michigandaily.com Ann Arbor, Michigan Thursday, February 5, 2015 CELEBRATING OUR ONE-HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIFTH YEAR OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM INDEX Vol. CXXIV, No. 60 ©2015 The Michigan Daily michigandaily.com NEWS......................... 2A OPINION.....................4A SPORTS ......................7A SUDOKU..................... 2A CL ASSIFIEDS...............6A B - S I D E . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 B NEW ON MICHIGANDAILY.COM Snyder buys condo in Ann Arbor MICHIGANDAILY.COM/BLOGS GOT A NEWS TIP? Call 734-418-4115 or e-mail news@michigandaily.com and let us know. WEATHER TOMORROW HI: 27 LO: 18 Harbaugh flips six commits, including four-star QB Gentry, RB Karan Higdon By MAX COHEN Managing Sports Editor When Jim Harbaugh was introduced as Michigan’s football coach in the last week of Decem- ber, it was viewed as a victory for the ages for the program, a piece of evidence that a duplication of the glory days of Bo Schembechler was around the next corner. Wednesday’s National Signing Day was Harbaugh’s first chance to present tangible results. He was at a disadvantage from the start — he had only one month to fill out a recruiting class that had been decimated by the shaky job status and eventual firing of for- mer coach Brady Hoke. In his first news conference since his introduction, Harbaugh The birthplace of Ford’s Model T endures economic recession By ARIANA ASSAF Daily Staff Reporter As The Michigan Daily con- tinues to watch and report on Detroit shaping its future, we want to reflect back on how the city got here. Our hope for this week’s Detroit History Series is that readers learn something new about the city and, in turn, better understand what’s to come. The city of Detroit has been inextricably tied to the automo- bile industry since Henry Ford established his Detroit-based company in 1903. The Great Depression marked the first of several drastic setbacks for Detroit’s auto industry, and the once-booming economic envi- ronment is still recovering from the most recent economic reces- sion. The Detroit “Big Three” — General Motors, Ford and Chrysler — once dominated the industry, which together with the now-defunct American Motors, accounted for 95 of the market share at one time. The erosion of that power began in 1982, when the Japanese compa- ny Honda moved to Marysville, Ohio. Arthur Schwartz, president of Labor and Economics Associ- ates, an Ann Arbor-based con- sulting firm, said the Big Three composed 45.5 percent of the market in 2014. Michigan became the hub of the industry by 1905, just two years after Henry Ford brought his company to Detroit. The city already had several natural advantages — close proximity to sources of coal, iron and copper and a location easily accessible by water and land. Though auto- mobiles were first developed in Germany and France, the Unit- ed States was the first country to develop mass motorization, largely due to the improvement Lecture discusses recent White House efforts to reestablish ties By KRISTEN ANDERSON Daily Staff Reporter With the White House begin- ning to thaw relations with Cuba, three University profes- sors gathered Wednesday to dis- cuss the developing diplomatic relationship. In an event titled “Re-estab- lishing U.S.-Cuba Relations: Walking the Tightrope for Suc- cess,” a panel of University scholars discussed a variety of issues revolving around the challenges and implications of the normalization of U.S.-Cuba relations. Last month, President Barack Obama announced he would order the start of full diplomatic Potential 2016 presidential candidate hopes to lower opportunity gap By JACK TURMAN Daily Staff Reporter Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, the son of 41st President George H. W. Bush and brother of 43rd President George W. Bush, dis- cussed economic and immigra- tion reform at the Cobo Center in Detroit Wednesday afternoon in what many pundits see as a trial speech before a potential presi- dential campaign. The Detroit Economic Club hosted the ticketed event with about 600 club members, guests and a mix of university and high school students in attendance. Bush, who in December announced he is considering a presidential run in 2016, advocat- ed primarily for a new economic plan rooted in conservative prin- ciples. Though he did not provide many details for specific policies, he said his agenda would focus on an immigration policy that would drive the economy. He also advo- cated for “economic freedom,” and through that, a reduction in the “opportunity gap,” a term which refers to the ways in which race, socio-economic status and other factors influence one’s abil- ity to attain educational or eco- nomic achievement, among other markers. Bush’s remarks aligned closely with the plan of his Right to Rise political action committee, which was launched earlier this year and is dedicated toward reform- ing immigration policies and addressing the national income gap. “We believe that every Ameri- Clerks performed unions in March after judge ruled ban unconstitutional By SHOHAM GEVA Daily News Editor Republican Gov. Rick Snyder announced Wednesday after- noon that the state would not appeal a district court’s Janu- ary decision ordering it recog- nize the nearly 300 same-sex marriages performed in Michi- gan last March. The original district court ruling in Caspar v. Snyder was stayed for 21 days to allow time for the state to file an appeal, meaning the ruling would not go into effect for 21 days. Because the state has not chosen to file an appeal, the marriages will now be consid- ered valid to receive state ben- efits after the stay terminates Thursday, “The judge has determined that same-sex couples were legally married on that day, and we will follow the law and extend state marriage benefits to those couples,” Snyder said in a statement Monday. The governor had previously stated that though he believed the marriages were valid, he did not think they were eligible for state benefits. Following the January ruling in Caspar v. Sny- der, his office did not respond to requests for comment. In an interview Wednesday afternoon, Law Prof. Julian Mortenson, who worked as a cooperating attorney on the case on behalf of the plain- tiffs, said the legal analysis of the decision is still develop- ing. However, he said once the stay terminates the marriages should have the same legal meaning as a marriage between a man and woman in the state. “The legal upshot, in all hon- esty, is extremely simple,” he said. ““There is no distinction between those Michigan mar- riages that are between same- sex couples and those in-state marriages that are between CAMPUS LIFE FOOTBALL GOVERNMENT PAUL SHERMAN/Daily Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush discusses economic and immigration reform at the Cobo Center in Detroit Wednesday in what many pundits see as a trial speech before a potential presidential campaign. See SIGNING DAY, Page 3A See AUTOS, Page 3A See CUBA, Page 3A See BUSH, Page 3A See MARRIAGE, Page 3A Art & Design senior examines hidden Detroit gem Detroit boxing » INSIDE ILLUSTRATION BY FRANCESCA KLEIB State will honor 300 same-sex marriages Jeb Bush talks economy, immigration in Detroit trip Detroit faces changing auto industry Wolverines secure 2015 class with 14 total signees ‘U’ profs talk U.S., Cuban diplomatic relationship