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June 16, 2003 - Image 4

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Michigan Daily Summer Weekly, 2003-06-16

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4 - The Michigan Daily - Monday, June 16, 2003
420 MAYNARD STREET
ANN ARBOR, MI 48109 SRAVYA CHIRUMAMILLA JASON PESICK
O ro ~ im~t. ~letters@michigandaily.com Editor in Chief Editorial Page Editor
U~fl NMI~flITIUTI~lalifEDITED AND MANAGED BY
STUDENTS AT THE Unless otherwise noted, unsigned editorials reflect the opinion of
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN the majority of the Daily's editorial board. All other pieces do not
SINCE 1890 necessarily reflect the opinion of The Michigan Daily.
our years ago, the Michigan uate from college, they often migrate out of
Legislature promised the four uni- D on 't et lS ie the state to regions in the country where
versities composing the Michigan jobs for young people are more plentiful.
Life Sciences Corridor $50 million in Statemu stfifr df o LifeS One of Granholm's stated objectives as
grants for 20 years. Unfortunately, as a _ a___must tmu S iOu SCienCes O1T1tOr governor is to revitalize Michigan so that it
result of the state's financial crisis, the ------ is no longer seen as a dying Rust Belt state.
annual grants have been decreasing in size was once promised. The University has University, but will also help improve the Each year, the University graduates thou-
to $40 million and $30 million. The grants invested almost a billion dollars thus far quality of lives and the length of lives for sands of bright, young individuals. Many of
given to the University this year on May on the Life Sciences Initiative, and if the people around the world. The program stud- them have degrees in the sciences and are
28, totaled $7.28 million. While Gov. state doesn't provide the resources to ies ways to fight and treat diseases, quite currently having trouble finding work in
Jennifer Granholm and the Legislature are allow the program to flourish, the possibly the most important and humane the state. These graduates depend on a
facing acute funding problems, it is impor- University's contribution would be in dan- developments for the scientific community strong life sciences industry, which must be
tant that the Life Sciences Corridor remain ger of appearing to be a misappropriation to be pursuing. Even with the decreased enhanced by the corridor. Granholm also
a priority for state officials and that it not based on a false faith in the state. The funds, the grants received will be used to recently gave a speech on Mackinac Island
be allowed to wither away as a result of selection of Mary Sue Coleman to be the research such important tasks as fighting to the Detroit Regional Chamber explain-
stringent fiscal policies. University's president was likely largely cancer and brain lesions. There are budget ing her desire to make Michigan a more
The four universities joined together to based on her strong background in the sci- cuts that need to be made, but policymakers "hip" state for young people. This goal will
form the corridor consist of the University, ences and the expertise and strong con- must be cognizant of the important work be much more difficult to achieve without
Michigan State University, Wayne State nections she has developed in the field. that the Life Sciences Corridor does before a robust Life Sciences Corridor to attract
University and the Van Andel Institute in Her selection was intended to strengthen they make cuts to the program. Science and these young people.
Grand Rapids. The benefits to learning LSI; the University's commitment in the important medical research should not be Not only does the corridor provide an
created by the teaming of these institu- corridor is beyond question. the victims of a poor economy. opportunity to make tremendous medical
tions and the joint prestige garnered from The Life Sciences Initiative does Another major motivation behind the advances and to improve the University's
the large grant promised from the state are extremely important work that not only Life Sciences Corridor is to revitalize the prestige, but its success is vital to the
now threatened without the money that promises to enhance the prestige of the state's economy. When young people grad- revitalization of the state.

4

Aid the masses
Financial aid should go to public universities

House goes tax nuts
U.S. House should stop playing games with the poor

After forty years of policies based
on an ill-conceived ranking of
priorities, it is time to change
the way that the state of Michigan
doles out tax dollars to college students
in need of financial aid. For too long,
the balance of aid in the form of state
scholarships has been tipped in favor of
private colleges and universities
instead of the public universities that
the government has a responsibility to
support.
Currently, 65 percent of state aid
goes to private universities. Even tak-
ing into account the high cost of private
institutes of higher learning, this figure
is astronomic considering the number
of students attending public. universi-
ties today. More and more students are
pursuing a higher level of education as
time progresses, and as a result of anti-
quated programs such as this one, the
state has been neglecting its responsi-
bility to provide its citizens with such
an education for far too long.
A new program proposed by Gov.
Jennifer Granholm, called the
Michigan Opportunity Scholarship,
which has already been passed in the
state House and is awaiting approval
from the state Senate, is intended to
change this. Granholm's proposal
would create a single pooled scholar-
ship fund of $112 million out of five
existing programs. Students at private
schools would share the total collection
of state aid with students at public col-
leges and universities. The money will
then be distributed according to a num-
ber of factors, helping those students
who need the assistance the most. As a
result, the new plan will send approxi-

mately 75 percent of funds toward pub-
lic education - a figure with a much
more pleasant ring to it.
Strikingly, the current plan has been
utilized for the past forty years. It is
refreshing to see that Granholm is will-
ing to roll up her sleeves and spend
political capital in order to correct
inequities and ensure that the state of
Michigan provides a quality education
for all of its citizens. Policy moves
such as this one will also help elimi-
nate the sour taste in the public's mouth
resulting from the neglect of the state's
education system as a result of horren-
dous public policy under former Gov.
John Engler. The changes put public
tax dollars back into public education.
Not surprisingly, private colleges
and universities are concerned about
the plan being unfair and crippling
their institutions. They say that they are
entitled to high levels of aid because
their tuition rates are higher. During a
period when the state is facing a seri-
ous financial crisis, however, tax dol-
lars should not be inefficiently spent
on private universities, as public
schools provide at least the same cal-
iber education at a much lower cost. In
addition, anyone claiming that a public
university education is easily afford-
able for the average Michigan family is
stretching the descriptive powers of
hyperbole. University students in need
of additional financial support will be
thankful for the reformulation of how
aid is distributed as the extra aid will
help ease the pain of outrageous tuition
hikes as the University's budget grows
smaller and the state prepares to cut
funding to public universities.

4( 4 in't gonna happen." With these
words, U.S. House Majority
Leader Tom Delay (R-Texas)
essentially crushed any hope of responsible
tax relief for the country's most deprived
families, claiming 6.5 million families
would only get child credit increases if they
were accompanied by another round of cuts
for the rich. This reckless tax policy not only
divides the country along economic lines,
but also ignores the fiscal responsibilities the
federal government faces.
The recent $350 billion tax bill "acciden-
tally" omitted such tax credit increases for 12
million children of the poorest U.S. house-
holds in the final stages before final
Congressional approval. Such an outcry
erupted that the Bush administration quickly
asked Congress to fix the problem in order to
prevent a political backlash. Yet the House
leadership used this mistake as an excuse to
try for even more reckless tax cuts for the
most affluent, refusing to give the $3.5 billion
dollars of tax relief needed to change the
child tax credit from $600 to $1,000, the
amount of relief already in the mail for bet-
ter-off families. In an act befitting Delay's
lunatic zealotry, he included the $3.5 billion
relief for the $10,500-26,000 tax bracket in
an exorbitant $82 billion monster of a bill
that the House passed last week. This rash
move is likely to die in the Senate, also killing
any chance that the least fortunate Americans
will receive the same assistance the rest of the
country will receive.
Delay arrogantly accused the people who
criticized his bill for being too large as being
opposed to tax relief, despite the fact that
they were predominantly the same people
who called for it in the first place. Yet this
type of circular and conceited talk is nothing
new from the man, who, when asked to put

out a cigar due to a federal law against smok-
ing on government property, responded by
saying, "I am the federal government."
This way of thinking is evident in the tax
policy that has been coming out of the
House. House Republicans have been
attaching themselves to simplistic maxims
like "tax decreases increase growth." This
overstatement not only ignores important
economic truths, but also ignores the mas-
sive federal deficit, the costs of a global war
on terror, nation-building in two countries
and serious looming funding crunches in
Social Security and Medicare. Not giving
tax cuts to the poorest 6.5 million in ques-
tion does not make economic sense. These
are the families that are most likely to spend
the money that would jumpstart the econo-
my, unlike the more save-happy affluent,
who are unfairly getting the lion's share of
these tax cuts. Delay believes that these poor
should not get tax relief because they do not
pay income taxes. Yet the taxes they do pay,
such as property and payroll taxes, are infi-
nitely more debilitating than even the high-
est income tax bracket for the richest of the
rich. They need the relief more, and what
they do with the money will have better
repercussions for the economy.
While certainly not the most visible issue
in this debate, the quietly looming deficit
threatens to have the most severe long-term
consequences. Three years ago, the nation
was looking forward to more than $5 trillion
in surpluses, yet this year alone it is looking
at $400 billion in deficits. For an administra-
tion that prides unilateralism to such a high
degree, it is illogical that it would support a
bill that would make us so dependent on for-
eign investments. If the U.S. does not watch
the deficit, we will be leaving a nearly
intractable problem to future generations.

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