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Thursday, May 7, 2015

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com NEWS

Ben Carson to run in 2016 presidential race 

Former pediatric 
director announces 
candidacy from his 

native Detroit 

By ALYSSA BRANDON

Summer Managing News Editor

Ben Carson, a University alum 

and 
renowned 
neurosurgeon, 

announced his candidacy for the 
2016 presidential race Monday 
afternoon.

Carson, who will seek a nomi-

nation from the Republican Party, 
said he is not focused on votes, but 
rather is asking the voting public 

to consider his ideas and views.

“I’m not even asking people to 

vote for me. I’m just asking people 
to listen,” he said. “The real pedi-
gree we need to heal this country 
is someone who believes in our 
constitution.”

The 63-year-old is anticipated 

to be the only African American 
entering the pool of candidates 
vying for the Republican nomi-
nation. Senators Marco Rubio of 
Florida, Ted Cruz of Texas and 
Rand Paul of Kentucky are also 
seeking Republican nominations.

Several unannounced candi-

dates for the Republican nomina-
tion remain, including Michigan 
Gov. Rick Snyder. Last week, Sny-

der released a statement saying he 
was considering running, and he 
will make a formal decision within 
the “next couple of months or so.”

A Detroit native, Carson has 

never run for public office, but 
earned national recognition dur-
ing his leadership in the pediatric 
unit of Johns Hopkins Children’s 
Center in Baltimore.

“I’m not politically correct, and 

I will probably never be politi-
cally correct,” Carson said. “I’m 
not a politician, I don’t want to be 
a politician. Politicians do what’s 
politically expedient. I want to do 
what’s right.”

At 33, Carson was the youngest 

director of the center’s pediatric 

unit. In 1987, Carson performed 
the world’s first operation to sepa-
rate twins who were conjoined at 
the head. The success of the oper-
ation was the subject of the auto-
biographical film “Gifted Hands,” 
in which Carson was portrayed by 
actor Cuba Gooding Jr.

Carson 
holds 
conservative 

political views, which he attri-
butes to his Christian faith and 
upbringing. Opposing both abor-
tion and same-sex marriage, he 
has made many notable appear-
ances before the Christian com-
munity, including at the 2013 
National Prayer Breakfast.

Carson’s speech at the break-

fast, of which Obama was in atten-

dance, was considered critical of 
the Obama administration’s health 
care policy. The speech earned 
him support from the conservative 
community. Carson encouraged a 
program in which newborn babies 
are given health savings accounts 
as an alternative to Obamacare.

“When a person is born, give 

him a birth certificate, an elec-
tronic medical record and a health 
savings account to which money 
can be contributed — pretax — 
from the time you’re born ‘til the 
time you die,” Carson said. “When 
you die, you can pass it on to your 
family members, so that when 
you’re 85 years old and you got 

 

ALLISON FARRAND/Daily

Members of the Class of 2015 celebrate their graduation at Spring Com-
mencement at Michigan Stadium on Saturday

CE LE BR ATE GOOD TIMES

“I think today has larger mean-

ing because of what’s going on in 
Baltimore, Terrance Kellom shoot-
ing in Detroit on Tuesday as well,” 
McCoy said. “So this is for Aura 
Rosser, but it’s also about all the 
Black folks who’ve been shot.”

The protests began in Liberty 

Square and moved to State Street 
and Main Street before reaching 
the Ann Arbor City Council office. 
Traffic stalled in all streets where 
the protest took place, and many 
protesters shouted, “no justice, no 
driving,” at cars. Two police cars 
trailed behind the rally.

Protesters held signs saying 

“Black Lives Matter,” “We Will 
Never Let You Forget Aura Ross-
er,” “Justice for Aura Rosser” and 
“Strong Communities Make Police 
Obsolete.”

Jeffrey Sorensen, a University 

alum and co-founder of the startup 
optiMize, participated in the pro-

test. He said he attended the protest 
because of his continued frustra-
tion over police brutality.

“It’s just this story that keeps 

coming up again and again and 
again, and yet a huge, huge per-
centage of people just don’t pay 
attention at all, or are totally mis-
informed, or stop paying attention 
after an hour and just go about their 
lives,” he said. “Just the response 
is really sad to me. A lot of people I 
grew up around, a lot of white peo-
ple, just don’t give a shit at all.”

Ypsilanti resident Anthony Mor-

gan also participated in the protest, 
and brought along his two young 
daughters. He said he has been fol-
lowing Ann Arbor to Ferguson’s 
movement since its beginning, and 
finds it important to teach younger 
generations about social justice and 
community activism.

“It’s a necessity, I’m at an age 

where we’re transferring the wis-
dom of the elders to the energy of 
the youth, kind of like Common 
said in ‘Glory.’ It’s a way to use new 
school understanding with old 

school experience and still fight 
some of the same shit, though. It’s 
constant, the fight never ends.”

Many pedestrians on the streets 

looked on and recorded the march 
on their cell phones. Some onlook-
ers yelled back at the protesters in 
frustration, while others showed 
solidarity by honking their horns or 
raising their hands in reference to 
the “hands up, don’t shoot” phrase 
and gesture that originated in the 
shooting of Michael Brown in Fer-
guson, Mo.

Engineering junior Josh John-

son saw the protest while he was on 
Main Street, and said even though 
it caused traffic standstill, because 
there was no property damage, he 
appreciated the demonstration.

“If they’re not hurting anyone, 

if they’re not causing damage, I 
appreciate their opinion, but if they 
are destroying peoples’ property, 
then I think that’s wrong,” Johnson 
said. “If they are peacefully protest-
ing, then I appreciate their opin-
ions, no matter what side it’s on.”

PROTEST
From Page 1

funding, the University has relied 
more heavily on the General Fund.

In an interview with The Michi-

gan Daily before elections ended, 
representative Jeff Irwin (D–Ann 
Arbor) said he supported the pro-
posal, but he anticipated voters 
would not pass the resolution.

“I think its going to fail today 

because citizens are very frustrated 
that the Republicans are continu-
ing to lower taxes on the wealthy 
and increase taxes on the lower and 

middle class,” Irwin said.

In an interview with the Daily 

following the election, Rep. Adam 
Zemke (D–Ann Arbor) said he was 
disappointed in the results of the 
proposal, but he believes voters sent 
a clear message.

“I think that the message is that 

they want the roads fixed, but they 
do not trust the Legislature to do it 
in the manner that was proposed 
by Proposal 1,” he said. “I think 
that the leadership that has been 
in place for the last four years has 
given them plenty of reason not to 
trust the current Legislature.”

Economics Prof. Donald Grimes 

said effects of Proposal 1’s fail-
ure may be felt in five to 10 years, 
by which point costs to repair the 
roads will drastically increase.

“Five or ten years from now this 

is going to be a severe blow to the 
Michigan economy and the quality 
of life of residents,” Grimes said.

The state Legislature is consider-

ing alternative plans for road repair, 
including one proposed by House 
Speaker Jase Bolger, which passed 
in the state House, but not the state 
Senate, last term. If passed, the ini-

PROPOSAL
From Page 1

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

See CANDIDACY, Page 8

