4A - Tuesday, January 16, 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 We were disappointed there was not greater dignity given to the accused ... that shouldn't have happened." - Secretary of State CONDOLEEZZA RICE, referring to the execution of two aides to former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein by the Iraqi government, as reported yesterday by The New York Times. KATIE GARLINGHOUSE 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. Well-read but broke High textbook prices cause students the usual headache C hances are that even this deep into winter term, students aren't numb from the cold as much as from exorbitantly high textbook prices. After all, when was the last time you walked out of Ulrich's or Shaman Drum pumped up about the great bargain you just scored on your gigantic psychology text- book that you know will probably only collect dust over the next * oK You cant lear iti -Sho four months? Probably never. There's not a whole lot us students can do about book prices at campus bookstores They're just expensive. The popularity of this issue, however, made it the focus of a forum presented by the Michigan Student Assembly, an organization that actually can and should do something to deal with the problem. Directed at finding alternatives to help alleviate the burden of book expendi- tures, last week's forum brought together students, administrators and bookstore owners in a discussion that was a formidable starting point. By the end of the forum, an astonishing conclusion was reached: Books are expensive. Possibly too expensive. It's good that all parties have come to agree on this point, but obviously more needs to be done. We hope MSA plans to follow up on the forum and perhaps insti- tute reform toward alleviating the burden of overpriced books. Many times students trade books amongst each other or find bargains for their books online, but this only works when students know what books they need ahead of time. It isn't too much to ask teachers to make their book lists avail- able to students ahead of time. Whether placed on C-tools, Wolverine Access or some other central website, having infor- mation about books ahead of time makes it possible for students to purchase books online and have them delivered in time for the new term. The University has balked at requir- ing professors to provide book lists well in advance, arguing that most instruc- tors have not finalized their book lists until just shortly before the term begins. However, teachers have always released their book lists to select stores weeks before the beginningof the term. After all, bookstores too need time to order books and have them in stock. Teachers may be driven by the wonderful intention of help- ing local businesses - or less noble aims - but in any case, they're contributing to the creation of an effective monopoly that squeezes students. Professors should not support such exclusive agreements at the expense of broke college students. Many students have independently wiz- ened up and are already emailing profes- sors before classes begin to get names of the required texts with enough time to order them online. While such spectacu- lar individual initiative brings us to tears, when it comes down to it, the University shouldn't make students jump through all these hoops to get a bargain on their books. MSA, as a body that claims to fight for student issues, must make sure that it doesn't overlook this one while moving onto future forums about other issues. Despite MSA's history of empty pledges, we're willing to give it a fair shot at prov- ing itself able to deal with this situation. In the meantime, students themselves need to be proactive. Why continue to stand in lines reminiscent of the one for Top Thrill Dragster at Cedar Point only to pay twice as much for a book you could more conve- niently and cheaply purchase on Amazon. com? Don't do it. Trade books with friends, pester professors about book lists and buy your textbooks online. At the very least, professors might begin to voluntarily post book information ahead of time. f you had the option to save the life of one person you know or 12 people you have never met, which would you choose? What if you could either end all cancer in America or cure AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria global- ly, which diseases would you choose to stop? If you chose K the first option in; both questions, you're certainly not alonesamong k Americans. Pre- ferring the option # that directly impacts your own THERESA lifeisunderstand-K able and choosing KENNELLY to cure cancer in America over diseases that will likely never afflict people you know is just human instinct. On a practical level, however, curing AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria - which in 2006 killed 12 times more people in the world than cancer did in America - would make more sense. Yet, since the number of Ameri- cans who have died from AIDS since the first case was reported in America in 1981 is just barely approaching the number who died from cancer last year (about 550,000), cancer is much more salient in the minds of Americans. This dilemma between solving remote, faraway problems versus per- sonal, local issues is something that is becoming increasingly relevant in the United States as the government's bud- get allocations for 2007 and 2008 are debated. Congress faces similar would -you-rather questions as it decides on allocations for 2007 discretionary spending, yet itis pressured to give more money to the warin Iraqafter President Bush outlined his plan to add 21,500 troops last week. Should Congress use its money to further finance the war or should it maintain funding for humani- tarian efforts that fight AIDS, tubercu- losis and malaria abroad? The budget situation in Congress became a prominent issue last week as AIDS activists and government organi- zations, such as the President's Emer- gency Plan for AIDS Relief, rallied to gain support for the $1 billion that may soon be designated for the diseases. The director of PEPFAR announced last week that if Congress doesn't opt to use the billion dollars toward AIDS relief, come March, the antiviral drug treatment given to HIV patients abroad -with 50,000 newpatients each month - would no longer have enough fund- ing to continue. The government's attempts to fight AIDS on a global level thus far are laud- able. President Bush is largely to thank for successful organizations that fund HIV/AIDS research, prevention tech- niques and drug treatments abroad. PEPFAR - which, as its website states, is "the largest commitment ever by any nation for an international health ini- tiative dedicated to a single disease" - is one example. But the dilemma the government currently faces with dis- cretionary spending shows that Amer- ica's approach to attacking the disease might be misguided and in need of adjustment. The government has a tendency to treat AIDS like a business and mon- etary concern, rather than a global emergency. This marketization of AIDS is perhaps what led a business school senior in my biology class to say last week, "There's a lot of money to be made inAIDS," referring specifically to the prevalence of the disease in Africa. Apparently, the love of money and busi- ness causes some to see a disease that kills millions of people every year and infects almost 12,000 more people everyday as a business and a problem that can be resolved with the right amount of money and sweet talk. In reality, . curing AIDS is much deeper than just writing a big check to health organizations in Africa or finan- cially backing scientists researching a be-all, end-all cure. Rather,AIDS needs to be treated with a more humanitar- ian mindset, and the government must drive energy and concern about this issue - something non-governmen- tal organizations, such as Bono's Red line, are currently doing successfully As Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) told the San Francisco Chronicle, "If you don't raise an issue and don't organize around what is important, things do fall by the wayside." Even if the government decides to We need more than just money to curb the AIDS pandemic. giveAIDSresearchtheadditional$1bil- lion it is requesting it's still insufficient if it doesn't increase the attention and publicity directed toward the disease. And until the government treats AIDS like the pervasive pandemic that it is - not just a monetary issue tbit can be overlooked when more prevalent issues arise in the country - it will remain an unimportant issue in the minds of most Americans. In the long run, it's not about teach- ing Americans to be humanitarian and encouraging them to save the life of 12 people they've never met. Instead, it's about teaching by example ethi- cal judgment and that the world is not always about money and financial success. There are other things in the world - like the more than 39.5 million people living with AIDS today - that people like my biology classmate might be surprised to learn about. Theresa Kennelly is an associate editorial page editor. She can be reached at thenelly@umich.edu. 0 J SEAN MOBERG The real stem cell question In an editorial published last week in The Michigan Daily (From the Daily: New life for stem cells, 01/10/07), the editorial board asserted that "while amniotic stem cells are a very promising discovery that should be further explored, there's no reason for sci- entists to abandon the sure thing," meaning embryonic stem cell research. The editorial board demonstrates its fail- ure to understand the nature of the stem-cell debate by focusing the bulk of its arguments on the relative effectiveness of embryonic stem-cell research versus the newer method. I am no scientist, so I won't enter into that debate, especially considering that it is quite irrelevant. There is only one question in this debate that matters. That question is, are embryos human lives? If we answer in the negative, we are faced with two distinct difficulties. The first is explaining what precisely these embryos actually are. They are new entities, ontologically different from the sperm and egg that came together to form them. They are genetically human and distinct from their parents. The most natural conclusion is to say that they are human. The second difficulty is that there exists no other clear moment at which one can define the beginning of human life. All other potential points that one could use are sliding scales, imprecisely defined. The logical con- clusion of failing to clearly define the begin- ning of human life at conception can already be seen in the Netherlands, where the chill- ing Groningen Protocol allows the murder of infants by their parents and doctors. The Daily does address the one pertinent question and atone point argues that because 90 percent of embryos are killed without regard to embryonic stem-cell research, "what exactly is so anti-life about using such embryos to potentially save countless lives?" The moral blindness of this argument is stunning. Essentially, the Daily presents us with the fait accompli of scores of murdered embryos, and then suggests that since we are going to kill them anyway, we may as well do some experiments. It does not occur to the editori- al board to question whether these embryos should be killed in the first place, only what methods ought to be used for doing so. I look forward to an upcoming editorial on how we should experiment on death row inmates with deadly diseases. After all, they are going to die anyway. The logic is precisely the same. The new research into amniotic stem-cells is promising, and may even have potential equal to that of embryonic stem-cells. That question, however, is simply not relevant to the debate. Embryonic stem-cell research entails the murder of human beings. It should not matter to us how much knowl- edge we gain when we lose our souls. Sean Moberg is an LSA junior. A sincere thank-you to the campus community TO THE DAILY: I just wanted to say that it's great to be a part of the University community. Iam a single mother of four work- ing hard to keep things afloat. The other day I was hur- rying from Central Campus back to North Campus to get home, to start my second shift. Shortly after I got home I received a call from my own cell phone, which I thought was very odd. When I answered, a young gentleman told me he had found my phone on the commuter bus. I hadn't even realized it was gone. To have someone call to say they found it was such a wonderful relief I just wanted to say thank-you to the young man who found it. I also appreciate that he came out of his way to meet me and return it. It gives me faith that there are still good people around. Anna Middleton University employee Arts writer insults the feminist movement and Barbie herself TO THE DAILY: As I sat eating sushi with a friend last week reading the Daily, I began to lose my appetite while reading a few lines of Caroline Hartmann's column (What happened to my Barbie? (01/09/2007). Beside the many factual errors, I couldn't believe her gross misrepresentation and insult- ing language about feminism was allowed into print. First off, the Barbie Liberation Organization did not replace thevoiceboxes in Teen Talk Barbie dolls withtheir "feminist agenda." They replaced the voice boxes in Talk- ing GI Joe dolls - you know, the ones that said things like "Dead men tell no lies" and "Vengeance is mine." These dolls' language was extreme and should have been taken up with Hasbro, GI Joe's creator. The wrong response is to bash creative feminists for trying to make a point about the gender segregation of children's toys. Secondly, Hartmann claims "Barbie serves as a mea- sure of comparison, and whether it's a realistic one or not is irrelevant in the minds of children." Judging from her SEND LETTERS TO: TOTHEDAILY@UMICH.EDU headshot, Hartmann is much closer to the white, blonde- haired Barbie doll than many girls who played with her. The friend I was having lunch with is both Jewish and black. She commented that when she was a girl she con- stantly compared herself to Barbie and was devastated she would never be as beautiful. For her, the way Barbie looked was extremely relevant. Lastly, I find Hartmann's language offensive, both to me personally and to the feminist movement as a whole. She writes that Barbie has been subject to "feminist harassment" and is the target of the "progressively mind- ed" who have a "desperate need to pinpoint an object of blame." Hartmann's tone demonstrates a lack of tact and respect for the research and theories of feminists and the real social message that Barbie sends to girls about femi- ninity and womanhood. Hartmann is correct about one thing - it isn't Mattel's responsibility to depict the ideal woman. And it is also not Hartmann's right to defend it. Ann Luke LSA junior ALEXANDER HONKALA N ,2 6 6 Editorial Board Members: Reggie Brown, Kevin Bunkley, Amanda Burns, Sam Butler; Ben Caleca, Devika Daga, Milly Dick, James Dickson, 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, Radhika Upadhyaya, Rachel Wagner. ERIN RUSSELL I ,lOVE MILK OAy! THAT 01' BOY, MART IN, WOOL'o HAVE H ATECo AF''IRMAI'E ACtION LIKE 100! A2. KINS SuPPORTE0 OlE RSITY, ANO IT'S CROPPIN IN uNNERSt IES TH ANKS TO THE ANTI-AFFMATNE ACTION MOVEME , AN! gUT HE AL-SO SUPpo5T EO EQUAuiTY, ANA' "SE PARATE BUT EQUAL*' HAS T HE WORO, *EQUAL,* IN IT! CJ 6 6 It_ _!_1_ A.