4 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, December 1, 2004 OPINION U 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 The slippery slope in the Netherlands has descended already into a vertical cliff." - Bioethics critic Wesley J. Smith, commenting on the announcement that a Dutch hospital has been euthanizing terminally ill infants, as reported yesterday by The Associated Press. SAM BUTLER THE S0AnOX MA&E - Questioning my lucky stars SRAVYA CHIRUMAMILLA WEAV IVNG THIE HANDBASKET have always been raised with a com- petitive spirit - be a better dancer, get the higher SAT score, etc. My parents always chas- tise me for comparing myself to someone I had already defeated. They believe that it is health- ier to strive for and learn from those not yet beaten, instead of rel- ishing a past victory. Though this is wise advice, it is very difficult to follow, espe- cially when considering our greatest accom- plishments; however, it is time that America started measuring up to a higher standard. America boasts of being the best country but fails to address how it can claim that title. Our democracy is far from being the best in the world. Few people vote compared to the large voter turnout in other countries, such as the Netherlands; few challenge the establishment compared to the thousands in the streets in Kiev, Ukraine and few choose to change or participate in the government - apparent in the high incumbency rate. It is true that Americans have many free- doms, yet we are all too eager to cherish the most harmful one - freedom to be bliss- fully ignorant of our actions. By remaining oblivious, we allow our decisions to continue ravaging the rest of the world. We lack per- spective, as our primary decisions include what to get our loved ones for the holidays. What we use for recreation has the poten- tial to help billions of people: The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the hunger prevention Web site FreeDonation.com estimate that "it would take $13 billion a year to end hunger for the Earth's poorest citizens, (while) every year, $18 billion is spent on pet food in the United States and Europe." Time magazine also reported that "it would take 2.5 billion gallons of water a day to support 4.7 billion people at the U.N. daily minimum," while that same amount is used everyday "to irri- gate the world's golf courses." This is espe- cially distressing taking into account that only about a third of the world's population has access to clean, safe drinking water. We have an uncanny ability to turn our eyes away from the consequences of our actions, while similarly remaining ignorant of our inaction. Americans grasp an unyield- ing version of the truth, which dictates that only we have the correct answers. With this narcissism arrives a desire to ridicule and humiliate all other ideas. Few people under- stand the concepts of communism, but are eager to dismiss it by saying it conflicts with democracy. The literacy rate in the South Indian state of Kerala is at 90 percent (which is relatively unheard of in any Third -World state) mostly because of measures put in place by the Communist Party, which was elected into office. Americans pretend to value all life, but place a higher premium on our light-skinned counterparts. We care little about the health conditions of the impoverished because we have relatively easy access to health profes- sionals and medicines. Would AIDS still be a threat if it affected Western countries more prominently? The Centers for Disease Con- strol and Prevention explain that "in the late 19th century, (tuberculosis) killed one out of every seven people living in the United States and Europe." While it has been eradi- cated from the West, tuberculosis remains one of the leading killers of our Asian and African brethren, even though it is a disease that can be cured with six months of medi- cines. Nearly half of all people infected with HIV have tuberculosis, which is especially dangerous because tuberculosis accelerates the onslaught of AIDS. The second I was born, I was chosen to be one of the luckiest people in the world. I was to lead a life of health, education and prosperity. Had I been born down the street, my life could have been marred with fear, illiteracy and poverty. While growing up, I learned the differences between myself and my playmate, who happened to be our employee. When my sister and I attended school, the servant, who was also under the age of 10, would do chores. When I was enjoying middle-school fieldtrips, she was getting married. I can no longer accept the notion that this is life. I had nothing but luck on my side to be born into the family and lifestyle I have been afforded. There is much for us to learn and understand about our actions and our inac- tion. We need to question our leaders, our choices and ourselves. We have the resources to do so as students at one of the best univer- sities in the world. I echo John F. Kennedy's comments about the value of this university and our presence here: "This University is not maintained by its alumni or by the state, merely to help its graduates have an eco- nomic advantage in the life struggle. There is certainly a greater purpose, and I'm sure you recognize it." We must recognize it. I would like to thank those who challenged me - I learned most from you. 0 0 0 6 Chirumamilla can be reached at schiruma@umich.edu. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 'Finding Neveriand' an 'intimate drama' and worth the price of admission TO THE DAILY: When I read your headline Finding Medioc- rity (11/30/2004), I was shocked, for I found the movie in question, "Finding Neverland," to be anything but. I was even more shocked when I read the review and found that not only did you blast the movie, you blasted Johnny Depp as well. I don't know - maybe you saw a different movie than the one I saw. You labeled Depp's performance as "amaz- ingly dull," and you said that he's hooked on his Hollywood success, effectively saying that he has sold out. Well, you are wrong on both accounts. I saw his performance as being inspired, touching and most assuredly one of the best of his career. Look for him to garner a second straight Best Actor nomina- tion from the Academy. As for Depp "going Hollywood," I think you better rethink that statement. Yes, he did "Pirates of the Caribbean" last year, but he also did "Sleepy Hollow" in 1999, a major Hollywood production, and nobody criticized him for selling out by doing that movie. Oh, and if you call "Finding Nev- erland" a "Hollywood movie," I think you are sorely mistaken. It was released on Nov. 12, and it is still, and will continue to be, in limited release nationwide. What kind of "Hollywood movie" stays in limited release for more than three weeks? As for the movie itself, I found "Finding Neverland" an intimate drama and a welcome respite in an age when more and more mov- ies are being produced by the likes of Jerry Bruckheimer - a director who doesn't care for telling good stories, just explosions, spe- cial effects and'high budgets. It's a touching story and exquisite acting are the reasons why I love going to the movies. There is no doubt that the Academy will reward "Find- ing Neverland" with a Best Picture nomina- tion, for which it is most deserving. Don't let the Daily's poor review fool anyone, this movie is definitely worth every cent that I paid to go see it. P.S.: The caption that you included under the still from the movie is the kind of com- ment I would expect from a two-year old. Not only was it childish, but it was ill found- ed. Johnny Depp hasn't worn an eyepatch in any of his other films. Christopher Lechner LSA freshman 6 a VIEWPOINT Support Israel to help 'U' BY ALANA KUHN, JESSICA RIscH, JASON MIRONOV, JENNY NATHAN, JESSE LEVINE, ANITA LEUNG, ELLIOTT WELLS-REID, ALLISON JACOBS AND PAUL SPURGEON The vast majority of students on our cam- pus look forward to a day when all peoples in the Middle East can peacefully co-exist. With the recent death of Yassir Arafat and the upcoming elections for new Palestinian leadership, prospects for dialogue and nego- tiations toward a two-state solution, with a strong Israel and a strong Palestine, now exist. However, the renewed call as seen in the Daily article SAFE urges 'U' to divest from Israel (11/24/2004) from Students Allied for Freedom and Equality to divest - or withdraw financial investments from all companies that do business with Israel - is neither a compelling nor productive way to achieve this peace. It seeks to create the direct opposite. SAFE's call for divestment attempts to de-legitimize and destroy Israel lacks posi- tive benefit. The divestment campaign itself is not a new phenomenon. For the last sev- eral years, people and organizations have attempted to convince companies and uni- versities to divest, or withdraw financially, from Israel, Israeli companies or any compa- ny that does business with Israel. Time after time, these campaigns have been opposed, Israel has continually shown its commitment to helping people around the world. Last year, when Iran suffered from a devastating earth- quake that killed over 40,000 people, Israel was among the first to offer assistance. Fol- lowing the 1998 bombings at U.S. embassies in Africa, Israeli medics were first on the scene to respond. On Sept. 11, Israel was the first to help her longtime ally in its time of need. As the Middle East's sole democracy, Israel struggles daily to give every citizen the best possible care. Unlike many of its neighbor- ing countries, Israel provides full civil rights and liberties to all of its citizens, regard- less of race, religion or gender. Israel is the only place in the Middle East where all of its citizens, including Arabs, are represented democratically in the national legislature and are provided with a fair and process-driven judicial system. In addition, Israel's Supreme Court is the only state court in the world that allows non-citizens to appeal to it. As one of America's strongest allies, Israel works every day for the safety of its people from terrorism. It has signed peace treaties with Jordan and Egypt, countries with whom Israel now has normalized rela- tions. The Palestinian government, howev- er, has consistently, to the detriment of their own people, refused to enter into a viable peace agreement with Israel as recently as 2000 at Camp David. think. Both are interested in both peoples living side by side in peace and harmony. Unlike SAFE, our actions have reflected this yearning for peace on campus. SAFE's method of advocacy is destructive to the campus community and the larger conflict. Every student organization certainly retains the right to express its views through cam- pus discourse. As University students, we must work together to inform the student body and campus community of our differ- ences, but also to express our common goal to see peace in the Middle East. In October of 2002, University of Michi- gan President Mary Sue Coleman clearly declared that this University will never divest from Israeli companies. In a pub- lic statement, she stated that our campus includes a diverse population of more than 4,000 international students and one of the largest Jewish- and Arab-American stu- dent bodies on any major university in the nation. The diversity of body and minds "provide(s) us with a unique opportunity and responsibility to study and debate, in an atmosphere of trust and mutual respect, the pressing issues facing our world." Let's concentrate on more constructive efforts of collaborative dialogue and discussion and drop the divestment issue once and for all on this campus. 4 a _ ___ _ _ __ _ _ __ __ -