4 - Tuesday, December 12, 2006 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com EL74 Midligan 3atilV Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. ~~413 E. Huron St. Ann Arbor, MI 48104 tothedaily@umich.edu 4 We canceled them when we realized Senator Obama would sell more tickets." - Gov. JOHN LYNCH (D-N.H.) on the state Democratic Party's decision to cancel the Rolling Stones as headliners for a state party fundraiser, as reported yesterday by CNN.com. DONN M. FRESARD EDITOR IN CHIEF EMILY BEAM CHRISTOPHER ZBROZEK EDITORIAL PAGE EDITORS JEFFREY BLOOMER MANAGING EDITOR Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily's editorial board. All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors. Shedding light on safety Making Ann Arbor streets brighter will benefit all There are always downsides to streetlights. They aren't free, and it's up to Ann Arbor taxpayers to pay for their construc- tion. Even worse, the lights could exacerbate light pollution, which impedes the view of astronomy club students who stargaze atop Angell Hall on Friday nights. But these downsides don't hold a candle to the improvements in public safety that a few more lights ERIN RUSSELL HELP A NE 0Y CHILO! SUPPOr T THC CAUDS- WHAT 1S T H- __, CAJS e r M lonoy X NGee MONEY 'CAU$e I WANNA 60 TO CANCUN FOP WlNT' 9B2eAK. 50 APB YOU $OIN$ TO OONAT 5 O1 WH AT? rr2I HOW MUCH CAN r 6 VE YOU T O TAKC YOUP CAUSE INTO A 9USY, -WAY WN rc-0ECT IOA? Donate money I Leveling the playing field along Ann Arbor's streets could bi Back in January, the Michigan Student Assembly scoured the streets near the Oxford and Hill areas as well as South University Avenue in an attempt to iden- tify areas with poor lighting and call them to the attention of the Department of Public Safety. At the time, one MSA rep- resentative remarked, "It's not going to be solved by a few of us walking around the campus." Indeed, it wasn't. The problem was recently addressed again by a group students working on a class project. Their organization, Make Ann Arbor Bright, studied lighting near campus. It gathered more than 300 sig- natures in support of more off-campus lighting, ultimately presenting its find- ings to the Ann Arbor City Council. The group reported that most mugging victims it interviewed said better lighting could have prevented the crimes. Certainly, increasing lighting in off-cam- pus neighborhoods will not be sufficient to deter all crime. Nevertheless, these lights may do more than just make streets bright- er. At the very least, they will make students feel safer and more likely to walk around their neighborhoods. Urban planners like Jane Jacobs have noted that increased street traffic can also deter crime. Students involved in Make Ann Arbor Bright recognized this public predica- ment and addressed the issue in a timely and constructive fashion - something that can't be said of MSA. A few more dollars out of the city's budget is a small price to pay for increasing the safety of its residents. The City Council now has the opportunity to act upon these stu- dents' initiative, and it should install more streetlights in off-campus areas. t should tell you all you need to know about Detroit Public Schools that my father, who teaches in the district, wouldn't let me attend school there. The summer before my sophomore year of high school, my family had just moved from Ink- ster to Detroit,j and I needed a new high n school. We tried" Detroit's holy trinity - Cass Technical, King_ and Renais- sance - but were rebuffed JAMES because my fam- ily had moved DICKSON too late to take -- --- the placement exam. Although my dad had been with Detroit schools for nearly 15 years at that point, his child was denied the chance to attend three of the city's best schools on a tech- nicality that had no bearing on said child's qualifications or capacity for success. Detroit's teachers were locked in a labor dispute with the administration that summer, as if my family needed yet more evidence that Detroit Public Schools were thoroughly unprepared and disinterested in providing me with a quality education. Any school district willing to penny pinch its teachers while leaving classrooms overcrowded and teachers without resources certainly wasn't going to prepare me to attend college. Fortunately, my father happened to know the then-principal of West Bloomfield High School, Dr. George Fornero. He spoke on my behalf to the superintendent, an old-school liberal who wasn't about to deny a motivated kid from Detroit with equally sup- portive parents the opportunity to attend his school. Fast forward three years - during which my frames of reference and work ethic were chal- lenged in a way my college education has failed to keep pace with - and I was accepted at the University. My own experience - as a stu- dent who would have been failed by his neighborhood school and as one forced to look to the suburbs for quality education - has made me a believer in school choice. I've heard a lot of well-meaning theory and platitudes about how neighborhood schools should be able to satisfy their students' educational needs, and how something should be done to make that happen. The fact is, though, that if the anti-school-choice crowd had it th'eir way, I would've gone to one of the worst high schools in Michigan rath- er than one of the best in the nation. My future would've been decided by geography rather than ability. I lucked out, but my concern turns to those who aren't so lucky. Not everyone in Detroit had a parent enrolled in grad school courses taught by the principal of one of Michigan's best high schools. Not everyone has parents willing or able to handle a commute that takes more than an hour a day or to absorb the transpor- tation costs implicit in that commute. Not everyone has the chance to attend school in West Bloomfield. In this post-Proposal 2, world-is- flaterawe mustsubjectpublic schools to the same cold scrutiny that their graduates will receive upon entering the workforce. In a world where our high school graduates will be made to compete for admission to college - not only against other Michigan- ders or other Americans, but against the best the world has to offer - edu- cation is one of our only opportunities to give students a leg up. But to allow failing schools a monopoly on those living nearby is the height of unfair- ness; no child should have his future mortgaged on a geographic lottery with the odds fixed against him. I wrote shortly after the election that Michigan's passage of Proposal 2 offered a great opportunity so long as we're honest about what it meant. Back then, the issue was University President Mary Sue Coleman's delu- sion that she could litigate affirmative action preferences back into exis- tence (although the University filed a motion in court yesterday, it's Propos- al 2's timetable, not its legality, that is at issue). Today, though, we must understand that the mandate of 58 percent of Michiganders to "level the 4 4 School choice provides better opportunities. Following the new law WSU Law School adapts admissions after Proposal 2 P ending an effort in federal court to postpone implemen- tation of Proposal 2, Michigan's public universities will be forced to comply by Dec. 23. Last week, Wayne State University's law school became the first to adopt a plan to main- tain a diverse student body despite the new constraints. Its plan grants automatic admission to any applicant with a certain grade point average and LSAT score, but it also allows applicants who don't meet those stan- dards a variety of ways to make their case for admission. The admissions committee will consider geographic, experiential and other extenuating factors that may have hurt the scores of some qualified appli- cants low. While it isn't perfect, the plan shows that there remain ways by which admissions officers can attempt to ensure diversity in the classroom despite the dev- astating ban on affirmative action. Wayne State's new criteria rapge from living in Detroit and some surrounding areas that are characterized by under- served school districts to living abroad or on Native American reservations. To use the plan's own language, it finds innova- tive ways of considering the "substantial obstacles such as family or personal adver- sity, educational disability ... and prejudice or discrimination" that can make an appli- cation seem.less impressive. Although it already faces criticism from affirmative action opponents, the care- fully crafted plan likely won't be deemed a violation of Proposal 2 if challenged in court. The plan outlines many reasons that a student may cite in seeking admis- sion despite not qualifying for automatic admission. Taken together, these factors construct a broad categorization of what constitutes diversity and will ensure that some benefits of affirmative action will remain despite Proposal 2. The highly selective nature of the Uni- versity of Michigan Law School and our university in general would make admis- sion guarantees based solely on GPA or test scores impractical and unwise. The other considerations included in Wayne State Law School's new admissions pol- icy, however, offer a model of a realistic approach to fostering diversity following the ban. Aspects of the Wayne State pol- icy may prove useful to the University as it adapts its admissions rubric to comply with the new state constitutional amend- ment, which will go into effect Dec. 23 unless a stay is granted. More than ever, the University must not shy away from challenges in its quest for a well-rounded student population - the education of far too many students is at stake. Downsizing ofDaily photo staff would restrict opportunities Send slaves of ideology? it destroys the bon Does the Daily's, blindly applying af ticular circumstan ALEXANDER HONKALA I .~300 3 Ii D IEA} lu Editorial Board Members: Reggie Brown, Kevin Bunkley, Amanda Burns, Sam Butler, Ben Caleca, Devika Daga, Milly Dick, James David Dickson, Jesse Forester, Gary Graca, Jared Goldberg, Jessi Holler, Rafi Martina, Toby Mitchell, Rajiv Prab- hakar, David Russell, Katherine SeidElizabeth Stanley, Jennifer Sussex, John Sti- glich, Neil Tambe, Rachel Wagner. TO THE DAILY: Everyone thinks I was disappointed to read about the planned chang- isn't. The issue at1 es to the photo section at The Michigan Daily (Daily and 6-year-olds wl names new editors, 12/11/2006). A university news- instead of with the paper is unique in that it has a large pool of potential staff members, many of whom are eager to experiment Matthew Buszek with journalism. Rather than relying on a small staff LSA senior of almost full-time photographers, shouldn't the photo section offer opportunities for involvement with vari- ous levels of time commitment? Zingerma . I'd much rather see the work of a staff of three dozen photographers working freelance, showcasing many wretched fo( styles with much broader event coverage, than see the tired work of the same half-dozen shooters every day. TO THE DAILY: Those who can't offer 15 to 20 hours a week to the paper Amer's Mediterr don't necessarily have less to offer. Unfortunately, we ed with apathy. Ea just have more class than we do free time. job of providing se ing food that taste: Christopher Peplin Oddly enough, t LSA sophomore Streetjust a fewyet ery so Amer's cand and charge you $8 -Integration debate threatens anchreyu$ eat. A friend of m families, misses the point good if you take t away everything b and put on your ow TO THE DAILY: Something abou I have a question about the Daily's editorial concern- about $8 for a sand ing school choice and racial integration (Integration meat haphazardly on trial, 12/08/2006): Do the members of the Daily's of three-day-old bi editorial staff have any compassion? Did they actu- where between tE ally look at the people involved in the Louisville suit? morning and close I quote: "This is not a case of some worthy applicant Amer's to eat its fo being denied admission to a prestigious university." their money becau That's right - this is a case of forcing a 6-year-old kin- Everyone loves dergartner to make a three-hour round trip to school native on campus i just to create a "racially diverse learning environment" but too far away for despite the fact that there is a closer school. A 90-min- as a knock-off of: ute bus ride to and from school may be tolerable for Zingerman's sued someone in junior high or high school, but it is not for ping off their atmc a kindergartner. its beef with Amer' The Daily accuses the parents of being "disgruntled People want deli fo moms." If three hours a day, five days a week of each stuck with flat bag; school year were taken away from the time I spend crusty-looking sid; with my child, I would be disgruntled too. Try to imag- Nevertheless, th ine how long a 90-minute bus ride actually is. Now it comes to "servic consider the attention span of a kindergartner. On an (especially on Chu average day, starting out from Ann Arbor, you could get be paying them. T through customs and into Windsor before the child got smile and take 25 to school. pita. Eat at Amer's Show some common sense. When did we as a soci- of thing. ety forget that blindly following laws - regardless of the people they hurt - will only lead to harm? When Eric Horowitz did we stop caring about other people and become LSAajunior playing field" in college admissions must be matched by the commitment to ensure equality of opportunity at the K-12 level. It's an absurdity even to speak of level playing fields until every student in Michigan has the opportunity to receive a quality edu- cation. I wonder if, in our idealistic urge to provide equal opportunity, we're ready to move beyond the outdated paradigm that neighborhood schools should receive the sole opportunity to educate those living nearby. I won- der how committed we really are, as a state, to leaving no child behind. James Dickson can be reached at davidjam@umich.edu. * letters to tothedaily@umich.edu What good is diversity in schools if nd between a child and his parents? editorial board really believe that firmative action policies in this par- ce is appropriate? s the issue is affirmative action - it hand is recalcitrant administrators, ho are spending time riding the bus ir families. 's rip-off combines xl, miserly service ranean Deli harbors a culture infest- ch year, the deli seems to do a worse rvice to their customers and of mak- s good. hey opened another deli on Church ars ago. They also now provide deliv- deliver crap directly to your doorstep for a sandwich it should pay you to ine had this to say: "Amer's is only heir sandwich, bring it home, strip but the meat, toast your own bread in condiments." ut this seems amiss. We are talking wich that has a miniscule amount of squashed between two stale pieces read. The real miracle occurs some- he time they open the door in the it at night - people continue to pay ood. I believe people let Amer's steal se there is simply no alternative. a good deli sandwich (The best alter- s Maize and Blue Deli - a good spot, r Imany). In fact, Amer'swas firstborn the iber-popular Zingerman's Deli. Amer's in 1993 for essentially rip- osphere and food (Zingerman's takes s to federal district court, 1/26/1993). ood near Central Campus, so they are els, watery soup, purple coleslaw and e dishes. is establishment outdoes itself when ce." The people who work at Amer's rch Street) act as if you really should 'hey are reluctant to help, refuse to minutes to put chicken salad in a only if you're intrigued by this kind A