0 0 * pinion 4 - Friday, March 7, 2008 Owutdilgan 4:alp Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 tothedaily@umich.edu The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com ANDREW GROSSMAN EDITOR IN CHIEF GARY GRACA EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR GABE NELSON MANAGING EDITOR Unsigned editorials reflect the official position oftthe Daily's editorial board. All other signed articles andillustrations representsolely theviews oftheir authors. The Daily's public editor, Paul H. Johnson, acts as the readers' representative and takes a criticallook at coverage and content in every section of the paper. Readers are encouraged to contact the public editor with questions and comments. He can be reached at publiceditor@umich.edu. F ROM T HE DAILY A desitre named streetcar City should act on eco-friendly and flashy transportation he prospect of rolling out of bed on a blustery winter day to sledge through five inches of slush is a harrowing prospect for any University student. But soon what some are calling a "hipper" mode of transport might be clanging to your doorstep. Ann Arbor, make way for the streetcar. As an environmentally friendly form of transportation and, frankly, just an original and exhilarating way to get around and spice up the city, streetcars sound like the way to go - despite the high cost. (( NOTABLE QUOTABLE We're going to forfeit those two big states? What kind of fools would we be:' - Don Fowler, a former Democratic National Committee chairman, on how the DNC must return Michigan and Florida's delegates, as reported yesterday by The Detroit News. The high cost ofsuccess t was noon on a Saturday after- arrive on campus, the need for more who don't have to worry about bud- noon and the scent of $2 Patr6n cash flow increases when all the signs geting and credit card debt, and there tequila shots was still oozing leading to success point to the nearest are those who do. Unfortunately, through my pores, ATM machine. for those of us who didn't memorize evidence of last If they really wanted to level the daddy's American Express Black Card night's soiree at playing field, they'd hand out gift cer- number, we find ourselves strug- Studio 4 Nightclub. tificates to Macy's with those schol- glingto keep up with our rich friends. After puking, show- arships, because ultimately, it takes a No one wants to be the tacky buddy ering and dressing I little more than free tuition to make who's always borrowing clothes or headed out my dorm a promising studenta competitive job the hermit friend who can never go room door, stopping applicant. Ironically, in order to suc- out because they are always "broke." to check my mail. ceed in college nowadays, you have Many would argue that if your friends I shuffled through SHAKIRA to look like you've already succeeded. really want you to hang out with them, my late payment As superficial as it may sound, it costs they would choose activities that are notices and stuffed SMILER a pretty penny to maintain a certain budget-friendly or offer to front part them back inside, level of shall I say, "status" at the Uni- of your bill, but playing Frisbee in hanging onto a cou- versity and in the country. Because of the Arb gets boring after a while and pon from The Limited for $25 off of this, many of us find ourselves living mooching is a big no-no on the list of my next purchase. above our means for the sake of main- friendship do's and don'ts. After stopping by Starbucks for taining a certain image. my daily vanilla latte, I sauntered It's no secret that most learning is into the library and whipped out my done outside of the classroom, and $300 PDA to check my bank account, the best way to network is to build Fitting'in remembering that I still owe T- and maintain friendships and rela- Mobile $346.86 for accidentally using tionships with your peers right here now requires a too many of my minutes. A few hours at the University. Those of us who go later, I realized that what I really Greek can testify that membership separateloan needed was another date with Briar- fees, chapter dues, workshop registra- sp rt wood Mall to ease my pain. tion fees and miscellaneous expenses My eyes lit up as I dashed in and like buying gowns for formals or gas out of every store, opening up two for road trips can be just as costly as Contrary to popular belief, us colle- new credit card accounts for al10 per- tuition. This requires making some giate folks really don't carelessly blow cent discount on my purchase. I was steep financial investments. all of our money. But being involved, feeling great with my eyebrows fresh- According to a study by Nellie Mae, driven and competitive causes many ly threaded, my nails perfectly mani- a leading student loan provider, most of us to slowly dig ourselves into a hole cured, two new pairs of shoes, three college students will graduate with of debt. Trying to keep up with the new pairs of jeans and another Star- at least $20,000 in debt. At least 15 societal standard of what's accepted bucks vanilla latte as I headed back percent of that will be credit card and respected, whether it's clothes, to campus, using the sweet aroma of debt. Everyone expects to graduate electronics or even group affiliations, coffee beans to block outthe haunting with a few loans to cover educational is very expensive. Unless you're the thoughts of my next MasterCard bill. expenses after college. What they secret love child of Oprah Winfrey Sure, my expected family contri- don't tell you is that if you want to be a and Bill Gates, chances are you'll never bution on the FAFSA form has been student who's involved on campus and have the luxury of truly being able to $0.00 for the past four years, but as marketable to companies, you'd better afford this lifestyle. long as I'm pre-approved for a credit take out another loan just to pay for Fortunately, American Express has card, I'll never spend another Satur- your shot at winning enough votes to made it possible for.you to fake your day night sitting around the house. land a position on the executive board way to the top for only 12 easy pay- Private scholarships and govern- of the Squirrel Club or an internship ments of $99.95. ment grantswill have everyone believ- with a major corporation. ing that a quality college education is When attending a top school like Shakira Smiler can be reached just an application away. But once you the University, there are students at stsmiler@umich.edu. .H..ow Nader crushed my dreams 4 I q The hot item in urban public transporta- tion is the streetcar. Cities like Seattle, New Orleans and Toronto have already imple- mented similar systems. And people have taken a liking to them. Usage numbers in Seattle, for instance, exceeded expectations. This bodes well for Ann Arbor, a city already enamored with public transport and looking to add to its arsenal. Trams are tree-hugger compatible for a number of reasons. They can carry up to twice as many passengers than traditional buses. That means fewer vehicles on the roads. Shuttletrams,whichtransport people from the city's outskirts and reduce conges- tion downtown, would eliminate gridlock. This in turn lowers carbon emissions. All of this means that trams are the next logical technology to pursue in order to maintain Ann Arbor's rep as revolutionary. The city has been doing a good job lately greening itself, rather than just its image. Other cities have fallen into this trap. Last fall, the Ann Arbor Transportation Author- ity announced it would add 13 biofuel buses to its fleet in the next year. AntAfb also recently took top honors as arguably the first 100 percent LED-lighted city in the nation.t It's true that this shiny new train comes with a hefty price tag. Its initial investment is marked at $50 million or more. And annu- al upkeep for similar systems can cost up to $5 million. But the city shouldn't let all those zeros scare it away. This is exactly the kind of step a city that wishes to remain on the cusp of eco-consciousness needs to take. Like other cities, it seems likely that the money will turn up with alternative financ- ing options. Some cities have been able to get partial private funding. Portland was able to receive funding from the Oregon Health & Science University, which contributed because student usage was estimated to be high. If Ann Arbor decides on streetcars, the University of Michigan should consider chipping in. Besides being environmentally friendly, streetcars are a flashy way to increase usage of public transportation. They are hip, mod- ern and in demand. Students and city resi- dents alike would use these. Bringing streetcars, to Ann Arbor repre- sents challenge, but it's one the city needs to take on. The systemweAuldn't'bein place for five to eight years, which gives it plenty of time to get fiscally creative. It's time for the city to jump on board. t EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS: Emad Ansari, Harun Buljina, Anindya Bhadra, Kevin Bunkley, Ben Caleca, Satyajeet Deshmukh, Milly Dick, Mike Eber, Emmarie Huetteman, Theresa Kennelly, Emily Michels, Arikia Millikan, Kate Peabody, Robert Soave, lmran Syed, Neil Tambe, Matt Trecha, Kate Truesdell, Radhika Upadhyaya, Rachel Van Gilder, Rachel Wagner, Patrick Zabawa. L E TT ERS TO T HE E DITOR Understanding China, the media's version of it SEND LETTERS TO: TOTHEDAILY@UMICH.EDU not coop eration can avoid misunderstanding and help solve these issues. Finally, I suggest that Robinson and any other prejudiced person takes atrip to China to learn aboutthe country first-hand, rather than relying on the media. TO THE DAILY: In a column by Ian Robinson about how Jinhui Chen Michigan swimmer Michael Phelps should Rackham use his status at the Olympics to condemn the Chinese government, which supposedly T r to violates peace and moral principles (PhelpsI should focus on more than swimming in Bei- jing, 03/05/2008). This prejudiced condem- TO THE DAILY: nation should notbe accepted. I don't know Speaking from experience as a former art how much homework Robinson had done editor, a self-published artist and an artist before he accused a foreign government that published in The Gargoyle humor magazine, he might not know much about. However, I'm the comic-making process is long and ardu- wondering whether Robinson has ever tried ous. Drawing comics is a craft that depends to approach the Chinese government about on both storytelling, creative humor and art. I his concerns or learn what the Chinese gov- must say that the Daily's cartoonists are lack- ernment has done to help the Sudanese. ing in all of these areas. The comics appear Fortunately, I read information from both rough and lacking in technical or stylistic sides and make my judgment. The Darfur effort, and the humor is commonly poorly issue in Sudan has its historical root in pro- thought out and executed. In Tuesday's longed poverty. How many of those people paper, the Daily's public editor Paul John- who advocate a boycott of this summer's Bei- son defended the comics by saying that the jing Games have made a real trip to the Dar- art and humor is subjective (What is funny?, fur region? The Chinese government has done 03/04/2008). But in truth Johnson was trying a great deal in order to help solve the Darfur to hide poorly made comics behind a philo- issue and is still doing more for the Sudanese, sophical argument about what defines humor including constructing infrastructure and and good art. helping develop the Sudanese economy. How- Humor and art aside, the comics as a whole ever, many other related countries rarely do could hardly pass off as thumbnails or even tangible and practical work to help relieve the rough drafts in other newspapers or pub- sufferings in Darfur. Accusation and boycott lications. If either the art or the writing in won't help solve the Darfur issue. A solution a comic is not worthy of being publish, the will only come from international coopera- whole comic must be deemed unfit for publi- tion and multilateral actions. cation. To publish poorly done comics, hoping Robinson's accusation that "If a Chinese that they increase in quality, is a poor edito- citizen tried speak out against his or her rial decision and a blow to a publication. An government, that person would get jailed" is editor should strive to publish high-quality ridiculous. It's ignorant of Chinese society, material and push the staff to become better, culture and politics. I assure you that Phelps no matter what. will have the freedom to express himself how- Johnson also discussed the difficulties ever he likes as long as he doesn't threaten to of passing judgment on comics. He stated, overthrow the Chinese government. "cartoons aren't judged by the same objec- In terms of the Tiananmen Square event, tive standard as news in this regard." That is people might not realize that almost all 1.3 completely wrong. Publishing a poorly drawn billion Chinese want social stability. Had the or thought out cartoon is no different from event taken place ina Western country, other publishing a poorly written or grammati- governments would not have condemned it cally incorrect article. If the Daily cannot so harshly because it was a defense of social find competent comic artists, then the correct stability. This is not just a political issue: This editorial decision would be to not publish any is about the fortunes of the Chinese and the comics until this is remedied. People's Republic. Like all Americans, all The comics the Daily has published since Chinese also need a peaceful, safe and pros- the beginning of this year are eyesores. I perous life. would rank them among the league of Mar- In addition, China is in a different part of maduke and Cathy, but at least the authors of the world. The Western media has never cov- those two comics have some artistic skill. cered a country like it. In the confrontation about global issues including poverty, conflict, Adrian Choy energy crisis and so forth, only dialogue and Engineeringfreshman or those of you who didn't sped 'your vacationis reading 'L bookmarked, back-logged New York Times articles while listening to MSNBC, you may have missed Ralph Nader's recent announcement on "Meet the Press." It made my heart leap - he's running for president. Again. Then came the KATE collective disgrun- TRUESDELL tled sigh from the Democratic camp. Even Barack Obama, the apparent golden boy of this year's election waltz had some less-than-Boy-Scout-like things to say about the notable con- sumer activist. The reason the left- leaners are all hot under the collar because of Nader harkens back to the 2000 election. Many Democrats still blame Nader for stealing liberal votes from Al Gore, ultimately costing him the election. As a Green Party supporter, the 2000 election is a sore subject for me. You think your life is tough, Dems? The Greens were able to win a minis- cule 2.74 percent of the vote, and that was heralded as a feat for the ages by experts. So, remind me again why I should have sympathy for a party with millions of dollars, unlimited media access and every resource needed to seal the deal. Gore didn't even win his home state. As easy as it is to blame the underdog, the Democrats have no one to blame but themselves for their his- toric defeat. I was ready to go to the mattresses to defend my man - and then came Thursday. On the 28th of last month Nader announced he does not plan to run on the Green Party ticket this time around, despite the fact that he would be virtually guaranteed the nomina- tion from the party that has always been loyal to him. That was the news that crushed my 2008 election dreams. Nader and the GP would have been an ideal pairing. They would have mount- ed a stronger campaign than either standing alone. Ilike Nader because he's the political equivalent to giving the middle finger. He's been criticized as having tunnel- vision, being egotistical, stubborn and an all-around a pain in the ass. That is, among other reasons, exactly why I love him. If Nader took the election, he would stomp into the oval office, bury his nose in work and not look up until he was dragged from office, re- election be damned. And I'm a big fan of the Green Party's ten-point platform (check out www.gp.org). This would have been the perfect pairing between the man who strives for change and a party with a fresh vision of what that change should be. Going it alone is a bad choice for Nader. Third parties and indepen- dent candidates already have it tough enough. They get very little street cred. The major parties argue that fill- ing out some forms, getting some sig- nature and throwing together a ticket aoes not make you a legitimate party. That's pretty condescending - exactly the type of big-headed sense of entitle- ment that makes Democrats claim that Nader "stole" their votes in the last election. That lack of respect works to prevent voters from seriously consid- ering alternative party platforms. The common sentiment is that third parties are a waste of attention and votes. That prejudice is unfortunate because it's exactly what hinders true change. Lots of people during elec- tions sit around and whine about how they don't like their choices. Then they wait for November and check a box for whomever they dislike the least. One of the biggest problems with the American political system today is the domineering of the two major parties. I'm sick of choosing between two par- ties and two candidates that will begin to sound more and more similar as Nov. 4 approaches. In acountryas diverseas Americathere is nowayeveryvoice can be represented by just two platforms, especially when it has taken so long for one of them to nominate a minority candidate for president. People tell me voting Green makes me a romantic idealist, and that I'm throwing my vote away. But I'll con- tinue to vote on principle because I believe that it's the onlyway change can begin and because I believe eventually America will join in my frustration and realize the need for more players in the political game. I still believe a vote for third parties is a vote for choice. In the face of all the challenges third parties already face, if anyone has a right to be pissed about Nader splitting from the Greens, it should be people like me - who actually believe in an independent challenge to the monot- ony of the two-party system. Nader's 2.74 percent is closest thing we've had to a serious third-party challenge as long as I've been old enough to follow politics - and Id hardly call that any- thing close to a serious threat. A vote for third party is a vote for choice It'struethatindependentcandidates like Ross Perot have had more success- ful campaigns as recently as 1992. But that 2.74 percent represents the most successful campaign by a third party in recent years. Nader's distancing him- self from the Greens is another setback for the little-party-that-could, which is already having enough problems huff- ing and puffingup the hill. And this added division has crushed my election dreams. Kate Truesdell can be reached at ketrue@umich.edu. JASON MAHAKIAN 0