4 -Tuesday, January 15, 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 KARL STAMPFL IMRAN SYED JEFFREY BLOOMER EDITOR IN CHIEF EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR MANAGING EDITOR 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 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. A newyear for MA Assembly must move beyond scandals, on to substance For the Michigan Student Assembly, 2008 is not just a new year - it's practically a brand new start. After a year defined by scandals and resignations, most of the assembly's skel- etons are out of the closet and a talented new president and a fresh group of recently elected representatives are moving in to fill the void. This can't be an opportunity that goes to waste. If MSA wants to be a representative student government that can stand up for stu- dents against our increasingly incompetent University administra- tion, it must first be an institution that communicates better with its constituents and gets rid of its internal problems. Your life's income and your happiness quotient will actually go right down to the basement." -Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, telling students yesterday at Grand Blanc High School in Michigan about the consequences of drug addictions and out-of-wedlock children, as reported by nytimes.com. Too biasedfor the home team? 4 magine this: The hometown coach leaves the team right beforethe big bowlgame, making the school scramble to find a replace- ment. There's a huge uproar on campus, with fans scream- ing bloody murder. That's a huge story. One the campus paper would be sure to pick up. P PAUL H. Well that's just JOHNSON what happened with the hiring of Michigan football head coach Rich Rodriguez, and faithful readers of the Daily would have very little idea of the uproar that occurred in Mor- gantown over the choice of our new football coach. Sports reporting is often partisan, particularly on game days. We write more about our team than our oppo- nents, the leadastory is howtshe Wol- verines fared and only in passing do we talk about our opponents, with the possible exception of Ohio State. So when Michigan hired a new coach for the first time in 13 years, it's big news, every angle of it. The first story "Michigan hires WVU's Rodri- guez as next head coach" was posted online (12/16/2007). It was brief and mentioned Rodriguez's hiring but not much else. The full news story that ran later (Rodriguez introduced as head foot- ball coach, 12/17/2007) gave details about Rodriguez's plans to introduce a spread offense, but didn't go into detail about why the new coach felt the need to leave Morgantown, W. Va. before his former team played in the Fiesta Bowl. The article did men- tion that Rodriguez said he wouldn't be coaching the Fiesta Bowl because West Virginia asked him not to, but I think that news could have been dis- played more prominently. Further, it would have been helpful to see if West Virginia would have had a different view of the situation. There was also little reaction in our paper from West Virginia officials or fans over the departure of Rodriguez. But the Daily was buffeted with let- ters from upset West Virginia fans who created Facebook groups and MySpace groups filled with vitriol over Rodriguez's departure, calling him names that can't be repeated in most newspapers. Managing Sports Editor Scott Bell said the sports staff thought about getting reactions from West Virginia but made a strategic decision not to do so. "Our resources were very lim- ited," Bell said, noting that the news about the new coach broke over win- ter break and during finals season. He said, though, that if thestaff had a chance to do it again, they'd try to cover more. "There was other stuff we'd like to have done," Bell said. Another issue arising out of Rodri- guez's departure is the upcoming lawsuit against Rodriguez by West Virginia University. West Virginia had a $4-million buyout clause in Rodriguez's contract if he were to leave before his contract ended. And soon after Rodriguez came to Ann Arbor, West Virginia filed suit. If it wins the lawsuit and a court orders Rodriguez to pay $4 million, who exactly is going to pay that money? Will it be Rodriguez? Will it be the University? Will it be boosters of the football program? These are the sort of questions I think the Daily needs to answer to fully cover the foot- ball program's big coaching change. There's a lot of money involved and we should find out where it's going. It might be coming out of our pockets. Nate Sandals, the incoming manag- ing sports editor, said that the Daily plans to write more about the litiga- tion. "We haven't done the legwork on the lawsuit," Sandals said, but promises that as more news comes to light the Daily will stay on top of it. AsSandals admits,theDailyiscom- peting with the national media when it comes to reporting about Michigan football. But that doesn't mean it has to cede the story to the big boys of Coverage of Rodriguez hiring lacked depth. ESPN, the Detroit Free Press or other media organizations. While the Daily has limited resources compared to larger news organizations, the Daily does have unique advantages as well. Its reporters are on campus every day and are nearer to sources like players and their friends. The Daily shouldn't be cowed by the money spent by its larger competitors and should do its best to find as many scoops as pos- sible so that when ESPN or anyone else wants to know what's going on in Michigan football, they'll turn to the Daily first and not any other source. Paul H. Johnson is the Daily's public editor. He can be reached at publiceditor@umich.edu. 0 0 Atop the list of major changes in MSA this semester, several old faces won't be around. Earlier this month, MSA Rep. Anton Vul- jaj pleaded guilty to felony charges for his denial-of-service attack on the Michigan Progressive Party's website duringthe 2006 MSA elections. He also resigned from his representative position in MSA. Similarly, before winter break MSA president Zack Yost and Rep. Kenny Baker resigned from their positions after it was revealed that the two were members of a controversial Facebook group created by Yost mocking MSA Rep. Tim Hull's Asperger's syndrome, a mild form of autism. Replacing Yost as president is former Vice President Mohammad Dar, whose position was filled last week by the former MSA Chief of Staff Nate Fink. Both are experi- enced and qualified candidates, particular- ly Dar. With a group of new representatives elected in November, these two have the talent to transform the assembly - now it's time to put it to good use. The assembly should start by improving its communication with students. When the assembly completes projects, it's usually because it demonstrates to the administra- tion that its demands reflect mass student concern. Butstudents have no reliable way of knowing what is happening in MSA or how they can help. The website is infrequently updated. The campus-wide e-mails that are occasionally sent out usually address trivial issues like the"GoBlueBeatOSUPep Rally", which was the subject of the last e-mail to be sent out. And even if students attend MSA meetings, which few do, those aren't much of a help either: Most of MSA's work is done in committees and only discussed briefly before the whole assembly. These are easy problems to fix.As Dar told the Daily's Editorial Board on Thursday, the website is currently under construction after a change in webmasters. That's a good start. But the changes need to go beyond aesthetics, like adding a blog with updates on what MSA, committees and individual representatives are currently working on. The assembly already produces monthly committee reports - it wouldn't be hard to eliminate the jargon and post them online. Similarly, the assembly should make bet- ter use of its limited campus-wide e-mails, informing students about issues requiring a mass response to spur action. Intertwined with improving communi- cation, MSA needs to be more transparent and its members need to be more account- able for their actions. Although the assem- bly has been promising election reform since 2006, not much has changed: candi- dates still spam students during elections, needlessly post obnoxious flyers around campus and bend unenforced campaign rules. More importantly, candidates still make promises that they don't keep. Measurable standards would be one way to change this. Dar himself proposed such standards, suggesting that represen- tatives give monthly reports on the prog- ress of their projects. In order to increase the impact of these standards, MSA should make these reports public, either on their website or in a monthly publication. The assembly should also post representatives' attendance records online along with their major roll-call votes. Lastly, for many students, MSA seems more like an "in-club" than a representa- tive government. After the recent scan- dals, breaking this image will be even more difficult. But if MSA is more transparent, accountable and accessible, building stu- dents' trust and interest should follow shortly behind. Students may only contribute $7.19 each semester to MSA, but they deserve to have an assembly that is productive and respon- sive to their concerns. Business as usual T hroughout the past week, let- tant thing I've learned here. ters have been pouring into I kept his words in mind when I the Daily from students out- went to my "weed out" classes and raged about the saw how my peers and I were passed recent "oops, change off to underpaid, unenthusiastic of plans" surprise graduate student instructors instead from the University of real professors; when I was shoved administration that in to inadequate classrooms with extinguished the inadequate supplies while the Uni- light at the end of versity funneled millions of dollars the class of 2008's into patent-pending research and lav- college tunnel. One _ ish architectural ventures; and when common sentiment I saw the University make decision expressed was that ARIKIA after money-making decision with this little ritual MILLIKAN no regard for the people who actually we call graduation keep the whole ship afloat by paying should symbolize the ever-increasing tuition. I soon everything we've endured here in the realized what a big business this is. last four years. To hold graduation at And even though I got shafted, another school would not represent there was one thing that really made the experiences we've had at this fine it all come together for me: keeping university. Students fear that to have track of the underhanded antics the such discontinuity in the process will administration used to pursue the open up some kind of wormhole, turn- Michigan Stadium renovation proj- ing the world upside down and leaving ect. It was my job to report for The them forever searching for the ful- Michigan Daily what the adminis- fillment they never received at their tration was doing with the stadium, dream graduation. so I went to their meetings, looked But when I heard of the decision to at their documents and listened to hold Spring Commencement at East- their public relations machine par- ern Michigan University, I wasn't rot the same unconvincing fluff over shocked. In fact, I couldn't think and over again without saying much of a more appropriate way to end it of anything. Even though administra- all. Having observed the way the tors feigned interest in the public's University administration has oper- opinion by conducting a fan survey ated throughout the past four years, designed and analyzed by Coldwa- I could only think of one word to ter Corporation, the brainchild of describe this turn of events: typical. Republican Party political strategist Most of my cynicism can prob- Robert Teeter, their actions made it ably be traced back to one of the first clear that they only really cared about moments I spent here as an official the bottom line. But who can blame Wolverine. With a group of other them? They're in the business to make wide-eyed freshmen during orienta- money, not friends. Unless they are tion, I was piled into a lecture hall friends with money, in which case you to hear what wisdom the official- will find them sitting comfortably in looking man giving the PowerPoint brand new luxury boxes come 2010. presentation would bestow upon us. With an eye on the prize, the "The University is a business, first University's administrators steam- and foremost," I remember him say- rolled over anyone and anything who ing. Although I didn't quite under- attempted to get in the way, includ- stand what he meant at the time, this ing - but not limited to - the law, lesson was probably the most impor- 600 University professors, the federal government, paralyzed veterans (as if there isn't a group more deserving of sympathy) and finally the graduat- ing class of 2008. But who can blame them? They're in the business to make money, not friends. Unless they are friends with money, in which case you will find them sitting comifortably in brand new luxury boxes come 2010. Witnessingthis chainofeventswas a frightening reality check. Business and politics are continuing to collide in the field of academia to provide leaders with the power that makes them so far removed from their con- stituents that they are able to proceed without any regard for them. And while the University continues to act Graduation snafu is product of big business style. as a business, it should be obvious to us now that the administration has proceeded to engage in bad business. By not acting first and foremost with regard for the most important com- ponent in the economic model, the consumer - in this case the student - is finally starting to push back. The cynic in me, though, says that students' anger will likely be fruit- less. We will never get to stand in the center of the Big House in our caps and gowns. We will probably culmi- nate our college years in the stadium of another school because our soon- to-be alma mater has betrayed us. We should be outraged. But I'm not. I'm not even surprised. It's just all too typical. Arikia Millikan is a former Daily news reporter. She can be reached at arikia@umich.edu. S EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS: Emad Ansari, Anindya Bhadra, Kevin Bunkley, Ben Caleca, Milly Dick, Mike Eber, Gary Graca, Emmarie Huetteman, Theresa Kennelly, Emily Michels, Arikia Millikan, Kate Peabody, Robert Soave, Neil Tambe, Matt Trecha, Kate Truesdell, Radhika Upadhyaya, Rachel Van Gilder, Rachel Wagner, Patrick Zabawa. SEND LETTERS TO: TOTHEDAILY@UMICH.EDU Students only care about those issues in front of them TO THE DAILY: I have no doubt that the recent change of graduation location to Eastern Michigan Uni- versity is upsetting many students. While I am normally a complacent individual, I am also angry. There is no doubt that there will con- tinue to be a myriad of articles and letters to the editor, as there already have been, arguing the indignity and injustice that the University has perpetrated. I certainly agree to some extent. I agree that it is a slap inthe face for the University to spend $226 million on luxury boxes and somehow not pull together a little extra money for portable restrooms and generators to keep alive the tra- dition of holding commencement at Michigan Stadium. The University has no problem send- ing out countless letters to alumni and the rest of the University community for donations to keep other Michigan traditions alive. However, I refuse to sign petitions, go to mass meetings or write letters to the admin- istration. I refuse because of one reason: I haven't done the same for other critical issues. I haven't signed petitions against the unjust war in Iraq, the destruction of the environ- ment, world hunger or poverty. Yet, I was so much closer to writing an e-mail to University President Mary Sue Coleman about graduation than I ever was to writing U.S. Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) about Iraq. I wonder for how many others this is true. What does that say about me? What does that say about us? Why are we willing to fight so strongly against this small insult, yet not against so many larger injustices? Is the human condition really this prone to apathy about things that aren't right in front of us? Jeffrey Harding LSA senior In Democratic primary, voters have three choices TO THE DAILY: Here is what today's Michigan primary comes down to: Hillary Clinton, Dennis Kucinich or uncommitted. None of the three are great choices. But consider this: If you are not a Clinton supporter and you vote uncom- mitted, you don't choose which candidate the uncommitted delegates will support- they are chosen by the delegate candidates. This means that Clinton could easily get many of the uncommitted votes. If you want your voice to count, vote for Kucinich. He is the only viable alternative to Clinton in Michigan. Kucinich supports not- for-profit universal health care, ending the war in Iraq within three months, ending all government subsidies to coal, oil and nuclear power and creating a Works Green Adminis- tration to put all Americans to work making our country carbon-neutral. He is also for universal education, which means the govern- ment pays all of your college tuition. If you absolutely disagree with Kucinich and need to vote uncommitted, then do so. But if you want your voice to count, vote Kucinich. YousefRabhi LSA sophomore The letter writer is the chair of the University's chapter ofStudentsforKucinich. WYMAN KHUU ' i f4 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 submis- sions become property of the Daily. We do not print anonymous letters. Send letters to tothedaily@umich.edu. JOIN THE DAILY. 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