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Tuesday, February 2, 2016

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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

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S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

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