4A - Monday, October 30, 2006
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Edited and managed by students at
the University of Michigan since 1890
413 E. Huron St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
tothedaily@michigandaily.com
Some of these kids were so scared, they
just about wet their pants."
- MARGE BRADSHAW, a parent with four children in Godfrey-Lee Schools in Wyoming, Michigan, where an unannounced
school safety drill included police officers in riot gear with weapons, as reported yesterday by The Associated Press.
The World Seres and Granhoim
DONN M. FRESARD
EDITOR IN CHIEF
EMILY A. BEAM
CHRISTOPHER ZBROZEK JEFFREY BLOOMER
EDITORIAL PAGE EDITORS MANAGING EDITOR
Unsigned editorials reflect the official position oftthe Daily's editorial board. All other signed
articles and illustrations representsolely the views ofttheir authors.
No do ubts with Dingfell
Incumbent is the right man for 15th district
n the race for Michigan's 15th district for the U.S.
House of Representatives, voting for incumbent Demo-
crat John Dingell is a no-brainer. Unchallenged by any
Republican candidate, Dingell faces only third-party oppo-
nents, most notably Green Party candidate Aimee Smith.
Smith very well may be a solid candi-
date, but with Dingell's record and senior-
ity in the House, there is little reason not
to vote for him.
Dingell has a solid record in the House.
Usually voting with the Democratic Party,
he has earned a laundry list of endorsements,
from the Sierra Club and the AFL-CIO to
Esquire magazine. Dingell's position gives
him sway on issues affecting the Big Three
automakers, but it is unfortunate that look-
ing out for Motown can also mean opposing
higher fuel economy standards, which Din-
gell has done in the past. Though he may be
more inclined to take a pro-gun rights stance
than his Democratic peers, positions such as
his opposition to the war in Iraq and cutting
the estate tax, as well as his support for the
environment and stem cell research, out-
weigh his more questionable views.
The issues aside, Dingell's seniority
- with the longest tenure of any mem-
ber in the House today - is more than
enough reason to vote for him. Seniority
carries a good deal of weight in Congress.
The longest-serving members get the plum
committee assignments, with the power to
set agendas and hold significant leverage
to make policies that benefit their con-
stituents. Dingell is currently the ranking
Democrat on the Energy and Commerce
Committee and could very well become
the committee's chair if the Democrats
win control of the House on Nov. 7.
Of the third-party candidates challeng-
ing Dingell, Smith's platform certainly may
appeal to voters turned off by both major
parties. She stands firm on protecting civil
liberties and has made priorities of fighting
global warming and providing universal
health care. And as a member of the under-
dog Green Party, she would not be beholden
to the party line in the same way Democrats
often are. But Smith lacks experience on
the national level and has never held public
office, raising doubts that she would be able
to represent the district as well as Dingell,
who has decades of experience and seniori-
ty that Smith does not. The candidates from
the Libertarian and U.S. Taxpayers parties
similarly have had no experience in elected
office at any level.
Because of the gerrymandering of con-
gressional districts in Michigan, unseating
Dingell would be just short of impossible,
even for a Republican. Because of his
solid record and high spot on the House
totem pole, Dingell is the clear choice, and
likely would be even if his challenger were
more qualified. The Daily endorses JOHN
DINGELL for Michigan's 15th district in
the U.S. House of Representatives.
As I sat in front of the TV on Friday educated out
night, getting ready to watch the Tigers Michigan. Bot
game, I couldn't Mormon, and
help but think Catholic, had
about how his- difficulties th
tory repeats itself gious affiliati
Sports commenta- ney, was opp
tors were throwing was quickly re
the word "destiny" purpose and t
around like a well- culation.
usedbaseball, and it Both gover
wasn't hard to see SAM foreign comp
why - not only tive industry,
was the Tigers' BUTLER in degree mi
1968 World Series 1959 Time m
victory won against the Cardinals, but Romney raise
the Tigers had been down three games foreign cars h
to one just as they were on Friday night. less than 1 p
Because the Tigers had come back to win percent. The s
everything in 1968, I was confident that saur Hunter"
I was about to watch them do the same American Mo
thing in 2006. wanted to dos
More so than any other sport, a base- chromed and
ball team becomes a symbol for its home dominated ou
city and a palpable reflection of its cul- 1959, Romney
tural context. With this in mind, I began a gas-guzzling
ruminatingon other similarities between Think of the g
today and the year the Tigers won the But most i
World Series against the Cardinals. Granholm occ
From Prague, to Paris, to RFK and political spect
MLK assassinations, 1968 was ayearthat Republican an
rocked the world and shook everyone's but both are
social principles to the core, especially socially progr
those associated with the Left. Upheaval times carries tc
seemed rampant. In Detroit, however, lican. Howeve
1968 was a year of healing from past tur- easily pigeon
moil. Many at the time commented that normal party l
the Tigers' World Series victory helped a speechwrite
soothe some of the leftover tension felt tor - and Grai
from the riots in the previous year. 1968 Upon first bet'
was also the last year that George Rom- worked for t
ney served as Michigan's governor. tial campaign
A comparison between Gov. Jenni- described Ro
fer Granholm and Romney offers many had a Democr
fun historical coincidences. Both were I am not im
born outside the United States and were model Granho
M ichigan will win on a weekly b
with Granholm crowded, the s
books are ofte
tion and in s
TO THE DAILY: with the thoug
It is clear that Michigan is facing chal- an undergrad
lenges. Our economy is evolving, and sity. I drove p
businesses are trying to find their place. thought, "Wh
Jobs are harder to find, and families are shopping mall
struggling. These difficult times call for 5Smiles from h
charismatic leadership, strong values out it was a ne
and - most importantly - a real plan If you wan
for Michigan. Gov. Jennifer Granholm is lege admission
the only candidate for governor who has affirmative ac
them all. poverty needs
Economists and newspapers are in resources, teas
near-unanimous agreement that no gov- all the crap I n
ernor could have avoided the problems suburban midt
that are facing our state. Michigan was action isn't th
reliant on manufacturing, and in a new it now will not
global market, those jobs are being lost. that supporter
Granholm is fighting hard to save our We have a
manufacturing sector, while also diversi- ity in the U.S
fying our economy to prepare us for the we don't yet h
future. Granholm has created a real plan Each of us has
to keep Michigan working. maybe, but un
After three debates, millions of dollars a band-aid on
from his personal fortune, and countless with the situat
television, radio and Internet ads, I still mative action,
have no idea what Dick DeVos will do if the long run,:
elected. He clearly knows Michigan is all. MCRI is ns
struggling, but he has never told Michi- heal right now.
gan voters what he will do to fix the prob-
lems. He has spent millions attacking Elisa Collins
Granholm, he has run a successful smear Education
campaign and developed a lot of sloganst
- but that is not the type of leadership Prop.
Michigan needs. We need positive action .
and a plan to strengthen our economy. property
DeVos has already failed to provide us
with the one thing we need most - lead-
ership. He has avoided our questions and TO THE DAIL
failed to provide a strategy for Michigan. Sam Butler i
Meanwhile, Granholm is going anywhere viewpoint on t
and doing anythingto bring jobs to Mich- 4 (Unnecessary
igan, and she has a plan to turn our state renewal, 10/26
around. Michigan doesn't need more slo- and half-truth
gans - it needs solutions. Granholm is the by saying the
only candidate providing us with solu- anything beca
tions. Please join me in voting to re-elect Court changed
Granholm on Nov. 7. determined th
west before coming to
th Romney, an unwavering
Granholm, a pro-choice
to overcome the political
at resulted from their reli-
ons. Granholm, like Rom-
osed to a foreign war that
vealing itself to be without
the result of gross miscal-
nors also worried about
etition in the automo-
although the difference
ght be laughable today. A
agazine cover story about
d the concern that smaller
sad boosted imports from
ercent of the market to 8
tory dubs him "The Dino-
because as head of the
tors Corporation, Romney
away with the large, overly
finned American cars that
r highways. Way back in
asked, "Who wants to have
dinosaur in his garage?...
as bills!" Sound familiar?
mportantly, Romney and
upy similar spaces on the
rum. True, Romney was a
d Granholm a Democrat,
fiscally conservative yet
essive - a mix that some-
he label Rockefeller Repub-
r, such politicians are not
holed and often straddle
ines. Both Romney - once
r for a Democratic sena-
nholm exemplify this trait.
oming a citizen, Granholm
he independent presiden-
of John Anderson, a self-
ckefeller Republican who
atic running mate.
plying that Romney is the
lm should try to emulate,
asis. Classrooms are over-
chools are in disrepair and
n outdated, in poor condi-
hort supply. Contrast this
lht I had a few years ago as
at Michigan State Univer-
ast a construction site and
y are they putting another
in when a huge mall is only
ere?" A monthlater, I found
w suburban high school.
t real equality in the col-
.s process, then it's not just
tion that needs to go. The
to go too, and the lack of
chers and opportunities -
ever had to experience as a
dle-class child. Affirmative
e right remedy, but ending
create the instant equality
s of MCRI think it will.
gaping wound of inequal-
. educational system, and
ave the tools to stitch it up.
an idea of what those tools
til we find them, we throw
the wound and try to cope
ion. That band-aid is affir-
and as ineffective as it is in
it's better than nothing at
ot what Michigan needs to
would preserve
rights
Y
s living in fantasyland. His
he problems with Proposal
amendment hinders urban
/2006) is misinformation
s at their finest. He opens
proposal wouldn't affect
use the Michigan Supreme
I its mind a while back and
at taking private property
was illegal. He follows by
should determine what is
use.
forting. In 1981, the courts
ral Motors could raze hun-
s and businesses. Then, 23
fter there was absolutely no
or evensemi-improvement
the courts essentially said,
people make the laws and
erpret them. This proposal
king a law so that the courts
heir mind. If the legislature
r calls for an amendment,
things mustbe.
viewpoint, it would have
include something about
v. New London case, which
amendment, was not try-
but merely that
display a politic
gan needs at t
economy is nec'
tant issue in the
election. Even si
have to admit1
economic crisis
sympathetic to I
does not have tc
compassionate s
Neither gube
offered a satin
how they are go
the dialogue ha
seeing the exter
conservatism. I
is able to retool
will leave thet
workers to the s
Free Press aptly
of Granholm f
must balance "
economic mode
sands of peoplel
the old one."
But 1968 and
year's Tigers ol
World Series. L
was strong, yet:
had taken a ma
riots. Today we
sis, yet recent ev
and the Tigers':
the nation's per
tory is full of
especially in o
political, racial
ties. Michigan,
other state, is a:
exactly why itm
well-rounded le
holm to get us b
S
Romney and Granholm
cal ideology that Michi-
he moment. Michigan's
essarily the most impor-
upcoming gubernatorial
taunch leftists like myself
that Michigan's current
necessitates a governor
business owners, but this
o come at the expense of
ocial policies.
rnatorial candidate has
sfactory explanation of
ing fix our economy, but
s distracted voters from
nt of Dick DeVos's social
worry that even if Devos
Michigan's economy, he
old-style manufacturing
crap heap. As the Detroit
put it in its endorsement
or governor, Michigan
between building a new
l and helping the thou-
hurt in the crumbling of
today are different; this
bviously didn't win the
Back then the economy
Detroit's national image
jor blow due to the '67
are in an economic cri-
vents like the Super Bowl
season have ameliorated
ception of Detroit. His-
conflicting narratives,
ur state with its stark
and economic dispari-
perhaps more than any
place of contrast. This is
will take a balanced and
ader like Jennifer Gran-
ack to the World Series.
Sam Butler can be reached
at butlers@umich.edu.
I
PATRICIA GURIN
The real cost of Prop. 2
Proposal 2 on the Nov. 7 ballot concerns
much more than the University's admis-
sion procedures. Passage of Proposal 2
threatens equality for women in a state that
already ranks 49th out of 50 in the size of
pay disparities between women and men. It
threatens our capacity to provide opportu-
nities for girls in math and science. It is bad
for business at a time when our state needs
more education for all citizens so itccan move
aggressively into a knowledge economy.
The group that supports Proposal 2 wants
Michigan residents to ignore the likely
effects of the proposal on opportunities for
women and its broad implications for our
state far beyond admissions to the Univer-
sity. In these last weeks before the election,
they are attempting to put the University
and the issue of race front and-center of its
rhetoric. Their claims have to be answere .
They charge that the University's admis'
sion policies produce a huge disadvantage
for white applicants. They claim that white
students' chances for admission are worse
today than when the U.S. Supreme Court
ruled on the affirmative action cases in
2003. These charges are false.
The acceptance rate for white appli-
cants who apply to the University has varied
through the years. Looking at 1999 to 2005,
it has been in the range of 50 to 66 percent.
In these seven years, the acceptance rate for
applications from black students has been
between 55 and 63 percent. Those are not
large differences in admission rates, particu-
larly considering the very small number of
black applicants compared to the large pool of
white students applying.
There is no evidence that the difference
is greater now than eight years ago. In fact,
enrollment of black freshmen at the Univer-
sity has declined in recent years.
Supporters of Proposal 2 want Michigan
residents to believe that affirmative action
greatly reduces the chances of white appli-
cants to the University. In fact, it does not
affect the chances for whites very much at
all.
Evidence presented to the Supreme Court
showed that without affirmative action,
white applicants would have had at most a
2-percent increase in their chances of admis-
sion to the University. In 2002, Goodwin Liu
analyzed data from a national sample of selec-
tive institutions and showed that eliminating
affirmative action would have increased the
likelihood of admission for white undergrad-
uate applicants from 25 to 26.5 percent.
How can procedures that advantage one
group have so little effect on another? It is a
simple matter of math. There are so many
white students competing for spots at colleges
and universities - especially at selective ones
- and relatively so few students of color that
affirmative action simply cannot reduce the
chances of white applicants very much.
In her majority opinion for the Supreme
Court in Grutter v. Bollinger, Justice Sandra
Day O'Connor wrote that the Law School's
admissions policy "does not unduly harm
non-minority candidates." The small impact
on white applicants is more than compen-
sated by the benefits that all students receive
from being educated with peers from many
countries and from many racial, ethnic and
cultural backgrounds.
Research submitted to the Supreme Court
attested to the positive educational impact of
diversity for both white students and students
of color. Nearly all of the research produced
since the Supreme Court decision confirms
the educational value of diversity.
All students gain from the University's
diversity. Students themselves know this.
Most impressively, our graduates know it. A
recentsurvey of University alumni of the class
of 1994 asked about the impact of their col-
lege diversity experiences on their lives nine
years after leaving college. The overwhelm-
ing majority, regardless of their own racial or
ethnic background, said the impact was posi-
tive. Among white alumni, excluding the 20
percent who had no opinion, 93 percent said
that their college diversity experiences had a
positive impact ontheir post-college lives.
Diversity in educational institutions also
has societal benefits recognized and empha-
sized by the hundreds of organizations, insti-
tutions and individuals who submitted legal
briefs supporting the University in the affir-
mative action cases.
They stressed the importance for their
organizational missions and for society at
large of diverse students learning from each
other and gaining the skills they will need to
be culturally competent leaders in business,
government, the military and other institu-
tions both at home and abroad.
The elimination of affirmative action in
California, Washington and Texas led to rapid
declines in minority student enrollment at the
flagship universities in those states. If our
Michigan universities become less diverse as
a result of Proposal 2, all students will lose
out, regardless of their skin color. And those
who depend upon the graduates we produce
will be the losers as well.
Patricia Gurin is a professor emeritus of
psychology and women's studies. She was an
expert witness on diversity for the University
in Grutterv. Bollingerand Gratzv.Bollinger.
ing to remove blight. The entire neigh-
borhood that city wanted to destroy was
made up of humble, well-kept homes.
However, Pfizer wanted that land, and by
God, the peasantry wasn't going to stand
in its way. Who do you think spent more
money on lawyers in that legal battle?
If you asked the framers of the U.S.
Constitution, they would tell you the
principle of eminent domain was never
intended to remove blight. Eminent
domain was intended to build public
roads, schools, etc. These will all still be
permitted.
Restore your rights. Vote yes on Pro-
posal 4.
Adam Wilson
Rackham
Look beyond the
chalked-up slogans
TO THE DAILY:
As Michigan Student Assembly elec-
tions approach and candidates begin
chalking the Diag, knocking on doors
and posting flyers all over campus, you
will see a number of so-called "parties"
pop up offering a slew of promises. While
they may seem attractive, it is important
when consideringwho to vote forto look
beyond the catchy slogans.
I knowmany involved in MSA, includ-
ing many people who are leading parties
in this election. From what I have wit-
nessed, all these parties exist for one
main reason - to get elected. Parties
don't exist to improve MSA, to elect the
most qualified individuals or to serve
students. They simply exist to get a spe-
cific group of people elected, whatever
that group may be.
Because of this, parties are basically
useless when determining who to vote
for in MSA, and work to the detriment
to the system. While they do undeniably
add an interesting element to elections,
I'm frankly not sure if it's worth the
chaos, division and win-at-all-costs atti-
tude they bringto MSA.
When voting in November's MSA
elections, I hope that students look
beyond all the parties and vote for indi-
vidual candidates who are committed to
improving MSA and rejecting the status
quo as opposed to candidates that are
merely pieces of an election machine.
MSA needs to serve the needs of stu-
dents, not just specific groups, and this
can only happen if voters seek out the
most qualified individuals for the posi-
tion.
Tim Hull
The letter writer is an LSA senior and an
independent candidate for MSA-LSA
representative.
OH SONAVABlTCHIdI
1AS
Travis Radina
LSA junior
Inequality demands
affirmative action
TO THE DAILY:
I was undecided for a long time about
Michigan Civil Rights Initiative but made
up my mind last week. I disagree with
affirmative action for the very reasons
stated in the wording of MCRI. Despite
this, I amvoting no on Proposal 2.
Disparity in K-12 education in the
United States is rampant, and I see it
clearlywhen I visitDetroitPublic Schools
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4
I
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 Prabhakar, David Russell, Katherine Seid,
Elizabeth Stanley, John Stiglich, Neil Tambe, Rachel Wagner.