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TT SLOVIN
AGING EDITOR
rial board.
their authors.
So, class, ask yourselves...what DOESN'T the
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SOPHIA USOW /Daily
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unty administra-
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knn Arbor City Coun-
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itted to ending harm-
y council should work
Commission to devise
sage of the campaign.
ducation is supposed to be
the best way up the social
ladder, but sometimes it
seems like col-
lege reinforces,
class boundar-
ies rather than,
breaking them.
College - as we
all know - is
expensive. There
isn't enough LISSA
financial aid to go KRYSKA
around, and only
affluent families
or those who've saved up can afford
to pay full-price tuition. As a result,
the student debt total now exceeds
credit card debt in the United States.
Partly because of how expensive
tuition is, it's common for students
across all income levels to work
while in college. But there's a differ-
ence between working to have some
spare change and working to pay
rent. When your rent or food bud-
get depends on how many hours you
work, you have to work more hours,
and those are hours that students
who don't have to work can spend on
academics or extracurricular activi-
ties. If you need a job to pay the rent,
you can't afford to be as selective in
terms of choosing one that's relevant
to your career goals.
Unpaid internships accentuate
the problem. One need understand
only the concept of opportunity cost
- that even when you aren't paying
money for something, you're still for-
going the money you could have been
making doing something else - to
see why they are#a problem. Unpaid
internships can offer great experi-
ences, connections, a useful line on
your resume and an edge in land-
ing choice jobs after graduation. But
for many students, going a whole
summer without a paycheck isn't
an option. And while you can learn
useful skills at any job, the paid stu-
dent jobs with the most hours avail-
able tend to be less relevant to future
career goals.
Like the rest of society, students
tend to hang out with people in the
same social class. This isn't always
the case, and I don't believe it's
intentional - it's usually a matter
of convenience. You're looking for
housing in the same price range and
are more likely to end up in the same
neighborhood or building. When
you go out together, you're willing
and able to spend the same amount
of money. No one wants to be the.
one friend who can't go to Mexico
on spring break or who can't chip
in to pay for the birthday girl's din-
ner, or to feel like they can't do the
activities they want because they
don't want to embarrass a friend
who can't afford it. But the result
is that most students' networks
are composed disproportionately
of people in the same social class.
Which means that when looking
While the number of low-income
students who enroll in college is
already low - the Brookings Insti-
tute estimates fewer than 30 per-
cent of those in the bottom quartile
enroll in a four-year program- many
of these students don't graduate. All
those programs pushing kids to go to
college aren't going to change any-
thing if the kids don't finish.
The University of Michigan actu-
ally has a lot of great programs to
combat these problems, like the
Summer Bridge Program to help stu-
dents adjust to college rigor, and the
Comprehensive Studies Program to
provide a closer level of support and
interaction throughout a student's
college years. There are funds avail-
able to support students taking on
unpaid internships. And the six-
year graduation rate is 90.6 percent,
higher than the national average.
Outside of the University, programs
like the Pathway to Self Sustainabil-
ity project help students, working
for a job, high-
income stu-
dents - who are
already more
likely to end up
in high-income
jobs - will also
have the aid of
their network
of high-income
friends, and
low-income studei
While more low
are going to coll
past, the increas
students' enrollm
pace with increase
enrollment. The
according to resea
the University ofA
between the perce
and poor America
a four-year degree
14 percent in the h
And there's a
with non-profits
to provide men-
Most students' tors who stay
with students
networks are through college.
- Both ensuring
composed of people that the students
in same class, most in need of
the help know where
to find it and pro-
viding the same
nts won't. support for students to finish col-
-income students lege as to get them into it will hope-
ege than in the fully play a big role in increasing the
e in low-income number of low-income students who
sent hasn't kept graduate from college. Activities that
es in high-income bring together students from differ-
result is that, ent backgrounds can also go a long
arch done here at way. It's important that education
Michigan, the gap continues to provide opportunities,
ntage of wealthy rather than becoming just another
ns who complete institution preservingthe status quo.
"
e has'widened by
ast 30 years.
nother problem:
- Lissa Kryska can be reached
at Ikkryska@umich.edu.
EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS
Kaan Avdan, Sharik Bashir, Barry Belmont, James Brennan,
Eric Ferguson, Jordyn Kay, Jesse Klein, Melanie Kruvelis,
Maura Levine, Aarica Marsh, Megan McDonald, Victoria Noble,
Adrienne Roberts, Paul Sherman, Daniel Wang, Derek Wolfe
SIMON MARGOLIS
Ward 2 should embrace the city
There is very little doubt that
Ann Arbor City Councilmember
Jane Lumm will be re-elected to
serve Ward 2 in the upcoming
election. She's extremely popular
in her district and simply has too
much momentum citywide as the
leader of the anti-Mayor John Hief-
tje coalition at a time when he is
unpopular. In the last election, she
was elected by a large margin by
focusing on reducing funding for
"discretionary" things like public
art while being in favor of increas-
ing funding for basic public servic-
es and changing pedestrian laws in
Ann Arbor. She also made sure to
point out the novelty that she was
running without party affiliation,
which might have actually been a
breath of fresh air if not for the fact
that she was a stalwart of the now
moribund Ann Arbor Republican
Party just a few years ago.
Her main opponent in this race,
Democrat Kirk Westphal, is quick
to point out that Lumm is a conser-
vative, even linking her with the
Tea Party. However, that's not an
appropriate assessment. She is on
the right - probably a Republican
in any city other than Ann Arbor
- but she's not as far to the right as
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). Her will-
ingness to work with Democrats on
the council just shows how will-
ing she is to work on a bipartisan
basis - although it helps that the
Democratic council members she's
usually working with are also anti-
Hieftje. However, even though she
isn't what Westphal portrays her to
be, there are some issues with her
record that will make me unable to
vote for her on Nov.5.
Not only has she pushed for essen-
tially cutting off all city funding for
public art - a proposal that is con-
troversial enough - she's also hurled
her opposition toward the new rail-
road station, a railroad station which
is necessary if we want Ann Arboion
the Detroit-Chicago Amtrak high-
speed rail line. I'm of the belief that
connecting Ann Arbor to Chicago
via high-speed rail is an essential
project. Whether we like it or not,
the University, which has strong
links to Chicago, is the main spark
plug of Ann Arbor's economy. Cut-
ting travel time to and from Chicago
by as much as two hours will make
it easier for students from Chicago
to visit their homes over the week-
end and will also make it easier for
alumni to bring their children here
to show them how great this city and
University really are. Furthermore,
her plan to end municipal/state
confusion over pedestrian laws is to
merely take the right of way away
from pedestrians - that's it.
Based on these policies, one could
get the ideas that Lumm isn't the
biggest fan of pedestrians, bicyclists
or the art community and is also
opposed to measures which will help
lead to Ann Arbor's success. I've lived
in Ward 2 for 18 of my 20 years, and
although I'm the sort of mild-man-
nered person who enjoys life in Ward
2, there's a small but disturbingly
voeal element in this part of town
that doesn't seem to like the down-
town part of the city.
This element finds pedestrians
and bicyclists to be a nuisance, they
complain that the city has been los-
ing its charm, yet are also the most
vocal in opposition to Ann Arbor's
arts culture. They seem to be afraid
of Ann Arbor having too much suc-
cess because they suspect that Ann
Arbor being more successful will
mean that Downtown Ann Arbor
will expand into their backyard,
which is problematic because these
people are afraid of people younger,
hipper and poorer than they are.
This is the element in Ann Arbor
politics that Lumm represents -
because members of this element are
in the demographic most likely to
vote in local elections, Lumm wins
by large margins. Fear helps explain
why Lumm would be so electorally
successful. However, I think there's
nothingtobe afraid of-there'snoth-
ing wrong with promoting creativ-
ity and growth in Ann Arbor. Being
able to visit Chicago over a weekend
would be nice, too.
Simon Margolis is an LSA junior.
I
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