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Friday, February 13, 2015
CELEBRATING OUR ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIFTH YEAR OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
Proposal to make two
years of community
college free could
impact University
By ANASTASSIOS
ADAMOPOULOS
Daily Staff Reporter
Last week, President Barack
Obama outlined the specifics of his
plan to provide two years of tuition-
free education to community col-
lege students — a program which
could affect student enrollment at
the University.
The plan, expected to cost the an
estimated $60 billion over 10 years,
will be funded by closing tax loop-
holes and increased taxation for
high-earning tax brackets. The fed-
eral government will pay for three-
quarters of the program and the
states will pay the rest.
Additionally,
the
proposal
includes certain stipulations for eli-
gible students, including having a
GPA of 2.5 or higher and be enrolled
at least half time. Community col-
leges must also fulfill several con-
ditions. Their academic programs
must be eligible for transfer to local
four-year institutions or they must
have high graduation rates in career
and technical programs.
According to the White House,
should the proposal be imple-
mented in all states, around 9 mil-
lion students would annually save
approximately $3,800 each.
Higher education officials have
identified two potential impacts of
the plan: a boost in the number of
community college students and
fluctuations in the transfer rate
between four-year institutions and
community colleges.
Jason Morgan, director of gov-
ernment relations at Washtenaw
Community College, said the plan
could potentially increase the num-
ber of community college students,
but noted that it is still just a pro-
posal.
“Our first impression is that the
plan sounds extremely positive,”
Morgan said. “As we learn more
details we’ll hopefully learn how,
exactly, it is going to impact com-
munity colleges.”
Along with increasing the num-
ber of community college students
GOVERNMENT
See OBAMA, Page 3
ZACH MOORE/Daily
Rackham student Jae Beom Bae speaks with student entrepreneurs at the ICE Winter Blast innovation event at the Michigan Union Thursday.
Innovate Blue,
CSG bring together
students from
different schools
By LINDSEY SCULLEN
Daily Staff Reporter
The ICE Winter Blast, an
event for entrepreneurs, got a bit
hot Wednesday.
Hosted by Innovate Blue, the
University’s unifying body for
innovation and entrepreneur-
ship, and the Central Student
Government’s Commission on
Student Innovation, the event
brought together several hun-
dred innovators from multiple
University schools, as well as the
Ann Arbor community — before
kicking them out briefly to the
tune of a fire alarm and a faint
smell of smoking popcorn.
Held
Wednesday
evening
in the Michigan Union’s Rogel
Ballroom, the blast was halted
briefly but resumed after a quick,
impromptu tour of the Union’s
front steps and the event’s ice
sculpture being carved on the
front lawn.
Kristen Kerecman, Innovate
Blue communications manager,
said the purpose of the event was
to showcase campus-wide inno-
vation and to bring more students
into the University’s entrepre-
neurial “ecosystem.”
“This is the way to show stu-
dents what’s happening, like
some of the ventures that stu-
dents are working on, and the
resources to help them get there,”
she said.
But pulling in new students
was not the event’s only purpose.
“The Commission was cre-
ated to connect and unify all of
the
various
entrepreneurship
entities on campus and to have
this big celebration of what we
CAMPUS LIFE
Founder says he
will personally
speak at CSG
meeting next week
By TANAZ AHMED
Daily Staff Reporter
The organizers behind a pro-
posed Michigan spirit song have
pulled a funding resolution pro-
posed during Tuesday’s Central
Student Government meeting.
First introduced during the
meeting
Tuesday,
“Hail
and
Unite” sparked debate over the
future of the University’s fight
song, “The Victors.”
However, LSA senior Mike
Weinberg, one of the project’s
main founders, said the song
would be a pump-up song and is
not intended to replace the long-
standing fight song.
“During third down, instead
of having that generic pop song
that every other school has, we’re
going to have our own song that
we created, that we were a part
of,” he said in an interview with
The Michigan Daily on Wednes-
day evening.
Project organizers officially
launched the initiative’s website
Thursday morning.
Tuesday’s initial announce-
ment generated criticism from
alums and students, who saw the
project as an attempt to replace
“The Victors.” Weinberg said
the project was not explained
thoroughly at the CSG meeting.
Because the project was mis-
understood, Weinberg said the
resolution has been pulled and he
plans to personally present on the
project at CSG’s meeting on Feb.
17. He also said the resolution will
also likely be reintroduced.
The
organization
initially
asked CSG to appropriate $2,750
from its Legislative Discretionary
Fund. The funds would support
a promotional video campaign to
raise additional donations for the
project as well as provide accom-
modations to visiting contribu-
tors to the project.
Several CSG representatives
asked for a more detailed project
budget and the proposal was later
sent to the finance committee for
review.
Weinberg stressed the impor-
tance of student, alumni and fan
involvement in creating the song.
The group working on “Hail
and Unite” is composed of 22
students from several University
schools and colleges, including
LSA, Art and Design, Business
and Music, Theatre and Dance.
Weinberg expressed interest in
partnering with MUSIC Matters,
the University group that orga-
nizes an annual benefit concert,
as well as the marching band and
local organizations based in Ann
Arbor.
“Everyone is coming together
to create this amazing project
that is going to revolutionize what
it means to have music, sports and
entertainment,” Weinberg said.
MUSIC
Matters
President
Darren Appel, a Business senior,
said the “Hail and Unite” orga-
nizers pitched the initiative to
See ICE, Page 3
See SONG, Page 3
ACADEMICS
ZACH MOORE/Daily
Author Jonah Goldberg speaks about his book on “Liberal Fascism” at Rackham Amphitheater Thursday.
Jonah Goldberg
considers ties
between liberalism,
fascism
By WILL GREENBERG
Daily News Editor
It was with attention-grab-
bing language and crowd-pleas-
ing wit that Jonah Goldberg
discussed his views on Ameri-
can history and politics — offer-
ing a perspective rarely seen at
the University.
Goldberg, author of the 2008
bestseller
“Liberal
Fascism”
and 2013’s “The Tyranny of
Clichés,” talked misinterpreta-
tions of world history, debunk-
ing liberal heroism and political
correctness in the Rackham
Amphitheatre
on
Thursday.
Goldberg is also a frequent col-
umnist for National Review
Online, and it appeared he had
many in fans in the crowd.
During the lecture, he dis-
cussed the arguments of his
books — that fascist movements,
contrary to popular belief, are
left wing at their core, and how
liberals profess to be pragmatic
problem solvers when they, in
fact, have an ideological agenda.
Goldberg walked through
his argument of liberal fas-
cism by elaborating on the Nazi
party in Germany. He asked:
“Except for the murder, big-
otry, genocide and war, what
is it, exactly, about Nazism you
don’t like?” He argued that the
Nazi’s support of nationalism,
condemnation of consumerism
and denouncement of religion
exemplified how “fascism” and
“communism” were not oppo-
sites.
Additionally, going deeper
into “The Tyranny of Cliches,”
he discussed how clichés tend
to “do our thinking for us,” and
cited a favorite of his: “Violence
never solves anything.”
“Violence
is
very
useful
is some specific situations —
they’re called violent situa-
tions,” he said, adding how he
feels the phrase is too often
addressed at the respondent to
violence and not the original
aggressor.
Goldberg
also
addressed
political dialog and political
correctness more generally. In
an interview with The Michi-
gan Daily before his speech, he
said he took issue with the idea
that liberal students see them-
selves as “sticking it to the man”
when they are surrounded by
mostly liberal professors and
peers.
He said it’s problematic how
students assume college is a
time to join protests and social
movements when they have
no knowledge of the conflict
they’re involved in.
On the topic of campus inclu-
See GOLDBERG, Page 3
28 students and six
professors receive
grants for global
research projects
By NABEEL CHOLLAMPAT
Daily Staff Reporter
The University will continue
to boast the highest number of
Fulbright recipients of any pub-
lic institution in the country.
For the 2014-2015 academic
year, 28 University students
received Fulbright grants. Six
faculty members were also
awarded grants through the
program.
The Fulbright U.S. Student
Program
distributes
fellow-
ships for students to pursue
studies, research, training or
teaching abroad.
The U.S. State Department
announced the list Thursday
morning, with only Harvard
University, which earned 33
grants, receiving more than the
University.
Last year, 33 University stu-
dents were named scholars.
In a release, University Pres-
ident Mark Schlissel said the
28 scholars represent the Uni-
versity’s commitment to global
affairs.
“U-M is thrilled that our
young scholars are once again
so
well-represented
in
the
Fulbright Program,” Schlissel
said. “These 28 students are a
testament to our strong aca-
See FULBRIGHT, Page 3
President’s
higher ed.
plan targets
affordability
Interdisciplinary ‘U’ event
promotes entreprenuership
Organizers to
present spirit
song plan again
Conservative author talks
political climate at colleges
University
Fulbright
recipients
announced
INDEX
Vol. CXXIV, No. 66
©2015 The Michigan Daily
michigandaily.com
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O PI N I O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
S U D O K U . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
CL A S S I F I E DS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
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