4 - Tuesday, January 9, 2007
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@umich.edu
I have to remind people that when Richard Nixon stood
his last election in 1972, he was supposed to be in office
until 1977, but he was held accountable for Watergate.
You can't always wait until the next election."
- Legendary investigative reporter and Washington Post Assistant Managing Editor Bob Woodward,
speaking yesterday at the "Covering a New Secrecy" forum in the Michigan League Ballroom,
ERIN RUSSELL I '
0
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.
Woodward's..Wisdom__
Prestigious panel discusses role of media
B ob Woodward of the Washington Post worked to expose
the most infamous government cover-up in our nation's
history - the ugly Watergate affair that ended Richard
Nixon's presidency and put University alum Gerald Ford in the
White House. Since then, Woodward has seen several presidents
and remains active on the question of governmental secrecy and
the responsibility of the media to inform the people. Yesterday, he
was a keynote speaker and panelist at an event in the Michigan
League called "Covering the New Secrecy," which addressed the
current state of media and governmental affairs in our country.
The event was insightful and worthwhile, lacking only the pres-
ence of a significant number of students.
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- ------------------
Straight talk on taxes
Since Sept. 11, and the subsequent pas-
sage of the Patriot Act, President Bush
and his supporters in the Republican
Congress have repeatedly told Americans
that giving up certain liberties is neces-
sary to defeat the threat of worldwide
terrorism. Still, the majority of the public
was shocked and outraged to hear about
unwarranted - and illegal - wiretaps
implemented by the National Security
Agency, and we reacted similarly to news
that the administration has been track-
ing the bank accounts of some Americans
since shortly after Sept.11.
In this environment of secret govern-
mental maneuverings and the media's oft-
criticized role in exposing - or failing to
ex pose - them, it has become increasingly
difficult to openly debate how much the
government can choose not to tell us and
how far the media should go in doing its
duty. Yesterday's event brought the issue
to our campus.
Panelists at the event included Wood-
ward, New York Times Managing Editor
Jill Abramson, Fox News's Greta Van Sus-
teran, former associate counsel to President
Bush Bradford Berenson, National Secu-
rity Archives Director Thomas Blanton
and Law School Prof. Leonard Nieoff. The
exchange between these superstar journal-
ists and high-ranking public policy experts
fostered a rare dialogue on an issue that has
been long absent from the popular discus-
sion. Unfortunately, despite all that, the
event was poorly publicized and therefore
only attended by a handful of students.
Panelists pointed out the profound
importance of the informal checks and
balances system between the media and
government. The Bush Administration
may have erred in its justification for
invading Iraq and for the NSA wiretaps, as
well as mishandled the Valerie Plame case.
But it's the media's job to pursue the facts
behind these stories and not allow the gov-
ernment to get away with anything, and as
Woodward pointed out, the media has also
failed in its duty of late.
Since Sept. 11, the Executive Branch
has made several significant power grabs.
Many of these serve no national security
purpose while hindering openness in gov-
ernment. For example, Blanton said that
the Bush White House has classified and
continues to classify more "security sensi-
tive" documents than any administration
since Nixon's. In the past, some classified
documents (since declassified) have been
found tobe meaningless, and their classifi-
cation served no purpose. Several panelists
were rightly critical of the media's failure
to fully expose the governmental missteps
like this unnecessary classification.
While it is commendable on the Univer-
sity's part to bring big names to campus
for a worthwhile event, its management
could be improved. Televised to a national
audience via C-SPAN, the panel discussion
was interrupted by malfunctioning spot-
lights and falling banners. Worse, however,
was the tepid student turnout, a result of
the event's poor publicity and timing that
would be inconvenient for many students.
It's encouraging that many professors and
alums turned out for the event, but it's a
shame that more students could not come
listen to the all-star panel.
ust before Christmas, Jennifer
Granholm got up in front of the
Lansing press corps and stated
the obvious. Michigan, the gover-
nor announced, will have to choose
between raising taxes and slashing
services to make up for the state's
massive budget deficit.
The Detroit Free Press ran the
news as its lead story. Conservatives
across the state wentballistic. All this
fuss because a politician applied the
rules of addition
and subtraction1
to the state bud-
get.
What Gra-
nholm was
really saying, of
course, was thatj
she was getting
ready to pro-
pose some sort DONN M.
of tax increase.
It was almost FRESARD
comical how
she avoided saying so outright. She
told reporters that balancing the bud-
get with spending cuts alone would
mean starving public schools and
health care. She said Michigan's vot-
ers rejected that strategy when they
re-elected her over Dick DeVos by a
14-point margin. And she hammered
home the point that the state needs
public investment to transform its
exhausted economy.
Infer what you will.
Presumably, Granholm is dipping
her toes into the pool before diving
into a public campaign for a tax hike
- to be announced at her State of
the State address next month. State
revenues aren't going to improve any
time soon, and it's become clear that
we'll need more taxes to avoid trash-
ing vital services.
What's curious is that Granholm
would need to be so coy about it at
this stage in the game. It's often noted
that taxes are a dirty word in Michi-
gan politics. Bring up new taxes as an
option, and partisan Republicans will
tear your throat out. And, yes, Gran-
holm is notoriously gun-shy.
But this is the governor's second
and last term. She has the bully pul-
pit, and Michigan is in dire straits.
She needs to start telling voters why
more taxes can be good for them.
There is really only one thing Mich-
igan's conservatives will tell you about
the state economy: that low taxes
attract new businesses and jobs, and
high taxes repel them. It's a basic tenet
of modern conservatism. Voters have
been hearing this gospel for decades,
and there are well-funded think tanks
dedicated to propagating it.
It's scary, really, how many con-
servatives can apply anti-tax dogma
to any given problem without consid-
ering whether it makes sense. In an
editorial last week excoriating Gran-
holm for her heresy on taxes, the con-
servative Oakland Press even argued
that "it's pretty obvious the reason
the economy is in the tank is because
our taxes are too high." Really? I
thought the decline of the American
auto industry in the face of better for-
eign competitors had something to do
with it.
Granted, tax increases can hurt
growth, which is why economists who
are weighing the options for new rev-
enue sources - a graduated income
tax, a tax on services, higher corpo-
rate taxes - are taking great pains
to figure out which ones will mini-
mize the damage. But keeping taxes
low won't be nearly enough to attract
the new industry Michigan needs to
replace its manufacturing economy.
Take a look at Alabama. In 2003,
Republican Gov. Bob Riley sponsored
a ballot initiative to raise that state's
ultra-low taxes by $1.2 billion - in
part to fix its dismal public school
system. Voters, convinced by anti-tax
ideologues that the bill would cost
30,000 jobs, rejected it soundly.
Two years later, Toyota was look-
ing for a location to build a new North
American plant. As New York Times
columnist Paul Krugman wrote in
2005, Alabama and other southern
states clamored to woo the Japanese
auto company, offering hundreds of
millions of dollars in incentives. But
ToyotapickedOntario,foregoinghuge
subsidies for a Canadian province
with a much higher tax burden than
the company's American suitors.
Why? Because Ontario's workforce
was far better educated than that
of any southern U.S. state. Toyota
needed workers who could be trained
to use its high-tech plant equipment
cheaply and quickly. The company's
officials pointed to Nissan and Honda,
which had run into problems tryingto
train unskilled and illiterate workers
in their new Mississippi and Alabama
plants.
State taxes must go
up. Will Granholm
bite the bullet?
It's only an anecdotal case, but it
says a lot about why the anti-tax gos-
pel doesn't work these days. We're
not in the '50s anymore, and the Big
Three aren't building big U.S. facto-
ries with thousands of low-skill jobs.
In today's high-tech environment,
we need an educated workforce and
good infrastructure to attract new
companies.
In all likelihood, Michigan's con-
servatives will continue to insist that
any tax increase is tantamount to
economic suicide. It's all they know.
But if we're going tofix our problems,
someone needs to start telling vot-
ers why that approach is wrong. Let's
hope Granholm is up for the job.
Donn M. Fresard is the Daily's
editor and chief. He can be reached
at dmfres@umich.edu.
4
I
LAUREN MOLONEY EGNATIOS
Anew kind of customer
In 2003, IBM launched a revolutionary initia-
tive to strategically focus on corporate philan-
thropy through volunteerism. The On Demand
Community, according to an IBM executive
"enables (the company) to involve all IBM
employees worldwide and give them technology
resources (donated computers, other tech sup-
plies and cash) that transform the schools and
community organizations where they donate
their time. (IBM is) taking community service
to a whole new level." The initiative is not only
transforming community service, but also giv-
ing the less fortunate an equal opportunity to
reach their maximum potential by providing
access to higher education.
You, corporate America, are one of the most
recognized powerhouses in the world in terms
of gross domestic product. One could even
argue that you may have mastered the art of
capitalism. However, the New Economic Foun-
dation offers another benchmark for success.
It ranks 178 countries, measuring average life
expectancy, conducting surveys on life satis-
faction and gauging the consumption of natu-
ral resources in each country. Why is it that
the United States and other leading economic
countries are ranked in the bottom 25 percent
of the "Happiness Index" rating? How is it that
you can successfully invent almost any product
imaginable for an unspeakable profit, yet when
it comes to addressing some of the gravest social
issues affecting the happiness of your consum-
ers, you can barely scratch the surface?
What if the solutions to our societal issues
meant merely letting go of the inhibiting
assumption that corporate social responsibility
is corporate suicide? Breathe a sigh of relief, cor-
porations. Let the profit reports ease your worst
anxieties. Since exploiiting the barely tapped
social sector, IBM reportedly held $91 billion
in U.S. revenue in 2005 and continues tobe rec-
ognized as the leading information technology
company in the world. It's about time IBM and
other companies' leadership efforts extermi-
nate this illusionary fear that has stagnated cor-
porate social responsibility efforts for decades.
In generating more revenue than any national or
global institution on earth, you, America's most
powerful entities, have assumed the responsi-
bility to step up as our leaders.
So, corporate America, as you sit back and
calculate the costs and benefits of assumingthis
leadership role, here is a message for you: Wait-
ing around for the perfect theory to emerge to
justify exactly how being a socially active cor-
poration will lead to your maximized profit is
useless. However, what has and will frequently
emerge is a newfound wave of socially active
corporations like IBM that have and will con-
tinue to gain a competitive advantage in their
respective industries. As the corporate social
investment trend continues to grow, we as
consumers will become more conscious of and
educated on the expanded role of companies
today. The hour has arrived when we, as edu-
cated consumers, are starting to demand more
than material satisfaction. Are you, corporate
America, ready to meet our needs?
Lauren Moloney Egnatios is an LSA senior.
Societyformerly known as
Michigamua remains nameless
SEND LETTERS TO: TOTHEDAILY@UMICH.EDU
political turmoil. It was President Ford's passing that
reminded me how proud and fortunate I am to be an
American, a member of the Grand Rapids community
and a Michigan Wolverine. Thank you, President Ford,
TO THE DAILY: for all your yearsc
Last year we produced a documentary on the history of
the Michigamua controversy from 1902 to 2006. We ended Mark Krhovsky
the film with a statement from the "Pride of 2006" saying LSA junior
the "Pride of 2007" would announce a new name last fall.
So does anvone know the new name?_
of service.
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Jamie Shenk and Dean Ho
Shenk is an Engineering senior and Ho is a LSA senior. its prob
TO THE DAIL
Generation X should recognize Although tI
(01/08/2007)
Ford's considerable legacy wireless conn
selves, I am di
TO THE DAILY: the University
It isn't every day that you watch the national news and network.
witness history, let alone history taking place in your Katherine]
own hometown. On Jan. 2, I saw one of the most moving inaccurate, be
and influential moments of my young life, the homecom- ibility issue i
ing of former President Gerald Ford. network is as
This son of Grand Rapids was a noble man, a courageous of computerV
leader and an altruistic father. Yet, as a 20-year-old Gen- standard). Th
eration X-er, I knew little of his legacy or policies. that is not co
The ceremonies that took place last week served as the sense tha
a significant reminder for me. The passing of Presi- ent (802.11b a
dent Ford has given me a second chance to show my the issue here
gratitude to my grandfathers who valiantly served in 802.11b wirele
our country's military. As a young American, my peers less protocol.
and I often overlook the service and sacrifice that was As the arti
demonstrated by Ford's generation. It's moments like University bu
last week, although solemn and painful, that should University's r
wake up the younger generation who call themselves the right equi
Americans. having proble
Ford achieved so much during his term. After he was be wise to ch
thrust into office, he managed to accomplish the insur- University fox
mountable task of uniting people and healing a nation. work."
His spirit has transcended, and in doing so he has again
united the U.S. government, the American people and Daniel Shin
the community of Grand Rapids in a time of war and LSAfreshman
on'tget wireless,
ably your own fault
"Y:
he article On campus, a wireless headache
did state that the main problems with
ectivity can be fixed by students them-
sturbed by the incorrect assumption that
'does not employ a standardized wireless
Musbach's response to the problem is
ecause she is assuming that the compat-
is on the University end. Any wireless
sumed to, be compatible to the protocol
wireless signals (802.11b being a popular
ere is no such thing as a wireless network
.mpatible. It could be not compatible in
t the wireless protocol might be differ-
and 802.11c, for example), but that's not
, because the University is employing the
ess network - the most widely used wire-
icle states, the problem is not with the
t with students' computers. It is not the
esponsibility to make sure students have
pment to access the network. If anyone is
ims with the wireless network, it would
eck the computer before criticizing the
r having an "incompatible wireless net-
Thumbs: Auto show edition
The newly revamped Chrysler Town and Country minivan is so
spacious that it boasts "Swivel 'n Go" second row seats that actually
swivel to face the third row. Melting ice caps, dying seals, hottest
summers on record - as long as you've got a center table big enough
for a poker party, is global warming really your problem?
The Chevrolet Volt concept car, introduced this week by General
Motors, can go up to 40 miles on battery power, recharging itself by
burning minute amounts of fuel. See, we're not against all gas-guz-
zlers - as long as they guzzle to the tune of 150 miles per gallon.
Editorial Board Members: Reggie Brown, Kevin Bunkley, Amanda Burns, Sam Butler,
Ben Caleca, Devika Daga, Milly Dick, Jesse Forester, Gary Graca, Jared Goldberg, Jessi Holler,
Rafi Martina, Toby Mitchell, Rajiv Prabhakar, David Russell, Katherine Seid, Elizabeth.Stanley,
Jennifer Sussex, John Stiglich, Neil Tambe, Rachel Wagner.
4