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Friday, January 30, 2015

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Vol. CXXIV, No. 58
©2015 The Michigan Daily
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TRANSPORTATION

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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

