The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.cam
Wednesday, March 27, 2013 - 3A
CSG
From Page 1A
would be a great asset to student
government in order to improve
campus," Ruza explained.
In contrast, Public Policy
senior Alexander Lane, forUM's
communication director, said his
party's strategy involved seeking
candidates from the general stu-
dent body.
"Weweretheonly partythathad
an open application process," Lane
said. "We made sure that our appli-
cation was available on our website
sopeoplecouldapplyonline-that's
how we're different."
Lane admitted that forUM's
political views are more liberal
PROPOSAL
From Page lA
been proposed in Michigan, and
many within the state's Republi-
can party sayit's unlikelyto occur
in Michigan.
State Rep. Al Pscholka (R-Ste-
vensville), chairman of the House
Appropriations Subcommittee on
Higher Education, said scholar-
ships and giving younger students
experience in STEM fields would
produce better science graduates.
"How do we teach science and
math at lower levels that makes it
moreexcitingforchildren?" Pschol-
ka said. "That's maybe the root
causeofthisissue ratherthansubsi-
dizingtuition atthe lateryears."
The Florida proposal does not
specify which majors would qual-
ify for low tuition. Rather, it iden-
tifies STEM, health professions,
education specialties in math and
science, "globalization" and pub-
lit safety services as key areas of
economic development.
This initiative from the Repub-
lican governor is exemplary of his
recent focus on energizing Flori-
da's economy. In his State of the
State Address earlier this month,
Scott's first discussion point was
education.
"The workers of tomorrow are
inFlorida classrooms today," Scott
said inthe address. "I believe Flor-
ida will be the number one place
in the world for job creation (and)
the number one place in the world
to get agreat education."
The program builds upon
Scott's earlier proposal that the
state's 28 community colleges
offer degrees for $10,000, which
was similarly a 2011 move in
Texas by Gov. Rick Perry.
Michael Van Beek, director of
education policy at the Mackinac
Center for Public Policy, a conser-
vative-leaning think tank based
in Midland, Mich., said similar
proposals are unlikely to occur
in Michigan because there is no
unified state university system.
He added that one problem with
the initiative is the potential for
students to use the lower tuition
incentive to pursue a degree that
does not fit them.
School of Education Prof.
Lisa Lattuca, who specializes in
researching problems of higher
education in engineering, coun-
tered that the efforts could make
certain fields more accessible.
The historical underrepresenta-
tion of women and minorities in
STEM fields, she said, is alimiting
factor in its growth.
"If (the efforts) get students to
a degree that will get their foot
in the workforce, then that's not
such a bad thing," Lattuca said.
"It's possible that some students
might study something that their
hearts are not in, but I don't think
that's much different than what
goes on now."
Scott emphasized in the 2011
interview that taxpayers are
funding higher education, so they
should expect a return on their
investments by having work-
force-ready graduates.
However, Economics Prof.
Charles Brown said the money
invested in all types of educa-
tion would have a small effect on
Florida's economy. Notably, some
grads educated by the Florida sys-
tem may take their tech savvy to
out-of-state companies.
Brown added that job prediction
is difficult, and the proposal rests
on the assumption that politicians
can determine growing fields.
"If you look at currently 'hot'
jobs and asked whether anyone
knew they would be 'hot' 15 years
ago, I think in many cases the
answer is clearly 'no,' " Brown
said. "The idea is not to pick hot
fields; it's to train people so they
can adapt to a very hard-to-pre-
dict future. I wish I had good evi-
dence on whether STEM training
makes people more adaptable."
than those of other parties, he said
the party would run members of
the University's chapters of both
the College Republicans and Col-
lege Democrats as candidates.
Lane said though students
would have a tendency to vote
for the candidates whose names
were more largely recognized on
campus, he hopes that the candi-
dates elected would be the ones
with the greatest vision for the
progression of the University, not
recognition.
"We think we have the better
ideas, but there are alot of decent
candidates running for other par-
ties too," Lane said. "We think
we've worked harder on our ideas,
and we think that they are more
comprehensive."
momentUM will be running
only one LSA representative in
this election cycle.
"Since this is our first year,
we've decided to start off small
and work our way up," explained
Riethmiller, the party's chair.
"I think we are a little bit more
accessible, and our goals and our
platforms goes more along with
everyone's needs."
Though she admires the other
parties' platforms, Reithmiller
said momentUM's platforms will
resonate more with the student
body and will be more applicable
to a broader spectrum of Univer-
sity students.
"We have not met a single
LSA student who does not need
more printing," Reithmiller said
of their platform to increase the
number of allocated printing
pages for LSA students.
She said forUM's idea to have
a student representative on the
Board of Regents would be great
but logistically impossible.
Although Ruza voiced her sup-
port for the youMICH candidates
and praised their successes as stu-
dent leaders, she said she hopes
that students will rank and vote
for the candidate that they feel
best supports their needs.
"I really believe that students
should take a moment and check
out each student's platform,"
Ruza said. "I think they should
vote on ideas, and they should
vote on who they think is goingto
represent them best."
DEBA'
From F
stops.
This
TABLE
Page 1A
is collegiate debate.
THE REWARD
Even though it dates back
to 1890, the University Debate
Team has never won a national
championship. The competi-
tors, the coaches and Univer-
sity administrators want this
to change. Their goal is for one
of the University's three debate
pairs to win the 67th National
Debate Tournament being held
at Weber State University in
Ogden, Utah the weekend of
March 30.
After 123 years, the 2013
tournament may finally be
the team's chance to win it all.
The team as a whole is ranked
second in the latest national
debate tournament varsity
rankings and has two pairings
in the top 16. The University
is one of six colleges to have
three pairs go to the national
tournament.
Aaron Kal, director of the
University's debate team, said
winning the national champion-
ship is the "end goal" everyyear.
"We want nothing more than
to be able to say that we were
the first debate team to win the
national championship for the
University of Michigan," Kall
said.
The debate team was a
student club from the mid-
1980s until 2002 when it was
brought under University Stu-
dent Affairs. Since then it has
expanded both in size and
achievement. It now has about
24 students and three full-time
coaches. The team is entirely
self-funded through a summer
high-school debate camp and
alumni donations.
Laura Blake Jones, the Uni-
versity's associate vice presi-
dent for student affairs and
dean of students, believes the
team will soon achieve their
goal.
"In March, while we might
be cheering our basketball
team in terms of a national
competition, we could also be
cheering the debate team as
they look at perhaps winning a
national championship," Jones
said. "I can feel it. If it's not
this year it will be sometime
soon; we certainly got the tal-
ent on the team, and our time
is coming."
Unlike the clearly defined
rules of basketball, collegiate
debate is filled with more tradi-
tions and customs than inscribed
regulations.
THE RULES
Collegiate debates are fought
between four people - two per
team from each school - and last
up to two hours. Each person is
given nine minutes for a "con-
structive" speech, three minutes
for the competing team's ques-
tions and six minutes for a rebut-
tal speech. Teams are also given
a short amount of "prep time,"
during which both teams are
allowed to pause the debate in
order to prepare.
For each school year, a large
overarching resolution about
federalgovernmentpolicyis cho-
sen to be the subject of the year's
debates. For the 2012 to 2013
school year, students are debat-
ing on whether or not the federal
government should encourage
various types of energy produc-
tion.
The topic of specific debates,
however, is determined com-
pletely by the team going first.
They usually present an argu-
ment - an "affirmative" in
debate lingo - on a specific
aspect of the broad resolution.
For example, this year's teams
have called for more offshore
drilling on the East Coast or
subsidies favoring a specific
type of nuclear energy. Regard-
less of the first team's topic,
the opposing team must debate
against it.
Choosing the topic for each
debate is one the most impor-
tant strategic decision of a
debate pair. Some pairs use the
same affirmative for the entire
competitive season while oth-
ers change it up every tour-
nament or even every debate.
Topics are decided depending
on the opponents' strengths,
new original research or even
the judge's supposed prefer-
ence.
The team going first generally
informs their opponents about
the debate topic up to an hour
before it, leaving just enough
time to quickly go over already
collected research. This is not a
rule, and sometimes - especially
in the case of a newly created
topic - teams may not inform
the competition until the debate
starts.
Except for the strict time
limits, there are few other
formal rules, Kevin Hirn,
LSA junior and debate team
member said. During a debate
or physically shared between
team members. Instead, it
is stored in large Microsoft
Word files that are broken
down by topic and is viewed
and edited by all the team
members.
With a simple mouse click,
evidence collected by the Uni-
versity's entire team can now
be discovered and used quick-
ly during debates.
Before a section of a debate
starts, USB flash drives with
the evidence to be used in
that section are exchanged
between teams. Recently,
teams, including the Universi-
ty's, have started uploading all
evidence used to a debate web-
site at the end of tournaments.
The vast majority of evidence
collected is never used during
an actual debate. Kell said the
University uploads its research
because it creates higher-
quality debates and helps new
programs 'catch up' with the
better ones.
Because of the amount of
research in today's debates,
competitors have sped up
their rate of discourse, Uni-
versity debate alum Neil Wolf
said.
THE RATE
RSG
From Page1A
tives in the past, but that is
by no means any indication
of frosty relations with the
assembly.
Roberts took an even softer
approach to secession, saying an
"intersection of our interests"
exists between RSG and CSG he
has been pleased with how the
current administrations have
interacted.
"If the next (CSG) adminis-
tration is as amenable to coop-
eration and resolution as the
current administration is, I
don't think it's going to be an
issue beyond our second week
in office," he said.
Marvin said secession isn't
an interest, but "it's not off the
table entirely."
Both tickets said they sup-
port improving the career
services provided to graduate
students and better commu-
nication of the services cur-
rently provided. Both tickets
also noted the influence of
RSG with administrators, cit-
ing the recent change in Rack-
ham's GPA scale from 9.0 to 4.0
- which takes effect fall 2013
- as an example of an idea that
originated within RSG and
became a reality.
Flynn said if were Sac-
cone and she to be elected,
the Graduate Student Bill of
Rights and Responsibilities -
a project that has been years
in the making - would come
to fruition.
"That's a document that has
been in the nascent stages and
then growing ever since Ijoined
the board," Flynn said.
While there is currently
an all-encompassing Student
Bill of Rights and Respon-
sibilities, Flynn said there
are circumstances unique to
graduate students that should
be codified. She said the bill
is modeled after similar docu-
ments at other Big 10 univer-
sities.
"In it we afford such rights as
the right to professional devel-
opment tools, or the right to
appropriate training if you're
going to be giving a class," she
said, adding that the bill is close
to being presented to adminis-
trators.
Roberts and Marvin's cam-
paign for the executive arm of
RSG also introduces sustain-
ability, a topic hat has not been
highly stressed before by the
body.
While the University has
made promises about reduc-
ing greenhouse gasses, Mar-
vin said it could do much more
and RSG leaders can advocate
for that. Roberts said he also
wants to change the atmo-
sphere within RSG and create
new connections with seg-
ments of the Rackham popula-
tion.
"There's a culture to student
government," Roberts said. "If
there's an administration that's
running for three years solid,
it's going to have a certain set
of connections that are made
available."
Robert said there is nothing
wrong with the same adminis-
tration consistently in power,
but "there must be competition"
to keep the election honest and
keeps students active. Marvin
agreed.
"What student, or graduate
student especially, is going to
log in to vote when they know
the outcome ahead of time?"
Marvin said.
Roberts said that collabora-
tion among student govern-
ments on projects such as town
halls or social events would be
a goal of his administration.
He also added that RSG needs
to do a better job reaching out
to its own students, noting that
it has held public hearings this
semester with one speaker at
each hearing.
Marvin also contended that
Saccone and Flynn's history in
RSG doesn't translate to more
experience in running a student
government.
"Yes, (Saccone and Flynn)
have that experience, but I
think our dynamic is more fit for
running a student government,"
Marvin said. "Ryan has tremen-
dous experience both at RSG as
well as the Engineering Council
He knows how these govern-
ments run."
Having served this past year
as president, Flynn said her
decision to run again for vice
president instead of opting
for the presidency was made
with time in mind. She didn't
feel she would be able to dedi-
cate the necessary time while
accomplishing her duties as a
student.
RSG president Michael Ben-
son - now completing his third
consecutive term - is not run-
ning for president, but he said
whoever wins needs to be aware
of the wide diversity of stu-
dents in the Rackham Graduate
School.
Benson said RSG has done
wellin connectingwithstudents
over the past year, but "there's
always room for improvement."
He also noted that he hopes to
see the push for not just seces-
sion, but also for greater repre-
sentation of graduate students
to continue.
"The underlying point is no
matter how it happens," he said.
"I want to see better represen-
tation for graduate students and
I would like to see increased
financial control for graduate
and professional students of
their fees."
Benson, however, has shied
away from using the word
"secession," saying that it isn't
the only option for graduate
students.
"'Secession' carries some-
thing of a negative con-
notation," he said. "When
people hear secession they
think back to the Civil War,
and you know that wasn't a
Great time."
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prepar
before
starts.
teams are expected to Wolf said the high rate of dic-
share presented evi- tion - which he witnessed for
. This is not a rule; it's the first time during the North-
tom that is never bro- western debate - is much faster
or fear of offending an than when he debated in the
potent judge and becom- 1970's.
ie ridicule of the debate "I think the high rate of
unity. speech is a natural outgrowth
ilarly, competitors can of ... the infusion of informa-
id argue almost anything tion technology," Wolf said. "So,
ir allotted time; it is up although I don't understand
e opposing side to dis- much of what they are saying,
the statements. Copious they do, and that's all that mat-
nts of research are para- ters."
t to compete in collegiate Most University debaters
e in order to fight this think the high rate, which can be
menon. in excess of 400 words per min-
ute, is beneficial given their time
THE RESEARCH constraints.
Debaters frequently wake up
the University's team, early to practice speaking drills,
g a lot of high-quality such as reading a book from
ch is viewed as the key to back-to-front aloud with a pen
iational ambitions. in the mouth, so that their vocal
some sense, your last cords are ready to go for the ear-
of the year starts in the ly-morning tournaments.
son because so much of The speed, though incompre-
rocess for debate now is hensible to a layperson, is mostly
on policy research and understandable, debaters claim,
ration that you do long by other debaters and the judge.
the tournament actually They view it as just a normal part
" Allen said. of debate.
The most active debaters
frequently spend hours a day
researching, practicing and
theorizing. Many are given
research assignments during
weekly debate meetings or spend
time just reading up on the latest
research.
Book excerpts, scientific jour-
nals and government studies
are all cited during debates, but
they're also commonly chal-
lenged by the opponents for
being misleading or biased.
Having good quality evidence is
essential for preventing the chal-
lenging side from discrediting it,
Kall said.
Time is always the limiting
factor for debate preparation
because the amount of research
is essentially limitless.
In the weeks approaching a
big tournament like Coon Memo-
rial, some of the most dedicated
debaters do all of their home-
work on Mondays in order to
devote the rest of the week to
debate research.
In the four-hour ride to
Northwestern, the three vans
transporting the team made sure
to have portable WiFi hotspots
to keep research going on the
road.
The Internet and porta-
ble tech has caused debate
research to change in recent
years. Evidence is no longer
carried around in large bins
THE RESULTS
Back at Northwestern, the
speaking stops after about two
hours, and the judge takes 15
minutes to decide the winner.
He gives the win to Allen and
Pappas. Though they are satis-
fied with their win, they are
already preparing for the three
debates later that day and four
the next.
Though they eventually
lost in the quarterfinals, the
team's performance solidified
Michigan's top ranking for the
national debate tournament
because of the competition's
prestige.
Fast forward to March 27: six
University students, along with
10 coaches and alumni assis-
tants, fly out to Utah to prepare
for the start of Friday's national
tournament. Along with the stu-
dents already mentioned, LSA
freshman Cam Colella, LSA
sophomore William Morgan,
LSA senior Kyle Deming and
LSA junior Kevin Hirn will also
compete.
For Pappas and Allen, who are
going into the tournament with a
top-10 ranking, expectations are
high.
"If we work hard, I think we'll
do well," Pappas said.
Allen nodded. "Yeah, we're in
the hunt."
F
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