I 4 - Tuesday, December 6, 2011 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com C be 1J*idhigan4 &iI61 Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 tothedaily@michigandaily.com MICHELLE DEWITT and EMILY ORLEY NICK SPAR EDITORIAL PAGE EDITORS MANAGING EDITOR 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. 4 Give MSA a break STEPHANIE STEINBERG EDITOR IN CHIEF 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. Schools aren't businesses Michigan education shouldn't be for-profit or-profit colleges have been in the headlines recently, as stu- dents began to realize that shareholders are benefiting more from their education than they are. The issue has now come to lower education. As the Michigan Legislature examines bills to lift the cap on the number of charter schools in the state, with proposed restrictions on for-profit schools, the Legislature should tread care- fully. Charter schools are usually founded with an honorable mission, but the potential for corruption can be a concern. Lawmakers should ensure that all schools that receive public funding are focused on here is no Democratic or Republican way to take out the trash, shovel snow or, in this case, run a student govern- ment. Student gov- ernment is similar to local government in that its primary tasks are not controversial. These govern- ment bodies mostly perform JEREMY LEVY education, not profits. A bill that would lift the cap on the number of charter schools is currently being debated in the state House of Representatives. Meanwhile Sen. Rebekah Warren (D-Ann Arbor) is advo- cating a constitutional amendment that would ban for-profit charter schools from opening in Michigan. Education reform groups are also asking for quality control measures on both non-profit and for-profit charter schools. Roughly 80 percent of charter schools in Michigan can be considered for-profit, accord- ing to a Forbes article, and if the cap is lifted on the number of charter schools allowed, even more for-profit schools could form. The problem with this type of school is that it takes money from the school and gives it to the cor- porations that manage the school. This pro- cess makes education a business and students a commodity who yield profits, and it's not the type of institution the state should support. Quality controlmeasures for.charter schools need to be in place to ensure the schools are doing what they are meant to do: provide a quality education to Michigan's students. Public schools are encouraged to display their budget online as well as some staff salaries and student testing data. This should also be required of charter schools. Making this information available allows the public to hold charter schools accountable for how they are spending their money and the type of educa- tion they are providing. State Sen. Phil Pavlov (R-St. Clair), the chair of the Michigan Senate's education commit- tee, said he believes that eliminating for-profit schools is hypocritical because non-profit charter schools as well as public schools spend money buying supplies from private compa- nies. But Pavlov is simply trying to cover up the issue. Non-profit charter schools may purchase supplies from private companies, but they don't have shareholders looking to get paid. The dif- ference lies in who is managing the school and the primary motivations of those managers. Charter schools have their place in the public education landscape and have provided many positive opportunities for Michigan students. They are an affordable alternative to tradition- al public or private schools. But lifting the cap on the number of charter schools could lead to an increase in the number of for-profit charter schools and cyber schools - schools that hold all classes online - unless quality control mea- sures are in place. Lawmakers must be careful to prioritize education and not turn school sys- tems into for-profit ventures. administrative tasks to ensure that their localities are functioning smoothly. Local governments take out the trash. The Michigan Student Assembly allocates money to student organizations. But in certain ways, both MSA and The Michigan Daily paint apic- ture in which student government is analogous to the federal govern- ment in significance and controver- sy. MSA divides itself into political parties that supposedly have differ- ent ideological platforms (though I imagine that freshmen members simply choose the party their friends are in), and the Daily assumes the oversight role of the media - the necessary "fourth branch" of gov- ernment that will keep the other branches in check. I love the Daily, but one thing I haven't been able to understand in my four years here is the newspa- per's never-ending feud with MSA. The Daily prints a scathing edito- rial of MSA on a regular basis. A student cannot simultaneously be a member of MSA and the Daily. And in my experience within the Daily's walls, there is a near-unanimous sentiment that MSA is idiotic and dysfunctional. When I was on the Daily's editori- al board, I asked why we had to pick apart every single decision that MSA ever makes. There are two general responses to this question. One is that the main purpose of any news- paper is to inform the public about government decisions and govern- ment wrongdoing. The other is that members of MSA could be the future politicians of America and need to learn to be responsible office hold- ers. The main problem here is that the newspaper is being overly ideal- istic. Unlike with state and federal governments, the day-to-day func- tioning of MSA has little impact on most students. This is not because MSA members are disorganized - it's simply how student government works by design. Here are all the things you will ever need to know about the Michi- gan Student Assembly: Most decisions that are impor- tant to students are out of student government's jurisdiction. Two weeks ago, a Daily editorial urged students to take studentgovernment elections seriously. I think I speak for many when I say that I have zero interest in the election outcomes. The University leadership, not MSA, is responsible for important deci- sions such as tuition, financial aid, course offerings and campus safety. Furthermore, I'm confident that 95 percent of MSA candidates are motivated people who are qualified to assure that the organization can perform its most basic functions. It's not worth students' time to decide which candidates are better at allo- cating funding. MSA is a student organization. MSA decisions are more scrutinized than those of any other group on campus, and such highlevels of scru- tiny are completely uncalled for. It's true that there is a $7.19 tuition fee that goes directly to student govern- ment. But a lot of that money trick- les down to other student groups. If one were to conduct a study on the spending practices of campus organizations, I'd hypothesize that MSA would turn out to be one of the most fiscally responsible. But since it is the only student organization MSA does make bad decisions, but it also makes good ones. When it comes to truly egregious errors such as the MSA website debacle in which the student government spent $9,000 on creating a non-functional website or scandals involving the MSA president, I agree that the Daily has a duty to comment. But analyzing every single resolution they passed in a semester, as Daily columnist Eaghan Davis did ina col- umn last Tuesday, is not productive. No matter who's in charge, there will always be useless MSA resolu- tions. The only way this can change is if the University gives the student government more authority. What's more, it seems the Daily is always hesitant to recognize MSA accomplishments. Statements that hedge on complimentary often need to be qualified with a reminder of everything that is wrong with stu- dent government (though I was pleasantly surprised to see this was not the case in an April editorial on the Open Housing Initiative). The Daily's beef with MSA goes back a long time, and I don't really expect it to change. But as a staff member who has been involved in the editorial process, I don't see any reason why it has to continue. When it comes to MSA, the Daily isoften slinging mud instead of performing an editorial duty. - Jeremy Levy can be reached at jeremlev@umich.edu. constantly in the public spotlight, it is the only one that gets blamed for making mistakes. The Daily should end its animosity toward MSA. 4 I EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS: Aida Ali, Michelle DeWitt, Ashley Griesshammer, Nirbhay Jain, Jesse Klein, Patrick Maillet, Erika Mayer, Harsha Nahata, Emily Orley, Teddy Papes, Timothy Rabb, Vanessa Rychlinski, Caroline Syms, Seth Soderborg, Andrew Weiner ADRIENNE ROBERTS Respect female politicians -t heUpgrade/Downgrade: Laura Argintar discusses the pros and cons of a new trend on campus - electronic music. odium Go to michigandaily.com/blogs/The Podium 0 0 A state of emergency? Women have a prominent place in poli- tics. It is most likely either as the role of the crazed, feminist politician - who presumably has no chance of becoming president - or the tempting mistress who ruins the campaign of the once promising male politician. Hill- ary Clinton, Sarah Palin and Michele Bach- mann certainly are not perfect presidential candidates, but what candidate has been? If a woman presidential candidate is not attrac- tive, persistent without being pushy and smart and youthful without being immature, society writes her off as just another stereo- typical hormonal and controlling housewife. This hypocrisy must end. Bachmann is the most recent example of this injustice. Politicians, regardless of gen- der, must realize that putting themselves in the public eye immediately subjects them to criticism. However, a certain line must be drawn as to what constitutes attacks on poli- cy and agenda and what is critical for a pure- ly sensational story. The Huffington Post recently published an article titled, "Michele Bachmann's Makeup Woes Continue At Book Signing" complete with zoomed-in photos and a scathing description. Though, to be fair, this article is placed in the Life and Style section, and most people do not read the Huffington Post to get fashion tips. But that means readers, who were possibly looking for more political news, unknowingly judged Bachmann on the foundation creases on her forehead, not her ability to run a country. Bachmann will most likely not be the Republican presidential candidate. It was Bachmann who put herself in that position, not the media or society. However, when America does have a woman who has expe- rience and proves herself to be assertive, as did Hillary Clinton, she is scorned for being pushy, aggressive and old. In men, these qualities are usually considered to be "get- ting things done," but in Clinton's case, it was her biggest downfall. Clinton was criti- cized for wearing baggy pantsuits and hair clips - giving her a "manly" appearance as described by well-known stylists. This made her seem too intimidating, which caused citi- zens to have trouble identifying with her. What seems to be a growing trend for women in the political arena is the position of the fame hungry mistress. Substantial time is spent trying to uncover the "real" intentions of these women. The recent scandal involv- ing GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain certainly made Cain look bad, but it also sold the story that these mistresses were trying to ruin Cain's campaign for five minutes of fame and a check. Regardless of their intentions, these women are never portrayed as being victims of sexual misconduct, which very well may be the truth. This is a two-way street. Women in promi- nent political positions are not that prevalent. Therefore, they must realize that they rep- resent women as a whole. Men represent an extremely high percentage of politicians, so their decisions, for the most part, are repre- sentative of themselves. Women do not have that luxury. Palin, using her vice presidential candidacy as a way to gain fame through her own reality show and two book deals, gave future women in politics one more hurdle to clear to prove that they are capable leaders. Why is it that 89 countries surpass America in terms of women representation in govern- ment? It may be possible that America's stan- dards are just unnaturally high for not only women politicians, but women in general. Society expects women to be a perfect bal- ance of powerful and demure, which is a lot to ask. There needs to be an end to the constant criticism of things like Bachmann's makeup or Clinton's strong personality, as both women are just attempting to fit the expected standards. Both parties have responsibilities. Women in the political landscape must have pure inten- tions, and the media needs to scrutinize more than just artificialities. Only then can there be hope for the future women of this country to be public figures and spearheadbeneficial change. Adrienne Roberts is an LSA sophomore. Republican Gov. Rick Snyder came into office as a self- styled champion of small government. How's he hold- ing up? Let's take a look. In March, the Republican majority in the state Legislature passed Public Act 4 - a law DANIEL that gives Snyder CHARDELL the authority to ® declare a state of "financial emergency" in any munic- ipality or public school district in the state. Though similar state laws have been on the books since 1988, Public Act 4 has been the source of much controversy because it significantly extends the powers given to the gov- ernor and his appointees. Here's how the law works. If state lawmakers fear that a local government is under "prob- able financial stress," the governor may appoint a review team to deter- mine the severity of the situation. If the governor confirms the exis- tence of a financial emergency, he may unilaterally appoint an emer- gency manager to take charge of the local government. Now here's the best part. Accord- ing to the Michigan Department of Treasury's summary of Public Act 4, elected officials of the local government in question "are pro- hibited from exercising any of their powers of offices without written approval of the Emergency Man- ager, and their compensation and benefits are eliminated." And that's not all. "In addition to other pow- ers, an Emergency Manager may reject, modify or terminate collec- tive bargaining agreements, recom- mend consolidation or dissolution of units of local government, and recommend bankruptcy proceed- ings." An emergency manager stays in power until removed by the governor, the state Legislature or "until the financial emergency is rectified," which, essentially, is left up to the emergency manager to decide for himself. Snyder hasn't shied away from exercising the unprecedented pow- ers given to him under Public Act 4. Already, he's appointed financial emergencymanagers to Benton Har- bor, Pontiac, Ecorse and the Detroit Public School district. Flint recently became the latest municipality to be slapped with the mark of "financial emergency," which resulted in Sny- der's appointment of a new emer- gency manager there last week as well. What were the appointee's first actions as Flint's new leader? Firing locally elected officials, of course. What a victory for small gov- ernment. I'm sure our Founding Fathers would-be proud of the state of our democracy. The debate has taken on a new urgency over the last several days as Snyder readies a team to review Detroit's finances, spurring many to speculate that the Motor City may be the Governor's next tar- get for emergency management. In response, Rep. John Conyers (D - Mich), whose congressional district includes Detroit, has sent a letter to United States Attorney General Eric Holder asking the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the constitu- tionality of Snyder's takeovers. Some critics have framed the implementa- tion of Public Act 4 as an affront to civil rights victories of the mid-20th century. (All of the municipalities to which Snyder has appointed emer- gency managers have large African- American communities.) Snyder and his supporters jus- tify Public Act 4 on the grounds of accountability. (After all, the law is titled "Local Government and School District Fiscal Accountabil- ity Act.") They cite excessive spend- ing on the part of locally elected government officials as the primary threat facing the state of Michigan. Public Act 4 poses a challenge to democracy. 0 I beg to differ. Yes, we can all agree that account- ability is vital to a functioning democracy. But in usurping the dem- ocratic process,replacingthe elected with the unelected, telling citizens that their votes are dispensable and consolidating power in the hands of the few in the name of stability, all these principles fly in the face of what today's GOP so often preaches. The hypocrisy is astounding. I'm surprised and slightly disap- pointed at how little attention all this has received, both on campus and in the media. I challenge any- one who cares about democracy, Detroit or both to follow this story as it develops over the coming weeks. Don't let it fall by the wayside. More importantly, don't let Snyder dis- mantle local governments on the grounds of an "emergency." -Daniel Chardell can be reached at chardell@umich.edu. A A