Education

Less state money means colleges, students struggle

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By BROOKE KANSIER
Capital News Service
LANSING — State funding for higher education has seen a dramatic reduction in the past few decades — and students are feeling the budget squeeze. Despite increases in the past four years, Michigan spending on higher education is still 4 percent below 2011 when funds were slashed – and still lagging nearly 28 percent behind pre-recession funding, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a policy institute based in Washington, D.C.
That amounts to an average $1,631 less per student than in 2008. “When one looks at the long view of state investment in higher education, it marks a rather dramatic decline,” said Daniel Hurley, chief executive officer of the Presidents Council, State Universities of Michigan, which lobbies on behalf of the 15 state universities. Representative and Higher Education Appropriations Subcommittee member Jeff Irwin, D–Ann Arbor, said the lack of funding for higher education is irresponsible. “Higher education used to be a tool used by the public through state government to enhance social mobility, to give people a hand up, to give people an opportunity to develop their skills and contribute more to their community and to their family, and the state government has turned its back on that responsibility,” he said.

Education

Campus food banks expand to feed hungry students

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By BROOKE KANSIER
Capital News Service
LANSING – Food banks are a growing sight on Michigan campuses as many students struggle with higher tuition, costly rent – and sometimes, hunger. “I think institutions are beginning to realize that there has been a food insecure population on campuses all along, and we need to serve it,” said Nathaniel Smith-Tyge, director of the Michigan State University Food Bank. Prior to the Great Recession, Michigan institutions had only four on-campus food pantries, according to the MSU Food Bank. Today, Thirteen institutes have programs supported by the College and University Food Bank Alliance. Eastern Michigan is the latest school to follow this trend, opening a campus food pantry this fall.

Transportation & Roads

Pothole prevention: smart roads signal repair needs

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By BROOKE KANSIER
Capital News Service
LANSING — If Michigan ever gears up to fix its crumbling roads, engineers might be well-served to consider a new ingredient in the road-making mix. It’s a sensor developed by Michigan State University, and it could have a big impact on road budgets and repairs nationwide. The sensor records traffic data and measures impacts and damage to roads. It communicates that information to engineers who can use the data to fix roads before they become seriously damaged — making maintenance significantly easier and cheaper. “If you’re trying to detect something in the roads, you have to do it at the bottom of the road — you cannot do it only at the surface because once the damage has reached the surface, it’s kind of too late,” said Nizar Lajnef, the MSU assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering who oversees the project.

Business & Economy

Are robot cars good for the environment?

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By BROOKE KANSIER
Capital News Service
LANSING — Cars that drive themselves may be safer, smarter and more efficient than those driven by people. But will they be better for the environment? It’s a question with no definitive answer, said John DeCicco, a research professor at the University of Michigan’s Energy Institute and a board member of the university’s MCity – an entire city for the testing of the vehicles, complete with cutouts of pedestrians and stoplights. Some aspects of the vehicles could greatly reduce energy use and emissions, while other aspects could increase emissions, said DeCicco. Driving efficiency improves greatly with an autonomous infrastructure.

Public Safety

State Police seek to shrink trooper gender gap

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By BROOKE KANSIER
Capital News Service
LANSING — With male troopers outnumbering females 9-1, the Michigan State Police is reaching out to aspiring woman troopers to improve gender diversity numbers — both in the present and the future. Women make up just under 10 percent of the current State Police force. This number has dropped from past diversity improvements that followed a Federal Justice Department lawsuit against the MSP in 1975, which accused the department of discriminating against females and minorities when hiring state troopers. Col. Kriste Kibbey Etue — who became the MSP’s first female director in 2011 — said that improving this percentage is a priority.

Business & Economy

Dems propose tax breaks for mid-, low-income families

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By BROOKE KANSIER
Capital News Service
LANSING — Michigan is still catching up after the Great Recession crashed the economy — and for most residents, the 2011 rewrite of the state tax code made things worse, Democratic legislators say. Lawmakers recently took aim at tax changes approved by Gov. Rick Snyder that they said shifted the burden from businesses to individuals and harmed mid and low-wage workers. “Most families in our state continue to struggle economically, and the income and equality and disparity between the wealthy and everyone else continues to get ever bigger,” Democratic House Leader Tim Greimel of Oakland County said. “A big part of that is related to the massive tax shift that Republicans in state government orchestrated in 2011.”

Under the 2011 rewrite, multiple tax benefits for middle class and low-income residents were cut or reduced, including significant reductions to a tax credit that helps low-wage workers and their families. A $600 per child tax credit for families was also cut, and a new tax on pensions was added.

Health

Publicizing vaccination rates helps parents, bill sponsor says

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By BROOKE KANSIER
Capital News Service
LANSING — Proposed legislation requiring school districts to publicize their vaccination rates will help parents make better health choices and might improve vaccination education, the bill’s sponsor said. Introduced earlier this year, the bill package would require schools to post vaccination rates, which are already reported to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, in school offices or on their websites. State Sen. Curtis Hertel Jr., D-East Lansing, said his legislation would provide parents more information when picking a school for their child. “Those kids, and those parents, have a right to make an educated choice,” Hertel said. “If you have a child that’s going to treatment and chemotherapy and can’t get a vaccine, why would you want to send them to a school that is below herd immunity?” Hertel said.

Environment

State officials unconcerned about failing water-policy grade

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By BROOKE KANSIER
Capital News Service
LANSING — In a state surrounded by 20 percent of the world’s fresh water, overuse and sustainability might not be the first thing on the minds of Michiganders. And according to a study that graded states on their water policies and conservation, these concerns may not be very common in state government, either. The Alliance for Water Efficiency’s most recent scorecard gave Michigan a mere 3 points out of the possible 40 for water efficiency and policy. Compare that to places such as fellow Great Lakes state Wisconsin with 15.5, Rhode Island’s 20, or California’s 29. With a D grade and the lowest score among Great Lakes states, Michigan failed in categories such as state policies regarding toilet and shower head efficiency, water-efficient building or plumbing codes, or even guidelines for conservation among water utility companies — and was given a passing grade in only one category.

Business & Economy

Michigan drivers still texting, despite ban

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By BROOKE KANSIER
Capital News Service
LANSING — Michigan has banned texting while driving since 2010, but many Michigan teens are still typing away behind the wheel — and so are their parents. Although a national study found reduced crash rates among states with a texting while driving ban, Michigan has not seen such a drop since introducing its own version of the ban. The recent study, led by researchers at Texas A&M and published online March 19, found that states enforcing texting bans had a 7 percent drop in hospitalizations from serious accidents from 2003 to 2010, compared to states without bans. The study factored in alternative components as well, such as changes in speeding laws, drunk driving, and teen driving restrictions, with the texting laws having the highest correlation. Michigan, however, has seen numbers move in the opposite direction, with accidents and accident-related injuries slightly increasing under its ban — from about 282,000 accidents in 2010 to about 289,000 in 2013, according to statistics from the  State Police.

Government

Bill would repeal abortion insurance restriction

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By BROOKE KANSIER
Capital News Service
LANSING — A controversial Michigan abortion law could be repealed if a Democrat-led measure succeeds in the state Senate. The Abortion Insurance Opt-Out Act of 2013 requires women and employers to purchase an additional insurance rider — an add-on to their current plan — to be covered for abortions. Sen. Curtis Hertel Jr., the East Lansing Democrat who introduced the legislation earlier this year, said the law is an unfair burden on women. “The legislature shouldn’t be trying to decide which medical decisions are right or wrong, which choices are right or wrong,” Hertel said. “I think that it’s sad that the legislature is getting involved in a decision that has been declared legal in this country.”
The law means women have to disclose their preference for abortion coverage to their employers in order to opt in, Hertel said.