4 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, January 28, 2004 OP/ED ~I~jz airalWu t 420 MAYNARD STREET ANN ARBOR, MI 48109 letters@michigandaily.com opinion. michigandaily. com EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN SINCE 1890 LouIE MEIZLISH Editor in Chief AUBREY HENRETTY ZAC PESKOWITZ Editorial Page Editors 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 I was a wrestler so I used a wrestling move." - Comedian Al Franken, on body-slamming a demonstrator who was shouting at Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean, as reported yesterday by The New York Post. SAM BUTLER THE SOAPBOX aid hi hGs 4I~~ C arm -- My president was born to run ARI PAUL I FoUGHi THE LAW 've been on an elec- toral rollercoaster late- ly. I abandoned the Howard Dean train after a disappointing loss in Iowa. I've also been impressed with Gen. Wesley Clark's intellect and unassailable patriotism, but without the political machinery he's useless. And while I like the idealistic platform of Dennis Kucinich, let's get real. This columnist is making a political endorsement. In the Michigan Democratic cau- cuses, I will vote for John Edwards. Kate O'Beirne of the National Review recently opined, "Edwards has adopted the portrait of widespread, dire poverty famously depicted in Michael Harrington's 'The Other America,' without checking its publication date ... Over 40 years, and hundreds of billions in welfare spending later, Harrington's, and now Edwards's, 'Other America' doesn't exist." Oh really, O'Beirne? Perhaps you need to do some fact checking. Forty-five million Americans are without health care coverage. Social programs are being closed and unem- ployment is still a plague. Business Week, hardly known for its liberal bias, commented last month that we're currently seeing "an erosion of one of America's most cherished values: giving its people the ability to move up the economic ladder over their lifetimes ... The best economy in 30 years did little to get America's vaunted upward mobility back on track." O'Beirne is right about one thing. The gov- eminent has spent billions in welfare over the past 40 years. The government has given away tax incentive after tax incentive to suburban developers and corporations, keeping them on the teat of the American people while the industrial, urban poor and working class were completely forgotten. Where she goes wrong is when she says that the "Other America" doesn't exist - it has merely been sidelined by the government. So to the establishment and the mainstream media, this "Other America" is perceived not to exist. Edwards is the only candidate adequately focusing on this growing gap between rich and poor America. He is also the only candidate with a realistic chance of success who has actually lived through the American nightmare of working-class isolation. Other candidates are trying to go after Bush on Iraq. I say focus on the economy; Iraq will crush Bush from within. It's one thing for anti- war protesters to say that the weapons of mass destruction don't exist, but now a former weapons inspector and Secretary of State Colin Powell have publicly cast their doubts. Iraqi elections are going sour and the Shiites are get- ting restless. Bush will screw this up himself. I also like Edwards because he revealed that his favorite album of all time is "The Essential Bruce Springsteen." This may sound like petty cultural favoritism (Clark is automat- ically out of the running after announcing his affinity for Journey. Bleugh!), but this yields important insight into Edwards' understanding of the American economic landscape. The Federal Government has been subsi- dizing middle- and upper-middle class devel- opment in the Sunbelt suburban wastelands of Arizona, Nevada and Southern California for decades turning a blind eye to the Rustbelt, working-class cities of Detroit and Cleveland. Springsteen used this tragedy as the inspiration for his art. Edwards was "born in the U.S.A," in America's forgotten working class, as Springsteen famously mused. Edwards has several traits that logistically make him the best choice for the Democrats. Many analysts have asserted that in today's political landscape, a candidate needs to appeal to southern voters if he or she wants to come out on top in the Electoral College. Edwards could not only win his home state of North Carolina, but he could appeal to voters in poorer southern states like Kentucky and West Virginia. If the Democrats run an establishment Yank like Dean or Kerry, they can kiss the South, and the elec- tion, good-bye. Also, it is clear that Edwards has a good shot of winning midwestern blue-collar states like Michigan and Wisconsin if he continues to play the class card. That, plus key Southern states, plus coastal "blue" states equals a Democratic victory. No other candidate has the credentials to replicate this formula. Unlike Dean or Kerry (or Bush for that matter), Edwards has actually lived the Horatio Alger tale of pulling himself up by the boot straps. America needs an American president, not some artificial production of the establish- ment elite. Working America needs a candi- date who understands class issues, but has the talent and charisma to win enough electoral votes. America needs John Edwards. Paul can be reached at aspaul@umich.edu. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 'U' incorrect to alter regu- lations on student-teacher relations hips TO THE DAILY: It was with profound shock that I read the article regarding the modification of student- teacher relations ('U' to look at student-prof dating regulations, 01/23/04) This is not due to the fact that I saw anything that expanded my horizons, but because people in this, according to the propaganda, leading institu- tion of higher learning in the United States and by extension the charted cosmos, consider themselves to be the pinnacle of what conver- gent evolution has to offer. Why is it that Americans have to be able to do what they want, whenever they want to? Is dating a teacher really the final hurdle between us and educating those Nobel Prize winners? And furthermore, why are a collec- tive of suits who individually make more money than the entire GSI body spending time on this issue? Is it not their job to create divine tuition-raising mandates which they rationalize using logic that would make Kafka tear his hair in madness? It truly is baffling that America can legitimately claim to be a superpower with such flagrant displays of stu- pidity within the ranks of the intellectual elite. If we legitimize student-teacher relation- ships, why not stretch the concept to its limit? I envision a time when we will have the "cop- a-feel the provost" day, the "make out with a DPS officer" Friday, and better still, the "make love to a shotgun so that you don't have to deal with this idiocy" night. If you have to date a GSI or student, the answer is waiting until the semester is over. Four months is not an eternity. It doesn't make it less disgusting, but at least it becomes more acceptable. The last thing this place needs is another striking resemblance to "Friends." Please, let our leadership focus on raising tuition, not on this drivel. NORHAL H. EL HALWAGY Rackham President Bush needs to earn our respect ship." Under the Patriot Act, American citi- zens lose their right to privacy, their right to a lawyer and can be thrown in jail without just cause for months on end. Basically they lose their right to be Americans. Now that we have begun a world-wide crusade against terror, it seems as if everything that the President does is acceptable and is in the name of freedom and God. We can go to war on the ridiculous premise that "they might attack us," kill about 7,000 civilians, lose more than 500 troops, and still, only the brave dare question our courageous leader. What's going on with our country? We were made to question, made to stand up for our basic civil rights and made to be arigry at a president who so blatantly disre- gards the Constitution, lies (yes, lies - weapons of mass destruction, Saddam's ties with al-Qaida, Iraq was an eminent threat - just to name a few biggies) to our faces repeatedly, mocks world leaders and goes to war because of want rather than need. If you are upset with the lack of respect people are showing toward the president, please provide us with the evidence showing why he deserves any. I, personally, welcome those people that want to speak out against the pres- ident and don't simply award him respect because of his title. DAN EICHINGER LSA junior Abstinence has failed before, will fail again to prevent spread of STDs To THE DAILY: In response to Matt Schaar's letter to the editor (Abstinence education is a logical way to stop the spread of STDs, 01/23/04), it would be helpful if President Bush, instead of promot- ing a policy that makes him feel good - funding for abstinence-only programs - would utilize research to allocate scarce feder- al funds so that he gets the outcome he wants. The Minnesota Department of Health recently released the results of Minnesota's abstinence only sexuality education program, Education Now and Babies Later. The evalua- tion indicated there was an increase in sexual intercourse, as well as an intention to have sex before finishing high school among the sur- veyed teens in the year after they participated Dr. Douglas Kirby, the foremost researcher on effective teen pregnancy prevention programs and to European countries where attitudes are more liberal about sex, but where teens have fewer pregnancies, fewer STDs and fewer abortions, and start having sex at a later age than their U.S. counterparts. EVAN MACFARLANE Engineering senior Christian faith about love and compassion, not about passing judgement To THE DAILY: I'm writing in response to Jordan Genso's letter which presents some misguided notions regarding the foundation of the Christian faith (Reader: Christian faith 'prejudiced' against oth- ers, 01/26/03). Genso suggests that the Christ- ian belief system is prejudiced and slanders everyone who is not a Christian. Genso writes that because he is an atheist, no matter how he acts, Christians would believe that he is a bad person who is deserving of hell. The main point that Genso misses is that all Christians believe that all people, including themselves, are deserving of hell. The process of being "born again" involves acknowledging that you are sinful and deserving of hell and in turn asking Jesus Christ to be your savior. Upon being born again, Christians are called to live a new life which includes continually asking God for forgiveness and spreading the faith to others. Contrary to Genso's implication, this is not a system of beliefs that slanders non- believers or calls people to judge others or label them "good" or "bad." Christianity stresses that only God can judge. It is not a religion meant to insult non-believers - it is meant to include others and enrich lives. MARCUS RINGNALDA Engineering junior LETTERS POLICY The Michigan Daily welcomes letters from all of its readers. Letters from University stu- dents, faculty, staff and administrators will be given priority over others. Letters should include the writer's name, college and school year or other University affiliation. TheDaily will not print any letter containing statements I .lgljL7 9&'..~4~ Y A A., t*J j14~VSI'AAJUA. I