4A - Wednesday, February 10, 2010 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 tothedaily@umich.edu JACOB SMILOVITZ EDITOR IN CHIEF RACHEL VAN GILDER EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR MATT AARONSON MANAGING EDITOR Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily's editorial board. All other signed articles and illustrations representsolely the views of their authors. Promises, promises Granholm must ensure long-term funding for scholarship We've heard promises from Gov. Jennifer Granholm before. In her final State of the State address on Feb. 3, Granholm announced that Michigan's budget for the 2011 fiscal year would include funding for the recently cut Michigan Promise Scholarship. She didn't offer a specific plan, but mentioned that "creative" funding would be incorporated into the budget to account for the scholarship. However, considering that original funding for the Promise was removed just two years after the so-called "Promise" was made, it's difficult to believe Granholm's assurance that the scholarship will be re-instated. The governor and state legislature should adopt a sustainable approach when formulating a new Promise Scholarship. Our point was to draw attention to the plight of Haitian orphans. We came here to help, not to become the story." - Nicole Lankford, one of the Americans held in Haiti for trying to smuggle out children regarding her case, as reported yesterday by The New York Times. CH RISTI+IA SU H E-MAIL CHRISTINA AT CHSUH@UMICH.EDU Creo. in vsv 0owsr l ;s43&Cvrs**s PoL%*s'ooi, F0- op iS easy! cu - Eat" .r peen wovA'i'irlsw'11don ctte u 1 ~4b i5 ( om on foo+exn) can more as ma r (ovtrrmted ..n s*00 , P ; (-) pEofk ionn y (I oved ome) wi (mixrr rrlL, aiigj- Moki r l or do 0omc.-eint Y'eDol cook')! S Mad Hatter's tea party The Promise Scholarship was initially established on Dec. 21, 2006. The merit- based award provided $500 to $4,000 to stu- dents who scored adequately on statewide standardized tests and attended a two- or four-year institution of higher learning. But amid the state's $2.8 billion budget short- fall, lawmakers cut the scholarship to save approximately $140 million on Oct. 30,2009. Though the scholarship was in the gover- nor's initial budget proposal, she signed off on the cut, saying, "Itis a budgetI don't agree with and don't support," accordingto an Oct. 30 Detroit Free Press article. Higher education is vital for Michigan to pull itself out of the current recession. Mich- igan's economy can't be supported by the automotive industry anymore. It must shift to a science- and technology-based economy. To prepare the workforce for high-skill posi- tions that technology businesses need to fill, more students must attend institutions of higher education. For that to happen, educa- tion must be made accessible. But despite its imprtance, education has become less affordable. Here at the Pniver- sity, tuition has increased by an alarming 52 percent since 2002, partially due to cuts in state funding. Though the state is facing serious deficit concerns, it shouldn't cut from education funding. The rise in education costs is made worse bythe struggling Michi- gan economy, which has left many families more dependent on scholarships. The Prom- ise Scholarship is essential to students and shouldn't have been cut in the first place. The state has a projected 2011 deficit of more than $1.6 billion, so a steady supply of funding for the scholarship seems far from assured. But if the state takes on the Prom- ise Scholarship a second time, it would be inexcusable to let it fail again, because for some students, the difference could make or break the viability of paying for college. Reliable sources of funding must be secured for the Promise so that it isn't cut soon after its establishment, leaving thousands of stu- dents without a resource that they count on. Granholm's "creative," alternative funding options should be explored to verify that the new scholarship stays financially afloat for more than a couple of years. Students shouldn't be.guaranteed a significant schol- arship only to have it taken away once again. Granholm must back up her words with decisive action to ensure that the legislature passes a budget in 2011 that includes a realis- tic plan to fund the Promise Scholarship. If the state pledges funding for the scholarship a second time, it must keep its Promise. like parties, but hold the tea, thank you. Last week, the Tea Party movement, a series of far-right protests oppos- ing the agenda of President Barack Obama, gath- ered in Nashville, Tenn. for its first national conven- tion. You'd think the convention TOMMASO would promote PVN "Limited Govern- PAVONE ment, Free Speech, the 2nd Amend- ment, our Military, Secure Borders and our Country," as specified on the website of conven- tion organizer Judson Phillips. But that just wouldn't be radical enough, would it? The Tea Party Convention kicked off with opening speaker Tom Tan- credo, a former Republican con- gressman from Colorado and 2008 presidential candidate. All was going well... until Tancredo opened his mouth. "People who could not even spell the word 'vote' or say it in Eng- lish put a committed socialist ideo- logue in the White House," blasted Tancredo. "His name is Barack Hus- sein Obama." Have you ever seen a better example of ignorance, xenophobia and racism all bound into one ugly package? And perhaps more striking is the fact that both of Tancredo's grandparents were immigrants - I guess he must hate them too. To top it off, Phillips pro- ceeded to remark that "Tom Tancredo gave a fantastic speech last night I think he is an amazing politician."' Phillips wasn't the only one who endorsed Tancredo's hateful rhetoric and the Tea Party's xenophobic mes- sage. While delivering the keynote speech at the convention, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin referred to the Tea Party as a "beautiful move- ment." When asked to comment fur- ther, Palin said, "I believe there are more of us than they (the media) want us to believe." Isn't that a pleas- ant thought? In the end, it was beneficial for voters to have Tancredo and Palin speak so bluntly. Both speakers made it clear that behind the Tea Party movement's supposed love for "our Country" is a hateful, xenophobic, racist ideology unfit for American democracy. The Tea Partiers love America, just not the 12.5 percent of the American population that recent U.S. Census Bureau statistics say is foreign-born. In the end, the Tea Party movement is not a manifesta- tion of American independence. It is a disgrace. We can't expect the Tea Partiers to moderate their rhetoric - if they do, how else could they remain real- ly ignorant and angry? But what we can, and should, expect is that our Michigan politicians denounce the movement, or at least refrain from associating with it. Yet many of our local representa- tives seem to be doing the opposite. On Sunday, Michigan Rep. Pete Hoek- stra (R-Holland), who is running for governor, attended a Tea Party gath- ering and reported on his Twitter, that it was a "great group." Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox, also a. Republican running for governor, characterized the Tea Party move- ment as "remarkable." Last, but cer- tainly not least, is Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard, another Republican contender for Michigan's governorship, who recently attend- ed a Tea Party protest outside Cobo Expo Center in Detroit to "show his solidarity," as the Detroit Free Press reported on Jan.11. Michigan leaders shouldn't buy into ignorance. We shouldn't 'tolerate that our local elected officials endorse the Tea Party message. This is especially true of those seeking our state's governor- ship. If we truly believe in freedom, human rights, civil rights and diver- sity, then we have a moral obligation to hold our representatives account- able when they endorse contradicto- ry principles. While we can't prevent the Tea Party movement from diffus- ing an ideology riddled with hatred, we can certainly question our elected officials if they endorse a xenophobic movement. I can't imagine that most Michiganders share the Tea Party's radical message, and since Michi- gan's politicians are supposed to rep- resent our views, neither should they. It's one thing to have differing political views. It's quite another to endorse a movement that reveres Tancredo's Tea Party convention speech. If Hoekstra, Cox and Boucha- rd are unable to understand this prin- ciple on their own, then perhaps we should remind them. By writing let- ters, perhaps. By calling their offices, most certainly. By voting for them? I'd have a cup of tea and think that over first - Tommaso Pavone can be reached at tpavone@umich.edu. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Readers are encouraged to submit letters to the editor. Letters should be fewer than 300 words and must include the writer's full name and University affiliation. Letters are edited for style, length, clarity and accuracy. All submissions become property of the Daily. We do not print anonymous letters. Send letters to tothedoily@umich.edu. SEND LETTERS TO: TOTHEDAILY@UMICH.EDU Republicans will likely stall. action on Citizen's United vote in the Senate may not happen. AndrewRabenstein LSA senior An education in race relations TO THE DAILY: Braden Burgess's recent letter to the edi- Daily ignored the interests of tor ignored basic facts about procedural rules and the basics of campaign finance law, even in Illinois nA conflict light of the Citizens United v. Federal Election n carp Commission case (Recent U.S. Supreme Court decision protects free speech, 02/08/2010). Ideo- TO THE DAILY: logically conservative Republicans have a ten- The Daily's editorial on Asian carp yesterday dency to distrust math and science, since they're ignored half of the argument (Imminent Inva- just "theory," so it's no surprise that according sion, 02/09/2010). I'm confounded by this, as to their math, 60, not 51, is a majority of the Sen- some pertinent facts could have worked to the ate's 100 votes. If 51 votes were required to pass argument's advantage. a bill in the Senate, then the vast majority of leg- As the Illinois Chamber of Commerce and islation would have been passed. other Illinois economic interest groups have For an example you need to look no farther pointed out time and again, closing the water- than Sen. Richard Shelby's (R-Ala.) blanket fil- ways could deal a hugeblow to the Illinois econ- ibuster, an unprecedented move in the Senate, omy. This "huge blow" might be better spelled where Shelby blocked every President Barack out in terms of $1.5 billion a year in shipping Obama nominee waiting to be considered by costs and more than 400 jobs that would be the Senate because Obama is limiting pork- affected by a closure. Then, consider how all of barrel spending to Sen. Shelby's state. This the industries that rely upon these shipments filibuster prevents a candidate from getting a for business might be seriously affected. confirmation vote, which means the Republi- And don't forget Illinois farmers, who rely cans now also have a responsibility to govern heavily on these waterways to distribute goods and not just to obstruct. and would face higher shipping prices if an Let's talk about how the Citizens United injunction was issued. case is really awful. The U.S. Supreme Court's Having said this, these economic figures decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election are dwarfed by the potential ramifications of a Committee allows for unlimited independent destroyed Great Lakes fishing industry caused expenditures on politics. What most people by an invasive species. This is a $7-billion don't realize is that most American corpora- industry and a crucial one for the economic tions are largely owned by pension funds. For health of a failing state of Michigan, with the example, Exxon Mobil is 52-percent owned by highest unemployment rate in the country. pension funds - a significant amount of which Tens of thousands of industry jobs - from fish- is from federal, state and local governments. ermen to boat captains to storage and distribu- So, when Exxon Mobil now spends freely to tion company employees - will be jeopardized obstruct your favorite candidate or your opin- if the Asian carp is able to become a reproduc- ion on an issue, they are actually spending your ing population in the Lakes. tax dollars to do so. Isn't it also great, though, The bottom line is that policy critique how under this ruling, a corporation that is pri- requires serious consideration of both sides of marily foreign-owned can also spend unlimit- an issue. ed amounts of money. I would encourage Congress to act on this, Eitan Ingall but something tells me that finding that 60th LSA senior EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS: Nina Amilineni, Emad Ansari, Jordan Birnholtz, William Butler, Nicholas Clift, Michelle DeWitt, Brian Flaherty, Jeremy Levy, Erika Mayer, Edward McPhee, Emily Orley, Harsha Panduranga, Alex Schiff, Asa Smith,Brittany Smith, Robert Soave, Radhika Upadhyaya, Laura Veith This is my first semester as stu- dent in the University's School of Education. The plan is to be a high school English teacher when this whole college thing is over. Like all first- ; semester teacher ' candidates, I've been placed in the first teaching , practicum course, which is basically RACHEL pre-student teach- ing. It's a course in VAN GILDER observation dur -_______ ing which teacher candidates watch certified teachers in schools around Ann Arbor. I've been placed at Southfield High School, which is north of Detroit. So far, as I expected it would be, the observation has been educational and informative. But one of the most valu- able learning experiences I am hav- ing isn't one that I expected. That's because the student body of South- field High School is overwhelmingly African American. For the three hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays that I observe at Southfield High School, I am in the minority. And it's led to some startling realizations about race issues. Let me be entirely ,dear upfront: I do not judge people on the color of their skin. Race does not determine the quality of a person. But race, like cul- ture or ethnicity, is part of who a per- son is, and it shouldn't be ignored. At the same time, I've always experienced race issues as a member of the majority. I come from a place where diversity is just a word. Almost without excep- tion, the population of Webberville, Michigan is white and Christian. Even here at the University, I'm part of the majority. And let's face it: It's easy to be the same as everyone else, because you never even think about what being different means. And up until this point in my life, I've never been the only person in the room who is different. I've never even really been in a situation that I had to think about what that must be like. But during my observation days at Southfield High School, I am not the same as everyone else, and that's a drastic departure from what I'm accustomed to. The school is about 97-percent African American, according to this year's enrollment numbers, and so some of the classes I sit in on don't have any white students in them. The teacher I'm observ- ing is African American as well. It's strange to.suddenly be the one person in the room who is different. And, to be completely honest, being differ- ent made me a little uncomfortable at first. The discomfort isn't because the students are black and I'm white - it's because they are one way, and I am another. And being so notica- bly different is something I've never experienced before. At first, I was extremely self-con- scious. I was irrationally sure that the kids were judging me every second. Admittedly, some of this was because I am in a new position of author- ity as an almost-teacher when I still don't consider myself a real adult. It's a jarring transition. But some of it was because I wondered what the students thought of the white woman sitting in the back of their classroom. The whole thing was compounded by the awkwardness of being an outside observer, which is a strange position to be in. This soon faded - thank goodness - after I realized that I was going to have to get over it or spend the rest of the semester feeling uncomfortable. I don't want to imply that the students have treated me poorly or excluded me because of my race. In fact, now that my initial paranoia has passed, I'm fairly certain that they haven't thought about it at all. But I still feel the difference of being the one on the outside of the cultural bubble. For the first time, I was the one who was different. I'm not trying to say that this experience has suddenly made me completely understand what it's like to be a minority in America. I don't. My experience is only temporary. I instantly become a member of the majority group again as soon as I leave Southfield High School after a mere three hours a day, twice a week. I don't know what it means to be a racial minority, and I probably never will. But the experience has given me a little bit of perspective on an issue with which I haven't had much first- hand experience. It's the variety of experience and the perspective it brings that makes the teaching practicum valuable, especially for brand-new teacher candidates like me. I'm not a minor- ity, and I'll probably never fully understand what it's like to be one. But I have had a taste - albeit a small taste - of what it's like, and hopefully that will give me a little bit of empa- thy in the future and help make me a better teacher and person. -Rachel Van Gilder is the Daily's editorial page editor. She can be reached at rachelvg@umich.edu.