After
a
discussion
about
potential water erosion from the
creek nearby, traffic analysis,
concerns
about
mushy
land
and fire safety hazards, the
commission amended two aspects
of the motion by changing the
bike parking location and adding
traffic
calming
mechanisms,
and then approved the motion to
council.
The commission then moved
on to discuss two new companion
projects:
a
multi-family
residential six-story building next
to the Michigan Theatre and a
19-story high rise next door on
East Washington that will feature
240 residential units.
Ann Arbor resident Ethel Potts
attended the meeting and spoke
out against the projects due to
the fact they won’t have parking.
Potts said she already struggles
to find parking in the State Street
area, and adding large housing
complexes will only make it more
difficult.
“We have before us all the
State Street character overlay
zoning district with a 6-story
building and no parking,” Potts
said. “Major problems will result
since the adjacent public parking
structure is full with very limited
hours open to the public. I try to
use it regularly and can’t.”
However, seven community
members spoke in favor of the
State
Street
building.
Doug
Kelbaugh,
professor
at
the
Taubman College of Architecture
and Urban Planning, addressed
the environmental benefits of Ann
Arbor residents living further
downtown.
“The more people that live
downtown, the more that walk
and bike, and the less that
commute by car,” Kelbaugh said.
“They also live in smaller spaces
which take less energy to heat and
to cool, and there are just lots of
advantages for urban living.”
According to the presenters,
the East Washington high rise
requires the demolition of five
current buildings, it will meet
LEED silver standards and it will
have onsite parking.
Commission members voiced
concerns regarding room for
Amazon deliveries, rideshares
and
food
delivery
services,
solar energy and the amount of
affordable housing, but ultimately
the commission voted to approve
both buildings.
The last item of business on
the agenda was an amendment to
create a new zoning designation
called a T1 Transit Support
district. The designation will
allow
for
more
mixed-use
development further outside of
downtown Ann Arbor, creating
space for a transit corridor.
City planner Alexis DiLeo said
the T1 district will be the first
Ann Arbor district to require both
residential and commercial areas.
It is designed to lower energy
costs and needs for residents.
She said there is a mixed-use
requirement, and half of the
floor area in all buildings, but no
more than 66 percent of it must
be used for household living.
DiLeo added the current target
area for the district is between
Washtenaw Avenue, South State
Street and East/West Eisenhower
Boulevard.
Meeting
attendee
Joan
Lowenstein spoke for the board of
the Washtenaw Housing Alliance.
She said she is strongly in favor
of the T1 district because it could
help the environment and, in turn,
create affordable housing options.
“I think we have two primary
crises that are going on right now
that affect local government:
the first is climate change and
the other is affordable housing,”
Lowenstein said. “If we can
reduce the need to use cars, that
will go a long way towards helping
us with climate change… I think
this T1 district has great potential
to increase affordability, not the
least of which is making sure
someone doesn’t need to have a
car.”
Community
member
Adam
Goodman
said
he
“enthusiastically supports” the
new zoning district. He echoed
what
Lowenstein
said
and
discussed how allowing people
to live close to where they work
eliminates the need for driving
everywhere .
“Simply put, we have to find
ways to get people to be able to
live closer to where they work,
where they go to school and
so on,” Goodman said. “What
I see here is the beginning of
a recognition that we need to
work on housing for people and
not for cars. This has more of
an effect than you might think
because if you remove the
requirement for developers to
build space for cars, that makes
their costs go down, which
means that the cost of the
housing also goes down.”
Audience member Julie Ritter
was not as enthusiastic about
the T1 district. Ritter is on the
committee for the Master Plan
project, which sets Ann Arbor’s
long term goals for growth and
development, and has consulted
nationally recognized groups for
this work. She said if a T1 zone
was a good idea, these groups
would have suggested it.
“Every
single
consultant
group that we have interviewed
has
been
a
nationally
recognized
group,”
Ritter
said.“They are professionals,
they have wide experience. Do
you think they have not heard
of T1 transit support districts?
Do you think they would not
recommend them? My other
concern is the transit piece.
Ann Arbor has no transit. We
have a bus system that struggles
mightily to provide service…
to get into Ann Arbor you have
to drive a car. Where are those
cars going to go? The University
is proposing a new hospital and
a college of pharmacy with no
new parking spaces. Where are
these cars going to go? Until we
get transit, why have a transit
corridor?”
Weinstein shared how his
first-hand experiences with
Midwesterners helped him
structure his stories.
“There is kind of that
part of the safety that the
way that people are very
friendly in the Midwest, but
also very distant internally,”
Weinstein said. “And that
creates
this
wonderful
irony.”
Since
Roth
writes
for
an
audience
of
primarilyteenagers
and
young adults, she has often
been asked if she feels like
she’s trying to teach a lesson
through her readers. Roth
said she doesn’t feel like
her writing is supposed to
teach — it’s meant to be an
escape from the real world.
Ultimately, Roth wants her
writing to be a safe haven
for young people.
“I think that it’s pretty
clear now that the youths
don’t really need me to
teach them things.” Roth
said. “They have access to a
lot more information than I
ever did. They are way more
aware of the world. They’re
starting climate strikes and
marching for our lives and
I think what they need is
a safe place to go and I can
create that and a quiet place
to think, then that’s all I can
do.”
When asked about her
process of writing dystopian
novels,
Roth
mentioned
she is usually a pessimistic
person, but that changes
when she starts writing.
“I have a lot of pessimistic
impulses, but when I write,
I tend to challenge my own
thoughts about the world
and about people,” Roth
said. “I’m a little pessimistic
about people too, but when
I write I find myself by
having hope instead and …
that’s why I do it.”
LSA
freshman
Molly
Duplaga attended the event
and was excited to hear
from a successful female
author. She thought both
Roth and Weinstein had a
lot of valuable information
to share about writing and
their own life experiences.
“I really enjoyed listening
to Roth and Weinstein speak
and hearing both of their
thoughts on the process
of writing,” Duplaga said.
“They were fun to listen to
and relatable. I liked how
they both appreciated the
Midwest and were able to
put into words what it’s like
to live here.”
LSA junior Alyssa Cutter is
from Battle Creek, where two
wolves were infected with
EEE. Cutter said she wonders
if the emergence of EEE is a
result of climate change.
“It will be interesting to
see if this is something that
emerges again next year and
the year after that as we see
the environment for mosquitos
shifting with climate change,”
Cutter said.
In
addition,
Cutter
explained she has noticed
the effects of EEE in her
hometown, as Battle Creek
has announced new safety
measures. The measures have
received
some
pushback,
though, Cutter said.
“Public
health
officials
have put out information in
the last few days that they’ll
be doing aerial sprays with
organic pesticide, and there’s
actually been a lot of push
back from those counties to
get aerial spray taken off the
agenda,” Cutter said. “People
are worried about what it will
do to their pets, inhaling the
residue and the effects it will
have on pollinators.”
According to their website
as of Sept. 26, Washtenaw
County Health Department
will also participate in the
aerial spraying of a small
portion of Washtenaw County
to combat the spread of the
virus. It notes residents can
opt out via email, but affirms
aerial
spraying
does
not
carry any significant risks
to human health, pets or the
environment.
Since
climate
generally
refers to a long period of time
and this has been the only
large
occurrence
of
EEE,
Spindler suspects weather is
the source of the spread and
reaffirms the importance of
staying informed.
“People can always inform
themselves by going to the CDC
site, and there’s a really nice
EEE virus page that has things
about prevention, symptoms,
transmission, statistics, links
and references,” Spindler said.
“For any infectious disease
that you hear about, go to
some reputable source.
Dingell’s
late
husband,
former
U.S.
Rep.
John
Dingell, D-Mich., also used
opioids to treat his pain
from cancer. Dingell said it’s
important not to stigmatize
people with real pain and
emphasized the need for
alternative pain medication.
“We
have
to
develop
alternative pain pills, so that
people get pain relief without
becoming addicted, and we
need to not stigmatize those
who have real pain, or not
give them the pills that they
need, while at the same time,
keeping our kids, keeping our
neighbors, our families, from
ever starting them,” Dingell
said.
According
to
keynote
speaker Adreanne Waller, an
epidemiologist and author
of the Washtenaw County
Opioid
Report,
the
first
five months of 2019 have
shown a decrease in opioid
prescription and emergency
overdose visits.
Waller
detailed
a
number
of
factors
that
contributed to the epidemic,
including
untreated
mental
health,
corporate
greed, unemployment and
disabilities.
“There’s a number of —
and I keep adding to this
list — big issues that have
become much more crystal
clear over the years within
this
epidemic,”
Waller
said. “The historic, unjust
responses to the crack and
cocaine epidemic and how
that
injured
generations
of families. We’ve learned
so
much
about
other
substance abuse disorders…
the incredible, high profit
margins
of
marketing
addictive
substances,
untreated
mental
health,
mental
illness
affects
changes
in
healthcare
delivery, deepen social ties,
employment and disability
challenges, as well as linked
with
lacking
economic
opportunity. This list gets
longer and longer.”
Waller also said 2,100
of
300,000
emergency
department
visits
from
January 2011 to May 2019
in Washtenaw County were
related to opioid poisoning,
and those with Medicaid
seem to exhibit higher rates
of visits to the ER concerning
repeat opioid overdoses.
Waller, along with others
at the summit, said she
believes treating childhood
trauma
may
be
key
to
preventing opioid addiction.
“I
really
feel
that
understanding more about
the link between trauma
and opiate overdoses might
enable us to identify trauma
as almost the preventative
test
—
mammography,
if you will — that will
prevent ultimately an opiate
overdose,”
Waller
said.
“It helps us to see things
much earlier than we would
otherwise. And if that pain,
that that person has, is
covered up with a chemical
euphoria, like opioids, it can
delay treatment until the
cancer has spread.”
Adverse
Childhood
Experiences, or ACEs, is the
terminology for measuring
childhood
trauma.
According
to
the
World
Health Organization, ACEs
is the most important health
discovery of the century.
Zaire
Totty,
project
coordinator for the System
for
Opioid
Overdose
Surveillance at the University
of
Michigan
Injury
Prevention Center, said this
event is a good opportunity
to bring together people
from different fields.
“I
think
it’s
a
good
opportunity for a lot of the
different stakeholders to get
together as well, especially
because this is an epidemic
that comes from so many
different
parts
of
public
health,” Totty said. “With
prescribers and recreational
use, I really think it’s a good
time to get individuals from
different disciplines that are
working on this topic.”
Amy
Rucker,
project
coordinator
for
the
University
of
Michigan’s
Injury Prevention Center,
acknowledged
the
importance
of
bringing
together the community to
discuss the issue.
“I
think
it’s
really
important to bring different
stakeholders and providers
from
across
Washtenaw
County and across the state
… to an event to talk about
something
so
important,”
Rucker
said.
“Yet
even
within
organizations
within the University of
Michigan, we have a lot of
different projects and and a
lot of different centers and
institutes working on the
opioid epidemic … So just
bringing everyone together
in one space, we get to learn
what
everyone’s
doing.
We can collaborate, make
meaningful connections.”
Sarah
Khan,
a
student
studying
social
work
at
Eastern Michigan University,
emphasized the importance of
the opioid crisis in relation to her
career path.
“As
somebody
who’s
majoring in social work, I think
it’s really important to know
different things that affect
your community,” Khan said.
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Wednesday, October 2, 2019 — 3A
Johnson
said
the
ban
ignores the true reason kids
vape.
“What we found out is that
kids aren’t really attracted
to the flavors, they’re not
opposed,” Johnson said. “But
what they’re attracted to is
the buzz that they’re gonna
get
from
these
nicotine
products,
and
they
are
usually buying the highest
nicotine level out there —
usually around five to seven
percent.”
After speaking with small
shop vape owners, Johnson
said the largest sales come
from those trying to quit
smoking,
who
typically
buy products that contain
nicotine levels at 2 percent
or lower.
“If you allow for the low-
level nicotine products that
are flavored for e-cigarettes,
the kids aren’t going to be
gravitating
towards
them
because they don’t get that
same buzz,” Johnson said.
“The fact of the matter is
that 65 percent of the kids
are using mint-flavor vaping
products,”
Johnson
said.
“The reason they’re using
mint is because that’s what
the common flavor for is for
those
high-nicotine-level
products.”
Rep.
Beau
LaFave,
R-District
108,
also
introduced a bill that would
overturn the ban. He spoke
to The Daily about what
his bill would do, primarily
restricting
Whitmer’s
abilities to declare this as a
health emergency.
“House Bill 4996 removes
the governor’s ability to ban
e-flavored nicotine products
for adults in the state of
Michigan and would remove
her ability (to do so) under
the emergency health crisis
act,” LaFave said.
He said the emergency
health crisis act was meant
to address highly contagious
illnesses.
“When
we
drafted
the
statute that gave the governor
the ability to declare a state of
emergency for emerging health
crises, we were thinking about
things such as bird flu or HIV
or any other communicable
disease that could theoretically
spread as an epidemic,” LaFave
said. “What (it’s) not designed
for is things that the governor
doesn’t like.”
LaFave said the ban does not
even address the actual issues,
which he says are marijuana
vaping products that contain
vitamin E.
“The governor’s ban does
not affect the actual substances
that are causing these illnesses,”
LaFave said. “A study out of
one of our sister states found
that over 85 percent of those
who reported illnesses using
vaping products were using
black market marijuana vaping
products.”
LaFave told The Daily about
a vape shop owner in Hope,
Michigan, who has an 87-year-
old customer who quit smoking
cigarettes by vaping. He said her
favorite flavor is Fruity Pebbles
and believes she is an example
of how flavored products are not
geared toward children.
“That’s what got her to quit
after 50 years of smoking,”
LaFave said.
LSA junior Caroline Nelson
said she supports Whitmer’s
ban because she feels it is clearly
aimed toward protecting the
younger generations.
“I agree with it,” Nelson said.
“I don’t think people should be
selling things or smoking that
are so fruity. It’s clearly targeted
towards younger kids.”
Nelson said she used to
vape, but after recent reports of
vaping-related illnesses, she
has tried to stop using the
product.
“I started Juuling probably
two years ago and I’m now
starting to wean off,” Nelson
said. “It’s so bad for you and
all these articles are coming
out and people are having
seizures, it’s really scary.”
Nelson does not think
Whitmer’s ban should be
undercut in any way.
“It
makes
me
think,
‘Who do these e-cigarette
companies and Juul have
in
Congress
that
they’re
paying
to
overturn
(this
ban)?’” Nelson said. “There’s
no reason people should be
pushing to allow people to
smoke.”
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The University of Michigan
Sustainable
Food
Systems
Initiative held its 6th annual
Fast Food For Thought event
Tuesday night. Nine speakers
presented on a range of topics
surrounding sustainable food
to over 200 students.
The speakers each had five
minutes to present their topic,
creating a fast-paced series
of lectures. Topics ranged
from
childhood
obesity,
presented
by
Assistant
Professor Katherine Bauer, to
Professor John Vandermeer’s
discussion of sustainability
in Puerto Rico during the
current political climate.
Students
in
attendance
appreciated the short format
of the talks. LSA junior Mark
Castaneda said he felt the
talk was easier to absorb than
other longer, more research-
heavy events.
“When you’re talking about
research, it gets really hard
to keep people’s attention
for a long time, so having
[the presentations] be five
minutes is really effective,”
Castaneda said.
Some
other
topics
covered
included
analysis
of whether meal kit services
can
be
environmentally
friendly.
Program
in
the
Environment
director
Shelie Miller discussed her
research surrounding meal
kit services, and whether the
excess packaging prevents
sustainability. Miller found
that, though grocery stores
have less packaging, using
meal kits is actually more
sustainable than shopping at
the grocery store due to the
amount of waste emitted in
each scenario.
Ultimately,
Miller
concluded
the
packaging
wasn’t the deciding factor.
Instead, it was what was
in the package that made
something sustainable or not.
“It doesn’t matter how you
get your food,” Miller said. “It
matters what the protein is.”
Other speakers, such as
School
for
Environment
and Sustainability research
fellow Martin Heller and
School
of
Public
Health
research
fellow
Katerina
Stylianou, also focused on
the issue of protein. They said
beef was a huge outlier when
it came to food consumption’s
effect on the environment.
Stylianou
attempted
to
answer the question “should
we all become vegan?” and
found replacing beef and
processed meats with more
sustainable foods such as
nuts and fruits could lead
to a 40-percent reduction
in our carbon footprint, and
add 50 minutes per day to
that
person’s
life.
Heller
stressed the importance of
institutional change when
looking
at
food
system’s
effects on the environment,
pointing out altering what
kind of foods universities and
other large institutions serve
could have a huge impact on
the way food consumption
affects the environment.
LSA senior Caroline Hall
told The Daily she thought
the event was a great way to
be introduced to numerous
topics
surrounding
food
systems.
MOLLY NORRIS
Daily Staff Reporter
The initiative held its 6th annual forum for over 200 students
Fast Food for Thought event
looks at sustainability, meal kits
Read more at
MichiganDaily.com
Read more at
MichiganDaily.com