11 1 - ivocigan uaiy - ivionday, July 9, 2 i1 Edited and mana ed by JACQUELYN NIXON AUBREY HENRETTY Students at t e g Editor in Chief Editorial Page Editor 4nierit o Michigo QI Unless otherwise noted, unsigned editorials reflect the opinion of th S420 Maynard Street majority of the Dailys editorial board. All other articles, letters anc Ann Arbor, Ml 48109 cartoons do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Michigan Daily E iti just over a month Left in the summer term, many University students are daunted by the prospect of paying bills in the fall. Heavier class loads will soon demand that gainfully employed students slash their summer work schedules to make time for studying. In addition to cutting down on students' income, fall term also brings with it a plethora of new expenses: More classes require more textbooks, cheap summer sublets give way to brutal Ann Arbor rent and the heating bill once again becomes neces- sary. As if this didn't provide ample night- mare material for the next two months, students must also plan for a cost increase completely out of their control, an unpleasant surprise courtesy of the State of Michigan: The annual tuition increase. Each year, public universities base their tuition increases upon multiple factors, including inflation, projected spending for the next fiscal year and the amount of funding expected from the state. The Michigan Legislature is cur- Legislature should allocate more funds to 'U' rently volleying a budget plan that will decide just that; the most recent version passed by the Senate would grant a 4.7 percent funding increase from last year while the version passed by the House suggested an increase of a mere two percent. By September 30 - which marks the end of the fiscal year - the two houses will have to reconcile the bills. While this year's budget may prove especially difficult to draft, the Legisla- ture should make funding public educa- tion - including public universities - a priority. Members of the state Consensus Revenue Estimating Conference in May projected a general fund revenue of about $9.27 billion, which is roughly $223.9 million less than their January projection. With a revision this large, budget cuts are imminent. Republican Gov. John Engler's administration has already withdrawn support of its origi- nally proposed baseline 1.5 percent increase for all of Michigan's public Universities, leaving any higher educa- tion funding increase passed by the Legislature under threat of veto. This gubernatorial opposition is not surpris- ing, considering Engler's track record in dealings with public education. Engler's early 2002 bud get proposals called for a proportionally larger spending increase for prisons and correctional facilities than for education. Also, the governor advocated giving larger increases to smaller schools in order to "close the funding gap," com- pletely ignoring the fact that larger schools face larger cost increases. Many state institutions like the Uni- versity have cautioned that without a significant increase in state dollars this year, they may have no choice but to raise tuition by 10 percent or more. Forhstudents who barely made it through last year with the meager stu- dent aid, work-study and federal loai. programs offered, such an increase mai mean the end of their academic careers. Others will sacrifice grades so they can work 40 hours a week to finance their education. This should not be so. Students deserve more flexible loan options and more realistic financial assistance. Pre- paid tuition plans would also provide relief from exorbitant yearly tuition increases. The purpose of public univer- sities should be to provide the best pos sible education to students from a wid variety of backgrounds - not only t those who can afford to pay ridiculously high tuition. The Legislature must find a way to make affordable public education acces- sible to all and should not attempt to balance the budget on the shoulders of public university students. Ur te t co e gacy U.S. Senate must choose FBI director carefully ... .. orn l oa d un al ''O'Connor noble to denounce death penalty 4 Former California U.S. Attorney and Justice Department veteran Robert Mueller may soon have several seri- ous problems on his hands. As President Bush's nominee to succeed current Feder- al Bureau of Investigation director Louis Freeh, Mueller stands poised to inherit the FBI's tarnished image and the responsibil- ity of polishing it. Before confirming him, the U.S Senate should make sure he is up to the challenge; Mueller's confirmation hearings are the perfect time to find out how he plans to address the many prob- lems plaguing the FBI. For example, the mishandling of evi- dence: The most recent Bureau snafu came in the form of 4,000 pages of evi- dence not given to convicted Oklahoma City federal building bomber Timothy McVeigh's lawyers. Despite defense attor- ney Robert Nigh's assertion that the FBI was asked "on 16 prior occasions to pro- duce every witness statement in connec- tion with the bombing investigation," the FBI insisted that the documents were not intentionally withheld. Regardless of whether or not the FBI meant to hide this evidence, the act was suspicious; it left many wondering how 4,000 pages of any- thing could simply be overlooked. Another questionable project recently launched by the FBI was a proposed test- run of its e-mail surveillance system. The system, ferociously dubbed "Carnivore," would allow the FBI to access any e-mail messages sent through participating inter- net service providers and was denounced as a blatant invasion of privacy by the American Civil Liberties Union. Universi- ty researchers - along with counterparts at MIT and Dartmouth - turned down the opportunity to participate in Carnivore studies last year because, among other reasons, the government reserved the rights to edit researchers' reports unchecked and to prevent any findings from being released. This kind of secre- tiveness coupled with a plan to peek into the private lives of millions was unset- tling; it did not paint a very citizen-friend- ly picture of the FBI. The FBI has also demonstrated an abil- ity to be particularly unfriendly to minority citizens. Recall the case of en Ho Lee, the Taiwanese-born, naturalized American nuclear physicist who served jail time on charges of mishandling sensitive informa- tion. After more than 20 years of service at Los Alamos Nuclear Laboratories in New Mexico, Lee was arrested under suspicion of espionage, only to be released after spending nine months in jail. While top officials denied Lee's race had anything to do with the allegations, it should be noted that not one of the many Caucasian people that had access to the same "sensitive ' information was suspect- ed of anything unsavory. But unwarranted accusations against innocent people do not mean that the FBI's security is air-tight. Just months ago, 25-year FBI veteran Robert Phillip Hanssen was charged with giving classi- fied documents to Russia and identify- ing three double agents to the KGB, two of whom were executed upon returning to Moscow. According to Director Freeh, Hanssen also interfered with the investigation of U.S. diplomat Felix Bloch, who was thought to have shared secret information with the Soviets in the 1980s. It will be the responsibility of the new FBI director to win back the approval of the largely dubious public; addressing these issues is a good place to begin. U.S. citizens deserve a secure FBI that handles evidence properly, doesn't pry into their lives without probable cause and con- demns the practice of racial profiling. Before the Senate stamps Mueller with its seal of approval, senators should ask him what he would do about these pressing problems. oes anyone in this country support the death penalty anymore. Certain- ly not Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O Connor, who spoke against capital unishment in her address to the Minnesota Women Lawyers' association last week. O'Connor, appointed to the bench by Presi- dent Ronald Reagan in 1981, is a conserva- tive, but her words in Minnesota mark a departure from her traditional sentiments regarding the death penalty. If a traditional- ly conservative justice has finally acknowl- edged the flaws in an archaic and inhumane method of executing justice, perhaps it is time for the rest of the nation will follow her lead. "You must breathe a big sigh of relief every day (to live in a state without capital punishment)," O'Connor told her audience. She suggested that federal standards must be set for legal representation in capital cases. The Washington Post reports that in Texas last year, those represented by court- appointed counsel were 28 percent more likely to be convicted than those who hired private lawyers. Once convicted, those unable to afford defense were 44 percent more likely to receive the death penalty. The death penalty, besides being a source of controversy on moral grounds, is racially and socio-economically discrimina- tory. The statistics in Texas are typical of what goes on throughout the country and further support the unfortunate reality that justice can be bought. Last week, the Senate Judiciary Com- mittee, now chaired by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), held hearings on the Innocence Protection Act. The bill, spon- sored by Leahy as well as Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Gordon Smith (R-Oregon), would set standards for legal counsel in capital cases, guarantee access to DNA evi- dence and oppose executions of the mental- ly retarded. - The bill should be passed and the nation should continue to re-examine the death penalty, as Justice O'Connor is doing. The federal government has only recently ended a long moratorium on the death penalty, includig the highly publicized execution of Oklahoma City Federal Building bomber Timothy Meigh. This resurgence has been noticed and has had an effect on the national conscience. In 1994, national poll showed support for the death penalty at 8P percent. Today that figure has dropped below 65 percent. The number of death row inmates exonerated in the last three decades has been tremendous: Over 70 nationally, including a dozen in Illinois alone. Rightfully, these statistics are disturbing to most Americans. They are beginning to see that any justice system that is disenmi- natory and woefully imprecise is not just. One method to alleviate the potential mistakes of state-sentenced execution is DNA testing, which the Innocence Protec- tion Act hopes to address. Unfortunately, few states that have the death penalty also allow for DNA testing in those capital cases. O'Connor, a long-tune supporter of state's rights, has rightfully drawn the line here. It is bad enoug that people are being wrongfully convicted, but the states' failure to pass legislation that would help solve the problem is negligent. When the Court resumes from its sum- mer recess, it will hear a case regarding th execution of the mentally retarded. O'Con- nor's recent comments indicate a shift clos- er to the center for her, at least on this issue. She is often considered a "swing" vote and should ensure that the Court's ruling on this case and others will protect the accused. This ideological shift, coupled with the passing of the Innocence Protection Act, will hopefully signal the beginning of the end of the death penaltyin this country. If the citizens of this country wish to support a justice system that is truly just, they will listen to Justice O'Connor and realize the serious flaws of the long-stand- ing injustice that is the death penalty.