I 4A - Monday, April 20, 2009 Opinio The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. i 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 tothedaily@umich.edu GARY GRACA ROBERT SOAVE COURTNEY RATKOWIAK 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. On the right track Government should adopt plan for nationwide railroads We cannot rebuild this economy on the same pile of sand." - President Barack Obama, commenting on his plan to redefine American capitalism, as reported on Saturday by The New York Times. CHRIS KOSLOWSKI I0E-MAIL CHRIS AT CSKOSLOW@UMICH.EDU ntrodctorygreetiersona attack eeled by The punch ine. Sometimes towed by aquery concernga ad anger tloinga humorous a current event orfinals. hses e tension ote strip. coincidence in language like a o t.A teaisa g."g: e Atypical*coeseroatee S n hlsighted *an a response. Usually blunataa "a nersso yySilence and a ~rW.8 %as> " Oa 0 0 a 0 -111 * * .*il-11111 17 111 1111 t's no secret that the University of Michigan is stranded in the middle of the Midwest. In cities like Ann Arbor and Detroit, it's easy to feel disconnected from other metropolitan areas. Students needing to travel often complain about the current options being limited, expensive and inconvenient. Thankfully, President Barack Obama has recently announced plans to build a nationwide high-speed rail network of 100 miles per hour-plus trains. This network would connect Ann Arbor to Chicago and Detroit, providing students with much better options for sampling other cities. At the same time, the plan would conserve energy and create needed jobs. Such a plan should be implemented quickly for the good of students, workers and the state. Administrators need a lecture The proposed plan identifies 10 cor- ridors, one of which is the Chicago hub network that would connect Chicago with other metropolitan areas in the Midwest, including Detroit. The broader goal of the proposal is to relieve the congestion on highway and airport infrastructure by giv- ing travelers an efficient alternative in the form of speedy, electric-powered trains. In addition, the plan will also create short- term and long-term jobs for the upgrading, construction and maintenance of the rail- road infrastructure. With Ann Arbor on the Chicago-Detroit rail route, this would make it easier for stu- dents to get to Chicago and beyond much faster than they do now. Besides opening up new destinations for everyone, this could also help out-of-state and international students by giving them an option of flying from Chicago, which can be cheaper than flying from Detroit. But all students benefit from easier options to travel long distances in shorter amounts of time. Being located a mere 2 hours from Chicago gives students in Ann Arbor much better access to the world outside the University community. The state of Michigan also stands to benefit from this plan. The high-speed rail network would create both short-term and long-term employment for Michigan, which is dealing with the highest unem- ployment rate in the country. The state does not have an efficient and affordable public transportation system to speak of. This project would give it a much-need- ed boost in infrastructure by connecting parts of the state to Detroit, and Detroit to other metropolitan counterparts in the Midwest. This creates greater connectivity between everyone who lives in Michigan, which will undoubtedly be helpful as the state inches toward economic revival. A reliable nationwide rail network would also ease the demand for air and road travel and decongest clogged airways and highways. And in doing so, it will make the United States cleaner and greener. The electric-powered trains would reduce dependence on vehicles that burn harm- ful fossil fuels. Reducing the number of cars on the road and planes in the air could decrease both air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. While the plan has its critics, high-speed rail networks like the French TGV and the Japanese Shinkansen have been suc- cessful, and there is no reason why such a model can't be replicated in the United States. This is a sound investment, from an economic as well as an environmental standpoint. It's an investment we need to make to get our state and our country back on track. A fter University representa- funds - known informally as the "B", and employees as' tives walked out of an Apr. "C" and "Super C" funds -to cover the What really ma 1 meeting that was meant to other classifications of faculty raises, the University's p settle the nine- like getting promoted from assistant is that Frumkin so month-long dispute professor to associate professor. about lesson play with the Lecturers' Obviously,the relative sizes of these LEO held a full-I Employee Organi- funds will vary from year to year. Apr. 6 and 7. Tha zation over a dis- But over the last four years, accord- feelings all arount crepancy with this ing to internal University documents long list of grieva year's lecturer sal- obtained by LEO and the Michigan have traditionally ary raises, it's clear Daily (University officials and LEO job security, lackc that the grievance seek arbitration to settle dispute over pay. will only be settled pay raises, 04/02/2009), the size of the by outside arbitra- PATRICK A fund has steadily shrunk from 62 tion. What is also O'MAHEN percent of the pool to less than 38 per- clear is that even if cent while the combined C and Super W hy 1 the University wins C funds have grown from 20 percent in arbitrationthe actions of high-level to 41 percent. should r administrators have been shortsight- This appears to be an ongoing effort ed. Their vindictiveness and incompe- by the administration to shortchange cheat its e tence has further poisoned an already lecturers. Even as the pool for faculty long-strained relationship between raises roughly doubled from $1.98 mil- lecturers and the University, which lion in 2006 to $3.64 million in 2009, will result in not only more acrimoni- the average lecturer raise has lan- So what have w ous contract talks next year with LEO guished below 15 percent for the same LEO members but also during the 2010-11 school time period, the threat of actior year with the Graduate Employees' Last Friday, I asked Director of versity back to th Organization. (Full disclosure: I am Academic Human Resources Jeffrey because adminis the former communications chair for Frumkin if the University had been grievances serio GEO, and a current member.) . ready to offer a monetary settlement tantly, since ad On Mar. 12, the University denied to.LEO on the raise issue. been abusing the, a grievance filed by LEO, prompting He told me, "Let's put it this way limit pay, they'll oj a union-organized teach-in on Mar. - it would have been inappropriate year seeking to sc 31 and Apr. t in which lecturers would to come to a meeting without a settle- ary article. That, spend 10 minutes of their class dis- ment offer." tions onerous, to s cussing the issue. But the University didn't let him remember that sim In response, the University threat- offer it. After having received one ern raises in the4 ened to file an unfair labor prac- complaint from a prospective student the-University -V tice complaint if LEO went through about a lecturer who conducted the 2011 GEO-Univers with the action. Then, on Mar. 30, it teach-in hearing-that LEO had called tentious as well. offered to meet and discuss the issue it off, someone from a "higher level," . So congratulati on Apr. 1. as Frumkin put it, instructed him to in trying to make At its core, the salary dispute cancel the meeting. have yet again sho between LEO and the administration To translate, someone in the Pro- on labor relations is over the distribution of money for vost's office, to which Frumkin aches do you hav faculty raises. In practice, raises for reports, decided to call off negotia- you learn that it lecturers at Ann Arbor are tied to the tions. with your organi increase of the "A" fund, which is a Apparently,theUniversitytakesthe tryingto cheat the general pool of money that LSA uses to opinipns of prospective students quite provide merit-based increases for fac- seriously. I just wish it would listen to - Pa ulty members. The college uses other the opinions of its current students reached at p KENT HOFFMANV Innovation during crisis well. kes the sincerity of ontification suspect aid no one told him n deviations when fledged teach-in on t leaves us with ill d - on top of a long, nces that lecturers y had about lack of of respect and lousy the 'U' not try to employees. elearned? learned that only m will force theUni e bargaining table, trators don't take usly. More impor- dministrators have current contract to pen bargaining next rap the current sal- will make negotia- ay the least. Finally, nilar provisions gov- GEO contract with which will make the sity talks more con- ons, administration, a quick buck. You t yourself in the foot s. How many head- e to endure before costs less to work zed employees than em? trick O'Mahen can be omahen@umich.edu. 4 EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS: Nina Amilineni, Emad Ansari, Emily Barton, Elise Baun, Harun Buljina, Ben Caleca, Satyajeet Deshmukh, Brian Flaherty, Emmarie Huetteman, Emma Jeszke, Sutha K Kanagasingam, Shannon Kellman, Jeremy Levy, Erika Mayer, Edward McPhee, Matthew Shutler, Neil Tambe, Radhika Upadhyaya, Rachel Van Gilder, Laura Veith LETT ERS T SEND LETTERS TO: TOTHEDAILY@UMICH.EDU Basketball QB would be a terrible choiceforMichigan so much as taken a snap in four years and that he knows nothing about our offensive system He's Duke's point guard! No self-respecting Michigan football fan wants to root for him. In fact, we would rather he transferred to one TO THE DAILY: of our opponents I and thousands of like-minded alumni say the opportunity no, no, a thousand times no to the idea of Greg sion. Paulus playing quarterback at my beloved university. Has Rich Rodriguez truly lost his Patrick Gilhool mind? Never mind the fact that Paulus hasn't Alum so that our defensive line has to pound him into submis- 4 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 tothedoily@umich.edu. JASON MAHAKIAN E-MAIL JASON AT MAHAKIAJ@UMICH.EDU Goe s D 1 101 scm -oes tvse I Br )' STo zAP NordEsTHA T Arr-aR5. ye IrINL mA(55I ret-Nc ANP isv vO' s00 P .CT bF0 YoUR. cae i 6r a .AvLYWAr j l~- ar rr WW T Ff5.P ~KwAhP 1a, IT ur' 1nunuau LU A L 5 H E E5ALHF YVEF< ° EAL The other day, I bought a copy of the magazine Foreign Policy at the local Borders and read the cover article on the "Axis of Upheaval."After finishingit,Ewantedto armmyself immediately, buy enough food for at least 40years and con- struct a nuclear silo 20,000 leagues under the sea. World destruction seemed imminent. Then, I decided maybe the world's fate wasn't so dire - maybe Foreign Policy was just publishedby over-anxious war hawks. SoI picked up a copy of the magazine Foreign Affairs and read about Russia's rapid destabilization and anticipated battles in the Indian Ocean over sea control with burgeoning Indian and Chinese. naval fleets. At this point, I stopped reading and turned on the televi- sion. CNN was showing pictures of a glacier in Antarctica falling into the ocean as some really confused penguins stared on in disbelief.o I decided to take a nap. Between economic catastrophe, international destabilization and climate change, there isn't much to be optimistic about these days. America finds itself in a precarious position, surround- ed by rising international powers as it negotiates a tricky financial crisis that has laid waste to the economy. But with every crisis comes opportunity, and I think that the Obama administration would do well to utilize this current melt- down to make some fundamental changes. No, I'm not advo- cating for universal health care, the nationalization of banks or redistributive wealth programs. But if the Obama admin- istration focused on using this crisis to spur investment for new alternative-energy research or to help redesign our infrastructure for a future without petrol, then America could prepare to take an active role in world leadership on combatingclimate change.. It's no secret that America hasn't been smitten with cli- mate change initiatives over the last two decades, declining to sign the Kyoto Protocol and emitting greenhouse gases at a rate greater than any other country except China. But with American businesses lining up outside the Congressio- nal gates looking for bailout money, the Obama administra- tion and Congress would have a perfect opportunity to help alter practices within large American companies. Normally, I'd be completely opposed to any government attempt at regulating big business beyond health and safety code. But in asymmetric economic conditions, when failed compa- nies need taxpayer money to continue operating, I have no qualms with tyingstipulations to bailout payments - stipu- lations thatcould require companies to devote a certain per- centage of the bailout money to alternative energy research before receiving Uncle Sam's check. The government is already encouraging private action through General Motors and Segway's new P.U.M.A. cre- ation. Part-Segway, part golf cart and part-rickshaw, the P.U.M.A. attracted much attention during its recent beta test in New York City. This was obviously an attempt by General Motors to garner some positive PR, since many Americans view the car manufacturer's troubles as a result of clue- less management and cringe at the idea of taxpayer money being used to help subsidize GM operations. But the idea of using crises to help encourage new and innovative ideas is very important. Given high barriers to entry for vehicle manufacturing and energy development, the private mar- ket would be unlikely to produce new and innovative ideas without substantial subsidies. A project like the P.U.M.A. or the Chevy Volt could require large government investment to bring to market. Using the bailout money as a means of enticing change in America's large companies would create an opportunity for new projects that could help prepare our infrastructure for the future. To solve the climate change issue with any efficacy beyond mere political rhetoric or pieces of purely symbolic legislation, American private industry will have to fun- damentally change. Whether that innovation begins with companies like GM spurred on by stipulations tied to bailout money or, perhaps more likely, with small entrepreneur- ial start-ups focused on fuel-cell or bio-mass energy is not important. What matters is that our government realizes that no solution to the climate change issues will come from congressional legislation, cap-and-trade systems or Al Gore documentaries. Any real solution to the climate change issue needs to disseminate directly from private industry, and this crisis is a perfect opportunity to begin that transformation. Kent Hoffman is an LSA freshman.