Monday, August 9, 2010 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Thi mtChtIganT 4aily Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 tothedaily@umich.edu ANDREW LAPIN EDITOR IN CHIEF RYAN KARTJE MANAGING EDITOR ALEX SCHIFF EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR 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. Let them ounge Council's proposed couch ban won't promote fire safety t didn't take much time for this year's newly re-elected City Coun- cil candidates to forget their promises of working more closely with students. While students are out of the city for summer recess, the Council is considering an ordinance that will ban upholstered furniture on porches. Though the ban is meant to decrease the risk of fires, it both ignores the real problem - student houses often aren't up to existing fire code - and fights it with an extremely ineffective and roundabout solu- tion. If City Council's aim is fire safety, it should replace this proposal with greater enforcement and education of the fire code already on the books. SERENA HINZI Support first-gen students The University of Michigan is a mid- form of assistance. The University dle-class university; most of the stu- does have such academic programs for dents and faculty hail from the middle at-risk students, but most of the par- class or higher. Students who are the ticipants in this study were not invited first generation in their families to go to join them, even if it is clear that they to college and come from -working- would have benefited from them. One class backgrounds are a minority first-gen in my study explained that at this institution. As a result of my there is not enough awareness at the research for my senior honors the- University about the experiences of sis, "First-Generation Working Class similar students, saying, "I think that Undergraduates at the University of we're such an underrepresented popu- Michigan," I found that these students lation that they almost ignore us. They face financial, academic and cultural try to help students who fall more into disadvantages here at the University. a racial minority category, and maybe Not only are first-gens more likely they hit some first-gen students or low- to struggle to get by financially once income students, but some students they arrive, they are also more likely fall through the cracks." to have attended high schools that First-generation applicants could did not adequately prepare them for also be matched with experienced the University's academic rigor. This first-gen mentors. Or they could be sets up a social situation that is made invited to participate in seminars even worse by the clash between stu- designed just for them. Such semi- dents' working-class culture and the nars could be used to help give stu- middle-class culture of the majority of dents that cultural capital, and also their peers, making it difficult to fit in make them aware of the cultural and transition to college life. In addi- transitions ahead and how they might tion, first-gens often lack certain traits affect their family relationships. In - called cultural capital - of middle- addition, first-gen students should be and upper-middle-class students that encouraged to consider extracurricu- help foster academic success, includ- lar activities in which they are under- ing study skills and information about represented, such as study abroad, in the higher education system. One par- order to help them integrate into the ticipant of my study recalled that, as higher social classes. These targeted a freshman, "I didn't know the differ- initiatives will help foster a smooth- ence between a Ph.D. and a bachelor's. er integration for first-gens into the I used to think, 'What's the difference larger student community. between a graduate student and an Faculty, staff and students should undergraduate student?"' also be made aware of first-yen expe- To combat these glaring issues, the riences to better prepare them for the University should take several steps to issues these students may raise. A few better serve its first-generation, work- academic advisers could be trained to ing-class students. First, it should offer deal with first-gen issues in order to them more financial aid in the form of provide better services to this demo- scholarships and grants. Several of the graphic. Professors would be more participants in the study I conducted accommodating to such students if felt that the University should put they did not assume, as some do, that aside scholarships just for these first- all of their students have middle-class generation college students. This iea- academic and cultural backgrounds. sure would help the first-gens focus on The University should stay true academics and allow them to partici- to its commitment to diversity, but it pate in more extracurricular activi- should also remember that diversity ties that help them make the cultural encompasses more than race or ethnic- transition and narrow the study skills ity. By giving first-gen students more and information edge more affluent opportunities and aid, the transitions students enjoy. and challenges they face can be miti- It would also be helpful to identify gated, and they can focus on what they all students who lack adequate aca- came here for: academics. demic preparation during the admis- sions process and offer them some Serena Hinz is an LSA alum. !! The ban was first proposed to City Council in 2003 by the Ann Arbor Fire Department, when they argued that porch furni- ture is a fire hazard. Since then, the proposal has been tabled and reintroduced several times but has never gathered enough momentum to make it to a City Council vote. Most recently, April's rash of suspicious fires - one of which was suspected to have started with a porch couch and led to the death of a Universi- ty student - caused an Ann Arbor resident to encourage City Coun- cil to reconsider the ban. In theory, the intentions of the initial proposal may seem honor- able. But in practice, the ban real- ly isn't about fire safety. For many city residents, it's about aesthet- ics. According to Daily coverage from2004 and 2005, the proposal garnered the support of city resi- dents because many thought that porch furniture is an eyesore. Yet this proposal bears almost entire- ly on students -not residents - so students should be the guiding voice in this discussion. But that can't happen when City Council attempts to push through a decision while most of them are not around to offer dis- sent and alternative proposals. And while a second reading and vote are scheduled for the tail end of September, a mere month fol- lowing the hectic beginnings of the school year is an inadequate amount of time for students to advocate for this cause. Hold- ing the discussion now ensures that the debate will be lopsided toward residents, as the majority of Ann Arbor's student popula- tion isn't around to make their voice heard - a voice which should hold just as much weight as non-student residents. And while promoting fire safety is a necessary goal, this ban is an ill-conceived way to achieve it. The principal threat is the fact that many of the houses inhabited by students don't com- ply with existing fire code, and this far exceeds any posed by couches. Hazards like old wir- ing and unsafe - or even nonex- istent - fire escapes are much more dangerous. Landlords have a legal and moral responsibil- ity to ensure that their properties - and, by extension, their ten- ants - are safe. That means that they must make sure that houses are up to code. Additionally, City Council should work with land- lords to educate students about fire safety. City Council shouldn't be dis- cussing such a student-focused issue while students aren't in Ann Arbor to speak up for themselves. The timing of this measure is inconsiderate at best, disingenu- ous at worst. This proposal not only fails to attack the real cause of fire hazards - poor compli- ance with fire code - it ignores the input of the very people it will principally affect. THUMBS UP Getting carried away by your natural surroundings on a relaxing trip north with your wife. LIKE WHAT YOU SEE HERE? THUMBS DOWN Your wife literally being carried away by a wild deer, as cap- tured in YouTube video "A Deer Steals Man's Wife. w Want to see more? Check out more from Daily columnists, additional view- points from students and more cartoons posted online throughout the week. Go to michigandaily.com and click on 'Opinion.' EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS: Nicholas Clift, Emma Jeszke, Rachel Van Gilder, Joe Stapleton