4B - The Michigan Daily - Election '98 - Thursday, October 29, 1998
Rivers seeks third term to
focus on education, health
The Michigan Daily - Elei
B rater aims toc
rep. seat from (
By Mike Spahn
Daily Staff Reporter
At 21 years old, Lynn Rivers was at a crossroads. Married
with two children, no job and only a high school diploma,
Rivers decided it was time to go back to school.
"I really believed that if I was going to do anything that I
wanted to do in my life, I had to get an education," Rivers
said.
And Rivers wanted to do a lot.
Enrolling at the University to study biological anthropolo-
gy, Rivers knew not what laid ahead of her. She took out
loans to pay for her education, stopped going to school mul-
tiple times so she could work and save money and all the
while raised two children at home.
Add to these struggles a diagnosis and treatment of chron-
ic depression, and it seemed the deck was stacked against
Rivers.
But 15 years after she first set foot in Ann Arbor, Rivers
left Wayne State Law School with both an undergraduate and
a law degree. After serving on a school board and the state
Board of Education, Rivers went to Lansing as a state
Representative.
"I started going to Washington when I worked for (the state
Board of Education), and I liked it, I really liked it," Rivers
said.
So when the 13th District seat for the U.S. House of
Representatives opened up, Rivers jumped at it. And she won.
Since 1994, Rivers has been a champion of education,
Social Security, the environment and health care reform.
Still paying off her loans from college, Rivers has called
for increased aid to students in all forms - more grants, eas-
ier loan application procedures and containment of tuition.
She said Congress should be sure to address the fact that
those leaving school with large loan burdens are often hit
twice, because they then go into poorly-paid positions.
Rivers also supports the University's use of affirmative action
in admissions, saying that when she was in school, the
University's diversity was her first such exposure to new people.
"The admissions process is not just about the applicant, but
See RIVERS, Page 58
LOUIS BROWN/Daily
State Rep. Liz Brater (D-Ann Arbor) Is running for a third term In the state House.
NATHAN RUFFER/Daily
U.S. Rep. Lynn Rivers (D-Ann Arbor), right, attends a campaign rally last week
along with U.S. Rep. Debbie Stabenow (D-East Lansing).
By Yael Koh em
Daily Staff Reporter
The state House candidates for the
53rd District, which encompasses
Central Campus, both are campaign-
ing to improve all levels of state edu-
cation.
Incumbent state Rep. Liz Brater is
running against Republican chal-
lenger Garret Carlson, a real estate
agent.
In addition to education, Brater is
campaigning to reform health care,
consumer privacy, the economy and
the environment.
The main initiatives Carlson is
pushing are a tax reduction, crime
fighting and improved education.
Since the 53rd District encompass-
es a large percentage of the University
community, higher education is a
point of interest for both candidates.
"Higher education faces ... prob-
lems mostly in terms of funding and
trying to keep at least the rate of infla-
tion going into the educational pro-
grams," said Brater, a member of the
house Colleges and Universities com-
mittee.
The rate of inflation currently is 3
percent, which Brater believes is not
enough.
"The (Consumer Price Index) is not
a very accurate measure of the rate at
which (the University's) expenses go
up because they have to invest in lab-
oratories and computer equipment.'
Brater said.
But Carlson said tuition should not
increase above inflation.
"I think that U of M has spiraling
tuition," Carlson said. "I will work to
ensure that any state-supp
versity is not able to ra
above the rate of inflation.
"I think that they need t
costs under control," he sai
LSA sophomore Charle
managing Carlson's
Carlson said he believes t
University student working
"he can tell us what the stu
and what the students want
Carlson added that "we
closely with the College R
and many of them are work
campaign."
Both candidates also are
eliminate sales tax on cc
books, which has been an i
both the Michigan Student
and the Associated St
Michigan State University.
Education in elementa
and high school is also an
issue for both candidates.
"I support public educati
said.
"The erosion of support
education results when yoi
money from the public schc
into charter schools."
But Carlson said charter
beneficial to students in thi
"I think that charter scl
good idea because they giv
tion to the public schools
them better," Carlson said.
Environmental protectii
near the top of Brater's al
currently serves on the Co
Environment and
Committee.
"I spend a lot of time tr
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Continued from Page 2B
"We will never lose the need for
affirmative action for institutions in
higher learning," she said.
Smith added that because fund-
ing for urban and rural areas are
significantly different for suburban
schools, urban and rural school
children lose out on the opportunity
to get a quality higher education,
she said.
"If we keep repeating the same
cycle or when the cycle is not bro-
ken, they don't do well," Smith
said.
In addition to changing spend-
ing habits of universities,
Hoch stetler ----
said he wants
to makewthe
roads safer by
"lightening up°
the number of
semi trucks on
the roads,"
improve the
environment-
and change
health care Smith
needs with
HMOs.
"I want to make the doctor the
primary care giver, not the insur-
ance company," Hochstetler said.
In regard to his opponent,
Hochstetler said Smith is "too lib-
eral" and she supports gubernatori-
al candidate Geoffrey Fieger.
Hochstetler added that Smith voted
against the Freedom of Information
Act, which states government offi-
cials cannot vote in secret and that
the general public can obtain min-
utes from meetings. Hochstetler
said the Freedom of Information
Act provides for an "honest and
open government" and by Smith
voting against it she is "stepping 20
or 30 years back in time."
Smith said she brings experience
to her job.
"I know the process, the job, and
am not controlled by the party cau-
cus," she said. "They do not break
rank."
Smith added that because of
this, she can vote for the best inter-
est for the institution.
She has the ability to work with
colleagues to pass bills, create
numerous pollution prevention pro-
grams as a member of the
Department of Natural Resources
subcommittee on national resource
and environmental quality, and has
build a strong and lasting relation-
ship with appropriations col-
leagues.
Courtesy of Garret Carlson
Garret Carlson wants to represent Ann Arbor in Lansing
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Two rookies run to replace Schroer i
By Jennifer Yachnin
Daily Staff Reporter
Candidates in the 52nd District are in for a
close race.
Republican candidate John Hansen and
Democratic candidate Julie Knight are vying
for the open seat left by Mary Schroer (D-Ann
Arbor), who is prohibited from running for re-
election by term limits.
The 52nd District encompasses the area
surrounding North Campus and Dexter.
Educational and local environmental issues
are at the top of each candidates lists of con-
cern.
"The whole issue of education is important
to me because that's where I come from," said
Hansen, who served as a principal and super-
intendent in the Ann Arbor area.
"I think depending on the composition of
the legislature in January there could be ...
more ways to draw people away from public
schools," Hansen said.
Knight, on the other hand, said she would
like to see more reform in education and
wants to "promote more charter schools and
schools of choice" and "get parents more
involved."
I
n=hat is efinitely the m st conpetitive raee
In tht rea.
- Bill Ballenger
Editor, Inside Michigan Politics
i
"My opponent is in favor of turning things
back to the way they were before proposition
A," Knight said.
Proposal A, nicknamed the "Robin Hood"
program changed funding in Michigan
schools four years ago, by proposing that the
state pursue the equal funding per pupil
statewide.
"We need to sit down and say 'What were
the results of that?"' Hansen said.
Environmental issues, including urban
sprawl and the passage of Washtenaw
County's proposition one, were also important
planks in each candidates platform.
Knight said she would like to see a
statewide, in-depth study conducted about the
problem of urban sprawl.
Proposition 1, also on the ballot for Nov. 3,
is concerned with "local preservation of open
space and farmland," Hansen said.
"It speaks to water quality and air quality,
Hanson said.
He added that even if the bill fails, the
issues related to the local environment wil
still "Even if it doesn't make it through ..
we're still victims of our own prosperity."
Another issue of importance, Hansen said
is the closing of mental health facilities and
the increase in spending on prisons.
"We close something on one end and open
it on the other," Hanson said.
Bill Ballenger, editor of Inside Michigan
Politics, said: "That is definitely the mos
competitive race in that area."
If possible, the race may have been even
closer if Knight had lost in the republican pri
mary, Ballenger said.
"It would have been real interesting hai
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