Thursday, May 28, 2020
INDEX
Vol. CXXIX, No. 115
© 2020 The Michigan Daily
NEWS ....................................
OPINION ...............................
ARTS/NEWS..........................
MiC.........................................
SPORTS................................
MICHIGAN IN COLOR
Color & Coronavirus
Racial disparities
in America expose
communities of color to
the ravaging pandemic at
alarming rates.
>> SEE PAGE 8
NEWS
Gap Year 2020
More students consider
taking a gap year in lieu of
the COVID-19 pandemic.
>> SEE PAGE 3
OPINION
America’s Failing
Values
COVID-19 has exposed long
overdue changes.
>> SEE PAGE 5
ARTS
‘Animal Crossing’
Quarantine Diary
The wildly popular video
game has birthed toxic
communities online.
>> SEE PAGE 6
SPORTS
Spearheading
Change
Erik Bakich leads a new
proposal to shift the
college baseball schedule.
>> SEE PAGE 12
inside
2
4
6
8
10
As the COVID-19 pandemic
shutters businesses across the
country,
millions
of
people
have been laid off, resulting in a
historic surge in unemployment
claims. On April 13, the state
officially began accepting claims
from
previously
ineligible
workers, such as independent
contractors, gig workers and
self-employed people. Elizabeth
Abdnour,
a
self-employed
lawyer, applied that day under
the new eligibility rules.
Two days later, Abdnour
received four of the six letters
she would get from the state
disputing
her
filing.
One
dealt with confusion over her
previous employer, Michigan
State University, while two
others focused on her status as
a self-employed lawyer.
All four letters contained the
same warning regarding the
penalty for wrongfully filing for
unemployment.
“It
is
against
state
law
to
intentionally
make
false
statements
or
conceal
information to gain or avoid
the payment of benefits,” the
letters said. “You may have to
repay up to 1.5 times the amount
of benefits received … You may
also be subject to criminal
prosecution.”
Unemployment
insurance
helps people who have lost
their jobs replace part of their
wages while they look for
work. In late March, Congress
passed the Coronavirus Aid,
Relief, and Economic Security
(CARES) Act, which expanded
the unemployment insurance
system and gave states the
option
to
offer
Pandemic
Unemployment Assistance to
workers who were previously
unqualified, including the self-
employed. The CARES Act also
included a provision to provide
an additional $600 per week
to people collecting regular
benefits.
On March 30, Gov. Gretchen
Whitmer
announced
the
expansion
of
unemployment
insurance
to
self-employed
people and other categories
of workers. On April 10, the
state
released
the
opening
date for filing applications:
April
13,
when
Michigan’s
Unemployment
Insurance
Agency began accepting those
claims at 8 a.m.
However, creating an entirely
new
system
of
government
benefits has not been easy, and
some unemployed people, like
Abdnour, have struggled to file
claims.
According to a request filed
by The Daily under the Freedom
of Information Act, since April
10, the state has sent 251,884
messages through its online
unemployment
application
system and via physical mail
with a “no employer selected”
error
to
Michigan
citizens
who filed as self-employed.
The state has also sent 14,136
messages regarding what it
claims are issues of intentional
misrepresentation.
Some
people,
including
Abdnour,
received multiple notices from
the state over their claims.
As a lawyer, Abdnour said
she occasionally deals with
bureaucratic confusion. She said
she wondered how someone
who’s
never
been
in
this
situation would react.
“The average person without
legal training would probably
be even more confused and
scared
because
they
aren’t
experienced with the process
‘U’ requires
standardized
testing despite
Coronavirus
cancellations
Rising seniors express
concerns about ACT and
SAT scores in admissions
ONE HUNDRED TWENTY-NINE YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
Read more at michigandaily.com
IULIA DOBRIN
Daily Staff Reporter
SAMMY SUSSMAN
Daily Investigative Reporter
Read more at michigandaily.com
michigandaily.com
Self-employed in Michigan struggle
with unemployment application
Design by Maggie Wiebe
Trisha Vedula, Dublin Coffman High
School junior, took the ACT multiple
times and plans on submitting her score
to schools, even if they are test optional.
A lot of her peers, however, were waiting
for the ACT school testing date,which
is offered by the Ohio Department of
Education but has been canceled due to
COVID-19.
“I know U of M is a very, very good
school. A lot of people in Ohio would be
applying as it’s a really good school for
them to get into,” Vedula said. “I know
they’re also devastated by it because
they almost feel like they wouldn’t get in
— even if they meet other requirements
— just because they haven’t taken the
standardized test yet.”
Carly Cohen, Bloomfield Hills High
School junior, was planning to retake
the ACT in order to get a better score.
However, with COVID-19 leading to
standardized test dates being canceled,
she’s not sure when, or if, she’ll get the
chance.
“It’s hard when a lot of schools
around me are being test optional and
Michigan’s not, and Michigan’s already
a really difficult school to get into.”
Cohen said.
The ACT Inc. is waiting until the
week of May 26 to announce test center
closures and cancellations for the June
13 test date. Even so, according to its
website, all testing is still subject to
change up until the day of the exam.
“It’s a lot to not know when you’re
supposed to be testing because I was