0 4A - Monday, October 25, 2010 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com E-MAIL SIMONAT SIMKAL( aUMICH.EDU (71C NC tgan i ailp Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 tothedaily@umich.edu SIMON BORST JACOB SMILOVITZ EDITOR IN CHIEF RACHEL VAN GILDER EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR MATT AARONSON MANAGING EDITOR ~ * , . . 0 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. A balancing act Detroit Public Schools must manage funds better or years, the Detroit Public School system has dealt with corruption in its school board, a multi-million dollar defi- cit and a dismal graduation rate. These days, DPS is scat- tered and inefficient. Detroit started construction of a new high school funded by a bond program last week. At the same time, following friction with the school board, Emergency Financial Manager Robert Bobb announced that he won't return for anoth- er school year with the district. The future is uncertain, but one thing is clear: the district needs an overhaul. DPS must properly manage its finances and balance its budget in order to tackle its academic problems. Failing to Consider 0 On Thursday, according to an Oct. 22 Detroit Free Press article, DPS broke ground on its new Mumford High School - a $50.3-million building funded by a bond program. According to the Free Press article, the new high school will feature new athletic fields, an eight-lane swim- ming pool and an auditorium that can seat 800. The day after the ground-breaking, Bobb announced that he won't return to Detroit for another school year, according to an Oct. 22 article in the Free Press. The new Mumford High School - one of three new Detroit high schools planned - should shape up to be a beautiful build- ing. Students and teachers need facilities that create an environment in which learn- ing is possible - environments that many schools in Detroit currently lack. Students deserve schools in which they feel com- fortable, safe and able to learn. Teachers, of course, will also be attracted to districts with nicer facilities. But DPS must remember that it must also keep up its facilities - old and new. And with DPS's deficit sitting at $332 mil- lion, it's not clear where the district will find the funds to maintain the buildings and staff them with custodians, admin- istrators and office personnel. DPS must make sure that its new facilities don't fall into disrepair, or it will simply be giving Detroit residents more of the same. DPS's facilities aren't the only thing in need of update. Detroit students often don't have textbooks. They sometimes lack basic necessities like toilet paper, paper towel and light bulbs. Test scores have been poor. And less than 40 percent of Detroit students make it to graduation. But before DPS can tackle these defi- ciencies, it has to clean up its spending. Now that Bobb has chosen to leave DPS, the condition of the district's finances is uncertain. Things between Bobb and the DPS Board of Education have been tense. Bobb may have spent more time focusing on fixing academics than he did on balanc- ing the districts' budget. He has argued that the two go hand-in-hand. But Bobb increased the deficit by $100 million in a year. Whoever takes control of the city's finances after Bobb should be sure to focus on money, not academic reform. Unless the district can manage its money properly, it can't combat the problems stu- dents face. To increase its test scores and graduation rate, DPS must provide stu- dents with a learning environment that includes more than just eight-lane swim- ming pools: it must give them tools to suc- ceed academically. A s co-founder and president of the Michigan Political Union, find it hard to criticize any student organiza- tion whose mission statement closely resembles our own. Take Consider mag- azine, for example. According to its V official website, Consider magazine is a "non-partisan, non-profit publica- NOEL tion operated by students at the Uni- GORDON versity of Michi-_ gan." Its purpose is to "provide an open forum for discus- sion of significant issues of campus, community and national interest." Like MPU, Consider has a duty to pay close attention to the way it portrays certain issues and the people affected by them. But in the case of open hous- ing (formerly known as gender-neu- tral housing), I think that the "point counterpoint publication" - as it defines itself - failed to appropriately weigh the consequences of publishing its Oct. 6 edition. In March, the Gender Neutral Hous- ing Coalition conducted a survey that found 67 percent of the student body supports introducing what was then called a gender-neutral housing option at the University. But the issue I have with Consider has nothing to do with my stance on an open housing policy; it has everything to do with what I think was a lapse in judgment and foresight. In case you haven't seen it yet, Con- sider's Oct. 6 edition has a cartoon on its front cover that depicts a line of four bathroom stalls with closed doors. Seen from beneath the door of the first stall is a pair of boots, in the third is a pair of high-heels and in the fourth two pairs of sneakers. Hopefully, you noticed that I skipped the second stall. That's because coming out from under- neath the second stall is what looks like a fish or mermaid tail. Failing to find a caption anywhere on the page, or inside the magazine for that matter, I came to the conclusion that the image was meant to suggest that there is something strange, dif- ferent or perhaps other-worldly about people whose gender identity does not match their presumably biological sex. Why else would you draw a fish tail ina cartoon about open housing? In an effort to gain a better under- standing of the cartoon, I contacted Rose Jaffe, the cartoonist responsible for the cover. Jaffe is also a cartoonist for The Michigan Daily. Jaffe said that such a depiction was not her intention at all. She claims that her cartoon was supposed to conveythat "the bathroom is typically a place that we think of as being separated," explaining that open housing would be "more inclusive and welcoming of all types of people." "It's not meant to imply that there is something freakish about transgen- dered students," Jaffe added. She went on to say that she is an "open person and accepts everyone." From the 30-minute conversation I had with Jaffe, I have no reason to think she's lying. After all, she was more than willing to answer all my questions directly and candidly. But Jaffe's carton was certainly not inter- preted that way by many students on campus, myself included. Take for example Anya Nona. Even though she wrote the counterpoint for the open housing edition, Nona conceded dur- ing our conversation that "after look- ing at it, I think the illustration is a little offensive. I can see why you're writing an opinion piece on it." In striving to be provocative and thought-provoking, I think Consider unintentionally crossed over the line into offensive. Now of course some people may disagree with me. Others may think that this is a case of politi- cal correctness gone awry. But the fact of the matter remains that if such an offense could have been avoided, it should have been. Zachary Berlin, Consider's edi- tor in chief, said that the cover was meant to "challenge pre-conceived notions about sexuality. We (Consid- er) have been around for two decades. We want to get people talking." But in an effort to "get people talking" and play a polarizing hand," Berlin and his staff inadvertently created a car- toon that might have caused a queer person to feel uncomfortable and insecure about his or her gender iden- tity and expression. Human sexuality can be an extremely sensitive issue for some people. As such, it should have been treated with a bit more tact than some of Consider's previous top- ics, which range from pornography to Internet privacy. Consider should have thought about impact of cartoon. Moreover, the campus publica- tion should have done a better job of fact-checking Nona's counterpoint. All of the arguments in her piece stemmed from a factually inaccurate assumption. Nona insinuated that an open housing policy, if adopted by the University, would force students who didn't express interest in the program into an uncomfortable situ- ation. But this simply isn't true. Uni- versity Housing has explicitly stated that such a policy would be opt-in only. In response to this issue, Berlin stressed that Nona does not represent the views of Consider magazine and is not a member of its staff. Ultimately, I think Consider is a fine publication. I genuinely believe that it plays an important role in stir- ring much needed discussion on our campus. But as the Spiderman clich6 goes, with great power comes great responsibility. - Noel Gordon can be reached at noelaug@umich.edu. EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS: Aida Ali, Jordan Birnholtz, Adrianna Bojrab, Will Butler, Eaghan Davis, Michelle DeWitt, Ashley Griesshammer, Will Grundler, Jeremy Levy, Erika Mayer, Harsha Nahata, Emily Orley, Harsha Panduranga, Tommaso Pavone, Leah Potkin, Asa Smith, Laura Veith ADAM DE ANGELI Vote for accountability Far from foregone For all the gnashing of teeth in the media over Tea Party upset candidates like Delaware's Christine O'Donnell and New York's Carl Pala- dino, you never hear much about the establish- ment Republicans they beat: Mike Castle and Rick Lazio. Both were viewed by the Tea Party movement as unacceptable candidates because of their support for the 2008 bank bailouts by the federal government. And when Bob Ben- nett, the incumbent Senator from Utah, was defeated in his party's primary, representatives of the Tea Party then, too, asserted it was for his support for the bailouts. Say what you will of the Tea Party - it knows how to clean house. Voters said that they would rather take a boor like Carl Paladino over a bank- ster toad like Rick Lazio. The push against bank bailouts stands in stark contrast to that other popular movement, the anti-war movement against the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. The left-dominated anti- war movement dissipated into the sad slogan, "Anybody But Bush." While the Tea Party move- ment stuck to its guns and ignored cries that it was nominating the unelectable, anti-war orga- nizers took the pill: they must settle for candi- dates who"can win." Two years into the Democrat-controlled pres- idency, our foreign policy has notchanged. Presi- dent Barack Obama has reneged on promises of a military drawdown and increased transparency, restoration of civil liberties and an end to the abuse of executive power - the very things he was elected for. Why would that be? One politician, in an unusual fit of honesty, explained it.many years ago. Shortly after the tragedy at Columbine High School in 1999, Col- orado's Republican governor Bill Owens, who has earned the endorsement of the National Rifle Association, signed a major piece of gun control legislation. Asked by a reporter if he was afraid he may have alienated his voter base, Owens quipped: "What are they going to do, vote for the Democrat?" This is the attitude politicians take toward people whose votes they know they have. And there are a lot of voters who will always vote for their party's candidate, no matter the issues or the candidate. Politicians call this "the base- line vote." So now election day is around the corner. Will you be your party's "baseline vote"? Whether your representative is John Dingell or Mark Schauer, both Democrats voted for the bloated military budget and for the $106 billion war supplemental. Both also voted against audit- ing the Federal Reserve and instead to give it even more control over our economy. Can any of their votes be considered a reversal of Bush-era policies? Before you say the health care bill, remember that Bush signed the Medi- care prescription drug bill. He, too, increased government's role in medical care. Ultimately, politicians will never heed the demands of the people unless they are held accountable on election day. Our representatives in Congress are, if you consider their votes, pro- war. If you don'tsupportour foreignpolicy- and I should hope you don't - you must hold them accountable. Accountability is the last thing the political establishment wants, which is why they avoid the subject. Antiwar.com's Justin Raimondo identified three major reasons politicians aren't discussing foreign policy this year. First, typical politicians' cowardice assures them it's easier to say nothing. Second, pro-war Democrats don't want to alien- ate their anti-war base and pro-war Republicans have no dispute. And third, examination of our foreign policy would reveal painful facts about our domestic policy that would re-shape the political dialogue. That's why it's time to bring this into the political dialogue. It's time to face reality and do something about it. In fact, just before the election is precisely the right time. Election results teach the politicians to listen - or not. It's up to us. For this reason, Raimondo will be speak- ing at the Michigan League at 7 p.m. tonight to discuss the necessity of a bi-partisan anti-war coalition, determined to hold all politicians accountable for pro-war votes, regardless of party. The event is sponsored by Campaign For Liberty and College Libertarians. Information is at mic4l.com/antiwar/. Adam de Angeli is a University alum. ighlighting, as always, a side of the truth that serious news coverage could never grasp, The Onion recently posted an alarming news brief about the upcoming elec- tion on its website. In part, it read: "DemocratsZ stand to lose as many as 8,000 con- gressional seats and more than 917 IMRAN gubernatorial races in November's SYED midterm elections ... Republicans are poised to pick up 1,500 seats in Ohio alone, and could wind up with a 23,576- to-12 majority in the Senate..." If you've watched cable news recent- ly, then the sarcasm should hit home: Hardly a second goes by these days withoutyet another blabbering politico declaring the death of the Democratic Party. And from staggering poll deficits even in previously safe districts, a rhe- torical firefight that's been a lost cause since about April and the recently- exalted "enthusiasm gap," we can cer- tainly say that the Democrats are in for a tough one. But lost in all the alarmist non- sense about the permanent Republican takeover of the world is the individual candidates themselves. When Repub- licans take the majority in one or both houses of Congress, and in governor's offices and state legislatures across the country, who those individuals are will matter. At a time when Tea Party candidates continue to push the enve- lope for how crazy extreme a person can be and still get elected, we need to understand that not all Republicans (or Democrats) are the same. About two years ago, I wrote a col- umn about the particular Republican who represents my home district, Michigan's 11th (My McCotter mistake, 11/03/2008). Thaddeus McCotter is, by all relevant standards, as evil a failure as one could possibly imagine. Divisive, self-absorbed and bitterly vengeful toward pretty much any proposal that comes from the Left, Thaddeus has nonetheless been elected four times - and he'll win again this time. The time to defeat him was in the 2002 Republi- can primary, but that's also when most of us sensible people in the 11th district couldn't be bothered to care. Regardless of the ultimate fate of Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Russ Feingold (D-Wis) or Charlie Crist (I-Fla.), what happens right here in Michigan will matter, and those races are the ones we can actually affect. It's true that Republican gubernatorial can- didate Rick Snyder will cruise into office (even if his independent streak has already begun to fade), but lower- level races remain in play and voters had better look beyond the cable news political narrative to understand that much remains at stake. One especially important election is the race for the Michigan Supreme Court. Yes, it's silly that Michigan elects supposedly non-partisan judges who have been nominated by politi- cal parties, but let's get over that. The Michigan Supreme Court obviously plays a pivotal role in the state of the law in Michigan, but few people real- ize the widespread implications the court's rulings have. In the world of criminal justice, the court is currently considering measures that could slam the door on thousands of inmates, many of whom are innocent. The court's rulings also affect the state's business culture and economic outlook, making those seven justices key players in Michigan's road to recovery. There are two incumbents vying for reelection - Alton Davis (unof- ficially a Democratic nominee) and Robert Young (unofficially a Republi- can nominee) - and three challeng- ers, Denise Langford Morris (secret Democrat), Mary Beth Kelly (secret Republican) and independent Robert Roddis. While incumbents nearly always win reelection in judicial races, the 2008 election shook up that conven- tional logic. Unofficial Democrat Diane Hathaway challenged then- sitting Chief Justice Clifford Taylor (a Republican favorite) and soundly defeated him. The sweeping coattails of President Barack Obama clearly carried over to the "non-partisan" side of the ballot as well. Even local races can have big consequenes.* That the political atmosphere affects "non-partisan" races is thus undeniable. But voters must again consider their options thoroughly. I, for example, will vote for Davis and Kelly, which is an unconventional combination at first glance, but not so when we look beyond labels and consider the candidates personal records, ideals and convictions. Young and Kelly are both nominat- ed by the Republican Party but offer a stark contrast in terms of judicial out- look, personality and loyalty. Davis is nominated by the Democrats, but asa native of Michigan's upper peninsula, he offers plenty in terms of personal conviction and philosophy for Repub- licans to admire. With much of the electorate sitting * out the races they can't understand (i.e. the ones with no party affilia- tion), those few informed voters who do vote in all races can make a huge difference. Regardless of the eulogies being sung on cable news for Obama, Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and the Left in general, Michigan's political * and economic future remains very much undecided. And it's up to the informed few to set the course. - Inran Syed can be reached at galad@umich.edu.