4A - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, September 30, 2004 OPINION + + +rU 420 MAYNARD STREET ANN ARBOR, MI 48109 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 pieces do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Michigan Daily. NOTABLE QUOTABLE 44 I go to bed every night and I pray and I actually get sick to my stomach." -Beverly Cocco, a mother of two sons, expressing her concern that a draft will be instituted, as reported Tuesday by CBS News, COLIN DALY T N AN DA. What to watch for ZAG PESKOWITZ THE LOWER FREQUENCES 01 Florida - the per- fect venue for the most important event of the 2004 presi- dential campaign. Tonight at 9 p.m. George W. Bush and John Kerry will face off at the University of Miami in a foreign policy debate with critical impli- cations for the outcome of the campaign. This is the first debate and it will set expectations and perceptions for the remainder of the campaign. It's fitting that a campaign that has had so much to do with what happened four years ago will come down to another battle in Florida. Traditionally, can- didates have used the days before a debate to ratchet up the expectations for their rivals, but this week both candidates have come out with surprising aggression. Bush told an Ohio audi- ence on Monday that "it's been a little tough to prepare because (Kerry) keeps changing posi- tions on the war on the terror" while Kerry has continued to deride Bush at every possible opportunity. These unorthodox strategies are a nice backdrop to the battle for Florida. In a some- what counterintuitive move, Kerry chose to stake his debate camp in Spring Green, Wis., not the more important battleground of Flori- da. Kerry aides lamely stated that the senator didn't want to distract from hurricane clean up in Florida and would do his debate prepara- tion elsewhere. Wisconsin's 10 electoral votes are important, but Florida is still the big prize that can swing the election, and tracking polls show that neither candidate has a legitimate advantage in the state. With that in mind, here are three issues that the candidates will use to expand their appeal to critical swing voters. Iraq: This is Kerry's final opportunity to convince the voters that he has some sort of coherent position on Iraq. Equally impor- tant, he needs to show that he has a plan more sophisticated than bringing in addi- tional troops from other nations. His four- point plan to right the situation in Iraq is astoundingly simplistic and presents no real contrast with Bush's approach. If Kerry has any chance of improving the public's per- ception of his ability to manage Iraq he will need to show that he has specific alternatives to Bush. In the past several weeks, Kerry has pivoted and is now attempting to exploit the fear that Bush's approach to Iraq has made Americans more susceptible to terrorist attacks, but he needs to go beyond a criti- cism of Bush's management of foreign poli- cy. Kerry needs to show that he has the skill and the ideas to resolve the crisis. Which brings us to our next topic ... Realism vs. Liberalism: Far more impor- tant than a candidate's actual proposals is the worldview that will guide him throughout his presidency. Bush's first principles on the importance of democratization are well known at this point, even though they differ dramati- cally from those he espoused as a candidate in 2000. Bush is more than willing to dilute his support for political liberalization in his deal- ings with Russia and Pakistan, but his gut-level instinct endures. At various points in the campaign, Kerry has attempted to style himself as a hard-head- ed foreign policy realist in the mode of Henry Kissinger, and there has been a strand of this thinking throughout his political career. Kerry was known to grimace when the United States was called the "indispensable nation" during the Clinton administration. But American voters show little support for this philosophy at the polls and Kerry has prevented himself from effectively criticizing Bush's approaches to Russia and Pakistan. In the case of the geno- cide in Darfur, Kerry cannot credibly attack the president for his failure to act decisively. Cuba: In a world with North Korea, Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan, the septuagenarian dictator of a small island nation with II million people would be expected to elicit little attention. With the debate taking place in metropolitan Miami, it's a perfect opportunity for each candidate to win a few votes on Cuba policy. Bush's contro- versial decision to impose additional restrictions on visiting Cuba and sending remittances to the country may have hurt his standing with young- er and less hard-line Cuban-Americans. Kerry will attempt to cleave off a chunk of the Cuban- American vote with an appeal for a less pain- ful approach to Fidel Castro. Both candidates are sure to incorporate as many local appeals as possible into the debate and if we're really lucky, maybe we'll hear some broken Spanish from both Bush and Kerry tonight. Peskowtiz can be reached at zpeskowi@umich.edu. 0 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Pesick's critique of Republican Party 'vile' To THE DAILY: I was disappointed to read the column Shar- ing one house (09/28/04), by Jason Z. Pesick. In this piece, he makes a vile attempt to discredit the Republican Party. Many of the claims he makes, however, are examples of election year politics at best, and simply untrue at worst. For example, he claims the Republicans chose New York City to host their convention "to capital- ize on the positive effects Sept. 11 had on the president's relationship with the American people." Did it even occur to Pesick that per- haps New York was chosen to showcase how the president has led our country after Sept. 11, possibly the worst moment in our history? That perhaps this wasn't some devious plot to fool America, but rather an effort to showcase some of the great things our president has done for the country and why he should be re-elect- ed to lead our country through these dangerous times? Secondly, talking about "two Ameri- cas" is not Republican at all, but rather straight from the desk of the Democratic nominee for vice president, John Edwards, who preaches this dichotomy every chance he gets. Lastly, to claim that President Bush shouldn't be critical of journalists is flatly ridiculous, just ask Dan Rather about that one. Before Pesick claims the Republican Party and Bush hate everyone in this country, he should look at the polls to see just who is currently the favorite of those American people. Allen Weiss LSA sophomore SHARE is an important option for students TO THE DAILY: I think it is wonderful that there is a stu- dent group addressing mental health issues on campus (Group aims to ease students' searches for counseling, 9/27/04). While the Universi- ty's Counseling and Psychological Services is a valuable resource, students need an outlet to share with their peers. Professional counsel- ors are highly trained and qualified, but some- times it is easier to talk to fellow students who may be experiencing the same issues. At the same time, there are many students who are seeking professional counseling. No student who is seeking help should have difficulty in doing so. Groups such as Student's Health Advocates and Resource Exchange should be encouraged by students and mental health professionals alike. Access to resources is important, but it is not the only issue. There needs to be more aware- ness and acceptance of mental health problems affecting students. Lectures, awareness raising events and student support groups are all nec- essary. For students who feel they cannot break their silence, there should be anonymous chat rooms or message boards where they can find support. Mental health issues are private, diffi- cult and highly stigmatized. There will always be some people who do not seek help because they are embarrassed or afraid. Reducing stig- ma and increasing acceptance is key. Deepika Mullangi School of Public Health SAM BUTLER THINKS HE LOOKS LIKE TOM CRUISE. WANT TO DRAW CARTOONS FOR HIM? E-MAIL: rTLERs@UmIcH.EDu. VIEWPOINT In defense of the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative BY CARL COHEN The language of the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative is unambiguous; its intent is unmis- takable. The MCRI aims to eliminate all dis- crimination by race, including all preference by race. The words of the initiative, upon which we will vote in 2006, say that clearly and simply: "The state" (i.e. Michigan, and all its col- leges and universities) "shall not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the opera- tion of public employment, public education, or nublic contracting" Rights Act of 1964, its clear and honorable purpose was to eradicate preference by race. Affirmative steps to do this remain essential. There is nothing in the MCRI that would interfere in any way with such continuing efforts: to insure that examinations are free of racial bias; to eliminate discrimination in housing and in lending; to tear down old-boy networks; to oblige the fair posting of jobs; to insure that tests for employment are rel- evant and to forbid their use as covers for the surreptitious and invidious uses of race - and so on and on. Affirmative action, in that honorable spirit, will continue, as it cer- tainly should. MCRI. when adopted. will support these I presume, is the desire to see some forms of preference maintained. So the issue between those who support MCRI and its opponents may be crisply put: Do we; or do we not, wish to allow our state to give preference by race? For my part, I do not. In my view, race preference is deeply damag- ing to the minorities that are preferred. About that there will be some disagreement, no doubt - but surely we all will agree that racial dis- crimination is unjust, and is an evil with which our nation has far too long been cursed. To give any persons more, or less, or to treat persons better, or worse, because of the color of their skins is an abomination. Doing it with honor- able motives does not make it right. v~ uieuuuiv * unut w~ 41.11 Lil . lI . ..:i U U IU to t ML 44 UL~I4Le ra