4A - Wednesday, March 30, 2011 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 4A - Wednesday, March 30, 2011 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom che Mihigan B4atilp Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. I 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 tothedaily@michigandaily.com 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. 0 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. 0 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 0 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. 0 0 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 0