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This chart indicates the rate of households reporting information directly to the census themselves for each county. Editors may wish to insert local numbers into the story.

Census faces challenges in Michigan, particularly in the north

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Seasonal properties, vacant houses, the lack of internet, distrust of government and fewer census takers, not to mention the pandemic, are challenges to the 2020 U.S. census, especially in Michigan’s rural northern counties, census experts say. Statewide, about 71% of Michigan households self-reported their numbers online to the U.S. Census Bureau. That’s better than the national rate of 62.1%. But the statewide number obscures low rates of self-response in the low-population rural north. By Zholdas Orisbayev FOR BAY MILLS, MARQUETTE, BIG RAPIDS, SAULT STE MARIE, ST. IGNACE AND ALL POINTS

Capital News Service

As teachers go online, internet access shapes academic performance of Michigan students

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As the pandemic forces more students online, the lack of affordable broadband internet could cause lower performance of rural Michigan schoolchildren. A recent Michigan State University study of 15 rural school districts found that students without internet access averaged a half-grade lower grade point average and did not perform as well on college entrance tests. Internet advocates are cobbling together a network of public Wi-Fi hotspots that students can access from parking lots to avoid exposure to Covid-19. CNS editors note: The MSU study cited and linked to in story includes Brimley Area Schools, Les Cheneaux Community Schools, Mackinac Island Public Schools, Pickford Public Schools, Rudyard Area Schools, Sault Ste. Marie Area Schools, St. Ignace Area Schools, Tahquamenon Area Schools,Whitefish Township Schools and Morley Stanwood Community Schools. By Zholdas Orisbayev. FOR BAY MILLS, SAULT STE. MARIE, ST. IGNACE, MARQUETTE, BIG RAPIDS AND ALL POINTS.

News

Half a million Michiganders might be at risk of eviction by the end of year

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Half a million Michigan families could risk eviction by the end of the year without financial help from the federal government, housing advocates say. One in every five Michigan rental households have fallen behind on their payments because of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Michigan League for Public Policy. And 242,000 Michigan children are in families that haven’t been able to keep up with rent or get enough to eat. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently ordered a ban on evicting low-income tenants who cannot pay their rent because of COVID-19. The order is effective until the end of the year, but it doesn’t relieve tenants from paying back rent that they owe landlords. By Zholdas Orisbayev FOR LANSING AND ALL POINTS

Campus News
Line of students inside hallway

Biden wins Michigan primary; state’s new voting laws get test

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Former Vice President Joe Biden was projected to win today’s Michigan Democratic primary as the state tried out its new voting rules. Sen. Bernie Sanders, whose campaign got a lift in the 2016 Michigan primary, found 2020 to be deflating.

East Lansing, including MSU students who were registered on campus, also faced questions about renewing property taxes that support the Capital Area Transportation Authority, Ingham County parks and trails, Potter Park Zoo, special education services and county health care services.

News

Racial segregation led to systematic failures in Detroit, experts say

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Outskirts of Packard car plant in Detroit/Photo Zholdas Orisbayev

Many experts believe that major damage to Detroit’s decline made corruption. Some of them cite racial segregation and upraising violence in the city. But there were other systematic failures in the economic diversification of motor city. Ken Coleman, an essayist and one of the authors of Detroit 1967: Origins, Impacts. Legacies, said in a phone interview that racial segregation damaged Detroit’s reputation to investors and major players in business decided to leave the city.

News

“Have IRB form, first”: Understanding human subject violations in research

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Students were taught legal research activities where human subjects can be involved/Photo Zholdas Orisbayev

Associate Professor Emilee Rader gave a lecture for graduate students of the College of Communication Arts and Sciences at Michigan State University on Monday, Oct. 14. She talked about the importance of protecting human subjects in research. Rader,
who researches human-computer interaction at MSU, started her lecture asking how
many participants had heard about the Institutional Review Board. Then, Rader talked about what needs to be clear before to start research where human subjects would be involved.