The University of Michigan
Solar Car team placed third in
the Bridgestone World Solar
Challenge on Thursday afternoon
after a five-day, 1,800-mile race
through the Australian Outback.
The team’s car, Electrum,
reached
the
finish
line
in
Adelaide,
South
Australia
averaging about 49 miles per
hour. The Belgian team, Agoria,
placed first, followed by the
Japanese
team
from
Tokai
University.
Engineering junior Andrew
Dickinson, the project manager of
the 20-member team, said he was
proud of his team’s persistence
through all the challenges they
faced.
“I’m really proud of my team,”
Dickinson said. “We did a whole
lot together. We went through
a lot of challenges, and just one
thing about this team more than
any other team that I’ve been on is
that, every time I would walk into
the room and say, ‘guys, this bad
thing happened to this challenge
at this roadblock,’ … everybody in
the room is just ready to go, ready
to tackle it. It’s that persistence
that sets us apart.”
Assistant
professor
of
mechanical
engineering
Neil
Dasgupta was the team’s adviser
this year, but wasn’t able to
travel to Australia with the team.
Joanna Millunchick, associate
dean in the materials science and
engineering department, joined
the team instead.
Millunchick said she was
proud of the team, saying they
represented
the
“Michigan
difference.”
“I’m so proud of this team,”
Millunchick said in an email
interview.
“They
showed
incredible resilience in the face of
tremendous stress.
More than 100 people from across
the state of Michigan gathered
on the Diag for the first annual
Michigan National Period Day rally
on Saturday afternoon. Sponsored
by the non-profit PERIOD, the event
was one of a series of rallies being
held in every U.S. state to reduce the
stigma around menstruation and to
advocate for greater accessibility to
menstruation products.
Part of PERIOD’s mission is to
cultivate
national
conversations
about the difficulty of affording
period products for low-income
individuals, which the movement
refers to as “period poverty.”
According to PERIOD’s website,
the rallies were meant to kick off a
yearlong campaign calling for free,
clean, healthy and easily accessible
menstruation products in prisons,
shelters and schools.
The rallies also demanded the
end of the “tampon tax,” a popular
term used by menstrual activists to
refer to the value-added sales tax
on menstruation products. While
some
products
are
considered
“basic necessities” under the tax
code and are thus tax-exempt,
Michigan is one of 34 states in
which the “tampon tax” still exists
because menstruation products are
considered “non-essential goods.”
The Michigan rally was headed
by
Wayne
State
University’s
PERIOD chapter and organized
alongside chapters at the University
of Michigan, Western Michigan
University
and
Washtenaw
International
High
School.
The event was co-hosted with
organizations involved in menstrual
activism
including
Corner
Health Center, Dot.org, Planned
Parenthood, National Organization
for Women, Taylor Law Firm and
Helping Women Period.
Along
with
chants
and
spontaneous read-outs of poetry
michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Monday, October 21, 2019
ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-NINE YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
The
city
of
Ann
Arbor
celebrated the installation of solar
panels on the roof of Fire Station
Six with an event Friday afternoon.
About 50 people attended the
celebration, including city officials
and community volunteers.
Students for Clean Energy
at the University of Michigan
originally brought the idea of
installing more solar panels to the
city last year. Club participants
as well as other community
members volunteered to prepare
and perform the installation of 142
solar panels on the fire station’s
roof.
Engineering
senior
Grant
Dukus and LSA senior Taylor
Lind, members of Students for
Clean Energy, helped the club take
the idea to the city. Dukus said the
city was supportive of the student
group’s ideas.
“We reached out to the city,
basically saying that we had a
bunch of passionate, energetic
students who were looking for
this kind of like real world, hands-
on experience and we are willing
to put in whatever work necessary
to kind of get this to this point,”
Dukus said.
The
installation
occurred
over a two-day period, Lind
said. Volunteers laid out the
panels Thursday and Harvest
Energy LLC, the company which
partnered with the city to provide
the solar panels, ran the electric to
get the system up and running.
“It was a pretty hefty job for
two days of work,” Lind said.
“We’re definitely thankful for all
of the volunteers.”
The group raised a total of
$3,295 to go toward the solar
panels, which cost the city
$74,000. In May 2019, the
installation was postponed due to
safety and financial finalization.
The city of Ann Arbor was
able to reduce the overall cost
through a Solar Power Purchase
Agreement.
Josh MacDonald, sustainability
energy coordinator for the city of
Ann Arbor, said the students from
Students for Clean Energy played
a pivotal role in taking initiative on
the project.
“For us to continue to meet our
goals, it’s going to be important
to partner with the University,”
MacDonald said. “I think in many
ways, University of Michigan
students are that bridge and start
those kinds of conversations.”
MacDonald said an installation
of this size would normally last
a week, but the large number of
volunteers helped it run smoothly.
He estimated about 50 volunteers
helped with the project over the
two-day span.
“We were very, very happy and
pleased to see all the volunteers
come out,” MacDonald said. “I
think in many ways it also shows
that there’s a real untapped
interest in this community to be
a part of sustainability to really
reduce
our
greenhouse
gas
emissions. I’m really hopeful that
as we proceed, we can continue to
replicate the same model.”
The
city’s
Office
of
Sustainability and Innovations
and their Energy Commission also
worked in partnership with the
Students for Clean Energy on the
installation.
At the event, attendees were
able to climb onto the roof to see
the newly installed solar panels
and learn about solar energy. The
new system will be powering
approximately
98
percent
of
the building and can generate
52 kilowatts of energy at peak
capacity.
Mike Kennedy, Ann Arbor fire
chief, told The Daily the fire station
was excited to be able to partner
with University students and have
the opportunity to implement
sustainable energy sources into
Fire Station Six.
ANN ARBOR
Ann Arbor Fire Department installs
environmentally friendly panels
Solar installation intends to implement, improve clean energy in the community
BARBARA COLLINS
Daily Staff Reporter
Some
attribute
a
jump
in
University
of
Michigan
student voter turnout in 2018
to increased efforts in getting
students registered, and hope
the passage of Proposal 3 in the
2018 Michigan midterms will
make these results increase even
more in future elections.
Proposal 3 amended the state
constitution to expand access to
voting. The proposal added eight
policies,
including
allowing
same-day
voter
registration,
straight-party
voting
and
absentee ballot voting by mail
without having to provide a
reason.
Last month, the National
Study of Learning, Voting, and
Engagement released data on
the voting patterns of college
students in the 2018 midterm
elections. Voter turnout among
University of Michigan students
increased nearly threefold in the
2018 midterm elections, jumping
from 14 percent in 2014 to 41
percent. Nationally, the college-
age voter turnout rate doubled
from about 19 percent to about
40 percent in 2018, putting the
University slightly above the
national average.
University
voter rates
increased
in midterms
GOVERNMENT
Proposal 3 may lead to
higher turnout on campus
in future political races
MAEVE O’BRIEN
Daily Staff Reporter
EMMA MATI/Daily
Volunteers and members of Students for Clean Energy celebrate the installation of solar panels on the roof of Fire
Station Six Friday afternoon.
Too little, too late
Michigan fails to overcome
early 21-0 deficit at Penn
State, falling 28-21 in heart-
wrenching fashion.
» Page 1B
The
Ann
Arbor
District
Library hosted a lecture from
political journalist Clare Malone
on Saturday afternoon.
Malone, a senior political
writer for online media platform
FiveThirtyEight, discussed the
role of gender, class and race in
the 2016 presidential election
and how those identities may
affect the 2020 election. About
80 faculty, students and Ann
Arbor residents attended the
event.
Malone noted the immense
stress that is often associated
with discussing politics in our
current climate.
“I know that politics can be an
overwhelming topic to talk about
these days, so I first of all want
to thank all of you for spending
your night here talking about
this,” Malone said. “I hope I can
be of some help unspooling a
few of the tangled threads in our
political debate.
Malone began her discussion
by explaining the concept of
electability. Malone said when
people discuss a candidate being
more “electable,” they are often
describing a white man due to the
biases that exist in this country.
FiveThirtyEight writer
Clare Malone gives talk
on race, gender in politics
JENNA SITEMAN
Daily Staff Reporter
Solar Car team
finishes third in
international
five-day race
‘U’ group designs increased efficiency
vehicle to compete in Australian Outback
First annual National Period Day rally
reduces stigma, raises awareness
Menstrual activism organizations advocate for accessibility of products
MICHAL RUPRECHT
Daily Staff Reporter
JULIA SCHACHINGER/Daily
Ann Arbor residents participate in the first annual National Period Day on the Diag Saturday afternoon.
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news@michigandaily.com and let us know.
INDEX
Vol. CXXIX, No. 6
©2019 The Michigan Daily
N E WS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
O PI N I O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
CROSSWORD................6
M I C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 B
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CLAIRE HAO
Daily Staff Reporter
See PERIOD, Page 2A
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RESEARCH
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