0 0 a w w lll W WedesdySepemer , 013 / -heStte en "I have concerns about whether this is appropriate under federal law and believe this type of national issue should be resolved at the xderal level," Newman said ina statement. Opponents of the measure have also expressed concerns, mainly regarding undoc- umented families not payingstate taxes. According to an Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy report families of undocu- mented students often pay some state taxes, such as sales and property tax, contributing about $126 million in local and state tax rev- enue in Michigan. However, the University's initial concerns focused on changes to residency requirements. "I think we are in a circumstance now where we have residency requirements and we need tobe consistent withoutundermining the residency standards that we've had in the past because those have been important for the University," Coleman said in January. "I'm hopeful that we can get there, but we'll see." As a result of these concerns, the Univer- 'ity administration and task force carefully considered the impacts of potential changes to residency guidelines. TUITION'S NITTY-GRITTY Between June 2012 and February 2013, the committee explored the ways in which university, state and federal policies affected undocumented students. As part of this process, the task force exam- ined policy at three especially progressive universities in the area of tuition equality: the diversity of Texas-Austin and the University of California-Berkeley and Los Angeles. In additionto Texas and California, 16 states have provisions allowing in-state tuition rates for undocumented students. Fourteen states provide these provisions through state legisla- tion and two states allow in-state tuition rates for undocumented students through Board of Regents decisions. While the report was not intended to make a finalrecommendation, the task force considered potentialmethodology to qualifyundocumented students for in-state tuition. Previously, the Uni- versity based tuition fees on residency, meaning students needed to be recognized by the state as Michigan residents. This policy prevented undocumented students from taking advantage of the hefty difference between in- and out-of- state tuition. Following the example set by the UC campuses and the UT-Austin, the report found tuition fees could be based on a student's high school education rather than residency. While it seemed the task force had nar- rowed in on a possible solution, the Universi- ty's Office of General Counsel, represented on the committee by Donica Varner, University sociate General Counsel, raised concerns regarding potential externalities of revised guidelines. "We (the University) get sued on our (pre- revision) residency policy all the time and we always win because our residency policy is airtight," Jolly said. "It's legally rock solid." go* With a high school-based guideline, the General Counsel said the largest demographic affected.by hewpolicyvwoulnot be.undocu- mented students. Instead, students on Ohio's border who attended a Michigan high school or boarding students at private schools, such as Cranbrook, would receive the largest, unin- tended benefit. Thus was born the middle-school clause in the adopted version of the guidelines, which requires two years attendance at a Michigan middle school as a condition for receiving in- state tuition. EVOLVING VIEWS While the task force trudged on inside the Administration Building, CTE continued their protests down State Street at regents meetings. Jolly and Lieberman said the prog- ress of the task force often influenced the tone and scale of direct actions such as protests and sit-ins, with organizers carefully considering the demands of the moment. December 2012, just before students left attaching a human face to a not particularly interesting area of University governance. Storytelling is the most effective form of advocacy, and they mastered that." Provost Martha Pollack, who succeeded Hanlon last spring, tempered CTE's role in influencingthe policy. Contrary to Coleman's January statements stressingthe firmnature ofresidencyguidelines, Pollack said the University had already been consideringrevisions prior to CTE protests. Pollack emphasized the broader nature of the new guidelines, created to streamline paths to in-state tuition, rather than promote larger policy concerning undocumented students. "That being said, it's certainly true that as the students from CTE and the various vet- erans groups spoke over the year, that they raised our awareness of this and that got built into the process, but again the changes in the policy are much broader," Pollack said. But Bernstein said CTE protests might change or civil rights dialogue - CTE was also a conversation about what student activism might mean and look like in the 21st century. "It's the biggest thing that's happened in Michigan student activism since the '60s," Lieberman said. "It's the story of students coming together, identifying a problem and thinking about how to change the issues fac- ing them. I thinka lot of people paint our gen- eration as apathetic people who don't really care. This story fundamentally challenges that narrative." The movement also placed a spotlight on the inflexible nature of higher education. While multiple coalition members have rec- ognized the success in the movement's turn- around time -less than two years - some characterized the University as traditionally slow to change. "If the threshold for change required an entire movement, I don't think that's reason- able," Mersol-Barg said. "I think the Univer- sity decisionmakers could not only be doing a much better job engaging a students who want to change campus, but proactively seeking them out and ensuring their vision is realized." Mersol-Barg is convinced the University could have issued a decision without waiting a number of months. "Ultimately, direct actions like the sit-in in front of the Union are what pushed the regents over the edge," Mersol-Barg said. "As I understand, a number of regents just wanted to get it taken care of because we were making too much noise." Though some administrators have dis- counted CTE's total influence, they have fre- quently applauded the movement's displays of student activism. "Dialogue on challenging issues is what we're all about here at Michigan, and I hope it doesn't go away," Pollack said. "I won't always agree with the students, but I certainly want to hear what they have to say." Still, Mersol-Barg said it's difficult to pinpoint the extent to which CTE truly influenced the opinions of regents or admin- istrators. While Pollack characterized the administration's views on tuition equality as evolving, Mersol-Barg said the administration didn't follow a uniform progression, adding that some administrators and regents were more receptive than others. "On one hand, this is a wonderful success in that we demonstrated that the regents will respond to students, especially when it comes to matters as complicated and controversial as this one," Mersol-Barg said. "However, I don't think that this establishes too much precedent in terms of students who want to change the University." But for now, CTE is not going away. LSA senior Meg Scribner and Morales, current CTE leaders, said the new focus of the move- ment will be securing financial aid for undoc- umented students. "It's really important not to let this issue disappear," Scribner said. Though the impact of the recently inked policy may remain uncertain, one thing's clear: Less than two years ago, a couple of stu- dents had a grievance and an idea. statement on the street1h 7 a.m., 8.5 hours to go *~on the record The first few brave souls in the general admission football line on Saturday at 7 a.m. explained what else could keep them waiting in a line for 8.5 hours. "Love it or hate it, the "Noodle" was ONLY inside Michigan Stadium as part of the inaugural W.O.W. Friday (i.e. Gameday Destination). #GoBlue" - @umichfootball, Michigan football program's Twitter account, on the 20-foot long noodle spotted in the Big House last Friday. "It's 10 o'clock, man. Where is everyone?" - A PRIVATE SECURITY GUARD, about the lack ofstudents in thegeneral admission line for the first football game. "If you don't like money, drugs, strippers or murder, you should turn this album off. Quickly." - JACKSON HOWARD, Daily Arts Writer about the requirements for listening to Juicy J's new album Stay Trippy. "I already don't like this eight-hour wait ... This might be about it." Matt Viola, Engineering senior "Luke Bryan. Meet and greet "I don't know, maybe if I - the whole package." had a kid some day? Not much." Hayley Burnash, Nursing freshman Grady Chang, Engineering graduate student -Wp Ann Arbor for semester break, CTE members and allies, now numbering in the hundreds, wore yellow t-shirts and donned red duct tape over their mouths to represent "silenced" voices of undocumented students. The protests and task force meetings con- tinued simultaneously. "For maybe six months, through Decem- ber, it did not seem as if we were going to get our way," Lieberman said. As protests continued, the task force was meeting simultaneously, sometimes the day before or after an action from CTE. "It was awkward, but at least (the adminis- tration) understood we weren't going to put up a white flag due to the task force," Jolly said. According to administrators, the protests did not stifle the working relationship of the task force. University Regent Mark Bernstein (D-Ann Arbor), an early proponent of granting in-state tuition to undocumented Michigan students, deemed CTE's protests as thoughtful, digni- fied and effective-especially in sharing the stories of affected students. "It was a blueprint for effective advo- cacy," Bernstein said. "I was deeply moved by the stories that these students and their allies shared. They were very successful in have guided the direction of the changes to in-state tuition guidelines. "The tuition guidelines are a dynamic docu- ment," Bernstein said."They change every once and a while to keep pace with-the changing nature of the University. There are lots of ways tuition guidelines can change. The advocacy work by these studentshad a significant impact on the evolution of our tuition guidelines." THt HISTORICAL ARC Though various parties may dispute CTE's ultimate influence, it's difficult to discredit the scope of their on-campus presence. In less than two years, what began as a small group of students organizing at four a.m. in the UGLi reached a visible crescendo last April when eight students were arrested outside the Union in a display of civil disobedience. Protestors marched from the Michigan Union to Cole- man's house shouting, "education, not segrega- tion!" before blocking traffic at the intersection of State Street and South University Ave. Even after the passage of new in-state tuition guidelines a few months later, it's still difficult to tell what CTE might mean for the larger arc of University narrative. For many, the movement translated into more than policy ',At 64, Diana Nyad became the first person to swim the 110-mile route from Florida to Cuba without a shark cage protecting her. This was her fifth attempt at the feat in 35 years, proving to us all that anything is possible (and her body must be rockin'). In a $7.2 billion all-cash deal, Microsoft plans to buy Nokia's Lumia devices and services to launch their own mobile platform in the future. With this deal, we say goodbye to the Nokia's deidcated smartphone line. --O 5 mmnmmmmi I I The new Superman-Batman movie is slatedto bring in $131 million to the state when filming in Detroitin early 2014. Ladies, get ready- Henry Cavill and Ben Affleck will be looking for their Loises and Mary Janes. New numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau show that college enrollment has declined by 467,000 students from fall 2011 to 2012 for both undergraduate and graduate schools. Now is it time to roll back tuition costs?