4 - Friday, November 7, 2008 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Je 1Iidiian a&Uj Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 tothedaily@umich.edu I hope Mr. Waxman would reconsider. I don't think this is a battle he wants to put in motion." - Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), speaking of California Democrat Rep. Henry Waxman's announcement that he will challenge Rep. John Dingell for his chairmanship on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, as reported yesterday by the Detroit Free Press. I I 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 represent solely the views of their authors. 0y i Opening a new book Google settlement a win-win for all O its quest for world domination, Google just got one battle closer last week. After a lot of legal wrangling and a lot of money, Google is now cleared to allow millions of people to access the vast, in-copyright bounties of Google's digitization efforts directly from their computers. This settlement between the Inter- net mogul and a group of publishing companies, which still must be approved by a federal district court judge, is a great victory for the expansion of knowledge. It's also a win that seems to benefit every- one, especially here at the University. MAX FABICK E-MAIL MAX AT FABICKM@UMICH.EDU TT Rebuilding America Last week's settlement is a resolution of sorts to a years-long battle between Google and publishing companies. In December 2004, Google launched Google Book Search, a project to digitize books from many libraries, includingthe Univer- sity of Michigan's, and offer them online. Because many books, depending on a num- ber of criteria, have expired copyrights, Google could offer these without prob- lems. But there's one big problem: what to do with the millions of books still under copyright? Google and a collection of angry pub- lishers and authors solved that problem last week. Along with paying $125 million, Google will now offer a variety of purchas- ing options for its digitized in-copyright books. The publishers and authors will then allow Google to offer previews of in-copyright books free to any users and completely free to library systems. Like any good settlement, this is a win-win for both sides. This settlement is directly beneficial the University. Because the settlement expands some of the texts Google will be able to offer, Google's project at the Uni- versity can move forward with less hesi- tancy. This will both allow the University's library system to preserve its collection of books and offer to the world texts that are unique to its collection - the two main rea- sons the University's partner with Google has been heralded from the beginning. For students, the settlement may not seem all that beneficial, but down the line it could be. Through the University's library system, students will be able to view free of charge many in-copyright books that they wouldn't have been able to view before. That includes textbooks that they can view online, instead of purchase. This capability may even become the future of textbooks, as accompanying technology like Amazon's electronic book reader, the Kindle, makes digital texts more useful. Above all, though, this settlement fur- thers Google's goal of making information as available and accessible as possible. As Google does this, publishers and authors have every reason to protect their copy- rights and intellectual property. But that doesn't make Google's goal any less laud- able. widely available information will even the playing field for people across the world and help share our single best resource on this planet: knowledge. Now that the legal issues are set aside, Google can continue to progress toward what may ultimately be the future of aca- demic resources and books in general. This past election cycle has had to share the international stage with America's crum- bling economy. These two mega- events provided virtually endless material for jour- nalists; but for read- ers, they provided a two-pronged path to boredom. I, like- most students, consider myself ARI an intellectual - PARRITZ someone who can engage, analyze and critique the world and its most perti- nent issues. And for many months I've tried to maintain a sincere interest in both politics and finance. But now, I just want something new. The election is over, and God only knows where the stock market will be next week, so let's consider a fresh, uncharted topic - a virgin in intel- lectual discourse and one dynamic enough to stimulate proactive discus- sion well into the future. What I'm referring to is America's ailing trans- portation infrastructure. Indeed, afederallysponsored trans- portation restructuring plan, what some have dubbed a "National Mobil- ity Project," could act as an antidote to the triple poison of energy depen- dence, political disunity and financial turmoil. And it could even make poli- tics and finance more interesting. Last week, New York Times colum- nist David Brooks discussed this ini- tiative by relating it to core concerns over energy, politics and finance. "A mobility project would dovetail with theenergyinitiativesbothpresidential candidates have offered," Brooks said. "It would benefit from broad political support from liberals and business groups alike, and it would rebalance this economy." Inspired by Brooks's idea, I did some digging. America's transpor- tation infrastructure pales in com- parison to that of other developed nations. High-speed, long-distance railways in the European Union and China are far superior to any U.S. rail system. Only the largest U.S. cities have subways, and bus routes aren't generally tailored to suburban commuting patterns. According to the annual Urban Mobility Report, Americans spend billions of hours a year sitting in traffic. On the road to a healthy economy, these are all trends that must change. A modern, accessible and reliable mass transportation infrastructure would shift commuters' reliance from ozone-depleting cars to eco-friendly trains. This isn't a new concept. The real innovative potential here is the ability to create transportation infra- structure designed to utilize alter- native energy, cut commuting time and make our lives more efficient. With widespread support, a unified, supportive government can work to eliminate many of the bureaucratic obstacles that will inevitably interfere with and delay this project. Now, however, is not necessarily the time for the federal government to expand costly spending programs. We understand that the incoming Congress needs to balance the federal budget, and adding a multi-billion dol- lar project isn't the best way to do so. If we pour money into a new project, it will need to generate tangible returns - and fast. But, Congress has yet to allocate the full figure of its massive economic recovery package, and a creative proj- ect like national mobility would be an opportune and tangible way to jump- start the economy. I could be wrong, but wasn't this the bailout's purpose - to jumpstart our economy before it plunged into further ruin? Propping up the lending industry might restore credit, but it won't necessarily create jobs. Yes, a new transportation infra- structure will be expensive, but it will also create thousands of new jobs across many different sectors: archi- tects and engineers to design; banks and venture capitalists to fund; and laborers and contractors to build. Employment productivity, accord- ing to economists, is a much more appropriate measure of the economy's health than the securities market. If politicians aim to bring America into a new age of economic prosperity, they should support and fund a project with goals to boost employment and productivity. America emerged as a global super- power once we detonated the atom bomb. In the 1940s, aglobalwarneces- sitated unprecedented ingenuity and innovation, and for many years Amer- ica sat on the throne of global power How infrastructure improvements can save our country. as a result. Sixty years later, if we take an introspective look at our place in the world, and we ask ourselves, who are we as Americans? Why are we so great? Do we lead, or do we follow? The answers aren't so clear. In his acceptance speech Tuesday night, President-elect Barack Obama declared, "A world was connected by (America's) science and imagina- tion." To re-connect this world and re- establish America's respect, we need to re-adopt our foundational values of innovation, ingenuity, imagination and, yes, politics and finance as well. To begin, let's show the world that we can move people farther, faster and more efficiently than anyone else. I'll take the first nuclear-powered train conductor position. How about you? ' Ari Parritz can be reached at aparritz@umich.edu. EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS: Nina Amilineni, Emad Ansari, Elise Baun, Harun Buljina, Ben Caleca, Satyajeet Deshmukh, Brian Flaherty, Matthew Green, Emmarie Huetteman, Emma Jeszke, Shannon Kellman, Edward McPhee, Emily Michels, Kate Peabody, Matthew Shutler, Robert Soave, Eileen Stahl, Jennifer Sussex, Radhika Opadhyaya, Rachel Van Gilder, Margaret Young The Daily is looking for smart people with an interest in campus issues and excellent writing skills to be members of its editorial board. E-MAIL GARY GRACA AT GRACA@MICHIGANDAILY.COM FOR MORE INFORMATION SEND LETTERS TO: TOTHEDAILY@UMICH.EDU Behind the celebration was two years of student work the election, it's im leader of the free wo have done my bestm cisms until he made to do the same with TO THE DAILY: In that spirit, Im The dramatic images of partying students on the soldier (an acq the front page of Wednesday's Daily were excit- who posted on Fac ing, but slightly misleading. Students didn't America died" and simply show up to the Diag to beat on drums similar sentiments and shout "yes we can" joyfully into the night. cope with Tuesday': In the hours, days and months before Tuesday, ly. Find comfort that many had canvassed, called, knocked, cajoled, ken intellectual. In blogged, debated and ultimately voted in record the savior and leade numbers. Barack Obama's victory was a joint effortby a resounding majority of the American Ali Thompson people. Students did their part, making count- Engineering senior less sacrifices in time, money and effort to turn an unlikely candidate trailing Hillary Clinton A d a by double digits into the charismatic leader A who routed John McCain in the general elec- and a wors tion Tuesday. It would be impossible to post any one pic- ture that could possibly do justice to the sacri- TO THE DAILY: fices and effort of students in the effort to elect I headed over to Obama. Yet it's worth remembering that behind Tuesday night aroui all the celebration that we see in the media, but not exactly exp there was an unbelievable amount of hard work Still, election night by students and young people. America's youth tournament, except came out at a time when our country needed it of brackets - regard most to help bring change and turn the page be exciting. That i on eight years of failed policies and decades of when swing state af political alienation and apathy. Rest assured, Obama's way. Excit' we were up to the challenge. appointment, and a my friend. Avi Bhuiyan On the way back, LSA junior and a group of mor ed toward us, soI de ,Saveyour Qbama criticismsI heard my share o1 y ryou" from those wh frwhen he is oern sticker, and a few of, fgv n It was interestingu around here. I wish portant to support the new orld. If McCain won, I-would ny best to hold back my criti- a mistake, and I'm choosing Barack Obama. would like to recommend to uaintance of mine) in Iraq ebook, "I was in Iraq when any other person who holds about this election but can't s results: get over this quick- t Obama is a clever, well-spo- fact, he is more than likely r America needs right now. inting election, e realization a College Republicans event nd 9 p.m., full of high hopes, ecting my desired outcome. is like the NCAA basketball with political maps instead Bless of the outcome, it would s, until the votes came in, ter swing state went Barack ement quickly turned to dis- round midnight, I left with I walked through the Diag e than 75 students stamped- ecided to walk right at them. f "asshole" and "sucks to be ho noticed my John McCain them even ran right into me. watching everyone go crazy I could have pretended to be is now the man, and I wish tism in Ann Arbor remains t the wall. 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. Letters are edited for style, length, clarity and accuracy. All submissions become property of the Daily. We do not print anonymous letters. Send letters to tothedaily@umich.edu. ADAM KONNER |VwPOINT eneration coming of ae 4 The most amazing thing that happened in Ann Arbor Tuesday night wasn't Barack Obama winning the presi- dential election. It was the campus reaction. Late into the night, people were marching in the streets, unplanned, through the Diag, to Michigan Stadium and back, singing, dancing, hugging, playing drums, horns and didgeridoos, waving American flags, shouting the Pledge of Allegiance and singing our national anthem with tears running down their faces. For students at this university and at universi- ties all over the country, Tuesday night was more than a landslide Democratic victory and a swing of the left-right pendulum. It was the coming of age of a generation - a gen- eration born on Sept. 11 and raised during an unjust war. I've been a student at this university on and off for eight years. I was a freshman, just beginning my politically aware life, when George W. Bush was elected to his first term. In his first few months in office, Bush had already begun systematically destroying our civil liberties, dis- mantling our economic regulations, expanding our global hegemony and thoroughly embarrassing us in the eyes of the rest of the world. At that time, a friend of mine said to me, "All we need is some kind of major disaster to bring us together, and we'll have a movement. It'll be like the '60s again." It's laughable now, but at the time it already seemed like things couldn't get much worse. And then one morning I woke up in my dorm room at East Quad, turned on the tele- vision, and watched the towers crumble. I said to myself, "This is it. This is the wake-up call we've been waiting for. Now we will have a movement." And a movement began. But it was a movement in the complete opposite direction from the one I had imagined. It was a movement based on fear and hatred rather than peace and love. In the coming years I found out just how much worse things could get. Every time something terri- ble happened, I said to myself, "Surely now, our movement will begin." And every time, I was disappointed. I did my part. I joined student activist groups. I went to protests and rallies in Washington D.C., Chicago, Ann Arbor and elsewhere. I tried to organize. And I kept saying to myself, "Where's the movement?" Then on the morning of Nov. 3, 2004, after finding out that Bush had been re-elected, I buried my head in the sand. I swore off newspapers and magazines for almost two years. Every news story I heard, read or watched made me so angry it hurt. I lost hope. And even when I re- emerged, I was so jaded that I thought things would never change. But Tuesday night I saw something I've never before seen. For the first time in my life, I saw people chant- ing, yelling and marching in the streets - not out of rage, but out of joy. Not fighting, but celebrating. Not trying to change an unchangeable system but rejoicing in the change we had already made. And for probably the first time in my life, I felt proud tobe an American. For us, Obama is more than a president. He is more than a milestone in civil rights history. He is a symbol - a sym- bol of equality, a symbol of cooperation and most impor- tantly, a symbol of hope. He is the Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. of a new generation. Our generation. Maybe this is the movement for which I've been wait- ing. Maybe our generation will finally finish the work our parents started. I believe that this movement has been waiting to happen for a long time, and this may very well be our chance. Because for the first time in my life, it'snot something terrible that is bringing us together, but some- thing wonderful. Bush's most successful political achieve- ment was killing the hope of his opposition. Obama's, so far, has been nursing it back to life. Maybe this is our moment. But we have to make it hap- pen. We can. Adam Konner is an RC senior. TO THE DAILY: happy. Alas, Oban In the final days before the election, to my him well. Conser disgust, I had many friends state that if John decidedly up agai McCain won they would move to Canada. As a proud American citizen, I think it's impor- Andrew Lorelli tant to remember that regardless of who won LSA senior ma va ins .tl