Editorial

Promise protest

1/27/2010

While the initiative is encouraging, the demands driving the planned student protest at the governor's State of the State Address must prove more than the furious cries of schoolchildren.

As the time for Gov. Jennifer Granholm's State of the State Address approaches, college students across Michigan are preparing to travel to the Capitol to protest the elimination of the Michigan Promise.

In October, Granholm signed into law a bill effectively killing the Promise, which at the time of its demise was providing scholarship money to more than 96,000 Michigan students.

Although some felt this loss acutely, few were forced to forego their college education.

This is not to say the Michigan legislature was justified in its elimination of the scholarship from the stage budget, but to remind outraged students this decision dealt far fewer people a much weaker blow than those suffered by other members of the populace.

The aim of this editorial is not to belittle the importance of the Michigan Promise, but rather to remind students they are not the only victims of the state economy.

Those who travel to Lansing on Feb. 3 will not be alone in their protest. Dozens of other groups will also be present, clamoring for the Granholm and the state government to assuage their grievances. Moratorium NOW! Coalition to Stop Foreclosures, Evictions and Utility Shutoffs will be one of these groups.

Moratorium Now! plans to rally for Granholm to declare a state of emergency and a moratorium on foreclosures, evictions and utility shutoffs in Michigan. It will also request President Barack Obama declare Michigan a Disaster Area and fund a public works program.

What will students do upon their arrival to Lansing? Waive signs around and shout slogans demanding the return of a few hundred dollars each while their neighbors beg to keep their homes and maintain a basic standard of living?

If students are intent upon this protest, they will not rely on mob mentality alone to sway members of the state legislature to act in their favor. They will have a plan.

If students take anything from their oft-praised liberal education, it must be the ability to engage any and every situation with critical thought.

Members of the Michigan legislature have told us time and again there is no room in the budget for the Promise. Granholm begged to differ during her call-to-action tour of Michigan's public universities.

Students can rally around the Capitol in the thousands, but unless their demands include a feasible plan of action, the issue will remain at a stalemate.

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