4A - Wednesday, February 8, 2012 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 4A - Wednesday, February 8, 2012 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 tothedaily@michigandaily.com ASHLEY GRIESSHAMMER JOSEPH LICHTERMAN and ANDREW WEINER JOSH HEALY 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. Don't delay 'U' must seriously address lags in crime report ormer resident pediatrician at the University of Michigan Health Systems was found to possess child pornography. Reportsrevealed that UMHS waited nearly six months to report the incident to University Police. 2T QU TABLE Proposition 8 serves no purpose, and has no effect, other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians in California. -Judge Stephen Reinhardt wrote in the decision to overturn the ballot referendum that banned same-sex marrige in California. The Obama Bogeyman As the Republican presiden- tial nomination process gets increasingly nasty,you might start to hear com- plaints about one of the most time- honored tradi- tions in politics: spinning. No, I'm not talking about what you do when you hit the gym - although you might say Rick Santorum DAR-WEI CHEN In light of the recent scandals that shook other colleges including Penn State University and Syracuse University, it's imperative that the University report all incidents in a timely manner, as long as it does not hinder ongoing investigations. University officials must be extra vigilant when dealing with reports of this nature. Though the Department of Public Safe- ty doesn't have authority over UMHS security, some groups, like the Senate Advisory Com- mittee for University Affairs,,have suggested changing oversight rules. Lapse in procedure not only affects the community's safety of the community but also taints the overall goodwill that the University works to maintain. It's some consolation that University President Mary Sue Coleman called for an internal investigation to determine the cause of the delay. Two outside groups - the U.S. Department of Education and the Joint Com- mission - are also reviewing the incident. Clearly, the University is aware that such a delay in reporting exposes a faulty and outdated complaint system that warrants investigation. If the investigation reveals the complaint process was properly followed, the University must change the process to ensure the efficient reporting of crimes. It would be unfair to attribute this singular case to an institutional failure of DPS or UHMS, but the upmost care must be taken to ensure the well-being of the community. EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS: Aida Ali, Laura Argintar, Kaan Avdan, Ashley Griesshammer, Nirbhay Jain, Jesse Klein, Patrick Maillet, Erika Mayer, Harsha Nahata, Harsha Panduranga, Timothy Rabb, Adrienne Roberts, Vanessa Rychlinski, Sarah Skaluba, Seth Soderborg, Caroline Syms, Andrew Weiner DANIEL HOFFMANN I Empower entreprenuers is exhausting himself pedaling on a stationary bike. In politics, spinning is the art of cherry-picking facts and carefully phrasing ideas for maxi- mum political gain. When debating among them- selves, Republicans usually spin a lot about each other. However, when talking about President Barack Obama, they move to another tactic that's even slimier than spinning, which at least includes some fac- tual basis. The technical term for it is making stuff up. The goal in mak- ing stuff up is to scare voters from Obama. Now is where the bogeyman comes in. Remember when you were a little kid and your parents told you that if you didn't behave yourself, a monster or evil creature would deal with you? That scary imaginary thing is called a bogeyman. Bogeymen are created by parents to scare their children into doing particular things they don't want to do .such as cleaning their room or eatingvegetables. The particular thing Republicans want is support for GOP candidates. But since spinning Obama's record hasn't been enough for the electoral changes they want, the Republicans have started making stuff up to cre- ate the Obama Bogeyman. Bogeymen don't actually exist, but they can be quite effective if forced into the pub- lic conscience. Let's investigate the Obama Bogeyman using gun control as an example. One trait that all effective bogey- men share is the ability to strike fear in the hearts of people, and very few things are closer to the hearts of. conservative voters than their guns. GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich has exploited conserva- tive voters' fears of Obama coming for their guns, saying at a National Rifle Association meeting that "the Obama administration is the most consistently anti-gun administration and anti-Second Amendment admin- istration that we have ever seen." Except Obama hasn't been anti- gun at all. Even in the wake of the Gabrielle Giffords shooting last year, when he could have - at the very least - done something about extended ammunition clips, he didn't act. And that's when momentum for gun control during his presidency was probably highest. Another sign of the lack of legis- lated gun restrictions is the F grade Obama received from the Brady Campaign Against Gun Violence in 2010. Shouldn't an F from the Brady Campaign translate to an A from the Republicans? Some conservatives actually admit that Obama hasn't done anything to restrict gun usage. But Obama still can't win even when that happens because, like any good bogeyman, he's going to eventually get you. Last year, National Rifle Association _Vice President Wayne LaPierre said Obama's lack of gun regulations is "part of a massive Obama conspiracy to deceive voters and hide his true intentions to destroy the Second. Amendment," according to NRA reports. Can Obama win on this issue if that's how the gun-toting, conser- vative voting bloc thinks? Another issue that fires up conser- vatives is tax policy. To the GOP, high taxes are never good. Now check out these statistics: when President Ronald Reagan tried to bring the economy out of recession in 1983, tax revenues were 17.5 percent of GDP. In the Obama recovery, tax revenues are 14.9 percent of GDP. Further- more, Obama extended the massive Bush tax cuts in 2010 when they were abouttoexpire -look, it even has the name Bush in there! Republicans have started making stuff up. But reality doesn't matter for GOP talking points or for bogeymen. As long as the Republicans can scare people off with the Obama Bogey- man, whether or not he is actually raising taxes is immaterial to them. The same principle applies to his environmental or foreign policies, and even his religion and birthplace. My analyses here are to say noth- ingabout whether I support Obama's actions on these issues. Personally, I'd like to see him move more aggres- sively on gun control and raise taxes onthewealthiestamongus.Thepoint is that, in November, the Republican presidential candidate won't have to compete with President Obama. The nominee will instead run against the fact-free, imaginary Obama Bogey- man created by the GOP, making the candidate's job a little easier. Makes me wish for the days of old-fashioned spinning. - Dar-Wei Chen can be reached at chendwgumich.edu. Follow him on Twitter at @DWChen_MDaily 0 Facebook is going public. The scrappy lit- tle start-up born in a Harvard dorm room in 2004 is now estimated to be worth $100 bil- lion. In just eight years, the company has built a user base that is nearly three times the size of the population of the United States. Face- book is one of the world's most widely rec- ognized brands and has become a significant part of our social lexicon. Its success story is a tremendous source of inspiration for entre- preneurs all over the world wishing to launch their own ventures. Unfortunately, all the financial figures and Wall Street jargon surrounding coverage of Facebook's decision have shifted focus from, arguably, the most important chapter of the story: Facebook was started by students. Mark Zuckerberg and his friends turned their novel idea into a business that generated $3.71 bil- lion last year. The success stories of start-up companies like Facebook have inspired an entrepreneur- ial boom on college campuses. The University is a leader in providing resources and encour- agement to students looking to start their own ventures. The Center for Entrepreneurship offers a nine credit undergraduate certificate and a Master of Entrepreneurship program, which provides graduates with a joint degree in Engineering and Business. The Zell Lurie Institute in the Ross School of Business offers funding to students through its Dare to Dream and Venture Shaping grant programs. Univer- sity students even have access to office space and entrepreneurial mentors in the TechArb in downtown Ann Arbor. Providing students with the skills and resources to work on their own projects is crucial to creating a generation of innovators. Partnerships between the educational and entrepreneurial communities couldn't have come at a better time. With a flagging econ- omy and a need to find solutions to problems like energy security and sustainability, entre- preneurial ingenuity has never been more important. According to the U.S. Small Business Adiinistration - an organization that pro- vides governmental support to entrepre- neurs and small business owners -- small businesses employ about half of all workers in the United States. They also accounted for b5 percent of all net job creation between 1993 and 2009. Our economy thrives on the creativity and drive of small business owners and entrepreneurs. Many colleges and universities, includ- ing the University of Michigan, are tailoring programs toward the practical application of entrepreneurial skills. These programs are crucial and will prepare students to drive the economy forward in the coming decades. Encouraging students to develop their own ventures has turned campuses into a hot bed for the creation of new endeavors, Doug Neal, executive director of the Center for Entrepre- neurship said. "Entrepreneurship is quickly becoming part of the fabric of our culture at the Univer- sity of Michigan, and I'm very excited about how many students are activelyengaged in our educational programs, which offer a unique blend of entrepreneurial frameworks and theory combined with hands on application which yield tremendous results," Neal said. "We are very enthusiastic about the future of entrepreneurship at Michigan and looking forward to continuing to help students, fac- ulty, researchers and staff embrace the entre- preneurial mindset and identify ways to have an increasing impact on the world." Michigan students have plenty of ideas. In 2010, the 1000 Pitches Competition received more than 3,000 ideas for business ventures, unique inventions and non-profit organiza- tions. With the support of University resourc- es, one of these ideas has the potential to become the next Facebook, Google or Twitter. All colleges and universities should offer opportunities to students who wish to explore and experiment. Educating students to take risks and put their ideas to the test will pre- pare a generation of thinkers and doers prepared to face today's complex global chal- lenges. There's no better place to stimulate creativity and entrepreneurship than college campuses where students are thirsty to see their ideas become reality. If a few college students were able to completely change the way we communicate with each other, there's no telling what we can accomplish next. Daniel Hoffmann is an LSA sophomore and is enrolled in the Program for Entrepreneurship. CONTRIBUTE TO THE COVERSATION Readers are encouraged to submit letters to the editor and viewpoints. Letters should be fewer than 300 words while viewpoints should be less than 850 words. Both must include the writer's full name and University affiliation. Send submissions to tothedaily@michigandaily.com SHARIK BASHIR I ' WP 'NT Your9 hl is our 24 7 - I enjoy watching the Republican presidential debates. Though, I'm usually indifferent to the candidate's views. I'm not American - I'm from Pakistan. Still, I generally enjoy mocking the rhetoric and sound bites used by Republicans, something characteristic of election season campaign speeches. But the Jan. 16 GOP debate in South Carolina evoked a different emotion in me: hurt. It was former House Speaker Newt Gingrich that got to me. He was enthused as ever. When the topic of Pakistan came up, I became particularly alert to what he was saying. He alluded to the mission that killed Osama Bin Laden in Abbottabad last May and accused Pakistan of supporting the al-Qaeda leader. To put it mildly, Gingrich called Pakistan an enemy of the United States. As he spoke, loud cheers erupted from the debate's audience. His performance in the debate was bombastic. The cheers transferred to votes as Gingrich snatched South Carolina right out of Mitt Romney's grasp. But his view on Pakistan was painful to hear. It was ignorant to the massive sacrifices Pakistan has made as a country on the front line of the Wr on Terror, and was ungrateful for Pakistan's efforts. In Pakistan, the War on Ter- ror seems more like Pakistan's war than America's. Since 9/11, Pakistan has suffered much heavier losses than the United States as a result of the war. According to a Paki- stani security report last year, there were 10,003 deaths from violent incidents in 2010 and another 7,107 in 2011 alone. An advertisement by Pakistan in the Wall Street Journal on the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks read that 21,672 Pakistanis have lost their lives as a result of the war. The investment and losses faced by the U.S. pale in comparison to losses Pakistan has suffered. There is a common protest slogan in Pakistan, "Your 9/11 is our 24/7." I can attest to that. On Nov. 11,2010, I was watching television in the living room with my family. Sud- denly a shockwave swept through, rattling my house. My father fell off the sofa, ducking for cover. The doors were unhinged and blades of glass shot out from the shattering windows. A 1,000-kilogram bomb had exploded at a police center nearby. There was no surprise as to who the perpetrators were. What may come as a surprise to most people is the mood that pre- vailed in my home afterwards. It was apathy. This has become such a common occurrence. This is the ground reality in my home and country. We have become used to such incidents and are suffer- ing daily because of this war that, according to Gingrich, Pakistan isn't cooperating in. In an interview with CBS News, Pakistan's ambassador to the U.N., Abdullah Hussain Haroon, cited World Bank statistics claiming that Pakistan has spent $150 billion on this war. Even if you don't accept this number and the U.S.-given fig- ure is $20 billion. Haroon also said, "We have invested 50 to 60 years of the best periods of our life in (the U.S.) and today we are getting treat- ed like a pariah." This is true. Pakistan and the United States have been allies since Pakistan entered the realm of foreign policy. Pakistan was instrumental in fighting against the Soviet commu- nists in Afghanistan, and today it's a crucial partner of the United States against the Taliban forces on both sides of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. The Express Tribune, a Paki- stani newspaper, reported that more than 200,000 troops were deployed on the front line, and 90,000 Paki- stani troops are fighting across the border on the ground. Pakistan has dedicated many air bases inside its territory to the U.S. for launching drone attacks - attacks that some- times kill innocent civilians along with militants. In the words of Haroon, "you cannot solve Afghani- stan without Pakistan." I hope that next time before jumping to conclusions about where Pakistan's loyalties lie, people reconsider the statistics. Instead of alienating your allies, support us. We stand on the same side in this fight. I would encourage voters to make a wise decision when choos- ingthe best candidate for president. Choose a candidate who is not bel- ligerent. Pick someone who can appreciate the sacrifices of your allies, someone who can show some respect and empathize with those who suffer and fight for not only their own, but your safety too. Shank Bashir is an LSA freshman. 0 0