6 4A - Thursday, April 15, 2010 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com C C1 tta Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 tothedaily@umich.edu CHRIS KOSLOWSKI I e onsp mean, look at Ifeisisle so much, ou 11 t'ks gonna suck : -Aib EII MIA CinIsA I' cS'oslow@jCUMICH .EDU And ReturnofhejediTe othing So esthecante for s endin greatest so K oslowsk to workhardand saga ever w ting teddybears ws thn f eretenig mnui three more with that lamppost H someone mis- He canmake up forydearsof took foran actor poor drawing and bad Jokes! and cast as Anakin Skywalker a*a A. s ° 0 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 hoard. All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors. An 'F' in budgeting Legislators shouldn't cut community college funding N o one should be priced out of higher education. Yet with a potential tuition increase looming for Michigan's community colleges, a college degree may become even harder to attain. A new budget being discussed by the House Appropriations Committee this week proposes to cut funding for community colleges by 3 percent. While the gravity of the state's budget woes is well known, the state's already-decimated higher education funding cannot afford more cuts - especially to com- munity colleges, which are a valuable part of the higher educa- tion system. State legislators should recognize the importance of community colleges and reject the proposed funding cuts. 1 ...a, *. a r* 6 ,ZED Lii [ lit 1" r . . m T 0 The year in review On Monday, NPR reported that the Michigan House Appropriations Commit- tee is currently debating a budget proposal to cut funding for community colleges by 3 percent. According to Mike Hansen, cur- rent president of the Michigan Community College Association, community colleges may have to raise tuition rates between 5 and 10 percent for the fall semester to meet demand. This potential tuition hike comes as Michigan's community colleges are report- ing enrollment numbers at record highs. Institutions of higher education - com- munity, public or private - are critical to the future of the state. The path to a better economy lay in the education of the work- force of tomorrow. State legislators should realize that with the economy still in crisis, a raise in community college tuition could deter low-income students from continu- ing their education. For many students in the state, the prohibitive cost of a private or public four-year university leads them to choose community colleges to fulfill preliminary requirements before transfer- ring to a larger institution. For these stu- dents, attending a community college must remain a viable option. Community colleges play an integral role in the higher education system. In addi- tion to providing students with a cheaper alternative to traditional four-year colleg- es, many community colleges also serve as vocational schools. They provide students with an education tailored to careers that many four-year institutions don't offer. Important career fields like mechani- cal service and law enforcement are often certified through community colleges. Increasing the tuition for schools that pro- vide vocational training would be a disser- vice to Michigan communities. These institutions also provide an afford- able education for adults looking for a fresh start on their careers. With the auto industry in peril and one of the largest state unem- ployment rates in the country, Michigan's community colleges have the potential to aid in the diversification of the state economy. Community colleges should remain a place to retrain workers who have been laid off for a new industry in an accessible, affordable way. But many of these people already struggle to pay for professional retraining. A further raise in tuition could hinder the transition to a more diverse economy for Michigan. Raising tuition at community colleges isn't the answer to the state's budget woes. Education should be a means by which the state can diversify its economy for more sus- tainable growth. For many, that education begins at a community college, and state leg- islatures shouldn't hamper financial accessi- bility to these institutions. t was the best of times, it was the worst of times, and when the Tea Partiers come to the Diag tonight it's going to be a god-awful time. But let's start at the beginning, backnin September, when thousands of students from millions of coun- tries with bajil- _ lions of diverse- experiences came WILL to the University GRUNDLER of Michigan, all united by a single ------- common purpose: inebriation. But also football. So when allegations surfaced that Coach Rodriguez had overworked players to the point of exhaustion and - in one extreme incident - forced a player to stand on one leg, rub his belly AND pat his head all at the same time for over an hour, students cried foul. No one - no one - would taint the ath- letic program. But by October, no one was show- ing up for home games after another embarrassing season materialized. In a stunning reversal, most stu- dents quietly admitted that the foot- ball team hadn't been overworked enough, and they finally got around to doing their schoolwork. Or they would have got around to doing their schoolwork if the threat of swine flu hadn't thrown the entire campus into a state of red alert and caused North Campus to be quarantined, blockaded and ultimately destroyed. No, sorry, that was what happened in my imagi- nation. What actually happened was nothing, but many students took the opportunity to skip classes by saying that they were possibly dying. This was a good idea since many needed all the energy they could get for November, which is the only month hated by absolutely everyone. It got cold, as usual, and dark and depressing (as usual), and the foot- ball team lost to Ohio State (as usual), and the federal government decided to tryto reform health care (as usual). Normally we at the Daily don't like to discuss off-campus issues, but the passage of the preliminary health care bill created quite a stir. All over campus a majority of students said something along the lines of, "Hey, health care's getting there. Cool," while a minority of students brain- stormed furiously for a new Obama pun. (ObaMao was born.) And so December entered the record books, and if any hope was to be seen on students' faces because of the prom- ise of universal health care it would have been a shrouded, misty kind of hope, obscured by - I'm sorry, I'm terrible at metaphors. What I mean to say is that it started snowing and you couldn'treally see people's faces. Other than that nothing much happened. People went on winter break...? January was much more excit- ing. It was a new year! Everyone was excited and happy and hoped the economy would turn around and they laughed in that good, wholesome, dumb American way every time they wrote "2009" as the year. Countless students started hitting the gym with renewed enthusiasm and vigor and notebooks to record whatever it is you record in notebooks in gyms without caring that people thought they were complete imbeciles. It was a month of innocence, of youthful gaiety, a month that couldn't be beaten. Until February. In February it was announced that Obama would be speaking at spring commence- ment. Classes ceased for a day. The bell tower rang for hours. Even win- ter eased its icy spell. Not all stu- dents were pleased, however. Some felt cheated. Some felt robbed. Some decided NOT to attend graduation, to show the president who's boss. The president wrote a public state- ment for the Daily, urging students to come to graduation, threatening that if they did nout they would hurt his feelings. That was a proud day for the Daily, we must admit, publishing a sitting president. This year has been * exciting. A girl even talked to me. But along with good news there is always bad news. So it came to pass in March the grievous news of the Michigan Student Assembly - the doomed website, the extravagant trips to Okemos and Las Vegas, the lack of cookies and punch at meetings, the really boring meetings, the embarrass- ingendorsementofTigerWoodsbefore his affairs came to light. All contrib- uted to a whopping 14 percent student involvement in the annual elections - and a new party in charge. MForward faces a future full of responsibility. Now we're here, in April. Another academic year almost finished. Hard to believe, right? There are many things that happened in the past eight months that a small column such as this cannot detail thoroughly. A girl flirted with me at a party once. I think there's talk of a smoking ban, too. Regardless, time goes on. Have a good summer, kids. - Will Grundler can be reached at wgru@umich.edu. BRYAN DAVILA, FELIX LOPEZ, NINA NWACHUKWU I Making stress less a Each year, students at the University look forward to spring as a relief from the bitter Michigan winter. But as sunny days become more common, spring harshly welcomes us with research papers, exams, projects and presentations. Excitement for spring is often short-lived as April also marks the madness known as finals season. Although stress is an inescapable part of the college experience, the culmination of a semester is no excuse for stu- dents to engage in unhealthy habits. Overwhelmed students often resort to poor choices like caffeine addiction, sleepless nights and other tactics when dealing with stress rather than seeking healthy ways to relieve the tension of finals. Though it holds true that every college student has their own way to deal with the pres- sure, stress becomes a problem when it prevents them from maintaining a healthy lifestyle. In addition to maintaining a perfect GPA, many of us are balancing jobs or leadership posi- tions in student organizations, applying for sum- mer internships and tryingto preserve our social lives. These commitments cause many of us to be constantly stressed throughout the school year. And as finals season rears its ugly head, student stress reaches dangerous levels. According to a Counseling and Psychological Services (more commonly referred to as CAPS) College Student Mental Health Survey conducted in 2006,30 per- cent of a sample of 2,358 students sought coun- seling services. This survey gives insight into the current campus attitudes toward stress and the lack of resources available to us. So then the ques- tion becomes, how much higher would this per- centage be if support and counseling were better advertised? Universities need to promote more outlets where students can express themselves without the heavy hand of stress hindering their thought processes. Severe stress is an unspoken issue at the University. While the University ensures the physical safety of its students via Department of Public Safety e-mails and texts, an office like CAPS is a severely under-utilized resource, indicating that most students either choose to deal with stress on their own or are unaware of this support. For incoming freshmen, the importance of DPS and University Health Ser- vice is emphasized. For example, posted safety alerts and health fact sheets are in every resi- dence hall. DPS e-mails are made available to every University-affiliated person. While a few resident advisors may post information about CAPS and other support, stress relief often becomes the responsibility of the student. During Festifall, we all get student hand- books that no one really reads, which is another demonstration of CAPS's invisibility. Somewhere in there, CAPS is probably listed, but no one looks for this resource. Again, the University - and perhaps CAPS itself - should make CAPS and it programs more visible. The University needs to educate its students about stress and de-stigmatize psychological coun- seling. Instead of viewing counseling as some type of beneficial aid, as it should be, most stu- dents see it as a crutch that holds them back emotionally and socially. Oftentimes, talk- ing with our peers about counseling can be received with apathy, surprise and discomfort. We need to abandon these attitudes; chronic stress needs to be more aggressively and com- passionately addressed by the administration, faculty, peers and ourselves. While CAPS is certainly a great campus resource, most of us also overlook the power that certain student-organized events can have on our well-being. Like that arts and crafts event in the Union. Or that film screening in Angell Hall. Unfortunately, the arts are often overlooked as stress relievers. Yet, art takes on many differ- ent forms, and because of this, can appeal to all of us. Since most student events revolve around dialogue, film screenings and cultural shows, there are an array of free, unconventional and fun activities that can help us relax. One event designed to relieve stress is a Fighting Obstacles Knowing Ultimate Success (F.O.K.U.S.), presentation of {Vanguards} - a community-wide block party and music festival celebrating the end of another hectic school year and the glorious arrival of summer. Scheduled from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Apr. 170nthe Diag, {Vanguards} will combine live musical per- formances from nationally recognized artists as well as student and local performers. Addition- ally, schoolyard games of years past like double dutch, hula hoop and hackeysack will take place, as well as the creation of a community mural to give students a safe, fun and unique way to take a study break from finals. Bryan Davila is the vice president of F.O.K.U.S. and Felix Lopez and Nina Nwachukwu are CORE members of F.O.K.U.S. 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. All submissions become property of the Daily. We do not print anonymous letters. Send letters to tothedaily@umich.edu. BRIAN KOZIARA I The real Tea Party platform With all the talk these days about the Tea Party, and all the misinformation and innuendo propagated by the Left toward a genuinely organic movement, one must search long and hard to find the true identity of the people who consider themselves a part of this spontaneous and loose- ly-affiliated movement. The Tea Party is not made up of Sarah Palin types, as MSNBC would have you believe. Nor is it made up of racists or homophobes frothing at the mouth. Many Tea Party members will even tell you that they loathe any sort of affiliation with the Republican Party. So who exactly are the people who have planned a rally on the Diag for 7 p.m. this evening? The Tea Party, of which I am a participant, observer and organizer, began early last year not as a response to Rick Santelli's angry outburst on the floor of the Chicago Board of Trade and not in response to the calls of conser- vative politicians or radio talk-show hosts. It is instead a release of pent-up anger over the size and scope of the federal government. Many "Tea Partiers" were genuinely concerned and upset about the deficit spending in Presi- dent George W. Bush's later years, and this concern con- tinued on into the current administration. The defeat of President Barack Obama's radical agenda is one of the main focuses of this movement, which seeks to restore limited-government Constitutionalism to its proper place in our society. Tea Party members view the massive deficit spending and growing size of the federal government (with all of its new regulations that are sup- posed to protect people from themselves) as directly in conflict with the principles espoused by our Founding Fathers in our founding documents. We view higher taxation as an imposition upon eco- nomic prosperity. A man's right to earn, create and own property is the essential building block of a free market society. We view governmental mandates to buy health- care as an imposition upon personal freedom and choice. We view cradle-to-grave entitlement programs as irre- sponsible and as "generational theft," a term invented by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz). The Tea Party movement is all about personal responsi- bility, hard work, and the ability ofthe individual to improve his or her own condition through their efforts. We see bank- rupt entities like Social Security and Medicare, and then listen to D.C. politicians promising newer, bigger programs that will "work". And we don't buy it. At least someone hasn't fallen for the sugar-sweet but nevertheless insub- stantial and poisonous rhetoric of "hope and change." So what does the Democratic party and the drive-by media do in response? Pick out a few protestors who dare compare Obama to Hitler. Make up stories about "homo- phobic slurs" or "racial epithets" barely based in real- ity and make these rare occurrences into the face of the movement that has given millions of Americans a voice for the first time in their political lives. And most notably, 4 the opponents of the Tea Party launch cowardly ad homi- nem attacks on its members - everyday Americans who are simply fed up. How is it that during the Bush years, the Left in dis- sent was "the highest form of patriotism," yet when the Tea Party raises its head today, they are labeled as some- how "un-American" and must be crushed? And why is the Left, the supposed bastion of tolerance, so intolerant of Tea Partiers speaking their minds? It is clear where the double standard lies. And it is interesting to see the leader of the College Democrats on campus speak about the movement as being justifiable and a perfectly decent method ofexpressingopinions one month and thencreate a Facebook event to bash it the next. Apparently the Left would rather rail against, belittle and carry out character assassinations against members of the Tea Party instead of addressing their real concerns. The Tea Party represents Middle America. It is not a conservative movement. It is not a libertarian move- ment. It is not a Sarah Palin movement. It is not a Nazi, bigoted, fringe or racist movement. And it is certainly not a Republican movement. It is instead an American move- ment, quintessentially seeking to return to our founding I principles of limited government at their very core. The Tea Party views the current agenda and big- government policies as a trade-in of liberty for security promised by a federal government that doesn't have that great of a record of keeping its past promises. They see it as fundamentally un-American. That's why Tea Party members are exercising our First Amendment rights of assembly, free speech and petition. The Tea Party sees . a need for a fundamental shift in the direction of this country and the role of the government in our lives. And it is right. Brian Koziara is an LSA freshman. EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS: Nina Amilineni, Jordan Birnholtz, Adrianna Bojrab, 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