How automated vehicles can impede driver performance, and what to do about it

University of Toronto Engineering study reveals some in-vehicle displays, such as takeover displays, leads to driver overreliance.

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO FACULTY OF APPLIED SCIENCE & ENGINEERING

Research News

 

As cars keep getting smarter, automation is taking many tricky tasks --?from parallel parking to backing up --?out of drivers' hands.

Now, a University of Toronto Engineering study is underscoring the importance of drivers keeping their eyes on the road -- even when they are in an automated vehicle (AV).

Using an AV driving simulator and eye-tracking equipment, Professor Birsen Donmez and her team studied two types of in-vehicle displays and their effects on the driving behaviours of 48 participants.

The findings, published recently in the journal Accident Analysis & Prevention, revealed that drivers can become over-reliant on AV technology. This was especially true with a type of in-vehicle display the team coined as takeover request and automation capability (TORAC).

A "takeover request" asks the driver to take vehicle control when automation is not able to handle a situation; "automation capability" indicates how close to that limit the automation is.

"Drivers find themselves in situations where, although they are not actively driving, they are still part of the driving task -- they must be monitoring the vehicle and step in if the vehicle fails," says Donmez.

"And these vehicles fail, it's just guaranteed. The technology on the market right now is not mature enough to the point where we can just let the car drive and we go to sleep. We are not at that stage yet."

Tesla's AV system, for example, warns drivers every 30 seconds or less when their hands aren't detected on the wheel. This prompt can support driver engagement to some extent, but when the automation fails, driver attention and anticipation are the key factors that determine whether or not you get into a traffic accident.

"Even though cars are advertised right now as self-driving, they are still just Level 2, or partially automated," adds Dengbo He, postdoctoral fellow and lead author. "The driver should not rely on these types of vehicle automation."

In one of the team's driving scenarios, the participants were given a non-driving, self-paced task -- meant to mimic common distractions such as reading text messages -- while takeover prompts and automation capability information were turned on.

"Their monitoring of the road went way down compared to the condition where these features were turned off," says Donmez. "Automated vehicles and takeover requests can give people a false sense of security, especially if they work most of the time. People are going to end up looking away and doing something non-driving related."

The researchers also tested a second in-vehicle display system that added information on surrounding traffic to the data provided by the TORAC system, called STTORAC. These displays showed more promise in ensuring driving safety.

STTORAC provides drivers with ongoing information about their surrounding driving environment, including highlighting potential traffic conflicts on the road. This type of display led to the shortest reaction time in scenarios where drivers had to take over control of the vehicle, showing a significant improvement from both the TORAC and the no-display conditions.

"When you're not driving and aren't engaged, it's easy to lose focus. Adding information on surrounding traffic kept drivers better engaged in monitoring and anticipating traffic conflicts," says He, adding that the key takeaway for designers of next-generation AVs is to ensure systems are designed to keep drivers attentive. "Drivers should not be distracted, at least at this stage."

Donmez's team will next look at the effects of non-driving behaviours on drowsiness while operating an AV. "If someone isn't engaged in a non-driving task and is just monitoring the road, they can be more likely to fall into states of drowsiness, which is even more dangerous than being distracted."

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Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system

Glucosamine may reduce overall death rates as effectively as regular exercise

WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY

Research News

 

IMAGE: GLUCOSAMINE SUPPLEMENTS MAY REDUCE THE RISK OF CARDIOVASCULAR-RELATED DEATH--AND DEATH OVERALL--ACCORDING TO A NEW EPIDEMIOLOGICAL STUDY FROM WVU. THE STUDY, LED BY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE RESEARCHER DANA KING, FOUND THAT... view more 

CREDIT: AIRA BURKHART/WVU

Glucosamine supplements may reduce overall mortality about as well as regular exercise does, according to a new epidemiological study from West Virginia University.

"Does this mean that if you get off work at five o'clock one day, you should just skip the gym, take a glucosamine pill and go home instead?" said Dana King, professor and chair of the Department of Family Medicine, who led the study. "That's not what we suggest. Keep exercising, but the thought that taking a pill would also be beneficial is intriguing."

He and his research partner, Jun Xiang--a WVU health data analyst--assessed data from 16,686 adults who completed the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 1999 to 2010. All of the participants were at least 40 years old. King and Xiang merged these data with 2015 mortality figures.

After controlling for various factors--such as participants' age, sex, smoking status and activity level--the researchers found that taking glucosamine/chondroitin every day for a year or longer was associated with a 39 percent reduction in all-cause mortality.

It was also linked to a 65 percent reduction in cardiovascular-related deaths. That's a category that includes deaths from stroke, coronary artery disease and heart disease, the United States' biggest killer.

"Once we took everything into account, the impact was pretty significant," King said.

The results appear in the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine.

King himself takes glucosamine/chondroitin, one of the most common formulations of glucosamine supplements.

"I'm in a local cyclists' club, and we go for rides on weekends," he said. "One day I asked the other cyclists if they took glucosamine, and everyone did. And I thought, 'Well, I wonder if this is really helpful?' That's how I got curious about it."

He explains that because this is an epidemiological study--rather than a clinical trial--it doesn't offer definitive proof that glucosamine/chondroitin makes death less likely. But he does call the results "encouraging."

"In my view, it's important that people know about this, so they can discuss the findings with their doctor and make an informed choice," he said. "Glucosamine is over the counter, so it is readily available."

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Citation

Title: Glucosamine chondroitin and overall mortality in a US NHANES cohort

see/12/1/20

MAKE THE RICH PAY

'Millionaire's tax' for virus relief passes Argentina Senate

Argentina's Senate passed a tax on about 12,000 of the country's richest people on Friday, to pay for coronavirus measures including medical supplies and relief for the poor and small businesses.

© Juan MABROMATA

 The tax was passed after a long and polarizing debate in Argentina's Senate

In a session streamed live on YouTube, and after a long and polarizing debate, the so-called solidarity contribution was signed into law with 42 votes in favor and 26 against, as the pro-government alliance flexed its majority.

The government of President Alberto Fernandez hopes to raise 300 billion pesos ($3.75 billion) with the one-off levy, which earlier passed the Chamber of Deputies with 133 for votes to 115 against.

Argentina's 44 million population has been badly hit by the coronavirus, with more than 1.4 million cases and over 39,500 deaths, according to figures from Johns Hopkins University.

The pandemic has exacerbated already high unemployment and poverty rates in a country which has been in (IMF CAUSED) recession since 2018.

Under the scheme -- also dubbed the "millionaire's tax" -- people with declared assets greater than 200 million pesos will pay a progressive rate of up to 3.5 percent on wealth in Argentina and up to 5.25 percent on wealth outside the country.

Of the proceeds, 20 percent will go to medical supplies for the pandemic, another 20 percent to small and medium-sized businesses, 15 percent to social developments, 20 percent to student scholarships and 25 percent to natural gas ventures.

Director of the tax agency Mercedes Marcó del Pont said it will affect almost 12,000 taxpayers.

"The tax reaches 0.8 percent of total taxpayers," said one of the authors of the project, legislator Carlos Heller.

"Forty-two percent have dollarized assets, of which 92 percent is located abroad."

He said the plan was "far from taxing productive activity."

On the opposite side, Daniel Pelegrina, president of the powerful Argentine Rural Society (SRA), warned that Heller "wants to present it as a contribution of the richest, but we know what happens with all those unique taxes, they stay forever."

The neoliberal Juntos por el Cambio coalition, of former president Mauricio Macri, said it was a "confiscatory" measure.

leg/axn

Alberta offers Rocky Mountain coal leases after rescinding protection polic

EDMONTON — Alberta is offering more of its Rocky Mountain landscapes to coal mining after rescinding a decades-old policy that protected them.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

In documents released earlier this week, Alberta Energy is giving miners until Dec. 15 to bid on nearly 2,000 hectares on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains.

Surface mining on those lands would have been prohibited under the former coal policy rescinded in May, said Ian Urquhart of the Alberta Wilderness Association.

"Unfortunately, it isn't surprising."

The leases will add to the land already leased for coal, which stretches in an almost unbroken swath for nearly 60 kilometres north from the Crowsnest Pass in the province's southwest corner.

"There isn't much left there," he said.

Alberta Energy spokesman Kavi Bal said any mine proposal is subject to review.

"A coal lease does not mean that a coal project has been approved or exploration has been permitted."

If the proposal is large enough, it is subject to a federal review as well.

The United Conservative government has said it seeks to encourage increased export coal production.

The province and the federal government are currently considering a proposal for a mountaintop removal coal mine in the Crowsnest Pass area. More proposals are expected. 

Most Alberta coal is used for steelmaking, not power generation.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 4, 2020.

The Canadian Press

Shuttering fossil fuel power plants may cost less than expected

GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

Research News

 

IMAGE: THE GIBSON GENERATING STATION IS A COAL-BURNING POWER PLANT LOCATED IN GIBSON COUNTY, INDIANA. view more 

CREDIT: EMILY GRUBERT, GEORGIA TECH

Decarbonizing U.S. electricity production will require both construction of renewable energy sources and retirement of power plants now operated by fossil fuels. A generator-level model described in the December 4 issue of the journal Science suggests that most fossil fuel power plants could complete normal lifespans and still close by 2035 because so many facilities are nearing the end of their operational lives.

Meeting a 2035 deadline for decarbonizing U.S. electricity production, as proposed by the incoming U.S. presidential administration, would eliminate just 15% of the capacity-years left in plants powered by fossil fuels, says the article by Emily Grubert, a Georgia Institute of Technology researcher. Plant retirements are already underway, with 126 gigawatts of fossil generator capacity taken out of production between 2009 and 2018, including 33 gigawatts in 2017 and 2018 alone.

"Creating an electricity system that does not contribute to climate change is actually two processes - building carbon-free infrastructure like solar plants, and closing carbon-based infrastructure like coal plants," said Grubert, an assistant professor in Georgia Tech's School of Civil and Environmental Engineering. "My work shows that because a lot of U.S. fossil fuel plants are already pretty old, the target of decarbonization by 2035 would not require us to shut most of these plants down earlier than their typical lifespans."

Of U.S. fossil fuel-fired generation capacity, 73% (630 out of 840 gigawatts) will reach the end of its typical lifespan by 2035; that percentage would reach 96% by 2050, she says in the Policy Forum article. About 13% of U.S. fossil fuel-fired generation capacity (110 GW) operating in 2018 had already exceeded its typical lifespan.

Because typical lifespans are averages, some generators operate for longer than expected. Allowing facilities to run until they retire is thus likely insufficient for a 2035 decarbonization deadline, the article notes. Closure deadlines that strand assets relative to reasonable lifespan expectations, however, could create financial liability for debts and other costs. The research found that a 2035 deadline for completely retiring fossil-based electricity generators would only strand about 15% (1700 gigawatt-years) of fossil fuel-fired capacity life, along with about 20% (380,000 job-years) of direct power plant and fuel extraction jobs that existed in 2018.

In 2018, fossil fuel facilities operated in 1,248 of 3,141 counties, directly employing about 157,000 people at generators and fuel-extraction facilities. Plant closure deadlines can improve outcomes for workers and host communities by providing additional certainty, for example, by enabling specific advance planning for things like remediation, retraining for displaced workers, and revenue replacements.

"Closing large industrial facilities like power plants can be really disruptive for the people that work there and live in the surrounding communities," Grubert said. "We don't want to repeat the damage we saw with the collapse of the steel industry in the 70s and 80s, where people lost jobs, pensions, and stability without warning. We already know where the plants are, and who might be affected: using the 2035 decarbonization deadline to guide explicit, community grounded planning for what to do next can help, even without a lot of financial support."

Planning ahead will also help avoid creating new capital investment where that may not be needed long-term. "We shouldn't build new fossil fuel power plants that would still be young in 2035, and we need to have explicit plans for closures both to ensure the system keeps working and to limit disruption for host communities," she said.

Underlying policies governing the retirement of fossil fuel-powered facilities is the concept of a "just transition" that ensures material well-being and distributional justice for individuals and communities affected by a transition from fossil to non-fossil electricity systems. Determining which assets are "stranded," or required to close earlier than expected absent policy, is vital for managing compensation for remaining debt and/or lost revenue, Grubert said in the article.

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CITATION: Emily Grubert, "Fossil electricity retirement deadlines for a just transition," (Science, 2020).

CAPTION

This map shows the locations of electricity-generating facilities with projected lifespans that extend beyond 2035.

CREDIT

Emily Grubert, Georgia Tech

GOOD NEWS

Alberta set to retire coal power by 2023, ahead of 2030 provincial deadline

CALGARY — Alberta is set to meet its goal to eliminate coal-fired electricity production years earlier than its 2030 target, thanks to recently announced utility conversion projects.

Capital Power Corp.'s plan to spend nearly $1 billion to switch two coal-fired power units west of Edmonton to natural gas, and stop using coal entirely by 2023, was welcomed by both the province and the Pembina Institute environmental think-tank.

In 2014, 55 per cent of Alberta’s electricity was produced from 18 coal-fired generators. The Alberta government announced in 2015 UNDER THE NDP GOVERNMENT it would eliminate emissions from coal power generation by 2030.

Dale Nally, associate minister of Natural Gas and Electricity,, said Friday that decisions by Capital Power and other utilities to abandon coal will be good for the environment and demonstrates investor confidence in Alberta’s deregulated electricity market.

He credited the government's Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction (TIER) regulations, which put a price on industrial greenhouse gas emissions, as a key factor in motivating the conversions.

"Capital Power’s transition to gas is a great example of how private industry is responding effectively to TIER, as it transitions these facilities to become carbon capture and hydrogen ready, which will drive future emissions reductions," Nally said in an email.

Capital Power said direct carbon dioxide emissions at its Genesee power facility near Edmonton will be about 3.4 million tonnes per year lower than 2019 emission levels when the project is complete.

It says the natural gas combined cycle units it's installing will be the most efficient in Canada, adding they will be capable of running on 30 per cent hydrogen initially, with the option to run on 95 per cent hydrogen in future with minor investments.

In November, Calgary-based TransAlta Corp. said it will end operations at its Highvale thermal coal mine west of Edmonton by the end of 2021 as it switches to natural gas at all of its operated coal-fired plants in Canada four years earlier than previously planned.

The moves by the two utilities and rival Atco Ltd., which announced three years ago it would convert to gas at all of its plants by this year, mean significant emissions reduction and better health for Albertans, said Binnu Jeyakumar, director of clean energy for Pembina.

“Alberta’s early coal phaseout is also a great lesson in good policy-making done in collaboration with industry and civil society," she said. BY THE NDP GOVERNMENT

“As we continue with this transformation of our electricity sector, it is paramount that efforts to support impacted workers and communities are undertaken."

She added the growing cost-competitiveness of renewable energy makes coal plant retirements possible, applauding Capital Power’s plans to increase its investments in solar power.

The company announced it would go ahead with its 75-megawatt Enchant Solar power project in southern Alberta, investing between $90 million and $100 million, and that it has signed a 25-year power purchase agreement with a Canadian company for its 40.5-MW Strathmore Solar project now under construction east of Calgary.

Capital power's fuel source switch at the Genesee units will give it more "defensive" assets in the Alberta power market, said analyst Nate Heywood of ATB Capital Markets in a note. He added he's concerned the capital outlay could potentially slow its growth in pure play renewables.

The company's shares rose by as much as $2.09 or 6.2 per cent to $35.80 in trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Friday before closing at $35.44.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 4, 2020.

Companies in this story: (TSX:CPX, TSX:ACO, TSX:TA)

Dan Healing, The Canadian Press

AMELIORATING CAPITALI$M

Varcoe: Benevity and Capital Power show a 'reset' for Alberta's economy comes with opportunities

Chris Varcoe, Calgary Herald 

In a period of great economic upheaval in Alberta, one December day showed two different pathways to the future: one coming in the energy business, the other in technology. 

© Provided by Calgary Herald Bryan de Lottinville, Founder and CEO of Benevity, in Calgary Tuesday, October 11, 2011.

Calgary-based Benevity Inc. is the latest example of a local tech success story, a company capitalizing on several trends that are picking up speed. It has just landed a US$1.1-billion deal with an international investor .

Edmonton-based Capital Power is a more conventional power-generating company, but it’s forging ahead with big changes to prepare for a low-carbon future.

On Thursday, Capital Power gave the green light to more than $1 billion in new investments in the province, converting coal-fired generating facilities to natural gas, preparing for hydrogen opportunities and building a new solar project in southern Alberta.

Alberta has enormous economic issues to overcome, but companies such as Benevity and Capital Power aren’t standing still.

“It’s another indication that we’re not done, we’re just getting started here,” said Adam Legge, president of the Business Council of Alberta.

“You have lots of Alberta entrepreneurs recognizing how they can transform and evolve our traditional sectors, and the opportunities it creates to meet the challenge of tomorrow.”

Benevity is a software firm that provides clients with employee-engagement software, enabling workplace giving and employee volunteering.

It counts Apple, Visa and Google among its international clients, and TC Energy, Suncor Energy and ATB Financial as Alberta-based customers.

Now, it’s a growing Calgary technology firm with a 10-figure valuation, after it announced a $1.1-billion deal that will see private British firm Hg Capital LLP acquire a majority stake in the business.

It’s also a company that has been ahead of the curve.

Benevity has seen a 70 per cent increase in bookings from new clients buying its products this year, said company founder and CEO Bryan de Lottinville. In part, that’s because businesses are trying to find ways to stay engaged with staff who are working remotely.

The company is at the forefront of the ESG trend, as discussions about environmental, social and governance issues have become top-of-mind matters for corporate leaders and investors.

Benevity, which has 650 employees, has also seen the effect this year from the public spotlight on racial justice and equity issues . The business reported a 15-fold jump in contributions through its online platform in June — donations coming from employees, employers and customers — to such causes.

“The opportunity for us is really significant because more and more companies are embracing ESG and have an appetite to use their reach and resources and people to help solve some of the world’s most pressing social issues,” de Lottinville said.

In Alberta, Benevity is additional proof that technology companies, such as Solium Capital (acquired last year by Morgan Stanley), Attabotics and Symend, are successfully attracting outside investment, creating jobs and diversifying the economy.

“We’re very fortunate and we’ve worked really hard. We are also in a space, in the right place, in the right time,” said de Lottinville, whose company is headquartered just outside of the downtown, overlooking the Bow River.

“We have been able to build a very significant world-class company right across the river from, historically, where everyone thought our only economic engine would be.”© Azin Ghaffari/Postmedia Calgarians enjoy spending the sunny warm Sunday along the Bow River on November 1, 2020.

It’s worth noting Calgary has seen the amount of venture capital raised this year increase sharply, topping $280 million during the first nine months of the year, according to a recent industry report.

“Alberta is going through a real reset in how it’s viewing its economic opportunity,” said Jobs, Economy and Innovation Minister Doug Schweitzer.

“We’re starting to see some beginnings of success.”

Bob Schulz, a professor of strategic management at the University of Calgary’s Haskayne School of Business, said the Benevity transaction proves Alberta can build successful technology firms that can scale up and attract investment while based in the province.

“This is a great example of the next economy, right in front of us,” he said.

At Capital Power, the company is responding to the next economy — the energy transition and push to decarbonize. It’s already adopted the goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.

At its investor day, the company announced it is replacing two coal-fired units at its Genesee generating station to use natural gas and will shift completely off of coal by 2023.

Total cost of the development is almost $1 billion.

The project will use efficient, combined-cycle units, adding an additional 560 megawatts of new capacity to the power grid. It will also be 30 per cent hydrogen-ready when repowering is done.

“This (news), along with the plans announced previously by TransAlta and ATCO, now means the province of Alberta’s electricity grid will be coal-free years ahead of its original schedule,” Binnu Jeyakumar of the Pembina Institute said in a statement.

Capital Power has also given the go-ahead to the $95-million Enchant Solar project in the Municipal District of Taber. And it’s signed a deal with an unnamed Canadian company that will buy all of the power from its under-construction Strathmore solar project.

In total, Capital Power is developing or building four renewable energy plants in southern Alberta and three in the United States.

CEO Brian Vaasjo said the pandemic led to a short-term drop in Alberta power consumption this spring, but demand is coming back. Even with the uncertainty caused by COVID-19, the company is confident in making major investment decisions.

“You harness the market forces in the right way and the right things happen,” he said in an interview.

Prices for both solar and wind energy have fallen sharply in the past decade. Corporate customers that want to acquire green energy are increasingly looking to Alberta, the only deregulated electricity market in the country, for new projects.

“Alberta continues to be a place of opportunity,” Vaasjo concluded. “The larger your challenges, the larger your opportunities.”

On December 2nd, CEO Bryan de Lottinville and President and CFO Kelly Schmitt dressed up in unicorn onesies to coincide with the internal announcement of new investment into the company and achieving software unicorn status. Seizing the opportunity to infuse more goodness into the world with its people, the company launched an internal giving opportunity for the Canadian Mental Health Association – Calgary Region for Benevity-ites, promising to share photos of the two if they hit $5,000 in donations (which we did in less that 24 hours). The photos have since appeared in the media for all to enjoy! To further the impact in Calgary, Benevity is matching $50,000 in donations to Canadian Mental Health Association – Calgary Region, a cause that is important to Benevity-ites and particularly relevant during this challenging year. They invite people to join in this matching unicorn giving opportunity. Their donations will be matched dollar for dollar up to a limit of $2,500 per person. Total matching funds available for this giving opportunity are $50,000. Matching is only applicable for CAD donations. Details at www.benevity.com/unicorn .

At least 18 Chinese coal miners killed by lethal gas

BEIJING — China's state TV says at least 18 coal miners have been killed by high levels of carbon monoxide in the country's southwest.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

One miner was found alive following the disaster Friday in the Diaoshidong mine in Chongqing, the report said. Rescuers are looking for five others.

China’s coal mining industry used to be the world’s deadliest, suffering more than 5,000 fatalities a year. Safety improved dramatically after authorities overhauled the industry starting about 15 years ago.

The Associated Press

Mine collapse in Nicaragua traps at least 10


A mudslide in an unlicensed gold mine in Nicaragua trapped at least 10 workers Friday, state-run media reported.

© Rudy GONZALEZ Handout photo released by the Fundacion del Rio of the site of a landslide at a mine in southern Nicaragua on December 4, 2020

Crews began work to try to rescue the miners after the accident in the La Esperanza region of southern Nicaragua.

Vice President Rosario Murillo, who is also the government spokeswoman, did not say how many miners were in the shaft when it collapsed or if there were fatalities.

"We hope not to have bad news," she said, according to the government news site El 19 Digital.

The independent newspaper La Prensa quoted witnesses as saying at least 15 people are trapped in the mine.

In Nicaragua an estimated 3,000 people work in unlicensed mines.

bm/mav/rs/dw/mtp

PUBLIC OWNERSHIP EXPROPRIATION

Balmoral, Regent hotels now city property after Vancouver settles with owners

A pair of dilapidated single-room occupancy (SRO) hotels on Vancouver's Downtown Eastside at the centre of a legal dispute are now city property.

© THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward 

The Balmoral and Regent hotels are pictured in the downtown eastside in Vancouver, B.C., Wednesday, November 6, 2019.

In a Friday media release, the city said it had reached a settlement with the owners of the Balmoral and Regent hotels to expropriate the properties.

Read more: Vancouver council votes to expropriate ‘blighted’ Downtown Eastside hotels for $1 each

The buildings will now be transformed into social housing.

The hotels were evacuated in 2017 and 2018 for “life safety” reasons, after years of citations and bylaw infractions relating to what was described as “disgusting” living conditions.

Vancouver city council voted to expropriate the two hotels in November, 2019 for $1 each, but the Sahota family, which owned the buildings, took the city to court last December seeking a judicial review.

Video: Glenora restrictive covenant creates headache for Edmonton homeowner (Global News)



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Video: City of Vancouver files to take ownership of Balmoral and Regent hotels

The value of the settlement, which has been approved by council, is not being revealed.

But the city says it was necessary to "mitigate the financial risk" of the legal challenge.

Starting in 2021, BC Housing will begin a community engagement process with the neighbourhood on the future of the buildings.

Read more: Owners of 2 dilapidated Downtown Eastside hotels to fight expropriation in court

Over the course of the Sahotas' ownership, the city had documented hundreds of bylaw violations along with deplorable living conditions.

The Sahotas eventually agreed to pay a $150,000 fine and make a $20,000 donation to the Union Gospel Mission and a $5,000 donation to EMBERS Eastside Works.

Columbia students threaten to withhold tuition fees amid Covid protest

Almost 1,800 students at Columbia University in New York are threatening to withhold tuition fees next year, in the latest signal to US academia of widespread preparedness to act on demands to reduce costs and address social justice issues relating to labor, investments and surrounding communities.

© Provided by The Guardian Photograph: Justin Lane/EPA
The campus of Columbia University in New York, seen in July.

In a letter to trustees and administrators of Columbia, Barnard College and Teachers College, the students said: “The university is acutely failing its students and the local community.”

They accused the university of “inaction” since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in March, when students began demonstrating against what they say are exorbitant tuition rates “which constitute a significant source of financial hardship during this economic depression”.

The letter referred to national protests over structural racism, accusing the university of failing to act on demands to address “its own role in upholding racist policing practices, damaging local communities and inadequately supporting Black students”.

Emmaline Bennett, chair of the Columbia-Barnard Young Democratic Socialists of America and a master’s student at Teachers College, told the Guardian the university and other colleges had made no effort to reduce tuition fees as they moved to remote learning models necessitated by pandemic conditions.

“We think it says a lot about the profit motive of higher education, even as the economy is in crisis and millions of people are facing unemployment,” Bennett said. “This is especially true of Columbia, which is one of the most expensive universities in the US.”

Demands outlined in the letter include reducing the cost of attendance by at least 10%, increasing financial aid by the same percentage and replacing fees with grants.

Such reforms, the letter said, should not come at the expense of instructor or worker pay, but rather at the expense of bloated administrative salaries, expansion projects and other expenses that do not directly benefit students and workers.

The university, the letter said, must invest in community safety solutions that prioritise the safety of Black students, and “commit to complete transparency about the University’s investments and respect the democratic votes of the student body regarding investment and divestment decisions – including divestment from companies involved in human rights violations and divesting fully from fossil fuels.

“These issues are united by a shared root cause: a flagrant disregard for initiatives democratically supported within the community. Your administration’s unilateral decision-making process has perpetuated the existence of these injustices in our community despite possessing ample resources to confront them with structural solutions.

“Should the university continue to remain silent in the face of the pressing demands detailed below, we and a thousand of fellow students are prepared to withhold tuition payments for the Spring semester and not to donate to the university at any point in the future.”

A Columbia spokesperson said: “Throughout this difficult year, Columbia has remained focused on preserving the health and safety of our community, fulfilling our commitment to anti-racism, providing the education sought by our students and continuing the scientific and other research needed to overcome society’s serious challenges.”

The university has frozen undergraduate tuition fees and allowed greater flexibility in coursework over three terms. It has also, it said, adopted Covid-related provisions including an off-campus living allowance of $4,000 per semester, to help with living and technology expenses related to remote learning.

Columbia is not alone in facing elevated student demands. In late August, for example, students at the University of Chicago staged a week-long picket of the provost’s house as part of a campaign to disband the university police department, Chicago’s largest private force.

The issue of student debt remains challenging. In a nod to progressives, President-elect Joe Biden last month affirmed his support for a US House measure which would erase up to $10,000 in private, non-federal loan debt for distressed individuals.

Biden highlighted “people … having to make choices between paying their student loan and paying the rent” and said such debt relief “should be done immediately”.

Some Democrats say relief should go further. In September, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer and Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren co-authored a resolution which called for the next president to cancel up to $50,000 of outstanding federal loans per borrower.

At Columbia, students say their demands for Covid-related fee reductions are only a starting point.

“In the long-term, we need to reform the educational system entirely,” said Bennett. “We need to make all universities and colleges free, and to cancel all student debt to prevent enduring educational and economic inequalities.”

Related: Maryland college dedicates new memorial in effort to confront legacy of slavery

Related: US appeals court upholds Harvard’s use of race in considering admissions