Examiner.com article on educational boards

As I promised at the end of Examiner.com articles on Supreme Court and ballot proposals:

Speaking of university governing boards, the Detroit Free Press endorsed six candidates, four Democrats and two Republicans, for the three elected university boards governing the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, and Wayne State University. I should write an article about that for Examiner.com, if I can figure out a newsworthy angle.

I have. Stay tuned.

It's posted.

Caption: Mark Berstein earned endorsements for University of Michigan Regent from the Detroit Free Press, Michigan Daily, and City Pulse.
Credit: Mark Berstein's campaign's Facebook page, MGoBernstein.

Newspaper endorsements for State Board of Education, university governing boards

Many newspapers make endorsements for state and federal offices, ranging from President down to state representative. However, not many papers in Michigan issue their recommendations for the state Board of Education and the governing boards for the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, and Wayne State University. During the past week, four newspapers issued endorsements for some or all of these offices, beginning last Sunday with City Pulse of Lansing, which published its recommendations for all eight contested positions on the four boards.

On Wednesday, the Michigan Daily endorsed two candidates for University of Michigan Regent.

On Saturday, the Detroit Free Press joined City Pulse by publishing a summary of all its endorsements, including those for the three university governing boards, which it had originally issued in an earlier editorial.

Finally, this Sunday, the Lansing State Journal joined the other two in summarizing its endorsements, including those for Michigan State University Trustee.

What I found both surprising and encouraging was how much agreement there was among all the endorsements. Three papers each published endorsements for the University of Michigan and Michigan State University governing boards, and both times all three recommended the same candidates. I also know who the one reasonable and competent Republican running this year is--Melanie Foster, MSU Trustee. The last time I voted for a Republican, it was for MSU Trustee. If I weren't a Democratic Precinct Delegate, I might do so again.

Finally, I recommend reading the City Pulse's endorsement editorial. It lists their favorite candidates from the top of the ticket to the bottom. The editorial writer is both mean and funny. I quoted some of the best lines both here and in Proposal endorsements of alternative weeklies favor change over status quo. They're both scathing and hilarious.