4A - Wednesday, October 14, 2009 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com c l e tic[ ig n ail Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. x, t z n420 Maynard St. ;ei"Ann Arbor, MI 48109 tathedaily@umich.edu GARY GRACA ROBERT SOAVE COURTNEY RATKOWIAK EDITOR IN CHIEF EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR MANAGING EDITOR Unsigned editorials reflect the officialposition ofthe Daily's editorialboard.All othersigned articles and illustrations represent solely the views oftheir authors. Good, clean fun Students must be supportive of those in recovery Many students have a difficult time adjusting to college life. Complete self-reliance is a trial for students away from home for the first time, and the stress of school is a lot to deal with. For recovering addicts, this is made even more difficult by the struggle to stay clean. But with the found- ing of the new student group Students for Recovery, there is a new resource and support group for students recovering from substance abuse. For this group to be successful, students need to recognize the difficulties that recovering addicts face on campus and promote an atmosphere of understanding and support. She's a chip off the old block, and I don't mean that as a compliment:' -Huffington Post Editor Roy Sekoff, commenting on Liz Cheney launching a program aimed at painting Obama's foreign policy as "radical", as reported yesterday by the The Huffington Post. Moore's misguided attack Students for Recovery was created by Ivana Grahovac, a School of Social Work graduate student. Grahovac, who dealt with a five-year addiction to heroin, hopes to create a support network for peers com- bating addiction. She found that the social opportunities presented to her in a college setting often centered on the consumption of alcohol, which makes for dangerous ter- ritory for recovering addicts. Grahovac is working with the School of Social Work and University Health Service officials to createa fun and healthy support system for student addicts. One of the main goals of Students for Recovery is to combat the stigma often asso- ciated with addiction. People recovering from addictions are often portrayed as hav- ing dysfunctional lives. And the prevalence of alcohol and college parties can present a difficult choice for recovering addicts - enter a dangerous environment or face ostra- cism. Providing recovering addicts with an environment that's safe and fun could great-. ly assist them in managing their addictions while still enjoying college life. And while a support system of students who have experienced many of the same struggles will prove helpful, Students for Recovery needs the support of other stu- dents, too, if it is to be successful. Students need to be aware of the problems that the stereotypical college party poses for recovering addicts and be understanding of those who need to avoid addictive sub- stances. They should also participate in Students for Recovery, because recovering addicts shouldn't feel segregated from the campus community. The University, to its credit, has already done its part to get behind Students for Recovery. The School of Social work and University Health Services have commit- ted themselves to assisting in creating a healthy environment for students with addictions - as they should have. It's the University's responsibility to promote a message of acceptance, and it's good that the University has recognized this. The University already provides resources like counseling services, but this new group extends the network of support. Substance abuse can be a debilitating and painful issue. But Students For Recovery will help students looking to move beyond these hardships and enjoy college life. This effort should be one that other students and the University can get behind. While watching the latest Michael Moore film, "Cap- italism: A Love Story," I was surprised how much 0 agreed with him. He made excellent points, 4 including his con- demnation of the bank bailouts, hisz scathing depiction ' of Goldman Sachso and its influence in V the Treasury, and VINCENT the horrific scenes PATSY of teenagers being held at a privately owned juvenile detention center in West Virginia. I was surprised to find myself agreeing with Moore because I am a supporter for capitalism, the very system that Moore professes to attack in the film. Which brings me to the movie's obvious flaw: Moore has a false idea of what capitalism really is. He views it as an economic system of privately owned companies making profits with little or no regulation or taxa- tion. This is a commonly held view by those on both the right and the left, but it misses the key component of capitalism. True capitalism, or free enterprise, involves privately owned companies makingjust profits. Profits are acquired justly when both parties agreeing to the exchange believe that they will benefit and they exchange goods voluntarily. The difference between Moore's definition of capitalism and the cor- rect one is demonstrated in an early scene in the movie with a scheme that involves corrupt judges and a juvenile detention center. In Pennsylvania, a company called PA Child Care was able to lobby judges for the closure of a public juvenile detention center. The company then built its own facil- ity and the same judges packed this Some people maythink that Moore center by sentencing teenagers for is a conspiracy theorist for his abso- just about anything, all in the name lutely correct analysis of the "power of profit. elite" in the banking community, the Moore uses this incident as evi- same people who used their power to dence against capitalism, but what secure the Troubled Asset Relief Pro- occurred in this case wasn't really gram bailout in September 2008. But capitalism - the company was earn- he's quite right: Wealthy bankers got ing profits unjustly. The judges were together with Congress and secured much stricter in enforcing crimes a bailout that everyone else had to against teenagers, and taxpayers pay for. were forced to pay for teens' room and board at the PA Child Care facil- ity. An arrangement where business teams up with the government to New film a critique forcibly take money from taxpayers isn't capitalism - a better term would of corporatism be corporatism or even fascism. Compounding Moore's intellec- not capitalism. tual error regarding capitalism is- a somewhat erroneous view of his- tory. His view is that after World War II, Americans became wealthy In criticizing the current econom- and a middle class was built. Then ic system, Moore proposes worker's Reagan was elected, and through his co-ops as a praiseworthy alternative "capitalistic" reforms, the richer got to the typical business arrangement. richer while the poor stayed poor and Under these co-ops, workers get to the middle class joined them. There vote on each other's pay. What Moore certainly are elements of this story doesn't understand is that worker's I agree with, notably the reduction co-ops are completely acceptable of the middle class since the Reagan under true capitalism. There should Era. But the Reagan financial sector be no laws telling people that they takeover was miniscule compared to need to have a business of x size mak- an earlier takeover that took place ing y profits and paying workers z as a result of the Panic of 1907 - the amount. If workers are happier with founding of the Federal Reserve. lower wages as long as they have the With the goal of providing a sta- power to vote, then businesses will ble economy and price level, seven adopt this system. powerful bankers and legislators got Under capitalism, there would together in November 1910 and rode a be no bailouts, no unjust profits by train in secret to Jekyll Island, a pre- exploiting teenagers' crimes and miere resort in Georgia, and hashed workers would be absolutely free to out what would become the Federal participate in co-op systems. The fact Reserve. The Fed is the banker's that Moore and I agree on these points bank, and all of its actions necessar- demonstrates that his beef is with ily benefit large banks at the expense corporatism, not true capitalism. of people. It is a big counterfeiter and provider of bailouts to rich corpora- - Vincent Patsy can be reached tions that cuddle up to it. at vapatsy@umich.edu. 0j S EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS: Nina AmilineniEmad Ansari, Emily BartonBen Caleca, Michelle DeWitt, Brian Flaherty, Emma Jeszke, Raghu Kainkaryam, Sutha K Kanagasingam, Erika Mayer, Edward McPhee, Harsha Panduranga, Alex Schiff, Asa Smith, Brittany Smith, Radhika Upadhyaya, Rachel Van Gilder, Laura Veith ROSE JAFFE E-MAIL ROSE AT ROSEJAFF@UMICH.EDU \ 4 1 tKUl'>) \ 7 ALEX SCHIFF|I Education needs funding to function I love it here. Over the course of my first month as a freshman at the University, hardly a day has gone by that I haven't overheard two people debating health care reform over lunch, a group arguing about how to fix the economy or friends discussingthe meaning of life. We live in a smart place. And based on my past experience, that's not some- thing to take for granted. The driving force of our intelli- gent community is the high caliber of the state's education system. And for this reason, it's essential for the future of Michigan's intellectual and economic prosperity that the state legislature avoid proposed cuts in education. My high school education took place in two states with two entirely different sets of educational values. I went to North Farmington High School in Farmington Hills, for my freshman year and Palm Harbor University High School in Palm Harbor, Fla. for my final three. Having experienced high school in Michigan and Florida, I gained insight into the impact of their undeniable differences. While statistics can't speak for powerful cultural forces at work, they do show a clear difference in the priority edu- cation receives in state budgets. According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, the state of Michigan spent $9,922 per public school student during the 2006- 2007 academic year. Florida spent only $8,567. This dispar- ity is one of the reasons for Michigan's relative strength, but the legislature seems ready to destroy this advantage. The result of underfunding education is no mystery. As of the 2005-2006 academic year, Michigan graduates 72.2 percent of its students, the NCES finds, and Florida gradu- ates only 63.6 percent. At North Farmington, the notion of "dropping out" was subject to ridicule. For many students at Palm Harbor and across the state, it was considered a legitimate option. I once had an eye-opening conversation with a Florid- ian friend who was considering dropping out - an idea that draws more shame in North Farmington than saying, "I love my new foreign car!" in Flint. When asked what he was going to do with his life, my friend responded that he would buy atruck. Buy a truck? Are you going to live in it? How will you make money to buy the truck? What will you do after you buy the truck? None of this mattered because, as he put it, "school's boring." This lack of ambition is in part a function of Florida not appropriately prioritizing education. Meanwhile, Michigan is poised to make drastic cuts in education to close its budget deficit, including the possibil- ity of cutting the Michigan Promise Scholarship. Educa- tion, of all things, shouldn't be on the choppingblock when it's the one hope for the salvation of our economy. Due to the severity of the current recession and the overall drop in revenues, we all understand there will be cuts. But we must fight for every dollar of spending for education and cut elsewhere. Despite the political rhetoric, it's simply not possible to pay for everything the state needs with current revenues. In order to position ourselves for a better future and stop this decline, we must accept the shared burden of a tax increase today. If state support for education dwindles, our already struggling economy will face another debilitating challenge - a less educated work force. A tax increase that preserves our work force and smart society, however dif- ficult it may be to stomach, is vital. Unfortunately, Michigan legislators have has proved to be a bunch of children when it comes to budget issues. Republicans have decided to help by - surprise - digging in their heels and refusing any tax increase as a matter of principle. Democrats, meanwhile, continue to promise everything while paying for nothing. The evolution of poli- tics as a circus act that places partisanship and ideology over the common good is a development citizens do not want. Both parties criticize and neither appears able to change its position. I refuse to be content with sacrificing education for petty, partisan name-calling. Investing in our future today will give hope to the peo- ple of Michigan for a better and more prosperous tomor- row. If we fail to rise to the challenge, then we may have to get used to these "state shutdown" shenanigans. When I heard about the 2007 shutdown after moving to Flori- da, I laughed at its absurdity. But as a Michigan resident, when I saw coverage of this year's shutdown last week in the Daily, I just shook my head in disappointment and asked, "This again?" Alex Schiff is an LSA freshman. 0 "Student addicts" was insensitive headline in Daily article TO THE DAILY: Addiction is a major health issue in this country, affect- ing people addicted to substances and those around them. But whathappens when a substance abuser stops using? Is there a magic cure to fix the entire stigma that surrounds the fact that they're in recovery from drugs and alcohol? Many people in recovery would probably say no. But at the University, this is where our student organization, Students for Recovery, steps in. One of our main goals is to reduce the stigma that people in recovery are bad or wrong, and assert that addiction is a disease that can affect anyone, anywhere, with any kind of background. A recent Daily article was meant to bring to light Stu- dents for Recovery, and the article did that for the most part (New group aims to help student addicts, 10/07/2009). SEND LETTERS TO: TOTHEDAILY@UMICH.EDU The only problem is that the title of the piece is not sen- sitive to people in recovery by using the term "student addicts." The word "addict" is not culturally sensitive to this population because of the negative connotation it comes with, yet the editors chose this specific word to catch the reader's attention. I believe it did catch some attention, but not necessarily ina positive way. Also, the Students for Recovery group is not only aimed to help students in recovery, but also students who sup- port them and students who just want a sober alternative to all the pressure to drink and use in college. The title does not convey this idea. Although the article was very positive toward the orga- nization, I feel the heading should have been more sen- sitive toward people in recovery. Technically speaking, wouldn't a "student addict" be a person who is addicted to school? Ashley Dominique School of So ial Work