0 4A -Wednesday, January 23, 2008 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 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. 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 withquestions and comments. He canbe reached atpubliceditor@umich.edu. Fading fast Students must harness graduation ire, pressure 'U' Last week, there was excitement in the air as University stu- dents planned an important protest. For many, this protest would show the administration that the decision to hold commencement outside of Michigan Stadium was unacceptable. Despite good intentions, the rally fell flat on its face, postponed at the last minute due to a lack of interest. This isn't a good sign for stu- dents, who must continue their outrage about moving graduation to Eastern Michigan University if they hope to bring commencement back to the Big House, make this decision transparent and hold the administration accountable for its disregard of students' interests. I feel good about dying now because I feel like I'm alive in her ... but at the same hand, you don't want to die because you want to be around for the rest of her life." - Actor Heath Ledger on how having a daughter has changed him in a recent interview, as reported yesterday by The New York Times. Ledger died yesterday. Bearing the Southern Cross I I ike Huckabee is courting the Confederate vote. In an act of political pandering that would seem more commonplace in Mitt Romney's campaign, the for- mer Arkansas gov- ernorsaid Thursday that he supports the right of states to display the Confed- erate flag. Speaking to supporters in EMMARIE Myrtle Beach, S.C., HUETTEMAN Huckabee said, "If somebody came to Arkansas and told us what to do with our flag, we'd tell 'em what to do with the pole." . The next day, HBO host Bill Maher asked his guest panel on "Real Time with Bill Maher" to comment on Huckabee's remarks. Comedian D.L. Hughley replied that the Confederate flag "is always codename for 'we hate niggers and fags still,' always." But Southern author and fellow panelist Trace Adkins disagreed with Hugh- ley, saying, "I'm supposed to be the redneck cracker here, and ... I don't know anybody that feels that way." When it comes to the Confederate flag, it seems that the Mason-Dixon Line still demarcates an ideological disconnect. To many Americans, the Southern Cross - as the battle flag of the Con- federacy is often called - is bound within its original context, the Civil War. It represents little more than racist convictions as a banner under which white Southerners fought for the rightto enslave black people.But to many Southerners, the flag has much to do with states' rights and heritage and nothing to do with racism. Having grown up in Georgia, I've seen a lot of Confederate parapher- nalia. These days, the Southern Cross is more likely to adorn T-shirts, shot glasses and pickup truck windows than flagpoles. However, until 2001, my home state prominently featured the Southern Cross on its flag along- side the state seal. That was also the year I realized that the Confederate flag didn't mean racism to most Southerners. My class took an end-of-the-year trip to the Six Flags theme park in Atlanta, and as we wandered through the park, I saw countless Southern Crosses on tank tops and T-shirts. However, the strangest display of all was on a pair of socks - worn by a black man. Despite having taken United States history in Georgia schools, my friends and I were slightly horrified and largely baffled by this man's fashion choice. We trusted the winner's ver- sion of the story, which opined that the good of the North had triumphed over the evil of the South. The Con- federacy had fought to keep its slaves, the Union had fought to free them and there was nothing more to the story. And considering our knowledge of the civil rights movement, that ver- sion sounded pretty accurate. What has largely been glossed over in that history, though, is that the South wasn't just fighting for slavery; it was also fighting for states' rights, as Huckabee crudely asserted. It fought for the right to make decisions independent of the federal govern- ment, even if the particular decision for which it stood was not one worthy of debate. For many Americans, that is still a relevant cause, and supporting it has become a part of Southern heritage. In fact, the dispute over the Confed- erate flag itself has become a mat- ter of states' rights, most recently as presidential candidates like Romney have weighed in with their unfa-' vorable opinions about the flag. But because the rest of the states - and, if my views are any indication, even some Southern ones - are teeming with anti-Confederate flag senti- ment, it's crucial that Southern Cross wavers and wearers make these true values known. To their credit, the heritage and states' rights arguments are more palatable than guttural chants of "the South will rise again!" Even as a big government liberal, I can appreciate this perspective. While I opposed keeping the Southern Cross on the Georgia flag in2001, I certainly didn't want the federal government to force the state to throw out, for better or For better or worse, a flag that flies for heritage. worse, a symbol of its heritage. As much as I disagree with my fellow Southerners on a host of issues, they do have a right to their opinions. However, even if Confederate flag enthusiasts were to endorse a kinder, gentler platform than "we'll tell you what to do with the pole," it would still be a kinder, gentler argument for a symbol that most Americans deem purely racist. And as long as they deem it racist, they will largely be content seeing its supporters as racist, regardless of whether they are white men driving pickup trucks or black men wearing socks. Emmarie Huetteman is an associate editorial page editor. She can be reached at huetteme@umich edu. 4 Organized by Juhi Aggarwal, who creat- ed a blog dedicated to the graduation issue, the protest was set to take place Thursday before the meeting of the University Board of Regents. The intention was to overwhelm the regents as they entered the Fleming Administration Building for their monthly meeting, using the leverage garnered by mass participation to get a better location for commencement along with transparen- cy, explanations and a timeline for action. Unfortunately, according to Aggarwal's blog, the response students received from the University at last week's two forums was that a decision would be made within three weeks. An e-mail sent out to the class of 2008 yesterday explained that the Universi- ty was working on "an aggressive timeline" that would require students to respond to a survey by Thursday at 9 a.m. It did not say when the University would make" ecision. After the administration forgot about graduation, neglected to solicit student input and delayed announcingvits mishap until after winter break, students deserve a decision sooner than three weeks from now. Since commencement was moved to EMU, the University has protested that the venue was chosen after careful consid- eration of multiple locations. If this were true, it wouldn't need three more weeks to reconsider the same locations. It has already had ample time. If anything, the fact that it needs additional time to calculate a response proves that the University didn't thoroughly weigh all of its options to begin with. Similarly, the final decision about where to hold graduation needs transparency and meaningful consideration of student input, two things this administration has repeat- edly failed to do. The two forums last week, the upcoming survey and the newly formed spring Commencement Advisory Commit- tee are three sources of legitimate student input. However, in yesterday's e-mail to seniors, the University simply announced that this committee was formed and had already met Monday morning, with just three students but 10 University officials. Even when it seems to be trying to cover up its mess, the University administration can't get the idea of transparency right. Students deserve an explanation of how their input is being considered. If they don't get satisfactory answers, they should demand them. It's easy for the administra- tion to get away with poor planning and a lack of transparency if students stay quiet. While the administration's decision to hold graduation at EMU initially generated an impassioned response, the issue is already losing momentum. The longer a decision is stalled, the farther it will be from students' minds and the less options will be available. According to her blog, Aggarwal post- poned the rally because she didn't get a strong enough response from students. While it is understandable that she wants to draw a noticeable crowd, waiting is the wrong approach. If this protest couldn't gar- ner sufficient support now by the organiz- er's standards, then it is even less likely that it will gain support as the issue grows stale. Students can't simply wait to react to the University's new idea; they should be proac- tive and influence it. Students should make sure to return the University-distributed survey by Thursday at 9 a.m. They must also emphasize to the University that they want an explanation and a solution immediately. 0 EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS: Emad Ansari, Anindya Bhadra, Kevin Bunkley, Ben Caleca, Milly Dick, Mike Eber, Gary Graca, Emmarie Huetteman, Theresa Kennelly, Emily-Michels, Arikia Millikan, Kate Peabody, Kate Truesdell, Robert Soave, Neil Tambe, Matt Trecha, Radhika Upadhyaya, Rachel Van Gilder, Rachel Wagner, Patrick Zabawa. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Readers are encouraged to submit letters to the editor. Letters should be less than 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. ,I SEND LETTERS TO: TOTHEDAILY@UMICH.EDU Rodriguez shouldpay WVUwhat he owes rather lack th. ment of Public to its mission to and promot munity." Whil TO THE DAILY: alert was post As a West Virginia resident, I am writ- significant nut ing in regard to the new saga of Michi- ably don't che gan head football coach Rich Rodriguez. To truly abide1 Rodriguez decided he would rather coach secure commu Michigan than West Virginia University mum, make su - so be it. However, the contract Rodri- receives e-mai guez signed with West Virginia required threat, especia him to pay $4 million if he opted out of With the t his contract and switched universities, fresh in our m: exactly what he did. Why is it that Rodri- addresses safe guez and by extension Michigan are try- this shooting u ing to weasel out of this obligation? Pay the money and move on, Rodri- Linnea Texin guez. Good luck to Michigan too, after LSAjunior hiring this classy guy. ereof, reveals the Depart- Safety's failure to adhere statement "to contribute te a safe and secure com- ile I recognize that a crime ed on the DPS website, a mber of the students prob- ck this website regularly. to its mission to promote a nity, DPS should, at mini- re the entire student body is when there is a safety illy of this caliber. ragedy at Virginia Tech inds, I hope the University ty concerns as severe as vith more urgency. posed that LSA Honor Council become a part of LSA-SG, because of the nega- tive perception of student government, you might understand why I felt a group like the LSA Honor Council that values academic integrity didn't belong with student government. After all, I thought I knew what LSA-SG members were all about: themselves. I was mistaken. Every executive, every LSA-SG committee and many associate representatives have instead embraced LSA Honor Council and what it stands for. Student government members are doing great things, including work on campus safety, student advocacy, funding many other student groups and generally trying to make their peer's experience better. These members do this because they believe in it, and they are constant- ly asking what their constituents (you) want. From my experience most people are there because they want to do what is right. They work hard to do it, and they often get no reward or attention for it. Honor Council is built on values, prin- ciples and abelief in doingthe right thing above all else. I am so glad it is part of LSA-SG right now. It is a wonderful place to get things done no matter what project matters to you. It is a place for everyone and every cause. I hope people can look past MSA scandals and see that not all student government is self-serving. Weston Bruner LSA sophomore The letter writer is thepresident ofLSA Honor Council. ROSE JAFFE Bill Druckma Charleston, W. Va. Happy hour story not so happy for senior's wallet TO THE DAILY: I was excited when the Daily printed an article in the B-side last week listing the best happy hours in town (Happy trails, 01/17/2008). However, I made the mistake of taking it as fact that Grizzly Peak Brewing Company has happy hour every night of the week and ran myself quite the bar tab. Note to readers: Happy hour is not on Saturday so don't buy beer like it is. Eric Foote Engineering senior DPSfailedstudents by not informing campus TO THE DAILY: I write to express my dismay that I did not receive a formal e-mail from the Uni- versity about the murder on Plymouth Road last Wednesday. I find it abhorrent that the University did not think it neces- sary to inform its students about a seri- ous threat to their safety. This action, or HoCkey jeering defended TO THE DAILY: In a letter to the editor yesterday, Jan- ice Roller complained how the chant "dirty Catholics" at Friday's hockey game against Notre Dame was "a step back for campus," especially because "sports have paved the way for cultural breakthroughs in both race and religion" (Letters to the Editor, 01/22/2007). That was just the Michigan way of breaking the ice. Michael Kozlowski LSA senior Student government still serves campus faithfully TO THE DAILY: As appointments for LSA Student Government draw near, I can't help but look around and reflect on the degree of suspicion, lack of faith and utter apathy the student body holds for student gov- ernment of all kinds. The MSA scandals - not LSA-SG scandals, mind you - have eroded any confidence students had in their peers to work to improve their lives, not just attract more attention or improve their resumes. I came to understand LSA-SG when I took over as president of the LSA Honor Council last semester. When it was pro- twOOFS hops 4