4 - The Michigan Daily - Monday, May 17, 2004 420 MAYNARD STREET ANN ARBOR, MI 48109 NIAMH SLEVIN SUHAEL MOMIN tothedaily@michigandaily.com Editor in Chief Editorial Page Editor till EDITED AND MANAGED BY AMEDITSTUDENTS 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 w kSINCE 1890 necessarily reflect the opinion of The Michigan Daily. T he sudden resignation of Ed Willis' relative anonymity amongst the Willis, the former Dean of v OS rn extstudent body is a reflection of the per- Students, has left most students ceived detachment between the sWatching he ileads an wo ri nas Students should help seleCt next Dean of Students University administrationsand the stu- "WhisEdWilis"_WileWiliswa dents. Although we are sad to see the deeply involved with a number of stu- - - - - departure of a well-liked, albeit relatively dent and faculty committees and adored this when he asked that an MSA repre- committee members must be met with unknown, faculty member, his departure by many who knew him, he executed his sentative participate in finding a new qualified students. Unfortunately, deter- presents an opportunity that should not be duties with little fanfare or recognition. dean. However, Mironov did not go far mining which students are qualified missed. In light of this year's debacle As a result, despite his unrelenting ded- enough: involving one MSA representa- poses a problem. Although the student regarding changes to the Sexual Assault ication to students and the University as tive would be symbolic at best. There body has their misgivings about MSA, it Prevention and Awareness Center, as well a whole, his departure is leaving most should be a significant student role in is the most legitimate body of represen- as the controversy caused by frosty rela- students unaffected and unconcerned. the selection process. Multiple students, tation for the students and therefore tions between University President Mary Considering the importance of Willis's MSA representatives as well as out- MSA, not the University, should be Sue Coleman and activist group Student former position, this apathy is troubling; siders, should be given seats on the charged with the task of selecting the Voices in Action, this increased participa- The search for his successor is an committee that the University adminis- student members who will participate in tion will hopefully ameliorate tensions opportunity for students to get more tration will inevitably form to recruit the search for a new Dean. The pool of between students and administrators. This involved with the administration, and it Willis's replacement. students should not be reserved to only is a unique chance for students to bridge should not be overlooked. This need for a diverse group of stu- assembly members, but include student the schism by actively participating in the Since the Dean of Students clearly dent participants cannot be understated. leaders across numerous groups and dis- selection of an administration official. deals with issues of distinct salience for Because the Dean is responsible for ciplines. The best choices will be dedi- The increase in student input would be students, it is merely logical that some dealing with a wide range of student cated students hoping to enhance the beneficial to both the University and the students participate in the selection issues, a wide range of students should University's relationship with students student body by not only creating a legit- process. Michigan Student Assembly be allowed to evaluate a candidate's fit- instead of ones looking for power, pres- imate administration but also enabling President Jason Mironov understood ness. The power given to the student tige or a chance to pad their resumes. more effective University policies. 0 A Pall-ution problem Corporation should be held responsible for its waste Crisis at the Collegian Freedom of the press in peril at UMass Amherst 0 ast week, in a lawsuit filed against Pall Life Sciences, a subsidiary of the New York based Pall Corporation, the City of Ann Arbor is seeking financial restitution for damage the company caused to a major local groundwater well. According to the law- suit, between the mid-1960s through the 1980s, the Life Sciences group contam- inated the well with 1,4 dioxane, a pos- sible human carcinogen and industrial solvent used in the manufacturing of medical filters. Consequently, over 18 million square feet of the dioxane cont- aminant is spreading under Ann Arbor's Veterans Memorial Park. While there is little threat of the chemical spreading into the drinking water supply, the city is still demanding that the damaged well be replaced. The lawsuit asks that Pall Life Sciences pay not only for the costs associated with finding a different water source, but also for a complete assessment and treatment of the decades-old underground pollution problem. Pall Life Sciences has claimed that it has already performed extensive clean- up operations in the area, citing the cleaning of two billion gallons of ground water done in conjunction with the state Department of Environmental Quality. However, while Pall's coopera- tion with the department is commend- able, it is simply not enough. Even though Pall cleaned billions of gallons of water, they merely have scratched the surface of their mess. The city is correct in its assertion that Pall should either finish the job, or pay for someone else to do it for them. The efforts of the city to actively pursue corporate polluters should be applauded; by actively taking action against companies that demonstrate lit- tle regard for the environment, Ann Arbor is attempting to instill a sense of social and corporate responsibility within the business community. Furthermore, a tough stance against polluters shows that Ann Arbor will enthusiastically and vigilantly protect its reputation as a "green city," an atti- tude that will hopefully keep the city healthy and pollution in check for years to come. In the larger scheme, Ann Arbor is set- ting an example for other municipal gov- ernments by taking a more proactive role in controlling local polluters. Reliance on federal bureaucracies such as the Environmental Protection Agency to enforce environmental standards often results in a slow, drawn-out process with no guarantee of progress. Only at the local government level does there exist the focus and dedication necessary to address local environmental issues; large govern- ment agencies are simply too impersonal and disconnected to tackle problems con- fined to small areas. If the Bush administration continues to cut the operating budgets of regulato- ry agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency, there will undoubt- edly be an increased reliance on munic- ipalities to solve environmental prob- lems. Local governments meet this bur- den by keeping their cities clean and pollution under control. Using local court systems, cities should ensure that environmental standards are upheld, and that corporations continue to operate within the bounds of the law. t is uncommon for a student writer to see his name repeated outside his own paper - syndicated by wire services, for instance, or in a flattering e-mail from a major publication. It confirms that the stu- dent, though he writes for a college paper, is a vital part of a much larger network of media, and that in the exciting times of inter- net connectivity, all writers are on an equal footing. In this age, the college paper colum- nist can have as much influence as a writer for The New York Times. But a writer can also rub these net- works the wrong way, setting off cen- sure from outlets across the country. This happened to Massachusetts Daily Collegian writer Rene Gonzalez, who wrote a column that deflated the heroic coverage of NFL player and American soldier Pat Tillman, who died in mili- tary service. In a precise but inflamma- tory manner, Gonzalez deconstructed what he called the "knee-jerk" praise for Tillman and offered a competing perspective: Tillman was not a hero, but rather an example of how Americans conflate sports greats with military heroes, turning citizens into "the cheer- leaders of the home team" instead of critical thinkers. The response was swift and severe. National cable news channels picked up the story, local readers flooded the Collegian with angry e-mails, the school's Student Government Association nearly demanded a refund of more than $10,000 allocated to the paper and the SGA Senate approved a motion that condemned Gonzalez's views. The President of UMass Amherst condemned the column, call- ing it a "disgusting, arrogant and intel- lectually immature attack on a human being who died in service to his coun- try." Even the Massachusetts Senate approved a resolution of condemnation, with one member, Sen. Robert Hedlund (R-Weymouth), calling Gonzalez a "nitwit." Though some of the retorts have car- ried little institutional weight, others have threatened the paper's ability to operate freely. Efforts to impose economic punish- ment are reminiscent of last year's rehear- ing of Hosty v. Carter by the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, in which the administration of Governors State University sought to give school officials editorial control of the student newspaper. They based their argument on Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier, which limits First Amendment protections for high school students by establishing prior review for administrators. Both the UMass Amherst administra- tion and SGA threaten to make their college paper more like a high school publication, using all available institu- tional pressures to condemn controver- sial opinions deemed dangerous to the University's reputation and financial viability. They have explicitly demand- ed editorial control, but their excessive pressure on Gonzalez serves as a clear threat to future students who wish to express political dissent. The Constitutionally-guaranteed free- doms of speech and the press do not exist to protect uncontroversial opinions. Instead, they ensure that even controversial and inflammatory opinions can be presented freely. Gonzalez has disagreed with an opin- ion many Americans hold, but he is not See AMHERST, Page 5 0 0 6 0