4A - Wednesday, January 30, 2013

The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

4A - Wednesday, January 30, 2013 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom

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MAGGIE MILLER

E-MAIL MAGGIE AT MAGATHOR@UMICH.EDU

U U U

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ANDREW WEINER
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 ofitheir authors.
Equal funding, unequal opportunity
Comprehensive education reform is needed in Michgan
n the face of economic downturn, Michigan has struggled to ade-
quately fund its education system. Last week, however, Michi-
gan Sen. Rick Jones (R-Grand Ledge) introduced proposals that
would make public education funding equal across the state. While his
bills bring focus to an important policy conversation, these proposals
won't solve the larger problem of embarrassingly low-funded public
education in Michigan. More comprehensive education reform must
be enacted across local, state and federal levels.

romI classrIJ1oERS
From classroom, to camaraderie

Jones's bills would phase in equal per-
pupil funding within the next 10 years. The
first of his proposals aims to amend the state
constitution to ensure that by the 2020-2021
state fiscal year, schools will be guaranteed
equal per-pupil funding throughout Michi-
gan's public school districts. Jones says it's
unfair that some districts receive roughly
$7,000 per student, while others receive up
to $10,000 or more. Jones also plans on intro-
ducing a separate bill that will assist public
schools with busing costs, especially those in
rural areas. This bill will pay public schools
50 cents per mile toward school transporta-
tion costs.
Through his various proposals, Jones
hopes to overcome the setbacks created by
Proposal A, which passed in March 1994
and was designed to close the spending gap
between public school districts. But over the
years, the disparity between districts has
grown. Proposal A tied school funding direct-
ly to the number of pupils present in each dis-

trict. However, there are several components,
like the economic status of a school district's
residents, that make Michigan's failing fund-
ing system much more complex than this.
State funds are only-one of three components
of per-pupil funding.
The three levels of public education fund-
ing - local, state and federal - all play an
essential role in Michigan's public school
system. On the local level, schools are aided
by property taxes. This becomes a problem
for school districts in low-income neighbor-
hoods. Federal aid may attempt to level the
playing field by assisting these low-income
communities, but the state government is still
left to cover the bulk of costs. In order to real-
ly solve this funding crisis, local and federal
funding systems must be reformed as well.
By solely focusing on state funds, Michi-
gan fails to consider which school districts
need more aid due to possible socioeconomic
factors. Though Jones's proposal to equalize
state funds brings attention to Michigan's

would make fun of that
guy over there, that
Vanilla Ice-looking guy," I
whisper, "but it's
my longstand-
ing policy not to
make fun of peo-
ple with knuckle
tattoos."
My friend n
Terry's throw-
ing the bones JOSEPH
- which sounds.HORTON
much better
than rolling
the dice. He's
focused on the Flamingo craps
table - the bones bouncing as if in
a dance, the table hushed as if col-
lectively conjuring a spell - and
he's definitely not listening to me.
Our other friend Josh however, is.
"Joe," he says, turning to me with a
face full of awe that only the star of
"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II:
The Secret of the ooze" deserves,
"That is Vanilla Ice."
The magnitude of this revelation
is - unlike our mid-level Las Vegas
hotel - all-inclusive. The man looks
like Robert Matthew Van Winkle
simply because he is Robert Mat-
thew Van Winkle. And on our last
night in a city that goes to extreme
lengths to disprove reality, I'm
reminded that some things are real.
They exist; they endure; they last.
Terry was my high-school speech
teacher. I competed on his team for
threeyears, and overthe past decade
we have grown to be good friends.
Last week, I flewto Las Vegas for the
most necessary of rites: the bachelor
party. In March, I'll attend his wed-
ding. At some point I stopped being
his student and he stopped being my
teacher. We are friends.
The classroom, any classroom, is
at its best when both comfortable
and challenging. Learning needs

rules, but it also needs and builds
trust. Students and teachers share a
brief but valuable bond, and though
this closeness occasionally mani-
fests in troubling ways - despite
their uncommonness, we're now
unsurprised to hear of classroom
romances or more extreme and
unwanted advances - schools take
great care to educate faculty on the
risks and repercussions of inappro-
priate relationships. Our Office of
Institutional Equity cautions gradu-
ate student instructors and faculty
that romantic relationships - even
if they're believed to be consen-
sual - are inherently problematic
because they begin in an unequal
power dynamic between teacher
and student.
But what about friendship? I
remain in touch with many former
teachers, just as I remain in touch
with many former students. When
did Terry stop being my teacher and
become the friend who helped me
creep on Vanilla Ice for 20 uninter-
rupted minutes?
I suppose any answer must
return in part to the idea of equality.
Friends, for their myriad differences
and occasional disagreements, must
see each other as equals. They must
value, on par with their own, the
hopes and fears and gifts and gaffes
of the other. Even if total equality is
impossible, the pursuit of it is not.
Academia is fond of analytical
thinking, and to assess friendship
in these terms may seem calculat-
irig and distant. Isn't friendship
a natural process, one of the few
mysterious wonders left, even in
the quantitative world of Facebook
"friends" and Twitter followers?
Moreover, by actively examining
equality, do we push it further away?
Maybe. But what is learning? What
is curiosity, if not the deliberate and
sustained effort to step outside of

our known world to better under-
stand ourselves? Perhaps friend-
ships developed between one-time
teachers and students are as much
about considering our own capacity
for friendship as they are expecting
friendship in return.
Friends must see
-each other as
equals.
I don't have a full answer. What I
know is this: In my class, we aren't a
group of friends. I hope friendships
do form among students in class, but
that isn't my primary goal, nor do I
seek out friends, favorites or "stars."
We are, first and foremost, fellow
readers and writers abiding by the
same contract. Sharing (hopefully)
a common aim, with me often - but
not always.- serving as the guide.
After class is over, I don't write
recommendation letters or serve as
references for friends; I stand up for
talented and thoughtful students.
Not long after we saw him, Mr.
Ice raised an issue with Terry's
throwing of the bones. We weren't
delivering the numbers he needed.
He told us that he needed different
numbers and went to the next table
over. Eventually, Terry crapped out
and we wondered what tattoos we'd
get on our knuckles.
Mine, without question, would be
"READ" and "RITE."
Somebody get me in the next
"Turtles" movie.
- Joseph Horton can be reached
at jbhorton@umich.edu.

EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS
Kaan Avdan, Sharik Bashir, Barry Belmont, James Brennan, Eli Cahan,
Jesse Klein, Melanie Kruvelis, Patrick Maillet, Aarica Marsh, Jasmine McNenny,
Harsha Nahata, Adrienne Roberts, Vanessa Rychlinski,
Paul Sherman, Sarah Skaluba, Michael Spaeth, Derek Wolfe
MEGAN MCDONALD I
Cant ight fire with fire


On Jan. 22, four people were injured during
a shooting on the Lone Star College campus in
Houston, Texas. This comes in the wake of sev-
eral otherschoolshootings, including the tragic
Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre. In
the days following violent shootings across the
country, two solutions have been proposed by
both gun-control and gun-rights advocates that
include reducing and increasing access to these
weapons, respectively. The latter is a danger-
ous response advocated by some supporters of
gun rights and may even lead to more destruc-
tion. While some legislators are pushing for
an increased presence of guns on our campus,
they're not considering the possible repercus-
sions of arming the student body. Proposed leg-
islation in Texas would allow students to carry
concealed weapons on campus, but would this
really eradicate the problem? Or would it make
it worse?
After the shooting at Lone Star College,
Texas lawmakers are pushing the Campus
Personal Protection Act, a bill that allows
concealed weapons on college campuses. The
argument behind this proposal is if more of the
"good guys" are armed, then civilians can pro-
tect themselves and prevent tragic incidents.
The Michigan legislature also had this idea
back in December, but thankfully, Gov. Rick
Snyder vetoed the bill. In fact, Snyder related
his opposition toward the bill back to his own
days as a resident adviser at the University of
Michigan, when a student began firinga shot-
gun, killing a fellow resident adviser and a stu-
dent on Good Friday in 1981.
Fighting fire with fire only makes the issue

worse. If students on our campus were armed,
then I would feel more at risk, not safer. Yes,
it's true that those who will have a concealed
weapon will have extensive training, but when
thrown into dangerous situations people can
be impulsive and extremely reckless, especially
college students. Take, for example, the shooter
at Lone Star College who was set off by some-
one bumping into him.
Adding guns to a college campus wouldn't
increase the feeling of safety - it would do
the opposite. According to a recent study from
the University of Toledo, nine out of 10 facul-
ty members believed it would be a bad idea to
allow concealed weapons on a college campus.
The University of Toledo sent questionnaires to
1,125 faculty members at 15 randomly selected
state universities. 97 percentof faculty mem-
bers at Kent State, the University of Toledo and
Ohio University felt safe on campus, 94 percent
opposed concealed-carry and 82 percent said
they would feel less safe if faculty, students and
visitors were allowed to carry guns.
Our current firearm regulation system is
not perfect and, as exemplified in countless
other shootings since Columbine, gun control
is a complex issue. The last thing schools need
is an additional threat to their safety. If legis-
lators want to look for a solution, they should
take a look at the accessibility of guns. Instead
of trying to add more guns to the equation,
they should be increasing safety measures and
taking steps to ensure guns don't fall into the
wrong hands.
Megan McDonald is an LSA junior.

GABE NEWLAND

0

I

An accidental death penalty

Suppose you're the governor of
Michigan. Great lakes, great times.
Or maybe not. Remember solitary
confinement? That expensive prac-
tice the Department of Corrections
does on behalf of Michigan taxpay-
ers? They lock almost 1,000 prison-
ers - hundreds of them mentally ill
- inside isolated segregation cells.
For days and months and years,
prisoners spend 23 hours per day in
these cramped cubes. Alone. Where
silence screams and thoughts
become voices.
Sometimes people die. Timo-
thy Souders, a mentally ill prisoner
serving one to four years, spent the
last four days of his life strapped to
a steel bed until he died of thirst. He
was naked, soaked in his own urine.
And he's not alone. Jeffrey Clark,
Ozy Vaughn and Anthony McManus
recently suffered-similar fates.
But don't worry, governor. You
can fix this, and it'll save Michigan
money. Look at the recent reforms
in Mississippi. Only six years ago,
they held almost 1,300 prisoners
in long-term segregation. Cells
were ovens and psychotic prison-
ers screamed through the night.
Violence spread. In response, Mis-

sissippi tried something differ- when released. Anti-social isolation
ent - they reduced their solitary produces anti-social behavior.
population by 85 percent. Violence In the end, Mississippi success-
plummeted, behavior improved and fully reduced the number of pris-
Mississippi saved more than $5 mil- oners in isolation to about 300.
lion per year. That saved money, jobs and lives.
How did they do it? Two key In The New York Times article,
components: First, the state over- Christopher Epps, the Republican-
hauled its classification system, appointed commissioner of the
which determines where prisoners Mississippi Department of Correc-
go: minimum, medium or maxi- tions and incoming president of the
mum security. Instead of isolating American Correctional Association,
the worst of the worst, they'd been described how he initially believed
isolating prisoners they were mad prisoners should be locked down
at. And that's expensive. A good for as long as possible. But he now
classification system rewards good sees things differently. "If you treat
behavior, allowing you to possibly people like animals, that's exactly
move from maximum to medium the way they'll behave." The reforms
security. In Mississippi, they knew were nerve-racking, he explained.
how to punish but forgot to reward. "But it worked out just fine. We
And they've now learned an impor- didn't have a single incident."
tant lesson - one-way ratchets only Follow Mississippi, governor.
ratchet up costs. More solitary, Mistreating prisoners is a ter-
more money. rible waste of taxpayer dollars.
Second, Mississippi began divert- Work with state legislators and the
ing mentally ill prisoners out of Department of Corrections. Make
solitary and into mental health it stop. Who knows? Maybe Michi-
units. Prisoners who needed it got gan voters will applaud your wonk-
treatment, not punishment. And ish heroism. You know what they'll
that's smart. Isolated prisoners are say? That's one tough nerd.
more likely to hurt themselves, and
they're more likely to hurt others Gabe Newland is a Law student.

From the President's Desk: CSG President Manish
-- the Parikh explains the Michigan approach to entre-
preneurship - from the bottom up.
Go to michigandaily.com/blogs/The Podium.
INTERESTED IN CAMPUS ISSUES? POLITICS?
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E-mail opinioneditors@michigandaily.com to join in the debate.


LETTER 1

SEND LETTERS TO: TOTHEDAILY@MICHIGANDAILY.COM

"Free" software isn't
aboutprice
TO THE DAILY:
A Jan. 17 article "Freedom soft-
ware advocate warns about privacy
concerns" erred when describing
me as an "open source advocate."
In 1983,Ifounded the free software
movement to win freedom for com-
puter users. The "free" in free soft-
ware refers to freedom, not price.
Therefore, please describe me as a
"free software advocate". ,

The term "open source" was
coined in 1998 by people who want-
ed to bury the free software ideals.
They have a right to their views, but
I disagree with them, so it is mis-
leading to use "open" or "closed" to
say where I stand.
I didn't speak of "surveillance
that Stalin can only dream of," since
Stalin died in 1953. I said "could."
Here's a list of shocking examples
of digital surveillance - there are
many more.
I think the article was unfair to
the Luddites. They didn't blindly
oppose technology. Rather, they

fought technology that caused mas-
sive unemployment and poverty -
as is the case in the United States
today.
The article ends with a cor-
rection stating, accurately, that I
didn't develop Linux. Linux is a
kernel that was started by Linus
Torvalds in 1991. However, when
people say "Linux operating sys-
tem," they mean the operating sys-
tem I started in 1984, which is the
GNU system.
Richard Stallman
President, Free Software Initiative