4 - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, February 1, 2005
OPINION
Oro £kis.u Mg
JASON Z. PESICK
Editor in Chief
SUHAEL MOMIN
Si aSINGER
Editorial Page Editors
ALISON Go
Managing Editor
NOTABLE
QUOTABLE
''4These results are
not only disturbing;
they're dangerous."
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- Hodding Carter III, president of the John S.
and James L. Knight Foundation, referencing
recent study results showing high school students'
indifference toward the First Amendment, as
reported yesterday by The Associated Press.
Journalist for hire
SOWMYA KRISHNAMURTHY AUDI ALTERAM PARTEM
"Freedom of the press marriage. Ironically, he has often written AOL Time-Warner, Disney and Viacom, it
is limited to those who favorably about that very same marriage seems the bottom line always wins. These
own one." initiative in his weekly column, appearing companies are completely unhindered in
-- Henry Mencken in some 50 newspapers, since being con- printing and broadcasting, only the opin-
tracted. ions which they personally adhere to, and
oney talks and Not surprisingly, President Bush has they have no qualms about excluding dis-
in the last cou- washed his hands of any personal knowl- sent.
ple of weeks edge of wrongdoing, resorting to the Is it no surprise then that the FOX News
there have been at least always-popular scapegoat of ignorance. Channel touts anchor Bill O'Reilly as truth
three cases of prominent He has though, publicly denounced using with nary a liberal antithesis? The problem
journalists being bribed to support govern- bribery to further legislative programs trickles itself down to even lower rungs of
ment agendas in print and on television. and assured the public that Margaret the media as well. All too often, we hear
First there was ubiquitous conservative Spelling's new leadership in the education about college-endorsed newspapers or
pundit Armstrong Williams, a columnist department will ameliorate the problem. student groups being extinguished or cen-
and broadcaster, who admitted being paid Already, several federal committees are sored when content does not align with the
$241,000 by the Department of Education probing into whether the payments to the school's personal agenda.
in exchange for promoting the Republican journalists violated a U.S. ban on payola; Is there no asylum? Is selling out inevi-
No Child Left Behind Act. In hopes of bol- radio, television stations and individuals table? Perhaps I should just jump on the
stering support among black voters for the are required to disclose on-air if they have bandwagon now and join the ranks of
education reform, the Bush administration received compensation to promote a prod- professional journalist: For a reasonable
allegedly paid Williams to push the law uct or an issue. The punishment for future amount based upon a generous sliding
and encourage other black journalists to do perpetrators, if any, is unclear. scale, from now on, I will endorse any per-
the same by regularly commenting on the This notion of journalistic prostitution son, product or service. Ethics, scruples?
legislation and interviewing Secretary of - selling oneself sold to the highest bid- I don't know the meaning of them! Bad
Education Rod Paige on his nationally syn- der - is not reserved to conservatives press in the past? Forget about it! Need to
dicated television show. Williams has since or the government in power. Earlier this sweep something under the rug or desire a
apologized and lost his syndicated column, year, veteran CBS anchorman Dan Rather catchy pro-war ditty at a reasonable price?
but conveniently kept the payoff. caught much heat after reporting about No matter how large, small or crooked,
Part-time journalist and specialist on the validity of what were later discovered I will construct a custom-made article
marriage and family Maggie Gallagher fraudulent memos about Bush's military inconspicuously weaving propaganda and
was next. She has admitted to accepting history. Albeit Rather was not officially half-truths to generate instant hype.
payment of $21,000 from the Department induced by Democrats to report the story, And sadly, if history is any indication,
of Health and Human Services to specifi- but it is still shameful to see the truth apart from the remote possibility that the
cally find data and write a Crisis maga- misconstrued in an effort to obtain the big Bush administration catches on or the
zine article that would help plug the Bush scoop. American public makes a hue and cry
administration's multimillion-dollar mar- Journalism is theoretically protected about such misappropriation, business is
riage initiative. The most recent culprit is under a shield of free expression, but in sure to boom.
Michael McManus, who was hired by the a society where independent publications
Department of Health and Human Services and broadcast stations are steadily being Krishnamurthy can be reached
for $10,000 to help train counselors about consumed by multi-media juggernauts like atsowmyak@umich.edu.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Columnists misinterprets
Christian conservatism
TO THE DAILY:
I agreed whole-heartedly with Joel
Hoard's column (The Evolution of Creation-
ism, 01/27/2005) until he reached his final
sentence. I am a conservative Christian, a
Catholic to be precise. I am a conservative
in the truest sense of the word. Conserva-
tives conserve. I don't buy faddish clothes
that I'll only wear once, I turn off all unused
items that draw electricity, I use as little
paper as possible and recycle what paper I
do use. When I fish, I eat what I catch and
am extremely careful not to damage the fish
that are thrown back.
As a conservative, I believe in parents
playing a large role in their children's
education. I expect an honest day's labor
will be rewarded with an honest wage. I
expect people to have different opinions
and believe that our differing states were
created so that like-minded people could
live under one country, but live in differ-
ent manners. I loathe some bureaucrat in
Washington telling me how to raise my
children and wasting my hard-earned
money on frivolous waste. And I expect
that when my children leave to go off to
college, there will be someone willing to
work so that all parents need not believe
that children's lives are in danger. This
is why we have a military to defend our
children from threats such as the Soviet
and Nazi.
As a Christian, I believe in charity, for-
giveness, duty, faith and love. We should
provide safety nets for those who are unfor-
tunate, but we shouldn't allow those safety
nets to become permanent fixtures in an
individual's life.
As a conservative Christian, I realize
people have different beliefs than mine on
nearly every subject, but I hold to a strict
code of behavior. People are responsible for
their own actions. Yes, there are mitigat-
ing circumstances for any action, but in the
end, we must fess up our involvement when
we do something wrong. I know my beliefs
heritage, but I don't flaunt it.
I don't know what you think a conservative
Christian is, but if you look across America,
you will find the conservative Christian is
much more like the one I have described and
not like the one you imagine. Conservative
Christians across America are not stubborn,
hard-headed religious zealots bent on forc-
ing their beliefs on others. I believe the best
examples of conservative Christian is the
Amish, and you would be a fool to think
they force their beliefs on anyone.
If you meant to talk about zealots, then
state zealots, don't'hide behind the catch
phrase "conservative Christian." What you
are doing is surmountable to the right-wing
extremists who have bastardized the word
liberal.
Some people would claim that you are a
liberal for what you wrote, nothing could be
further from the truth. To be a liberal, you
must be tolerant and open minded toward
everyone, even the people who hold beliefs
you loathe. A wise man once said, "I may
not like what you have to say, but I'll fight
for your right to say it." An even wiser man
taught that when someone insults you, the
best course of action is to politely accept the
insult and carry on, all the while praying
for that person's soul.
As a conservative Christian, I would be
flattered if someone in good faith
called me a liberal.
Matthew Buszek
LSA junior
North Quad initiative a
commendable first step
TO THE DAILY:
During this past fall semester, the Uni-
versity experienced its largest incom-
ing freshman class. This increase will
exacerbate the already strained housing
problems at University of Michigan and
within Ann Arbor. The University's resi-
dence halls can currently accommodate
about 40 percent of undergraduates, yet
students increasingly want to live in cam-
pus housing when the option is available.
-t- .9 e~o ;a. ro ...t
as well as introduce a mixed academic and
residential space that will ensure the vital-
ity of the student body. /
Most importantly, this initiative will
increase the supply of University-owned
housing in the heart of the city. This idea
is in line with the desires of the Down-
town Residential.Task Force, which aims
to increase density in downtown Ann
Arbor. Moreover, with an increase in stu-
dents and members of the academic com-
munity in the area around State Street,
businesses will enjoy an increase in patron-
age.
This initiative is a great opportunity for
the University to take a first step toward
ensuring the availability and quality of
student housing in Ann Arbor. It should
not, however, be seen as the ultimate solu-
tion to housing problems at the University
and in Ann Arbor. While we applaud the
University for its decision, much more
still needs to be accomplished to ensure
that the University of Michigan continues
its commitment to excellence-both aca-
demically and as a member of the Ann
Arbor community.
Chris Flack
LSA junior
Media Coordinator, Students for PIRGIM
Joe Cialdella
LSA freshman
Member of Students for PIRGIM
Brittany Fox
LSA senior
Chair, MSA External Relations Committee
Sharon Graham
LSA senior
Chair, MSA Environmental
Issues Commission
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