4 - Tuesday, November 27, 2012 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 4 - Tuesday, November 21, 2012 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom 0 e Midiigan aUfj- Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 tothedaily@michigandaily.com TIMOTHY RABB JOSEPH LICHTERMAN and ADRIENNE ROBERTS ANDREW WEINER 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. Stem cell support needed Michigan should invest in innovative research Four years ago, Michigan made an important step forward for science. The state passed Proposal 2, a 2008 ballot proposal, and ended the 30-year ban on embryonic stem cell line usa in Michigan. However, little progress has been made since then, as the state has not garnered the funding necessary to support these projects. Now Michigan is falling well behind the rest of the coun- try and is stuck looking for ways to revive a depressed economy. Michigan and the University must make stem cell research a top priority, and allow it to jump-start the science economy. Solutions, not criticisms 'm now about halfway through my junior year, a fact I'm often reminded of when I return home for the holidays. Asking what I plan on doing with my life is no longer a generic ques- tion to fill in an awkward pause; it's now a prac- tical question ADRIENNE demanding a ROBERTS somewhat rea- sonable answer. And what exactly have I learned in my classes that will help me in my future, unknown career? It's a tough question to answer, because I really don't exactly know how to express what I've learned in my classes. I came to the University of Michigan - like many other stu- dents - to get a liberal arts educa- tion, one that, by definition, teaches me "how to think" - how to think "critically" that is. The word "critically" seems to be a buzzword for the value of attend- ing a university. But a Tedx video I watched echoes this idea. Sir Ken- neth Robinson, a world leader in developing education, says, "I think you'd have to conclude the whole purpose of public educationthrough- out the world is to produce university professors." He argues that as chil- dren we're extremely creative in our thinking and that dwindles through- out our lives. Creative thinking isn't rewarded. By the time we finally receive a university education, we've -become so afraid of being wrongthat we're more comfortable analyzing than we are solving. Looking back at the classes I've taken here at the University, the one common theme is that there's analysis - and a lot of it. It becomes so easy, and so ingrained in our education, to be, well, "critical" of anything and everything. Yet, a Pew survey from May 2012 found that in traditional colleges across the country, 36 percent of students showed little to no increase in criti- cal-thinking skills. It's an astonish- ing low percentage considering that the purpose of most universities is to teach this type of thought. However, the same Pew study also finds that 86 percent of the col- lege graduates surveyed believe their schooling has been a good invest- ment, despite ever-increasing costs. So there still may be benefits to be gained from obtaining a college degree, but they may not come in the form many expect. According to Philip Hanlon, the University provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, "service learning courses, entrepre- neurial activities and undergraduate research encourage students to think creatively and engage themselves in a situation where they don't know the outcome." He argues that extra- curriculars are equally, if not more, important than traditional classes. While the University encour- ages students to get involved with extracurriculars when they enroll, the importance of such activities is not emphasized enough. Cre- ative thinking - the thinking that requires putting oneself in a situa- tion with unpredictable outcomes - is usually applied in activities outside of the classroom. My involvement with extracur- riculars - which ranges from being a research assistant for a professor to writing outside of the classroom - is what taught me most of the skills that I'll apply to my future career(s); it's what got me my internship this past summer. I was fortunate enough to realize that I should take the initia- tive and join things outside of the classroom. However, some students don't take advantage of this simply because they don't know that extra- curriculars are now something that's almost a requirement. Today, the average American switches their career five to seven times. creative-thinking skills are crucial to making successful transi- tions and adapting to various situa- tions. Universities are behind in the development of programs that pro- mote this type of thinking. While critical-thinking skills are a signifi- cant part of higher education, they shouldn't be the sole focus of a liberal arts education. Creativity may be more useful in an unpredictable Job market.. 6 In comparison to other states, Michigan has lagged behind in fundraising for stem cell research. Even after Proposal 2's passage, Michigan has been slow to enact any signif- icant changes due to a lack of interest from private investors. According to the Detroit Free Press, California provides $300 million yearly for stem cell research, and Ohio has been providing millions for similar research. California has gone further, adding $1.6 bil- lion in new investments, which generates about 2,739 jobs annually. Despite Michigan's fundraising obstacles, the University has continued to be a leader in stem cell research. Since 2009, the Univer- sity has made several significant strides. The National Institutes of Health added the stem cell line UM4-6 to its registry, along with two others that are pending NIH approval. Michigan must continue to be a leader, par- ticularly since the state hasn't received sig- nificant funding. As one of the world's largest research institutions, the University must help lead the state to its goals for stem cell research. Evidently, with the vote in 2008, Michigan residents support stem cell research. How- ever, the state needs to supplement the Uni- versity's efforts to innovate. The state must make a stronger effort to support stem' cell research. The University performs research in embryonic, adult and reprogrammed cells and has developed eight lines of stem cells. The school's embryonic stem cell research may lead to more effective treatments for dis- eases such as juvenile diabetes, heart failure, Parkinson's disease and spinal cord injuries. Four years ago, Michigan made its voice heard, but the state did not respond. With one of the largest research institutions in its backyard, it's time for Gov. Rick Snyder to bring Michigan back into the stem cell research conversation. Improving stem cell research will have significant scientific ben- efits and improve the state's economic status for many years to come. It's scary to think that we may be squashing a child's creative abil- ity through our current education system. I'm lucky that I was able to somehow turn my first-grade diary entries into newspaper writing and that my childhood curiosity trans- formed into a research project. Our University - and universities across the country - must take a step back and examine the skills they're teach- ing in the classroom and decide whether or notthese skills are totally applicable to the job market today. Because if they do this, they have the potential to give students the unique opportunity to experience risk and the unknown before they ever leave the comfort of the job title "student." Then, the question of what students learned in the college classroom may not be so difficult to answer. - Adrienne Roberts can be reached at adrirobe@umich.edu. Follow her on Twitter @AdrRoberts. CONTRIBUTE TO THE COVERSATION Readers are encouraged to submit letters to the editor and viewpoints. Letters should be fewer than 300 words while viewpoints should be 550-850 words. Send the writer's full name and University affiliation to tothedaily@michigandaily.com. IAN MATCHETTI WP EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS Kaan Avdan, Sharik Bashir, Barry Belmont, Eli Cahan, Nirbhay Jain, Jesse Klein, Melanie Kruvelis, Patrick Maillet, Jasmine McNenny, Harsha Nahata, Timothy Rabb, Adrienne Roberts, Vanessa Rychlinski, Paul Sherman, Sarah Skaluba, Michael Spaeth, Gus Turner, Derek Wolfe BARRY BELMONT g -PI) By the numbers Students union Numbers dominate our lives. Over Thanks- giving Day weekend an estimated 43.6 million people traveled several billion miles to consume approximately 46 million turkeys across the nation . If we did nothing but count the number of turkeys raised in the United States this year alone (254,000,000 in total) on the very hands we use to trace them, it would take nearly a decade. Yet, despite all this, very fewofus actu- ally understand where our numbers come from, how they are found or what they mean. It's quite likely that not a single reader stopped to question (let alone verify) whether the numbers stated above were true. Luckily for all of us, I don't intend to pull one over on anyone and these statistics come straight from the American Automobile Association and the U.S. Census Bureau. However, this only leads us to ask the next and more pertinent ques- tion: How did they arrive at their numbers? As with just about any number, there are three methods: One can count, one can calculate or one can approximate. Counting is the first approach we're taught. It consists of finding the number of elements for some finite set of objects by increasing a counter by a set unit for each element. This is a more intuitive concept than the above defini- tion would lead you to believe. If you have some number of turkeys plopped down in front of you, if you wish to count them, it's necessary to mentally represent each turkey with a single digit and then go up the number scale by one for each new turkey. Whether the number is repre- sented in binary in a computer or counted by a robot in a turkey factory, counting establishes a one-to-one correspondence between the ele- ments of one set (number of turkeys) and the elements of another set (fingers on a hand). Inherent to counting is the idea of "ordinal- ity," which states that of two given values, one can either be greater than, less than or equal to the other. Thus, a certain "order" is estab- lished with respect to their values. This can be honed further to the idea of "cardinality," which more explicitly reveals the value or quantity of something. This is how we can go from saying there are more turkeys over there than here to saying there are five turkeys over there and only four over here. But to know the one-turkey difference requires a whole new technique. And that technique is calculation. It's usually at this point that most people end their mathematical career. They found a tool for arriving at most numbers they feel will ever concern them (after all, Johnny is probably not going to give 7, 243 apples to Jane). However, calculation - the ability to transform inputs to outputs via mathematical operation - equips us with a tool to under- stand every number that could ever exist. When numbers like the amount of people who traveled (43.6 million) and the number of tur- keys consumed (46 million) are incomprehen- sible to the human brgin, calculation allows us to manipulate them into terms we can fathom - for each person who traveled, 1.055 turkeys were consumed. But to know that one turkey is a more infor- mative answer requires a whole new tech- nique. And that technique is approximation. Approximating - representing an inexact (though useful) value in place of an exact one - is when we balance the ordinality and car- dinality of calculated numbers with the time and resources necessary to find and under- stand them. Typically one approximates when information is difficult to procure (How many grains of sand are there in the world?) or when further specificity does not radically alter the answer (the number of atoms in your body). The exactness required of an approxi- mation is a function of the context in which the value is placed. Sometimes it's better to be close enough than exact. From the one turkey whose outline resides on our hands to the millions at the center of this past holiday, numbers run our world through and through. For as informative as they can be, they can also mislead, obfuscate and deceive. With three tools presented here - counting, calculating and approximating - we can more thoroughly question and answer the world around us. Only then - only by understanding how they are brought about - can we truly grasp their meaning. Barry Belmont is an Engineering graduate student. As University students, our lives are often hectic. In addition to an extensive course load, many of us take part in athletic or club activi- ties, while trying to spend time with friends and family as often as possible. But if we can pause as we race through yet another semester, we notice that the University seems somewhat different from the pack- age we were sold coming in. Tuition bills are higher, job prospects dark- er and the student body is more uniform than the brochures from orientation led us to believe. As we notice these problems, it's also clear that within the official chan- nels, we lack the concrete ability to change these things. It's with these thoughts in mind that we've started a student union. We have formed the Student Union of Michigan to confront the" tough realities of rising student debt and disappearing public edu- cation. The University is leveraging its existence on high student tuition that's almost impossible to payback and can't be forgiven through bank- ruptcy or death. It's our livelihoods that are threatened by steady increases to already-astronomical tuition pric- es. This wasn't always the case. As recently as 1996, tuition at the Uni- versity was $5,710 per year, mak- ing it possible for more low-income students to attend the University without having to take out massive loans. Now, with in-state tuition at close to $13,000 per year, the aver- age University student graduates with $27,000 in debt. On a 20-year payment plan with a 6.8-percent interest rate, the average student would finish paying the loan in their 40s with an additional $22,464.88 in interest. The University likes us to think that a degree from the University of Michigan will make us exceptional and that it's worth the high cost, yet the unemployment rate for Univer- sity graduates is 8.1 percent, which is slightly above the national aver- age of 7.9 percent. For most of us, a bachelor's degree from the Univer- sity won't shield us from the worst recession since the Great Depres- sion. Nationally, half of recent col- lege graduates are underemployed or unemployed. There's no reason to believe that University students are exempt from this reality. This is partly why 37.7 percent of Univer- sity graduates pursue graduate and professional degrees, because more and more often, an undergraduate degree by itself cannot guarantee a middle-class lifestyle. A graduate degree has become the new ticket to a shrinking mid- dle class. For many of us, pre-pro- fessional training is built into our undergraduate experience. But with the expectations of higher future earnings, medical school and law school saddle students with even heavier amounts of debt. Whereas undergraduate debt might top out at $100,000 in extreme cases, law school and medical school debt can easily eclipse that sum. This is happening in an econ- omy in which doctors and lawyers are in less demand, and paralegals and nurses are favored because they do much of the same work at a fraction of the cost. Nonetheless, and despite the jobs data to the con- trary, schools like the University maintain that their products are worth the price tags. While the University increases tuition with empty promises of future employment, it claims that it has suffered from education cuts at the state level. Yet state defunding doesn't tell the whole story of rising tuition. In the past 10 years, state funding per student has decreased 50 percent, while tuition has increased 100 percent. Tuition increases far outpace both state defunding and inflation. The populations hardest hit by tuition increases are low income and minority students, who will dis- proportionately shoulder the bur- den of student debt. Promises of future tuition hikes, however, will increasingly leave middle-class students and their families with a larger share of this burden. The argument that students understand the price of a Univer- sity degree and it's our fault if we end up with large amounts of debt is shortsighted at best. University administrators didn't tell us before- hand that they would increase tuition by 6 percent annually. Nor were we privy to the corrupt deal- ings on Wall Street that led to the iZe collapse of financial markets glob- ally. To accuse students of know- ing things we couldn't possibly know - things that were happen- ing without our consent - is wrong. It points the finger in the wrong direction and overlooks the fact that, after the collapse of the hous- ing market, schools like the Uni- versity have become the new sites of Wall Street speculation. Since 2007, the University has taken on $2.3 billion in construction proj- ects, including luxury facilities accessible to only a small segment of the University community. The University finances these projects through bonds backed by promises of future tuition'increases that will be borne disproportionately by low- and middle-income students. Our tuition bills are now partly under the control of the University's cred- itors. Ultimately, it becomes-a question of the role of students within the University. Only as a unified group can we fight back against tuition increases that will bury current and future University students and their families in debt. Only collec- tively can we combat the privatiza- tion of the University that sacrifices the quality and accessibility of edu- cation in favor of profit. As such, we have to address soaring tuition in addition to its flip-side, which is the University's continual assault on labor from janitorial staff to instructors. By keepingtuition high and pay low, the University reaps big profits for its executives and big banks atour expense. In combating this, we hope to articulate a new, more democratic position for both students and employees. Fundamentally, we deserve to have a say in how the University runs and how our money is spent. Whether you afford the tuition increases or you have a pile of debt waiting for you when you leave school, we need to recognize that blind tuition increases are antithet- ical to our mission as a public uni- versity and as an inclusive campus. Join us to call for a freeze tuition raises in the foreseeable future on Nov. 29 in the Diag at 1p.m. Ian Matchett is an LSA and A&D junior. WANT THE DAILY ON THE GO? Now you can access your favorite Daily opinion content on your phone. Keep up with columnists, read Daily editorials and join in the debate. Check out the Daily's mobile website at m.michigandaily.com.