4 4 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, October 8, 2004 OPINION U 420 MAYNARD STREET AL £kbf3au M 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 NOTABLE QUOTABLE My fellow Americans, you don't make up or find reasons to go to war after the fact. " 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. RA& I-FL HEAFIIZLI / : trrPt 4U tut Nodbeen insl~i e.ilaot 5$ vden-i I I.-Aw'S WSuO 4,b con ' 4 41 - Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, attacking President Bush, as reportea yesterday by washingtonpost.com. Go Presinator! SOWMYA KRISHNAMURTHY At UDI ALTERAM PARTEM s the election con- Americans who have citizenry given to them, natu- of the law, this residency prerequisite is completely tinues to heat up ralized citizens have consciously chosen to make arbitrary, because there is no tangible proof that 35 between President this land their second home - a process consisting years breeds any more nationalism than 20 years or Bush and Sen. John Kerry, the of residency and character requirements and knowl- any other number. U.S. Senate Judiciary Com- edge of U.S. history. These people have migrated Even if passed, there are bound to be subsequent mittee held a hearing Tuesday to experience liberties and opportunities that we obstacles in turning legislation into reality. Past his- on a proposed constitutional citizens often taken for granted. They have enriched tory is not promising. Whereas younger democra- amendment that could vastly our cultural diversity and truly embody the Ameri- cies like India and Sri Lanka have already elected alter future presidential races can dream. women and minorities into positions of power, for by enabling naturalized citi- Necessitating a two-thirds vote in both houses over two centuries American politics has remained zens to run for office. This would nullify restrictions of Congress and ratification by three-fourths of the a homogenous lot of wealthy, white, Christian men. in Article II of the Constitution, which states that states to become law, the proposal is ambitious to With the amount of politically correct rhetoric only natural-born Americans at least 35 years old say the least. Couple this with the fact that the Con- spewed about "all people being equal," this is an who have lived in the country for 14 years can serve stitution was last changed in 1992, and passage of utter embarrassment of how outdated we are. The as president or vice president. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R- the amendment seems remote. influence of post-Sept. 11, McCarthyesque suspi- Utah) and supporters want to alter the requirement so Some argue that a 20-year citizenship constraint cions are likely to aggravate old habits and make it that a citizen of at least 20 years is eligible to seek the is not stringent enough. A handful of other amend- even more difficult for the mainstream to put a for- nation's highest office. ments want to invalidate Article II, but with longer eign face into office. Those few naturalized citizens All I can say is that it's about damn time. requirements. House Democratic leader Nancy who manage to win public support will probably be In a nation rooted in immigration - with the Pelosi (D-Calif.) has been quoted as saying,"It takes well-connected elites, like California Gov. Arnold exception of the Native Americans - where today some people that long (20 years) to get their Ph.D. Schwarzenegger, just due to the sheer expense of about 12 million people are naturalized citizens, ... I think the 35-year provision probably makes financing a presidential campaign. Article II is a complete anachronism. Similar to the more sense, that somebody is raised in our country I am not particularly keen on appointing a former right to bear arms - which likely served as protec- or has lived here long enough to have an apprecia- cyborg into office, but the possibility of change is tion from the British crown during colonial times tion for the culture and the beautiful diversity of our refreshing, albeit gradual. Politics desperately needs - has little current relevance, because I doubt that country to serve as our president." The hyperbolic to be revitalized, and this amendment is a perfect the Queen of England is likely to assault us or run Ph.D. analogy aside, the false reasoning here is that start. It's time to shake up the "good ol' boys club" for the White House, respectively. residency and appreciation for this country are pro- and bring America into the new millennium. Naturalized citizens adhere to the same laws portional entities. In reality, a person can live a life- as their native counterparts and should receive the time oblivious to how good America is compared to Krishnamurthy can be reached at same benefits. Furthermore, unlike natural-born many parts of the world and vice versa. Like much sowmyak@umich.edu. Brighter horizons ZACK DENFELD 8-BIT CRITIC N o matter what but we'll have to see what Detroit and the market- out, make a run on gas and drive the price up to happens on Nov. ing department has to say about standardizing fuel new highs. Just sit back and watch the whole thing 2, a national elec- efficiency, hybrids and smaller cars. spiral out of control. This would be much harder in tion has the ability to act There are major developments in sustainable a horizontal, un-concentrated media structure. as a national reset button, development and green architecture, not funded Something the U.S. government can do in this possibly instigating totally anywhere near where they need to be, but until respect is institute a national project, on the scale of innovative national policy there is a fundamental shift in the way the average the building of the interstate highway system, that initiatives. No matter who citizen understands and interacts with their mental would set up the infrastructure for free wireless Inter- takes the White House, a and physical environment nothing substantial will net access to every U.S. citizen living in a city. This new tone needs to be set in happen at the national level. would attract a variety of people to once again popu- this country. The current Bush administration has That fundamental change in consciousness late our cities, spurning an urban renaissance and led us on a wild goose chase in Iraq, made our name can only come about when our public and media a move away from suburban sprawl. It also seems mud in the world and set up a budget disaster that my institutions divest from the corporate psychologi- much more interesting to most people than offering grandchildren will still be dealing with. The United cal experiment, where, currently, many of our best tax breaks for companies to relocate to cities or for States has squandered valuable resources and intel- and brightest are stationed, working on making malls to be built. It would also lay the infrastructure lectual ability that should have been used on bring- people want to consume things. for a citizen-to-citizen information system that is eas- ing America into the 21st century. The Internet has helped distribute some of the ily accessible, and distributed in power and place, The future looks bright, but has nothing to do power of communication, but as corporations try limiting the ridiculous dominance of corporate- con- with whether Republicans or Democrats win the to colonize the web, they are setting the United trolled commercial communication networks. White House. As always, it is the integrity and States up for a collapse. Inadvertently they are Similarly, if both candidates are serious about the ingenuity of average Americans that show the preparing a giant for a great fall. securing nuclear materials in the former Soviet most promise in making the world a better place. Our top-heavy, vertically integrated, one-way Union, we need to not only institute a Department In fact, maybe I am being a little mystical, but I corporate mass media means that a simple rumor of Peace, as proposed by former Democratic presi- think the fact that the U.S. Postal Service has started online by some bloggers and chain emails dential hopeful Dennis Kucinich, but give it more recently released Buckminster Fuller stamps is a could be picked up by the three major news sourc- funding than the Department of Defense (formerly sure sign that there is hope for the future. es and reverberate and feedback, back down the Department of War) and enable it to transparently Some stuff we need to take care of in the next chain of their many media holdings. Because the work with Russia and other post-Soviet countries to decade: influence and power of communication is concen- properly locate and dismantle its nuclear materials. Reducing our consumption of everything from trated on top, this kind of cascading collapse is I am not holding my breath for either the Kerry oil to electricity and unnecessarily large cars will entirely possible. or Bush administration to implement either of be key to leading the world by example. I often For example, I could see a single person easily these policies, but maybe the reset button of the wonder if Americans have it in us. Americans being able to create a price shock to the U.S. econ- election will allow other interesting policy ideas to should be given a choice, but can they make the omy, by simply rumoring that a new Kerry admin- rise above the uncreative, and just plain bad policy right one? The Bush administration, directly tied istration would institute a large gas tax. If this is making we have lived with for four years. to the oil industry, didn't quite get this point. Nor I picked up by the networks and plays for a day, with__ __ _ __ _ __ suspect will the Kerry administration. California the headline "New administration likely to raise Denfeld can be reached at under the Terminator might be getting the point, gas tax: $1 per gallon" people and businesses freak zcd@umich.edu LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Wear maize, cheer loud during tomorrow's game TO THE DAILY: I don't need to remind you all of the importance of this weekend's homecoming battle against Minnesota. This is the biggest home game of the season. We must retain the Little Brown Jug. We need our team to carry us on to victory, and to do so, the team needs us. So, the time has come once again for the student section to "Maize Out." Go to Steve & Barry's and get that maize hoody for under $20, or wear as many layers as you can underneath your maize student section shirt. But no matter what, wear MAIZE on the outside. The visual effect of the "Maize Out" will be awesome, especially considering the fact that the majority of you, the students. When the band comes storming out of the tunnel for pre-game, I want the entire student section to be filled. I guarantee, we will give you what you need to start the game off right, and you, in turn will give the team what they need. Here's to a great Saturday. Dennis Lee Engineering junior The letter writer is the drum major of the Michigan Marching Band. Criticism of Israel should be balanced, based in fact TO THE DAILY: Name-calling and vilifying The Anti-Defama- tion League, an esteemed 91-year old civil rights aencv which rpnds countless hnrs building mask deep-seeded anti-Semitism. Even Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz, one of Israel's staunchest supporters, realizes with democracy one is open to criticism saying "balanced criticism of Israel and of specific policies of its government is proper and essential to democratic governance." The critical term there is balanced. Unfortunately, Israel is often held to a different standard. Singling out Israel for condemnation without even commenting on similar, or worse, actions or policies committed by other nations around the world with impunity, makes one won- der about a writer's true motivation. Chirumamilla's questioning of Jerusalem as a part of Israel, and whether Israel is really a democracy, shows her lack of knowledge and understanding. No serious and knowledgeable student of the Middle Fast would ever nnestin I IS AU~ rnUUUU~SS aR LUU~ UUfl~L Sr~ ~WUtU~i 4UU~ < >