4 - Tuesday, November 15, 2011 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 4 usaNvme1, 01TeMcia.al - mc.gna. yo 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 canbe reached at publiceditor@michigandaily.com. .M H Uphold marijuana law Schuette should respect the desire of voters M ichigan's medical marijuana law has once again comej under fire. Currently, the law allows people with regis- tered identification cards to legally possess marijuana ifj they have a prescription. But Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuettej is making it increasingly difficult to obtain medicinal marijuana by arguing that Michigan's policy conflicts with federal law and should be enforced differently. Michigan's attorney general should not be working to undermine laws passed by Michigan residents. Medical marijuana is legal in Michigan, and the state needs to stop trying to limit its availability and accessibility. HANNAH DOW E-MAIL HANNAH AT HDOW@a)UMICH.tDU 0 o What did you ___ 0 wishfor? Please beat OSU, Please beat OSU Make U' economically diverse 0 Schuette released a statement on Nov.. 10 indicating that the clause in the medical mari- juana law that prohibits police from confiscat- ing medicinal marijuana is in conflict of federal law. But since this has been the case since the law's passage in 2008, it's strange that the issue isbeingbroughtup now. Schuette needstostop trying to make medicinal marijuana illegal because of his personal opinion of the policy and should instead honor the wishes of Michi- gan voters who passed the law with 63 percent approval. Medical marijuana users should be allowed to utilize their prescriptions without the fear of confiscation. Schuette has also threatened to prosecute Michigan police officers with drug dealing charges if they return prescribed marijuana to patients. He questions if officers can even enforce the law, saying in the same statement that doing so would be "impossible." An attor- ney general who would seek to make criminals out of his state's police officers is in no way suit- able for the position. It is aridiculous and base- less claim that returning a legal prescription to its owner is drug dealing, and it's an insult to police departments across the state. A similar issue was settled in California in 2007 when a medical marijuana patient suc- cessfully sued the police for taking his pre- scription marijuana during a traffic stop and not returning it. Restricting the return of per- sonal property unduly confiscated is a purpose- less task to try to uphold, and Schuette should not be encouraging it. Michigan residents - whose taxes pay Schuette's salary - deserve an attorney general who will work for them, not against them. Schuette and other members of the state government need to make the medi- cal marijuana legislation easy to follow for police, patients and physicians. Schuette needs to put his personal beliefs aside and carry out the job he was elected for - uphold- ing Michigan's laws, including those regard- ing medical marijuana. Michigan's medical marijuana lawis contro- versial among residents of the state and some members of the Legislature. The individu- als opposing the law, including the attorney general, have the right to seek its repeal. But Schuette does not have the right to circum- vent and undermine state laws for the sake of his own personal agenda. Schuette needs to honor the desires of Michigan voters and help make the medicinal marijuana law clear for all involved parties. Remember those question- naires we filled out during freshman orientation? Each year, the Univer- sity's Division of Student Affairs compiles the data from those forms and pub- lishes the results online. Perusing the report is fas- cinating, to say MATTHEW the least. In addi- GREEN tion to offering a- standard 'demo- graphic profile of each graduating class, the report includes findings on students' political views, future plans and even self-image. Appar- ently, 76.9 percent of University stu- dents responded in 2009 that it was essential or very important to them to be "very well off financially." This is a completely understandable desire, of course, particularly for incoming freshmen accustomed to the comforts and luxuries their par- ents had lavished on them up until that point. But exactly how comfortable and pampered are these students? The questionnaire data hints at an answer. For the class of 2013 (the most recent class for .which data is pub- lished), 84.4 percent of students reported parental income above $50,000 a year. More students reported an annual family income of over $250,000 (16.9 percent) than below $50,000 (15.6 percent). Keep in mind that according to the 2010 U.S. Census, more than half of all Michigan residents make less than $50,000 each year. Given their rela- tive affluence, it's no wonder that such a high percentage of University students would expect a modicum of economic success. Intriguingly, about 50 percent of students reported that their fathers were doctors, lawyers, engineers, executives or business owners. And more than 75 percent of their par- ents went to college, compared to the 27.5 percent of American adults who did according to The Chronicle of Higher Education in January 2011. Reading this, you're probably unsurprised. Affluent parents have long sent their children to the best schools their money could buy. It's hardly newsworthy that an elite school would cater to a moneyed clientele. Mere mention of Harvard and Yale conjures images of wealth and status as much as it does aca- demic prestige. But Harvard and Yale, as well as other prestigious institutions, have begun to address their historic social exclusivity. According to Harvard's office of financial aid, "families with incomes currently below $60,000 are not expected to contribute to col- lege costs." Period. Yale and Prince- ton, in addition to Harvard, recently re-examined their early-admission processes to ensure that the process didn't unfairly favor well-heeled applicants. These actions may not have solved the problem of wealth inequality on college campuses,butthey've atleast started an administrative dialogue about makinghigher education more socially equitable. Against a back- drop of continually rising income inequality, perhaps it's time for the University to seriously address the disparity between the rich and poor as reflected by its student body. More than any Ivy League institu- tion, the University of Michigan has an imperative as a flagship public school to live up to its responsibility to serve the public good. How can the University claim a commitment to diversity with a demographic profile as homoge- nously affluent as ours? The University can foster more economic diversity in a variety of ways. Most obviously, the adminis- tration could think twice the next time a tuition increase is on the table. According to a May 2011 poll by the Pew Research Center where a nationally representative sample of 2,142 adults ages 18 and older were surveyed, 48 percent of 18 to 34 year olds who hadn't gone to college said they didn't go because they couldn't afford it. Financial aid is also part of the solution. Perhaps the University should follow Harvard's lead, offer- ing more sweeping financial aid packages to low-income students. That'd be expensive, sure. But at $6.5 billion, the University of Mich- igan's endowment is greater than the GNP of Nicaragua. I think we can afford it. The endowment is more than Nicaragua's GNP. To its credit, the University already takes into consideration the economic background of applicants each fall. It awards points to stu- dents if they're from an economically depressed region or if they attended an underprivileged high school. But as progressive and important as these considerations may be, they clearly aren't doing enough. The University must do a better job of reaching out to disadvantaged high school students before the applica- tion process even begins. As the Occupy Wall Street move- ment decries the unequal influence of the wealthiest few, it's worth calling attention to the channels through which they attained their power and fortune. Many of them surely funneled through the nation's most elite colleges. In the parlance of OWS, the University needs to take a firmer stance in support of educat- ing the 99 percent. There's nothing wrong with wanting to make a decent living, as the data shows that many Universi- ty students do. It's part of the Amer- ican dream, after all, and young people across the socioeconomic spectrum likely share this aspira- tion. It's the University's respon- sibility to ensure that this goal can be met by the genuine Leaders and Best - not just the already wealthy and well connected. - Matthew Green can be reached at greenmat@umich.edu. 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 Syms, Seth Soderborg, Andrew Weiner LOUIS MIRANTE Vote MForward for MSA The Michigan Student Assembly has got- ten off to a very successful start this year. With MSA elections this Wednesday and Thursday, now is a great time to learn about what MSA has been doing on campus. Prior to last year, MSA had been inefficient and slow to respond to student needs, in part because MSA mem- bers were concerned with political posturing. Last year, then MSA President Chris Arm- strong demanded more from the assembly and began the process of making MSA more relevant to students' lives. Many members of MForward, a student advocacy group on cam- pus and an MSA party, supported Armstrong's initiatives. I joined MForward the semester after Arm- strong was elected. I was drawn to it because it had already begun to produce the results that it had promised, and I wanted to contribute. Under MForward's lead, MSA helped secure Saturday night dining in residence halls, held a massive Lupe Fiasco benefit concert and began the process of having regular Farmers' Mar- kets in the Michigan Union. MSA also won a more inclusive University Housing roommate policy that is fairer for transgender and gender non-conforming students and has already been implemented. This year, I have been pleased to see MFor- ward continue to improve MSA under Presi- dent DeAndree Watson. Watson and his team hosted a tailgate before the Notre Dame night game and provided food and fun to more than 8,000 students. Under his leadership, MFor- ward members have hosted many other student service events on campus such as a housing rights awareness week and a fair trade aware- ness week. MForward supporters, including myself, have also worked to reduce the inter- nal costs of MSA so that we can redirect more money to fund student organizations. Some of us have renewed lobbying efforts at the state and local levels by working with the city ofAnn Arbor to maintain its pedestrian protection laws and by lobbying the state to pass anti-bul- lying legislation and provide more money for higher education. MForward can achieve these great things because, unlike other parties before us, we work together on a daily basis to improve stu- dent life. When I want to initiate a project, I know I can count on my fellow MForward members to assist me in those endeavors. This semester, MForward is running an exciting group of students who I not only look forward to working with, but also know will serve the campus well in continuing the progress that MForward has already started. They have already affirmed their commitment to provid- ing transparency and advocating for student needs and are full of ideas on how to make the University a better place. The MForward candidates in this election have excellent goals, both large and small. For example, DPS Oversight Committee candi- date Freshman Lucy Zhao will work with the Department of Public Safety to ensure that crime alerts are consistently sent out in a timely manner to promote student safety and aware- ness on campus. LSA candidate Freshman Angela Jung will strive to better the relation- ship between MSA and students by ensuring that there is a larger student government pres- ence at events across campus. Finally, Engi- neering candidates Freshman Andy Modell and Freshman Saketh Samaymantri will work collaboratively to improve the bus system and ensure that Parking and Transportation Ser- vices has student input when making decisions. These are just a few examples of the numerous projects the current MForward candidates hope to work on in the coming semester. I encourage you to vote in the upcoming MSA elections tomorrow and Thursday. I can- not overstate the importance of your participa- tion. MSA works with the University all year on your behalf, so we need to hear your voice as students. Voting is also easy - just go to vote. umich.edu to cast your vote tomorrow. I also encourage you to go to MForward.org, where you can find the extended platforms and bios of the candidates that have joined MForward this semester. Louis Mirante is a sophomore in LSA, MSA representative and member of MForward. FOLLOW DAILY OPINION ON TWITTER Keep up with columnists, read Daily editorials, view cartoons and join in the debate. Check out @michdailyoped to get updates on Daily opinion content throughout the day. MAX HELLER I Build Turkey-Israel relationship In recent weeks, top Israeli officials have made it increasingly clear thatthey are willing to extend an olive branch and engage in civil diplomacy with adversarial parties in the Middle East. Israel's recent offer and dis- persal of humanitarian aid to Turkey in response to a 7.2-magnitude earthquake in late October is only the latest example of Israel's sense of responsibility for the health and safety of all people, not just Israelis. Howev- er, when such altruism is met with indifference or even hostility by the very people to whom Israel extended the hand of friendship, it only serves to cast more doubts on Turkey's seriousness as a true partner in the Middle East peace process. In the case of the international response to the recent earthquake in Turkey, Israel was among the first coun- tries to offer aid and disaster relief. However, Turkey rejected Israel's first several offers of aid before finally deciding to accept it - claiming a miscalculation of the level of devastation was responsible for the initial denial. Even still, Turkey has only accepted limited Israeli aid in the form of temporary structures designed to provide refuge to the earthquake's survivors, but has continued to refuse Israeli offers to assist in the search and rescue efforts to save victims from the wreckage. Why did Tur- key choose to further endanger the lives of its own imper- iled citizens by rejecting help that could be the difference between life and death for many trapped Turks? Is Tur- key really choosing to maintain tensions with Israel over rescuing earthquake victims and mending a broken friendship? It seems that way: The Turkish government recently announced that Israel's generous relief efforts do nothing to ease the diplomatic tension thathas existed between the two countries for the last 18 months. While Israel has shown itself to be awilling provider of relief to humanitarian crises all over the world, includ- ing Haiti and Japan, Turkey presumes that in offering to provide for the basic needs of Turkish people beset by tragic circumstances, Israel has ulterior motives. Indeed, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan felt the need last week to reassert his support for United Nations economic sanctions against Israel, complainingthat "the UN Security Council has issued more than 89 resolutions on prospective sanctions against Israel, but they've never been executed." Erdogan's reiteration of support for such sanctions underscores the illogical Turkish paranoia that exists surrounding Israel's offer of disaster relief. Meanwhile, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieber- man has strongly stated thathe considers Israel's tenuous relationship with the Turkish government to be immate- rial in issuing critical aid to the Turkish people afflicted by a natural disaster. Turkey's regrettable unwillingness to place any value on easing diplomatic tensions with Israel, a country that has displayed a willingness to come to their aid and engage in normalized relations time and time again, does not leave much hope for Turkey as a member of a successful Middle Easternpeace process. With every passing day, the Turkish government's constant allusion to the Flotilla incident in May 2010 as rationale for escalating tensions between the two nations looks more like an excuse to remain indifferent and disen- gaged than a legitimate claim of offense. Turkey's public refusal to normalize relations with Israel is yet another slap in the face to the idea that Israel's adversaries are willing to reasonably negotiate and broker a long-term regional peace. Instead, they would rather continue to stigmatize isolated incidents. Israel has made clear time and again that it can and will make overtures to other regimes in the Middle East in order to lay the founda- tion for long-term peace. Unfortunately, it seems that the Israelis, yet again, are among the only ones ready to build. Max Heller is a junior in the Ross School of Business. 4 A