4A - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, September 22, 2005 OPINION Rhe irl 'cgttn ttil JASON Z. PESICK Editor in Chief SUHAEL MOMIN SAM SINGER Editorial Page Editors ALISON GO Managing Editor EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS AT THE UNIvERSITY OF MICHIGAN SINCE 1890 420 MAYNARD STREET ANN ARBOR, MI 48109 tothedaily@michigandaily.com NOTABLE QUOTABLE We got to be ready for the worst." - President Bush, commenting on preparations for Hurricane Rita currently underway in Texas, as reported yesterday by The Associated Press. 4 4. -.4-... 4', - . - ..' ALEXANDER HONKALA Fi1D CjuMBUCKET . 'at" ; >''.4 Knee-jerking continues ... SOWMYA KRISHNAMURTHY AUDI ALTERAMNPARTEM here is nothing In the aftermath of Sept. 11, the Big ports to minimize traveler inconvenience quite like Foot- House and numerous other college sta- and wait time. Among these new ideas, are ball Saturday at diums have implemented more stringent reducing pat-downs and shoe removal and Michigan, the exhila- security procedures. There is absolutely exempting certain passengers like mem- ration of the crowd nothing wrong with increasing fan safety, bers of Congress, airline pilots and Cabi- and unifying pride in but one has to wonder: Just how will the net members from checks. The memo also being a Wolverine. prohibition of say, flasks and camcorders dramatically broadens the nature of allow- Or so I've heard. As deter terrorism? able items on a flight to include ice picks, someone with a gen- My experience seems to echo the much throwing stars and bows and arrows. Some eral disinterest in all larger problem of misplaced national secu- argue that passengers equipped with exotic things athletic, I have rity efforts. In certain aspects, there is weapons could help fend off attackers, but never really immersed myself in the col- a rigidity - anything and everything is given that mundane box cutters took down lege football culture, and regrettably, felt scrutinized and labeled as a conduit for four airliners, is it really smart to give ter- that I was always missing something. In terror, from the FBI monitoring groups rorists access to bonafide weapons? In hopes of changing that, I decided to sacri- like BAMN to state officials using an anti- defense of TSA, these ideas have not been fice my penchant for sleeping in and finally terrorism law to bust juvenile violence in implemented - but the fact that they could purchased season tickets this year. I was schools. Ironically, in areas most vulner- even make it on the table is disturbing. beyond excited about our first home game able to future attacks, caution is slow to Like most things in our nation, vigilance against Northern Illinois. My tickets were come or dissipating altogether. It took the is a double standard. At times, we espouse so close to the action, I had been told that summer terrorist bombings in London to a McCarthyesque vision and embrace Big I would probably be able to feel the sweat catalyze New York City into heightening Brother in all facets of public life. But it's coming off the players. security for its immensely vulnerable sub- only a matter of time until attention shifts I never got hit with any perspiration, nor way network. Finally, the Metropolitan and we relapse into old habits, which got us did I even get to see the game. At the gates, I Transportation Authority has pledged to into trouble to begin with. Neither side of was refused entry because my handbag was install a substantial number of surveillance the gamut is correct. The war on terrorism "too large" and therefore posed a security cameras and motion sensor detectors, albeit must be ongoing, like terrorism itself; there hazard. Even after voluntarily opening the over the next three years. is no quick-fix cure. Instead of pointing fin- bag - which was a standard-sized purse, New York City is springing into action gers superfluously - or worse - after the by the way - and emptying out the con- while, nationally, the Transportation Secu- fact, we must be committed to more com- tents, the officials would not budge. As you rity Administration could be cutting back. mon-sense security. can probably imagine, enjoying the game Just last month, The Washington Post pub- from my 27-inch television did not provide lished a memo by the TSA that proposes Krishnamurthy can be reached at quite the experience I had hoped for. lowering the screening standards at air- sowmyak@umich.edu. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR #I In defense of the Pledge Pledge of Allegiance not a constitutional threat oday, as was the case in,-1954 and 1776, a Judeo-Chris- tian philosophy - not reli- gion -- serves as the foundation of American rights. Our Founding Fathers asserted in their Declara- tion of Independence from Eng- land that, "We are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights." Men and women far greater than any of us assured King George III that man's rights do not derive from a King, the judiciary or the government but rather from God and recognizing that philosophy in the Pledge of Allegiance does not establish a national religion. Secular progressives base their argument for a metaphorical "wall" between church and state on Justice Hugo Black's majority opinion in Everson v. Board of Education. I bet very few of you reading this know Black's opinion in Everson actually upheld the reimbursal of parochial student bus fees with government money. Black admitted to his biog- rapher, Robert Newman, that he thwarted the majority from within because he knew colleague Justice Jackson's opinion would have been more favorable to religious inter- ests. Black's opinion set a marker by which his successors could fur- ther separate church from state under the principle of stare decisis - adherence to precedent. In his opinion, Black alluded to a letter from President Thomas Jef- ferson to Baptist ministers explain- ing why Jefferson did not call for national days of fasting or thanks- giving. Jefferson thought govern- ment should not instruct man on how to give thanks to his God and there- fore a "wall" exists between church and government regulation of it. If you buy into the secular progressive argument, then Jefferson was either naive or a hypocrite because two days after writing his infamous let- ter he attended religious services in the House of Representatives. Now we are at the point in our history when Michael Newdow - a man ordained in the Universal Life church, which "espouses the reli- gious philosophy that the true and eternal bonds of righteousness and virtue stem from reason rather than mythology," wants his beliefs thrust on society through the courts. New- dow admitted to Newsweek in 2002 that "In God We Trust" on our national currency originally lit his fire. However, Newdow concluded the Pledge of Allegiance in pub- lic classrooms was an easier target from a legal standpoint. Discour- aged but not defeated by the U.S. Supreme Court's original decision, Newdow found three atheist couples and litigated on their behalf. The real target in the secular pro- gressive's crusade is not a symbolic pledge or Ten Commandments but rather the Judeo-Christian philoso- phy inherent in our country's creed. Imbedded within this philosophy is a profound sense of right and wrong that secular progressives loathe. They do not want any judgments made about any behavior, and for the American people to accept their belief requires a re-writing of histo- ry George Orwell could not fathom. Secularists constantly plead, "Don't force your beliefs onto me," yet they ask the courts to force theirs onto you. I can just hear our Found- ing Fathers spinning in their graves. Can you? John Stiglitch is an LSA junior. He can be reached at jcsgolf@umich.edu. Editorial page not consistent on role of religion in schools TO THE DAILY: As I was reading the Daily, I couldn't help but notice the vast change in the Dai- ly's editorial opinion from one day to the next. Specifically, your editorials (Retiring the Pledge (09/19/2005) and Making Space (09/20/2005) appear to be polar opposites. To summarize, in Retiring the Pledge you stated that the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance were an implicit gov- ernment endorsement of religion and that the addition of the phrase in the 1950s was a congressional attempt to make the United States more Christian. You then went on to interpret the First Amendment to state that no public school could make the pledge a part of its schedule and that doing so would be unconstitutional. Although I do not agree with this interpretation of the First Amend- ment, I will admit that it is self-consistent. I was suprised the very next day when I saw your argument that the University should create additional prayer rooms in its buildings, with the main purpose of these rooms being for Muslim students to engage in their daily prayers. I have to ask: Wouldn't a government-funded university setting aside space and public money for prayer rooms be a government endorsement of religion and thus unconstitutional by your logic? Did the editorial board make a sudden shift in opinion and arrive at the conclusion that government endorsement of religion is acceptable, or does the editorial board favor government endorsement of some religions over others? Scott Hartshorn Rackham Every Three Weekly joke off color, out of context TO THE DAILY: I want to say first and foremost that this is not a call for censorship of any kind. The freedom to print whatever the staff feel is necessary is something enjoyed by all campus publications, and that's part of what makes them some of the best around. I should also mention that I write for the Gargoyle Humor Magazine, but if you accuse me of bias, you'd be wrong. I read the Every Three Weekly reg- ularly, and normally it's pretty funny. going to make fun of the Bush administra- tion, you need to be willing to stick it to the Democrats as well. Otherwise you're just espousing rhetoric. The problem with this "Free Shit" gag is that it's tasteless, and it's tasteless because it has no context. The joke is not making fun of anything except disas- ter and human suffering. In reality, this "Free Shit" joke is simply an invitation for controversy. Much in the same way a small child can scream simply for attention. So "ha-ha", you're probably getting quite a bit of mail on this one. Too bad it's from a sophomoric publicity stunt and not from actual social commentary. Way to go. Max Eddy LSA sophomore Gaza pullout did not end Israeli occupation TO THE DAILY: Last Thursday, a group of passionate activ- ists got together to spread the word about their campaigns at MPowered and, though we did not receive the attendance we had expected, there was a lot of good dialogue that took place. The description of the attending groups by the Daily (Freshman turnout at activists' ini- tiation event disappoints, 09/16/2005) was fairly accurate except when it claimed that "Israel no longer occupies the Gaza Strip." The disengagement is an end to the need for the Israeli army to directly engage with the civilian Palestinian population on a daily basis. It is not an end to the occupation. Just because there are no settlers present does not remove the title of occupation. Citizens of Gaza are still liv- ing under some of the worst conditions in the world, with all their borders, airspace and ports still controlled by the Israeli military, imprison- ing more than I million residents. Because the borders of Gaza are either controlled by Israel or must meet Israeli mili- tary "standards," because thesairspace is still under foreign control, because no trade can occur without the consent of the Israeli mili- tary (which often is not given for no apparent reason), the Gaza strip is still occupied. We must continue to include the Gaza strip in our discussions on divestment and Israeli human rights violations. Rama A. Salhi The letter writer is an LSA senior dnd president of Students Allied for Freedom and Equality. Fverv Three WeekJ oe for students wanting the easy way out. Yet Momin's column fails to even examine the benefits of a proposed change.in the require- ment. It reeks of an ignorance of the benefits of learning different types of languages concurrently and instead relies upon the stereotype that all one knows how to do after learning two semesters of a language is to ask where the bathroom is. All I can provide in rebuttal is my own experi- ence, having studied two very different languages, Spanish and ancient Greek. But this study has been one that is invaluable and unmatched throughout my college education. There are benefits to learn- ing a practical skill such as conversational Span- ish, but studying contrasting languages has been a far more engaging experience. The study of ancient Greek and the roots of Western culture is an exploration far beyond the acquisition of a spe- cific skill. Translating seminal texts such as Plato's Republic or the Bible after two semesters of Greek has been an unparalleled intellectual exercise and one of the few instances that could be defined as "critical thinking." At a world-class institution such as the Uni- versity, it seems it would be more academically appropriate to examine whether a proposal can benefit those who wish to pursue their educational goals and excel. Instead, I was disappointed to see the blatant pessimism directed toward our student body's apparent inclination to abuse the proposal. However, it speaks well of Momin that he rec- ognizes the ultimate goals of the foreign language requirement. It is imperative that we look to the principles that guide the University for direction in this matter. Thankfully, University President Mary Sue Coleman outlined four principles at the April 2004 meeting with the University Board of Regents for the benefit of the student body. She concluded that the University "will create greater access to Michigan's academic quality." By sup- porting the new language proposal, we will we have the opportunity to reach that goal. Matt Hanley LSA senior LETTERS POLICY The Michigan Daily welcomes letters from all of its readers. Letters from Univer- sity students, faculty, staff and administra- tors will be given priority over others. Letters should include the writer's name, college and school year or other University affiliation. The Daily will not print any let- ter containing statements that cannot be verified. Letters should be kept to approximately 300 words. The Michigan Daily reserves the "In Dissent" opinions do not reflect the views of the Daily's editorial board. They are solely the views of the author. I I