Ann 
Arbor 
City 
Council 
representatives 
discussed 
a 
potential decision to transport 
the city’s recyclables to Lansing 
as opposed to redeveloping 
the city’s materials recovery 
facility 
at 
their 
meeting 
Monday night. 
Ann Arbor hasn’t had an 
operational MRF since 2016, 
when the facility was shut 
down due to safety concerns 
that emerged from overuse. In 
the interim, the city has been 
sending local recyclables 250 
miles away to be processed in a 
plant in Cincinnati.
Councilmember Jack Eaton, 
D-Ward 
4, 
supported 
the 
redeveloping the city’s MRF, 
explaining that when it was in 
full use, it provided benefits 
not only for Ann Arbor but 

for the surrounding region, as 
well. 
“Our MRF in the past has 
had bigger capacity than the 
city of Ann Arbor itself,” Eaton 
said. “And we took in materials 
from other (towns). So, having 
a MRF in our region allows 
other communities to use that 
facility.”
Councilmember Chip Smith, 
D-Ward 5, also expressed that 
the MRF’s reopening is the 
only viable long-term solution 
and that the greater community 
would prefer disposal of waste 
within the city, rather than 
its transportation to plants in 
Lansing or Cincinnati. 
“We were once a leader in 
this field… we made significant 
investments 
in 
our 
MRF,” 
Smith said. “We passed an 
environment bond in the early 
90s. All of this has been the 
community telling us time and 

time again, we want to do this 
work here. We continue to hear 
that. I have heard that loud 
and clear on the environmental 
commission.”
The 
move 
to 
transport 
recyclables to Lansing was 
also controversial as it would 
contradict the city’s October 
decision to declare a climate 
emergency. Councilmember Ali 
Ramlawi, D-Ward 5, explained 
that he has received concerns 
from the public about the 
detriments transporting waste 
across the state may have.
“It’s been made clear to 
me by the community, by the 
numerous emails that we’ve 
been receiving throughout our 
community, that this is more 
than just trying to find the best 
cost, you know, it’s not like, 
getting on Amazon and looking 
for the lowest price,” Ramlawi 
said. “There are other things 
that 
we’re 
looking 
for 
with having RAA stay our 
community partner.”
In 
addition 
to 
the 
discussion 
among 
councilmembers, 
several 
community activists gave 
their 
input 
during 
the 
public comment portion of 
the meeting.
Chris 
Vandenberg, 
a 
mechanical engineer and a 
lifelong Ann Arbor resident, 
was particularly concerned 
with 
the 
environmental 
consequences 
of 
transporting recyclables to 
Lansing.
“The current alternative, 
namely 
to 
transport 
recyclables to Lansing, has 
serious 
consequences 
of 
transportation 
emissions, 
increased 
contamination 
resulting in poor recovery 
and the burning of some 
materials,” 
Vandenberg 
said.
Vandenberg added that 
redeveloping 
the 
MRF 
would be a boon to the city’s 
economy and would be a 

viable investment in the future. 
“We have an opportunity to 
take our community and the 
city government’s vast and 
collective resources to nurture 
and rekindle the local MRF,” he 
said.
Ultimately, 
the 
council 
voted 9-2 to begin negotiations 
with Recycle Ann Arbor, with 
councilmembers 
Lumm 
and 
Hayner opposing. RAA has 
proposed either reopening the 
city’s plant or transporting 
recyclables 
to 
a 
plant 
in 
Southfield MI.
The next major topics of 
discussion were two proposed 
developments, one on 212 S. 
State Street and one on 616 
E. Washington Street. The 
structure on Washington was 
particularly 
controversial, 
as the proposal would be the 
tallest building proposed in 
decades, and would be located 
only a block away from the 
city’s 
historic 
State 
Street 
district. 
The 19-story building would 
be located behind the Michigan 
Theater and would be the 
tallest 
building 
constructed 
in Ann Arbor since the 1960s. 
While 
the 
building 
would 
exceed the city’s rules on 
downtown 
building 
height 
limits, developers would be 
permitted to go forward with 
construction due to the fact 
that 19 of the building’s 240 
units would be set aside for 
affordable 
housing. 
Solar 
panels to be installed on the 
new buildings will also increase 
the city’s solar production by 19 
percent.
Councilmember 
Zachary 
Ackerman, D-Ward 3, was in 
support of the Washington St. 
development, framing it as a 
benefit both to students and 
community members.

30 0 YE AR S OF ROB INSON CRUSOE

2A — Wednesday, December 4, 2019
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News

JULIA SCHACHINGER/Daily
Shipwreck novels are displayed to celebrate the 300th anniversary of Robinson Crusoe in Hatcher Graduate Library Tuesday.

TUESDAY:
By Design 
THURSDAY:
Twitter Talk
FRIDAY:
Behind the Story

MONDAY:
Looking at the Numbers

WEDNESDAY:
This Week in History 

BEN ROSENFELD
Daily Staff Reporter

Representatives pass bill to begin development on tallest building in Ann Arbor since 1960s

Councilmembers discuss recyclable 
disposal, new housing construction

Read more at 
MichiganDaily.com

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‘U’ offers response against lawsuit

Dec. 4, 1997
University officials claimed 
the 
lawsuit 
challenging 
the 
admissions policies of the College 
of Literature, Science & Arts is 
invalid and requested a dismissal 
of the case yesterday.
In its official answer to the 
complaint, the University said 
that while plaintiffs Jennifer 
Gratz and Patrick Hamacher 
received rejection letters, they 
were offered a place on the 
extended waitlist. Neither Gratz 
nor Hamacher responded to the 
offer and therefore were not 
placed on the waitlist and were 
not considered lher for admission.
Vice President for University 
Relations Walter Harrison said 

that Gratz and Hamacher may 
not have proper legal standing 
because they waived their right 
to be placed on the extended 
waitlist.
“The question here is, did the 
two plaintiffs exhaust all of the 
possibilities to be admitted to the
University?” Harrison said. 
“In our response, we are pointing 
out that they each received these 
letters and they chose not to do 
that.”
While 
Hamacher 
admitted 
to not responding to the offer to 
join the extended waitlist, he said 
he received notice of the waitlist 
option too late in the summer to 
change his plans.
“We got the letter in April or 

May,” Hamacher said. “It was 
too late to do anything. I didn’t 
feel that it was a good idea to wait 
until July or August to find out.
“I received a letter that said 
very few people on the extended 
waitlist receive admittance and it 
said to make other plans for the 
fall,’ he said.
In its answer, the University 
states that “the defendants pray 
for a judgment dismissing the 
complaint with prejudice and 
awarding them the costs and 
disbursements of this action.” 
The statement examines items 
in the complaint and either 
admits, qualifies or denies each 
allegation.
The University says in its 

answer that the LSA Office of 
Undergraduate Admissions uses 
race as one of many factors in its 
undergraduate selection.
“Defendants admit that the 
University of Michigan has a 
current intention to continue to 
use race as a factor in admissions, 
as part of a broad array of 
qualifications and characteristics
of which racial or ethnic origin 
is but a single though important 
element,” the answer states.
Harrison 
said 
the 
judges 
hearing the case should consider 
the fact that the plaintiffs did 
not accept the extended waitlist 
offer.
“This particular response asks 
questions about (the plaintiffs’) 

standing to sue,” Harrison said. 
“That is an important question 
the court should look at.”
The 
plaintiffs’ 
lawyers, 
however, 
argue 
that 
the 
University’s motion to dismiss 
the case is moot.
“It’s legally irrelevant to the 
claims we are making,”said Terry 
Pell, senior legal counsel for the 
Center for Individual Rights, the 
firm that brought the suit against 
the University on Oct. 14 in 
Federal District Court in Detroit. 
“It doesn’t change the fact that 
they were discriminated against 
earlier in the process.”
Pell said that regardless of 
the waitlist offer, the University 
racially 
discriminated 
in 
its 

admissions practices.
“This 
is 
a 
very 
weak 
argument,’ 
Pell 
said. 
“The 
admissions process is permeated 
with racism. If there was not 
racial discrimination, they would 
have been admitted earlier in the 
year.”
The University has a rolling 
admissions 
policy, 
which 
means students are admitted 
continuously from September 
through the summer based on 
their 
qualifications 
and 
the 
number of spots available at the 
time of application.

The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is published Monday through Friday during 
the fall and winter terms by students at the University OF Michigan. One copy is 
available free of charge to all readers. Additional copies may be picked up at the 
Daily’s office for $2. Subscriptions for September-April are $250 and year long 
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