I 4B - Tuesday, April 15, 2008 I-C The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com E-MAIL OQUIST AT JOQUIST@UMICH.EDU I e Wc 1 1n at'*1 Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 tothedaily@umich.edu Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily's editorial board. All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors. The Daily's Editorial Page is a forum for diverse opinions on key issues of contemporary concern. In honor of the class of 2008, this page represents a compilation of insights surrounding the most compelling events that occurred over the past four years. FROM THE DAILY Bleachers, not skyboxes 'U' should consider alternate stadium plan JOHN OQUIST ( WELL, HERE'S YOUR CUBICLE C AN OFFICE JOB ISN'T HEY, CHAMP, rVE GOT SOME HOW ARE YOU LIKING YOUR SO eAD, I DON'T KNOW WHY WORK FOR YOU. WELL ... IT'LL PROBABLY - SEW JOB? ALL THOSE MOVES AND SHOWS ONLY TAKE YOU MAKE IT OUT TO E. sINFINITY MILLION YEARS THIS IS GREAT, THANKS r".. .. "- SURE. WHEN'S IT DUE? GREATI ILL GET RIGHT ON IT. YOU DON'T HAVE A LUNCH DUDE, I DON'T SEE WHAT YOU'RE BREAK, BUT THE COOLER iS WORRIED ABOUT. YOU'RE A HISTORY BY THt ELVATO IF YOU GAN MAJOR WHAT0D OYOU RtALY THINK THE FIND YUR WA. THE0I1ODD OF YOU FINDINGA JOB ARE? KNEW I COULD COUNT ON YOU. More than just getting b I I In a move many regarded as a mis- take, the University Board of Regents approved a controversial expansion of the Big House last May. The plan would actually remove bleacher seats, replacing them with club seats and luxury boxes. But the Board of Regents has other options - ones it needs to seriously consider - that could add 10,000 bleacher seats to the Big House instead of the luxury superstruc- tures. Each home game, more than a hundred thousand fans journey to Ann Arbor to watch the Wolverines play. There are no advertisements, no distractions -just fans and football. The Big House has embodied the tradition of Michigan football since it was completed in 1927. Sitting and stand- ing on the same cold steel bleachers is part of that tradition. Affront to tradition aside, the skybox plan has a number of other flaws. The esti- mated cost is over $200 million more than 4 the bleacher plan. The skyboxes - while not necessarily guaranteed to sell out - would tower over the masses, leavingmuch of the stadium in shadow. The Athletic Department will say that many plans were considered, yet only the plan including luxury boxes could finance needed renovations without increasing ticket prices. But questions need to be raised as to the truth of this reasoning. Clerical oddities and other shady tactics have been the norm regarding this subject since the administrative sleight-of-hand that placed the stadium expansion plan on the Regents' meeting agenda for in May at the last minute - after the deadline to reg- ister to speak had passed. The Board of Regents should remem- ber that Fielding Yost put extra steel pil- ings into the ground for a reason. It's a safe bet that the reason wasn't to allow for the future construction of "enclosed seating." - Sept. 26, 2006 After MCRI Proposal 2 passes, but affirmative action debate not over n my four years on campus, not a day went by that I didn't hear fel- low students complaining about some aspect of the University. While I did spend a great deal of my time around the editori- al page of a newspa- per - an institution . that wouldn't have a reason to exist without frustration IMRAN about the status quo - I don't think SYED my experience is an anomaly. A significant number of students are dissatisfied with their educational experience. This sentiment is rooted in a dangerous sense of entitlement that we students managed to transfer from ouradolescenceandmaintainthrough- out college. But now, as we graduate, it's time to finally discard this attitude. Though we've all been pushed to embrace so many responsibilities, many college students remain trapped in the immature mindset that there are things the University ought to do or have done for them. Over the past four years, rising tuition costs provoked accusations that the University was fleecing its stu- dents. The passage of a race- and gen- der-based affirmative action ban in the state again brought general outrage. The recent walkout by the Graduate Employees' Organization introduced a barrage of letters on this page repre- senting both - equally angry - sides of the argument. And, of course, I'll never forget the annual onslaught of "fire Lloyd Carr" letters that we used to look forward to each fall. This discontent isn't necessarily bad - I applaud students who choose to engage in their own education enough to be aware of the University's trans- gressions and become outraged by them. But the culture of blame that consumes the entirety of the average college student's political motivation also holds us back from fairly examin- ing and learning from our own efforts over the past four years. The Univer- sity isn't perfect, but the beauty of your time spent here is that you dictate exactly what you get out of it. Both inside and outside the class- room, the University does students the marvelous service of making available its immense resources for us to use as we see fit. Too many of us fail to take advantage of these resources, choosing instead to get through our classes by meeting only the minimum requirements. And then we construe our ability to get through the Univer- sity without pushing ourselves as a fault of this institution: Many of my classmates have mocked that fact that the University allows them to get by with doing so little. I was astounded recently to learn that a friend of mine, a very accom- plished senior about to graduate with honors, did not even know how to access electronic journals from the University Libraries' website. How many others are there who have com- pletely ignored the many resources of this university just because no one made us use them? We pay to be at the University and by doing the least we can, we're ensuring that we get as little as possible for our money. How many of us did the sup- plemental readings indicated on the syllabus? How many of us attempted to learn the background of the authors of some of our more controversial texts? Hell, how many of us even went to our professors' office hours? Being at an institution that grants us independence with minimal over- sight liberates some students to pur- sue things they never dreamed they'd be interested in. It also, however, means that we are responsible for planning our own paths, and we can't simply wait for some "requirement"to dictate the next step. Why do the bare minimum? By doing the least possible to get by, we're not gaming any sys- tem; we're simply cheating ourselves. What you get out of college and life depends on you For those graduating later this month, this advice maybe too little too late to have any effect on our under- graduate careers. But this lesson still holds true - indeed, takes on added importance - as we depart from the protected nest of campus for a world that certainly won't coddle us. The necessity to make our own col- legiate experience afforded to .is by the University's hand-off approach probably did us a greater service than anything on any syllabus ever did. But, if in college we failed to find the wisdom to take the initiative and move ahead, we have to make sure we don't make that mistake again. Imran Syed was the Daily's fall/winter editorial page editor in 2007. He can be reached at galad@umich.edu. few hopeful souls may be waiting for a deus ex machina to uncover the missing half-million ballots opposing Proposal 2, but it's clear that the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative has passed. Despite years of effort, first to keep the proposal off the ballot and later to educate voters about what the proposal actually means, Michigan residents have spoken - and come out overwhelmingly against affirmative action. The passage of Proposal 2 is a blow to remedying social inequalities that are unacceptable. For being born to the wrong family, thousands of children receive an inferior education from the first day of kindergarten. For being born the wrong gender, women across the state face the legacy of male privilege that persists today in employment and contracting. But the battle isn't over. Some changes are certain: The University will revamp its admissions process, tweak some pro- grams and probably eliminate others. But Proposal 2 hasn't put an end to the affir- mative action debate. The University has fought battles in the U.S. Supreme Court to defend its commitment to diversity; we hope it doesn't abandon that commitment now. Some may be willing to accept Pro- posal 2's passage as the end of affirmative action, but we have a feeling the Univer- sity won't give up that easily. - Nov. 8, 2006 UGH.JM 50 HUNGOVER, WHY'D HEY, DID YOU HEAR THAT WE POP THE CHEAP CHAMPAGNE PROPOSAL I PASBED? WELL..WE SHOULD PROBABLY AFTER THE DEMS TOOK THE START DRINKING AGAIN. HOUSE? FOR REAL? Q THE LAST TNINRECALL ISYUP WOLF BLITZER SAYNG * SOMETHING ABOUT THE SENATE BEING TOO CLOSE , f Settling for less Stadium deal a minor victory in long line of failures KARL STAMPFLVI ON Stumbling to a better tradition I Better late than never. That's about the best that can be said about the Uni- versity's recent settlement with the Michigan Paralyzed Veterans of America. While finally agreeing to necessary accom- modations, this settlement hardly negates the University's 11 months of unconscio- nable resistance to making the stadium wheelchair accessible. In April 2007, the Michigan Paralyzed Veterans of America sued the University for failing to meet the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. While the University refused to admit any wrongdoing, the two sides reached a settle- ment requiring the University to have 329 wheelchair-accessible seats by 2010, and improved accessibility to bathrooms, con- cession stands and ticket offices. All of these issues point to one major theme: The University administration and the over-eager Athletic Department com- pletely botched the planning for the sta- dium construction - not this is surprising anymore. If the administration had been forthcoming about the complaints from the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights when construction plans were being considered, this prolonged negative atten- tion could have been avoided. Adding the seats will cause the Big House to relinquish its title as the largest stadium in the country for at least two years - and maybe forever. While this is an unfortunate consequence, it's embarrassing to hear that some on campus blame the Michigan Para- lyzed Veterans of America for the loss of this utterly meaningless title. If this is something fans actually care about, they should not direct their con- tempt on football Saturdays at their fellow fans in the wheelchair section. Instead, they should look up - above the crowd, above the press box - to the seating area for the University's leaders who thought the Michigan Athletic Department was above the law. - Mar. 12, 2008 Here's a recap of what happened: Administration miraculously forgets commencement can't be held in foot- ball stadium because of construc- tion. Administration remembers, but neglects to ask students what they think and announces ceremony will be held at Eastern Michigan Universi- ty's Rynearson Stadium. Students get angry - perhaps angrier than they've ever been about Iraq, Darfur or plum- meting state funding. Students start Facebook groups, blog and alert par- ents, grandparents and local media outlets. Realizing this ruckus might upset fundraising, Administration finally notices. Administration does what it should have in the first place, involvingstudents bylettingthemvote on where ceremony should be held. Students vote for Diag. There are some drawbacks to hold- ing commencement on the Diag. For instance, each graduate gets six tickets instead of eight. But all things consid- ered, the Diag isn't merely better than EMU's stadium - it might also be bet- ter than our own. By the administra- tion's own folly, we've stumbled onto a new tradition that may make more sense than the old tradition. The Big House is a symbol of many of the University's glories, but it is also a symbol of its sins. Too often the University is forced to abandon its val- ues on behalf of the Athletic Depart- ment. There's no shortage of examples either, and this year's controversy over skyboxes taking priority over disabled seating is another example to add to an already long list. In what other part of the University would a lawsuit be nec- essary to strong arm the administra- tion into accommodating people with disabilities? Holding commencement in the Big House gives graduates a false final impression of what this university is about - an impression that this sym- bolic location change may help fix. First, there's the impression we make on past students. For many University students, the last memory of their time in Ann Arbor is gradu- ation day. When alumni think back, we want them to remember Angell Hall, not just Michigan Stadium. We want them to endow a professorship in the English department rather than another athletic scholarship. Let's give the thousands of alumni who come to commencement every year to cele- brate their daughters', grandsons' and nieces' accomplishment avisual repre- sentation that academics are a priority as much as athletics. There's also the message we send to future students. Local media cover commencement heavily, especially when the speaker is a prominent per- son like Bill Clinton. In the week lead- ing up to the May 1 deadline for high school seniors to commit to colleges, it would be nice to attract the kind of students who are drawn by televised images of the University's Diag, home to emblematic buildings like both the graduate and undergraduate libraries and symbolic of our strong history of scholarship. There are some good reasons for not holding commencement on the Diag. There's tradition. But isn't a university the kind of place where we have an honest debate about the tradjtions that don't make sense? Perhaps this year's change should spark the administra- tion to start a conversation on campus about whether commencement should be moved back to Michigan Stadium, even if it's ready in April 2009. And if administrators don't, students should. Can you imagine a new tradition in which campus gathers each spring at its academic center, the crowd flanked by academic buildings, the cathedrals of our education, to send a new class out into the world? - Feb.18, 2008 Karl Stampfl is an RC senior. He was the Daily's fall/winter editor in chief in 2007. 4 4 FR T H E DAI LYThe wa deeply imp, Iraq, looking back To die for one's country On Sept. 7, four American soldiers lost their lives in Iraq. Had these deaths occurred at another point in the conflict, the soldiers would have become just c, ~another number, but there is an artificial signifi- cance to the passing of these young people: The death toll of U.S. soldiers in the Iraq war has now passed 1,000. s~i twhile this figure is a symbolic turning point in our involvement, there are other numbers receiving less attention that deserve it equal- 640 fo m IDF # ly. To date, 7,000 U.S. soldiers have been :N ht=Mod tho wounded, and analysts believe that more than 10,000 Iraqis have been killed since word!the war began. More than 80 percent of the U.S. soldiers who have died in this war died after President Bush declared major combat operations over. The situation on the ground in Iraq is dangerous now as it was then. More soldiers will die; this is an unfortunate reality. Our fearful trip is not done. - Sept. 9, 2004 r in Iraq may have begun before we arrived at the University, but it has no doubt acted our four years here. Here, we look back at major developments in the conflict. Keeping promises After months of promising to veto any Iraq spend- ing bill that included timetables, President Bush made good on his promise. While misguided action from the president is always expected, the Democratic Congress has to share part of the blame until it finds a way to end the illegal war that it is funding. Although Congress's bill authorized the additional funding requested, it added a schedule of goals that need tobe met. Timelines don't restrain the military; they simply help ensure that progress is being made. Unfortunately, cutting off funding completely may not be an option. But one government heavyweight still has the option to take action - the legislature. America doesn't need more hollow action from Congress - we've had plenty of that since 2003. We need Congress to push for timetables, work to inter- nationalize the effort and patch up the relationships that Bush has destroyed. Bush made good on his promise to veto the time- tables. Can Democrats make good on their promise to end the war? - May 7, 2007 A different exit strategy Leave it to the next guy - that's President Bush's new exit strategy. Echoing the recommendations of Gen. David Petraeus, the military's top com- mander in Iraq, Bush announced yesterday that he will indefinitely halt troop withdrawals from Iraq in July, meaning that as many as 140,000 U.S. troops will still be fighting in Iraq when he leaves office in January. After five years, more than $500 billion spent, more than 4,000 American lives lost and an untold number of Iraqis killed, it's about time that we real- ize that the war in Iraq can't continue on this course. And if that requires that the Democratic-controlled Congress start backing up its rhetoric with action, then so be it. Allowing Bush to continue without timetables and with an open checkbook is irresponsible and coun- terproductive. If it wants to guarantee that troops will be out of Iraq come January 2009, Congress needs to guarantee that Bush's exit strategy isn't just his own exit from the oval Office. - April 11, 2008 4 4I