On 
Monday 
evening, 
about 50 students attended a 
fireside chat hosted by Lean 
In at University of Michigan 
in the Ross School of Business. 
The event discussed women 
in 
politics, 
and 
panelists 
included 
local 
Michigan 
state representatives as well 
as politically active campus 
leaders. 
The event began with each 
panelist 
talking 
about 
her 
own 
background. 
Michigan 
state Rep. Rebekah Warren, 
D-Ann Arbor, discussed the 
inspiration 
she 
gets 
from 
politics. 
She 
talked 
about 
the power and impact the 
legislature 
has 
on 
people’s 

lives. Despite her background 
in 
chemical 
engineering, 
Warren said her role in politics 
started when she realized her 
passion 
for 
problem-solving 
and building coalitions.
Warren 
wasn’t 
the 
only 
panelist to begin her career 
outside of the field of politics. 
Michigan state Rep. Donna 
Lasinski, 
D-Ann 
Arbor, 
discussed 
her 
career 
in 
business after graduating from 
the Business School. 
Lasinski said her interest 
in 
politics 
came 
directly 
from her personal life and 
experiences as a mother. Her 
children attended a Title 1 
school, meaning the school 
receives 
additional 
funds 
due to large concentrations 

of 
low-income 
students 
in 
need of supplemental aid in 
order 
to 
meet 
educational 
goals. 
Lasinski 
said 
she 
recognized 
the 
challenges 
that come from learning in 
such an environment, where 
opportunities and resources 
were scarce. She began her 
professional (political) career 
in padvocating for low-income 
students on the school board, 
which ultimately led her to the 
legislature.
“If you see a problem in your 
community, complaining is not 
your job,” Lasinski said. “Your 
job is to step forward and offer 
a political solution.”
For others, it was their 
environment which inspired 
them. LSA junior, Kate Westa, 
 

who 
is 
the 
co-president 
of 
WeListen, 
a 
student 
organization on campus focused 
on 
fostering 
conversations 
between political parties, cited 
her experience growing up 
with a family member in the 
Air Force. Westa said she had 
an opportunity to meet with 
former President George H.W. 
Bush and explained it was a 
pivotal moment in her life.
“I remember it so clearly,” 
Westa said. “He seemed to 
genuinely 
care 
about 
the 
country and his dedication 
to being a public servant. 
Everything since then has been 
in the political realm.”

michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Tuesday, April 16, 2019

ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-EIGHT YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM

GOT A NEWS TIP?
Call 734-418-4115 or e-mail 
news@michigandaily.com and let us know.

INDEX
Vol. CXXVIII, No. 104
©2019 The Michigan Daily

N E WS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

O PI N I O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

CL A SSIFIEDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

S U D O K U . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
michigandaily.com

For more stories and coverage, visit
Follow The Daily 
on Instagram: 
@michigandaily

Monday evening, about 50 
students, faculty and community 
members attended a vigil on 
the Diag to show solidarity and 
honor the lives of those impacted 
by the bombing in Quetta, 

Pakistan on April 12.
The attack was on an open-air 
market and targeted the Hazara 
population, an ethnic minority 
that includes many followers of 
the Shia sect of Islam. At least 
20 people were killed and 40 
were wounded as a result of the 
bombing.

The ceremony was presented 
by 
the 
Pakistani 
Student 
Association, the Islamic Society 
of Ahl-ul-Bayt and the Muslim 
Students’ Association. Former 
ISA President and LSA junior 
Syed Rizvi was the emcee of 
the vigil. He opened with a 
description of the events that 

occurred in Quetta and the 
people who were impacted by 
the attack.
“These victims were simply 
regular people going about their 
lives,” Rizvi said. 

Gene Sperling, economist 
and 
policy 
adviser 
to 
Presidents Bill Clinton and 
Barack Obama, reflected on 
his professional career and 
discussed economic dignity in 
an event Monday coordinated 
by the Ford School of Public 
Policy and the Center on 
Finance, Law and Policy as 
part of its Policy Talks series. 
This series brings prominent 
leaders in varying policy fields 
to campus to discuss their 
opinions on specific issues. 
Sperling served as the director 
and national economic adviser 
of 
the 
National 
Economic 
Council. 
Public Policy Dean Michael 
Barr, a friend of Sperling, 
moderated the event as an 
informal 
discussion. 
Barr 
spoke 
about 
Sperling’s 
impressive 
professional 
repertoire and history.

City Council 
bans use of 
Bird scooters 
in Ann Arbor
Council passes resolutions to license Spin, 
Inc., install first two-way protected bike lane

CATHERINE NOUHAN
Daily Staff Reporter

In its final meeting of the 
semester, the University of 
Michigan 
Senate 
Assembly 
voted to table a resolution 
that would support the faculty 
open letter on climate change 
action. 
Marschall 
Runge, 
executive vice president for 
medical affairs, also spoke to 
the assembly about the Medical 
School and University health 
system.
If passed, the resolution 
would 
have 
expressed 
the 
assembly’s 
support 
for 
the 
faculty open letter on climate 
action and encourage members 
of the University community 
to 
sign 
it. 
However, 
the 
resolution was tabled during 
the meeting. The letter, written 
by 
Deborah 
Goldberg 
and 
Knute Nadelhoffer, professors 
of ecology and evolutionary 
biology, currently has 30 pages 
of signatures.

‘U’ faculty 
table vote in 
support of
open letter

ACADEMICS

Senate Assembly postpones 
decision on letter condemning 
climate goals at final meeting

Community members gather for vigil
after bombing attack in Quetta, Pakistan

Ceremony honors the lives lost during an assault on an open-air market 

Economic 
advisor to 
politicians 
talks work 

CAMPUS LIFE

City Council voted on two 
resolutions Monday night that 
will alter public transportation 
in Ann Arbor this summer. 
The 
first 
resolution 
addressed was the licensing 
of Spin, Inc. as the only 
serviceable electric scooter 
in Ann Arbor. The exclusive 
contract 
is 
effective 
immediately, 
eliminating 
electric scooter competition in 
Ann Arbor during the three-
month license period. Aside 
from Bird scooters, which 
appeared 
throughout 
the 
city in August, other electric 
scooter companies that would 
also be banned from the city 
include Lime and Lyft. 
The resolution to license 
only Spin comes amid the 
concern over other electric 
scooter companies’ inability 
to cooperate with the local 
government on restrictions 
and maintenance. When the 
Bird scooters were deployed in 
Ann Arbor at the start of the 
University’s academic year, 
the city responded later in 
September by seizing scooters 
left in the middle of sidewalks 
or city walkways. Neither 
the University of Michigan 
nor the city of Ann Arbor 
were aware of Bird’s plans to 
drop scooters in the city, and 
many community members 

expressed 
concerns 
over 
pedestrian safety, questioning 
whether people should be 
allowed to ride scooters on 
sidewalks. 
Councilmember 
Jeff 
Hayner, 
D-Ward 
1, 
was 
unclear what this resolution 
would 
do 
with 
the 
impounded 
Bird 
scooters 
still possessed by the city of 
Ann Arbor. Spin spokesman 
Frank 
Speek, 
government 
partnerships manager, said 
they are attempting to work in 
collaboration with Bird. 
“We’re working out those 
details with Bird right now, 
and the intent is to return 
them to the company,” Speek 
said. 
Spin 
said 
they 
do 
not 
surprise cities with loads of 
scooters — according their 
website, 
they 
collaborate 
with college campuses and 
city 
governments 
before 
launching.
“Our 
partnerships 
team 
works 
closely 
with 
the 
administration and student 
government,” 
the 
Spin 
website states. “Unlike some 
competitors, we never dump 
scooters without permission.”
Spin 
will 
deploy 
200 
scooters, comparable to the 
number of Birds that were 
initially placed in Ann Arbor 
in August. 
See CITY , Page 3

See SENATE, Page 3
CLAIRE MEINGAST/Daily
Students gather at a vigil for the Quetta attack on the Diag Monday evening. 

Lean In panel looks at role of women 
in politics with local representatives 

Panelists discuss their journey to political involvement, challenges of the field 

Gene Sperling reflects 
on his political career,
 financial responsibility

See POLITICS, Page 3

HANNAH ALLBERY
Daily Staff Reporter 

KAYLEAH SON/Daily
Lean In hosts their final event of the semester, a Fireside Chat focused on Women in Politics, with panelists including state Rep. Donna Lasinski, D-Ann Arbor, state Rep. 
Rebekah Warren, D-Ann Arbor, as well as Kate Westa, Co-President of WeListen, at Ross Monday evening.

NIKKI KIM 
Daily Staff Reporter

PARNIA MAZHAR
Daily Staff Reporter

See ECONOMICS, Page 3

BARBARA COLLINS
Daily Staff Reporter
See VIGIL, Page 3

