4 - The Michigan Daily - Monday, August 1, 2005 420 MAYNARD STREET ANN ARBOR, MI 48109 STEPHANIE WRIGHT DONN M. FRESARD tothedaily@michigandaily.com Editor in Chief Editorial Page Editor EDITED AND MANAGED BY ',I U 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 refect the opinion of The Michigan Daily. I Vote Kang, Lipson City Council candidates willing to unplug ears and listen to students A little dollar goes a long way Student fee increase necessary, but more is needed This coming year promises to be full of difficult decisions for the Ann Arbor City Council. Budget problems, labor negotiations and the cul- mination of a visioning project that could determine the future aesthetic of down- town are just a few of the issues soon to be facing Council members. Student frustration with city government is grow- ing, and even the Ann Arbor News has noticed the disconnect between students and City Council. At this crucial junc- ture, with the stakes high and elections just around the corner, Council needs a breath of fresh air, with members willing to unplug their ears and engage students, who compose as much as one-third of Ann Arbor's population. This fresh air could come in the form of Fourth Ward candidate Eric Lipson, running against incumbent Marcia Higgins (D- 4th Ward), and Second Ward candidate Eugene Kang, a University student run- ning against former Republican mayoral candidate Stephen Rapundalo. This Tuesday, Ann Arbor voters will cast their ballots in the primary elections to determine the Democratic nominees for City Council in the sec- ond and fourth wards. Although both nominees will go on to face a Repub- lican in November, the Democratic primary may prove to be their tough- est race. With the recent conversion of Rapundalo and Higgins, former Repub- licans, all four candidates now share a party. But they still are distinctly dif- ferent and each would bring a unique set of ideas to the council. In the Second Ward, incumbent Mike Reid (R-2nd Ward) declined to run for re-election, clearing the way for new- comer Kang and former Parks Advi- sory Commission chair Rapundalo. If elected, Kang would be the first student member of City Council in decades. Student candidates not only face con- cerns that naturally arise over experi- ence and connections, but they also struggle with gerrymandered wards that prevent students from consolidat- ing their voting power. Indeed, with none of the current Council members endorsing his campaign, even if Kang does win the seat, he runs the risk of being marginalized and rendered inef- fective after he is elected. This is not an issue with Rapundalo, who already has good relations with other Coun- cil members and clearly beats Kang in experience. To be sure, Rapundalo is a good candidate; he has an even- handed temperament that matches his training as a scientist, and he recog- nizes the problems that Council has with an often opaque and insular deci- sion-making process. But even so, Kang's energy and origi- nal thinking could be the revitalizing spark that pushes the council to think outside the box and, furthermore, to improve its communication with long- time residents and students alike. Kang brings innovative ideas about expand- ing affordable housing and increas- ing density throughout the city. More importantly, he is in a unique position to make student voices heard in city government; he would be in far closer contact with student organizations than any other Council member, and his own experience as a student would bring an important and severely underrepresent- ed perspective to the Council. In the Fourth Ward, Higgins has held her seat for three consecutive terms, a total of six years. Although she is obviously familiar with Council pro- cess, progress and positive change are more likely to come from her opponent, Lipson. Lipson is an attorney with an impressive history of non-profit work, much of it environmentally oriented. His environmental activism and his experience in city projects such as the Ann Arbor Planning Commission indi- cate that he would play an important role in improving city zoning and pro- moting responsible development. Lipson also has demonstrated inter- est and experience in student issues. He worked as a staff attorney for the Uni- versity's Student Legal Services, often representing students in disputes with landlords. His perspective on students' roles in the community is influenced by his firsthand knowledge and experience of landlord abuse, not to mention his Law School alum status. Additionally, he favors new and progressive ideas about the integration of affordable housing into the city, such as accessory dwelling units. Lipson seems an ideal candidate to oversee the direction of Ann Arbor's rapid growth; while Higgins is compe- tent, she seems satisfied with the status quo and lacks the creative vision and the understanding of student-resident dynamics required to effectively lead a diverse and evolving city. Higgins was also the only candidate who said she would not have supported moving a vote on the Oxbridge and North Burns Park street parking permits - an ordinance, passed last month, that student leaders opposed - to the fall, when students would be in town to offer their input. All four candidates are qualified for the job, but Lipson and Kang stand out for their commitment to bring City Council more in touch with its residents. They are also the best chance students have of gaining a voice in city politics and preventing future anti-student ordi- nances like the proposed ban on porch couches. We endorse ERIC LIPSON and EUGENE KANG as Democratic nominees for City Council. For students, one dollar will buy a can of pop, a few pages of a textbook or one- hundredth of a percent of in-state tuition. Next year, a $1 increase in student fees will help provide $37,500 in additional fundingforstudent groups and pay for a lawyer specializing in off- campus housing. After students expressed their support last winter for a $3 fee increase through Michigan Student Assembly elections, the Uni- versity Board of Regents last month approved raising student fees by $1, dividing the money evenly between Student Legal Services and MSA. The reduced increase was approved by a narrow margin, with the Republican regents - all of whom voted against it - expressing concerns about the financial burden it would impose on students and the signal an increase in MSA funding would send in times of budget cuts and belt-tightening. Raising student fees does send a signal: that the University is will- ing to respect the right of students to determine where some of their money is directed. Expand- ing funding for student groups and providing a lawyer to represent student-renter interests will benefit students greatly at little cost, and MSA should continue to push the regents to approve additional increases. Initiatives like the Housing Legal Reform Project - requiring a level of dynamism and responsiveness to students that would have impeded administrators - exemplify the value of putting student fees in student government's hands. Because MSA is accountable to the stu- dent body, it is a better ward of student fees than the University - the money it receives would more directly benefit students than an additional $75,000 added to the University's $1.2-billion general fund budget. Although the increase in student organization funding will only cost each student $0.50 a year, it will constitute a nearly 10-percent increase in the total funding available to the hundreds of stu- dent groups that receive money from MSA. The rise in the SLS fees will similarly provide tangible results - the funds will permit the hiring of a housing attorney to the SLS staff who will provide much-needed legal advice to students and advocate for better off-campus housing conditions. With the increase, each student will pay $7.19 to MSA and $6 to SLS per semester, only a fraction of what student governments on other campuses receive. For example, the University of Connecticut's student government receives $33 from each student per semester, and stu- dents at the University of California-Berkeley pay $27.50. Although the increase will certainly help, it is not enough. MSA originally proposed raising student fees by $3 and using the funds to pay for a housing lawyer, an attorney special- izing in international law, and increased student- group funding. Unfortunately, negotiations with the regents and the Division of Student Affairs made it clear that the board would be reluctant to approve a large increase in a financially diffi- cult year. Still, because the $1 increase will only pay for part of the housing lawyer's salary and provide half of the proposed additional funding to student groups, MSA should continue to push the regents for further fee increases. Out of fear that raising student fees would be inappropriate while the University faces budget cuts, Republican regents opposed the increase. The University's budget woes come from severe reductions in state appropria- tions, however, while MSA remains funded through student fees and its own initiatives. It is unnecessary and unwise for MSA to base its plans on the University's financial situation. Regent Andrew Richner (R-Grosse Pointe) also expressed concerns over the financial bur- den a fee increase would put on students, per- haps overlooking that an additional $1 in fees pales in comparison to the $1000 rise in annu- al tuition, at the least, that students will pay next year. Maybe Republican regents would be satisfied if MSA took the University's lead and offered grants to students who struggle to afford the higher fee - but, with even a cup of coffee costing more than a dollar, it is unlikely that the increase will be so cumbersome. In raising student fees, the regents need not worry about sending the wrong signals to the state or to students. Most students will hardly notice an additional dollar in student fees, and the increase will go a long way to improve hous- ing conditions and expanding MSA's ability to fund student organizations. The thumbs have it Bill Frist Ann Arbor Observer After a four-year lapse of judgment, Sen. Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) showed that even right-wing Republicans recognize Bush's stance on stem-cell research is ab- surd. What - was the American Medical Associa- tion threatening to revoke his medical license after the Terri Schiavo debacle? In a recent article, the local monthly repeatedly re- ferred to City Council candidate Eugene Kang as "Eugene Wang." What appears to be yet more evi- dence of a citywide anti-student conspiracy could have all been prevented with a simple fact-check. 4 0