4 - Wednesday, December 13, 2006 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom fl1E i*Icdtigan ,3a4''l Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. 413 E. Huron St. Ann Arbor, MI 48104 tothedaily@umich.edu KIM LEUNG A TDoAS'T 7 V-'r C P A 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. Rethinking Iraq Advice from study group could help stabilize civil war W ith Iraq in the midst of civil war, or something even worse, the bipartisan committee headed by former Secretary of State James Baker and former Rep. Lee Hamilton (D-Ind.) last week released its long-awaited plan for the future of Iraq, the Iraq Study Group Report. Don't forget us." -VILLAGERS OF YAGLOO, SOMALIA, speaking to reporters from the banks of the swollen Shabelle River, as reported yesterday by The New York Times. Somalia is on the brink of war and severe famine as it endures the worst flood in East Africa in 50 years. 4 _No TH' The other campuses Among its 79 policy recommendations, the most controversial are its calls for nego- tiations with neighboring Syria and Iran and gradual troop reductions beginning in early 2008. Since its release, the report has come under fire for its vague suggestions and emphasis on handing more power over to the weak, divided Iraqi government that many think is incapable of ensuring its citi- zens' security. But the significance of the report is its acknowledgment that the current policy is ineffective. The situation in Iraq is bad - very bad - and there are no clear policy options that can instantly resolve the con- flict. Nevertheless, the Democratic Con- gress, the new secretary of defense and the Baker group's recommendations all offer opportunities that President Bush must heed to protect Iraqi civilians and American soldiers alike. Three years after the 2003 invasion of Iraq; few still contend that the war was a good idea. After ignoring the international community and failing to create a military plan to bring security to the country, the U.S.-led coalition's invasion sparked a chain of events that has since devolved into a sec- tarian struggle that U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan contends is "much worse" than a civil war and has destabilized the region. While there is plenty of room for I-told- you-so's and bitterness at the arrogance and neglect that went into starting such an ill-founded war, the present situation is a humanitarian crisis that needs to be addressed. Statistics by the Brookings Insti- tution estimate that civilian deaths total more. than 62,000 deaths since 2003. An estimate published in The Lancet, a respect- ed British medical journal, that attempted to factor in unreported deaths put the num- ber closer to 655,000. There's no good way to resolve such varied casualty estimates because the security situation is too danger- ous to permit extensive field research. Violence has turned daily life in Iraq into social chaos. Each month, more than 100,000 Iraqi civilians flee to neighboring Jordan and Syria. The United Nations esti- mates that almost 500,000 Iraqis have been internally displaced since February. Across the country, schools have been shut down and transformed into makeshift shelters. Wounded civilians fear goingto increasingly dangerous hospitals - if hospitals even exist in their area. Violence continues to prevail. Just yesterday, at least 70 civilians were killed and an estimated 230 were wounded in a central Baghdad suicide bombing. In response to this situation and to the study group's report, the Bush Administra- tion so far has been unreceptive and uncom- promising. With civilian causalities rising each day, the president continues stalling the formulation of the new policy he has promised. At first the president contend- ed that the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group could only be considered after reports from the Pentagon and the National Security Council. After promising a report before Christmas, White House spokesman Tony Snow said yesterday it will be January at the earliest. Unfortunately, the administration's unwillingness to compromise is exactly whatbroughtabout this situation. The pres- ence of the United States in Iraq continues to compromise security, and the president needs to use the fresh perspectives of the report, the Democratic Congress and incoming Defense Secretary Robert Gates to formulate a responsible withdrawal pol- icy. If the administration cannot learn from its mistakes, the situation could evolve into a decades-long civil war that ravaged Leba- non - a frightening prospect for both the region and the world. Send letters to tothedaily@umich.edu When it comes to boosting our state's embarrassingly low number of college gradu- ates - fewer than a fourth of Michigan adults hold a bachelor's degree - the University isn't going to make much of a difference. There's been a lot of talk recently about the University's role in creating - a magical 21st- century knowl- edge economy that will save the state. But there's one problem: The University can't do much about doubling the state's number EMILY of college gradu- ates as Gov. Jen- BEAM nifer Granholm has advocated - at least the Ann Arbor campus can't. Although we rarely notice, the reach of the University of Michigan system extends well beyond State Street. Head east - or north - and keep going, and you'll hit two other versions of the University of Michigan: the Dearborn and Flint campuses. With about half of their student bodies composed of non-traditional students, classes on both campuses offer a different sort of diversity than you will find in Ann Arbor. There, tuition is cheaper, and students drive home to their families each night after classes end. These two institutions may not offer the same quality of education that we pay dearly for - I'd argue that at times, its better. When I took classes at Dearborn, I found that my classmates were on the whole more motivated and interested in their coursework than many students here. (Or at least they were better at pretending.) Of course, I'd bet a lot more Dearborn students are payingtheir own way to be there. Among masters-level schools, Dear- born ranks sixth in the Midwest and its engineering program20th nationwide. Not the best, but not bad either, espe- cially considering that Ann Arbor has about three times more resources per student than Dearborn. That compari- son is skewed - we pay our professors a whole lot more to stop them from running off to Harvard, among other things - but it's revealing neverthe- less. The University's Flint and Dearborn campuses were founded in the 1950s, at a time when demand for higher education was soaring. With the GI Bill and Sputnik's launch, previously half-empty campuses were not just full again, but bursting. Administrators discussed scenarios in which the Uni- versity would expand to 100,000 stu- dents by building additional campuses in northeast Ann Arbor. Flint and Dearborn were not part of this grand expansion, which never took place anyway, but they were certainly a consequence of the era's democratiza- tion of education. Flint opened in 1956 as a two-year college for students look- ing to complete their bachelor's degrees after graduating from the local junior college. Dearborn followed a few years later, built on a portion of the Ford fam- ily estate donated by Ford Motor Com- pany along with $6.5 million to start a two-year senior college specializing in engineering and business. Today, these two schools are four- year universities with a combined enrollmentofnearly 15,000. Butwhere- as the University in Ann Arbor is full to capacity andthen some, Flint and Dear- born could be expanded. With a few dorms, they also could offer the student life their campuses now lack. TheUniversityhasanumberofother options to expand its reach as well, like a fourth school or a less expensive community college. that feeds into its four-year institutions. It could build in northern Michigan and revitalize a community or two, probably even luring a few more students from Wis- consin and Minnesota into our state. It could offer more classes in Detroit: The evening MBA program would be a lot more convenient for many of its students in downtown Detroit than in Ann Arbor. These sorts of projects aren't easy, or cheap. But these little sisters of the Ann Arbor campus are a bargain for the state, and they could make the dif- ference in turning around our state's economy. Unlike in the 1950s, when the state Legislature doubled its appropria- tions as the University doubled the size of its studentbody, the University won't have that sort of support should it look to expand. Still, there already are good signs - the UniversityBoard of Regents approved the construction of Flint's first residence hall in October. The University can do a lot for the Flint and Dearborn can offer the state things A2 can't. state as a research university. But it can do a lot more to serve the state by fulfilling its original role: offering an affordable education to all the state's residents. Expanding access to an elite public university means making the University more affordable, particu- larly though heavy doses of need-based financial aid. But expanding access to higher education overall also requires expanding the schools themselves. Turning around the state's economy doesn't require a handful more Uni- versity grads still grumbling that they didn't get into Harvard - Michigan just needs college-educated workers, and the University can provide them if it looks farther than Ann Arbor. Emily Beam is a Daily editorial page editor. She can be reached at ebeam@umich.edu. It's fair to delay Prop. 2, but follow it next year notes and paper ing nearly impos them in a tangib sentations and p out and turnedi TO THE DAILY: penalize student The University's motion to delay Proposal the pages theyr 2's application to its admissions process until and papers. finishing its annual cycle is not only appropri- In fact, not a ate but is in the very spirit of Proposal 2. By held to such stir outlawing affirmative action policies, Propos- students in the1 al 2 strives to eliminate double standards. The been limited to 2 University and University President Mary Sue year,'when they Coleman are absolutely correct that evaluat- of my engineeri ing individuals applying for spots in the same comparatively la incoming class under separate sets of criteria I understand is unfair. can be troubleso What they have failed to do is see past their privilege and u rhetoric of diversity to the fact that they have tional purposes. been applying a double standard all along with University want their affirmative action policies. While it is their learning e: inappropriate to "flip the switch" mid-year, the the basic necessi change should be made this summer. more), free print If the University then contends that making educational supp the transition will be a difficult process, it will have revealed its inherent bias. How hard can Eric Portenga it be to ignore a single, optional question on LSA junior the application? If it is that difficult, the ques- tion should be stricken from the application r altogether. Should the University claim that .rintersJ it needs to collect demographic information,w it can collect that data after students enroll or whenprin on a separate, anonymous form. At that point I could praise the University for being truly col- TO THE DAILY: orblind and choosing the "leaders and best" on In response t: their merits. taining to polici rs being posted, it is becom- ssible for LSA students to use le form and keep up with pre- apers that need to be printed in. The University should not ts monetarily for printing out need for class notes, projects ll students are penalized or ngy page limits. For example, College of Engineering have ,500 pages in CAEN labs this previously had no limit. Some ng friends say that even this arge number is not enough. that giving unlimited pages me when students abuse the se the pages for noneduca- I believe, though, that if the s all its students to maximize xperiences, it should provide ties, like unlimited (or at least able pages, especially with an plement like CTools. am more often ting on both sides o Stuart Wagner's letter per- es to encourage double-sided MARY SUE COLEMAN An open letter to campus 4 The University of Michigan (includ- ing the Ann Arbor, Flint and Dearborn campuses), Michigan State and Wayne State universities have filed a motion in federal court seeking a short-term delay in the implementation of Pro- posal 2 with respect to admissions and financial aid. We are asking for an injunction to permit us to complete this year's admissions and financial aid cycles using the same standards in place when the process began ear- lier this year. This motion was filed in response to a lawsuit against our three universities by the group By Any Means Necessary and others. It would be extremely difficult - and unfair to prospective students - to change our admissions and finan- cial aid processes in mid-stream. Stu- dents have relied on the information they were given months ago about this year's admissions process, and we have already accepted applications and notified many students of our admis- sions decision. We want to ensure that our pro- cess is consistent and fair throughout the entire admissions cycle. We owe this to prospective students and their families. In the weeks since the election, I have been troubled by the assumption by some that the pursuit of diversity is no longer a valued goal. As president, I am more committed to diversity than ever. The passage of Proposal 2 does not prohibit public institutions from seeking diversity in our student body, staff and faculty. We remain fully com- JOHN OQUIST| mitted to keeping the doors of oppor- tunity open for all. The University strives first and foremost to be academically excel- lent. Diversity is an essential compo- nent of our excellence. The quality of our academic programs is enhanced by the rich and varied contributions of students and faculty who approach problems from different perspectives. Many top scholars are attracted to our community because they can study and conduct research with others who challenge their ways of looking at the world. The University's academic qual- ity will suffer if we cannot recruit and retain faculty, staff and students from a wide range of backgrounds. I have been clear in my statements over the past few weeks that we will obey the law and comply with the requirements of Proposal 2. However, precisely what that means for our core operations is uncertain. This uncer- tainty is underscored by the executive order issued by Gov. Jennifer Gran- holm, who has instructed the Michigan Civil Rights Commission to investigate the potential impact of Proposal 2 and issue a report by February. We want to understand the outcome of that review as we consider what changes need to be made to our policies and programs. We can expect these uncertainties to be clarified by the courts and by our experiences over time, as occurred in California after the passage of Propo- sition 209. BAMN has already filed a lawsuit against the University, and the Pacific Legal Foundation has said it is also considering a lawsuit. In the meantime, we will make our best attempt to interpret the language of Proposal 2 and continue our pro- grams in a manner that both complies with the law and protects our diversity and our academic excellence. If chal- lenged, we are prepared to defend our programs and our interpretation of the law. Let me explain our interpretation of Proposal 2, because it affects so many people on campus. We are continuing our outreach to prospective students, including those who are underrepre- sented in our programs. We are fol- lowing through on our financial aid commitments to current students. We are assuring our employees that their jobs are not at risk. We are restating our commitment to affirmative action in employment as required by fed- eral law. And we are reviewing our programs to see if any changes, are required to be in compliance. As Ihave noted, our efforts to defend diversity cannot be limited to the legal arena. An important part of our work in the months ahead will be to pursue every possible innovative means of building a broadly diverse community within the boundaries of the law. We must marshal all the energy and cre- ative force of our community to tackle this challenge, because diversity is critical to our mission, to our excel- lence and to our future. Mary Sue Coleman is the president . of the University of Michigan. Ed Cormany LSA senior As online material expands, so should page limits TO THE DAILY: I was sitting in the Fishbowl the other day trying to put the final touches on a term paper when I ran across one small problem: I had just used up my allotted 400 free pages of printing. More and more professors and graduate student instructors are using the capabilities of CTools to post lecture notes, required read- ings and practice exams for their classes or labs. This is no problem at all. In fact, CTools is a great supplementary learning tool that can only benefit any student who wishes to use it. However, with the increasing number of printing in Campus Computing Sites (Policies to encourage double-sided printing would save innocent trees, 12/11/2006): At Sites, we con- duct duplex versus simplex testing. Students frequently ask why we don't just default all printingto duplex. Our full reportcanbe found at www.umich.edu/-sites/printing/duplex.html. In short, we have found that duplex print- ing takes more than twice as long to process and increases the jam rate by 200 to 500 per- cent. Users are much more likely to abandon printouts when waiting in long lines at the print queue. These jams are the leading rea- son why system-wide duplex printing is not a viable model for our current environment. Duplex printing actually consumes more resources in terms of paper usage, dollars required to repair printers and staff labor time to and from our near-80 locations. Robert Jones The letter writer is the Campus Computing Sites printing coordinator. HEY, CHECK IT OUT. I FINISHED MY THAT'S THE DUMBEST THING I'VE EVER NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONSI HEARD. WHY WOULD I WANT TO CHANGE YOU'RE GOING TO CHANGE ANYTHING ABOUT MYSELF? THAT MUCH STUFF ABOUT THAT'S WHAT A NEW YEAR'S YOURSELF? RESOLUTION IS. +c " r DO YOU EVEN KNOW THIS MANY PEOPLE? YOU DONT HAVE TO KNOW THEM TO POINT OUT WHAT'S WRONG WITH THEM.