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Febuary 10, 2013 2014 March 18,

EDITORIAL

The State of the Union is shameful

Voices Et Cetera

The Washtenaw Voice The Washtenaw Voice

Measuring success next challenge for community colleges

Associated Press. For those who have managed to avoid Duck Dynasty, first: Congratulations. Second: The show centers on the Robertson family which runs a duck-call fabrication business in Louisiana. The shows (unfortunately high) ratings dropped last year after the familys patriarch, Willies dad, made anti-gay comments. He was suspended NATALIE WRIGHT Opportunity is what America is all about or its supposed to be. from the show for a short time, but was That was the over-arching message in President Obamas recent State of If you tuned into the State of reinstated when members of the antithe Union address. And as a nation, there is much we need to do to improve the Union address on Jan. 28, you gay community rushed to defend him. opportunity for all. Robertson was at the address as were probably as shocked as I was Job creation has been the key phrase in every political speech of the last to see who made an appearance. a guest of Louisiana Republican Rep. six years. If politicians can convince America that they know how to create President Obama may have been Vance McAllister, whose 2013 special jobs, theyre in. the headliner, but he was not the election victory is widely seen as a reBut in his address to Congress, Obama acknowledged a facet of opportunity nights biggest star, according to sult of his support. that seems to escape many: Job creation means nothing if no one is properly I am proud to have my close friend, the media response and the twittrained for those jobs. Workforce development and education are inherently constituent and small business ownter feeds of congressmen. tied to opportunity, every bit as much as job creation. It wasnt Vice President Joe er, Willie Robertson, attend tonights Surface EMU student Michael Mioduszewski makes the jump of the day. The event raised more than $20,000 to benet John SOS Community Services in Ypsilanti. So, thetension: White House has big plans for improvement inrst these areas, Obama State of the Union Address as my speBiden, Speaker of the House said. His proposal for across-the-board reform of Americas training proBoehner, the rst lady, or even the cial guest, McAllister said in a stategrams, led by Vice President Biden, included expanding apprenticeships recovering wounded warrior Army ment. I look forward to the two of us Words and Photos By and doing more as a country to take advantage of community colleges. Sgt. 1st Class Cory Remsberg, who representing the Fifth District in DC CHARLES MANLEY This includes developing a new ranking system for community colleges this evening and bringing some diverstole the show. Staff Photographer as well as building stronger connections between them and employers. The No, it was Willie Robertson, star sity to our nations capitol. ranking system will evaluate a colleges performance and tie that performance Rep. McAllister, this is not what of A&Es reality hit Duck Dynasty One hundred and twelve people to the amount of federal aid available to students. who had congressmen lining the people mean when say they want more leapt head-rst, feet-rst, sideways The American Association of Community Colleges has declared its opposiaisle to get their picture taken with diversity in Washington or upside down into icy cold water tion to this ranking system, stating that community colleges do not support Forget the fact that Robertson him. Every media outlet was talkrecently to raise money for charity. a ratings scheme, and that students choose a community college based on ing about him from NBC to the has no place representing people The fth annual Ford Lake Frozen its proximity, not its value as a school. Leap had a successful run Friday, Feb. This is not true at least not in Michigan. A student who lives in Ann Arbor 15 with donations from participants has a multitude of choices in schools that are within easy driving distance. more than $20,000. With And Washtenaw is full of students who livetotaling much closer to Schoolcraft College, temperatures in the Monroe County Community College, Jackson Community College, Wayne mid-teens, those willCounty Community College, Henry Ford Community College and Oakland ing to make reputathe leap Community College, but choose to come here because of the schools in gas-station sunglasses standing on a didnt linger long in the shallow tion and the availability and standard of their program of choice. beach, wrapped in the American flag. water before being helped out and by resJust as with universities, community colleges all have their successes This was the last in a series of three cuebe workers. failures in certain areas of study, and should ranked as such. different commercials that the automaker Most of them were rst-timers As for whether or not community colleges support a ratings scheme, they aired during the Super Bowl. The Dylan for obvious reasons. Organizer Tim absolutely can the system just has to be tailored to an accepted denition ad was an ode to made in America. Adkins said almost no one makes the of success. You cant fake true cool, Dylan says, second time. Unlike the AACC, Washtenaw seemsjump to beaexcited about this ranking as images of James Dean flash the screen. But they always bringof their friends system, and it is very interested in helping to shape the denition success. Fiat-Chrysler also aired commercials in the next year, he said. Not only graduation rates should be taken into account, but also transfer and JON PRICE for its Maserati and Jeep lines, but saved Adkins has made the jump himself. employment rates, because for many community college students, a job is the best for last, with Dylan urging conPeople always ask me what its like, he success, not necessarily a degree. One of the most compelling sumers to buy American. said, and I tell them itsand likeMedia jumping WCC President Rose Bellanca and Director of Government commercials aired during the Super Let Germany make your beer, he into an ice cold lake. Relations Jason Morgan are doing what they can to be a part of the conversaBowl this year was the Fiat-Chrysler said. Let Switzerland make your watchIcein cold reception: EMU Imagine that. success. But its all for a great tion Washington, andstudent shape Michael a fair denition of student Automobiles advertisement, featuring es. We will build your car. Mioduszewski exits the water after making cause. Proceeds from the jump they benet Rather than this AACC, iconic rock legend Bob Dylan. The Italian automaker, which took the rst jump of dismissing the day at the th change annual as meaningless, like the Ford Lake Frozen Leap. The temperature as possible. SOS Community Services of Ypsilanti. are working to make it as meaningful Is there anything more American over Chrysler last month, seemed to take Saturday was in the teens. CANNON BALL!: Haden Quinn Dexter jumps the dock. shot at Michigans craft Kudos to them. than America? Dylan asks of the viewanoff unwarranted er. Across the screen flash images beer industry, and the newly popular of men riding horses, cheerleaders Shinola watches that are being manufaccheering, an attractive young woman tured in Detroit and sold in high-dollar A NATIONAL PACEMAKER AWARD NEWSPAPER

warmed by relief

who didnt elect him. Forget that he is in the business of making duck calls, which has absolutely no relevance to running a country. Forget that hes not even the one who made the antigay remarks that Republicans stand behind so steadfastly. Hes a celebrity, and that makes his presence news. It would be easy to rail against McAllister for bringing Robertson into the center of our governments affairs, a place where he has absolutely no business. It would be easy to criticize the media for even showing him on camera, let alone having conversations about how appropriate his star-spangled bandanna was. It would be hard to admit that we are the ones to blame for this. But we are. As long as our society deems this acceptable, as long as we click-through on the headlines about Justin Biebers arrest before those about actual news, we have no one to blame but ourselves. How can anyone be upset about an ineffectual congress when we elect congressmen who not only invite people like Robertson to sit among them, but line up to meet him like starstruck teenagers? This is the state of our union

Super Bowl car ad sparks super debate

coastal boutiques. Shinola quickly responded on Twitter: We propose a different approach: let #Detroit brew your beer, build your car, and your watch, followed by a link to a YouTube video that shows the process of a Shinola watch being made. Shinola was created in 2011, and employs approximately 200 people, most of whom live and work in Detroit. Founded by Fossil CEO Tom Kartsotis, Shinola has opened stores in New York and Detroits midtown area. The response the manufacturer gave to the Chrysler commercial was priceless. It was mature and well-thoughtout, showing the Italian automaker that there is plenty of room in Detroit for both of them. And Ill raise a Detroit-brewed beer to that.

VOICE
THE
The student publication of Washtenaw Community College
Ann Arbor, Michigan

Letters to the Editor

Its not very often that I quote Ayn Rand, but in thinking about The Washtenaw Voices request for faculty SOQs, one Rand quote comes to mind: Question your premises. In this case, the premise in question is found in the very headline of the Jan. 27 issue: The customers right? If one accepts that students are customers, then perhaps there is an argument for releasing SOQ information (though there are still very good reasons not to). However, students are not the customers, despite our cultural pretense to the contrary. Washtenaw Community College was created by and is funded primarily by the taxpayers of Washtenaw County and the State of Michigan. The taxpayers are, in effect, THE customers. The staff and faculty of WCC are the producers. Students are the product. The taxpayer-voters elect a board of trustees who then hire an administration to oversee faculty performance. Thats the accountability chain-of-command. That said, there may be a larger issue here. Higher education in the U.S. managed to function reasonably well for hundreds of years without student evaluations of faculty. The movement toward such evaluations began in the late 1960s, gained momentum in the 1970s, and has been with us ever since. This period coincides, perhaps not coincidently, with the grade ination phenomenon that anyone in academe is well aware of. In the era of student evaluations upon which promotion and employment decisions may hinge, faculty and students have entered into a Grand Bargain: We, the faculty, will keep you entertained, not ask you to do anything terribly demanding, and inate grades. In return, youll give us good evaluations. Wink, wink. There are consequences to all of this. A recent The Wall Street Journal piece (How the College Bubble Will Pop, Jan. 9, 2014) by Richard Vetter, director of the Center for College Affordability and Productivity at Ohio University, and Christopher Denhart, a student at OU, suggests that the SOQ chickens are coming home to roost. College degrees, while still of value, are being devalued in a number of ways and by a number of factors. They write that, Declining academic standards and grade ination add to employers perceptions that college degrees say little about job readiness. Further, A college degrees declining value is even more pronounced for younger Americans. Just as with money, if you debase the currency, it will buy less. Whether WCC SOQs ever become public or not, in the battle for more student rights the war is already over. Students won. Evidence suggests, however, that it may be a Pyrrhic victory.

Volume 20, Issue 13

As part of its Cancer Biology Training Program, the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center provides exposure to cancer research for [email protected] highly motivated aWashtenaw nd talented college undergraduates. This program gives The Washtenaw Voice is produced fortnightly by students of Community College and the views expressed herein will not imply endorsement the successful applicants an opportunity to explore potential careers in or approval by the faculty, administration or Board of Trustees of WCC. Student publications are important in establishing and maintaining an the field of cancer research. atmosphere of free and responsible discussion and in bringing matters of concern and importance to the attention of the campus community. Editorial Applications are d ue March 25, and require an online form, personal responsibility for The Voice lies with the students, who will strive for balance, statement, u nofficial fairness and integrity in their coverage of issues and events while employing thetranscripts, and two letters of recommendation. best habits and practices of free inquiry and expression. The Washtenaw Voice does not represent or endorse the accuracy or reliability of any of the information or content in advertisements contained in the Program Benefits: newspaper or its website, www.washtenawvoice.com, nor the quality of any products, information or other materials displayed or obtained as a result of 10 weeks of summer research (6/3-8/9) an advertisement or any other information or offer in or in connection with the services or products advertised. Direct supervision by a full time faculty member The Voice welcomes letters to the editor from its readers and will make every effort to publish them. We reserve right to edit letters for space R. Wm. La Hote the Hands-on training in labs considerations, and ask that writers limit their comments to no more than 400 Chair, Department of Social Science words. All letters must include a name and contact information, such as an email Career counseling address or phone number, so the letters can be veried before they are printed. all errors $5,000 The Voice is committed to correcting that appear s intipend the newspaper and on its website, just as it is committed to the kind of careful journalism that printed. To report an error of fact that should will minimize the number of errors Wheres the risk assessment with bad weather? be corrected, phone 734-677-5405 or email [email protected]. Eligibility: A copy of each edition of The Washtenaw Voice is free to everyone. Additional who drives from Detroit and then an- apologized for not doing that. copies are available at The Voice newsroom, TI 106, for 25 cents each. On the first Wednesday in other student in my Social Problems I remembered the Army. All of us US citizen or permanent resident February, we had a heavy snowfall, class who drives from Whitmore Lake. who led troops had to write a report ADVERTISING MANAGER EDITOR producing little to no visibility walk- s While scraping off the wet, packed, icy about assessing operational risk. We Alliston freshman, sophomore o r junior tanding Maria Rigou Becky Current ing or driving. snow on my car, I thought, How many evaluated the jeopardy that could be [email protected] [email protected] I looked out of my window and others need to make such a long drive associated with performing a certain GPA average of 3.0 or better WRITERS MANAGING EDITOR STAFF could not see much out of it at all. to WCC? action. M. M. Donaldson Natalie Wright Fitch [email protected] David Ability I stepped out of my house just tolaboratory On the way to school, on Michigan We weighed the threat involved in t o d evote 1 0 w eeks f ull-time t o r esearch Eric Garant make sure that I was not imagin- Radio, they were talking about the doing a task, then planned on how to PHOTO EDITOR Jon Price Bob Conradi Applications are especially encouraged from ing that terrible weather. I turned individuals weather. In-between the many acci- accomplish it while reducing the numCORRESPONDENTS [email protected] my head, and then regretted it. The dent reports, they said, If you did not ber of hazards that may result from Erik Morris populations that are small, currently nderrepresented in biomedical DESIGNERS EJ Stout sharp specks u of ice were strik- have to be on the roads, then please performing the said action. Brian Auten Adrianna Velazquez ing me on my face. dont be. As a leader, my soldiers lives were [email protected] and b ehavioral r esearch I went inside thinking That phrase stuck in my mind. Do in my hands. They counted on me not George ODonovan ADVISER Washtenaw Community College I have to be on the road? What level to have them take unnecessary risks. I [email protected] Keith Gave [email protected] would cancel the classes for toof risk am I taking? owed that much to them. Washtenaw ONLINE EDITOR Christina Fleming day, or at least delay the morning I spoke with our President, Dr. Community College owes that much Find more information and apply online at www.mcancer.org/carsip [email protected] classes. I checked the website: no Rose Bellanca, who was nice, and re- to us. VIDEO EDITOR Contact us at [email protected] announcement. minded her of the danger everyone James Saoud My thoughts began to wonder, had faced during those morning hours. LaShawn Hubbard [email protected] really? They want me and every oth- She acknowledged that while driving Ypsilanti
er student to drive through this? I remembered one of my classmates in that morning she was thinking that she should have closed WCC, and she

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right SOQs are not the students 2013 U-M Cancer Research Summer Internship Program