.I 4 -Tuesday, January 8, 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 4 He is putting himself forward not as a black man but as an American man who wants to be president of the United States of America:' -Former Secretary of State Colin Powell, speaking about Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama in an interview with PBS host Tavis Smiley She makes how much? KARL STAMPFL EDITOR IN CHIEF IMRAN SYED DITORIAL PAGE EDITOR JEFFREY BLOOMER MANAGING EDITOR Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily's editorial board. All other signed articles and illustrations represent solelythe views oftheir authors. The Daily's public editor, Paul H. Johnson, acts as the readers' representative andtakes acriticallook at coverage and content in every section of the paper. Readers are encouraged to contact the public editor with questions andcomments. He can be reached atlpubliceditor@umich.edu. Broken no-mination Presidential nomination system in need of repair For the ninth time since it began holding America's first cau- cus in 1972, Iowa kicked off the presidential nominating process last week. Like many caucuses before, Iowa's cau- cuses came complete with the twists, turns and shifting momentum that have characterized its influence. It left some candidates reeling and others cheering. Despite the tradition that gives Iowa and New Hampshire their first-in-the-nation importance, the continued reli- ance on the early momentum from victories in these insular states only encourages a system that is long overdue for an overhaul. it's available because you have a legal right to it, although I suspect most of us don't really care why, and it supposes to contain the myster- ies of the Universi- ty's payroll, the epic force that it is., It's become something of a ritual, a point- less custom I will never understand.J Each year around JEFFREY this time, the Uni- BLOOMER versity releases its salary supplement, a simple spreadsheet that lists every full-time employee's salary and tan- gles up alotmore time and discussion than it should. It's a silly obsession we need to stop. There isn't just fringe interest here, and it's not just an issue of transpar- ency from the University. For perspec- tive, I have involuntarily been on the Daily's letters-to-the-editor e-mail list for the past two years. Although there is the occasional surprise, the rotation of snail typically goes like this: Israel, fire so-and-so sports coach, affirmative action, Israel - and, oh yeah, where can I find the link to the salary supple- ment on your website? Naturally, the Daily plays into this fixation with a story each year, which usually makes note of salary increases and provides the greatest hits of how much the University pays its adminis- trators, whose six-figure salaries creep up every year. You can download the full text on the homepage of michigan- daily.com or find it on reserve online from the University Library. Die-hard fans who want the collector's edition can buy it for $32 at Wolverine Tower on State Street, dare you enter such a depressing building. There's something to be said for having this information public. It's certainly provided me amusement (and bemusement) since I discovered it freshman year when a fellow employee at a University job pointed out how much a co-worker made. I'm sure you can guess why: Employee A made less, even though she had a better degree and her responsibilities were more arduous than Employee B. In turn, when I saw the Daily's most recent story - published online during win- ter break ('U' profs, administrators get modest salary hikes, 12/11/2007) - and searched the supplement, I found that the hands-down best instructor I had last semester makes about $44,000 for his eight-month appointment, while the one who phoned in every lecture from recycled PowerPoints came in at nearly $70,000. And I'm a liberal arts major. Students in the sciences or the Ross School who are wise to the sup- plement must get lost in it. If my interest in the salaries is fleet- ing, though, it certainly isn't for many of the full-time employees (or students, or parents) who make up the supple- ment's devout audience. Consider the one I mentioned, who snuck open a copy of it at work and tore through it as if out of fevered obligation. It was scary. There's surely a lot of that to go around, but I wonder how much an average reader can actually use this information to any kind of positive end. From theDaily's story, for instance, one deduces that only two academic deans make more than former football coach Lloyd Carr. That seems absurd, but not really if you think about it. I have seen the way these figures slink through small offices at the University and the righteous internal environments they can foster, and it's never useful, much less based in reality. But the really worrisome part comes when the numbers go out of those offices and become a scapegoat for larger concerns. If we take the figures the supple- ment provides to be absolute fact - itself dubious in many cases because there can be other income tied to cer- tain positions the spreadsheet does not consider - it provides no context and certainly doesn't invite the read- er to consider the factors that may influence a particular salary. It's a point-and-shoot numbers game, and every University employee is a target. It also provides the resident spokes- person an opportunity for a vague, So what if your boss makes $65,000? media-ready one-liner that justifies the pay increases and sidesteps any discussion of what it means that the average faculty member got a 4 per- cent salary increase last year, except perhaps to note how uncompetitive our salaries are with the Ivies (the surprises keep coming). I won't say the supplement shouldn't be available, because it should, though I hope its collection of loyal readers will keep it in perspective. It's fun to flip through, but it provides about as solid a foundation for a discussionofsalaries as any of the other carefully stripped- down numbers the University funnels to the public, which is not much of one. Jeffrey Bloomer is the Daily's managingeditor. He can be reached at bloomerj@umich.edu. 4 I . For two states with just 11 of the 538 total Electoral College votes in the actual selec- tion of the president, Iowa and New Hamp- shire have a lot of sway but reflect little of America's diversity. Despite the democratic fagade of the Iowa caucuses, the races pre- vent equal access to voting because they are held in the early evening time when many would-be caucus-goers can't partici- pate. From this hollow shell of a democratic process, Iowa's predominately rural votes choose two over-hyped frontrunners. After Iowa, the candidates then go on to New Hampshire, where only four Electoral College votes would normally be at stake if it were the general election. Instead of being a tie-breaker worthy of its small stature, though, New Hampshire could be the king- maker in today's primary. The two candi- dates who can win over the hearts of New Hampshire's unique brand of small-state libertarianvoters have the media's attention, the voters' confidence in their electability and practically a presidential nomination. Before most of America votes, Iowa and New Hampshire have already decided which candidates will be facing off in November. Because these states won't allow others like Michigan to leapfrog ahead of them in the nominating process, what is left is America's front-loaded primaries as states tryto jockey for first anyway. The front-loaded primary schedule makes it so that legitimate contend- ers must launch their campaigns months in advance. While this continuous campaign is exhausting and trivial, it's also expensive. The longer the campaign becomes, the more expensive the race gets. The 2008 presiden- tial race is projected to be the first time that the two final candidates' combined spend- ing will surpass $1 billion. Correcting this dysfunctional system isn't out of America's reach, though. If the national parties can muster the courage, plenty of viable options are available. Two such plans that are gaining support are the "American plan" and the rotating regional primary system. The first of these two plans schedules groups of the least populous states to hold primaries first, eventually reaching the states with the largest delegations and pop- ulations. Under this plan the smaller states like New Hampshire still have influence, but to win the nomination the candidates must win the larger states later on. This prevents front-loading by setting a schedule, protect- ing the voices of smaller states and giving less-popular candidates an incentive to stay in the race in hopes of doing well in the big- ger states. The other plan, a rotating regional primary system, breaks the country into five regions with a lottery deciding which region votes as a block first. Both of these plans are passable, and many more quality plans will likely be proposed before 2012. What is key is that the presidential nomi- nating process is supposed to sift out the best candidates, notcthe ones best suited to Iowa's interests. Whatever presidential nominating system replaces our current one, it is almost certain to be a better way to do this. SEND LETTERS TO: TOTHEDAILY@UMICH.EDU EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS: Emad Ansari, Anindya Bhadra, Kevin Bunkley, Ben Caleca, Jon Cohen, Milly Dick, Mike Eber, Gary Graca, Emmarie Huetteman, Theresa Kennelly, Emily Michels, Kate Peabody, Robert Soave, Jennifer Sussex, Neil Tambe, Matt Trecha, Radhika Upadhyaya, Rachel Van Gilder, Rachel Wagner, Patrick Zabawa. EMAD ANSARI International student aid Students must stick by basketball team TO THE DAILY: While it is bad enough that some of the pompous, spoiled alumni who call themselves "Michigan Men" continue to stay away from Crisler Arena, why are students absent? As Michigan boys and girls who will soon be Michigan men and women, students should cherish the opportunity they have to sit courtside with hundreds of their classmates and cheer on the student athletes who are working their tails off in the name of Michigan athlet- ics. How can 25,000 students pack the Big House on a 95 degree Sep- tember day in a meaningless game against some non-conference team, yet only a couple hundred students make it out to Crisler Arena for any game against a top-25 team? It is embarrassing. Stop waiting for the team to get good and support them when they need it most. Robert Kaye Farmington, Mich. Home sweet home? TO THE DAILY: In response to the Daily's article last week about the Michigan Stu- dent Assembly petition to extend winter break (Petition could stretch break, 01/03/2008) I have one thing to say: WTF? Why would anyone want to spend more time with family? All break long you have to listen to your par- ents complaining about you being a failure and asking when you are going to get your act together. Then they wonder why you are making plans to come back early. For those who feel break is too short, IShave a solution: Go to Bryan, Ohio for two weeks. It feels like an eternity. Kolby Roberts LSA senior make a serious mark on the political landscape. On Thursday night our generation made a stand, shocking pollsters and pundits with renewed turnout and a passion for Obama. Obama in many ways seems to be connecting to the young voters and disillusioned Americans in a way that has notbeen seen since the death of Bobby Kennedy. His message of unity, hope, strength and sensibility was a huge factor in triggering participation in the caucuses by roughly 236,000 Iowa primary voters, shattering all previ- ous records. Obama is shaking up the system and doing so by avoiding lobbyist money and appealing to the middle class on substantive issues rather than using fear tactics and political mudslinging. He repre- sents hope. Previously, many have felt apprehension that a candidate so unique and visionary as Obama has not been seen in a generation and that our political system seems dominated by so many figures dis- tinct from him. What chance does hope have against political machines, cynical politics and the influence of lob- byists? Apparently, a candidate for hope has more than enough for a 9-point advantage. Avi Bhuiyan LSA sophomore Students helped Obama in Iowa, too TO THE DAILY: In Friday's coverage of the Iowa caucuses (Most campus campaign groups don't make trip to Iowa, 01/04/2008), the Daily reported that the University's chapter of Stu- dents for Hillary was the only group to canvass in Iowa. This is not an entirely accurate statement. The University's chapter of Stu- dents for Obama has been to Iowa twice in the past several months to campaign for the Illinois senator. In October, 12 of these students drove to Iowa, where .we spent our fall break going door-to-door to canvass for Obama. At the homes of Iowa residents in two small communi- ties, our members talked to indi- viduals about their issue positions, garneringsupport for the candidate as part of a three-day campaign effort. During winter break, three members of the organization also spent their time in Iowa working on Obama's campaign, culminating in his victory there on Jan. 3. Political student groups at the University have been hard at work for months to raise awareness and garner support for their respective candidates. This is an effort that is especially important because young people in America are an inconsis- tent voting subgroup. The Daily should have worked harder to give credit where credit was due. It should have recognized the accomplishments and efforts of all of the groups devoting their time and energy to candidate victories in Iowa even if it did not occur imme- diately at the Iowa caucuses. Kym Lovell LSA junior West Virginia: Stop crying about coaches TO THE DAILY: I am tired of whiny people writ- ing letters to the Daily about how Michigan "stole" West Virginia's coaches. These coaches came to the University because there are more opportunities here. The University's Athletic Department and campus are bigger and better. Accept that. I also doubt people at West Vir- ginia complained when their school hired away Rodriguez from Glen- ville State. Let's not be hypocrites. Matt Phillips Alum 4 As international high school seniors put the final touches on their essays and get their recommendations signed, expectations are high for aspiring students. But for many of the highly qualified students, the University will not be on the list of prospective colleges. While colleges like Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania are increasing grant-based financial aid to all students, the University of Michigan is continuing its policy of not offering any substantial financial assis- tance to international students. This stance will deprive our institution of qualified and needed applicants. Being a public school funded by the state, it is understandable that the University aims to focus on prospective in-state students, trying to lure high-achieving applicants to the Uni- versity with loans, scholarships and grants. But this policy comes at the expense of inter- national students, a group that forms an inte- gral part of our diverse student body. Given the University's desire to raise academic stan- dards, the complete absence of scholarships for international students is puzzling. Like most other students, burgeoning fees and a lack of financial assistance are hitting international students hard. For internation- al students, myself included, attending the University costs more than $40,000 a year, a price tag that forces them to cut corners in their college education and miss out on some of the college experience. This is a dilemma that should not arise. Financial aid may not be an option, owing to the obligatory prefer- ence given to in-state students, but offering merit-based scholarships is a realistic option the University is not considering. It is also an option that will attract even more qualified candidates to the University. What appeals to international students hampered by financial need is liberal arts col- leges like Carleton College, Macalester College and Oberlin College. The Starr Scholarship at Carleton offers qualified students from Asia full tuition, complete with two airplane tick- ets to the winners' home countries. Similarly, the Kofi Annan International Scholarships at Macalester - merit-based yearly scholarships ranging from $1,000 to $35,000 a year -- are awarded to almost 200 international students each year. And Oberlin, according to the school's website, provides substantial financial assistance to more than 80 percent of its inter- national student body. But unlike these private institutions, the University has to deal with a state legislature, like these institutions, the University needs to do more than it is doing currently. If the Uni- versity doesn't act, it will be the one to lose out as qualified international students skip over it. There is undoubtedly a market for the best students. Selecting a college has morphed into a process where students look for the best sav- ings, especially when the quality of the prod- uct is similar. As international valedictorians and high achievers opt for colleges offering scholar- ships, it is the University that loses out. Diver- sity is one victim. Another victim is the quality of the education as better-qualified students choose not to apply to the University. The Class of 2011, according to University President Mary Sue Coleman, was the most qualified yet. Offering merit-based scholar- ships to international students would only have made this good class even better. Emad Ansari is an LSA freshman and a member of the Daily's editorial board. 4 Obama's Iowa victory ALEXANDER HONKALA is sign ofchange TO THE DAILY: Thursday's Iowa caucuses were a victory for hope, as Barack Obama, son of a Kenyan father and Kansan mother, won the critical first step towards the Democratic nomina- tion for president. Not only is this a historical moment of a biracial man winning in a state that is over- whelmingly rural and more than 90 percent white; it was made possible by the incredible turnout among young people. We've all heard that our genera- tion is too passive, that the1960s were the golden years of political involvement, that we are just too self-centered, lazy and cynical to ~1N? I 4 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 tothedoily@umich. i. m 'x 't VYii 53 i e t