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Ann Arbor, Michigan
Friday, November 22, 2019
ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-NINE YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
Ypsilanti is following Ann
Arbor’s lead in drafting a plan
to achieve carbon neutrality
by the year 2035.
On Tuesday, Nov. 19, the
Ypsilanti City Council decided
to draft a plan on how the city
could become carbon neutral
in 15 years. The draft plan
will be presented on March
31,
approaching
the
50th
anniversary of Earth Day.
The Ann Arbor City Council
pursued a similar course in
early November in an effort
to respond to the climate
crisis. In a Nov. 4 Ann Arbor
City Council meeting, the
council unanimously declared
a state of emergency, passing a
resolution outlining a goal of
achieving carbon neutrality
by 2030. Ann Arbor will also
be revealing its draft plan for
achieving carbon neutrality
around Earth Day next year.
Washtenaw
County
declared a local and global
climate emergency on Sept.18.
As of Wednesday night, the
county allocated $30,000 in
funding to hire a consultant
to
complete
greenhouse
gas inventory as part of the
county’s
plan
to
counter
climate change.
These
new
carbon
neutrality resolutions were
met with cautious optimism by
the current councilmembers.
City officials from Ann Arbor
and Ypsilanti were both wary
of the ambitious nature of the
plans.
Ypsilanti officials voiced
their
concerns
about
the
lack of resources available
to
Ypsilanti
compared
to
Ann Arbor — specifically in
developing a thorough carbon
neutrality draft in only three
and a half months.
During
a
city
council
meeting
on
Nov.
4,
Ann
Arbor City Councilmember
Ali Ramlawi, D-Ward 5, said
he was concerned about the
likelihood of the Ann Arbor
actually achieving these goals.
“All you’ve got is your word
in this life,” Ramlawi said.
“And we’re never going to hit
these targets the way we are
moving on these other issues.”
Ramwali’s
concerns
about city council were not
unfounded. The following city
council meeting, the members
debated introducing carbon-
neutral aspects to provisions
for affordable housing.
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INDEX
Vol. CXXIX, No. 33
©2019 The Michigan Daily
N E WS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
O PI N I O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
CL A SSIFIEDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
S U D O K U . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
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City declares efforts to fight climate change
by achieving net-zero emissions by 2035,
following Ann Arbor’s lead in drafting plan
The Gerald R. Ford School
of Public Policy hosted four
former U.S. ambassadors for
the talk “The U.S., Iran, and
Security in the Persian Gulf,”
the final installment in the
school’s
Weiser
Diplomacy
Center Series, on Thursday.
Michael
Barr,
the
dean
of the Ford school, stressed
the
importance
of
the
“Conversations
Across
Differences”
series
in
developing relationships with
those of differing backgrounds.
“Practicing diplomacy both
abroad and here at home is
essential for working through
moments
where
differences
seem
insurmountable,”
Barr
said.
The
topics
discussed
varied from the Gulf states’
perceptions of Iran, to the
effects of the power dynamics
in the Gulf on the United States,
to the relationship between the
U.S. and Iran, especially since
the U.S. has no embassy there.
Instead, Switzerland has acted
as mediator between the two
countries since 1979 following
the Iranian Revolution.
Panelist Gerald Feierstein, a
former ambassador to Yemen,
Ambassadors talk US-Iran relations
American diplomats debate future of security in the Persian Gulf during panel discussion at Ford School
KRISTINA LENN
For The Daily
ALEX BAKER/Daily
Ambassadors Deborah McCarthy, Gerald Feierstein, Ronald Neumann and Patrick Theros discuss the U.S., Iran and security in the Persian Gulf in Annenberg Auditorium
Thursday afternoon.
KEEMYA ESMAEL/Daily
Artist Edel Rodriguez speaks about the inspiration of his work as part of the Penny Stamps Lecture Series in the Michigan Theater Thursday.
Author examines intersection of relationships, carceral state
Author and activist Ebony
Roberts joined Ashley Lucas,
former director of the Prison
Creative
Arts
Project,
to
discuss
Roberts’s
memoir
about falling in love with a
man who was incarcerated,
“The Love Prison Made and
Unmade: My Story.” A crowd
of about 50 people attended
the event at the Ann Arbor
District Library on Thursday.
Roberts
received
a
doctorate
in
educational
psychology from Michigan
State
University.
She
formed a deep bond with
Shaka
Senghor,
who
is
formerly incarcerated, over
the course of his last four
years
of
incarceration
of
his 20-year sentence. They
co-parent a child together,
and
though
they
are
no
longer together, they still
work very closely in their
professional
relationship.
Roberts started a private
publishing company to help
publish the books Senghor
wrote
while
incarcerated,
as well as helped with other
needs that Senghor had while
incarcerated.
Roberts and Lucas spoke
to the audience about their
history as long-time friends
as well as collaborators while
discussing
how
Roberts
prepared
herself
for
this
book. Roberts said she never
thought she would be writing
a book, due to her primarily
writing dissertations.
“I never intended to write
this book. The book was
initially going to be a ‘he said,
she said’ (with Shaka); Shaka
is a writer, I’m a writer, and
we had discussed writing a
book together about our love
story and how we met and fell
in love.” Roberts said, “(but)
after Shaka came home, we
published his memoir about
his life before he went to
prison and his transformation
in prison, and he had spoken
a little on our relationship,
and it was almost like, ‘Okay,
well, that’s sort of been told,
we don’t need to rehash the
story.’ … (Shaka said,) ‘I’ve
already told the story from
my perspective, I think you
should still tell the story, but
from your perspective.”
Writer looks back on memoir describing life as romantic partner of person who is incarcerated
JENNA SITEMAN
Daily Staff Reporter
Hundreds
of
students,
professors and Ann Arbor
community members packed
into the Michigan Theater
to
hear
renowned
artist
Edel
Rodriguez
speak
at
the
last
“Penny
Stamps
Distinguished
Speaker
Series” of the semester on
Thursday. Rodriguez is a
contributor to the New York
Times and the New Yorker,
and has created numerous
book, magazine and film
covers and posters over the
years.
In an interview with The
Michigan Daily, director of
the Penny Stamps Speaker
Series, Chrisstina Hamilton,
detailed what the series is and
how Rodriguez represents an
artist in the field.
“When
it
started,
the
idea
was
to
bring
real
practitioners working out in
the world in art and design so
that students would be able
to … learn from people who
are successful practitioners
rather than just academics,”
Hamilton said. “(Rodriguez)
is highly successful, very
well published and a highly
regarded
illustrator
and
graphic designer, and graphic
design is a big pursuit of
a lot of our students, as is
illustration.”
PETER HUMMER
For The Daily
See ARTIST, Page 3
JULIA FANZERES
Daily Staff Reporter
See MEMOIR, Page 3
compared
the
diplomatic
tactics of President Barack
Obama and President Donald
Trump,
pointing
out
that
Obama focused on specific
behavioral
concerns
while
Trump’s approach has been
to
apply
an
unmanageable
amount of pressure, which
Feirstein said has not worked.
Feierstein said he holds out
hope that the two countries
will be willing to have a
peaceful discussion in order to
start moving forward.
“Both sides gingerly are
interested in finding a way to
get back to the table,” he said.
“Both sides recognize that a
train wreck kills a lot of people,
including the engineers.”
However,
Ronald
E.
Neumann, former ambassador
to
Algeria,
Bahrain
and
Afghanistan, said he does not
share
Feierstein’s
positive
outlook.
“Optimism
is
free,
so
one might as well indulge,”
Neumann
replied,
sparking
a round of laughter from
the audience and the other
panelists, including Feierstein.
Deborah
McCarthy,
who
served as an ambassador to
Lithuania from 2013 to 2016,
commented on the usefulness
of sanctions, provided they are
used appropriately.
“Sanctions are an effective
tool if you outline clearly
the behavior that you want
to change,” McCarthy said.
“Intent
is
really
for
the
behavior
of
the
state
to
change.”
Public
Policy
junior
Karuna Nandkumar said she
understands how important
navigating those differences
can be, especially considering
her
career
ambitions
in
international diplomacy.
Penny Stamps speaker reflects on
identity, cultural displacement
Edel Rodroguez discusses experience as contributor to national magazines
See YPSILANTI, Page 3
See DIPLOMACY, Page 3