4A - Thursday, February 22, 2007 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com C714c d4.c an ail Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. 413 E. Huron St. Ann Arbor, MI 48104 tothedaily@umich.edu KARL STAMPFL IMRAN SYED JEFFREY BLOOMER EDITOR IN CHIEF EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR 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. Expected returns Drop in minority enrollment a foreseen result of Prop. 2 roponents of Proposal 2 claimed to envision a color-blind world. This world would be truly equal, they said, and pub- lic universities would be fairer than ever before, because considering race in the admissions process would be completely unnecessary. They said that removing race as a factor in admissions would not hinder diversity on campus. This week, however, this rosy worldview was predictably proved wrong. John's entitled to his opinion. I just think he's wrong." - Vice President Dick Cheney responding yesterday to Sen. John McCain's (R-Ariz.) statement calling former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld one of the worst secretaries of defense in history. KIM LEUNG n r a 0 0 As expected, the acceptance rate of under- represented minority applicants to the Uni- versity has taken a sharp plunge since the University was forced to stop using affir- mative action programs last month. Before Proposal 2 went into effect, 76 percent of underrepresented minority applicants were admitted; that figure dropped a staggering 43 percentage points after affirmative action was taken away. Even though this admissions cycle could be an anomaly, given its close proximity to the amendment's passage and implementa- tion on the new state law in the middle of the cycle, these numbers are a manifesta- tion of Proposal 2 opponents' worst fears. And judging from what happened when California implemented a similar affir- mative action ban several years ago, the situation does not look too promising for diversity at the University. The University must do everything in its power to fight against Proposal 2's detrimen- tal effects. University President Mary Sue Coleman has said, and the Supreme Court ruled in 2004, that diversity is an impera- tive aspect of today's college experience. The ideal of a University environment that fosters the "robust exchange of ideas" is still within reach, despite Proposal 2's passage. These new numbers demonstrate that in the absence of affirmative action, this Uni- versity will undoubtedly struggle to main- tain racial diversity on campus. While it should continue the fight in court to chal- lenge the legality of the ban, for the time being, it must act quickly to keep minority enrollment from dropping again next year. Fortunately, completed applications from underrepresented minority candidates are up by 14 percentage points this year, and the number of total applications increased by 5 percentage points. However, the fact that underrepresented minority admissions rates have fallen so quickly in the few short weeks since Proposal 2's passage indicates that this year's efforts were not sufficient. The University has no choice but to intensify its recruitment efforts and outreach pro- grams to further boost the number of quali- fied minority applicants. Strengthening outreach programs also means beginning the recruitment process earlier in students' high school careers. Prospective students in wealthier districts often have the advantage of excellent college counseling at school and at home right from the start of high school. Affluent students are put on a supportive academic track early on and as a result are adequately prepared for the application process. This is unfortu- nately not the case in the struggling, under- funded, majority-minority schools in urban areas like Detroit. The University can compensate for this unfortunate reality by targeting its outreach programs toward high school freshmen and sophomores in areas with high underrepre- sented minority populations. By doing so, it can reach minority students who might otherwise fall through the cracks. These outreach programs can emphasize impor- tant college preparation techniques like AP classes, skills for the ACT and SAT, par- ticipation in extra-curricular activities and writing strong college essays - all essential for admission into the University. Hopefully University Provost Theresa Sullivan's Diversity Blueprints Task Force will have strong recommendations for these outreach programs and additional funding set aside to make them effective. Immedi- ate action is crucial to reverse this drop in minority enrollment and to keep admission rates stable in the wake of Proposal 2. While the legal implications of Proposal 2 remain questionable, what the University needs to do now is clear. 0 ust when you thought it couldn't possiblyget any worse, the Mackinac Center for Public Policy has done it again. The think- tank known for its staunch conserva- tism and extreme free-market ideas recently concluded that funding the arts in Michigan should not be the responsibility of- -- the state or its tax- payers. But rather than being upfront about its intentions in the state legisla- ture, the center hid this agenda behind obscure "protec- JARED tion from obscen- ity regulations from GOLDBERG the Engler era. ------ ------ Is it too late to tell them that fund- ing the arts not only contributes to the intellectual culture of this state but may also help spur a fading economy by making the state an attractive destina- tion for burgeoning companies? The target of the center's attacks is the Ann Arbor Film Festival. Founded in 1963 by a University professor, the festival has showcased many fascinat- ing films over the years. According to officials, the festival has no plans to showcase pornographic films or any- thing of that nature, and neither has it done so in the past. In a policy paper last year, "Enter- taining Art: To Tax or Not To Tax - That Is the Question," Michael LaFaive, director of the center's Morey Fiscal Policy Initiative, explicitly called out the festival as an example of exorbitant state funding of the arts. But rather than explain how exactlythe economy is hindered by such funding, LaFaive produced a list of past films that he determined objectionable. That was all that it took. Last May, when the state House of Representa- tives was determiningthe budget for the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs, the state agency that oversees grants for arts projects, Rep. Shelley Taub (R-Bloomfield Hills) suggested a complete revoca- tion of funding. Using LaFaive's essay as a playbook, Taub and her Repub- lican minions dug out 10-year-old regulations to justify the cuts. That this occurred during an electionyear should provide clues to Taub's true motives. The Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs was formed in 1991 after former Republican Gov. John Engler completely dissolved its predecessor, the Michigan Cultural Commission. Engler, like the Macki- nac Center believed funding for the arts was not the state's responsibil- ity. When people protested his move, he founded the Michigan Council of Arts and Cultural Affairs, with half the funding of its predecessor. In 1996, the state House passed three guidelines for any artist to receive a grant through the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs. One of the regulations, which so far remain unchallenged legally, pro- hibits any union of human waste and religious symbols, desecration of the flag and depictions of sex acts. While it is understandable that the state should have some discretion over the allocation of its funds, the problem is that these guidelines happen to be unconstitutional. In a principally secular country like ours, providing sanctity to reli- gious symbols is a violation of the establishment clause and the first amendment. Desecration of the flag is also protected speech; see Texas v. Johnson and U.S. v. Eichman. The third regulation is the most insidi- ous. Without a definition of what constitutes a sex act, it is difficult to determine if a production violates that clause, leaving it entirely up to arbitrary judgment. Regardless, this year the festival had to seek out other sources of fund- ing. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (which has a pretty big night on Sunday) pledged $10,000 to be used for programming about the issue of censorship. While there are many who believe that cutting arts funding is just a way for the state to eliminate waste, there is a political dimension to it. To con- servative puritans in Lansing and at the Mackinac Center, attacking the festival is an easy way to confront Ann Arbor liberals and their ideol- ogy. Furthermore, the film festival itself, while non-partisan, has seen an increase in the number of films expressing a political opinion that leans left-of-center. It's in the state's best interest to fund the arts. The saddest part of the whole con- troversy is the effect it potentially has on Michigan's economy. While free-market extremists preach the job-making potential of tax cuts - a theory clearly disproved by Pfizer's recent departure - it is culture and the arts that bring and keep jobs in a state. Companies like Google have stressed how important the charac- ter of an area's lifestyle is in a deci- sion to locate there, and the arts are a big part of that lifestyle. States with well-established and unique arts cultures like New York and California are the ones that busi- nesses flock to, even if they have to pay a little more in taxes. Film pro- duction in itself can also bring much- needed revenue. As a filmmaker, would you shoot in a state with such ridiculous guidelines for receiving artistic grants as Michigan? Our theocratic legislators in Lansing would be wise to open doors to events like the AAFF not close them. Jared Goldberg can be reached at jaredgo@umich.edu. 4 0 Editorial Board Members: Emily Beam, Kevin Bunkley, Amanda Burns, Sam Butler, Ben Caleca, Brian Flaherty, Mara Gay, Jared Goldberg, Emmarie Huetteman, Toby Mitchell, Rajiv Prabhakar, David Russell, Gavin Stern, John Stiglich, Jennifer Sussex, Neil Tambe, Radhika Upadhyaya, Rachel Wagner, Christopher Zbrozek ERIN RUSSELL | m - - .::..:..... rI WANT 70, 6oSOMOWHCEPE PC-ALLY'C-Xre AAkNT FOR 3te'sNe eREAK, weHecEeAPErALLH rem CA CEL.eESre~les VACAtTINF THSECAW5 THC$C DAYS? eee r sS. N t "" -" i i 11 Daily EIC naive in criticism of reading lists, Shakespeare TO THE DAILY: Does Michigan Daily Editor in Chief Karl Stampfl really think that having students read contemporary novels willsolve America'swritingproblem(Whyyou probably can't write well, 02/21/2007)? I agree with some of his suggestions regarding these contempo- rary texts, but unfortunately, writing problems stem from sources deeper than what we read. For example, consider the analogy that public edu- cation institutions in America are like cars. Teachers are the engines of the cars, books are the tires and students logically sit inthe driver's seat. If the engine doesn't work properly, you can't get the car to go, regardless of what kind of tires you use. If we have to blame something, blame poor instruction. Blame teachers' inability to teach texts in ways that actively involve and relate to students. Numerous works by Shakespeare, for example, focus on tragedy. Who can't relate to that? The English canon, or "classics," has one thing going for it that many of Stampfl's suggestions do not: Those books have withstood the test of time. Many think that contemporary works need to do the same - prove their own, if you will - before they make their way into the classroom. Like I said, I do agree with some of Stampfl's suggestions. But he bases his distaste for the canon only on what he has seen recently - i.e. what types of literature he has seen taught here at the Univer- sity. If students didn't learn to write well during their primary or secondary educations, chances are they won't improve much here. I advise Stampfl to look into the classrooms of today's public schools. Even in Michigan's current state, I highly doubt that you would ever see "an entire English curricu- lum (based) around an author (Shakespeare) whose prose bears no resemblance to the writing students will be expected to do once they graduate." It's not so much what students read in schools, but the quality of instruction they are given that matters. Frankly, if the pedagogy is broken, it won't matter what a teacher puts in front of a child to read. Good writing can only be taught through great instruction. Stop being so hard on my friend William. He's done a lot for us. Noel Manning Education senior Daily fails to see the many fruits of campus activism TO THE DAILY: As a student activist here at the University, I am quite annoyed by the recent editorial that said cam- pus activism has been largely dead for years (SDS Redux, 02/20/2007). The Daily's lack of knowledge about the political activism that thrives on this cam- pus is staggering. To say "viable grassroots activism has long been absent from university campuses" is to ignore all the things college students have fought for both across the country and here at the University throughout the last 10 years. Student activism is and has been quite vibrant. The Daily just needs to know where to look for it. Since the late 1990s, the anti-sweatshop move- ment has been spearheaded by college students unified under the national organization, United Students Against Sweatshops, which has forced uni- versities to adopt measures to attack this problem. Here in Ann Arbor, Students Organizing for Labor and Economic Equality has been fighting this fight for almost ten years. During that time, every anti- sweatshop measure the University has adopted has been due to SOLE's efforts. However, this is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to recent student activism. Other examples include the Killer Coke Coalition, which got the Uni- versity to cut its contract with Coke for a while last year in response to the company's human rights vio- lations. Students also recently got dorms to serve fair trade coffee, and the mass mobilization against Pro- posal 2 on campus got over 80 percent of students to vote against it. Currently, campus environmentalists are trying to get the University to use more renew- able energy. Although the return of Students for a Democratic Society is a welcomed development on campus, the society is not entering into a vacuum. Adam Lax LSA junior Daily fails to fairly cover 'Vagina Monologues' TO THE DAILY: My anger is directed toward Friday's articles about this weekend's production of "The Vagina Monologues" (This year, a role for men in 'Vagina Monologues';ReconsideringEve's V-day 'Monologues', 02/16/07). The news article dealt only with the inclu- sion of three male extras, who were onstage for less than five minutes total. The arts story skirted around the same issue, focused on last year's production and denounced the talent in the show (before the writer had even seen the production). There was not even one reference to the theme of this year's production, "The Beauty of the Individual Woman." A reporter spent half an hour interviewing cast members at one of our rehearsals, and the only com- ment she chose to use was about the male extras. Although I recognize the importance of the three men in our production, they were in no way an over- powering force and did not take attention away from the 33 female cast members. The Daily's stories how- ever, did just that. SEND LETTERS TO: TOTHEDAILY@UMICH.EDU As a cast member, I feel extremely misrepresent- ed. It's obvious the Daily focused on minor details as a result of knowing absolutely nothing about this year's show - or maybe just not caring to find out. Regardless of the Daily's apathy toward "The Vagina Monologues" and its refusal to mention anything significant about our production, our performances were tremendously successful and powerful. I chal- lenge the Daily to ask a member of this weekend's audience if he doubted any cast member's talent or was distracted by the male actors. I hope that in the future it will write articles about this event that are of real significance. Dina Vovsi LSA and Music sophomore JACK DOEHRING 0