4A - Wednesday, January 19, 2011

The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

4A - Wednesday, January19, 2011 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom


Edited and managed by students at
the University of Michigan since 1890.
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Ann Arbor, MI 48109
tothedaily@michigandaily.com


STEPHANIE STEINBERG
EDITOR IN CHIEF

MICHELLE DEWITT
and EMILY ORLEY
EDITORIAL PAGE EDITORS

KYLE SWANSON
MANAGING EDITOR

"Over the course of his long and distinguished career,
Sarge came to embody the idea of public service...'
- President Barack Obama, said in a statement on the passing of Peace Corps founder
Sargent Shriver on Tuesday as reported by MSNBC.

Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily's editorial board. All other signed articles
and illustrations represent solelythe views of their authors.
Keep our lakes great
Preserve funding for restoration initiatives
The Great Lakes are facing a bigger threat than the Asian
Carp invasion. The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative - a
program proposed in 2009 that devotes millions of dollars
to the cleanup and preservation of one of the most environmentally
contaminated areas throughout the country -- is at risk of losing a
large chunk of its federal funding. This proposal has created a stir
among environmental activists. For Michigan, restoring the Great
Lakes will greatly benefit the environment and the economy. Con-
gress needs to ensure that funding for the Great Lakes restoration
initiative isn't cut from the 2011 budget.

Is the Pope Catholic?

According to a Jan. 16 article from MLive.
com, in 2009 the Obama administration
proposed a five-year program to cleanup
the Great Lakes. In 2010, the federal gov-
ernment allocated $475 million to the Great
Lakes Restoration Initiative. But this year
Congress is considering cutting $175 million
from the program. The program's funding
is divided among hundreds of programs in
seven states.
The Great Lakes are an extremely valuable
resource for Michigan's economy, and this
program is critical for future investments.
Cameron Davis, senior adviser to the U.S.
EPA's administrator for the Great Lakes, said
"the Great Lakes are an economic engine
for this region." According to a report by the
non-profit Brookings Institution, the project
would raise property values along the lake-
shore by $12 billion - puttingthem at $19 bil-
lion - just by cleaning the toxic sediments in
the Great Lakes region. Additionally, hunt-
ing, fishing and wildlife industries bring in
more than $4 billion in revenue for the state
of Michigan annually. Also, the industries
based on the Great Lakes could provide up to
$50 billion for the state economy in the long
term. The Great Lakes are also a main tour-
ism attraction in Michigan. If they become-
too contaminated, the state could lose that
source of revenue.
Though the economic advantages speak
for themselves, environmental issues also

need to be considered. Due to toxic sedi-
ments, the natural habitat for fish and other
wildlife has been greatly affected. Cur-
rently, there are two projects funded by the
Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. The first
focuses on rehabilitating Portage Creek
in Portage, MI. The second is spent on the
removal of dams in Otsego Township and
the city of Kalamazoo from the Kalamazoo
River - one of the mosthighly contaminated
waterways in Michigan. Mark Hatton, the
redevelopment project manager for the city
of Kalamazoo, said the projects will be fin-
ished in 2011 and that "there will be a huge
change seen in this area." It is imperative
that there is funding for these projects to be
completed.
While cutting programs seems to be the
simplest solution to balance the state budget,
it's only a temporary fix. Decreasing fund-
ing for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative
may result in more spending in the future
due to accumulating environmental issues.
Congress needs to remember that preser-
vation of the Great Lakes is important for
the state economy and for the well-being of
Michigan residents.
The Great Lakes are undeniably important
to Michigan. They bring in revenue, provide
jobs and house a variety of wildlife. Con-
gress needs to ensure that the Great Lakes
are cared for before the damage becomes too
severe to repair.

f someone asks you a question
that you think has a very obvious
answer in the affirmative, I sug-
gest responding
with this expres-,
sion: "Is the Pope s
Catholic?" For
example, you could
use this if a friend
from another uni-
versity asks wheth-
er these past three
years have been the
worst time to be a DAR-WEI
Michigan student C E
in terms of the foot- CHEN
ball team's success.
I bring up that
expression because President Barack
Obama has recently promised to make
environmental policy a priority for the
new year. Climate scientists all across
the country are wondering why it has
taken Obama so long to recognize that
our environment needs help. Informa-
tion that is almost as obvious as the
fact that the Pope is Catholic.
Obama has been by no means igno-
rant of climate change throughout his
first two years in office. At the end
of his Democratic nomination vic-
tory speech in 2008, he said that "this
was the moment when the rise of the
oceans began to slow and our planet
began to heal." He knew years ago that
there were problems that had to be
dealt with, but it's clear that he didn't
make the environment a priority for
his first two years in office - a time
when he had Democratic majorities in
both chambers of Congress. Now that
the new, Republican-heavy House of
Representatives has been sworn in, it
seems like Obama's vision from two
years ago of healing the planet isn't
goingto come to fruition.
Some conservative readers are
probably saying: "How does a Repub-

lican-controlled House mean our
environment is screwed?" I wouldn't
be so pessimistic if the GOP at least
recognized that our planet Earth is
suffering at the hands of man-made
events. In most of the Western world,
the argument about dealing with cli-
mate change centers on questions like:
"How can we deal with it?" In Ameri-
ca, the debate is: "Does climate change
even exist?"
Let's look at Rep. John Shimkus
(R-Illinois) who spoke in 2009 before
a House subcommittee: "The planet
won't be destroyed by global warm-
ing because God promised Noah." I
wouldn't be so worried if this quote
came from some random crazy guy on
the street. But this is a United States
Congressman. And since the Republi-
cans have taken control of the House,
Shimkus is now a candidate to chair
the House Energy committee this
year. If he assumed this position, prog-
ress toward addressingclimate change
would be in seriousjeopardy.
Other conservatives that deny
global warming include Fox News
host Sean Hannity, who argues that
winter is cold and seems to be getting
colder and more extreme every year, so
global warming cannot be happening.
This theory doesn't hold a lot of water
since climate scientists have already
theorized that climate change causes
extreme weather in general, regard-
less of temperature. His statements
not only demonstrate that he doesn't
have a basic understanding of earth's
seasons, but they also imply that he
should be freaking out whenever
nighttirhe comes around because he
thinks the sun is starting to burn out.
What's even worse is that no sci-
entific body of legitimate standing in
the world has a dissenting opinion on
climate change. In 2006 the Ameri-
can Association for the Advance-

ment of Science issued the following
statement: "The scientific evidence is
clear: global climate change caused
by human activities is occurring now
and it is a growing threat to society
... The time to control greenhouse
gas emissions is now." And that's just
one example. I encourage you to look
up credible scientific organizations
and their official stances on climate
change. I guarantee that none of them
deny it.
The time to control
greenhouse gas
emissions is now.
On one side, we have politicians
from a party - many of whom are so
scientifically ignorant that they deny
evolution who think global warm-
ing is a hoax. The other side consists
of scientific organizations dedicated
to scientific research that agree action
needs to be taken urgently because
climate change is man-made. It's abso-
lutely befuddling how these two sides
are taken with the same amount of
seriousness. Republican House Speak-
er John Boehner once said, "The idea
that carbon dioxide is a carcinogen
that is harmful to our environment is
almost comical." If you ask any cred-
ible scientist whether carbon dioxide
is harmful to the environment, wheth-
er humans have anything to do with
it and whether Obama needs to take
action, you might get this response:
"Is the Pope Catholic?"
- Dar-Wei Chen can be
reached at chendw@umich.edu.


ASHLEY GRIESSHAMMER
Celebrate MLK Day

--the
poiu

Blogging Blue: Will Butler questions whether the
"job-killing" health care law actually kills jobs.
Go to michigandaily.com/blogs/The Podium


This past Monday, we celebrated Martin
Luther King Jr. Day. The University didn't hold
classes, and there were various groups around
campus putting on events to honor and celebrate
one of the most influential leaders of the past cen-
tury. Yet some schools still had classes that day.
As a public University, we recognize MLK
Day as an official holiday. But not all schools
do. I went to Catholic schools from kindergar-
ten through 12th grade, and Jan. 17 was my
first MLK Day off. Over the weekend, I told my
roommate that this was the first time I wouldn't
be going to school on MLK Day. She went to a
public school in New Jersey and always had
MLK day off, so she was shocked to find that my
Catholic school didn't recognize the holiday.
In high school, one of my best friends was
African American. I distinctly remember our last
MLK Day a year ago, when she didn't come to
school. I texted her while I was in class to ask her
where she was and she replied, telling me "It's my
day! Of course I'm not coming to school! My mom
didn't make me." Her mother was a gym teacher
at one of the local public elementary schools, and
the public schools had the day off. As I laughed
at her response, imagining her saying this to me
with the same energy, I realized there was some
truth to what she was saying.
Our high school was mostly white students,
and I could count the number of African Amer-
ican students on my fingers. But I don't think
that should be any grounds for not celebrating
MLK Day. Catholic schools don't have to follow
the same calendar as the public schools, and
they can choose to have different days off. So
why wouldn't they choose to have MLK Day

off? Would it really be that big of an inconve-
nience to have one less day of school? They
could make up that day by getting rid of one of
the superfluous days we have off for conferenc-
es or other unimportant activities. Celebrating
a man who lived and died for civil rights seems
like abetter use of vacation days.
I'm not African American, so maybe I don't
have the best platform for this argument. But
having a best friend who is African American
has helped me to identify with her family and
culture much better. I don't see why Catholic
schools wouldn't want to celebrate this day.
And I'm not just saying that they should give
kids the day off because they don't want to go
to school. That's not the reason. out of respect,
Catholic schools should recognize this day and
fall in line with the public schools that already
view MLK Day as a holiday.
Catholic schools that do not give students
MLK Day off certainly aren't racist. I can clearly
remember being taught about Martin Luther
King Jr. and the important role he played in the
civil rights movement. I remember doing activi-
ties in elementary school to celebrate MLK Day
in class. Obviously Catholic schools recognize
this important man inother ways. But since pri-
vate Catholic schools have the power to make
their own schedules, they should elect not to
have school on Martin Luther King Jr. Day - not
just so kids don't have to go to school that day,
but as a sign of respect and acceptance of Afri-
can American students across the nation.
Ashley Griesshammer is a
senior editorial page editor.

Test drive your class

t the start of every semester at
the University, students enjoy
he great tradition of syllabus
week. The time is marked by short-
ened lectures, can-
celled discussion
sections and the
only time outside of
exams that almost
every student will
attend class. While
this process is a
decent way to start
the semester, the
three weeks fol- JEFF
lowing syllabus WOJCIK
week should be
quite the opposite.
Currently, I'm
taking two different courses, either of
which will complete my distribution
requirements and allow me to gradu-
ate in April. One is a natural science
course about the environment, and
the other is a philosophy class about
symbolic analysis. While both cours-
es are interesting, taught well and
will help me in life after I leave the
University, I'm not sure which course
to take because I cannot tell how I'll
do on the exams and papers. The good
news is that both have assignments
due this week that I can use to gauge
how I'll fare during finals, and I can
use the drop/add period to evaluate
the course work that will ultimately
evaluate me. Unfortunately, many
courses don't provide similar feed-
back to students to determine their
ability to succeed.
The drop/add deadline at the Uni-
versity is 20 days after the first day
of classes. This deadline is designed
to afford students a period of time to
better understand the content of their
courses, determine their ability to
interact with the professor and assess
how much they'll likely learn. Dur-
ing this time, students-should receive

some feedback about their ability to
perform throughout the semester.
Instructors can accomplish .this with
small - even non-graded - assign-
ments that students can complete in
the first three weeks of the semester.
These assignments could be respons-
es to prompts that might appear on a
midterm, math problemsets, or abbre-
viated versions of larger assignments.
These tasks should only take a small
portion of students' time, but provide
at least some basic ideaof how the stu-
dent will perform in the class.
I'm not suggesting that students
should be allowed to game the system
by taking only courses in which they
will find success. However, I think
students should be given a solid idea
and expectation of what is neces-
sary for them to perform well in each
course they take. This is good for stu-
dents because they will have a real-
istic understanding of their capacity
to succeed in the course, and - ide-
ally - more courses will evaluate stu-
dents on more than just a few exams
or papers.
There are a few ways to increase
the amount of relevant feedback stu-
dents receive in time to impact their
decision to select courses. First, the
College of Literature, Science and the
Arts must take action to ensure that
all new courses provide students with
some grade or other feedback early in
the class. The LSA Curriculum Com-
mittee - the body that recommends
which courses should be offered in
future semesters - should have a
policy to only approve courses which
include basic assignments in the first
few weeks that are included on the
course syllabus. This policy doesn't
need to be a specific requirement for
course approval, but those who serve
on the committee should only recom-
mend courses that include work for
students to complete within the first

20 days.
Beyond LSA making an effort to
welcome new courses that provide
students with timely and relevant
feedback, students should recognize
instructors who help them determine
if courses are a good fit. LSA Student
Government should provide awards
and recognition for instructors who
provide feedback to students to use in
making course selections. In recog-
nizing instructors who serve students
in this way, their methods should be a
resource for instructors in all depart-
ments. This resource will list the
leading practices in LSA for providing
graded and non-graded work to stu-
dents within the drop/add period.
Some instructors use the first
Students need an
idea of the best
classes to take.


SEND LETTERS TO: TOTHEDAILY@MICHIGANDAILY.COM

Blaming teachers andschools
is not the right answer

According to
ultimate goal is
lege and a subse
a focus on test-t
ducive to such

TO THE DAILY: 01/17/2011). We
The challenge present within public schools Schools that foc
across the country is not one that is limited to only concerned
assessment. Sure, the old "teaching to the test" top-paying jobs.
argument is valid because students do become If schools wa
incentivized to only learn the material in order to funding, and th
score highly on the exam. Howeveruntil our fed- nities to their s
eral government implements a policy that does to emphasize tl
not award schools with funding based off of posi- college requires
tive test scores, students' learning will always be ing - a skill th:
in conjunction with test-taking strategies. ing. Schools nee
Schools have little, motivation to implement students for exa
creative and diverse, assessments in the class- help students en
room because our current system benefits those so quick to blam
that master the standardize test. Holistic assess- inequalities in e
ments do have many positive benefits for learning rather the policy
inside the classroom, but all ofthesebenefits will
never surface without a mindset shift within our Steve Benson
federalgovernment. LSA senior

Erik Torenberg, "If a school's
to get its students into a top col-
equent high-paying job, then yes,
aking andtest preparation is con-
a goal" (Where's the finish line?,
ll actually Erik, you're wrong.
us on test-taking strategies aren't
about gettingtheir students into
nt to continue to receive federal
erefore provide endless opportu-
tudents, they have no choice but
lhe importance of tests. Besides,
a vast amount of critical think-
at isn't learned through test tak-
ed to do a lot more than prepare
minations if their main goal is to
nter college. So we need to not be
e the schools and teachers for the
ducation across the country, but
y makers thathave the final say.

three weeks as to review old con-
cepts and establish guidelines. This
time shouldn't be employed just
to review how students earn their
grades. Instead, the time should be
used to help students verify they can
be successful given the format and
requirements of the course. Students
know their academic strengths and
weaknesses and should usethe period
beforethe drop/add deadline to deter-
mine if courses fit their capabilities.
LSA must help and require instruc-
tors provide feedback in time for stu-
dents to add or drop their courses.
-Jeff Wojcik is an academic
relations officer for LSA-SG. He can
be reached at jawojcik@umich.edu.

.0


EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS:
Aida Ali, Will Butler, Eaghan Davis, Michelle DeWitt, Ashley Griesshammer,
Erika Mayer, Harsha Nahata, Emily Orley, Harsha Panduranga,
Teddy Papes, Roger Sauerhaft, Seth Soderborg, Andrew Weiner

t