E 4C - Monday, April 16, 2007 OPINION The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Edited and managed by students at the university of Michigan since 1890. a 413 K. Huron St. Ann Arbor, MIn48104 tothedaily@umich.edu The Daily's Editorial Page is a forum for diverse opinions on key issues of contemporary concern. As the class of 2007 prepares to graduate, we offer a look back at some of the most important topics addressed during its time at the University. Here are excerpts from the last four years of page 4. FROM THE DAILY After MCRI Proposal 2 passes, but affirmative action debate not over Those who stay will be champions." - A storied adage of legendary Michigan football coach Bo Schembechler, who passed away on Nov. 17, 2006. Don't be seduced into thinking that that which does not make a profit is without value." - Renowned playwright and University alum Arthur Miller, who passed away on Feb. 10, 2005. America needed recovery, not revenge." - Former U.S. president and University alum Gerald Ford on his much-maligned pardon of Richard Nixon. Ford passed away on Dec. 26, 2006. SAM BUTLER few hopeful souls may be waiting for a deus ex machina to uncover the missing half-million ballots oppos- ing Proposal 2, but with 94 percent of pre- cincts reporting at press time, it's clear that the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative has passed. Despite years of effort, first to keep the proposal off the ballot and later to edu- cate voters about what the proposal actual- ly means, Michigan residents have spoken - and come out overwhelmingly against affirmative action. But the battle isn't over. Some changes are certain: The University will revamp its admissions process, tweak some programs and probably eliminate others. But Pro- posal 2 hasn't put an end to the affirmative action debate. For being born to the wrong family, thou- sands of children received an inferior educa- tion from the first day of kindergarten. For being born the wrong gender, women across the state face the legacy of male privilege that persists today in employment and con- tracting. The passage of Proposal 2 has done nothing to remedy these inequalities that demand our immediate attention The morning after is hard, but the real challenge lies in the coming months and years. The University has fought battles in the U.S. Supreme Court to defend its com- mitment to diversity; we hope it doesn't abandon that commitment now. If there is one university that can find a way to achieve diversity after a setback this dire, it's the University of Michigan. - Nov. 8, 2006 4 Bleachers, not skyboxes 'U' should consider alternative stadium plan 4 In a move many regarded as a mis- take, the University Board of Regents approved a controversial expansion of the Big House last May. Unlike any previ- ous expansion, the plan would actually remove bleacher seats, replacing them with club seats and luxury boxes. The Big House has embodied the tradi- tion of Michigan football since it was com- pleted in 1927. Each home game, more than a 100,000 fans journey to that familiar sunken bowl to watch the Wolverines take on that week's unlucky opponent. Each fan sits or stands on the same cold steel bleach- ers. Every one of them suffers through the often cruel Ann Arbor weather. There are no advertisements, no distractions - just fans and football. Affront to tradition aside, the skybox plan has a number of flaws. The skyboxes won't necessarily sell out. The plan also jeopar- dizes the stadium's standing as the largest in the nation. However, mistakes, clerical oddities and other shady tactics have been the norm regarding this subject since the adminis- trative sleight-of-hand that placed the sta- dium expansion plan on the agenda for the regents' meeting in May at the last minute. In the end, the Board of Regents should remember that Fielding Yost put extra steel pilings into the ground for a reason. It's a safe bet that the reason wasn't to allow for-the future construction of "enclosed seating." - Sept. 26, 2006 4 It's our turn University should find its place in relief effort Not exactly apathy 4 n the wake of one of the most devastat- ingnatural disasters in our lifetime, the University is in a unique position to pro- vide much-needed aid and assistance to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. With thousands dead and injured, many more displaced and damages estimated in the tens of billions of dollars, the level of need is staggering. The University commu- nity, which has already opened its hearts, must now turn its empathy into action. One of the most important things the Uni- versity can do is serve as a temporary school for the students who normally attend col- leges in the ravaged areas. Although most students are unable to donate large amounts of money to relief efforts, instead of simply donating money, college students can encourage family mem- bers, neighbors and hometown organiza- tions to donate and volunteer the manpower necessary to organize large fundraisers. The greatest resource to be tapped, how- ever, is the massive crowd that will convene this Saturday in the Big House as Michigan takes on Notre Dame. At last Saturday's foot- ball game, fundraising efforts involved con- tributing $2 from every $5 game program and standing at the gates asking for donations. Our University community, filled with generous and empathetic people, must step up in this time of desperate need. - Sept. 6, 2005 To die for one's country U.S. death toll reaches symbolic number T wo months after Sept. 11, Newsweek rana cover story on the students it dubbed "Gen- eration 9/11." Seeking a place from which to observe the effects of the ter- rorist attacks on youth, the magazine's reporters came to our campus. This is what one student was quotedr as saying in the article: "Our gen- eration, as long as we've had an identi- ty, wasknown as the a generation that had CHRISTOPHER it easy. We had no crisis, no Vietnam, ZBROZEK no Martin Luther - King, no JFK. We've got it now. When we have kids and grandkids, we'll tell them that we lived through the roar- ing '90s, when all we cared about was the No.1 movie or how many copies an album sold. This is where it changes." Most of us graduating now were still in high school when that issue hit newsstands, and perhaps a few of us came to college expecting the sobered- up atmosphere that student's quote implies. Yet it turns out that Sept. 11 didn't change everything, at least for most of us. We came to the Universi- ty, we got our degrees and we'll go on with our lives. Having worked at a newspaper, I pay altogether too much attention to current events, and I can't help notic- ing that we're living in historic times - globally and locally. Depending on whom you talk to, America is either locked in a death struggle against radi- cal Islam or is rapidly throwing away its civil liberties and respect for the rule of law in the name of security. Either way, America is still stuck in a rather unpleasant situation in Iraq. Here on campus, the past four years saw a protracted debate about the Uni- versity's admissions policies, capped at each end by the decision at the U.S. Supreme Court in June of 2003 and the passage of Proposal 2 last fall. No mat- ter what you think about affirmative action, you couldn't avoid the issue. The state of Michigan, meanwhile, is simply dying. The most recent dead- lock over how to deal with the perpetu- al deficit in the state budget looks more like the decline of a critically ill patient going into shock than any sort of ratio- nal democratic process. And there's no end in sight to the state's economiccol- lapse. Cuts to state funding translated nicely into hefty tuition hikes. Nobody said creative destruction was fun. But life goes on. We find our intern- ships, we boost our resumes and we learn all about networking. We visit graduate schools or we try to find a job with health insurance. We hint to our parents that they might want to clean out some space in the base- ment. We start reconciling ourselves to the idea that our friends are going to scatter across the country. We've learned by now that we aren't special, unique snowflakes, at least not most of us, and we can perhaps be excused if the events unfolding around us haven't driven us to devote our lives to "Changing The World." It's not exactly apathy. That's a word that writers at this paper like to throw around - I've been as guilty as the next - but the phenomenon might more accurately be described as self- preservation. In four years there are bound to be plenty of disappointments. Even the much-despised Frieze Build- ing had defenders hoping to spare it from demolition. So we don't reflect on our experi- ences and our surroundings as much as we might, and when we do, we tend to focus on fond memories. We won't serve in Iraq or Afghanistan unless we want to, and we'll find.it hard to be as passionate about affirmative Our generation's philosophy: make the most of life. action (or about "ending reverse dis- crimination") once we leave cam- pus. Forty-seven percent of us will skirt Michigan's economic crisis by decamping to a greener state. You just go on with life and make the best of it. Viewed one way, it's a cheap slogan that might have come from any number of nondescript self- help books. Viewed another way, it's a philosophy a bit reminiscent of the themes Kurt Vonnegut scattered through his novels. He died last week at 84. So it goes. Christopher Zbrozek is a former Daily editorial page editor. He can be reached at zbro@umich.edu. 4 Sept. 7, four American soldiers lost their lives in Iraq. Had these deaths occurred at another point in the con- flict, the soldiers would have become just another number to some Americans, part of the steadily rising death toll in the war. Yet, there is an artificial significance to the passing of these young people: The death toll of U.S. soldiers in the war in Iraq has now passed 1,000. Now is a time to honor not only the four men who died, but also the hundreds who lost their lives before them. Students should be especially cognizant of the rising death toll, because the young, as they do in all wars, are bearing the majority of the burden of combat. The number of deaths in Iraq is larger than the number of students who live in East Quadrangle Residence Hall. Each one of the students in East Quad has a story - a compelling life story, just as there is a story behind the end of every life in Iraq. The situation on the ground in Iraqis dan- gerous now as it was dangerous then. More soldiers will die; this is an unfortunate real- ity. Our fearful trip is not done. - Sept. 9,2004 4 Vote Kerry Our nation needs new vision Four years ago, as Americans went to the polls to vote for who would become the next president of the United States, the nation was enjoying a period of unprecedented growth and pros- perity. Today, as we stand on the brink of another election, our world is decidedly and irreversibly different. Few campaigns have been as contested. Few elections have been as anticipated. Most of all, few decisions will matter as much to our generation and our world as the decision that the nation will make on Tuesday. With a demographic surge threatening our critical social programs, Bush's fiscal record is nothing short of negligent- Bush's environmental policy has managed to undo decades of progress toward clean air and water. Although the link between al-Qaida and Saddam Hussein has never been substanti- ated, the Bush administration used the Sept. 11 tragedy as the catalyst for the invasion of Iraq. John Kerry is a leader. He is a man whose beliefs were forged while leading the fight against another unpopular war - an experi- ence that seems uniquely suited to the chal- lenges of the present. - Oct. 27,2004 JOHN OQUIST | ITYE ON YOU R FE E-TNov.8,2006 UGH..IM SO HUNGOVER, WHY'D HEY, DID YOU HEAR THAT WE POP THE CHEAP CHAMPAGNE PROPOSAL 2 PASSED? WELL..WE SHOULD PROBABLY AFTER THE DEMS TOOK THE START DRINKING AGAIN. HOUSE? FOR REAL? THE LAST THING I RECALL IS WOLF BLITZER SAYING SOMETHING ABOUT THE SENATE EING TOO CLOSE TO CALL S 4 4