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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