4 - Tuesday, March 15, 2011

The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.cam

4 - Tuesday, March 15, 2011 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom

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STEPHANIE STEINBERG
EDITOR IN CHIEF

MICHELLE DEWITT
and EMILY ORLEY
EDITORIAL PAGE EDITORS

KYLE SWANSON
MANAGING EDITOR

Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily's editorial board.
All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors.
The Rick choi ce
Snyder will be good, but he wasn't the best pick
t was going to be hard to find a commencement speak-
er to follow the president of the United States. Regard-
less of personal political views, having President Barack
Obama address the University's graduating class last spring
was a special honor. But since University President Mary Sue
Coleman couldn't bring the leader of the nation back to the
Big House, it's no surprise that she would ask the leader of the
state: newly inaugurated Republican Gov. Rick Snyder.

Don't pass over the patient

In her eight years at the University, Cole-
man has often invited major political fig-
ures to speak at commencement, including
Obama, former Democratic Gov. Jennifer
Granholm and former President Bill Clinton
in 2007. As the chief executive of the state,
Snyder is an obvious choice to help usher the
class of 2011 into life after college. He will
speak from a unique perspective as both a
businessman and a politician. But he will also
speak as someone who once sat where the
class of 2011 will be sitting, since he's an alum
who received his Bachelor in General Studies,
Masters of Business Administration and Juris
Doctorate from the University.
But what makes Snyder unique is that he
is a different kind of politician. Unlike most
elected officials, he went straight from his
CEO position at venture capital firm Ardesta,
LLC to Lansing. Instead of spending years
on the campaign trail delivering persuasive
speeches, Snyder promptly made the deci-
sion to run and was elected in one year. So it
wouldn't be surprising if instead of delivering
a typical political speech, Snyder spoke in a
more business-oriented tone.
It will probably be a good speech. Snyder
co-founded and ran a venture capital firm and
became the state's governor with virtually no
political experience. Clearly, Snyder knows
how to command all types of environments,

and will be able to utilize those skills when he
enters the Big House on April 30.
However, the irony of this commencement
speaker decision cannot be overlooked. Sny-
der has frequently discussed the importance
of education for the state's future. But when
it came time to allocate funding in the budget
he announced on Feb. 17, that message gotlost
in the translation, as his proposal included a
15 percent cut to higher education funding.
It's difficult to appreciate a commencement
speaker who wants to reduce funding for
the state's public universities by such a large
amount. While Snyder most likely won't focus
on that unfortunate reality for University stu-
dents, it will undoubtedly be on the minds of
non-graduates at the ceremony. How can Sny-
der motivate the class of 2011 when the class
of 2015 will enter the University with likely
raised tuition costs and potentially fewer
resources because of his budget?
Thus far, a lot of responses to the com-
mencement speaker announcement have
been less than enthusiastic. Many stu-
dents are upset about Snyder being invited.
There are four Facebook groups protesting
the decision. There is also a UPetition ask-
ing the University to reconsider Snyder for
commencement speaker that had more than
2,800 signatures as of midnight last night.
And it's difficult to blame them.

You're no longer likely to find
a couch in your psychiatrist's
office. That's because there's
no need for it
anymore. Most
psychiatrists no
longer provide
talk therapy. A
government sur-
vey from 2005
suggests that
only 11 percent
of psychiatrists MARY
actually provide DEMERY
the service, and
that number has
surely dwindled since.
That's not to say that psychia-
trists are no longer providing ser-
vices. After an initial 45-minute
evaluation, most psychiatrists will
prescribe medication and send the
patient on his way. In a few months,
the patient will come back in for a
15-minute check-up. Though by that
time, the psychiatrist will often have
forgotten the patient's symptoms
or even his name. Psychiatrists still
work with the mind, but now they
transfer that work to medicine.
Ironically, these shifts in psychiatry
direct the attention away from the
patient, the person who is supposed
to be of the utmost importance in
this practice.
The reasons for this are myriad
but are largely related to insurance.
Most insurance companies simply
will not pay the fees psychiatrists
were long accustomed to charging.
As a result, psychiatrists - many
still paying off student loans - had
to find other ways to make a profit.
They turned to an approach that
yields a high number of patients
and also relies on writing medica-
tions. Though this isn't what many
psychiatrists had in mind when they
entered the field, for the most part,
their business is no longer a deeply
personal one.
The key here is money. Psychia-

trists had to tweak their practice in
order to stay financially viable. In
effect, they chose profit over patient.
This is not to label all psychiatrists
as greedy or callous - the amount of
education they must pursue in order
to become doctors shows a level of
dedication that prohibits such dis-
missive labeling. But it's important
to note that psychiatry is no longer
a business interested in forming
relationships. Due to large patient
volume, psychiatrists often have
to remind their patients that they
aren't their therapists.
While it's true that psychiatry -
like any medicine, is abusiness - it's
also a field that deals with a very
personal and potentially powerful
organ: the mind. As such, the impor-
tance of profitability over patient
care seems especially sinister.
And this response ignores the
most important part ofthe process -
the patient. After all, when a patient
visits a psychiatrist's office, he's
often in some sortofserious distress.
Maybe it's depression or anxiety.
Maybe he's lonely. It often takes a
long time for such a state to develop.
Take depression, for instance. You
don't become depressed overnight.
It's an illness that takes a long time
to develop. The converse is true,
too: Depression doesn't disappear
overnight. Prescribing medications
without any long-term follow-up is
evading the real problem. In a psy-
chologist's office, on the other hand,
without the crux medicine often
provides, patients are forced to actu-
ally work out their issues.
But how does the patient feel
about this? The question can't be
answered without considering
another one: What does the patient
hope to get from psychiatry? Hap-
piness? The ability to thrive once
more? Or does the patient simply
hope to function again? As it stands,
psychiatry seems to answer the
last question. And this seems like a

pretty low expectation, especially
when you consider just how pow-
erful medication can be - in some
cases, it can create imbalance, side
effects or dependency (though for
many, the medications do succeed in
pulling the patient's mind back to a
functioning, healthy level). Psychia-
trists often attempt to direct their
patientsto therapyvia a psychologist
or therapist, but few patients follow
through. The drugs are a quick fix,
and many patients would rather not
spend the additional money on see-
ing a psychologist or therapist.
Psychiatrists are
choosing profits
over patients.
This shift in psychiatry asks for
a tremendous amount of trust from
patients without much account-
ability on the psychiatrist's side.
Because psychiatrists are burdened
with such a high number of patients,
it's hard for them to remember
names, let alone symptoms or life
stories. Though psychiatrists maybe
important figures in many patients'
lives, that relationship can no longer
transfer to the psychiatrist. It's hard
to build a relationship with someone
you only see once every few months
for 15-minute intervals. Multiply
that by a thousand people and you'll
see what sort of odds the. psychia-
trist is working with.
-In directing their patients toward
medication, psychiatristsgive up any
personal stake in the patient's well-
being. If the medicationworks, that's
great. But if it doesn't, it certainly
won't devastate the psychiatrist.
-Mary Demery can be reached
at mdemery@umich.edu.

EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS:
Aida Ali, Will Butler, Ellie Chessen, Michelle DeWitt, Ashley Griesshammer,
Melanie Kruvelis, Patrick Maillet, Erika Mayer, Harsha Nahata, Emily Orley,
Harsha Ponduranga, Teddy Papes, Asa Smith, Seth Soderborg, Andrew Weiner
T ERS T H 'jE EDITOR SEND LETTERS TO: TOTHEDAILY@MICHIGANDAILY.COM
SNYDER AS COMMENCEMENT SPEAKER

Concentrate on the future

FOR: Snyder is a good choice
for Spring Commencement

entire constituency,
he is takingsteps toj
Aside from being
Snyder is also a dis

TO THE DAILY: school, who exemi
I'm a senior in the College of Engineering that I admire in tb
who will be graduating on April 30. I fully sity. If he had beer
support the decision to invite Republican Gov. paign and election
Rick Snyder to speak at Spring Commence- student body woul
ment. The University traditionally invites the former president o
new governor to speak at commencement, ture capital fund fo
and failing to follow through with this tradi- looking forward to
tion would bring politics into an event that is how young Michiga
meant to honor graduates who have worked impact both on the
hard throughout their careers here at the Uni- nation as a whole.
versity. There is no doubt that the governor
has some hard decisions to make regarding Anne Winter
the budget which will not be acceptable to the Engineering senior

but I'm pleased to see that
revive our state's economy.
the governor of the state,
stinguished alumni of the
plifies many of the traits
he alumni of this Univer-
n invited before his cam-
as governor, I believe the
d be honored to have the
f Gateway and local ven-
under as the speaker. I'm
Snyder's perspective on
an graduates can make an
state of Michigan and the

B y the end of sophomore
year, LSA expects all under-
graduates to declare a con-
centration. This
declaration is
a major step
toward complet-
ing the academic
component of
your experiencey
at the University
and will shape
your time as JEFF
an upperclass- WOJCIK
man. This defi-

i


AGAINSTRegentsshouldn't
approve Snyderfor speaker

alma mater.
Inviting Snyder
ment address taci
the University's bu
versity donations,

TO THE DAILY: him an honoraryc
It saddens me to see University President dents' wishes, the
Mary Sue Coleman's announcement that our governor that m
Republican Gov. Rick Snyder will deliver an threatens the very,
addr2,s at Spring Commencement, especially discourages succes
given Snyder's recent policy initiatives that Hope isn't lost,
jeopardize the University's future. The cut of to Snyder's budget
$100 million to the University's budget might University's Boardc
seem acceptable in a time of fiscal crisis, but invitation to speak
consider that the budget for the Michigan We shouldn't hono
Department of Corrections will now dwarf the decreases access to
higher education budget - spending $0.79 on incarceration. RatE
education for every $1 spent on corrections. sage of concern to
Further, Snyder wishes to eliminate person- we're discouraged
al tax deductions for those wishing to donate Michigan's future.
to public universities; those making more than
$75,000 ($150,000 per couple) would no longer William Rogers
be able to make deductions for supporting their Nursingfreshman

to deliver the commence-
tly endorses his gutting of
dget and his threats to Uni-
all while bestowing upon
degree. Irrespective of stu-
University will convey to
we support his plan, one that
fabric of our University and
sful alumni from donating.
though. Students opposed
t ",x" should pressure the
of Regents to reject Snyder's
at Spring Commencement.
ir someone whose proposal
education while privileging
her, we should send a mes-
the governor, noting that
by his plans that threaten

nition of your
education is extremely important,
and those of us who have already
declared know how powerful and
important our departmental affilia-
tion can be. I would encourage stu-
dents who enjoy their departments
and wish to recognize the faculty
and staff who have made their aca-
demic experience so great to nomi-
nate their departments for the LSA
Departmental Award of Excellence
by going to http://goo.gl/OoNJJ by
Sunday, March 20 and completing a
short survey.
For those of you who have not
declared, the LSA Concentration
Fair is tomorrow, Wednesday, March
16 and is the perfect venue to learn all
about your future major or minor. As
I have mentioned in a previous col-
umn, U.S. News and World Report
stated that for 2010, 67 LSA depart-
ments are in the top 10, and nine
school departments ranked number
one in the country, but it's up to you
to find which top-ranked program
works for you. Believe it or not, there
is more to choosing your concentra-
tion than just focusing on your aca-
demic interests. Departments can
serve you as communities, as career
connectors and in other capacities.
Different departments have differ-
ent strengths and weaknesses, and
consequently, you should speak with
people from each concentration you
are considering to determine if their
resources and focus fit with your

expectations. There are several ques-
tions you might consider asking when
approaching department representa-
tives at the LSA Concentration Fair.
Some departments feature com-
mittees and student clubs, which
allow concentrators to become more
integrated with the curriculum and
events that occur each semester.
Departments that provide students
with opportunities to reflect and
engage with the direction of the
courses and class work are great
starting points for enriching the col-
lege experience. Many students who
serve on advisory boards, curricu-
lum committees and event planning
bodies report a better experience in
their department. The more you can
give to your department, the more
you will get out of your time with
professors and fellow concentrators
in your department, both in and out-
side the classroom.
Different departments handle
advising in different ways, and
before you declare, you should speak
with advisers. Many departments
have staff specifically responsible for
guiding you through your time with
the concentration, who canbe excel-
lent people to speak with about core
requirements and career opportu-
nities. Some units in LSA have peer
advisers. Serving as a peer adviser
can be an excellent job opportunity
and way to give back to your concen-
tration, but alsohelp you understand
your concentration experience in
the context of your larger LSA and
University experience. Departments
that invest resources in advising are
great sources for personal develop-
ment throughout your time as an
undergraduate.
You should also inquire about
research opportunities in your
department. Not only can research
be a great way to delve deeper into
topics you are academically inter-
ested in, but it can also be a source
of community and work experience.
Concentrations that feature agreater
number of research projects demon-

strate a clear commitment to under-
graduate involvement in advancing
the field.
In addition to reflecting on these
topics, you can go online to LSA's
website to get more information
about each concentration. I encour-
age you to go to each department's
website if you are interested in
learning more about your poten-
tial concentration(s). Again, getting
information from the Concentration
Fair and websites is important, butbe
sure to talk with the key stewards of
your department to get the best per-
spective about what your time with
the department will be like.
Find your
department at
the LSA fair.
Some departments spend incred-
ible time and energy bringing
concentrators together outside of
the classroom. In selecting your
concentration(s),lookbeyond the ele-
mentary questions about your ability
to take your knowledge and turn it
into a job. LSA is about more than
preparing for the "real world," it's
about getting a well-rounded experi-
ence that will help you in all aspects
of life. For more information about
concentrations, and how to select
the correct one(s) for you, come to
the LSA Concentration Fair anytime
from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Wednesday
on the second floor of the Michigan
League. For a more complete list of
questions and topics to discuss with
department representatives, visit
lsasg.umich.edu.
-Jeff Wojcik is the LSA-SG
Academic Relations Officer. He can
be reached at jawojcik@umich.edu.

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