4 - The Michigan Daily - Monday, July 14, 2003 420 MAYNARD STREET ANN ARBOR, MI 48109 SRAVYA CHIRUMAMILLA JASON PESICK 41 h letters@michigandaily.com Editor in Chief Editorial Page Editor EDITED AND MANAGED BY w 7M 11 4U ICU ID UU STUDENTS AT THE Unless otherwise noted, unsigned editorials reflect the opinion of UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN the majority of the Daily's editorial board. All other pieces do not SINCE 1890 ' necessarily reflect the opinion of The Michigan Daily. ast Tuesday, under the sweltering mid- Personal attacks and intimidation tactics day sun andamidthe aggressive chants iIar \tive O Ve rreaction aimed at keeping one point of view silent of unfriendly protesters, University of not only violate the right to freedom of California Regent Ward Connerly launched -t speech, but also will end up backfiring by his ballot initiative to eliminate racial prefer- \Wflflerly lS WrOng, but 4e 11 spaki _ _ decreasing public support for the cause. ences in the state of Michigan. Connerly, who Events such as this one, which was is chairman of the American Civil Rights to society. With the passage of this ballot ini- announcement. A few in the crowd yelled sponsored by The Michigan Review, allow Institute, has led successful ballot initiatives tiative, the University and other government "Uncle Tom" when Connerly spoke, imply- everyone to have a say regarding important in both California and the state of institutions would be unable to use race con- ing that simply because he is black, he should issues. In order to protect Connerly's First Washington. He announced his intentions to scious policies. The research done in this hold a specific position. This is precisely the Amendment Right, the Department of do the same in Michigan, in front of a largely field clearly shows that this would result in a type of misunderstanding that the Public Safety removed three members of hostile crowd, on the steps of the Harlan significant decrease in the number of minor- University's policies are aimed at eliminating. the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action Hatcher Graduate Library. While we disagree ity students attending elite institutes of high- When Barbara Grutter, the plaintiff in the and Integration and Fight for Equality By with Connerly's stance on affirmative action, er learning. Not only would this result in less law school case, spoke, someone called her Any means Necessary from the conference. the way some members of the University diverse educational institutions and less a "loser," referring to the court's decision While this did allow the presentation to community disregarded his right to articulate cross-racial interaction, but it would also have that ended her case against the University's continue, the University should apply its his opinion deserves condemnation. a detrimental effect on society as less tradi- law school. When Jennifer Gratz, the plain- policy of defending free speech equally and The University and the citizens of the tionally underrepresented minorities would tiff in the undergraduate case, spoke, the not simply show more eagerness to remove state of Michigan should strongly oppose inhabit the state's professional ranks. This protesters made fun of her for not being controversial protesters. Connerly's efforts to reverse the victories would forestall progress in achieving equali- offered admission to the University. These Universities are outlets for individuals achieved during the recent admissions law- ty and understanding among the races. kinds of personal attacks do not help facili- to discuss controversial issues. Name-call- suits. In the U.S. Supreme Court's opinions The importance of defending affirmative tate an open dialogue about affirmative ing and intimidation serve no one's inter- regarding the University's two affirmative action, however, cannot be used to defend the action. When an issue divides a nation and a ests. Drowning out the opposition's view- action cases, the majority of the justices reaf- vile and disgusting behavior demonstrated by campus, as this one has, it is important that point is no way to protect freedom of firmed the importance of affirmative action some of the protesters at last Tuesday's lines of communication remain open. thought or to defend affirmative action. { 4 Restore the corps Bush must re-affirm his commitment to AmeriCorps Saving our cities Situation looks bleak, but new leaders may provide hope October 14, 1960, Sen. John F. Kennedy (D-Massachusetts) stood on the steps of the Michigan Union and announced his vision for an organization of volunteers to do altruistic work abroad who would compose the Peace Corps. The historic speech, delivered extemporaneously at 2 a.m. during the last days of his presi- dential campaign, was an inspiration to the students gathered. Within weeks, 1,000 University students had signed a petition calling for the establishment of the Peace Corps program. In that same spirit of citizenship and service, AmeriCorps was founded in 1993 as the domestic counterpart to the Peace Corps. Even though AmeriCorps is a valuable program doing important work to improve the country, it has come under attack by policymakers who wish to deprive it of much-needed funds. These efforts must be defeated so that AmeriCorps can be expanded, not starved. AmeriCorps is a network of national service programs that engage more than 50,000 Americans each year in intensive service to meet critical needs in educa- tion, public safety, health and the envi- ronment, while helping these volunteers fund their educations. Last year, President Bush asked AmeriCorps to expand its work in public safety, public health and disaster relief as a part of his plan to improve homeland security, the fight against terrorism and the wide- spread desire to increase citizenship after Sept. 11. But the president's bud- get for next year cuts AmeriCorps's funding by 57 percent. According to reports in the Daily, this could result in a decrease of 90 percent of the organi- zation's members in Michigan alone. These programs are more than just scattered temporary projects; AmeriCorps volunteers live and work in the communi- ties they serve. AmeriCorps also fosters partnerships with schools and religious institutions in programs that are ongoing, including literacy programs and drug- abuse counseling. These services are especially important in urban areas, where residents often cannot raise enough help or money on their own. Some relief may be on its way in the form of $100 million in grants because of a measure that was overwhelmingly approved by the U.S. Senate this past Friday. But that funding may easily get bogged down in the U.S. House of Representatives, and the amount is only half the estimated $200 million AmeriCorps needs to keep all programs open, let alone to expand as the presi- dent seemed to desire only recently. After Sept. 11, AmeriCorps experi- enced an upsurge in volunteer applica- tions, but tens of thousands of people ready to give 2,000-plus hours per year of their lives in service to the country are unable to make use of program offerings because of the budget cuts. These cuts are drastic, and they stand in stark contrast to the president's pro- fessed aim of "creating new opportuni- ties within the AmeriCorps." Bush needs to honor his commitment to AmeriCorps and take further steps to pull the organization out of the red. He should not hesitate to authorize the sup- plemental funding the program needs and reverse the scheduled budget cuts. This is certainly a worthy program. espite a series of new mayors, new stadiums, new skyscrapers and casinos, Detroit's decline from one of the country's great urban centers to an impoverished, crime-ridden, large- ly-abandoned city continues without respite. As The Detroit News reported last Thursday, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, over the past two years, Detroit's population decrease was larger than that of any other major U.S. city. The city's population now stands at about one-half of its historic high. Other Michigan cities are experiencing similar emigration problems, including Flint, which experienced an equally steep pop- ulation decline of 2.4 percent. Detroit faces a number of acute challenges; hopefully, an injection of younger, more energetic leaders and new development opportunities will help Detroit to turn the corner and begin a new renassiance that will actually be seen through to fruition. Like other "Rustbelt" cities, Detroit and Flint are losing jobs as the makeup of the economy changes and manufacturing and heavy industry provide a smaller share of the nation's jobs. Both cities prospered earlier in the 20th century when the U.S. automotive industry was booming. These jobs have left the cities and the entire "Rustbelt" region, along with many of the wealthier residents. For a variety of reasons, Detroit has been unable to replace those lost jobs with new ones in more vibrant industries. Working in concert with the problem of job loss to weaken Detroit is its poor edu- cation system. Many residents flee the city simply because it cannot provide an ade- quate education for their children. Unless the city is able to improve its school district, its hopes of revival will grow ever bleaker. A variety of failed plans to improve the dis- trict, including a state takeover, have not achieve significant progress. Many of the residents leaving Detroit cite high crime rates in the neighborhoods as the motivation for their departure. The police department is being monitored by federal government authorities. In addi- tion, city officials seem content to build shiny stadiums and casinos downtown at the expense of the neighborhoods, which they often neglect. A vibrant downtown is a nice asset, but the city will never be able to attract new residents if the places where they are to live are run-down and danger- ous. This neglect, coupled with almost inconceivable levels of incompetence among the city's elected officials, resulted in Detroit's failure to utilize a federally funded empowerment zone in order to rebuild major portions of the city. Despite these ominous trends and pat- terns, some recent events could provide the state's largest city with the shot in the arm it so desperately needs. The software and consulting company Compuware Corp. will be moving its headquarters into the city, which will bring young, educated workers into the city. It will also bring more modern jobs to Detroit. In addition, the state's new generation of political leadership, headed by Gov. Jennifer Granholm and Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick are well aware of these problems and seem enthusiastic about rectifying them, which cannot be said of their predecessors. Despite their enthusiasm, they will, however, need to start giving meaning to their words by taking specific action to save Detroit, and the state in general, from the slow decay and depletion of talent that are well underway.