The Michigan Daily - michiaandailv.com
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Edited and managed by students at
the University of Michigan since 1890.
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Ann Arbor, MI 48109
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MICHELLE DEWITT
STEPHANIE STEINBERG and EMILY ORLEY NICK SPAR
EDITOR IN CHIEF EDITORIAL PAGE EDITORS 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.
Imran Syed is the public editor. He can be reached at publiceditor@michigandaily.com.
'OMTHE LDALY
Protect consenting adults
Sex with of-age students isn't a criminal offense
Sexual relationships between high school students and their
teachers are inappropriate, but they are legal in Michigan if
the student is 18 or older. A proposed bill would make such
relationships a criminal sexual offense, regardless of the student's
age. The bill is the type of government interference in the lives of
Michigan adults that wastes taxpayer time and money and should be
voted down immediately.
Michigan's age of consent is 16. But if 2006 for having sex with an 18-year-old male
the partner is in a position of power, which student. Both consented to the act, but because
includes doctors and teachers, the age is raised the male was a student, the teacher faced
to 18 years old. The current law protects minors charges but ultimately was not indicted by the
from advances from teachers; while also allow- jury.
ing adults to make their own decisions. Bringingforward charges of criminal sexual
This proposed bill violates the individual assault is an extremely serious matter and to
rights of Michigan adults. The government equate this to a consensual, sexual encounter
should in no way be involved in the sexual between two adults is absurd. Additionally,
encounters between consenting adults. Rela- prosecuting these types of cases is costly for
tionships between an adult teacher and a minor the state. Charging someone with sexual mis-
student must be investigated by the school dis- conduct in a consenting relationship is an inap-
trict because of the disruption to the school propriateuse ofthe state's money and resources
environment they cause. But relationships and something Michigan must avoid.
between adult teachers and adult students With a staggering 11 percent unemployment
should not be considered a criminal sexual rate in Michigan, it is shameful that Congress
offense. is wasting time discussing this bill. While
There should undoubtedly be systems to many conservative legislators campaigned on
deal with such issues, but these should origi- the premise of concern for Michigan's econo-
nate from the school and not the state's legal my, these types of bills do nothing but cost the
system. Teachers should not have sex with statemoneyitdoesnothave. If Republican Gov.
their students, regardless of their age. But ifa Rick Snyder wants to affirm his commitmentlto
teacher enters into a consensual sexual rela- prioritizing Michigan's economy, he needs to
tionship with a student over age 18, the issue veto this invasive bill.
should be handled within the school district, Teachers should not have sex with their
and notbe punished as a criminal offense. students, but a sexual assault charge for acon-
In 2003, Texas adopted a law similar to sensual sexual relationship between adults is
Michigan's proposed bill. Under the law a unnecessary. The current law is sufficient, and
25-year-old female teacher was arrested in this bill should not be signed into law.
EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS:
Aida Ali, Michelle DeWitt, Ashley Griesshammer, Nirbhay Jain, Patrick Maillet,
Erika Mayer, Harsha Nahata, Emily Orley, Teddy Papes, Timothy Rabb,
Vanessa Rychlinski, Caroline Sims, Seth Soderborg, Andrew Weiner
BRITTANY SMITH | V IN
Obama's wins and losses
FROM THE PUBLIC EDITOR I
Institutional voice
T o complete a discussion
that began in my previous
column, I begin with a fact
that often surprises readers: The
unsigned editorials printed on this
page do not always represent the
opinions of The Michigan Daily's
editorial board or editorial page
editor(s).
Every paper has unsigned edi-
torials, which are discussed and
drafted by its editorial board and
printed and backed by the edito-
rial page editor(s) and perhaps the
paper's publisher. They are under-
stood to be the opinion of the paper
as an institution, and they define
the public perception of the paper
more than anything else.
For example, while The Wall
Street Journal has some of the
most comprehensive, visionary
and creative news reporting and
coverage of any newspaper in
the world, it's regarded in liberal
circles as a useless puppet of the
Republican Party. That's because
it has the most notoriously con-
servative institutional voice of any
major newspaper in America, as
reflected in its editorials.
A similar quandary afflicts The
New York Times. Ignoring its
intrepid reporting the world over
and its unmatched literary and
arts commentary, conservatives
routinely pan the Times as a lib-
eral rag because of its editorials.
It's not fair that any newspaper as
a whole should be vilified (or, for
that matter, beloved) simply based
on what its editorials say, but that
is the reality for the Journal and
the Times.
And it's the reality for papers in
all corners of the country. Cities
such as Chicago (with the Chica-
go Tribune and the Chicago Sun-
Times), Washington D.C. (with
The Washington Post and The
Washington Times) and Detroit
(with the Detroit Free Press and
The Detroit News) all have their
"liberal paper" and their "con-
servative paper." Regardless of
the quality of those newspapers'
sports, news and arts coverage and
commentary, many readers choose
to read only the paper whose insti-
tutional voice reflects their own
opinions.
One of the best examples of that
reality may have come from right
here in Ann Arbor. This liberal
bubble had one daily newspaper
- The Ann Arbor News - and,
judging by its editorials, it was a
"conservative paper." The Ann
Arbor News actually endorsed
George W. Bush in 2004. Five
years later, the newspaper folded.
(With its departure after 174years,
Ann Arbor became the first signifi-
cant American city to lose its only
daily newspaper.)
And that brings us back to the
Daily - which, incidentally, is
the closest thing Ann Arbor has
to a daily newspaper these days.
While the foregoing discussion
has shown that institutional voice
matters, it's a special challenge at
the Daily. Its editorials officially
reflect all that this paper has seen,
done and said in its more than 122
years of existence. But that official
ideal is mostly a fantasy.
Unlike all those other papers, a
college paper like the Daily loses a
significant chunk of its staff every
year, and brings in brand new
replacements, who have everything
yet to learn. This reality has drastic
consequences for the paper's insti-
tutional voice. The Daily has no
editor or publisher who remains in
the newsroom for more than a few
years. Everyone who learns what
this paper is and should be about
leaves shortly after gaining that
special understanding.
And so this paper has a policy
of looking to its past opinions and
drawing on "Daily precedent" for
current editorials. It's an imperfect
process, not only because those
engaging in the exercise are inex-
perienced, but also because Daily
precedent is itself somewhat nebu-
lous and imprecise. Most of what the
editors regard today as the Daily's
institutional voice was created dur-
ing the student revolutionary days
of the 1960s and during a somewhat
turbulent time for this paper in the
late 1980s. All that came before and
after is de-emphasized inthe "Daily
precedent" equation.
None of this should be taken to
mean that Daily precedent is unim-
portant. Institutional voice is obvi-
ously a great asset and the closest
thing to a legacy that a newspaper
can have. The challenge for Daily
editorial board members and the
editors is to ensure they cultivate,
refine and strengthen that insti-
tutional voice. To those few Daily
staffers charged with the respon-
sibility of maintaining this paper's
institutional voice, I stress the
seriousness of this task and the
importance of putting in all the
time and effort it takes to ensure
a sharp, informed and meaningful
advocacy of the issues that matter
to this institution.
Regardless of its massive annual
staff turnover, this paper has built
up a reputation as a champion of
students and anunflinching believ-
er in the greatness of the Universi-
ty, this state and in sensible liberal
causes everywhere. That is "Daily
precedent" in a nutshell: It's what
being an idealistic college student
at a state university is all about.
-The public editor is an independent
critic of the Daily, and neither the editorial
board nor the editor in chief exercise
control over the contents of his columns.
The opinions expressed do not necessarily
constitute the opinionof the Daily.
Imran Syed can be reached at
publiceditor@michigandaily.com
4
JEFF ZUSCHHLAGEE-MAIL JEFFAT JEFFDZ@UMICH.EDU
Midterm Study Strategies
#1: The Planner #2: The "Friend in Need" #3: The Creative Writing Major
and then I'l st200AM What? Oh, yeah, I had a
to 3:30AM Uh, yeah, could you, uh, midterm once.
When do you help me on chapters 10-65?
plan to eat That would be great. That
To what, now? and sleep? would be just great. I'll It was weird.
be your best friend forever.
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KEVIN BUNKLEY I
Alumni Association is failing you
4,
a
President Barack Obama's scorecard for
the first two years of his presidency is an
unbalanced combination of wins and losses.
Considering the promises he made, his prog-
ress hasn't been satisfactory, largely because
of the many political hurdles he has con-
fronted.
Obama is "winning" by keeping his prom-
ise to monitor the financial services industry
as well as his promise regarding health care.
Because Obama was able to get the majority
vote of Congress, he could sign a bill into law
that gives 32 million uninsured Americans
access to health care and expands Medicaid
- a current government health insurance pro-
gram.
While it is understandable that Obama's
relationship with Wall Street is strained
because of the controversial bailout and
stimulus package, the pledge that he made
during his campaign to give tax cuts for all
Americans - except those who fall into the
top 5 percent of the income bracket - has
gone unfulfilled. Obviously, Obama believes
that this tax cut extension for all but the
wealthy could help stimulate the United
States economy.
As is the case with much of the socially
progressive legislation Obama wants to pass
in the House, he is receiving a lot of pushback
from fiscally conservative Republicans and
Democrats who want tax cuts for everyone,
including those within the top 5 percent. The
consequence of such debate is the suggestion
by House Republicans for either decreased
funding or no funding for social programs like
the Labour Relations Board, Planned Parent-
hood and Obama's recent Race to the Top Edu-
cation Initiative.
An issue all Americans seemed to have
agreed upon was the assassination of terror-
ist Osama bin Laden. However, there is little
bipartisan agreement on whether the recent
assassination of Yemeni-American cleric
Anwar al-Awlaki was justified. The contro-
versy surrounding the approved killing of al-
Awlaki stems from his American citizenship,
his suspected affiliation with a terrorist group
and, most importantly, the premise of the
Fifth Amendment.
The Fifth Amendment is significant in this
debate because it states that no American can
"be deprived of life, liberty, or property, with-
out due process of law." The amendment pro-
tects al-Awlaki as an American citizen. The
fact that Obama has not made a public state-
ment that acknowledges his authorization of
the execution speaks to his struggle to recon-
cile the same debate with the American public.
During the 2008 campaign, Obama's plat-
form included his promise to withdraw U.S.
troops from Iraq within 16 months of taking
office. Obama also made an effort to distin-
guish himself from his opponent, Sen. John
McCain (R-Ariz.), by communicating his dis-
dain for the surge - a strategy that McCain
was fond of pursuing. The stance Obama took
during the 2008 campaign regarding the war
on terror is a stark contrastto his advances for
the surge once in office. While he announced
last week a withdrawal of all troops from Iraq
by the end of December, Obama's platform on
war strategy was too ambitious during the
time of the 2008 election.
Though some U.S. citizens are expecting
Obama to acknowledge his inability to follow
through on his deadline, some U.S. citizens
might have been satisfied to hear him at least
acknowledge that his promise has not been
kept. U.S. citizens have observed that prog-
ress isn't being made on this issue, but some
believe his losses have been offset with the
reversal of the military's "don't ask, don't
tell" policy.
The nation is split with people who under-
stand the issues that Obama must resolve
- such as those he inherited from the Bush
administration - and those who do not.
Obama's supporters are beginning to real-
ize that his presidency is indeed unprecedent-
ed, but is in no way as glorious as they had
anticipated. Perhaps his wins and losses in the
past 34 months speak loudly of how his oppor-
tunities for improvement and proof of achieve-
ment are characteristic of a historical moment
this country finds itself in: A time with a social
and political economy that reacts very strong-
ly to a tightened purse.
Brittany Smith is an [SA senior.
The often repeated phrase among the University
of Michigan family is that a Michigan degree opens
doors. That still holds true even in these difficult eco-
nomic times, but a message to all current and future
alumni: Your Alumni Association is failing you.
Hear me out. In the big city where I live, there are
thousands of Michigan alumni. I see maize-and-blue
shirts all the time. But do all of those people know
about the existence of the rest of us and that we
might need jobs? In my experiences, the answer is an
overwhelming no. The local alumni chapters are ill
equipped to handle the volume of new graduates that
move to their cities each year. It's almost a microcosm
of the employment situation for all college graduates,
not just the alumni coming out of Ann Arbor. Most
studies about unemployed college graduate figures peg
the number at 7 percent nationwide, which is alot bet-
ter than youth unemployment as a whole right now.
After speaking to a few of the officers of my city's
club, my fears that we are mostly on our own have been
confirmed more than once. Yes, they use technology to
connect alumni in a certain city, but when I question
them why I can't access the Facebook page, I get an
electronic blank stare. When I suggest an e-mail list-
serv to easily identify open jobs at companies run by
alumni, no one knows what that is. InCircle, the asso-
ciation's main networking tool, is filled with outdated
information and lists of irrelevant companies that are
so thin you can see through them.
Recently, I contacted four different people at orga-
nizations I applied for a job at. All of them wrote back
to say they hadn't worked there for years (though one
at least offered to still help in any way he could). The
few networking events that are held each year have an
entrance fee on top of other expenses incurred while
doing the activity, which I get, but it's not exactly easy
for someone who can't find a job to leak money just to
get into the door when there's no guarantee of the real
payoff - a lead on a job.
This is not the same as feeling shut out or ignored
because all alumni I have encountered are beyond help-
ful. It's just unfortunate that there is no way for all of us
to reach one another when we need help the most, and
the University Alumni Association is at the forefront of
the list of places that have become complacent. To bor-
row part of an overused phrase from our football coach,
this is Michigan, and the Alumni Association can do bet-
ter than this.
Even if we are a bit on our own, don't give up. I
haven't. I carry business cards around with me for
those times when I see a matching Michigan T-shirt
in a bar or at an office. Our degrees may not open the
same doors as they used to, but they open doors none-
theless - sometimes when we least expect it. Just be
aware that those degrees entitle us to more than we
may be receiving from the University itself.
Kevin Bunkley is an alum and former Daily opinion staffer.
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