4A - Wednesday, March 30, 2011
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
4A - Wednesday, March 30, 2011 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom
che Mihigan B4atilp
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STEPHANIE STEINBERG
EDITOR IN CHIEF
MICHELLE DEWITT
and EMILY ORLEY
EDITORIAL PAGE EDITORS
I refused to wait for the images of slaughter and
mass graves before taking action."
- President Barack Obama commenting on United States involvement
in Libya, as reported by The New York Times on Monday.
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.
Rein i administrator pay
Public universities must keep spending realistic
t's no secret that Michigan has been facing serious economic
hardships lately and the University is no exception. With all the
changes that have been implemented to stabilize a struggling
state economy, Michigan has made many budget cuts, and higher edu-
cation is unfortunately one of them. But spending on administrator
positions at universities throughout the state has somehow escaped
the budget cuts. And with more and more students being priced out
of education because of less state funding and rising tuition rates, it
doesn't seem appropriate that the salaries of professors and adminis-
trative employees continue to climb so drastically. While it's impor-
tant to attract the best people with competitive salaries and account
for increased enrollment, it's also a priority to keep spending realistic.
Public universities need to cut back on their employee compensation
increases to help alleviate tuition costs for students.
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Doing Birthright right
According to a March 27 Detroit Free Press
article, in the last five years spending on uni-
versity administrators has gone up almost 30
percent, and faculty compensation has risen
22 percent among the state's 15 public uni-
versities. The University has had a 27 percent
increase in spending, which includes new
hires as well as salary increases. Grand Val-
ley State University has increased spending
on administrators by 48 percent and Michigan
State University has increased its administra-
tive spending 41 percent. Amid claims of cut-
ting expenses and more frugal measures from
Michigan's public universities, this is a glaring
incongruity. Tuition continues to rise every
year, and when families are facing salary cut-
backs and losing jobs, it's going to be very dif-
ficult for themto digest the salary increases of
university employees.
University President Mary Sue Coleman
states in the Free Press article that the Uni-
versity needs the best employees to stay
competitive, yet administrative salaries are
increasing much more than faculty salaries
throughout the state. The backbone of any
university is the faculty. They're the people
who are directly responsible for a student's
education, and yet they're receiving less com-
pensation increases than administrators.
There is a clear lack of balance between what
it takes to recruit talented administrators
versus talented faculty.
With more budget cuts to come, the Univer-
sity has to be prepared for decreased funding
from the state. Even small cuts in financial
aid would be devastating to many students.
Compensation and tuition increases cannot
continue at the same pace without students
facing serious roadblocks to their education.
Reduced funding is the reality the University
is facing, and the compensation spending must
be reined in before the costs outmatch student
capacities to pay.
Obviously higher enrollments at universi-
ties require more administrators and faculty
members, but to keep education affordable
and accessible, the administration and teach-
ers at Michigan universities must share the
current economic burden with their students.
The future is going to be tough for Michigan
and the nation as a whole, and there needs to
be more awareness of this on the University's
part to avoid pricing Michigan's students out
of education.
ong Island, what the
fuck?" Had the video
emerged on the Inter-
net at the time,
that scene from
"Pursuit of Jap-
piness" - a video
produced by Uni-
versity students
that went viral
on the Internet
this semester
- would have ERIK
popped into TORENBERG
my mind at a
moment when I
couldn'timagine anything else at Yad
Vashem, Israel's Holocaust museum.
The reminder of self-aware hedo-
nism would have elicited a chuckle
when I was experiencing an inability
to empathize with my grandfather's
experiences. Not a chuckle symbol-
izing genuine laughter, but cynicism
as I compared the opportunities of
my grandfather's generation to mine.
Had I left the exhibit and boarded
that Birthright bus two years later,
I would have questioned: Are "Jap-
piness" and Jewishness mutually
exclusive? How much do I want to be
associated with either? Is it even fair
to make that dichotomy?
To realize something so raw and
humbling - that I'll never be able
to put myself in my grandfather's
shoes - and then to be on a bus
(unsuccessfully) living the lifestyle
that was portrayed in the video was
unsettling. That video brought my
Birthright trip back to life perhaps
because it wasn't really a parody.
That lifestyle seems so incongruent
with what I believe to be the Jewish
values I grew up with. I didn't share
my discomfort during the Birthright
circle discussions because it seemed
like the trip leaders wanted to hear
affirmations, not uncertainty. In the
future, I would tell others thatI loved
my Birthright experience, just not in
the way I was supposed to.
After Birthright finished, I stayed
in the country and visited family. I
told my cousin stories from college,
answering questions about nightlife
but qualifying that there is more to
college than what he's seen from
movies. He told me about his army
experience, recounting stories of
unimaginable training missions and
friends who lost limbs. Family mem-
bers offered (blunt) sentiments as
to what I should know about Israel.
With my cousin leading the way, I
experienced a less edited version of
the country my father grew up in.
They say a conversation with two
Israelis will lead to seven politi-
cal parties. Although I didn't know
much about the country's conflicts at
the time I was in Israel, I sure acted
as if I did, reiterating pocket argu-
ments I've heard from Israeli adults
all my life. In time, I would learn
about the White Papers, the rise of
the Palestine Liberation Organiza-
tion and the settlements. In doing so,
I realized that some young Israelis
- people undergoing rigorous army
training - knew little history or only
knew it from one side. Personally, the
more I learned aboutthe conflictthat
defines the everyday for some of my
family, the less I knew.When pressed
for a concrete opinion, I often said
some variation of "I don'tknow, man.
It's complex."
But I didn't experience ideologi-
cal diversity on Birthright. I partied
five nights and told others that I felt
"more Jewish." I didn't really feel
a genuine sense of belonging until
I explored Israel on my own terms.
But perhaps I'm expecting too much
from a free 10-day trip. Although I
believe the trip panders to spring
break getaway whims, I understand
that the organization's motives - to
connect American Jews with Israel
- are prudent. I'm grateful that it
exists. I just don't think the trip has
to be branded as a vacation in Cancun
with some spirituality.
When I go back to Israel, I'd like to
engage with people who have experi-
enced firsthand what we learn in our
history textbooks, as well as those
who have different perspectives on
those historical events. The end goal
of a trip like Birthright should be for
American Jews to have a multifacet-
ed understanding of the significance
of and complexityinherent in having
a Jewish nation. Participants should
have abetterunderstandingofIsraeli
culture and lifestyle and how certain
historical events have defined it.
They should also have an amazing
time in avariety of different settings.
Birthright gives ataste of all of these,
but it seems to focus on the latter.
My trip to
Israel could have I
meant more.
My cousin and I came up with a
generalized hypothesis to explain
some of the dissonance we noticed
between Americans and Israelis of
our generation: Israeli kids grew up
with the justified narrative that their
country was always under attack.
They serve their country out of duty,
as a measure of self-defense. Many
have responded to that narrative.
American kids grew up with the
narrative that life is short, post-col-
lege work life is boring and oppor-
tunities for experimenting at college
are limitless as well as numbered.
They've seen the movies;they've
seen their older brother's photos.
Their parents reminisce about care-
free college life, and they want to be
able to do the same. They, too, have
responded to their own narratives.
Erik Torenberg can be reached at
erikto@umich.edu.
-Erik Torenberg can be
reached at eriktogumich.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
ASA SMITH I
The price is not right
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NICHOLAS ZETTEL I
Care about apathy
In New York, as many of you know, there
is a certain political party that has one mes-
sage, and that message is encapsulated in the
party's name. The name of this party is "the
rent is too damn high" party. Its issue, as could
be perceived, is that the rent in New York is in
fact too damn high. The reason I bring this up
is I believe the Michigan Student Assembly
needs a new party to compete with Mforward.
This party will be called "The ticket prices are
too damn high" party.
I'm going to be honest right now. The real-
ity of the situation is that tickets to college
football games are not supposed to be cheap.
According to a March 24 Daily article, non-
students pay almost twice what we pay, we're
paying somethinglike 30 bucks a ticket, which
is really not that bad in the grand scheme of
things. Having said all that, I have some issues
with the University's Athletic Department
raising prices. The first is selfish, and the sec-
ond is more universal.
First things first - I'm broke. I'm a college
student. I'm not exactly depositing money in
a bank account every week, and the amount
of money that is lying around for extras like
watching Michigan play football (one of the
joys of a college experience) isn't exactly huge.
Our friends to the north in East Lansing pay
$10 per ticket. Other students in the Big Ten
are paying between five and 15 bucks. I'm not
goingto mention the fact that THE Ohio State
University's ticket prices are higher because it
both weakens my argument and involves men-
tioning Ohio State University...
I love football. I love the beauty of a pull-
ing guard, the wonder of a play action fake
that works just right, and the roar of the crowd
when sophomore quarterback Denard Robin-
son makes a linebacker look foolish. I also love
paying for the heat in my house and for tuition.
Overall, I'm going to restate the fact that I
believe prices are too damn high.
The second issue I have with the rise in
ticket prices comes from University Athletic
Department spokesman Dave Ablauf's inter-
view with The Michigan Daily. In an e-mail
interview, Ablauf wrote that even if some
people don't renew their tickets "the student
section as a whole will probably sell out" and
bragged that there is a "robust waiting list if
some decline to renew their season tickets."
I don't know about you, but I find these
comments very offensive. He is saying that
the Athletic Department doesn't care if you
can't stomach the thought of paying $240
for tickets, because someone else will, and
if it's not you watching the first night game
in Michigan Stadium history in the fall, it
doesn't matter because there will still be
more than 100,000 fans in the Big House. The
Athletic Department doesn't care if you're in
the seat because you love the game, just that
you're willing to pay more to sit there, and
that is the reason the season ticket prices are
too damn high.
Asa Smith is an LSA junior.
Michigan Daily columnist Jeremy Levy makes it
clear in a recent column (Don't compare 2011 to 1960
02/24/2011) that our generation should not attempt to
recreate the activism of 1960's because our problems
today are so drastically different. For this reason, Levy
believes that criticism of student apathy is unwarranted
and irrelevant. The problem is, there are still detrimen-
tal problems within every facet of our society. So where
does this apathy come from? How is it measured? The
choice by the majority of our generation not to vote is
hardly a qualifying factor indicative of our generation's
political apathy. Let us not forget that 2008 yielded the
highest youth voter turnout since 1972. Around two
years ago, it appeared as though our "generation" (give
or take a few years) was more motivated than ever. And
all for something as simple as "change," the harmonic
buzzword loaded with utopian undertones. Our voters
turn their backs on any political responsibility as soon
as they leave the voting booth. The fact that the 2010
midterm elections yielded a significantly lower num-
ber of voters under age 30 than the presidential election
underscores our youth's lazy assertion of political influ-
ence. It's disheartening to see so many youth get up in
arms for "change," while many only cared enough to try
and change the face of the man behind the curtain.
Activism is not solely a means of political expres-
sion or a symbol of bandwagon politics. Activism is a
crucial tool ingrained in our political system and is as
American as our right not to vote. The Boston Tea Party,
John Brown's rebellion, the March on Washington and
the Million Man March are just a few examples of red,
white and blue-blooded activism varying in extremity.
Though it may seem unjust to compare today's political
happenings with the American Revolution and the Civil
Rights Movement, America is not perfect, and we are in
dire need of improvement. What would any movement
matter if neither the standard of living nor quality of life
were improved and maintained afterward? We cannot
just give blacks the same rights as whites and expect our
issues of racism to diminish just as we cannot expect our
deficit and war issues to go away because we voted in a
Democrat two and a half years ago.
Furthermore, Levy claims that our political climate is
more stable than that of the 60s and thus does not neces-
sitate extreme activism. This is the mentality that breeds
apathy and inhibits understanding. Nobody should sit
idly by until some egregious event calls for immediate
action. Levy feels that the activism is glorified and over
simplified, and we should therefore not hold ourselves
to those standards. Though I agree our generation's lack
of concern and greater lack of action is undeserving of
the critical comparison it draws, I don't think anybody
ever thought it would be easyto make even the slightest
amount of change, and nobody today should expect any
different. The youth of the decade long gone shouldn't
be our only role models though. We see young people out
and about in Egypt and Wisconsin alike because they
feel they are being wronged. If we shouldn't compare
our student activism to that of the 60s, let's compare
our generational counterparts across the globe. People
who bemoan the 60s don't understand that those activ-
ists paved the way for LGBT, HIV/AIDS, feminist and
NAACP activists of the 80s and 90s, just to name a few.
Student apathy is not bemoaned because it doesn't live
up to the 60s; it is lamented because it doesn't live up to
its potential.
Levy also maintains that rallies like those seen in
Wisconsin "take place when most people involved have
something to lose." Aside from stating the obvious,
Levy is discrediting those unaffected, yet sympathetic
to the cause. Let's not forget or downplay the role the
white-middle class youth played in the activism of the
60s. People saw injustice all around them, and that moti-
vated them to protest, lobby, march and educate others
through art, music, literature and community. Many of
this day and age's disaffected youth are satisfied with
linking an article with some pictures to their status. Oth-
ers do take the time to stage protests, lobby and arrange
educational events, and then send out mass invites to
everybody within reach. Still, you'd be hard pressed to
wander into a University auditorium that has reached
full capacity. Although plenty are motivated, most are
apathetic, and that's the problem. So check your invites,
and don't just click 'attending.' Attend. Learn where you
stand and what surrounds you. Sometimes it even means
a free meal.
Nicholas Zettel is an LSA sophomore.
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