In late February, Kaplan 
Test 
Prep 
released 
their 
annual law school admissions 
officers survey, an analysis 
that 
attempts 
to 
measure 
student interest in attending 
law school. After years of 
decline, 
Kaplan 
reported 
an increase of over 4,000 
applicants. The cause, they 
reported, was the chaotic 
state of the political climate.
In a survey of 121 different 
law 
schools, 
encompassing 
some of the top 50 in the 
nation as ranked by U.S. News 
and World Report, about 87 
percent of those surveyed 
reported the current U.S. 

political climate was a critical 
factor in their decision to 
attend law school.

Anthony 
Coloca, 

Kaplan’s director of pre-law 
programs, 
was 
confident 
their 
findings 
were 
more 
than 
circumstantial. 
In 
a 
second survey of law school 
students, 45 percent agreed 
politics were a significant 
component of their decision. 
Furthermore, 57 percent said 
they planned to use their 
degree to advocate for public 
policy 
concerns 
they 
felt 
strongly about.

Decorated 
with 
signature 
Taiwanese 
yellow 
lanterns, 
the East Hall atriums were 
transformed 
for 
the 
annual 
Taste of Taiwan event Saturday. 
Co-hosted by the Taiwanese 
American Student Association, 
Taiwanese Student Association 
and Michigan Taiwanese Student 
Associations, the event featured 
a variety of Taiwanese food and 
street games from the streets 
of Taiwan’s famous Keelung 
Miaokou Night Market. 
Elton Lin, an Engineering 
freshman who helped organize 
the event, said the event aimed 
to celebrate Taiwanese culture 
as well as to bring different 
Taiwanese student organizations 
together. 

“For us, I think it’s important 
because this not only represents a 
big part of our culture, we also had 
the opportunity to work together 
with other organizations,” Lin 
said. “Even though we are all 
related to Taiwanese culture, we 
are still different organizations 
on campus. It is good for us to 
work together to show people our 
culture.”
The events were divided into 
three sections: food, games and 
performance. The food selection 
included braised pork rice, stir-
fried cabbage, three cup chicken, 
fried rice vermicelli, salt pepper 
chicken, winter melon grass jelly 
tea and shaved ice.
LSA senior Jason Wong said 
the food was a great starting 
point to introduce people to a 
different culture, accompanying 

performances and art forms. He 
said food can be an additional 
incentive for more people to come 
to cultural events on campus.
“I 
have 
seen 
a 
lot 
of 
performances this year already,” 
Wong said. “They are all really 
good, 
but 
having 
delicious 
and authentic food like this is 
definitely a good incentive to get 
more people.”
LSA junior Jeremy Yun also 
thought the food was a huge part 
of what made the event successful.
“The food is really good,” Yun 
said. “I have never tried a lot of 
these foods before, and it is really 
interesting to see a lot of the 
Taiwanese culture being soaked 
into all these food stands.”
Alongside the food stands were 
activity areas where participants 
participated 
in 
traditional 

activities often seen at Taiwanese 
night markets such as ring toss, 
can knockdown, chopstick skills 
and bottle balancing. 
LSA freshman David Sigler 
tried many of the games and food 
at the event and was happy with 
his experience.
“There is a lot of food and they 
are all pretty good, the games are 
really interesting,” Sigler said. “It’s 
also got a nice turnout and people 
seem to be having a good time.”
Besides foods and games, 
there was also a performance in 
the East Hall Auditorium. The 
performance started with a group 
of dancers from K-Motion, an all-
female Korean pop dance group. 

On Friday, the Ford School 
of Public Policy hosted keynote 
speaker 
Rohit 
Chopra, 
a 
commissioner 
on 
the 
Federal 
Trade Commission, to discuss 
the vulnerability consumers face 
when seeking a loan, as part of the 
Consumer Protection in an Age of 
Uncertainty conference. Chopra 
was one speaker among a number 
of other panelists, including the 
previous day’s keynote speaker 
Richard Cordray, former founding 
director of the Consumer Financial 
Protection Bureau. 
Chopra was an assistant director 
at the CFPB, where he served as 
the organization’s first student loan 
ombudsman — helping to establish 
federal guidelines that dictate 
policy and management of student 
loans 
and 
for-profit 
colleges. 
He was confirmed as an FTC 
commissioner with unanimous 
support from the Senate in April 
2018.
The talk was structured as a 
conversation between Chopra and 
Public Policy Dean Michael Barr, 
who facilitated the discussion. 

michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Monday, March 25, 2019

ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-EIGHT YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM

Students, 
faculty reflect 
on political 
climate, law

First Arab fraternity on campus 
hosts show revealing pledge class

ACADEMICS

National Kaplan survey indicates current 
politics influence interest in law school

SAMANTHA SMALL 
Daily Staff Reporter

Omega Beta Eta to create a sense of community, provide mentors with common experiences

Friday night, the founding 
line of Omega Beta Eta, the 
University of Michigan’s first 
Arab 
fraternity, 
revealed 
their 
pledge 
class 
with 
a 
performance 
on 
the 
Diag. 
Each of the 16 recruits, clad 

in black robes with red-and-
black 
keffiyehs 
 
partially 
covering their faces, introduced 
themselves 
to 
a 
cheering 
crowd comprised of students 
and other organizations in the 
Multicultural Greek Council. 
The event started at 8:34 pm, 
which had a significance within 
the fraternity.

OBH founder Jad Elharake, 
an LSA alum who works at the 
University of Michigan Medical 
School in the Office for Health 
Equity and Inclusion, noted 
OBH was established to create a 
sense of community among Arab 
men that did not previously exist 
at the University.
“A part of me always wished 

that I had an older Arab male 
mentor — one that not only 
understood my background, but 
lived it,” Elharake wrote in an 
email interview with The Daily. 
“A mentor that would guide me 
in navigating a place that wasn’t 
built for me.”

Banquet 
raises funds 
for Syrian 
refugees

CAMPUS LIFE

Epsilon Alpha Sigma, 
host of the event, also 
recieved chapter charter

Annual Taste of Taiwan event features 
cuisine, street games and performances

Gathering brings together various Taiwanese groups on campus, celebrates culture

JIALIN ZHANG
Daily Staff Reporter

Later, Gators 
Michigan earns its fifth trip to 
the Sweet Sixteen in the last 
seven years with 64-49 victory 
over Florida on Saturday.

» Page 2B

On Saturday, Epsilon Alpha 
Sigma, the University of Michigan’s 
first Arab sorority, and the Multi-
Ethnic Student Association held a 
banquet to raise money for Syrian 
refugees 
through 
Friends 
of 
Kayany, a non-profit that supports 
education for Syrian children living 
in Informal Tented Settlements in 
Lebanon. EAS was also granted a 
charter at the event, elevating them 
from a colony to a chapter of the 
national Arab sorority.
The event, titled “Remembering 
the Refugees,” took place at the 
Ross School of Business Blau 
Colloquium and featured spoken 
word 
artist 
Omar 
Offendum, 
Friends 
of 
Kayany 
treasurer 
Bandar Shawwaf and EAS founder 
Rula Othman. About 140 students 
and community members were 
in attendance at the annual event. 
The event has been running since 
2012. 
The sorority surpassed their 
fundraising goal of $8,000 to raise 
a total of $9,400 for Friends of 
Kayany throughout the semester.

Ford hosts 
conference 
on finance 
practices

GOVERNMENT

Rohit Chopra presents 
ideas on dictating policy 
for federal student loans

ARJUN THAKKAR
Daily Staff Reporter

GOT A NEWS TIP?
Call 734-418-4115 or e-mail 
news@michigandaily.com and let us know.

INDEX
Vol. CXXVIII, No. 93
©2019 The Michigan Daily

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O PI N I O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

S U D O K U . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

CL A S S I F I E DS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 

S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 B
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Korean pop dance group “K-Motion” performs at the Taste of Taiwan even in East Hall Saturday evening, 

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ZAYNA SYED
 Daily Staff Reporter

Read more at 
MichiganDaily.com

MAX KUANG/Daily
The founding line of Omega Beta Eta, the Univerisyt of Michigan’s first Arab fraternity, gather on the Diag to reveal their pledge class with a performance Friday evening,

LIAT WEINSTEIN 
Daily Staff Reporter

See FRATERNITY, Page 3

