3-News

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News 
Wednesday, March 9, 2016 — 3A

Study measures 
county knowledge 
of health laws

According to a 2015 study 

by the Michigan Organization 
on Adolescent Sexual Health, 
Michigan’s 83 counties are better 
informed about reproductive 
health laws than they were five 
years ago. These laws were set by 
the Parental Rights Restoration 
Act of 1990. The study was 
funded by the National Institutes 
for Reproductive Health and 
done in partnership with the 
University.

The study was adapted from 

University of Michigan-led 
research in 2010, where students 
made phone calls to all Michigan 
counties, to simulate what a 
minor would go through as 
she sought information about 
reproductive health laws. 

In 2010, 54 percent of 

counties failed. In 2015, the 
statistic improved considerably: 
Approximately 26 percent of 
counties failed. Nonetheless, 
there remains room for 
improvement, according to a 
University press release. One 
problem that persists is judicial 
offices’ readiness to provide 
information on abortion rights 
law. 

Possible record 
voter turnout 
in presidential 
primary

The Detroit Free Press reports 

that Michigan could have 
registered a record turnout in 
Tuesday’s presidential primary, 
based on the high number of 
absentee ballots issued. Almost 
556,000 absentee ballots were 
issued as of earlier Tuesday, 
compared to 162,000 more than 
4 years ago. 

Christopher Thomas, director 

of elections for the Michigan 
Secretary of State reported 
that the SOS has seen high 
turnout on both sides of the 
aisle. According to an Epic/MRA 
poll that surveyed those who 
had already voted by absentee, 
surveyees leaned heavily toward 
Republican front-runner Donald 
Trump and former Secretary of 
State Hillary Clinton. 

The record to break is the 

1972 election, where 47 percent 
of registered voters cast ballots. 
There are some predictions that 
voter turnout could come close 
to 2 million voters and possibly 
make state history. 

Michigan ranks 
high in U.S. for fraud 
and ID theft reports

According to a new Federal 

Trade Commission report, 
Michigan ranks third in the 
nation for fraud and sixth 
for identity theft complaints. 
National levels of fraud and 
identity theft complaints have 
increased overall. 

More than half of those who 

make fraud complaints don’t 
actually hand over any money to 
the cons, but for those who are 
scammed, the median cost to 
each victim is $400. A majority 
of scams occur over wire 
transfer, and originate in the 
United States.

To explain why Michigan is 

targeted by scammers, Puneet 
Manchanda, a professor of 
marketing at the University 
of Michigan’s Ross School of 
Business, points to the large 
segments of immigrants and 
elderly people in Michigan. 
Older people are less tech-savvy, 
while immigrants might not be 
as well-informed on credit and 
banking procedures, increasing 
their susceptibility to scams. 

Manchanda proposes legal 

solutions to mitigate this 
problem. “Our legal systems and 
protections have not caught up 
with the realities of the digital 
world,” Manchanda said in 
an interview with the Detroit 
Free Press. “The scammers will 
always be ahead. The solution is 
regulation and education.” 

—DESIREE CHEW

2-News

polling places by the Daily.

Students for Sanders presi-

dent Nicholas Kolenda, an LSA 
sophomore, said Tuesday night 
that Sanders’s success should 
worry Clinton as he continues to 
do well in states he was predict-
ed to lose.

“Considering where he was 

just nine months ago, his prog-
ress has been immense” he said. 
“The fact that Sanders is still 
standing and viable despite the 
heavy front-loading of states 
favorable 
towards 
Clinton 

should worry the former Secre-
tary of State. Sanders’ campaign 
likely still has its best days ahead 
of it.”

In 
a 
statement, 
Sanders 

thanked Michigan voters, refer-
encing polliing data prior to the 
election that incorreclty indicat-
ed Clinton would win by signifi-
cant margins. 

“I am grateful to the people of 

Michigan for defying the pundits 
and pollsters and giving us their 
support. This is a critically impo-
rant night,” Sanders said. “Not 
only is Michigan the gateway to 
the rest of the industrial Mid-
west, the results there show that 
we are a national campaign.”

State Rep. Jeff Irwin (D–Ann 

Arbor) said he thought the stu-
dent vote — particularly coming 
out of Ann Arbor — likely gave 
the Sanders campaign an extra 
push in Michigan.

“I don’t think that there is any 

question that there has been a 
tremendous amount of energy 
and enthusiasm behind Sand-
ers lead by huge voices,” Irwin 
said. “I think Sanders campaign 
has really benefited from the 
momentum that student support 
can give him.”

However, 
Communications 

Prof. Josh Pasek noted that voter 
turnout numbers did not indi-
cate a significant increase in Ann 
Arbor.

“These numbers are not huge, 

but Bernie did seem to do very 
well,” he said. “It doesn’t suggest 
that we are seeing something 
truly overwhelming from the 
University itself.”

Pasek said Sanders’ success 

likely came from better ground 
organization and campaigning.

“I think it’s probably the case 

that the Sanders’ campaign was 
just better organized and did a 
better geo-TV job in the state 
of Michigan,” he said. “At least 
compared to what we thought 
we would see based on the pre-
election polls.”

One other state, Mississippi, 

held its Democratic primary 
alongside Michigan Tuesday, 
which Clinton won with close 
to 80 percent of the vote. With 
a total of 166 delegates available 
between the two states, Michi-
gan was the more impactful of 
the two primaries because of the 
130 delegates it had up for grabs. 
Despite the loss in Michigan, 
Clinton still maintains a lead in 
the overall delegate count. 

Both candidates had a strong 

focus on the state in the days 

leading up to the election, with 
Clinton and Sanders both rally-
ing in Michigan on Monday — 
Sanders on campus at the Crisler 
Center and Clinton in Detroit 
— where they discussed many 
familiar points and some Mich-
igan-centric issues.

The primary also follows 

a Democratic debate in Flint 
on Sunday held in partnership 
between CNN and UM-Flint. 
The debate spent considerable 
time discussing Michigan-cen-
tric issues including the Flint 
water crisis and Detroit Public 
Schools’ crumbling infrastruc-
ture.

Following Tuesday’s primary, 

most of the remaining delegates 
will come from more moderate 
and diverse states where Sand-
ers has not done as well in the 
past, in comparison to other 
states where much of his support 
comes from young white voters.

Pasek said Michigan’s pri-

mary determines whether Sand-
ers can do well in these types of 
states, indicating whether he still 
has a competitive chance at the 
nomination.

“Given that dynamic, Bernie 

needs to come relatively close 
to winning — if not to win — to 
show that he can really show 
that he can take a state that isn’t 
the kind of state that he has been 
winning so far,” he said.

LSA 
sophomore 
Taiwo 

Dosunmu, 
communications 

director for University’s chap-
ter of College Democrats, said 
before the polls closed Tuesday 
that the group hoped to continue 
Democratic momentum on cam-
pus, by encouraging students to 
vote by opening voter registra-
tion booths throughout the year 
and distributing information on 
polling locations.

Dosunmu added that while 

the group does not endorse any 
particular candidate, its main 
goal is to encourage students to 
vote.

“Our main goal is to have 

turnout be as high as possible,” 
he said. “On a college campus 
turnout is essential. When stu-
dents vote, Democrats are able 
to win.”

In his victory speech, Trump 

said he appreciated the decisive 
victory and the large turnout.

“To get these kinds of numbers 

where they call them immediately 
is just something else. I want to 
thank the people of Michigan,” he 
said. “One of the things I am very 
happy about is the turnout has just 
been massive for every week.” 

Communications Prof. John 

Pasek said Republican leadership 
has been looking for a candidate 
to oppose Trump in the primary 

as many see him as toxic to the 
party. However, he added that the 
Republican party has been unable 
to coalesce behind a single candi-
date.

Despite his relative success in 

Michigan, much of the party sees 
Trump as unelectable in compari-
son to other establishment can-
didates, Pasek noted. However, 
he said Rubio’s poor showing in 
Michigan may leave the party 
with Cruz as the only alternative 
to Trump.

The Michigan primary follows 

two presidential debates in the 
state, with a Republican debate 
held in Detroit last Thursday and a 
Democratic debate in Flint on Sun-

day. While the Republican debate’s 
focus stayed national, the Demo-
cratic debate spent considerable 
time discussing Michigan-centric 
issues including the Flint water 
crisis and Detroit Public Schools 
crumbling infrastructure.

Pasek said it is hard to know 

what issues in the debate truly 
impact voters because there are 
so many hotly contested issues 
throughout the course of the 
debate.

“When you have a reasonable 

contested debate it is hard to read 
which attacks are the ones that are 
working for the candidates and 
which are turning potential voters 
off,” he said.

NEWS BRIEFS

in the warmer months for an 
outside feel. The original main 
aisle of the market will remain 
the same as the new infrastruc-
ture will be constructed at 
what is currently a sandlot.

In a statement, the DDA 

board said they believed the 
newly renovated space will be 
an essential part of the com-
munity.

“It meets the mission and 

values of the DDA to strength-
en downtown, spark increased 
economic activity within the 
Kerrytown neighborhood, cul-
tivate a memorable sense of 
place and enhance walkability 
along north Fourth Avenue,” 
the board said.

David Santacroce, associate 

dean for experiential education 
and professor at the University 
of Michigan Law School and 
the chair for the Public Market 
Advisory Commission, said the 
project has been discussed for 
many years due to an ongoing 
need for a warmer space in the 
winter months.

“It’s been talked about forev-

er,” Santacroce said. “It’s very 
inhospitable in the winter to 
shop there, both for customers, 
but also for a lot of vendors who 
are now in recent years grow-

ing a lot more produce during 
the cold months.”

Some current vendors and 

city residents do not believe 
the funding allocation is the 
right option for improving the 
farmers market. Main rea-
sons for resistance of the new 
project are centered around a 
miscommunication of the mar-
ket’s needs: The physical area 
around the market will lose 
multiple parking spots, some 
vendors will need to move 
to different locations on the 
site and the DDA is spending 
more money than is needed to 
achieve an improved market.

There are over 120 market 

vendors throughout the year at 
the market, according to Mar-
ket Manager Sarah DeWitt. 
Many of those vendors want to 
sell year-round, she added.

However, several of the cur-

rent vendors said this week that 
they do not believe the funding 
allocation is the right option for 
improving the farmers market.

“We don’t want (the market) 

winterized, what we wanted 
was the main aisle winterized,” 
said Janna Fields, co-owner of 
Fieldfarms, a permanent ven-
dor at the farmers market. “I 
went to the Toledo market last 
fall; they have the exact same 
setup as we do, but they have 
roll-down shutters and radi-
ant heat and it only cost them 
$70,000.”

Nonetheless, despite some 

vendor 
disapproval, 
Santac-

roce said he believes the newly 
proposed space is important 
for maximizing the market’s 
potential.

“There’s also what we call 

the sandlot where the building 
would go. It’s not covered and 
not divided the way it could be 
because people have to bring 
their own tents and they only 
come in a certain size, so we 
are not maximizing the space 
of that area,” Santacroce said. 
“We want to better maximize 
that space so we can increase 
vendors, because there’s more 
vendors that we can’t accom-
modate, especially in the peak 
season.”

For at least some students, 

the heated space might make 
them more likely to attend in 
winter months, LSA junior 
Molly Weiss, who shops at the 
market, said.

“I think students will defi-

nitely take advantage of this 
new addition to the farmers 
market,” Weiss said. “For those 
living close to Kerrytown, the 
farmers market has always 
been such a great way to get 
local goods, and the winteriza-
tion of the market I believe can 
only help the business of ven-
dors. And students will be more 
likely to go.”

SANDERS
From Page 1A

Guest Speaker
Sevig addressed the assembly 

Tuesday on the advances CAPS 
has made in recent months to 
provide resources to students. In 
particular, he discussed the CAPS 
after hours phone service which 
was launched in October 2015, an 
increase in students seeking ser-
vices and an upcoming event later 
this month on suicide prevention.

“We are the student counsel-

ing center,” he said. “We don’t 
exist just to exist for me, for the 
professional staff, and we don’t 
technically exist for the Uni-
versity. When we wake up in 
the morning our sole purpose 
is to care about is you, and your 
43,000 other classmates.”

Sevig said starting in the fall, 

all incoming students will be 
provided Mcards with the CAPS 
after hours phone service num-
ber on the back.

CSG has discussed endors-

ing this initiative multiple times 
in recent weeks, and passed a 
resolution supporting the new 
Mcards Tuesday.

The 
CAPS 
phone 
service 

went live on Oct. 5 of last year, 
and Sevig said it took two to 
three years to research and put 
together a functioning system. 
In the first months the line aver-
aged 70 to 100 calls, but in recent 

months the number has settled to 
an average of 65 to 70 per month, 
according to Sevig.

“This is a signal that the Uni-

versity does care about you,” he 
said. “They care about your men-
tal health, both crisis-oriented 
and from day to day. Also, we are 
not aware of any other colleges or 
universities that have put a men-
tal health-dedicated phone line 
on the back of their IDs.”

New Business
A new resolution was brought 

to the assembly floor Tuesday 
night regarding in-state tuition 
for nontraditional and undocu-
mented graduate students . The 
resolution states that, if passed, 
CSG will work with the Coali-
tion for Tuition, Migrant and 
Immigrant Rights Advocacy and 
other organizations to encourage 
the University to extend in-state 
tuition to these groups.

Currently, 
the 
University 

offers in-state tuition to undocu-
mented undergraduate students, 
following a vote to change the 
residency guidelines by the Uni-
versity’s Board of Regents in July 
of 2013.

One of the resolution’s authors, 

Public Policy masters candidate 
Luz Meza, said the proposed 
change would enhance campus 
diversity.

“Diversity isn’t a word that 

people just throw around,” Meza 
said. “It’s something that we are 
actively working on on campus.”

CSG
From Page 1A

MARKET
From Page 1A

TRUMP
From Page 1A

