4A - Monday, March 3, 2008
I
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom
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Edited and managed by students at
the University ofMichigan since 1890.'
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cc NJABL E QUOTABLE
The idea that Scrabble belongs to a
corporation is something that people don't or
are unw1lling to accept."
-John Williams Jr., executive director of the National Scrabble Association, on the popularity of Facebook's Scrabulous,
which is being threatened with legal action by Mattel and Hasbro, as reported Saturday by The New York Times.
Redesigning theeng
4
ANDREW GROSSMAN
EDITOR IN CHIEF
GARY GRACA
EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR
GABE NELSON
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.
The Daily's public editor, Paul H. Johnson, acts as the readers'representative and takes a critical look at
coverage and content in every section of the paper. Readers are encouraged to contact the public editor
with questions andcomments. He can be reached at publiceditor@umich.edu.
FROM TH E DAILY
Graduated pay
GEO and'U' would benefit from a new salary approach
urrent seniors will remember March 24,2005 as one of the
most bizarre days in their time at the University. As gradu-
ate student instructors picketed during a one-day walkout
called by their union, the Graduate Employees' Organization, stu-
dents and faculty found themselves divided over whether to join the
lines, cross them and go to class or - as some did - taunt the pick-
idting GSIs. Many, if not most, of GEO's demands at the time were
reasonable - as is the case in its current negotiations with the Uni-
versity. However, there are two sides to this issue. If the University
and GEO want to ensure that the current negotiations prove benefi-
cial and feasible for both sides, they must take a more flexible and
individualized approach to salaries.
here's a big idea on North
Campus, that civilized wil-
derness LSA students might
remember from
bus trips to visit
friends in Bursley
and Baits. It comes
from the office of
James Duderstadt,
the former Univer-
sity president who
is now an elder
statesman. He's a KARL
lot like Bill Clin-
ton in that respect STAMPFL
- except instead
of trying to get his
wife elected president, Duderstadt
writes books and reports and comes
up with big ideas.
Like most big ideas, his latest one
is challenging. Like most big ideas, it
will be met with staunch resistance.
But like few big ideas, it might just
work.
Last month, Duderstadt released
a report titled "Engineering for
a Changing World." Here are the
basics: Shift engineering education
to the graduate level, much like law
and medicine. That way, future engi-
neers would have a chance as under-
graduates to get the broad liberal arts
education that doctors and attorneys
have. Thus, when engineers delve
into the nitty gritty details of kine-
matic chains, they'd be armed with
an abstract base of knowledge from
their wistful undergrad days.
So when professional engineers are
developing brain implants to improve
intelligence, they could draw on the
science fiction novels they read in
Prof. Eric Rabkin's undergrad sci-fi
literature course: prophetic tomes
that warn against such technology.
That's a crude example, but you get
the idea.
Among other effects - you can
read about them in an electronic ver-
sion of the report, which is linked to
this column at michigandaily.com
- Duderstadt envisions this shift as a
boon to the number of engineers who
take on leadership roles in society.
Duderstadt is himself an engineer-
leader, a common archetype in rising
countries like China but a rarity in
an American government dominated
by lawyers and businessmen. While
opinions on campus are mixed about
how successful his tenure as presi-
dent was, few argue the fact that he
brought a new perspective to campus
that led to innovation, like it or not.
But is it possible to lead such a
change at the University, with its
massive bureaucracy and its legions
resistant to change?
Duderstadt says yes.
He tells the story of a private 1985
conversation he had with then-Har-
vard President Derek Bok in which
Bok explained that the University of
Michigan's size affords it to take more
risks. if the gamble fails, Bok said, the
University is better suited to absorb
the fallout. Harvard may have deeper
pockets, but the University of Mich-
igan's breadth gives it the advantage
of not risking complete destruction
on account of one academic unit's
miscalculation in innovation.
The University 'of Michigan is
the perfect place to begin the shift
to graduate engineering education
for another reason: the automobile
industry.
The U.S. auto industry is collaps-
ing, with middle-class factory jobs
escaping to places where the labor is
cheaper. This exodus of manufactur-
ing jobs is in turn slaughtering Mich-
igan's economy. Up until the other 49
states joined it, Michigan was com-
monly described as being in a "one-
state recession."
The only antidote seems to be a bet-
ter-educated workforce, the mythical
"knowledge economy" to which state
legislators give so much lip service
but so little actual funding. The high-
er cost of living here means Ameri-
cans cannot be cheaper labor - but
they can be better-educated labor.
They can be more imaginative.
Only, though, if they occupy some
kind of niche. That niche may be a
different breed of engineer, one who
has the education not just to tinker
but also to realize the larger effects of
tinkering. An undergraduate liberal
arts degree with a dual concentration
in environmental sciences and public
policy, for instance, gives the gradu-
ate automobile engineering student a
newmindset. Howcanautomakersbe
more environmentally conscious but
stay profitable? How can we make a
car that lessens our dependence on
foreign oil? Should we even be talking
about "cars" rather than "vehicles" or
some other as-yet-unimagined type
of transportation?
Why engineers
should be a little
more like lawyers
Those are the questions American
engineers need to be asking them-
selves more often.
I'm still not convinced that Dud-
erstadt's report is going to take engi-
neering education down the saie
path that medical education took
after the publication of the Flexner
Report in 1910, which helped raise
standards at medical schools and
redefine how doctors function in
society. But if it does, what better
place to start the journey than the
University of Michigan?
Karl Stampfl was the Daily's fall/
winter editor in chief in 2007. He can
be reached at kstampf@uniifi.edb.
For GEO to ask the University for more
money might at first seem absurd. Graduate
student instructors are granted many ben-
efits that would make undergraduates drool.
As they work toward a prestigious degree
from a top university, GSIs receive compen-
sation for their entire tuition plus an annual
stipend of more than $15,000 for only about
20 hours of work per week.
That's not a bad deal for a lot of GSIs, but
that doesn't mean it's good for everyone.
Trying to support a family with that sum is
a laughable notion. Likewise, while a free
education might appreciate in value over
time, that isn't really consolation today for,
-you know, food. GSIs face other problems
that scoffing undergrads may not consider.
They are paid only for nine months and have
to find other options during the summer.
GSIs with young children must overcome
the lack of adequate childcare services and
overall difficulty of being both a parent and
aistudent.
Despite these real concerns, it's difficult
to completely side with GEO. The University
itself faces debilitating cuts in state fund-
ing every year and has had to raise tuition
regularly in recent years. In the interest of
minimizing further tuition hikes, keeping
down class sizes and maintaining a high
standard of education, the University will
have the sympathy of many people on cam-
pus if it throws its hands up at GEO's latest
demands. But that's not a solution.
In demanding a 9 percent raise this year
for all GSIs, GEO is apparently blind to
the fact that many of its members are well
enough off without that raise. In countering
thus far with an offer of a 3 percent raise,
the University is ignoring the fact that some
GSIs truly need more than that based on
extenuating personal circumstances.
In a perfect world, GEO's demands would
be met, but with a reality of state funding
cuts and tight belts, the University can-
not provide a 9 percent increase across the
board. An individualized system of need
assessment, similar to financial aid, is per-
haps the most reasonable amelioration the
University can offer in response to GEO's
financial demands. Other demands - such
as adequate child care and health benefits,
and parental leave - must, of course, be met
right away.
A comprehensive solution to this issue
of compensation must, however, go beyond
even that. It is the University's purported
desire to build the best intellectual envi-
ronment possible. Toward that end, a reas-
sessment of compensation for instructors
at all levels is long overdue. While ten-
ured, research-happy professors may.truly
deserve that six-figure salary, it is simply not
right that many lecturers who devote just as
much time and are just as vital for students
are compensated so poorly (and often on a
nine-month calendar).
The University obviously does have to
pay its all-star professors in order to keep
their eyes from wandering, but it must also
consider that excellent lecturers and GSIs
are often more important to students. Stu-
dents may scoff at GEO's current financial
demands, especially because they could
raise tuition, but we'd be much more open
to a broader solution that more fairly com-
pensates all of our instructors. That is a goal
worth spending money on.
EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS:
Emad Ansari, Harun Buljina, Anindya Bhadra, Kevin Bunkley, Ben Caleca, Satyajeet Deshmukh,
Milly Dick, Mike Eber, Emmarie Huetteman, Theresa Kennelly, Emily Michels, Arikia Millikan, Kate Peabody,
Robert Soave, lmran Syed, Neil Tambe, Matt Trecha, Kate Truesdell, Radhika Upadhyaya.
Rachel Van Gilder, Rachel Wagner, Patrick Zabawa.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR:
Readers are encouraged to submit letters to the editor. Letters should be less than
300 words and must'include the writer's full name and University affiliation. All
submissions become property of the Daily. We do not print anonymous letters.
Send letters to tothedaily@umich.edu.
L E- E SEND LETTERS TO: TOTHEDAILY@UMICH.EDU
Fairlypaid GSIs and reasonable
Wition aren't mutually exclusive
my iPod, I look innm
there - but not thi
clipping it to my I
When I got to sche
freaking out yet, I(
TO THE DAILY: usual places I migh
I appreciate Eric Kumbier's concern for spiraling I freaked out. I re
tuition costs in his recent letter to the editor (Remem- swearing aloud. Lc
ber who is paying the bill, GEO, 02/22/2008). How- the obvious moneta
ever, he misplaced the blame for tuition increases on music and making,
graduate student instructors' salaries. Before exam- discontent until yot
jning the costs of GSIs, I wish to correct an error in I was almost r:
his letter: GSIs do notearn $700 more than their liv- to Best Buy to dis
3ng expenses. Instead, according to the University's replacement whenI
Office of Financial Aid, we actually earn $780 less a note: "Just thoug
than the cost of attendance. Bear in mind that that we found your iPo:
Jigure is for a single graduate student without depen- as we were walkin
dents. I have colleagues whose families are eligible address using the c
for food stamps, which is an embarrassment at a in the UMich direc
wealthy institution like the University. I didn't think t
What do GSIs cost the University? For the 2007- pened anymore. No
2008 school year, GSI salaries will cost roughly $24 eBay. This couple w
million, or about 1.8 percent of the outlays of Ann my iPod, and I am
Arbor campus's $1.3 billion general fund, which does mail address, and:
not include the athletic budget. Since 1998, GSI sala- the favor somehow
ries have increased by 32.1 percent. However, tuition fine example of sell
has increased by an eye-popping 70.1 percent during So the next time yo
that same period. Obviously, GSI salaries aren't driv- pick it up and make
ing tuition hikes. Random acts of 1
What causes tuition increases? According to a
University press release issued on July 19,2007, state Nathan Martzke
support as a percentage of the Ann Arbor campus's SchoolofDentistry
general fund was 78 percent in 1960 and has declined
to 24 percent for this school year. Simultaneously, W here ist
tuition revenue has gone from funding 20 percent
to 62 percent of the general fund. Therefore, it isn't
pampered GSIs but the fundamental failure of the er a
state to invest in education that drives tuition out of
the reach of the poor. TO THE DAILY:
, I know that many members of Graduate Employ- I would like to c
ees' Organization share Kumbier's concerns about Graduate Studies fo
skyrocketing tuition costs. I'm sure these members parents, which allt
would be happy to work with him and other con- eral weeks after thE
cerned members of the community to pressure the leave to grad studei
state to invest in higher education so that GSIs can important for the L
be compensated fairly and tuition rates can become not only in acades
reasonable. ones. Graduate stu
sy coat pocket or gym bag, and it's
s time. I specifically remembered
pocket before leaving the house.
ool, I noticed it wasn't there. Not
drove home and looked in all the
t leave it, but it wasn't there. Then
traced my steps, the whole time
osing an iPod is much more than
ry loss; it's the hours of uploading
awesome playlists that leave you
u have your missing iPod back.
eady to make the dreaded trip
h out hundreds of dollars for a
I founda package at my door with
ht you might like to know where
d, on the sidewalk ... We found it
g on campus. My son found your
omputer to look up your address
tory."
.his type of thoughtfulness hap-
"finders keepers," or selling it on
ent way out oftheir way to return
very thankful. They left their e-
I plan to thank them and return
. This random act of kindness is a
flessness, altruism and humanity.
u find something that isn'tyours,
an honest attempt to return it.
kindness: Pass them on.
the leave policy for
ate students?
ommend the Rackham School of
or implementing its policy for new
:ws them to take time off for sev-
eir child's birth (Policy gives more
nts with babies, 02/18/2008). It is
University to support its students
mic matters but also in familial
denits have needed such a policy,
come this progressive thinking.
policies are lacking for under-
With no options offered for leave,
dents don't have adequate Univer-
ile childcare is available only for
age of two, this hardly accommo-
ewborn children, leaving many to
oose between their education and
n't be forced to choose; it is pos-
ren while receiving an education.
Students for Life is looking to change these poli-
cies on campus, striving to implement more infant-
friendly programs that assist new and expectant
mothers and fathers.
I encouragethe rest of the University to adopt poli-
cies like Rackham's so undergraduates havethe same
educational opportunities as graduate students.
Lauren Bennett
LSA sophomore
The letter writer is the vicepresidentof Students for Life.
Paying to succeed is not new
TO THE DAILY:
In her recent column, Emmarie Huetteman com-
plained that meritocracy is dying because students
buyinginternships (Thepriceofsuccess, 02/20/2008).
She should take a step back and consider what she's
doing here at the University.
Aren't most students here, at least in part, spend-
ing thousands of dollars to gain skills that are valu-
able to future employers? Or to find out what fields
might interest them? But, of course, those motives
are nothing at all like paying $6,000to buy an intern-
ship and geta foot in the door of an industry in which
one may want to makea career. Right.
Jon Boguth
Law School
Publishers are not to blame
for high textbook prices
TO THE DAILY:
Your recent article ('U' to add book exchange fea-
ture to CTools site, 02/22/2008) did not accurately
reflect the textbook market. Publishers understand
students' cost concerns and have responded by
offering more prices and options than ever before,
including black and white editions, custom editions,
no-frills editions and e-books by the thousands.
According to the College Board, textbook costs
account for only 5 percent of overall higher educa-
tion costs. In fact, the independent research group
Student Monitor found that students roughly spent
an average $670 on textbooks in 2006. Faculty mem-
bers - not publishers - determine when a new revi-
sion is necessary. Further, the average length of time
between new editions is four years, a number that
has remained constant for the last 10 years.
Publishers already have efforts in place to provide
faculty with all the information they need about
textbook options and pricing before they order text-
books for the upcoming semester. These are easily
available through publishing marketing representa-
tives and online resources. And for students, a quick
online search using a textbook's International Stan-
dard Book Number or title and author will yield hun-
dreds of price and product information sources.
Ultimately, publishers share the common goal of
student success and are committed to working with
all stakeholders to make this a reality.
Stacy Skelly
The letter writer is the assistant director ofthe Higher Educa-
tionAssociation ofAmerican Publishers.
There is no reason for
"Reductive reasoning"
TO THE DAILY:
In response to the question posed in the B-side,
asking "Like Venn diagrams?", yes I do like Venn dia-
grams. I love them, in fact. Not only are they great
visualization tools in a broad range of mathematical
pursuits, they are also just plain fun. Who doesn't
enjoy looking at a few shapely, overlapping circles
now and then? Who among us has not, some lone-
ly night, sketched out a diagram or two to ease the
heavy burden of an impending midterm?
This is why I am saddened and disgusted to
open the B-side and see the Venn diagrams feature
"Reductive reasoning" each week. While all the love
in my heart goes out to Venn diagrams the world
over, I can find no affection for this terrible feature.
Is it a joke? Is it news? Who knows? It's definitely
not funny or informative. Take the most recent edi-
tion (02/21/2008), for example. We see that "Obama
speeches"formthe intersectionofthesetsof"Hope,"
"Change," and "Someone else's words." How clever
- a reference to a recent news event half-heart-
edly concealed within a mathematical diagram.
The laughs continue with a joke about what seven
graders' might consider pornography. And finally,
we have the best of all: Two unnamed sets intersect
to form "Lunar eclipse" because there was a lunar
eclipse and the moon is likea circle. Classic.
I would like to propose my own "Reductive rea-
soning"-type diagram for use in an upcoming issue
of the Daily. It is includedbelow. I hope you like it.
Mike McCann
Engineering sophomore
VN
wit Huo
J.,onm
0
Patrick O'Mahen
Rackham
The letter writer serves as a spokesmanfor GEO. However, he
is not writing in that capacity.
A random act ofkindness
TO THE DAILY:
I lost myiPod the other day. Usually when I "lose"
and I excitedly wel:
However, such
graduate students.
undergraduate stud
sity resources. Wh
children above the,
dates those with nt
think they must ch
their children.
Students should:
sible to raise childr
A i