4 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, September 8, 2004 ____
OPINION
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eSkWau Dm1 tothedaily@michigandaily.com
EDITED AND MANAGED BY
STUDENTS AT THE
UNIVERSITYOFMICHIGAN
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.
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QUOTABLE
I don't want to
take away from the
other nominees and
the attention that
they richly deserve."
- Filmmaker and author Michael Moore,
referring to his decision not to pursue the
Academy Award for Best Documentary
for his film, "Fahrenheit 911," as reported
yesterday by The Washington Post.
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Ride The Ride
SRAVYA CHIRUMAMILLA WEAV ING T'H A N DBASKE:T
or the past three
years, I have been
a resident of Ann
Arbor's student ghettos,
but for my last semester, I
am commuting to classes.
Finding parking is quite
a task, as the University
does not allow parking
permits for freshmen and
sophomores, and offers
only distant paid lots for juniors and seniors.
Earning a parking spot at some apartment
complexes can cost upwards of $100 per
month. Students are thus forced to become
less reliant on their own vehicles and more
dependent on public transportation.
It would be disastrous to have such limited
parking without the numerous bus systems
the city and University offer. The University
and the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority
have had a partnership to provide faculty and
students free access on The Ride so that they
can reach some businesses and parking lots
around town. Since Aug. 1, faculty, students
and employees are able to ride all fixed routes
for free.
The Mride program is a $1.8 million per
year venture that is in place for the next five
years using mostly federal grants and with-
out increasing student fees. Members of the
University community can reach their desti-
nations without the hassles of traffic and find-
ing parking. The city will benefit from less
congested roads as well as from the federal
funds. These funds will make current routes
free as well as help the AATA expand ser-
vices beginning in January.
Similar innovative plans brought The Link
to the city last year, allowing for a low-fare
route that linked Central Campus, Kerrytown
and the Main Street area. The AATA helps
create a cosmopolitan city simply by offering
efficient bus routes, which are mostly nonex-
istent elsewhere in this state. Ann Arbor leads
other communities by focusing on public
transportation: During the Aug. 3 elections,
13 cities voted to increase millages to support
public transit.
Still, few students explore the city's many
parks, stores and eateries beyond walking
distance. A travesty, considering the eclec-
tic choices the city offers further away from
campus. Students now have the opportunity to
experience local recreational facilities instead
of being limited to the corporate behemoths
taking over the city's main streets. They can
dine at the many diverse venues, such as the
Aut Bar, a cafe and bar directed toward the
gay community. The surrounding commu-
nity offers a wide variety of nightlife besides
Scorekeepers, be it the Wooden Nickel's Greek
night to Good Night Gracie's martinis and
live music. Museums such as the Yankee Air
Museum are unique to the area and allow resi-
dents rides in historic aircrafts.
Besides the opportunity for students to
explore the city, this partnership between the
AATA and the University gives hope for a
more intelligent conversation about the issues
affecting young adults.
City officials are recognizing that without
students and the University, Ann Arbor would
not be the intellectual center it is today. The
University is the most important aspect of the
city and students infuse it with novel and diverse
ideas: enterprises such as Big Ten Burrito and
Euphoria Oxygen Bar are great additions to the
city. They add more to the city's quirky charac-
ter than expanding franchises, such as Potbelly's
Sandwich Works and Noodles & Company,
whose bland foods have infiltrated State Street
just within the last year and a half.
Michigan has failed to maintain educated
young adults after graduation, leading to many
economic, social and political troubles. Gov.
Jennifer Granholm's cool cities initiatives,
announced in 2003, concentrate on Prof. Rich-
ard Florida's ideas of creating lively centers by
promoting technology, talent and tolerance. The
University utilizes student voices to help make
cities throughout Michigan cool. Sponsored by
several real estate and law firms, the University
and the Urban Land Institute Real Estate Forum
have created five $2,000 scholarships for gradu-
ate students. The state is also doing its part by
appropriating $2 million in grants for 20 cities
to stimulate ideas for the state. Granholm's pro-
posals, voters' decision to increase funding for
transportation and the University's support of
student ideas provide a viable means to improve
the current exodus of skilled youth.
Chirumamilla can be reached at
schiruma@umich.edu.
We will win, and someone will lose
JORDAN SCHRADER PORT HURON STATEMENT
*1
resident Bush and
John Kerry both
affirmed last week
that the United States will
win the war on terrorism.
So how will we know
when we win it?
Can we declare victory
when we kill or capture all
the Islamist extremists who
threaten our country?
Or do we need to keep going until the Rus-
sians, the Israelis and our other allies plagued by
terrorists are also satisfied?
Will it be over when our official Homeland
Security Threat Condition sinks to green? That
sure would be a load off my mind; being vigilant
is hard work.
Or will we know it's done when civil-lib-
erties safeguards are returned to their peace-
time levels?
Will there be a parade?
Bush briefly suggested that the war on terror-
ism is unwinnable. "I don't think you can win
it," he said. "But I think you can create condi-
tions so that the - those who use terror as a tool
are less acceptable in parts of the world."
But don't worry. The next day he reas-
sured Americans: "We are winning and we
will win."
The gaffe gave his Democratic opponent
a unique opportunity to challenge Bush on
the very basis of his campaign as a war presi-
dent, rather than the peripheral issues like
troop realignments that have dominated his
attacks.
Kerry could have argued that behind the mis-
take was a fundamental confusion about what
the war on terrorism really means.
He could have posed that critical question:
How will we know when we win?
By hearing Kerry's answer to this ques-
tion, voters might have learned a lot about
the senator. And there are other questions. If
we're at war, do the normal rules and restric-
tions of war apply? During a global war,
should Americans at home be shouldering a
greater burden, or is the government already
asking too much? Is Iraq a front in the war on
terrorism, as Bush says?
Just as importantly, does Kerry think it was
appropriate to declare a broad war on terror,
or should his country have specifically gone to
war with al-Qaida? (You remember those guys
- the ones who actually attacked us.)
Instead of speaking his mind on these critical
issues, John Kerry did what he always does: He
fought on Bush's terms.
He derided Bush for his "flip-flop," as if
to say "There's more than one waffler in this
race." He even put out a press release titled
"Bush: Against Winning the War on Terror
Before He Was For It," alluding to Kerry's
own muddled statements about his support
for and then opposition to spending $87 bil-
lion on the Iraq war.
Kerry and running mate John Edwards
rushed to say that the United States can and will
achieve victory in the war on terror.
Take that, Mr. President. You're wrong
- America is going to win the war that you
made up.
Hard to argue with that.
When it comes to national security, Kerry
harries the president on little issues, but
never shows the voters where they differ on
the big ones.
Kerry thinks we should have found more
allies for the Iraq war and planned better for
the war's aftermath, but he accepts the need
for the war, saying he would have authorized
the invasion even if he knew that it would turn
up no weapons of mass destruction. He won't
say Americans were systematically deceived
into believing an imminent threat loomed.
Kerry doesn't challenge Bush on first princi-
ples. And he doesn't give undecided voters with
national security at the forefront of their minds
much of a reason to pick him over Bush.
It all plays into the president's brilliant strat-
egy of declaring a war on terror, not a war on
al-Qaida.
By taking on terror instead of Osama bin
Laden's group, the president opened the door
for a war in Iraq. For although links between
Saddam Hussein and bin Laden have been
debunked, there's no question Saddam used to
support terror abroad and even terrorized his
own people.
That makes him a terrorist. So see, we
were already at war with him before we ever
invaded.
The vague language also paves the way for
plenty of future wars, of course, along with the
corresponding restrictions at home.
Kerry should think seriously about whether
terrorism is really the enemy or just the weapon
our enemies use. How do you win a war against
a tactic?
If the Founding Fathers had declared war
against unreasonable taxes instead of against
England, we'd still be fighting the Revolution
today.
Then again, if we'd declared war on geno-
cide instead of Germany and Japan in 1941,
maybe our troops today would be in Sudan
- not Iraq.
Schrader can be reached at
jtschrad@umich.edu.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
*
Democrats unfairly
targeting Ralph Nader
TO THE DAILY:
The Democratic Party is always telling the
American electorate that it represents the little
man, and the hardworking people of the United
States. Now that party attacks the little man
in the presidential race, Ralph Nader. Nader
doesn't have a private plane, or a lot of cam-
paign cash. His campaign relies on passing out
Democrats are shutting out voices and taking
away choices from the electorate makes our
democracy and our country stronger doesn't
make sense.
DAVID RUSSELL
LSA freshman
INTERESTED IN SHARING YOUR
VIEWS IN AN IMPORTANT
ELECTION YEAR?
DAILY OPINION MAY BE JUST
TUG f Af tM Vf 1
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