michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Tuesday, February 2, 2016
ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
GOT A NEWS TIP?
Call 734-418-4115 or e-mail
news@michigandaily.com and let us know.
WEATHER
TOMORROW
Vice president for
research plans to
continue support
for innovation
By ALEXA ST. JOHN
Daily Staff Reporter
After serving as interim in
the role for almost two years,
Jack Hu, the University’s current
vice
president
for
research,
was approved for a three-year
appointment, effective Jan. 1,
2016 through Dec. 31, 2018, in
December.
In an interview with The
Michigan Daily on Jan. 12, Hu
outlined several goals for his role,
including supporting creating
opportunities
for
students,
supporting
faculty
research
and innovation and fostering
interdisciplinary initiatives.
The
search
process
for
Hu’s position was consulted
by University President Mark
Schlissel
with
the
aim
of
identifying and evaluating senior
officers who would be qualified
for the position, according to
University Regent Kathy White
(D–Ann
Arbor).
During
the
process, Schlissel consulted with
the Board of Regents and asked
for their input, leading to their
December vote on appointing
Schlissel’s recommendation, Hu.
In the University Board of
Regents’ action item from its
meeting in December, Schlissel
summarized
several
reasons
why Hu was a viable candidate,
citing his leadership skills and
experience in particular.
“Professor
Hu’s
proven
leadership skills, breadth and
depth of experience, vision and
demonstrated
commitment
to the University of Michigan
make him ideally suited for the
responsibilities of vice president
for research,” Schlissel said.
Hu was originally appointed as
interim vice president following
former vice president Stephen
Forrest’s announcement to step
down from the position and
GRANT HARDY/Daily
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R –Tex.) discusses his desire to restore the Constitution to its original form and defend it if elected president during a rally at Johnson County
Fairgrounds outside Iowa City, Iowa, on Sunday.
Senator wins
Republican Iowa
caucus by roughly 3
percent
By EMMA KINERY
Daily News Editor
IOWA CITY — A day before he
won the nation’s first caucus by
about three percent, Sen. Ted Cruz
(R–Tex.) made sure Iowan voters
knew he was the most conservative
presidential candidate at his rally
in Iowa City Sunday.
On Sunday, Sen. Cruz’s final
appeals aimed to cement the
votes of the farthest right-wing
constituents — and the final polls
showed his effort drew them in,
as well as others.
During his remarks, Sen. Cruz
urged attendees to each persuade
nine other friends to caucus for
him, and for those who were too
young to vote: persuade 10.
“I’m
not
suggesting
voter
fraud,” he said. “If every one of
you brings nine other people to
the caucus tomorrow night, you
will have voted 10 times.”
According to the Associated
Press’s poll, Sen. Cruz won the
caucuses with 27.7 percent. In
second and third place were
Donald
Trump
and
Marco
Rubio, at 24.4 and 23 percent
respectively as of Monday night.
At Sunday’s rally, the focus
rested
largely
on
speakers
who
could
speak
to
Cruz’s
conservative credentials, with
almost sixty minutes devoted to a
range of individuals emphasizing
Cruz’s devotion to conservative
values and the strength of his
conservative convictions. The
candidate spoke for about fifteen
minutes afterward to close out
the rally.
Over the past several years,
Iowa’s Republican caucus has
Representative aims
to exempt feminine
hygiene products
from state revenue
By CAITLIN REEDY
Daily Staff Reporter
Michigan is joining several
other states in the nation
in working to abolish the
so-called
“tampon
tax”
through a new House bill
that seeks to exempt several
feminine hygiene products,
including tampons and pads,
from taxation among other
products.
Rep. Sarah Roberts (D–
St. Clair Shores) introduced
House Bill 5234 on Jan. 21 after
hearing about an activist in
New York who was advocating
for removal of the tax.
“I thought this absolutely
makes sense that we should
not be taxing women for
being women,” Roberts said
in an interview. “The state
has a number of things that
are seen as necessary items,
like food and prescriptions,
and I think feminine hygiene
products are necessary items.
It is something we cannot not
have.”
The bill has garnered 28
co-sponsors, three of which
are Republicans. Nine of the
21 total women in the state
House have supported the bill.
“Women menstruate, we’ve
been doing it for a very long
time, and we should be talking
about it,” Roberts said. “We
should make it accessible and
affordable and safe.”
The push to remove the
tax started with California
state Rep. Cristina Garcia
(D–Calif.), who got the idea
to make feminine hygiene
products tax free after hearing
from
local
constituents
who said the tampon tax
accumulates to a large portion
of their income.
Garcia
said
women
are
being taxed for being women
and that until recently, men
were afraid to approach the
subject.
“We’ve
been
taught
to
hide this,” Garcia said when
announcing the bill. “The
reality is, these institutions of
power are male-dominated.”
According to Garcia, the
average
California
woman
spends $7 a year on taxes for
purchasing tampons and other
feminine hygiene products.
The state generates $20 million
annually from these taxes
alone, Garcia said in a press
release. Nationwide, tampons
are taxed more than candy and
soda, according to a study from
the Tax Foundation. Roberts
said the average American
woman will use upwards of
17,000 tampons and sanitary
napkins during her lifetime,
not including those used by
her daughters.
LSA
sophomore
Ashley
Wilson, social media director
of Students for Choice, said
she thought this new initiative
can positively affect women of
lower income status.
“The idea that having a
See JACK HU, Page 3
See CRUZ, Page 3
See TAX, Page 3
Over a dozen
artists play Hill
Auditorium as part
of annual festival
By ARIANA ASSAF
Daily Arts Writer
Last weekend, over a dozen
musical acts graced the stage
at Hill Auditorium as part of
the 39th annual Ann Arbor
Folk Festival. Not knowing
much about folk music, I went
in expecting songs praising
the good ol’ US of A backed
by banjos and harmonicas.
But like many other genres of
today, folk music is not defined
by such specific parameters.
Friday night at the festival
exposed me to a grandiose
landscape
of
styles:
from
soft vocalists to rock ‘n’ roll
guitar players and everything
in
between.
A
voice
that
particularly
caught
my
attention was that of Dallas
Green, City and Colour’s lead
singer. Green began his music
career as guitarist/lead singer
of Helicon Blue in the early
2000s, co-founded hardcore
band Alexisonfire after that,
and released his first album
as City and Colour in 2005.
Since then, the project has
earned
him
international
attention, and he’s performed
everywhere from his home city
of Toronto to South America
(along with pop-star-turned-
country-singer Pink on their
duo, You+Me).
Yet for all that big-time
success,
City
and
Colour’s
performance felt as intimate
as old friends sharing secrets
and memories in the comfort
of a living room. Green’s casual
flannel and baseball cap lent
an air of relaxation to the regal
Hill Auditorium that perfectly
matched the calmness of his
voice, allowing him to establish
instant familiarity with the
audience regardless of whether
or not they were already fans of
his music.
The
band
kept
the
performance balanced with a
good mix of recent work and old
favorites, highlighting songs
like “If I Should Go Before You,”
a beautiful example of Green’s
vocal and emotional range.
A
well-received
throwback
came in the form of “Grand
Optimist”
from
the
album
Little Hell, as eerie “ooooh” ’s
made walls vibrate and souls
tingle — the kind of effect only
a live performance can achieve.
They ended the set with the
EMILIE FARRUGIA/Daily
Nora Jane Struthers & the Party Line performs at The Ark’s 39th Ann Arbor Folk Festival at Hill Auditorium on Friday.
See FOLK FEST, Page 5
Ann Arbor Folk Fest brings
a winning variety of sounds
LSA forum draws
few students, some
faculty to League
ballroom
By EMILY MILLER
Daily Staff Reporter
The College of Literature,
Science and the Arts hosted the
first of two workshops Monday
to receive feedback and ideas
from students regarding ways
to facilitate a more inclusive and
diverse climate on campus.
The workshop is part of LSA’s
Plan-A-Thon, an initiative to help
generate ideas before submitting
a college-wide plan to enhance
diversity at the school. The
plan, which will be submitted
on March 15 and implemented
next fall, is part of University
President
Mark
Schlissel’s
strategic plan on diversity, equity
and inclusion.
While this event aimed to
engage students in the planning
process
according
to
event
organizers, about half of the
audience Monday was made up
of faculty members. The room
was setup to accommodate a
large crowd, but only a few of the
tables in the League ballroom
were
filled,
with
about
15
students and 15 faculty members
in attendance.
During
the
workshop,
administrators
presented
the
current draft of the plan to gauge
reactions to initiatives presented
and brainstorm ways to improve.
Angela Dillard, LSA associate
See DIVERSITY, Page 2
SCIENCE
With 3-year
contract, Hu
prepares for
VP role
Cruz stresses conservative
credentials on path to victory
GOVERNMENT
House bill calls
for tax cuts to
tampons, pads
CAMPUS LIFE
Plan-a-thon
seeks input
on strategic
diversity plan
INDEX
Vol. CXXV, No. 63
©2016 The Michigan Daily
michigandaily.com
N E WS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
O PI N I O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
CL ASSIFIEDS................. 5
S U D O K U . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
NEW ON MICHIGANDAILY.COM
Check out our caucus coverage from Iowa
MICHIGANDAILY.COM/SECTION/NEWS
HI: 44
LO: 40
ARTS