Thursday, May 24, 2018
ONE-HUNDRED-TWENTY SEVEN YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
inside
Academics
Classes to start before Labor Day
NEWS
LEO Update Dearborn and Flint push for more equal wages between campuses. >> SEE PAGE 2
2020’s academic year to start on August 31
OPINION
Spring Semester Refelction
By RACHEL CUNNINGHAM Summer Daily News Editor
Reema Baydoun talks about the break between semesters. >> SEE PAGE 5
ARTS
ALEC COHEN / DAILY
Courtney Barnett returns Her second album is darker and more honest than other releases. >> SEE PAGE 6
MICHIGAN IN COLOR
Morning Alarm
“My people are famous.” Though news of life in Syria seems far away, it’s closer to home than you think. >> SEE PAGE 9
SPORTS
Baseball walks off against Iowa Michigan edges out Hawkeyes in a defensive battle in the Big Ten Tournament >> SEE PAGE 11
INDEX Vol. CXXVII, No. 118 | © 2018 The Michigan Daily michigandaily.com
NEWS .................................... 2 OPINION ............................... 4 ARTS/NEWS .........................6 MiC......................................... 9 SPORTS................................ 10
michigandaily.com
Students to launch new straw bale house on Campus Farm Team will unveil sustainable design next week By ALICE TRACEY Summer Daily News Editor
A University of Michigan green building class plans to unveil a sustainably-built, straw-bale house located at the Campus Farm next Monday, May 29. Led by Joseph Trumpey, an assistant professor of art in the School of Art & Design and natural resources in the School for Environment and Sustainability, the team of about 20 students began construction on May 2 and has since spent six days a week at the build site, many of the students living in nearby tents. The straw-bale house will be the first official studentconstructed building in Ann Arbor. Last spring, Trumpey’s green building class built a straw-bale structure at the U-M biostation in Pellston, Mich. Though the two buildings are similar in design, the
first is smaller, with a 20-by-20-feet interior and a different roof design. Some students, like Taubman junior Wendy Zhuo, worked on the project in Pellston and enrolled in Trumpey’s course again this year. Zhuo said she enjoyed being able to help with funding and grants this time, rather than doing purely hands-on work as she did last spring. “It’s nice being on the back side of stuff and seeing more of the project instead of just starting the build,” Zhuo said. The project is supported by about 20 donors. Most of the money for the straw-bale house initiative comes from University-affiliated sponsors, including the Planet Blue Student Innovation Fund and the Third Century Initiative. The remaining funds and materials come from other donors, like Turner Electric. Trumpey hopes the new building will serve as a community gathering spot and a focal point for the Campus Farm, which has few other buildings on site. In the future, classes and meetings will take place in the straw-bale building, as
will sustainability-focused events hosted by Michigan Dining, one of Trumpey’s partners. According to Trumpey, the initiative is an exercise in sustainable agriculture. Trumpey values green living; in fact, both the Pellston and Ann Arbor strawbale structures are smaller-scale versions of his own home: a solarpowered straw bale building that has housed Trumpey and his family for almost 10 years. Like Trumpey’s home, the strawbale house will be completely off the grid, relying fully on solar power generated by a 1.5-kilowatt array of roof panels attached to eight golf-cart batteries. Additionally, the house is built of sustainable materials, mostly straw and mud. “Being able to use a lot of local, low-energy natural materials is really the heart of this,” Trumpey said, adding that he even collaborated with Campus Forestry to harvest wood for the structure’s scaffolding.
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The University’s academic calendar year will begin before Labor Day in 2020, according to a statement released by Spokeswoman Kim Broekhuizen. This is the first time the University’s schedule will begin before Labor Day according to the available academic calendars on the Office of the Registrar’s website that go back to 2003. According to the statement, the fall term will begin Aug. 31 and end Dec. 21. Winter term will begin Jan. 6 with commencement May 2. With the new start date, there will be a one-week break between the end of summer semester and the beginning of the fall semester, according to Broekhuizen’s statement. There will be two weeks between the fall and winter semester, with Spring Break running from Feb. 27 until March 7 and no classes the day before Thanksgiving. Fall Break dates will remain the same. Regent Andrea Fischer Newman (R) said in an email interview the University changed the schedule so final exams would end earlier. “The way the calendar worked that year finals would not have ended until Christmas Eve,” Newman said. “So rather than make students stay in Ann Arbor until Christmas Eve, the University pushed back the start date of the school year.” Newman also explained costs regarding the new start date will not change. The University has not yet determined the dates for the 20212022 academic school year.
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