4 - Friday, October 112013
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
4- Friday, October 11, 2013 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom
Edited and managed by students at
the University of Michigan since 1890.
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Ann Arbor, MI 48109
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MEGGIE RAMM
E-MAIL. MEGGIE AT ROSERAMM@UMICH.EVU
ANDREW WEINER
EDITOR IN CHIEF
MELANIE KRUVELIS
and ADRIENNE ROBERTS
EDITORIAL PAGE EDITORS
MATT SLOVIN
MANAGING EDITOR
Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily's editorial board.
All other signed articles and illustrations represent solelythe views of their authors.
A minor compensation
Alternative solutions should be created for young athletes
n Sept. 27, it was announced that Electronic Arts and The Collegiate
Licensing Company had decided to settle in three lawsuits, agreeing
to pay out up to $40 million to college athletes whose likenesses had
been featured in NCAA football games over the past 10 years. Apart from the
profits of video-game companies, unpaid student-athletes are contributing
a product that has created a billion-dollar industry, This process, especially
exploitative of football and basketball players, is a controversy that has risen
time and time again with no clear solution. As the divide between academia
and college athletics expands at universities like Michigan, practical solu-
tions should be explored to compensate student athletes.
The settlement between EA and the CLC
will provide athletes featured in the NCAA
football video games a cut of the $40-million
settlement. Yet, because of the complexity of
the payouttovarious athletes, alongwith attor-
ney's fees, many players will receive a paltry
compensation compared to the earnings of the
industry. In 2011, the NCAA signed a $10.8-bil-
lion contract with CBS and Turner Sports for
the television rights to the NCAA men's bas-
ketball tournament, March Madness. The Big
10's current television contract exceeds $4 bil-
lion in total and comesto $20.7million peryear
per school. These immense profits, which don't
take into account merchandising and ticket
sales, come from the effort and skill of college
athletes who.receive no compensation.
The NCAA has long maintained the position
that its student-athletes are students first. On
Oct. 7, NCAA President Mark Emmert spoke
at Marquette University, saying, "One of the
guiding principles (of the NCAA) has been that
this is about students who play sports." Despite
this sentiment, the academic gap between col-
lege athletes and regular students shows that
student-athletes are not prioritizing school. At
the University, the overall graduation rate was
89.7 percent in 2010. In contrast, University
football student-athletes graduated at a signifi-
cantly lower rate of 69 percent in 2012. In 2011,
Michigan's men's basketball team had a gradu-
ation rate of 36 percent. These percentages
directly contradict the notion that student-ath-
letes are considered students first. Instead of
being rewarded with a bachelor's degree, many
student-athletes are leaving college early with
no degrees and no direct compensation while
the collegiate sport business profits immeasur-
ably. This problem is compounded by the fact
that, besides college baseball athletes, less than
2 percent of all NQAA.amateurs go pro.
One possible way to alleviate to this conun-
drum is to create a minor league for the NFL.
In the NBA, NHL and MLB minor leagues,
players can opt to immediately begin playing
for a salary if their ultimate goal is to compete
as professionals. Expanding these leagues and
creating a minor league affiliated with the
NFL would solve some of the problems associ-
ated with paying college players. For athletes
who value a college education, they can pursue
one while simultaneously playing the sport
they love and excel at playing. And ifa player
truly stands out on a college team, playing in a
national league is still a possibility.
The NCAA has shown that it's absolutely
unwilling to allow college athletes tobe mone-
tarily compensated for their abilities and their
image, so other.options need to be available.
Players should be compensated fairly, while
simultaneously allowing a viable path for those
athletes who wish to attain a college education.
COFFEE TEA
GOOD FOR ALL HOURS THREE COPS OF TEA
II. OF THE DAY: BE IT 18 NEARLY ESUAL TO OIE
EIGHT A.M., MIDNIGHT CUP OF COFFEE. So ACCEPT
OR THE INFAMOUS EXCESSIVE BATHROOM
COFFEE JUGLI ALL-NIGHTER. TRIPS, OR GET A BETTER
AND IT WILL BE UGLY. DRINK, YOU FILTHY
HIPTER.
ENERGY SHOT NERGY DRINK
TAKE ONE: FINISH HALF YOUR THE COMBINATION OF SUGAR
PAPER. AND WHALE SPERM WILL KEEP
AAP TAKE TO: START YOUR Q d DrivK YOU AKAKE, BUT RUMORS
5IoW~ BIBLIOGRAPHY AND DO YOUR L ' AOUND Of DRINKERS
ROOMMATE S TAES. MTTN N RWN
NEV RsE TAKE THREE: SEE GO AND IlP MUTING EAVE ETTO
S DECIDE TO SITCH MAJORS. " se CONFIRM.
Yourporch is yours
ay parties, crisp fall after- that the dog's sniffs constituted a erty including the immediate area
noons with friends and "search" under the Fourth Amend- surroundingtheir home.
front-yard pong games ment and weren't permissible as There's something slightly com-
might as well evidence against him because the forting about knowing that your
be on a poster evidence was gathered without a yard, porch, barbecuing area and
displaying the warrant on his private property, outdoor space - which can be seen
ultimate col- thus also invalidating the second by the general public on the street -
lege experience. search with a warrant. Since the is legally"yours." Incollege, we often
Socializing in porch was out in the open for the enjoy this space as if it were within
the open breeze public to see, did it still count as the private walls of our enclosed
is comfortable private property? homes. Protection under curtilage
and often a nice M.AUA The Courtruledthat,bygoingonto and the Fourth Amendment allows
escape from the LEVINE the porch, police officers conducted a us to enjoy and share the outdoors
heat and noise of _______preliminary search without a war- with family and friends.
aparty. Butifyou rant, which is illegal. Now, a police Generally, when police officers
are outside your search of a porch without a warrant enter a home to bust a party or look
technical "home" and on the front is considered federally unlawful. for drugs, they do so without asearch
porch, are you in "public?" Historically speaking, this inter- warrant. How do they get away with
In short, the answer is no. You pretation is nothing new. The idea of this? The occupants almost always
don't leave your legal rights to pri- the exterior of a home being part of letthem in.
vacy when you enter the porch. Stu- the private resi- . If a police
dents have the right, just like any dence is centuries officer walks up
other U.S. citizen, to refuse a police old and is upheld You don't leave your to your house
officer from searching their front by old English andaskstocome
porch without a warrant. common law. The rights at the door - inside you don't
Legal battles have been fought definition of out- they extend at least have to let him
and won by citizens over this very door space sur- or her in unless
subject. In the recent U.S. Supreme rounding a home to the sidewalk. a warrant with
Court case Florida v. Jardines, the is also known as your name on it
court ruled that the front porch the "curtilage" is present. If the
of a home is a facet of the home of a residence. In officer enters
itself and thus protected under the 1891, Black's Law Dictionary argued your porch, he or she has entered
Fourth Amendment. The porch is that "the enclosed space of ground your private property and can't
considered private property and and buildings immediately surround- search anything without a warrant.
therefore cannot be searched with- ing a dwelling-house ... includes all As astudent,yourrights don't change
out a warrant. that space of grounds and buildings just because you are holding a bever-
In the case of Joelis Jardines, a thereon" is the curtilage of the home. age and standing on your front porch.
police officer walked up to his front This definition has been impor- Remember your rights. You don't
door when a police narcotics dog tant for purposes of refining the even have to answer any questions,
starting sniffing around Jardines's Fourth Amendment. Present-day even if you're standing on your front
front porch. The dog signaled that U.S. courts have often interpreted porch. We don't leave our rights at
there were drugs present, the offi- the word "home" to be concurrent the door - it's safe to say they extend
cers obtained a warrant, and Jar- with the Middle English definition at least outcto the public sidewalk.
dines was, subsequently arrested of "curtilage," meaning that U.S.
and charged with the trafficking citizens are protected from unlawful Maura Levine can be reached
of marijuana. Jardines claimed searches and seizures on their prop- at mtoval@umich.edu
ERIC TOTARO I
On coming out in Ross
I
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EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS
Kaan AVdan, Sharik Bashir, Barry Belmont, James Brennan, Eli Cahan, Eric Ferguson,
Jordyn Kay, Jesse Klein, Melanie Kruvelis, Maura Levine, Patrick Maillet, Aarica Marsh,
Megan McDonald, Harsha Nahata, Adrienne Roberts, Paul Sherman,
Sarah Skaluba, Daniel Wang, Derek Wolfe
MATTHEW LESLIE SANTANA I
Caricature or character?
";El pueblo unido jamis serivencido!" shout-
ed the students on the Diag Wednesday. I was
walking toward Haven Hall on my way to see
Nesha Haniff, a professor of mine with whom
I had travelled to SouthAfrica in 2008. "What
whitegroup ofstudents is co-optingfor their own
purposes that classic chant from Chile's Nueva
Cancidn tradition?" I thought to myself as I
went into Angell Hall. Sometimes Ann Arbor
can be such a caricature of itself.
When I arrived at Nesha's office, she
immediately asked me if I would join her in
heading downstairs to the Diag demonstra-
tion. She explained that a group of students
had organized this to voice their discontent
with the decrease in minority enrollment at
the University.
"I guess I was wrong about those students on
the Diag,"I thought as we headed downstairs.
On the Diag, I caught up with some friends,
chanted some chants and was glad to see
some familiar faces from the faculty and staff
of the Department of Afroamerican and Afri-
can Studies.
Suddenly, I was brought back to perhaps
exactly seven years ago, when I was a fresh-
man here on the Diag handing out literature
about and protesting Proposal 2, the ballot
initiative set forth by the so-called Michigan
Civil Rights Initiative (now there's some co-
optation for you).
The initiative sought to cripple affirmative
action in the state of Michigan - and it suc-
ceeded. On Wednesday, I was reminded that
what we had predicted in 2006 has come true:
Diversity is on the decline on the Univer-
sity of Michigan, Ann Arbor campus. What's
more, the University has a smaller percentage
of Black, Latino and Native American stu-
dents than other highly selective public and
private institutions.
Sometimes Ann Arbor can be a caricature
of itself, but that day was not one of those days.
On Wednesday, the University of Michigan's
students of color and our allies showed what
tremendous character we have in the face of
adversity. We're going to need that character as
the Supreme Court hears arguments on Oct.15
for Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative
Action, the appeal that has resulted from the
overturning of Proposal 2 in 2011.
It's unclear what the court will do, but if their
rulings this year on the Civil Rights Act of 1964
and the University of Texas admissions policy
are any indication, the forecast isn't good. Now,
more than ever, it's important that we students
of color at the University of Michigan remem-
ber that even if our numbers dwindle we still
have avoice.
Matthew Leslie Santana is a Doctoral student
in the School of Music, Theatre & Dance.
I've thought about writing a
piece like this for more than a year.
Where do I start? From the top, I
guess. I've recently come out as gay
and want to share my story for two
reasons. First, on National Coming
Out Day I hope that people going
through similar experiences will be
reminded that they are not alone.
Second, I hope that my story will
encourage others to evaluate the
current state of LGBT acceptance
efforts in the Ross School of Busi-
ness. These efforts have effects on
real people. They have effects on
me. They have effects on all of us,
gay or straight.
Like most, I denied and repressed
my feelings when I was younger,
thinking that they would go away.
Through middle and high school
I lied. I tried to create a world for
myself where I had what I thought,
I needed to be happy. I ended up
hurting others. For example, I pre-
tended to be romantically inter-
ested in a close friend and entered
a relationship. I needed the friend-
ship but was afraid to admit to her
that the feelings weren't mutual.
I remember being made fun of for
the way I talked, my (lack of) knowl-
edge about sports, and my friends. A
classmate in middle school claimed
that I had a "gay lisp" in front of my
English class. I would sometimes say
that I couldn't go to lunch because I
had to do homework and not because
I had no one to sit with. I remem-
ber looking at each year in school as
a chance to make genuine friends.
Each time I failed.
Deep down, I knew that my lack
of self-acceptance was the root of
the problem, but I put the blame on
anything and anyone but myself. I
thought that I couldn't be success-
ful or happy if.I was gay. Whenever I
heard a referenceto anything "gay," it
was by peers using the term to make
fun of something or someone.
Near the end of my freshman
year at the University, I found
myself about to return home feeling
like I had accomplished little. Sure,
I made the grades I felt I needed to
get into the Business School and
could talk on end about an intern-
ship and extracurricular activities.
But I had made few friends and
didn't feel accepted in Ann Arbor,
the most open and tolerant place I
had ever lived. I struggled to let go
of my misperceptions about what it
meant to be gay.
I realized the only way for me to
end my cycle of superficial friend-
ships and lack of a social life was
to embrace who I am and open up.
Even if I managed to fool others, I'd
never be able to fool myself.
At first, coming out to friends
and family was a scary process.
Sometimes it still is. Most react
well. Some don't. But by coming
out, I've finally made clear who I
am and have absolutely no regrets
about revealing something I know
to be true.
I've lived more than enough of
my life in the closet. Now that I've
finally become comfortable with
myself, I feel a need to try and make
a positive impact where I can.
There aren't many openly gay peo-
ple at Ross, especially among under-
graduates. Out of nearly 1,500 BBAs,
there are five in Out for Business,
the school's LGBT student associa-
tion. Perhaps more telling are results
from out for Business's weeklong
ally pledge competition - a com-
petition between BBAs and MBAs
to publicly shqw LGBT support in
honor of National Coming Out Day.
Three quarters of the way through
the competition, 244 of 1,000 MBAs
had pledged support, compared to 24
BBAs. I haven't felt that Ross'sunder-
graduate population is homophobic
- instead I think that BBAs are too
career-driven and ignore important
social causes.
Business has the power to spread
ideas and innovations across bor-
ders. But how can the business
world maximize its power as a
change agent if its people are afraid
to address sensitive issues head-
on? I want to encourage more open,
candid discussions of topics that
may seem awkward in places like
Ross. The fact that business can be
impersonal and numbers-driven is
an asset. Businesspeople shouldn't
care if they include a marginalized
group. Emotions will always play a
part in any relationship - I get that.
But gay people have proven them-
selves as smart individuals who
contribute to the bottom line. Peo-
ple in the business world can serve
as leaders by showing others that
there's no downside to being more
accepting. Gay people are every-
where and aren't going away.
In many ways I'm extremely
lucky. I haven't been beaten up for
being gay. I'm receiving a great edu-
cation at the University and have
endless choices for a future career.
I have friends. My parents struggle
to accept me as gay but certainly
haven't disowned me. I therefore
feel a responsibility to speak out
for the sake of the many members
of the LGBT community who face
challenges far more staggering than
mine. I'm at the same stage in my
life as my fellow juniors. I share the
same career goals, academic aspira-
tions and fears. The only difference
is that I have insight into what it's
like to be part of a group that still
faces legal and social discrimination.
Eric Totaro is a Business junior.
I'
Managing a city with no money is
hard every single day, I can't stand
here and say I didn't work my butt
off. I didevery single day"
- Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick said after being sentenced to 28 years in
prison on corruption chargesThursday.
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