4A - Monday, April 9, 2012 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 4A -MonayApri 9,201 TheMiciga Daiy -miciganail co ~Je 1J*idigan 0ailj Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 tothedaily@michigandaily.com JEFF ZUSCHLAG E-MAIL JEFF AT JEFFDZ@UMICH.EDU ASHELY GRIESSHAMMER JOSEPH LICHTERMAN and ANDREW WEINER EDITOR IN CHIEF EDITORIAL PAGE EDITORS And now, folks, it's time for the main event! Unpaid (and illegal) interns JOSH HEALY MANAGING EDITOR 0 Unsigned editorials reflect the official position oftthe Daily's editorial board. All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views ofttheir authors. Advantageous autonomy Tas n o fb Amt 5 hisr rhnh wa one or a out ongn scnooi Self-governed schools have potential for Detroit and college students intern- ing without pay at a non-profit n the face of massive budget deficits and consistently declining enrollment, Detroit Public Schools unveiled its next step toward solvency. Last Wednesday, Roy Roberts, the DPS state-appointed emergency manager, unveiled the DPS 2012-13 Action Plans, which include fairly sweeping changes to the system. Besides closing 16 buildings and transferring 15 schools -'those in the bottom 5 percent for performance - to the state's newly created Educational Achieve- ment System, the plan gives unparalleled self-governance to 10 well- performing schools - a "hybrid" system of school and district control. This aspect of the plan has the potential to empower communities, provide improved education and play a role in reducing the district's deficit. The autonomy system is an innovative potential solution to some of DPS's woes, but self-determination and community involve- ment must be fostered district-wide. A five-member board in charge of the major- ity of available funds, operations and hiring will control the 10 self-governing schools. The five-member board is made up of a represen- tative of parents, a business professional and three others selected by DPS. The move would affect about 7,500 students starting in the fall, according to DPS's website. The introduction of this self-governing sys- tem has positive potential by increasing focus on parents and principals and moving away from one-size-fits-all mandates. Standardized measures of control have proven ineffective - No Child Left Behind comes to mind. Allowing schools to have increased control gives them the opportunity to individualize many aspects specific to their community. Thus, students are encouraged to stay in their neighborhoods. The plan is innovative in a-district in desperate need of innovation. It provides direct input and accountability for parents, business leaders and the community. The selection of five board members - especially the selection of the business leader - must be a very careful procedure. It seems counterintuitive to give the majority of control to DPS' selections, so these council members must remain focused on the specific school. This independence runs the risk of schools' priorities shifting to business interests and budgets rather than education. The parent member of the board is pos- sibly the most encouraging aspect of the self- governance plan. Though getting parents to work with the schools can be difficult, foster- ing parent involvement and action within their kid's schooling is vital and has been lacking in Detroit's public schools. The input of parents provides an important influence on schools' operations and is crucial for helping schools move in the right direction. Allowing parents to influence schools on a neighborhood-by- neighborhood basis will provide specific and useful input. DPS must also retain focus on schools beyond the 10 in the pilot program, and the Action Plans do address many other hindrances to students' success. The self-run schools must sign a performance contract with DPS, adher- ing to certain provisions including a pledge for a 99 percent graduation rate. This figure is cur- rently impossible for many of Detroit's schools. However, if this system is successful at the initial 10 schools, aspects of self-governance should be expanded across the district. Self-governance is an innovative way to make schools stand closer with their commu- nity so students receive better education. At the same time, the selection of board members must be thorough to ensure the plan not only achieves greater specificity, but better educa- tion and enhanced graduation rates. community ser- vice group last summer. On a handful of occa- sions, the interns outnumbered the volunteers we supposedly supervised doing various projects ANDREW in Detroit. Had WEINER the organiza- tion written a job description, it would have read, "Do nothing." So, we labored along- side the volunteers - devoid of any real responsibility. With little intern work to do, why did they hire so many bodies? Why not? Parents have a rosy, innocent pic- ture of internships in their mind - painted with tenured professionals and mentors, invaluable knowledge and career-enhancing networking for their children. Employers, however, increasingly view internships more nefariously as free labor. Students, more depress- ingly, see them as mere points on a rdsumd. Overthelastseveral months,when summer internship applications are typically due, it's not uncommon to overhear students' remarks along the lines of, "I'll sweep floors, I'll get coffee, I'll seduce and poison the CEO of a competing firm. I don't care as long as it's an internship." In today's job market, it's not difficult to understand this mind- set. Since 2008, fewer students are graduating from colleges with jobs already in hand. A 2011 The New York Times article reported that only 56 percent of the class of 2010 had at least one job by spring of the next year - a drastic drop from 90 percent in 2006. Fear not - it gets bleaker. Of those employed, only half of the jobs required degrees. The pressure to pad your resum6 - that one sheet of paper that acts as your introduction to potential employers - is intensifying. For those who aren't titling themselves "Nourishment Specialist" for baking cupcakes for a club, internships are essentially mandatory. Things aren't looking cheery - perhaps you'd be crazy not to jump on an opportunity to sweep a law firm's floors. Studies are supporting student's suspicions. A 1992 study by North- western University found only 17 percent of students had internship experience. The National Asso- ciation of Colleges and Employers annually surveys 50,000 students from 559 colleges, including the University of Michigan. In its 2012 report, they found more than half of the students "had an internship or co-op experience." Quite a differ- ence in 15 years. Unfortunately, the ratio has shift- ed toward more unpaid internships in recent years - about half of those surveyed by NACE didn't receive compensation. While some busi- nesses are struggling alongside the rest of the country, more are looking for people to do work for their com- panies free of charge - extorting desperation for profit. The role of interns becoming unpaid custodians and baristas isn't new, and is almost institutionalized in the country. However, unpaid interns performing these tasks are technically prohibited under the Fair Labor Standards Act. In response to several states beginning to crack down on abus- es, in 2010 the U.S. Department of Labor issued a reminder to employ- ers, which included the six factors the department uses to determine the legality of unpaid internships. The first four are especially relevant: the training must be similar to voca- tional or academic instruction; it must benefit the intern; the intern cannot replace a paid employee; and the employer doesn't receive any "immediate advantage" from the intern's work. If the guidelines were followed strictly, nearly every unpaid intern- ship would be in jeopardy, but the Dept. of Labor regulations seem illogical. Couldn't an employer pay an employee to do any task an intern might perform? Shouldn't the rela- tionship be mutually beneficial if the intern excels and contributes new ideas? Isn't hands-on training more beneficial than passive observation? The guidelines were based on a 1947 Supreme Court decision, Wall- ing v. Portland Terminal Co., and relate more to blue-collar training. In effect,they're outdated and there- fore ignored. Unpaid positions technically violate labor laws. Regardless, it's unethical for employers to expect interns to hem- orrhage thousands of dollars living in New York or D.C. sweeping floors in exchange for a resume line. The steep price tag of unpaid internships away from home creates a quasi- elitist system. For many students, accepting an unpaid position isn't financially feasible. As a result, those who can afford them have the resu- mes to prove it. Besides increased employer con- science, universities should be part of the solution. They should create more programs like the Universi- ty's Public Service Intern Program. PSIP guides students looking for internships in Washington, D.C., and creates blacklists of organiza- tions past-year's students have had negative experiences with. Secondly, to address the increasing number of unpaid positions, colleges can increase fellowships to finance an unpaid experience - -especially those in the social sciences, where less funding exists. Most impor- tantly, colleges need to simplify and expand means for turning intern- ships into credit hours. On top of what colleges can do, students should weigh the benefits of speaking up if compensation is deserved - a risky move to take. But, I can't imagine I'll bring that up when my bosses ask me to run to Starbucks this summer. Cream and sugar? -Andrew Weiner can be reached at anweiner@umich.edu. Follow him on Twitter at @AndrewWeiner. EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS: Kaan Avdan, Eli Cahan, Ashley Griesshammer, Jesse Klein, Patrick Maillet, Erika Mayer, Harsha Nahata, Harsha Panduranga, Timothy Rabb, Adrienne Roberts, Vanessa Rychlinski, Sarah Skaluba, Seth Soderborg, Caroline Syms, Andrew Weiner TIM RABB I Healthpreform must go further Keep your brain on standby W hen we were young, the onset of summer offered us the chance to "turn Last week, The Michigan Daily published an editorial that ended with the telling obser- vation that the United States spends "more than any other developed nation" on health care, yet ranks "37th out of about 191 nations" in "overall healthcare quality." While the poor cost-quality ratio of American medical care is troubling, it's unlikely that the changes implemented by President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act will have maximal effect without a few added considerations. For one, the Affordable Care Act doesn't address the potential savings promised by the use of comparative effectiveness; research in the national health care system. Compara- tive effectiveness refers to a process by which statisticians compare several forms of treat- ment for the same illness. Some treatment methods vary widely in cost yet are strikingly similar in their ultimate outcomes. A 2009 New Yorker investigative piece focused on the town of McAllen, Texas, which has the most expensive healthcare costs in the country. The article discussed the widespread practice of "overutilizatin," in which doctors adminis- ter multiple unnecessary tests - sometimes to get more money out of a patient, other times to prevent the slightest possibility of a lawsuit - that basically amounts to sanctioned fraud. By "sanctioned," I'm referring to the fact that our current health care industry is exploiting our trust in the old maxim "you get what you pay for." According to the New Yorker article's primary research, "the more money Medicare spent per person in a given state the lower that state's quality ranking tend(s) tobe." The article also draws from out- side research to posit that oftentimes, patients in costlier areas of the country "d(o) no bet- ter than other patients, whether this was measured in terms of survival, their ability to function, or satisfaction with the care they received." Since the current healthcare system com- pensates practitioners under a "fee-for- service" system rather than with an annual salary, there's an inherent motivation to test a patient to death, racking up charges that have no measurable effect on the outcome of the treatment method. I never thought I'd say this, but given these conditions, it's hard not to equate America's medical practice with its cell-phone industry. Though there's a provision in the Afford- able Care Act for a pilot program that would address the varying expenses of Medicare coverage by region, there's no guarantee it'll catch on as a long-term strategy. Furthermore, the act does little to eliminate the overhead costs incurred through the unnecessary medi- ation of third-party insurance companies. A single-payer universal healthcare system would maximize savings, if not by eliminating wasteful practices, then at least by limitingthe waste to a single source of healthcare ration- ing - the federal government. Obama's healthcare reforms may be a step in the right direction, but they're not the long-term solution Americans have been looking for. It'd be best to view it as a bridge between the old system and a comprehensive new one, in which everyone receives treat- ment relative to their lifestyle choices and a contribution proportional to their income level, rationed out by a single pool of health care investments. Tim Rabb is a senior editorial page editor. off" our brains for a while. School drew to a close, the weather warmed up and the blue sky beckoned us to put down our books, grab our shades and head outdoors for some well- DANIEL CHARDELL earned R&R. College is no different. Each year it's easy to see that students, having endured a long Michigan winter, are hungry for some sun. It's a cruel irony that the nicest weather of the year comes hand in hand with the busiest time of the semester. The temperature rises? It must be time for midterms. The trees are flowering on South University? Finals are just around the corner. Let's face it. When the sun comes out, it's easy to put work on the back- burner. By the time summer break rolls around, we're ready to take a break - to "turn off" our brains until autumn. Unfortunately, the arrival of sum- mer doesn't mean the Earth stops spinning. The lazy haze that settles in with the heat doesn't keep politi- cians from saying crazy things, wars from being fought or crimes from being committed. In the absence of schoolwork, it's tempting for students to shut down their minds. But I'd like to make the case forkeepingthem switched on - or, at the very least, on standby. Here are some topics that will matter the most this summer: " The 2012 presidential election - As Mitt Romney wins the Repub- lican nomination (I see no scenario in which that doesn't happen) how will President Barack Obama per- form in his bid for re-election? Will political discourse become any more civilized? Iran - Will Israel preemptively attack Iranian nuclear facilities? Will the United States be drawn into another war in the Middle East? - European economic crisis - Will leaders in Europe overcome the con- tinent's dire economic conditions? A weak European economy is arguably one of the greatest threats to Ameri- can national security. " Healthcare reform - Will the Supreme Court uphold the constitu- tionality of the Affordable Care Act? " Michigan - Recently, the Dem- ocrats in the state legislature sued the GOP for bypassing the consti- tutionally-mandated two-thirds majority needed in order to give legislation "immediate effect." The controversy has gained attention in the national media. For a nice run- down of the specifics, see MSNBC host Rachel Maddow's recent seg- ment on the issue. (Also, don't tell me that Maddow is the left-wing equivalent of Fox News. She puts her own beliefs on display, certain- stops turning. 0 These, among other unforeseen developments, will likely occupy headlines in the coming months. If we switch off our brains, will we be ready to meet the long-term chal- lenges that these issues present? Our minds can't operate with- out rest. Even I, a self-declared news junkie, need a break from the absurdity of politics now and then. But that doesn't make it accept- able for us to disregard important developments entirely. During the summer months, the opposite holds true: as students, we must keep our capacity for critical thinking close at hand. When the sun comes out, don't stay inside and keep your eyes glued to the television screen. But when something newsworthy makes waves, don't let yourself get caught off guard. Keep tabs on the pulse of politics - keep your brain on standby. When we return to campus in the fall, you'll be glad you did. - Daniel Chardell can be reached at chardell@umich.edu. ly, but that doesn't render her state- ments inherently false.) Summer doesn't mean the world 6 A M