Thursday, June 27, 2013 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 4r Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 tothedaily umich.edu CHECK US OUT ONLINE Keep up with columnists, read Daily editorials and join in the debate. Check out @michdailyoped and Facebook.com/MichiganDaily to get updates on Daily opinion content. MEGAN MCDONALD Plugged in Thursday, June 27, 2013 ART The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com J rUN IN A FOREST Fireflygrows in is secoear KATIE BURKE EDITOR IN CHIEF ERIC FERGUSON EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR ELLIOT ALPERN MANAGING EDITOR Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily's editorial board. All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely theviewsoftheir authors. SR OM T HE D A'.V increase is anincrease 'U' needs more state funding to make education affordable Last Thursday, the University's Board of Regents voted for a tuition increase of 1.1 percent for in-state students and 3.2 percent for out of state students. This was the lowest tuition increase by the University in almost 30 years, but is nonetheless an increase. The Board of Regents and University administra- tion certainly deserve credit for crafting a budget that will only modestly increase tuition, as they were also able to keep net tuition payments frozen for lowest income students. However, the real problem with the ever-rising cost of tuition lies with a lack of money from the state. Michigan's legislature and Republican Gov. Rick Snyder must increase funding for higher education in order to keep tuition down. Over the last 50 years, the percentage of the University's general fund that comes from state funding has steadily shrunk, falling from nearly8o percentin 1960tolessthan 17 percentin2013.Thisisdueinlargepart to shifts in the state's fiscal priorities, and under Snyder this trend has continued. University funding from the state fell by 15 percent just two years ago, and the funding increases for this and next year are a paltry two percent. Although the state may not 'see higher education as a priority when the unemployment level is still over eight percent, government officials must realize that making tuition more affordable is a solid investment in the future of the state's economy. According to The New York Times,only 26 percent of high achieving students in low-income families are able to attend and graduate from college. High tuition rates make many students who want a college education unable to attend, hurtingthe economy asawhole in both the long and short run. A college education is the key to allowing people to move forward and to defeat economic stagnation. Thus, if economic development is a priority, so too must be making college affordable. There are certainly areas of the University's budget that haven't experienced many cuts - particularly faculty and administrative pay - but cuts to these areas are no remedy for the current situation. If the University were to cut pay for professors or hold back on remodeling buildings and providing services to students, it would only hurt the University's prestige and ability to attract top faculty and students. Demanding heavier spending on higher education from Snyder and state legislators may, for the time being, seem like a lost cause, as both haveshownatendencynottoprioritize increased funding for education at either the K-12 or college level. Until the make-up of the legislature changes or current officials have a change of heart, the University must continue to aggressively fundraise and craft creative ways to improve financial aid and freeze tuition prices. Ideas like Regent Mark Bernstein's "Go Blue Bonds" and reserving a percentage of all donations for financial aid - an idea the Daily has suggested before - are excellent examples. The University should be commend- ed for its work to keep tuition as low as possible. But the state under Snyder cannot continue to mask decades of higher education funding decreases with periodic, minuscule increases. Think about your last 30 minutes. What did you do? Did you scroll through your newsfeed, gaping at photos of friends with chil- dren? Maybe you refreshed your Twitter feed several hundred times and retweet- ed Relatable Facts. Or maybe you took a selfie or Snapchat- ted your BFF. Whatever you did, it probably involved connecting without contact. But who could resist with so many options? I could like coffee on Facebook, tweet that I'm currently drinking coffee, update my LinkedIn that I'm good at drinking coffee, post a video of me drinking coffee on YouTube (as well as a few "vintage" photos of my coffee cup and a Vine of me sipping my coffee for three seconds), pin a couple of recipes for coffee on Pinterest and check in tq my favorite coffee shop on FourSquare. I have the tools to let others know I'm having such a fabulous time sitting here drinking coffee, and you're not. I'm a social media addict - I'll admit it. I have a Twit- ter, Facebook and Instagram, I actively browse Imgur and Reddit and also text. But I have also reached the point where I have become sick and tired of staring at my phone when I have nothing else to do. I mean does it really mat- ter Jane Doe wore that? But most importantly, why do Ihave that initial impulse? It's a scary feeling that I have become so accustomed to scrolling my Facebook news- feed that I'll just do it with- out a thought. If my phone is dead or I left my room with- out it, suddenly I feel as if I'm missing a chunk of my life - what am I supposed to do in order to avoid real world con- tact? Make conversation, or the worst, make eye contact? Uh, awkward. This constant need to be connected via the Internet has absolutely broken down simple forms of communi- cation, causing problems in conversations as important as interviews. It might be comical to think that you would reply to a text in an interview or that you would not know the difference between a casual conversa- tion and an interview, but our generation has come into conflict with virtual and real life. We may not know it, but our constant communication has seeped into our manner- isms, and even our psychol- ogy. The instant gratification from the Internet has made us impatient, shortening our attention span and making us scream TL;DR when prompt- ed to read a long - or heaven forbid, complex - writing piece. Our brains have also been programmed to Face- book and the like - we actu- ally get a rush of dopamine from social media notifica- tions, which is ultimately the reason why it's so addicting. Yes, the Internet is an amazing feat of technology. I can Skype relatives I have never met in the Philippines, keep in touch with friends and family back home and sharewhat mattersto me.The Internet has become a vital part of our lives. But at the same time, it's all superficial. While we update or post, we go further into the Internet's abyss - so far that it's coun- ter-productive and instead of becoming closer to friends, we become detached and lonely, hiding behind a screen and some text. It's great that I can have an ongoing text conversation throughout the day, but I'd really rather actu- ally "LOL" with a friend over a cup ofcoffee. Megan McDonald is an LSA sophomore. Delaware music festival shines in sophomore outing By ELLIOT ALPERN ManagingEditor It doesn't really matter how far you've driven, how many hours you've spent packed in your friend's car wondering if the ride will ever end; it doesn't even mat- ter if you've gone a day (or, more likely, days) without a shower. Once that brilliant green "Fire- fly" sign passes overhead, and you feel the grass on your soles and smell the forest on the air, the rest of that stuff falls away. For a few fleeting days, you're home again. Carved out of the woods next to the Dover Downs Speedway (which provides the strangest contrast: this hulking concrete behemoth in view as you walk to your immersion into nature), Fire- fly is slowly gaining legs as one of the major festivals of the summer. Even with a less pulse-quickening set of headliners this year (Red Hot Chili Peppers, Tom Petty and Foster the People, vs. last year's Jack White, the Killers and the Black Keys), the festival's atten- dance only blossomed. There's finally the sense that Firefly won't be playing catch-up to Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza much longer. Not bad for its second year. Oh, and for the record, partying in the middle of the forest is pretty damn fuii. I kicked off my Firefly experi- ence on Friday by getting as close as possible to California natives The Neighbourhood, who satis- fied my expectations (but didn't exceed them - chalk it up to the inexperience of being a new band). Luckily, unlike the mega-festivals that dominate the summer land- scape, Firefly puts on a max of two shows at any given time, and head- liners (usually, though not always) play alone. Which meant that, in addition to seeing some of the big- ger draws, I was able to catch acts like The Neighbourhood and Rob- ert DeLong. Speaking of which - if you haven't heard of that last name, do yourself a favor and look him up now. The young DJ, who played midday on Sunday, completely outdueled all of the dance acts that came before him - includ- ing Calvin Harris, who, while fun, quickly felt like he was playing a familiar recipe. Noticeable build- up to drop. Drop. Smoke columns shoot up, rinse, dry, repeat. But DeLong was something else. For one, there's no canned beats - Robert uses a looping playback to build his own beats, and then employs no shortage of tools to mix and sample (contrast- ing the usual "twist this knob, flip that switch" with hardcore com- puter gaming joysticks, live drum- set solos and, at one point, waving a wii-mote frantically for different effects). It was easily the most fun show of the festival. Which is no small accolade in a weekend packed with fun shows. On Friday, Django Django brought a kind of Euro-geek rhythm met with enthusiastic dancing, and Ellie Goulding was surprisingly enjoyable, with soaring vocals and thumping dance tracks. And then, after a performance by The Avett Brothers (who were also surprisingly skillful and enter- taining given the crowd), the Red Hot Chili Peppers played the first headliner set of the weekend. I've seen RHCP before, and while both shows were awesome (especially for someone who knows the rep- ertoire well), I'm beginning to see a professional, albeit repeti- tive approach by the band. Open with an energetic hit (in this case, "Can't Stop"), and then play the many hits and singles they've put out over the years, punctuated by a jam or a deep track here and there. Saturday's lineup was likely the weakest of the three days, includ- ing the headliner Tom Petty (no offense to Petty fans, but I just prefer the other two more). How- ever, Jim James, the My Morning Jacket frontman (originally fill- ing in for an early cancellation by Imagine Dragons) put on another unexpectedly quality act, includ- ing pulling out a saxophone early on for some afternoon serenading. And following that, Kendrick Lamar put on perhaps the best performance of the day. I saw Kendrick a few months ago in Michigan and - if anyone else Was there, you probably agree - he wasn't at his peak as a performer. But the festival atmosphere com- bined with a dense crowd likely inspired what turned out to be a thumping, edgy show, complete with a true "freestyle verse" at the end of a song (though -I'm always dubious of the claim - how do we know he doesn't use the same freestyle verse for every show?). Otherwise, Saturday was a day for meeting expectations - except for one point, where I, watched a shirtless man booking it through the crowd with a security guard hot on his heels. After a moment, the guard dove for a tackle, knock- ing over bystanders in the process - but at least it was more excit- ing than the MGMT show, which, while fun, was just the same old stuff, and the (sorry to say) bor- ing new stuff. Tom Petty was Tom Petty - he played his hits, grooved through his slower songs and actually rocked at some of the faster ones. He was classic Ton Petty - if you're a fan, you prob- ably already knew what to expect. And then, before we all knew it, Sunday had come, and we only had the day's activities to look forward to - no more, "I'll get it/ go there tomorrow, don't worry." Which is a reasonable concern; Firefly boasts an incredible amount of other stuff to do out- side music. Want to relax? Head to the Hammock Hangouts, if you think you're lucky enough to grab one. Want to dance? Visit Firefly's silent disco, a staple at other festi- vals, which employs two DJs, and headsets that can tune to either at any time (making it all the more awesome when half the crowd shouts, "Ey, must be the money!" and the other half shouts a second later, "I don't care!I love it!"). But for me, I'm dialed into the music, so I spent the day hopping concerts like the previous two. Matt & Kim was also surpris- ingly fun, with crisp execution and hilarious antics (seriously, go see them - Kim talked about her boobs repeatedly throughout the set). Robert DeLong also abso- lutely killed it, as I mentioned above, which led into Dispatch (classic jam band, but more palat- able for non-fans) and Passion Pit. I had been incredibly excited for the latter, but unfortunately lead singer Michael Angelakos had a bad case of allergies. I gotta give them credit - after cancelling on Firefly last year, they were deter- mined to get through a whole set early on if she could crowd-surf, to this year. But Angelakos blew out which he emphatically denied - his vocal cords on "Constant Con- and she then pulled out her phone, versations" (a favorite of mine) no doubt furiously texting about and couldn't hit anything falsetto how unfair her dad was. after that, which is especially But then something miraculous rough for a singer whose reputa- happened: During "Miss You" tion is essentially built on falsetto. (which, by the way, was probably By the time "Sleepyhead" rolled the most fun song of the entire around, Angelakos was resigned set), the dad softened his stance, to asking the crowd to sing for and helped the girl up on top of him as he walked into the crowd, the crowd, and eventually sent - he did the absolute best he could her away. And while the beats to make it a show, but it was still pumped, I watched the dad, who disappointing to both him and the watched his daughter with tense audience. - diligence until she safely made it However, Passion Pit was fol- to the front, and was helped down, lowed by perhaps the best one- never really in danger of falling. two punch of the festival. I wasn't At that point, the father softened, huge on Vampire Weekend's latest and even elbowed a nearby crowd- album, but their sound was crisp goer about the experience - but and vibrant, and the hits were I had seen, and to me, it was the thoroughly enjoyable. perfect way to end the festival. Firefly finally closed out on Fos- Love for music doesn't die in a ter the People, about an hour and generation, especially when that 15 minutes of pure dance delight parent and the child is close - and (especially with hits like "Helena here, I witnessed one generation Beat" and "Houdini"). And too, at sending off the other, to finally Foster the Peoplec was something wait and watch, helpless, as their I witnessed in the crowd that I'll offspring became their own kind cherish for a long time. of music-lover. In front of me, a teenager - These are the kinds of experi- likely a sophomore in high school ences you can't get anywhere else - was accompanied by her dad, a outside of a festival. Seriously, if large guy who wasn't necessarily Firefly is one of your options next out of place, but didn't seem to be year, don't hesitate - join the new the usual fan. The girl asked him generation. APPLICANTS WANTED Graduating Seniors, Incoming Seniors k Grad Students... Set up your career with Peace Corps! APPLY THIS SUMMER to gain international ob experience in 2014. peacecorps.gov/a. 1 chicago@peacecorps.gov I11.8553.8S53.1961 INTERESTED IN CAMPUS ISSUES? POLITICS? SEX, DRUGS AND ROCK'N'ROLL? Check out The Michigan Daily's editorial board meetings. 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