The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Thursday, October 27,.2011- 5A The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Thursday, October 27, 2011 - 5A Several of the many homeless cats that are waiting to be adopted at the Humane Society of Huron Valley last Thursday. Cat hoarding cases cause crowdingaf at Humane Society LOANS From Page 1A 705 out-of-state students had an average federal debt of $22,399 during the same time period for an average monthly repayment of $257.78. Fowler wrote in an e-mail interview that the University does not currently have any stu- dents up for loan forgiveness, so she could not determine how many University students take advantage of the income-based repayment option. However, many students do not consider it "until they are near or at the point of default," Fowler wrote. Income-based repayment helps graduates "keep monthly payments low during years when their gross pay is low and other expenses high," Fowler wrote. She added that it prevents many graduates from defaulting on their student loans and protects their credit history. Fowler wrote in an e-mail interview that she thinks the 20-year forgiveness period is much better than the original 25 years. She added that she hopes the initiatives will draw atten- tion to the underutilized income- based repayment program. "After 20 years, many stu- dents will be faced with send- ing their children to college," Fowler wrote. "Having both of those financial priorities at the same time is probably not a good thing." In a conference call with reporters on Tuesday, U.S. Sec- retary of Education Arne Dun- can and Melody Barnes, director of the Domestic Policy Council, reiterated Obama's call of urgen- cy as students are on the cusp of entering an increasingly global and competitive economy once they graduate. "Because we know the frus- tration of crushing loan bur- dens, we believed that we had to act today," Barnes said. "This president knows that getting a postsecondary education is important for economic security and to make sure students are ready and available for the jobs of tomorrow." Barnes added that reducing the cap could lower monthly payments by hundreds of dol- lars a month, easing the debt of graduates who enter the market in low-paying fields. Barnes and Duncan also stressed that the cost of higher education is a deterrent for many young people, and they hope Obama's efforts will change that. "College continues to be a great, great investment," Duncan said during the call. "We have to educate our way to a better economy and have to continue to make sure that college is acces- sible and affordable, particularly for young people that don't have a lot of economic support." As tuition rates rise nation- wide - including at the Univer- sity, which raised tuition by 6.7 percent for in-state students and 4.9 percent for out-of-state stu- dents this year - the importance of loan repayment measures like Obama's recent initiative has also risen, said Mark Kantrow- itz, founder and publisher of FinAid.org. Kantrowitz said the announcement was "good news" amid a spate of cuts to financial aid legislation like the elimi- nation of the in-school inter- est subsidy on federal loans in August. However, the cap is only a small measure, and borrowers who have already taken out stu- dent loans will continue to bear the full burden of their debts, he said. Barnes acknowledged in the conference call that the option was not significant in scale and would not provide the boost to the economy Obama was hoping for, though it would help some- what. "The steps we're taking today are not a substitute for the bold action we need to create jobs and grow the economy," she said. "But they will make a differ- ence." Huron Valley shelter has 200 animals up for adoption By CHELSEA LANDRY DailyStaffReporter Forty homeless furry felines slept in the hallways of the Humane Society of Huron Val- ley this weekend after their owners were evicted for hoard- ing. The cats arrived on Oct. 18 and 19 as a result of two animal hoarding incidents, accordingto Deb Kern, marketing director of the Humane Society of Huron Valley. Police evicted the hoard- ers, and the cats were immedi- ately taken to the already packed facility to await adoption. "There's no room left, and our foster homes are full," Kern said. "Cats (are) in the hallway and in other places we wouldn't normally have them." With the addition of the cats, the shelter currently has about 200 pets waiting to be adopted. Despite the unexpected influx of pets, Kern made it clear that HSHV will not euthanize any of the animals. However, she stressed the importance of fami- lies adopting pets from shelters. "If you're going to adopt, go to shelters first," Kern said. "Do the responsible thing." In an effort to provide good homes for the animals, the HSHV is offering adoption spe- cials. From now until further notice, HSHV is offering free adoptions for cats seven months or older on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. It is also offering free kitten adoptions with the full-price adoption of another kitten and will take $25 off the adoption fee for any dog. Kern said the specials seem to be successful so far - 48 cats and 20 dogs found new homes last weekend. While the increased adoption rates are encouraging, HSHV "could still use help," she said. To encourage donations for the numerous animals in the shelter, HSHV has a "Wish List" posted on its website Some needed items include cat food, large rawhide bones, paper plates and used blankets or towels. Kern said she hopes the HSHV's recent efforts to encourage adoption will open more space at the HSHV facil- ity, and the animals will find safe homes. Though it's often difficult for students to adopt animals due to housing restrictions, Kern said there are other ways to help resolve the crisis through volunteer efforts. The shelter frequently has volunteers from the University of Michigan and Eastern Michigan University, and many students also hold fundraisers, walks and food drives for the organization. LSA senior Jessica Gonzales visitedtheshelterwithherroom- mate last week totake advantage of the adoption specials. They brought home two kittens. "The people at the Humane Society are super nice and help- ful ... they kindly answered all the questions we had," Gonza- les wrote in an e-mail interview. "When we went through the adoption process, they gave us all the details necessary for tak- ing the cats home, introducing them to their new environment and even (gave us) a few bags of cat food to start off with." She added that the adop- tion of both kittens cost $100 because of the Humane Soci- ety's adoption specials. "I definitely think this is a reasonable price," Gonzales wrote. 'LIKE' THE DAILY ON FACEBOOK 6 1 Congratulations to the Fall 2011 Dare to Dream Grant Recipients and TechArb Tenants Zell Lurie Institute Awards $34,500 in Dare to Dream Grants to U-M Student Entrepreneurs The Dare to Dream Grant program awards up to $100,000 per academic year to U-M Student Entrepreneurs to develop their business while earning their degree. Venture Shaping grant recipients complete a business construct, Assessment grant recipients conduct a feasibility study and Integration grant recipients complete a full business plan and investor pitch. In conjunction with Dare to Dream, eight student teams were awarded tenancy in TechArb, a U-M Student Busi- ness Accelerator facility managed by the Center for Entrepreneurship at the College of Engineering and the Zell Lurie Institute at Ross. Applications for Dare to Dream and TechArb will be accepted January 2012. See: www.zli.bus.umich.edu or www.techarb.org Venture Shaping Grants $500 per team Don't Weed Me Solving how to connect tutors to students in "weed out" classes. Spencer Scolnick (BSE ChemE '14), Zach Simon (BBA '14) DrupalAl Creating an intelligent recommender system as a Drupal module. Marty Byle, Isis Li (MSI '11), Daniel Zhou (PhD Info Sci '12) eRent Solving landlord and tenant rent collection and accounting problems. Zubair Ahsan (MSE PharmE '13), Sumit Gupta (JD '14), Arshabh Sarda (BBA/BSE Aero '12) EVStation Addressing limited availability of electric vehicle charging stations. Lawrence Han (MBA/MS SNRE '14), Javier Rivera (MBA/MS SNRE '14), Ajay Varadharajan (MS SNRE/MSE '11) FinAsk Connecting personal financial advisors to those seeking financial advice. Sudeep Cherian (MBA '12), Neal Pancholi, Nirav Shroff Medicron Addressing needed nation-wide health data tracking across Tanzania. Zahid Hasan (MSE AOSS '11), Calvin Park MSE AOSS '11), San- geetha Krishnan (MBA '12) Myinfluence Solving limited offline interactions of online social networking tool users. Kwesi Buabeng (MBA '12), Andrew Rauhu(BSE CSE '15), Raj Vir (BSE CSE '15) Smart Peru Solving limited availability of online information for Peruvians. Shila Arias (MBA '12), Erick Figueroa (MBAs '12) Stoowards Creating rewards system connecting college students with local merchants. Pinak Deshpande (MBA '13), Puneet Dikshit (MBA '13) Thrively Addressing lack of tools for employee feedback and self-development. Nick Fassler (MBA/MS '12), Emily Luke (MSI '12) Torch Hybrid Boat Co. Addressing carbon emissions and water pollution solutions, and the high cost of fuel prices with current boating options. Justin D'Atri (MS SNRE '12), Matt Lankowski (MS NAME/ME '12), Siddharth Menon (ME ESE '12), Matt Sexton (MS NAME/ME '12), Ira Shaughnessy (MBA/MS '12) Assessment Grants $1,500 per team AddressMe Application automatically updating electronic address book. Cam Smith (MBA/MS SNRE '13) Conspire Platform for individuals seeking collabora- tors and companies seeking managers. Sudeep Eldo K. Cherian (MBA '12), Jason Garfield (MBA '12), Hi- manshu Sharma (MBA '12), Ryan Stenson (MBA '12), Julia Tran (MBA '12) Dean Adam Web-based retailer of high-end men's grooming and personal care items Jason Garfield (MBA '12), Nick Lewis (MBA '12), Samuel Nathan (MBA '12) DIIME R&D Company designing low-cost medical devices in collaboration with developing country clinicians. Elaine Chang (MBA '12), Theresa Fisher (BSE ME '11), ), Rajen Kumar (MSE ME '11), Chris Maue (MSE BME '1.1), Caitlin Winget (MSE BME '12) IFM Database Software plug-in solution for facility management applications. Darius Banasik (MBA '12) Knuron Knowledge sharing platform connecting students, employers and advertisers. Sunny Arora (MSE Robotics '11), Hariprasad Govardhanam (MSE Robotics '11), Devin O'Rourke Real Good Food Platform coordinating homemade food exchanges and collaborativcooking and dining events. Devin McIntire (MBA/MS SNRE '13) Vault Health Solutions Platform to enable healthcare providers greater access to patients' medical histories. Shaun Smolarz (MBA '12), B. Gabriel Smolarz, MD EVo Hair ($2,000) Business to business wholesale hair extension supplier. Ian Grant (BA '13), Brittney Wright (MAcc '11), Amber Wright SecureHealing ($10,000) Specializing in privacy monitoring and reporting across numerous healthcare software systems. Amit Kulkarni (MBA '12), Ramya Panchangam (MBA '12), Jonathan Roelofs (MBA '12) Thru.im ($5,000) Providing businesses with Live Chat that increases brand equity through IM and text conversation. David Spiro (BBA '12), Chad Stark (BBA '12) TechArb Tenancy November 1, 2011-April 30, 2012 EVStation Lawrence Han (MBA/MS SNRE '14), Javier Rivera (MBA/MS SNRE '14), Ajay Varadharajan (MS SNRE/MSE '11) FinAsk Sudeep Cherian (MBA '12), Neal Pancholi, Nirav Shroff IFM Database Darius Banasik (MBA '12) Secure Healing Amit Kulkarni (MBA '12), Ramya Panchangam (MBA '12), Jonathan Roelofs (MBA '12) SynapTech Specializing in moveable microelectrode arrays for neural interfaces to restore vision and treat neurological disorders. Eugene Daneshvar (PhD BME '11), Steven Koski , Duna Raoof-Daneshvar (MD Res '13) Team Fit Platform that allows dieters to maintain motivation and accountability in their weight loss goals. Brian Atz (MBA '12), JR Blaszek (MBA '12) Thrively Nick Fassler (MBA/MS SNRE '12), Emily Luke (MSI '12) YouTrivia Platform that allows anyone to create and share trivia games, Shamik Ganguly (MSE CSE '11), Ujjwal Jain (MSE EE '11), Ricardo J. Rodriguez (MSE CSE '11) A A