41 Tuesday, May 1, 2012 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Che fichian 4ai* Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 tothedaily@uinich.edu JACOB AXELRAD EDITOR IN CH IEF GIACOMO BOLOGNA MANAGING EDITOR ADRIENNE ROBERTS 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. Stop student loan hi~kes Students can't afford a 6.8 percent interest rate on loans Jn todajy's economy, college has become an almost necessary invest- ment in order to secure a job. It's an enormous expense that millions of students have to deal with every day. Student loans, such as the Stafford loan and Pell Grants, can take many years to pay off and contin- ue to be a financial burden after graduating from college, with increasing interest rates not making payments any easier. The House of Represen- tatives voted on Friday to put a freeze on the student loan interest rate increase and continue to subsidize at a lower rate. While it is commend- able that the House is working to put a freeze on these loans in a fiscally responsible manner, money should not be taken out of the Prevention and Public Health Fund in order to compensate for the subsidy. Access denied I've researched and written too resources to both researchers and many papers during my time here, students here on campus. Those yet have only been to the library profits break down to about $4,000 once to actu- per article. Let's indulge in a very ally get my general estimate: a significant sub- hands on set of the 21 million citations in some physi- PubMed are full-text articles, and cal reference to those we would be adding about material. $4,000 each, which entails adding Once. This a lot of extra cost to the process., isn't because The typical argument here is the library that taxpayers have already had system isn't to pay for this research because it useful; in MICHAEL is funded by federal money. Elimi- fact, it's the SMALLEGAN nating public access would mean opposite. The making citizens pay again for the University same resources. It's not the most of Michigan convincing argument to me, but library system is doing everything here's one that hits home: Public right. Only once was a resource, university libraries would need to in all those Mirlyn searches, not come up with a way to pay for all available electronically. The Uni- this material at a time when gov- versity's library system is .leading ernmental financial support is rap- the way in the digital revolution, idly eroding. yet all of this forward momentum is threatened ... and nobody is talk- ing about it. Over the past few months, the * a c latest instance of the public access P bh access battle played out in Congress, and hardly anyone around campus even to research is noticed. The showdown unraveled the same as it did in 2008, and threatened again in 2009, ending in a stale- mate. It would be a shame though, for us to only hear about this drama after the chips fall since, as you It has taken a hit by the $40 will see, we as University students million reduction in state funding have some skin in the game. from fiscal year 2011. We need to Late last year, U.S. Representa- listen for round four of this debate tives Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) and and speak for our interests. Round Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) intro- three has simmered down, but it is duced the Research Works Act not entirely over yet. (RWA) to Congress. It's a short, In February of this past year, easily understood bill, which in lawmakers re-introduced for the plain language sounds the death third time a dueling bill, the Fed- knell for public access to feder- eral Research Public Access Act ally fundedresearch. If passed, it (FRPAA). The bill, if passed, would would reverse the National Insti- mandate open access for research tute of Health's Public Access funded by any federal agency with Policy, putting the 21 million freely research expenditures over $100 available citations in the PubMed million. These terms encompass 11 library into a fee-to-see system. federal agencies and would re'pre- Supporters of the bill argue the sent a huge step forward for public obvious. They say that open access access of science findings. to research infringes on the rights Both the RWA and FRPAA have of publishers and will put them out been largely abandoned, and in an of business. Academic publishing election year they are unlikely to be is big business indeed and it would revisited. We cannot wait until the hurt to have that sector disappear. system is broken to pay attention. But let's be clear, though the move The next time a Mirlyn search to digital has put the publishing brings you to an "Available Online" industry into a state of flux, the link, think of how easy it is to industry is not in danger. The four access that content. Then think of top scientific publishers-Elsevier, how legislation that affects this Springer, Wiley and Informa-all system could've passed into law boast profit margins of over 30 per- without you even knowing about it. cent In the first quarter of 2001, Tell someone, tellyour congress- Wiley, appallingly, made 42 per- man, but, most of all, listen up for cent profits as a percentage of reve- round four. We can't let the public nue. The averageprofit margins for access debate slide by again unno- general publishing companies on ticed. the Fortune 500 list is 8.8 percent. What is in danger is the rate Michael Smallegan can be at which scientific discovery reached at smallmic@umich.edu. proceeds and the availability of Tuesday, May 1,2012 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Wolverines lose two of three to Illinois By GREG GARNO Daily Sports Writer Members of the No. 22 Michigan softball team walked off the field on Sunday with their heads held low, frowning and ILLINOIS averting their MICHIGAN eyes from the - - crowd. They I -LLINOI 1 were silent IIHIAN 2 walking into the club- ILLINOIS 21 house. The MICHIGAN 01 disappoint- ment covered their faces. The Wolverines (13-5 Big Ten, 33-15 overall) lost two of three games against Illinois (7-11, 23-23) at Alumni Field this weekend, managing only three runs overall. Originally delayed by rain, Saturday began with gloomy weather and set the tone for the series. Michigan ended the weekend with a 2-0 loss to the Fighting Illini, marked by the Wolverines' four total hits.It was an uncharacteristic showing for the Wolverines, who needed a strong performance against a mediocre team to stay on top of the Big Ten, in which they currently hold a half- game lead. "I told the kids we get what we deserve," said Michigan coach Carol Hutchins. "When we. play with passion, when we play with genuine enthusiasm, when we're excited to be out there, we'll get what we deserve." Freshman right-hander Sara Dri- esenga took the loss in the circle in the final game despite giving up only four hits and one earned run. Neither team was able to pro- duce much, but Illinois struck first in the second inning. Senior first baseman Amanda Chidester fielded a grounder at first base, and tagged it for the out, but the throw home to freshman catcher Lauren Sweet was not in time. Illinois scored again in the fourth inning, when Jess Perkins ran home after a wild pitch by freshman left-hander Hay- lie Wagner hit the backstop. Michigan was unable to get any- thing going during the game, leav- ing eight runners stranded on base - two of which came in the final inning. Michigan still struggled in the second game of the series, but took advantage of base runners when it counted, winning 2-1. The game moved slow up to the fourth inning when Driesenga got the offense started with one of her two walks on the day. With junior Jaclyn Crummey pinch running for Driesenga, Wagner came up to bat and remained alive in the count after hitting several foul balls, until she crushed her fourth home run of the season into the outfield stands. But the Wolverines were unable to hold the momentum after the home run, and managed to produce just six total hits. "We're playing with fear and fear is not acceptable in sports. You can't be afraid that you're not going to win, and we seem very fearful," Hutchins said. "We're not very attacking and we need to pick up our level and our approach to enthusiasm." The lack of enthusiasm was most evident in the first game of the series, where Michigan lost, 5-1. As usual, the Wolverines pitchingstaff, ranked first in the Big Ten, held the Fighting Illini in check, but Illinois' Pepper Gay held Michigan in check TERRA MOLENGRAFF/Daily acr Senior outfielder Bree Evans was left on base a few times in the weekend series. as well. Both teams remained score- less through seven innings after stranding runners on base in all but two innings, forcing the game to go into the eighth inning. In relief, Dri- esenga allowed two runs to begin the eighth before Perkins blasted a three-run home.run to give Illinois a 5-0 lead. Michigan could only muster one run in the fifth, after sophomore left-fielder Nicole Sappingfield sin- gled to score Sweet with two outs. Chidester came up to bat next, but popped out, stranding two of Mich- igan's 14 runners left on base. "It's probably just nerves," Evans said. "We just have to get every- one in the right mindset and we'll do fine. We're going to work hard. We're going to figure it out. We always do." Multiple woes plague Michigan in two weekend losses The College Cost Reduction and Access Act, passed five years ago, lowered the interest rate on Staf- ford student loans from 6.8 per- cent to 3.4 percent. For the average student loan balance of $23,000, this increase in interest rate would cost about $40 extra per month for 10 years following graduation. The College Cost Reduction and Access Act is set to expire on July 1st of this year. The House of Rep- resentatives, however, has passed a measure that would keep inter- est rates at 3.4 percent. To fund this, they would pull money from the Prevention and Public Health Fund, which supports breast and cervical cancer screenings, prena- tal tests for birth defects and child immunizations. Maintaining low interest rates for college students should not be a partisan issue. Many students are deterred from attending col- lege because of the sheer amount of money they will have to pay back in the future from student loans. Unfortunately, for many prospective college students, bor- rowing money from parents is simply not an option. According to Rob French of Bridge Maga- zine, University of Michigan stu- dents graduate with an average debt of $27,828. This substan- tial amount of money cannot be repaid quickly, and thus causes students to live with this finan- cial burden through their 20s and beyond. Measures to reduce these interest rates on student loans should be thoroughly explored. This is a pressing issue that the House of Representatives, the Senate and the President need to come together to solve. While the House of Representatives voted to extend the subsidy for one year, they argue that the only way to finance this measure is to cut funding from the Prevention and Public Health Fund. Many have coined this as a "politically moti- vated" move that takes money away from services important to women. Approval ratings for Congress are already extremely low, and this inability to commu- nicate and cooperate exemplifies their ineffectiveness and blatant disregard for a suitable compro- mise. A college degree is invaluable in today's economy. It is the gov- ernment's responsibility to help reduce interest rates on these loans and to make the finan- cial burden of paying for college as feasible as possible. Afford- able student loans are an issue that should extend beyond party lines. The future workforce of our nation may have to pay for the government's inability to form a viable solution on how to reduce interest rates for students. By COLLEEN THOMAS Daily Sports Writer The Michigan softball team is slowly falling apart. After a strong start to their Big' Ten schedule, the 22nd-ranked Wolverines have cooled off. They began the conference sea- son by sweeping Penn State and Michigan State and dropping just one game to Indiana. But since classes ended on April 17, the squad has lost its series to Minnesota and Illinois. On Sunday, the Wolverines lost, the rubber game to the Fighting Illini in a 2-0 decision after beat- ing them 2-1 in the first game of the doubleheader. They also lost a 5-1 game in extra innings on Saturday after holding off Illinois' offense for a full seven innings. Michigan is starting to falter late this season and it's time to take a look at the areas that have been struggling as of late - highlight- ed by the weekend performance against Illinois. HITTING The Wolverines have been con- necting on pitches several times in games - they tallied a total of 16 hits over the three games this week- end - but haven't been consistent across the board. Michigan's power hitters, senior first baseman Amanda Chidester and junior second baseman Ashley Lane, haven't produced as well as they did last year. Lane went 0-for-5 against Illinois and hasn't recorded a hit since April 22. Chidester's bat- ting average is about 70 points lower than last year's .432 average, due in part to a 3-for-10 performance this weekend. The rest of the lineup hasn't helped much, either. Freshman pitcher Sara Driesenga seemed to be hinting her stride at the plate after earning a permanent spot in the lineup as the designated player, boosting her average to .380. But in the past six games, she's gone 5-for- 16. But sophomore Nicole Sapping- field has stepped up recently, and her performance earned her the number-two spot in the lineup. Her batting average has recently bro- ken .300, good for third best on the team, and has been one of the most consistent hitters for the Wolver- ines all season. But against Illinois, she went 2-for-12, though Sapping- field did record Michigan's only RBI on Saturday. In comparison to the recent struggles on offense, the Wolver- ines tallied a season-high 13 hits in a game against Penn State on March 25 and have averaged almost eight hits per game over the course of the season. RUNNERS LEFT ON BASE Though the bats may be making contact, the runs aren't pouring in. Despite a six-hit game against Illinois on Saturday, the Wolverines' managed just one run. Recently, the squad has left quite a few runners on base. Michi- gan stranded a total of 23 run- ners against Illinois and left 18 on base against Minnesota - runners which could've easily turned into tallies on the scoreboard. In Saturday's game against the Fighting Illini, the Wolverines had a couple of chances early to put runs on the board, but failed to do so. In the second inning, two walks put runners on first and second with no outs, and a sacrifice bunt by junior shortstop Amy Knapp advanced the runners to second and third: But two consecutive outs - a strikeout and a ground out - stranded two on base and ended any chance of scoring. In the third inning, Michigan loaded the bases with one out and again, the Wolverines couldn't con- vert. Michigan also had that problem earlier in the season when it trav- eled to Louisville. The Wolverines left seven runners on base in both losses that weekend, to the then- 16th-ranked Cardinals and St. Louis. Though stranding runners is an obvious problem to a faltering Michigan offense, Hutchins doesn't believe that runners left on base is the problem. "We have to have quality at bats whether there is a runner on base or not," Hutchins said after the Red and Black Tournament in March. "The game doesn't know there are runners on base.... We need to have some quality at bats and make bet- ter contact whether there (are) run- ners on base or not." DEFENSE Michigan hasn't had difficulty fielding, but sometimes errors can be costly. And against Illinois this weekend, errors hurt the Wolver- ines. The squad combined for five errors over the weekend - not a significant amount - but the errors came at unfortunate times. A fielding error in the second inning of Sunday's second game allowed an Illinois runner to reach first. The Fighting Illini proceed- ed to load the bases with no outs, but a throw to freshman catcher Lauren Sweet by Lane caught the runner out at home. Michigan did allow one run that inning, and the error helped get the Fighting Illini offense rolling. This was enough for Illinois to win the game. Though errors are a normal part of the game, Evans knows it's not the biggest issue. "We're going to have some errors in the game," Evans said. "But the hitters have to back it up. We can't dwell over little crors."