4A - The Michigan Daily - Monday, January 22, 1996 br £CYirbita &iilg JULIE BECKER ON THE RECORD Past, present andf uture meet 420 Maynard Street Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan MICHAEL ROSENBERG Editor in Chief JULIE BECKER JAMES M. NASH Editorial Page Editors 01 Unless otherwise noted, unsigned editorials reflect the opinion of a majority of the Daily's editorial board. All other articles, letters, and cartoons do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Michigan Daily. Missing pieces Regents must define consultant's role The University Board of Regents is fin- ished hunting for a hunter. The regents have concluded interviews for candidates to counsel the board during the presidential search. Their collective eye has fallen upon Malcolm MacKay, manag- ing director of the corporate recruiting firm Russell Reynolds Associates, Inc. On Fri- day, the regents chose MacKay from a list of five search firms. While MacKay possesses a varied and extensive list of credentials, he lacks experience in the public sphere and emphasizes secrecy during the search pro- cess. With MacKay heading the search, it is unclear how it will proceed. MacKay himself admitted last week: "I am still not sure how I fit in." The regents must provide him with direction. Though primarily a corporate recruiter, MacKay has consulted in searches for the presidents of American University and Barnard College. He has helped find direc- tors of such institutions as the National Gal- lery of Art and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame museum, as well as for organizations like the NAACP and the National Audubon Society. MacKay has emphasized his commitment to diversity and his wish that the presidential seatch unearth qualified candidates the re- gents might otherwise overlook. These state- ments may have been key in the regents' decision - at forums, the public demanded a strong consideration ofmulticulturalismin the search. Though MacKay's resume is varied and prestigious, it does not include experience at public universities. This may be a significant point of concern - a successful search at a private institution does not necessarily trans- late to a successful search at a public one. Furthermore, the regents must note that MacKay is accustomed to recruiting candi- dates to fill corporate positions. Members of the University community have expressed a strong desire concern that the next president have an academic rather than corporate back- ground. MacKay must understand that quali- fications for the University presidency are very different than those for CEO candi- dates. MacKay's admitted ignorance ofUniver- sity policy on search procedures - specifi- cally, issues of confidentiality - may harm him the most. In the interview, MacKay emphasized confidentiality as the "most im- portant issue" during the search. He is nei- ther familiar with the state's Open Meetings Act nor with the furor that erupted during the last presidential search in 1988. MacKay also confessed his lack of familiarity with the University itself. An understanding of the University, its relationships and its procedures are crucial for a fruitful presidential search. Unlike at least one competing search firm, MacKay is not involved in any other projects at the University. He said he usually conducts only one university search per year - while this points to a lack of experience, it also means that MacKay can devote most ofhis time and resources to the presidential search here. The regents rejected other firms because they spread their resources over several univer- sity searches at a time. MacKay's concentra- tion on the University search should ensure a timely decision on the next president. Regardless of MacKay's devotion to the project, the search will not proceed effi- ciently if the regents fail to specify the quali- fications for which MacKay should look. The regents hinted that MacKay should in- clude lower-ranking officials from all schools instead of focusing exclusively on university presidents. However, they have yet to reach a conclusion. How can MacKay make a choice, then? The regents must decide what they want before they delegate the search to MacKay. If he walks into this project without specific instructions, without prior knowledge of the University and with no regard for the OMA, he risks a drawn-out arduous and illegal search - a risk neither the regents nor the University can afford to take. There's something about old documents. Legislation or letters or lists, they in- variably have an aura of wisdom - if they only could talk, they'd open doors to all kinds of knowledge. I felt that way viewing the U.S. Constitution in Washington; I stood, transfixed, trying to fathom that this was the same piece of paper George Washington had actually touched. The title of this column is "On the Record," and as a history major and a jour- nalist, I've spent much of the past four years either unearthing old records or making new ones. I have combed through 1830s court opinions, diaries of Hitler Youth members and 1940s school bulletins. And I have put pen to paper - or fingers to keyboard - on strikes by baseball players and TAsonPres i- dents Clinton, Duderstadt and Wainess. Old records and new ones. I get asked fairly often why I am majoring in history - and while there are many answers, most of' them boil down to my date with the Consti- tution. Or to a little girl in Topeka, Kann., on whose behalf Thurgood Marshall denounced segregated schools before the Supreme Court. Or to The Michigan Daily from No- vember 17, 1961, which reported on the Inter-Quadrangle Council's fight to allow women to live in East, West and South Quads. To major in history is to study the past; and to study the past is to find a connection to the present. Discovering that my South Quad room was meant for men explains why I never saw more than the top of my heed in he seasons ofAl the mirror over the sink and had to reach up to dial the phone. Great and small issues alike come out in black and white, pressed into the pages of the past. There can be a danger in burying oneself in those pages: the danger of getting lost. Many people - particularly on this campus - speak nostalgically of historical times. Some invoke "The Sixties" at every possible turn: Things were better then, they say. People had passion then, they say. It was an amazing time, they say. No doubt. But "The Sixties" are not some kind of magic spell against the evils of the present day. Neither are the '54s, which others consider the prototype for the Ameri- can dream. High birth rate, few divorces, a lovely home in the suburbs. Daddy contrib- uting to the economy and Mommy at home with the kids. What could be better? If there is a right and a wrong way to study history, this attitude - looking for paradise - is the wrong way. It is cowardly, a way of hiding in another, supposedly bet- ter time. And it shortchanges the present by denying that we too are worthy of record. In the most obvious way, the past is gone forever. Individuals pass away, taking with them their particular qualities and situa- tions. But in another way, the record repeats itself continuously - and nowhere is this more evident than in a university town. It's why so many University alums come back to Ann Arbor, again and again: The city, in order to compensate for a constantly over- turning population, has acquired a certain timelessness. If it's a Saturday in October, you can count on a Michigan football game; January sees ice covering the 'M' on the Diag; the end of April brings graduation and a whole new set of alums. And the next fall greets another class, rising up to fill the empty spaces. It is this round of seasons and classes in which history is made. Years from now, people will study us the same way we now study others. It's difficult to predict what they will pick out - will it be Jake Baker? Duderstadt? Northwestern in the Rose Bowl? Does it matter? When the Inter-Quad- rangle Council met in 1961, I doubt that paving the way for me, specifically, to live in South Quad was on their minds. I doubt they would have predicted that someone, 35 years later, would be reading about it and making a connection. But the connection is there. When you're a senior, you start to see the past and the future converging on your present, and you start to wonder where your connections fit in. History is all over this place, if you can look past the construction and find it. It's in the bricks, the library books, the pages of Dailies past. Today's record is tomorrow's history. In a way, I think, nobody ever really leaves Ann Arbor. We all drop pieces of ourselves behind us, waiting for someone to come along and pick them up. - Julie Becker can be reached over e- mail at jhb@uinich.edu. 0 Arbor 0 I JIM LASSER SHAR COMmJ SooN: HILLARY CIdNT14 IEC N I ROK - r- tP AS TOAST i' __---- ..---- .-- -- NOTABLE QUOTABLEq 'To be honest with myself and other people, I don't have a clue.' - LSA sophomore James Elworth on what career he will pursue with a concentration in classics 0 I. ___ R LETTERS Zeroing in on welfare Engler must follow through on plan for jobs W hile federal welfare legislation re- mains deadlocked between the Re- publican Congress and President Clinton, Michigan Gov. John Engler continues his pursuit of state welfare reform. His latest goal is ambitious: achieving zero jobless- ness among welfare recipients. This initia- tive has enormous potential - but only if Engler is truly committed to its success and provides the resources to back it up. During his State of the State address last week, Engler announced a new program, Project Zero, designed to eliminate unem- ployment among welfare recipients in six communities around the state by removing the impediments to employment. Project Zero will provide subsidized child care, transpor- tation, job training and substance-abuse ser- vices for welfare recipients in certain areas. The project requires no legislative approval and will be in place for one year starting in April. If successful, it will expand to the, whole state. The notion behind Project Zero is clear: If the state removes obstacles to self-sufficiency, the program will more than pay for itself. Once recipients are on their feet, the state's extra efforts will result in less welfare fund- ing. The program would deny welfare ben- efits to those who refuse to look for work, but would not limit the length of time recipients could collect welfare if they pursue employ- ment, including factors such as child care and job training. Recipients who could not find paying jobs would be allowed to per- form volunteer community service to retain their welfare benefits. The obligation be- tween the state and welfare recipient is shared. While it is fair to expect those who are able to work - in the private sector or in community service - it is equally fair to expect the state to prepare them for meaning- ful employment. It will be no small task. The program will face financial challenges, as well as the problem of a labor market moving away from low-skilljobs. However, the costs of these programs are dwarfed by the costs of handing out welfare checks. Such a program could prove cost-effective if it moves recipi- ents to independence. Engler has a reputation for placing fiscal. priorities above people, evident in his elimi- nation of the general-assistance program and his dismantling of mental health hospitals. If he is committed to raising the status of wel- fare recipients, the program has the potential to go as far as he will take it. Unless it is more of Engler's empty rhetoric, it could be an effective solution to help welfare recipients reach self-sufficiency. Garcia, Dead should be honored To the Daily: I'm writing in response to Daily Music Editor Brian A. Gnatt's article on the year in music ("The Best of 1995: Music," 1/I 18/96), especially his views re- garding the death of Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead's musical "impressiveness." In summariz- inc 1995. Gnatt comments."The one good thing about music in 1995 -Jerry Garcia finally died. People... realized the Dead's mu- sic wasn't all that impressive, and they realized any other second- rate pot-heads like Phish would be sufficient to satisfy all their burnt-out hippie rock needs." First of all. on a humanistic level, although I realize the Daily thrives on sarcasm. it is simply wrong to describe the death of anyone as "good." This is espe- cially true when describing the death of a man such as Garcia, who both made thousands of people happy with his music and donated endless amounts of time and money to charitable causes throughout his lifetime. I under- stand that the Daily and Mr. Gnatt like to sound "hip" to the college crowd who couldn't care less about the Dead and also that I may sound corny, but a widely read newspaper is no place to joke about death; it is simply of- fensive. On a musical level, Mr. Gnatt wrote that the "Dead's music wasn't all that impressive." I will admit that the Dead were not stu- dio experts and that lately their live performances were lacking a little inspiration. However, Garcia and the Dead's music was not "second-rate hippie rock." They were true musical pioneers, in- cornoratincr hhale. rock R&R What Mr. Gnatt does not real- ize is the fact that Garcia and the Dead's music have influenced many of today's most popular and impressive bands. This is evident when in the next paragraph Mr. Gnatt comments. "The Dave Matthews Band and Blues Trav- eler finally got the shots they de- served in 1995.' Mr. Gnatt for- gets that both of those bands rep- licate the Dead's style of impro- visational ''jamming" and that both bands would probably be nonexistent today if the Dead never formed. In numerous ar- ticles and interviews.members of the Date Matthews Band, Blues Travelr and yes, Phish (who ac- tually are not "pot-heads" and don't use drugs onstage), have credited the Dead with being an undeniable influence in the for- mation and performance of their respective groups. Fin~lly, I question both how much of Garcia's music Mr. Gnatt has actually sat down and listened to and if he has ever experienced the power of a Dead show. When a writer insults both a man and a band whiich lasted for more than 30 years while praising bands which probably will be memories in five, I question the thoughtful- ness of' the article. Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead produced beautiful music and made many people smile, and these ae facts. To praise the pass- ing of' Garcia and with him the Dead as the best thing to happen to must in 1995 is both foolish and ignorant. Michael Goldman LSA first-year student Support news strikers, not publisher mer, a newspaper truck was driven into a crowd of strikers at full speed, a matter under criminal investigation. The Detroit newspapers have repeatedly refused to bargain in good faith, a violation of federal law. The newspapers (which made more than $50 million in profit the year before the strike) want to lower their workforce and wages at the expense of workers. They have refused the offerof newspaper workers to return to work under the old contract until the negotiation of a new one. There is absolutely no merit tothe suggestion that Detroit Free Press publisher Neil Shine is an innocent man in this strike. He has crossed a picket line of his former colleagues to go to his job. He receives a generous sal- ary and health benefits from th newspaper while reporters, prin ers and delivery people huddle outside warming their hands over wood burning in garbage cans. Everyone who works or reads has a stake in the Detroit newspa per strike. You can support the strike by buying the Detroit Sunday Jour- nal, published by striking report- ers, editors and workers. It is a way to support peopl wxho are fighting for the rightso' all Americans to decent jobs and honest news. Russell Olwell Ann Arbor resident :ter 4 tT j WHAT'S AFFECTING I TUESDAY Michigan Student Assembly meeting 3909 Michigan Union THURSDAY Presidential Search Committee meeting Location TBA i U' THIS WEEK 7:30 pm. 2-4 p.m. ; 01 E-mail the Daly 0 How To CONTACT THEM E-mail comments about the presidential search to: pres.search@umich.edu I