4A -The Michigan Daily -Tuesday, April 20, 2004 OPINION 420 MAYNARD STREET UaANN ARBOR, MI 48109 opinion.michigandaily.com tothedaily@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 "With so many symbolic gatherings in the next few months, we must be aggressive." - Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, at a press conference yesterday, announcing the government's new task force responsible for coordinating security, as reported by The Associated Press. COLIN DALY 'HE MICHIGAN DALY < tt : 1 1 A 0 0 A new American Revolution JESS PISKOR JOIN THE PISKOR 0 mhe Left may be fractured, but thankfully corpora- tions are taking up the banner of revolution. For the last few years, many people on the Right have placed the Left stuck in a quagmire, without a real message and adrift without a leader. Seemingly without signifi- cant power and still stinging from questions over their patriotism, left-leaning people have been hesitant to offer a powerful vision opposed to President Bush. Corporations however, have not only offered a different vision, they have almost universally gone so far as to advocate an abandonment of our capitalist society. Tired of a world in which bland culture and boring ideas ruled, Hewlett Packard lashed out at the ideals of free trade and the inevitability of capitalism and reminded us to, "Invent - everything is possible." The academic world was captivated by the asser- tions of Francis Fukuyama, who confidently stated capitalism was now the only legitimate way of organizing society and that therefore we had reached, "the end of history." The Mazda automobile company was not so ador- ing. In a stunning rebuttal to Fukuyama, Mazda argued that we needed to "rethink what is possible." Mazda was not alone in its criticism - Apple Computer also gave Fukuyama a rhetorical slap in the face with its far reaching "Think Different" campaign. When Bush told the world after Sept. 11 that you are either "with us or against us," and Press Secretary Ari Fleischer warned that we "need to watch what we say, watch what we do," many leftists quieted their dissent out of respect for the trying times our nation faced. Corporate America only increased its attacks. It wasn't long before these true revo- lutionaries again rose up and fought off these assaults on the Left. Cooper Tire led the way and told the Left to remain true and reminded us: "Don't give up a thing." Progressive Insurance was even more explicit with its counter to Bush. Its "Think easier, Think Pro- gressive," slogan refused to buy into the "with us or against us" dichotomy and sought to create more safe spaces for dissent. Nonetheless, leftist activists were slow to follow corporate America in dissent against the status quo. Frustrated with the Left's unwillingness to move toward a bet- ter world with social justice, corporate advertisers tested new slogans, designed not to attack the Right, but to motivate the Left. This shift from negative "attack" ads to a more positive coalition building message is blatant in Home Depot ads. "You can do it - We can help," the ads said, and the mes- sage was clear: Home Depot and the rest of the corporate world was ready to take on global capitalism, but they needed popular grassroots support. Gatorade seemed a little more doubtful at the potential of citizens to rise up, wondering, "Is it in you?" Enter- prise car rental seemed primed to act as the vanguard for the movement, promising that "We'll pick you up." The new erection drug Cialis urged people look at themselves and see if they were truly committed to revolu- tion, asking "Will you be ready when the time is right?" To the common people who thought standing up for the Left was only for leaders and big corporations, Nicoderm had the answer, "You're not a superhero - you don't need to be." Wall Street and capitalism were prime tar- gets for corporate America's attack on the system. While Winston cigarette ads were obvious attacks on Wall Street, ("Leave the Bull behind,") other corporations were more subtle. TD Waterhouse, in a line straight from Karl Marx reminded the proletariat that power rested with the people, saying that, "You're in control." McDonalds argued for a greater role for labor unions and a reduced work week, asking, "Have you had your break today?" American Express demanded higher wages and an end to sweatshops, with posters reading, "Make life rewarding." Well-versed in revolutionary language, corporations were reminded of Emma Goldman's famous quote that, "If I can't dance to it, it's not my revolution." Worried that too many on the Left saw revolution as not about a better, more vibrant world, Car- nival Cruiselines rolled out a simplistic but effective message that, (revolution is) "just more fun." Celebrating the joy that would follow a massive leftist uprising, McDon- alds saw the tide of activism and awareness and declared, "I'm lovin' it." Not to be out- done, Wendy's staked out a position as a leader-already firmly outed as a revolution- ary spirit and from its vantage point declared that "It's better here." The leaders of this worldwide revolution- ary message are without doubt Electronic Arts, Chevrolet and Nike. Their slogans, taken together clearly spell out what needs to happen: "Challenge everything." "Start a Revolution" - "Just do it." Piskor can be reached at jpiskor@umich.edu. * LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Students should move Naked Mile to Big House TO THE DAILY: I'm writing in response to Friday's editorial about the Naked Mile (A losing streak: The Naked Mile needs to be revived, 04/16/04). As the Daily correctly points out, law enforcement officials are targeting the wrong group when they arrest participating students rather than protecting them from the danger that is posed by the drunken and largely nonUniversity crowd. Of course, arresting the runners is much easier than controlling a rowdy and widely dis- persed crowd. And we should also consider the fact that police officers are ethically obligated to prevent anyone from breaking the law, even if it's just in good fun. But instead of eliminating a cherished campus event by arresting anyone who dares participate, an alternative approach is clearly needed. My suggestion is this: Hold the Naked Mile in Michigan Stadium. I realize this would dam- age the spirit of the event, but stopping it would destroy the spirit altogether. If the Naked Mile were held in the stadium, only people with Uni- versity identification would be allowed to par- ticipate in, or view the event. Cameras would not be permitted in the stadium. And because it would no longer be a public event, runners wouldn't face the risk of prosecution. These pre- cautions would restore the Naked Mile to its sta- tus as a carefree campus event and prevent this University tradition from being terminated by the presence of unruly outsiders. Such a solu- tion is better than the alternative. BRIAN MADDEN Alum Efforts to stop Naked Mile are useless To THE DAILY: It is that time of year again. Classes are winding down, finals are approaching and I'm sure the University is flooding campus with signs saying how running the Naked Mile will result in you being charged with a sex crime and how you'll be pho- tographed and such. The purpose of this is of course to scare people from running. It has worked, and the number of runners has - T--- _ - night.) to avoid arrest. Don't let the Uni- versity destroy another tradition. NICHOLAS KoHN Alum Daily overlooks fans at Crisler Arena TO THE DAILY: I enjoyed the annual Best of Ann Arbor edition this year, but I disagree with your coverage of "Best Sports Crowd" Your article was well-written and captured the great crowds at Yost and at Michigan Stadium, but it completely failed to mention the Maize Rage and the great crowds at Crisler Arena. I don't intend to take anything away from the crowds at Yost and at the stadium; I have been a participant of all three crowds for four years. However, I think that the fans at Yost aren't quite as good as they were in the mid- to-late '90s or even my freshman year. Going to hockey games became too popular; too often I see students arriving late, chatting and wearing nonMichigan clothing. These fans are there for the social aspect of Yost and few of them are engrossed in the game. In the four years I have been here, I have seen the atmosphere at Crisler improve dramati- cally, from 200 to 300 tame students to more than 1,900 fanatics this year. The general admis- sion bleachers have forced students to arrive and make their presence known more than an hour before game time while Yost crowds arrive later and later. Crisler had long been one of the easi- est places to play in the Big Ten (as explicitly said by Illinois' Cory Bradford two years ago), but you hear nothing of that now from oppo- nents or their media. Instead, we were specifi- cally praised by Minnesota players in January 2003, by the Raleigh, N.C., media in December 2003 and by Hawaii players and media just last month (a newspaper noted that we "would not rest at any point in the game"). Coach Amaker and the players also repeatedly make mention of the support we provide the team. I don't necessarily expect Crisler to be voted or named the best crowd at Michi- gan, as I'm happy to say the competition is intense. However, to completely pass over such a great crowd is a clear oversight. PETER LUND LSA senior Former Superfan and leader - i n- Longo expresses that there is nothing President Bush can do to satisfy Middle Easterners, as if the Middle East solely consists of irrational lunatics who continu- ally reject the United States's goodwill. The people of the Middle East, like any other people, respond to injustice with anger and goodwill with friendship. Mus- lims are legitimately outrage d by the recent foreign policy of the United States and especially with that of President Bush's administration.Rather than ensure that every American could have the right to medical assistance, higher education and a secure retirement, Bush has occu- pied his presidential term with the inva- sion and occupation of two Muslim nations and has recklessly backed Israel's every move in its occupation of the Pales- tinian people. Dissatisfaction with the United States is not something ingrained in the genes or cultures of Middle Easterners - only a racist/Islamophobe would claim otherwise. If the United States were to end its policy of pre-emptive military invasions and held a balanced position toward the Arab- Israeli conflict, there would no longer be strong currents of animosity held by Mus- lims toward the United States. Longo may claim that Middle Easterners would still hold "anti-American" beliefs, but this is totally absurd. This anger did not brew in a vacuum: "anti-Americanism" only started to take hold after the United States started to commit questionable acts in the Middle East. Therefore, this displeasure with the United States is a response to things such as the 1953 CIA overthrow of the popular Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh, the uncompromising support of Israeli policies, such as the recent endorsement of Ariel Sharon's disengage- ment plan, the recent invasion of Iraq, which has yet to find the weapons of mass destruction that were allegedly stockpiled in there and the countless numbers of bru- tal dictators, from the Saudi royal family to the Shah of Iran, that have had their tyrannical regimes stay afloat from strong American assistance. Longo also seems to have a problem with a Pakistani citizen using his free speech rights in the United States, simply because Pakistan and other Middle Eastern nations do not grant these rights to their 0 > h h thejTmili-1Tf U