4 - Friday, November 21, 2008
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
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-District Court Judge Richard Leon, ruling that the U.S. government has unlawfully held five Algerian
detainess at Guantanamo Bay for more than seven year, as reported yesterday by The New York Times.
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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
and illustrations represent solely the views ofttheir authors.
Conscious compensation
Public universities must be more careful with executive pay
imes are tough at public universities. Students and their
families are feeling the pinch of high tuition and unfriendly
loan markets. Public universities are preparing for reduced
state funding and smaller endowment returns. And public univer-
sity presidents are getting a raise? That's the bizarre situation that
The Chronicle of Higher Education found in its annual executive
compensation survey this year. Though it's tough to argue that exec-
utives, like any employee, don't deserve to be compensated when
they are doing their job well, it's incumbent upon public universities
to recognize that giving their executives raises during hard times
sends the wrong message about their missions.
One Qassam too many
Released Monday, The Chronicle's main
finding in its executive compensation sur-
vey was that the gap between pay at pub-
lic and private universities is closing, and
fast. The primary reason for this is the
dramatic increase in pay at public univer-
sities, which was up 7.6 percent on average
from last year. Our own president, Mary
Sue Coleman, is among this crowd - her
pay increased 4 percent this year. Though
the average private university still pays
about $100,000 a year more than the aver-
age public university, during the past five
years, executive compensation has risen 17
percentage points more at public universi-
ties than at private universities.
But one must wonder that in these eco-
nomically difficult times, how public uni-
versities can justify raising both tuition
and the salary of their presidents? And
there's a simple answer most universities
provide: If you want a competent execu-
tive, you need to pay the high price to get
them - and keep them, as private univer-
sities and corporations try to lure them
away with higher pay. When those presi-
dents do a good job, you need to give them
a raise.
It's tough to argue with that logic, except
that it leads to executive compensation
quickly spiraling uncontrollably upward,
as it has in the past five years. This forces
public schools to devote even more of their
stretched budgets to paying their presi-
dents. And when you have to answer to
taxpayers, like public universities have to
and private universities don't, that puts
you in a problematic situation. As public
universities, including our own, increas-
ingly beg for more state funding, it's bad
form when people see that money going to
presidents' wallets, instead of classrooms,
financial aid or professors.
What is needed is a more sensible
approach to executive compensation. This
can't come from state legislatures, which
could cap public universities' pay rates,
leaving them less competitive with their
private counterparts. Besides, this would
likely be a serious encroachment on uni-
versities' autonomy, especially here at the
University of Michigan, where a constitu-
tional amendment or serious boilerplate
language would be needed to cap Cole-
man's salary.
That leaves universities to take this issue
upon themselves, justifying their raises
when they are deserved and refusing to
raise pay when times are tough. Good pres-
idents, who presumably care more about
the public service they are performing than
the wad of cash they are making, should be
able to understand this. Many have already,
even turning down raises or giving them
back. Coleman has frequently been one of
these presidents, except for this year, when
she accepted a 4-percent raise.
When students, faculty and taxpayers
are feeling the pinch of a bad economy,
public university presidents shouldn't be
the only people insulated from the hard
times.
ilitary euphemisms have
always played a prominent
role in international media.
During World War
II, Nazi depor- T
tations to death
camps were called
"evacuations;" fire-
bombing industrial
and refugee cities
was "strategic;"
and destruction -
of worker villages ARI
was appropriately
"de-housing" (yes, PARRITZ
really). Today,
euphemistic lan-
guage maintains the same disin-
genuous message. Bombing raids are
known as "sorties;" civilian deaths are
"collateral damage;" the inability to
extract resources and capital from a
given region is "instability;" and ces-
sation of hostilities is a "ceasefire."
Supposedly, since June 19, there has
been "ceasefire" between the Israel
Defense Forces and the Palestinian
leadership in Gaza. Yet for two days in
early November, Hamas gunmen and
members of Islamic Jihad's al Quds
Brigades fired 46 Qassam rockets and
16 mortar shells into Israel's southern
region - particularly at the border
towns of Sderot and Ashkelon.
Hamas justifies these attacks -
which continue, now, hourly - as a
response to continued border clos-
ings, frozen aid and targeted killings
of gunmen intunnels and along Gaza's
security barriers. And their claims
are not unfounded. According to the
Israeli Intelligence and Terrorism
Information Center, the colossal bar-
rage between Nov. 4th-5th followed
incursion by IDF's special forces into
Gaza to blow up a tunnel created to
abduct Israeli soldiers.
Gaza is one of the most media-cov-
ered regions in the world. We always
get the "who did what to whom," but
we seldom see the "why" behind the
actions of either Hamas or the IDF.
Why, for example, is a ceasefire in
Gaza not actually a ceasefire? Let's try
to understand.
Violence in recent weeks reveals the
dichotomy between Israeli and Pal-
estinian interpretations of ceasefire.
For Israelis, a ceasefire means laying
down weapons in order to resolve a
conflict diplomatically. For Hamas,
a ceasefire is a means of using peace
to rearm. When Hamas stops launch-
ing rockets, it concentrates instead
on importing explosives from tunnels
under the Rafah border crossing with
Egypt and building tunnels to kidnap
Israeli soldiers. It is these acts that
violate the ceasefire agreement, a tac-
tic that becomes clear in the context of
Hamas's history.
Recently, Hamas leader Ismail
Haniyeh proposed an offer first made
bylate Hamas spiritual advisor Sheikh
Ahmed Yassin. Haniyeh proposed, "a
Palestinianstatethatfollowedthe 1967
borders and to offer Israel a long-term
hudna, or temporary truce, if Israel
recognizes the Palestinians' national
rights," according to a Haaretz news
story in September.
This proposal, and others like it, is
presented strategically: it'stemporary.
Hudnas are traditionally designed
to allow Muslims to rearm under the
shelter of temporary peace; eventual-
ly, though, they call to terminate peace
in favor of sustained violence. Some
scholars believe the Prophet Muham-
mad proposed the firstrecorded
hudna in his Treaty of Hudaybiyyah,
in the 7th century Muslim conquests.
Arafat proposed a hudna in the 1993
Oslo Accords, and Hamas uses hudnas
today to project the false reality of a
commitment to peace.
According to members of the 1993
Nobel committee that nominated Ara-
fat for its Peace Prize, hudnas may not
be so bad. They were wrong.
Yassin, a key sponsor of Hamas's
terrorismactivities, waskilledbyIsra-
el in 2004. But his message continues
as Hamas's diplomatic and military
platform: No recognition, ever, and
violence until withdrawal. Ceasefires
in Gaza will remain a facade unless
this ideology adapts to modern real-
ity: Israel not only exists, but it will
ramp up efforts to eliminate Hamas
if the group continues to threaten its
citizens and existence. Israel can't
sit idly while its enemies rearm, and
every other nation in the world in
Israel's position would do exactly the
same thing.
Imagine a Gaza-like region on the
U.S.-Mexico border. Would we send
aid to rocket-ravaged border towns,
or would we eliminate the rockets and
those who launch them?
Since the beginning of the sec-
ond intifada, Sderot has absorbed
more than 7,000 rockets. Residents
are alerted by the screaming sound
of the tzevah adom (color red) siren.
The impending explosion could sound
from an uninhabited field - or from
their living room.
The Israeli government and promi-
nent American charities respond
by pouring money into rebuilding
Sderot's infrastructure and reinforc-
In border fights,
Israel has right to
defend itself.
ing homes and schools with mate-
rial to mitigate the effects of Qassams.
Though these are necessary and vital
means of responding to -the attacks,
they also send a poor message to those
firing the rockets.
As the international community,
headed by U.N. Secretary General
Ban Ki-Moon, dwells on Israel's naval
blockade and other painful but unfor-
tunately necessary means of defense,
little can be done to protect Israel's
border residents. As such, Israel needs
to adopt a new strategy in Gaza. An
attack on Sderot should be viewed as
nothing less than an attack on Tel-
Aviv or Jerusalem.
Yet with Hamas in power, the
screams of tzevah adomwill continue,
and Israel will remain without a part-
ner for peace.
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,
Jennifer Sussex, lmran Syed, Radhika Upadhyaya, Rachel Van Gilder, Margaret Young
ELISE BAUN I
A cultural deficiency
I am one of many students this year who did
not buy Michigan basketball tickets. Despite
encouragement from coach John Beilein and
the Athletic Department, I felt that Michigan
basketball was not for me. Every year when
tickets go on sale, I debate buying them. But not
being an avid basketball fan, I need a little extra
encouragement to attend basketball games.
That encouragement just isn't there when Cris-
ler Arena is dull and the team's performance, at
least last year, is less than stellar.
I'm not the only one who opted out of buying
season tickets this year. Michigan basketball
season ticket sales have been extremely low.
As of Nov. 12, only 480 season tickets had been
sold for this season. That's roughly 120 less than
what sold last year. And if you don't believe the
numbers, you can check Crisler Arena out your-
self, where the lack of interest is visible when
looking at the empty bleacher seats.
That's not to say the Athletic Department
isn't trying to fill seats. It has tried e-mailing
students and advertising at football games to
get more students to buy tickets, but nothing is
working. But lowering the price of basketball
tickets to only $99 isn't enough to get me to pick
up my credit card.
Now, we've come to a last resort. Earlier in
the year, some members of the student group
Maize Rage went to Beilein to discuss the pos-
sibility of having free student tickets this year.
Free tickets had been offered to the student
body in the past, so why not now? At first, the
Athletic Department dismissed the idea, stat-
ing that it didn't think free tickets are a feasi-
ble long-run strategy. This is a shame, because
there's no short-term interest in the team, and
that won't change until the energy surrounding
this sport rises. The Athletic Department final-
ly realized the error in its ways, and met Maize
Rage halfway by offering some free games this
season. The only catch: A lot of these games are
ones that most students don't want to attend.
If the Athletic Department wants to salvage
interest in Michigan basketball, it has to do
something bold, something visionary, some-
thing that will get people back in Crisler Arena.
It has to offer free tickets to students for every
game and then build a lively atmosphere once
students are there.
Offering free tickets to all of the games
will bring the Athletic Department closer to
achieving the culture that will save Michigan
basketball. Though tickets are probably not
selling partly because last year's team per-
formed poorly; hopefully, now that the play-
ers are a year older and more experienced,
this won't be the case. And, since the basket-
ball team is off to a great start, it does look as
though the team might be much improved this
year. Winning games will help improve Mich-
igan basketball's culture, and that is the most
important thing.
Think of it this way: Culture is what main-
tains student interest in the hockey and football
teams. Students not only buy tickets to these
games year after year, but they also show up on
game day as well. No matter how the team is
performing, students are clad in Michigan gear
and ready to cheer as loud as they possibly can.
Attendance at every Michigan football game
this season has been over 100,000, despite the
fact that the team now has the most losses in
Michigan football history. Michigan hockey is
well known for its student-led chants and high
spirits, no matter how the team performs. The
enthusiasm and culture that surround these
two sports is more important than their win/
loss records.
Michigan basketball no longer has that cul-
ture. Students aren'tbuyingtickets, notbecause
of how expensive they are or because of how
poorly the team performed last season, but
because it doesn't have a game-day draw any-
more. We simply aren't getting excited about
basketball games.
If the Athletic Department wants to get stu-
dents going to Michigan basketball games, it
will have to draw them in. A good basketball
culture will breed enthusiasm among its sup-
porters by keeping them involved in the sport.
Students need to feel more connected to Michi-
gan basketball. This connection doesn't hinge
on how well the team does, it hinges on what
kind of atmosphere there is at the game once
students get there.
Elise Baun is an LSA senior.
SEND LETTERS TO: TOTHEDAILY@UMICH.EDU
A Rich Rod quote anda telling have been able to see that the "get a life" quote was direct-
ee ed at the Michigan "fans" who populate Internet message
example of the shift to new media boards making personal attacks about his players' mind-
sets, dedication and skills. Had he read further into the
transcript, he would have seen that Rodriguez, not more
TO THE DAILY: than a paragraph later, stated that he's glad that Michigan *
I am starting to get very tired of the media field day fans have so much passion. He's glad that the fans care as
surrounding our football season. However, I am more much as they do.
disappointed with some fans' reactions. The viewpoint I would recommendvisitingthe popular Michigan mes-
Wednesday by University alum Josh Weingast was a prime sage boards and reading the vicious personal attacks peo-
example of these two issues (A message for Rich Rod, ple have made about our team. That is what Rodriguez is
11/19/2008). talking about. The majority of us would be much better
Instead of reporting the whole story, the media decid- off if those people stepped away from their keyboards and
ed to use a few sentences from head football coach Rich got a life.
Rodriguez's press conference Monday, which, of course, I do, however, agree with Weingast on one thing: Many
was designed to ruffle our feathers. Plenty of people decid- Michigan fans are students and graduates of this top uni-
ed to take the bait and completely overreact. Instead of versity, and we are pretty darn smart. Many are even
reporting a reasoned response to some of the ridiculous smart enough to read Rodriguez's press conference tran-
accusations and insults that are hurled from every corner script and form judgments based on what he actually said,
of the Internet, the media made it look like Rodriguez was not the sentence snippet that was actually reported.
criticizing our fans' passion. Form whatever opinion of Rodriguez you want, but at
This also turned out to be a perfect example of the dif- least take all of the information into consideration, not just
ference between the old media and the rising blogs. Mgob- one line from a press conference.
log actually looked at Rodriguez's entire quote and came to
a reasoned conclusion, rather than misleading readers. David Xia
I am getting very tired of every media outlet throwing Engineeringsenior
our coach and team under the bus. Our student newspaper
should not be one of them. Sure, this year has been disap- 'U'shouldn't employ students to
pointing, but don't think for a second that this team has
quit. Don't quit on them. We will be back, and soon. f r donations
Until then, I am going to hope most of us can calm down
and give our new coach more than five seconds to bring our
team back. TO THE DAILY:
After reading
David Childers that it doesn't se
Enginerringsenior its students as1
Taking abuse at
For Rich Rod critic:Next time do is bad, the Univ
For ichRod ritc:> ate its priorities
the state and it
a yrestrictions as e
University's firs
TO THE DAILY: dents and the qt
In his viewpoint Wednesday, Josh Weingast may have of dollars to add
been guilty of a greater sin than telling fans to "get a life" Havingsolici
(A message for Rich Rod, 11/19/2008). solidarity with t
As a University alum, Weingast should be familiar with pre-emptively a
the work involved in researching his topics thoroughly and
completely. If had he read the widely available transcript Adam Ajlouni
of Rich Rodriguez's press conference Monday, he would LSA senior
The Statement Wednesday, I've got to say
eem right for a public university to employ
telemarketer fundraisers (About Campus:
Telefund, 11/18/2008). When the economy
ersity should take that as a cue to re-evalu-
and realize that the University is a part of
s economy and subject to the same budget
everyone else. When times are tough, the
st concern should be the welfare of its stu-
uality of its education, not raising millions
d VIP seatingto the Big House.
ted funds for charity, I wouldlike to express
the students working at Telefund. But can I
sk Telefund to remove me from its call list?