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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

