University of Utah Student Newspapers | 2009-12-08 | Page 3

3 OPINION www.dailyutahchronicle.cor ► Tuesday, December 8, 2009 Raise your voice against budget cuts fter reading yet another gaginducing but largely unnoticed ews story about the plague known as budget cuts, I feel as though I have become privy to some secret information in an underground bulletin: "This just in: The cuts could be large, the ramifications larger. It's happening again, and this time they mean business." And the swindler underbelly known as the Utah Legislature seems gung ho about the whole idea. Although the administration continues to go against the potential budget cut, the student population needs to oppose it as well—and loudly. Personally, I think I might rather be beaten with a collapsible baton than see yet another budget cut in my tenure at the U. The potential 17 percent cut would come after the 9 percent cut from last year. That is a Freddy Krueger-style slashing to the tune of nearly 26 percent. Such drastic cuts on the heels of the previous cut would inevitably put a burden on most classes and amenities that we have become accustomed to. I am proud that the U has a Nobel Prize winner under its belt as well as a recent Rhodes Scholar from 2003—joining schools such as Yale, Duke, Harvard and Cornell to name a few other winners that year—and a burgeoning athletics program. I figured the state would be too, considering that the U is a publicly funded institution. But with a lack of funds, an already dominant research department will have to figure out how to go without an estimated $250 million, U President Michael Young said in an October interview with KCPW. That's a tough blow in the ultracompetitive world of research. The U is firing on all cylinders, and it appears as though students, staff and faculty are all doing their part. It would be a shame if it were the Legislature that brought us down. In 2007 and 2008, according to the U website's "In Fact" section, we received $295 million in stateappropriated funds alone, and in the An Ut.),L.) k.) LA) L., %)‘..itiv isfuf timi you pi ys wEpercl. -NAT bitaxAseci Tarriom c oo' REED Poit pisqyz• yACL?: NELSON ) Vie NEVI> To PR ere ST A Po nyC oug acsl-fc, to BEMf # Senior, Mass Communication past two years, that figure has been cut by more than a quarter. Although our tuition wouldn't experience an unnatural hike, according to Associated Students of the University of Utah Vice President Rachel Rizzo, "if the budget cuts were to affect the salaries of the faculty, then the only way the school could make up ground would be to raise tuition." The economy is no good (a profound statement, I know), but it is a shame that higher education is receiving an unnecessarily large financial blow. A 17 percent cut has the potential to radically alter the operations of all departments, which require state funding to operate. Beyond the job losses that Research Park companies—which currently employ more than 8,000 people, according to "In Fact"—could potentially face, students will also feel the employment reverberations. "There has already been a hiring freeze on campus this past year," Rizzo said. "And now, in places such as the library, for instance, the long hours are no longer available because there isn't enough money to go around." Although the Marriott Library is a story for a different day, it is only a sign of things to come, considering the facilities that employ students cost a lot of money to run. Between the two programs the U offers for on-campus job placement, UCareerLink and the University of Utah Temporary Labor Pool, plus the Federal Work-Study Program, the school employs its fair share of students. Now students will experience an even larger load with fewer classes, teachers and campus job lint) eltri ink ""rstrNt rick WifilEyou'rc VANi AV< `rc e Att-4AP y VEctAltev WAR o 'tfek# VLADIMIR SOKOLOV /The Daily Utah Chronicle opportunities and less of an overall experience. The student body needs to be heard, and it is our responsibility to yell loud enough. It is an issue that can be swayed, but it will take a collective effort to tip the scales. There has yet to be one student-organized protest or rally to let the Legislature know that we are upset as well, and without our voices speaking up, we won't be heard. That might not be what it takes, and it might be like firing a BB gun at a battleship. But the point would be that we care—that the student body is tired of losing funding. It is never too early to let the powers know where we stand, and we might as well fight it now before the cut actually passes. The most noticeable groups often receive the most money because they are visibly affected. Since the zombies who allot public funding don't recognize the magnificent work that our student body, faculty and research departments are doing, we should let them know. [e-mail] Legal students deserve funds Universal health care Scholarships for illegal immigrants are unfair W hen considering all the problems associated with illegal immigration, it helps ALICIA to remember the old adage: WILLIAMS "If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always got." Although many will Senior, Mass Communication emphatically deny the exisand English tence of societal problems perpetuated by illegal immigration, nobody can deny the and we want these good people fact that there a lot of illegally to share in the bounties of our migrated individuals living in land. But none of that negates the United States. the fact that it's still illegal, and An April 2009 report from it's still a problem that needs to the Pew Hispanic Center be rectified. "A Portrait of Unauthorized A small section of the new Immigrants in the United law deals with education. The States," estimated 11.9 million Utah Department of Higher unauthorized immigrants lived Education reports that 165,00o in the United States in 2008. students currently attend The PHC estimated 75,000 Utah's nine public colleges or to ioo,000 illegal immigrants universities; 590 of them are lived in Utah in 2005. undocumented, and 117 attend The fact that these indithe U. viduals are here illegally is a Utah taxpayers don't want problem, and Utah decided it to continue contributing to wasn't going to do what it has the education of adult illegal always done. We've chosen to immigrants. For that reason, make a change in an attempt S.B. 8i requires all public to fix the problem. The Utah higher education to eliminate State Legislature passed Senillegal immigrants' access ate Bill 8i regarding illegal imto scholarships, including migration in the 2008 general private scholarships that are session. It went into effect in allocated through public instiJuly 2009. tutions. The main purpose of the Robert Payne, legal general new law is to force recognicouncil for the U, said the law tion of the minor detail that if considers any money the U someone is in the United States receives—including private without permission, it's illegal. scholarship donations the U Somewhere along the way, that would be required to manage— truth has become diluted. essentially as belonging to the Most of us might know, love U. As such, it would then be and value people who are here considered a public benefit, illegally. We sympathize with which cannot be given to untheir wants and desires. We documented students. understand the difficulties in"When we are in the busivolved with legal immigration, ness of administering (the Get paid for voicing your •• opinion, money), we are expending public funds in that administration," Payne said. "In the eyes of the law, it becomes our money for those purposes." That means private organizations can continue to offer scholarships to undocumented students if they just administer the funds themselves and make payments to either the student or the school. In fact, Payne said Utah has several nonprofit organizations still offering scholarship money for undocumented students, and they just need to seek them out. He said the Utah Hispanic Chamber of Commerce is a good place to start. The new law offers an advantage to illegal immigrants by allowing them to receive in-state tuition rates if they meet state residency requirements. That's something highly questionable and definitely debatable, especially if you're a U student paying out-of-state tuition, but that's a topic better left for another article. With the enactment of S.B. 8i, Utah citizens have said they want to make a change. To promote that change, they've chosen to eliminate any opportunities for illegal immigrants to access state funds, including higher education. Hopefully, this action will inspire illegal immigrants to take the necessary steps required to ensure their legal residency. The time of acquiescent disregard is in the past. Like it or not, illegal immigrants need to deal with their criminal circumstances. That's the honest, lawful and right thing for them to do. 42 Opinion a_ a) c _o [e-mail] today. Columnist [e-mail] would retain quality ince the health care initiative has gotten underway, there has been a public outcry of concern about the possibility of diminished hospital care under a national health program. This is an argument that is taking place on campus as well. Sean Young, a junior in pre-med, said the health care bill is too ambiguous, gives the government too much power and that he is a believer in the "death squad" cause. "This can lead to low levels of care in the hospital for the terminally ill and the old," Young said. Young's conviction comes on the heels of the events at Basildon University Hospital in Essex, England. As a result of poor practices, this hospital has been in the news because of its unusually high mortality rate. Serious breaches of hygiene standards and 70 deaths have provoked an investigation into one of England's National Health System's elite hospitals. Because this happened in a socialized health care system, it has raised more questions about medical quality. "It is shocking to read the report from Essex and very troubling to realize that this is not in a third-world environment," said Richard Sperry, associate vice president for Health Sciences at the University Medical Center. Sperry said this could not happen in the United States until the concerns of citizens in the United States are warranted when reports of this nature are made public. Health care is important to almost everyone in this country. The fact that we could have loved ones die—or that we ourselves could die—because of subpar patient care is a concern. But it doesn't have to be. Not only do the hospitals have quality control checks, the Utah Department of Health would never allow this situation to occur. "I doubt that you would find this situation in the U.S. regardless of whether the current health care initiative passes." Sperry said. "Hospitals in Utah are licensed by the Department of Health and are regularly inspected by various government agencies including the very powerful Joint Commission." These checks and balances are an important part of the health care system, and should provide S TINA PARSONS Freshman, Social Work and Sociology all patients and their families with a great deal of security. To ensure that the patient care does not decrease, we need to be proactive in our health care. Sperry said that as patients, we need to be diligent and we need to report anything that seems suspect or unsanitary. This initiative is still far from passing, and too much speculation is premature at this time. Sperry said a socialized medical system could be either good or bad for students, depending on the specifics of the system. It would help the public if the system is designed broadly and fairly distributes the risks associated with illness (the financing system). If it is designed to encourage the rational use of resources by providers—the delivery system—or if it is designed to encourage patients to become full partners in their own health and health care, then it would also help. If the system makes it difficult for both providers and patients to work toward improving the patient's health, that would clearly hurt the public. The former is intended, but the latter could result if we are not careful about our legislative actions. The way the bill is written, quality of health care will not suffer. The intent of this bill is to provide quality, affordable health care to all, which should interest poor students. The truth of the matter is that the type of situation that happened in Essex did not happen overnight. This has taken years to occur, and the patients failed as much as the NHS did. We have a responsibility to report abhorrent medical conditions, and as long as we do, we can rest assured that the quality of hospital care in the United States will be unchanged regardless of what health care initiative is in place. [e-mail]