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 

