ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SEVEN YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
Thursday, November 9, 2017
Ann Arbor, Michigan
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ADMINISTRATION
Students hail beginning of construction on Trotter DANYEL THARAKAN/Daily
Groundbreaking fulfills thirty years of demands from community for new space
E. Royster Harper, Vice President for Student Life, speaks to a group of students at the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Summit at the League Wednesday.
At DEI summit, questions linger on action to improve strategic plan
Students and administrators weigh measures on free speech & accountability gathered Wednesday evening to ABBY MURO, ABBY TASKAS, evaluate the plan’s effectiveness. SAYALI AMIN, GRACE KAY Most students in attendance For the Daily at the summit — about 50 total — were members of Central Student Government or student One year after the introduction advisory boards related to the of the five-year strategic plan for DEI or the Office of Student Life. diversity, equity and inclusion, The evening kicked off with students, faculty and staff an introduction from Central
Student Government President Anushka Sarkar, an LSA senior, followed by Robert Sellers, vice provost for Equity and Inclusion. Both speakers stressed the idea of creating a safe campus community for all students. E. Royster Harper, vice president for Student Life, called on values-based problem
solving. “When times are tough and you’re up against a wall, that’s when you have to live and act your values or else they’re meaningless,” Harper said.
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SAM SMALL For the Daily
After three decades of minority student activism and ultimately, organizing for a more centrally located multicultural center and more emphasis on students of color at the University, the University of Michigan broke ground Wednesday morning at the William Monroe Trotter Multicultural Center’s new location on State Street. Alumni and students representing the Black Action Movement, #BBUM and current members of the Black Student Union gathered along with administrators at the
construction site with shovels in hand at the spot north of the Michigan Union and between the Kelsey Museum and Betsy Barbour Residence. The groundbreaking comes four years after #BBUM movement demands revitalized student requests for a more centrally located Trotter Center. Recent alum Logan Pratt, Trotter Student Advisory Committee member and former historian and academic concerns chair of the Black Student Union, recalled his time advocating for the building.
Read more at MichiganDaily.com
Trump tax credits are 10x more costly ‘U’ groups SAPAC will attend than eliminated education benefits speakout
CAMPUS LIFE
CAMPUS LIFE
conference on refugees
Proponents argue new programs cancel out credits, students worry about affordability
Campus organizers look to host talks on solutions for displaced Syrians
With United States House Republicans introducing a sweeping plan for tax reform last Thursday that outlined a set of tax cuts for businesses and a restructuring of the income tax system, students became concerned — especially because the bill contains a number of changes to the current tax code, some of which may directly impact college affordability. The bill would eliminate two of three existing tax credits for students: the Lifetime Learning Credit and the Hope Scholarship Credit. The Lifetime Learning Credit offsets 20 percent of the first $10,000 of education expenses for individuals making $65,000 or less annually. The Hope Scholarship Credit offers a $2,500 credit for individuals making $80,000 or less annually. Cutting these two programs is estimated to save the government $17.3 billion in the next decade. The American Opportunity Tax Credit — the third student credit — is expanded in the new bill. This offers a $2,500 credit every year for four years to people who spend $4,000 or more on tuition and fees annually. With the new bill, the program would be available to students for a fifth year with a reduced $1,250 credit. This program cost the government nearly $18 billion in 2016, making it roughly ten times as costly as the other two
JENNIFER MEER Daily Staff Reporter
Approximately 17 University of Michigan students, representing various student organizations, will be attending the first national conference hosted by Students Organize for Syria this weekend at Loyola University Chicago to discuss solutions and raise awareness for the thousands of people who have died and millions who have been displaced as a result of violent oppression and civil war in Syria. SOS, a national student-led movement that aims to spread awareness, assist and stand in solidarity with the Syrian people, focuses on fundraising, human rights advocacy and education. It has chapters at several colleges and universities, including the University of Michigan, the University of Southern California and the University of Florida, among others; most of which will be represented at the conference.
Read more at MichiganDaily.com
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RILEY LANGEFELD Daily Staff Reporter
combined. Advocates of the bill argue new federal programs negate the need for these credits, which were created before any significant federal student loan repayment plan was available. The Obamaera student loan repayment program would stay in place under the proposed plan. This program allows students to apply for federal loan aid, which is doled out depending on income. In general, the program caps the amount paid by students at 10 percent of their
discretionary income. Individual plans offer loan forgiveness after 25 years. More than five million people are currently paying back their loans with this program. The Obama-era program, however, does not cover loans from private lenders, which make up 9 percent of all student loans for the current school year. The GOP plan also eliminates the tax-exempt status of tuition reimbursements up to $5,250 a year, meaning that they would be taxed as income. Students whose
Lifetime Learning Credit Offsets
of the first of education expenses
for individuals making
or less annually
education is funded by employers will be affected by this change. In the view of LSA senior Grant Strobl—chairman of conservative Young Americans for Freedom— the economic benefits of an education negate the need for the tax credits and deductions changed in the bill. He said the return on investment of a college degree is far greater than its cost.
Read more at MichiganDaily.com
Hope Scholarship Credit Offers a
credit for
individuals making or less annually
Cutting the Lifetime Learning Credit and Hope Scholarship Credit is estimated to save the government $17.3 billion in the next decade.
American Opportunity Tax Credit Offers a
credit every year for four years to people who spend
or more on tuition and fees annually
Available to students for a fifth year with a reduced Eliminates the tax-exempt status of tuition reimbursements up to $5,250 a year
For more stories and coverage, visit
Cost the government nearly
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credit in 2016
sees record attendance
32nd annual event for survivors emphasizes safety, empowerment LIZZY LAWRENCE Daily Staff Reporter
Attendees of the Sexual Assault and Prevention Awareness Center’s 32nd annual Speak Out were greeted by an atmosphere full of fairy lights, candles and the soft chords of Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide” this Wednesday night in the Michigan Union Ballroom. The organizers of the event said they created this ambience to make a safe space for survivors of sexual assault to share their stories. LSA senior Nora Akcasu, a SAPAC volunteer and one of the main organizers of the event, said making the ballroom feel more inviting was something new SAPAC focused on this year. “This year we really tried to emphasize making the space feel more comfortable,” she said. “The ballroom is such a big space, and we don’t want people to feel more intimidated than they already are to go up there and share this deeply personal story.”
DESIGN BY AVA WEINER
INDEX
Vol. CXXVII, No. 27 ©2017 The Michigan Daily
NEWS.........................2 OPINION.....................4 ARTS.....................1B
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SUDOKU.....................2 CLASSIFIEDS...............6 SPORTS....................5