4A -The Michigan Daily - Monday, February 9, 2004 I q OPINION 420 MAYNARD STREET ANN ARBOR, MI 48109 tothedaily@michigandaily.com opinion. michigandaily.com EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN SINCE 1890 JORDAN SCHRADER Editor in Chief JASON Z. PESICK 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 The policy of this administration is to be clear and straightforward and to be realistic about the different threats that we face." - President Bush, in his interview on NBC's "Meet the Press" that aired yesterday. V-\4h~ s ( 4Pe+*teGA-?p U dish lrVlote. ercoL ) '1\Y1 I1 11e4iC ,bocx i cKers V'ioae 4ve_ ];X CO'~5~CD SAM BUTLER TuE SOAPBOX ..Ammmum.ommom.. -Tvic cows Vyore.Q- ~nmoadc oh~ 0 The creative destruction of youth ZAC PESKOWITZ TiE LOWER FREQUENCIES orty years ago United States, it's the millions of Iranians The kids exist to change culture. They today, the Beatles who are under 25. When more than 70 per- are the only ones who can. They are the made the first of cent of a country's population is younger ones who create new ways of solving prob- four historic perfor- than 25, politicians have to maintain a lems, new values and new systems of con- mances on "The Ed Sul- wary eye on the whims of youth at all duct. Forty years after the Beatles were livan Show." This, the times. This is a particular concern in a beamed into the living rooms of 73 million arbiters of culture, nation where many young people have Americans, these lessons have been would say after clearing sought out space for creativity in the form eclipsed by the Baby Boomers' celebration their collective throats, of novel genres of music, blogs and, in of themselves. It wasn't always this way. was a moment when "to many cases, a revolutionary posture toward There was recently a time when Wired be young was very heaven." We, on the other the state. While Iran's Guardian Council magazine, the dot.coms and the citizens of hand, have not been so fortunate, according bans reform candidates from running in Generation X were going to take over the to those lucky Baby Boomers. We are soft parliamentary elections and the govern- world, or, at the very least, the networks of and fat, occupied by fleeting concerns or no ment arrests student leaders, this burgeon- information which would eventually con- concerns at all. We are weak and malleable; ing youth movement ensures that the quest trol it. Angry Boomers sneered at their suc- they were strong and pioneering. for "personal space" will continue. cesses. Of course, these brash young Despite the best efforts of the Boomers to The age of youth isn't just limited to upstarts were hubristic, decadent and arro- infect us with viral marketing, make us "tip" regions with exploding population growth. gant, but they had some great ideas. toward the latest trend, fashion or fad and Japan stands out as an example of youth seiz- In his memoir "A Heartbreaking Work use assorted schemes to make our lives utter- ing control of a nation's culture and injecting of Staggering Genius," Dave Eggers, one ly miserable, twentysomethings once again it with a sense of urgency and relevance. of the iconic symbols of this brief era, deserve a positive mention on those obligato- While most of Japan has experienced a recounts how his fledgling magazine ran a ry New Year's "In" and "Out" lists. decade of ennui and drift, the "gross national glowing profile of the founder of Teach Look at our accomplishments: One of us cool" associated with the nation's youth has For America. Wendy Kopp, the Princeton is the star witness in the Martha Stewart made Japan a superpower once more. Cultur- graduate who turned her senior thesis into trial and titillates the financial press with al might has replaced the dreams of econom- one of the most successful volunteer orga- tales of designer drug use. In Michigan, if ic hegemony in a country where the youth nizations in the United States, was the you're a plucky member of the creative have pioneered new approaches to the chal- model for a new type of activism. But class, you can be the centerpiece of Gov. lenges of post-historical boredom. Eggers et al. soon grew bored with Kopp Jennifer Granholm's set-piece strategy for Examples of youth wielding political and decided to trash her as a self-indulgent economic vibrancy. We even get to subsi- power abound as well. In South Korea, the prig, motivated by a sense of haughty dize $534 billion worth of Medicare pre- vaunted 3-8-6 generation, after its successful noblesse oblige. Maybe the best part about scription drug benefits over the course of a battles against military dictatorship, effec- being young is the opportunity to destroy decade. Actually, maybe things aren't that tively controls the national agenda. Its power everyone's heroes and not have to think great in the United States. and influence has achieved diverse goals about the consequences. But outside of this country, the from altering the state's foreign policy to prospects are more promising. In Iran, the installing public libraries on the trains of Peskowitz can be reached real bete noir of the ayatollahs isn't the Seoul's subway system. atzpeskowi@umich.edu. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 0 01 Speech was misunderstood, but remained true to Bible To THE DAILY: I feel as though the message from "The Light" presentation was interpreted incor- rectly by some people (Gospel presentation good, but anti-homosexual speech inappropri- ate for event, 02/05/04). If they had stayed long enough to hear the rest of it, they would'vegreater understood the calling that Gayle Brannon was making. It wasn't to exclude any person on the basis of any- thing, but it was an overall call to adjust the things in our lives that pull us further from Jesus Christ. After those people left, he spoke about fornication, lust and a whole array of various topics that they didn't hear. The only statement made directed at homosexuals was the fact that according to The Bible, homosexuality is an abomination unto God. You can't argue that, it's in The Bible. I think people need to stop wearing their hearts on their sleeves and taking everything so personal- ly. Because honestly, the only reason why it would've offended you is if it convicted you. People need to realize that they have no right to be upset. When you attend an event that believes a certain doctrine you can't be mad when something is said that you don't agree with if you don't agree with that certain doctrine. It's freedom of speech and religion, and I feel a lot of what was said needed to be said. Jesus loves everyone and that is undeniable, but Jesus doesn't like everything everyone does. That's where our change as followers of the Most High God must occur. If we want to draw closer to Christ, we need to adjust the things in our lives that are not like him. And if we choose not to do that, you can only blame yourself for not having the relationship with God that you so desire. DEBORAH WIGGINS LSA sophomore Christianity based on 'love;' comments meant to educate To THE DAILY: As one of the members of the Universi- ty's Gospel chorale, I was truly blessed instructed through His word. Christians do not hate homosexuals, we don't agree with that lifestyle because it is contrary to God's word, but we do not hate those who practice it. We all have things wrong with us that we are battling with, and we need to make a decision to turn away from these things. Homosexuality is a stronghold, it's a lifestyle that is against God's instruction and it is a large issue today, which is why it needs to be addressed. Brannon and other ministers who say similar things don't hate people who are homosexual, they just want everyone to know the truth of God's will so that they aren't misled. One thing I distinctly remember Minister Brannon saying is that God instructed us to "be fruitful and multiply." And the truth is, two men or two women bring no kind of production, no multiplication (Genesis 1:28). And God does want us to accept who we are, but that means who we are in His eyes, and according to His will, not our own. Besides this, I wish those of you who left could have stayed to see the move of God following the sermon. Many people were set free from the strongholds that were holding them back, and many learned more about what God's will for their lives is. It was a night full of praise, worship and the Glory of God. Signs and wonders of God's presence did follow the sermon, which tells us all that what was said was what God wanted to be said through one of His servants in the ministry.C VAUGHN LSA freshman Time for 'U' community to rethink hockey cheer To THE DAILY: After Maryland fans chanted an obscenity at a Duke basketball player last month, they were criticized by university officials and local and national media alike. Simply, it was a classless display that reflected negatively upon their university. Here at the University we use not one, but a host of expletives to help send off opposing hockey players to the penalty box. Largely because college hockey lacks the popularity of basketball, this has drawn no national attention. Until now. This past week, Sports Illustrated present- and true fan when you disrespect our coach night in and night out? Is vulgarity that humorous in its own right? Have we become that stale that we can't replace this cheer with one that is both clean- er and wittier? I hope the hockey student fan base can prove otherwise: MIKE HITSKY Alum Editorial falwed: national primary the only solution TO THE DAILY: While your recent editorial (Democratic candidates abandon Michigan, 02/06/04) brought up many flaws of our primary sys- tem, it made a few crucial errors. It is true that Michigan has moved its caucuses up recently, but saying "it will also set a dan- gerous precedent" cannot be further from the truth. States have been constantly mov- ing their primaries earlier and earlier for years now, all wishing to be more influen- tial in the process. Michigan is just the most recent to do so, and without any repercussions, states will continue to "frontload" for years to come. Your idea of "an evenly distributed, rotating primary schedule" is a good one, but will still have the same problems - money, media cover- age, etc. - as the present one. The best solution would be to have a national prima- ry day, so everyone votes at the same time, without knowledge of who the frontrunner is. All things considered, our primary sys- tem has become much more democratic than it used to be, when decisions were left to only the party elites, and the public had no say. MIKE FORSTER LSA sophomore Vice-chair, Students for PIRGIM 0 LETTERS POLICY The Michigan Daily welcomes letters from all of its readers. Letters from Universi- ty students, 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. The Daily will not print any letter contain- in, statements that cannot be verified. 7 4~nr:- s .r4fa h i- art r fi rtinr tr' ' at rtinuinc r hhi1'! ] a