Journal of the Knight-Wallace Fellows at the

Volume 23, No. 1 Winter 2013 What is college for, anyway? Liz McMillen, ’98, editor of The Chronicle of Higher Education, delivered the 28th Graham Hovey Lecture on Sept. 19. Here’s a summary of her comments. Philip Dattilo ...Congratulations to the new She was taught face to face by class of fellows. I hope you guys know full-tenured professors who had spent just how lucky you are, and how far most of their careers at that college. the fellowship has come since I was She studied history, literature here in 1997. and other liberal arts subjects and Today, you travel to Argentina didn’t worry that taking those courses and Brazil and Turkey, and you dine would ruin her chances for a job. with presidents and you go for horse In fact, she went to college rides on the Pampas. Back in my day, hoping to become educated in the Charles made a big deal out of going fullest sense, and didn’t necessarily to (drumroll, please) Toronto. see a connection between that educa- We also went to Atlanta to visit tion and the job she would first get then-novel CNN, where the high when she graduated, or the career point was an after-hours visit to the she would later embark on. Cheetah Lounge. Not that we didn’t She bought books and textbooks learn some things. One of my male in print and took exams in Blue Books. colleagues learned you never tell your She signed up for classes wife you’ve been to a strip club. I’m through the mail and got her grades McMillen: The new educational order is becoming a caste system. not sure he’s ever been fully forgiven. ... the same way, on paper. People sometimes ask me: What did the fellowship do for She shared a phone on her hall with other people and if she was you? And I tell them, I’m still trying to figure that out. I don’t lucky she later could afford to have a private phone in her room. mean to be flip. The beauty of the fellowship is that it is a year out She came to school with full financial aid though by the time of time, a year to explore and be curious and maybe make she graduated she had accumulated some debt, a few thousand mistakes. If you’re lucky, the Knight-Wallace fellowship will set dollars or so. you up for a lifetime of exploration. ... She worked a work-study job but her hours were limited to You are going to see and learn a great deal in your year here 10 a week. and, if you look carefully, you’ll also learn about what you’ll see in Now let’s look at the typical student on campus today. Let’s real life when you go back to your jobs. call her Becky (because she is more likely than not a woman). My contention is this: The way we go to college—the way we She goes to school—but she also works full time as a waitress. think about it, prepare for it, what we do when we’re there, who She lives at home with her family, not on campus in a dorm. gets to go, and on what terms, and what happens afterward—says She is 28, and this is her sixth year in college, and she’s still everything about our aspirations as a country, and who gets to not guaranteed to graduate this year. That depends on whether aspire to what. And it’s changed a lot over the last 30 years. she can get spots in enough courses—and that’s not easy, given the So let’s take a look at higher education 30 years ago. Your typical demand for them on her campus. college student then—let’s call her Liz—studied at a four-year college. She didn’t go right into a four-year college after high school— She started college when she was 18 and she earned her first she worked, then she took some classes at a for-profit university degree—in the humanities—in four years. and her local community college, then she enrolled at the large She lived on campus. public university in her state. —continued on page 9 From the Head Fellow Touring Canada’s fossil fuel wonderland — By Charles R. Eisendrath, ’75 —By Scott Tong, ’14 In 2008, 1,600 ducks landed on a Syncrude Program has been built by Which brings me to the latest devel- Marcia Pledger those it serves opment, one that unfolded in a completely anada: land of Gretzky, maple syrup, tailings pond and different way. Cmoose jokes and—you guessed it—a died. As our guide epressed by several years of total The Canadian and Alberta provincial whopping deposit of crude oil. In fact, very took us to a similar Dfailure to find support for international governments had teamed up to give KWF few fellows realized our neighbor to the pond, he described fellows or travel abroad, I spent an after- a look at the oil sands project, the largest north had quietly morphed into a fossil fuel the company’s new noon with a calculator, which for the energy "play" in the Western Hemisphere powerhouse, until seeing it in person. strategy: blasting mathematically challenged like me can be and possibly the world. That was why “I had no idea Canada was capitalizing noise-making air a downer all by itself. That afternoon in in October 2012, Kate Brooks, '13, who on oil sands projects,” said Marcia Pledger, cannons to scare the 1999 was different. It turned out that each learned how to get what she needs in business columnist for The Cleveland Plain bejesus out of eight-month fellowship cost about as unknown territory as a freelance photog- Dealer and self-described “knucklehead neighborhood fowl. much as taking an entire class anywhere rapher covering serial wars in the Middle novice” on the issue. At that very moment, in the world except Asia for a week. East, found herself seated next to Janet We spent two days on the Alberta Las Vegas Sun To me, that eureka moment meant Annesley, who was paying for the fellows’ energy power play, on a visit underwritten columnist Patrick exchanges: Staff development fellowships by Canada’s consular service. Day 1 served Coolican pointed to dinner in Edmonton as director of The oil sands project in Alberta has endless angles. for the news organizations we partnered communications for the Canadian as an extended classroom blur of oil sands the pond. with and, for us, high-quality international figure at CNN Turk, Baydar a deeply Association of Petroleum Producers. talks, maps, stats, aerial photos and fierce “Hey,” Coolican asked. “Isn’t that a duck?” foes. The myths and misperceptions. The fellows and a subsidized trip to their serious analyst for Milliyet. Within a few I leaned around in back of her and opinions about one of the world’s newest The Syncrude man confirmed the duck, flood of global investment into Canada’s home countries. months KWF had an exchange with whispered to Brooks, "See if she'll do a forms of energy production. By most fellows’ swimming and very much alive. Quick on Next Big Thing, from places like Canada, We began with Argentina because I Dogan, the largest media group in Turkey. fellowship." accounts, the supply of PowerPoint charts his feet, he noted the pond had been diluted Norway and France. had worked there for Time and retained Dancing with international partners, Brooks did the rest. In January we significantly outpaced demand. to less toxic levels. We re-boarded the tour We flew back to Ann Arbor with our the contacts to get us started. I also knew however, can involve unpredictable cut-ins. will be joined by Ilja Herb, a photographer Day 2: the real thing. At dawn we flew bus. The duck swam on. oil sands baggies, winter fashionable wool that Argentina met tests that I had begun On short notice, Dogan announced in much of whose work would have to be via corporate jet to the Syncrude company’s The other way to extract oil sands, to hats adorned with industry logos, a few head developing for partnership exchanges. 2008 that it would be sitting out our described as decidedly un-petro gunk site for mining hydrocarbons at the surface ultra-simplify, is to drill down and steam colds from an unyielding travel schedule, What little Americans knew about it was embrace indefinitely. Fortunately, this black. Next time we'll probably have of the ground. The pilot eased the small the stuff up. Cenovus Energy does it that and lingering questions: Why did we not visit very little, indeed, and largely wrong. unpleasantness happened while Matthias someone more interested in technology or plane low to give an overhead view of the way, and that afternoon we took a look. indigenous groups affected by the drilling? Technically, a KWF alumnus Schepp, ’05, of Spiegel's Moscow bureau economics. Balance is part of the deal. So is operation’s scale. The underground method produces no Or the boomtown Fort McMurray, where produced the relationship with Clarin, had joined the KWF group in Istanbul. the freedom to accept Canadians interested “This was incredible for me, the mining wastewater ponds, though it does require real oil industry leathernecks live and play? Argentina’s largest daily, because I qualify. Within a matter of weeks he had two in any aspect of energy, not just oil and gas. and the (wastewater) tailings,” said Megha putting in a fair bit of fossil energy to get What is the PowerPoint of diminishing For the next four, however, the claim to Russian oligarchs vying to be our partners Because of geography and personal Satyanarayana, Detroit Free Press reporter. it out. There are always trade-offs in the returns? made-by-alumni is clean and doubly the next year. Alexander Lebedev, owner involvement with Canada throughout my “It felt like I was in Mordor.” energy business. Our group also returned with more satisfying because I think of them as the of the investigative Novaya Gazeta "and all life, it had been a particular disappointment Our group sniffed the petroleum “I think the Canadians could have been informed views about a key energy issue of truest test of commitment to building the the potatoes in Russia," as Schepp put it, to have failed so long in establishing a (briefly). We received samples of oil sands— more open about what a dilemma this is,” our time. And but for one of us, the visit program by those it serves. won out and Charles Clover, ’06, of the lasting relationship for KWF with gritty like tar, thick like peanut butter—in the BBC's Jenny Baxter said. “No country in included the rare luxury of taking a road trip Fatih Turkmenoglu and Yavuz Financial Times' bureau helped with the America's nearest neighbor and largest baby Ziploc bags to tote home. Much of the the world would sit on a natural resource without having to file a single story.  Baydar were fellows in 2003-04, a few organizational chores. trading partner. processing of the product occurs in pipes and not exploit it, particularly given the years after I began recruiting applicants On that first exchange in Moscow, What exactly does "lasting" mean? and tanks, and proved challenging to see. world’s addiction to oil. So more two-way Editor’s note: When not on a fellowship that forbids all kinds of (other) from Turkey because I considered it the Helio Schwartzman of Folha de Sao Paolo One bus ride, though, yielded a view of what discussion would have been valuable.” I've learned to enjoy the dance without work, the author is a D.C.-based energy most important country in the Middle asked why KWF never came to Brazil. My worrying too much about the music ending may well be the largest mountain of sulfur It’s not easy being a fossil fuel titan. Nor and environment correspondent for East. It also met "The Argentina Test” of entire contribution to what has developed because when we need to change partners, on the planet. Sulfur, a byproduct of the is it a simple story for journalists. Reporters Marketplace public radio. being little known and of large interest. into a remarkably rich relationship was KWF’s international alumni show us the industrial process, was waiting to be sold on and editors from The Edmonton Journal The pair of alumni I deputized to find us saying, "Invite us." That's all it took; in next steps.  the market for a decent price. spoke to our group of the endless angles: a partner could not have been more January we will welcome our 10th Folha There’s no such market for the vast The boomtown. The worker shortage. The different—Turkmenoglu a mercurial fellow after five news tours in Brazil. quantities of chemical wastewater “tailings.” theological passions of oil sands friends and

2 3 First Afghan fellow feels big responsibility Ruhullah Khapalwak, ’14, is the first Afghan fellow in KWF’s history. He’s a freelance journalist who has worked in his home country Our Great Geniuses with Western news outlets including , CNN and Al Jazeera English since 2001. He’s helped break stories on civilian casualties, illegal detentions and Taliban operations during the war in Afghanistan, and recently branched out into video Jamaal Abdul-Alim, Jonathan Martin, ’09, Angela Shah, ’07, has documentaries. His study project during the fellowship is “The effects of the digital revolution on journalism in the developing world.” ’08, He recently discussed his unlikely introduction to journalism and its future in his country. was named 2013 chess was named a permanent joined Xconomy in journalist of the year by member of the Seattle Houston as editor of the — By Kyle Poplin, ’10 Such a goal seemed unlikely a few “I’m not scared of the Afghan people,” the Chess Journalists of Times editorial board. new Texas edition. She years ago, even to Khapalwak. When he he explains, “but I’m scared of political America. He also won previously was a freelancer uhullah Khapalwak, by all rights, finished high school in 2000, the Taliban organizations or groups that could easily best international article based in Dubai. Rshould be a furious man. ruled Afghanistan. Khapalwak wanted to target me. And I had death threats from in the magazine category for the National Harris Meyer, He’s lived through five regime changes go to college, but had no idea where or the Taliban accusing me of being an Association of Black Journalists. An inde- ’91, was Harry Siegel, ’11, has in his native Afghanistan and lost family how. Then 9/11 happened and the Taliban American spy. … I took it very seriously. pendent writer, he’s currently a Spencer named managing editor joined the New York members in every one of them. Two of his were overthrown by an American-led I came to the conclusion that it was maybe Education Journalism Fellow at Columbia at Chicago-based Daily News as a weekly great uncles were taken from their home invasion. “The day that the Taliban left a good idea to stop and go to college.” University. Modern Healthcare. columnist and editorial during the Russian occupation and never Kandahar, my hometown, everybody was In 2006 he applied to four colleges He previously was a board member. He heard from again. His father-in-law was very excited, very cheerful, so I came out and ended up with a full scholarship at Brian Akre, ’98, freelance writer. previously was an editor assassinated by the Taliban. The list continues. to see the people in the street,” he recalls. Swarthmore. After graduation in 2010 won a 2013 Cicero for Newsweek-The Daily Beast. Stephanie Reitz, Marcia Pledger “I saw a friend of he went back home to continue working, Speechwriting Award ’05, mine who was actu- first freelancing for the Times and then for a piece written for the was named university Jesse Walker, spouse ’09, ally working as a moving into digital. CEO of Royal Dutch spokesperson and senior recently published "The translator for an He’s thoroughly enjoying his Shell. It was his second media relations specialist United States of Paranoia" American journal- fellowship—“There’s so much here, I’m Cicero award. Akre joined the Renault- at the University of through HarperCollins ist. He said there worried I’m not getting at everything”—but Nissan Alliance as director of executive Connecticut. She Publishers. were many other his purpose is clear. “I’ll try to take as much communications in October. previously was a reporter at The Associated journalists who as I can back with me and keep the legacy Press and The Hartford Courant. needed assistance.” of a free press and freedom of speech in Scott Elliott, ’05, was IN MEMORY Rochelle Riley, Only days later Afghanistan.” named editor of ’08, won Mary Jean Hovey, wife of former Knight Khapalwak was He’s seen big changes in Afghan Chalkbeat Indianapolis, first place in the Best Wallace Fellowship director Graham translating for journalism. When he was young, he says, part of a new nonprofit Local Interest Column Hovey, died March 1 in Whitehall Michael Ware of there were no private TV stations in the online news organization. on a Variety of Subjects Township, Pa. She was a librarian. category for the 79th She and her late husband had moved Ruhullah Khapalwak, an Afghan journalist, discusses Afghanistan Time magazine. country; today there are more than two He previously was “Soon I was dozen. There are now more than 50 radio education reform reporter at the National Headliner from Ann Arbor to be closer to their son, Yet Khapalwak refuses to dwell on picking up the way he worked, and what stations that report the news, compared Indianapolis Star. Awards. She’s a metro columnist at the Thomas D. Hovey, and his family who live anger and revenge. “Who am I going to go sort of questions he asked, and how to to two—the BBC Pashto and Voice of Detroit Free Press. in Forty Fort, Pa. after?” he asks. “The only thing I think of conduct interviews,” Khapalwak said. That America Pashto—when he was growing up. Craig Gilbert, ’10, now is the future and the future for my eventually led to work with The New York “As an Afghan who has worked for received a fellowship daughter who is 2-and-a-half years old. Times as a translator. When “it started the past 12 years with so many prestigious, at the Marquette Law We hope for the best, that one day we will getting rough for foreign journalists” in well-known and very honest journalists School to do a six-month have a regime that will bring justice. Afghanistan, Khapalwak began doing of the world, I think we have to keep that research project on “For an American it might not be more work on his own. He would go alone legacy alive in Afghanistan,” he said. political polarization­— very convincing, because if something into the field to gather accounts, then get “The freedom of press and speech is very an outgrowth of his time at KWF. happens here you have to pursue it. But so help writing stories. “I slowly built up my essential to keeping a democracy. many atrocities have happened, one after skills. … At the beginning (my career) was “And I really thank this fellowship and Kate Linebaugh, ’08, was another, that we hope for the best. It’s coincidence. Afterward, it was something I Charles for bringing people from countries named deputy chief of survival. You have to survive.” had to do. I really liked it. It was my passion. like Afghanistan. We really need journalists ’s He’s planning more than that. After “I really liked carrying my notebook to come here, do their research, go back Corporate Bureau. She his fellowship, Khapalwak hopes to return and my pen with me. That made me very to their country and take the voice of the joined the Journal in Kevin Clemens, ’08, with the solar-powered motorcycle and unusual electric sidecar to Kandahar City and ensure journalism confident meeting whoever was in front of me.” Afghan people to the rest of the world.”  2004 as the regional machine he built in his workshop in Lake Elmo, Minn., and rode this summer at Utah’s builds on its recent foothold in the country. The work grew increasingly dangerous. investment banking and deals reporter. Bonneville Salt Flats.

4 5 IN BRAZIL, ALL EYES ARE ON THE ROAD AHEAD In Argentina, ‘even the good guys are complicated’

— By Alex Stone, ’14 anything you’ll find in the States, an urban Other major highlights of the trip — By Petra Bartosiewicz, ’14 we were told politics is President Juan Peron and his wife Eva, sprawl on steroids, at once exhausting and included meeting Joaquin Barbosa, the not about collaboration which transcends traditional left and oming from Detroit, I was struck by exhilarating. chief justice of the Supreme Court (and the he trip this fall to Buenos Aires, or negotiation, but about right divisions and remains a defining Chow many American cars­—Fords “The main point of the trip is to open first black Supreme Court justice in Brazil), TArgentina, marked the 14th year friends and enemies. The force in shaping the country’s internal especially—one sees on the streets of São people’s eyes to how big and important the who is currently presiding over a fellows have made the journey to this often turbulent political political alliances. Paulo. Unlike our cars, however, many of Brazil story is on so many levels,” Charles corruption case that has led to the In Argentina, we were told, politics beautiful and deeply complex country. landscape is in full these are powered by a renewable form of Eisendrath, head fellow, told us. “And yet indictment of the chief of staff; a night of is not about collaboration or negotiation, With its wide avenues and sidewalk cafes, evidence in the ongoing ethanol derived from sugarcane, which you hardly hear a peep about it in the U.S. Brazilian classical music at the stunning its passion in equal parts for futbol and but about friends and enemies. The often battle between current grows throughout the country in press, except when it comes to oil, and Sala São Paulo concert hall; and watching tango, Buenos Aires, the most European of turbulent political landscape is in full President Cristina Kirchner’s abundance. Brazil is the world’s second maybe something in the sports section.” the Knight-Wallace fellows get trounced in Latin American cities, has been described evidence in the ongoing battle between largest producer of ethanol and a leader in While in São Paulo, we drove through soccer by a bunch of 8-year-olds. as “just a big theater.” government and ClariN, current President Cristina Kirchner’s the use of sustainable biofuels. shanty towns (“favelas”) teeming with the With Folha’s Helio Schwartsman, ’09, So it was fitting that we began our the country’s largest government and Clarin, the country’s worst kind of squalor as our intrepid guide, we were treated to an journey at the Teatro Colon, considered to newspaper, which in recent largest newspaper, which in recent years and, hardly missing a inside look at the city that left me reeling. be one of the world’s finest theaters for its years has been highly critical has been highly critical of Kirchner and beat, consorted with It was, indeed, an eye-opening acoustics and design, where our guide told of Kirchner and has launched has launched a wide-ranging investigation millionaires—a stark experience. us of the ghosts who haunt the place and a wide-ranging investigation into alleged corruption and money laun- reminder of the Part of the surprise for me was in of a secret room above the main hall’s into alleged corruption dering by her government. country’s staggering seeing the contrast between São Paulo and massive chandelier that hides singers who and money laundering by On a visit to the offices of Clarin, income inequality. Buenos Aires—the second leg of our South during performances play the roles of her government. we heard from the paper’s editors, who We visited the city’s American journey. Unlike Argentina, a angels, or even the voice of god. Our discussed the controversial media law wonderfully country held hostage to its own history, guide, it turned out, was more than she recently upheld by Argentina’s Supreme interactive Museu do mired in a recursive cycle of nostalgia—we appeared as well; a singer in her own right, the final resting place, most notably, of Court, which the Kirchner government Futbol, built get it, you love Evita—Brazil is a country she broke into a spontaneous soprano aria Argentina’s former first lady, Eva Peron. has claimed is needed in order to reduce alongside the with its eyes on the road ahead. “Brazil is to demonstrate the theater’s near-perfect We decamped from the hot city for a day, media concentration, but which journalists stadium where Pele looking to the future, and it’s getting there, sound quality. piling into a pair of vans and driving to say is an attempt by the government to played, met the city’s while Argentina is still talking about The hard work of exploring this new the “Estancia Los Dos Hermanos,” where stifle dissent. —continued on page 10 charming mayor, redistributing the same pie, rather than city continued at an evening wine tasting our hosts Pancho and Ana were generous Fernando Haddad, trying to make it bigger,” said Eisendrath, a Marcia Pledger, '14, at the Museu Afro Brazil in Sao Paulo. in the historic San Telmo district, where and the horses we and toured the veteran visitor to both. Case in point: Not we were schooled in the finer points of a rode through the Our trip to Brazil was also fueled in magnificent Museu Afro Brazil, which long ago Brazil and Argentina had the same rich array of Argentinian wines. In the bucolic Pampas Marcia Pledger large part by a form of ethanol derived boasts a collection of more than 4,000 works size economy; today Brazil’s is more than spirit of investigation of one of the region were from sugarcane—in this case, cachaça rum, of African and Afro-Brazilian art. six times larger. The score on poverty tells a country's leading industries, we tasted, merciful on their the workhouse spirit of Brazil’s signature At Folha de Sao Paolo, we watched a similar story. Brazil has reduced poverty by tasted again, and then tasted some more. inexperienced cocktail, the caipirinha. gripping documentary, by TV Folha 50 percent since the 1980s. Argentina: zero. The wine was accompanied by a dinner riders. A bracing, sweet-and-sour concoction director João Wainer, about the June 2013 And yet, Brazil still has a long way to starring the delicious steak Argentina is Back in the city that will put hair on the chest of the person riots, in which a million people took to the go. The income gap remains one of the deservedly famous for. I lost count following we heard lectures standing next to you, caipirinhas—together streets. Initially sparked by a rise in bus largest in the world. (In Sampa, the one- that meal of the number of such feasts, with on Argentine literary with the best coffee ever—turned out to be fares, the demonstrations quickly turned percenters hopscotch from rooftop to the exception of an epic carnivorous lunch at heroes such as the perfect energy source for our manic, into an omnidirectional outpouring of rage rooftop in helicopters to avoid the city’s the renowned La Brigada, where we dined on Jorge Luis Borges whistle-stop tour of this gritty and that found expression in mass lootings and chronic gridlock.) Crime is brutal and veal sweetbread, chorizo and blood and Julio Cortazar, unfathomably complex urban jungle. widespread violence (though, miraculously, rampant. Productivity is low relative to sausage—and that was just the appetizer. and on the lasting Imagine if Los Angeles were twice as no one died). “No one has yet to come up most other emerging economies. In a In the following days there would be power of Peronism, large and, at the same time, highly with a conclusive explanation for why the fascinating lecture on the sad state of the late-night tango and an afternoon boat ride the political move- industrialized and you’ll have some idea of riots happened,” we were told, inviting educational system, by Naercio Menezes along the canals of the Tigre Delta, visits to ment based on the Jenny Baxter & friends: Which is BBC's head of production? what São Paulo, or “Sampa,” is like. A city of comparisons to the Occupy Wall Street Filho, a professor at Insper Education and the city’s museums and La Recoleta cemetery, legacy of former 20 million, it thrums at a pace unlike movement in the US. —continued on page 10

6 7 —What is college for anyway?, continued from page 1 education. She’s what we call in the trade So how did we abandon such a She’s hardly alone in this winding a nontraditional student. Except that she successful model? KWF leads discussion about ObamaCare path. People in higher ed call Becky’s has become the rule, not the exception. We could blame shortsighted legisla- experience “the student swirl.” And for every Becky who eventually tures and administrators, but the causes Among her fellow students at her makes it through and gets a degree, there are so interwoven and complex that it’s KWF helped organize a timely policy conference, “ObamaCare: Hearsay or Fact,” on Nov. 4 during the government shutdown and about five weeks into university, just over 50 percent will graduate are countless more who don’t graduate but difficult to separate one single thread. insurance open enrollment. Other collaborators on the policy conference­—the 10th in KWF’s history—were the in six years. Many of them are just like who still have debt and who still need jobs But we can say the decline didn’t Center for Healthcare Research & Transformation, the U-M Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation and Michigan Radio. her—older, working, often with families. they can make a Some are veterans of Iraq or Afghanistan. living on. Philip Dattilo And unlike Liz, there’s very little The truth is chance that any of them will ever attend that higher education one of the 150 most selective colleges in as it now exists is the country. helping to widen the Becky’s major is business administra- divide between the tion. She is mainly interested in courses Lizs and the Beckys that can help her get a better job, not make of the world, be- her a better person. That’s probably not tween the haves and surprising, given that she has some have-nots. It’s doing $25,000 in student loans and expects to that through sky- take out another $10,000 this year. rocketing tuition What’s Becky getting for that money? (even at public The new fellows at the Hovey Lecture. Unlike Liz’s experience, a stunning majority universities) and of Becky’s interactions in college happen student loan debt, and by devoting the happen overnight. Sixteen years ago, in 1987, Above: The event drew a standing-room- Above: Polls show that most Americans are only crowd at the Michigan League. Steven confused about ObamaCare and don’t trust online. most resources on the wealthiest students. the states provided about three-quarters of Brill, author, “Bitter Pill: Why Medical Bills the media to communicate information Several of her courses are taught That’s an astonishing turn of events in the funds public colleges spent on education. about the law. The debate, Americans feel, are Killing Us,” Time, participated via online, and she takes them with hundreds recent American history. ... But over time that number has dropped. Skype and is pictured on screen. has been more about politics than policy. A main topic of the conference was how of other students. Some of those courses Higher education was once the great Given current trends, it is estimated best to help Americans make informed are taught by professors who teach at equalizer. No longer. that by 2030, 17 years from now, most decisions. universities hundreds of miles away. Consider this fact: At the nation’s 146 state legislatures will no longer provide Above: Ora Pescovitz, CEO, U-M Health System, She would like more contact with her most selective colleges—including the top any support to their institutions of public welcomed the crowd and framed the debate. professors but many of the people who flagship universities—only 3 percent of higher education. Below: The policy panel, left to right, Thomas Buchmueller, chair of business Below: The journalism panel, left to right, Holman W. Jenkins Jr., editorial teach her courses are adjunct instructors entering freshmen come from the bottom As college presidents who come by economics at the U-M Ross School of Business; Heather Howard (keynote speaker), board member and columnist, The Wall Street Journal; Julie Rovner, health who are not given office space on campus. socioeconomic quarter, while 74 percent The Chronicle’s offices like to say, they are director, State Health Reform Assistance Network; Michael Cannon, director, policy correspondent, NPR; Sarah Kliff, health policy reporter, The Health Policy Studies, Cato Institute; Dr. John Ayanian, director, U-M Institute Washington Post; Jonathan Cohn (keynote speaker), author, senior editor, She does all her course registration come from the top quarter. no longer state universities but merely for Healthcare Policy and Innovation; and Marianne Udow-Phillips, director, ; Reed Abelson, health care business reporter, The New online, gets her assignments and course Or that community colleges, where “state located” universities. Center for Healthcare Research and Transformation. York Times; and Charles Eisendrath, moderator. syllabi that way, and her classroom perfor- low-income and minority students are With the steep cuts in state funding, mance is monitored by a sophisticated concentrated, spent an average of $13,000 public universities have raised tuition and learning dashboard that tells that professor per student in 2009, while four-year fees to make up for the shortfall, thus how well she is mastering the course material. private research institutions, which shifting an ever-greater financial burden Finally, she is among the nearly disproportionately enroll higher-income onto students and families. Since 1985 three-quarters of Americans who are taking and white students, spent an average of alone, tuition and fees are up more than college courses in some form, the highest $67,000 per student. That’s a $44,000 500 percent. college-going rate in this country’s history. difference per student. Think about that, In essence, as public universities So, you all have your degrees. Why in terms of what the least-advantaged receive less money from states, they are should any of you care about Becky and students need to succeed. running themselves like private universities what she has to go through to get her As Georgetown University researcher and charging higher tuitions. degree, what that degree will be and how Anthony Carnevale put it last year in Is anyone surprised that in one recent much debt she’ll be in when she gets it? The Chronicle, “Taken one at time, poll a majority of Americans—62 percent Isn’t that just the way things are today? postsecondary institutions are fountains —said they could not afford a college Here’s why we need to care: Because of opportunity; taken together, they are a education at a public university? Becky represents a huge shift in higher highly stratified bastion of privilege.” —continued on back

8 Photos by Steve Kuzma 9 —In Brazil, all eyes are on the road ahead, continued from page 6 samba, so on Saturday night we descended Afterward, Baxter offered a tip for Research Institute, I learned that on average, on a sweaty, cachaça-soaked club in Vila those who, like me, lack a certain innate kids in Brazil spend just four hours a day in Madalena, Sampa’s Greenwich Village. sense of rhythm. Journalists are ‘warm, school, hardly a syllabus for progress. “I walked in and thought I would last 10 “It’s all in the hips,” she said. “And in Brazil’s political system, meanwhile, is minutes,” said Jenny Baxter, ’14, who is the cachaça.”  mired in corruption and internecine head of production at BBC News, a well- wonderful.’ Who knew? disputes between the country’s 32 national known bastion of RP and stiff upper lips. parties, Folha columnist Fernando “Three hours later, I was the last to leave —In Argentina, ‘even the good guys are complicated’, By Alan V. Deardorff, the associate dean of the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, the John W. Sweetland continued from page 7 professor of international economics and professor of public policy. His research focuses on international trade. Rodrigues told us in a seminar on politics. and made many new Brazilian friends.” Women’s rights are also lacking— Seeing Baxter and the other fellows Si-haeng Jeong, ’14, said she found abortion is still illegal—and racial grooving to samba was, as Brazilians say, many parallels in Clarin’s struggle with ver the years, I have met a number of from them. They’ve opened my eyes to disparities remain widespread (Brazil, I was “muito legal”—totally awesome. a battle fought between her newspaper, OKW fellows in various contexts, but parts of the world I will never meet in surprised to learn, was the last country in But with the sweet comes the sour. The Chosun Ilbo, and the South Korean most importantly when they attended person myself. the Western Hemisphere to abolish slavery.) Again the walls told another story. A look government. “I feel very much for the one of my courses and/or were paired I’m very glad I had that opportunity Marcia Pledger at the north wall of the bar revealed a poem Clarin journalists,” Haeng said. “We with me as an adviser. Of these, two in and I hope it will recur.  by Carlos Drummond de Andrade, Brazil’s endured a very similar situation, with the past two years have stood out and national poet, titled “E agora, José?” A kind similar tactics of government intimidation made me appreciate anew the value of of tristful catechism, the poem clings to the and attempts to silence us.” the Knight Wallace program. Publisher: Charles R. Eisendrath ’75 recurring refrain, What now, Joseph? The first of these was Marcelo Leite, The government’s fight with Clarin Editor: Kyle Poplin ’10 (The bar was called Boteca Seu Zé, or has been much in the news in Argentina a print journalist from Brazil who was Production and Design: Mr. Joseph’s Bar, an allusion to the title line.) here for just fall semester 2011. Because Kathleen Horn, Blue Skies Studio; as the country begins looking toward the Wagner Design Associates What now, indeed? he had been reassigned to cover 2015 general election. We met with Sergio Views expressed in the Journal are not It’s a question the country as a whole Massa, mayor of the Parana Delta city economic issues at his newspaper, he necessarily those of the Fellowship Program or the University of Michigan. seems to be asking itself. Brazil is a resource wanted to learn more about economics, of Tigre, who is considered a serious Mike and Mary Wallace House rich, diverse country with stores of creative contender for the presidency. “Mr. Massa and because I was teaching my course in University of Michigan, 620 Oxford Road I don’t know how the fellows Ann Arbor, MI 48104-2635 energy. But it has a lot of soul searching the economics of international trade made it clear he is willing to take on a are selected, or how they can Telephone: 734-998-7666 • FAX: 734-988-7979 to do. political system roiled in scandal and policy at the time, he took my www.mjfellows.org possibly be chosen for their Lately, a crisis of faith has been corruption,” said Bonney Kapp, ’14, who course. We also met frequently outside Regents of the University of Michigan personalities, but all the brewing over the World Cup (which will has covered the presidential campaigns of of class to discuss all manner of issues, Mark J. Bernstein, Ann Arbor; ones whom I have gotten to Julia Donovan Darlow, Ann Arbor; be held in Brazil in June and July of next Barack Obama, John Edwards and Mitt only some of them related to Laurence B. Deitch, Bloomfield Hills; year) and the 2016 Summer Olympics in know have been wonderful, Shauna Ryder Diggs, Grosse Pointe; Romney. “It will be interesting to track his international trade or even economics. Denise Ilitch, Bingham Farms; Rio. José Henrique Mariante, assistant political ascent and see if he is able to As I’d learned to expect of KW warm human beings. Andrea Fischer Newman, Ann Arbor; Andrew C. Richner, Grosse Pointe Park; managing editor of Folha de Sao Paolo, enact the changes he says he is prepared fellows, Marcelo was knowledgeable, Katherine E. White, Ann Arbor; The fellows blended in nicely at the samba club Mary Sue Coleman (ex officio) spoke at length about the challenges that to tackle.” articulate and very smart. I looked forward economics, but his focus changed to in Brazil. Brazil, a country sorely lacking in infra- Head fellow Eisendrath described the to our meetings as well as to his occasional learning about entrepreneurship, University of Michigan Nondiscrimination Policy Statement Most entrancing of all, however, was structure, will face if it is to host these two momentous changes he has witnessed in interventions in my class. What’s more, he something I could not provide. The University of Michigan, as an equal oppor- an unscheduled visit to “Batman Alley,” an major international events. The World Argentina over the decades. When he was a delightful person. Nonetheless, we met regularly throughout tunity/affirmative action employer, complies Cup alone, he said, is expected to set the with all applicable federal and state laws regard- outdoor gallery of some of the world’s most first arrived in 1973 as a journalist working I don’t know how the fellows are the semester that he was on campus, ing nondiscrimination and affirmative action, impressive street art. These strange and country back $15 billion. If successful, it for Time magazine, the country was in one selected, or how they can possibly be just to share ideas and experiences. including Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and Section 504 of the energetic vernacular works, which grow could help reinvigorate the country and its of its darkest moments. “No one walked chosen for their personalities, but all the His experiences, being at the time Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The University of people. Failure, on the other hand, could Michigan is committed to a policy of nondis- like symbiotes along several blocks, seem the streets at night, the markets were ones whom I have gotten to know have not welcome in his home country because crimination and equal opportunity for all per- to capture the soul of the city in a uniquely deepen the pervasive sense of malaise that empty, people were being kidnapped,” been wonderful, warm human beings. of some of the work that he had done, sons regardless of race, sex*, color, religion, creed, national origin or ancestry, age, marital powerful way. “People have such a desire to hangs over Brazil like the marine layer. he said. Although the country today has If that’s true of journalists as a class, were far more interesting than mine. status, sexual orientation, disability, or Vietnam- So … what now? era veteran status in employment, educational tell their stories that they’ll write it on the transformed dramatically, the scars of its I certainly had not learned that from Again, I looked forward to our meetings programs and activities, and admissions. walls,” said fellow Laura Holson, a feature When it doubt, it never hurts to dance. past remain just beneath the surface. other sources. and found him to be good friend and a Inquiries or complaints may be addressed to the Senior Director for Institutional Equity and writer for The New York Times, for whom After the first bar shut down, I quickly “In Argentina the bad guys are bad, The second recent KW fellow whom fount of information. Title IX/Section 504 Coordinator, Office of made my way to another samba club and Institutional Equity, 2072 Administrative Batman Alley was also a high point. “It tells but even the good guys are complicated,” I’ve been pleased to get to know was Amir Looking back on these two Services Building, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109- a different story, a voice that’s not heard in danced the rest of the night away. said Eisendrath.  Paivar, an Iranian journalist on leave from experiences with KW fellows, I’d be hard 1432, 734-763-0235, TTY 734-647-1388. For other University of Michigan information call the city or in Congress.” Everyone around me was gracious and the BBC in London. We planned initially pressed to identify what they may have 734-764-1817. Of course, no trip to Brazil would be welcoming, despite the violence I did to for him to sit in on my large gotten out of their interactions with me. *Includes gender identity and gender expression complete without some glute-shaking their national dance. undergraduate course on international But I am very clear on what I have learned

10 11 Non-profit Organization U.S. Postage PAID Ann Arbor, MI Permit #144

Knight-Wallace Journalism Fellows University of Michigan Mike and Mary Wallace House 620 Oxford Road Ann Arbor, MI 48104-2635

—What is college for anyway?, continued from page 9 at what cost? Given that it will severely limit WHO is college for? What kind of college, As public universities feel this financial their chance to live the American Dream, and on what terms? Is the traditional squeeze, the undergraduate demographic is is that what college is intended to do? four-year degree in this country today changing dramatically. If the public universities have abrogated just for the affluent? For example, here at Michigan, in their original missions, of the promise they When people talk about this country 2012, 42 percent of students—almost half offered of education to their citizens at a being on the wrong track, one of the main —were from out-of-state or a foreign reasonable rate, what’s to be done? Some and largely unspoken reasons, I maintain, country. In other words, the students who people believe passionately that innovation is what’s happening in higher education. pay the most. Just 10 years ago that figure will save the day—that MOOCs and online The path to aspiration and social mobility was about 20 percent. courses offered at low cost will open up in the United States has become much In some states the focus on out-of-state education for many more people. … more narrow in the past three decades. students is getting truly wacky. At the The idea is that students with ingenuity Before our eyes, and without much public University of California at Los Angeles in and discipline will be able to cobble together discussion, college has become a large 2011, you were more likely to be admitted as a reasonably priced undergraduate degree. socioeconomic sorting device. an out-of-state student than as an in-state one. That will be a great thing, if it happens. So. You all are going to have a won- This is a bewildering turn away from Let’s not lose sight of the fact, however, derfully rich year in Ann Arbor exploring the original missions of public universities. that low-cost online education is only filling this incredible university. But when you go The Chronicle and ProPublica reported a need that wouldn’t exist at all if public back to your beats next summer—whether recently that many public universities are universities had not been forced to alter it’s digital technology, science, the media, shifting their financial-aid dollars their mission. sports, economics or politics—remember away from the poorest students to wealthier There is also the risk that an online- that many of the people and issues you ones—mainly to attract out-of-state based education could further exacerbate will be reporting on are products of this students or higher-achieving students the inequities in higher education I’ve new educational order, one that many whose academic profile will help boost been describing. How many who favor believe is becoming a caste system that these campuses in the rankings. ... this innovation would choose to educate reproduces economic privilege in this And if certain experts are right, their own children this way? … country. President Obama’s latest proposals for So no wonder the value of a college You will be covering the consequences rating colleges and tying financial aid degree is being questioned—that colleges of higher education’s struggle to produce to their student performance will only are being asked about the “return on a competitive workforce, and you will be make things worse for students from investment” they provide. What is a college covering people dealing with the issues low-income families. education for, anyway? Is it just to get that of inequity that higher education is And once they leave college, non-tra- credential so that one can get a job? Is it magnifying. ditional students like Becky face crushing an experience intended to educate the Higher education and the questions amounts of debt. Just this past year, we’ve whole person? Should higher education about who and what it’s for is certainly passed the trillion-dollar mark in total be thought of as a benefit for an individual, The Chronicle’s story. But it’s not JUST U.S. student debt. … or more broadly as an engine for economic The Chronicle’s story. It is, inevitably, over We are seeing a generation for whom development, as a societal good? the years of your careers, the next 30 years a college degree may have opened doors, but I would frame the question differently: of your lives, going to be your story, too. 