Michigan Matters focuses on controversial issues concerning the metro Detroit area. The program is hosted by WWJTV Community Affairs Director and Detroit Free Press Columnist Carol Cain who has shared her perspective on local and national radio and TV shows for over a decade. In addition to one-on-one interviews, a high-profile panel of metro Detroit political, business and community leaders will join her for roundtable discussions. Regular panelists will include L. Brooks Patterson, Oakland County Executive; Denise Ilitch, President of Ilitch Enterprises; and Derrick Miller, Managing Partner of Citivest Capital Partners.
Sunday, August 31, 2008 on Michigan Matters
Carol Cain interviews hospital CEO's about the battle against cancer and other healthcare issues. Scheduled to appear are: Mike Duggan, President and CEO of Detroit Medical Center; Nancy Schlichting, President and CEO of Henry Ford Health System; Kenneth Matzick, President and CEO of Beaumont Hospitals; and Phil Incarnati, President and CEO of McLaren Health Systems.
Watch "Michigan Matters" Sunday at 8:30am. Previous episodes of "Michigan Matters" are also available on the web. Click on the home page, select the tab for "Michigan Matters" in the video player, and choose the segment you would like to see.
Email Michigan Matters: michiganmatters@wwjtv.com
Panel Members:
Carol Cain, Community Affairs and Editorial Director, WWJTV
Derrick Miller, Business and Community Leader
Denise Ilitch, Business and Community Leader
L. Brooks Patterson, Oakland County Executive
FINAL VIEWPOINTS FOR 8-24-08
JOHN TRUSCOTT
One of the most important issues for metro Detroit is health care. It's one area where we're actually seeing some employment growth. But what if I told you that Detroit's urban and indigent health care system is in serious trouble. For full disclosure, I do some work for the Wayne State Medical school. They are a jewel in the city and their students and doctors are among the best. So why would the Detroit Medical Center withhold millions of dollars to pay for services already provided? In what appears to be a petty power play, the DMC has not been living up to a contract with Wayne State. This has led to a significant level of uncompensated care.
The situation is so serious, it has been a subject of Senate Committee hearings and inquiries. And now the DMC appears to be moving toward kicking out several Wayne State programs. This has been a relationship that is a century old - and it's being destroyed in one fell swoop. So who will provide indigent care if the DMC kicks out the Wayne State doctors - good question. - and it's one that the DMC may have to answer sooner rather than later.
DENISE ILITCH
According to Money magazine, the rise of tuition costs continue to outpace inflation and median family income. For more than 2 decades, colleges and universities across the country have been raising tuition at a faster rate than costs have risen on any other major product or service. Most recently, costs have risen 4 times faster than the overall inflation rate and faster even than increases in the price of gasoline and health care. The amount family's pay for college has skyrocketed 439% since 1982.
Tuition costs at public universities look more like prices at private institutions. For example, at the University of Michigan, in state freshmen pay nearly $20,000 and out state students pay almost $42,000, $10,000 more than the $32,000 cost of the average private institution. These costs outstrip increases in financial aid and pushes students in to more borrowing. Two thirds of students graduate with some debt and the average student loan debt for graduating seniors is $19,000.
Graduate and professional students average debt ranges between $27,000 - $114,000!! It's time to get creative and STOP the skyrocketing costs of higher education.
CLIFF RUSSELL
If Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's Administration was a basketball team, it would be in the fourth quarter of an elimination game, down by 50 points, with less than 2 minutes on the clock. Bar a miracle, there is no way his team can win this game. As team captain, Mayor Kilpatrick has been feverishly hoisting up shots, calling time outs, and occasionally committing fouls. But it's just a matter of time before the final buzzer sounds, and the Mayor and his team will have to leave the court in defeat.
The real question now is, "What's next?" There is much speculation over who will succeed Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. Leading candidates have already been raising money, recruiting people and lining up endorsements. In a real sense, these mayoral hopefuls are like potential draft choices, and the citizens of Detroit like team owners. It's crucial that the team owners study the players and draft wisely in order to create a winning team. If there's been any silver lining to this tragedy, it's that many people are taking a closer look at their elected officials and the other players that make up local government. Detroiters are tired of losing, and Detroit's next mayor will have to be a scorer, a rebounder, a passer and an all-around team player. What Detroit needs now more than anything else is a winning team in the Mayor's Office.
CAROL CAIN
Authenticity. It's hard to describe but as the saying goes: "you will know it when you see it". I'll tell you this much, Barack Obama and John McCain wish more people believed they had it, no matter what people already think of them. Michael Phelps has got it, folks. And, it will be fascinating to see if he can keep it after his historic ten days in Beijing. Phelps is a "made in America" success story.
A gangly, awkward kid from a broken home who isn't your typical Broadway looking hero. But, he is the best swimmer on the planet and, thanks to teammates in two relays, created a week few Americans will forget. His challenge now will be to sift through the plethora of offers that stand to make him the richest amateur sports athlete of our time. If I had any advice for team Phelps -- which clearly includes his mother and former U of M Coach Bob Bowman -- it's to never move him away from what brought America to him. For, it wasn't just his feet in the pool that drew us. It was also who he was.
