longest streak of private-sector
job creation in history,” he said.
“More than 14 million new jobs;
the strongest two years of job
growth since the ’90s; an unem-
ployment rate cut in half. Our
auto industry just had its best
year ever.”
The White House recently
announced plans for Obama to
visit Detroit for the North Ameri-
can International Auto Show.
Obama also visited a Ford Motor
manufacturing plant prior to his
2015 State of the Union address
last year.
In a press release after the
speech, U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell
(D–Dearborn) emphasized the
importance of Obama’s mention
of Detroit’s auto industry.
“We also must continue to
innovate, which is why it was
so important that the President
highlighted the comeback of the
auto industry,” she said. “As we
saw at the North American Inter-
national Auto Show, Michigan is
still in the driver’s seat when it
comes to producing and design-
ing next-generation vehicles and
I cannot wait to see the President
there next week,”
Speaking to his actions on
healthcare reform, Obama said
the Affordable Care Act, passed
in 2012, centers on ensuring cov-
erage for Americans when they
need it most. In particular, he
highlighted what he called the
act’s main successes: job creation
and slowing a rise in health care
costs.
“It’s about filling the gaps
in employer-based care so that
when we lose a job, or go back
to school, or start that new busi-
ness, we’ll still have coverage,”
he said. “Nearly eighteen mil-
lion have gained coverage so far.
Health care inflation has slowed.
And our businesses have created
jobs every single month since it
became law.”
In an interview after the
speech, Public Health Prof. Peter
Jacobson said the most signifi-
cant achievements of the Afford-
able Care Act were the decrease
in the number of uninsured peo-
ple and health care costs, as well
as encouraging healthy behavior
to keep people out of the hospital.
“The act if not directly, then
implicitly, encourages healthcare
providers to think outside the
walls of the hospital to keep com-
munities healthy, and in the long
run that is the most significant
aspect,” he said.
He added that due to a gen-
eral public misunderstanding of
what the Affordable Care Act has
achieved, the president’s last task
involving health care should be to
educate about that through plat-
forms like the State of the Union.
“He and his administration
can do a better job of explaining
all of the benefits that the act has
brought while recognizing its
shortcomings,” Jacobson.
Along with discussing the
Affordable Care Act, Obama also
announced a national effort to
combat cancer, which was met by
applause from both sides of the
aisle.
“Last year, Vice President
Biden said that with a new moon-
shot, America can cure cancer,”
he said. “Tonight, I’m announc-
ing a new national effort to get
it done. And because he’s gone to
the mat for all of us, on so many
issues over the past forty years,
I’m putting Joe in charge of Mis-
sion Control.”
Turning to the issue of nation-
al security, Obama noted the
success of various international
agreements such as the Iran
nuclear deal — which aims to pre-
vent the country from acquiring a
nuclear weapon — and the Paris
Students raise
concerns about
Schlissel’s push for
strategic plan
By RIYAH BASHA
Daily Staff Reporter
Approximately
50
Uni-
versity community members
attended the first of three
diversity forums slated to be
held this semester as a part
of University President Mark
Schlissel’s diversity initiative
Tuesday night.
Hosted by the Office of
Diversity, Equity and Inclu-
sion, the forum featured a
presentation
on
Schlissel’s
strategic plan, followed by a
question and answer session
during which audience mem-
bers offered ideas for and cri-
tiques of the plan’s structure
and focuses.
Rather than charging an
executive team with dictat-
ing a course of action, Jackie
Simpson, director of the Trot-
ter Multicultural Center and
a member of the University’s
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
team, noted during the event
that the initiative calls for stra-
tegic plans from 49 distinct
campus units.
Each unit was appointed a
planning leader, and should
have conducted research on
the state of internal diversity
last semester according to the
plan’s public timeline. This
information, in addition to
various town halls and focus
group data, will be rolled into
one University-wide strategic
michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Wednesday, January 13, 2016
ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
INDEX
Vol. CXXV, No. 51
©2016 The Michigan Daily
michigandaily.com
NEWS......................... 2A
OPINION.....................4A
SPORTS ......................7A
SUDOKU..................... 2A
CL ASSIFIEDS...............6A
STATEMENT.................1B
NEW ON MICHIGANDAILY.COM
Director for UMTRI appointed
MICHIGANDAILY.COM/SECTION/NEWS
GOT A NEWS TIP?
Call 734-418-4115 or e-mail
news@michigandaily.com and let us know.
WEATHER
TOMORROW
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Michigan pulls
off huge upset
of No. 3 Terps
Panel examines
importance of
urban planning in
issues of race
By ISOBEL FUTTER
Daily Staff Reporter
The Duderstadt Center Gal-
lery, decked with hanging sta-
tistics and artwork, housed a
conversation Tuesday evening
that sought to link urban plan-
ning and diversity.
Hosted by the Taubman Col-
lege of Architecture and Urban
Planning, the event was one of
several planned for the Agents
of Change exhibition, a series
presented by students across
colleges housed on North Cam-
pus.
Tuesday’s
event
featured
a film made by Rackham stu-
dent Christopher Locke, who
is studying architecture, called
“Streaming
Blackness.”
The
See BASKETBALL, Page 8A
ACADEMICS
ANDREW COHEN/Daily
Rackham student Mary Jones and LSA junior Julia Kaye exchange notecards as part of an activity to crowdsource
ideas regarding the University’s new diversity initiative at a town hall meeting at Angell Hall on Tuesday.
See PANEL, Page 3A
MARINA ROSS/Daily
LSA senior Mark Lawson attends a viewing party for the State of the Union held by the College Democrats at the Gerald R.
Ford School on Tuesday.
POTUS highlights
economic successes,
looks to nation’s
future
By LYDIA MURRAY
Daily Staff Reporter
President Barack Obama high-
lighted the economy, healthcare
and national security, focus-
ing not only on 2016 but also the
future of the country for years
to come, in his final State of the
Union address Tuesday night.
In an interview after the
speech, Communications Prof.
Josh Pasek said the president’s
focus during the speech was
shaped by the fact that it was his
last in office.
“The president is going to
attempt to define his legacy in
a way that he thinks will help
shape the understanding of what
policies he’s put in place through-
out his tenure in office,” Pasek
said. “And in his view this will
help encourage the future of the
presidency to be one that main-
tains or upholds those policies.”
During his speech, Obama first
addressed the economy, calling
the United State’s economy the
strongest in the world. He accred-
ited the country’s success to both
job creation and the recovery of
the auto industry.
“We’re in the middle of the
In State of the Union,
Obama reflects on term
A look at the availability of HIV
testing in Ann Arbor
» INSIDE
the statement
Irvin scores 22 as
Wolverines stun
Maryland without
Caris LeVert
By JACOB GASE
Daily Sports Editor
Before the Michigan men’s
basketball team’s Tuesday night
showdown with No. 3 Maryland,
the students filling the Maize
Rage stood, cheered and waved
their thousands of blue LED glow
sticks. But it’s hard to believe they
were expecting too much from
the game itself.
After all, the Wolverines were
without senior guard Caris LeVert
for the third straight game, and
they were facing a lineup loaded
with stars like preseason Big Ten
Player of the Year Melo Trimble,
versatile wing Jake Layman and
highly touted freshman center
Diamond Stone.
But two hours later, after a
huge night from junior forward
Zak Irvin, a first-half 3-point bar-
rage and a second-half reawak-
ening, the same students were
waving the glow sticks in the
air again after their Wolverines
upset the Terrapins in a 70-67
thriller.
“It just feels good to get this
win today, against a really good
team with a lot of weapons,” said
Michigan coach John Beilein.
“Everybody
contributed,
and
I’m really happy for this team
and our students. I really want
(the students) to have this great
experience of going to see a good
basketball team, and for a lot of
reasons, we haven’t been as good
the last two years.”
The Wolverines (3-1 Big Ten,
13-4 overall) jumped out to an
early lead thanks to eight first-
half 3-pointers, but the Terrapins
— led by Stone and his 22 points
and 11 rebounds — used their size
advantage to quickly get back into
the game, tying it at 54 with 7:33
remaining.
Though Michigan’s offense
nearly collapsed in the second
half with two scoring droughts of
over three minutes each, it came
back to life at the right time.
Junior forward Mark Donnal
See TOWN HALL, Page 3A
SOURCE: CNN/ORC
SOURCE: GALLUP
INFOGRAPHIC: MARIAH GARDZIOLA
SOURCE: PEW RESEARCH
See UNION, Page 3A
HI: 35
LO: 29
University holds first town
hall on diversity, inclusion
Forum aims
to connect
diversity,
academic
initiatives