8A - Monday, January 30, 2012

The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

8A - Monday, January 30, 2012 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom

PETITION
From Page 1A
Raiman, who signed the petition,
said he stands by its objectives.
"We do have the same goals as
this professor or this group of pro-
fessors who created the petition
and we're supportive of the same
cause," Raiman said.
The petition expresses opposi-
tion to the classification of GSRAs
as public employees as this vio-
lates the precedent of a 1981
Michigan Employment Relations
Commission ruling.
"The rationale underlying that
decision was based on the fact
that the primary role of GSRAs is
to conduct research in support of
attaining graduate degrees," the
petition states.
The petition was initially
launched on Ulaby's academic
website, but he was forced to move
it as he was in violation of Universi-
ty policy, accordingto a statement
released on Friday by the Gradu-

ate Employees' Organization - the
union representing graduate stu-
dents on campus. The page now
directs users to a new site from
which they can sign the petition.
An e-mail sent by Ulaby at 12:50
p.m. on Friday and obtained by
The Michigan Daily encouraged
Engineering graduate students to
sign the petition.
"Establishing a union for Grad-
uate Student Research Assistants
(GSRAs) would be detrimental to
their educational goals and would
change the collaborative men-
tor/mentee relationship between
a faculty adviser and a gradu-
ate student into an adversarial
employer/employee relationship,"
the e-mail read. "If you agree with
my statement, I invite you to join
me by signing the open letter to
the Regents."
According to Raiman, the use
of an official listserv to solicit
signatures garnered some contro-
versy, particularly those opposed
to Ulaby's message. The e-mail
also stated at the bottom its direct

affiliation with the University.
"This message is an official
communication from the College
of Engineering of the University
of Michigan to the students," the
e-mail stated.
A GEO statement on Friday con-
demned the message ofthe petition.
"We were disappointed when,
on Thursday, a professor of engi-
neering established a UM web-
site petitioning the University
Regents not to recognize Gradu-
ate Student Research Assistants
as employees." the release stated.
Liz Rodrigues, GEO communi-
cations chair,said she had not seen
the e-mail sent by Ulaby. She said
GEO's feelings were expressed in
their release, but they would like
to move forward.
"Really we're just working
towards an election," Rodrigues
said.
The argument over whether
or not to classify GSRAs as public
employees will culminate with
the hearing before an administra-
tive judge on Wednesday.


ERIN KIRKLAND/Daily
University officials and campus leaders wave as President Barack Obama takes the stage.

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OBAMA
From Page 1A
dent's student aid reforms would
mostly increase the amount of
need-based Perkins Loans avail-
able to low-income students.
"We can't do it by ourselves,"
Duncan said. "So we're going
to try to put out a $1 billion tax
incentive to states and to col-
leges to do the right thing. We're
challenging states to continue to
invest even in tough times and
we're challenging universities
to do two things - keep tuition
rates down and increase gradu-
ation rates."
Obama put pressure on Con-
gress to make the American
Opportunity Tax Credit -
which provides college students
with up to $10,000 over four
years - permanent, and to dou-
ble the number of federal work
study jobs available to students.
The Obama administration
will also boost its efforts to
make financial aid information
more accessible for families by
creating several online tools
that provide comprehensive
information about what types of
aid institutions offer.
"From now on, parents and
students deserve to know how
a college is doing - how afford-
able is it, how well are its stu-
dents doing," Obama said. "We
want you to know how well a car
stacks up before you buy it. You
should know how well a college
stacks up."
Speaking under an array of
Big Ten championship banners
and atop a platform placed upon
a block 'M' on the indoor field,
Obama also congratulated the
football team on its Sugar Bowl
win, calling the team "a force to
be reckoned with" under junior
quarterback Denard Robinson,
who was sitting among con-
gressmen and state officials dur-
ing the speech.
In an interview with The
Michigan Daily before the
speech, Robinson said he was
impressed with the amount of
student support.
"It's great to see President
Obama, I couldn't miss it," Rob-
inson said. "A lot of people came
out and came to support him."
After the speech, University
President Mary Sue Coleman
lauded Obama's attention to the
need for the federal government
to collaborate with universities
around the nation in an effort
to develop efficient policies
that minimize student debt and
increase accessibility.
"College affordability is

extraordinarily important for
all of us and I was so pleased
that he recognizes the complex-
ity - the fact that the state has
a role, the federal government
has a role, universities have a
role - and all of them have to be
working together to make this
possible," Coleman said.
Coleman stressed the need for
the state to continue to invest in
higher education, particularly
following years of repeated cuts
in funding allocation to public
colleges within the state, includ-
ing a 15-percent reduction in
funding in 2011 under Republi-
can Gov. Rick Snyder.
"One of the things that
(Obama) did point out very
clearly was the dramatic disin-
vestment that the states have
made, and one of the most harsh
has been in Michigan," Coleman
said. "We have suffered from
that, and we've done a good job
of cutting costs, we've contin-
ued to try to cut costs but we
have to have a reinvestment by
the state."
Coleman added that achiev-
ing the goal of effectively work-
ing;a a thiversities, state
governments and-the- federal
government to increase college
affordability is going to be chal-
lenging, but an endeavor she is
optimistic about for the future.
"I think universities should
be challenged to find more effi-
cient ways to save money, and
we've been doing that aggres-
sively at Michigan for the past
10 years and I have no problem
finding ways," Coleman said "...
And we're unwilling to lower
quality, because I think what the
president said that is important,
is that we have the best higher
education system in the world.
And we do not want to lose that,
quality matters.
Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-
Mich.) said before the speech
that investing in higher educa-
tion is key to augmenting eco-
nomic conditions in the state,
particularly through utilizing
its vast recourses in the indus-
trial and technological fields.
"When we talk about the
future and the opportunities
for us in the technologies in the
skilled trades, engineers, sci-
ence, it doesn't happen without
education and it doesn't work
if, when you get out of school,
you've got more debt than it
would take if you were buying a
house," Stabenow said.
State Sen. Rebekah War-
ren (D-Ann Arbor) said in an
interview before the speech
that Obama's message of col-
laboration amongst all forms of

government to decrease student
debt and increase accessibility
to higher education is crucial.
"The take away is the federal
government and the state gov-
ernment can work together to
provide as many resources as
possible so that our young peo-
ple who are bright and talented
and willing to work hard to go
to college have the financial
resources to do this."
Warren added that while it's
too early to tell how the state
plans to craft its plans to invest
in higher education, she encour-
ages students to get involved
and voice their opinions.
"We've got to invest in higher
education," Warren said. "What
exactly that looks like, I'm open
to a lot of different ideas, but
I'm looking for as many young,
smart people around the table
saying what's the best way to
invest resources."
Engineering junior Dan
Caldwell said he didn't expect
Obama would have a perfect
solution to make college more
affordable, but he wants "to feel
like (Obama) cares about what's
going to happen to'us., ,
"They gave a loi of-assistance
to people when the mortgage
crisis happened ... I'd like to
see that for people coming out
of college. That similar assis-
tance will hopefully be given,"
Caldwell said. "Obviously, kids
coming out of college are the
future of the country."
LSA senior Chaim Frenkel
said while Obama's message
should resonate with all stu-
dents, he could personally relate
to what the president had to say.
"Student loans are such a pain
for all of us and I personally pay
eight times the average student
loans and it's definitely going
to be something in the future
that needs to be amended and
moving forward it's clear that
affordable education for all is a
necessary part of progressing
society," Frenkel said.
American Culture Prof. Lori
Brooks said she waited five
hours yesterday morning to get
tickets to the speech. Brooks
brought her infant son to the
speech because she wanted him
to see the country's first Afri-
can-American president.
"I'm looking forward to see-
ing my son being educated in
this country," Brooks said, "And
I'm hoping that I'll be looking
forward to my son's educational
future."
- Daily News Editor Haley
Goldberg contributed to this report

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