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4A - Thursday, September 27,2007 P 1/N The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
E CJtIzdigan BaIj
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KARL STAMPFL IMRAN SYED JEFFREY BLOOMER
EDITOR IN CHIEF EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR MANAGING EDITOR
Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily's editorial board. All other signed articles
and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors.
Budgetblues
Partisan wrangling in legislature must give way to solution
C hildren are taught about responsibility at an early age.
Apparently, Michigan's legislators forgot those childhood
lessons: They have yet to pass a budget for the 2008 fiscal
year, and the deadline is Oct. 1. Partisanship and polarization in the
state legislature has kept lawmakers from doing this essential job.
Michigan's Democrat-controlled House of Representatives, Repub-
lican-controlled Senate and Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm
are now bickering over a budget that should have been done months
ago. With four days left to pass the budget, it's time for Democrats
and Republicans to recognize that their petty squabbling is jeop-
ardizing the state's essential services and that raising taxes is the
inevitable cure to the massive budget shortfall.
I call on President Bush to follow President
Reagan's example and listen to those among
his advisers who know that we need to have
binding reductions in CO2."
- Former Vice President Al Gore at a White House-sponsored climate conference
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Who knows best?
The great finagling is taking place because
Michigan law states that the budget must
be balanced; Michigan cannot run a deficit
like the federal government can. This year,
lawmakers face a $1.75 billion shortfall that
must be filled with a simple combination of
tax hikes and spending cuts. If an agreement
about the budget is not made before the Oct.
1 deadline, a government shutdown is close
to inevitable.
Hoping to avert this approaching shut-
down, both the Democratic House and
Republican Senate have proposed plans
that cater to their bases, but overlook the
best interests of the state as a whole. The
Republican Senate passed one such plan on
Monday. That plan, however, was nothing
but a PR play; state Republicans are quick to
point out that it would not cut state spend-
ing on public schools and universities any
further. However, they fail to account for
inflation, and that essentially results in cuts
as the budget continues to pay out the same
amount even though that amount is worth
less year-by-year.
The Democratic House will surely reject
the plan, but without a more viable alterna-
tive on the table, the state moves closer to
the brink of a shutdown. After months of
debate, both sides have now devolved into
childish stubbornness, risking further dam-
age to the state's economy, reputation and
the well-being of residents. Although it is
possible for the legislature to push back the
budget deadline another 30 days, this option
is not acceptable either. The state's economic
reputation is in shambles already; a bicker-
ing legislature that passes the state budget
when it feels like it is hardly what businesses
like to see.
No one likes the idea of raising taxes, but
it is a bullet the state will have to bite if
it's ever to recover from the current "one
state recession." Opposing politicians and
special interest groups - like the one that
erected a 10-foot anti-tax pig and whose
mantra is comprised of "no new taxes" -
need to realize the impracticality of their
stance. With critical services like public
schools, Medicaid and the state police in
jeopardy, raising taxes is a solution can no
longer be ignored. Without this solution,
the University and other public institu-
tions of higher learning, will eventually
have to raise tuition, possibly even for the
upcoming winter semester.
The partisanship that has been infect-
ing Lansing: for the many months-of this
current battle needs to be ousted. A budget
has to be passed before the deadline, and it
must include appropriate plans for public
services, especially for public universities.
Anything short of that would simply not be
worth the wait.
What it means to be educated
has been a hotly debated
subjectsince the proposition
of the No Child Left-
Behind Act by Pres-
ident Bush within
the first week of 7
his presidency. Ther
New York Times
recently ran an
editorial (What's
Good for Children,
09/12/2007) that BRYAN
focused on pOs- KOLK
sible reforms to the -
act. But those sug-
gestions miss the point: The real focus
needs to be on the larger trends in mod-
ern American thought about education
reform, specifically regarding who we
think our teachers are.
The editorial begins by stating,
"America's business community was
an early advocate of reform and a
prime mover in the passage of the No
Child Left Behind Act of 2002, which
required the states to improve public
schooling for all students." While that's
a true enough statement, the language
contains a few subtleties that should be
dissected. For instance, the usage of the
word "required" implies "with aloaded
gun to one's back." And "improve" is a
very debatable word in this case.
NCLB is essentially a reauthoriza-
tion of anolderact, the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965,with _
the addition of several new strategies.
While NCLB is immense and multifac-
eted, the most contentious part is the
scheme by which it seeks to focus on
poor students. The act employs a car-
rot-and-stick approach in which fed-
eral money given to public schools is
directly tied to standardized test scores
in English, math and science. Do better
on the tests, and you get the carrot. The
problem is the stick; it causes far more
harm than good in most schools.
The Times editorial goes on to state,
"Business leaders are rightly raising
their voices in an attempt to prevent the
teachers'unions and their political allies
from weakening this important law."
These business leaders - in this case
members of the Business Roundtable -
want more highly qualified employees
and are rightly willing to support high-
er educational standards in order to get
them. Somehow, though, the standards
they have deemed appropriate are not
as highly thought of by teachers.
Too much of the conversation on this
issue tries to paint a picture of teach-
ers' unions as being anti-education and
serving only the teachers' interests.
It is certainly true that some teachers
have been able to take advantage of
unions and tenures in order to retain
healthy paychecks while not meeting
some of the program's requirements.
But are we honestly ready to believe
that the majority of teachers are so self-
centered as to hold opinions detrimen-
tal to the very field to which they have
dedicated their lives?
The idea of a healthy teacher pay-
check is laughable to begin with. Not so
with the people who pushed for NCLB
- the business professionals whose
paychecks are more than healthy.,
Which one is likely to have a higher per-
centage of corruption? Without resting
too much of my case on an appeal to the
,senses, who would you trust more with,
the education of your children, Mr.
Rogers or Mr. Kenneth Lay?
Business leaders certainly are not all
bad, and they contribute immensely in
support of education. But perhaps the
spending of their money and the direc-
tion that education takes in the future
should be left up to the experts in the
field, the instructors and researchers
who will educate tomorrow's teachers.
By basing educational funding on
standardized tests, NCLB has two
widespread and devastating effects on
education. English, science and math
become means to an end - the stan-
dardized tests that give schools money.
Districts that teach largely to these
tests cannot be focused on encourag-
ing ongoing education and exploration.
Under NCLB, schools need scores, not
creative thinkers.
Listen to teachers'
opinions regarding
education reform.
Additionally, programs unnecessary
tothesestandardizedtestsare devalued
and often cut. There is no social studies
test, so guess which programs are dis-
appearing in schools struggling to meet
NCLB requirements. Don't even men-
tion the arts; how could they possibly
be important to developing well-round-
ed and intelligent individuals?
Here at the University, we are all
well-educated, and still a good number
of us would probably rather represent
our intelligence by something ,other
than a test score. I'm guessing that part
of that sentiment comes from an inter-
est in lifelong learning, a craving to
knowthe world better. These interests
in all of us extend beyond fifth-grade
English, science and math and into
other subject areas deemed less impor-
tant or immeasurable by NCLB.
If we want to contribute to the
future for every part of society, then
our policies for education need to
reflect that goal.
Bryan Kolk can be reached
at beakerk@umich.edu.
Editorial Board Members: Kevin Bunkley, Ben Caleca, Milly Dick, Mike Eber,
Brian Flaherty, Gary Graca, Emmarie Huetteman, Theresa Kennelly, Gavin Stern,
Jennifer Sussex, Neil Tambe, Matt Trecha, Radhika Upadhyaya, Rachel Wagner
BRETT SEAMNON#
Tasers are safest option for cops
Like any authority fearing college stu-
dent, I find excessive use of police force
troubling. Like many people, I was upset by
the police attack on University of Florida
student Andrew Meyer. When I opened The
Michigan Daily on Monday, I expected an
editorial detailing the events of the attack
and condemning the police for their exces-
sive use of force against a student. Instead,
there was a six-paragraph editorial, criticiz-
ing the device used to carry out the attack (A
shocking trend, 09/24/2007). I feel that criti-
cizing the Taser itself distracts people from
thinking about why excessive police violence
occurs and how it can be eliminated.
Among its central claims, the editorial
argues that the increased use of Tasers exacer-
bates the problem of police brutality. It argues
that Tasers are likely to be abused since they
"take far less thought and effort then batons."
One problem with this reasoning is that it
ignores the fact that Taser International, the
main producer of Tasers, is starting to create
many safety features specifically designed to
curtail the use of excessive force.
Unlike the incident with Meyer, most
instances of police violence are not captured
on film, begging for our reactions. Tasers are
now offering a chance to change that. Some
police Tasers, including those used by the Chi-
cago Police Department since 2005, now have
a small camera attached to the Taser to record
the incident from when the device is turned on
to when it is turned off. This allows those not
present to determine if the force was unwar-
ranted. The Taser also offers a feature that
records the amount of times a shock was deliv-
ered to help determine if a Taser was used in a
way that would be considered abusive. Because
of these features, officers who fear losing their
job, fear legal repercussions will likely think
twice aboutcusing the Taser.
If the officer disregards these consequenc-
es, these innovations offer a greater ability to
investigate the matter and determine if exces-
sive force was used and punishment is war-
ranted. A baton does not have these safety
features.
Additionally, the editorial makes much of
the health risks of the Taser but fails to note
that in many cases the Taser is absolved from
the incident. In litigation where death was
blamed on Tasers, the victims were shown to
have had severe heart conditions that would
possibly have been set off by any stressful
event like being shot, clubbed or even simply
being confronted by the police. When com-
pared to a gun or a club, the Taser is the safest
choice. In fact, police must practice using Tas-
ers on themselves before taking them into the
field that. For obvious reasons, they do not do
that with clubs and guns.
Unless we want to take all weapons away
from police, the Taser is the best way to pre-
vent police brutality. Perhaps when people stop
criticizing the Taser and allow it to become
more accepted, it will replace the weapons that
actually hurt and kill people.
Brett Seamnon is an LSA senior.
PAGE REDFORD
in This Case
justice Was Not BRi,d
Free speech argument wasted
on people like Ahmadinejad
TO THE DAILY:
I'm glad to see that the Iranian president's visit to
Columbia captured every word of Wednesday's Daily opin-
ion page, butthe debate is misdirected. Much to the delight
of Columbia's featured guest, everyone in this country has
allowed his appearance to turn into a referendum on free-
dom of speech in our country. We all know that in America
you are free to say and free to do as you please, even when it
offends the sensibilities of the great majority of people. And
from time to time, that includes letting speak those people
who we would rather see rotting in a dungeon.
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for Iranian public
discourse. Most everyone with a voice that does not adhere
to government doctrine is suppressed. I point to the most
recent case of Haleh Esfandiari, an Iranian-American schol-
ar who was imprisoned without charge in solitary confine-
ment for more than four months this summer. Her only crime
was participating in research on the role of Iranian women
while at a policy center in Washington - hardly an imprison-
able offense in any country with even moderate free speech
standards. Until Iran and its tyrannical leader can account
for that government's speech and thought suppression, we
should not be impeaching our very advanced and protected
free speech rights at the behest of cruel and petty dictators.
Aaron Willis
LSA junior
A word to Ann Arbor parking
enforcement officers
TO THE DAILY:
Dear Ann Arbor parking cops: I fully understand
that you're only doing your jobs and should, perhaps,
even be commended for having admirably devoted
your lives to civil service. Nonetheless, I want you all
to know that I hate you. Passionately. As passionately
as any man or woman has ever loved, I hate you.
Andrew Dixon
LSA junior
Random drug testing for
students is counterproductive
TO THE DAILY:
This week, the Office of National Drug Control Pol-
icy came to Detroit to host its fifth regional student
drug testing summitthis year. Faculty and administra-
tors from schools all over Michigan came to this event
SEND LETTERS TO: TOTHEDAILY@UMICH.EDU
to learn more about random student drug testing.
Unfortunately, the information the ONDCP pro-
vides is horribly one-sided. That is why the University
chapter of Students for Sensible Drug Policy decided
to show up and inform the teachers and administra-
tors that student drug testing is not only costly, but
invasive and ineffective.
The University's Institute for Social Research actually
conducted the largest national study on student drug test-
ing and found no difference in drug use rates between stu-
dents of schools thathave drugtesting programs and those
that do not. Prominent national organizations represent-
ing experts on adolescent health - includingthe National
Education Association, the National Public Health Asso-
ciation and the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug
Dependence - oppose student drug testing.
SSDP was there to offer a perspective that would not
have been present otherwise. Our students were able to
clearly explain to the summit attendees that drug test-
ing programs are not just ineffective, but may actually
be counterproductive. Drug testing often holds back
students from participating in extracurricular activi-
ties when those are the very activities that are most
likely to provide structure and supervision during the
peak hours of adolescent drug use.
Random drug testing erodes relationships of trust
between students and adults at schools, hindering open
communication and damaging an essential component
of a safe and rewarding learning environment. Educa-
tors, please just say noto random student drug testing.
Chris Chiles
LSA sophomore
The letter writer is the executive director of the University
chapter of Students for a Sensible Drug Policy.
Wolverine fans winning hearts
and minds of opposing fans
TO THE DAILY:
I attended the Penn State-Michigan game on Saturday.
I wore my white very proudly and had the luxury of sit-
ting near two die-hard Michigan fans. One stated he even
worked for the University and now attends games with his
daughter. Another was at the game with his wife.
Before I drove to Ann Arbor, I was told stories of how
mean and rude Michigan fans are during and after games.
On my way back, I was telling stories of how a few Michi-
gan fans became friends with some Penn State fans. These
Wolverine fans acted like all fans should toward visitors. I
hope that if they come to Happy Valley, they are treated the
same way. For their acts, they should be commended. My
view of the University of Michigan certainly changed over
the weekend.
Kyle Rentschler
The letter writer is a senior at Penn State University