密歇根新闻广播 谁应该对纳萨尔丑闻负责

 

Here's something those running Michigan State University have to know: The lawsuits¹ stemming from former university physician Larry Nassar's sexual abuse are likely to cost the school hundreds of millions of dollars.

The sexual assault scandals at Penn State cost that school a quarter of a billion, counting legal fees, and there are four times as many victims pursuing lawsuits here. Depending on whether MSU wants to fight these in court or settle them, the repercussions² could last years.

But who should foot the bill? Klint Kesto, a Republican state representative from Oakland County, says he is going to introduce a bill to prevent Michigan colleges or universities from using taxpayer³ funds to settle any lawsuits related to sexual misconduct.

Well, that's an idea that sounds good for about half a second. Until you do something like think about it. Yes, it's tempting⁴ to ask, why should the taxpayers⁵ pay for this mess?

But the reality is that MSU is a state school. It was founded and chartered by the legislators before the Civil War. Another ongoing⁶ scandal, in my view, is that the taxpayers, thanks to our lawmakers' priorities, have given our state universities less and less funding.

Forty-five years ago, state appropriations⁷ accounted for something like 70 percent of MSU's budget. Now, it's barely 21 percent. Where does the school get the rest of the money?

Nearly all of it – 71 percent – comes from tuition and fees. This is why an increasing number of students can't afford MSU, and why others graduate $40, $60, even a hundred thousand dollars in debt with no high-paying job in sight.

Now, it might be a mistake to take Kesto's bill too seriously. For one thing, he's running for Congress. He's term-limited out of the state house, and needs to get himself noticed in what's expected to be a crowded primary field. This is for the congressional seat now held by Dave Trott, who decided⁸ that two terms were enough.

Well, fine. But who will then pay? Does MSU pay the inevitable⁹ costs by raising tuition on the students, most of whom are from Michigan and who are, or at least their parents are, taxpayers? Some may then have to drop out.

Others will suffer financially far more than they would otherwise. Now, if this really Kesto's position, we need to ask him this: The taxpayers have been billed millions for outside counsel to shield Governor Rick Snyder from any potential lawsuits stemming from the Flint water poisoning scandal. Why should that be?

Isn't the state attorney general's office tasked with defending state officials who are charged with wrongdoing? Funny, but I don't recall Kesto rushing to introduce legislation to prevent Snyder from sticking the taxpayers here.

There's no denying that there's a mess at Michigan State, and that there was insufficient¹⁰ oversight¹¹ and accountability. I think it's fair to say the way the place has been run is a scandal, and that a complete investigation¹² and probably housecleaning is needed.

But it is a state institution, owned by the taxpayers, and that means we all, in some form, will have to pay. The focus should be on preventing this from happening again.

Jack¹³ Lessenberry is Michigan Radio's Senior Political Analyst¹⁴. Views expressed in his essays are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Michigan Radio, its management or the station licensee, The University of Michigan.

1 lawsuits   

n.诉讼( lawsuit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Lawsuits involving property rights and farming and grazing rights increased markedly. 涉及财产权，耕作与放牧权的诉讼案件显著地增加。 来自辞典例句
• I've lost and won more lawsuits than any man in England. 全英国的人算我官司打得最多，赢的也多，输的也多。 来自辞典例句

2 repercussions   

n.后果，反响( repercussion的名词复数 )；余波

参考例句：

• The collapse of the company will have repercussions for the whole industry. 这家公司的垮台将会给整个行业造成间接的负面影响。
• Human acts have repercussions far beyond the frontiers of the human world. 人类行为所产生的影响远远超出人类世界的范围。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 taxpayer   

n.纳税人

参考例句：

• The new scheme will run off with a lot of the taxpayer's money.这项新计划将用去纳税人许多钱。
• The taxpayer are unfavourably disposed towards the recent tax increase.纳税者对最近的增加税收十分反感。

4 tempting   

a.诱人的, 吸引人的

参考例句：

• It is tempting to idealize the past. 人都爱把过去的日子说得那么美好。
• It was a tempting offer. 这是个诱人的提议。

5 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

6 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

7 appropriations   

n.挪用（appropriation的复数形式）

参考例句：

• More commonly, funding controls are imposed in the annual appropriations process. 更普遍的作法是，拨款控制被规定在年度拨款手续中。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• Should the president veto the appropriations bill, it goes back to Congress. 假如总统否决了这项拨款提案，就把它退还给国会。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

8 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

9 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。

10 insufficient   

adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的

参考例句：

• There was insufficient evidence to convict him.没有足够证据给他定罪。
• In their day scientific knowledge was insufficient to settle the matter.在他们的时代，科学知识还不能足以解决这些问题。

11 oversight   

n.勘漏，失察，疏忽

参考例句：

• I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。
• Your essay was not marked through an oversight on my part.由于我的疏忽你的文章没有打分。

12 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

13 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

14 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。