4 - Tuesday, September 18, 2007 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 4 LJ 1*dlia n 4&it 6j Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. How wonderful." - Fred Goldman, father of Ron Goldman, speaking yesterday on CBS's "The Early Show," upon hearing that O.J. Simpson was arrested on Sunday for a robbery at a Las Vegas hotel. 4 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 tothedaily@umich.edu IMRAN SYED JEFFREY BLOOMER EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR MANAGING EDITOR KARL STAMPFL EDITOR IN CHIEF Rushing into trouble 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. THE Big Ten blackout Big Ten Network, Comcast leave fans hanging While it isn't as big a topic of conversation as this week's Michigan-Penn State game, the Comcast-Big Ten Network battle brewing in Ann Arbor and around the country is something that should concern Wolverine fans just as much. In what has taken the form of a juvenile catfight, Comcast - the largest cable provider in Ann Arbor and southeast Michi- gan - is still wrestling with the BTN over just how the chan- nel should be included in Comcast's lineup. As both companies condemn the other and a resolution seems impossible, Michigan fans, especially the residents of Ann Arbor most closely tied to the n Sunday morning, still clad in summer attire despite temper- atures below 60 degrees, girls lined up outside the Greek house of their choice, mark- ing the start of the Panhellenic Asso-l ciation's recruit- ment as well as the end of tranquil- ity in the freshman dorms. Everyone THERESA wants to know: Are KENNELLY you rushing? Judging by the assemblies of young girls and boys outside the Greek houses on Hill and Washtenaw, it's clear that fall has begun in Ann Arbor. Freshmen will flocktothe area forthe nexttwoweeks to participate in Fall Rush, or what is known in the non-Greek community as hell on earth. The freshmen that are rushing will go through the motions like all fra- ternity brothers and sorority sisters have done before them - mixers, open houses, preference parties, schmooz- ing and maybe even an unsanctioned keg race or two. Their determination, persistence, communication skills and wardrobe will be tested, and they will find out at the end of the month if they passed the tests. Before most of these students write their first college term paper, they will be choosing a letter and changing their lives (or so the Greek system's 2007 T- shirt reads). And fhe next four years of their lives thereby will be determined in these first four weeks of college. Scary. Maybe it's all the brain cells they lost during Welcome Week or maybe their parents convinced them with fraternity tales of yesteryear, but year after year, freshman fall for Greek life en masse. In fact, recruitment num- bers have improved significantly in the past couple of years after more than a decade of decline. This fact is not sur- prising given the heightened exclusivi- ty of Greeks - meaning you can't party with them unless you're one of them. However, considering the problems Greeks have run into in recent years, it's a little odd that they continue to thrive on campus. Since I came to the University in fall 2004, two fraternities and one sorority have been kicked off campus, another fraternity lost recognition from its national organization and a fourth was expelled from the Interfra- ternity Council - the governing body for most fraternities on campus, which has autonomy from the University. According to the IFC, four more fra- ternity chapters are currently facing social probation and countless others have received disciplinary measures either from the IFC or their national organization. Sororities have received less negative attention, but Panhel - the governing body for sororities - has dealt with hazing issues in recent years. Because of measures taken by these governingcouncils, rush has also become a "dry" time for Greeks and social committees have cracked down on house partying. Butnoneofthis isstoppingthefresh- men from gathering at the Greek hous- es this month. The reality is, IFC and Panhel initiatives and punishments are not keeping Greeks from display- ing their partying personality to big audiences or curtailing their drinking. It's like the governing councils are the angry parents of a bunch of problemat- ic teenagers who won't stop acting up no matter what their parents say. There is clearly a disconnect between what the IFC and Panhel see the Greeks as and what the fraternity and sorority members see themselves as. It's confusing why the IFC is try- ing to pass itself off as an organization that clearly none of its affiliated frater- nity houses want to emulate, (which accordingto its website, is an organiza- tion with "an unwavering commitment to excellence"). Sf the IFC can't realize that its 30 fraternities are a little bit more into binge drinking than philan- thropy, I encourage its board members to witness the drunken mess on display every Saturday on State and Hoover. Every time I witness that madhouse on football Saturdays, I laugh at the fact that the IFC is trying to pass itself off as student organization dedicated to service and leadership. Sure, most of these kids are just acting like regu- lar college kids. The problem is they're doing it under the banner of their fra- ternity letters or while wearing the shirt "Choose a Letter, Change your Life." That's the slogan of an organi- zation whose mission is to empower students to "conduct themselves with integrity and in accordance withsound value." Since when is a beer slip-n-slide an opportunity to conduct oneself with integrity? The disengagement between what Greeks claim to be and what they actu- ally act like is the exact reason why so many Greeks get in trouble and receive bad press. In reality, it is a partying, social community that's lying about its Greeks must change their ways before they can 'change lives. primary commitment to leadership and service. Until Greeks drop the whole public relations spielthat IFC and Pan- hel promote and the governing bodies stop denying the reality of fraternity and sorority life, Greek life is going to continue to get eaten up. Until Greek houses and members comply with the rules and social responsibilities that the govern- ing councils boast and actually dis- play themselves with the integrity the Office of Greek Life supposedly empowers people with, rush ought to be pushedback. Freshmen should have the opportunity to see the true world of Greek life and know the potential of getting in trouble before they rush. But if you're a freshman so con- vinced by Greeks' demeanor in these first two weeks of school that you want to rush, shoot me an e-mail. I can think of several things you can do to change your life other than choosing some Greek letters. Theresa Kennelly isan associate editorial page editor. She can be reached at thenelly@umich.edu. I team, continue to be on the losing end. The points of conflict between Comcast price fo and the BTN stem from the fact that the net- is a dire work wants a $1.10 per-subscriber fee from haps its Comcast. With that stipulation, Comcast This is only willing to include the network on Switchi its special sports tier package, not its basic cast w cable package. The BTN claims this will pre- BTN's vent many fans from watching their favorite comple college teams in actionbecause not everyone only ot subscribes to Comcast's add-on sports pack- provide age. Other cable companies, like AT&T and and has DirecTV, have agreed to the steep terms of lucrativ the BTN, thereby bringing Michigan sports solution to people in all parts of the country. Ironi- Prior cally enough, as long as there is no deal with Comcas Comcast, most of Ann Arbor is blacked-out Chicag( of any game the BTN carries. want to While the BTN claims to have the of peop schools' and fans' best interests at heart, it are mo has been unwilling to relent whatsoever in ball ent its negotiations with Comcast. Big Ten con- Ann Ar ference Commissioner Jim Delaney said have w last month: "It was our goal to take what Making we had, make it national, grow it locally was th and to expand to opportunities not only for from it our football teams but other sports as well." Ten, th But if that's the ultimate goal, the BTN sure en to le has an interesting way of going about it. ibility t The network mayhave a rightto charge any Even ST T E TR SEND LETT] Maize is the way toTgohat The I way togo at tine con / llh bcreated home footbaligames Under t arly deb TO THE DAILY: inflamm I am happy with the football team's victory Middle on Saturday, but I am very disappointed in the require: lack of participation in the Maize Out. The stu- Finkelst dent section at least should go all out in maize and hat shirts. I understand that you love your blue on any jersey, but you should understand that you less an have four other games to wear it to. The cheer- Grantin leaders wear maize uniforms, the band wears wrong maize hats, the pom-pons are maize, so why are no can't we wear maize shirts? Our tickets desig- S applau nate Maize out days way in advance (and an hate-mo e-mail is sent out), so you should know how to dress. The season ticket shirt is a good option. Zachar' Next week, we get another chance to do a LSA fres true Maize Out. This is fair warning: If you don't have a maize shirt (or warm enough h maize shirt), go to Steve and Barry's right Shah now and get one. On Saturday we face Penn State, a team famous for its complete White Cam Out at home games. Let's show them that the Big House can bleed maize. TO THE Shak Laura Zeligman ingstud LSA senior a wond For yea: , , . . Ann Ar Finkelstein, anti-semitic his feat was luc prof should not get tenure of his g with hi TO THE DAILY: getting In a brave and commendable act by DePaul His a University, Dr. Norman Finkelstein, author of be 100. the anti-Semitic screeds, "Beyond Chutzpah" It will l and "The Holocaust Industry," was recently rants. G denied tenure as a political science professor. enjoy yo Throughout Finkelstein's career in academia ing you he has continued to cross the lines of civility, professionalism and decency. Larry S Having taught at several colleges through- The letter out New York prior to his career at DePaul, Finkelstein, according to a Guardian article by Dr. Alan Dershowitz, has been described Best by his colleagues as "incompetent," showing signs of "mental instability" and of display- and ing "abuse" toward students of political per- suasions differing from his. "The Holocaust TO THE Industry" was described, according to Der- As af showitz, by New York Times book reviewer Michigt and world renowned expert on genocide, have co Omar Bartov, as "a novel variation on the coach L anti-Semitic forgery ... brimming with indif- They ference to historical facts, inner contradic- tions, strident politics, indecent, juvenile, Lee Ne self-righteous, arrogant and stupid." Alum r the services, but when such a price ct conflict with its stated goals, per- time to stop being stubborn. leaves fans in a bit of a dilemma: ng from an equally stubborn Com- ould essentially be justifying the stance. But given Comeast's near- te cable monopoly in Ann Arbor, the her option is switching to a satellite r. That move entails increased costs sles at the very least. With the two e companies refusing to play nice, a isn't likely this season. to the Appalachian State game, a st representative was quoted in the o Tribune as saying, "Who would watch that game?" In a town full le who bleed maize and blue, there re than enough such people. Foot- husiasts subscribing to Comcast in bor and around the country would anted to watch the historic upset. such games available to everyone e entire point of the BTN. Yet, far ncreasing the visibility of the Big e network and this squabble threat- ave Wolverine sports with less vis- han ever. right here in Ann Arbor. ERS TO: TOTHEDAILY@UMICH.EDU legitimate issue of the Israel-Pales- flict is lost in the straw man scenario by Finkelstein's vituperative work. he guise of intellectualism and schol- 'ate, Finkelstein preaches radical and satory polemics of anti-Semitism. The Eastern conflict is a difficult one that s care, caution and tact, all of which tein refuses to employ. Demagogues e-mongers like Finkelstein are a stain employer that gives them work, no institution like DePaul University. g Finkelstein tenure would send the message to "scholars" like him, who nore than wolves in sheep's clothing. :d DePaul University for denying this nger's request for tenure. y Goldsmith hman ey Jake, guitarist and us mainstay, mourned DAILY: ey Jake recently passed away. Incom- ents who didn'tknowhimhave missed erful person and University mainstay. rs and years he walked the streets of bor carrying his guitar and wearing hered hat. I met him a few times and ky enough to get an autographed CD uitar music. I also had a photo taken m. I last saw him on Fletcher Street into a cab last spring. ge was officially 82 but he claimed to Main Street was his usual hang-out. ook empty without him by the restau- od bless you, Shakey, and may God ur music as much as we enjoyed hav- around. krdla r writer is aUniversity bus driver. is yet to come for Carr the Wolverines DAILY: 'ormer University student and a devout an football fan, I just want to say that I mplete confidence in this year's team, loyd Carr and his staff. will prevail. ugent I I KATHERINE BERWEZOWSKYEZW Economics for the rest of us I When Apple dropped the price of its iPhone by $200 last week, the enormous public outcry that ensued caused the company to release a pub- lic apology. As if the apology wasn't good enough, Apple is also offer- ing customers who purchased the product at its original price a $100 credit. Many consumers have trou- ble wrapping their heads around this price drop; to them, it's completely arbitrary and unfair. Basic econom- ics, however, would beg to differ. It makes perfect sense for a .company to encourage more demand by low- ering the price. Unfortunately, too few people have an adequate enough background of these principles to understand why the price dropped, so instead they turn to outrage. The same lack of understanding is present here at the University. While Economics 101 and 102 - micro and macroeconomics, respectively - usually have full enrollment, these classes cater to a specific type of stu- dent. As a requirement for Business School applicants, these classes have become a battleground for future CEOs. They are also favorites of some engineering students. So what about the rest of us, the many liberal arts students who struggle to figure out the tip at a restaurant? Perhaps the University should create a class to educate us as well. There are many aspects ofEcon101 and 102 that appear daunting enough to prevent average University stu- dents from taking them. The reputa- tions of these classes are intimidating for the student who has not taken anything math-related since high school. In a class with fiercely com- petitive B-School applicants, there is also the problem of the grade distri- bution mandated by the Economics Department. Because these classes are graded on a curve, the incentive to learn more about economics isn't so enticing, considering the GPA hit that might be involved. There are many reasons for people without specific goals in business or economics fields to take an econ course or two. For example, in my History 318 class last week, the pro- fessor referenced common principles of capitalism but had to explain the basics of supply, demand, capital and labor. His (correct) assump- tion was that many of his students had not taken economics.'Although the course is not required for LSA. students, except for economics con- centrators, the material and basic principles are important. Consider political science classes that blend basic economic principles into their discussion. To compensate for a lack of economic knowledge in my Political Science 160 two years ago, there was an out-of-class session to explain the basics. This was nec- essary because the material would otherwise be too complicated for some students. Economics and polit- ical science principles work interde- pendently, but any political science student can graduate from the Uni- versity without having a true survey of economics. The University should offer an economics course geared more toward LSA students majoring in fields like history and political sci- ence. These students would benefit from a course that works on a more theoretical level. This type of course should use material more relevant to politics and history. For those students who thorough- ly enjoy economics and don't have problems with either Econ 101 or 102, then this proposition may seem irrel- evant. However, there are a legiti- mate amount of University students who are afraid of economics - to their detriment. An understanding of economics basics is something any person should be able to attain at the university level without fear of their .grades suffering or intense competi- tion. The fact that some professors are having to give side lessons in eco- nomics is proof that there is a need not being met. While the outrage overtheiPhone's price drop showed that major por- tions of America do not understand basic supply and demand, there is no reason why University of Michigan students should be part of that unin- formed group. Katherine Berezowskyj is an LSA senior. WYMAN KHUU 1Q To 8tl JOIN DAILY OPINION. Come to our mass tonight at 8 p.m. at 420 Maynard St., jst northwest of the Union. Or e-mail opinion@michigondaily.com. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Readers are encouraged to submit letters to the editor. Letters should be under 300 words and must include the writer's full name and University affiliation. The Daily reserves the right to edit letters for clarity, grammar and space, and all submissions become property of The MichiganDaily. Send letters to: tothedaily@umich.edu. I 4 Editorial Board Members: Ben Caleca, Mike Eber, Brian Flaherty, Kellyn Jackson, Gavin Stern, Jennifer Sussex, Neil Tambe, Radhika Upadhyaya. t;