense of
self-esteem.
“It’s forced me to find self-
esteem
and
self-value
inside
myself,” Dreves said. “That sounds
really cheesy, but at the same time,
it’s really real. Because if I put my
worth on what everyone around
me is expecting, then it gets
crushed every time. And I think
that’s definitely positive.”
ADHD
From Page 1A
PIPELINE
From Page 1A
the Commission will create
and oversee. The Youth Council
will be “composed of youths
residing in Washtenaw County
between the ages of 16 and 21.”
It is unclear if this includes
temporary University students.
Ann Arbor resident Susan
Priller,
who
identified
herself as a legal secretary
at Hooper Hathaway, where
Taylor practices law, hoped
city officials would begin to
aggressively work on the issue.
“I would prefer to think
that my city officials were
merely ignorant of the harms of
aggressive policing rather than
they were engaging in a wanted,
egregious disregard of what
this community has clearly
asked for,” Priller said. “I would
hope that they exit their bubble
of white privilege and that
they would stop congratulating
themselves on how liberal they
are and engage in the hard work
of anti-racism.”
Priller then handed signed
copies of the book “The End
of Policing” by Alex Vitale,
sociology professor at Brooklyn
College, to Taylor and City
Administrator
Howard
Lazarus.
The
Police
Officers
Association
of
Michigan addressed a letter to
Taylor dated Sept. 27 requesting
the task force’s proposal not be
passed.
“The preamble of the task
force proposed ordinance is
a deplorable rant filled with
bias and prejudice against law
enforcement,” the letter signed
by General Counsel Frank Guido
read. “To state that the City
of Ann Arbor ‘acknowledges
that law enforcement, across
the nation, have historically
defended and enforced racism
and segregation’ is nothing less
than a direct attack on Ann
Arbor police officers.”
The
letter
also
stated
the
ordinance
lacks
moral
justification and legal grounds.
Much of the discussion of
the proposal centered around
whether complainants should
be able to file their complaints
about the AAPD anonymously.
City
Councilmember
Sumi
Kailasapathy, D-Ward 1, served
as a non-voting member of
the task force. She wanted the
option for anonymity to protect
residents
from
potential
revictimization,
which
was
included in the passed proposal.
“You should always have
an
option
of
anonymity,”
Kailasapathy said. “We keep
saying we don’t want this
commission to fail, so if you
don’t want it to fail, you can’t
expect people to come and
do it according to our terms
which come from a vantage
point of privilege. The ultimate
(viewpoint) of this is going to
be people who are afraid that
they could be re-victimized as a
result of this.”
City
Councilmember
Graydon Krapohl, D-Ward 4,
also served as a non-voting
member of the task force but
was not present at Monday’s
meeting.
Another issue raised was
whether
AAPD
should
be
informed of or play a role in
investigating complaints. The
task force’s proposal would
have allowed the commission to
investigate complaints without
informing
AAPD.
Taylor
believes
engagement
with
police is necessary to create
change.
“I
do
view
engagement
with the police about police
practices as a necessary part
of the commission learning
about the practice and policy
and an important part of that
communication,” Taylor said.
Kailasapathy said the task
force’s ordinance is crucial
to a democratic checks and
balances system.
“I think part of having the
ordinance is to make it clear
… good people will always
do things but we cannot be
at the mercy of good things,”
Kailasapathy said. “That’s why
democracy needs institutions
with checks and balances. It’s
built into the system.”
The council also debated how
complaints should be handled
on the basis of whether they
are criminal or disciplinary.
Disciplinary
complaints
are
complaints of behaviors that
would not violate the law,
but violate the policies and
procedures
of
the
AAPD.
The citizen task force would
have investigated complaints
independently.
City
Attorney
Stephen
Postema said all complaints
should be forwarded to AAPD,
regardless
of
the
type
of
complaint.
Ann Arbor resident Richard
Friedman,
co-chair
of
the
citizen-led task force and a
professor at the University of
Michigan Law School, said the
commission should investigate
matters even if a resident does
not formally come forward
with a complaint.
“I think this is something
that the council can take a shot
at and worse comes to worst,
you get a ruling in a particular
case that can’t happen and you
go from there,” Friedman said.
AAPD and city employees
are not eligible for membership
on the commission in either
proposal, but the task force’s
proposal
extended
the
restriction
to
any
former
employees
of
or
“regular
contractors” of the city or any
police department.
COUNCIL
From Page 1A
using automation to help large
industries
like
construction,
waste management and real
estate.
“We
saw
this
large
opportunity, thinking that data
and automation is probably the
most important technological
trend over the next 20 years,”
Nahigian said. “And we saw
this large gap in that most
venture
dollars
were
going
towards
more
A.I.-focused
opportunities, meaning really
hard-core
technology
and
science problems, that are not
widely used or adopted. We
saw that a lot of value creation
is happening and will continue
to
happen,
as
the
biggest
opportunities, in these large
old-school
segments
of
the
economy like construction or
real estate.”
Both
Nahigian
and
Ajao
have experience starting their
own companies and investing
in others. Nahigian previously
worked at Accel Partners and
Summit Partners and was an
investor at Coatue Management.
Ajao co-founded social media
company Tuenti, which was
bought by Telefonica, and Cabify,
a competitor with Uber in Latin
America that is now worth $1.4
billion. Most recently, Ajao was
at Workday after the company
acquired his startup Identified,
where he launched Workday
Ventures, a fund focused on
artificial intelligence. During
this time, Ajao invested in
several companies, including
Nahigian’s startup Jobr, a job-
seeking and hiring app.
After
working
together
on Jobr, Ajao and Nahigian
decided to team up and found
a venture capital fund focused
on companies solving problems
affecting the 99 percent — a
term contrasted with the top
1 percent of the wealthiest
members of society who hold
and control a large majority of
resources in the U.S.
“This was four years ago,
now almost four and a half
years ago, and TJ and I got to
know each other pretty well
through my investment in Jobr,”
Ajao said. “At the time I was
already thinking of starting a
new venture firm because at
this time I had quite a lot of
experience investing. I thought
that there was too much A.I.
talent in Silicon Valley that
was being directed towards the
same problems. And there was
a need for a new venture firm
to focus on solving problems
that were most important to the
real economy, and what we call
problems for the 99 percent.”
Base10
has
already
invested in several startups,
including Yellow, a Brazilian
mobility
company
bringing
bicycle-
and
scooter-sharing
services to Latin America to
improve urban sustainability.
Other companies Base10 has
supported include The Pill Club,
which integrates telemedicine
and pharmaceuticals to deliver
birth control to subscribers,
and RoadSync, which eases
the payment platform for the
logistics industry.
The news came unexpectedly
to Ajao, who is half Nigerian and
was raised in both Nigeria and
Spain.
“It was a surprise at first,”
he said. “Just because I never
really stopped to think about
it, and assumed that with how
many years venture capital has
been around, there must have
been someone before me that
had crossed the $100 million
dollar mark. Once I looked at
the data, the surprise went
away, because as you very well
know, minorities are widely
underrepresented
in
Silicon
Valley — which is probably why
there is an inherent bias towards
focusing on problems for the 1
percent versus problems for the
99 percent.”
Nahigian
emphasized
the
need for more diversity in the
venture capital space, saying for
Base10 in particular, leadership
needed to reflect the people
they were investing to empower.
Improving
diversity
and
inclusion would be a significant
part of Base10’s investment in
the real economy.
“We were setting out just to
build and scale what we thought
could be one of the leading
preeminent
venture
capital
funds focused on this theme,”
Nahigian said. “Importantly,
the theme that we’re focused on
really focuses on diversity and
inclusion. We’re investing in
businesses that are going after
real economy problems, (that)
have a meaningful impact on
the 99 percent. And it’s almost
a shame that that diversity is
not really reflected in who are
leading and allocating capital
within this industry.”
Business junior Devesh Modi
is a member of the Zell Early
Stage Fund, a venture capital
and pre-venture capital fund at
the Business School under the
Zell Lurie Institute. For students
interested
in
the
venture
capital space, ZESF provides an
opportunity to gain experience
investing in real early-stage
companies. The fund is run
by
undergraduate
business
students and supervised by a
faculty managing director.
“ZESF is primarily focused
on giving undergraduates an
immersive experience in the
venture capital due diligence
process,” Modi said. “While I
just joined this semester, the
class is organized into two
main functions: education and
deal experience. The education
side is mixed between student
and professor-run discussions
on the fundamentals of due
diligence
and
early-stage
analysis … On the deal side, our
professor, Erik Gordon, helps us
run a full due diligence process
on the company in question. I
have not participated in this
process yet, but from what I
understand,
this
involves
a
significant amount of detailed
research,
expert
interviews
and
class-based
discussions
regarding the legitimacy of the
company. Once the process is
completed, the students are
able to decide whether to invest
capital. Investments typically
range between $20,000 and
$200,000, depending on the size
and potential of the company.”
Modi
said
ZESF
is
also
working
to
improve
their
outreach efforts to improve
diversity within the group.
“As
an
undergraduate,
I
haven’t had much experience
with the professional venture
capital
world,”
Modi
said.
“However,
based
on
my
experience thus far in ZESF,
I’ve
noticed
that
there’s
a
disproportionately high ratio
of male to female students. The
reasons for this vary, but a large
reason for this has to do with
the marketing of the club. We
are currently making amends to
the process by hosted diversity
events and women-specific info-
sessions, and are continuing
to develop our strategies to
equalize the diversity of the
class.”
Modi offered some advice on
entering the startup space with
a new idea.
“Think it through,” he said.
“A lot of people come into the
scene imagining how great their
ideas will be, but fail to fully
formulate a concrete plan of
execution on the business. There
are a lot of moving components
when crafting a new company,
and if done with the partial
effort it just won’t work.”
On venture capital, Modi
pointed out the difficulty of
entering the space as a new
graduate.
“Venture capital, on the other
hand, is a difficult field to enter
right after college,” Modi said.
“Instead, I’d recommend getting
involved with something such
as ZESF to refine their interests
and understand the field. After a
few years working in an industry,
if they’re still interested, that
would be the time to look at
options in venture capital.”
Ajao also had advice for
students:
to
focus
on
real
world problems and to apply
technology to solve problems
that affect the people they know.
“What I would recommend
is to not get distracted by
very shiny words like A.I.
or blockchain — which are
fantastic
technologies,”
Ajao
said. “Focus on how that can be
applied to a problem that you
face day-to-day, and a problem
that is extremely authentic to
you or to your family, because
that is where the secret sauce
is going to come. Because at the
end of the day, founders that are
successful are solving problems
that they know better than
anyone else.”
STARTUP
From Page 1A
“A lot of people
come into the
scene imagining
how great their
ideas will be.”