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Thursday, March 24, 2016

ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM

INDEX
Vol. CXXV, No. 95
©2015 The Michigan Daily
michigandaily.com

NEWS......................... 2A

OPINION.....................4A

SPORTS ......................7A

SUDOKU..................... 2A

CL ASSIFIEDS............... 5A

B - S I D E . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 B

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WEATHER 
TOMORROW

HI: 46

LO: 26

» INSIDE

Federal officials 

urge universities to 
increase accessibility 

in higher ed

By CALEB CHADWELL

Daily Staff Reporter

In 
a 
call 
with 
reporters 

Wednesday 
afternoon, 
U.S. 

Secretary of Education John B. 
King Jr. and Roberto Rodriguez, 
deputy assistant to the president 
for 
education, 
stressed 
the 

importance of colleges playing 
a role in increasing access to 
higher education.

“A college degree is the surest 

path to the middle class for many 
students, especially for students 
from low-income families,” King 
said. “But there are far too many 
barriers preventing low-income 
students from enrolling and 
graduating from college.”

King said higher education 

institutions have a responsibility 
to 
expand 
opportunity 
and 

target support to lower-income 
students, particularly Federal 

Pell Grant recipients. Federal 
Pell 
Grants 
are 
need-based 

grants for students given in a 
maximum 
amount 
of 
$5,815 

yearly.

“These 
institutions 
must 

ensure the degrees students 
receive prepare them for the 21st 
century economy and success 
after college,” he said.

Currently, 
King 
said 
only 

10 percent of schools in the 
country are enrolling their fair 
share of Pell recipients and also 
graduating more than half of 
them on time. He said the United 
States must do better.

While noting that department 

officials realize the rising cost 
of college makes it hard or 
impossible for some students to 
attend college, King said under 
the Obama Administration the 
maximum Pell Grant amount 
has increased and will now be 
indexed to inflation. Pell Grant 
recipients now encompass 40 
percent of all college students.

King also touched on Obama’s 

2015 pitch to make community 
college free as a key to making 
higher education accessible for 

GOVERNMENT

See EDUCATION, Page 2A

Astrophysicist 

urges audience to 
explore the sciences

By IRENE PARK

Daily Staff Reporter

Neil 
deGrasse 
Tyson, 
an 

award-winning 
astrophysicist, 

author and television host, visited 
Ann Arbor Wednesday night for 

a stop at Hill Auditorium as part 
of his “An Evening with Neil 
deGrasse Tyson” tour. The tour 
began in January in Los Angeles 
and ends Thursday in Detroit.

The 
theme 
of 
Tyson’s 

Wednesday 
night 
talk 
was 

“cosmic 
perspective,” 
which 

Tyson defined as a view bigger 
than 
an 
individual’s 
own 

perspective that offers a humbling 
but enlightening outlook of one’s 
place in time and space.

In his lecture, Tyson stressed 

that because humans are made 
of the most abundant elements 
— such as hydrogen, carbon and 
oxygen — they are not different 
or separated from the rest of the 
universe.

“We are literally stardust — if 

that doesn’t make you feel large, 
I don’t know what will,” Tyson 
said. “We are not only in the 
universe, but the universe is in 
us.”

Tyson also addressed the 

importance of investing in science, 
technological, engineering and 
math research, as well as being 
comfortable seeing math and 
science in popular culture. He 
even suggested featuring STEM 
researchers on currency, as is 
done in Germany.

“(It’s) a culture that is not 

afraid to display the (STEM) 
brilliance of their citizens,” Tyson 

See TYSON, Page 3A

Spray repellant 
could impact 

auto, refrigeration 

industry 

By ALEXA ST. JOHN

Daily Staff Reporter

The hassle of scraping ice off 

your car windshield in below-
freezing 
temperatures 
and 

snowy weather might soon be a 
thing of the past.

University 
of 
Michigan 

researchers recently developed 
ice-repellent 
coatings 
that 

have the ability to make ice 
slide off materials such as 
car windshields, ships and 
airplanes. Made from rubber, 
the spray-on technology could 
have a major impact on multiple 
industries affected by ice and 
cold climates.

The product was developed 

by Kevin Golovin, a doctoral 
student in materials science and 
engineering, and Anish Tuteja, 

associate prof. of materials 
science 
and 
engineering. 

The 
ice-repellent 
coating 

technology is being funded 
through several federal offices 
and departments including the 
Office of Naval Research and 
the Air Force Office of Scientific 
Research. 
The 
Michigan 

Translational 
Research 
and 

Commercialization, a program 
that provides resources to the 
College of Engineering and the 
University’s 
Transportation 

Research 
Institute, 
is 
also 

sponsoring the project.

“Living in Michigan, we see 

the issue of ice everywhere, so 
the need for a surface like this 
was quite obvious,” Tuteja said.

The new spray-on coating 

works 
through 
chemical 

alterations 
and 
blending 

of 
rubbers, 
Golovin 
said, 

ultimately creating a product 
that has never been made or 
prototyped before.

“When you have two hard 

objects stuck together, they 
have to rigidly snap apart, but if 

With five choices 
remaining, student 
support varies after 
Michigan primary

By LYDIA MURRAY 
and CAITLIN REEDY

Daily Staff Reporters

The presidential race began 

with 23 candidates. Now, only 
five remain — two Democrats and 

three Republicans. On campus, 
students appear to lean toward 
Sanders, but that is certainly not 
the only view present.

The Michigan primary was 

just one example of how student 
voters have significantly impacted 
the election cycle. Sen. Bernie 
Sanders (D–Vt.) scored a surprise 
win over Hillary Clinton with 50.1 
percent of the vote, despite having 
a 20-point deficit in the polls 
leading up to the election. High 
voter turnout and support among 
young people — particularly 

students — in part drove Sanders 
to victory in the state.

On the Republican side, Donald 

Trump’s victory was expected 
by pollsters. Gov. John Kasich’s 
(R–Ohio) had hoped to achieve 
a second place finish to bolster 
his position moving forward. 
Though Cruz came in second, 
Kasich found particularly strong 
support in the areas surrounding 
the 
University 
of 
Michigan, 

earning 34 percent of the overall 
Republican vote in Washtenaw 

Ann Arbor Twp. 
pursues superfund 

designation for 
dioxane plume

By BRIAN KUANG

Daily Staff Reporter

Ann Arbor Charter Township 

is exploring the possibility of 
petitioning 
the 
Environmental 

Protection Agency to designate a 
local dioxane plume contaminating 
groundwater beneath the township 
as a superfund site.

Doing so would grant the EPA, 

rather than the state, authority 
to clean the toxic matter, a move 
that’s desirable for many township 
leaders due to their lack of 
confidence in the state’s ability to 
resolve the problem. However, Ann 
Arbor officials say they are unsure 
if they will support a move by the 
township to do so.

Improper wastewater disposal 

by Gelman Sciences, an Ann Arbor 
life sciences firm, between 1966 to 
1986 created a large, slow-moving 

CITY
SCIENCE

See RESEARCH, Page 3A
See ELECTIONS, Page 3A
See WATER, Page 3A

AVA RANDA/Daily

LSA senior Nikki Baron makes slushies for students during Israel Day on the Diag Tuesday. The event celebrated Israel 
and its various cultural aspects. 

CULTUR AL CE LE BR ATION

MCKENZIE BEREZIN/Daily

Neil deGrasse Tyson, head of the Hayden Planetarium, discusses the cosmic perspective — the viewpoint that existing as part of the universe should make 
one feel significant instead of insignificant — at the Hill Auditorium Wednesday.

Arts Writer Dayton Hare dives 
into Seven Mile Music’s mission

the music b-side

Sec. of Ed. 
emphasizes 
progress of 
Pell Grants

Neil deGrasse Tyson talks 
human role in the universe

Students talk 2016 candidates 
as nomination process proceeds

‘U’ researchers 
create coating 
resistant to ice

A2 officials 
undecided 
on petition 
for EPA aid

