According to their website,
Mcity is collaborating with the
University’s Transportation Insti-
tute to launch an on-demand,
autonomous transportation sys-
tem in Ann Arbor by 2021.
Morton said Mcity’s next step
would be working on individual,
completely self-sufficient cars, an
achievement she does not expect
to see during her career due to the
various hurdles in autonomous
vehicle research. Citing a report
by the Rand Corporation, Morton
noted extensive work is still need-
ed to prove autonomous vehicles
are at least as safe as human-oper-
ated cars.
“Forty-thousand people lose
their lives in traffic accidents
every year, that equates to rough-
ly one fatality per 100,000,000
miles driven,” Morton said. “That
means you’d have to travel, the
Rand Report says, anywhere
between 9 to 11 billion miles to
prove these are safe, or safer than
a human, statistically.”
In addition, Morton said, Mcity
must consider regulations sur-
rounding autonomous vehicles.
She said lawmakers have diffi-
culty keeping up with the pace of
innovation.
“Michigan is doing a great job
moving to be at the fore of try-
ing to understand how to safely
deploy these on the roadways, but
what will really unlock, I think,
the potential of this technology
is a national framework, which is
what folks like Mcity and others
are helping to try to inform,” Mor-
ton said.
Rebecca
DeVooght,
the
University’s
state
relations
director,agreed, adding the gen-
eral public has expressed con-
cern about autonomous vehicles,
including the University’s shuttles
— which are electric, 11-seat vehi-
cles produced by a French com-
pany called NAVYA — being used
to inflict harm.
“The very first question, once
we were in a NAVYA ride, was,
‘How can these be used for nefari-
ous purposes?’” DeVooght said.
Morton
expressed
concern
that the large-scale deployment
of autonomous vehicles could dis-
rupt business in Southeast Michi-
gan. Gilchrist noted, however,
the autonomous vehicle industry
presents opportunities for new
technical jobs.
“I really think that in terms of
different ancillary opportunities,
from a job creation and training
perspective,” Gilchrist said. “A
hardware and technician market
needs to happen, and servicing
and things, so you get to see that,
that’s part of the whole ecosys-
tem.”
Despite
the
challenges
in
autonomous
vehicle
research,
Morton praised Mcity’s work, say-
ing it has brought recognition to
the state of Michigan and contrib-
uted to the development of a tech-
nology that could provide physical
and economic mobility.
“It’s exciting to think that
Michigan can be at the core of
what the future looks like and
all the opportunities this could
bring,” Morton said. “It has given
Michigan a brand that other
states, other regions envy.”
Morton listed some of Mcity’s
major focus areas, including user
trust, market adoption, legal
issues, privacy and security, as
well as autonomous vehicle test-
ing. She also said Mcity places a
strong emphasis on federal and
state outreach alongside educa-
tion.
Through a partnership with
the Michigan Economic Develop-
ment Corporation, Mcity has cre-
ated an incubator called TechLab
which partners startups interest-
ed in autonomous vehicles with
undergraduates at the University.
According to Morton, TechLab
works with about four companies
a year.
Another example of Mcity’s
outreach, Morton said, is a Teach-
Out on self-driving cars currently
being hosted by the Office of Aca-
demic Innovation in partnership
with MCity. Overall, Morton said
working through the University
presents Mcity with opportuni-
ties to share its work with faculty,
students and industry members.
“The great thing about being
at an institution like U-M, as
you know, is a byproduct of our
research is education,” Morton
said. “When the talent pipeline is
under such restriction, we’re look-
ing for every way possible to lever-
age our platform here to educate
the next generation in this space,
really the first generation actu-
ally.”
Gilchrist concluded his visit
by heading to the Mcity track,
though The Daily was asked not to
join. He followed his tour of Mcity
with a visit to Washtenaw Com-
munity College, which is also con-
ducting research on autonomous
vehicle technology.
Alhasbani shared his story
of moving from Yemen to the
United States and establishing
his coffee business. Born in
Sana’a, Yemen, Alhasbani came
to the United States in hopes of
finding
better
opportunities.
He worked as the Marketing
Manager for Red Bull and Nestle,
respectively, but after 17 years he
moved to Michigan.
“I want to do something
different,” Alhasbani said. “We
own the best coffee in the world.
So I think it’s time to do it.”
He quit his job at Nestle and
began working on his coffee
business in Dearborn. Alhasbani
said
he’s
pleased
with
his
decision, but acknowledged the
initial challenges.
“It’s not easy — there’s no
income,” Alhasbani said. “But I
said, that’s fine. It’s going to be
okay.”
Alhasbani opened Qahwah
House in 2018. He intended
for people to understand the
country of Yemen and the story
of its people.
“People see the coffee, but
they don’t see how we bring it,”
he said. “We talk to the people,
tell them what’s going on in
Yemen. They come to drink the
coffee and we tell them our
story.”
Alhasbani
continued
discussing the challenges Yemen
is currently facing and how he
tries to help.
“People don’t have food or
medicine,” he said. “It’s not a
small problem. It’s every house
in Yemen. We try to send the
message for people to help
Yemen.”
Following his presentation,
Alhasbani held a question and
answer session. Many of the
questions
centered
around
Alhasbani’s business strategy.
One audience member asked
about his marketing strategy
and why Alhasbani believed his
coffee shop was so successful.
In part, Alhasbani said the
publicity for the coffee shop
comes about in a unique way.
“It’s social media,” he said.
“They taste something good,
they share it.”
Alhasbani was also asked
about how he got the confidence
to quit his job and trust that he
would succeed.
“Believe in yourself. If you
believe in yourself, you can do
anything,” Alhasbani said. “But
make a plan, take it step by step.
Study and do research.”
Alhasbani
also
discussed
his
newfound
connection
to Michigan and the city of
Dearborn. When he first came
to the United States, Alhasbani
moved
to
New
York
City.
He compared New York to
Michigan, explaining why he
prefers Dearborn.
“Over there you have friends,
but
you
never
see
them,”
Alhasbani
said.
“Everyone’s
busy. Here you feel like you’re
home.”
He then talked specifically
about his relationship with his
customers in Dearborn and how
he wants them to feel when
visiting Qahwah House.
“I try to make it special for
everyone,” Alhasbani said. “I
want to keep it for everyone, for
families and students, too.”
At the end of the event,
Alhasbani opened up to the
audience about the challenges he
has faced.
“I
didn’t
have
family,”
Alhasbani said. “I didn’t have
friends. I didn’t even have
a driver’s license or a work
permit.”
He then offered advice to those
in the audience who are trying
to decide what they want to do
in their life, urging them not to
choose a career just because of
the money or their parents.
“Think a lot about what want
you want to do,” Alhasbani said.
“Then just do what you like.”
LSA junior Rasheed Abdullah
helps with public relations for the
Yemeni Students’ Association.
He explained the organization
wanted to share Alhasbani’s
experiences and business.
“We
wanted
to
showcase
a
member
of
the
Yemeni
community with a unique story,”
Abdullah
said.
“We
though
hearing his entrepreneurial story
would be a unique opportunity
… With his success in the U.S.
as a Yemeni immigrant, and
his mission is to improve the
conditions back in Yemen, that’s
really inspiring.”
Public Health junior Jenna
Chami initially came to the event
for a class, but said she left with
a greater understanding of the
topic.
“It’s important to know that
the coffee you’re drinking, it
was hard to get,” Chami said. “I
think the stories behind it would
resonate with a lot of people.”
When Alhasbani was asked
what he would tell a person who
doesn’t know anything about
Yemen or coffee who came into
his shop, he offered a short and
direct answer.
“You tell them everything’s
good,” Alhasbnai joked. “Coffee
is coffee. Good coffee, anyway.”
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Thursday, February 21, 2019 — 3A
LSA
From Page 1
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YSA
From Page 1
DATA FOR PUBLIC GOOD SYMPOSIUM
MICHAEL BAGAZINSKI/Daily
Attorney Sean H. Donahue, of the D.C.-based law firm Donahue, Goldberg, and Weaver, LLP, gives a lecture on the rollback of
climate protection acts by the Trump Administration as part of the ELPP Lecture Series Tuesday afternoon.
Puscas said LSA SG has
been working to bring this
resolution to the floor for
close to two years. The spon-
sors of the resolution said it
was “common sense” that
students should be allowed
to take the last semester
pass/fail, since all other LSA
requirements, like quantita-
tive reasoning, do not need
to be taken for a grade to
count toward the distribution
requirement. Puscas said this
disparity is unfair for stu-
dents who may have difficul-
ties learning languages.
“Some students may strug-
gle with learning a language,
whereas other students may
excel at that,” Puscas said.
“But if I have a lot of difficul-
ty working with numbers and
models and stuff, I can take
my QR requirement pass/fail.
However, if I’m a student that
struggles learning languages,
that isn’t a liberty on the final
course of the sequence that’s
afforded to me.”
Reid, who serves on the
technology, advising and aca-
demic committee, said a cur-
riculum committee meeting
in 1994 determined that stu-
dents who take the language
requirement pass/fail show
“minimal interest” and “put
forth minimal effort” in the
courses. Reid contested these
claims, saying students who
take courses pass/fail are
actually better able to explore
their interest in the language
without worrying about GPA.
“The stigma is still there
around taking a class pass/
fail,” Reid said. “So I think
this is one of many projects
we hope to pursue in terms
of trying to reverse the nar-
rative on this stigma around
pass/fail courses.”
Ammond, who serves as the
chair of the academic affairs
committee for LSA SG, also
noted how a student taking a
course pass/fail is held to the
same standard as those tak-
ing it for a grade.
“The threshold for receiv-
ing this proficiency credit is
a C-, which is also the thresh-
old for pass or fail,” Ammond
said. “That’s roughly about a
30 percent, a 70 percent is a
C- in a curved course. Your
participation grade is roughly
a 30 percent. So if you don’t
participate at all, you’re not
going to pass a class, because
if you don’t participate at all
it’s highly unlikely you’ll get
a 100 percent on everything
else. So the argument that
these students aren’t partici-
pating at all just doesn’t make
any sense.”
LSA SG also passed a res-
olution 24 to 0 in favor of
working to fix MCard read-
ers in residence halls, which
they said repeatedly fail to
work. Reid said a survey sent
out to students showed that
86.1 percent of respondents
had to swipe their MCards at
least three times, making the
process frustrating and inef-
ficient for residents.
The government also voted
to confirm Nicholas Fadanel-
li, Rackham student and for-
mer LSA SG president, as
elections director for their
upcoming
election.
Before
bringing the vote to the table,
LSA SG President Nathan
Wilson, LSA senior, praised
Fadanelli’s previous work as
elections director.
“He’s
been
a
dedicated
member of student govern-
ment for his four years of
undergraduate
education,”
Wilson said. “He was our
elections director last semes-
ter and we believe he does
an excellent job running the
election. He produced the
most comprehensive report
that has ever been produced
by an elections director and
he has been working with us
since producing that report
on improving our processes
for elections.”
“Many people and individuals
within our communities, such as
you all, have already been actively
working
to
make
sustainable
changes, but we can’t do this alone.
We have to come together, and
that’s exactly what this is today.”
The panelists who spoke at the
event were Adam Simon, professor
of
earth
and
environmental
sciences at the University; Joshua
MacDonald, energy coordinator for
Ann Arbor; Dominic Bednar, third-
year PhD student in Environment
and Sustainability and Rackham
student Fern MacDougal, who
studies conservation energy.
The
panel
responded
to
questions about what challenges
hinder the University’s progress
when it comes to fighting climate
change and what steps students
and community members might
take
to
tackle
them.
Adam
Simon, professor of earth and
environmental sciences at the
University
highlighted
faculty
members’ lack of acknowledgment
of the magnitude and complexity
of the issues concerning climate
change we face as a major obstacle
to
progress.
He
emphasized
the importance of seeking help
in
improving
sustainability
initiatives.
“I think if we were willing to
accept that we don’t have to know
everything nor can we, then we
would make progress at a much
faster right,” Simon said.
Dominic
Bednar,
third-year
PhD student in Environment
and Sustainability emphasized
the importance of emphasizing
diversity
within
the
climate
change movement.
“Climate
change
disproportionately
affects
low
income people of color, so how
do we weave those people into
the conversation to, again, help
us
understand,”
Bednar
said.
“We don’t necessarily have all
the answers, but when you put a
diverse group of people together
you’re able to innovate much more
rapidly.”
Simon also proposed that the
multitude of clubs on campus
focused on climate change should
come together to ensure their
collective impact is lasting.
“Your time on campus is finite,”
Simon said. “You are here, you are
loud, you’re gonna leave. And you
have to make sure when you’re
gone the next group of students is
going to be as loud as you are.”
Following the panel, attendees
split into small groups to discuss
the ideas put forth by the panelists.
A list of prompts were projected on
the front of the room, encouraging
attendees to brianstorm the best
ways to take action.
Students also shared what
brought them to the event. LSA
sophomore Aviva Nemeth said she
wanted to learn how to do more to
fight climate change.
“I’m here because I don’t really
know that much about what’s
happening on the Ann Arbor level
or on the University level beyond,
like, putting compost bins in the
dorms,” Neveth said.
While in groups, attendees
were also encouraged to submit
words or phrases into a word
bubble which was subsequently
projected and used to guide the
whole group discussion. Some of
the most prominent words and
phrases
were
“accountability,”
“intersectionality,” “strike” and
“reaching across the aisle.”
The leaders of the event then
picked out major words and asked
attendees to share what they had
discussed in their groups. LSA
sophomore Basil Alsubee shared
his ideas on the point of bringing
more diverse voices into the
climate change movement.
“A lot of the times as a person of
color, you know, communities of
color, we have an issue where we,
for various reasons, are a little bit
cynical about the climate change
movement, and it’s not very high
on our list of priorities,” Alsubee
said. “The question of bringing
more people of color into rooms
like this, to enter this conversation
where it’s not sort of seen as a
conversation for quote, unquote
‘hipster white people’, I think is a
major, major obstacle we have to
overcome.”
CLIMATE
From Page 1
MCITY
From Page 1
It’s exciting to think
that Michigan can
be at the core of the
future
The second speaker was Kang
Chol-Hwan,
a
North
Korean
defector, who was imprisoned in a
North Korean concentration camp
after his grandfather was accused
of treason.
He is currently the founder and
president of the North Korea Strat-
egy Center, an organization dedi-
cated to educating North Korean
defectors and bringing awareness
to human rights abuses committed
by the North Korean government.
Kang’s time at the Gulag concen-
tration camp is what led him to
make the choice to defect.
“The concentration camps in
North Korea are shockingly ter-
rible; they are like the Nazi camps
under Hitler and Stalin’s labor
camps except that they have last-
ed longer,” Kang said in Korean*.
“There has not been a concentra-
tion camp in history that lasted for
more than 50 years; North Korea is
the only one.”
Despite there initially being
hope in the new ruler due to his
Western education, Kim Jong-un
has executed more citizens and
government officials — including
his own aunt, his father’s wife as
well as high ranking military offi-
cials — than his father and pre-
decessor, Kim Jong-il, in the last
decade.
Kang further elaborated on Kim
Jong-un’s attempt at recovering
his country by taking part in talks
with the American government.
“He’s infiltrating his own gov-
ernment,” Kang said. “There is
no longer trust in the regime. It’s
weak. That is why he met with
Trump, to lift the sanctions. If
President Trump addresses the
issue of human rights in exchange
for denuclearization there is a high
chance that North Korea will col-
lapse in the next couple years. But
given current talks, there is a high
chance that Trump is falling for
the lies of Kim Jong-un.”
NORTH KOREAN
From Page 1
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