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Tuesday, February 24, 2015

CELEBRATING OUR ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIFTH YEAR OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM

INDEX
Vol. CXXIV, No. 73
©2015 The Michigan Daily
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NEWS........................... 2

OPINION.......................4

ARTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

SPORTS ........................7

SUDOKU....................... 2

CL ASSIFIEDS.................6

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WEATHER 
TOMORROW

HI: 20

LO: -3

Universities see 
increase under 

Snyder, but express 
long-term concerns

By JACK TURMAN

Daily Staff Reporter

Following statewide elections in 

which higher education was a point 
of debate, this article is the first in 
a series examining the changing 
landscape of higher education fund-
ing in Michigan and what those 
changes mean for four-year univer-
sities.

When current Gov. Rick Sny-

der (R) assumed office in 2011, 
his administration cut 15 percent 
from higher education funding.

Snyder then began a series of 

incremental increases to higher 
education for each subsequent 
year — a 3.1-percent raise in 2012, a 
2.2-percent raise in 2013, a 6.1-per-
cent raise in 2014 and a 2-percent 
raise in 2015 — though the final 
dollar amount still remains lower 
than it was when he took office.

However, much before Snyder, 

under Republican and Democratic 
governors alike, higher education 
has seen both heavy fluctuations 
and a pattern of cuts.

In interviews, state higher edu-

cation officials and legislators 
said past few years’ increases, are 
promising, but a long-term prob-
lem still remains.

State economics

Significant cuts to higher edu-

cation started in the late 1970s and 
early 1980s due to a recession in 
Michigan, according to Stephen 
DesJardins, professor of educa-
tion and public policy. DesJardins 
wrote “Michigan Public Higher 
Education: Recent Trends and Pol-
icy Considerations for the Coming 
Decade,” published in 2006.

Under 
former 
Gov. 
James 

Blanchard (D), public universities 
saw an increase in state appropria-
tions in the mid-1980s. According 
to DesJardins, Blanchard believed 
that a postsecondary education 
would stimulate both economic 
growth and development.

After Blanchard finished his 

term as governor, former Gov. 
John Engler (R) assumed office in 
1991, and the state started to strug-
gle with funding higher education, 
though DesJardins noted that 
Engler still managed to increase 
student financial aid.

At the conclusion of Engler’s 

years as governor, former Gov. 
Jennifer Granholm (D) was elect-
ed in 2003. Granholm cut higher 
education funding to balance the 
state budget, continuing a down-

Michigan voters to 
consider 1 percent 
sales tax increase 

on May ballot

By SAMANTHA WINTNER

Daily Staff Reporter

In January, Gov. Rick Snyder 

(R) approved a plan to fund road 
repairs and other infrastruc-
ture upgrades in the state. But 
because the proposal must also 
receive approval from Michi-
gan voters, both proponents 
and critics are already prepared 
to sway voters before the May 
election.

Snyder’s plan, Proposal 1, has 

received mixed reviews from the 
state’s residents and businesses. 
Supporters say they are con-
cerned with the poor condition 
of Michigan’s roads. However, 
others worry that increasing 
the state sales tax caters to spe-
cial interests groups and will 
have a disproportionate effect 
on lower-income residents.

Under the plan, a whole-

sale tax on motor fuels would 
replace the state sales tax on 
fuel, which currently provides 
funding for K-12 schools and 
local municipal governments.

Revenue from that wholesale 

tax would be earmarked entire-
ly for funding transportation 
and related infrastructure.

Snyder’s 
proposal 
also 

includes a 1-percent increase in 
the state sales tax, from 6 to 7 
percent, to replace the funding 
for schools, municipalities and 
other entities that would be lost 
with the elimination of the sales 
tax on fuel.

Though 
the 
legislature 

passed the proposal in Decem-
ber, a sales tax change requires 
an amendment to the state con-
stitution. Michigan constitu-
ents will vote on the proposal 
May 5.

If passed, the legislature 

anticipates the restructuring 
will raise about $2 billion per 
year, according to an analysis by 
the Senate Fiscal Agency.

Safe Roads Yes, the ballot 

committee in favor of Snyder’s 
proposal, has focused on the 
message that fixing the roads 
is an urgent matter of public 
safety.

“Any of us who drive Michi-

gan roads and bridges under-
stand just how dangerous it’s 
become,” said Roger Martin, a 
spokesperson for the commit-
tee. “It’s dangerous for fire-
fighters and ambulance drivers 
and dangerous for police offi-
cers and sheriffs.”

First-time voters 
currently required 
to vote in person 

for elections

ALLANA AKHTAR

Daily Staff Reporter

A bill proposed in the Michi-

gan state legislature could make 
voting easier for University stu-
dents.

Earlier this month, several 

state senators sponsored a bill 
that would allow first-time vot-
ers in the state of Michigan to 
vote by absentee ballot or mail. 
The bill has been sent to the Sen-
ate’s Committee on Elections and 
Government Reform for review.

Currently, first-time voters in 

Michigan are required to vote 
in person unless disabled, older 
than 60 or temporarily residing 
overseas.

Proponents of the new legisla-

tion said the current law presents 

a problem for many University 
students, who are living in Ann 
Arbor during their first election 
and cannot return to their home-
town to vote in person.

Steve Bieda (D–Warren), a 

co-sponsor, said he hopes to 
encourage voter turnout by mak-
ing voting more accessible. He 
said current legislation unfairly 
benefits the state’s Republicans 
because college students tend to 
be younger and more liberal, and 
are more likely to vote for Demo-
cratic candidates.

“Frankly, I think it’s a very 

partisan attempt to prevent peo-
ple from voting,” he said.

Bieda added that he is unsure 

if the committee, which is made 
up of four Republicans and one 
Democrat, will schedule a hear-
ing for the bill. He said he pre-
dicts the bill will not receive a 
hearing.

“This is one example that 

we’re trying to overcome on a 
useless law that doesn’t serve any 
purpose other than make it more 

Initiative designed 
to promote human, 
planetary health

By LINDSEY SCULLEN

Daily Staff Reporter

Students searching for hot 

dogs in East Quad Residence 
Hall on Monday were headed 
for disappointment.

Monday 
marked 
Michi-

gan Dining’s first step toward 
joining 
“Meatless 
Monday” 

— a global movement started 
in 2003 at the John Hopkins 

Bloomberg School of Public 
Health. East Quad was the first 
to try it out — throughout the 
entire day, no meat was served 
at the dining hall.

The initiative has reached 

36 different countries and is 
rooted in the idea that decreas-
ing the amount of meat eaten 
is good for the health of both 
humans and the planet.

LSA sophomore Katherine 

Hamilton said she agrees that 
Meatless Monday is beneficial 
to health.

“A lot of meat isn’t real-

ly made ethically or totally 
healthily and so I think giving 
up meat for a day a week is just a 

good idea in general,” she said.

The Meatless Monday cam-

paign’s website says going 
meatless at least once a week 
can make diners less likely to 
develop 
chronic 
conditions 

such as cancer, cardiovascular 
disease, diabetes and obesity.

Buzz Cummings, head chef 

at East Quad, agrees that meat 
can increase these risks, and 
said he eats with health in 
mind.

“I’ve tried to eat more fruits 

and vegetables because I was 
diagnosed with cancer myself,” 
Cummings said. “You can real-
ly satisfy someone’s diet with 

Meeting is first of 
several to address 
2016, 2017 fiscal 

year budgets

By ANASTASSIOS 
ADAMOPOULUS

Daily Staff Reporter

The Ann Arbor City Council 

convened Monday night to dis-
cuss the first part of the city bud-
get for fiscal years 2016 and 2017.

The meeting was the first 

round of discussions on the bud-
get, and included comments from 
representatives of the courts, the 
fire department and the police 
department, as well as City 
Administrator Steve Powers.

Tom Crawford, the city’s chief 

financial officer, said the city’s 
general fund has not yet recov-
ered from the 2008 economic 
recession.

“The general fund is still 

recovering from the downturn 
in a number of different ways 
and it’s still going to take us more 
time do that,” he said.

Crawford noted that projec-

tions for the operating budget, 
which are based on both exist-
ing operations and staff requests, 
show there will be an adjusted 
net deficit of $1,815,978 in 2016 
and of $2,550,605 in 2017. The 

See ROADS, Page 3
See MEAT, Page 3
See BUDGET, Page 3

RITA MORRIS/Daily

East Quad hosts it’s first Meatless Mondays menu, where Malibu veggie burgers replace traditional meat 
dishes at the Wild Fire station in the dining hall Monday.

TRANSPORTATION
ANN ARBOR

APPROPRIATIONS

GOVERNMENT

See ABSENTEE, Page 3
See HIGHER ED, Page 3

DAVID SONG/Daily

LSA sophomore Antoinette Wade portrays Ella Fitzgerald for the Black on Wax event hosted by Sigma Gamma Rho at the Michigan League on Monday.

WA X MUSEUM

Path forward 
for higher 
ed. funding 

unclear

Bill could remove limits 
on Mich. absentee voting

Committees
debate Snyder’s 
road proposal

East Quadrangle pioneers 
“Meatless Monday” event

City Council 
talks more 
funding for 
police dept.

