4 Monday, June 9, 2008 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Eye Mid igan BaUlj Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. 420 Maynard St. Ann Acbor, MI 4809 tothedaily@umich.edu Voiceless votes Solution for state delegates still disaster 4 EMMARIE HUETTEMAN EDITOR IN CHIEF GARY GRACA MANAGING EDITOR KATE TRUESDELL EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily's editorialboard. All other signed articles and illustrations represent solelythe viewsofntheir authors. FROM T AIY Fuibright fauxpas Dealings with Gaza Fulbright scholars a study in poor planning he Fulbright Program may tout its international scholarship program as a "mainstay of America's public-diplomacy efforts," but the recent revocation of the program's aid from seven students living on the Gaza strip has featured less diplomacy and more disaster. The program's decision to pull the students' funding was the result of inadequate research, poor plan- ning and insufficient effort on the part of the U.S. State Department. Now scrabbling to rectify a public relations nightmare, the program should pause to understand just where exactly it went wrong. B y now Michigan voters should be sick of party leaders arguing about how the state's delegates should be seated at the Democratic National Convention in August. Though the DNC initially prom- ised that none of the state's dele- gates would be seated, it has now decided to include them but give each delegate only half a vote. This decision might seem like an honest peace offering, but it still fails because Michigan's del- egates aren't being apportioned according to the results of a fair election. When Michigan moved its primary up to January 15, the DNC promised notto seat Mich- igan's delegates at the conven- tion, instantly ending any hopes of a valid election. There was nothing fair about this deci- sion - Michigan's delegates are just as deserving of a role in.the convention as any other state's. Thankfully, the DNC's Rules and Bylaws Committee decided on May 31 to seat them anyway. This is commendable because it recognizes Michigan's right to be a part of the convention, but merely seating the state's dele- gates is by no means an adequate solution when they have been given only half a vote. And even these half-votes still won't truly reflect the citizen's intentions. The DNC's flawed solution allowed backroom bargaining to become the final arbiter. Barack Obama, who did not appear on the ballot at all, is receiving 59 delegates due to the large percentage of votes for the "uncommitted" choice, while Hillary Clinton is receiving 69 delegates. Deciding how to split these delegates was solely a committee decision. This com- promise was reached in order to certify Clinton's Michigan win without damaging Obama's national lead. It is unacceptable for Michigan's delegates at the convention to be chosen in this manner-the selection process should directly represent the will of primary voters, rather than the outcome of a commit- tee's deliberations. All and all, it's too little too late. The DNC already dealt the validity of Michigan's primary a fatal blow back in January. Threatening to take away the delegates clouded the election in doubt and confusion, skew- ing the results. The pre-elec- tion chaos, coupled with the undemocratic manner in which post-election delegate decisions have been reached, rendered any result unfair. It is a shame that Michigan's issues with the DNC are receiv- ing the national attention that should go to the state's unfor- tunate economic situation. The delegates were doomed from the moment the DNC told them that they would not be seated. The DNC has failed to represent the wishes of Michigan's prima- ry voters, regardless of whether the delegates get a full vote, half a vote or no vote at all. 4 4 Israel has imposed a closed- border policy in Gaza, prohib- iting Palestinians from exiting except for medical emergen- cies. This tactic is an attempt weaken the strength of Hamas within the region. It was the assumption of the Fulbright Program, funded by the U.S. State Department, that this policy would prohibit the seven students from being allowed to travel abroad to study. Because of this, it chose to "redirect" grant funding to other candidates last month. But evidence suggests this assumption may have been built on shaky ground. It's true that the Isralei government was ini- tially sending mixed messages, first claiming that higher edu- cation was not a "humanitarian concern" worthy of exclusion from this travel ban and then later contradicting this message. But this discrepancy should have been cause enough for the State Department to investigate the legitimacy of the informa- tion on which it based its deci- sion to revoke the grants. Either way, the decision to pull the scholarships from the students was wrong. Instead of choosing to employ the "public- diplomacy" allegedly so impor- tant to the program, the State Department chose to take the easy way out. That was never the right decision. What it should have done was work with the government and students to find a way around these regulations. Because he students of Gaza certainly didn't choose to live under such restrictive policy. In fact, several have spoken out against the Hamas occupation in the area. In reality, they had little control over the fact that they got caught up in political power games, but were essen- tially punished as such. Would you want to be held personally responsible for the decisions your government has made? Tactics designed to send a message between goverment factions shouldn't impede stu- dents' abilities to educate them- selves. Both of these points should have been recognized by the State Department and they should have taken steps, as they are finally doing now, to help students in this tight spot. The department now admits that its decision was the result of a "faulty decision-making process". But in this situation, providing financial backing for these students was too impor- tant to become the causality of an administrative slip-up. In creating a long-term plan for stability in the region inter- nal localized organization nec- essary, and education is a key part of that strategy. Making it harder for smart, motivated individuals to get that education does little to fuel this effort. Last week, amidst heavy crit- icism, the Fulbright Program finally corrected its error, giv- ing the students their scholar- ships back. The local American Consulate also transported four of the seven to Jerusalem to help them get their visas. Con- sidering the State Department's initial apathy in this matter, this new-found energy and ded- ication - even if it has directly correlated to media frenzy - is commendable. Ignoring the fact that it showed up late to the party, the Fulbright Program should get a pat on the back - albeit a small one - for showing up at all. a ARIELA STEIF E-MAIL STEIF AT ASTEIF@UMICH.EDU I I