4 - Tuesday, November 30, 2010
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
E-IAIL ELAINE AT EMORT@UMICH.EDU
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ELAINE MORTON
JACOB SMILOVITZ
EDITOR IN CHIEF
RACHEL VAN GILDER
EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR
MATT AARONSON
MANAGING EDITOR
Off-track transportation
I
I
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.
In sync with students
Campus should use new online writing resource
f he Sweetland Writing Center has always been a useful
resource for students. But a new Sweetland service may
increase the number of students who know and love the
center. At the beginning of the semester, Sweetland expanded its
online services to allow for more personal interaction between stu-
dents and peer tutors through a new branch of its Online Writing
Lab - OWL - called SyncOWL. This useful resource will allow
students to receive help remotely, interactively and at their conve-
nience. Sweetland should continue to improve its online services.
At the same time, students should take advantage of the resources
offered to them.
The purpose of SyncOWL is to help stu-
dents receive peer tutoring on their writ-
ingvia web conferences. The program uses
Google Docs so students and tutors are
able to view the student's work at the same
time and communicate via text, audio or
video. SyncOWL incorporates an interac-
tive element into the online tutoring ses-
sion. In a Nov. 23 Daily article, Anne Gere,
director of the Sweetland Writing Center,
described SyncOWL as a part of a series of
efforts to integrate media and writing.
Sweetland helps students understand
assignments and develop their ideas coher-
ently in essays and other kinds of writing.
Peer tutors provide students another set of
eyes that can help students catch mistakes
or focus their ideas better. This can be
especially beneficial to younger students
who are nervous about approaching pro-
fessors and new to the demands of college-
level writing. The current OWL system
extended the low-stress interaction that
students got at the writing center to the
ease of the Internet.
But the OWL - as easy and useful as
:it is - didn't allow any personal interac-
tion between student and tutor. Respons-
es were limited to a list of comments and
notes on a PDF, which restricted the back-
and-forth that often makes tutoring most
valuable. SnycOWL will add that conver-
sation to the convenience that students get
with the OWL.
One of the greatest things about SyncO-
WL is that it's easy to use. Any University
student with a Google account - which
anyone can sign up for free of charge -
can get help editing an essay from the peer
tutors at Sweetland through SyncOWL.
And SyncOWL was cheap, too. The system
was easy to implement and doesn't require
upkeep from the University's IT Services
because it's run on Google Docs, which is
maintained by Google.
But SyncOWL shouldn't be a standalone
achievement. Rather, it should mark the
beginning of further additions that build
upon existing resources to help students
get assistance on individual assignments
and learn how to improve their writing over
time. Sweetland and other University pro-
grams should continue to make a variety of
online resources available to students.
SyncOWL is an efficient and cost-effec-
tive academic service that makes it pos-
sible for students to get help with their
writing wherever they have access to the
Internet. But unless students actually use
SyncOWL, it won't reach its full potential.
Students should log on to the site and take
advantage of the resource.
ver Thanksgiving, I drove Obama stimulus package contained
to Milwaukee. I had a great funds to ease bottlenecks on the Wol-
weekend, except for all the verine line and improve signaling.
driving I had to Soon, it will be able to travel at 110
do - or rather I mph instead of its current 79, which
should say, all the will make it even more competitive.
sitting in traffic. Finally, it's not like driving always
Last Wednes- gets you there on time - as the two-
day, as I sat fum- hour traffic jam in downtown Chi-
ing on the Dan cago last Wednesday demonstrated.
Ryan Expressway So why isn't there a passenger rail
in Chicago, which,] service to Madison?
had cleverly been Two Wisconsin politicians,
disguised as a PATRICK Democrat Herb Kohl and Republi-
16-lane parking can Tommy Thompson, have been
lot,Ipondered why pushing strenuously for it since the
we can't seem to mid-1990s. This year, passenger rail
muster the politi- seemed to become a reality with the
cal will to develop decent passenger promise of an $810-million federal
rail transportation in this country. grant from the stimulus. The grant
Frankly, it's an embarrassment. would have started service from Mil-
When I visit my sister in Milwau- waukee to Madison by 2013.
kee, I usually take Amtrak. The prob- Then, Wisconsin Governor-elect
lem this time was that I also wanted Scott Walker said he didn't want
to go to Madison, which is home to the money. He reasoned the state
two dear friends from college, their couldn't afford the annual $7.5 mil-
new baby boy and beer in the Uni- lion in operating costs, despite state
versity of Wisconsin student union - officials saying the federal govern-
but there is no passenger rail service ment could pick up 90 percent of that
from Milwaukee to Madison. cost. That would leave the state with
Traveling to Milwaukee on Amtrak annual operating costs of $750,000,
costs me about $160 round trip. That according to a Nov. 21 story in the
sounds like a lot of money. But trav- Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.
eling by car isn't free either. I spent Let's see: Walker wants to turn
about $90 on gas and $15 in tolls get- down an $810-million federal grant
ting from Ann Arbor to Milwaukee and nearly $7 million in annual fed-
and home again. And I drive a com- eral funds because his state can't
pact car that gets about 30 mpg. afford a mere $750,000 in annual
Gasoline isn't the only cost of car subsidies. That sounds crazy - dou-
travel, however. While I'm driving, I bly so because $750,000 represents
can't nap, grade papers or write a col- only about .05 percent of the state's
umn - all of which I have done while 2010 general fund revenues of $13.2
taking Amtrak's Wolverine line from billion. It's not like there's a lot of
Ann Arbor to Chicago. savings to be had by canceling the
The Wolverine is often delayed. program.
But that's because freight trains Apparently Walker dislikes the idea
have the right-of-way on Michigan's that any public subsidiesgo to freeload-
tracks. The Hiawatha passenger rail ers like me who want to ride a train.
service from Chicago to Milwaukee But drivers get subsidies too. On
runs on tracks owned by Amtrak, so my trip from Ann Arbor to Madison,
it never has to wait for freight traffic I only paid about $15 in tolls - none
to pass and is always on time. But the of which were paid in Wisconsin and
Michigan. Yet, it costs a lot of money
to repair the highways, maintain sig-
nage and pay the state police to patrol
the roads. That money comes primar-
ily from taxpayers - not tolls.
Why should drivers get subsidized
when train passengers don't? Why
should I have to pay for every penny
of the cost of my rail ticket when we
don't tell drivers to personally pay for
the snowplows that clear I-94 every
winter?
Railway systems
in the U.S. are an
embarrassment.
Finally, investing in railways cre-
ates jobs. According the Journal-
Sentinel, the rail-car manufacturer
Talgo recently opened a facility that
employs 125 workers in Milwaukee.
If the Madison rail project dries up,
Talgo has said it would consider mov-
ing its plant. That's probably not what
Wisconsin voters wanted when they
put Walker in office to create jobs.
Perhaps Walker will reverse his
poor decision, but if he doesn't, hope-
fully Michigan Governor-elect and
chief nerd Rick Snyder will learn
from Walker's mistakes. Lesson one
is do no harm: put the federal grants
Michigan has already gotten to good
use by developing infrastructure.
And second, if Walker insists on
throwing away Wisconsin's money,
grab as much of it as you can. More
improvements to the Wolverine line
and other Michigan rail travel would
be quite welcome in this state - as
would a company like Talgo moving
to a depressed area in Detroit.
- Patrick O'Mahen can be
reached at pomahen@umich.edu.
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Thank you, whistle-blowers
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 MICHELLE DEWITT AT DEWITTM@UMICH.EDU FOR MORE INFORMATION.
LAURA VEITH I
Teenage texting
When I returned home for Thanksgiving
break this year, I decided to work at a specialty
store that I had been employed at throughout
high school and during portions of the summer.
I figured with the holiday shopping season just
beginning, my former employer might need an
extra hand - even if it's only for two days.
As I started to ring up a costumer during one
of my shifts, I couldn't help but notice that she
was texting on her cell phone. Usually this action
wouldn't bother me, but I grew more frustrated
with the situation as the customer spent our
entire interaction texting. While I think texting
at a register is an incredibly rude gesture by itself,
the most startling aspect of this interaction was
that this costumer appeared to be roughly 14 or
15 years old. Maybe I'm having a memory lapse,
but I can't remember being as obsessed with tex-
ting when I was her age.
This encounter made me reflect on my
personal experience with texting and also
reminded me of a CNN article I read earlier
this semester that summarized a study on
cell phone usage as well as text message prac-
tices among different age groups. The October
2010 study by The Nielsen Company analyzed
roughly 60,000 individual cell phone bills
as well as survey results from 3,000 teens
throughout April, May and June. The results
noted that text messaging has been increasing
rapidly - specifically among teenagers. Indi-
viduals ages 13- to 17-years old are reported to
be sending or receiving approximately 3,339
text messages each month. Nielsen noted that
this is an 8-percent increase in the age group
from last year. Comparatively, Nielsen found
that 18- to 24-year-olds send or receive approx-
imately 1,630 texts per month.
If those findings weren't startling enough,
Nielsen also noted, "all of this texting activity
has come at the expense of voice." In Nielsen's
study and analysis, it found that "voice activ-
ity has decreased 14 percent among teens." The
study also discovered that there were many rea-
sons for the trend toward texting, including 22
percent of teens who find texting easier and 20
percent of teen respondents who found texting
to be faster than a traditional phone call. The
CNN article remarked that the findings from
this study imply that "texting is a more impor-
tant means of communication than ever."
While these numbers are certainly astound-
ing, my initial reaction was an overwhelming
feeling of fear. How is it possible for teenagers
to maintain relationships and build their inter-
personal skills if they are fixated on text mes-
sages? The findings from the Nielsen study left
me wondering whether teenagers might suffer
in the long run due to their apparent obses-
sion with texting. And based on this appalling
amount of text messages, I think it's possible
that there might be larger consequences for
teenagers. If teenagers are constantly voicing
their thoughts, feelings and opinions through,
text messages, aren't they losing, or failing to
strengthen, their abilities to communicate over
the telephone - or even worse, in face-to-face
situations? Though it may seem obvious, the
ability to communicate well over the telephone
is an important skill to have. With this increas-
ing reliance on texting, I fear teenagers may be
losing this ability.
There are also some concerns about spelling -
if students are always relying on abbreviations of
words, then does their traditional spelling deteri-
orate? That's an important skill, too, and a poten-
tial consequence that can't be ignored.
Of course, this is my opinion about the poten-
tial consequences oftexting, but this result seems
plausible. My reaction may be rash and extreme,
but I can't help but be worried about this becom-
ing a future dilemma.
Even though I am ina different age group and
grew up at a time when texting wasn't as preva-
lent, I know I'm no better than these teenagers.
I rely on texting as a form of communication,
too - but I didn't send and receive more than
3,000 texts when I was 13 years old. I don't know
if there is a solution to the growing trend of text
messaging among teenagers. I believe, based on
this evidence, that it may continue to grow in
the future. But I do think parents need to make
sure their children aren't failing to focus on their
verbal and interpersonal communication skills,
because not everything in their futures will be
communicated through T9 Word.
Laura Veith is a senior editorial page editor.
So much for avoiding the use of
Thanksgiving cliches in my
column. As I write this, the
world is buzzing
after more than
250,000 United'
States government
diplomatic cables
were leaked to -
select news organi-
zations that subse-
quently published
the documents on
the Internet. And ALEX
though some have BILES
scrutinized this act
of whistle blowing, -
I truly couldn't be
more thankful.
In a world of ever-increasing gov-
ernment secrecy and control, a grow-
ing market for transparency and
accountability has emerged. Nowhere
is this more visible than the release of
classified information by the whistle-
blowing organization WikiLeaks.
Since the beginning of the year, the
group has been releasing critical
information hidden from the Ameri-
can public. These documents contain
information ranging from cover-ups
of friendly fire casualties in Afghani-
stan to the U.S. government's failure
to investigate hundreds of reports of
torture and rape by Iraqi police and
soldiers.
The most recent disclosure by
WikiLeaks highlights the fears of
Israel and Saudi Arabia regarding
Iran's nuclear program. According to
leaked diplomatic cables, King Abdul-
lah of Saudi Arabia has urged the
U.S. to attack Iran to halt any further
advances of Iran's nuclear program.
Whether you support an attack on
Iran or are highly critical of military
cover-ups isn't the main issue here.
The fact is that this information is
significant, and concealing these
developments from civilians violates
the public interest of the world at
large. The disclosures I mentioned
above are a fraction of the cover-ups,
corruption, failed policies and wastes
of taxpayer money that WikiLeaks
has revealed to the world in recent
months. As Simon Jenkins of The
Guardian puts it, "if that's not in the
public's interest, I fail to see what is."
In anticipation of the organiza-
tion's expose, WikiLeaks maintained
high standards of professionalism
working closely with the Spanish
news outlet El Pais, Le Monde out of
France, Speigel out of Germany, The
Guardian out of Britain and The New
York Times - five of the world's top
media outlets.
The Guardian notes that meticu-
lous processes were carried out to
ensure that the leaks "could not be
party to putting the lives of individu-
als or sources at risk, nor reveal mate-
rial that might compromise ongoing
military operations or the location of
special forces." Governments across
the globe will probably condemn the
disclosures - buj they're wrong to
press for the prosecution of whistle-
blowers like WikiLeaks front man
Julian Assange.
WikiLeaks isn't alone in their self-
described mission to "open govern-
ments." Closer to home, Michigan
votes - a project sponsored by the
Mackinac Center for Public Policy -
has a similar mission. Through the
use of a searchable online database,
Michigan Votes grants users online
access to "concise, plain language and
objective descriptions of every single
bill, amendment, and vote that takes
place in the Michigan legislature."
An invaluable resource, Michi-
gan Votes allows citizens across the
state a previously unforeseen level
of accessibility to government infor-
mation. Before, explanations for the
dozens of votes and the allocation of
millions in taxpayer dollars that can
take place on a daily basis were dif-
ficult for the common person to find.
Today, a few clicks of a mouse can
give Michiganders the opportunity
to hold their public servants account-
able for their actions.
There is also University alum and
U.S. House Representative-elect Jus-
tin Amash, whose campaign I worked
for this summer. Currently a Michi-
gan state representative, Amash is
the first legislator in the country to
post every single vote that he makes
on Facebook for the entire world to
see in real-time. Dedicating himself
to enhancing government transpar-
ency, he provides a summary of each
bill and justification for his votes.
Besides holding himself account-
able as a public servant, Amash's
Facebook page is a crash course for
anyone interested in the extensive
and often frivolous spending of pub-
lic funds that occurs in Lansing.
Fortunately, the trend toward trans-
parency is a hit. Amash's Facebook
page had a couple thousand fans at
the beginning of the year. Today, it
features more than 15,200 followers
from around the country.
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WikiLeaks reveals
what should be
public knowledge. *
My hope is that the trend toward
enhanced transparency continues.
As fellow Michigan Daily columnist
. Imran Syed noted in a recent piece,
"neither of the two groups that are
supposed to look out for the people
- government and the press - are
doing their jobs" (Judging Wayne
County, 11/22/2010). In an era when
the institutions that we are supposed
to trust have deteriorated, we should
welcome with open arms alterna-
tives to the traditional press - which
has failed to serve as a check on an
increasingly subversive government.
To the true journalists, transparen-
cy devotees and whistleblowers out
there, thank you.
- Alex Biles can be reached
at jabiles@umich.edu.
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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, Harsha Panduranga, Teddy Papes, Tommaso Pavone, Leah Potkin,
Roger Sauerhatt, Asa Smith, Julian Toles, Laura Veith, Andrew Weiner