4A - Wednesday, February 13, 2008 4A -W nderrThe Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 4 my idc t6'a n ail Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 tothedaily@umich.edu 4 ANDREW GROSSMAN EDITOR IN CHIEF Some people around here get cold feet when threatened by the administration:' -Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), on the Democrats' role in passing a reauthorization of the Bush administration's wiretapping laws, as reported yesterday by The New York Times. Give life (unless you're ga) GARY GRACA EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR GABE NELSON MANAGING EDITOR Unsigned editorials reflectthe official position 6f the Daily's editorialboard. All other signedarticles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors. The Daily's public editor, Paul H. Johnson, acts as the readers' representative and takes acritical look at coverage and content in every section ofthe paper. Readers are encouragedto contact the publiceditor with questions andcomments. He can be reached atpubliceditor@umich.edu. Prestige points Bush must restore image with fair trials and basic rights For six Guantanamo Bay detainees, the future looks bleak - and likely lacking a fair trial. The Pentagon announced this week that it has charged six men with war crimes in connection with the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and plans to seek the death penalty. Rather than conducting a just investiga- tion in preparation for a just trial, though, new revelations indi- cate that the government sanctioned the torture of one detainee to obtain evidence for its shady trial. But as bad as things look, this is the perfect opportunity to restore U.S. international prestige by showcasing to the world that even America's most vilified enemies deserve a fair trial. f you are one of the dozens of people planning to give blood at Couzens Hall or West Quad today, there are quite a few things you should know. You must weigh at least 110 pounds. You can't donate - again if you've done so in the last eight weeks. You shouldn't donate for 12 months after you receive a tattoo. You can't donate GARY if you've traveled GRACA to certain West African countries recently or have been in contact with someone who has. And one more thing: You are con- tributing to an organization that dis- criminates againstgaymen. Or atleast that's what administrators at San Jos6 State University think. InAan unprecedented snub of the American Red Cross, San Jose State President Don Kassing announced earlier this month that he is boot- ing blood drives from campus. Why? Because men who have had sex with other men at least once since 1977 are barred for life from giving blood, according to a Food and Drug Admin- istration policy. While it's unfortunate that the Red Cross is now caught in the crossfire, Kassing's wdecision was a necessary evil to uphold his institution's non-dis- crimination policy. As unsettling as it might seem, the University of Michi- gan, with a similar non-discrimination policy, should follow suit with its own campus-wide ban on blood drives. Few argue that the FDA's policy and its enforcement by the Red Cross is anything but discriminatory. A relic of a time when mullets, Madonna and "Miami Vice" were popular, the policy was rightly created in 1983 to pre- vent the spread of HIV/AIDS through blood transfusions. It was true at the time - as it still is - that men who have had sex with other men have a disproportionately higher chance of being HIV positive. Without reliable HIV testing or a full understanding of the disease, turning gay men away was one of the few known ways to keep blood banks from becoming HIV distribution centers. But then came the enlightenmentof the 1990s. Made possible by cheaper, more precise tests, all blood is now tested for HIV after it's donated. Peo- ple now understand that being a gay man isn't a cause of HIV. As any good high school health class should have embedded into your brain, it's unsafe sex, intravenous drug use and unpro- tected exposure to bodily fluids that transmit the disease. Blood from gay people is just the same as blood from anyone else. The FDA missed that lesson. Despite pleas from the Red Cross and two other prominent blood donation agencies arguing that the policy was "medically and scientifically unwar- ranted," the FDA renewed the policy in May 2007. Among a few arguments, it argued that testing is accurate but never 100-percent definitive, so you can never be too safe. With the Red Cross's arguments falling on deaf ears, San Jose State is believed to be the first major universi- ty to jump into the game and pressure the FDA. The decision to ban blood drives, however, has met stark resis- tance from individuals and groups who argue that the university is put- ting its policies above the lives of peo- ple who could be saved by necessary blood transfusions. Blood is in short supply, and every pint matters. As Martha Kurtz, a spokeswoman for the American Red Cross South- eastern Michigan Blood Services Region told me, "The Red Cross really relies on blood supplies from colleges and even high schools." Losing these vital supplies would be catastrophic. However important college dona- tions may be, it still takes a logical leap to make the argument that uni- versities consequently kill patients by banning blood drives. When a uni- versity stops allowing blood drives on campus, it doesn't bar students from donating elsewhere. For example, if the University of Michigan were to cancel the blood drive at West Quad today, nothing would stop a blood drive from being held two blocks away at St. Mary's Catholic Church. If blood banks could coordinate with places near campus, it's would be a win-win situation: The amount of donated blood wouldn't precipitously fall, and the University would pressure the FDA into reformingits policy. How blood drives . perpetuate discrimination More importantly, it's easy to forget that thegFDA's policy reduces the blood supply. By turning away gay and bisex- ual men, the policy keeps many from donating. It is estimated that if the lifetime ban were changed to a one- year deferral then 112,000 more men would be eligible to donate. If critics of campus bans directed their anger at the FDAxinstead of wrongfully attack- ing universities, the FDA might finally be spurred into reforming its policy. After that happens, we all could go back to worrying about whether Ohio State.students donate more blood then Michigan students do. Gary Graca is the Daily's editorial page editor. He can be reached at gmgraca@umich.edu. In the first trials of their kind in the post-Sept. 11 era, the six Guantanamo detainees are being tried before the mili- tary commissions created by Congress in 2006. Unlike more transparent civilian courts, the military commissions at Guan- tanamo don't afford the accused nearly as many rights - a problem that is pending a U.S. Supreme Court decision. Among the abuses, these courts allowed defendants to be excluded from their own trial. They also once accepted evidence acquired through torture, a rulingthat could become an issue again due to the use of waterboarding on Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind behind the attacks and one of the defendants in this case. Furthermore, the Pentagon wants to set a precedent by seeking the death penalty. But pressingfor capital punishmentwith- out a fair trial is just one of the Pentagon's failings in this case; it looks like it will also fail to conduct a fair trial. If the trials are run the same way that the previous tribu- nals at Guantanamo have been run, these will be nothing more than kangaroo courts. Such a blatant violation of habeas corpus is just another step in the slow deterioration of the administration's credibility. Then there's the use of so-called crimi- nal evidence against the accused, acquired through torture techniques during inter- rogation at Guantanamo Bay, including the infamous waterboarding method. Water- boarding itself is not new. First docu- mented during the Spanish Inquisition, it continues to be a way to force victims into compliance with interrogators by simu- lating drowning - a practice that hardly leaves room for doubt about whether it's torture or not. The legal controversy surrounding waterboarding has exploded since the recent revelation that it is being used against the detainees at Guantanamo Bay. Despite being considered an illegal torture tactic by U.S. generals in the Vietnam War, it was never legally deemed torture. So the Pentagon manipulated that ambiguity to legitimize and sanction its use. No matter that, up until this point, the question of whether waterboarding was an act of tor- ture was never really a question at all, but an accepted consensus that it was. Paired with the military commission's lack of transparency, the Pentagon's behavior on this issue leaves the adminis- tration with a powerful decision to make. It can continue to torture when interrogat- ing detainees for sham military tribunals, stripping them of basic rights and possibly resulting in continued - and even inten- sified - disdain from the global commu- nity. Or it can acknowledge the illegality of waterboarding on the grounds that it is and always has been a method of torture; throw out any evidence obtained through torture; and grant the detainees their right to a transparent, just trial in civilian court. SEND LETTERS TO: TOTHEDAILY@UMICH.EDU Stop talking about affirmative action Learning you is much easier second one later why you have to to be hard and EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS: Emad Ansari, Anindya Bhadra, Kevin Bunkley, Ben Caleca, Satyajeet Deshmukh, Milly Dick, Mike Eber, Emmarie Huetteman, Theresa Kennelly, Emily Michels, Arikia Millikan, Kate Peabody, Robert Soave, Imran Syed, Neil Tambe, Matt Trecha, Kate Truesdell, Radhika Upadhyaya, Rachel Van Gilder, Rachel Wagner, Patrick Zabawa. KELLYN JACKSON Obama's hollow hope If I hear "I just want something new and different," "I really think he can unite the country" or "he just seems like such a nice guy" about Barack Obama one more time I am going to scream. First off, all of the remaining presidential candidates are "new," compared to Presi- dent Bush, including the walking corpse that is John McCain. Hillary Clinton is dif- ferent, just like Obama. He may supposedly be the candidate of our generation, but there is nothing new, impressive, or proven about Obama. And there's no reason to think that he will be any better of a president than his Democratic rival. The presidency is a job, but the race for it seems more like a popularity contest than a resume review. Legitimacy seems to be large- ly based on image, an area of electability in which Clinton lacks and Obama thrives. Obama is glamorous and sexy with a sexier wife and a great smile. He is a celebrity and people eat him up. His calm demeanor and smooth, yet powerful, voice enables him to inspire hope. Hope for a candidate that is fresh and honest, not jaded by years of dirty politics. Hope that the country can be united against the tallest of odds. I think this hope is hollow, full of hot air and false promises. The political environment in America right now is so polar and volatile that even Republicans won't rally behind their frontrunner because he's too moderate. What makes Obama think he can get Republicans to work with him? I've heard people say that "I think he's the one who can unite this country." With the way things are right now this feat would be very difficult if not impossible. But people still believe he's the one to do it. People say, "Obama is great, so nice and down to earth." He's the kind of person you would want at your backyard barbeque. Peo- ple said this same thing about both President Bushes.Andifyouwantitto hitclosertohome, people said the same thing about Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick - look where that went. Popular support with the people who elected you does not make you a good presi- dent, diplomatically or morally. Sure, Clinton is not Miss America - thank God for that. But she is personable enough. She has an obnoxious laugh. Yes, so do you, your mother and your crazy uncle who you love and respect. She is assertive, decisive and sometimes intense. If she were wearing a suit instead of a pantsuit people would say, "He knows his shit and won't take any." But alas she is considered a divisive bitch because of her attitude, constantly being slammed for things that have nothing to do with how well she will perform if elected. Clinton is seasoned for this position and will not flop on her face when she gets there. She has too much substance and too much experience - things that will help her win not only the nomination, but also the general election against (God help us) McCain. If vot- ers can see through Obama's hype and Hill- ary's laugh, I think Democrats have a real shot at an upset. Kellyn Jackson is an LSA sophomore TO THE DAILY: wh In November 2006, 58 percent inh of Michigan voters voted to outlaw is t race- and gender-based affirma- ject tive action. The University and The are Michigan Daily didn't seem to get req the memo. a f We're sick of hearing about affir- tha mative action. The more the Daily publishes articles about it, the more it increases racial tensions and argu- ments. Also, the Daily seems to think that just because its readers go to the University, they automatically agree with affirmative action. This is- newaflash - not the case. When the Daily keeps beating this dead-horse, not only is it angering the people who rarely get their opinion heard (those against affirmative action) it is alienating 58 percent of the vot- ers in the slate. These are the same taxpayers who fund part of students' educational this public university. Give it up already. Find a new topic to get on a soapbox about Erin Green LSA sophomore Staying true to the language requirement TO THE DAILY: I took issue with an article yes- terday about how some students are able to bypass the University's language requirement (Obscure policy lets some dodge requirement, 02/12/2008). As someone majoring in German and Arabic I'm biased, but letting students out of the lan- guage requirement is asinine and unfair. Far from the abstract theories that make up most college disci- plines, foreign language is one of the few studies that yields an applicable skill. Yet people complain about it all the time. I've heard all sorts of arguments, from "I won't have to use another language in my career" to "everyone in my family inherited an inability to learn foreign lan- guages." These are cop-outs. No one would let me off the hook for my quantitative reason- ing requirement if I made the same argument about math. If you're a student who attends classes taught in English, the idea that you can't learn a foreignlanguage is offensive- ly ludicrous. Human beings are bio- logically, instinctively predisposed to the acquisition of language, much more so than algebra or chemistry. If you can't "do languages," as some people claim, you're either aphasic or lying. y universities erent abilityt here, more t you couldt unable to f uirementbec oreign langu n saying yo SSE JAFFE r mother language than picking up a r in life, but that's study. It's supposed take effort. That's s teach it. But the to learn a language han any other sub- take. Claiming you ulfill the language ause you can't learn age has less merit u can't fulfill the humanities requirement because you're a sociopath. But students are getting away with it. I wish the University would stay true to its commitment to a compre- hensive education. And I wish stu- dents would recognize that they're shooting themselves in the foot being monolingual in a globalized job market. Adam Ajlouni LSA junior I ' - f 1\0Y4~Mc C(e- c o p I I ' A I 4 a LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Readers are encouraged to submit letters to the editor. Letters should aml 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. 4 f & t