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Supreme Court upholds travel ban and it’s affecting Michigan residents

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On Tuesday, June 26, the Supreme Court approved President Donald Trump’s travel ban which, to varying degrees, restricts entry into the U.S. from the countries of Iran, North Korea, Syria, Libya, Yemen, Somalia and Venezuela. According to White House Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah, the president does not support a ban on all Muslims, as was stated December 2015. He only wishes to uphold “a minimal standard and allow our government to feel confident that we know who these individuals coming into our country are.” Several Americans are not pleased with the travel ban. Organizations such as MoveOn.org are planning protests and rallies to fight back and “increase pressure for justice.”

The protests are also in response to the Trump administration’s ongoing prosecution of adults who are illegally crossing the U.S. border and whose children have been detained separately.

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Michigan home shortage keeps millennials from being homeowners

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According to the 2017 U.S. Census, millennials make up a large portion of the housing market and are one of the biggest factors in the increase of homeownership rates last year. This holds true despite the lingering effects of the Great Recession and the fact that many millennials also face student loan debt. According to research done by Citizen Bank in Providence, R.I., millennials are spending one-fifth of their income on student loans, and 60 percent of them will likely be paying off student loan debt until they have reached their 40s. The 2017 Census also showed that millennials were frequently buying homes in Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, Birmingham, Ala., Buffalo, N.Y., and Virginia Beach, VA. Detroit was one of the cities with the largest drop in millennial homeowners, however. Michigan is experiencing a shortage in the amount of homes for sale versus the number of buyers looking for a home to live in.

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College sexual assault victims aren’t going to authorities

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Due to the aftermath of the Larry Nassar scandal, the #MeToo movement has become a nationwide effort in the support of raising prevention and awareness of sexual abuse. More than 300 women came forward as victims and were awarded a $500 million settlement total. Because of this, the conversation about sexual assault, especially on college campuses, has been brought to the forefront. The founder of the #MeToo movement, Tarana Burke, spoke at Michigan State University this past April as a part of the Transformative Justice Speaker Series. She expressed that many times girls she worked with were sexual assault victims and were not even aware.

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Studies show some students are not preparing for life after college

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For the many college graduates that are still searching for a job after graduating—you are not alone. The unemployment rate for college graduates is about 2 percent as of May 2018, and has been dropping slightly since the beginning of 2018. This rate is also lower than the general unemployment rate in the United States, which sits at 3.8 percent. Although unemployment rates for people with a college degree seem to be pretty low, some college students have a difficult time finding employment post-graduation. “After graduating, I hadn’t gotten a job in my field, nor did I set up plans to immediately go back to school so I was nervous,” Victoria Bond, a 2017 graduate from Tuskegee University, said.”I started looking for jobs in my field and it proved to be a struggle.

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Q&A: Is this the best time in America to look for a job?

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On June 4, 2018, President Trump tweeted that now is the “best time ever to look for a job,” and that this is “the greatest economy in the history of America”. According to the Michigan Department of Technology, Management & Budget, this holds partially true. U.S. Jobless rates steadily declined in the last year, dropping from 4.4 to 3.9 percent from April 2017 to April 2018. Jim Rhein, an economic analyst at the Detroit branch of the Michigan Department of Technology, Management & Budget, gave his insight on the labor markets in Michigan and how job markets are performing at this time in the economy. Q: When it comes to the tweet that President Trump made, do you think that this holds true for Michigan specifically?

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Incoming students are not worried about their safety, despite MSU’s recent scandals

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Within the past few months, Michigan State University has taken heat for multiple scandals that put the university’s reputation in jeopardy. Recently, three former MSU football players were sentenced to 36 months of probation exactly one year after they were charged for sexual assault from a party that took place in January 2017. The university also has been left with a $500 million settlement from the Larry Nassar scandal, with $425 million to be paid to the 332 current survivors and $75 million put away in a trust fund for any future claimants. Even with the current state of events on campus, incoming freshman Lazarie Mitchell is not worried about how these events will affect her safety as a student. “I was not aware of the scandals when I applied, and I didn’t know anything about it,” she said.

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Gun violence laws may not be as helpful as we think

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On May 8, United States Representatives Debbie Dingell and Fred Upton of Michigan proposed a bill that would grant access to funds for states to enforce laws that enable police to confiscate guns from gun owners who are deemed dangerous. The debate about gun ownership and gun control in the United States has been a large one in recent times, especially with amount of gun violence and mass shootings there have been in the last few years, and some agree that the new proposed bill would aid in slowing down the crime rates. “I think it puts some responsibility back into the hands of the gun owner,” says Richard White, a Michigan police officer. White says that gun owners can be dangerous for a multitude of reasons. As well as not being mentally stable or responsible enough for handling a gun on their own, many gun owners do not practice measures to ensure that their firearms are in a safe place inaccessible to others.