LOCAL/STATE The Michigan Daily - Thursday, September 11, 2003 - 5A Yeah, we're looking at you I TUITION Continued from Page 1A duced sometime in the near future - would reduce federal aid to schools that increase total costs of attendance by twice the rate of the CPI's increase for three consecutive years, McKeon said. "I'm hopeful that (schools) get out of the negative attitude that they can't control their costs," said McKeon, chairman of the 21st Century Compet- itiveness Subcommittee of the House Education and Workforce Committee. But reductions in federal aid would not affect direct government assistance to students, such as Pell Grants or stu- dent loans, a news release from McK- eon's office states. Under the bill, higher education institutions increasing their costs of attendance by more than twice the CPI for two straight years would be required to file a report with the Department of Education explain- ing the increases and outlining a plan to keep costs down in the future, McKeon said. Schools are currently required to file reports detailing tuition rates, fees and room and board costs with the depart- ment, and the bill would also simplify the filing process, he added. While some schools have worked hard to keep their costs down, the leg- islation would aim to encourage accountability for other institutions that "have had a record over the last 20 years" of raising costs faster than the inflation rate or CPI, McKeon said. The cost report, co-authored by Education Committee Chairman John Boehner (R-Ohio), states that tuition rates in the last decade rose 38 percent after being adjusted for inflation, and that since the 1980s costs rose three times as much as median family income. Last year costs for four-year schools rose in every state, even though 10 of those states increased state appropria- tions by as much or more than the tuition increases, the report states. Tuition increases have persisted regardless of economic circumstances and the level of state funding, it states. "What incentive do (schools) have to keep their costs down? There is no control; McKeon said. But Bob Weygand, president and chief executive officer of the New England Board of Higher Education, said the report and legislation do not recognize that many schools are increasing their financial aid coffers at a faster rate than their costs, thus mini- mizing or decreasing real costs for many students. "While the tuition and room and board may increase 5 percent in a given year, the financial assistance may increase 6 percent," he said, adding that such a proposal would cre- ate an incentive for schools to reduce the amount of financial aid they offer. And the University was one of those schools that increased its financial aid budget at a higher rate than tuition in its general budget released in July. "There was an increase in real sup- port,"Provost Paul Courant said. Not only does McKeon's proposal fail to take financial aid into account, but its correlation of cost increases with the CPI or inflation is inaccurate, said Courant, who is also an economist. Courant said that-wages schools must pay their faculty and staff always increase faster than prices, while pro- ductivity levels are relatively the same. He added that the CPI is a measure of average economic costs, but to main- tain its academic quality the University must keep up with the rate of advance- ment in knowledge across the world. "We don't stop studying classical music when hip-hop comes along, we actually study both," he said. Additionally, punishing schools that increase costs at twice the CPI by tak- ing away another source of revenue in federal assistance would create a "dis- aster" and would decrease the overall quality of education, Courant said. "When you increase price controls, which is what these would be, you get a reduction in quality,"he said. And such price controls would cre- ate a "downward spiral" hurting public institutions more than private schools, which can rely on higher levels of pri- vate endowments, Weygand said. But this scenario is not likely, because the legislation probably will not pass into law, said Weygand, a for- mer congressman. Many legislators will "look at this as being a concept for accountability, but not the proper way to go,"he said. Ann Arbor resident Nick Dean enjoys a meal while being watched by faces on a large mural at the corner of Streets. RYAN WEINER/Daily State and Liberty L I FACULTY Continued from Page 1A research scientist at the Center for Human Growth and Development, said scientists receive teaching exemptions if they are receiving money from outside grants to pursue their work. He said such work helps the University enormously. "Faculty are expected to obtain between 25 to 100 percent of their salary from research grants," he said. "The University benefits when faculty do research with funds obtained from federal or private foundations, because they bring funds to employ undergraduate and graduate students and researchers. They also bring additional moneys to the University in the form of overhead charges and the research findings become contributions to society." In fact, Frisancho said he thinks one of the problems troubling the new Life Sciences Institute is recruiting prestigious scientists because such professors may desire' further reductions in teaching. They face "potential problems because faculty do not want to teach," Richard Hume, chair of the Molecular, Cellular and Develop- mental Biology Department. "There's a very slight component of that, but I don't think it's a major issue," Hume added. But LSI officials gave swift denials to any problems with recruit- ing for the institute, which is set to open Sept. 15. "We really had a great year with recruiting," LSI Managing Director Liz Barry said, noting the nine fac- ulty hired. She added that a goal of 25 scientists might not be reached until 2010. "Many of them actually want to teach ... I have not seen anybody who has found that an issue," said LSI researcher and biochemistry Prof. Rowena Matthews, adding that her teaching load will not change because she is only switch- ing her research component from the Biochemistry Department to the LSI. Even chemistry Prof. Gary Glick, who recently decided not to enter the LSI, said teaching had no part in his decision. "From a teaching perspective and a financial perspective, (LSI) was more beneficial," Glick said, adding that his teaching load would have been reduced to one class a year as opposed to two. "The LSI compo- nent would have left me free do research," since LSI would have paid 50 percent of his salary. Hume said that occasionally there is a professor who enjoys his teach- ing load less than others. He noted a case of one professor in his depart- ment last year who left for a more research-oriented institution. "The individual got the least pleas- ure of undergraduate teaching and the students sensed that," Hume said. Hume added that while some pro- fessors may grumble about advan- tages certain professors might possess, they recognize that people choose their jobs and different lifestyles to highlight different pro- fessors' strengths, even if it means higher salaries. "Money is only one indication of job satisfaction," he said.