4 - Friday, September 28, 2007 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 24eliChigan,4a1*'1 Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 tothedaily@umich.edu KARL STAMPFL IMRAN SYED JEFFREY BLOOMER EDITOR IN CHIEF EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR 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. One of our own Grad speaker Woodruff a commendable choice couple of months earlier than usual, we officially know who will speak .at spring commencement. The University Board of Regents approved ABC News reporter Bob Wood- ruff to be the graduation speaker at its last meeting. While some students will feel a letdown given that Woodruff doesn't match the star appeal and prestige of last year's speaker - former President Bill Clinton - they are overlooking what Woodruff brings to the table. As an alum of the University Law School and a prominent figure in international journalism who was a victim of a roadside bomb while on assignment in Iraq, he can offer a more unique and personal message to graduates while speaking from firsthand expe- rience of an event that dwells on all of our minds. Send foreign troops, UN troops. Please, fly them to our country and save our lives." - A young Burmese monk appealing for foreign aid in the face of Wednesday's brutal crackdown by the nation's military junta against Buddhist monks, as reported yesterday by The Times of London. Getting yourfix T heir liquid contents oozed between the cracks of the side- walk and down intothe gutters of South Univer- _ sity Avenue. Squir- rels feasted on theI piles of rubbish while exhausted, " oblivious students1 waited in line for s their morning cof- fee. This gruesome L scene - perhaps a GAVIN slight exaggeration STERN - depicts a typical Tuesday morning in Ann Arbor: garbage cans overflow- ing with discarded paper coffee cups. It's the dark side of caffeine addiction; an environmental massacre carried out right before our eyes each and every morning, and then conveniently carried away. Ironically, the most studious stu- dents are often the worst offenders. Tough classes require more atten- tion than the sleep-deprived mind has to offer. For this reason, I cannot fault tired students for turning to the bean. But while it's easy to see how much waste the party crowd dumps out on the curb each weekend, beer cans, bottles and Solo cups are at least recyclable. By contrast, most paper coffee cups are not recyclable and only contain miniscule amounts of recycled material. What bothers me most, however, is that nonrecyclable coffee cup waste piles up multiple times each day in Ann Arbor. Every morning, lunch and fourth-meal, the line of coffee money. And let's be honest: the struc- patrons stretches nearly out the door tural integrity and thermal conduc- and most buya cup they will only use tivity of paper cups are substandard once. The influx of trash quickly over- anyway. They aren't worth the paper whelms outdoor garbage can capac- they're molded from. Not only does ity and spills out of into the streets. my steel muglook cool, but itkeepsthe Although the mess soon disappears, coffee hot, too. it's hardly magic. That mountain of Despite whattelevision ads suggest, paper cups goes to waste in a landfill, you don't have to spend 20 grand on a along with all the fossil fuels used to hybrid car to be eco-savvy. Reusable produce and ship it. It doesn't have to thermal mugs are a symbol of environ- be that way. We're supposed to know mental and financial consciousness as better, and just being too tired to well as everyday practicality. Sure, notice is no excuse. there are yet more environmentally People often lament about how it takes a greatdeal of effort and personal sacrifice to adopt environmentally Eco-friendly coffee sound habits that actually resonate. Meanwhile,activistswhine aboutenvi- and the ronmental problems but never offe err. ups you realistic solutions. Well, I'm a pragma- d iki tist, so here's the solution: Bring your from. own mug. Or a thermos. Or a thermos that looks like a mug. I'm not ask- ing you to trade Daddy Starbucks for and financially friendly alternatives. Mother Earth. And I really don't care if You could, for instance, brew your you drink fair-trade coffee. Just bring own cup of coffee for much less than a cup that you can use more than once the cost of a refill, and carry it all in a and stop this paper cup madness. big thermos on your back like a camel. Admittedly, I only started carrying That's nice, but although I am not my steel insulated mug when I real- anti-camel, such a measure wouldn't ized that I spent more than $10 a week be practical for most students. I'm on coffee alone. Those Grande brews advocating a real, practical solution carry a Grande sticker price. When - a superior coffee.distribution sys- you bring your own cup, though, a lot tem that costs less for the consumer of coffee shops (like Espresso Royale) and greatly reduces waste. Maybe it will fill it for just $1. The savings add makes too much sense, but I dare you up over a semester. If you drink a lot to prove me wrong. of coffee, the switch to a reusable cup will pay for itself in a week or two. Gavin Stern can be reached After that, you'll save bean-loads of at gavstern@umich.edu. 0 It's unrealistic to expect someone of Clinton's caliber at every single commence- ment. But Woodruff's relevance as a speak- er is not somethingto scoff at. An acclaimed journalist, Woodruff was one of the two people to fill in on "World News Tonight" for an ailing Peter Jennings. In his time in Iraq, he was deeply and personally affected by the war that has shaped and will contin- ue to shape our world and ourlives. A 1987 graduate of the law school, Wood- ruff can direct his message specifically at Michigan students rather than simply present a form-written speech that could be delivered to any college audience. This ought to be a nice change from the usual "dream big, do what your heart tells you" graduation rhetoric. While last year's speech was important for graduates, Clin- ton spoke to the broader college communi- ty. That's fine, but the ability to connect to University students as someone who knows the atmosphere of this campus will make a difference. In the past, there have been concerns that the University's speaker selection pro- cess started too late and left it at a disad- vantage compared to its peer institutions. There can be no such concerns this year; the announcement of Woodruff comes three months earlier in the process than that of Clinton and six months earlier than that of the speaker two years ago, CNN for- eign correspondent Christiane Amanpour. While these things are difficult to judge, it seems that the University made an effort to secure its speaker earlier so that it could get its first choice. This emphasis must con- tinue in future years. Another improvement this year is the winter commencement speaker, Francis Collins. The director of the Human Genome Project and a former University professor, Collins is a bigger catch than last winter's speaker, former Detroit Piston star-turned- businessman Dave Bing. The fact that even a commencement that is almost completely unpublicized will feature a speaker of Col- lins's caliber is a great sign that the Univer- sity is making the appropriate effort. Regardless of how students feel about who will give the address at their gradua- tion, dissatisfaction with the chosen speak- er should not be a deterrent to attending. Commencement is a celebration of the hard work and dedication that went into earning a degree, not merely a meaningless forum for celebrity peptalks. Even if you don't buy all this praise of Woodruff and Col- lins, missing out on your own graduation ceremony entails stupidity unbecoming of a Michigan graduate. False hope Editorial Board Members: Kevin Bunkley, Ben Caleca, Milly Dick, Mike Eber, Brian Flaherty, Gary Graca, Emmarie Huetteman, Theresa Kennelly, Gavin Stern, Jennifer Sussex, Neil Tambe, Matt Trecha, Radhika Upadhyaya, Rachel Wagner. SEND LETTERS TO: TOTHEDAILY@UMICH.EDU t wasn't surprising to hear that Chrysler became a "green" com- pany shortly after its new CEO, Robert Nardelli, took control. His corporation couldn't be left out of the ever- increasing number of companies with that distinction, : some of which - hypocriticallyhave PATRICK no dedication to ZAWABA the environment._ What was surpris- ing about Nardelli's declaration was that it wasn't forced by any new envi- ronmental legislation and that it had immediate consequences. His declara- tion resulted in the creation of ENVI, a group of engineers who will work solely on developing electric vehicles for Chrysler. Just this past January, General Motors announced that it would build its own plug-in electric vehicle, the Chevrolet Volt, by 2010. It also has plans-to turn one of its current models, the Saturn Vue, into a plug-in hybrid. The question "Who killed the electric car?" seems to have been replaced by "Who's bringing it back?" Hybrid gas- electric vehicle production is booming as well. The number of hybrid mod- els available for sale in America will have grown from one in 1999 to 15 by the end of this year, not counting the partial hybrid systems offered on five current American models. Seven auto- makers now produce hybrid vehicles. Such dedication to alternative fuels seems like an unlikely decision for corporations to make, yet they're becoming increasingly dedicated to building alternative-fuel vehicles every day. All the while, 'Congress isn't doing anything. While the Senate approved of a major increase in man- datory fuel-economy standards for cars and trucks this summer, it was the Democratically controlled House of Representatives that stopped the bill. It approved a much weaker bill, one the Senate and the White House disagreed about. The party that prom- ised to support the environment in the 2006 midterm elections failed to support a bill to significantly decrease carbon dioxide emissions. A number of Democrats, including Michigan'sownJohnDingell,couldn't vote against their automotive indus- try-based districts and constituents. This will always be the case. Auto- makers and their unions are some of the biggest lobbyists in Congress and will work incessantly to prevent new environmental regulations for vehi- cle emissions. Yet, even so, they are developing new hybrid and electric vehicles because they must listen to the desires of U.S. consumers. That is the forum in which voices are heard: the free market. . Because of the free market, the -environmental movement is succeed- ing. Environmentalists have spread their message across the country, and the people have listened. They're concerned for the environment and willing to bet their next vehicle on it. Automakers across the world have been forced to respond to consumers, thus making them authentic green companies. The American people are serious about the environment so automakers have to be too. The free market best serves all those involved. Consumers get environmen- tally friendly vehicles and the auto- makers make money. Democratsfeared that forcing companies to produce extremely fuel-efficient vehicles would result in massive job losses. However, new technologies are developed so that the price of vehicles will not increase dramatically, and neither will massive layoffs accompany the production of the new hybrid vehicles. The fuel economy goal set by Con- gress was an arbitrary and may in fact have been impossible to reach, The free market will save the environment. as automakers complained. Allowing the automakers to heed the demand of consumers by choosing their own way to develop fuel-efficient vehicles ensures that the vehicles are both pos- sible and practical to produce. The environmentalist message is successfully being spread throughout the country and many are respond- ing to it. The free market is ensuring that the automakers respond to it as people create more demand for envi- ronmental products. Government, on the other hand, is doing nothing. To expect congressmen to fight their con- stituents is false hope. Government is the theater in which special interests speak. The free market is the theater in which the people speak. 6 6 Bollinger went too far in pre-empting Ahmadinejad TO THE DAILY: There's been a lot of talk about Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's speech at Columbia University. Some I agree with, some I don't. It doesn't need to be said again that he sometimes says inappropriate things. Yet that doesn't justify inviting him to come speak and then labeling him a destabilizing fanatic (among many accusations) before he has even spoken, as Columbia President Lee Bollinger tastelessly chose to do. That's just embarrass- ing. How many countries has Iran invaded lately and how many have we? Given that relations with Iran aren't exactly warm right now, I can understand the hostili- ty many Americans have toward the country's president, especiallyinthis age of misinforma- tion and half-truths. But denying Ahmadine- jad a visit to Ground Zero was just immature and showed the world just how paranoid and ignorant we are. What is the problem here? Maybe it's that Ahmadinejad looks "Arab." The U.S. govern- ment doesn't like him and classifies his coun- try's military as a terrorist organization. Buthe had nothing to do with Sept. 11. Iranians actu- ally held vigils for the tragedy. Yet Americans don't care. Our president declared Iran part of the "Axis of Evil" so Ahmadinejad may as well have been responsible for the event itself and must be barred from visiting Ground Zero. I need a better explanation for knee-jerk justifications for stopping a foreign leader from visitingthe site. Sure, he's not a good guy and sure he wishes the Israeli government would cease to exist in its current form. But is he more of a threat than the Soviet ambassa- dors whom we hosted duringthe Cold War? Is Iran more dangerous than the nuclear capable Soviet Union was? Or are we simply paranoid, confused and afraid now? As a country, we need to grow up. Steyen Chen RC sophomore Double standard apparent in criticism ofAhmadinejad TO THE DAILY: I'm writing in response to Israel IDEA's viewpoint regarding Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit to Columbia University ('It's 1938 and Iran is Germany,' 09/26/2007). I have a particular problem with the double standards at work in the group's viewpoint. First, if inviting Ahmadinejad to give a speech legitimizes all of his ideas, then what message does it send to promote Avigdor Lieberman - an advocate of the mass transfer of Palestinians - to an Israeli cabinet post? As far as repugnant ideas go, I'd say an institu- tional position is a bit more legitimizing than an invitation to debate. Second, if Ahmadinejad's support of terror- ismis so odious, then surely IsraelIDEA would condemn former Israeli Prime Minister Ben- jamin Netanyahu's attendance last summer at a commemoration of the 1946 bombing of a British hotel, an attack that killed 92 people. Third, the authors of the viewpoint cel- ebrate free speech on campus as well as Cam- pus Watch founder Daniel Pipes, who violates academic freedom by encouraging students to report professors who are not pro-Israel enough. Finally, they point out that as he spoke, Ahmadinejad's regime "repressed and murdered innocent citizens." To methat is the exact same fact that makes our own adminis- tration's public statements so poignant and crass. It's not that Ahmadinejad himself is innocent of countless crimes, because he's certainly not. The problem is that Israel IDEA appears blind to crimes and hypocrisies in their cause. Andrew Goodman-Bacon Rackhan War with Iran would be completely unacceptable TO THE DAILY: In his letter to the editor about former Uni- versity of Michigan President and current Columbia University President Lee Bollinger (Bollinger's harsh treatment of Ahmadinejad was uncalled for, 09/26/2007), Farhad Aghara- himi wrote, "I'm just glad he was not able to use our Universityas a platform from which to condition the American people to prepare for the war on Iran that is surely coming." I agree with this sentiment. All University students should agree with this sentiment. The majority of Americans do not want anoth- er war. We had a war in Vietnam. We have a war in Iraq. We will not have a war in Iran. Michael Kozlowski LSA senior WYMAN KHUU - t\\ Patrick Zabawa can be reached at pzabawa@umich.edu. 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 Univer- sity affiliation. All submissions become property of the Daily. We do not print anonymous letters. Send letters to tothe- doily@umich.edu. JOIN DAILY OPINION. We are looking for new writers'and cartoonists. E-mail opinion@michigandaily.com for more information.