4 - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, September 17, 2002 OP/ED c te aich4hrgttn ttil 420 MAYNARD STREET ANN ARBOR, MI 48109 letters@michigandaily.com EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN SINCE 1890 JON SCHWARTZ Editor in Chief JOHANNA HANINK Editorial Page Editor Unless otherwise noted, unsigned editorials reflect the opinion of the majority of the Daily's editorial board. All other articles, letters and cartoons do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Michigan Daily. NOTABLE QUOTABLE And considering the imprudence of that idea, maybe they're smoking some- thing a little stronger than Marlboros." - Arianna Huffington, in her syndicated column last week in which she compared President Bush's insistence on tax cuts to a cigarette addiction. Bj4-lex5 &ur1'%cal.edj -5. jo 41 -A- r.i SAM BUTLER T4- SOAPBOX a Affirmative actions speak louder than words AUBREY HENRETTY NEUROTICA ith the Uni- claim that it would be impossible to create a sented minority applicants get 20 points (one versity wait- diverse student body without race-based prefer- fifth the number required for acceptance) ing to make ences in admissions will be bound and gagged before anyone even glances at their class its case to the Supreme and banished to the third floor of the Frieze schedules or grade point averages. Applicants Court and two rabid Building until the adults are finished talking. whose households fall below a certain income contingents of campus There. Now we're ready to have a discus- bracket also get that initial 20 points, theoreti- activists respectively sion. I'll start. cally to make up for the lousy schools, tired screaming, "It's not our There are two main arguments for giving teachers and easy classes they had no choice fault our daddies are underrepresented minority students a leg up in but to deal with throughout their childhoods. rich" and "Die, right- admissions and I disagree with both of them. But there's no doubling up; poor minorities wing racist bigots, die" at students and each The first argument is the old standby sports don't get 40 points. So for students in poor other, it's a perfect time to decide whose sand- metaphor: Got to level that playing field. areas, the diversity argument doesn't apply; wich board to wear. Let the debate begin! Racism has pushed a disproportionate number poorer students of every race get the same But first, let's set some boundaries: of minorities into inner cities and substandard boost and while their wealthier counterparts' Before anybody can thoughtfully discuss public school districts; they and their children playing field is the Big House, their own is in the race-related portion of the University's deserve much better. The second is the battle sorry shape. admissions policy, the sugar-coated catch cry of University presidents, public relations The people who benefit most from this sys- phrase has got to go. "Affirmative action" is a officials, residence hall staffers and editorial tem are minorities from affluent areas. They euphemism for "race-based preferential treat- boards at idealistic student newspapers who went to great schools, took lots of Advanced ment," which itself may or may not be a pledge all but the lives of their firstborn chil- Placement classes and had exciting arrays of euphemism for "discrimination;" therein lies dren to the cause: Diversity. We don't want to extracurricular activities to choose from, all of the real debate. Dancing around the issue be like Berkeley, they say; take away the race which make for an impressive point total quite doesn't help either side; if race-based prefer- factor and the University will be whiter than a separate from the 20 extra minority points. No ences are indeed just, there's no need to distract John Tesh concert. one who went to school in Birmingham the public with feel-good terminology and if In theory, this all sounds wonderful; I can (Michigan) needs help getting into college. they represent a flaw in the system, "affirma- imagine few horrors as great as having to spend So why bother? The minority perspective? tive" is definitely the wrong word. If I were in all four years of my undergraduate education How different are the lives of two people who charge, I'd pick something completely arbi- (and in turn the rest of my degree-holding life) grew up across the cul-de-sac from one another trary, like "Hank," but I'll hold off for now so associating solely with upper-crust white peo- in Bloomfield Hills, regardless of their ethnic as not to confuse anybody. ple. Unfortunately, the way the University's backgrounds? While there are experiences So "affirmative action" is out. Next: No now infamous admissions point system is set unique to minority students, to say that the yelling. up, these impossible-to-disagree-with goals are "minority perspective" somehow trumps the Next: The first conservative to say "reverse only met on the most superficial of levels. toeing-the-poverty-line perspective or any other racism" when he means "discrimination against What results is a university full of kids who is awfully presumptuous. white people" will be taken aside and punched look different, but whose parents all belong to OK, I'm finished. Now it's your turn. in the face, after which a panel of experts will the same country club. explain to him that "reverse racism" actually It works something like this: To combat the Aubrev Hen rettv can be reached means "tolerance." Similarly, the first liberal to whitewashing of higher education, underrepre- at aherett@umich.edu. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Pro-divestment viewpoint ism, the movement that founded the state of Saturday, but to say that he was the reason Israel, started in the 1890s. However, during for the loss is inaccurate. As fans, how can served as a justification for this period, fifty percent of Jerusalem's resi- we expect Navarre to succeed if we con- dents were Jews. Furthermore, there were stantly criticize his every move? Lloyd Carr PaLestinian terrorist acts Jewish residents living in other parts of and his staff work hard every day of the Palestine before Theodore Herzl, Zionism's year to put our bes.t product on the field. It's founder, even thought of "The Jewish State." time for Michigan fans to give John Navarre To THE DAILY: Therefore, Husseini's argument that their full support. The only thing more twisted than Salah Jews came to Palestine because they were If we do not support him, we cannot Husseini's bizarre analogy between Israeli on a bloodthirsty quest and not because expect the greatness our football team and history and an imaginary Muslim recon- there were Jews living there that needed a University deserve. We need to give quest of Spain, (University should divest state is nothing more ugly, hateful and asi- Navarre our full support as our beloved from Israeli apartheid, 09/16/02) is his nine rhetoric. Next time Husseini wants to Wolverines try to win the Big Ten title and implicit support for terrorism: "(Israelis) make a hypothetical example, he should get secure a trip to the Rose Bowl. call this fighting back terrorism, justifiably his facts straight. BRAD HANAN so if one neglects the context." BEN RUBENGERTZ LSA senior But of course Husseini does not neglect Washtenaw County Community College student the context and hence sees nothing ghastly about randomly blowing up children in thed s t t n name of self-defense. We should be honored Onusr es not rest on QB TONIGHT: that our campus is graced with such a moral John Navarre for Michigan paragon. M AS EEING JUSTIN SHUBOw loss to Fighting Irish Rackham ,WIE O S Husseini ignores history of ToTHMAIY After a painful loss to Notre Daie, 8 P't4. Israeli state in order to many Michigan fans might be too quick to STUDENT Pus.. rah his deiu cocuso criticize John Navarre. I have been support- reach hisdvious concluson ing him since day one and it bothers me that BUILDING so many fans love to hate John Navarre. The most glaring mistakes from our loss 420 MAYNARD ST. TO THE DAILY: were four turnovers and several costly Salah Husseini, in his hypothetical exam- penalties. ple, (University should divest from Israeli Certainly, Navarre was not responsible BY TlE CUBE. apartheid, 09/16/02) assumes that Israel was for the three fumbles by his receivers and founded by Jews only because they had lived backs, and he certainly was not responsible BE THERE there thousands of years ago. Unfortunately for the personal foul late in the game. for Husseini's argument, this is false. Zion- Yes, Navarre could have played better VIEWPOINT Blame Carr, not Navarre, for loss in South Bend BY JOEY LITMAN Oftentimes, when one football team beats another, it can be said that the victor was better than the loser. However, I don't think the same can be said of Saturday's loss to Notre Dame; Michigan is not a worse team than Notre Dame. If given the choice, would we trade Braylon Edwards for any Irish wide receiver? B.J. Askew and Chris Perry for Ryan Grant? Our defense - which surrendered fewer yards - for Notre Dame's? No, no and no. Cer- inexact. Surely, a more commanding pock- et and huddle presence and improved accu- racy would have helped our cause, but some of John Navarre's issues can be attributed to Lloyd Carr, who is ultimately responsible for yet another Michigan let- down. Always espousing a doctrine of avoid- ing turnovers and not asking our quarter- back to do too much, Carr cannot possibly instill confidence in his team or its much- maligned offensive leader. Why does Michigan struggle on the road? Surely due -... 4L 1, ,t1 -------- +n L~ta.- with cautious optimism and confidence, seeking opportunities to make big plays. It is now five seasons since Michigan beat Washington State to claim a share of the national championship. In that time, there have been too many losses where our team was the one with more talent (last year's Citrus Bowl loss to Tennessee notwithstanding). This phenomenon's cause can be traced to Carr's conservative play calling and play-not-to-lose attitude. While I acknowledge that Carr has accomplished a great deal, playing on the place again. A