4 - Friday, September 20, 2013 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com ._ }c Mihigan aily Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. Have an extra point, sweetheart 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. FROM THE DAILY in funding to income The Texas State Technical College's plan is detrimental to education Due to budget changes within the Texas State Technical College system, the state's 12 technical colleges will receive state fund- ing in proportion to the future incomes of their graduates as of September 2015. This is part of a growing trend in which the allocation of state funding to colleges is based upon graduates' success. While other states have appropriated college funds based on performance factors such as degree completion and graduate career fields, the state of Texas will be the first to directly correlate funding and graduate income. Although this approach to funding may have limited value, it will be detrimental to educa- tion if states continue to equate graduates' success to their salaries. Texas' new fund appropriation formula future performance, it should distribute applies only to the state's technical schools, funds based on job placement rather than not the University of Texas system. The sys- income. Income is affected by a number of tem will replace all funding based on enroll- uncontrollable variables including career ment; when the new funding formula is in field, surrounding job market, and economic place, technical colleges will receive 26 cents and individual temperament, and thus is an for every dollar graduates make above the ineffective means of measuring colleges' effi- minimum wage. Comparatively, the state of cacy. Income-based funding would encour- Michigan appropriates college funding based age schools to cut valuable yet inherently on factors including graduation rates, degree lower-earning programs in education, health attainment in critical fields, and research care and the humanities. Technical colleges and development expenditures. are generally focused on direct employment, Although technical colleges focus more so funding based on job placement is a more directly on employment than more tradition- accurate and effective option for the state. al four-year institutions, it's wrong to punish Texas' new program is, in some respects, them by cutting funding because of gradu- similar to President Barack Obama's national ates who don't make enough money. Doing so initiative to tie college performance to stu- doesn't take into account the value of knowl- dent aid. The president's plan would rate edge attainment and personal growth. Espe- colleges based on access, affordability and cially if adopted by larger universities, which "student outcomes," allocating aid accord- is unlikely, this policy of heightened empha- ingly. Such a system would be preferable to sis on future income is a dangerous trend aid based only on graduate income. However, that could lead to the neglect of less profit- any system of fund allocation based on grad- able academic pursuits, like social work, uates' future performance must be careful to for example. foster all kinds of learning and prevent dis- If Texas sees value in tying funding to crimination of any academic programs. Making a megalopolis y teammates and I pulled up to Mitchell Field, crammed in an assort- ment of vans and cars. The field looked ghostly and bleached under the flood- lights, filled with dozens of jittery figures darting around, KATIE echoing "mine" STEEN and "push up!" I approached the referees - two tall, skinny guys wearing black - confirmed I was captain of the co-rec B intramural soccer team "Blurples" and stood staring at an indiscriminate region of space between the two of them as they reviewed the rules. No offsides, no slide tackling, subs go in at the halfway line. But they didn't men- tion the one I was most interested in. "So,there'sarumorgoingaround," I said. "Is it true that goals scored by women are worth two points?" "Yeah, girl goals are worth double." "OK - just wanted to confirm." I could have questioned them about why that's a rule. I could have rolled my eyes. I could have been blatantly pissed. Instead, I skipped off into the floodlights to tell all my female Blurples to play offense and to shoot as much as possible. Because, I want to win, so if girl points are double, then we might as well take advantage of it, yeah? Truth is, I wasn't mad. I realize the rule is indisputably insulting to women, but it's hard to com- plain when the rule is, after all, benefitting me. I'm reminded of a certain soccer game I played during my shrimpy, self-conscious days as a sixth-grad- er. I was on an all-female travel team, and we played all-female teams. Any hostility toward the other team was typically limited to the ever-so-passive-aggressive fail- ure to shake a certain player's hand after the game. "Bad game," I'd mumble under my breath instead the standard "good game, my hand hang limp next t instead of offering it to t player like a true sportswo But for one game - just mage - we played an all-m and a new form of hosti introduced. I was better atsoccer tha the boys on that team. That truth. In a standard game, if nent becomes frustrated, expect some shoving, a fev in the side. Maybe the dirty perate jersey pull. But, "you a girl," so they adopted an form of frustration and jeering at one another: "You the ball to a girl!" "You're slo a girl!" "You play like a gir last one always gets me - you play like a girl if you' outperformed by a girl?) Though the insults were W delivered to a male teammates, any I highly doubt An those male play- ers are writing asE about that game nine years later letting moves to "The Cha-Cha Slide"), o my side the fact is that these gendered he other insults and assumptions still exist. man. The supposed need to give females a scrim- extra points for their effort is con- ale team, descending and has been met with ility was reactions along the lines of "Are you f-ing kidding me?" from almost n some of every non-Blurples person I've told. 's just the But I can't say it's terribly surpris- anoppo- ing. The point system, in short, is a I might form of benevolent sexism - a type of w elbows sexism that permeates many aspects and des- of modern society. It has good inten- can't hit tions, but is motivated by underlying indirect assumptions about females that are, hostility, y'know, sexist. No, I'm not one of u just lost those feminists who gets pissed off if 'wer than a guy opens a door for me. Being nice 1!" (That (er, "chivalrous") to women is lovely, how can but please don't patronize us. were just What the two-point rule basi- cally says is that females - omen don't need regardless of kind of advantage. how good we kmd f avantge- are at soccer - d it's insulting to are inherently less skilled at sume that we do. the sport than males. I, as a woman, need in a newspaper, still annoyed by those comments. Later, in seventh-grade gym class, I would play soccer against boys again. This time, their hostil- ity was a little more direct. "Bitch," I'd hear in between throw-ins and goal kicks. When a boy plays poorly, he's just "playing like a girl." Playing poorly is the assumed default for a female athlete. If that female athlete out- performs a male, she's a bitch. We can't win. I realize that the whole "bitch" incident occurred back in middle school, when nights were spent harassing Smarterchild on AIM and almost everything was fair game for a "that's what she said" joke. They were stupid, obnoxious years. But though we've grown up and have since forgotten the moves to "The Cha-Cha Slide" (who am I kidding - I will never forget the that extra point for every goal I score, because heaven forbid I break a sweat trying to compete against my male opponents. It's the same reason there's always the awkward pause when I get pushed over in a game - I am female. I am fragile and weak and suck at soccer. Here, have an extra point, sweetheart. Anyway, it's a stupid rule to be sure, but my fellow female Blurples took advantage of the extra points just like I did - and why shouldn't we? There are much more blatant and offensive forms of sexism out there, which can make it easy to let stuff like this slide - after all, it's an advantage! ButI - and the rest of the female members of my team - don't need it. And it's insulting to assume that we do. - Katie Steen can be reached at katheliz@umich.edu. EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS Kaan Avdan, Sharik Bashir, Barry Belmont, Eli Cahan, Eric Ferguson, Jesse Klein, Melanie Kruvelis, Maura Levine, Patrick Maillet, Aarica Marsh, Megan McDonald, Harsha Nahata, Adrienne Roberts, Paul Sherman, Sarah Skaluba, Daniel Wang, Derek Wolfe Our bodies, our donations A An original - though innovative - idea is in light of Detroit's c crisis involving a munici- pal merger of Detroit into some combination of the surroundingtri-county area of Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties. Edward McClelland's article on Salon and Jack Lessenberry's Metro Times equivalent are two recent examples of arguments favoring the creation of a new Detroit- Wayne-Macomb-Oakland mega city-county. What the megalopolis wo like is open to wild speculat dation has immense poten Detroit. The merger would p diate tax-base expansion fo cal political entity and sten decline that has been long s Detroit's biggest compoundi Adding to the appeal, pal expansion-mergers have work in major metropolitan country - Nashville, Indiana being the most frequently cit There are several problem this idyllic proposal, not least of which is its com- plete impracticality given the region's political and social context. Detroit is certainly not Miami, Indianapolis or Nashville. Many resi- dents in the tri-county area already dread paying off Detroit's massive debt and unfunded liabilities of n Furthermore, to a greater Detroit than anywhere else in tensions have torn the area a Metro Detroit arguably rema regated region of the United quently mentioned 2011 stud of Brown University and Bria State University, Detroit-] is ranked the most segregate sample of50 similar areas. This isn't to mention that D County's historical records tal incompetence and corr reformed by simply conjoini wiping the slate clean. Let me be clear here: I dox that the city of Detroit - an whole - wouldn't benefit fr( mergers. At this point, how aren'tready for it. not necessarily Small gains in regional cooperation over gaining traction the last several years - such as the Detroit urrent financial Institute of Arts millage and the long-over- due creation of the regional transit author- ity - don't imply that city leadership, county officials and their constituencies are ready to get hitched overnight. Instead, continued incremental improve- ments in regional cooperation represent a more compelling and realistic approach to solving the larger, more immediate problems we face in the area, especially if these improvements lead to internal political reform and a reduction ALEXANDER in racial animosity. Only then does a Detroit- county merger seem feasible. Wayne County has already engaged in some expanded regional cooperation. Admin- istrative, policing and other duties across the uld actually look 43 municipalities that make up the county are ion, but consoli- combined, thus sharing the associated tax tial for healing burden and easing the pain of the more dis- 'rovide an imme- tressed communities. r the hypotheti- Municipalities immediately surrounding a the population Detroit can do their part, as well. Many cit- een to be one of ies bordering Detroit have their own finan- ng problems. cial difficulties. But those with resources to similar munici- spare - Grosse Pointe, Dearborn and Livonia been proven to immediately come to mind - can help stabi- areas across the lize the Detroit neighborhoods along their apolis and Miami borders by providing an increased police pres- ed examples. ence in those areas. Program goals don't have is, however, with to be entirely altruistic. Creating an expanded "buffer zone" into Detroit might raise property val- We can make ues, attract residents and reduce criminal activity. important strides in The Jefferson-Cadieux area in Detroit is a perfect place to create this "buf- cooperation. fer zone." West of Cadieux you'll find housing vacan- cies, rampant blight and other devastating issues early $20 billion. most commonly associated with the city's degree in Metro neighborhoods. But within a short distance to the nation, racial the east, you'll find the beginning of Lake Shore part for decades. Drive and one of the most opulent communities ins the most seg- in Grosse Pointe, and perhaps all of Michigan. States. In a fre- Often, when travelling west to east along Jef- y by John Logan ferson, you'll spot a Grosse Pointe police officer n Sults of Florida parked directly in front of a sign greeting driv- Livonia-Dearborn ersentering the suburb - sending a mixed mes- d metro area in a sage of warning, welcome and antagonism to Detroit residents. etroit and Wayne Contrasting this border of exclusion, of governmen- Grosse Pointe and other surroundingsuburbs uption won't be could create a more permeable perimeter, ing the two and expanding their police and fire protections to areas within Detroit and relieving distressed n't mean to argue parts of the city - all while making important d the region as a strides in the realm of regional cooperation. f we are anything, we are our bodies. From infancy to infir- mity, our bodies are the bounds of our inner worlds and the probes we use to expe- rience all oth- ers. They are our only means and mediums BARRY of experience BELMONT and expression. If we don't hear it, feel it, taste it, smell it, see it or sense it, there is very little we can do to contemplate, understand or convey our existence. Our bodies are ourselves. On Wednesday night, the Uni- versity of Michigan's Department of Medical Education held a memo- rial service for the friends and families of its anatomical donors. These donors are individuals who decided to give their bodies over to the University after their death for use in medical education, sci- entific research and technological development. Those in attendance heard stories of gratitude from medical students, doctors and engi- neers who have all directly benefit- ted from these donations. It was an emotional night, with the heart pangs of sorrow and the full body warmth of thankfulness palpably clear for all in attendance. Anatomical donations have come a long throughout the history of medical education: from an era when the thought of human dissec- tion was inconceivable (and anat- omy was learned strictly through centuries-old texts) to the reign of body snatchers (where admis- sion to medical was conditional on an applicant having an anatomi- cal specimen) through to the pres- ent day where a single body may be used to educate a thousand students throughout the course of a semester. As a bit of historical trivia, there was a time when medical schools were so desperate for anatomi- cal specimens that they would pay top dollar for just about anything, no questions asked. University of Michigan Medical School alumnus Herbert Webster Mudgett - bet- ter known by the moniker H. H. Holmes - seized upon this to con- struct a huge mansion during the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago for the sole purpose of killing people, dis- secting their bodies and then sell- ing their skeletons. In so doing, he became America's first serial killer. Mudgett's/ Holmes's pic- ture can still beh viewed on the Wha second floor commemo connector of the University of the very dE Michigan hospi- our hur tal between the Cancer Center- and the Main Hospital. Class of 1884. Number 38. Today the procedures for body donation, procurement and treat- ment are all covered in the United States under the Uniform Anatomi- cal Gift Act, a set of laws designed to curb human trafficking, eliminate the black market sale of organs and ensure that the dignity, respect and privacy due to such donors are held in the highest esteem. There is no dispute that such donations are hugely beneficial to nearly everybody involved. There are statistics out there that show students taught anatomy with access to real anatomical speci- mensvastly outperform those with- out such exposure; there are lots of studies that show how necessary it is for doctors-in-training to work with real anatomical donors before treating patients; and it is undeni- ably true that much of the progress made in medical device design and manufacture is due in large part to anatomical donations made across the world. Arguably the only people who do not benefit from anatomical dona- tions are the donors themselves. They are helping medical students, they are helping doctors, they are helping future patients and all at a time when these students, doctors and patients cannot help them. So why do they do it? It was the individual, unspoken answers of the donors that were commemorated yesterday. For a brief moment, students and doctors, friends t was and family, rated was paused to reflect S of on the genuine imtion of altruism of such nanity. people. Chari- table in life and in death, they ,I .t : e n are truly some of the best this world has to offer - they are the best of us. What was commemorated were the people helping other people for no other reasons than that they could and that they thought it was the right thing to do. We shall be forever in the debt of such individuals, only hoping to pay forward what we can with better science and medicine, with better education and technol- ogy, with a greater appreciation for the kindness of others and a gen- erosity that aspires to the heights attained by those willing to give even beyond the mortal world to help this one. What was commemo- rated, what was celebrated, was the very definition of our humanity. - Barry Belmont can be reached at belmont@umich.edu. INTERESTED IN CAMPUS ISSUES? POLITICS? SEX, DRUGS AND ROCK'N'ROLL? Check out The Michigan Daily's editorial board meetings. Every Monday and Wednesday at 6pm, the Daily's opinion staff meets to discuss both University and national affairs and write editorials. E-mail opinioneditors@michigandaily.com to join in the debate. om the proposed never, we simply - Alexander Hermann can be reached at aherm@umich.edu. 4 4 fI i