its 
National 
Guard 
Tuition 

Assistance Program in 2014 by 
creating a tuition fund within 
the state treasury, capped at 
$10 million.

Despite 
these 
efforts 
to 

improve 
education 
funding 

for members of the Michigan 
National Guard, the program 
introduced in 2014 struggled 

with red tape complexities. 
According to Brig. Gen. Michael 
Stone, 
assistant 
adjutant 

general for installations of the 
Michigan Army National Guard, 
a 
multitude 
of 
obstructing 

steps were necessary in order 
to approve tuition assistance 

for members of the Michigan 
National Guard.

The signed bill, which is now 

Public Act 531 of 2016, amends 
the current program to expand 
the financial discretion of the 
Department of Military and 
Veterans Affairs. The Michigan 
National 
Guard 
Tuition 

Assistance Fund can distribute 
money to either an individual 
member 
of 
the 
National 

Guard or his or her academic 
institution.

Under the new legislation, 

Maj. Gen. Gregory Vadnais, 
adjutant general and director of 
Military and Veterans Affairs 
for 
the 
Michigan 
National 

Guard, 
has 
the 
power 
to 

allocate money directly to an 
individual’s institution. The act 
limits lengthy administrative 
obstructions that previously 
hindered 
members 
of 
the 

Michigan National Guard from 
receiving timely educational 
funding.

“The 
changes 
essentially 

allow us to pay the school 
directly, 
which 
increases 

efficiency,” Stone said. “The 
new 
language 
increases 

efficiency 
and 
reduces 

manpower by eliminating the 
middle person in the process. 
A Michigan Guard member can 
complete an online application 
and have tuition paid directly 
to his or her school.”

The 
Michigan 
National 

Guard State Tuition Program 
may 
now 
award 
soldiers 

and airmen of the Michigan 
National Guard up to $600 per 
credit hour with a $6,000 cap 
at nearly all Michigan public or 

private universities, vocational 
schools, tech schools or trade 
schools.

“Those who serve to defend 

and protect our state deserve 
the ability to also reach their 
academic 
goals,” 
Snyder 

said. “This bill gives greater 
flexibility 
to 
the 
National 

Guard Tuition Assistance Fund 
in order to provide tuition 
assistance to those who bravely 
serve their state and nation.”

LSA 
junior 
Colin 
Kelly, 

president of the University’s 
chapter of College Democrats, 
said 
because 
of 
the 

straightforward nature of this 
legislation, 
the 
organization 

did not wish to comment.

LSA 
student 
Audrey 

Carlstrom has been in the 
Michigan Air National Guard 
since Dec. 2013, and has been 
a 
full-time 
student 
at 
the 

University since Jan. 2014. 
Carlstrom said she had never 
applied for tuition aid until this 
semester.

“Before now I never applied 

because I never thought I 
qualified even though I had read 
the requirements,” Carlstrom 
said. “I’m not fully aware of the 
new changes to be honest, but 
in the past I’ve felt disqualified 
before even trying because of 
the limited benefits of the state, 
the university I attend, and the 
federal I receive through the GI 
Bill and the state.”

Engineering 
sophomore 

Emma Terbeek, vice president 
of 
the 
University’s 
chapter 

of 
College 
Republicans, 
is 

originally from Michigan and 
supports Gov. Snyder’s efforts 

to support members of the 
Michigan National Guard who 
deserve affordable education 
for their service.

“I 
think 
it’s 
great 
that 

Governor Snyder is trying to 
make it easier for those that 
serve our country and my state 
to have access to money to afford 
a college education,” Terbeek 
said. 
“It 
also 
incentivizes 

people joining National Guard 
because of the streamlined way 
they will be paying for college 
tuition.”

Tuesday, January 10, 2017 — 3
News
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

AARON BAKER/Daily

Omar Saif Ghobash, UAE ambassador to Russia, discusses his book Letters to a Young Muslim at Rackham on Monday.

AUTHOR AMBA SSADOR

in building up these tools,” 
Avidar said. “We would create 
a script using the tool that we 
had built then we would send 
it out. So that was kind of the 
‘aha’ moment. We were like, 

‘hey, let’s build the exact same 
tool that Amazon has built but 
for a different medium.’ ”

Avidar said the company 

made 
over 
$9 
million 
in 

revenue last year and has 
received over $29 million in 
funding since its inception.

“So we are providing them a 

toolkit,” Avidar said. “The best 
metaphor that I can say is that 
most people were using pen 
and paper beforehand, and 
we’re providing the new age 
calculator to the developer.”

Avidar said being honored 

by Forbes was a validation of 
Lob as a company, but won’t 
change 
their 
day-to-day 

operations going forward.

“It’s not really a recognition 

of myself, because I’m not a 
sole builder of Lob,” Avidar 
said. 
“So 
it’s 
more 
of 
a 

recognition for my team. What 
it means is that my team has 
done a great job building the 
company over the last three 
and a half years. I have a team 
that’s dedicated to a really 
important mission. I think it’s 
just validation for our team 
and validation for our idea. It 
will build more trust for the 
customers deciding whether 
or not to use Lob.”

Avidar credited a lot of his 

and his company’s success to 
his ties with the University of 
Michigan, where he met Zhang 
in the Business School. Avidar 
and Zhang reunited in Seattle, 
where they continued not only 
their business endeavors, but 
their friendship.

“He was the first person I 

reached out to,” Avidar said. 
“Me and him grew very close 
when I was there; we have the 
same interests. We both have 
the business acumen. We both 
respect each other as people. 
He has led us to get amazing 
companies at Lob.”

Zhang 
leads 
Sales 
and 

Marketing, and has been able 
to gain access to companies 
such as Microsoft, Amazon 
and Square.

Avidar said the four core 

members of Lob met while 
attending 
the 
University. 

Avidar 
stressed 
the 

importance of working closely 
with people in college because 
you might again in the future.

“The Michigan ties are 

huge,” Avidar said. “Don’t 
underestimate the people you 
went to school with or the 
person that sat next to you 
in class. You never know, one 
day you might be starting a 
company with them. I am 
building a company, but at 
the same time it feels like 
me working with a bunch of 
friends.”

The 
Business 
School 

also 
made 
a 
statement 

congratulating 
the 
two 

businessmen.

“Congratulations 
to 
two 

Michigan Ross alumni, Leore 
Avidar 
and 
Harry 
Zhang, 

BBA ‘11, on being honored on 
Forbes’ annual ‘30 Under 30’ 
list,” the statement read.

Avidar said there is a new 

API being released in March 
and another at the end of 
the year, with the long-term 
mission being to create a 
suite of APIs for companies to 
choose from.

“We want to show that we 

are the best at building and 
selling APIs,” Avidar said. 
“It’s empowering to our team 
that we hit a milestone and we 
can celebrate it. But we have 
many more milestones that we 
need to achieve. It’ll push us 
to our next milestone.”

Business School Dean Scott 

DeRue wrote in an email 
interview 
he 
believes 
the 

success of Avidar and Zhang 
demonstrates the benefits of 
a business education at the 
University.

“We’re so proud of Leore and 

Harry for their success with 
Lob.com,” he wrote. “Being 
named to Forbes’ ‘30 Under 
30’ List is an achievement that 
speaks to their outstanding 
creativity, determination, and 
leadership abilities. Leore and 
Harry’s story is a wonderful 
example of Michigan Ross’ 
tradition 
of 
excellence 
in 

entrepreneurship, and it is an 
inspiration for students across 
the University of Michigan 
who also possess bold ideas 
for the future of business.”

ROSS
From Page 1

theresolution 
dealt 
with 

scenarios 
where 
teaching 

responsibilities were increased 
but salary was not.

“There’s 
another 
way 
to 

reduce 
someone’s 
salary 

effectively, which is to say that 
the base is still the same but your 
teaching load is (increased),” 
Wright said. “This wouldn’t 
catch that.”

This sparked some debate 

within 
the 
committee, 
as 

SACUA member David Smith, 
a professor of pharmaceutical 
sciences, 
disagreed 
with 

Wright’s comment. He felt that 
increasing a professor’s teaching 
load is an acceptable course 
of action for a department to 
take, and does not count as a 
demotion.

“I think it’s legal to give 

people 
more 
responsibilities 

with service or teaching, if, say, 
their research falls down,” Smith 
said. “What (the unwarranted 
salary decreases) seem a clear 
attempt to do, at least to me, is 
to bypass (the bylaw) and make 
it uncomfortable in a financial 
sense for the person to want to 
remain at the University.”

Committee member Silke-

Maria 
Weineck, 
professor 

of 
German 
studies 
and 

comparative 
literature, 

disagreed with Smith’s notion 
that teaching responsibilities 
could be increased to substitute 
for lagging research and felt that 
it in some cases, it could be more 

harmful than a salary decrease.

“Salary 
is 
actually 
much 

more 
fluid 
than 
teaching 

load,” Weineck said. “In some 
disciplines where you publish 
more frequently, you can gauge 
research output more easily, 
but in the humanities, it’s not so 
easy to gauge whether someone 
is doing research.”

Committee member Stefan 

Szymanski, 
a 
Kinesiology 

professor, said the definition 
of a demotion may have to be 
modified. He reasoned that 
the definition of demotion is 
a lowering of status and the 
explanation made by the AAAC 
does not explicitly cover this 
or a salary decrease nor does a 
teaching increase satisfy this 
definition.

Wright 
suggested 
the 

committee revise the resolution 
to broaden the definition of 
demotion 
and 
clarify 
other 

terms regarding the increase 
of 
teaching 
responsibilities. 

However, since the resolution 
was written by the AAAC, 
the new additions had to be 
written in a separate resolution, 
he said. A new resolution was 
quickly written by Weineck and 
presented to the committee.

The two resolutions on the 

table were brought up for vote 
by the committee. The original 
proposal to endorse the AAAC’s 
resolution was passed by SACUA 
by a vote of 4 to 2.

The later resolution to clarify 

the definition of demotion failed 
with a tied vote, but can still be 
brought up independently at the 
Senate Assembly meeting. 

SACUA
From Page 1

the name Michigan Medicine 
encapsulates a more cohesive 
sentiment that could do its 
traditions more justice.

“While it’s less descriptive 

than the very literal old name, 
the name Michigan Medicine 
feels 
more 
like 
a 
brand,” 

Froehlich said. “That could 
make our health system even 
more recognizable.”

The Board also approved a 

new partnership between the 
University and Metro Health in 
Grand Rapids last September. 
Metro Health CEO Michael 
Faas said in an earlier press 

release that partnering with 
the University will add options 
for increased care to Metro 
Health patients, particularly in 
the Grand Rapids community.

“It is no secret that U-M 

has some of the best providers 
in the state and country,” 
Faas wrote in a statement in 
June. “By joining the ‘leaders 
and best’ we can build on our 
existing expertise and provide 
our patients and community 
with 
enhanced 
access 
to 

specialized 
health 
care 

services, scientific discovery 
and advanced technology.”

With its 500 physicians and 

208-bed hospital, Metro Health 
hopes to increase accessibility 
and options for its patients 

through this new relationship. 
Michigan Medicine allows for 
these increased options with 

the University’s three hospitals, 
40 outpatient locations and 
home 
care 
operations 
that 

handle more than 2.1 million 
outpatient visits a year.

According to the Michigan 

Medicine’s press release, Board 
Chair Mark Bernstein (D) said 
the new partnership is evidence 
of the University’s goal to expand 
outside Ann Arbor. Runge agrees, 
believing the new title will fit the 
new health system and its future 
ambitions better.

“We 
expect 
Michigan 

Medicine will help generate 
a better understanding of the 
strengths 
of 
our 
academic 

medical center and will energize 
all our faculty and staff,” Runge 
wrote.

MEDICINE
From Page 1

It’s empowering 
to our team that 
we hit a milestone 

and we can 

celebrate it. But 
we have many 
more milestones 
that we need to 

achieve

It is no secret that 
U-M has some of 
the best providers 

in the state and 

country

The new language 

increases 
efficiency 
and reduces 
manpower by 
eliminating the 
middle person in 

the process

In the past I’ve 
felt disqualified 

before even trying 

because of the 
limited benefits 
of the state, the 

university I attend 
and the federal I 
receive through 

the GI Bill and the 

state 

TUITION
From Page 1

THE MICHIGAN DAILY IS HIRING

Interested in writing? Design? Coding? Multimedia? 

Come to 420 Maynard on January 19, 23, 26 or 30 at 7 p.m.

