4 4 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, November 13, 2002 OP/ED ale Ntrb't*'oatt l3ailv 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 This is not fair. Now is the time to become equals. Just like you kill us, we will kill you." - From a recently released audio-taped statement, thought to be the voice of Osama bin Laden, that praises recent terrorist attacks in Bali, Kuwait, Moscow and Yemen and refers to President Bush as "the pharoah of the century," as quoted by CNN. D \ , "_ t i .(\0 /- SAM BUTLER THE SOAPBOX __ _ .__. _ .-", , ? \ t3oHef5 a vw ialn.ed.v -Imw - The politics of extremes ZAC PESKOWITZ THE LOWER FREQUENCIES iny groups of Sept. 11 or dumb luck. Countless analysts of progressivism, despite the radically differ- people have have offered these explanations and they all ent motivations of groups. shaken the bear kernels of truth. However, the problem The campus left has lost its teeth. This is world. Rising from might be more fundamental than that. not to say that there isn't a panoply of radical obscurity to orthodoxy The best advice for liberals is to avoid ideas floating around places like Ann Arbor, with stunning speed, vituperative complaining and begin the but there is no critical assessment of what the history has been process of critically examining the flaws of solidarity approach has achieved (very little). marked with novel contemporary liberalism. One place to start Protests have become fetishes, serving to ideas initiating tremen- is trying to find the ideas that are going to symbolize latent power, but providing no dous change. Two Ger- shape the liberal edifice in the coming means to implement change. Too many let- man economists examining the state of decades. This should be an easy task and the ters leftists are content singing Kumbaya or Western Europe's laborers helped lead to the Democratic Party should boldly represent leading a drum circle. Revolutions of 1848. Reaganism could be these initiatives, but this quickly proves more This is an inadequate environment to incu- attributed to a few minds at the University of difficult than imagined. Where is the post- bate new ideas and approaches. There needs to Chicago. And right now, the United States is industrial successor to the New Deal or the be an infusion of tension. As Martin Luther about to pursue a radical foreign policy, Great Society? Prescription drug benefits, King, Jr. wrote in Letter from Birmingham Jail, unimaginable 20 years ago, as the result of a despite their importance, will neither serve to "there is a type of nonviolent, constructive ten- few influential thinkers who developed at advance the Democratic Party nor to amelio- sion that is necessary for growth." Chicago. Miniscule collections of individuals rate the unique problems of the United There is a place for protest, there is a time have altered government policies, social States' present situation. for coalition building, there are reasons for mores and the general contours of history for Where are the new ideas? (Hint: Moving solidarity, but the radical ideas need to come both good and bad. toward the center is not an idea, it's cow- first. The ideas need to be the primary focus Would these cabals have enjoyed their ardice). Maybe ideas are generating among of a movement. These ideas cannot be tired successes if a wide variety of circumstances the professoriate or perhaps grass roots move- rehashes of past beliefs, but need to address had not conspired to allow their ideas to ments are swelling with radical initiatives. I'm the change inherent in a globalizing world. reach the highest levels of power? No, but not sure if this is happening, but I can be So in a matter of decades the fertile without the impetus of policies that cross much more certain that if anything new does realm of political opposition that was the known bounds of decorum, politics becomes in fact emerge it will not have its origin campus has lost its potency. The entire lib- a stagnant and decadent pursuit. Power, not among this country's student population. eral community is impoverished as a result societal improvement, becomes the end of The general dynamic of student move- of these failures. the political process. ments has served to hinder the development These developments are upsetting, maybe The Democrats were slaughtered last of iconoclastic positions. Under the rubrics even tragic. As the world is engaged in pro- week. No spin doctoring or punditry will alter of solidarity and coalition building, the bene- found permutations, we are stuck watching that reality. This was an election that needed fits of extremists and their political positions on the sidelines, with nothing but the occa- to be won and the entire Democratic apparatus vanish. In the well-intentioned effort to build sional cheer or hiss to punctuate our over- was not equipped for this task. You can up grassroots support, all ideas, causes and whelming silence. explain this disastrous performance through interests are deemed of equivalent impor- shifting demographic trends, weak, pathetic, tance. Any belief that could be in someway Zac Peskowitz can be reached quivering leadership from Terry McAuliffe, construed as liberal is united under the name atzpeskowi@umich.edu. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Time for 'U' to follow Cornell, Tufts, Matthews to sweeter, cleaner world TO THE DAILY: I thank the Daily for its coverage of the One Sweet Whirled event (Dessert lures students into awareness, 11/11/02). Students for Public Inter- est Research Group In Michigan has worked for the past two semesters to educate the stu- dent body about climate change and to advocate for cleaner sources of energy. Global climate change is a serious issue that both the university and individuals must take action against. The United States has not rati- fied the Kyoto Protocol, making individual action by states, cities and schools crucial. New Jersey has set a goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 3.5 percent below 1990 levels by the year 2005. Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County are part of an international program called Cities for Climate Protection, whose 400 local governments, representing nearly 300 million people worldwide, are work- ing to reduce their impact on global cli- mate change. The goals of the Kyoto Protocol - a 7 percent reduction of green- house gas emissions by 2012 - have been adopted by many leading universities, such as Cornell and Tufts. It is time for the University to to take a similar, if not stronger, stance on the issue of global cli- mate change. The University needs to sub- stitute energy derived from coal and nuclear power with renewable energy such as wind and solar power. Although the One Sweet Whirled event strove to edu- cate students about how they as individu- als can reduce their impact, the University needs to set a strong example on the issue of climate change to prove their commit- ment to environmental stewardship. ELLEN KOLASKY RCjunior The letter writer is a co-chair of Students for PIRGIM Taylor's allegations of NCAA hypocrisy disgusting, though not surprising ond, that you got it at all. On the second point, I don't mean to insinuate that you aren't a smart guy, but can you honestly look at yourself in the mirror and say that you would have even gotten accepted to the University, let alone finished, if you couldn't play basketball? And given that you are making millions of dollars a year for playing a game, I would call your time here the gift that keeps on giving! Those of us who don't live in sports star fantasy land and actually use our college degrees for what they were intended often have things called "internships" or "externiships," in which we bestow a bene- fit on a large organization without being paid. The only benefit we receive from these jobs is something called "experi- ence." In this regard, the college sports star is just like the rest of us. Except that we aren't getting paid six figure stipends on the side and crying about the hypocrisy of it all. JIM KNAPP Law student 'M' postseason sanctions unnecessarily hurt fans, current team members TO THE DAILY: Upon reading the headline Coleman works toward benefits for U' students, (11/11/02), I became a bit irritated. While I realize Univer- sity President has only been here for 100 days, and I'm sure she will become a great leader for our University, I find it hard to believe that everything she does "is ultimately for the benefit of students." Over the past week, the top story at the Uni- versity has been the sanctions on the men's bas- ketball program. Mary Sue Coleman played a large role in prohibiting this year's team from playing in any post-season tournament. I don't see how that "benefits" any current student. Not only are the team members, especially the three tri-captain seniors, greatly hurt by these sanc- tions, but also the hundreds of student fans who shelled out $114 for season tickets. While I per- sonally would have purchased tickets anyway, I highly doubt many would have, and doubt many will in the upcoming weeks. The season has basically become meaningless, since the goals of any team should be to play and win in Fab Five owes 'U' apologies, not excuses for actions TO THE DAILY: An open letter to the Fab Five: I hope you take a moment to stop and per- haps reflect on how your selfish actions have not only had a negative impact on your charac- ter, but on the school for which you played. And I hope you stop to think about the family that you have betrayed and hurt and start to think about how you can rectify this situation. There is a way to make this right; now is the time to start. By admitting your errors, accept- ing your punishment and showing the sports world and your University family you are sorry, you will finally "Shock The World." I attended the University during the era of the Fab Five. You are such a big part of my memories and feelings when I think of col- lege. I can remember watching you stroll around campus, dance around the court and bring all of us to our feet and our knees with- in minutes. I will never forget the dull pain of standing in Crisler arena and watching Chris called the now infamous time out. I think I was the last one to leave Crisler that night. I just couldn't believe it had happened. I remember going to the welcome back rally the University threw for you after that fateful game. I was in ear shot of you as you took the podium and I kept yelling to Webber, "You owe us another year." I didn't think you understood then what it meant to be a Wolverine, and I still don't think you do. The integrity of our school is more important that a few W's in a win column. You owe us apologies, not excuses. I don't want to hear that you were young; I want to hear that you are sorry. JOSIE ANN LEE Alumna ISAC withdraws from 'uncalled for' Daily boycott after 'great deliberation' TO THE DAILY: On behalf of the International Students Affairs Commission, I would like to offi- cially withdraw our support of the boycott. After great deliberation, I (we) think that I 0 .. W#.;i'?V KF'N Fi^Yi? W T af~ ei ", A + F.4 FbvF S . 3J 4e!r4.T i"4 %+. wF' :F .wt: Ald