4 4 - Friday, October 28, 2011 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com C C4MIiigan atil Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 tothedaily@michigandaily.com MICHELLE DEWITT STEPHANIE STEINBERG and EMILY ORLEY NICK SPAR EDITOR IN CHIEF EDITORIAL PAGE EDITORS 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. Imran Syed is the public editor. He can be reached at publiceditor@michigandaily.com. A virtual problem State funding should be given to public schools W hile cyber schools were once an idea of science fiction, online learning has recently become more widely accept- ed. Cyber schools - which allow students to take classes on the Internet - are a beneficial alternative for students who don't learn at the same speed as their peers. Though cyber schools are a new resource that should be explored, public schools are struggling and should be the government's first priority. The money in the gov- ernment's educational budget should first fund public schools rather than help develop cyber schools. SNEHA REDDY E-MAIL SNEIIA AT SNEHAR@UMICH.EDU r 6fiN A aE PS - EI~A tN 1 ~ 't61lfISO)P~ t t I ~iT I4AEIDWLftN Ot'.l STCAt T I3Ay OF 4 Another case for sustainability State Senate Bill 619 lifts enrollment restrictions on cyber schools in Michigan. The bill will allot the same amount of per- student funding as public schools and help develop cyber schools substantially. How- ever, cyber schools do not perform as well academically. K-12 Inc. is the largest online education group and partners with many public schools. The group had only 25 percent of its 24 schools meet the Adequate Yearly Progress measurement - which determines academic success based on standardized tests under the No Child Left Behind stan- dard - according to the National Education Policy Center's 2009-2010 annual report. Innovation in the education system is cru- cial to increase the effectiveness of all Michi- gan schools. However, more research needs to be conducted before placing students in front of a screen every day. Pennsylvania and Ohio have thousands of students enrolled in online schools, but their success is limited. Though there are obvious problems in the current public school system, these can be remedied through additional education fund- ing. Overfilled classrooms and program cuts are hurtingschools throughoutthe state, and government officials need to address these immediate problems before investing money in cyber schools. Integrating online learning into traditional classrooms is a better use for the money than giving it directly to cyber schools. This could encourage true innova- tion and help a larger number of students than the few that benefit from cyber schools. If there is money immediately available, it should first go toward the state's pub- lic school system. However, cyber schools should not be completely ignored. In the future, they may become a viable alternative to traditional schooling. For certain students, online courses- can be more effective than traditional classrooms. The current education system has many issues that are worsened by the elimination of programs and increased class sizes. It is important for the nation to explore innova- tive schooling options, but not at the expense of traditional public schools. If there is avail- able educational funding, it should primarily be distributed to the public schools that edu- cate the majority of Michigan's students. L6 inish your food - there are starving kids in Afri- ca." I know I've been told this numer- ous times. I also know that more often than not, I've retorted, "Yeah, well it's not like I can send it to them anyway." And, M HA I'm sure many NAHATA of you have also. But cliche rep- rimands aside, the unequal distribution of Earth's scarce resources is becoming an increasingly serious issue - an issue that will be even more pressing in the upcoming years based on the recently released United Nations statistics regarding population growth. According to a recent U.N. popu- lation report, the world population will hit 7 billion on Monday. In 1998, there were 6 billion people in the world, meaning that this last billion was added in just 12 years. What's more, by the end of the century the population is expected to cross 10 billion. Needless to say, this is a lot of people being added at a fast pace. With so many people, sustain- ability is an obvious problem. The question becomes: Does the Earth have enough resources to provide for such a rapidly growing popula- tion? As an Oct. 23 Guardian article puts it, "Every additional person needs food, water and energy, and produces more waste and pollution." Moreover, in a world dependent on industrialization, our ability to manufacture and produce adequate amounts of food is directly related to our access to fossil fuels - a resource we all know is quickly depleting. However, there is good news. In an Oct. 23 New York Times op-ed, mathematical biologist Joel Cohen reassures that we will indeed be fine in the short term. The Earth is capable of feeding, housing and providing for many more than 7 bil- lion people, at least in the foresee- able future. This is largely thanks to advances in technology, which allow us to make more with less. But that isn't to say there aren't sig- nificant long-term problems associ- ated with large population growth, namely in regard to management and distribution of the Earth's resources. The mainproblemisthatalthough there are enough resources - food, water, a place to live - to support every individual on the planet, most of these resources aren't used to provide basic necessities. Cohen reports that each year the Earth produces enough grain to support upwards of 9 to 11 billion individu- als. And, yet, almost 1 billion people still go hungry. This is because only 46 percent of the grain produced is used to feed people - the rest goes to feeding livestock. At the rate the world population is growing, this mismanagement of resources will make it more and more difficult to provide for everyone. Another issue is that resources are disproportionately concentrat- ed in relation to population. It is no secret that access to resources is highly concentrated in the West. Underdeveloped countries, on the other hand, tend to have extremely dense populations and little to no access to resources. Cohen reit- erates that in the future, water shortages will be prominent in Northern Africa, India and China. Coincidentally, these regions are also undergoing the fastest popula- tion growth. Eventually, this trend presents a situation where the areas with the most people to take care of will be forced to do so with the least resources. Needless to say, this poses future geopolitical and national security threats. But, again, what does this have to do with us in the West? We have the resources. We're not surviving on $2 a day or going hungry. So, why should we worry? Well, if ever there was a case for sustainability - for conserving resources, for reducing wasteful consumption, for recycling - it is now. And, if ever there was a place where wasteful consumption needed to be reigned in, it is here. Regardless of whether or not you believe in climate change, there has never been a larger need for envi- ronmentally friendly initiatives - if for no other reason than the fact that the demand for resources will con- tinue to increase, while Earth's lim- ited supply inevitably runs out. Can the Earth handle 7 billion people Monday? There are enough resources out there to provide for everyone - all 7 billion of us - as long as they are used efficiently. It's not necessarily that there are starving kids in Africa that would like to eat your half-eaten dinner; it's that what went into feed- ing you, could also have been used to feed them. Go green, not because it's trendy or because global warm- ing will wipe out Los Angeles if you don't (though that might very well happen), but because it's the only way to sustain humanity in light of how fast it is growing. - Harsha Nahata is an assistant editorial page editor. She can be reached at hnahata@umich.edu. I I SCOTT BOERMAI Life's too short The passing of our Michigan Marching Band member and friend, Patrick Fleming, on Monday, Sep. 26, 2011, was a shock to all of us. A second-year member of the trumpetsection, Fleming died in a car accident while driving to classes at the University's Flint campus. He was an intensely dedicated Michigan March- ing Band member, who worked late at night at a senior center, drove to classes in Flint and rushed back to Ann Arbor each day for our rehearsals. Also an extremely likeable person, Fleming always wore a gleaming smile. Of course, nothing prepares you for some- thing like this. Upon hearing the news of his passing, we immediately informed the admin- istration of the School of Music, Theatre & Dance as well as the University Dean of Stu- dents. The Division of Student Affairs imme- diately assembled a team to speak with our band members, informing them of the vari- ous counseling options available. I will never forget how our band members held onto each other and took care of each other in the days and weeks that followed. It was one of the sad- dest experiences imaginable, but it was also so very inspirational. Within a day of learning of the news, longtime marching band supporter Donald Shepherd established a new scholarship in Fleming's name, to be awarded to a deserv- ing student each year, beginning in the fall of 2012. On the day of the accident, both Univer- sity Athletic Director Dave Brandon and head football coach Brady Hoke called us to express their condolences. Hoke also attended Flem- ing's visitation service the following week. Before we could even ask, Brandon suggested that we have a moment of silence before the National Anthem at that weekend's football game. Fleming's spot in the marching drill was left vacant during our performances that day. Two days following Fleming's accident, several members of the Michigan State Uni- versity, the Ohio State University and the Eastern Michigan University Marching Bands appeared at our rehearsal with signed cards of support. The Spartan Marching Band had assembled 'the previous day and produced a DVD of them performing Amaz- ing Grace for us. The Ohio State band mem- bers, who made an eight-hour round trip to be with us that day, presented us with a drum major baton specially engraved with a dedi- cation to Fleming. These students had also reached out to the other Big Ten marching bands, collected flowers and cards of sympa- thy, and gave them to us at our rehearsal that afternoon. I'll never forget the looks in our students' faces as this unbelievable show of support was taking place. During the week that followed, e-mails, phone calls and cards appeared from all of the Big Ten bands, other Michigan universities and university bands from across the country, including the Universities in Georgia, Texas and Florida, to name just a few. A moment of silence for Fleming was given duringthe Skull Session at OSU that Saturday and also at the University of Michigan v. Northwestern game the following weekend. The Northwestern University Marching Band had wristbands made that were inscribed with "We Are With You." These wristbands combined their pur- ple with our maize-and-blue and were worn by their band duringtheir game against Mich- igan. Michigan Marching Band members who traveled to Evanston that day were presented with wristbands to bring home for every mem- ber of our band. This outpouring of support from our broth- ers and sisters throughout the band world has left us all in awe of the activity in which we're involved. At a time when poor sportsmanship and over-the-top competitiveness can domi- nate in football rivalries, we were reminded this season that human kindness and compas- sion exist and thrive in our band community. None of us will ever look at another univer- sity marching band through the same lens as before, and hopefully we'll all cheer just a little bit louder when given the opportunity. So, Michigan fans, perhaps this might inspire more of us to reconsider our approach to game days in the Big House. Maybe booing our student visitors from other schools is con- tradictory to what we call the "Michigan Dif- ference." Maybe chanting "You Suck" during and at the end of the Michigan Band's tradi- tional "Temptation" is notthe class act that we claim to uphold in Ann Arbor. Maybe "killing our visitors with kindness" would be a better plan of attack than demonstrating the kind of poor sportsmanship witnessed too often in athletic arenas these days. Life is too fragile and too short to waste with negativity and ill intentions. Go Blue! Scott Boerma is the director of the Michigan Marching and Athletic Bands and a Donald R. Shepherd associate professor of conducting. EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS: Aida Ali, Michelle DeWitt, Ashley Griesshammer, Nirbhay Jain, Patrick Maillet, Erika Mayer, Harsha Nahata, Emily Orley, Teddy Papes, Timothy Rabb, Vanessa Rychlinski, Caroline Sims, Seth Soderborg, Andrew Weiner Freting au thefutur a Two years ago, I wrote a column entitled "Major- ly Undecided," in which I expressed my confusion about choosing a major and my appre- hension in doing so. Jump for- ward to this year, and I now face the same strug- gle, only this time in relation LEAH to career paths. POTKIN I have, thank- fully, made some progress since my 2009 column: I declared myself as an English major and applied for graduation. How- ever, in applying for graduation, I couldn't help but be reminded of the question looming overhead: What will I do when I graduate? In the same way I saw declar- ing a major as a struggle, I now see "declaring" a profession as one. More and more often I hear stu- dents say they have no idea what they want to do, yet more and more often the question is asked. Howev- er, struggling students should not be discouraged by their lack of direc- tion, but rather should be excited about all the opportunities they have waiting for them in that "real" world once game days and nights at the UGLi are things of the past. It's certainly not easy to think this way, especially in this highly competi- tive academic environment, but it's essential in order to keep our heads above water inthis brutal hunt - the career hunt, that is. I am well aware that there are the lucky few students in majors such as business and engineering who are less affected by this struggle, and, in many cases, already know where they'll be working next year and their likely career paths. However, the majority ofstudents in social sci- ences and the like share in the strug- gle, and many in the latter group are envious of students in the former group - not because they have jobs, but because they know what career they would like to pursue. Recently, however, I realized that my current inability to answer the daunting "what do you want to do" question is not as terrible as it seems. The chances are slim that my first job will be in the same field I end up working in, and it's vital that I stop thinking of my first job out of college as determining the rest of my life. I didn't realize the unnecessary stress I've caused myself by thinking this way until recently, when I lis- tened to a graduation speech given by late Apple CEO Steve Jobs at Stanford University. He spoke about how hard it is to connect the dots when you're in college, as it's nearly impossible to comprehend how, and if, things will ever line up. I, for one, am guilty of trying to preemptively connect the dots. Jobs's speech reminded me - not to be clich6 - how funny it is the way things work out and how sometimes it is best to allow things to happen rather than fret about making them happen. So for those of us about to jump into the fray, it's essential to adopt and maintain an optimistic and open-minded attitude, despite the setbacks and uncertainty that will inevitably accompany our initial employment quests. Remember, thankfully, how young we gradu- ates-to-be still are and that time is on our side. I often hear people (my parents) say that 60 is the new 50, and frankly, I'm not one to argue. My dad runs marathons, my mom has more energy than I do and both have yet to show signs of hearing loss or memory lapse. But despite being part of a generation in which life expectancy is over age 80, it's easy to feel old when life shifts from a structured four-year path to a windy and unpaved road. In reality, we've lived hardly a quarter of our lives, which leaves us plenty of time to secure a career and connect those scattered dots. The dots might not all connect in college. I'm not sayingstudents shouldn't strive to achieve their best and pursue their dream jobs as soon as possible, but I am saying they don't have to stress so much about it hap- pening on day one. And while many of us know that, I think the hard- est part is accepting it as truth. Because, really, who wouldn't want to know what's in store for the future? For now, however, it's important to hold our heads high and shamelessly embody inde- cisiveness. It worked for me two years ago, so I can only assume it will work once again. - Leah Potkin can be reached at Ipotkin@umich.edu. I I I 0 4,