4 4 - Tuesday, April1, 2008 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Edited and managed by students at the University ofMichigan since 1890. 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 tothedaily@umich.edu ANDREW GROSSMAN EDITOR IN CHIEF GARY GRACA EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR GABE NELSON MANAGING EDITOR 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 with questions and comments. He can be reached at publiceditor@umich.edu. Conscious computng Ending wasteful computing will take education, incentives n its fight against global warming, the University has anunusu- al opponent: its own computers. Although they don't cough out carbon dioxide like cars, computers are energy-sucking machines, a problem made worse by the fact that many people keep them on all day and night. To combat this growing problem, the University joined the Climate Savers Computing Initiative last year, a group with a two-fold purpose: to conserve energy and develop more energy-efficient computers. These are two excellent goals that will both save the University money and decrease harmful energy waste. However, many of the best solutions are obvious - they will just require a lot of advertising and few incentives. Chill out and let everybody have their say. We are going to win this election." -Bill Clinton, in a speech Sunday to California's superdelegates about the divided Democratic Party, as reported Sunday by the Los Angeles Times. HARUN BULJINA E-MAIL BULJINA AT BULJINAH@UMICH.EDU -r~- ~ --- --~~ Tr'T Life's not black and white While achieving it may not be so easy, the goal of the CSCI is straightforward. By2010, the CSCI aims to reduce the University's computer power consumption by 50 per- cent. Since nearly half of all the energy used by computers is wasted as heat, part of the effort will replace some of campus's 30,000 computers with more energy-efficient, CSCI-approved models, which may require cajoling a few companies into manufactur- ing these models. The other part will focus on changing simple and preventable waste, raising awareness about eco-friendly habits and developing system configuration guide-, lines, among other reforms. The program could have big results: If the University reduces its computer energy consumption by only 10 percent, it would decrease its carbon emissions by 6,516,000 lbs. and save $500,000 each year. With the exception of efforts to get com- puter manufacturers to change their ways; which is a long-overdue kick in the butt, the University plans seem, well, obvious. The efforts to reduce excessive power usage by raising awareness and conserve energy with new system configurations is so obvi- ous that it's a bit confusing why it took so many years and a lofty-sounding title to spark some action. What the University needs to do is take the obvious and institu- tionalize it. Take, for instance, the most tried and true energy saver of all time: turning electronics off. When they aren't in use, computers have no need to be turned on, and yet on cam- pus so many of them are left on all hours of the day. Yale University has experimented with a system that automatically turns off its computers, reboots them at night for updates and shuts them back down again. This program has saved Yale $40 per com- puter per year in energy costs, and a study has shown that the computers could be shut down without sacrificing maintenance. Or consider the massive amounts of paper that is wasted at the University. The solu- tion: double-sided printing. The University has long maintained that it hasn't made duplex printing the default setting on many printers because it leads to increased paper jams and more abandoned paper. Sure, mak- ing doubled-sided printing the default set- ting might not be right for the high-volume printers in the Fishbowl, but that doesn't mean that it wouldn't be right for the small- er computer labs that dot campus. Regard- less, many students don't know how to print double-sided anyway. If the University were to educate students how to print double- sided and give them some motivation to do so - for example, by counting double-sided pages as 1.5 pages of a student's printing allocation - many more students would. They would probably be patient enough to wait for their pages too. The University certainly has the right idea by joining the CSCI. But the initiative will remain largely symbolic if the Univer- sity continues crawling its way to greener computing ideas on campus. It can't afford to waste one more year. ome peopletrytosaythatFlorida isn't really part of "the South." But having spent seven years in the swamplands of Gainesville, where Confederate flags fly high and adorn rearview windows along the outskirts of town, I beg to dif- fer. And trust me, there were plenty lilt of remnants of pre- civil rights move- ARIKIA ment racism. MILLIKAN As a multi-racial girl trying to navi- gate my way through the awkward phases of middle and high school, I was often victimized for my ambigu- ous appearance. Sometimes, white kids would make fun of my curly hair, calling it "nigger hair." If I told. my white friends, who considered me one of them because my skin is more lightcthan dark, that I was mixed, they would act shocked and patronizingly try to comfort me. "Well, you don't act black. I never would have known," they would say. Whatever that means. The racism I experienced wasn't just directed atme. On countless occa- sions, I would be sitting among a group of white peers when the conversation would turn to the negative qualities they saw in black people. Because so many people assumed I was white, they spoke freely in front of me, mak- ing racist jokes they assumed I would find as funny as they did. I didn't. But I didn't have the courage then to tell them why. That's one of the reasons I chose to apply to the University of Michigan - I wanted to get as far away from the racism of the South as possible. And for the most part, while going to college here, I didn't see much of it. I made friends who value me for who I am and see my differences as beautiful, not as things I should try to change. Even on the pseudo-liberal greens of campus, though, I still encounter curious peers who innocently ask, "So ... what are you?" My response varies, depending on what mood I'm in. Sometimes I'm "a Scorpio" or "an American" or "a human being, what are you?" "No, no,"theyreply. Silly me, I didn't understand the question. "Like, what are you?" Sometimes if I think they're fishing for the un-white component, I tell them my dad's from Haiti. Other times, I break it down for them. My mom is Ukrainian, Native American and Scotch-Irish, and my father is Haitian and Dominican (so African, French and Spanish). Although the question is annoying, I shrug it off because I know some of my friends don't understand how to talk about race or are legitimately curious about my ethnicity. I'm not so patient with my explanation when I get the sense that the only reason why someone is asking is so they can put me in the "other" group and disregard me. Then I roll my eyes and walk away. But it wasn't until last week that I felt personally objectified on this cam- pus because of a racist comment. I was alone in an Angell Hall computer lab when a black girl came in with a male friend. I was minding my own business while they chatted away. I only tuned into their conversation when I heard her making fun of him. "Whatever, you know you've got some white in you. You know you're mixed," the girl chided her fair-skinned acquaintance. "Nuh uh," he responded, offended. "I'm black, don't dis me like that." Sometimes, people don't under- stand that although white people have usually had the power in society and EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS: black people have fought and continue to fight for equality, racism isn't uni- directional. After four years of tolerance and support at this university, which is more diverse than people give it cred- it, I have the courage totake a stand in situations like this. I interjected into their conversation and asked if they thought being mixed was a bad thing. The girl was instantly embarrassed. She tried to defend herself, saying she was "just kidding." But I explained to her that when you use a characteristic as an insult, you essentially label that characteristic as negative and could offend the people who may have it. It's in the same vein as calling someone a faggot in jest. Seeing the world with the required complexity .4 Racism still emerges, even on cam- pus, when insensitive people think no one who would care is listening.People are going to see others how they want to see them. Sometimes white people see me as white even though that's only a part of my identity. But now if they make racist jokes, I call them out. It's easier to give people simple labels, but it just doesn't make sense to look at everyone as either/or. If we only look at race in terms of black and white, we devalue all the wonderful colors and shades in between. Arikia Millikan is a Daily associate editorial page editor. She can be reached at arikia@umich.edu. HARUN BULJINA E The wrongpodium We're months away from the Opening Cer- emony, but I think it's safe to say that Beijing 2008 is already the most controversial Olym- pics in recent memory. Everyone from envi- ronmentalactivists to Darfur advocacy groups has a bone to pick with the Chinese govern- ment, and it seems as if they've all decided to air their concerns at once. To be fair, the bones in question are pretty big ones. Tacit approvalofgenocide, continued unrest in Tibet and mind-boggling amounts of air pollution are hardly small matters; rather, they're issues that the world should pressure the Olympic host to address. At the same time, I have to wonder how appropriate of a soap- box the Olympic Games are and if some of the recent calls for a boycott are misdirected. Many of the problems that now occupy the headlines were still there when the Interna- tional Olympic Committee first awarded the games to China in 2001. Tibet, for instance, has been occupied since 1959, and I wouldn't be surprised if the Chinese skies were equal- ly smoggy seven years ago. Expecting the Olympic Games to prompt a sudden reversal of decades-old policies ,is - to put it mildly - incredibly optimistic. Instead, it is impor- tant to recognize that these games represent a stage in the process. At no other time since the end of the Cold War has China been under such internation- al scrutiny, and steady results are sure to fol- low. The case of its environmental problems is an example, of one such positive change that the Olympics have already brought. Despite lingering concerns about its air qual- ity, China has made a concentrated effort to tackle this problem, and the effects are beginning to show. Calls for a boycott of the 2008 games focus on legitimate problems that need resolution. But, there is little reason to believe- that a boycott would be the right approach. A quick glance at the history books offers plenty of evi- dence to suggest otherwise. The 1980 summer Olympics are the best example. In response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the United States and 65 other countries boycotted the Moscow games. When the dust settled, the final causality count included the shattered dreams of hundreds of Olympic hopefuls and absolutely no change in Soviet policy. Would a similar boycott turn out any differently here? The past is hardly encouraging. Individual protest is another oft-mentioned possibility. Famed Steven Spielberg recently resigned from his position as an overseas artistic advisor to the Games, citing China's support for the'Sudanese government in the Darfur conflict. Similar personal decisions to abstain from the Games are completely understandable. More problematic, though, is the chance of athletes protesting during the Olympic Games themselves, manipulating the international audience afforded to them. I agree that the ideal of a noble individual boldly protesting against perceived injustice is appealing. Like many Americans, I have a positive view of the iconic Black Power salute by Tommie Smith and John Carlos at the 1968 Games in Mexico City. On the other hand, it's easy to forget that this street goes both ways. This March, Serbian-American swimmer Milorad Cavic wore a T-shirt read- ing "Kosovo is Serbia" to the medal stand at the European Championships in Aquat- ics. Like Smith and Carlos, Cavic surely felt justified in his statement on the ex-Serbian province's recent independence. When I saw the pictures, I couldn't help but think of the overwhelmingly Albanian population in the new republic, livinga day-to-day real- ity that the Anaheim-born Cavic had never encountered. For the protesting of any of the issues we disagree with in the West, there are dozens of other concerns that people from around the world find equally valid - concerns with which we may not agree. With that in mind, the International Olympic Committee's char- ter makes much sense in banning political demonstrations at the Games. Although it's easy to retrospectively sympathize with Smith and Carlos - or even, for some, with Cavic - a liberal approach could degenerate the Olym- pic Games into a carnival of grievances. Although the Olympics and other interna- tional sporting events are created around the ideals of global understanding and unity, the world we live in is a messy place that hardly lives up to them. Despite this, the Games have historically contributed to fostering coop- eration, understanding and hope for a bet- ter future. Such a positive event should not be compromised for political ends, whether through the boycott of participating nations or the protests of individual participants. Harun Buijina is an LSA sophomore and a member of the Daily's editorial board. Emad Ansari, Harun Buljina, Anindya Bhadra, Kevin Bunkley, Ben Caleca, Satyajeet Deshmukh, Milly Dick, 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. All about reader comments .4 urf the comments section at the bottom of The Michigan Daily's articles online, and it won't take you long to find a potentially offen- sive message. In a March 20 article titled "Say- ing no to Order of Angell," one reader just posted the word "pussy." In a March 21 article PAUL H. titled, "Burger P joint's name, logo JOHNSON irks LGBT group" another reader asked others to "grow a pair." All this led one reader to ask, what are the Daily's rules when it comes to website comments? Unlike many mainstream news- papers, the Daily has no registration process before users can post on the website. People can just enter a name - it doesn't have to be theirs - and they can post away. According to Managing Editor Gabe Nelson, the Daily has looser standards for its comments section than main- stream newspapers. That means that coarse language isn't banned from the comments section just like it isn't banned from the news pages them- selves. But there are limits. "When that language becomes gra- tuitous or attacks another person, or simply becomes too much," Nelson said, the newspaper won't allow it. For example, Nelson said that the newspaper removed one comment from the article about the burger res- taurant after someone posted pho- tos of a student and made insulting comments about that student. Nelson said personal attacks against others wouldnt be tolerated. The problem is that the Daily doesn't have a reliable method to hunt down offensive posts. "We just don't have the means to go through the com- ments," Nelson said. Considering that some articles get hundreds of com- ments, many offensive posts slip by unnoticed. This is a problem the Daily is trying to fix. "We're trying to come up with a sys- tem to review comments," Nelson said. The Daily's website will be redesigned this summer, and the newspaper is con- templating a way for users to easily flag troublesome comments. There might even be a simple registration system before readers can post. The key is not to make the system too cumbersome to use, and Nelson said the paper doesn't plan to create a registration system that requires users to sign up before they can read articles Currently, the main way the Daily finds out about offensive comment posts is through reader e-mails. Read- ers who find a post they find offensive should e-mail Managing Online Editor Bridget O'Donnell at odonnell@michi- gandaily.com, Managing Editor Nel- son at nelson@michigandaily.com, the article's writer or myself Someone will look at the offending post and decide if it needs to be removed. If one user of the site repeatedly posts offensive comments, the Daily has the ability to block that user's IP address. But there are no plans to stop allow- ing comments. It's now standard prac- tice in the industry to allow them. Allowing readers to air their opinions relatively unfiltered is the least a news- paper can do to make itself more acces- sible to the public it serves. In fact, one could argue that comments are long overdue. Often, if you read the com- ments, they become a long discussion online feedback: an opportunity and a challenge 41 between readers about the merits, or lack thereof, of any particular news article and eventually veer off-topic into new subjects altogether. These comments are substantially different in character from letters to the editor and opinion pieces, and they should remain that way. When the Daily does redo its web- site, it should find better ways to track down offensive posts. Like all news- papers, the Daily should find ways to make its readers more engaged with the product it produces every day. Paul H. Johnson is the Daily's public editor. He can be reached at publiceditor@umich.edu.