4A - Wednesday, October 10, 2007
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
C I I I e fitic4tgan ailIj
Edited and managed by students at
the University of Michigan since 1890.
420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
tothedaily@umich.edu
IMRAN SYED JEFFREY BLOOMER
EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR MANAGING EDITOR
I have a glass of ethanol every day before
breakfast, but I still don't think we
should subsidize it."
- Republican presidential candidate John McCain in yesterday's Republican debate.
Manufacturing a better way
6
KARL STAMPFL
EDITOR IN CHIEF
Unsigned editorials reflectthe officalrpositionofthe Daily's editorialboard.Allothersigned articles
and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors.
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 and comments. He canbe reached at publiceditor@umich.edu.
Neighborhoodoutreach
A semester for students in Detroit would benefit city and 'U'
nyone who has looked into the University's history would
know that our institution traces back its roots to the city of
Detroit, where it was founded in 1817 and continued until
1837 before moving to Ann Arbor. A recent proposal to organize
a program for University students to spend a semester working
in Detroit while taking classes at the University's Detroit Center
would be a timely return to those distant roots. The program prom-
ises immense benefits for all parties involved; the city of Detroit,
the University of Michigan and University students, but in order
to work, it must be broad enough to make a significant impact and
simple enough for the average student to get involved.
We live in a manufactured
world. Whether made in
China or in our own back-
yard, most of the
objects that help
us live our lives
were built in a
factory. For yearsK
we've been hearing"
about our state's
promised "knowl-
edge-based econo-
my" and preparing BRYAN
for a time when all
of the factory jobs KOLK
will be sent over-
seas and the only way to make money
will be by thinking and knowing
things. But doesn't that leave us just as
dependent upon manufacturing? And
does the assembly line really have to
be the antithesis of knowledge?
This summer I did some investi-
gating while working as a temporary
employee in a Michigan factory. My
primary objective was to make money
for school, but the experience pro-
vided an eye-opening look into a part
of life I suspect most of us are largely
blind to.
On the average day, I drove past the
cheerful security guard and proceed-
ed happilyto mylittle slice of paradise.
My department was "Core Steel," and
I worked in the Recon Zone, which
is short for Recontainerization. I am
fairly certain somebody made this
word up. But it is an apt description
of what we did. Fresh, greasy steel
went from one container into another.
I would then walk these containers
to one of four places, identified by the
letters and numbers printed on the
beams closest to them, much like find-
ing a car in a mall parking lot.
Names and impersonal monikers
are hallmarks of manufacturing's
overly reductive science. The least
complicated system possible is cre-
ated, excluding any potentially con-
fusing or time-consuming pieces of
information (such as adjectives) and
becoming as blank and indifferent as
can be managed. Thus my little steely
friends had names such as 7554158
and 7560444. They were located at
02 and UL and went to-M16 and D19.
While talking instead about a "flat,
yellow-gray bar about a foot and a half
long with a Saturn-shaped hole" feels,
to me, a little more mentally engaging.
and almost even pleasantly personal,
it did take a while longer to type than
7560444. There is a certain degree
of efficiency necessary for effective
manufacturing.
But just how far that needs to be
taken is debatable. Having a task die-
tated by a piece of paper full of non-
descript digits and letters invokes a
robotic response, setting the mind to
neutral and the hands on autopilot.
Things move automatically, on and
on like a big, robotic chain - or rath-
er, a vacuum, as nothing comes back
around full circle. And nature abhors
a vacuum. We seem to think factories
should ideally be at the opposite end of
the spectrum from nature. But those
impersonal, mechanized assembly-
lines are run by people, and those peo-
ple would benefit immensely if their
workplaces were a little more natural
and life-affirming.
Mental engagement and creativity
are enemies of industrial efficiency,
but they need not be excluded from
it. I felt hopeful every time I drove by
the security guard who waved me on
before returning to her book. I don't
know what she was reading, but she
had found a way to stay out of a mental
neutral and was visibly happier for it.
A real knowledge-based econo-
my should mean a mentally engag-
ing world for everyone. As it stands,
manufacturing strives earnestly to
strip away any desire toward thought
or personality, and is thus excluded
from the economy we are prepar-
ing for, which would have us send
all these brain-deadening jobs off to
cheaper places. But if we continue to
strive for universal human rights, out-
sourced labor will eventually not be so
cheap. And either way, factory work-
ers of any nationality deserve jobs that
allow them to interact as humans and
not machines. This would certainly be
more expensive, but we are long over-
due for a reevaluation of what is truly
costing us, both as an economy and as
human beings.
What we sacrifice
in the name of .
efficiency.
We can either continue to treat our
own factory employees like robots or
begin working to create an environ-
ment designed for humans. The first
steps aren'teventhatexpensive:tweak-
ing leadership training on the basis of
advice from social scientists, design-
ing systems based more on interper-
sonal communication, commissioning
murals for the expansive blank walls
of giant warehouses. These sugges-
tions are anathema to efficiency, but a
knowledge-based economy should be
aware of greater priorities.
That economy will be built by our
generation. Some of us may work in a
factory for all or some of our life. All
of us will contribute to whether such
experiences remain needlessly mind-
numbing or become more valuable
pursuits.
Bryan Kolk can be reached
at beakerkgumich.edu.
6
6
6
The program, still in its planning stages,
would allow students to spend a semester
in Detroit taking classes at the University's
Detroit Center, working in the community
and living in the city. Like other outreach
efforts from the University, such as the
Detroit Project, the program will be part
of the new collaboration between the Uni-
versity and the Motor City. The program
could increase the University's presence
in Detroit as a way to reach out to minority
groups and seek potential students for the
Ann Arbor campus.
The importance of such a program can
hardly be overstated. Detroit, despite its
shortcomings, is still the 11th largest city
in America, and it still offers an array of
opportunities and a wide range of people
from different socioeconomic and cultural
backgrounds. In the same way that study
abroad programs expose students to new
environments, spending time in Detroit
would be another experience that students
could choose to broaden their experience
and understanding of both American soci-
ety and their chosen field of study. And it
would be much cheaper than a semester
abroad or even a semester in New York
City.
Exposing students to the realities of an
urban center like Detroit and maintain-
ing a strong University presence there
could also help in promoting understand-
ing and diversity - at both the personal
and institutional levels. Compared to the
rest of Michigan, Ann Arbor is a bubble
of prosperity that many students take for
granted. Making students aware of the
real maladies plaguing our state will per-
sonally invest them in the state's struggles
and maybe even make them care enough
to stay in the state upon graduation. Thus,
the program should be tailored to the
average University student, not simply the
select few who will take the extra initia-
tive.
Having a presence in Detroit will make
the University more accessible and per-
sonal to a pool of diverse students that the
University hopes to attract. It's better than
outreach; it's like the University being in
your own backyard. In the aftermath of
Proposal 2, this could prove vital as the
University seeks to continue bringing in
underrepresented minorities - groups that
disproportionately live in urban centers
like Detroit.
The idea is equally as useful for Detroit
too. Access to the big talent and knowledge
pool from one of the finest research uni-
versities in the world could prove crucial
to its revival. Close collaboration with the
University is bound to leave an impact in
the research and development and other
knowledge-based industries, similar to the
way that schools like University of Cali-
fornia at Berkeley and Stanford University
fostered the growth of Silicon Valley. More
generally, by investing in Detroit, the Uni-
versity is endorsing a belief that Detroit
will succeed - an endorsement that alone
could help the city's image and encourage
investment from other institutions and
businesses.
SEND LETTERS TO: TOTHEDAILY@UMICH.EDU
A tale ofpoor laundryGfacilities
and broken change machines
in contrast wit
The centerp
that a true Ch
saved one mu
mit another sir
TO THE DAILY: false ideas, the
This is the story of my laundry experience from hell is right to say t
and an open plea to the University for basic utilities that to live a perfec
actually work. caught in adult
I left my room with my MCard, laundry and deter- more." Howevi
gent in hand. I got to the laundry room only to discover entirely, and c
that both MCard readers were broken, which meant the impossible
that I needed change. Of course, I hadn't brought any The Scriptu
with me. I returned to my room and opened my wallet will continue
to find that I only had a $20 bill. After whining about their struggles
it for a few minutes, I decided to get a burrito to break stumble in ma
my twenty since I was hungry anyway. I returned to my by stating, "If,
dorm, ate my burrito and finally had some dollar bills. I ourselves, and
was in a good mood, because I love burritos and I could who wrote mo
then get some change and do my laundry writer, goes fu
My good mood didn't last long. I returned to the world to save s
laundry room, put my clothes down and made my way Venyah argu
to the change machine; it was broken. I figured that Christians sin
that wasn't a crisis because every snack machine in the their lives bef
dorms give quarters as change for a dollar, so I went above verses a
to each and every one of those machines. Not a single are also a grea
machine would take a dollar bill. I walked out of my teaching, incl
dorm and to the Michigan Union's change machine. It judgmentalism
was also broken. There was a snack machine next to it, go to Heavena
which finally took my dollar. It ate it. attacks on Chr
So I was down to the last of the two dollar bills I had Catholicism.N
brought with me. Next, I went to UGo's for change, neither suppor
but apparently the store was out of quarters. Finally, understanding
I went to Mrs. Fields Cookies and got four quarters. all of us, he sta
I returned triumphantly to the laundry room, quite the healing ha.
angry about what had just happened. There were three
washers available, but each had an "Out of Order" sign. Sean Moberg
I proceeded to wait for the user of the only functional, LSA senior
available washer to finally claim his laundry, and after
putting 45 minutes into a process that should have taken
only10,I had my laundry inawashing machine.
Zach Greenberg
Engineeringsophomore LE
h those of the Holy Scriptures.
iece of Venyah's religion is his belief
ristian never sins. Thus in order to be
st, upon accepting Christ, never com-
n for the rest of one's life. As with most
re is a grain of truth at its core. Venyah
that both Jesus and the Apostles call us
t and holy life. After sparing the woman
tery, Jesus then told her, "Go and sin no
er, in demanding people to cease sinning
laiming to do so himself, Venyah asks
res themselves teach that Christians
to sin after their conversion, despite
to the contrary. St. James says, "we all
ny things." St. John goes even further
we say that we have no sin, we deceive
the truth is not in us." Finally, St. Paul,
re of the New Testament than any other
irther still: "Christ Jesus came into the
inners, of whom I am chief."
es that all New Testament references to
ning are in the past tense, referring to
ore they were converted. However, the
re all clearly in the present tense. There
at many other difficulties with Venyah's
uding but not limited to his extreme
n, his claims of knowledge over who will
and who will go to Hell and his vicious
istians - especially his slanderous anti-
Venyah teaches a false Gospel that is
rted by the Holy Scriptures nor by the
of Christians throughout history. Like
nds in desperate need of repentance and
nd of Christ Jesus.
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
COLLEGE DEMOCRATS AND DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE GROUPS f
A shameful smear campaign
ETTERS TO THE EDITOR
In response to an event sponsored last
week by the University chapter of the Col-
lege Republicans called "Hillary Clinton
Exposed," we - as leaders of the College
Democrats and campus groups for Joe
Biden, John Edwards, Hillary Clinton and
Barack Obama - wish to express our deep
disappointment. With more than a year until
the general elettion, and months before
the Democratic Party selects its presiden-
tial nominee, the College Republicans have
already begun the distasteful practice of
smearing a candidate by sponsoring an event
that was rife with character attacks.
Since the formation of our groups, we
have been working to engage students in
productive and informative political dia-
logue. All of our groups have held mass
meetings, highlighting the achievements
and future plans of our candidates. We
were all disgusted to see the College Repub-
licans lower the bar of political discussion
on campus so much by their sponsorship of
that disgraceful event.
Last Thursday, the College Democrats host-
ed a candidate forum focusing on the issues
and featuring representatives from student
groups supporting several different Demo-
cratic candidates. That event sent a clear mes-
sage: This campus is eager to distance itself
from petty politics and begin discussing the
issues and the presidential candidates in a
meaningful and positive way.
As campus leaders, we feel obligated to
bring honest and factual information to the
student body. We want students to support
our candidates because of their strengths
and plans for the future.
We urge the College Republicans to edu-
cate their members and the rest of campus
about the Republican candidates. Why spend
time attacking a Democratic primary candi-
date?
This 2008 election promises to be one
of the most exciting in recent history. The
potential for history to be made, by both
Republicans and Democrats, is unprecedent-
ed. There are countless ways to capitalize
on the excitement this election is certain to
bring, but attacking an opposing candidate's
character should not be one of them.
This campus can count on us to continue
their positive and informative campaigning
with a focus on involving and educating stu-
dents. We will continue to provide numer-
ous ways to get involved and gain hands-on
experience with presidential campaigns. We
challenge the College Republicans to do the
same.
Sam Harper is the chair of the University chapter
of the College Democrats. Kelly Bernero is the
chair of the University chapter of Students for
Hillary. Tom Duvall is the chair of the University
chapter of Students for Obama. Travis Radina is
the chair of the University chapter of Students
for Edwards. Justin Schon is the chair of the
University chapter of Students for Biden.
s
Venyah's message of hatred
is not true Christianity
TO THE DAILY:
Diag preacher Michael Venyah returned to Ann
Arbor on Monday to preach his message to the Michi-
gan community. Since some people seem to consider
Venyah to be the voice of Christianity when he preach-
es - with those who oppose him representing tolerant
liberalism - it is well worth examining his teachings
. 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. All submissions become property of
the Daily. We do not print anonymous letters.
Send letters to tothedaily@umich.edu.
CHRIS KOSLOWSKI I
f this is an attempt by ABC i
4 a
..,4n 6,a, "ii.5*
,s8
01
.