4 - Tuesday, October 30, 2007 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com J1ffidia I~ A, 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've disappointed you. I'm so sorry" - Oprah Winfrey, responding to reports of an abuse scandal at her South African girls' school, as reported yesterday by the New York Post. The copycatproblem E KARL STAMPFL EDITOR IN CHIEF 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 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. Start the presses University Press's wavering is inexplicable and inexcusable T he University of Michigan Press is supposed to be devoted to publishing books that "contribute to public understand- ing and dialogue about contemporary political, social, and cultural issues." Sometimes that means defending controversial books, and it doesn't get much more controversial than the Israeli- Palestinian debate, After a deviant act is commit- ted in America today, copycat behavior is inevitable. Whether mimicry is due to the excessive pub- licity that follows such behavior or criminal-mind- ed people being inspired by others' actions, imitations of school shootings, suicides and the THERESA asinine stunts per- KN EL formed on "Jack- Y ass" are practically expected. The hottest form of deviance among copycats today? Hanging nooses. The event that fueled this growing trend is the notorious incident that occurred in Jena, La. on Sept. 1, 2006. As students filed into Jena High School that morning, three nooses hung from *what some call the "whites-only" tree. They were allegedly hung by white students in reaction to a black stu- dent's decision to sit under the tree the previous day. The motivation for hanging the nooses has been repeatedly contested - was it actually a hate crime or just an inside joke of the school's rodeo team? Even if the nooses themselves are overlooked, however, what fol- lowed is undeniable. Days after the incident, black students silently sat around the "white tree" in protest, prompting the school's administra- tion to call a school assembly fea- turing Jena District Attorney Reed Walters. As black and white students sat separate from each other, the DA verbally threatened them, saying he could make their lives "disappear" with the stroke of his pen. On Dec. 1, 2006, a black student, Robert Bailey, was beaten up after entering a barn dance with only white people in attendance; one white man was prosecuted for simple battery after the incident. Then on Dec. 4, a white student, Justin Barker, was beaten up in the Jena High School courtyard after bragging to friends about the barn dance fight. Five black students, including Bailey, were charged with attempted murder for the fight by the same DA from the assembly. Sincetheincident,thetreewherethe nooses were hung has been chopped to pieces and the three white students accused of hanging the nooses are yet to receive anything more than school suspensions for their actions. Ever since the incident, nooses have popped up in schools, offices, lockers. and parks around the country. In early September, a noose was hung from a tree outside a black student group cen- ter atthe University of Maryland. Since then, a noose was found outside a black professor's office at Columbia Univer- sity, at a John Mellencamp concert at Indiana State University and on a stat- ue of Tupac Shakur in Georgia. One was drawn onto a high school student's car in Alabama. Twenty more nooses have turned up in the Jena area. Nooses have been hung for decades as a form of racial intimidation, but their augmented presence in America suggests that people have been incited by the highly public Jena events. The symbolic representation of a noose - a reminder of slavery and lynchings - is enoughtomake it condemnable by fed- eral hate-crime laws. Last week, the New York state Senate was driven by the rise in noose hangings to make ita felony to threateningly display or draw them. This is a first step for halting the noose trend and combating similar hate-based crimes. Yet beyond the legislation, how can we move past these recent incidents involving nooses? Is there any way to stop copycats from displaying their racial intolerance other than by legal intimidation? The short answer is no. The long answer is yes - if enough education, legislation and responsible guidance are pursued in every Ameri- can community. Call it dollar store philosophy, but if racial intimidation is not condemned in every community and if hate-crime offenders or racially divided commu- nities are not rehabilitated so as to encourage more acceptance, the bla- tant acts of intolerance will continue. Nooses show that racism is alive and well in America. It may be unfair to call out Jena for its symbolic racism; nooses are not specific to the city, and race problems exist everywhere, The DA has writ- ten a response in The New York Times defending his actions, and no connec- tion has been officially determined between the nooses and the fighting. Yet despite the minutiae of the inci- dent, with the publicity the city has received - andwill continue to receive - it is imperative that Jena proceed in a racially conscious manner. Given how much the Jena incident was imitated, the city is likely to set a precedent by how it moves forward from this point. If even all this publicity cannot drive racism from Jena, how can things change in the rest of the country? Theresa Kennelly is an associate editorial page.editor. She can be reached at thenelly@umich.edu. Unfortunately, in deciding whether to continue distributing Bard College Prof. Joel Kovel's book, "Overcoming Zionism" and whether or not to renew its contract with the book's publisher, Pluto Press, the University Press undermined all of its supposed values. Although the University Press made the right decisions in the end, along the way it wavered on its commit- ment to protecting academic debate and cowered behind decisions that lacked any transparency. Not everyone will or should agree with Kovel's book. Printed by Pluto Press, a Left- ist independent publisher based in Britain, "Overcoming Zionism" argues that the ide- ology of Zionism amounts to "state-spon- sored racism," which is incompatible with democracy. The book goes further to say that in order to achieve peace in the Israe- li-Palestinian conflict, Zionism must be rejected in favor of a secular, single-state, democratic solution. As criticisms of the book surfaced, the University Press balked at defending its reasoning for distributing the book. Instead, last August, the press's director, Phil Pochoda, decided to halt distribution, simply citing "serious questions raised by several members of the University com- munity about the book." In other words, some people objected to a controversial book, and the press, rather than defend- ing the principles it exists to serve, simply backed down. There is no doubt that some people will have objections to Kovel's contentions, but is there any reason besides complacency and cowardice that those contentions should not be presented into the debate? The book has received its fair share of sup- port, too - from historian Howard Zinn, for example. While people may not agree with the content of the book, it does add to the debate, and it is exactly the type of book the University Press should print. A month after stopping distribution of the book, the University Press's execu- tive board actually reviewed the book and decided to resume distribution. However, the controversy surrounding this particu- lar book continued and the University Press considered whether it should continue to distribute books printed by Pluto in the future. While the University Press did ulti- mately announce its decision to renew its contract with Pluto late last week, it waited several days before releasing its decision, continuing to hide from the controversy The University Press should have never stopped the distribution of Kovel's book in the first place, and the decision to contin- ue distributing Pluto Press's books should have never been questioned. For all the high-minded defense of academic debate, the true test is what we do under pressure, and the University Press proved unable to live up to its ideal. When criticisms of this book emerged, the University needed to visibly defend the author's right to make a well-informed but controversial argument. If the University Press feels that a certain book is so hateful that it must be censored, such a decision still should only be made after a careful review like the one in September - not simply by the knee-jerk reaction of any one person. Pochoda should never have been allowed to stop distribution without a reasonable explanation. Why should he be able to work against the values of our institution as a whole? His brash decision may have been a mistake, and it damages our University's reputation as a staunch champion of free and open debate. If the University Press hopes to uphold its own values and those of the institution it is named for, it will often have to defend controversial books. It cah't choose to selectively duck that responsibility. THE ROOSEVELT INSTITUTION Student think tanks EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS: Emad Ansari, Kevin Bunkley, Ben Caleca, Milly Dick, Mike Eber, Gary Graca, Emmarie Huetteman, Theresa Kennelly, Emily Michels, Robert Soave, Gavin Stern, Jennifer Sussex, Neil Tambe, Matt Trecha, Radhika Upadhyaya, Rachel Wagner, Patrick Zabawa ZACK YOST Proposed MSA reforms As students we are often per- ceived as slackers, stoners and just plain lazy. Some studies have shown that this generation is the most politically apathetic ever - a tough hurdle for the budding policy wonks among us. But in this cynical world of war, radicalism and backward thinking, it is getting harder to sit idly and watch our opportunity to incite change pass by. The college-aged population has been continuously left out of the policy debate. Few realize, however, that we are an untapped resource. As students, we have every tool at our fingertips - new technology, access to an abun- This viewpoint is dance of infor- the second in a mation, series about the brilliant p academic present state of men- student activism. tors and inquisitive minds. Why can't we be the ones who influence the policy of tomorrow with the skills we are developing today? The Roosevelt Institution, the nation's first student think tank, has sparked the beginning of a policymaking revolution by foster- ing a progressive outlet for college students. Across the country, Roos- evelt Institution chapters have been established at more than 70 univer- sities and formed a well-connected network of college students, work- ing together to have our policies heard and voices legitimized. The University of Michigan chap- ter - founded in the winter of 2006 - began as 12 kids meeting at a greasy table in the Union lap Room. In a little more than a year, we have grown into one of the largest chap- ters in the country with more than 100 members and a reputation for being one of the most active student organizations. We attribute our suc- cess to the draw of our unique form of student activism We are the new student activism. We seek to redefine the image and role of students in the public policy arena. Instead of the traditional protest/activist culture, we have adopted a proactive approach, using policy solutions to directly bring about the change we wish to see. It is a positive activism that promotes the innovation of concrete solutions to combat the problems and injus- tices in our world. Roosevelt Insti- tution members research, write, publish and implement policy ideas based on their interests and pas- sions. We also aim to form a base of progressive leadership and use that to cement our place in the policy debate. Ourphilosophyofstudentactivism is simple: Yell as loud as you want, as long as you have facts to back it up. While we want to draw attention to the pressing issues on the national policy agenda, we also seek to make student activism more intelligent, more legitimate to policy makers and more effective through policy solu- tions and fact-based initiatives. As a student think tank, the Roos- evelt Institution's ultimate goal is to be a resource for student organi- zations and work with the existing activist community to put on origi- nal, inspiring and informed cam- pus awareness events. We hope to explore the issues of interest to our members, student groups and the activist culture on campus, and work on addressing solutions to those problems together. The University chapter of the Roosevelt Institution made a name for itself last semester with "Roos- evelt Relief: Hurricane Katrina," a four-month-long project in which all six of our policy centers worked together to identify solutions for Gulf Coast disaster relief. Our members produced 10 innovative polices like long-term mental health funding for victims, soil amelioration and levee reconstruction techniques. Forty Roosevelt fellows were published in the Roosevelt Relief Policy Publi- cation, which has been distributed widely and viewed by advocates, charities and politicians across the country. The project culminated in April 2007 with a week-long summit, in conjunction with the Gulf Coast Civic Works Project and universi- ties across the country. The week of events included movie screenings, a Policy Event Challenge and a key- note address by Lt. General Russel Honor6, leader of the Katrina Joint Taskforce. In the end, the University chapter of the Roosevelt Institution was able to gain national attention through the GCCWP and donate more than $1,000 to Gulf Coast charities and advocacy groups. Most important, the Roosevelt Relief stu- dent policies made an impact on the ground and contributed to the posi- tive change for which their authors advocated. This year, the Roosevelt Institu- tion is looking to capitalize on last semester's success by working on a variety of initiatives. In the fall, we plan to facilitate a campus-wide discussion concerning community development and urban planning in Detroit. In addition, we intro- duced a new policy center looking specifically into China, an economic project focusing on Africa, a vot- ing rights policy initiatives and a regional project related to Great Lakes restoration. As the membership and scope of the Roosevelt Institution increases, that aforementioned epidemic of stu- dent apathy seems more and more like a myth. Campus activism contin- ues to thrive as a student-generated policymaking revolution, and the Roosevelt Institution is at its heart. Stephanie Somerman and Hilary Doe are co-presidents of the University chapter of the Roosevelt Institution. 0 i A Michigan Student Assembly representa- tive was recently charged with using a com- puter to commit a crime and interfere with an electronic communication device. This is an unfortunate situation, and I hope no one will pass judgment until the matter is fully resolved. Everyone is innocent until proven guilty, and I stand firmly by everyone on MSA through this process. It is the court's job to determine guilt or innocence. To make time to properly attend to his personal matters, the MSA representative in question has stepped aside from his position as chair of MSA's Budget Priorities Commit- tee: Meanwhile, it is my job to make sure MSA runs smoothly, effectively and respon- sibly. While we face a difficult circumstance, this is a great opportunity to take an intro- spective look at self-governance and how we can make MSA better. , In that vein, I pledge to you that MSA will continue to work tirelessly for students.-Our work for you will remain as strong as it has always been. Accomplishments like remov- ing the loophole from the lease signing ordi- nance, fighting for freedom of gender identity and gender expression, planning events like homecoming and organizing a rally to pro- test mid-year tuition hikes are just some of the things we've done so far. MSA will also push hard to bring more lighting to student housing areas, finding creative solutions so everyone can watch our sports teams' on television and making the financial aid pro- cess smoother and more transparent. Further, as MSA president, I am going to take some steps to rectify this situation and make sure that similar circumstances don't arise in the future. In the next few weeks I plan to do several things. First, I will reach out to the Department of Public Safety to create a joint DPS-MSA committee to bring more people into the conversation about how we function as a university and how MSA functions as a student government. I will also open a dialogue (that anyone is welcome to join) to examine the campaign rules gov- erning our elections. Finally, I will ensure that the Budget Priorities Committee will not miss a beat in the midst of its leadership change and will continue to help hundreds of outstanding student organizations on our campus. Like I said before, this is a difficult time, but we've got some great things going on and we would love for you to get involved with MSA. Shoot us an e-mail at msa.info@umich. edu to talk to us about how we can get you on board. Zack Yost is president of the Michigan Student Assembly. ALEXANDER HONKALA f ip saaSna E at 4A 'S X5O. c-rsta o5i .o ' c .s r lVsA- 5 nAri'awt -us " l r i r 1r2 +,s5t 14A-', o2a ' 5 '( A '-t T1 'S ;/LAIC J "k .& at o 3 5 oavrcs"-ea, e~at..SS-.. -I5A~c.5 t5vW~e"', nc..5~ \~'e,',',sO fl BLOGS Read more analysis at www.michigandaily.com/thepodium. 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 affili- ation. All submissions become property of the Daily. We do not print anony- mous letters. Send letters to tothedaily@umich.edu. 4 'A