0 4A - Monday, April 2, 2012 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. 420 Maynard St. a 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. Unfair ident ificat ions SAT, ACT now require photo ID to take test eginning this fall, high-school students across the coun- try will be required to show photo identification in order to register to take the SAT or the ACT. TIME magazine reports that these photos will be printed on the students' admission tickets to testing locations and will be sent with students' scores to high schools and colleges. The testing services believe that the new photo requirement will help reduce the number of students that cheat on the tests. But the requirement does more harm than good. The new photo requirement adds another discriminatory aspect to an already unfair standardized testing system. FROM THE PUBLIC EDITOR I Abusive analysis 've noticed this happen quite often in The Michigan Daily, and in professional publica- tions too. There's probably an offi- cial term for it, but I didn't know it, so I made up my own a few years ago. It's very tempting for all jour- nalists - so easy to do and so easy to get away with. I call it "abusive analysis." And it has to stop. Every section of a newspaper is susceptible to abusive analysis. Yes, even the supposedly "just-the- facts" news section. But the con- cept requires explanation, so let's start there. Simply, abusive analy- sis is exactly what it sounds like: taking too much liberty with anal- ysis in journalism. It's most easily recognizable on the language level. when a story reads like it's "over- written," when simple, direct words are swapped for fancy ones until the point is lost in the pomp, that's classic abusive analysis. But it need not always be only in the language; the content itself is sometimes an example of abu- sive analysis. The choices the writer makes in the narrative, and sometimes, the story he chooses to write in the first place, can be abusive analysis. This one is harder to explain, but you know it when you see it. When the first sentence of a simple sports cover on a gym- nastics meet starts with a quote from Winston Churchill on leader- ship; or when an arts review of the movie "Fast Five" drops a flashy reference to Kracauer, you might say the writer is over-thinking and over-drafting the story, even if the language itself is clean and simple - abusive analysis. The roots of this concept lie, I think, in a phenomenon that new writers are unaware of. What new writers do notice in their first few weeks at the Daily is how much their stories are edited, reworked and rewritten by editors. It's dis- appointing and stressful, and in that understandable frustration, it's easy for new writers to miss out on that other phenomenon occur- ring concurrently: The writer who drafts the first version of the story - even if it ultimately gets rewrit- ten entirely - sets the pace, mood and theme of the story. That is a considerable power, and it's wield- ed by every writer, no matter how young or inexperienced. You see, regardless of how much editors might change the language and word choice, they are more limited in their ability to change the meat of the story. At the end of the day, it's the writer who was at the event, saw the performance or had the initial column idea. That core of the story that the writer puts into his or her work is going to be very difficult to change. But it's very easy for a writer to make that very core something it shouldn't be - abusive analysis. Writers can get away with a lot in their stories, and I think on some level, we all know that. Instead of stepping back and asking what needs to be said to tell this story, writers sometimes get locked into relating a particular narra- tive, whether it works or not. As they run out of things to say, they engage in literary gymnastics or pointless parallels and false com- parisons to fill out the story. Where the true relevant thoughts leave off and the abusive analysis begins is sometimes known only to the writ- er himself. And only the writer can really fight it. So what is the solution to this over-baked, false-orienting and annoying thing I call abusive anal- ysis? Time and effort. I know from my own experience that writers over-write and over-analyze to the point of disaster when they lack enough relevant, concrete mate- rial for the story. And that is almost always a result of not doing their homework, not picking up enough background knowledge, not focus- ing enough on the subject and thinking and planning before ever sitting down to write. And that is a fatal error. If you've made it this far into this column, then you might be tempted to say that parts of this column are arguably examples of abusive analysis. Mine was a con- scious effort at irony, and I think the needy bleached nature of abu- sive analysis is made clear in parts of this column. It's an annoying way to write, and we should work to avoid it. With just a little bit more thought and effort into laying the background and foundation for sto- ries, writers could be doing so much more with those same stories. -The public editor is an independent critic of the Daily, and neither the editorial board nor the editorin chief exercise control over the contents of his columns. The opinions expressed do not necessarily constitute the opinion of the Daily. lmron Syed can be reached at publiceditor@michigondoily.com 0 The-photo requirement was implemented in response to a cheating ring that involved a college sophomore and several high-school students in Long Island, New York. Sam Eshaghoff, who attended the University of Michigan as a freshman and transferred to Emory University for his sophomore year, took the tests for at least six students from Great Neck North High School at a cost of $1,500 to $2,500 per student, ABC News reported in November, 2011. While the cheating scandal last year was reprehensible and should never happen again, it's more important to consider how the addi- tion of photos to students' college applica- tions would affect college admission officers' judgments of the applicants. Colleges haven't previously asked for photos as a part of the admissions process, so it doesn't seem appro- priate to start asking for them now. Photos of the applicants could lead to unfair admissions processes for all those seeking admission, especially since only a small fraction of the pool of applicants consider cheating. The fact that the cheating scandal occurred in the first place demonstrates the enormous importance placed on the SAT and ACT in the college admissions process. If stu- dents are willing to pay someone else to take the tests for them in order to receive a high- er score, then there are serious flaws in the process. Two tests should not have so much power in determining a student's academic future after high school. Recent evidence also shows that high SAT or ACT scores do not necessarily determine academic success. Cindy Babington, vice presi- dent for student services at DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind., told The New York Times in February that when the university's institu- tional research department examined factors that correlated with academic success, "the one thing that made no difference whatsoever was standardized test scores." Also, organizations such as The Posse Foundation are working to give students with lower standardized test scores the oppor- tunity to attend elite colleges. According to The New York Times, Posse Scholars enjoy a high college graduation rate and impressive academic progress in spite of a 1,050 median combined SAT score. Students' resumss, essays and high-school grades already provide a clear representation of the particular students' abilities. SAT and ACT scores should not have so much influ- ence in the college admissions process. The new photo identification requirement could allow for more discrimination and unfair admission processes. EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS: Kaan Avdan, Eli Cahan, Ashley Griesshammer, Nirbhay Jain, Jesse Klein, Patrick Maillet, Erika Mayer, Harsha Nahata, Harsha Panduranga, Timothy Rabb, Adrienne Roberts, Vanessa Rychlinski, Sarah Skaluba, Seth Soderborg, Michael Spaeth, Caroline Syms, Andrew Weiner JARED SZUBA | U.S. intervention in Syria can't wait SARI KRUMHOLZ Advocate for health reform The second anniversary of the Affordable Care Act has just passed. The ACA is a ground- breakinghealth care law that not only improves women's access to affordable quality health care, but also has a multitude of benefits that enable women to lead healthier lives. Whether you are a student struggling to pay for birth control, a mother making health care decisions for your family or a young adult just entering the work force, access to health care is a priority. Now is a great opportunity to highlight some of the health benefits of the ACA, especially in light of political opponents who are working to take away these benefits and repeal the new health care law. According to a Mar. 23 article on Minn- Post.com, the ACA's goal is to eliminate co- pays for women receiving health care, and to widen the availability of preventative mea- sures, such as birth control and testing for breast and cervical cancer. The ACA will end discriminatory practices against women, who are often charged much higher rates for health insurance than their male counterparts. For example, according to Planned Parenthood, a healthy 22-year- old woman can be charged premiums up to 150 percent higher than the premiums of a 22-year-old man. In addition, some health insurers have claimed that being pregnant or a survivor of domestic violence is a "pre- existing condition," thus denying these women health care. The ACA puts a stop to this practice. The health care law will provide afford- able health insurance for millions of women that have previously gone without insurance. Nearly 13 million women of reproductive age will become newly eligible for health insur- ance coverage under the ACA. The ACA expands coverage for young adults by allowing them to stay on their par- ents' health plan until the age of 26. This is especially applicable to college students because, due to this law, they will continue to have health insurance during the adjustment period of graduating from school and enter- ing the work force. These are just some of the benefits under the ACA. The website healthcare.gov is a great resource to learn about all of the ben- efits of the new health care law. While we are fighting to secure affordable and comprehensive health care, opponents are attempting to repeal these benefits. If they had their way, more women would be uninsured, medical discrimination against women would be legal and women would be forced to pay more for health care than men. We need to speak out to protect the many benefits in the new health care law. We need to stand with President Barack Obama in support of the ACA. And most importantly, we need to send a message to opponents that health care is too important to use as a politi- cal tool. People's lives are at stake. Sari Krumholz is an LSA senior. It has inexplicably taken until now, as the Syrian opposition's death toll surges toward 10,000 and over a year has passed since Bashar al-Assad's government resorted to unrestricted violence to put down a previ- ously peaceful uprising, for tangible assistance to be provided to the Syrian resistance movement by the Western world. Until this week, the most that inter- national leaders could muster has consisted of a few feeble words of condemnation and pitifully ineffec- tive economic sanctions. But even now, the granting of "non-lethal aid" (primarily medical supplies with some communications equipment) by the United States and Turkey is nowhere near enough. As British pho- tographer Paul Conroy recently declared after escap- ing the siege of the Syrian city of Homs, "It's not a war, it's a massacre. An indiscriminate massacre of men, women and children." This uneasy hesitation should have been'expected. Learning from the explosive consequences of heavy Western military presence in predominantly Mus- lim countries, it's obvious why the option of inserting significant numbers of ground troops is off the table. Unfortunately, the Syrian opposition is having a brutal time of conducting the fighting themselves. The improvised Free Syrian Army, comprised mainly of ragtag defectors from Assad's slaughtering ranks, has repeatedly called for foreign weapon sup- plies to protect the civilian populace and beat back the onslaught, but arming them could prove gravely reckless. U.S. intelligence agencies have indicated that al-Qaeda may be joining the uprising, complete with suicide car bombings and the vocal support of al-Qaeda's ringleader, Ayman al-Zawahiri. It was even reported that at least one rebel army commander fought against American forces in Afghanistan. Though the major opposition groups have disavowed ties with the terrorist network, the U.S. cannot afford to take this risk. Historically, Washington's arming of opposition groups has tipped the battle scales for the benefit of immediate policy gratification, but this habit perpetually returns to bite the government with trou- bling human rights headaches (think the Afghan muja- hedeen or the Indonesian army in East Timor). The opposition Syrian National Council and Free Army have also persistently requested a no-fly zone such as the one that was implemented over Libya with overwhelming success. They assert that Western air control would immediately enable the safe defection of tens of thousands of Assad's soldiers. Critics retort that unlike Col. Muammar Gaddafi's legions, the Syrian military has generally brutalized civilians from the ground rather than with aircraft and that armored vehicles are difficult to hit from NATO planes without significant risk of collateral civilian death. Thus, our leaders have shied away from this potential action as well. But it's only a matter of time before the opposition develops into a serious threat to the regime's existence. It is then that Assad's air force will swiftly join in the murder, this time, from the skies and out of reach of the opposition's AK-47s and RPGs. When heavy air attacks on civilians and rebels are unleashed, it will be truly shameful if the world's military powers continue to turn their heads. Offensive military options are not the only weap- ons being used by the Syrian government. Assad's army recently planted tens of thousands of landmines along the border with Turkey, viciously blocking a major escape route for refugees fleeing the bloodbath. Turkish leaders have suggested that their military may establish a "buffer zone" on the Syrian side of the border to generate shielded refugee escape routes, but they refuse to do so without international security sup- port to defend against probable attacks from Assad's forces. This is the closest any capable nation has come to firmly considering a viable plan for effective aid. If Turkey continues to refuse to intervene without for- eign security forces, then the international community is morally obligated to provide them, even if it's only in the form of UN peacekeeping troops. The United States and all Western powers have major strategic interests in endorsing these two rea- sonable intervention options. Syrian oppositionleaders are bound to evolve into weighty political authorities in the future post-Assad government. To ignore their calls for help now is to imbue in them an unforgetta- ble memory of abandonment later. They will not soon forget that the U.S., who in 2003, invaded their close neighbor Iraq, and for years imposed economic sanc- tions upon them that crippled their poor, subsequently chose to stand idly by and watch the butchery of yet untold thousands of their brothers, wives, cousins, husbands, mothers and children. It's an understatement to say that the United States is in painful need of strong allies in the region. The lon- ger the Syrian people are massacred, the further the opposition may be pushed to extremist tactics and ide- als to achieve their victory. The last thing Washington needs is an extremist-sympathetic (or worse, radical- ized) Syrian government grudgingly bitter about the United States's lack of support in their revolution - which is adjacent to Israel. Assad will ultimately fall, but the longer he remains in power, the higher the bodies of innocents will pile. The implementation of a no-fly zone and the enforce- ment of civilian escape corridors are the moment's most logical potential courses of action, but what- ever is done, the ultimate aim must remain restrict- ing Assad's forces' capabilities of slaughter. As the late Christopher Hitchens so potently wrote, "Neutrality favors the side with the biggest arsenal." Jared Szuba is an LSA junior. 0 i_ TJLIf Iy SEND LETTERS TO: TOTHEDAILY@MICHIGANDAILY.COM To end problems, recognize Israel as a Jewish state TO THE DAILY: I just read about a hunger strike in support of a Palestinian that was arrested and has not yet been prosecuted. There is something hypocritical about today's students. How many meals did they forfeit in protest of a very young Israeli soldier kidnapped into Gaza, held incommunicado for five years and finally released in exchange for over 1,000 tried and convicted prisoners out of Israeli jails? How hungry were they when Palestinians blew themselves up with nuts and bolts dipped in poison around their waist and murdered over 1,000 Israelis? The problem in the Middle East has lasted for over 64 years and will go on for another 64 years unless the Arab nations recognize that Israel is the homeland of the Jewish people and was established so that the Jewish people could defend themselves against all enemies, as Iran will soon learn. Please announce in public that Israel is a Jew- ish nation that shall live forever in peace and within recognized geopolitical boundaries with Jerusalem as its capital city, and all else will rapidly fall into place. Stuart M. Sheiman 1964 University alum 09 01 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 550-850 words. Both must include the writer's full name and University affiliation. Send submissions to thedaily@michigandaily.com.