4A -Wednesday, April 2, 2008 4C.Udc lan4,aily 1 Edited and managed by students at the University ofMichigan since 1890. 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 tothedaily@umich.edu 4 0 OP , in-101 14 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 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 ofttheir authors. The Daily's public editor, Paul H. Johnson, acts as the readers' representative and takes a criticallook at coverage and content in every section of the paper. Readers are encouraged to contactthe public editor with questions andcomments. He can be reached at publiceditor@umich.edu. Divide and conquer State Senate right to increase funding, wrong not to split bill he budgetary fiasco orchestrated by the state at the begin- ning of this fiscal year caused widespread disgust and doubts about the legislature's ability to do its job. In a recent attempt at redemption, the state Senate passed a 3-percent budget increase for Michigan's public universities. But while boost- ing higher education funding across the board is commendable, the Senate has failed to account for the current state of the economy. If the legislature truly wants Michigan to recover from its economic troubles, special consideration must be given to the research univer- sities go vital to Michigan's vulnerable economy. Everyone wants to be loved." - Kurt Volker, a senior State Department official, excitedly acknowledging that survey data shows international opinion of the United States rising, as reported yesterday by the BBC. ROSE JAFFE E-MAIL JAFFE AT ROSEJAFF@UMICH.EDU )0 S0 X rae ' e Living in the Ivy shadow ne-thousand, nine-hundred, receive financial aid and how much aid drop out for financial reasons or at least forty-eight high school stu- those people should receive. Plus, the able to save accordingly. dents were admitted into Ivies are intricately tied to our beloved Without a massive endowment to America's 'most American Dream, functioning as train- buoy the program and forced to rely on exclusive club Mon- ing grounds for America's elites. state funding, CMU had to cut the pro- day. They were But our infatuation with every- gram in February. CMU only receives selected from a pool thing Ivy is giving us a misleading and roughly $82 million in state appropria- of 27,462 students dangerous snapshot of the American tions, an amount that hasn't increased that included more higher education system. While these much from the amount it received in than 2,500 students schools still shape elite opinion of the 1990s. While legislators and educa- with perfect SAT higher education, they are onlya few of tion elites in the United States are up critical reading the 2,629 U.S. colleges and universities in arms about universities that hoard scores, more than turning out the educated people this their endowments, the limited federal 3,300 with perfect GARY country needs. The more we overlook and state funding that goes to the less- SAT math scores GRACA these schools, the more vulnerable we endowed universities is taking its toll. and more than make them. Yet, universities like CMU form 3,300 students who It'stoughtodenythatourEastCoast the real backbone of America's higher were ranked first in their class. They colleagues are important. When Har- education system. When statistics were among the 7.1 percent of appli- vard does something incredible like detail that unemployment among cl- cants admitted this year - another open up its $34.9 billion endowment record-breakingly low percentage. to give financial aid to students whose These 1,948 students got into Har- parents earn up to $180,000 a year, vard College, the apple of America's that's understandably a big deal. Since W hy CM U is as collegiate eye and the object of aca- the school did that last December, demia's most notorious fetish. In other dozens of universities have followed important as words,thesestudentswerepickedfrom suit. State and federal legislators also the freakishly smart of the freakishly took notice, starting to question whyarvrd smart who started working as hard as public universities with multibillion- a 40-year-old business executive at the dollar endowments aren't being more ripe age of 15. generous. lege graduates is lower than among Face it; you probably know how But only the privileged few public high school graduates - like the U.S. those 25,514 Harvard rejects are feel- universities could ever parallel what Census data detailingthat adult work- ing right now. Whether you were a the INies are doing - and I'm not talk- ers with bachelor's degrees earned 82 Harvard reject back in high school ing about public-Ivy powerhouses like percent more in 2006 than adults with (like I was) or you just got denied from the University of Michigan. The truly a high school diploma - CMU and Harvard Law (like I probably will be), incredible examples, then, are the uni- Harvard graduates alike are included. you are not alone here at the Univer- versities that stretch themselves thin But CMU has almost double the fresh- sity of Michigan. Or maybe you aren't to make an education as affordable as men enrollment. a Harvard reject, but you probably fit possible. Central Michigan University If we hope to achieve the educated into the broad category of Ivy League is one ofthose universities. workforce needed in this country, it rejects - same difference. Beginning in fall 2005, CMU start- won't come from the 1,948 students The allure and mystique of Ivy ed the CMU Promise, a program that who got into Harvard Monday. It will League fascinates Americans, and froze tuition for all incoming fresh- come from the hundreds of thousands admittedly I'm drawn in sometimes, men and transfer students. By freezing of students at colleges in places like too. It's tough not to pay attention to tuition, the program allowed students Mount Pleasant. these schools when it seems like they to calculate exactly how much they are constantly at the forefront of mak- would owe during their time at the Gary Graca is the Daily's editorial ing higher education more affordable, school. Insulated from sudden tuition page editor. He can be reached defining and redefining who should hikes, students would be less likely to at gmgraca@mich.edu. LETT E'g T-R SEND LETTERS TO: TOTHEDAILY@UMICH.EDU At a mere 1 percent, last year's spending increase was meager at best. The change proposed this year, which has been passed by the state Senate and is headed to the House, would increase funding for state- run universities by 3 percent. However, it allocates all of the state's universities the same funding increase as the others. Michigan is currently in a strange and unique limbo as its economy changes. It is the duty of the legislature to encourage the economy to shift from its long-standing dependency on the automotive industry to afocus on knowledge-based endeavors like innovative research. But this transforma- tion can only occur if the state enables its three major research universities to build the skilled workforce and conduct research that will provide a new foundation for Michigan's future. By virtue of their role in educating tomorrow's workforce, all universities are wqrthybeneficiaries. However,._, s Go. Jennifer Granholm suggested in her Feb- ruary proposal to distribute funding based on a series of factors including research, Michigan's three research universities deserve larger appropriations because of their additional, integral functions within society. The University of Michigan, Mich- igan State University and Wayne State Uni- versity therefore merit a separate bill to allocate their higher levels of funding. Lumping all of the state's universities onto a single bill with uniform funding increase ignores the larger role research universities play. In addition to strength- ening-the state's workforce, the research universities attract new businesses, inno- vative minds and, therefore, much-needed profits. With these extra responsibilities, the research universities require extra money. So far, this plan has not come to fruition, but there is still potential for the state House to pass separate bills like it did last year. Though thestate legislature still has alot of ground to make up from its botched han- dling of the budget, it has at least returned tome of the money.,duets universities. Now it is the University's responsibility to use that money wisely. Maybe it could start by safeguarding against another tuition hike in the coming years. 41 EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS: Emad Ansari, Harun Buljina, Anindya Bhadra, Kevin Bunkley, Ben Caleca, Satyajeet Desbmukh, Milly Dick, Mike Eber, Emmarie Huetteman, Theresa Kennelly, Emily Michels, Arikia Millikan, Kate Peabody, Robert Soave, mran Syed, Neil Tambe, Matt Trecha, Kate Truesdell, Radhika Upadhyaya, Rachel Van Gilder, Rachel Wagner, Patrick Zabawa. RANDALL TESSIER IVIEWPOINT Assessing student-athletes 4 Sports is one aspect of The Ann Arbor News's reporting that has always had an edge to it. The otherwise conservative publication has produced some fine maverick columnists who eventually moved on to work in big- ger markets. Chris McKosky of The Detroit Free Press, Mike Downey of the Los Angeles Times and Jason Whitlock of the Kansas City Star come to mind. Now comes Jim Carty. I, for one, find his work a breath of fresh air. Ina town filled with people who see the Big House as akind of ath- letic Vatican and dissent from the Bo doctrine as tantamount to blasphemy, Carty tells it like it is. His columns on Rich Rodriguez's duplic- ity in taking the Michigan job and his trou- bling conclusion that the commodification of the head coaching position has become ubiq- uitous in Division I college footballiwere right on target. Tradition - the intangible aura that once surrounded programs like Notre Dame and Michigan - has been replaced by market forces. Carty rightly points out that universities and coaching candidates alike take the attitude of consumers, not loyalists, to any particular alma mater or philosophical principle. Thank you, Jim Carty. My comments here then should not be taken as a disagreement with Carty, John Heuser and Nathan Fenno's four-day series on the state of athletics and academics at the University as much as the perspective of an insider who wasn't one of the 87 people inter- viewed. As an English instructor who works in the Comprehensive Studies Program, I appreci-, ate rhetorical skills of Carty et al. After all, I teach college writing. What's missing from this conversation is the issue of assessment, a topic of constant debate among academics as it should be, given the ever-changing nature of teaching and the ways evaluation has to be recalibrated to address these changes. I will confine my comments to the humani- ties only, which would include psychology, a central focus of investigative articles. An ongoingtopic in current debates about assess- ment has to do with "longitudinal progress," the question of how improvement over time figures into grading. Key to this idea is the controversial notion that rather than com- paring students to other students, students should be measured according to their own progress. This is not to suggest that rubrics should be abandoned. It simply means that rubrics are one of many tools in the assessment process. A The controversy arises when those students who can achieve As without really trying are outraged that less gifted students should be rewarded for attendance, effort and improve- ment. The fact is, however, that these "A" students oftentimes showmuchless improve- ment than their hard-working colleagues. While Carty's article offers one perspec- tive on Chad Kolarik's academic experience, one need only read a Daily article on his expe- rience in my classroom and how it influenced his decision to keepa diary, as well as his atti- tude about writing in general, to get anoth- er perspective (Dear Diary: Kolarik shows improvement, 11/17/2005). I also had Jake Long in a spring English 325 class on essay writing, and he was - excuse the athletic parlance - a flat-out great stu- dent: smart, conscientious and dedicated. A final example from my experience is that of Jack Johnson. Too many students look at the pursuit of a degree as simply a way to make money. Although he was drafted into the NHL in 2005, Johnson elected to stay in school. Seeing how Johnson addressed his university experience taught them a lesson about the value of an education that I could never impart. In 2006, however, the possibility of inju- ry and the offer of instant playing time and a multi-year, multimillion-dollar contract made it impossible for Johnson to hold out. At the time, he was in my English 225 class on argumentative writing. It was late winter with about three weeks left in the semester. He came to me and said, "Dr. Tessier, I have to report to the L.A. Kings for their last six games, but I want to finish up here so I can continue my education next year on the West Coast. If you'll allow me to work on my papers for the week and a half in L.A., I'll return to class with my completed essays and be in class for the last week." Even though Jack was set for life finan- cially, he was of a mindset that a degree was something with an intangible value that can't be measured with a monetary yardstick. The other students were blown away. While I have taught many student-athletes in my time (I would say that Peter Vignier, who is now a lawyer in Arizona, was perhaps the brightest), these are just three examples of the kind of work ethic Carty's article failed to emphasize. Randall Tessier is a University professor in the Comprehensive Studies Program. Columnist unfairly simplified the South not comparab] at the South ment to any action for peo fortable discu TO THE DAILY: step forward Arikia Millikan's column yester- erners of any r day was both an incredibly offensive is a burning nE and, more importantly, counterpro- renewed inve ductive call for grappling with racial how can that issues in the United States (Life's not comes to the, black and white, 04/01/2008). I was respect the ott appalled to read Millikan declare, "Some people try to say that Florida Avi Bhuiyan isn't really part of "the South.".But LSA sophomore ... where Confederate flags fly high and adorn rearview windows along U shou the outskirts of town, I beg to dif- fer." This piecemeal, pop-culture to reforn understanding of the South is both antiquated and insulting. Is the South home to a race prob- TO THE DAIL lem? Yes. Is it defined solely by its Through ou race problem? No. If the South is versity's chap defined by where the Confederate crats, we hav flag waves, how can anyone who roadblocks re doesn't adhere to the ideals of the vote, creating Confederacy claim ownership of for all parties any part of it? There is complexity, the popular n diversity and struggle in the South law pushedI that the author neatly glossed over state Sen. Mi to make a Confederate flag crack. Michigan resi. The South is not identified solely vote using the by Confederate flags. It is home driver's licens to dynamic communities of Afri- than done. can Americans, Asian Americans, Many stud Latino Americans and Caucasian register to vo Americans. In fact, my hometown address for f of Atlanta is a Mecca for black pro- sions this chl fessionals and middle-class work- have, such as ers, unique amonga select few cities insurance iss in the United States with its vibrant fears are unw racial, religious and economic students then 'diversity. hassle by cho While the author sought to decry tee. However, stereotypes and encouragea discus- states thatto v sion of race, she opened her column register in per by firing off a salvo at Southerners State or vote and the South itself, the kind of time. For man unthinking regurgitation of stereo- Thus, becaus types against which she railed. By unaware of t that I mean that, while obviously encounter pr le to racism, her crack served as an impedi- discussion or call to ople who feel uncom- issing such issues to - in this case South- 'ace. I agree that there eed for a dialogue and stigation of race, but begin when one side table unprepared to her? ld push state a voting laws ing polls. Hence, because of lack of knowledge, numerous students are being disenfranchised. We feel that for such a progressive university, the University of Michi- gan has done an awful job informing students of their rights. The Univer- sity should advocate for the students' best interest and publicly support student activists who are working to end the mistreatment of student rights. The University, the Board of Regents and the Michigan Student Assembly need to send a message to the state legislature informing it that they support our efforts to end student disenfranchisement. Carley St. Clair and Jenya Abramovich The letter writers are writing on behalf I 4 : of the College Democrat ir work with the Uni- Issues Committee. ter of College Demo- e run into numerous gistering students to Forget pro massive frustration involved. Rogers's law, u ame for a 1999 state u' by then- Republican ke Rogers, states that TO THE DAILY: dents must register to Although Karl S same address as their the donating habi e. This is easier said versity's professors Monday, who car ents are hesitant to money Universit te at their university donate to Democral ear of the repercus- 03/31/2008)? The bi ange in address will contemporary liber scholarship loss and is the Daily itself,- tues. For most, these years has prided it 'arranted. Still, many ing the talking poin decide to forgo this cratic party. If Stat osing to vote absen- about "finding con in Michigan, the law points," he wouldn vote absentee you must the majority of the I son at the Secretary of time as editor in ci in person for the first who bask in the igt y this is not an option. parents' big-governi e many students are hese limitations, they Jonathan Slenrod oblems at the vot- LSA sophomore sStudent fs, Daily al agenda tampfl detailed ts of the Uni- in his column es how much y professors ts (Leaning left, ggest bastion of alism on campus a paper that for self on rehash- ts of the Demo- mpfl truly cared servative view- 't have allotted Daily during his hief to students norance of their ment whims. a