4A - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, October 27, 2005 O PINION
ALEXANDER HONKALA TH. LiFi 1>iCUMUCktEt
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JASON Z. PESICK SUHAEL MOMIN ALISON GO
Editor in Chief Editorial Page Editors Managing Editor
EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS AT
THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN SINCE 1890",
420 MAYNARD STREET Do I think I
.1 M ~~~A N N A R B O R , M I1 4 8 1 0 9 w s b r h s w y
tothedaily@michigandaily comW Nor
Too much too soon? ~
- WNBA star Sheryl Swoopes, discussing her
Need for B-schoolj renovation questionable now-public homosexuality with ESPN The
q Magazine, as reported yesterday by CNN.com.
rhe.Univerity Board of turing-based economy by .doubling.
Reetssapproval of the the number of college graduates in.....
pa the new Ross School the state.Amr
of B~usiness last Friday has shed light In addition to pressuring the stateop n c l mto u d ra u te
.n th nvest' c rti ned .rto prioritize higher education, Uni-. ERIC JACKSON LET's REVIEW THE FA( Ts
more funding. The $145 millon versity.President Mary Sue Cole-
pahl crednbuadindgrepaetemach.rutto alntie hereforts natios
marnly using funds from last year's and emphasize the continuous apptroach- i at the beginning of my undergraduate career that at the University, but based on what I could gleam
generous donation by alum Stephen impor tance of higher e duc ation, fast prah-studying human behavior was going to dramatical- from the LSA website, it appears similar. The
Ross. Although the new building is. Alumni should be encouraged to ing, and I come bearing ly shape how I viewed the world, how I interacted quantitative reasoning requirement sounds lovely,
hardly the most essential addition make donations to the g eneral fund, advice. It cuts across col- with people and how I behaved. But even though but a formal course in statistics is merely one of
to campus, the University. should be allowing the University to fund pro- leges and concentrations, I can tell you a lot about how people behave in a a number of courses that can satisfy this require-
grateful for Ross's gift. A ble alumni .grams and University initiatives that BSs to BAs to BGSs. variety of laboratory and even naturalistic settings, ment. I doubt many people would choose it over a
and lawmakers must recognize the are .most .in need. Coleman should I suspect you'll dislike it is rare that my psychological education shapes geoscience course.
importance of investing in higher also emphasize donations to finan.. it, but here goes: if you my day-to-day opinions or helps me to make an I am entirely aware that there are only so
education as Ross has and step up to cial-aid programs like M-PACT haven't taken a course informed decision. My guess is that students in many courses that you can cram in to a bachelor's
provide the University with the fund-. that provide need-based assistance in statistics yet, make many other disciplines would say the same. degree, and asking for two statistics classes as a
ing it needs..... d directly help studentsfrom low room for one. And more Shouldn't we be learning how to make informed core requirement is pretty unrealistic. Asking
The new building will be a great and middle-income families afford importantly, if you have taken an introductory sta- decisions outside of labs and lecture halls? How to for one, though, is reasonable and in my opinion
resorceforB--choo stdens, ut t a ollg eeduatio. Aumn doa..tistics course, then make room for a second, more weigh evidence and interpret the flood of infor- entirely worthwhile. So how can we make the one
is disappointing to see the rest of the tions will best help the University . advanced one. mation on television, on the web ... in student statistics course at the university level go further?
Univrsiy sffe frm dasti fud- ainainitsqualty nd nterit inIf someone had told me that during my under- newspapers, even. My past columns have tipped For starters, we can emphasize statistics more
Uiiriysfe rmdati ud ananisqaiy ad negiy 1n
ing cuts..Con .istent reductions in the face of state cuts if the Univer. graduate years, I would have asked them just my hand, but I clearly think the answer is yes, and in high school. There's no reason why calculus
state appropriations have forced the sity has the discretion to put them which circle of hell they get their advice from. And statistics, eternally chagrined, is a path to enlight- should be the end-all, be-all of high school math-
University to hire fewer. professors to the most, effective use. then I would have found a new advisor. For what- ened decision making. ematics, especially because statistics is going to
and increase class sizes. Although Although the state of higher edu- ever reason, there's something inherently aversive On the bright side, I think that most under- be much more useful to most of these students
the boost to the Business School's cation in Michigan faces. far more about the idea of taking a course in statistics. graduates encounter a statistics course somewhere in the long run. High school students should still
image may trickle down to the Uni-.pressing issues than the state of the Maybe numbers in general just turn people off, along the road to a bachelor's degree. But that have the option to take calculus, and those who are
versity, it will not even begin to fix University's -School facilities, Ross but even among the numerical disciplines statistics first course isn't really enough - mostly spent planning to study engineering or physics would do
the larger, more pressing problems. .has the right idea in prioritizing high- inhabits a special realm of dislike. Calculus is no learning formulas and the necessary software. well to take lots of calculus as early as possible.
Governor Granholm and state er education, and the state andother less arduous than statistics, but is somehow more Introductory statistics produces students with the But everyone else should have the option to take
legislators need to fund higher alumni should follow his lead. Nev. admirable. It's the math of Newton, after all. As knowledge that some findings are significant and introductory statistics, and should be strongly
education as promised. This year, ertheless, justifying the construction for statistics ... well, it famously lives somewhere others aren't, and perhaps the ability to figure that encouraged to enroll. This foundational knowl-
average tuition at Michigan's public of an opulent new building is difficult amidst lies and damned lies, out using some program or other. A good start but, edge could be bootstrapped by universities, mak-
universities increased by the third- when, by the rest of the University's But for all its bad connotations, statistics has a like the introductory course in a new language, not ing a student's one University course in statistics
highest rate in the nation - a direct standards, the current building hardly rather rare, quite valuable quality: external valid- really much more than a primer. much more than a introduction.
result of the state's neglect of uni- seems worthy of the wrecking ball. It ity, meaning that it is useful even outside the Unfortunately, this first course is commonly Oh, won't the University be surprised when sta-
versities. The only way universities is unfortunate that the new building boundaries of the ivory tower. also the last; most area requirements entail only tistics courses in the winter term are overflowing
can cope with these substantial cuts could not be located eisewhere and Pause there for a moment: useful outside of the that initial course and sometimes not even that. with students (some silently cursing my name)?
is to choose between raising tuition its predecessor spared. The College classroom.Given that most ofus will spend four or At the University of Arkansas, where I did my Almost as surprised as you will be two or three
and lowering academic quality. The of Literature, Science, and the Arts five years at a university and then 50 years or more undergraduate work, statistics cannot satisfy the years hence, when it turns out that a knowledge of
state' failure to sufficiently fund would likely be more than happy to somewhere else, anything that's going to inform mathematics core requirement for a bachelor's probability theory and effect sizes is not just use-
higher education runs in direct con- take the former building off the B-~ those other 50 plus years is worth investigating degree (only college algebra, finite mathematics, ful, but profoundly useful.
trast to Granholm's goal to bolster School's hands - it might even save Considering that I've spent the past five years and calculus can). The statistics course that I took ___________________
Michigan's floundering manufac- on demolition costs. studying psychology, I find it more than a little was a degree requirement for my major and was a Jackson can be reached at
ironic that my recommendation for a course with necessarily shallow foundation. edjacks@umich.edu.
A date to remember ...VIEWPOINT
JFK's memory lives on through students Silence and armbands
I n the middle of the night after ted to international humanitarian
I days of marathon campaigning, engagement. BY ALEx Moirr wrestle her purse away. It manifests itself every the University every day since I arrived on this
IS Sen. John F. Kennedy of Mas- For many students at the Univer- time the first day of my political science classes campus. And I am mad as hell that I even had
sachusetts climbed the steps of. the.. sityPeaceCorpsseems anideawistic Silence. It is imposed on minorities every time on when study groups are assigned and no one is to sit down, write this viewpoint and explain the
Michigan Union and made the first anachronism, a way for Residential a hate crime occurs. It is imposed on students of interested in being in a study group with any of obvious for the countless time.
mention of a public service program College students and co-op dwellers color every time an act of racism occurs. Students the black students. It manifests itself in the resi- At some point as a campus and as a nation we
- an effort "far greater than we have to assuage their liberal guilt by plant of color willbe permanently silenced if affirmative dence halls whenever a resident advisor neglects are going to have to face the reality that has been
ever made in the past" - that would ing trees and teaching classes. But the action is taken away from the state of Michigan. to take cultural or economic factors into account right in front of us for all this time. Racism does
eventually become the Peace Corps..ltb .mission of the.Corps is just as reLevant Today I will be taking control of my own voice when scheduling events for his residents. Students exist, and life is harder for students and people
Today, 45 years after Kennedy first today - to all students - as it was by silencing myself.Ifyoulook around the campus, of color have to worry about discrimination from of color everywhere. If you need proof, just look
made public his vision, Peace Corps almost a half century ago. Especially you'll notice many students of color and women their professors during the day and from their at the news reports from New Orleans that have
volunteers, veterans and officials will for today's student, who is under great wearing gags in their classes. They are wearing peers out of the classroom at any other time. countless accounts of black people being shot
gather totelebrate his speech on the pressure to quickly secure a wel-pay_ this gag in honor of National Take Affirmative Time after time I am told stories of students by the very people that were supposed to save
ver y ;steps upon whic hestod. hisingj°baftr1gadutio, te e cin a.Te assmb.z
rnj t d t e Action Day. The gags symbolize the silence that having to defend their minority scholarships and them and the negligence that caused thousands
anniversary is. a momentoustribute.Corps offers an alternative route, an is imposed on students of color and women every fellowships and the necessity of their existence to of deaths of people of color. If you want to look
to the power of idealism, a reminder.unparalleled opportunity to experi- day, and they also symbolize our own power in the same white students that just finished describ- closer to home, go to a Detroit Public School.
to us all that once again. "the torch encea world otherwise hidden while withholding our voices. ing their latest vacation in Europe or the opportu- Observe how the majority of them haven't had
h beepassed aewgeneratin osmti gwrthwhIn writing this article about affirmative action nities they were afforded in high school to study new science or computer equipment in years.
of Americans" - to us.lA variety of programs that mimic and the racism that pervades this campus, I can for the SAT/ACT. The factors that necessitate Observe how many of them don't even have
Beyond being historically signifi-the corps's structure a ney only speak from my own individual experience. the existence of affirmative action are not only the resources to provide advanced placement
cant it is more than appropriate that ing mission have taken shape, and I a black woman who is in her third year at the economic, but cultural. Fourth- and fifth-genera- classes or SAT/ACT preparation. Then go to
this anniversary celebration is being today's student looking to take time University. I have worked tirelessly on this campus tion college students or students raised in homes the suburbs and check out the state-of-the-art
held on the steps .ofthe.Union; each off before starting graduate schoolor with various coalitions, in efforts to defeat racism filled with literature or students that have traveled facilities that are available to the students that
year, the University graduates one a career will encounter a wide array and the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative. But today throughout the world have a considerable advan- attend those public schools, (I assume I don't
of the country's largest delegations of service opportunities. Amecorps I am not speaking for those various coalitions or tage over students who do not have access to those even have to mention the resources the private
of Peace Corps volunteers. St4dens and Teach for Americatwogovern- organizations, I am speaking for myself. things, regardless of their socio-economic status. schools have for their students.)
have dedicated themselves to creat- ment-sponsored organizations that There is a lot of animosity on this campus Today you will also see numerous conserva- It's time that we start being honest with our-
ing a better world than they inherited have applied the corps's model on toward affirmative action. The argument usually tive students protesting all of the pro-affirmative selves and stop walking around in a day dream
and have returned home changed a domestic level, have been tremen. is put forth that racism no longer exists, that the action programming going on around campus. believing this country has no racial problems
individuals. dously successful. Civil Rights Movement made great strides and You will see their posters around campus that whatsoever. One day I hope that as a nation, as a
Yet the Peace Corps alone cannot Kennedy's election ;ushered in maybe affirmative action was necessary then, say "defend civil rights"' and that affirmative people, as a campus and as a community, we will
change. the..world.t will take more an erao f idealism - his words but that is no longer the case. However, the com- action is "reverse discrimination." Honestly? I finally get over the racism and the denial of racism
than the roughly 8, I volunteers launched America's space program mon misunderstanding that is made is that racism am sick of this arrogant notion that the right to inside each and every one of us that has oppressed
currently scattered across the conti- and helped open the doors of higher is this huge monster that manifests itself only in higher education is the sole civil right of wealthy people of color since the inception of this coun-
nents. But what these volunteers can education to all, regardless of race. lynchings and segregated bathrooms. What few white students. I am sick of having to hear sto- try. One day I hope that education will be not only
do - and manage to do well - is At home and abroad, he thought that refuse to acknowledge is that racism is subtle and ries from my peers about being called a nigger seen as, but also manifested as the right of every
offer help and1expertisewhen it is men could solve;man-made prob- prevalent. It manifests itself every time I walk into as they walk to class, about being harassed by citizen in this country.
needed lems of poverty and war that "no an elevator and the young white woman twice my the Ann Arbor Police Department or being
Moreover, these volunteers serve problem of human destiny is beyond size clutches her purse in fear that I will suddenly treated like an idiot by a professor. I've grown Moffett is an LSA junior and vice vresident of the
as unofficial ambassadors, engag- human beings." The Peace Crp is morph into someone bigger than she who could sick of explaining why I deserve to be here at University's hapter of the NAACP.
ing in grassroots diplosmacythrough a lasting.testament to that vision; a
work at the community level. At a program that can answer Kennedy's LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
time when America's international call to "bear the burden of a long
re uta tions sagging, Peceh orps eentwiegt s ggle aanthycorn Student searches for insight lege students. Such aid has helped the chil- considering 39 percent of students already
volunteerreareminertht t ml n enemiesof man: tyranny, povu
some level America is still commit- ,erty, disease and war itself." into meaning of cartoon dren of our country, who may not otherwise graduate with unmanageable debt. I urge any-
have had the opportunity or means to attend one who is concerned about this to call his
To THE DAILY: school, gain access to higher education and congressman and urge them not to support
Editorial Board Members: Amy Anspach, Reggie Brown, Amanda Burns, I was wondering if someone could explain become working, educated members of our this legislation.
John Davis, Whitney Dibo, Milly Dick, Sara Eber, Jesse Forester, Mara Gay, Eric Jack' Tuesdays cartoon on the opinion page (The Mich- society. Yet, as part of the Budget Reconcil- Kate Mitroka
son, Ashwin Jagannathan, Theresa Kennelly, Will Kerridge, Rajiv Prabhakar, Matt Rose, igan Daly 10/24/2005) (with the bikes and the iation, Congress is nevertheless proposing LSA freshman
David Russell, Brian Slade, John Stiglich, lmran Syed, Ben Taylor. tan D the2b2k0s (wi the Cres s
tank). Do the bikes and the tank represent any- the largest cut (at least $9 billion) to federal ____________________