social media threatens privacy
keep pets safe for the holidays
farewell from the editor
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A NATIONAL PACEMAKER AWARD NEWSPAPER
VOL. 32, No. 6 The student publication of Washtenaw Community College
Tuesday, December 6, 2022 www.washtenawvoice.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Controversial public safety plan stalled By Aidan Ross Contributor
A proposal to install license plate readers in Ypsilanti Township is at a standstill after multiple concerns were raised by township residents and activists at several board meetings. License plate readers, or LPRs, are cameras that record the license plates and backs of passing vehicles. The cameras then cross-reference this information with lists of people wanted by law enforcement, and can alert law enforcement when a wanted person is within their jurisdiction. According to Stan Eldridge, township treasurer, the Ypsilanti Township Board of Trustees currently has no timetable to resume discussion of the proposal. “The township hasn’t moved one way or the other yet. We’re still right in the middle, trying to do our due diligence before we even discuss moving forward.”, Eldridge said. Township officials are waiting for clarification from the Washtenaw County Sheriff ’s Department on several details in a draft policy approved by undersheriff Mark Ptaszek to determine how it would use the cameras. Repeated attempts to reach township Supervisor Brenda Stumbo were unsuccessful.
According to Eldridge, township officials will be meeting soon with University of Michigan Information Technology Services to discuss the data security of the proposed LPR system. University of Michigan Information Technology Services could not be reached for a comment. Despite the Sheriff ’s Department’s draft policy specifically mentioning Flock Security, one company that makes LPR systems, there hasn’t been a decision on a vendor yet. “There are people who have reached out from multiple companies, but nobody has been selected. This will be bid out in a fair way, should we ever get to that point.”, Eldridge said. According to Eldridge, township officials have not officially discussed where the funding for an LPR system would come from, or how much money they would spend on it. Eldridge also said all further discussion of the proposal will occur publicly. “We’re not trying to slide anything through,” Eldridge said. “We’re not trying to hide anything.” The dates, times, and agendas of all Ypsilanti Township Board of Trustees meetings can be found on the township’s homepage, in the Upcoming Events column.
PAULA FARMER | WASHTENAW VOICE
Ralph Johnson seizes the podium in September and addresses board members on oversight. Johnson wants to know who watches the watchers.
For information on research oppurtunities • Go to https://www. nasa.gov/stem/murep/ projects/ncas.html or contact Professor Daniel Majaess at dmajaess@ wccnet.edu. • For more information go to https://www.lspace. asu.edu/. • If you want to learn more go to https://clasp. engin.umich.edu/academics/undergraduateresearch/reu-clasp/ Read for deatils
PAULA FARMER | WASHTENAW VOICE
WCC pre-engineering student Luke Thomas co-authored a scientific research paper title “Magnetic Switchbacks Heat the Solar Corona,” which published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters in October.
Student research recognized By Jordan Scenna
“It was not something I expected when I started, I just thought I’d be helping out,” Thomas said.
Deputy Editor
It’s said that space is the final frontier, but really, there’s nothing final about it. The universe has been expanding ever since the Big Bang, and while we continue to make breakthroughs and increase our knowledge of the cosmos, we may never know it fully. For Luke Thomas, it is precisely this infinite nature, space’s unimaginable vastness, that launched him toward the stars. “There’s just so much of it [space], and we’re just a tiny speck of sand on the cosmic scale,” Thomas said. “We don’t know how it all works; to quote Star Trek, it’s the final frontier.” Thomas, a pre-engineering student at WCC, is part of a team from the University of Michigan whose research on solar “switchbacks” was published in “The Astrophysical Journal Letters” in October. The research was made possible by NASA’s launch of the Parker Probe in 2018. The first of its kind, the Parker Probe was able to “touch” the sun, allowing for data gathering of the star’s solar atmosphere for the first time in history. Thomas’ ability to code made him a good candidate to participate in the study, although he never imagined he’d be a coauthor for a paper on the cutting edge of space research, especially considering his early struggles with school.
“To be a co-author and have my name on something like this is really cool.”
Thomas wasn’t always a stellar student. Circumstances surrounding his early college career caused him to take a more scenic route to scientific stardom. Growing up in Tennessee, Thomas attended East Tennessee State out of high school where he studied computer science, but a financial need forced him to work 45 hours a week as a line-cook at a local steakhouse. With little time to focus on school, his grades plummeted, and he was forced to drop out. It was a connection Thomas made in high school that helped free him from the stranglehold of scholastic purgatory. His mother was working as an administrative assistant in the Department of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering at the University of Michigan where she was able to help procure him a summer internship. It was here that he met Mojtaba Akhavan-Tafti, who was working on his doctorate at the time. Akhavan-Tafti is Thomas’ adviser for the Parker Probe research project, and credits him for much of his success. “He was the guiding light,” Thomas
said. “If he hadn’t been there, I wouldn’t have been able to understand anything.” When Thomas wanted to go back to school after dropping out of East Tennessee State, it was Akhavan-Tafti, now a member of the research faculty, who he reached out to. “I needed to get some credentials so that I could get my financial aid to go to school, but I had bad grades and I needed help to get me back in,” Thomas said. “So, I contacted him and asked if he needed help on any research projects.” A mentor emerges Akhavan-Tafti was happy to help and gave him a job on the Parker Probe team. Thomas’ position could have been given to post-doctoral fellows who would love to have their names on a high-impact journal, but Thomas’ education was paramount to Tafti, and he didn’t want a lack of money to be a deciding factor. “His training was important to me. I knew he had potential, he just needed to realize that someone cares about his education, and financial difficulty shouldn’t be the reason you don’t go to school,” Akhavan-Tafti said. “If you fall behind it’s a never-ending struggle.” Thomas immersed himself in the work. He scoured data captured by the Parker Probe, searching for what they call, “magnetic switchbacks.”
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Empty Bowls fundraiser fights food insecurity By Jordan Scenna Deputy Editor
Empty Bowls returned to campus for the first time since the Covid lockdown. The fundraiser, which sells ceramic bowls crafted by WCC students, brought in $1,480 with more bowls still to be sold. The money will be split between the Food Cupboard and the WCC Foundation’s student emergency fund. Carol Tinkle, WCC project and data technician, runs the Food Cupboard. She credits the Empty Bowls fundraiser for keeping the shelves stocked for students at all times. “We’ve never had to turn a student away because we have no food in the cupboard due to fundraisers like Empty Bowls,” Tinkle said.
John Hartom created Empty Bowls in 1990 as an art teacher at Lahser High School in Bloomfield Hills. He challenged his students to make 100 ceramic bowls and then invited students and faculty to a soup luncheon where they would request donations for a food drive. The event was such a success that Hartom and his wife, Lisa Blackburn, presented the idea at conferences across the country. Today, Empty Bowls events are present in almost every state. WCC ceramics department head Irving Remsen brought Empty Bowls to campus in 2014. He knew Hartom and Blackburn from selling his wares at various summer art fairs, and thought Empty Bowls would be per-
RUBY GO | WASHTENAW VOICE
All proceeds from the event will be donated to WCC’s food cupboard and student emergency fund.
fect for WCC. In conjunction with the now defunct culinary arts department, who filled the student-born ceramics with homemade soup, Empty
Bowls began. In a 2018 survey by the Council of Michigan Foundations, 42% of community college students reported food in-
security. According to a study by Johns Hopkins University, students who face food insecurity have lower graduation rates and are less likely to get
a bachelor’s or advanced degree. WCC student food insecurity rates aren’t known at this time, but Tinkle said she sees a clear need for the Food Cupboard. “Many students are not able to be successful due to insufficient basic needs being met, such as being hungry. It’s hard to study when your stomach is growling.” Approximately five students visit the food cupboard per week. The WCC Foundation will share the proceeds generated from the fundraiser as well, which will go into the student emergency fund. These funds are allocated to students who need things like emergency car repairs or rent assistance.