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Magazine Editor:
Jessica Vosgerchian
Editor in Chief:
Gary Graca
Managing Editor:
Courtney Ratkowiak
Photo Editor:
Sam Wolson
Multimedia Editor:
David Azad Merian
Junk Drawer:
Brian Tengel
Center spread design:
Allison Ghaman
Cover photo:
Sam Wolson
The Statement is The Michigan
Daily's news magazine, distributed
every Wednesday during the
academic year.
new rules
rule 182:
Complaining
about not hav-
ing a valentine
is more passe
than Valentine's
Day. Don't do it.
rule 182: When
overhearing a
stranger loudly
talk of personal
problems, it's
acceptable to
give painfully
honest advice.
rule 183: If you
don't have a
better idea about
what do, you
can't complain
about the
stimulus plan.
- E-mail rule submissions to
TheStatement@umich.edu
THE EDITOR'S NOTEBOOK with JESSICA VOSGERCHIAN
A lank at the big news events this week and howimportantthey reallyare. Convenient'lyrated tram one to 10.
DON'T SMOKE DOWN PHELPS
Eight people connected to the infamous Michael Phelps bong hit photo-
'1
graphed at a University of South Carolina party have been arrested. One
of the culprits is the alleged owner of the bong who caught the attention
of police when he tried to sell his Olympian-patronized piece on eBay
for $100,000. A dumb move, to be sure, but there are many students on
campus who must understand the need to recover something after an
encounter with Phelps in party mode. Let me guess: he smoked all your
weed, grabbed your girlfriend's butt, mumbled something unintelligible
and tried to hit your best friend. Yep, that's our Phelps.
STIMULATING PACKAGES
The Senate approved Barack Obama and Timothy Geithner's miracle
stimulus package Tuesday, and somehow, the nation's economy isn't fixed
yet. Infact, the initial response on Wall Street was anything but encourag-
ing. The Dow fell by 382 points by the time the market closed. Investors
are concerned that Geithner's plan to flood the financial system with as
much as $2.5 trillion lacks details. But the Obama team hasn't been trying
their hardest to assure us that the plan is surefire and even... sexy? At
least that's what the language of some-Obama staffers suggest. As Peter
Orszag, Obama's budget director, said last week: "This is a package that
is responsive to this massive gap." Hm, not sexy. Not assuring.
S cholarly interesthasn'tbeen the
driving force behindthe growth
of language and culture studies.
The opportunities available today
in many foreign language programs
stem directly from the "know the
enemy" mentality of yesterday.
Whenever a threat from abroad
captured the attention of the nation
- Pearl Harbor, the Space Race,
the Sept. 11 attacks and the United
States' growing economic debt to
China - area studies programs at
the University benefited in fed-
eral funding and increased student
interest. There was a need to under-
stand the enemy and to have schol-
ars trained about the history and
culture of the area so the govern-
ment would have a pool of experts
to call upon.
"Anything that winds up on
the front page of the newspapers
receives attention," said Douglas
Northrop, director of the Center for
Russian and East European Studies.
"(Russian)wouldn'thave received
the same attention if it didn't have
political meaning"
In the last century, this trend has
resulted in increased federal funds
and student interest for the Center
of Japanese Studies, the Center for
Russian and East European Stud-
ies and the Center for Middle East-
ern and North African Studies.
These programs qualify as National
Resource Centers, which are eligible
to receive federal funding under the
National Defense Education Act.
George Strongsent a telegram to the
University warning them that "it is
the desire of the war department
that no repeat no publicity of any
kind be given the army language
school at the University of Michi-
gan."
A few months before, the army
had approached the University
Ann Arbor wasn't the only col-
lege town to harbor a clandestine
army school during this time - both
the University of Colorado and the
University of California at Berkley
trained soldiers in Japanese as well.
But the University of Michigan was
unique in that it took the program
established during the war and used
"It
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sor en
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passed
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APPROPRIATIONS FOR TITLE VI/FH PROGRAMS, 1959-2006
Federal funding to language and culture education programs increased after historic events
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1989 -fall of Berlin Wall
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ib-
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. 20-
2001 - Sept. 11th attacks on
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Unthe Enemy
Events like Pearl Harbor, the Space Race and the September 11th attacks have a silver lining for University area studies:
more federal funding and student interestBy Elarton
was a shock to the United
that the Soviets surpassed
aid Ernest McCarus, a profes-
meritus in the Near Eastern
es Department.
irtly afterwards, Congress
d the National Defense Edu-
Act, which granted more
to colleges in an effort to keep
students competitive in
fields like math, science
and language.
In response, the Uni-
versity formed four new
area studies centers: the
Center for Chinese Stud-
ies, the Center for South
and Southeast Asian
Studies, the Center for
Middle Eastern and
North African Studies
and the Center for Rus-
sian and Eastern Euro-
pean Studies.
According to a report
released in 1991, the area
studies centers at the
University were created
because interested fac-
ulty members persuaded the Uni-
versity to ask for funding.
In the late 1950s and early 1960s
- after the launch of Sputnik -
NDEA funding for Area Studies
shot up from about $23,000,000 to
about $93,000,000.
Without Sputnik and the Cold
War, though, that funding wouldn't
have begun on such a large scale.
During the Cold War, no one
really knew what to believe about
the Soviet Union. And as soon as
Sputnik was launched, there was a
fear that it would surpass the U.S.
in technology and weaponry. At the
same time, there were still those
sympathetic with the communist
theory, despite the Red Scare and
McCarthyism.
Northrop said students studying
Russia and the surrounding areas
tended to be either sympathetic
or condemning of the communist
plight.
"Politics in the field tended to be
very polarized," he said. "Efforts to
stigmatize people on one side or the
other certainly did take place."
See LANGUAGES, Page 8B
COMEBACK CANINE
Stump the Sussex spaniel won the 133rd Annual Westminster Kennel
Club show Tuesday at the ripe old agerof 10 - that's like 70 in dogyears.
Stump, who's officially named Ch. Clussexx Three D Grinchy Glee, made a
9 major comeback after falling seriously ill in 2005. While unlikely to rouse
any more interest in dog shows in general society, Stump's win might
attract the attention of the science community. Is this Sussex spaniel's
medical history an example of extreme inbreeding gone right?
O 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000
BE PUBLISHED
IN THE STATEMENT'S LITERATURE ISSUE
The Statement is accepting submissions for the annual literature issue featuring poetry
and short fiction written by students. E-mail your work along with your name, college
and year in a Word document attachment to vosgerchian@michigandaily.com.
Prose pieces should not exceed 2,500 words and short-shorts are especially welcome.
DEADLINE: FEB.15