6 4A -Monday, January 29, 2007 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com L74be Iidii~an &ikj~l Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. 413 E. Huron St. Ann Arbor, MI 48104 tothedaily@umich.edu There's nothing I can really say to take away your pain. - Former Seton Hall University student JOSEPH LEPORE, one of two students who started a dorm fire that killed three students in 2000, to the victims' relatives at his sentencing, as reported Friday by CNN.com. ALEXANDER HONKALA DONN M. FRESARD EDITOR IN CHIEF EMILY BEAM CHRISTOPHER ZBROZEK EDITORIAL PAGE EDITORS 6 6 JEFFREY BLOOMER MANAGING EDITOR Unsigned editorials reflect the official positionof the Daily's editorial board. All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of theirauthors. The secret society that lived New name alone can't cover blemishes of a shady past J seems the most infamous student organization on campus will soon have a name you can freely use, instead of the awk- ward acronym TOFKAM - the organization formerly known as Michigamua. Although it isn't a certainty, the elite senior society will likely soon change its name to Order of Angell. While the name is a tribute to former University President James Angell, who founded the secret society in 1902, the story of how Michigamua came to be TOFKAM and finally Order of Angell is one worth retelling. Featur- ing secret rituals, untold doings and members whose identities were long kept secret, it is a fantastic tale worthy of Harry Potter. In fact, it's best told that way. Let's start at the beginning: Moderatism for Michigan There are many magical student organi- zations at the University, but one remains unmatched by all. Founded by Headmaster Angell more than a century ago, this is the infamous group formerly known as Mich- igamua. Angell's intentions were pure, but over the century this group-that-must-not- be-named flirted with the dark arts, arro- gantly employing Native American imagery and excludingwomen until recently. Claim- ing to serve the beloved University by the efforts of its distinguished membership, the group always acted under a cloak of invis- ibility, drawing ire from those who prefer their senior societies to maintain the open spirit of our public institution. Events came to pass in recent years that appeared to undo the shroud of secrecy. In 2000, the Students of Color Coalition broke into Michigamua's hideout in the. Union tower and found evidence of arts the group claimed to have given up. The order was expelled from University grounds but the secrecy surrounding the identity of its mem- bers and that disrespectful, pseudo-Native American name remained. Just last year, under mounting pressure from the University community, the group decided to release the names of its mem- bers, and what a list it was: leaders of vari- ous campus groups who apparently shared nothing but a love for the University (and perhaps just a dash of reductive vanity). It seemed that the group - now that we knew who was in it - might be ready to make a perceptible difference. But there was still the pesky business of that notorious name, the last remnant of a dark past. Over a year after promising to find a new name, the group, in its typical patri- archal style, contacted the great-grandson of President Angell last week, seeking his blessing for using the hallowed name. And so, now we have it - the appropriately pomp- ous, expectedly folkloric Order of Angell. If that is the name, we must say we're dis- appointed. if the Angell name is vital, why not present it with authority with Angell's Army or Angell's Aurors? Other possible names that were leaked, like Ring of Fire and the Blue Flame, have a nice ring to them, too - though we can't say the recurring fire theme isn't just a little worrying. Meanwhile, the group, which has always scorned transparency, is also annoyed by campus quills. Member Matt McLaughlin recently expressed his chagrin at the Daily's decision to cover the society "every step of the way." The group has never been a fan of having to tell people about what it does - selfless humility, we're sure. Of course, it does leave the door open for us muggles to question whether it does anything at all. We're thrilled that the society plans to announce its "vision" of "campus involve- ment" but perhaps it could also release the names of all of members, including honorary members. Failure to do all of that would just further the belief that the group will never allow sunshine in to disinfect its darkest corners, and there's just no place on campus for an organization like that. hat happens when you put one of Michigan Public Radio'smostacclaimedjour- nalists, former University professors and regents, past and present Michigan congressmen and some hot-shot CEOs tcgether in a room? According to news reports last week, the blend of knowl- edge and political ideologies resulted in a practical plan to pull Michigan out of the finan- cial grave it has been digging itself into since 2000. Thanks to the impressive mix of men and womenwhocom- prise the Center for Michigan and THERESA the politically- feasible ideas the KENNELLY group has gener- ated since its cre- ation last year, there is renewed hope for the future of Michigan. The Center for Michigan - based in Ann Arbor, but with priorities reach- ing far beyond the city - calls itself asa "thinkanddotank."Thenewsthatbroke last week about its plans for balancing the budget by raisingthe beer tax across the state emphasizes the center's dual- ity. By generating a plan that can become effective almostimmediately if accepted by the legislature, rather thanjust a theo- retical strategy for improving the state's budget, the Center is advocating tangible solutions. The idea of raisingthe beertax is fundamentally practical - it's both an easy wayto add wellover $200 millionto the state's income and update Michigan's 1966 beer tax while only raising the price of a can by a dime. The problem is that Michigan's econ- omy is going to take more than just a beer tax and one centrist group's stimu- lation to be revived. In the meantime, the ideas of multi-partisan groups that think and develop functional plans for the (inefficient) legislature should not be overlooked. In a news article about the center last summer, the Daily wrote, "In an increasingly partisan election year, it is unclear just how great an impact a group of self-described centrists will have" (New center aims to improve state economy, 06/05/2006). But since the election has passed just the opposite has become clear: Moderate compromises are what Michigan needs and demands. Events in Washington have shown that moderatism can take many forms - and won't always work. In recent elections, it's undeniable that both Democrats and Republicans adopted moderate stances to capture swing vot- ers' interests. But in the process, many of these politicians have focused on political compromise at the expense of their parties' agendas. But appeasement and purely cen- trist thinking is not the type of mod- eratism Michigan's problems call for. Rather, given the state's finan- cial crisis, moderate ideological approaches that combine Democratic fiscal responsibility with Republican big business ideals - those that will rebuild the state's commercial sector - will be key to putting the state's economy back together. Fortunately for Michigan, Gov. Jen- nifer Granholm has embraced this polit- ically moderate philosophy and jumped on to the thinktank bandwagon by cre- ating an advisory panel. Admitting her inability to handle the budget crisis by herself, she created a 12-person "Emer- gency Financial Advisory Panel" that is headed by two of her predecessors. The panel, which is essentially an emu- lation of the Center for Michigan, has the job of inspecting the budget crisis and developing plans for the next fiscal year. It will present its findings to Gra- nholm in the next couple of days so as to direct next week's State of the State address and looming budget proposal. But the bad press Granholm has received for forming the group might make her reluctant to accept its find- ings and proposals. The Detroit News said that most panel members "are too familiar with the wrong way to solve Michigan's problems": It appears sus- picious of the impact centrist policies may have on the state. But the deci- sion to hand over the crisis to a diverse group of Michigan experts show that Granhoim is trying new, reasonable approaches to solving the state's money problem. Drawing advice from former governors, such as panel co-chair Wil- liam Milliken - Michigan's longest Moderate thik tanks: the future of Michigan. serving governor, well remembered for his pro-tax agenda - should encourage Granholm to adopt moderate policies and wiser fiscal cutbacks. Both the governor's advisory panel and the Center for Michigan are draw- ing on years of experience and mod- erate mindsets to attack the stat's biggest problems - yet both face doubt in their potential and influence. Look- ing at the reasonable fiscal suggestion the Center for Michigan has already formulated and the enormous capabil- ity of the governor's panel with Mil- liken in charge, these think tanks are in sync with state's needs. Instead of con- tinuing to play party politics with the state's deficient budget, the legislature must incorporate the plans from these groupsto create a better, more thought- out future for our state. Theresa Kennelly is an associate editorial page editor. She can be reached at thenelly@urich.edu. 0 * 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. WYMAN KH UU Did you watch the State of the Union Address the other night? Nope, But I did watch 3 reruns of'I aye t'Y'nn VHl. Letters Policy All readers are encouraged to submit letters to the editor. Please include the writer's name, college and class standing or other University affiliation. Letters should be no longer than 300 words. The Michigan Daily reserves the right to edit for length, clarity and accuracy, and all submissions become property of the Daily. Letters will be printed according to timeliness, order received and the amount of space available. Send letters to tothedoily@umich.edu. Editors can be reached at editpage.editors@umich.edu. JOHN OQUIST ILIVE - Y F ET UGHJS sTILL iAVE SOMUCH c T KNOW, STARTING TOMORROW (Y MINUTE Nso 0 scv GET DONE BEFORE I GET TO BED, I'M GOING TO STUDY QUANTUM FTR-E I HAVE TO BE UP AND AT WORK hN MECHANICS FOR YEARS UNTIL - I ,d-- L Esooo THA 05V .000, A scit Aw Tow ACiNE Ais K.~ THiiKie (MTTINs SCK. 00 coot iAce TO ilL 505EL 0110 so as vsI Tv rEE To-sE er TeisXCT 000EN .. K, A u E5 it .,- - n 1 CHRISTOPHER ZBROZEK AiT Happy Milton Friedman Day! in case you haven't heard, today is Milton Friedman Day, an opportunity to celebrate the life of the greatest popularizer of free-market economics since the invisible hand of death claimed Adam Smith in 1790. Friedman himself passed away lastyear - the free market has yetto offer us immortality at any price - and today, individuals throughout the realm will remember Friedman's defense of all that is good and capitalistic. 1. PBS will even air a special, "The Power of Choice: The Life and Ideas of Milton Friedman." Apparently it's pretty powerful stuff: According to an e-mail the University's economics department sent to its students announcing Milton Friedman Day, the PBS special "really makes your eyes well up with tears." That's a lot of emotion to show over a dead economist. But Friedman was, after all, one of the 20th century's more intriguing intellectual figures. More libertarian than con- servative, Friedman followed his ideas all the way to their logical conclusions. He wanted more liberal capital mar- kets - and less restrictions on drugs and prostitution. He argued that deregulation benefits consumers by increasing competition, and thus he suggested lowering medical costs by eliminating the Food and Drug Administration and get- ting rid of licensing requirements for doctors. I have a difficult time thinking dispassionately about Friedman and his ideas: I don't like policies that make life harder for poor people, and having read "The Jungle," I like having the FDA around to protect me. It's entirely possible, however, to acknowledge Fried- man's triumphs while criticizing his flimsier ideas. Writing in this month's issue of The New York Review ofBooks, Paul Krugman calls Friedman "a great man and a great econo- mist." Krugman nonetheless points out the shortcomings of Friedman's views on monetary policy and the "intellec- tual dishonesty" - that's intelligentsia-speak for plain old lies - found in some of his statements to the general public. Differentiating between Friedman's various roles, Krug- man writes that "Milton Friedman the great economist could and did acknowledge ambiguity. But Milton Fried- man the great champion of free markets was expected to preach the true faith, not give voice to doubts." With Milton Friedman Day, Friedman's free-mar- ket proselytizing continues beyond his mere demise. Yes, assorted governmental and academic bodies have declared today to be Milton Friedman Day. But the entity actually pushing the idea - the organization that really declared today to be Milton Friedman Day --is some- thing called Free to Choose Media. This nonprofit group describes itself as "A Media Com- pany for the 21st Century ... exploring the concepts of freedom and wealth creation through expert storytelling and high quality presentation." In other words, this is a propaganda outfit for the 21st century. FreetoChooseMediaisheadedbyBobChitester,whopro- duced documentaries with and about Friedman during liis lifetime. Chitesteris also behind tonight's PBS special, which apparently is about as fairand balanced as you might expect. A review in the Providence Journal notes the documentary's omissions and distortions, stating that the PBS program '"s more a sales job for a conservative, anti-governmentideology than an honest look at the Nobel economist"Chitesterwrote on one of his websites thathe promised PBS an "intellectul biography,"but the Englishlanguage contains amore precise word to categorize such projects - hagiography. Ofcourse,noconservative TV producer is anisland,sowe mightheed the advice Deep Throatgave to BobWoodward: Follow the money. It turns out that Free to Choose Mediaas a project of the Palmer R. Chitester Fund, which Bob Chit- ester named after his father. That fund, in turn, gets mugh of its moneyin the form of grants from assorted right-wig "philanthropic" organizations, including prominentnames like the Olin Foundation and the Bradley Foundation. (Both of those foundations, incidentally, have given to the Coll.- giate Network - which funds dozens of right-wing studest publications, including The Michigan Review). There are reasons why conservative organizations add the wealthy individuals who fund them are so eager t canonize Friedman, and I can't imagine all of them ate as noble as a sincere and disinterested belief in the mor'l superiority of limited government. Stripped to th*ir most simplified form - market always good, government always bad - Friedman's anti-government views coh- veniently serve the interests of those who benefited tle most from the Bush administration's tax cuts. i The Heritage Foundation, the American Enterprise Institute, the Hoover Institution, even Michigan's own Mackinac Center for Public Policy - there's alot of con- servative money hard at work behind these groups trying to move this country even further to the right. Add Frje to Choose Media, and Milton Friedman Day, to the list.i Christopher Zbrozek is a Daily editorial page edit~r. 0 0