overall, many students currently 
choose to finish their degree at a 
four-year institution after spend-
ing several years at a community 
college, meaning the proposed 
reform could have implications 
for four-year institutions like 
the University.

Michael 
Boulus, 
execu-

tive director of the President’s 
Council, State Universities of 
Michigan, said the plan could 
encourage potential students 
to enroll in community colleges 
rather than immediately enroll 
in four-year institutions.

“I would assume it would,” he 

said. “Just the simple dynamics 
of having a guaranteed free first 
two years of educations, assum-
ing that the 60 credits would 
transfer.”

Education Prof. Peter Bahr 

noted that though there could 
be a trend of students choosing 
community colleges, the effect 
probably wouldn’t be signifi-
cant for four-year institutions 
given the great imbalance in 
tuition costs that already exists 
between the two options, which 

determines college choice for 
many students.

“I think we will see some-

what more students in the com-
munity colleges for the first two 
years, but I don’t think it will be 
an enormously greater number 
of students because community 
colleges are already substan-
tially less expensive than pub-
lic four-year institutions,” Bahr 
said.

Boulus said he thought the 

number of transfer students 
from community colleges to 
four-year 
institutions 
would 

likely to increase. However, he 
noted that he would like to see 
the plan go even further than 
two years of free community 
college.

“Frankly, it ought to be a free 

two years regardless of what 
post-secondary institution you 
attend, whether it be the two 
year or the four year,” he said.

Bahr agreed the implemen-

tation of the proposal could 
potentially increase the number 
of transfer students.

He said the proposal pro-

vided a good incentive for insti-
tutions to work on changing 
their student transfer policies 
and establish clear agreements 

between four-year institutions 
and community colleges.

“There is the aspect of which 

of the credits will even count as 
credits at the four-year institu-
tions,” he said. “But then there 
is the more complex challenge 
of which course at the commu-
nity college has a parallel at the 
four-year institution.”

Morgan also acknowledged 

that transfer policies needed to 
be easier for students to under-
stand, though he pointed out the 
Michigan Transfer Agreement, 
which ensures that universities 
accept certain number of cred-
its from community colleges.

He noted that many students 

who come to WCC already 
know they want to go to the 
University, which has a spe-
cialized transfer process for 
WCC students, and therefore 
the school can advise them on 
which courses to take so credits 
can transfer.

“However the challenge, that 

there isn’t a solution for at this 
point, is that not every student 
comes into the community col-
lege knowing instantly that they 
want to transfer to a university 
afterwards,” Morgan said.

University spokesman Rick 

Fitzgerald said it was too soon 
to speculate the effect the 
proposal would have on the 
University. He noted that the 
University has programs that 
work with community colleges 
to facilitate transferring.

Whether or not the White 

House’s plan will pass a GOP-
controlled House and Senate is 
also unclear.

Boulus said under the current 

circumstances, there does not 
appear to be Congressional sup-
port and the proposal probably 
won’t be taken up for vote.

However, 
Morgan, 
who 

met with various members of 
Congress and members of the 
Department of Education this 
week, said he came away with 
the impression that the goal 
wasn’t simply to get the propos-
al passed.

“The reason … is to start a 

national dialogue and a conver-
sation about how do we support 
community colleges and get 
students in the door of higher 
education,” he said. “The goal 
is not just to pass this. The goal 
is to throw out there something 
really big and see if we can get 
something small.

3-News

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Friday, February 13, 2015 — 3

his organization, but no official 
collaboration has been proposed. 
He also noted that more informa-
tion is needed before determining 
whether or not MUSIC Matters 
would play a role.

“Hail and Unite” also has a 

philanthropic component.

“One of the things that we want 

to do is when we’re raising this 
money is that we want to give a 
significant philanthropic contri-
bution,” he said.

Though musicians such as Emi-

nem and David Banner, a rapper 
and music producer, were men-
tioned at the CSG meeting, Wein-
berg said those are two names out 
of a list of 15 to 20 potential celeb-
rities participants. Organizers 
also hope to create a music video 
and a documentary showcasing 

the process of creating the song.

“We’re trying to combine stu-

dents with outside talent to cre-
ate something that’s bigger than 
a song,” Weinberg said. “It’s cre-
ating a movement and something 
that’s from the ground organi-
cally, something that’s never been 
done in music, college or sports 
ever.”

Cooper Charlton, president of 

the University’s Student Athlete 
Advisory Committee, said that 
though he can’t speak for student 
athletes as a whole, he sees the 
University as a place where new 
ideas should be welcomed and 
discussed.

“I personally support innova-

tion and creativity but I would 
need to hear more about this 
initiative before I gave a firm 
answer,” he said.

Managing News Editor Sam 

Gringlas contributed reporting.

demic programs and commit-
ment to global engagement that 
nurtures a passion for creating 
positive impacts across interna-
tional borders.”

At the University, students 

complete a multi-step process 
to apply for a Fulbright grant, 
guided by the International 
Institute. Perspective recipients 
meet with a faculty and staff 
fellowship team several times 
to discuss their application and 
prepare for further steps, such 
as an interview.

Pauline Jones Luong, director 

of the International Institute, 
said there are several benefits 
both for the students and for the 
campus in devoting staff and 
faculty time toward preparing 
Fulbright applicants.

“It’s 
incredibly 
valuable 

because it showcases both the 
quality of the students at the U 
of M, the international orienta-
tion of those students, the global 
interests those students have, as 
well as the commitment of the 
University to ensuring that its 
students have an international 
experience, international edu-
cation,” she said. “It’s a win-win 
both for students and the Uni-
versity.”

University 
alum 
Nathan 

VanderVeen, one of the Ful-
bright recipients, is currently 
stationed in Seropédica, Brazil. 
He is pursuing an English teach-
ing assistantship at the Fed-
eral Rural University, as well as 

using his science background 
to work on a water purifica-
tion project in the Brazilian 
favelas.

“The Fulbright Program in 

general does favor the humani-
ties and people who are inter-
ested 
in 
intense 
literary 

research,” VanderVeen said in 
a Skype interview Thursday 
from Brazil. “But we’d be kid-
ding ourselves if we thought the 
ambassadors of the world were 
all English majors or foreign 
language majors. Those people 
who are constantly liaising with 
other countries are also the sci-
entists, physicians, engineers of 
the world.”

VanderVeen first applied as a 

junior during his undergradu-
ate studies and was rejected, but 
then reapplied for a 2015 grant.

He said the University’s sta-

tus as a public school makes 
it unique in its amount of Ful-
bright grantees.

“Being a public institution, 

I think that’s just so admirable 
because it puts such an empha-
sis on embracing students from 
all walks of life and still helping 
them reach the highest level of 
academic and professional suc-
cess,” VanderVeen said.

He added that as a part of his 

experience, he hopes to draw on 
the diversity of people he will be 
exposed to abroad.

“For me, it’s really important 

to connect with a diverse array 
of people from different back-
grounds, people with differ-
ent belief systems, so that I can 
become the best teacher that I 
can possibly be.”

FULBRIGHT
From Page 1

SONG
From Page 1

siveness and productive dialogue, 
Goldberg said while people gener-
ally support social change, they are 
not given the chance to be includ-
ed or else are condemned for not 
joining fully. He said liberals use 
“moral bullying” on conservatives 
to attack them politically rather 
than create discussion.

“The same people who say we 

need an honest dialogue on race, 
we need to have an open and frank 
conversation on race — the second 
anybody takes that bait and says 
something even remotely ‘un-PC’ 
or offensive in any way — or not 
even offensive but that can be used 
to pretend that they were offended 
— they get beaten over the head 
with it,” he told the Daily.

“In a culture, the majority 

owes tolerance and respect to the 
minority, but the minority owes 
tolerance and respect to the major-
ity, too,” he said. “What is not 
constructive is when the minor-
ity responds by simply shouting, 
by this sort of moral bullying and 
guilt tripping that says ‘you are a 
bigot’ for absolutely well-inten-

tioned language that was accept-
able five minutes ago.”

LSA freshman Grant Strobl, 

chairman and founder of the Uni-
versity’s chapter of Young Ameri-
cans for Freedom, said he was 
happy to have Goldberg on cam-
pus to bring different ideas to the 
forefront on campus.

Strobl mentioned Communica-

tions Prof. Susan Douglas’ Decem-
ber article in which she states, “I 
hate Republicans,” and describes 
conservatives as against change 
and social tolerance. The column 
resulted in backlash from Repub-
licans across the state. Strobl said 
Douglas’ piece was an example of 
the one-sided nature among Uni-
versity faculty and students.

“It kind of coerces people into 

a certain ideology and that’s kind 
of where ‘liberal thought police’ 
comes from,” he said. “It’s decid-
ing what gets heard rather than 
allowing for a fair discussion 
between viewpoints.”

Strobl also cited the Inclusive 

Language Campaign as an exam-
ple of how the University professes 
to promote positive discussion, but 
excludes conservative students. 
Having gone through the pro-
gram himself, Strobl said the ILC 

doesn’t highlight terms attacking 
conservatives — like “right-wing-
er” or “tea-bagger” — but it should.

While he said he agrees with 

the end goal of promoting diversity 
and inclusion, he said he took issue 
with the idea of the program try-
ing to manage the words students 
used, saying there are unintended 
consequences to that approach.

“I feel like we should be embrac-

ing the diversity rather than trying 
to be too politically correct about it 
because I think that almost makes 
us more divisive,” he said. “I think 
it all comes through education and 
I think we’re all adults here and 
I think we can all approach each 
other in an adult-like manner and 
discuss the real issues.”

ILC is part of the University’s 

larger “Expect Respect” cam-
paign. Amanda McLittle, asso-
ciate director of diversity and 
inclusion in University Housing, 
wrote in an e-mail interview with 
the Daily that ILC is not a political 
organization and does not focus on 
“conservative” or “liberal” terms.

“Students chose the words that 

we are highlighting in this first 
year of ILC,” she wrote. “Multiple 
student focus groups were asked 
which words they would like to 

see included this year. The list of 
words is not meant be exhaustive.”

The ILC drew national atten-

tion this week after “The College 
Fix” reported the campaign cost 
$16,000 to implement, confirmed 
by University spokesperson Rick 
Fitzgerald. He said it’s difficult to 
put the cost of the program into 
perspective with other programs, 
but that the money went to bro-
chures and other awareness mea-
sures, not staff.

LSA senior Derek Draplin, the 

editor in chief of the student pub-
lication The Michigan Review, 
has been vocal about the ILC and 
attended the speech Thursday 
night. He said speakers like Gold-
berg are important to creating 
opening people’s minds on campus.

“The frontlines of culture-wars, 

so to speak, is on college campus-
es,” Draplin said. “There is a lock-
step belief in opinions on campus 
so that’s kind of why I came (to 
the Goldberg lecture) to challenge 
those establishment-type beliefs 
and comments and movements.”

Strobl said YAF plans to bring 

more speakers by the end of the 
semester, though the schedule is 
not yet set.

GOLDBERG
From Page 1

OBAMA
From Page 1

do,” said Engineering junior Diego 
Calvo, chair of the Commission on 
Student Innovation.

He added that the Commis-

sion’s goal is to combine all of 
the University’s entrepreneurial 
groups into “one powerhouse.”

“We think that every student at 

the University of Michigan should 
have the opportunity to find a 
team of crazy people and work on 
some project that really gets them 
going — more than just in classes,” 
Calvo said. “We want to see engi-
neers and LSA students and art 
and designers coming together 
and coming up with these amaz-
ing projects.”

Representative of that mission, 

the ICE Winter Blast was packed 
with students from many of the 
University’s different academic 
units, including the School of Pub-
lic Health’s Innovation and Social 
Entrepreneurship program, the 
School of Information and the 
School of Nursing. Various student 
organizations and ventures were 
also represented.

“To make the best ideas and 

solutions come out of U of M, 
and to give students the best pos-
sible experience, you have to meet 
people who aren’t like you and 
you have to work with different 
people,” Calvo said. “And so the 
commission has brought all these 

groups together.”

Calvo said the ICE Winter Blast 

served as a sort of finale event for 
the University’s Month of Entre-
preneurship, which ran from Jan. 
15 to Feb. 15 and included events 
like Startup Weekend, MHacks 
and Makeathon.

He said this event, in particular, 

was organized with the hope that 
students would come and see that 
entrepreneurship was relevant to 
them, even if they thought their 
field of interest didn’t include an 
emphasis on innovation.

LSA freshman Evan Garfinkel 

also led the event as part of the 
Commission on Student Innova-
tion.

“Mainly, the Commission on 

Student Innovation wanted to 
promote and expose innovation, 
creativity and entrepreneurship,” 
Garfinkel said.

For that reason, they named the 

event “ICE.”

“We sat down as a commission 

of the student government and we 
said it’s really important to expose 
more students to these ideas and 
for the students that want to par-
ticipate in this type of stuff to be 
able to connect them with orga-
nizations and with startups that 
would really be meaningful to 
them,” Garfinkel said. “There’s 
just a growing entrepreneurial 
presence and interest on campus 
where a lot of students from a lot 
of different schools across campus 
— whether it be Ross, whether it be 

Engineering or LSA.”

Art and Design senior Nick 

Tilma ran the School of Art and 
Design’s booth at the event. On 
display in front of his table was a 
prototype of what he called “Study 
Buddy,” a multi-surface, swivel-
ing desk he designed in a class last 
semester.

The class’s prompt was to 

design furniture and accessories 
for college students.

“We did the whole process of 

researching what people need, 
what people want and choosing 
and developing our projects into 
full-scale, working models,” Tilma 
said.

With him was Art and Design 

senior Xiaoying He. She, too, dis-
played a prototype of her prod-
uct, “Squishy,” a pillow holder for 
iPads, glasses and other odds and 
ends.

Stationed at the A2Geeks table, 

a nonprofit entrepreneurial hub 
in Ann Arbor, was Roger Rayle, a 
venture catalyst at R2VIVE. One 
of A2Geeks’s notable events is the 
monthly A2NewTech event, an 
idea-pitching session where entre-
preneurs can share ideas and net-
work.

“Half of the students here have 

already presented (at the event),” 
Rayle said.

In line with the event’s mission 

to connect entrepreneurs, sets of 
partnered organizations — one 
from the University and one from 
the students — have also created 

an events list on Innovation Blue’s 
website.

By way of this “central hub” 

they hope to keep students of all 
different backgrounds connected 
to entrepreneurial opportunities 
on campus and in Ann Arbor, Gar-
finkel said.

In addition to events like ICE, 

Jeni Olney, student affairs special-
ist at the Center for Entrepreneur-
ship, said the University wants to 
extend entrepreneurial opportu-
nities to all students by way of the 
Minor in Entrepreneurship.

Motioning to the student-filled 

Rogel Ballroom floor, Olney said 
students are already passionate 
about entrepreneurship.

“The minor offers that curricu-

lar stamp, saying that the Univer-
sity acknowledges and recognizes 
the efforts of these students at a 
curricular level,” Olney said. “We 
want to further equip them with 
the skills and the tools that will 
assist them in their endeavors out-
side of class.”

Calvo said he believes the drive 

to involve students from all over 
campus in entrepreneurship is 
unique to the University because 
of its interdisciplinary nature.

“We’re the only school that I 

know of where we’ve made entre-
preneurship integrated into the 
most general, largest college at 
our school, to show people that 
hey, no matter what you are study-
ing, there’s opportunities here for 
you,” Calvo said.

ICE
From Page 1

other were pointed inquiries 
about topics like familial rela-
tionships and death. At the 36 
Questions event hosted at the 
University, participants were split 
into groups and then, from the 
groups, further divided into pairs 
to answer the questions.

LSA junior Nivedita Karki, 

who is a web editor at the Michi-
gan Daily, and Engineering senior 
Madhav Achar, who both said 
they attended because its gen-
eral premise looked interesting, 
had met two years ago at a South 
Asian Awareness Network con-
ference before being coinciden-
tally paired together.

“It was just interesting to me 

that someone would think just 
knowing another person would 
be enough to fall in love with 
them,” Karki said. “It was kind of 
like being a part of a social experi-
ment.”

Achar said he didn’t mind 

answering some of the more per-
sonal questions included on the 
list.

“I had more fun answering 

them than if I was to go on a 
date in general,” he said. “The 
first time you meet someone you 
might ask a couple of questions, 
‘what’s your major? Blah, blah, 
blah.’ I’m glad to see that major 
wasn’t on here, because that’s 
not the most important thing 
about someone.”

After answering all 36 ques-

tions on the list, the next step 
for participants is to stare into 
each other’s eyes for four min-
utes without looking away or 
speaking. When it came time for 
participants at the University’s 
36 Questions to move on to this 
part of the event, the room was 
filled with sporadic giggles and 
whispers.

“I have trouble making eye 

contact with someone when I’m 
talking to them,” Achar said. 

“It’s just a habit. So just four 
minutes of eye contact without 
talking? That was kind of hard. 
But we had a good time, I think. 
We’re survivors.”

Achar and Karki said they 

were both planning to stay in 
touch and meet up again this 
weekend.

Sakallah, 
the 
co-organizer 

of the event, said it was impor-
tant for her to host 36 Questions 
in a University setting because 
oftentimes college students have 
a difficult time being open with 
others, even with people they’ve 
known for years.

“Especially at Michigan, peo-

ple aren’t apt to be super vulner-
able,” she said. “I was reading 
through these 36 questions and 
for some people I would think I 
know really well, I wouldn’t know 
the answers to these questions. I 
think that’s important for college 
students specifically to have those 
kinds of relationships especially 
at this time because we’re all at a 
formative stage of our lives.”

Nielsen said she and Sakallah 

had discussed hosting 36 Ques-
tions as a way to offer an alterna-
tive to “hook-up culture.”

“On the romantic side, for 

people who are looking for that, 
on a college campus, you’re not 
really getting into these deep 
relationships,” she said. “A lot of 
times everyone’s so caught up in 
their classes that you miss a lot 
of opportunities to really get to 
know people that you’re suppos-
edly close to.”

Moving forward, Sakallah and 

Nielsen said they plan to make 
36 Questions a series of national 
pop-up events. Sakallah said she 
had a friend in San Francisco 
who had a similar idea and had 
held a successful event similar to 
36 Questions last week.

“We kind of decided that we 

were going to launch this whole 
thing and have a bunch of events 
all over the country,” Sakallah 
said. “Ann Arbor is just one out 
of a bunch.”

36 QUESTIONS
From Page 2

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