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14B - The Michigan Daily - Election Guide 2004 -- Thursday, October 28
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THE LAST FOUR YEARS HAVE NOT BEEN EASY FOR THE
COUNTRY. PRESIDENT BUSH HAS GIVEN THE DAILY'S
OPINION
Stem cells, directed to differentiate
into specific cell types, offer the possi-
bility of a renewable source of replace-
ment cells and tissues to treat diseases
including Parkinson's and Alzheimer's
diseases, spinal cord injury, stroke,
burns, heart disease, diabetes and
arthritis. Stem cells can also be used to
test new drugs. In August 2001, Presi-
dent Bush gave a speech in which he
detailed his thoughts and plans regard-
ing stem cell research. He stated that
he would allow for continued research
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EDITORIAL BOARD PLENTY TO LAMENT ABOUT: THE
ECONOMY'S IN SHAMBLES, THE SITUATION IN IRAQ IS
WORSENING AND AFGHANISTAN HAS VANISHED FROM
THE PUBLIC CONSCIOUSNESS. BUT THERE'S AN ELEC-
badly. This results in the education
standards in these schools falling
even further.
Overall, the NCLB does little to
improve the education standards in
schools that most need help.
- Rajiv Prabhakar
RECLAIMING
REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS
TION IN FIVE DAYS. AND IF
WILL BE PACKING HIS BAGS
HIS CRAWFOI
DIGGING A MONEYLESS PIT
I find it astounding that the same
Republican Party that proposed a federal
balanced budget amendment as part of its
'Contract with America in the mid '90s
now strongly supports a president who is,
by any objective standard, fiscally irre-
sponsible. Our nation, which had a budget
surplus four years ago, is now running the
largest deficits in its history. It is true that a
faltering economy and Sept. 11 may have
wiped out the surplus under any president.
These events, however, cannot explain
three years of double-digit increases in
discretionary spending under Bush. Noth-
ing except the president's devotion to an
extreme right-wing ideology can explain
his obsession with tax cuts disproportion-
ately benefiting the wealthy, including a
tax cut while the nation was at war and
running a deficit. One can truly say that
our nation owes Bush a debt we might
never be able to repay.
- Christopher Zbrozek
ABUSING THE
SEPT. 11 MANDATE
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The Michigan Daily - Election G
Two regents fight to retain seats
Composition of board may affect U' stance on many policies
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on the 60 genetically diverse stem cell Beyond President Bush's proclivity
THINGS GO WELL, BUSH lines that already existed at the time, to appoint justices against Roe v. Wade,
so as to avoid "crossing a fundamen- he instituted many other violations of
3 AND HEADING BACK TO tal moral line, by providing taxpayer reproductive rights during his term that
funding that would sanction or encour- cannot continue.
RD RANCH. age destruction of human embryos Bush reinstated the Global Gag Rule,
that have at least the potential for life." which prohibits countries receiving U.S.
Presently, the president is not nearly as aid from providing abortion-related family
ntelligent debate over how to win the war supportive, as he is attempting to pass planning or clinics. This wields economic
on terror was lost. a law that would imprison and heavily power to deny services that virtually sen-
- Mara Gay fine any researcher, doctor or patient tence women to death. According to the
who uses a new medical procedure World Health Organization, 20 million
THE IRAQI MISTAKE called somatic cell nuclear transfer to unsafe abortions occur annually, nearly
treat a debilitating illness. H.R. 534, all in developing countries.
the bill that the president supports, He also appointed Dr. David
Despite overwhelming evidence that has already been passed by a mostly Hagar to the Food and Drug Admin-
Saddam Hussein was not an impending Republican coalition in the U.S. House istration's reproductive health panel.
threat to the American homeland, Presi- of Representatives and is now moving Hagar wrote a book suggesting
dn ues sabrawar has placed the United through the Senate. While stem cell women's menstrual pains should be.
an unnecessary wraspaethUnedresearch certainly becomes complicat- alleviated through reading the Bible.
States. In greater danger and has caused ed by the great deal of moral issues it This is the man who has control of
a loss of respect and influence throughout encompasses, if its fund- the decision to allow access
the world. The war has been plagued with ing is lessened and its to the morning-after pill.
miscues from the Bush administra- growth is restricted, Bush's policies
tion that have cost thousands of the medical com- indicate a belief
American lives. Torture and munity will that women
be forced can-
to
-co
pW
abuse at Abu Ghraib represents the fleet-
ing ethics of the administration. Insuf-
fi i b f fU4 t nd th
not make decisions regarding their
bodies and places greater emphasis
on religion than modern medicine.
-Sara Eber
CONSTITUTIONAL
DISCRIMINATION
In a shameful election tactic and
personal attack on the gay commu-
nity, President Bush endorsed a con-
stitutional ban on gay marriage. Not
since the days of the Jim Crow seg-
regation laws has this country faced
the prospect of discrimination being
written into the Constitution. Now,
after years of progress, President
Bush wants to deny personal free-
dom to consenting adult American
citizens.
In this progressive era of open-
ness and acceptance, the president
has opted to isolate homosexuals.
Bush must be voted out of office,
or this discriminatory amendment
could proceed. Voters must not for-
get that every single American is
entitled by law to "life, liberty, and
the pursuit of happiness" - and
this basic right is at risk under the
Bush administration.
-Whitney Dibo
A DISREGARD FOR SCIENCE
President Bush's overall policy
on science has been a disaster.
By politicizing findings that the
administration finds distasteful it
is hampering our country's ability
to make informed policy decisions.
Nobel laureates of various political
persuasions have spoken out against
the administrations' attempts to
institutionally direct the
flow of informa-
K tion that
Olivia
Maynard
Incumbent,
Democrat,
Ann Arbor
'U' degrees:
Graduated with a
master's in social
work in 1971.
Experience: Elected to the
Board of Regents in 1996. Current
president of Planned Parenthood in
Michigan; former chair of the state
Democratic party.
Platform/Issues:
-Wants to create a new tuition
model to make the University more
accessible to lower-income families.
-Supports the current admissions
policy, but is open to minor changes.
-Favors the capital campaign, Life
Sciences Institute and improvements
to residence halls.
"I think that (lobbying in Lansing)
has to be done in a cooperative
manner, not an adversarial manner."
S. Martin
Taylor
Incumbent,
Democrat,
Grosse Pointe
Farms
Experience:
Tayr Elected to the
Board of Regents
in 1996. Currently works as an
executive vice president of DTE
Energy Co. Former director of the
state Department of Labor.
Platform/Issues:
-Supports the current admissions
policy. Says the University should
focus on minority outreach to
increase minority applications.
-Wants to keep tuition as low as
possible and make the University
accessible to people of all income
levels.
-Regents should lobby the governor
and state Legislature to reverse the
attitude that the University is fis-
cally wasteful and can afford severe
appropriations cuts.
"We need to change the dialogue
in the state. ... It almost now
seems as though in Lansing, higher
education is sort of the bad guy."
Patrick
Anderson
Republican,
East Lansing
maynara
'U' degrees:
Graduated with a
political science
Anderson degree in 1981,
master's of public policy in 1983.
Experience: Founder of consult-
ing firm Anderson Economic Group
LCC. Served as deputy budget direc-
tor for the state of Michigan under
former Gov. John Engler and chief of
staff for former Secretary of State
Candice Miller.
Platform/Issues:
-Regents should be more aggres-
sive in publicly challenging the
governor and state Legislature on
budget appropriations.
-Regents should put the admis-
sions policy to a public vote. The
current regents made a mistake in
not putting the race-conscious LSA
point system to a vote, allowing the
University to spend millions defend-
ing it in court. Incumbents say the
board had a public vote.
-Wants to work with the faculty to
create a more rigorous undergradu-
ate core curriculum.
"The regents should be more active
and should be less beholden to the
governor and the legislature."
Carl
Meyers
Republican,
Dearborn
U 'U' degrees:
Graduated from
Dearborn campus
Meyers with a business
administration degree in 1979.
Experience: Senior vice president
of investments at Raymond James
and Associates. Has worked on
fundraising campaigns for the Uni-
versity.
" Platform/Issues:
-Rework current admissions policy.
Meyers says the application is too
difficult to fill out, especially for
lower-income students, whose par-
ents might not be as educated as
those of other students.
-Believes regents should lobby the
governor and state legislature more
aggressively.
-University should cut waste and be
more disciplined with spending.
"This new admissions policy
is a debacle. ... The document
needs to be streamlined; it
needs to be user-friendly."
Nathaniel
N Damren
Green, Ann
Arbor
o 'U' degrees:
Currently a senior
in LSA, majoring in
Damren history and French.
Experience: Works as a dish-
washer in the Alice Lloyd cafeteria.
Co-chair of the Huron Valley Green
Party.
Platform/Issues:
-Favors increasing in-state tuition
to the level of out-of-state tuitior in
order to increase grants for lower-
income students.
-Wants to establish the position of stu-
dent regent on the Board of Regents,
following the example of the University
of Iowa, except elected by University
students instead of appointed.
-Supports organizing rights for lectur-
ers and graduate students; wants to
mandate equal pay for faculty at the
Dearborn and Flint campuses.
Quote: "I would love for the
attitude to change in Lansing.
... However, I think we need
to entertain the notion that
things might not change."
U 'U' degrees:
Hudler Graduated with
a bachelor of sci-
ence degree in 1979.
Experience: Works as a clinical
laboratory scientist at St. Joseph
Mercy Hospital. Founded, and now
advises, U-M College Libertarians.
Platform/Issues:
-Wants to privatize the University.
-Seeks to end affirmative action
and other forms of race-conscious
admissions.
-Would pursue partnerships with cor-
porations for funding.
"If we say we're the Harvard
of the Midwest - if we really
want to be that - the University
should be privatized."
Joe
.v Sanger
U.S. Taxpayers,
Lansing
U 'U' degrees:
Graduated with a
degree in econom-
Sanger ics in 1958 and
an MBA in 1966.
James
Lewis
Hudler
Libertarian,
Chelsea
- A good leader does not exploit his
nation in its most vulnerable moments
to advance his political agenda. Even
more tragic than the events of Sept.f
11i is the way President Bush capital- Hclent num ers or .. troops anu
11 i theway resdentBushcapial-decision t ibn h rq ryf
ized on the rare atmosphere of national to disband the Iraqi army fc
unity and bipartisanship. lowing the invasion left a severe shorta
The Bush presidency is not compli- of manpower to seal the border, allowin
cate. Wth olo-coed trro alrtsandhundreds of terrorists to flood the countr
catedl. With color-coded terror alerts andadogazeaeastngisgey.
the language of the "enemy combatant," and organize a devastating insurgency.
,the administration created an environ- anything, the war with Iraq has hurt th
ment ripe for the loss of civil rights and broader war on terrorism.
civil liberties. Fear is used to manipulate ohen mbecsmeciarent that wea
the American public into adopting some ons of mass destruction were not to
of the most conservative and radical ideol- found, Bush flip flopped by sudden
ogy this nation has ever seen. claiming that the war was fought to lit
erate the people of Iraq. Bush has prove
The president's war on terrorism is inept in running the post-war effort, a
one based on principles, not facts - on worse, he is too stubborn to accept h
resolve, not results. Osama bin Laden has mistakes and plot a new course. Ne
not been brought to justice, no weapons leadership is needed to win the pea
of mass destruction have been found and er nd to repair America's standi
the administration has never established a with the world community.
credible link between Iraq and Sept. 11. w -- Brian Sla
In our righteous fervor, we have alienated
our allies and caused the recruitment of
more terrorists. THE NECESSITY OF
The president has succeeded in SE EL
acquainting support for the war in Iraq STEM CELLS
with patriotism. Citizens who disagree
with the president are no longer exercising Stem cell research has allowe
their constitutional right to dissent but are a multitude of breakthroughs ai
"ungatriotic." The opportunity to hold an }advancements in the field of medicin
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take a resounding step backwards.
More importantly, the implications of
this will be greatly expanded, as the
restrictions will hinder the medical
help that is currently available to
patients in need.
- Katherine Cantor
FAILING MARKS IN
EDUCATION POLICY
The President's main plan,
to improve the education'
system, the No Child
Left Behind Act, is
greatly flawed both in
principle and in prac-
tice. NCLB proposes to
hold schools account-
able for not performing
adequately, but fails to pro-
vide any resources to improve
the standard of education in these
"failing" schools. In fact, it cuts
funding from schools that perform
gets
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Experience: Self-employed accoun-
tant. Treasurer of state U.S. Taxpay-
ers Party and Pro-Life Michigan.
Platform/Issues:
-Wants to replace the University pres-
ident and end affirmative action.
-Would eliminate tenure, prohibit
teaching by graduate students and
require full-time professors to teach
30 hours per week.
-Proposes to eliminate multicultur-
alism.
"I will sell the University of Michigan
to the highest bidder.'"
1
ELECT STANOWSKI, the Prosecutor with Knowledge,
Experience and Maturity:
reviewed and released.
One wonders how far the Strauss-
ian strain of neoconservatism has
seeped into the administration when
they try to clamp down on scientific
data and ask litmus test questions to
advisory panel nominees. Unfet-
tered scientific data is more
important than ever in mak-
ing the hard decisions relating to
energy, the environment, and glo-
balization.
I
,ed
and
ne.
Paid for by John W. Stanowski for Prosecutor Committee, 9449 Moon Road, Saline, MI 48176 with regulated funds.