4 -Friday, January 4, 2008 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com C74C IWC4ig n 3atip 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 The numbers tell us this was a debate between change and experience, and change won." -CNN political analyst Bill Schneider, speaking about presidential candidate Barack Obama's victory in the Iowa Democratic caucus over third-place finisher Hillary Clinton, as reported yesterday by CNN.com 41 KARL STAMPFL EDITOR IN CHIEF Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily's editorial board. All other signed articles and illustrations representsolely 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 andcomments. He can be reached at publiceditor@umich.edu. A schedulingconflict To fix short break, students and'U' must find compromise T he season of giving is over, and apparently it left the Uni- versity uninspired. With this semester beginning only two days after New Year's Day, many out-of-state students found themselves forced into a post-holiday rush just to get back in time for classes. While crowded airports may dampen spirits, inflated ticket prices are enough to crush holiday cheer. Creating an academic calendar that accommodates everyone's interests may be a Herculean task, but this semester's illogical start date makes it clear that we need a little more creativity and a lot more student A showdown out west hile most of us were home for winter break and set- tling in for a long vacation filled with binge cookie eating, radios blaring Christ- - mas music and marathons of "The Office," something important and pro- ductivewashappen- ing in California. M Waxman (D- Calif.), along with his Democratic col- KATE leagues in Congress TRUESDELL announced Dec. 27 that they would conduct an investigation into the Envi- ronmental Protection Agency's refusal to let California set its own statewide standard for tailpipe emissions previ- ouslyproposedin2004. Thestateneed- ed a CleanAirActwaiver in orderto be able to implement the standard. The waiver was denied, California's first such denial from the EPA in decades. On Wednesday, the state of California backed its representative, filing suit against the EPA EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson, who argued that statewide standards were unnecessary in light of recent national reforms, led the EPA's action. Waxman is demanding all doc- uments used in the EPA's decision and is accusing it of having "ignored the evidence before the agency and the requirements of the Clean Air Act". Not surprisingly, when asked to comment, President Bush sided with the EPA, saying, "The question is how to have an effective strategy. Is it more effective to let each state make a deci- sion as to how to proceed in curbing greenhouse gases or is it more effec- tive to have a national strategy?" How much of this debate is actually about environmentalism? With elec- tions right around the corner, every action must be looked at with a degree of skepticism. However, because it. is the holiday season, a time when warm, fuzzy feelings floatbthroughthe air like unavoidable bits of dust, I'll err on the side of optimism. The national legislation recently signed by Bush requires that fuel effi- ciency for cars, SUVs and small trucks reach 35 miles per gallon by the year 2020. California's plan is structured differently but could translate into efficiency standards between 33.8 to 36.8 mpg by 2016. It also demands immediate action in the form of cut- backs for 2009 model lines. My fingers are growing weary of typing this phrase over and over again: The administration's position is ridiculous. In what way do state stan- dards interfere with those created by the federal government? So long as state standards minimally comply with national standards, thereis no harm in setting more ambitious goals. If the argument is that these stan- dards are comparable, there is still no reason for prohibiting tougher state standards. Doubly enforced standards would be, while at worst a bit redundant, hardly a barrier to Bush's "national strategy." If they were enforced on both a state and national level, it is twice as likely that they might actually be effective. The state could take up the government's slack when it fails to follow through. And that happens a lot. Far from being a better way, Bush's position sim- ply amounts to doing nothing unless everyone can agree. It's also nothing short of confused and nonsensical. States that take the initiative to cre- ate and implement higher standards for environmental quality should not be denied. This is in no way helpful to thesuccessoftheenvironmentalmove- mentorthecountryas awhole. Itmight upset some auto manufacturers but it's time that these gas-guzzling dinosaurs realize that dawdling toward greener vehicles without real progress will not be tolerated. With this decision, the only thingthe federal government suc- ceeds in doing is impeding progress. It has done enough of already. Before fighting carbon, California must fight Bush. The administration has failed to provide good reasons for denying the waiver. Waxman deserves praise for steppingup and pointing out this irra- tionality. It is somethingthat needs to be done more often by politicians, the media and citizens. Don't get me wrong - Waxman is not Hercules. He's not running into the oval office and impeaching Bush (agirlcan dream, can't she?). But right now, Waxman gets the limelight for having the balls to step up to a gov- ernment that has consistently made too many bad decisions with too little explanation. Kate Truesdell can be reached at ketrue@umich.edu. I I input in scheduling decisions. Last month, the Michigan Student Assem- bly offered students one way to vent their frustrations and launched an online peti- tion to garner support for an academic cal- endar overhaul. The proposed plan would tack an extra week onto winter break, shift spring break back one week and add an extra week to the end of the winter semester. The changes would attempt to prevent schedules like the one this year, which forced students into hefty transportation costs, a one-day period to buy textbooks between New Year's Day and the new semester and a stampede back to the dorms on Tuesday. While strong in spirit, the proposal is weak in practicality. The University's academic calendar uses a trimester system that evenly divides the year into three parts for the spring and sum- mer semesters, the winter semester and fall semester. This system makes sure that students get the same amount of class days per semester. It also gives students flexibil- ity during the summer, whether that means getting a head start in the job market, going abroad to study or staying back in Ann Arbor to take spring or summer classes. Wherever days are adding to a semester, inevitably they subtract days from another semester or from the breaks between semesters If enacted, the MSA proposal would tie the University's hands in this fragile bal- ancing act. While students might rejoice at the prospect of an extra week of win- ter break, they might not be as supportive when they realize it could subtract a week from their summer in Costa Rica. Still, a happy medium between these two camps is possible. Although its petition doesn't reflect the needed nuance, the MSA petition had the right idea: Students must speak out when the schedule is needlessly inconveniencing them. At the same time, students must real- ize that the schedule shouldn't be viewed as week-by-week problem, but rather a day- by-day problem. This means that students may have to concede a study day, start a day earlier or end a day later to get a day that is more important. Similarly, the University should be solic- iting students for more input - some cre- ativity wouldn't hurt either. The academic calendar is prepared by the office of the Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and is usually approved two years in advance by the University Board of Regents. At both levels, there is ample opportunity for the University to work with MSA and make the student body aware of how the scheduling process works and how they can have their ideas heard. The University could also come up with new ideas to save a day or two when necessary. Why wouldn't it be possible for the University to condense the final exam schedule done to four days instead of five by extending exam times later into the eve- ning if an extra day is needed? Two days shouldn't be too much to ask if it keeps students out of snow-covered ter- minals when it is most needed. I SEND LETTERS TO: TOTHEDAILY( UMICH.EDU EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS: Emad Ansari, Anindya Bhadra, Kevin Bunkley, Ben Caleca, Milly Dick, Mike Eber, Gary Graca, Emmarie Huetteman, Theresa Kennelly, Emily Michels, Kate Peabody, Robert Soave, Jennifer Sussex, Neil Tambe, Matt Trecha, Kate Truesdell, Radhika Upadhyaya, Rachel Van Gilder, Rachel Wagner, Patrick Zabawa. SHANE BRADY" P An end to unfair testing University lacked honor in football coaching search TO THE DAILY: I have heard over the past sev- eral years that the University of Michigan football-coaches want to teach their players to have charac- ter. The silent adjective here must be "bad" not "good" character. In searching for a new football coach to replace Lloyd Carr, the University of Michigan contacted not one, but two coaches who were scheduled to prepare their teams for major Bowl Championship Series bowl games: Les Miles and Rich Rodriguez. In the latter case, Michigan was successful in luring Rodriguez away from West Vir- ginia University two weeks prior to the West Virginia's bowl game against Oklahoma. It may not be against the rules for a university to recruit a coach in this manner, but it certainly shows a lack of honor. Maggi Reiss Colambus, Ohio Physical therapy at UHS needs work TO THE DAILY: The goal of a physical. therapy facility is to rehabilitate a patient as quickly and efficiently as pos- sible. But the physical therapy pro- gram at University Health Service is inefficient, slow and timid. Not only is there not enough gym space available to meet patients' needs, there is barely enough room for more than two people to stretch out or do agility exercises. Before I came to the University, I was enrolled in a physical therapy facility with a rigorous two-and-a- half hour workout program that helped me immensely each week. Once I enrolled in the Universi- ty's physical therapy department, though, my workout schedule was reduced to one half-hour session and I was forced to continue thera- py by myself at the gym. Because I had gone through physical therapy for the same injury before, I knew what I had to do to make a full recovery. But what about other stu- dents with injuries who don't know how to rehabilitate themselves? Although the staff is very like- able and courteous, it needs. to spend more time with its patients. I only saw my physical therapist once every two weeks and spent most of my sessions with an assis- tant, who didn't have the same knowledge as a physical therapist. Patients should see their therapists with every visit to prop5erly facili- tate a rehabilitation schedule that meets patients' specific needs. Just because students aren't being charged for this University service, it doesn't have to be sec- ond rate. Connie Huang LSAfreshman Carr's victory worthy of Buckeye praise TO THE DAILY: I would like to congratulate Michigan for its fantastic victory over Florida in the Capital One Citrus Bowl on Tuesday. It was touching to see head coach Lloyd Carr go out a winner. He deserved it. I believe that Big Ten fans should always pull for a Big Ten team. Even though I am a lifetime Buckeye, I was a Michigan fan on New Year's Day. Michael D'Amore The letter writer is an Ohio State Uni- versity alum. Top 25 albums were hardly winners TO THE DAILY: I may not be a music expert, but I disagree with some of the albums that were considered the best of 2007 (Listen to the best music of 2007,1/3/2008). The article argued that 2007 was "a year littered with best albums." I believe it was just the opposite. Few of the best cur- rent artists, like Death Cab for Cutie or Sufjan Stevens, released albums this past year. The bands that did make up the list were rap artists and elitist indie garbage bands that no mainstream music listener has ever heard of. Not many music listeners can relate to the list. If you asked 100 Universi- ty students, I would guess that few have listened to many of those 25 albums. The article also left off several of what I thought were the best albums of the year, like Iron and Wine's The Shepherd's Dog, Elliott Smith's New Moon and Josh Rit- ter's The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter. Enough with the crit- ics' obsession with rap and non- melodic indie music: This list may be able to brainwash other readers, but it couldn't convince me that Animal Collective, Lil' Wayne or T.I. recorded three of the top 50 albums in 2007, let alone the top 25. Steven Gornstein LSA junior The University of Michigan's use of stan- dardized testing for admissions decisions into its undergraduate and graduate level programs is nothing new. Butnow it's time to revisit the practice. The problems with standardized testing are numerous and well known. By many accounts, standardized tests do not predict future suc- cess nor do they measure the student's overall body of work. Similarly, they are culturally biased and seem to benefit only select groups, especially companies who sell test preparation materials like the Princeton Review, people who charge exorbitant amounts of money to prepare their students for standardized tests and people who work in admissions depart- ments but don't want to take the time to prop- erly evaluate students. Implicit in the use of standardized testing is the creation of a glass ceiling for those stu- dents who don't do well on these sorts of tests. Although it is common to note this problem for high school applicants applying to college, the same problem exists within higher educa- tion institutions as well. For example, students interested in programs like the University's masters in social work program do not have their test scores considered for admissions decisions. But those students pursuing the doctoral counterpart in applied social science do have their test scores taken into account. This allows students, many of them people of color and female, to gain some level of higher education but does not provide them with the opportunity to achieve the highest level, a doc- torate degree. It is time for the University as an innova- tive and elite institution to begin considering alternative methods for admitting both under- graduate and graduate level students. On the surface, the University can say that it already uses standardized testing only for admissions. But it is obvious that the effects of using stan- dardized testing even at one level translates into immense changes across all levels of high- er education. It is especially important for the University to consider this change after the passage of Michigan's constitutional amendment ban- ning affirmative action in admissions deci- sions. The university must be proactive with its thinking about diversity and social justice. Many people would point to the University's diverse administrators, including Univer- sity President Mary Sue Coleman - its first female president - as examples of the school's commitment to cultural diversity and equal- ity. But this is exactly the point. As a univer- sity community, shouldn't we begin working on social justice in our own backyard while concurrently advocating policy change on a larger scale? Instead of only pointing the finger at unfair policies, we should be researching alterna- tives like admissions portfolios, which provide a more comprehensive view of a student. The University, or the state of Michigan, could also provide subsidized funding to high school stu- dents and undergraduate students that would enable them to afford expensive test prepara- tion courses. We must begin looking to the future of edu- cation here in Ann Arbor in order to continue our long legacy of fair and just education for everyone. Shane Brady is a graduate student in the School of Social Work. ALEXANDER HONKALA ICfegafimmigration is apyrob ferno f great I don't fike ifega&s! -Iam tired of iffegaf imyortance. immigrants. GOP GOP 'Native #1 ,12 American ? ' yt ' I. .nK' s x fr; : , / : i x ,7r . ^g ;- fN -J s - 1 « ,' .-."v "'r .,: ~ ' I LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Readers are encouraged to submit letters to the editor. Letters should be S less than 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 tothedaily@umich. ( I