4A - Monday, March S, 2007

The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

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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
EDITOR IN CHIEF

IMRAN SYED
EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR

JEFFREY BLOOMER
MANAGING EDITOR

Unsigned editorials reflect the official position oftthe Daily's editorial board. All other signed articles
and illustrations represent solely the views ofttheir authors.
Back to school
State legislature must help retrain laid-off workers
W ith its once-vibrant manufacturing base in the last stag-
es of a deathly stupor, Michigan already faced the sec-
ond-highest unemployment of any state in the country
last December. Add to that the recent buyouts at Ford and continued
losses reported by General Motors and Chrysler, and you have all the
ingredients for a classic decline from boomtown to just another stop
along the rust belt. But of course, it doesn't have to be that way. Com-
munity colleges present one alternative that laid-off workers have
recently taken advantage of.

I was going to have a few comments on John
Edwards, but it turns out you have to go into rehab if
you use the word 'faggot,' so ...
- Conservative political commentator and University Law School alum Ann Coulter at the
Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington D.C. on Friday.
ALEXANDER HONKALA
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For decades, experts have warned of the
need for a completely revamped labor force
for Michigan to avoid misery once the Big
Three faltered. In recent years, these prag-
matic calls have intensified, especially on
this page. But while we may wax progressive
about the need to retrain the state's labor
force right up till GM files for bankruptcy,
it's easy to grow weary of such seemingly
impractical solutions.
An Associated Press report printed yes-
terday, however, should help prove that the
longstanding stance of the state's progres-
sives is not only possible but actually prac-
tical. According to the report, enrollment
at the state's 28 community colleges has
jumped over the last five years, partially
because laid-off workers have enrolled to
gear up for new careers.
State lawmakers continue to fail the
state's workers by under-funding education
at all levels and pretending that even at 7.1
percent, state unemployment is completely
under control. It's encouraging to see work-
ers themselves ignore such empty blue-sky
rhetoric and take their futures into their
own hands.
Those raised on the ideology of "Why go
to college when you can get on the assembly
line and make the same money now?" were
left behind as Ford and GM shifted opera-
tions abroad tocounter spiraling losses. The
state legislature has always pretended that
these workers couldn't be trusted to see the
light, that asking them to retrain and change

their mindset on employment would mean
losing votes. Alas, the Republicans who long
controlled both houses of the state legis-
lature underestimated the intelligence of
Michigan's workers.
As former assembly line workers get in line
at community colleges and trade schools, it's
time that the legislature matched their ini-
tiative. Gov. Jennifer Granholm introduced
her "No Worker Left Behind" proposal in
her State of the State address last month. It
would allow laid-off workers to attend two
years of community college or trade school
for free to revitalize their employment pros-
pects. The initiative carries a $230-million
price tag, but that's a small price to pay to
brighten the state's future.
Granted that the state expects an immense
budget shortfall in the foreseeable future,
Granholm did provide a plan to pay for her
plan. But state Republicans couldn't possibly
be expected to accept a proposal for a 2-per-
cent tax hike on some services without look-
ing upward for cracks in the sky.
The Republican strategy of cutting
taxes to attract businesses has done the
state no favors, as the recent departure of
Pfizer from Ann Arbor attests. There are
efforts for which the government must
spend money, and this money cannot come
through cuts in other areas alone. If taxes
on some services have to go up for Michi-
gan's workers to receive adequate training
for employment, can anyone really argue
that it's not worth it?

The fate ofMelrose Place

As most people on this campus
can attest, student housing is
a problem. But every time an
attempt is made to correct it, City
Hall becomes abuzz with protest.
The scene some Ann Arbor resi-
dents made in frontof city officials and
real-estate develop- c-
ers at the Ann Arbor
Planning Commis-
sion meeting on
Feb. 22 was hard to
watch. They paint-
ed Ann Arbor as an
old-fashioned town
that's not afraid toT
tell ruthless big city THERESA
contractors who KENNELLY
want to renovate its --
beloved cityscape to pack their bags.
While this fairly conservative view
in what I once thought was a progres-
sive college town may be common only
among the city's senior population, it
carries a lot of weight in City Hall.
The issue that drove several devel-
opers and concerned residents to City
Hall two weeks ago was the future of
619 E. University. This lot - currently
home to an apartment complex offi-
cially known as "Anberay" but more
commonly known in the campus com-
munity as Melrose Place - was sold
earlier this year to Chicago-based
Zaragon, Inc.
Architects and engineers from that
firm have drafted extensive plans to
maximize the space's potential by
building a 10-story mixed-use facil-
ity named Zaragon Place. But some
Ann Arborites are not ready to allow
the demolition of Anberay, and even
though the firm's construction plans
adhere to local zoning and develop-
ment laws, these residents assembled
at the meeting with a laundry list of
arguments against the reconstruction.
The major complaint was that by

demolishing Anberay, Ann Arbor
will lose a "wonderful piece of his-
tory." Several residents stressed that
Anberay was once protected under
Individual Historical Property guide-
lines until they were overturned in
a 2001 court ruling. They argued
that by replacing the complex with a
"monolithic and charmless" building,
Zaragon is disrespecting the history
of a city it knows nothing about.
The complex dates back to the
1920s, so there is some history to
the building. Elderly residents at the
meeting reflected on the thrill of mov-
ing into the "lovely" complex in the
1960s or walking past it as a student
admiring the beauty of the courtyard.
However, it is clear that sometime in
the past 85 years, the building under-
went a personality change.
It was once home to faculty and
families but now is almost strictly
inhibited by students who litter the
courtyard with trash and beer-pong
tables. As a current resident of the
complex, I can say that the basis for
the nostalgia past residents feel for the
complex doesn't really exist in 2007.
This is not to say the defiant resi-
dents didn't put on a charming and
bold show at City Hall. And I don't
want to make Zaragon Inc. out to be
the victim. But in terms of practical-
ity, their arguments have no merit. In
recent years, City Council members
and residents alike have pushed for
more density in the downtown area to
delay the spread of urban sprawl and
reduce traffic. Zaragon Place - while
itmaybe amammoth and out-of-char-
acter for the South/East University
neighborhood - promises to increase
urban density by more than quadru-
pling the number of occupants of the
lot, in addition to adding retail space.
And given the environmentally-con-
scious details ofthe proposed build-

ing, including a green roof, this is the
type of development Ann Arbor has
been waiting for.
Zaragon Place will allow more stu-
dents to live near campus and increase
the number of leasable homes - some-
thing the student population is in
desperate need of. But because they
haven't had to sign a lease in the stu-
dent housing districts in more than
20 years, the naysayers at the meeting
conveniently overlooked all these ben-
efits of the proposed complex.
Need for more
student housing
ignored again.
Yet their rants did not fall on deaf
ears. Many council members took
their complaints to heart and ruled
to delay giving the go-ahead to the
developers, probably until the Chi-
cago contractors are able to develop a
plan to quell the emotional residents.
This uncalled for delay comes as no
surprise; City Council rarely rules on
the side of students and often neglects
the practical needs of the city.
Call me disrespectful of the histor-
ical architecture of Ann Arbor. Call
me irreverent to its permanent resi-
dent stewards. With the needs of the
student population consistently being
overlooked, I'm willing to deal with
these labels. We need more quality
student housing in Ann Arbor and
I'm willing to make a few elderly resi-
dents in the city angry and step on a
little history to make this happen.
Theresa Kennelly is an associate
editorial page editor. She can be
reached at thenelly@umich.edu.

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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
SEND LETTERS TO: TOTHEDAILY@UMICH.EDU

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Snowballfight a success,
should not be ended
TO THE DAILY:
While there are reasonable complaints to be
made about the annual South Quad-West Quad
snowball fight, it was refreshing to see the
police take a hands-off approach (A tradition
turns violent, 02/22/07). Compare this to the
severe measures takento shut down the Naked
Mile. Now many of the younger undergradu-
ates have no idea that it ever even existed. It
is sad to see traditions die. Please do not shut
this one down.
Blair Wilcox
Engineering senior
Illini Chief a victim of
NCAA double standard

allels between the arguments for the removal
of Chief Illiniwek and arguments that could
be made for protesting Notre Dame's mascot.
The leprechaun perpetuates the idea that all
Irish people are short and violent, for one.
So why is Chief Illiniwek being retired
while the Fighting Irish go on without any
problem? If we are going to get rid of insen-
sitive mascots, we need to get rid of all of
them. The one explanation I could come up
with is that Notre Dame is a private Catho-
lic university, which I'm sure accepts many
Irish students. Schools like Illinois, however,
don't have high numbers of Native American
students, and thus their mascots aren't repre-
sentative of the student body. But that's still a
poor reason to allow some racially insensitive
mascots, but not others.
Andrew Daar
LSAjunior
Chiefs retirement necessary

LAURENCE GOLDSTEIN
A lesson for teachers and students

TO THE DAILY:
I'm going to say up front that I have a bias Step in que
on the subject of this letter. My father is an
alum of the University of Illinois, and I've TO THE DAILY:
grown up around numerous people who love In regards to tl
the Chief. I would like to commend the Daily (Last dance for C
for giving a very balanced account of the reporter did a go
retirement of the Chief (Last Dance for Chief on the issue. I o
Illiniwek, 02/22/07). I would also like to point an explanation as
out somethingthat kind of bugs me about this deal to the Native
whole ordeal. A Native Chie
There are plenty of offensive team names a large headdres
and mascots based on Native Americans (the less like Illinois's
Washington Redskins and Cleveland Indians munity and spiri
come to mind), but they are out of the NCAA's would have an pr(
jurisdiction. But where are all the protesters priest jumped arc
" when it comes to the Notre Dame Fighting If it were a Rabb
Irish, who feature a diminutive leprechaun be considered a
with raised fists as their mascot? I'm not is Native Americ
Native American, so I can't give any valid rea- think that it's OK
son for why the Chief isn't offensive. But I am Until we can o
Irish, and I don't see how this double standard progress inthe fig
has gone unchecked for so long. as well be goingb
Personally, I am not offended by Notre
Dame's mascot. I think it looks silly, but I'm Jordan Savage
not going to protest. But I can see a few par- LSA sophomore

stforprogress
he story about Chief Illiniwek
hief lliniwek, 02/22/07), the
od job at not choosing a side
nly wish that there had been
to why this issue is such a big
e American community.
f is more than someone with
s who jumps around sense-
interpretation. He is a com-
tual leader. As a Christian, I
oblemif a student dressed as a
ound before basketball games.
i, then the institution would
nti-Semitic. But, because it
an, they call it tradition and
C.
pen our eyes and make some
ght for true equality, we might
ackwards.

For this the first in The Michigan
Daily's series of viewpoints written
by faculty members, I would like to
recall an incident that I consider one
of the most important of my under-
graduate experience.
During the early1960s I was a cub
reporter for the student newspaper
at the University of California at Los
Angeles, The Daily Bruin. One day, I
got the assignment to interview the
famous psychologist and sociologist
B. F. Skinner, who was visiting cam-
pus to deliver an endowed lecture.
Skinner's utopian novel "Walden
Two" had been assigned read-
ing in one of my courses, and I was
impressed with its ingenuity and
argumentative rigor. 'It imagines a
community founded and entirely
controlled by a behavioral psycholo-
gist named Frazier, who adjusts a
system of rewards so cunningly that
the residents never suffer the disap-
pointments and emotional turmoil
that trouble the rest of the world.
Peace of mind is the ultimate goal
of this experimental community.
The social engineering applied by
its philosopher-king guarantees that
the pastoral ethics associated with
Henry David Thoreau's "Walden"
- simplicity, productive work and
natural piety - keep each citizen
contented and virtuous.
Skinner and I dueled - if that's the
word - about the most controversial
portion of the book: The denial of
free will as a principle of conduct. He
had heard my arguments on behalf
of freedom hundreds of times and in
fact made the debate over free will a
central part of his novel. But then I
hazarded a question he didn't expect.
I noted that the residents at one point
are staging a performance of Henrik

Ibsen's dark play "Hedda Gabler" and
on another occasion Johann Sebas-
tian Bach's "Mass in B Minor." How,
I asked him, could people who had
spent their lives being shielded from
negative emotions possibly appreci-
ate these works full of anguish and
tribulation?
He surprised me by falling silent,
brooding for a bit, and then saying,
"You're right, the people of'Walden
Two' couldn't possibly understand
such works of art. I must change
that in the next edition." (He never
did, which raises another set of
questions.)
I was flabbergasted. It was as if
Albert Einstein had told me that he
was revising his theory of relativity
because of a question I'd posed.
This was a moment that rever-
berated throughout my graduate
school and teaching career. What it
suggested to me was that authority
could not be absolute, and that the
viability of education, of social prog-
ress itself, depended on the give and
take, the push and pull, of younger
and older minds. Skinner's willing-
ness to acknowledge his error dem-
onstrated that learning occurs on
both sides of what can seem to be an
unequal dialogue.
Students sometimes believe that
professors do not want to be disput-
ed, that they want students to "parrot
back" or (less politely) "regurgitate"
the exact content of lectures in their
exams and papers. Although there
may be the occasional benighted
professor who punishes students for
disagreeing with him on even the
most trivial point, the vast majority
of instructors enjoy being challenged
by well-informed, well-articulated
objections or alternative readings of

the evidence.
It may be that instructors need to
use some positive reinforcement on
this matter. Students are naturally
cautious in the classroom, fearing
the kind of withering retorts made
famous in films like "The Paper
Chase," not to mention peer respons-
es of a negative kind. Welcoming
tough questions as well as sustained
disagreement in written assignments
without ceding so much authority
that chaos ensues provides a model
of how learning occurs.
The comfort zone for criticalthink-
ing is likely to vary from class to class
and discipline to discipline. Literary
study puts a premium on ambiguity
and invites revisionism, even as it
insists on mastering a long tradition
in order to figure out what evidence
is useful for a persuasive interpre-
tation of the text at hand. Students
need a nimble intuitive sense to situ-
ate themselves in a new class and a
new field of study, but in all cases,
they should settle into a stimulat-
ing and productive rapport with the
instructor, who has, or ought to have,
their best interests at heart.
"What is love," asked B. F. Skinner,
"except another name for the use of
positive reinforcement?" Well, I still
don't agree with him about love, and I
still champion the agency of free will.
But he taught me something about
intellectual curiosity. I tip my hat
to him at 45 years' distance for sub-
verting the mystique of invulnerable
authority, and I thank him for a vital
lesson in education - my chosen pro-
fession since that sophomore year.
Laurence Goldstein is editor of
the Michigan Quarterly Review and a
professor of English at the University.

JOHN OQUISTI
HOW WAS YOUR REAf THATs tOOL. WHAT ASOST YO, HAHAHAHA LOSERtHI
I WENT TO CANCUN. Y05 G0 ANYWHCRE?
HEY, I WAS IN ACAPULCO, I WtNT PLACES' YOU DAMN .THATS NOT VERY
GETTING SMASHED KNOW, I WENT TO, UH, NICE, PROFESSO R
EVERYDAY' MS GRANDMAS..
>14

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