4A - Thursday, December 10, 2009 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com * [ e Atic4*oan + Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 tothedaily@umich.edu ROBERT SOAVE COURTNEY RATKOWIAK EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR MANAGING EDITOR 91 Groups that wish to engage in discrimination should not expect public subsidies:' - Rev. Barry W. Lynn, supporting the Hastings Colle'ge of the Law's refusal to recognize a Christian student group that excludes homosexuals and nonbelievers, as reported yesterday by The New York Times. GARY GRACA EDITOR IN CHIEF 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. MSA's group work Assembly's constitutional revision process needs openness ast month, the Central Student Judiciary ruled, with considerable irony, that the Michigan Student Assembly's attempts to amend its constitution were unconstitutional. This was due to the fact that constitutional convention delegates were appointed rather than elected by the student body, a clear violation of the rules for amending the constitution. Though MSA leaders are now pursuing another method of rewriting its consti- tution, many of the same concerns still exist - namely, that the process is too exclusive. They should actively involve students in the process to rewrite its constitution, and students should join the effort. ADRIAN CHOY I E-MAIL ADRIAN AT AWCHOY@UMICH.EDU A very Jewish Christmas There are several different ways that MSA can revise its constitution. At the start of the semester, MSA leaders had formed a constitutional convention whose delegates were picked by President Abhishek Mahanti from a pool of inter- ested applicants. But now that CSJ has disbanded the convention on the grounds that these appointments are unconstitu- tional, MSA leaders are using a different method. Former members of the conven- tion have formed a student group - Stu- dents for Progressive Governance. If the group garners 1,000 signatures from stu- dents., its proposals will be put up for a campus-wide vote. The problem is that this student group doesn't appear to be much different from the constitutional convention. It consists of about 20 members from the original convention, including MSA leaders like Vice President Mike Rorro, Student Gen- eral Counsel Jim Brusstar and Rules and Elections Committee Chair Michael Ben- son. But more concerning, membership in the student group is only available to students who are nominated by a cur- rent member and approved by a majority of group members. While that might be good enough to survive CSJ scrutiny, it shouldn't be good enough for the group. After all, the constitution mandates a student-wide election rather than appoint- ments for delegate positions for a reason. Students for Progressive Governance is a body with a considerable amount of power to impact students' lives. Keeping a strong hold over who can join this student group is all too similar to appointing convention del- egates. In both cases, MSA leaders have too much control over which students partici- pate in the constitutional revision process. While deficient student interest in MSA is a problem - with student turnout at only about 9 percent in the recent elec- tion - it's unlikely to be improved by a constitutional revision process in which you have to know someone in the group to get in. If there are passionate students out there interested in reforming campus gov- ernment, such an approval process won't encourage them to be active. All students should be able to join the group without undergoing a nominating and approval process. In addition to discouraging interested students, restricting the group's mem- bership will only give credence to argu- ments that assembly leaders don't tolerate dissent. By opening up the group to any interested student, MSA leaders can dem- onstrate that they don't want any views to be excluded. SSch a policy could only benefit the group, and by extension, MSA leaders. Despite its shortcomings, MSA has the power to weigh in on important Univer- sity issues on behalf of students. If stu- dents want MSA to be making the right calls - and for administrators to listen - they need to show more interest in the assembly by voting in its elections and participating in groups like Students for Progressive Governance. But the process has to be more accessible for students to care. ach December, it seems that some of my acquaintances still struggle with wishing me well for the holidays. True to form, they get out the first syl- lable of "merry" before correcting themselves with a "Happy Hanuk- -4 kah" or "Happy Holidays" upon remembering MATTHEW that I'm Jewish. That's thought- GREEN ful, but not entirely nec- essary. Some Jews may resent what they see as a Christian tradition being pushed on them, but I think they're just kind of missing the point. I am delighted when someone cheerily wishes me a "Merry Christmas," and I don't con- sider it an assault against my Jewish- ness. At any rate, it's fairly well estab- lished that Christmas is effectively a national holiday in this country. For Christian faithful, this can under- standably be a point of frustration. To put it into terms I can compre- hend more readily, if Jewish boys and girls suddenly forgot the meaning of the high holidays and associated them with revelry, sweets and mate- rial gain, no small number of bub- bies would be up in arms about it. It's worth pointing out that there's still a lot of importance in the liturgical Christmas for many Christian Ameri- cans. But whether it's due to Frosty the Snowman or Ulysses S. Grant's 1870 decision to make Dec.25 a federal hol- iday, Americans from a variety of reli- gious backgrounds are happy to hang stockings and decorate trees. There- fore, if one can accept that Christmas is increasingly becoming a secular holiday in the U.S., I would argue that it's possibly the most Jewish of Ameri- can holidays, or at least one in which Jews should feel comfortable taking some small part. Aside from the fact that Christmas commemorates the birth of history's most famous Jewish boy, Jews have been contributing to Yuletide tradi- tion ever since 1840, when German- Jewish composer Felix Mendelssohn wrote the song that would become "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing." It's undeniable that from "White Christ- mas" to "Sleigh Ride" and scores of other favorites, the works of Jewish composers make up an enormous per- centage of carols. And at that, some of the most iconic seasonal recordings have been by Jewish artists like Bar- bra Streisand, Mel Torme, Kenny G and Harry Connick, Jr. Members of the Tribe have fur- thermore helped write, act, produce and direct innumerable Christmas films. And insofar as department stores have had ajhand in developing the modern conception of Christmas, the historical connection between Jews and retail has, therefore, even further influenced the holiday. It's partly this understanding of how my people have helped to add magic to the Christmas tradition that has kept me at peace with the holi- day's December dominance. Yet, tak- ing a step back, what further fills me with warmth is the symbolic mean- ing behind any and all Jewish contri- butions to the American Christmas tradition. Only in America could countless members of a historically persecuted religious minority enrich the traditions of a holiday at least rooted in the religion of that group's past oppressors. I don't groan if somebody says, "Merry Christmas." As a Jew, it may intrigue me to find' out that "Silver Bells" was composed by one of my own. But any prideI feel from hearing that fact comes mainly from the knowledge that I live in a society in which that sort of religious symbiosis is all around me. And it is with that pride that I have come to love the Christmas season. I'm not saying that Jews should trade their menorahs for evergreens and ornaments or even assimilate in the smallest way into the main- stream.I, for one, will probablyspend December 25th in a Chinese res- taurant somewhere with my family. But I refuse to feel ashamed for my love of Christmastime, and I believe other American Jews should embrace the jolly spirit of the holiday as well. Christmas, so I've been told, is a time for peace, goodwill and togetherness, in addition to the requisite food and presents. And as far as Ican tell, Jews love all of those things, too. - Matthew Green can be reached at greenmat@umich.eda. EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS: Nina Amilineni, Emad Ansari, Emily Barton, Jamie Block, Will Butler, Ben Caleca, Nicholas Clift, Michelle DeWitt, Brian Flaherty, Emma Jeszke, Raghu Kainkaryam, Erika Mayer, Edward McPhee, Harsha Panduranga, Ales Schiff, Asa Smith, Brittany Smith, Radhika Upadhyaya, Rachel Van Gilder, Laura Veith SEND LETTERS TO: TOTHEDAILY@UMICH.EDU .inaret ban an obvious case ,It isn't reasonable to see this ban as anything but repressing a minority group. What if it of reigious discrimination went another way and Christian churches were targeted? Churches have bells, and bells make a lot of noise - would you ban the bell tower To the Daily: or steeples? If churches have bells couldn't a Danny Fries's response to another letter to municipality just simply regulate the time in the editor about Switzerland's recent vote to which they may be used? Steeples and bells are ban minarets had some important facts incor- not an integral part of a church, but they are rect in his defense of the ban (Arguments part of a traditional architecture. The same against minaret ban oversimplified the issue, is true for minarets and mosques. If you can't 12/02/2009). He claims that these minarets honestly support banning bells or steeples would have been equipped with loudspeakers from churches, how can you support banning to broadcast the call to pray. Of the four mina- minarets? rets in Switzerland, none of them have speak- We should recognize discrimination ers, so none of them are being used as what when we see it and denounce it as such. Fries Fries calls "a platform for public announce- attempts to defend this discrimination as the ment." result of a healthy democracy. Simply put, just Yet even claiming that the purpose of this because a majority of people support discrimi- ban was to prevent a supposed public nuisance nating against a religion, race or lifestyle does is not true in itself. This wasn't a ban against not mean that the laws they vote for are just. loudspeakers - it was against minarets. You Democracy requires protections for minori- could have loudspeakers without minarets and ties, The Swiss constitution has the protections minarets without loudspeakers. This was a ban built in, and hopefully the Supreme Court of on a piece of traditional Islamic architecture. Switzerland will overturn this discriminatory Even if this was about noise, the issue of noise law. complaints is hardly one for a national referen- dum. Should Switzerland have a national vote Mike Sayre on loud car stereos or noisy parties? LSA senior A2 arts can afford less funding ow that they're done sending inappropriate emails during meetings, it looks like Ann Arbor City Coun- cil has finally gotten around to doing something useful. Accord- ing to AnnArbor. com, the council approved prelimi- nary changes to the Percent for Art Program that JAMIE would require BLOCK only half a percent of the funds des- ignated for city developments and infrastructure be set aside for.public art, as opposed to the full one percent the program is currently given. In a time when millions of dollars in budget cuts are necessary in Ann Arbor, this is a great step, and possibly even not going far enough. (And if an arts edi- tor is saying this, you know it must be true.) The public art fund will stand at a hefty $1.5 million at the end of the fiscal year, as it has been accu- mulating for some time. Surely this is enough money to last the city for a while. Protesters of the program change claim that now there won't be enough money for public art. But if we've already let it accumulate this much without spending enough to counter its growth, then there's not an urgent need to keep it expanding at the current rate. One percent of the development budget has clearly been more than enough. Many arts enthusiasts vehemently argue that if cuts are to be made, they must be made elsewhere. But Ann Arbor Mayor John Hieftje is already proposing a three-percent pay cut for all city employees, so art is not the only part of budget from which bits and pieces are being chipped away. But on a more pragmatic level, there just isn't a need for more public art in Ann Arbor. We live in a town that's pretty artsy as it is - the city bike racks even say "art" on them. Slowing development of future pub- lic art projects is a risk we can afford to take when compared to the idea of skimping on city infrastructure and density development. Plus, it doesn't seem like we're anywhere near using up the public art budget we already have. So good work, council, but maybe you haven't gone far enough. With that hefty wad of cash already set aside for beautifying our streets, why not just put a hold on the Per- cent for Art Program altogether? We don't need more art right now. Those who claim the city will lose its repu- tation as an artsy town neglect the fact that first you need to actually have a functioning city with bridges that don't collapse and buildings that aren't falling apart. Once the bud- get is back on track and Ann Arbor's infrastructure is repaired, we can reconsider the art program. But until then, it's a finicky thing to fuss over. Perhaps part of the problem is that the art projects the Council inves- tigates are often absurd - and so are their price tags. City Council is considering spending $850,000 on a German artist's concept for what looks like, in all fairness, a short col- umn on a wet ramp near some trees. At least support a local artist if you're going to commission a weird project like this, and find one willing to do it for a much lower price tag. If the city is goingto spend so much money on a single, unexciting art piece, it's no wonder people are saying the $1.5 million isn't enough. The way we're spending the money, it really won't be enough. But the way we're spend- ing it is also just plain dumb. Infrastructure, job retention higher priorities right now. But there is a right way to spend money on the arts, even in this economy, and it can be seen in my hometown of Washington, D.C. The National Endowment for the Arts distributes stimulus money to arts groups, and one of the criteria for acquiring money is to demonstrate that the failing economy had forced your organization to eliminate cer- tain job opportunities. According to a story in the The Washington Post, the program is working. Promoting arts institutions in a way that keeps people employed is the best of both worlds. We keep our reputation of being focused on the arts, and we keep our residents employed. Given the choice between funding arts programs so they can keep provid- ing jobs and erecting a wet, German pillar in front ofCity Hallwe should go with funding the programs. - Jamie Block is a senior arts editor. He can be reached at jamblock@umich.edu. 0 0 0 6 The Daily is looking for a diverse group of strong, informed, passionate writers to be columnists for the winter semester. Columnists write a 700-800 word column every other week on a topic of their choosing. If you are an opinionated and talented writer, consider applying. E-MAIL RACHEL VAN GILDER AT RACHELVG@UMICH.EDU FOR MORE INFORMATION. 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.