michigandaily.com Ann Arbor, Michigan Thursday, February 12, 2015 CELEBRATING OUR ONE-HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIFTH YEAR OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM Higher education, K-12 programs slated to receive funding increases By SHOHAM GEVA and JACK TURMAN Daily News Editor and Daily Staff Reporter Despite a projected short- fall in Michigan both this fiscal year and next, higher education received a funding increase in Republican Gov. Rick Snyder’s budget announcement Wednes- day morning. In a presentation to the state’s lawmakers, the governor announced the state budget for the 2016 fiscal year as well as revi- sions to the 2015 fiscal year bud- get. Those changes are intended to account for a deficit, which was announced at the state’s biannual revenue estimating conference in January. Administration officials have attributed the deficit to an unprecedented number of busi- nesses recently cashing in on tax credits issued over the past sev- eral years. Snyder proposed a 2-percent increase to university funding and 1.4-percent increase in com- munity college funding, a move similar to his previous budgets. Nonetheless, the overall level of state higher education fund- ing remains lower than it was at the start of his tenure, due to a 15-percent cut the governor rec- ommended in 2011. Even with the unexpected shortfalls, Snyder told reporters at a press conference Wednesday afternoon he was pleased with the budget proposal. “We should be very proud of the economic outcomes of our state so far and the future of our state looks very bright,” Snyder said. Last month, the House Fis- cal Agency projected a $454.4 million deficit, but State Budget Director John Roberts updated that number in a recent report to GOVERNMENT See BUDGET, Page 3A ‘U’ community remembers victims of shooting By LARA MOEHLMAN Daily Staff Reporter Members of the University community gathered Wednes- day night for a candlelight vigil on the Diag to honor the memory of three Muslim students shot and killed in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Dental student Deah Shad- dy Barakat, 23; his wife, Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha, 21; and her sister Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, 19, were all found dead in their apartment Tuesday evening. Police linked it to a dispute over parking, but are also inves- tigating the incident as a poten- tial hate crime. All three of the victims were Muslim. Holding cups containing can- dles, roughly 200 people gath- ered around memorial candles placed on the ground to spell out “CHAPEL HILL” before listen- ing to several speeches and reci- tations made by students, faculty and community members deliv- ered from the steps of Hatcher Graduate Library. The University’s Muslim Student Association hosted the hour-long event. Barakat was a second-year dental student at the Univer- sity of North Carolina. His wife was planning to enter the same school in the fall. Razan Moham- mad Abu-Salha was an architec- ture and environmental design student at North Carolina State University in Raleigh. Police have identified the RUBY WALLAU/Daily Students gather in memory of the three victims of the Chapel Hill shooting during a vigil hosted by the Muslim Students Association on the Diag Wednesday. See VIGIL, Page 3A 60 students vote to donate funds for foster care support program By PAIGE PFLEGER Daily Staff Reporter A crowd of 60 students slurped soup and raised money for Detroit-based charities Wednes- day evening as part of The Soup, the second event of the Univer- sity’s first-ever Detroit Week. Organized by the Detroit Part- nership, the Black Student Union, the Black Volunteer Network, Semester in Detroit and the LSA Student Government, Detroit Week is hosting three events to examine problems the facing the city as well as promote communi- ty outreach. The week kicked off Monday with a panel on race and food in the city and will conclude Saturday with a volunteer project at the Franklin Wright Settle- ment in Detroit. Inspired by Detroit SOUP, a monthly dinner that funds micro- grants for Detroit-based projects, The Soup raised $325 for charity by providing students with a $5 soup dinner and an opportunity to vote for the charity who would receive the proceeds from the event. All the participating organi- zations, including Detroit Urban Debate Education, Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers and the Loud Voice Movement, are campus groups with the mis- sion of empowering youth in the Detroit community. “I love this event because it continues the engagement with Detroit, and allows the Detroit Partnership to collaborate with other groups,” said Public Policy junior Blair Sucher, education director for the Detroit Partner- ship. “To me, that’s so important, because it’s awesome to see peo- ple from all areas of study come out and support Detroit.” Each organization presented their mission and service goals while students ate their soup. Detroit Urban Debate Educa- tion is a student organization that sends students to schools CAMPUS LIFE See SOUP, Page 3A Accolade recognizes efforts to promote advancement for women of color By SARAH KHAN For the Daily Lorna Goodison, a former University English professor, was honored for her literary work Wednesday evening in a ceremony at Stamps Audito- rium. Goodison, a former Afroamerican and African Studies professor, received the Shirley Verrett Award for her poetry and short stories. Given to a faculty member whose work encourages the advance- ment of women of color in the arts, the award was created in 2011 to honor the late Shirley Verrett, a former University professor and renowned opera singer. The award is sponsored by the University organization Women of Color in the Acad- emy Project. In response to receiving the award, Goodison said she felt enormously thankful. “To be associated with the caliber of Shirley Verret is a very wonderful and extraordi- nary thing,” she said. During the opening portion of the ceremony, Kinesiology Prof. Rebecca Hasson, a mem- ber of the WOCAP, said Verrett See AWARD, Page 3A Human Rights Commision talks outcome of Aura Rosser shooting By ANASTASSIOS ADAMOPOULOS Daily Staff Reporter The Ann Arbor Human Rights Commission convened Wednes- day evening at City Hall to dis- cuss the possibility of establishing a civilian oversight board for the city’s police force. Seven citizens attended the meeting in total, with several expressing discontent both about the November death of Aura Rosser, who was shot by an Ann Arbor police officer, and a pros- ecutor’s determinationlast month that the shooting was justified self-defense. Dwight Wilson, a member of the HRC, said he has met with representatives from four com- munity groups who expressed their concern about the circum- stances surrounding Rosser’s See OVERSIGHT, Page 3A ANN ARBOR ANDREW COHEN/Daily Former English Prof. Lorna Goodison gives her acceptance speech as the recipient of the 2015 Shirley Verrett Award at the Walgreen Center Wednesday. A look at the University’s popular satirical paper » INSIDE the every three b-side Gov. Snyder presents FY 2016 budget proposals Vigil honors students killed in Chapel Hill Detroit Soup raises $325 for city-based org. Former professor receives ‘U’ award for literary work Police oversight debated INDEX Vol. CXXIV, No. 65 ©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 NBC suspends Brian Williams for six months MICHIGANDAILY.COM/BLOGS GOT A NEWS TIP? Call 734-418-4115 or e-mail news@michigandaily.com and let us know. WEATHER TOMORROW HI: 20 LO: 16