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Monday, July 2, 2007
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Cy he Aidyigan &itu
KELLYN JACKSON
The vagina vote
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GARY GRACA
EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR
IMRAN SYED
EDITOR IN CHIEF
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.
Access denied
Regents continue to skirt ADA standards
I don't much care for her,
but there is still one thing that
I admire about Hillary Clinton:
her vagina. Although it's hard
to tell with that hair cut and a
collar bone that never sees the
sun, she is a woman. A woman
shooting for the highest posi-
tion in this "man's world," and
there's something to be said for
that. She may not be the best
candidate, but the prospect of
her being the first female presi-
dent is good enough for me. And
it's about damn time.
Part of me wants to jump up
and down, wave my "Women
for Hillary" flag and support
her solely based on that one bio-
logical fact. But I won't - not
Clinton has hit the road,
campaigning, fundraising and
speaking at every stop. But like
Charlie Brown's teacher, what
comes out of her mouth sounds
more like monotone gibberish
than a reflection on important
issues. She has apresence, but no
concrete, detailed, this-is-how-
much-it-will-cost platform.
The ideas she does have, dis-
cussed in her speeches and post-
ed on her website, come in the
form of dumbed-down, I-want-
world-peace-beauty-queen fluff.
Her plans have no agenda, policy
or bank to back them up.
On top ofhaving a porous plat-
form, Clinton has a conspicuous
history. As a young woman, she
campaigned for the racial con-
servative Barry Goldwater, and
for six years between 1986 and
1992, she sat on Walmart's board
of directors. Personally, she
favors abstinence and opposes
gay marriage. Most importantly,
five years ago she voted in favor
of the war in Iraq and continues
to be unapologetic about that
vote. These actions and ideolo-
gies are not Democratic. They
are not even moderate.
She has all the staple ingre-
dients of electability: a bright
and intelligent child, a caring
and sort-of-loving spouse and a
political track record that should
have a popular junior Senator
shaking in his boots. Why then
is she so concerned about being
"electable?" Where's the leftist
lady I want so badly to win?
The truth is I'm sure Clin-
ton is not that woman. I want a
competent, left-wing woman to
win. I want a woman in the Oval
Office period. In the chair, not
under the desk.
Kellyn Jackson is an
iSA sophomore.
I
4
n one last confirmation that nothing - not fans, not until she gets a platform and
tradition and not even the law - will stand between convinces one that she's more
the University and its quest to add skyboxes to than a political puppet vying to
be America's sweetheart. And
Michigan Stadium, the University Board of Regents gave maybe, I don't know, starts act-
its final approval of the project last Thursday. Since the ing like a Democrat.
beginning, the skybox plan has been a mockery of Uni-
versity football tradition. However, as the plan continues
to ignore the opposition from the Michigan Paralyzed
Veterans of America it has evolved into a mockery of the U should accept
University's tradition of diversity and acceptance as well.
Z.---Visa, MasterCard
SEND LETTERS TO: TOTHEDAILY@UMICH.EDU
a
retain less affluent students. It's
2007. Nowadays, even McDon-
ald's accepts credit card pay-
ments for trivial $1 purchases.
That's because this large corpo-
After repeatedly marginalizing
any opposition to the skyboxes,
the regents'vote on Thursday was
the final green light for the sta-
dium plan. The 6-2 vote approved
the construction contracts for
the $226-million project presum-
ably set to begin shortly. But the
regents forgot about one small
detail: There is still an outstand-
ing lawsuit that could crumble
the whole project.
Back in April, the Michigan
Paralyzed Veterans of America
filed a lawsuit against the Uni-
versity because the stadium proj-
ect fails to meet the guidelines of
the Americans with Disabilities
Act of 1990. According to that
law, any stadium built after 1990
must make 1 percent of its seating
handicap accessible and that seat-
ingi ist be dispersed throughout
the stldun. Any stndumn like the
Big Hiouse that was built before
1991i must be broughti tim inADA
stand:ardswhen it is renonted.
tor the Univ.ersitytis min'ns
that more thani 1,t0 o hi CU'-
rent 107,501 seats in the stadium
would have to be handicap acces-
sible. The project only increases
that number of seats to 282.
Instead of meetingtthe require-
ments of the law, though, the
University has danced around
the issue. Although the Univer-
sity agrees that the new luxury
boxes must meet ADA standards,
by classifying the changes to the
concrete bowl as repairs and not
renovations, the University is
skirting the ADA requirements.
But the University's stance is
nothing more than semantics.
There are legitimate renovations
being inade to the concrete bowl
including widening the aisles
and eliminating more than 4,000
bleacher seats. By ignoring these
concerns, the University is put~
ting itself in an uncertain legal
situation that could topple the
stadium construction just as it
begins - wasting much of the
$226.million going to the project.
Instead of sitting., in its ivory
t0eii r f uixury boxs, tit Uni-
si sy nens icctepwn acind
sCtti, tn disagreement i the
Miichiigan Paralyzed Veterans of
America. The skynx ins are not
just bringingi, new elitism to the
ig Ho use, that elitism is destroy-
ing the University's tradition of1
diversity and inclusion.
TO THE DAILY: ration makes billi
There continues to be one each year by being
major flaw in the University's If a clown can d
payment system: Students University can too
at the University cannot pay University's billing
online using a major credit card. the 21st century.
Instead, students are limited to
an awkward form of payment Stephen Rushing
called eCheck. Lawe school
Did it ever occur to the Univer-
sity that there might be students ,
with good credit and access to iaily over
credit cards, but without deep- p
pocketed paremims amnd access to irupaGC of
theiribig checking accountsWho
inakes these decisions anyway? T'iO THE DAILY:
Correction: Which bureaucrat in The Michiga
hides behind a "committee deei- cle on Ann Arbor'
sion" in order to implement this buses, (A'iembraces
extremely shortsighted policy? 06/18/2007) the
For those of us who pay our Transportation A
own way, this addition would be Mayor John Hieftj
helpful. I often have more credit for buying "more
available than cash on hand. In tally friendly" bus
miny cases, I have to use credit Johnson and the U
cords to pay large bills when service are implicit
cash is running low. failing to do so. Bu,
The University must become bus costs $250,001
more flexible if it expects to a regular (low-suis
attrctc 'ind mnnire iinmortanthy incs and tine prais
ons of dollars
user friendly.
Jo it, then the
. It's time for
office to join
states
buses
n Daily's arti-
s new hybrid
shybrid buses,
Ann Arbor
,uthority and
e are praised
environmen-
es, and Keith
Jniversity bus
ly scolded for
t each hybrid
0 more than
Ifur biodiesel)
e is wrongly
directed.
The gas and maintenance sav-
ings for the entire AATA fleet of
75 buses totals $2,500,000 over
12 years. That's roughly $2,800
per bus per year. Dividing the
extra amount each hybrid costs
by the per year savings, the pay-
back period is nearly 90 years!
The environmental benefits can-
not possibly be worth that cost.
The time for hybrid buses is not
yet - the University bus fleet
manager is quite right.
How can the AATA afford
these hybrid extravaganzas?
The article fails to ask who pays
for them. The University buses
are paid for out of higher tuition
costs and reduced staff salaries.
The AATA buses are paid for by
the federal and state government
subsidies. If the subsidy regu-
lations permitted it, the AATA
wouldgold-plateitsbuses.Hybrid
buses are pure pork - our pork to
be sure, but pork nonetheless.
Ihope the Daily will do another
article on this subject, preferably
before the AATA wastes - from
a national viewpoint - almost
$20 million on hybrid buses.
Richard Porter
Faculty
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Editorial Board Members: Mike Eber, Jennifer Sussex, Kate Truesdell,
Radhika Upadhyaya, Rachel Wagner