4A - The Michigan Daily - Monday, October 9, 2006
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OPINION
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-CMETO 1
DONN M. FRESARD
Editor in Chief
EMILY BEAM
CHRISTOPHER ZBROZEK JEFFREY BLOOMER
Editorial Page Editors Managing Editor
EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS AT
THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN SINCE 1890
413 E. HURON
ANN ARBOR, MI 48104
tothedaily@michigandaily.com
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.
FROM THE 'MDAL
Corruption first
Education scandal attracts too little attention
onsidering recent scandals - such
as those involving former Con-
gressman Mark Foley (R-Fla.) and
lobbyist Jack Abramoff - and allegations
regarding detainee abuse, corruption may
seem a normal or even indispensable part of
national government. A report issued by the
Department of Education's inspector general
last month revealed that Reading First, a part
of President Bush's No Child Left Behind
Act, is another blemish on the Bush legacy.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given everything else
going wrong on Bush's watch, the series of
abuses found in the Reading First program
has been grossly underreported. This apathy
toward dishonesty, however, prevents gov-
ernment accountability and keeps effective
resources from students who should benefit
from the program.
Reading First provides money to under-
privileged schools that implement "scien-
tifically based" methods of teaching reading,
with the goal of using empirical evidence to
avoid wasting money on the latest trends in
reading education. Yet the report revealed
notable abuses, including favoritism toward
textbook companies that paid royalties to
members of the program's grant panels and
far from transparent standards for obtain-
ing grant funding - leading to funding for
unproven methods.
The Department of Education must be
held responsible for its lack of oversight and
mishandling of the billion-dollar initiative.
The series of flagrant abuses that occurred
under the pretense of promoting effective
learning methods reflect blatant negligence
and incompetence, not simply minor short-
comings in the department. Endorsing read-
ing programs and teaching materials that are
backed by commercial monetary interests
but which haven't been scientifically proven
toincreasereading performance undermines
the goals of Reading First. The program was
intended to improve the education of young
children, not to further inflate the revenues
of textbook companies.
Chris Doherty, the program's director, has
become the poster boy for the pervasively
dishonest practices found in Reading First.
He sent a series of unprofessional e-mails
-explicitly acknowledging favoritism toward
business interests at the expense of poten-
tially better programs. In one such e-mail, he
wrote,"we need to beat the (expletive) out of
them in front of all the would be party crash-
ers who are standing on the front lawn wait-
ing to see how we welcome these dirtbags."
Such behavior draws into question how the
department could put Doherty in charge of
a budget of roughly a billion dollars a year.
Although Doherty has since resigned, the
Department of Education needs to be held
responsible for such fraudulent behavior.
Even if Reading First has improved test
scores, as indicated in a study by the Cen-
ter on Education Policy, the program's
unjust partiality to business interests and
its failure to support some scientifically
proven teaching methods jeopardizes its
effectiveness and breadth. The impor-
tance of education, the primary goal of the
program, is compromised by these abuses
of authority. Regardless of the many infa-
mous cases of government wrongdoings,
governmental accountability should never
fall from favor and corruption should
never be viewed as commonplace. With
each new revelation of corruption under
the Bush Administration - from no-bid
Halliburton contracts to fraudulently run
education programs - merely drawing
wider yawns, it seems Americans are
accepting corruption as an unavoidable
part of government. In the case of the
Reading First scandal, that complacency
hurts children's chances. More broadly,
such acceptance of corruption threatens
the ability of public-sector programs to
ensure an equitable society.
Match Point Four years to a day
IMRAN SYED
"The
man who
said I'd
rather be
lucky than
good' saw
deeply into
life. People
are afraid
to face
how great
a part of life is dependent on luck.
It's scary to think so much is out of
one's control."
- Woody Allen's "Match Point"
Almost exactly four years
ago, I heard former
Senator Paul Wellstone
(D-Minn.) referred to as "the
conscience of the Senate." The
title - similar to that of Well-
stone's autobiography, "Con-
science of a Liberal" - arose
from his well-known dissen-
sions in his almost 12 years in
the Senate. Wellstone was gen-
erally an extreme progressive,
once labeled "embarrassingly
liberal" by an unworthy oppo-
nent. Yet he remained a thorn
in the side of most Republicans
(and often the Democratic estab-
lishment) for his many maverick
votes, including on the Defense
of Marriage Act in 1996 and the
authorization for the war in Iraq
in 2002.
Wellstone was one of the
ringleaders of what would
soon become the Howard Dean
school of the Democratic Party
- what first Wellstone and then
Dean called "the democratic
wing" of the party. He believed
in his liberal base and wasn't
having any of that diluted liber-
alism that dominated his party
in the 1990s, spearheaded by
Bill Clinton's ideology of "tri-
angulation." And he was from
Minnesota, the only state crazy
enough to have gone for Walter
Mondale in 1984. That he would
be the extreme liberal force to
shift this country back into ideo-
logical equilibrium was beyond
doubt.
With criticism of the war in
Iraq already building by late
2002 and sure to be a major
issue in the 2004 presidential
race, little stood in Wellstone's
way. He'd explored running for
president before, and, given the
hoopla around Dean's blunder-
ing, hapless candidacy in 2004,
Wellstone would have repre-
sented the best of both worlds
for Democrats fed up with the
Bushies. In his opposition to the
administration, he was a fire-
brand like Dean, but he would
possessthe tact and strategy of a
Senate veteran. In a sense, he'd
be a hybrid of Dean and John
Kerry - in other words, a win-
ner.
Why so many conditional
statements? Surely you remem-
ber. Returning to Minnesota for
a funeral just II days before the
2002 midterm election, Well-
stone, his wife and one daugh-
ter were killed in a plane crash.
Former Vice President Mondale
was selected to run in his place,
but two decades removed from a
political environment he could
understand, Mondale fumbled
one of the safest Democratic
Senate seats in the country to
neoconservative Republican
Norm Coleman.
Regardless of how far the
table promises, threatens or
even seems to tip, politics in
our country always comes down
to the last drop, and it can fall
either way. One moment, Paul
Wellstone was a prominent sen-
ator eyeing a presidential run
that would prematurely stifle
the rise of neocon ideology in
American foreign policy. Then
he was dead, his seat taken by
a man who would champion that
very neocon agenda as its practi-
tioners ran morally amuck.
And, of course, Wellstone
wasn't the only one whose pre-
mature death turned American
politics upside down. Mel Car-
nahan was governor of Missouri
when he challenged incumbent
John Ashcroft (R-Mo.) for his
Senate seat in 2000. Carnahan
died in a plane crash before the
election, but managed to defeat
Ashcroft anyway. And what
became of the man who couldn't
muster the votes to beat a dead
guy? He became attorney gen-
eral, of course - Patriot Act
and all.
A contemporary Woody Allen,
using an iffy tennis metaphor,
suggested "There are moments
in a match when the ball hits
the top of the net, and for a split
second, it can either go forward
or fall back. With a little luck, it
goes forward, and you win. Or
maybe it doesn't, and you lose."
Should but a slight whiff of air
betray the trajectory, the ball
would fail to clear the net, but if
it manages to go over, the result
is the same as if it had gallantly
sped over. In the paper the next
day, a match that turned on one
or two false bounces may appear
a veritable, convincing blowout.
But the careful observer knows,
better.
And that is where we stand
today. Republicans have held the
House of Representatives for 12
years and the Senate of late too.
That, coupled with the presiden-
cy they "convincingly" won in
2004, has falsely given some the
notion of a resounding mandate.
Republicans acted the last few
years with delusions of carte-
blanche power, managing to leg-
islate the largest budget hole in
history. But it was no deafening
serve of a champion that pro-
pelled their majority - rather
a false bounce, and those work
both ways.
And now, four years after
Senator Wellstone's death -
after four years of a conscience-
less Senate, four years since the
promise of balance departed
- the ball has popped straight
up again. If it takes the bizarre
Foley scandal to reshuffle the
deck, then so be it.
Syed can be reached at
galad@umich.edu.
Send all letters to the editor to
thedaily@michigandaily.com.
VIEWPOINT
Sex, lies and spin
By BEN CALECA Ann Coulter and Sean Hannity, among dozens of
other pundits, have brought up sex scandals involv-
The Grand Old Party's spin machine is once again ing former Democratic Rep. Gerry Studds and for-
working overtime to contain the Mark Foley debacle mer President Bill Clinton in an attempt to make
that is ravaging the Republicans' reputation as the Foley's errors pale in comparison. While the Studds
"values" party. At the risk of sounding jaded about the case - involving a gay affair with a minor - was
party's knack for insulting displays of immaturity, the an embarrassment and surely a scandal, it is a 23-
mess the Republicans have created and their attempt year-old case and was made public soon as people
to recovertfrom the damage of the scandal are not sur- found out. The real insult of the Foley fiasco is the
prising - so much as they seem cliched at this point. cover-up, and bringing up Studds does not excuse the
Everything from the theory that Democrats perpe- cover-up by the Republican Party. More disturbing
trated the cover-up to the suggestion that making the still are the increasing allegations of other harassed
scandal public earlier could have been "gay-bashing" pages under Foley that may go back as far as 1997.
makes it seem like a work of satire. Then of course there is Bill Clinton's affair with
The first reports of Foley's heinous actions are now the 22-year-old Monica Lewinsky. That pundits
merely the tip of the iceberg in what has become a are comparing the pedophilic and illegal actions of
massive scandal. The Republicans involved in the Foley to Clinton's affair with a consenting adult is
cover-up have coalesced their stories and left House rather disgraceful. Hannity even tried to make his
Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill) stranded, saying point seemmore on target by lying about Lewinsky's
that he was aware of the mess much earlier than age, claiming she was 19 at the time.
other Republicans. It is hard to believe with all of The last straw, and perhaps the most disturbing, is
the information about Foley that was passed around the Fox News coverage of the Foley case. On several
and the number of GOP members who knew about occasions, it has labeled Mark Foley as "(D-Fla)"
the scandal, however, that only Hastert was guilty of Mistakes happen, but then came the headline flash-
hiding the truth. ing across the Fox News Alert bar: "Did Dems ignore
Talk show host Rush Limbaugh, in his infinite Foley emails to preserve seat?" This was displayed
wisdom, has proclaimed that clearly the Democrats for several minutes on Fox during a discussion of the
are in on this scandal and let it stew until election extent of the Republican cover-up, which makes the
time so they could out Foley via their Left-Wing possibility of its being an innocent typo unlikely. For
Media Conspiracy to retake the House and Senate. anyone casually flipping channels, it would seem that
Such a claim given without any proof is obscene and the Democrats are to blame for the cover-up, which is
merely fuels hatred and distrust along party lines. just plain wrong.
Former House speaker Newt Gingrich also offered The Foley quagmire is proving now, at the eleventh
his analysis of the scandal, claiming that if Repub- hour for Republicans, that lies and deceit will catch
licans had "over-aggressively reacted" to Foley they up to anyone. The GOP wheels are spinning and
would have "been accused of gay-bashing" Gin- they're only going to get further stuck the mud. With
grich's remarks not only suggest a false link between its mind-numbingly ignorant attempts to control the
gays and pedophilia, but also that it is acceptable to scandal, the Republican Party is backing itself into a
cover up illegal acts if the alternative is the possibil- corner, and considering there is a long way to go in
ity of being called names by the other party. Both this investigation, it is scary to think what the pundits
Limbaugh's and Gingrich's accusations that Demo- have in store for us before Election Day.
crats are "gay-bashing" the Republicans is one of the
biggest pot-calling-the-kettle-black moments of the Caleca is an LSA freshman and a
year. member of the Daily's editorial board.
JOHN OQUIST LIVE N YOUR F
DID YOU HEAR THAT NORTH THEY SAY THEY'RE GOING TO TEST IT 00ND IT! "0MBSHELTER: I1DRM. FULLY
OREA IS GOING TO TEST A SOON. I WONDER WHAT THE U.S. RESPONSE STOCKED. ONLY USED TWICE. NEAR CENTRAL
NUCLEAR WEAPON? WILL BE LIKE...WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING CAMPUS. AVAILABLE IMMEDIATELYIII'
WHY Do YOU THINK I'M\ FOR ANYWAY?
READING THE CLASSIFIEDS
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Affirmative action fine for
students, but not professors
TO THE DAILY:
I am not a Michigan resident, so I have not explored
all the implications of Proposal 2 nor the state's
current policies on affirmative action. However,
I would like to address the issue of affirmative
action as a general concept. Consider the Univer-
sity as an example.
I believe that racial preferences in the process
of selecting students can have a positive influence
on students' daily lives. I come from a part of
the country with a high concentration of Asian-
Americans. Back home, my friends sometimes
joke about how they can go for days without ever
having to speak to a non-Asian-American. At this
university, however, I have been exposed to vari-
ous cultures representative of people in the state
of Michigan. My friends back home who attend
heavily Asian-American universities may never
have a chance to know life outside their bubble.
Moreover, I believe that any individual, if suf-
ficiently motivated, can perform as well as any-
one else academically. At this university, I have
seen students with great potential and astounding
intelligence drop out simply because they lack the
drive to study hard. However, I have also encoun-
tered students who do not learn as quickly nev-
ertheless achieve the highest levels of academic
scholarship simply because they are determined
to succeed here.
On the other hand, if we consider racial prefer-
ences in selecting professors, I believe there is a
fatal flaw. Would you prefer a diverse faculty or
faculty members who are at the forefront of what
they teach? The fundamental difference between
this case and the previous one is that the Univer-
sity's faculty is composed of individuals who have
already been given the chance to prove their aca-
demic scholarship and have spent decades earning
their merit. If we look at students, most college
hopefuls have not had a chance to even begin to
show their true potential. Call it maturity, call it
whatever you like, those are truths I present to
you through first-hand experience.
Yi-Lei Chow
Engineering senior
MSU-bashing makes University
and journalism look bad
TO THE DAILY:
While I realize that you will undoubtedly be
receiving countless c-mails on this subject, I feel
compelled to comment on the wildly inappropri-
ate writings of Scott Bell. I'm sure you know of
which article I speak. How are Wolverines better
than Spartans? Let me count the ways (10/06/2006)
is without doubt the most offensive, malicious,
unprofessional piece I have read in a very long
time.
I thank Bell for reminding me why I chose not
to do my undergraduate studies at the University
of Michigan. He has merely provided further evi-
dence to the popular stereotype that all University
students are arrogant snobs. He comments on how
Michigan State students will one day be "bagging
his groceries." I am reminded of a small child,
taunting other children because his dad can beat
up their dads.
Bell goes so far as to insult the intelligence of
female MSU students. Is this kind of sexist bigotry
routinely tolerated at the University? I personally
know a number of University students who would
have a thing or two to say about such nonsense.
I am shocked that the respected editors at the
Daily even considered putting this disgusting
piece of writing in print. Bell shames himself, the
paper for which he writes, his school and journal-
ism itself.
Nathan Burns
The letter writer is a sophomore at
Michigan State University.
I
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