4A - Monday, September 28, 2009
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
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GARY GRACA ROBERT SOAVE COURTNEY RATKOWIAK
EDITOR IN CHIEF EDITORIA( PAGE EDITOR MANAGING EDITOR
Unsigned editorials reflectthe official position of the Daily's editorialboard. All other signed articles
and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors.
A smarter loan system
Senate should pass bill to make college more affordable
hile the state government's commitment to education
hangs inthe balance withthe Michigan Promise Schol-
arship, at least things are looking better for students
nationwide. The U.S. House of Representatives recently passed an
education bill with plenty of benefits for students, including more
Pell Grant aid, a simpler FAFSA form and funding for numerous
educational programs. With education the key to economic recov-
ery, not just in Michigan but across the country, the necessity of
this bill is clear. The Senate should approve the bill immediately so
that students of all ages can finally catch a break.
You know what, you stood up for yourself, and I fuckin'
love you for that."
- New Saturday Night Live cast member Jenny Slate, accidentally using the f-word in a live skit during the SNL
season opener yesterday. It was the first time the expletive has been heard on the show since 1981.
ELAINE MORTON
E-MAIL ELAINE AT EMORT@UMICH.EDU
eBSONCO$tV IRISH AGLES ' ooS1iRSd'SPAsRtANd5
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Subsidized sports fans
The House of Representatives voted
Thursday to pass a bill that would overhaul
student financial aid. The Senate has not yet
voted on the legislation, which would end
subsidies to private lenders for college lend-
ing and replace private lending with direct
government loans. The elimination of the
subsidies would free up an estimated of $87
billion over the next decade for educational
purposes by cutting private lenders out of
the picture. Much of the additional money
that would be available from the implemen-
tation of this bill would be used to increase
Pell Grants by $40 billion. Pell Grants are
the main source of federal college scholar-
ships for low and moderate income students,
and under the bill, the maximum award
amount is set to rise from $5,350 per student
to $5,550 next year, eventually increasing to
$6,900 in 2019.
With students facing tuition increases and
an ailing economy, increased financial aid is
a must for college students. A greater avail-
abilityofPellGrantswill allowmore students
to go to college and make it more affordable
for others. Opponents of the bill worry that
the elimination of the private college lending
sector would also cost almost 30,000 jobs.
But if the choice is between keeping college
affordable and propping up private middle-
men at students' and taxpayers' expense,
it's clear that Congress needs to put educa-
tion first and support students' aspirations to
attend college.
As an added bonus, the House bill also
includes provisions to streamline the cum-
bersome FAFSA form, which currently
creates bureaucratic obstacles for many stu-
dents seeking financial aid. The unnecessary
complexity of FAFSA paperwork discourages
many of the students in greatest need of aid
from applying for aid at all, effectively mak-
ing college less accessible for low-income
families. Simplification of the FAFSA is both
obviously necessary and long overdue.
But the proposed bill doesn't stop with
financial aid. It would also provide fund-
ing to modernize public schools ($4 billion),
enhance early education programs ($8 bil-
lion) and assist overcrowded community
colleges ($10 billion). In doing so, the bill will
almost certainly raise the quality of child-
care and the pre-school system. It would
also provide support to community colleges
struggling with an increased number of stu-
dents due to the economic situation. Funding
education at all levels is vitally important,
and these provisions will help the United
States improve its primary education system
and community colleges.
A concerted government effort to improve
the quality and affordability of the educa-
tional system is critical for the growth of
the national economy and the success of
students at all levels. The Senate should
pass the House's bill without delay - the
future of our education system is depending
upon it.
Picture the first game of the 2010
football season:
As hordes of excited fans
make their way to_
their seats in the
Big House, an IRS
agent waits by the
VIP elevator that
whisks elite ticket
holders to their
exclusive club
seats. As they enter
the lift, the agent PATRICK
gives each one a
crisp $100 bill. O'MAHAN
Smiling, he says,
"The U.S. govern-
ment appreciates your support of
Michigan athletics."
A donor acknowledges the agent,
adding, "Thanks, it really is a finan-
cial burden to show off my superior
social standing and watch big-time
college-football in world-class com-
fort."
Sound far-fetched? Well, thanks
to the marvels of federal tax deduc-
tions, luxury seating options at Big
Ten football stadiums alone will cost
U.S. taxpayers $17 million this year.
The only differences between this
scenario and reality are that the well-
heeled athletic boosters use direct
deposit, and they get a much bigger
break than $100.
Here's how the scam works: In
order to obtain any of the new lux-
ury seating options, a fan has to pay
the price of a season ticket, which
is $400. On top of that he makes a
mandatory "donation." For one of
the club indoor seats, that donation
runs $4,000 a year. Essentially, the
cost of season tickets are $4,400, but
with one catch - since the $4,000 is
technically a donation to a non-profit
organization, he doesn't have to pay
income tax on 80 percent of his con-
tribution. As a result, Uncle Sam kicks
in $1,120 toward the cost of the extra-
wide club seat specifically cushioned
for our donor's extra-special poste-
rior.
Oh, and remember those 82 luxury
boxes at the Big House? Those man-
datory donations range from $42,600
to $72,600. That means taxpayers
will shell out between $12,000 and
$20,000 per box year to the business
or individual leasing each one.
If the club seats and boxes sell out,
kickbacks - by which I mean "tax
benefits" - from the IRS to Michi-
gan's premium seat holders will total
roughly $3.5 million for 2010.
But wait - it gets worse.
Seven of the other Big Ten schools
are due to bring in at least $1 million
in subsidies from premium seating
this year. The total cost to the U.S.
governmentwill top $17 million. That
money would be enough to provide
more than 3,000 additional needy
students with the maximum Pell
Grant of $5,300 a year. Instead, we
use the cash to build exclusive pal-
aces at athletic stadiums so that fat-
cat donors don't have to wait in line
for the bathroom with the "regular"
fans. Says a lot about our priorities,
doesn't it?
The Big Ten is just the tip of the
iceberg. The other big football con-
ferences - the Pac-lO, the ACC, the
Big 12, the SEC and the Big East - all
have similar premium seating options
for their donors. Darrel K Royal Sta-
dium at the University of Texas, for
example, has 113 luxury boxes in
addition to five tiers of exclusive club
seating for big donors.
And don't forget that other sports,
notably men's basketball, baseball
and hockey, have premium seating
options of their own with similar pay-
ment plans. Many schools also make
regular season ticket holders provide
a mandatory 'donation" along with
their season tickets. At Michigan,
all new football season-ticket hold-
ers fork over from $50 to $500on top
of the price of a ticket to get seats. Of
course, 80 percent of that donation is
tax deductible. All those deductions
add up to an annual drain of several
hundred million dollars on the U.S.
Treasury.
Game day tickets
for the rich, paid
for by taxpayers.
There is one reasonable objec-
tion to my argument - the Michigan
Athletic Department will pay out $15
million in scholarships to athletes
this year, a significant chunk of its
projected $85.6 million budget.
'Fine - maybe we should carve
out a tightly capped exemption for
athletic scholarships not connected
to premium seating. But since big-
time college sports like football are
essentially a for-profit enterprise, at
least judging by the plush stadiums
we build for our teams, let's at least
make the boosters pay for the fair
market value of their club seats to
support it.
- Patrick O'Mahen can be
reached at pomahen@umich.edu.
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The Daily is looking for a diverse group of strong, informed, passionate writers to
join the Editorial Board. Editorial Board members are responsible for discussing and
writing the editorials that appear on the left side of the opinion page.
E-MAIL ROBERT SOAVE AT RSOAVE@UMICH.EDU FOR MORE INFORMATION.
EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS:
Nina Amilineni, Emad Ansari, Emily Barton, Harun Buljina, Ben Caleca, Brian Flaherty,
Emma Jeszke, Raghu Kainkaryam, Sutha K Kanagasingam, Erika Mayer, Edward McPhee,
Harsha Panduranga, Asa Smith, Brittany Smith, Radhika Upadhyaya, Rachel Van Gilder, Laura Veith
6
SEND LETTERS TO: TOTHEDAILY@UMICH.EDU
Medical marijuana may
be poor as painkiller
TO THE DAILY:
A much more important issue than the
one of marijuana access addressed in The
Statement article is if marijuana is a use-
ful medicinal substance (How Michigan
marijuana patients get their medicine,
09/23/2009). Marijuana's active ingre-
dient, THC, is available orally and is
approved by the FDA as an antiemetic,
usually for nausea induced by cancer che-
motherapy.
One needs to understand the THC con-
tent of marijuana. When smoked, small
amounts of THC are no big deal. But with
large amounts, the smoker is "spaced out."
Marijuana differs from alcohol and tobac-
co because of its unusual mind-altering
effects. When a person is "high," they do
not care about the pain of migraine or
their leukemia. Depending on the THC
dose, the psychic effects include eupho-
ria, emotional changes, altered asso-
ciations, altered time and space sense,
altered auditory and visual sensations,
illusions, memory loss, disorientation and
somnolence. If smokers do not obtain the
altered sensations and illusions, they have
probably used a poor grade of marijuana
with little THC content.
The danger of smoking or ingesting
marijuana is that some people will con-
tinually increase its use. Eventually, they
become "potheads" with an amotivation-
al syndrome. A recent study of Universi-
ty-related students indicated that even
36 hours after smoking marijuana, the
users had reduced regional brain activ-
ity, as measured by fMRI methods. The
gray matter neocortical areas of the brain
affected involve error detection. The
users mistakenly thought they were doing
great on various tests, whereas the non-
smokers could detect their own errors.
Clearly, it is much better for most people
to use more rational forms of medically
approved drugs than marijuana.
Edward Domino, M.D.
Professor of Pharmacology
Obama correct to take his
time on Afghanistan
TO THE DAILY:
In his column, Mr. Koslowski states
that President Obama may be stalling a
change in the Afghanistan war strategy
to prevent derailment of domestic plans
(The forgotten fight, 09/24/09). He argues
that American lives may be lost and our
country will appear weak for this. But
a Harvard study estimated that 45,000
Americans die each year as a result of
being uninsured. How many- Americans
did Al-Qaeda kill last year?
Our health care policies kill more
Americans and make the country seem
weaker than any terrorist organization
could dream of. The number of American
civilians dying from cancer is the equiva-
lent of 9-11 occurring every two days. I
believe that Mr Koslowski, despite his "if
_,the terrorists will have won" rhetoric,
holds a true desire to save American lives
and have a country deserving of pride.
For this end, strong health care reform,
a public option and government-funded
research can accomplish a thousand-fold
what any military operation could.
Dominic Terenzi
LSA senior
World education fund
needs U.S. support
TO THE DAILY:
The U.S. government awards the Presi-
dential Medal of Freedom to those who
have strenuously worked to positively
influence the world. Desmond Tutu,
Mary Robinson and Muhammad Yunus, promised $2 b
three "agents of change," were among cation fund a
those to be presented with these med- of State Hillar
als on August 12. But these global lead- All Act. Obam
ers have something else in common: they to creating int
are ardent supporters of the creation of a Global Fund ft
Global Fund for Education. your local men
In the poorest communities of the President Oba
world, families of 75 million children are ment to Educa
unable to spend 50 U.S. dollars to send act, 75 million
their children to school. More than 50 have the oppor
percent of them are girls and many are
living among civil unrest. The Global Josh Lee
Fund for Education is essential to produc- Businessjunior
ing healthier children, creating stronger
communities, and building an improved
world economy. Education is also strong-
ly associated with the prevention of HIV/
AIDS in these impoverished countries. LETTER!
Desmond Tutu, Mary Robinson, and Readers ar
Muhammad Yunus urged world leaders,
including President Barack Obama and letters to the
the G-8 leaders, to support a Global Fund less than 300
for Education. Thankfully, leaders of the
G-8 confirmed their commitment to the the writer's f
fund and agreed to raise over $1 billion to affiliation. Le
support basic education in the developing length, clarit
world. But their financial commitment is
by no means close to the $16 billion nec- missions beco
essary to achieve universal education this We do not p
year alone. Send letters
Even after 10 years of commitment to
a Global Fund for Education, progress
is often stagnant. President Obama has
illion for the global edu-
nd support for Secretary
ry Clinton's Education for
a's action will be integral
ternational attention for a
or Education. Write or call
mbers of Congress to urge
ma to fulfill his commit-
tion for All. If we do not
children will never even
tunity for education.
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