4 - Tuesday, September 25, 2007 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 q T "tothedaily@umich.edu We can only make minds, and to do this, we must have access to the full range of inquiry." - Columbia University President Lee Bollinger on the responsibility of institutions of higher learning in his opening statement at an event hosted yesterday by his university featuring Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, as re- ported by The Columbia Spectator. Bollinger is a former president of the University of Michigan. JOHN OQUIST KARL STAMPFL EDITOR IN CHIEF IMRAN SYED EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR 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. Louisiana low Racism lives - out there and closer to home acism isn't what it used to be - or so you'd like to think. With poll taxes and Jim Crow relegated to the past seemingly replaced now by only the hollow cries of racial discrimination from people like O.J. Simpson and Kwame Kilpat- rick, who use race as an excuse to cover their mistakes - it's easy to think that the goal of racial equality and harmony has largely been accomplished. Events unfolding in Jena, La., though, are a brutal reminder that whether we want to accept it or not, racial discrimination and segregation still exist in our country, and we still have a responsibility to address them. r . 1) Y 1 X1! td'4 7fr i3 1 i -. h -/ i : : _.; "We appear to have the same problem."° The conflict at Jena High School cen- tered on a long-standing school tradition of white students gathering at "white tree." When a group of black students raised their concerns about the tradition to the school's principal last August, he responded that black students had just as much of a right to gather at the tree. But three white students responded differently: They hung nooses from the tree. What followed was a series of small clashes between white and black stu- dents that culminated in six black students, now commonly known as the "Jena 6," attacking a white student last December. As indefensible as the Jena 6's physi- cal retaliation might have been, the justice system's response was more appalling. The three white students who hung the nooses and initiated the conflict were suspended from school for three days. The six black students were charged with conspiracy to commit a second-degree murder - hardly a just charge, considering the victim was well enough to attend a party the night of the inci- dent. After conviction, the Jena 6 received reduced sentences, mostly because of the national attention the cases received from civil rights groups. But the blatant structur- al and cultural inequality that brought about the original charges didn't change. While the Jena 6's case may shock our con- sciences and remind us of the state of race relations five decades ago, racial discrimina- tion is not outside of mainstream America or even our own community. It's easy to forget while living in Ann Arbor, but according to data from the 2000 census, metro Detroit is the single most segregated area in the country. Seventy percent of students in the Detroit area attend schools where 90 per- cent of the students belong to the same race. The same data helped label the Detroit sub- urb of Livonia as the "whitest city in Ameri- ca." Even though it isn't codified in law, this still amounts to segregation. BEN J. NIU Economics Katherine Berezowskyj's viewpoint (Eco- nomics for the rest of us, 09/18/2007) on the arduous nature of Economics 101 and 102 is indicative of the deteriorating state of edu- cation in America. As domestic competency in math and the sciences continues to fall relative to that of other countries, increasing numbers of students are shying away from majors and careers in these areas. The void caused by this subsequent exodus of domes- tic students'has largely been filled by greater numbers of international students, many of whom display more enthusiasm and/or capac- ity for such fields.' Berezowskyj is calling for the dumbing down of even the classes that offer a small sample of more technical and rigorous math- ematical thought. De-sanitizing mathemat- ics from such introductory courses as Econ 101 and 102 is exactly the opposite of what we as a university and a country should be doing. The level of mathematics required for Econ 101 and 102 is equivalent to that of high school pre-calculus. Instead of following the writer's call for less math intensive versions of 101 and 102, institutions of education must enact more stringent guidelines for essential courses in mathematics and the sciences that will allow America to maintain its standing as the preeminent bastion of human capital. For those who cower at the prospect of calculating a tip without the aid of technol- ogy - even though most curriculums intro- duce percentages in middle school - this may indeed pose somewhat of a challenge. Instead of criticizing an introductory course for not Where segregation exists, everyone stands to lose. Blacks and other minorities are increasingly pushed into under-funded schools and dangerous, dilapidated inner- city neighborhoods. Whites flee to the suburbs, where they are temporarily able to turn a blind eye to this problem. When they join the workforce, though, it's tough to ignore America's diversity. Inevitably, people raised in segregated areas must deal with a diverse body of the American popu- lace, and they often simply aren't prepared. That promotes further discrimination, and the cycle continues. A solution to this problem doesn't entail lying to ourselves and believing that we live in a colorblind society where these problems don't exist. That ignorance leads to flawed approaches that ignore real- ity, like the U.S. Supreme Court decision this summer to ban mandatory busing for integration of schools. While a colorblind society is everyone's goal, the means to that goal must recognize that racial injus- tice exists and then work to improve it. Some call it affirmative action, but more accurately it is an understanding that we can't pretend hundreds of years of racial oppression never happened. Although state law now limits the Uni- versity's specific capacity to progressively address race problems, it is still the Uni- versity's responsibility and our own per- sonal responsibility to embrace diversity and work toward a more integrated and diverse society. This means respecting diversity at our university and in our own communities, regardless of whether the problem is as blatant as the one in Jena or as subtle as the one in Detroit. High school students aren't born with the hatred to hang nooses from a tree. That is a learned behavior passed down from generation to generation. It's our generation's turn to end it. for all of us being simple enough, we should be perturbed by that fact that some students cannot calcu- late 20 percent of a $15 meal. Additionally, Berezowskyj's description of Econ 101 and 102 as "a battleground for future CEOs" is by all interpretations an asinine characterization. The hyperbolized ferocity of competition and the writer's fear of a "GPA hit" are entirely mollified by the fact that enrollment of an immense number and vari- ety of students allows for the curve to soften grade distributions. I do have to applaud Berezowskyj, how- ever, for having the foresight to recognize the benefits of basic economic training in con- junction with her other classes. As a recent graduate from Cornell University and fellow liberal arts student, I probably took many of the same history and government courses as the writer. In similar situations, I too found that while economics is an invaluable tool and subject, many of my peers were neither required to take nor versed in such methods of thought. Therefore, I believe that more lib- eral arts majors should make Econ 101 and 102 requisites for degree completion. In addition, all majors should have a working understand- ing of essential fields such as mathemat- ics, science and writing. If not to maintain basic levels of academic competency for the continued success of American society, this understanding is important to ensure that restaurant service personnel everywhere may receive a fair tip. Ben J. Niu is a graduate student in economics. Don't. take a hike T elling people here at the Uni- versity that I'm from Georgia is a great icebreaker. More often than you'd think, it evokes a few baf- fling questions, like, "Did your family ~ own slaves?" Mostj of the time, though, the first question, in a tone of utter con- fusion and intrigue is, "Why did you EMMARIE come to the Univer- sity of Michigan?" HUETTEMAN Well, there's the perfect college town. There's the world-class political science depart- ment. And there's the irony of making my father (who grew up in Michigan) pay my out-of-state tuition. With the recent $2,000 tuition hike and the threat of another later this academic year, however, I don't feel as comfort- able joking about that anymore. If you don't know why your tuition went up this semester, it's because the state is in economic trouble. That's a serious problem for the University. While most students were enjoying the beginning of summer vacation in May, legislators were dragging their feet in balancing the state budget - and watching the state deficit grow to an ungodly $802 billion. Lansing had to correct its mistakes somehow, and that's when its gaze fell on the state universities and communi- ty colleges. Maybe the state legislature noted the success of research universi- ties like ours and said, "Hey, they've got money, and we need money." Whatever Male students out of line atfootball game TO THE DAILY: I admit that I'm not a huge fan of football games, but I do,like most stu- dents, enjoy going to the games and seeing us win. At Saturday's game, there was -a group of Penn State fans who probably share the same senti- mnents that I do, which are wanting to support their team and hoping it wins. When they got to their seats in their white and blue jerseys, there were boos from everyone aropd. As the game continued, the harassment got worse. Within this group were females, who were not only called "bitch- es," but were also subject to spit balls. When that didn't seem to get through to them, male Michigan students started to make sexual references to them. Other students told them they were out of line, but it didn't seem to affect them. One of them even said, "I pay $40,000 to go to school here, I can say what- ever the fuck I want." An employee from the Sexual Assault Protection and Awareness Center who is a good friend of mine and satinmysectionstoodup against the harassers - to no avail. Toward the end of the game the inappropri- ate remarks stopped, but one of the girls was obviously emotional and many of the other students were bla- tantly disturbed. Is this how our university should be represented? Is this the kind of education that people are getting from their $40,000 tuition? The Uni- versity just added gender identity and expression to its nondiscrimination policy so it is clear that the Universi- ty is progressing toward true equal- ity. But is the same true of students? I can think of countless times when the logic, legislators clearly disregard- ed their responsibility to higher educa- tion and decided to slash $179 million from state schools. The legislature would argue that it didn't actually take away these funds, because the official language of the budget "postpones" the payment of $140 million to state universities until the 2008 fiscal year. But when the Uni- versity Board of Regents announced in July that the slashed funding would translate into a 7.4 percent tuition hike, it sure felt like we'd been robbed. With each undergrad on campus now $700 to $2,000 poorer, this is the perfect time for some good news. After all, the next fiscal year starts Oct. 1, so we're less than a week away from the fundingthey promised us. Right? Wrong. Withthe deficitnow project- ed at a comparatively modest $1.7 bil- lion, Lansingis eyeingthe state'spublic universities once more as its ticket out of debt. One budget plan, proposed by Republicans in the state Senate, sug- gests that the state hold onto the prom- ised $29.6 million of the University of Michigan's funding to reduce the defi- cit. Should that plan or any form of it pass, we'll be scrambling to make up our own budget deficit on campus. If the Republicans get their way, the University willbe forced to take anoth- er look at its budget for this school year. And if the University's reaction to slashed funding last May is any indica- tor, we could be looking at a mid-year tuition hike. - It's a threat that should send shock waves through campus, but to many students, tuition hikes just aren't very SEND LETT women and members of the LGBT community have been harassed around me. I pay tuition here, too. I'm pretty tired of being ashamed of many of the male students here. Brett Beckerson LSA senior The letter writer is a project director at the TriangleFoundation, an advocacygroupfor the LGBT community in Michigan. Don't rally to raise taxes on struggling state TO THE DAILY: I am writing to advise anyone attending Wednesday's student rally in Lansing that you will be not only protesting'for lower tuition, but also for a tax hike. The budget that Gov. Jennifer Granholm has proposed is the largest in the history of Michi- gan, but this year's tax revenue will not be what she had expected it to be because income has fallen statewide. Right now all the special interest groups in Lansing - from cable com- panies to public employee unions to public universities - are clamoring for their piece of the pie, but the pie is almostgone. The onlywaytoincrease funding for universities at this point would be through a tax hike. You will hear that state spending on higher education has been cut again and again, but this is not the case. State funding of higher educa- tion has remained almost constant since 2004. The reason our tuition has gone up is that the public uni- versities budgets have grown. The administration will say that the costs of education are growing, but what costs is it talking about? What our tuition raises are really going to are annual raises for faculty and admin- istration. Instead of asking for more tax exciting. Admittedly, you don't see me rushing to paint my body with deficit figures and chain myself to the Michi- gan State Capitol in protest. However, it doesn't look like legislators are going to redeem themselves next Monday. It's completely unacceptable for the state to shrug off its responsibilities and expect us to pick up the slack. Tomorrow, we can tell that to the state. The Michigan Student Assembly is sponsoring buses to take students to Lansing for a rally in support of higher education. Students from public uni- versities across Michigan will par- Students should go to Lansing to get in their word. ticipate in the rally at 2:30 p.m. to tell the state legislature that we expect to receive the funding it promised. Buses will leave from the Union at 12:30 p.m. tomorrow and are scheduled to return by 6 p.m. Professors have been asked to be lenient with studentswho request an absence for this rally. Show the legislature that you're pay- ingattention:Takeanafternoonofffrom class to wear your Michigan shirt and sit on the Capitol lawn with your frinds. It's even supposed to be a nice day. Emmarie Huetteman is an associate editorial page editor. She can be reached at huetteme@umich.edu. ERS TO: TOTHEDAILY@UMICH.EDU dollars from Michigan's already strapped families, we should be call- ingupontheuniversitytoresponsibly manage its budget instead of raising our tuition. If the administrators are really as altruistic as they claim, then that is exactly what they should do. The rally's organizers may saythat they are only trying to keep tuition down, and this may well be the case. But as is often the case in life, there will be unintended consequences. The state is on the verge of a shut- down, and the only way to increase funding to universities would be increasing taxes on Michigan's already struggling work force. Clark Ruper LSA senior The letter writer is a member of Studentsfor aFree Economy. Michigan fans create welcoming environment TO THE DAILY: To the fans and students of the University of Michigan: As a Penn State student and fan, I am commit- ting seven horrible sins in writing this letter. However, I would like to express my sincerest gratitude for the respect you greeted me with at this weekend's football game. Despite the few remarks of "Joe knows your mom" in response to my "Joe Knows Football" T-shirt, I was extremely impressed with your Midwestern hospitality. After my first experience at the Big House, I applaud you Michigan fans for making my eight-hour drive back to Happy Valley just a little bit easier after a heart-breaking loss. MeganDelany The letter writer is a senior at Penn State University. C 4 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Readers are encouraged to submit letters to the editor. Letters should be under 300 words in 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 Michigan Daily, We do not print anonymous letters. Send letters to: tothedaily@umich.edu. Editorial Board Members: Ben Caleca, Mike Eber, Brian Flaherty, Kellyn Jackson, Gavin Stern, Jennifer Sussex, Neil Tambe, Radhika Upadhyaya