A s a public policy major, I’m well aware of all the research, thought and work that goes into creating policy. Good policy isn’t the result of exaggerated claims made on campaign trails to rile up crowds. Rather, it’s the outcome of experts and analysts examining a problem and coming up with creative responses based on the analysis of hard data. There is a disconnect between the kind of policy that gathers cheers in stadiums and the kind of policy that actually works well — and this disconnect seems to be expanding in the age of Trump. This dynamic has negative implications for successful implementation of good policy, which are compounded when legislators and presidents shift their focus from doing what is the best policy for their constituents to overzealously trimming budgets. Being frugal and conscientious with taxpayer money is essential, of course. But cutting programs that have proven themselves successful and that improve the lives of citizens should withstand budget cuts, even if they don’t get crowds cheering or don’t attract a lot of attention. On the national level, budget cuts to beloved programs often draw outrage, which can help insulate the programs from losing their funding or can attract outside donors. This can be seen in the case of Meals on Wheels, a program that provides healthy meals to senior citizens while checking in on their well-being, which was slated to lose funding on Trump’s budget proposal. This proposed cut drew national media attention and was bad press for the Trump administration. If Congress chooses to carry on with the decrease in funding for Meals on Wheels, it will likely face continued public backlash. Either way, the program saw a surge in donations and volunteers after the proposed cuts were announced, so it probably won’t suffer too much as a consequence. The same can’t be said for local programs and policy. There is less attention paid to state budget proposals, and there is less outrage when successful programs get cut. There are likely many reasons for this, such as the decline in local news reporting. A prime example of this lack of local interest is “10 Cents a Meal for School Kids and Farms,” a pilot program that “provid(es) schools with match incentive funding up to 10 cents per meal to purchase and serve Michigan-grown produce to an estimated 48,000 students in 16 grant-winning school districts.” The pilot program was implemented in September 2016, and “10 Cents a Meal” has already proven a worthwhile investment. Economically, it has increased business for local farmers, distributors and producers. Nutritionally, it has exposed school children to a wide variety of locally produced vegetables and improved their access to healthy food. Many studies have demonstrated the importance of childhood nutrition. Proper nutrition is necessary for fighting infections. Undernutrition can result in decreased cognitive functioning and activity levels, among other things. A healthy diet can offset health issues such as childhood obesity. Healthy eating habits are particularly critical in a school setting because, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention points out, “Schools are in a unique position to provide students with opportunities to learn about and practice healthy eating behaviors.” The case for high-quality, nutritional food in schools is hard to ignore. Delivering this healthy diet to kids in a sustainable way that promotes the local economy? That’s just good policy. “10 Cents a Meal,” though, didn’t appear on Gov. Rick Snyder’s budget recommendation for the 2018 fiscal year. It remains to be seen if the program will make it into the final budget, which will be determined by the House and Senate. This is a program that is good for Michigan, and cutting it just wouldn’t make sense. National outrage over unnecessary budget cuts had an impact. Why can’t we take that anger to the state level? I implore everyone to get in touch with their state representatives and make it clear that programs like “10 Cents a Meal” shouldn’t be on the chopping block. Connecting farms to schools might not be the kind of policy that gets people riled up to attend rallies and vote, but it’s the kind of policy that makes positive changes in communities. That should count for something. Opinion The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com 4 — Friday, April 14, 2017 REBECCA LERNER Managing Editor 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 tothedaily@michigandaily.com Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. EMMA KINERY Editor in Chief ANNA POLUMBO-LEVY and REBECCA TARNOPOL Editorial Page Editors 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. EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS MARY KATE WINN | COLUMN Mary Kate Winn can be reached at winnm@umich.edu. ERIN WAKELAND | CONTACT ERIN AT ERINRAY@UMICH.EDU E very year, students leave their homes to attend college with the hope of achieving their personal and academic goals. While acknowledging that students have diverse goals, many individuals share the aim of obtaining a college degree and participating in their campus communities in various capacities (e.g., Greek life, service learning, etc.). Through these involvements, students can learn more about their interests and other communities while becoming engaged citizens. Though students can engage in many opportunities, one question remains: “What is the role of a higher education institution?” Recently in one of my classes we read and discussed “Citizen Formation Is Not Our Job” by Stanley Fish. Fish states that “promoting virtuous citizenship is no doubt a worthy goal, but it is not an academic goal, because ... it is a political goal.” I am a current graduate student in the Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education and a firm believer in providing students opportunities to participate in activities that will challenge their ideas and skills. This article failed to acknowledge that civic engagement and service learning provide students opportunities to learn more about communities and other individuals. Citizen formation is the role of higher education, because it equips students with the tools they need to engage in communities and become informed citizens. Institutions should provide students service learning opportunities to reflect on their role and the impact they want to have even after they leave the institution. Fish states that “volunteerism is in general a good thing, it is not an academic thing and those who take it up should not receive academic credit for doing so.” Volunteerism is beneficial to both the student and the community, but the point is not whether a student should or should not receive academic credit for volunteering. Instead, we should ask what the students learned through their engagement in the service learning opportunities. Though higher education provides academic coursework that will give students the skills they need to secure a job, the overall goal of higher education should be to ensure that students will become committed citizens. Service learning allows students to learn about the social issues that affect their involvement in communities beyond graduation. As an undergraduate student, I participated in the Alternative Break programs. This experience challenged me to reflect on lessons learned in the classroom, to collaborate with individuals whom I otherwise would have never engaged with and to learn about the challenges communities face. Participating in service learning allowed me think about how my work affects communities around me and how I can make an impact. One argument Fish proposes is that service learning has a political undertone that typically leans toward a more liberal point of view. I would challenge that belief and say that service learning can be done without political agendas. Students can participate in various service learning opportunities, such as literacy or tutoring programs, reading to hospital patients and coaching a youth sports team, just to name a few. If the concern is truly that there is a political agenda behind service learning, students can decide whether or not to not engage in these projects or find one that aligns more with their interests. As we try to define what the role of higher education is, we need to remember that these institutions benefit both students and society. By providing students with service learning opportunities, students are challenged to learn inside and outside the classroom. If the role of a higher education institution is to prepare students for the future, challenging students to get involved in service learning opportunities allows them to increase their civic engagement and make a lasting impact in their community. What is the role of a higher education insitution? Cynthia Sanchez is a Rackham student. Carolyn Ayaub Megan Burns Samantha Goldstein Caitlin Heenan Jeremy Kaplan Sarah Khan Anurima Kumar Ibrahim Ijaz Max Lubell Alexis Megdanoff Madeline Nowicki Anna Polumbo-Levy Jason Rowland Ali Safawi Sarah Salman Kevin Sweitzer Rebecca Tarnopol Stephanie Trierweiler MARY KATE WINN APPLY TO BE A COLUMNIST OR CARTOONIST Have opinions? Love to write? Draw? Apply as a cartoonist or columnist for the Spring/Summer! Visit http://tinyurl.com/summeropinion to find out more about where you might fit in this summer. R ecently, I had a rather polarizing incident at the U.S.-Canada border. During a visit to Detroit, my friend and I spotted the sign pointing out the Detroit- Windsor tunnel and spontaneously decided to go to Canada, because why not? As we drove under the Detroit River, adrenaline from the prospect of our adventure rushed through our veins, but our excitement came to a quick halt when a Canadian border services agent asked us the purpose of our spontaneous trip. Lost for words and without a plan, we replied, “Just because,” and the greatest look of incredulity, distrust and judgment crossed her face. Now, I realize that it is a border control officer’s job to treat two teenagers in a rental car and no plans with suspicion. But, the scorn with which she repeated, “You’re going to Canada just because?” felt uncomfortably reminiscent of the countless times I’ve been asked about my future career plans by adults, only to be met with disappointment when I cannot provide a concrete answer. The disbelief in her voice made me feel small. I came to college with romantic notions of it being a place to “find myself,” but it didn’t take long to realize there wasn’t as much freedom to explore my interests as I initially thought. Almost from the moment I first stepped on campus, I was asked left and right about what my major was. It seemed to be the second most important piece of information about me behind my name. Though most students do not declare their majors until the end of their sophomore year, there is an unbelievable pressure on freshmen to have their next four years planned out much, much earlier. While at the beginning of the year it was still relatively common to hear people were undecided about the future, now the undeclared are rare enigmas. Just last week, I attended an orientation for my summer study abroad trip through the College of Engineering, and of the 30-odd freshmen who were in attendance, it seemed as though all of them, save one, knew what their majors were. As an engineer, I feel that there is a necessity to decide early on. The large number of credits required does not provide a lot of wiggle room to explore other interests while graduating on time. Even coming in with a decent number of AP credits, I was dismayed to learn from my adviser that I may need to take an extra semester to complete both my major in biomedical engineering and my minor in creative writing. This was a major point of contention for my parents, who immediately urged I drop the minor. “What are you going to do with a creative writing minor anyway?” Truth be told, probably nothing. But my minor is the most “exploration” of a subject matter near and dear to my heart that I can muster. Isn’t that the point of college — to learn and take classes that interest and challenge you? Unfortunately, these days, college seems more like a stepping stone to greater things, an obstacle that must be crossed in order to secure a well-paying job. I’ve been cautioned against majoring in biomedical engineering more times than I can count. Apparently, the job prospects with just an undergraduate degree in biomedical engineering are poor in comparison to job prospects with an undergraduate degree in other engineering majors, such as mechanical engineering or electrical engineering. While it’s important to look out for your future, it doesn’t seem right to major in something you’re not completely devoted to and take classes that you’re not really interested in for four years with the hopes that you’ll be “employable” at the end of it. “Undecided” shouldn’t equate to “indecisive,” and it surely is no label to shame. Freshmen should be encouraged to take classes that sound interesting to them and be able to explore their options instead of being pressured to decide on the rest of their life at the age of 18. There are several schools around the country, including Harvard and Yale, that have “shopping periods” at the beginning of the semester, so students can “shop” different classes to see if they are interested. The University of Michigan could really benefit from something similar, so the focus is on the course content and the learning instead of simply fulfilling a requirement for future endeavors. There is merit to concrete plans, but college seems like a wasted opportunity if all four years are spent fulfilling some “formula” for future employment. We are so fortunate to attend such a prestigious, well-endowed university, and the only way to fully utilize all it has to offer is to occasionally toss the map into the backseat and take a spontaneous trip off the beaten path. Tossing out the map ASHLEY ZHANG | COLUMN ASHLEY ZHANG Ashley Zhang can be reached at ashleyzh@umich.edu. Delivering this healthy diet to kids in a sustainable way that promotes the local economy? That’s just good policy. CYNTHIA SANCHEZ | OP-ED State policies keep food on the table College seems like a wasted opportunity if all four years are spent fulfilling some “formula” for future employment.