3-News
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Friday, January 20, 2017 — 3
students @ michigan
median family
income of
a student is
1 in 10 students are
from the top 1% of
income distribution
$154,000
UofM Students
Social Mobility
and
Michigan was
ranked
last
in overall
social mobility
among
highly selective
public colleges
share of students
from the top 1%
#1 - Michigan 9.3%
#2 - UT Austin 5.4%
#3 - Georgia 5.1%
plans in Flint. For the first time,
students from more than one UM
campus will be able to team up to
generate solutions in the Challenge.
This extra layer of diversity of
thought
and
multidisciplinary
collaboration can only help the
students better understand the
situation on the ground.”
Paula Nas, interim director of
University Outreach at UM-Flint,
said the partnership between
the Center for Social Impact
and UM-Flint has been off to a
productive start. She also added
everyone involved is excited to
collaborate on team pitches, and is
receptive of diverse ideas.
“Last summer, we approached
the Center for Social Impact to see
if they would like to partner with
UM-Flint and choose a project in
Flint this year,” Nas said. “They
were very receptive and have been
working very closely with us to
collaborate. We had our kickoff
in Flint (Jan. 18) and the students,
faculty and staff are thrilled to
have the opportunity
to
SOCIAL IMPACT
From Page 1
health care and 85 percent in the
private sector, so that generates
additional income and sales tax
revenue,” Ayanian said.
Ayanian said the Healthy
Michigan Plan included features
not part of typical Medicaid
programs, including the caveat
that people over the poverty
level were required to contribute
two percent of their income
toward their coverage, as well
as
financial
incentives
for
patients to make healthy lifestyle
changes, such as eliminating
smoking and changing eating
habits.
“When
the
Michigan
legislature approved the Healthy
Michigan plan in the fall of 2013,
they created certain features
that are not typically part of
Medicaid coverage,” Ayanian
said.
Gov. Rick Snyder dedicated a
portion of his State of the State
address on Tuesday to speaking
about the benefits of Healthy
Michigan and said he believes
the plan has been successful in
providing access to health care
for many of the Michigan’s most
impoverished citizens.
“We
have
640,000
Michiganders in this program,”
Snyder said. “It has provided
over 2.8 million primary care
visits, over 400,000 preventative
care visits and it’s saving us
money.”
Snyder also said he anticipates
forthcoming changes to health
care and would like to see
Healthy Michigan serve as a
model policy for the rest of the
country.
“There’s going to be changes
in health care,” he said. “The
important thing is we need to
let them know that Healthy
Michigan is a model that can
work for the rest of the country.
We look forward to reimagining
health care for all Michiganders
and our entire country with
Michigan being a leader in that
dialogue.”
President-elect Donald Trump
ran on a platform of repealing
and replacing “Obamacare” amid
problems of nationally rising
costs in insurance premiums and
prescription drugs.
Congressional
Republicans
have
yet
to
introduce
a
comprehensive replacement plan,
but it is speculated that Rep. Tom
Price (R–Ga.), Trump’s pick to
head the Department of Health
and Human Services, could be
influential in future health care
policy decisions.
Price is a notable opponent of
the Affordable Care Act and as
a representative, he introduced
the Empowering Patients First
Act in 2015 as an alternative
to “Obamacare.” Under Price’s
plan, individuals would receive
age-adjusted tax credits when
purchasing insurance and the
plan would allow insurers to
sell policies across state lines
in an effort to drive down costs
by
making
insurance
more
competitive.
LSA junior Collin Kelly, chair
of the University’s chapter of
College Democrats, is a proponent
of Obama’s health care law and
said there are benefits for college
students such as himself being
able to stay on his parents’ health
care plan.
“It has so many provisions
that are so helpful, especially
for people like me,” Kelly said.
“Staying on my parent’s insurance
until I’m 26 is huge; I wouldn’t be
able to afford it if that wasn’t the
case.”
In an ideal world, Kelly said he
would like to see “Obamacare”
amended and the country move
toward a single-payer health care
system, in which the state covers
health care costs.
“It just gets down to certain
values you feel, that like people’s
health should almost be a right
and shouldn’t be some privilege
where if you’re born into poverty
or born in certain communities
just by chance you can’t take care
of your health,” Kelly said.
Kelly said he believes the
Affordable Care Act has been a
success and he hopes Congress
will reconsider keeping it in place,
or at the very least replace it with a
plan similar to “Obamacare.”
“Hopefully
there’s
enough
pressure on that they keep
it, because seven years in, it’s
working and it’s now a part of not
just our health care system, but
our economy and government and
it’s a part of people’s lives,” Kelly
said. “We can’t just get rid of that
with no solid replacement.”
Engineering freshman Lincoln
Merill, publicity chair of College
Republicans, said in an email
interview with the Daily he
believes the Affordable Care Act
should be repealed and replaced
with a better system.
“It needs to be repealed, but
at the same time it also needs to
be replaced with an improved
healthcare system that allows
greater competition and therefore
drives down prices for everyone,”
Merrill wrote.
According to Merrill, the faults
of the health care act as it stands
is the lack of competition within
the health insurance industry.
“Some companies didn’t want
to have to cover some people
and so they dropped out of the
program altogether. Because there
are so few companies left, prices
are rising at alarming rates due
to the low competition - as high
as over 100 percent in Arizona,”
Merrill wrote. “These high costs
and high deductibles, coupled
with the lie of ‘if you like your
doctor, you can keep your doctor,’
which is false because so many
companies won’t insure people,
created a healthcare system
with a good intention, that is
providing health insurance for
everyone, but critically flawed
in execution.”
GOP
From Page 1
senior and CSG communications
director, said.
“The hope there is that friends
of these students or other members
of the organizations that these
students are in will nominate them
and be able to speak to the way that
their leadership has impacted this
climate in a positive way,” Shea said.
Chosen students are highlighted
in a Facebook post on the CSG page
featuring a photo along with a bio of
their accomplishments.
Shea also noted the survey was
publicized through social media
when the idea for “200 for 200” first
came out, and nominations are still
being accepted.
According
to
Cahen,
the
Bicentennial Planning Commission
reviews the survey entries and
nominees will be selected every
Monday and Friday. He said the
commission tries to choose student
leaders who do not always get
recognized for their actions.
“We’re
looking
for
people
who are involved in essentially
a variety of communities on
campus and show dedication to
both the University and affiliate
communities but may not always
have the recognition that they
deserve,” Cahen said.
LSA senior Alexjandria Edwards
was one of the first five students
featured in the “200 for 200” photo
series and has been involved in a
wide variety of organizations on
campus.
CSG
From Page 1
Awareness Center since 2010,”
Fitzgerald
wrote.
“During
her
time
on
campus,
U-M
has emerged as a vanguard
institution, leading the country
with a visible and significant
commitment to comprehensive
approach to sexual misconduct
prevention and response. We
are deeply grateful for her many
contributions and we wish her
well with this new opportunity.”
In
an
email
to
SAPAC
employees,
Rider-Milkovich
wrote she will begin her new
role
as
the
Senior
Director
of
Prevention
for
EverFi,
an
educational
technology
innovator that works to empower
students and adult learners with
experience that will aid them in
attaining success, on Feb. 5.
At EverFi, she plans to launch
the Campus Prevention Network,
a nationwide initiative to join
institutions that have expressed
their
high-level
commitments
to preventing health and safety
issues on their campuses.
Rider-Milkovich
wrote
in
the email she plans to take the
skills she developed at SAPAC
and use them to communicate
the importance of sexual assault
prevention to a wider audience.
“My job now will be to take
the lessons we have learned
together and scale them up to
the widest possible platform so
that students at schools that don’t
have the capacity or resources
of a SAPAC (or U-M) might still
benefit from the most effective
prevention work in the field,”
Rider-Milkovich
wrote.
“This
decision has been one of the most
difficult of my career; it is tough
to leave a job you know and love
for one with great promise and a
lot of unknowns.”
LSA senior Elizabeth Nesbitt,
who serves as a SAPAC event
coordinator, said she is confident
Rider-Milkovich will continue to
succeed in her new position. She
also added SAPAC will continue
to serve the student body as they
transition to new leadership.
“I am so grateful to Holly for
her work for SAPAC during her
time as Director,” Nesbitt said.
“Although it is sad to see her go,
I know she’ll be doing wonderful
work
in
her
next
position.
SAPAC will continue to serve
the University as it has and I’m
excited to see where it heads with
a new director.”
Rider-Milkovich
noted
SAPAC’s services will continue
uninterrupted, even through the
careful process of hiring a new
Director.
“Vice President Harper is
carefully considering how to
implement the best leadership
support
for
SAPAC,
in
consultation with me and the
rest of the professional staff,
while a new Director is being
hired,” Rider-Milkovich wrote.
“Rest
assured
that
student
voices will play an important
role in the hiring processes.
Also, please know that your
groups,
our
programs,
and
SAPAC’s services to survivors
will continue forward without
disruption.”
has increased.
“Even though the freshman
class is just one snapshot, one
class, all of those (efforts) are
moving in the right direction,”
he said. “It’s an indication that
we’re working on this; we’re
making some progress, and this
will take some time.”
In October, the University
announced
a
five-year
DEI
plan. The plan, spearheaded
by University President Mark
Schlissel, offers a series of
initiatives
to
improve
the
campus’
overall
climate
by
encouraging the recognition and
inclusion of students from all
backgrounds.
Fitzgerald
also
mentioned
the HAIL Scholarship Program
— a DEI program that aims
to reach students from low-
income families in Michigan —
welcomed 262 recipients as of
October.
The
effort
is
still
being
evaluated
for
future
improvements, but according to
Fitzgerald, has been successful
so far.
“HAIL
is
not
only
a
scholarship program aimed at
low-income,
high-achieving
students, but also a test of a new
way of communicating with
those students and trying to
reduce some of those barriers
that we know exist for lower-
income students to apply to
a place like the University of
Michigan,” he said.
In an interview with the
Daily
in
November,
Kedra
Ishop, the vice provost for
enrollment management, said
the program is a direct effort to
expand economic diversity at the
University.
“The HAIL scholarship is a
terrific example of our deliberate
efforts to bring in people from
different backgrounds and of
our efforts to inform prospective
applicants
that
a
Michigan
education can be affordable,”
Ishop said. “And this wasn’t
necessarily
a
policy-driven
change, but more of a shift
in messaging. We want high-
achieving students to know that
you should still apply even if
you are unsure of how to pay for
college because cost should not
be a factor. The University can
help (your needs).”
LSA senior Sean Javares-
Dajour Smith, who identifies
with a lower SES, said he does
not think the University is
integrated in regard to different
SES. He said he thinks the
University “compensate(s)” for
admitting students from a lower
SES by admitting students from
out-of-state who will pay full
tuition.
“There
are
still
students
coming from out-of-state, from
that higher SES,” he said. “(The
University is) doing that to make
up the difference with the state
giving less funding. There’s been
budget cuts.”
The University faced a 21.6
percent funding cut from the
state in 2011. In 2015, University
officials cited an increase in
tuition dollars to make up for
the decrease in funding. Though
they did not cite an increase in
out-of-state enrollment, these
numbers also continue to rise.
Meanwhile, state funding has
recently begun to approach pre-
2011 levels.
Smith
understands
why
more
out-of-state
students
are being accepted given the
circumstances, but said students
from a lower SES are being
neglected.
“They might have a focus on
us, but at the same time, I think
that they’re targeting out-of-
state students,” he said. “They’re
giving them priority. As a result
of that, you’ve got students from
inner cities, urbanized suburbs
and rural areas who kind of get
left out of the picture.”
Another program aimed at
improving economic diversity on
campus, Wolverine Pathways,
seeks to be a more long-term
initiative, in which middle-
school
and
high-school
students from nearby areas like
Ypsilanti and Southfield will
have the chance to earn a full
scholarship to the University.
Through the program, students
will work with tutors and other
mentors who will help prepare
them to apply to the University.
The University is also a
founder of the American Talent
Initiative, which launched in
the fall and aims to increase the
number of low-income students
attending
top
American
universities.
Fitzgerald also noted the net
price of attending the University
— the cost of attendance minus
financial aid — is lower than
the
national
average,
and
significantly lower than some of
the University’s competitors such
as Michigan State University,
in-state,
and
Northwestern
University, out-of-state.
Additionally, Fitzgerald also
said, referencing The Upshot
report, a University of Michigan
education often leads to a higher-
paying job.
According
to
the
report,
Michigan came in third out of 25
highly selective public colleges,
with a median student income of
$68,700 at age 34.
“That
underscores
what
some other reports, including
the Department of Education’s
college scorecard, said about
being a good value, a good
investment, because it pays off,”
Fitzgerald said. “The median
salary for our graduates following
graduation, some reports show as
much as $25,000 higher than the
national average.”
In general, Fitzgerald said,
the University is moving toward
improvement.
“Even with all of those things
that we know are not where we
want to be with socioeconomic
diversity … that is a component
of the DEI strategic plan, and
all kinds of diversity,” he said,
“including
socioeconomic
diversity, is something that we’ll
continue to work on.”
From a student perspective,
Smith thinks the best tactic
may be to increase enrollment
of students from lower-income
families
and
having
these
students be ambassadors.
“If
they
gave
us
more
opportunity, we’ll spark their
imagination and the perception
of U of M being inacceptable to
low income students — maybe
we’ll be able to dispel that myth,
maybe we’ll be able to break that
down,” he said. “I think their
greatest asset and
outreach
program is to let more of us in.
We’re the greatest ambassadors
they could have.”
Smith explained he was
surprised to have received
the amount of financial aid
that he did, and that students
from a lower SES may not be
aware of the opportunities the
University offers.
INCOME
From Page 1
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SAPAC
From Page 1
If they gave us
more opportunity,
we’ll spark their
imagination
DESIGN BY: NOAH SHERBIN