4 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, December 2, 2005 OPINION Cbe £irbittauu: &dIJ 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 He couldn't be dead fast enough for me. I want him dead. I want him dead now." - Susan Schorpen, the mother of a mur- dered child, on a Florida jury's decision to sentence her daughter's killer to death, as reported yesterday by CNN.com. Abraham Lincoln Coffee Singapore Recent reports indicate the government hired an entity called the Lincoln Group to place pro-U.S. articles in Iraqi newspapers. Some- where, Honest Abe is ashamed. 0 THE THUMBS HAVE IT Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily's editorial board. All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their author. Brain imaging data released this week show that caffeine improves short-term memory. Does this make coffee the academic equiva- lent of steroids? Asia's harshest city-state executes an Aus- tralian for drug trafficking. No chewing gum, no heroin - no fun at all. My atheist president JESSE SINGAL S'EM THiE TlDE" want me an athe- ist president. He's sweaty and nervous and has trouble sleeping because he's so con- cerned about, well, everything. Because he laughs off the idea of a higher power calling the shots, he's a details maniac - if he and his staff don't handle this or that, who will? The only thing keeping America going, he realizes, is Americans. He has little faith in anything except people and even then only in those who have earned it. Although he exudes confidence when it's necessary to do so, those who know him best understand that he can't shut off his brain. Terrorism. The environment. Health care. There's simply too much to handle in four years for him to even think about a respite. So he skips vacations and gets four hours of sleep a night and has to be coerced by his staff to even take a weekend at Camp David. I want me a wonk president. He can neither throw nor catch a football, as he was too busy reading to have developed those skills during his formative years. He's not someone you'd want to crack a beer with at a barbeque, as his conversational habits tend toward the soporific. He has little to say about American Idol but will have you begging off dessert so as to avoid another 20 minutes of his extensive theories on the economies of Southeast Asia. I want me a humble president. He's aware that there will always be some topic or other for which it would be best to bring in an outside expert. So he does so rather often, and when the expert arrives, some advisor to the president pulls him aside, hands him a cup of coffee and says, "You're going to need this." These meetings can last for hours and hours, the president barely saying a word while tak- ing notes at a preternatural rate, writing and highlighting and underlining. And by the time the expert thinks he is done brief- ing the president, the president has come up with several dozen questions. Because questions are what this president is all about. How? When? And his personal favorite: Why? He is, more than anything else, a "why" president. He realizes that tradition and habit and common prac- tice are crutches, not virtues, and he's not afraid to question what most people take for granted. He's not afraid to apply this scru- tiny to himself, either; if someone points out something that he could do better, he will gladly accept the criticism in the name of progress and self-improvement. I want me an honest president. He's tired of the platitudes and clich6s of elected office. When something com- plicated happens, he explains to the people that it's complicated. He's not a good/evil, black/white, us/them sort of president. He sees the shades of grey that exist every- where and realizes that the American peo- ple are smart enough to accept them. To him, acknowledging nuance is not a sign of weakness or indecision, but rather a neces- sary result of engaging in a world fueled by complexity. There are no easy answers for this presi- dent; every issue requires its share of thoughtful deliberation and consultation. His doors are open to anyone hoping to offer a suggestion, regardless of his politi- cal party. He judges others in Washington based not on which side of the aisle they sit, but rather on their intelligence, inno- vation and ability to positively impact the country. I want me an angry president. He's idealistic and doesn't see the need to hide it. "The wrong people control the important things," he repeats to friends, families and advisors. He sees the impact of money in Washington and keeps a very close eye on those in office who seem to be legislating with an eye toward their wallets. When he finds such officials, he calls them out. He can't hear the phrase "K Street" without getting nauseous. I want me a flexible president. He came into the White House with cer- tain beliefs, some of which have held up. Others, however, have been made obsolete by all the new information he has at his disposal, so his opinions on certain issues have changed. He understands that con- viction is only a desirable trait when it is thrown behind ideas that make sense, and because of this he's come to see belief as a malleable, plastic thing that has to adapt to the facts, rather than vice-versa. Is it 2008 yet? 0 0 Singal can be reached at jsingal@umich.edu. VIEWPOINT America's worst addiction BY JOHN STIGLICH II - firm behavior responds to consumer incentives to consumers to purchase hybrid demand. However, a major drop in gaso- vehicles or vehicles that meet certain fuel Last month, syndicated columnist Charles line prices could potentially shift consumer efficiency standards. Perhaps, if the profits Krauthammer opined in favor of a nation- demand back toward inefficient vehicles. We are large enough, the government can sup- wide price floor on the pump price of a gal- need only analyze the gas shortages of the plement cuts in Social Security and Medi- lon of gasoline. Krauthammer's plan runs late 1970s and subsequent oil supply boom care taxes to provide consumers with more counter to a Wall Street Journal/NBC News thereafter to learn how consumer demand disposable income or increase funding for poll that found 59 percent of Americans for gasoline-efficient vehicles drops with the education. The possibilities are endless. want Congress to enact a cap on the pump price of gasoline. Most importantly, a price floor on gaso- price of gasoline. As a free-market Rea- As Krauthammer reasons, a price floor line combined with easing regulations to ganite, price caps and price floors worry me on gasoline would prevent such a reversal increase oil supply will kick America's because government regulation of the free in demand. By imposing a price floor, the addiction for oil. We should call on Presi- market is often dangerous and keeps Ameri- government sets a price-that gasoline can- dent Bush and Congress to lead the charge cans in their cycle of bad habits. However, not fall beneath. Should the pump price fall for energy independence and American I believe energy independence is the new beneath the price floor, the government ingenuity. American energy independence frontier of American ingenuity and given its taxes gasoline to a price above the floor. will protect the U.S. economy from fluc- importance, the federal government should For the government to profit more from this tuations in oil prices and turn the tables enact a price floor on gasoline. price floor, it should permit oil exploration on Organization of Petroleum Export- Empirical evidence shows that as the and drilling in ANWR and the continental ing Countries and the Middle East, as we price of gasoline rose, consumer demand for shelf. It should also allow for construction could potentially turn into a net oil exporter gas-guzzling SUVs and trucks dropped and of new oil refineries in the United States. instead of a net oil importer. I just wonder demand for gas-efficient hybrid vehicles and The increased supply of domestic oil will if any politician has the temerity to stand compact cars increased. This shift in demand decrease the price of gasoline at the pump up against popular opinion and explain why led Toyota to announce its goal of selling 1 and allow for greater tax revenues. The paying more for a relatively inelastic good million hybrid cars a year by 2010. By 2012, government can then use its revenue to is beneficial to America's future. J.D. Power and Associates estimates hybrids subsidize research and development of will account for 4.1 percent of all sales. This alternative fuels and energy-efficient trans- Stiglich is an LSA junior and a member of is conclusive evidence the free market works portation. It can offer tax rebates and tax the Daily's Editorial Board. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 0 0 0 Editorial Board Members: Amy Anspach, Andrew Bielak, Reggie Brown, Gabrielle DAngelo, John Davis, Whitney Dibo, Milly Dick, Sara Eber, Jesse Forester, Mara Gay,Jared Goldberg, Ashwin Jagannathan, Theresa Kennelly, Mark Kuehn, Will Kerridge, Frank Man- ley, Kirsty McNamara, Rajiv Prabhakar, Matt Rose, David Russell, Katherine Seid, Brian Slade, John Stiglich, Imran Syed, Ben Taylor, Jessica Teng. CARTOON TO THE EDITOR Chris.Queenin LSA senior 'U' can't ignore Comp Studies Program To THE DAILY: As a flagship university for championing affir- mative action, I am appalled by the treatment of lecturers in the Comprehensive Studies Program. This is a central program for enabling students from diverse backgrounds to "fit" at the Uni- versity. Without this program the attrition rates for black students would certainly increase. It is through such programs that the University's true commitment to affirmative action is actualized. Several lecturers who also hold positions in aca- paid for the teaching they do during the Bridge Program. To further the abuse and disrespect of the advi- sors, the CSP administration decided to terminate all advisors' teaching appointments for the winter by eliminating the CSP 100 course. This course has been offered for more than 30 years. This act can only be interpreted as retaliation toward the advisors for exercising their right to grieve unfair employment practices. The CSP 100 seminar that the advisors teach is highly specialized and pre- scribed to meet the individual needs of students. In the seminar, students are exposed to problem- solving paradigms in humanities, social sciences and natural sciences. This course is intense and Cartoonist isn't the one simpli flying affirmative action TO THE DAILY: I thoroughly enjoyed Lisa Bakale-Wise's lettei to the editor (Cartoonist oversimplifies role of affirma- tive action, misses many relevant issues, 12/01/2005) I especially thought she made good points wher she said, "Well, obviously true! Unless, of course he has family members who attended the Univer- sity" (No non-white people have alumni ties to the University.), "decides to go into nursing" (No non- white males go into nursing.), "has a rich fathei Delwith your bmose n your ids, not ti students. We valeouar money too. i i I