The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Friday, September 19, 2014 - 5A
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Friday, September19, 2014 - 5A
REGENTS
From Page 1A
tinued well beyond that change.
Additionally, more admitted
students are choosing to actually
enroll at the University at a time
when officials are actively plan-
ning to shrink the freshman class.
The University admits more stu-
dents than it can enroll, anticipat-
ing some of those applicants will
ultimately select other schools -
a standard practice in higher edu-
cation admissions.
The proportion of applicants
admitted who actually enroll is
called an institution's "yield."
This year, the yield for fresh-
man applicants increased by 1.3
percent for in-state students and
two percent for out-of-state stu-
dents.
"In a sense, there's a bit of
good news, but of course, there's
bad news because this isn't what
we had planned," Pollack said.
SCHUETTE
From Page 1A
11,000 rape kits - evidence col-
lected during investigations of
alleged sexual assault - that had
not been processed or tested.
Schuette, along with Republi-
can Gov. Rick Snyder, announced
a $4 million state appropriation to
expedite testing the kits last year.
The funding came from settle-
ment money in national and state
cases litigated by Schuette in his
capacity as attorney general.
"Every woman who was a vic-
tim of sexual violence deserves
a full and complete investiga-
tion, and these funds will begin
the road to justice for those who
have already waited too long,"
Schuette said in a press release at
the time.
An additional $3 million allo-
cation was approved in the fiscal
year 2015 budget for the attor-
ney general's office to prosecute
Pollack said the University's
Office of Admissions would con-
sider placing more early appli-
cants on the wait list and offer
comparatively fewer early admis-
sions.
"We're goingto set a targetthat
is well below actual and we're
going to make very intentional
use of the wait list," she said.
Pollack added that she's
working with the University's
new vice president of enroll-
ment management, whom the
regents appointed in June,
to implement more advanced
prediction tools for modeling
enrollment figures. -
The target freshman enroll-
ment number will require
approval of the provost and the
office of Admissions will also
have to clear any adjustments
to the target with Pollack.
"I feel pretty comfortable that
we won't be in this situation next
year," she said.
Officials are also working
with colleges and schools to
ensure the University can pro-
vide a high-quality undergradu-
ate education for this year's
larger freshman class over their
next four years.
LSA added 41 class sections
this fall and plans to add an addi-
tional 45 for the winter semester,
mostly in popular core subject
areas such as Spanish, math-
ematics and economics. The Col-
lege of Engineering has hired
new instructors to teach addi-
tional discussion sections for the
college's key first-year courses.
On top of the accommodations
that have already been made,
Pollack said the University is
increasing funding by 10 percent
for the faculty expansion pro-
gram included in the fiscal year
2015 budget that was designed to
keep class sizes small. Those fac-
ulty will be hired this year and
arrive on campus next fall.
Housing was also a primary
concern for administrators, since
more than 97 percent of fresh-
men live on-campus and West
Quad Residence Hall remains
closed as it undergoes a massive
renovation project. To cope with
a shortage of housing, the Uni-
versity incentivized returning
students with University Hous-
ing contracts to seek off-campus
accommodations. More than
330 of those students ultimately
signed off-campus leases - free-
ing space for the larger freshman
class. When West Quad reopens
next fall, it will mark the first
time in eight years that none of
the University's major housing
facilities are closed for renova-
tion.
Despite the University's fail-
ure to meet enrollment targets,
Pollack assured the board that
this year's influx of freshmen
won't impact the student expe-
rience. In 2010, the University
enrolled a similarly large fresh-
man class without a noticeable
dip in retention.
"I don't want to leave the
impression that it's more of a
disaster than it is," she said.
TOTTEN.
From Page 1A
A native Michigander and resi-
dent of Kalamazoo, Totten has
been on the law faculty at Michi-
gan State University since 2008,
and for three years served con-
currently as a federal prosecutor
in the U.S. Attorney's Office for
the Western District of Michi-
gan. Totten feels that incumbent
Bill Schuette has used the office.
to "wage a series of extreme cru-
sades that have left every family
and everystudent inthis state less
safe." He believes the attorney
general's role is to be "the people's
lawyer," and has positioned him-
self on the issues through that
lens. Here are five major issues
Mark Totten wants to focus on.
Violent crime
Totten wants to reemphasize
effortsto protect people from vio-
lent crime, whether at the hands
of armed criminals or domestic
abusers and sexual assailants. In
addition to advocating for sur-
vivors, Totten wants to protect
public education funding from
further cuts and expand prisoner
reentry programs as a means of
crime prevention.
Economic crime'
Aside from violent crime, Tot-
ten believes the attorney general
must do a better job protecting
people from economic crimes as
well. Michigan was one of the
states hardest-hit during the
housing crisis, as many families
fell victim to predatory lending
schemes that often resulted in
home foreclosure. In an inter-
view with the Daily, Totten said
he believes Schuette has not done
enough to hold lenders account-
able or assist citizens affected by
the crisis.
Strengthening Consumer Pro-
tection and ending drug immu-
nity
Somewhat related to economic
crime protection are Michigan's
consumer protection laws, which
Totten characterized as some of
the weakest in the nation, as they
are filled with exemptions for
businesses that would normally
be compelled to comply with the
regulations. In addition to tight-
ening protections for consumers
in a variety of transactional areas,
Totten also wants to end Michi-
gan's drug immunity law.
"We're the only state in the
nation that says if you are harmed
or killed by a prescription drug
you are helpless to do anything
about it," he said in a statement.
Women's issues
If elected, Totten said he would
use his office to better protect
women's interests, such as ensur-
ing access to contraception. He
has accused Schuette of being
the most active Attorney General
on behalf of Hobby Lobby, which
argued that corporations should
not be required to provide insur-
ance policies that cover the pur-
chase of contraceptives.
Studentloans
Totten is concerned with the
amountofdebtthatstudentsaccrue
by the time they graduate college,
and said part of the problem stems
from lenders and loan servicers
acting in bad faith. He said pri-
vate lenders "try to steer students
into products that are much more
expensive when the student other-
wise might have qualified for sub-
sidized loans in the first instance."
As Attorney General, Totten said
he would be active in fighting these
groups in court.
Though he is 40 years old, Tot-
ten said he felt this was the right
time to run for this office because
he was concerned with the direc-
tion the office was taking. He said
the job is so important because
most people - even those in the
middle class - cannot afford law-
yers of their own.
"When there are harms that
affect thousands of people across
the state, they really depend upon
the Attorney General who is act-
ing as their lawyer," he said. "I
don't think that mission is being
fulfilled now."
With just under seven weeks
until election day, a Detroit News
poll has Schuette leading Totten
40-38 among decided voters.
cases related to the kits.
Healthcare
Schuette announced this Feb-
ruary that he, along with several
other state attorney generals,
joined a federal lawsuit against
a provision in the Affordable
Care Act. Schuette supported the
plaintiffs in the suit, a group of
individuals and small businesses.
The case hinges on whether
states with healthcare exchanges
set up by the federal government,
as is the case in Michigan and 33
other states, are eligible for fed-
eral tax credits to subsidize the
cost of healthcare for individuals
with financial need.
The ACA includes language
meant to incentivize states to set
up their own exchanges by offer-
ing the tax credits specifically to
state-run exchanges.
The case is currently before
the D.C. Court of Appeals. With-
out the financial support from
the credits, a large number of
individuals could feasibly opt out
of the ACA's individual mandate
requirement for coverage.
Affirmative action
In 2012, Schuette faced a legal
challenge to another state ban,
this one on affirmative action,
approved by the voters in 2006
and prompted by a previous case
against the University's admis-
sions practices.
In Schuette v. Coalition to
Defend Affirmative Action,
the U.S. Supreme Court upheld
the ban earlier this year, after
Schuette appealed a decision by
the 6th Circuit Court to over-
turn it. In his original petition
to the Supreme Court asking
for a review of the 6th Circuit
decision, Schuette cited issues
of unequal treatment, which he
argued affirmative action pro-
moted. The state's argument has
received both criticism and sup-
port in the University communi-
ty over the past eight years - and
raised questions of voter disen-
franchisement and protection of
the state constitution, similar to
the gay marriage ban.
Pensioners
Schuette filed to intervene in
the deliberations on behalf of
the city's pensioners, a signifi-
cant group of the city's creditors,
during the June 2013 bankruptcy
settlement case in Detroit.
lie argued that the pension-
ers, who at points in the proceed-
ings were projected to receive
only 66 percent to 95.5 percent
of their pensions had a right to
their pensions under the state's
constitution. This position was
not shared by Detroit Emergency
Manager Kevyn Orr in the city's
original plans to move out of
bankruptcy.
For his actions to protect civil
service pensions, Schuette was
endorsed by the Retired Detroit
Police and Fire Fighters Associa-
tion Tuesday.
"We endorse Bill Schuette for
reelection because he fought for
us, and our pensions, when no
one else did," RDPFFA President
Donald Taylor said in a state-
ment.
PUSSYRIOT
From Page 2A
Alyokhina said having a lawyer
was crucial to her sanity during her
21-month prison stay.
"No other people realize what
it means to have a lawyer in pris-
on," Alyokhina said. "It is the thin
thread that is your communication
to the outside world. He brought me
some newspapers and I read them.
Then, I realized that the past few
days, there had been this weird fog
around me which had been nothing
but people in green uniform. There
was a big world of events out there.
That was always a big surprise."
Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova
said their prosecution highlighted
the poor status of women in Russia
and the shortcomings of what they
see as a broken legal system. Femi-
nism was considered a bad word to
say in the church, and the fact that
the young women are mothers was
emphasized.
"We are bad because we do stuff
like this," Alyokhina said, "instead
of sitting at home cooking soup."
ATHLETICS
From Page 1A
These venues will allow
the University to host local,
regional and national competi-
tions.
Engineering senior Amber
Smith, a two-time captain of
the women's track and field
team, expressed the need for a
space her team can gather and
build a community.
"What I want for this Uni-
versity is to have its athletes
brighten up when they see fel-
low students and families able
to cheer them on at Michigan,"
Smith said. "It will create a
stronger and more commit-
ted fan base, better moral and
greater alumni network."
Strong also noted the new
facility will also be available
to the student body at large for
events and special occasions.
Regent Mark Bernstein (D)
and Schlissel voiced the impor-
tance of ensuring the facilities
are available for every student
on campus.
"I'm pleased that this pro-
posal centers around enhanc-
ing the student experience,"
Schlissel said.
The regents also approved
a proposal to renovate the
aging Intramural Sports Build-
ing. When it opened in 1928,
the iconic Intramural Sports
Building was the first facility
at an institution of higher edu-
cation dedicated primarily to
intramural sports.
The $18.7 million project is
one of multiple upgrades fund-
ed by the Student Life Student
Fee for Facility Renewal initi-
ate.
In April 2013, the regents
voted to administer a-$65 per-
term student fee to fund reno-
vations of campus unions and
recreational sports facilities.
"The IM Building is an
important center for health
recognition and social inter-
action," said E. Royster Harp-
er, vice president of student
life. "The building serves over
one million student (visits)
per year."
The project will reconfig-
ure existing space to create
new exerciserooms, locker
rooms, a larger cardio work-
out area, improved racquet-
ball courts and staff offices. It
will also improve mechanical,
electrical and plumbing work;
lighting improvement and
gymnasium floor replacement
work.
During the public com-
ments portion of the meeting,
LSA senior Jacob Light, chair
of Buildinga Better Michigan,
a group which spearheaded
efforts to update the Universi-
ty's public recreation spaces,
thanked the regents for their
continued support of these
projects.
"Students expect that their
sacrifice of a large portion of
gym space and financial bur-
den born unto them will bring
rewards in the future," Light
said. "We renovate these spac-
es to ensure that high quality
facilities are open for and invit-
ing to all students; irrespective
of race, gender, ability or socio-
economic status."
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