In
the
wake
of
the
University’s
announcement
of their intention to purchase
renewable
energy
from
Michigan-based
company
DTE
Energy,
Overpeck
referenced the importance
of making lasting efforts to
promote carbon neutrality
beyond campus.
“We’re really all in this
together,”
Overpeck
said.
“Not just trying to find ways
to make the University carbon
neutral as fast as we can, we
just got out first big wind
purchase announced today,
but finding ways to help
society, other universities,
our community we live in, the
state of Michigan, the nation,
go carbon neutral much faster
than anybody has really been
thinking. It’s our job to make
that happen.”
Before
taking
questions
from the audience, Schlissel
said he was excited to receive
feedback
from
students
regarding the effort towards
carbon neutrality.
“I’ve been hearing from
students
and
faculty,
so
I
really
welcome
the
opportunity to hear from
you directly to tell you a bit
about
what
I’m
thinking
and get your advice as we
move
forward,”
Schlissel
said. “I can certainly say the
advocacy
significantly
by
students around the effects
of greenhouse gases on global
climate change is coming
through loud and clear, and I
want to spend this hour really
listening to you and hearing
directly from you.”
Schlissel said community
input
is
key
to
his
understanding of the issue of
climate change and achieving
carbon neutrality on campus
and beyond.
“I do not pretend to be an
expert on climate change
and
global
warming
and
greenhouse
gases
—
I’m
a biologist and a medical
doctor and I’m responsible
for making the best decisions
I
can
on
behalf
of
our
community,” Schlissel said.
“When I don’t have expertise,
I rely on people that really
do,
so
I
really
welcome
everybody’s input.”
Though
appreciative
of
the event, Climate Action
Movement member Jonathan
Morris,
an
Environment
and
Sustainability
graduate student, said he
was
disappointed
it
took
prolonged student activism
for the dialogue to take place.
“A lot was talked about,”
Morris said. “I appreciate that
we were able to have this event
and it’s pretty unfortunate
that it took people sitting it at
Fleming for seven hours and
10 students getting arrested
for him to agree to this event,
because that’s what people
were asking for.”
When
asked
about
legitimacy of using natural gas
in attaining carbon neutrality,
as well as the effectiveness of
the new Central Power Plant
expansion, Schlissel said it
would be valuable to look at
the University’s immediate
needs while keeping in mind
longer term goals.
“I think it is important
to account honestly for the
contributions that this new
combined
power
turbine
make to our efforts around
carbon neutrality,” Schlissel
said. “The situation we’re in
is we remain dependent, for at
least the short intermediate
term, to make the steam that
is necessary on our campus.”
When
asked
about
the
University’s
progress
on
carbon
neutrality
in
comparison
to
other
big
schools
such
as
Stanford
University and Ohio State
University,
Schlissel
said
every place is different, and
that comparable universities
are not necessarily as far
ahead.
“Every
university
is
different than every other,”
Schlissel
said.
“Every
university, as they advertise
their effort for accounting
greenhouse
gases,
uses
a
different set of definitions.
We count everything: We
have a very large health
system, we have thousands of
residence hall beds, we have
steam as a source of heating.
The situation here isn’t the
same as it is in California. It
isn’t sunny as much and the
wind doesn’t blow all the
time.”
Audience
members
immediately
interjected,
interrupting
Schlissel
and
calling out questions, in which
Schlissel attempted to calm
the crowd before continuing
to explain his commitment to
carbon neutrality on campus.
“I’m committed to get us
to neutrality,” Schlissel said.
“I’m asking this group to help
us figure out how to do it and
do it as quickly as possible.
The example is brought up
pretty often of Ohio State
University, who is just down
the road sort of, who is given
a lot of credibility in this
community — surprisingly.
I don’t think they’re ahead
of us in their efforts around
carbon neutrality. I think you
have to look at the data.”
Tegwyn
John,
LSA
senior and CAM member,
categorized the atmosphere
during
the
question
and
answer
session
as
disorganized and combative.
“I
think
people
were
clapping to the questioners,
and
nobody
applauded
Schlissel’s
answers,”
John
said. “I don’t think anybody
in the room today felt like
they
were
actually
being
listened to or getting genuine
answers to their questions.”
Alice
Elliott,
an
Environment
and
Sustainability alum, said she
felt the event led to some
conflicting statements from
Schlissel regarding practices
and
expectations
for
achieving carbon neutrality.
“He
talks
about
the
University being the leader
and the University setting the
stage for carbon neutrality
and for climate action, but
then immediately says, ‘Oh, it
has to be everybody,’” Elliott
said. “It’s confusing to me
why he seems to want to have
the University be both the
leader and the best in climate
action, but then says that you
need to do more, and recycle,
and be lobbying and register
to vote. If we’re here, if we sat
in the (Fleming) office and
we got arrested, we’ve done
all those things already.”
Schlissel
was
asked
repeatedly
whether
the
University would divest from
companies
that
produce
fossil fuels. Schlissel said
divestment lowers the value of
the University’s endowment,
which is necessary to fund
beneficial
activities
and
supplies on campus.
“Essentially,
we
don’t
divest,” Schlissel said. “It’s
not this cause, it’s essentially
all causes … We get more
payout from our endowment
here than we get money from
the state of Michigan, so
it’s really critical for us as a
robust university… If we begin
the process of narrowing
what the endowment can
invest in, based on very valid
arguments and concerns from
sincere people, the ability to
invest shrinks, the value of
the endowment goes down
and the institution suffers.
We’re
just
not
going
to
divest.”
Morris said the refusal
to
divest
represents
a
severe conflict between the
University’s
carbon
goals
and their desire to retain
the value of the endowment,
criticizing
Schlissel
for
refusing to divest.
“This is the most egregious
thing
the
University
is
doing,” Morris said. “He says
this is an existential threat,
that
young
people’s
lives
are at stake, that he believes
the
science,
he
believes
the gravity and the unique
existential challenge of this
issue, and yet this university
has a billion dollars directly
invested in the fossil fuel
industry.”
He
said
the
University’s
competitive nature makes low
income students feel as though
they must fit in with the lifestyle of
students of higher socioeconomic
status.
“I’ve been in a position to
speak with people about different
social expectations,” Sova said. “I
definitely think Michigan by far is
the most competitive and polarizing
in the sense that if you’re low income
here, I think you definitely have to
try to blend in with people.”
In 2017, The New York Times
found Michigan’s class of 2013 had
the highest median parent income of
27 “highly selective” public colleges,
at $154,000 per year.
In 2018, under alumni Anushka
Sarkar
and
Nadine
Jawad’s
administration,
CSG
published
an affordability guide to provide
advice on how to save money
while attending the University.
After its publication, the guide was
lambasted for being out of touch
to struggles lower socioeconomic
status students face. Suggestions for
saving money included restricting
impulse purchases and cutting back
on laundry services.
In
response,
Public
Policy
senior Lauren Schandevel, another
student who self identifies as low
socioeconomic status, created her
own affordability guide called
“Being Not-Rich at UM” to provide
what she hoped would be a more
accurate
and
comprehensive
publication for low socioeconomic
status students. The document is
public and can be edited by anyone.
Schandevel discussed how the
CSG guide was offensive in its
disregard for realistic economic
limitations lower socioeconomic
status students face.
“I think a lot of low-income
students, myself in particular, were
offended and a little frustrated about
the assumption that we don’t have
money because we are frivolously
spending, when that’s not the case,”
Schandevel said. “I think people
were a little disappointed when the
guide came out because we kind of
expected more.”
Sova had heard about Schandevel’s
guide before he transferred. While
he initially paid little attention to
the information in the document,
he said he quickly realized it was a
crucial resource for many students
with low socioeconomic status on
campus.
“I was actually sent that guide
probably by 10 different people
before I got here,” Sova said. “And I
remember thinking, as a Michigan
State student at the time, I was like,
‘That’s ridiculous, I won’t need that,
I’m sure it’s not that different over
there.’ It sincerely is.”
Schandevel said a peripheral goal
of the guide was to foster a sense
of community among contributors
and readers by publicizing a sort of
database that could benefit many
students who often feel invisible on
campus.
“Being
on
a
predominantly
wealthy
campus,
low
income
students fly under the radar,”
Schandevel
said.
“When
that
happens, they sort of internalize
some of the alienation that they feel
on this campus … Giving them space
where they can find each other and
share experiences is so powerful.”
City Councilmember Elizabeth
Nelson, D-Ward 4, said in an
interview with The Daily that
the University should take more
responsibility in helping students
with affordability as enrollment
increases, particularly with housing,
but noted City Council’s limited say
in the matter.
“I’m gradually learning about
how little influence we seem to have
over the University,” Nelson said. “As
a city, we would like the University
to take more responsibility for,
‘We’re going to admit this many
more students and we’ve made no
plans for where they will live.’”
According to a report sent to The
Daily by Jennifer Hall, Executive
Director of the Ann Arbor Housing
Commision,
an
average
four-
bedroom unit in Ann Arbor is
$1,140 per bed per month in rent, a
4.64 percent increase from the year
before.
In February of 2018, CSG reached
out to Schandevel for guidance
on how to provide more effective
resources to lower socioeconomic
status
students.
In
association
with CSG, Schandevel created the
Michigan Affordability Task Force,
which plans to start writing a five-
year plan next semester to serve as
a reference for future CSG parties
when creating legislation centered
on the well-being of students on
campus with lower socioeconomic
status.
Schandevel reflected on CSG’s
attempt throughout this term to
address concerns of students with
lower socioeconomic status through
initiatives like a housing survey and
the introduction of the task force.
She proposed a housing survey for
students to report their housing
experiences, rating landlords and
housing
companies.
According
to
Schandevel,
the
housing
survey — implemented by former
CSG President Daniel Greene’s
administration — will be annual.
CSG President Ben Gerstein, an
LSA sophomore, and Vice President
Isabelle Blanchard, an LSA junior,
said they believe additional surveys
to gauge student opinion and
experiences are critical to their
mission for the upcoming year.
“I think doing surveys like that
helps us to compile the information
to really draw proper conclusions
from it and also to have the data to
share with administrators or City
Council about what the real facts
are that students are experiencing,”
Blanchard said.
Blanchard
said
their
administration
will
work
to
advertise campus resources to
maximize affordability.
“For academic affordability, it’s
touched upon usually every year,
lowering the cost of textbooks,
but also increasing the amount of
textbooks we have in the library.”
Blanchard said. “It’s CSG’s job to
publicize the resources that are
already available.”
After reading Schandevel’s guide,
Ann Hower, director of the Office
of New Student Programs, created
a PDF version of the document
to be used as a central guide on
affordability for incoming students.
Hower said she was moved by the
collaborative nature of document.
“It was the students offering
encouragement
and
support,”
Hower said. “I think there can be
a feeling that a student may feel
like they are all alone … The most
important part of this is keeping the
student comments.”
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Wednesday, April 10, 2019 — 3A
AFFORDABILITY
From Page 1A
RHA
From Page 1A
CARBON
From Page 1A
SHAKE
From Page 1A
LATINX
From Page 1A
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“The Latinx community is
very diverse and the stories that
are told are often not reflective
of our community,” Morales
said. “And that’s reflective of
American society in general.”
But
at
the
same
time,
according to Trelles, there are
shared
identities,
histories
and sometimes problems that
affect these communities on
a national level. And it is this
reason, Trelles said, that it is
important to recognize the
nuances behind it.
“Beyond country of origin
or geographic placement, the
different factors that form this
broad community has to do
with language, ethnicity, race,
et cetera,” Trelles said.
Alvarez is the founder and
executive editor of Outlier
Media and through her focus
on a localized perspective, she
believes journalism should be
responsive to the needs of the
people, rather than the needs of
a big institutional newspaper.
According
to
Alvarez,
the
difficulty of finding the proper
language to describe such a
range of communities is the
reason that coverage is so poor.
“Even for those who do have
an identity that is rooted in
Latinx, we’re not necessarily
going
to
do
a
good
job
representing this community
because it is so big,” Alvarez
said. “We can see it’s being
poorly
done
in
American
journalism. People are too far
away from it, the coverage is
too far away.”
According to Nelsen, who
was a former Time Magazine
correspondent and New York
Times contributor in Chile, the
way Latin America is covered by
the international community is
very distinct. And due to a lack
of diversity and imagination in
newsrooms, there is a limited
view of stories.
“You can see it with the
caravan stories — they all
focus on tragedy and misery,”
Nelsen said. “The way the
United States views Latino
communities is that they try to
put everybody into a couple of
boxes.”
Trelles
explained
how
the
way
journalists
contextualize their stories has
a bigger impact on the world
as demographic shifts provide
more
opportunities.
When
Trelles was covering Hurricane
Maria
in
Puerto
Rico,
he
witnessed the particular ways
the story was framed on TV and
newspaper articles.
“Trump isn’t the story, ”
Trelles said. “It has to do with
Trump, but it also has to do
with the negligence of local
authorities, and that was lost
because people focused on the
bigger Trump story.”
According to Nelsen, elitism
in bigger media outlets often
makes it difficult for stories to
be told with a focus on local
politics or the narratives of
community members.
“The opportunity to story-
tell continues to grow as we
convince our editors and the
world as to why a story is
important,” Nelsen said.
Storytelling was a common
theme throughout the panel.
Many panelists said it is one
of their values as writers and
journalists, as well as one of
their inspirations.
“The
deepest
connection
that can be made through
journalism
is
storytelling,”
Trelles said. “It’s the best
way of learning how to walk
a mile in someone else’s shoes
without having to travel to
that indigenous community of
Mexico.”
Trelles
concluded
by
emphasizing journalists’ duty
to dive into stories and bring
to light the diversity within the
Latinx community.
“Latin America is united
by language and the shared
history, but divided by the kinds
of beans they eat,” Trelles said.
“The moral is that there’s a lot
more than the surface, and it is
our responsibility to recognize
that.”
Castranova
highlighted
Shake
Shack’s use of high quality natural
ingredients, as well as the chain’s
environmentally sustainable building
practices.
“In keeping with Shake Shack’s
commitment to green architecture
and eco-friendly construction, the Ann
Arbor Shack will be constructed with
recycled and sustainable materials,”
Castranova wrote. “Booths will be
made from lumber certified by the
Forest Stewardship Council, and table
tops will be made from reclaimed
bowling alley lanes.”
The company emphasized their
impact on the local Ann Arbor
community, through partnering with
local charities and food purveyors.
“We’ll also have a local charity
partner to whom we’ll donate 5% of
sales from one of our (frozen custard)
concretes. Our Shack team will
also volunteer,” Castranova wrote.
“Shake Shack’s mission is to Stand for
Something Good, from its premium
ingredients and caring hiring practices
to its inspiring designs and deep
community investment.”
However, despite Shake Shack’s
commitment to be environmentally
friendly, Business sophomore Jackie
Spryshak, a Graham Sustainability
Scholar, said she was opposed to Shake
Shack’s decision to expand into Ann
Arbor.
“Businesses
entering
any
community, especially large corporate
businesses, need to seriously focus on
the environmental and social impact
they bring,” Spryshak said. “Shake
Shack seems like they just want to
make a statement about ‘sustainability’
to meet the bare minimum effort and
they certainly aren’t going to serve the
community in any way.”
She cited concerns about plastic
and food waste production and
contributions to unsustainable food
systems and industrial agriculture,
as well as energy consumption and
overhead for the restaurant. Spryshak
also said the city of Ann Arbor
should play a part in the business’s
sustainability practices.
“I think it’s partly the city’s
responsibility to ensure that they at least
have their building be LEED-certified
and ideally have a commitment to low-
impact utensils and plates,” Spryshak
said. “They also need to comment on
their energy source and where/how
they will manage their food waste and
grease.”
Wang echoed the executive
statement, saying it would be better
for RHA to provide events and
services to the students they serve
rather than to pay its members. He
said elected representatives should
serve because they feel a calling to
the role with no expectation of pay.
“We do it because we love it
and we have the opportunity to
do it,” Wang said. “We recognize
that we have an opportunity to
make change on campus and that
our time that we put into this is
purely volunteer work and it’s not
something that we feel needs to be
compensated for.”
Wang cited a 2017 Central
Student
Government
resolution
to pay members that was vetoed
by then-CSG president Anushka
Sarkar. The veto came on the heels
of the creation of the Leadership
Engagement Scholarship, a CSG
and Office of Student Life award
that offers a small group of
students financial support for the
cost of membership dues as well
as providing compensation for
the unpaid time devoted to their
student organizations.
In a statement released following
her veto, Sarkar expressed concerns
of potential power dynamics created
by
intergovernmental
payment
systems as well as the public release
of student financial records.
RHA
brands
itself
as
the
University’s
residence
hall
governance. On its website, RHA
advertises
its
Pre-Class
Bash,
the Plants in the Hall! initiative
and Siblings Weekend as recent
accomplishments.
The
association
has
been
criticized in the past for an
“extremely
difficult”
work
environment leading one former
executive board member to resign
in 2018, and for its use of funds to
send North Quad Multicultural
Council members on a service trip
to Peru in 2011.
In an email to The Daily, RHA
President Brianna Marble, LSA
junior, declined an interview on
behalf of the executive board, but
wrote the board is looking forward
to further discussion about their
decision.
“As of right now, the Executive
Board will not be taking any
interviews,” Marble wrote. “We are
excited to continue the conversation
on this topic with Housing and the
future Executive Board.”
In the resolution, the RHA
stated its executive board works
10 to 12 hours each week while
working
without
receiving
compensation, whereas RAs work
20 hours per week and receive full
room and board plus additional
compensation,
totaling
$11,020
on average. The RHA wrote the
compensation available through
being an RA could potentially
encourage low-income residents to
first seek out an RA position before
an RHA position.
Ultimately, the RHA wrote the
resolution would encourage low-
income students to apply to and
join the executive board as well as
students currently on the board to
serve more terms. The association
wrote this will allow for a greater
ability to enact change within
the halls because of the learning
curve associated with serving on
the board, sometimes hindering
progress for members in their first
term.
Business
freshman
Fallon
Renehan,
a
current
Bursley
Residence
Hall
resident,
acknowledged
the
RHA’s
and
resident advisers’ hard work, but
said she feels using the money for
dorm activities should take priority
over
compensating
the
RHA
executive board.
“Personally, I feel like dorm
activities are really important
for kids who don’t have other
opportunities and I feel like
although the RHA board does a
good job, they are there for the
kids,” Renehan said. “Paying them
and taking away from the ability to
do their job well — which would be
to put on dorm activities like that for
kids — would be more important.”
One
RA,
who
requested
anonymity out of fear of retribution,
said compensation for the position
would encourage more students to
seek out these roles, which would
ultimately make the organization
better. He also noted RHA’s failure
in the past to do meaningful work
and said keeping the money for
student activities would not make
those events any more effective.
“Having a paid position in RHA
and LSA Student Government —
which they don’t have, but some
parties have pushed for in the past
— will naturally make the positions
more competitive,” the RA said.
“They’ll put added pressure on
them to do more. The RHA hasn’t
been especially effective. They
haven’t really added to campus
very much, and I think being on the
executive board is work and work
should be compensated.”
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