The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Friday, February 8, 2013 - 3
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Friday, February 8, 2013 - 3
NEWS BRIEFS
SPRING ARBOR, Mich
Private university
promises aid for
education loans
A small private university in
central Michigan is offering to
help incoming freshman pay on
education loans if their post-grad-
uationincome doesn't measure up.
Starting this fall, Spring Arbor
University freshmen automatical-
ly will be enrolled in a loan repay-
ment assistance program.
The Christian school has 4,000
students and is in Spring Arbor,
near Jackson.
The program guarantees that
students and their parents get
help in repaying loans if a gradu-
ate's income fails to meet certain
benchmarks. The assistance con-
tinues until the graduate's income
rises enough or the loan is paid off.
OKLAHOMA CITY
Taliban shooting
victim to recieve
OKC award
A human rights activist who
founded an all-girls school in Pak-
istan and his 15-year-old daugh-
ter who was shot in the head by a
Taliban gunman will receive the
2013 Reflections of Hope Award
from the Oklahoma City National
Memorial & Museum.
Memorial officials said Thurs-
day they will honor Malala You-
sufzai and her father, Ziauddin
* Yousufzai, at a reception and din-
ner on April 8 in advance of the
18th anniversary of the April 19,
1995, Oklahoma City bombing that
killed 168 people and injured hun-
dreds more.
Ziauddin Yousufzai receive the
award on his and his daughter's
behalf during his first trip to the
United States since the Taliban's
October assassination attempt on
Malala, according to memorial
officials. His remarks will be tele-
cast globally from Oklahoma City.
CONFERENCE
From Page 1A
team is currently made up of
eight members with majors
ranging from engineering to
Chinese.
"I heard about the con-
cept of off-the-grid technol-
ogy providing Internet access
to people in remote locations
and knew that a prototype had
been made," Mwenesi said.
"But once the donation money
ran out, the project wasn't sus-
tainable."
That setback led him to
investigate how to bring long-
lasting technology to rural
JAZZ
From Page 1A
appearance in Kerrytown.
The last few performances the
club hosted, the group brought
a musician. Each time, the
concert has sold out. Aimde's
appearance met a similar
reception.
"Remembering her visit
here, she's kind of all about
her music," Relyea said. "She's
a nice person. She's a serious
musician."
The inclusion of Aimee in
the Hot Club's performance
made perfect sense. Both of
their styles can be described
by their occasional departures
from the typical Django Rein-
hardt format.
"(The Hot Club players) have
an adventuresome tendency so
that it's not all what Django and
Grappelli were playing," Relyea
said. "It's that, plus a different
angle. They go off into a free-
style for a minute, and then
come back. These are all very
great musicians and they play
in all sorts of styles."
"She's very imaginative.
She's not your usual stand-up-
and-sing crooner," she added.
Not only will Aimee perform
her own original material,
she's also brought together her
own band that showcases the
uniqueness of her taste.
"Guitar is my favorite instru-
locations and ultimately led
him to use self-sustaining solar
panels to power the project.
In fitting fashion, the clos-
ing remarks came not from
the event coordinators but
from attendants. When people
were asked to share what they
appreciated about the event,
comments included the aspect
community-building, the
opportunities extended to stu-
dent participants and the invit-
ing open space that encouraged
engagement.
Nisbet said: "We're achiev-
ing high-level conversations
that stimulate new ideas, and
all this research is to benefit
people and give back."
ment," Aimee said. "So, I- put
together a band where there
were different styles of guitar-
ists ... So, it's going to be gypsy
swing with jazz and Latin
rhythms."
This will be the first tour
for Cyrille Aimee and The
Guitar Heroes. The band
is currently working on an
album together, the material
of which can be heard at its
performances.
In addition to this medley
of guitar styles, the band will
include more songs in French
and a recent development in
Aimee's repertoire: the use of a
loop pedal.
"I always imagined that this
thing existed," Aimde said.
"And, then, when I saw a guitar
player using it, I went out and
bought one."
Aimdeeuses the pedal to build
up chords on stage, as well as
provide her own backbeat. The
loop pedal merges newer tech-
nology with this older cultural
style, but, even with this fusion,
the lifestyle of the gypsies will
never be lost for Aimee.
"For the gypsies, the music
is a part of their everyday life,"
Aimee said. "They can't live
without it. They always have
their guitar on them. It's not
like a jazz piano trio. The music
is there all the time. We're eat-
ing, and they take the guitar
out and then lunch becomes a
big jam. Same for dinner."
SNYDER
From Page1A
in spending, focuses mainly on
health benefits, pre-elementary
education and rebuilding trans-
portation infrastructure.
The budget calls for a modest
2-percent appropriations increase
to the state's public colleges and
universities, provided they meet
the standards set by the state and
limit tuition hikes. The increase
comes after the governor's major
cuts to higher-education funding
in the last two years.
"A second year of increased
state appropriations would help
keep state funding for higher edu-
cation moving in the right direc-
tion," University spokesman Rick
Fitzgerald said in a statement.
"We also applaud the governor
for recommending that this year's
one-time funding become part of.
the base funding for the coming
year," he added.
Under the proposed budget,
the state will also distribute up to
$100 million in bonds to univer-
sities that aim to increase engi-
neering student enrollment and
graduation rates. Community col-
leges can compete for up to $50
million in bonds for graduating
skilled-trade students.
ACTION
From Page 1A
once again has the opportunity.
to be a leader in setting a national
standard for affirmative action.
"We know we can win (this
case)," Stenvig said. "But it's going
to take building a student move-
ment."
Washington said Michigan's
constitutional amendment and
California's Proposition 209 have
had "devastating consequences"
on minority enrollment in each
state's public universities. From
2005 to 2012, the University saw
a 42-percent decline in enrollment
of underrepresented minorities
in LSA and a 20-percent decline
in the College of Engineering.
During that same time frame,
the School of Dentistry, the Law
School and the Medical School
The budget also includes an
increase of $44 in per-pupil fund-
ing for K-12 students, and $400
million for school districts to
defray retirement costs.
Snyder will also seek to add $65
million in funding for the Great
Start Readiness Program, which
focuses on pre-elementary educa-
tion and preparing the underpriv-
ileged youth for school.
Within the proposal is a plan
to create a new health savings
fund that will collect money to
pay for future costs of care. Sny-
der's office released a fact sheet
on Wednesday that indicated the
fund would help Michigan avoid-
covering additional costs until
about 2034.
The budget also calls for an
increase in Medicaid coverage
that would result in an estimated
46-percent drop in uninsured
citizens.
Snyder also laid out plans for
a $1.2-billion increase in funding
for transportation, financed by a
higher tax on gasoline.
State Rep. Jeff Irwin (D-Ann
Arbor) said Snyder's appropria-
tion to higher education is not up
to par with other states.
"As far as just the macro level -
a small increase for higher educa-
tion given the very large decrease
that he provided back in 2011 -
have experienced 84-, 41- and
63-percent declines in minority
enrollment, respectively.
University administrators say
they are struggling to reverse the
decline in minority enrollment.
Without legal backing, the. Uni-
versity's admissions office is lim-
ited in its power to create a diverse
student body.
"We look forward to the Court's
decision," University spokeswom-
an Kelly Cunningham said in a
statement. "In the meantime, the
University continues to follow the
strictures of Proposal 2."
Washington isn't optimistic
that the University will take a
"courageous" stance.
"When (Proposal 2) passed in
2006, Mary Sue Coleman made
a defiant speech on the Diag say-
ing they were going to fight it, and
we don't know exactly what hap-
pened, but somebody told her, you
this small increase still leaves us
falling behind other states and
other nationswith less funding for
higher education than we had just
a couple years ago," Irwin said.
Despite his criticism of the
amount of higher education
funding, Irwin said he's glad the
governor has recommended the
creation of a health savings fund.
"The Affordable Care Act was
providing hundreds.of millions
of dollars to the state of Michi-
gan to expand healthcare to
needy families ... For the gover-
nor to say that he is prepared to
take that federal money and use
it to provide service to people in
Michigan, I have to say I support
that," Irwin said.
However, Irwin said the gover-
nor shouldn't get too much praise
for proposing what Irwin called a
"no-brainer."
"I think it's the right decision,
but I can't give him particularly
high marks for standing behind
this idea that is so obviously
right for Michigan that the only
people that would stand opposed
to Medicaid expansion are folks
who are so anti-government and
just so verily opposed to Presi-
dent Obama asa person that they
wouldn't be willing to put their
name alongside anything (like
this)."
know, 'shut up,"' Washington said.
"And that's kind of what they've
done ever since."
Complicating the matter is
the impending ruling in Fisher
v. University of Texas, Austin, a
Supreme Court case which could
have sweeping implications for
affirmative action policies across
the nation. Although the Supreme
Court could rule narrowly in the
case and attempt to redefine affir-
mative action criteria, it could also
use the case as an opportunity to
overturn much of the precedent
set in Grutter v. Bollinger and
Gratz v. Bollinger, in which much
of the University's race-based
admissions policies were upheld.
The Supreme Court has not
announced a decision but the
court's ruling in Fisher v. Texas
could impact whether or not they
decide to take the new case from
BAMN and the state.
LUSAKA, Zambia
At least 53 dead in ITunisia Islamists
Zambia bus crash,
22 hospitalized
A bus operated by Zambia's
postal service carrying passengers
toward its capital Lusaka smashed
into a semi-truck and another car
Thursday, killing atleast 53 people
in one of the worst traffic crashes
in the nation in recent history,
officials said.
The crash happened Thursday
morning near the town of Chi-
famba, about 100 kilometers (60
miles) north of Lusaka, police
spokeswoman Elizabeth Kanjela
said: Images carried by local
media in Zambia showed rescu-
ers climbing over the smashed-in
front-end of the white bus, the
remains of the orange semi-truck
in pieces in front of it. Other
images showed corpses laying
alongside the two-lane high-
way that connects the capital to
neighboring Tanzania.
JOHANNESBURG
Teenage gang rape
causes outrage in
South Africa
In a country where one in
four women is raped and where
months-old babies and 94-year-old
grandmothers are sexually assault-
ed, citizens are demanding action
after a teenager was gang-raped,
sliced open from her stomach to
her genitals, and left for dead on a
constructionsite last week.
The 17-year-old lived long
enough to identify one of her
attackers, a 22-year-old. Police
arrested him and said Thursday
they have arrested a second sus-
pect, aged 21. They promised more
arrests soon.
"Kill them!" and "Cut off
their penises," were some of the
demands voiced on talk show
radio stations Thursday.
Every few months this African
nation with the highest rate of
rapes of babies and young girls in
the world yells its outrage at a par-
ticularly brutal attack.
- Complied from
Daily wire reports
reject new gov't
as crisis continues
Plans to replace
.government after
politician's murder
leads to protests
TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) -
Tunisia sank deeper into polit-
ical crisis Thursday, as the
ruling Islamist party rejected
its own prime minister's deci-
sion to replace the government
after the assassination of a
leftist politician led to a wave
of angry protests.
The murder of Chokri
Belaid, a 48-year-old secular-
ist and a fierce critic of hard-
line Islamists as well as the
more moderate ruling party,
laid bare the challenges fac-
ing this nation of 10 million,
whose revolution two years
ago sparked the Arab Spring
uprisings.
Because of its small, well-
educated population, there
were hopes Tunisia would
have the easiest time tran-
sitioning from dictatorship
to democracy. But instead
Tunisia - a staunchly secular
state under ex-dictator Zine
El Abidine Ben Ali - is now a
battleground pitting secular-
ists, moderate Islamists, and
hardline Islamists against one
another.
The economy has struggled,
power-sharing negotiations
have stalled, and political
violence is on the rise. The
rejection of the prime minis-
ter's move to create a govern-
ment of technocrats to guide
the country to elections also
made clear that divisions exist
between hardliners and mod-
erates within the ruling party,
Ennahda.
Police used tear gas Thurs-
day to drive off the few dozen
protesters who tried to dem-
onstrate in front of the Interi-
or Ministry, averting a repeat
of the large rallies that swept
the capital hours after Belaid's
assassination Wednesday.
But full-scale riots hit
the southern mining city of
Gafsa, where Belaid's Popu-
lar Front coalition of leftist
parties enjoys strong support.
The state news agency TAP
also reported clashes in cit-
ies across the country, with
police resorting to tear gas
and warning shots. In the
northwest town of Boussa-
lem, demonstrators set fire to
a police station.
The tension could escalate
Friday. Dramatic turnout is
expected for Belaid's funeral;.
coupled with a general strike
called by the main labor
union, the events raise the
prospect of confrontations
nationwide.
The police and army have
been put on alert to prevent
any outbreaks of violence and
to "deal with any troublemak-
ers" announced the presi-
dential spokesman Adnan
Mancer in a news conference
late Thursday.
He added that police are
questioning a possible suspect
in the murder - a member of,
Belaid's political party who
was working as his chauffer
and was witnessed speak-
ing with one of the assailants
before the politician was shot
to death in his car outside his
home Wednesday morning.
The latest . events have
raised fears Tunisia may not
be an exception to the turmoil
in the region, where several
states are in a post-revolution-
ary phase.
U.N. Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon condemned the
assassination and called for
the reform process to go for-
ward, saying "Tunisia's demo-
cratic transition should not
be derailed by acts of politi-
cal violence," U.N. spokesman
Martin Nesirky said.
WORK
From Page 1A
unions' efforts.
"If you're a beneficiary, you
need to contribute to the nego-
tiations and all the organizing
that goes into a collective agree-
ment," Robinson said.
Art & Design senior Ian
Matchett, a representative from
the Student Union of . Michi-
gan, said he too opposed the
law. SUM is a recently formed
organization working to control
tuition costs and increase stu-
dent input in budget appropria-
tions.
Matchett said the majority
of graduating students will be
members of the workforce rath-
er than business owners and
therefore anti-union measures
would directly affectathem.
He added that it was impor-
tant for students to take a pro-
union stance to best represent
their interest in the long run.
"Our challenge is organizing
student opinions and support-
ing the fact that students should
have. a right to share their mes-
sage," Matchett said. "We can-
not rely on the state to give us
this right."
One such reform could come
through endorsing student rep-
resentation on the University's
Board of Regents, Matchett sug-
gested.
"The idea is for the stu-
dent body as a whole to have a
voice," Matchett added. "If we
get that, we can begin to make
calls through that position and
begin organizing for a more
powerful Central Student Gov-
erment.",
State Representative Jeff
Irwin told the crowd that
he blames the "current con-
servative leadership of our
state" for imposing legisla-
tion that could drive down
wages.
"People need to understand
that the most dynamic, suc-
cessful economies in the world
respect collective bargaining,"
Irwin said. "Then they can wrap
their heads around the idea that
diminishing union rights isn't
going to make our state more
prosperous."
In an interview after the
event, Irwin said he hopes Uni-
versity students become more
active in modern political move-
ments by educating themselves
on the implications of restric-
tive legislation.
The Board, for
Student Publications
Seeks New Members
The University of Michigan Board for Student Publications is
recruiting new members for three year terms beginning in April.
The Board is responsible for three publications: The Michigan Daily,
the Michiganensian yearbook, and the Gargoyle.
Because the Board is committed to realizing diversity's benefits for
itself and for the publications it oversees, the Board is particularly
interested in recruiting members of the University community
(faculty, staff, and students) or the general public who are members of
underrepresented groups and who have experience and expertise in
journalism, law, finance or fundraising.
All interested persons are encouraged to apply.
For more information and application forms, please contact Mark
Bealafeld, Student Publications General Manager at (734) 418-4115
extension 1246 or mbealafe@umich.edu.
The deadline for applications is Friday, February 15th.
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