4A- Monday, March 11, 2013 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 4A- Monday, March 11, 2013 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom c4c Michioan [ 43al"Im Solvency isn't salvation Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. 420 Maynard St. 'Ann Arbor, MI 48109 tothedaily@michigandaily.com MELANIE KRUVELIS and ADRIENNE ROBERTS MATT SLOVIN EDITORIAL PAGE EDITORS MANAGING EDITOR 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 of their authors. FRMTE AL M1sguided management Emergency financial manager wrong decision for Detroit n March 1, Republican Gov. Rick Snyder announced his intentions to appoint an emergency financial manager for Detroit as a last resort measure to address the city's grave financial problems. Given the city's struggles with various problems ranging from its depleted tax base to a crumbling infrastructure, it's obvious that substantial changes must be made. That being said, all potential solutions should have been considered before giving broad powers to someone from outside the current city government. While Detroit is in desperate need of repair, Snyder's decision to appoint an emergency financial manager is a shortsighted move that subverts the democracy of Detroit's institutions and residents. After decades of decline, Detroit, Flint and Pontiac all experienced chronic unemployment, drops in aver- age household income and plummeting property val- ues. The steadys stream of people, businesses and JAMES government BRENNAN investment going to the suburbs over urban areas in the last 50 years has led to crises once unimaginable in what were Michi- gan's greatest cities. The failure has become cyclical, as this loss in money and increase in poverty means more crime, worse schools, fewer services and no funds to fight these problems. With Republican Gov. Rick Sny- der's announcement last week, Detroit has become the latest city designated to receive an emergen- cy financial manager. Emergency managers have one focus and one focus only: budgets. Their sole task is to take a municipality that is in massive debt and to bring it into solvency. In simpler terms, an emer- gency manager's job is to balance the budget and do so as quickly as possible. The argument in favor of such action is that cities in fiscal crisis have displayed an inability to manage their own finances over an extended period and therefore need the state to intervene. However, failing cities aren't experiencing fiscal crises simply because they're mismanaged by incompetent local officials. It's .not a coincidence that Detroit, Flint and Pontiac, Mich. are some of the state's poorest areas and are hit hardest by the state's struggling economy. Fewer jobs, lower average income and plummeting property values resulting in less tax revenue are the real causes of fiscal crises in cities. A balanced budget would be nice, but it won't stimulate the economy. The state can raise fees and cut ser- vices all it wants to save money and eliminate deficits, but without a real economic recovery, cities will just continue their cycle of failure and fall into debt later on. When an economy is sputtering, government - whether locat, state or federal - must spend more money and cut taxes in order to increase growth. Spending directly gives income to people and businesses, whiletaxcuts allowforthose already making money to spend and invest in larger doses. Both of these actions will result in heavier debt and defi- cits short term, but the resulting natural increases in employment, income and investment will mean higher tax revenues overall, and, in the long term, a balanced budget. Emergency financial managers go directly against the interests of an economic recovery. Austerity mea- sures will only harm the economy in the long run while improving fiscal solvency in the short term. Less spending means less income for government workers or contrac- tors, while increased taxes take money out of consumers' pockets. The reduced services and increased taxes result in residents paying more money and not getting much in return. This makes no sense eco- nomically and may contribute to higher crime and lower standards of living if money is taken away from police or infrastructure funding - the case in cities like Flint. , Detroit, Pontiac and Flint are struggling right now. With less money to attract business, improve education and fund key services, residents of these cities are losing opportunities to succeed every day. Detroit has been unable to effectively col- lect revenue from its taxpayers. The constantly decreasing population has only added to this problem - a decade ago, there were over a mil- lion residents; today about 700,000. The city alsohas alonghistory ofinefficientgovernment and officials misusing funds - notably former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. State money will be essential to funding programs that can turn the city around. But bringing in someone with total control over the finances is a step too far. It may seem that bringing in an emergency financial manager would be the quick fix to a public sector plagued by more than $14 billion in long-term liabilities. However, other cities in Michigan, such as Allen Park, Pontiac and Flint have emergency financial managers and have shown little improvement. For example, in 2002 Flint went into a financial emergency and Ed Kurtz served as the manager until 2004. Kurtz left Flint in 2004, claiming it was no longer in an emergency and that there would be a $6.1 million budget surplus in 2005. However, the prosperity didn't last and the city struggled with a deficit of $6.8 million by 2008. Once again, Snyder appointed Kurtz as Flint's emergency manager in 2012. The Flint City Council has proposed to move away from having an emergency financial manager despite still facing huge deficits and a crum- bling infrastructure. Detroit is much larger than these cities, and it's unclear whether an emergencymanager would prove effective in a city - a serious gamble. One of the bigger concerns of the emer- gency financial manager is that it strips away the autonomy of Detroit and gives power to an official who most likely doesn't have the same level of knowledge of the city as the citi- zens of Detroit, who have first-hand accounts of the changes that are needed. With this change, the citizens will no longer have a say in the way their city is governed. The appointment of an emergency financial man- ager was a short-term and desperate solution, as exemplified by Flint. Going forward, who- ever the appointed emergency financial man- ager is must work closely with the mayor and city council. Without action, financial failure for Detroit is imminent. Clearly, Snyder had to step in and do something. However, his choice to appoint an emergency financial manager hasn't been met with complete praise, as evidenced by Proposal 1 - in which giving expanded pow- ers to an emergency manager was voted down - and the recent controversy surrounding this decision. In order for the emergency finan- cial manager to have success in Detroit, they must work closely with the people that know Detroit best, instead of making rash decisions that may harm thecity in the long run. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Readers are encouraged to submit letters to the editor. Letters should be few the writer's full name and University affiliation. Send letters to tothe is worth While government certainly isn't a long-term job creator, public funding for certain aspects of life is simply non-negotiable. Schools need to pro- vide students with an equal chance to go to college or trade school and get a job or start a business. Roads and public transportation must be main- tained and improved so that low- income residents can get to work and improve their standing in life, while police need adequate funding and staffing to help prevent crime and improve a city's standard of living. The people of Detroit need opportunities to succeed. No one is entitled to an easylife, to a job or to money. But no one should be condemned to a life of permanent hardship and struggle. The people of Detroit, Pontiac and Flint are no different than anyone else. They're no better and no worse. Given the same opportunities as the rest of us, residents of these struggling cities would succeed all the same. Slash- * ing budgets and increasing fees and taxes will only harm already disadvantaged people further. As a state, we have to advocate for equal opportunity for anyone, anywhere. And in doing so, we must recognize those of us who aren't giventhe same chances. Opportunities for growth and improvement won't be produced by a balanced budget, but rather by the hard work of committed people when given the chance to succeed. -James Brennan can be reached at jmbthree@umich.edu. er than 300 words and must include daily@michigandaily.com. e time They're all the same." That's OK. At the scale of the Uni- versity, it's true that nearly everyone involved with student government wants the same thing: to make this campus a better place for every stu- dent. As cliche as it sounds, there's a lot of weight to that statement. Wherever there are politics, cyni- cism closely follows. It doesn't nec- essarily matter who you vote for. Sure, everyone has differences, and that's why these elections can become so hotly contested. Ulti- mately, though, it's more important We all have a say. But only a quarter of us will act. that students participate in the elec- tions and vote. Period. All students have a say in this matter. A majority of us will see the campaigning on Facebook and the chalking across the Diag. But hardly a quarter of us will act on what we see in two weeks, and an even small- er proportion will care enough dur- ing the rest of the year to see what student government is up to. We go to one of the greatest uni- versities in the world, and we con- tinue to produce some of the world's most ambitious alumni every year. CSG not only provides a powerful platform for developing the skills of those who are involved in it, but it also seeks to nurture all students on this campus and help them to be safe and successful during their time here and beyond. On March 27 or 28, I'll show that I care and will cast my votes. Will you? - Hema Karunakaram can be reached at khema@umich.edu. EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS Kaan Avdan, Sharik Bashir, Barry Belmont, James Brennan, Eli Cahan, Jesse Klein, Melanie Kruvelis, Maura Levine, Patrick Maillet, Aarica Marsh, Megan McDonald, Jasmine McNenny, Harsha Nahata, Adrienne Roberts, Paul Sherman, Sarah Skaluba, Michael Spaeth, Luchen Wang, Derek Wolfe JACOB FROMMI Porn's only part of the problem If you keep up on all things Scandinavian - as I'm sure you all do - then you're well aware that Iceland's government is looking for a way to ban Internet porn. Or, at least the violent kind. Whatever that means. There are already regulations in place that limit the kind of sexual material that can be distributed in print, but Ogmundur Jonasson, Iceland's interior minister, has proposed that those regulations be expanded to online porn. In an interview with The Guardian, Halla Gunnarsdottir, the political adviser to the interior minister, seems to sum up the goal of the minister's proposal: "When a 12-year-old types 'porn' into Google, he or she is not going to find photos of naked women out on a country field, but very hardcore and brutal violence." Clearly, Gunnarsdottir doesn't think much of her country's teens' collective ability to search for Internet porn. Butlet's say Icelandic 12-year-olds actually type "porn" into Google (which, by the way, is like going to Times Square for a slice of pizza) to get their smut. Want to see if Gunnarsdottir's claims are true? Try for yourself - you'll see that what comes up isn't exactly "hardcore and brutal vio- lence," even with SafeSearch off. Now, what do you get when you search for "hardcore and brutal violence?" Something considerably less sexy. And how are we going to deal with the gray area that is hardcore porn that takes place in a field? What then, Halla, what then? But that's a conversation for another time. The issue here, or at least the one I'd like to point out, is that censoring the Internet as an attempt to protect children is misguided. Any- thing "bad" that happens online has a signifi- cantly worse counterpart in the real world. On the Internet, some people watch child porn. That's bad. But in the real world, some people make child porn. That's worse. Online, crimi- nals steal innocent victims' personal infor- mation and use that data to commit fraud. In the real world, criminals steal personal infor- mation and use that data to commit murder. Worse yet, some people use the Internet to illegally download music by the band Nickle- back. Worst of all, some people are the band Nickleback. See what I mean? If you want to protect your children, Iceland, teach them how to cope with violence, both online and in the real world. If the fear is that children will see depictions of violent sex acts and then go on to commit acts of sexual violence, then the solution is to teach them not to commit acts of sexual violence. Attempting to remove the inspiration isn't enough. And if Iceland's gov- ernment is simply worried that their little angels will stumble onto objectionable Inter- net content out of youthful innocence, then these adults have a larger task than they orig- inally thought. Have you seen the Internet lately? It's disgusting! In any democratic society, the debate over what constitutes free expression is a healthy one to have. However, Iceland isn't attempt- ing to stifle expression, but merely consump- tion. If the government really has a problem with "hardcore and brutal violence" in por- nography - that is, if it takes issue with the mistreatment of women in under-regulated adult entertainment industries - then it should make attempts to protect actors from unfair and unsafe working conditions. If, however, Icelandic officials are just having a hard time differentiating between depictions of violence and actual violence itself, maybe they should get offline and into the real world. There's plenty of objectionable content for them to grapple with out there. Jacob Fromm is an LSA senior. March 27 and 28 are specially marked on my Google Calendar. Although I'm sure my Face- book newsfeed won't fail to blow up with constant pleas, I want to mlake sure I don't for- get. Iknow I'll see the creative HEMA new hashtags E for the occasion KARUNA- as I scroll down KARAM Twitter, but I don't want to somehow still miss it. So what's the big deal with those two dates? It's the Central Student Government elections, and I have to cast my votes. Unfortunately, fewer than 20 per- cent of you are likely to do the same. I haven't been bribed by anyone to support CSG; I'm completely unaf- filiated with student government in any way and just genuinely take interest in its actions. Whenever this is discussed, however, I'm met with raised eyebrows. My friends involved with CSG go out of their way to keep me in the loopbecause too often their efforts fall on deaf ears. After all, isn't it weird that I actually care? A few quick clicks through Wol- verine Access tells me that $7.19 of my tuition this term alone went to CSG. That's the cost of a large pizza, and, with more than 40,000 under- graduate and graduate students at the University, that adds up. This money helps student organizations to carry out their passions, it puts on awesome events like pep rallies before home football games and it helps students get to the airport for cheap through the airBus service. But CSG is about more than just the funding. In the past year alone, members of CSG have aimed to make our campus safer and more comfort- able. Current CSG President Man- ish Parikh has followed through on one of his campaign promises for a 24-hour cafe, and now Bert's at the Shapiro Undergraduate Library does not shut down at any time between Sunday morning and Thursday night. Several representatives have also played a key role in getting the medical amnesty bill through the Michigan legislature, indicating a commitment to the safety of not only students on this campus but all over the state. So, our student government lead- ers make some pretty big things hap- pen. Good for them, and let them do their thing - right? It's not that simple. American politics functions on popular involvement and CSG is no different. CSG is made up of an executive board, commissions and an assembly of representatives from each school. But without student body support, it's not always clear whom exactly these representatives represent. Involvement in campus political organizations is often a stepping-stone into future political careers for many of these students. Why not at least help them along their goals while we can, especially if it's as easy as reading a few platforms and clicking a button? Fine. CSG can be productive, and the people involved in it are really passionate. But what about all these parties? forUM, momentUM, you- MICH - it'll take a lot of time to fig- ure out the platforms of each of them before the election. Maybe we'll see more parties pop up (with more cre- ative plays on the University's name to boot). Maybe, like last year, we'll see an independent candidate push to head CSG. And after all the cam- paigning, research and propaganda, many students may wind up at the cynical conclusion: "There's no point. SEND LETTERS TO: TOTHEDAILY@MICHIGANDAILY.COM ViewpointaboutlDFtalk is inaccurate depiction TO THE DAILY: As one of the Israeli soldiers who spoke, we'would like to correct misin- formation in the viewpoint "Human- izing the Inhumane" (2/27/2013). I never called the pregnant woman who came to a checkpoint in an ambulance a terrorist. We said that terrorists use women and chil- dren and we're not always certain that the women are even aware that civilians indiscriminately, forcing they are being used. The article also Israel to enter Gaza to battle Hamas omitted that I said that the ambu- and other terrorist groups. lance, which was loaded with weap- StandWithUs 'Israeli Soldiers ons, tried to run us over before we Stories' is designed to foster dia- shot the wheels. logue about the conflict and to Samia Ayyash also states that help correct this kind of errone- no rocket that ever landed in Tel ous information. Ari and I were Aviv caused one civilian death. She honored to speak at the Univer- neglectsto point out the thousands of sity and to be so warmly received. rockets that fell and continue to reign down on Israel's Southern communi- Lital ties from Gaza that maim and kill Soldier in the Israeli Defense Forces CONTRIBUTE TO THE CONVERSATION Readers are encouraged to submit viewpoints. Viewpoints can be on a wide array of subjects and should be 550-850 words. Send them to opinion@michigandaily.com.