michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Friday, January 30, 2015
CELEBRATING OUR ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIFTH YEAR OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
INDEX
Vol. CXXIV, No. 58
©2015 The Michigan Daily
michigandaily.com
N E WS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
O PI N I O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
ARTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
S U D O K U . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
CL A S S I F I E DS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
NEW ON MICHIGANDAILY.COM
New Video: Run The Jewels
MICHIGANDAILY.COM/BLOGS
GOT A NEWS TIP?
Call 734-418-4115 or e-mail
news@michigandaily.com and let us know.
WEATHER
TOMORROW
HI: 32
LO: 13
TRANSPORTATION
GOVERNMENT
PREVIEW
BUSINESS
SAN PHAM/Daily
Rackham graduate student Alison Carey performs during Uma Noite Brasileira at the Ford School of Public Policy on Thursday.
Taxi cab drivers
express grievances
at lack of rideshare
service regulation
By LARA MOEHLMAN
Daily Staff Reporter
Across Michigan, local gov-
ernments have placed regu-
lations
on
two
prominent
rideshare companies operating
in the state, Uber and Lyft.
However, breaking from that
trend, this past August the Ann
Arbor City Council did not pass
proposed regulations that would
have placed significant restric-
tions on these rideshare servic-
es, requiring drivers to register
with the city, provide proof of
insurance and obtain a valid
chauffeur’s license, among other
regulations. No action has been
taken on the issue since, leaving
their status in Ann Arbor uncer-
tain.
Councilmember Sabra Briere
(D–Ward 1) voted against the
proposed
regulations.
Briere
said she opposed them because
she believes that the Ann Arbor
City Council has not yet figured
out how to properly handle the
operating models of companies
like Uber and Lyft.
“Part of the reason we strug-
gled with this is because the only
model we have is an old model
that doesn’t respond to modern
technology,” Briere said.
Rather, she said the ordinance
proposed in August treated ride-
share services as if they were
taxi services, instead of a sepa-
rate entity.
“Trying to make (Uber) oper-
ate like a taxi would destroy it,”
Briere said.
Though she acknowledged
that Uber has received negative
press, she said there are distinct
benefits to having an accessible
rideshare service that doesn’t
require a reservation an hour in
advance.
“All of the people I have spo-
ken with who use Uber have felt
comfortable and safe — which is
not to suggest that every driver is
perfectly vetted — I don’t know
whether they are or aren’t,” she
said. “It’s not to guarantee that
every driver in every place that
deals with Uber specifically is
properly trained and has a prop-
erly safe vehicle, because I can’t
guarantee those things either. I
White House
proposal part of
effort to aid low-
income families
By ANASTASSIOS
ADAMOPOULUS
Daily Staff Reporter
Several education initiatives
announced by President Barack
Obama in his annual State of the
Union address earlier this month
have garnered both negative and
positive reactions from the high-
er education community.
During the address, Obama
announced his intention to both
expand the American Oppor-
tunity Tax Credit beyond 2017
and to establish two years of free
tuition for community college.
The AOTC is part of the Amer-
ican Recovery and Reinvestment
Act of 2009. It was originally set
to expire in 2017, but the presi-
dent’s proposal calls for making
it a permanent part of the tax
code.
Students who want to use the
AOTC must be paying tuition
and/or book expenses. To be
eligible, the student’s parents or
guardians need to make less than
$80,000 if they are a single par-
ent or under $160,000 if there are
two parents filing a joint tax.
A student can earn a credit
of up to $2,500 per year. This
amount would consist of 100 per-
cent of the first $2,000 paid on
tuition or books and up to 25 per-
cent of the next $2,000. Further-
more, 40 percent of the tax credit
is refundable if the total amount
of taxes is lower than the credit
amount received. The president
is also proposing to make this
refundable amount up to $1,500
on a fixed rather than a percent-
age scale.
Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of
the Edvisors Network, an orga-
nization that consults parents
and students on managing col-
lege expenses, said tax subsidies
have some benefits, but do not
target many students in the most
effective manner. He added that
middle and lower-high income
students mostly enjoy AOTC
benefits.
Instead, he said, more effective
relief for lower-income students,
who the president identified as a
target population for his reforms,
can be found through the High-
er Education Act. The Higher
Education Act is the mechanism
through which federal financial
aid programs such as Pell Grants
are regulated.
“If they wanted to really tar-
get this at low-income students,
the people who have the need,
what they should do is get rid of
the American Opportunity Tax
Credit, the Lifetime Learning
Tax Credit and Tuition and Fees
Deduction and take the 16 or 17
‘U’ sophomores
form Moneythink
chapter, partner
with local school
By SAMANTHA WINTNER
For the Daily
After nine months of prepa-
rations, the national organi-
zation Moneythink has made
its Michigan debut at Skyline
High School in Ann Arbor.
The group, launched in the
wake of the 2008 economic
recession, is dedicated to pro-
viding a financial education to
high school students through
college partnerships. Co-presi-
dents Dillon Stuart, a Business
sophomore, and Greg Lobel,
an LSA sophomore, have been
working since April 2014 to
bring the organization to the
University.
Stuart said one of the pro-
gram teaches students impor-
tant financial literacy skills
that they might not receive
elsewhere.
“We’re teaching them some
things that I don’t think you
would normally get from any
high school curriculum, like
how to choose a bank, and
what’s important about that,”
she said.
Lobel
initially
contacted
the national organization and
learned they had been interest-
ed in starting a chapter at the
University for a while. He then
approached Stuart about start-
ing the chapter, and with the
help of their adviser, Econom-
ics Lecturer Mitchell Dudley,
and the national organization.
Soon, the vision became a real-
ity.
Along with a leadership
Students focus
coursework on
cultural, academic
exploration
By WILL GREENBERG
Daily News Editor
Add this to the list of nomi-
nees for coolest class of the year.
A group of 22 graduate stu-
dents have been working since
last semester on creating their
own experiential learning class.
Called the International Eco-
nomic Development Program,
the class is through the Ford
School of Public Policy’s Inter-
national Policy Student Asso-
ciation, and each year consists
of class work in Ann Arbor fol-
lowed by a spring break trip to a
foreign country selected by the
students. This year the group is
going to Brazil.
The group, consisting mostly
of Public Policy students but also
law and natural resource and
environment students, is in the
process of studying the country,
organizing the trip and raising
money to pay for their travels.
The class hosted a Brazilian
cultural night Thursday—“Uma
Noite Brasileira”— both as a fun-
draiser and educational event for
the campus.
Lessons on Brazilian dance,
a performance from the Vence-
dores Samba Bateria drumline
and Brazil trivia drew a small
crowd to the Ford School great
hall. The group generated “a
couple hundred bucks” in dona-
tions.
The trip is estimated to cost
between $45,000 and $50,000
total and the primary funding
comes from the Ford School,
the International Institute, the
William Davidson Institute, the
Graham Sustainability Institute
and the Center for Latin Ameri-
can and Caribbean Studies.
The guests Thursday included
Ford School Dean Susan Collins,
who said the IEDP program was
a valuable part of the school.
“It’s wonderful that students
put together the program to edu-
SAN PHAM/Daily
Artist Rebecca Lambers speaks at her opening reception, Reflection on Place, at the School of Natural Resources
and Environment Art & Environment Gallery on Thursday.
RE FLECTION RECE P TION
Ann Arbor could
join municipalities
in support of same-
sex marriage
By LARA MOEHLMAN
Daily Staff Reporter
At the Ann Arbor City Coun-
cil meeting Monday, members
will discuss filing an amicus brief
with the U.S. Supreme Court in
the DeBoer v. Snyder case, along
with the construction of an air-
port solar installation and a reso-
lution to approve zoning changes
for a new Plum Market.
Amicus brief
In January 2012, Hazel Park
couple April DeBoer and Jayne
Rowse filed a lawsuit challeng-
ing Michigan’s ban on adoption
by same-sex couples because they
wanted to adopt each other’s chil-
dren.
Several months after, the cou-
ple changed their suit to instead
challenge Michigan’s overall ban
on same-sex marriage at the invi-
tation of U.S. District Judge Ber-
nard Friedman.
In March of last year, Fried-
man ruled that Michigan’s ban on
same-sex marriage was uncon-
stitutional, leading to a brief
24-hour period in the state where
roughly 300 marriages were per-
formed. However, the decision
See SOTU, Page 3
See MONEYTHINK, Page 3
See CITY COUNCIL, Page 3
See BRAZIL, Page 3
See UBER, Page 3
Legality of
Uber, Lyft
in A2 still
unresolved
Experiential learning class
plans spring trip to Brazil
Obama pushes
for student tax
credit changes
New organization aims to
increase financial literacy
City Council
set to discuss
amicus brief
to SCOTUS