4A - Thursday, March 17, 2011

The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com A

4A - Thursday, March 17, 2011 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily. corn *

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

DANIEL GOLD E-MAIL DANIEL AT l)WGOLD@UMICH.EDU
What do you call the day when you wear green,
drink until you puke and act like a moron?
Saint Patrick's Every day!
Day!
Dfiorn r
Deficit of information

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.
Practical parameters
'U' needs to implement trespass policy changes
The University took steps last Friday to alter what is a
well-intentioned - if overzealous - trespass policy. As it
stands, the policy gives campus police too much authority
and is in need of revision. Most of the changes that the University
plans to implement to modify the trespass policy would be benefi-
cial and should be considered to ensure the reasonable safety of

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the campus community.
After the University banned former Mich-
igan assistant attorney general Andrew
Shirvell from campus, the American Civil Lib-
erties Union of Michigan brought longstand-
ing concerns with the policy to the fore by
sending a letter to University President Mary
Sue Coleman and University Department of
Public Safety Executive Director Ken Magee.
In response to the letter, Suellyn Scarnecchia,
the vice president and general counsel of the
University, proposed a plan to alter the tres-
pass policy. The plan decreases the wide scope
of the current rules and adjusts the regula-
tions to a more appropriate level. According
to a March 13 Michigan Daily article, when
individuals refuse to adhere to the University
rules, their violation provides grounds for a
trespass warning to be issued. Rather than
maintaining this sweeping clause, Scarnec-
chia wants to, and should, change the policy
so that individuals can only be issued a warn-
ing when they break rules that "protect the
health, safety and welfare of the University's
community members and property."
Scarnecchia also wants the University to
have more oversight when a trespass warn-
ing has been issued. For example, DPS officers
would inform their supervisors of trespass
warnings they have issued. It's alarming that
any DPS officer is capable of banning a person
from campus, and it would be imprudent to
implement a new policy without stripping this
power from DPS officers.
There needs to be an improved appeals
and review process, which the DPS Oversight

Committee - composed of students, faculty
and staff - could manage. Scarnecchia wants
to expedite the appeal review process so that
all appeals will be decided within 40 days of
their filing. Appeals shouldn't take this long to
review, but this is a reasonable time limit for
more complex matters.
There's currently no time limit on trespass
warnings, and 2,000 individuals have been
banned from University's campus over the
past decade. The new policy would include
the option to institute time limits on bans if
applicable to the circumstances. This is an
important change: Automatic lifelong bans are
far too drastic for minor infractions. Even if
there's no time limit on a ban, there should at
least be a set date when a review should take
place, as all orders should be reviewed from
after the incident to make sure they are still
warranted.
In addition to tightening the parameters
for trespass violations, Scarnecchia wants
to change the policy so that bans apply to all
three University campuses. While this may
be necessary in some cases, a mandatory ban
on all campuses is excessive. It's important
that the new policy allows this option, but it
shouldn't be the standard.
Most of Scarnecchia's proposals include
changes the University's trespass policy needs
to undergo. The parameters should be practi-
cal and reflective of the individual's offense.
It's important that the University continues to
acknowledge the flaws in its policy and makes
the appropriate revisions.

ichigan Daily columns
can't surpass 750 words.
Because of this require-
ment, I typically
have to over-gen-
eralize certain
aspects of my
opinion in order
to avoid detract-
ing from the
column's central
focus. There sim-
ply isn't enough JEREMY
space to include LEVY
all the back-
ground informa-
tion that informs my opinion, and
sometimes, the lack of space can
even provide a useful opportunity to
whitewash over areas in which I'm
less knowledgeable.
Such is the nature of any short
paper, television interview, public
speech or lecture, and I am telling
you this because my own need to
manage a small writing space has
made me more aware of the ways
that professional writers have to
employ the same strategies. It's a
given societal virtue that to be con-
sidered an informed person, you
have to read the news. But there
seems to be less attention given to
how people read the news, and as
college students learning to think
critically, it's important for us to
think about the ways that authors
convey information in order to make
their arguments.
-Which brings me to Paul Krug-
man. Krugman is a Nobel Prize
winning economist who teaches at
Princeton University, has written
many books and writes columns in
The New York Times twice a week.
He often seems to be the most prom-
inent advocate of liberal economics.
He's obviously a smart man, and I
find his columns very informative.

But his word is too often treated as
gospel, and I think we can all pay
more attention to what he chooses to
include and not include in his 800-
word space.
After following Krugman's col-
umns semi-regularly, I've struggled
trying to figure out why he seemed
to be one of few public voices that
didn't express concern over the fed-
eral deficit. Column after column,
he argued that current economic
recovery was slow, and the debt
wasn't nearly as worrisome as the
prospect of sinking back into reces-
sion. This is exactly what happened
prior to World War II, he argues in
his book "Deficit Economics," when
then-President Franklin Roosevelt
tried to balance the budget once the
economy showed signs of recovery.
The argument is certainly rea-
sonable. But how do you reconcile it
with sources elsewhere predicting
an iminent currency crisis analo-
gous to what happened in Greece
this past summer?
Part of the answer lies in the fact
that the most vocal trumpeters of
anti-deficit rhetoric are election-
oriented politicians. It often feels
like the majority of space in the aver-
age Krugman column tracks the
exploits of such politicians, blames
both parties with the caveat that
the Republicans are worse and the
economic analysis slips through the
crack But is that all there is to the
conersation? Is there no legitimate
fear'b ift thfiecurrent deficit?
For Krtiugman, the answer in terms
of the short-term deficit is, actually,
no. But the concrete answer as to why
is hard to pinpoint. Take for example
a recent column, "Dumbing Deficits
Down," in which the entire explana-
tion regarding short-term deficits
was a few sentences: "The nation is
not, in fact,'broke.' The federal gov-

ernment is having no trouble raising
money, and the price of that money
- the interest rate on federal bor-
rowing - is very low by historical
standards." As a non-economist, I'm
inclined to ask, what makes interest
rates the standard for determining
whether ashort-termdeficitis aprob-
lem? Unfortunately, further explana-
tion would take up too much space.
Students should
be critical of what
isn't written.
I'm not saying that Krugman isn't
a brilliant professor who passionate-
ly believes what he's arguing. I just
think it's too easy to fall into a trap
of thinking, "I don't understand the
economics, but the political analysis
is astute. He won a Nobel Prize, and
he hates Republicans. Sounds good."
Admittedly, I'm coming before
you in this piece not as a confident
columnist, but as a confused student.
I simply hope that by taking you
through my thought process, we can
start a broader conversation, not on
my economic ignorance - since I'm
sure the average reader isn't much
better - but on how we analyze
persuasive pieces. We shouldn't let
slide analysis we don't"understand,
and we need to not only be critical of
what's written, but also what's omit-
ted. There's probably no better time
than now to think about how authors
choose to use their 700 to 800-word
space. We are students, after all.
-Jeremy Levy can be reached
at jeremlev@umich.edu.

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EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS:
Aida Ali, Will Butler, Ellie Chessen, Michelle DeWitt, Ashley Griesshammer,
Melanie Kruvelis, Patrick Maillet, Erika Mayer, Harsha Nahata, Emily Orley,
Harsha Panduranga, Teddy Papes, Asa Smith, Seth Soderborg, Andrew Weiner
ASHLEY GREISSHAMMER I
Invest in undergrads

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. We do not print anonymous
letters. Send letters to tothedaily@michigandaily.com
NICOLE MILLER AND BRIAN KOZIARA |
Remain respectful of Rick

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This page has been filled recently with
viewpoints and columns discussing the future
of Detroit, Ann Arbor's neighboring big city.
Detroit is no stranger to the aftermath of the
recent financial crisis. Cities across the nation
felt the impact as the economy slid further
and further into disrepair. The financial crisis
we have been in since 2007 is finally starting
to turn around, and the economy will slowly
rebuild itself. But what is the best way to
prevent something like this from happening
again? It's not more regulation on banks from
the government - financial institutions will
always find ways to get around these laws.
It's education of our citizens that will prevent
people from being taken advantage of and will
hopefully increase everyone's financial health.
Since I have been at the University, I've
become involved with a finance and invest-
ing club that focuses on just that. Michigan
Interactive Investments is the most promi-
nent student-run investment club at the Ross
School of Business. The 2010-2011 school year
marks the 13th year of MII as a student-run
investment club. The club focuses on educat-
ing its members on a variety of topics, includ-
ing stocks, bonds, derivatives and alternative
investments. Each meeting includes an edu-
cation component taught by an experienced
member as well as an investment pitch, and
additional weekend workshops are set up
for members to attend. Every year, the club
builds a portfolio of investments in order to
educate members through active real world
investing. Members are assigned to a group
of five or six students, and these groups select
and research stocks that will be held in the
club's portfolio.
In 2009, MII decided to expand its invest-
ment education goal to colleges and universi-
ties across the country. That March, they held
their first Undergraduate Investment Confer-
ence with the intention of showcasing under-
graduate students' investment skills as well

as giving them an opportunity to learn from
industry professionals. In its inaugural year,
the UIC brought in students from 17 top uni-
versities to take part in panel discussions and
investment presentations. At the core of UIC is
the Stock Pitch Competition. Each participat-
ing schoolforms a team of two to four students,
who then research and pitch a stock to a panel
of industry judges. Students gain real world
experience and get a feel for what it would be
like to do the same sort of research and work
within the financial services industry.
Participants are also given the opportunity
to hear leading industry experts talk about
their experiences. Past keynote speakers have
included Michael Gelband of Millennium
Management and David Richter, managing
director of Investments for Grosvenor Capital
Management. In past years, Forbes magazine
and Morningstar have published media cover-
age of the UIC.
Based on past success, the 2011 UIC has
expanded participation to 24 schools, includ-
ing the Wharton School at the University of
Pennsylvania, University of California Berke-
ley and Cornell University. A keynote speech
will be delivered by Marc Lasry of Avenue
Capital Group at 5 p.m. on Friday, March 18.
The final round of the competition will fea-
ture the four teams who will compete for the
$3,000 grand prize on Saturday, March 19 at 3
p.m. Both events will be held in Blau Audito-
rium of the Ross School of Business.
In a time when financial health is more
important than ever, MiI is trying to educate
not only its own members, but students from
universities across the nation. All students
from any major at the University are welcome
to attend, as well as faculty staff members and
Ann Arbor residents. For more information,
please go to www.miiuic.org.
Ashley Griesshammer is a
senior editorial page editor.

Who would have thought that agovernor elected with
such a mandate to revitalize our state and keep young
people in Michigan would become a focal point for stu-
dent anger when he was named the University's Spring
2011 Commencement speaker earlier this week? Why
would students be so upset at the idea of such a promi-
nent and successful University alum coming to address
our graduating seniors? We believe that such anger at
the simple decision to invite the governor of Michigan
to commencement is uncalled for and unbecoming of an
open-minded University where differing thoughts and
viewpoints can be expressed and exchanged freely.
Many of those who are unhappy with the pick oppose
Republican Gov. Rick Snyder's selection on the basis
that Snyder has proposed cutting state funding to our
own University. But this is truly nothing new. The Uni-
versity's website explains that higher education fund-
ing has been cut by every administration since the
1960s. Over the last nine years - Democratic Gov. len-
nifer Granholm's two terms as governor - state fund-
ing declined by 13 percent. Snyder's proposed cut of 15
percent is comparable and fair given the current fiscal
realities that our state is facing. Some hold the addition-
al misconception that the state money the University
receives sustains it and constitutes a source of funding
we couldn't survive without. But in reality, Snyder's pro-
posed cut of 15 percent in current state funding to the
University is much smaller than it sounds. Because state
support makes up only 20 percent of the University's
general fund - and the general fund makes up just 27.8
percent of the University's total budget - in reality, the
proposed cut is less than 1 percent (0.834 percent to be
exact) of the University's overall budget. Our University
has done well and can continue to flourish without rely-
ing on this state funding. This cut can be managed. And
it will have to be.
Anyone who is willing to take an honest look at our
state's budget will see that Michigan simply cannot
continue spending at the current levels. The politically
expedient path taken by Snyder's predecessor was to
back down from tough spending cuts for fear of losing
political support. Snyder inherited a real structural
deficit that cannot be repaired without far-reaching

structural changes. Luckily for us, he has risen to the
challenge of proposing long-term solutions and has the
courage to move forward, even with the knowledge that
his ideas will make him no friends. People can complain
all they want, but we have already seen that the alterna-
tive - taxing the same, shrinking tax base and driving
real jobs away from our state - hasn't worked.
What's more, invitingnewly elected governors - both
Republicans and Democrats alike - to address gradu-
ates at commencement is a longstanding University
tradition, going all the way back to Republican Gov. Wil-
liam Milliken in the 1980s. Those who wish to protest
the decision would be well served to place personal poli-
tics aside, as many conservatives on campus did last year
with President Barack Obama as the commencement
speaker. Where was all the hype and hysteria then?
In spite of some students' irresponsible and immature
protest over petty political differences with Snyder, it's
highly unlikely that the University's Board of Regents
will make any decision other than to approve Snyder
as speaker at their meeting today. He is our governor,
whether the students at the University like it or not, and
has taken on the task of making hard choices to protect
our state's financial and economic future. He should be
applauded for having the guts to make such unpopular
but necessary decisions. Snyder doesn't deserve to be
maligned or ridiculed on Facebook with crudely pho-
toshopped red X's through his face. Such petty and
degrading behavior from University students shows a
lack of class and a lack of respect for an alum holding
three degrees from the University - a loyal alum who
is seen courtside at basketball games, who is a resident
of Ann Arbor and who has sacrificed opportunities in
the private sector to serve us as governor. Whether you
agree with his policies or not, Snyder has shown true
leadership and achieved success both in politics and in
the private sector. Let's not harangue him for that suc-
cess, but instead recognize it, respect it and celebrate it
this spring at commencement.

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Nicole Miller and Brian Koziara are the vice
chairs of the University's chapter of College
Republicans. They are LSA sophomores.

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