4 - Friday, January 26, 2007
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
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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.
On the right track
North-south rail line good for state, city and'U'
ast week, Ann Arbor Mayor John Hieftje announced that
the University would pay for its employees' use of a pro-
posed-commuter train between Ann Arbor and the city of
Howell. Given that almost 4,000 University employees would ben-
efit from this transportation line, the University's offer is quite sig-
nificant for the future of the rail line, especially because it comes
at a time when there is also hype about building an underground
parking structure in downtown Ann Arbor. While both propos-
als are intended to enhance transportation into the city for people
who work here, the economic and environmental benefits of the
proposed rail line make it the obvious favorite.
The more I review the details, the more
confident I am that we can continue that cost
reduction through 2009 and beyond."
-Ford Motor Company CEO ALAN MULALLY, commenting at a press conference yesterday on the company's
$12.7-billion loss in 2006, its biggest financial loss in its 103-year history.
RYAN JABER
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The real lesson ofPfizer
The sheer cost of constructing anew park-
ing structure in the city should be enough
to seriously reconsider it. Train service for
commuters is much more cost-effective
because it would use existing tracks. In addi-
tion, the cost of a parking pass for University
employees in Ann Arbor can be as much as
$1,265 per year. Even if employees had to dig
into their own pockets to pay for the com-
muter, the cost would onlybe $560 a year.
But besides being economical for Univer-
sity employees, rail service into the city is
beneficial because it encourages the practice
of using public transportation - reducing
congestion on overtaxed expressways, pro-
longing the life of crumbling roads and, of
course, cuttinggreenhouse emissions. Build-
ing a parking structure, on the other hand,
would be added motivation to drive into the
city, creating only more need for parking and
perpetuating traffic congestion.
The University's offer to offset the price of
the commuter rail will guarantee a baseline
ridership - who would pass up a convenient
and free ride that allows you to skip the grid-
lock on US-23? This ridership should allow
the nascent line to survive while-it gradually
attracts the riders ofchoice who are necessary
for any public transportation system to work.
This use of this rail would also be espe-
cially effective in demonstrating that public
transportation can work in the Detroit area,
which remains the only large metropolitan
area in the nation without viable public tran-
sit. Perhaps if this line sets a good example,
state and local officials will be more willing
to look into the much-needed Detroit-Ann
Arbor rail line, finally enabling University
students to drop in to the big city that's a
lot closer than they think. A line to Detroit
would open up the University community's
options for entertainment and social activi-
ties, as well as boost Detroit's economy.
Clearly the incentives to create and use
the commuter rail between Ann Arbor and
Howell are considerable. The added cost of
construction and the inconveniences of yet
another parking structure in the city - con-
struction noise and road detours, to name a
few - show that this option is not advanta-
geous for the University or Ann Arbor. Of
the two proposals to solvingthe parking and
commuting problems for city workers, only
mass transit like the north-south rail line,
will encourage University employees and
others to take advantage of economic and
environmentally sound ways of traveling
around the state.
t seems nobody's job is safe in
Michigan anymore. Not with an
automobile industry that still has
yet to realize gas efficiency - not mon-
ster sports utility vehicles - is what
consumers want. Not with cities like
Detroit drown-
ing in so much
debt (and taking
in so little tax)
that they. must
lay off teach-
ers and close
schools. And not
with the recent
announcement
that Pfizer will
be closing its JAMES
2,lOO-person DICKSON
operation in Ann
Arbor, the coup
de grace that should serve as a final
notice to disbelievers that the phrase
Michigan economy is all but a misno-
mer. When Ann Arbor - which the
Detroit Free Press recently declared
the model for all of Michigan to follow
- hits an economic rough patch, the'
rest of the state better brace itself.
Some of Michigan's economic tur-
moil was predictable, like the fall of
the Big Three. With the rise of foreign
competition, which produces exponen-
tially better cars at comparable prices,
the sky falling on American automakers
was more an issue of when, not if. Add
to that the immense cost of healthcare,
which many foreign competitors don't
pay because their governments ensure
healthcare for citizens, and pensions,
and American auto had nowhere to go
but down. The bloodletting has been
severe and may continue. And that's not
such a big shock, really.
But no one saw Pfizer coming - or
leaving, I should say. Since the fall of
American auto, public intellectuals
like Richard Florida, author of "The
Rise of the Creative Class," have told
us that education rather than tax
abatements or givebacks is the key in
attracting recruiters. The smarter the
workforce, as Florida's thesis goes, the
more attractive the region looks to
businesses.
Education is certainly what made
Ann Arbor so attractive to Pfizer and
Google. Recently acclaimed by Forbes
magazine as the third smartest city in
America, nearly half of Ann Arbor's
adults hold bachelor's degrees, and
almost 5 percent of all residents have
doctorates. If ever there were a city
whose populace can serve the needs of
major corporations, it's Ann Arbor.
So why has Pfizer decided to leave?
Because business is still measured in
dollars and cents, Pfizer's revenues
no longer justified the outlay. As long
as business cycles swing so violently,
there will always be the risk that com-
panies will pack up and leave. Without
entrepreneurial education in schools,
Michigan's future will remain at the
mercy of corporations that exist for
profit, not public good.
The lesson to take from Pfizer clos-
ing its doors in Ann Arbor is that we
cannot expect too much from corpo-
rations. Despite all the talk that Pfizer
has left Ann Arbor in the lurch, the
firm did no less for Ann Arbor than
it promised; stick around for six to 12
years, add to the city's tax base (Pfizer
was AonArbor's biggest taxpayer) and
provide high-quality jobs in the area
for as long as it remained profitable.
But tax cuts and cheap land can only
do so much, especially when a compa-
ny is claiming losses. Businesses exist
to make money. When they don't, they
make changes.
The job market of our grandpar-
ents' time - especially in this state
- is long gone and probably will never
return. Gone are the days when work-
ers did their jobs, executives sold the
product and everyone went home with
a paycheck. Nowadays, you can't just
do your job, you must be an amateur
financial analyst, keeping abreast of
stock quotes and profit margins just to
see if your job is secure. When holding
Pfizer's exit should
not come as a
surprise to state.
a science-based Ph.D. isn't a guaran-
tor that you'll keep your job, it's clear
we've only reached the tip of our eco-
nomic iceberg, and what lies beneath
is far more menacing.
The Daily is right that'Pfizer's
departure should open eyes in Lansing
(WhatPfizer can teach us, 01/23/2007).
The exodus of big corporations from
Michigan over the last two decades is
positive proof that the current focus
of our education system is misguid-
ed. Perhaps if schools focused a little
more on training students to run their
own businesses and a little less on
how to be good worker bees, our state
wouldn't be hit so hard by corporate
layoffs. Until then, we will just have
to wait for the next Pfizer to come
around, I suppose.
James Dickson can be reached
at davidjam@umich.edu.
Editorial Board Members: Kevin Bunkley, Amanda Burns, Sam Butler,
Ben Caleca, Brian Flaherty, Gary Graca, Jared Goldberg, Jessi Holler,
Emmarie Huetteman, Toby Mitchell, Rajiv Prabhakar, David Russell,
John Stiglich, Neil Tambe, Radhika Upadhyaya, Rachel Wagner.
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COME TO OUR MASS MEETING THIS MONDAY
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THE TREK WILL BE WORTH IT. PROMISE.
SEND LETTERS TO: TOTHEDAILY@UMICH.EDU
Students demand to watch
Michigan teams on dorm TVs
TO THE DAILY:
As an out-of-state yet lifelong follower of Michi-
gan sports, I always found it hard to keep track of
my teams on television. I thought things would be
different once I started attending the University,
but things are not as they seem. The men's basket-
ball team is playing as I type this on Wednesday
against the second-ranked team in the nation. Like
most University students, I'd love to watch the game
on television, but cannot find it on the more-than-
70 channels offered by the residence hall.
Why are students left to watch reruns of the
Huron versus Pioneer High School volleyball game
and not our basketball team trying to pull off a great
upset? Is it that hard for the University to find one
station that will take the time to show the game?
I know TV contracts are complicated, but it's out-
rageous that students can't even watch their own
team play. We are given the option oflistening to live
game audio at Mgoblue.com - that is, if it worked.
Instead we are left to watch the scoreboard slowly
change on cbssportsline.com with scores coming
in about as fast as molasses draining from a tree
(According to espn.com the score is 33-26 Wiscon-
sin at halftime, though I'm sure its long into the sec-
ond half by now). Road football games are always
on television, so why not the other sports? When
was the last time a hockey road game not against
Michigan State was on television? Things could be
changed if more people cared. But do they?
Graham Block
LSAfreshntan
Civilian Corps may not have
guns, but it's what we need
TO THE DAILY:
For Thursday's editorial stating that the Civil-
ian Reserve Corps would be a "Peace Corps - with
guns" (From the Daily: Reading between the lines,
01/25/06), the editorial board obviously didn't do its
research. The concept of a Civilian Reserve'Corps
was first brought into mass media in Gen. Wesley
Clark's 2004 presidential campaign and was also
recommended by the National Security Council last
March. As outlined by these sources, it would be a
volunteer corps of civilian experts and specialists in
infrastructure, culture, religion, economics, politics
and other non-combat disciplines that the Army tra-
ditionally has a poor grasp of.
These reserves would work in the private sec-
tor and be called into government service in the
event of an emergency like Hurricane Katrina or
to aid in reconstruction efforts after a war. There
would be no reason to arm them, because they're
not a fighting force. They're engineering teams,
advisors and policy experts. The Peace Corps, on
the other hand, is about working directly with
the people and winning hearts and minds. Peace
Corps members might work as nurses at a hospital
or help rebuild homes in a bombed village. Civilian
Reserve Corps members would organize distribu-
tion of supplies to the hospital or plan out the best
way to reconnect the village to the electrical grid
and water supply, for example. A Civilian Reserve
Corps is exactly what the country needed in New
Orleans and needs now in Iraq: real professionals
and experts on the ground, committed to using
their skills to repair the damage done by war or
natural disaster.
Geoffrey Hicks
Engineerhigsophomore
Blindly fighting Prop 2 hinders
larger fight for equality
TO THE DAILY:
I would like to pose a question to administrators
and student groups: In what ways are you address-
ing the problems of racism and race relations and
how well is that currently working? I can smash
my skull against a wall for the cause of diversity
and capture the same results as opposing Proposal
2 and continuing a blind faith in race-based affir-
mative action. A better approach involves the real-
ization that race is not the key factor in how many
opportunities a person has. What matters is socio-
economic status.
Yes, I agree racism is a problem, and I agree most
people in poor areas are minorities. And I also agree
that many reasons for that are past atrocities commit-
ted by white Americans. I feel guilt that my race has
done such things, and I'm sure others do as well. So
what should we do? Continue to attack the problem
by focusing on nothing but skin color? Of course not;
we need to start addressing the bigger problem, which
is the repercussions of the awful choices made in the
past. We need to focus on helping the poor. By that
act, minorities who have no need for help will receive
none, thus preserving the University's resources for
students in poor areas who can barely overcome the
lack of opportunity they were born into.
The reason the current enactment of affirmative
action is bad is that the more help you give to those
who can do without it, the more who need help won't
get it. In short, "by any means necessary" is never
the right approach to take. Even in cases where no
answer is correct, one will be more correct than
another. Addressing diversity of economics, while
not perfect, is better than addressing race alone.
Give up the fight against Proposal 2 and the status
quo and accept that there are better answers to the
problem of inequality and racism.
Stephen Marin
Rackham
Admissions policies unfairly
target white male applicants
TO THE DAILY:
While looking through the letters to the editor
in the Daily recently, I noticed that the majority of
the letters were about Proposal 2. One in particular
(A dmissions decisions should make upforK-12 segre-
gation, 01/22/07), caught my attention. Weeks after
the passage of Proposal 2 and after the U.S. Supreme
Court rejected an appeal to delay the implementa-
tion of the proposal, there are still those who seek
ways to get around the new law. Now, I will not
preach that Proposal 2 was the will of the voters,
because that much is obvious. Instead, I ask you to
consider a different injustice going unnoticed at the
University: the unfair punishment of the middle-
class white kid.
Yes, feel free to laugh at this point, but when
you're finished, read on. As I sat in my Communi-
cations 101 lecture last week, I began to feel guilty
for stuff that I hadn't even done. Discussing wom-
en's oppression, civil rights and the relocation and
murder of Native Americans during the westward
expansion, I briefly felt that as a white male, Amer-
ican history made me out to be the bad guy. After
class, I quickly rebounded from the bombardment
of accusations I had just experienced, and I start-
ed to get angry. Why should I feel bad for crimes
that I haven't committed?
If the problem of diversity lies in K-12 schools,
fix it there. Altering college-admissions stan-
dards does not fix the problem and, in fact, creates
another: the undeserved disadvantaging of white
applicants. The vast majority of white male appli-
cants were not even alive during the civil rights or
women's rights movements, and they surely had
nothing to do with slaughtering Native Ameri-
cans. As far as I'm concerned, in looking to right
one wrong, the University is actually committing
another by punishing the innocent. It is unfair
to make white applicants shoulder the blame for
society and history.
But what bothers me the most is the University's
so-called "commitmentto excellence."Withaffirma-
tiye action in place, a minority applicant with lower
SAT scores would often receive admissions priority
over a white applicant with higher scores. Is this
the "diversity" that University President Mary Sue
Coleman is so rigorously fighting for?
Michael Colleran
LSAfreshman