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4 - Tuesday, October 9, 2007
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Edited dind managed by students at
the University of Michigan since 1890.
420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
tothedaily@umich.edu
NOTABLE QUCOTAh #E
I lived through the inevitability of
Howard Dean. "
- Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards yesterday on opponent
Hillary Clinton's large lead in national polls.
Wh a public editor'
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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 theirauthors.
The Daily's public editor, Paul H. Johnson, acts as the readers' representative and takes a critical look at
coverage and content in every section of the paper. Readers are encouraged to contact the public editor
with questions andcomments. He canbe reached at: publiceditor@umich.edu
Dangero us decisions
Penalizing minors further encourages irresponsible behavior
The Department of Public Safety's propensity for handing
out citations for minor in possession of alcohol to under-
age drinkers is notorious on campus. The University and
DPS maintain that strict enforcement of alcohol laws is neces-
sary for the safety of students because it acts as a deterrent. The
trouble with letter-of-the-law enforcement on campus, though,
is that if a student calls emergency medical services for help get-
ting to the hospital, the police automatically respond. The fear of
getting written up for an MIP in the back of the ambulance or in
the hospital room often dissuades intoxicated minors from call-
ing EMS. If the health and safety of students is truly the prime
concern, the MIP law must be changed.
hy does The Michigan
Daily need a public editor?
In fact, it doesn't. But if the
Daily wants to be
more responsive
to its readers, if it
wants to under-
stand how the
stories it publishes
impact the com-
munity the news-
paper covers, then
a public editor is PAUL H.
one way to accom- JOHNSON
plish that goal.
My job is a work
in progress, and I hope you all will
help me define it. For now, I see my
role as an advocate to help the staff
become more sensitive to the people
they cover, ensure that complaints
about the newspaper get directed to
the right people and battle against
plagiarism. I can make no guaran-
tees that I'll be successful in all those
goals, but I'll give it my best shot. And
ifyou have any ideas whata public edi-
tor should do, I welcome your sugges-
tions. The editors of the Daily merely
edit my columns for grammar and do
not have veto power over its content. .
I am honored to be a part of The
Michigan Daily, one of the great col-
lege newspapers in the country, with
distinguished alumni such as Arthur
Miller, Thomas Dewey and the first
public editor of The New York Times,
Daniel Okrent. As an undergraduate
student back in the stone age, when
America Online still charged by the
hour, I was editor in chief of another
great college newspaper, The Cornell
DailySun, the paper ofKurtVonnegut,
E.B. White and Thomas Pynchon, and
I would be remiss not to give my old
college paper a shout-out.
Currently I am a second-year stu-
dent at the University Law School.
Prior to returning to school, I interned
at the Los Angeles Times, served as
local reporter for the Hartford Cou-
rant in Connecticut and covered race
relations in New Jersey for the Record
of Bergen County. A measure of wan-
derlust led me to law school and then
to the University of Michigan, and
I've enjoyed tremendously my return
to school.
When offered the chance to help
out the Daily, I realized my experience
in the news industry could be valuable
to students here. I hope that Iam able
in my own way to help improve the
content of the Daily for the readers
and the staff of the Daily. But to do
that, I need to hear from you. Please
feel free to e-mail me atpubliceditor@
umich.edu and leave comments on my
blog. I'll have a phone number set up
at a later date.
Even though this is myintroduc-
tory column, I did notice one
minor item in the paper that I
thought might make for a good teach-
able moment. In a short crime story
on Oct. 5, the Department of Public
Safety describes a suspect accused of
indecent exposure as Hispanic, among
other characteristics.
Why do I bring this up? Hispanic is
not a race; it is an ethnicity. One can be
black, white,AsianorNativeAmerican
and still be Hispanic. So it provides no
more useful information to describe a
suspectas Hispanic anymore thanit is
to describe someone as Italian or Aus-
tralian. You only use Hispanic if you
believe that there's a stereotypicallook
to every Hispanic. The term, in context
of this news story, is over-inclusive,
because Hispanics can be any color,
and under-inclusive, because the ste-
reotypical Hispanic "look" excludes a
lot of people who are in fact Hispanic.
This doesn't mean race has no place
in the identification of criminal sus-
pects; it does, as my criminal proce-
dure professor will tell you. But I do
think that the use of ethnicity, par-
ticularly in a news story, should be
avoided unless there's a compelling
reason for it and not just as shorthand
for a stereotype.
Even the use of race without any
other descriptive characteristics can
be troublesome. In 1992, police in
Oneonta, N.Y. were investigating the
report of an attempted rape, robbery
and burglary. The only details police
had about that the suspect was that
he was a black male with cuts on his
The Daily's public
editor debuts with
his first lesson.
hands and arms. Police then proceed-
ed to roust every black male attending
the State University of New York at
Oneonta in order to check for cuts on
their hands. Needless to say, this poi-
soned relations on campus for years.
Therefore, I would suggest the Dai-
ly's editors think critically when they
publish descriptions suppliedby police
of criminal suspects to ensure they're
passing alonginformationthatisuseful
and notpotentiallyunhelpful.Besides,
if someone catches a man pleasur-
ing himself in front of the Intramural
Sports Building, they can be relatively
certain that the man is the one police
are looking for without wondering if
the man is indeed Hispanic.
Paul H.Johnson is the Daily's
public editor. He can be reached
at publiceditor@umich.edu.
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A citation for an MIP is a nightmare
for students. The penalty entails a $400
fine and a mandatory court appearance.
Understandably, students do everything
possible to avoid an MIP, even when they
are drunk enough to be seriously ill. If
students go to the hospital on their own,
police are generally not notified, but if they
call EMS, then police officers are required
to respond and an MIP is a strong possi-
bility. Thus, students who are dangerously
drunk either avoid the hospital altogether
or seek to make it to the emergency room
on their own even when it would be much
safer to call an ambulance.
The threat of an MIP also deters friends
from stepping in to help a dangerously
intoxicated person. If a friend calls EMS
for an ambulance, police may respond and
issue MIPs to everyone present. Thus, stu-
dents are pushed into extremely dangerous
choices like not calling EMS and allowing
the intoxicated person to "sleep it off."
Another equally dangerous option stu-
dents might turn to is dropping their drunk
friend off at a street corner to be picked up
by an ambulance, something that is hard-
ly advisable when a person is intoxicated
enough to require medical attention.
Students have always arguedthat aggres-
sive enforcement of MIP laws pushes stu-
dent drinking - which is an inevitable part
of campus life - further underground, to
its most dangerous depths. The Univer-
sity has maintained that enforcement is
the best way to cut down on dangerous
underage drinking. However, making it so
that even people who are seriously ill can-
not call EMS for fear of getting an MIP is
illogical from any perspective. The point
is to keep students safe.
While the University's intentions in
curbing excessive underage drinking are
respectable, the way that the authorities
are carrying out the task is counterpro-
ductive. Indeed, some DPS officers seem
to realize this themselves, because they
have been known to offer students tips
on how to avoid MIPs when calling EMS.
While this gesture from some DPS officers
is commendable, there needs to be a codi-
fied policy that protects intoxicated minors
that seek help. There have been rumors
that such a policy is in the works, and it's
about time. Otherwise, campus police are
just forcing intoxicated students to choose
between a clean bill of health and a clean
permanent record.
Taxes are a dubious solution
Editorial Board Members: Emad Ansari, 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
I T I ETSEND LETTERS TO: TOTHEDAILY@UMICH.EDU
"The power to tax involves the
power to destroy."
That was the determination of
Chief Justice John Marshall
in the landmark 1819 Supreme
Court decision,
McCullochvMary-
land. Marshall
refused to grant
state governments
the right to tax
federal institu-
tions because that
would give the
states the power ROBERT
to damage the SOAVE
federal govern-
ment by taxing it
into bankruptcy. Almost 200 years
later, the federal government is still
immune from state taxes, but a new
victim is facing possible bankruptcy
at the hands of the state.
The perpetrator is the Michigan
state government, the victim is small
business in our state and the method
is the newly created 6 percent tax
on services. Economically speaking,
Michigan's darkest hour has already
arrived, but this new tax could be the
last nail in the state's coffin. Small
businesses cannot possibly afford
such an assault. The 6 percent tax on
services will cripple local business at
a time when they are our only hope
to rejuvenate Michigan's staggering
economy.
Perhaps even more ridiculous than
the tax itself is the list of its intended
targets. Anyone requiring the servic-
es of a carpet cleaner, janitor, land-
scaper or fortune-teller will feel the
pain. That's bad enough, but the story
of the service tax gets downright ter-
rifying when the full extent of the
lobbyist influence in the process is
examined.
The Detroit News reported last
week that state Rep. Steve Bieda
(D-Warren) acknowledged that lob-
byists played a key role in determin-
ing which services would be taxed.
Apparently, the state is not only try-
ing to kill small business, but it is also
beingbribed into exempting the busi-
nesses that can afford lobbyists. It
should be obvious that the businesses
that can afford lobbyists are the ones
best able to afford the service tax,
and yet their weaker competition is
being hit with it instead.
The state government has proved
that it can be bought by the highest
bidder. As The Detroit News's report
stated: "Bieda, who said he did not
draw up the list of newly taxed ser-
vices, said some of the services taxed
do have strong lobbyists." Of special
interest here is Bieda's determina-
tion to avoid taking any credit for the
list of taxed services: Even legislators
realize how unfair and ridiculous
such a list is.
Senate Majority Leader Mike Bish-
op (R-Rochester) made sure to keep
tickets for sporting events off the list,
because he does not consider them to
be luxury items. Or maybe it's because
the Palace of Auburn Hills happens to
fall in his district. These legislators'
statements and actions make it evi-
dent that even they know how unfair
the list is. Yet it was signed into law
anyway. Now small businesses that
could not afford to have their views
represented by lobbyists will face a
tax that they also cannot afford.
With such a tax in place, small
businesses have only two options.
They can hold their own prices steady
and hope for the best, or they can
lower their prices to compensate for
the tax. If they keep their prices the
same, the overall cost to the customer
will rise because of the tax. This deci-
sion carries a substantial risk of los-
ing customers, especially now that
Michigan consumers have so little
extra cash to spend.
Across the state, citizens are tak-
ing pay cuts at their jobs, facing
increasing gas prices and surviving
an abysmal job market (Michigan's
unemployment rate is 7.2 percent, the
highest in the nation). When money
is tight, people are much less likely
to spend it on nonessential services,
especially if these services increase
in price. But if small businesses
choose to lower their prices to keep
the overall price the same for the
customer, they will automatically be
suffering an unaffordable loss by tak-
The new service
tax hits struggling
businesses.
ing in a smaller profit. This lose-lose
situation has painted a bleak future
for Michigan's small businesses.
Massive losses for small businesses
result in massive layoffs and increas-
ing unemployment. This causes the
state government to create new taxes
in order to sustain a growing popu-
lace that is out of work. New taxes
ruin more businesses, as the lobbyists
shut out the voices from our suffering
economy. Eventually, everyone who
has not abandoned Michigan will be
taxed into joblessness. This self-sus-
tainingcycle must be prevented before
it drags our struggling state into total
economic oblivion.
Robert Soave can be reached
at rsoave@umich.edu.
6
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Good sportsmanship
should be source ofpride
TO THE DAILY:
This letter is in response to Reda Jaber's
letter to the editor arguing that Michigan
fans should not be so friendly at home foot-
ball games (Opposing fans should not feel
at home at the Big House, 10/04/2007). Are
you kidding? Isn't the world full enough of
legitimate hate already? If anything, we
should pride ourselves on welcoming fans
from all over the country to see just how we
do football at the Big House. Our hospitality
and sportsmanship are things worth being
known for. Acting like a bunch of jerks looks
like either we're getting defensive about a
bad season or - worse yet - sinking down to
the Ohio State Buckeye level.
Being a good fan means funneling all
your energy into loving and supporting your
team. Michigan fans need to work on that
after seeing how some shameful Michigan
"fans" have been treating their own team.
Being nice is never embarrassing. We need
to learn to be humble when we lose and mod-
est when we win.
Melissa Kunimatse and Laura Wasserman
LSA seniors
Coach Beilein will bring
major success to Michigan
TO THE DAILY:
I understand that Michigan fans have
been critical of some of men's basketball
coach John Beilein's recruits. I'm a longtime
West Virginia basketball fan and a huge fan
of Beilein, even though he bolted from the
Mountaineers. He does seem to have issues
staying for extended periods of time at one
school, but while he was in Morgantown, he
really shaped up our team. It will take two
years, but he will field a winning team that
Michigan fans will love, composed of unself-
ish scrappers and great 3-point shooters. I
have been a West Virginia fan from the days
of Rod Hundley and Jerry West, and I guar-
antee you will love Beilein.
Harold Snyder
West Virginia University alum
Students shouldn't treat
Ann Arbor like a dump
TO THE DAILY:
On any given day in Ann Arbor, one can
find beer cans, paper plates, broken glass
and remnants of late-night pizza binges scat-
tered on sidewalks, lawns and other places
where trash does not belong. Yes, it is easier
to throw something on the ground rather
than wait three minutes or less to dispose of
it in a trash receptacle, but it is completely
wrong to treat our campus and the Earth like
a landfill.
Please do Ann Arbor and the planet a favor.
Think about your capacity as a University
student to promote the kind of behavior that
you know is right. I know that I am speak-
ing of littering in the most superficial, non-
scientific way, but I am sure that there are
professors on campus who would be happy
to enumerate the negative effects of abusing
the Earth, even in the most miniscule ways.
Each individual's actions matter. Next time
you are walking to class, pick up a few pieces
of trash and put them in a garbage can. Trust
me, it makes all the difference. I would real-
ly like to clean up Ann Arbor for everyone,
including the squirrels, and I am asking for
your support in helping to make our world a
little bit cleaner.
Rachel Kaufman
LSA senior
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