4A - Monday, November 15, 2010 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.conI 4A - Monday, November15, 2010 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycorv Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 tothedaily@umich.edu SIMON BORST E-MAILSIMONAT SIMKAL@UMICH.EDI THE' tj :r rHU2 USA JACOB SMILOVITZ EDITOR IN CHIEF RACHEL VAN GILDER EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR MATT AARONSON 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. High-rises, high prices Students need more affordable housing options a nn Arbor living appears to be one of the only things immune to the economic downfall. The number of high-rise apart- ments in Ann Arbor has been climbing in recent years. Lux- ury apartments 4 Eleven Lofts and Zaragon Place are already in use and the construction of Zaragon II is underway. Another high-rise is slated to take the place of Village Corner and neighboring vacant buildings by fall 2012. These buildings offer a central location and many amenities. But this convenience often comes at a steep price. Developers should cater to the desires and needs of students, all the while making sure to keep pricing relatively affordable. Time to cap-and-trade Finley I I After more than 40 years at the same South University location, Village Corner closed its doors on Nov. 6 to make room for a new tenant, according to a Nov. 8 Daily article. Owner Dick Sheer sold his lease to real estate developer Ron Hughs, who plans to transform the space into a new student luxury high-rise by the fall of 2012. The high-rise, called 601 Forest, will be 14 stories high and will feature an under- ground parking lot, a fitness center and landscaped terrace, according to a June 22 AnnArbor.com article. Construction on another high-rise apartment building, Zaragon 00 recently began on the corner of E. William Street and Thompson Street. Zaragon II will also reach 14 stories. In theory, high-rises are the best way to build. As a city's population grows, offi- cials have two options: They can build up or out. Because apartments expand verti- cally rather than horizontally, they take up less land and allow for more green space then expanding the area of the city. Addi- tionally, because of high-rises' central location, residents often don't need acar to drive to class. If students are driving less often, they are helping to reduce the cam- pus coninunity's carbon footprint. But these high-rises, though more envi- ronmentally friendly than the alternative urban sprawl, aren't giving students what they really need: affordability. In Ann Arbor's housing market, many students struggle to pay rent. Students need reason- ably-priced housing close to campus, not state-of-the-art electronics and applianc- es that these luxury apartments provide. Developers should focus on giving students housing that everyone can afford. Some of these new buildings offer stu- dents progressive lease policies, which are a great convenience for students who don't remain in Ann Arbor year-round. When dealing with off-campus housing, most stu- dents are faced with one only option - a 12-month lease. Inflexible terrms force rent- ers who can't live in the space year round to find a suitable sub-letter - which is often a difficult process - or to pay for space that they're unable to use. In some luxury high- rises, renters can sign a lease that suits their specific needs. Traditional student housing should follow this model and offer students more reasonable leases. The proliferation of high-rises in Ann Arbor is certainly welcome. But "high- rise" doesn't have to be a synonym for "high price." There is a market for hous- ing that falls in between overly luxurious and rundown, outdated homes. We need a middle ground. hy oh why can't we have a better press corps? I stole that line from economist and blogger Brad DeLong. But I was so enraged after reading Nolan Fin- ley's utterly worth- - less column in last Thursday's edi- _ tion of The Detroit News, DeLong's lament in response PATRICK to journalistic OMAHEN incompetence was the only reaction I could muster. Finley has a problem with the Environmental Protection Agency's plans to regulate carbon dioxide emissions. He suggests that the EPA's plans will bury coal plants under unnecessary regulations, which will then drive up consumer electric- ity prices by at least 25 percent. He claims to be baffled by the EPA's drive to regulate CO2 because coal plants have cut emissions by 80 percent over the last 30 years. Let's start with Finley's most dis- ingenuous claim: that coal plants have cut emissions by 80 percent over the last three decades. The problem is that Finley doesn't specify which type of emissions. It's true that coal-fired plants have dras- tically reduced certain types of emis- sions. According to current figures from the EPA, power plants generate about 73 percent of the sulfur dioxide emitted in the U.S. S02 is harmful to the human respiratory system and a major ingredient in acid rain. Since 1980, total SO2 emissions have been cut by 71 percent. Mercury emissions and particulates have also declined significantly. But Finley's column isn't about those pollutants - it's about carbon dioxide. Those emissions have been steadily rising over the past years, increasing about 13 percent between 1990 and 2008. EPA statistics con- sistently show that electrical power plants - most of which are coal-fired - account for the largest source of C02 emissions in the U.S. - and their share of total carbon emissions is growing. Why have sulfur dioxide levels decreased while carbon dioxide lev- els increased? It's because there are strict national regulations limit- ing sulfur dioxide output and none regarding carbon dioxide - yet. That's so simple I would think Finley could get it into his head. But Finley's sins extend beyond his dishonest bait-and-switch on emis- sions. He also displays ignorance regarding different types of regulation. For most of the column, he complains about a scheme of regulation called cap-and-trade, which he dismissively refers to as "cap-and-tax." He also complains about the pending EPA reg- ulations on carbon dioxide emissions. He seems to think that cap-and-trade and the pending regulations are the same thing. But they are actually quite distinct animals. Under the Clean Air Act of 1970, the EPA has traditionally regulated most pollutants under a scheme known as "new-source review." Under this sys- tem, existing sources of pollutants, like an old coal-fired power plant, are grandfathered into the system, while new plants are subject to strict review. The regulation has been used with considerable success, but it's eco- nomically inefficient and doesn't cut pollution as much as it could. Instead of building new cleaner plants, power companies tend to let the old unregu- lated ones wheeze on. Cap-and-trade is considerably more flexible. Instead of directly reg- ulating each source of pollution, the EPA sets an overall cap onthe amount of a pollutant that can be emitted. Then it either assigns or auctions off permits for each ton of pollutants. Businesses that end up emitting less pollution than their number of per- mits can sell them to companies who pollute above their allottment. The trading aspect is critical - it creates a free market in carbon which maxi- mizes pollution reduction while min imizing economic costs. Cap-and-trade has been used to manage sulfur dioxide successfull under the 1990 amendments to the Clean Air Act. By 2007, the program exceeded its reduction targets and has allowed the United States east of the Mississippi River to start recov- ering from the affects of acid rain. And the program only cost 25 percent as much as the EPA estimated, while electricity prices remained constant between 1995 and 2007. So much for Finley's insinuation that regulation jacks up power rates. Detroit News writer should have done his research. Finley claims that we're "losing the fight" against cap and trade - but a national cap-and-trade plan died in the Senate in August. What Finley is actually railing against are less effective direct regulations. Cap- and-trade would have been more effective from both an environmental and an economic standpoint - but it was blocked by the same Republicans who Finley exhorts as champions of common-sense policies. Finley may be an experienced col- umnist, but this time he makes some major errors that could have been remedied by a few hours of research into the mechanism of how environ- mental regulati*on really works. Read- ers rely on the news to provide them with accurate information about pub- lic policy. When Finley misinterprets simple facts, he fails to do his job. He's certainlyentitled tohisownopinionon environmental regulations, buthe's not entitled to his own facts. - Patrick O'Mahen cacbe reached at pomahen@umich.edu. I TEDDY PAPESI The cost of concussions LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Readers are encouraged to submit letters to the editor. Letters should be fewer than 300 words and must include the writer's full name and University affiliation. All submissions become property of the Daily. We do not print anonymous letters. Send letters to tothedaily@umich.edu. i I'm frorn New York, but the Wolverines have always been a part of my family. I watched osany football games growing up and managed to get to the 1998 Rose Bowl with my grandma and grandpa, who are both University alumni, to see Michigan beat Washington State. I'm sharing my personal history to qualify the difficulty that I face in urging football fans to stop supporting the sport. No other game com- bines physical ability and strategy like football, but along with the excitement comes the injuries - and we can't ignore the injuries any longer. Te prevalence of brain damage in foot- ball players is becoming more acknowledged. In a 2009 study, the University's Institute for Social Research reported on the incidence of injuries among football players. It found that memory problems (i.e., dementia, Alzheimer's disease or other memory-related diseases) were 19 times more prevalent among NFL play- ers betsween the ages of 30 and 49 than all U.S. men in the same age range. Similarly, in men aged .0s and older, the study found that mem- ory problems were three times greater in NFL players than the average U.S man. it seened for a little while that changes to tackling rules and additional penalties for illegal hits could help prevent brain injuries assong college and NFL players. The real- ity we're seeing is that even after safety mea- sures are put in place, football continues to be dangerous. Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Austin Collie suffered one of the most recent injuries. He was rendered unconscious after an Eagle's safety collided with the back of his head. Additionally, according to the Detroit Free Press, our very own Denard Robinson had to leave this year's game against Illinois game because ie was experiencing headaches and dizziness due to an unknown injury. Robissson's symptoms weren't even the result of a heavy or egregious hit. Michigan coach Itich Rodriguez told the Free Press that neither Robinson nor Rodriguez were aware of the specific hit that caused Robinson's disori- entation, which brings up an issue that compli- cates the matter of head injuries even further. COtsCUssiosns and head injuries aren't always the result of a big hit. A high frequency of small injuries can lead to concussions. In an Oct. 19 article in The New Yorker, Malcolm Gladwell interviewed the head of the Sports Concussion Research Program at the University of North Carolina. The research program produced results that showed that cumulative exposure to contact with the head can also lead to con- cussions. Thus, the minor changes to rules - like penalties for helmet-to-helmet collisions - fail to remove the danger of injury. Coming to terms with injuries that result from football provides the fans with two courses of action: force football to change or continue to support a dangerous sport. Part of a free society is allowing people to participate in activities that are bad for them. That doesn't mean, however, that we have to endorse these activities. Smoking cigarettes is legal, but that doesn't mean we should support it. Ultimate Fighting Championship is legal and it should be, but that doesn't mean we should support it. The question is whether football will change or remain an abusive sport. If it doesn't change, fans will have to come to terms with the fact that they're supporting an activity that is det- rimental to the people they cheer for. The other option for football fans is to decrease support until the sport becomes less dangerous. Football is a business. And like any business, if its activities are pulling in a lot of money, it will continue those activities. The only thing that can get football to change is a statement by the consumers of the sport. We can't leave it up to the football indus- try to protect our classmates and professional players. We, the football fans, are the driving force that supports a dangerous environment for athletes. We need to force the sport to change and the only way to do this is to remove our support, especially our financial contri- butions. We need to act on our disapproval of football's preponderance of injuries. We need to write letters to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, University Athletic Director David Brandon and University President Mary Sue Coleman. Most importantly, we need to stop buying tickets to games. Teddy Papes is an LSA junior. Thirty-one classes later Editor'sNote: This colunmn is thefirstpart of a two-part series in which the colum- nist reflects upon his experiences at the University. Keep an eye out for part two, which isscheduled to run on Nov. 29. stare at my computer, contem- plating the past three-and-a-half years. The window and door are both open, so a draft of cool air rushes in, carrying fresh oxygen - a catalyst for brain activity. It was only 31 classes ago that I was making the trip to Ann Arbor, carrying the essen- tials necessary to live. I was away from home for the TOMMASO first time. Only PAVONE 31 classes? I must have taken at least 60 exams during my time here. Putting it this way, my college career seems like an eternity. And yet it flew by so fast that there was no time to embed the experience of exams into memory. All I know is that I passionately dislike them. So,Ibegintoponderwhichmoments in time carried an emotional energy strong enough to make the clock stop for a moment, to warp the space-time of my perceptions, thus becoming a distinct memory? Suddenly, images begin to emerge, like comic book vignettes, their combined narrative distinctly disjointed. I begin to realize that there isn't a single lesson or theme that encompasses my past experience. In the words of Italian author Cesare Pavese, "We do not remember days; we remember moments." ETERNAL DAMNATION A few weeks ago, I took the time to observe the religious extremists that gather at the corner of State Street and North University Avenue on football Saturdays as they listed the reasons why everyone was doomed to eternal damnation unless they changed their ways. The group is composed of four or five individuals who rotate between handing out flie-s and screaming their diatribe. Passersby have learned to ignore the crazy old men,butoccasion- ally someone momentarily stops and observes them, as if staring at gorillas delousing each other at the zoo. Something catches my eye - a sign that one of the men is holding, which claims that "whisperers" are among the sinners doomed to receive God's wrath. Suddenly, my mind is trans- ported to my childhood. My mom used to tell me to be respectfully quiet and to whisper when we went to the movie theater. In hindsight, I should have retorted by shouting, "But I will face eternal damnation if I do as you say, mommy!" Amused by this image, I return to reading the sign. "Well, I'll be damned!" I exclaim, the irony of the statement blowing completely over my head. "Disobeyers of parents," apparently, are also doomed to eter- nal damnation. THE YOUNG PROFESSOR Flashing back six months, I find myself in an economics class at 10 in the morning. This wasn't the class I had wanted to take - my preferred class had been cancelled due to a pro- fessor's illness. Then the professor enters. I'm immediately captivated by his audac- ity and energy. I also notice that he's visibly nervous - has he not taught a class before? It wouldn't be surprising, given his apparentyouth. A month later, I'm convinced that this class is the best I've taken. I feel bombarded with knowledge and new insights, courtesy of the young profes- sor's unyielding wit and humor. Two weeks before the conclusion of class, a friend of mine remarks that theprofessorlooks unwell. Indeed, the professor is sweating profusely and his humor is increasingly infrequent. Then, one day, the young professor interrupts his lecture to show us pic- tures of his young children. The pause is brief and I make nothing of it. The experiences that have defined my time at the'U.' The day of the exam, the young professor doesn't show up to class. My classmates and I are intensely worried. Two weeks later, I receive an e-mail from the professor, thanking everyone in the class and apologizing for runningoutof energy towards the end of the semester. "Thankfully, he's recovered," I conclude. Then, one seemingly random sum- mer day, Ireceive an e-mail. It's direct- ed to all students in the economics class I had taken with the young pro- fessor. "Sad news," the e-mail reads. For a whole week, I cannot shake away my sense of loss. I now realize that, outside of my grandmother's and grandfather's deaths when I was very young, I had never experienced the death of someone close. Now that Ican rationalize it, I come to the conclusion that, in this case, rationality does noth- ing but make the experience worse. WAKINGUP A gust of wind blows through the window and my daydreams come to an abrupt end. I ask myself why I always seem to recall the sad memo- ries first. Given that my years at the University have been the happiest of my life, I decide it's only fair to also revisit the happier moments. EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS: Aida Ali, Jordan Birnholtz, Will Butler, Eaghan Davis, Michelle DeWitt, Ashley Griesshammer, Will Grundler, Jeremy Levy, Erika Mayer, Harsha Nahata, Emily Orley, Teddy Papes, Harsha Panduranga, Tommaso Pavone, Leah Potkin, Roger Sauerhaft, Asa Smith, Laura Veith - Tommaso Pavone can be reached at tpavone@umich.edu. 4