vol_25_no_11

The Michigan Review T he J our nal

04.03.07 Volume xxv, Issue 11

Features Students increasingly narsiccistic

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C ampus A f fairs

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U niversity

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M ichigan

MSA Meetings Lack Foreclosures Plague Metro MSA Members Detroit as Economy Slows

P. 3 Detroit tax policy learning from theory P. 12

By Anna Malecke ‘10

M News U-M sets up $3 million fund for displaced Pfizer workers P. 7 Comerica’s departure from Detroit does not phase Granholm’s office P. 6

Opinion A vote of “No Confidence,” and the state’s failing economy Editorials, P. 4 Carr as his own court of law, and the ineffectiveness of DP Day volunteers Columns P. 5

Arts & Culture Indoctrinate U examines “The Establishment” P. 11 A new documentary reveals Hitler’s quest for art P. 10

MR

One quarter of 20062007 representatives were removed due to poor attendance

By Adam Pascarella, ‘10

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he Michigan Student Assembly (MSA), the elected body that represents all the schools and colleges at U-M, meets every week; however, if a student wanted to find a representative, these meetings may not be the best place to look.

By the end of the 2006-2007 MSA administration under President Nicole Stallings, twelve representatives out of a total of fortyeight elected members were removed because of attendance problems, according to Kenny Baker, former Vice Chair of the Rules and Elections Committee.

Because representatives are elected by individual constituencies, a member’s absence could leave a constituency unrepresented, especially for programs like Business or Law which have few representatives.

“Presumably, twelve Republicans could

meet a quorum with a conservative majority if there are enough representatives missing,” said Baker when he explained the effect of absences on the assembly’s ability to operate.

Attendance at general assembly meetings during the fall and winter terms has been especially scant, most notably by members of the Defend Affirmative Action Party (DAAP).

Baker stated that DAAP representatives were removed from the assembly because they failed to meet their attendance requirements; usually DAAP representatives chose to appear at meetings only when the general assembly was debating affirmative action resolutions.

Representatives from DAAP were not the only members of MSA who were consistently missing general assembly meetings. Ally Jacobs, the former MSA Chief of Staff, said that a significant number of graduate students did not bother to attend meetings.

“Attendance has been difficult among the graduate students this year. They have many other important things to attend to, such as their schoolwork. Although they have been absent from some meetings, it is important to

See “MSA” Page 9

ichigan’s slow housing market is no secret; however, few know of the extent of one particular problem in Detroit and some surrounding suburbs: foreclosures. This all changed when worldwide news provider Reuters reported that the number of foreclosures in Detroit, Dearborn, and other Detroit-area suburbs has increased dramatically in recent months.

The high rate of foreclosures is closely connected with increased sales of sub-prime mortgages to marginal borrowers with lower incomes or poorer credit ratings. Professor of Economics and Public Policy Alan Deardorff said that he sees the foreclosures as directly resulting from the mortgages which are now being subjected to higher interest rates.

“The housing bubble caused lenders to make loans to homebuyers who were not very well qualified in terms of their incomes and credit histories. The foreclosures are therefore to some extent the natural result of such questionable borrowing and lending.”

Speaker and Cuban Refugee Attacks Che’s “Guerilla” Image

By Jonny Slemrod, ‘10

F

or some, the famous image of Ernesto “Che” Guevara plastered on everything from t-shirts to tattoos represents revolution, resistance, and liberation. For others, such as Cuban exile and author Humberto Fontova, the image stands for hypocrisy, murder, and dictatorship.

Fontova, the author of Fidel: Hollywood’s Favorite Tyrant and the upcoming Exposing the Real Che Guevara and the Useful Idiots Who Idolize Him spoke last Monday at the Union in a YAFsponsored event entitled, “Exposing the Real Truth Behind Communist Cuba.”

In 1962, when Fontova was seven-yearsold, his family fled Cuba to seek a new life in the United States. In the airport, his father was forcefully detained by Fidel Castro’s military police right in front of his family. Labeled a “political prisoner,” Fontova’s family feared for the worst when they received word that he was

-Alan Deardorff, Professor of Economics

being held at La Cabana fortress in Havana, a holding-ground for many Cubans that the communist government deemed as anti-revolutionary.

Although Fontova’s father was released, many were not as fortunate. Executions were rampant in La Cabana, which was run by Castro’s right-hand-man, Che Guevara.

Fontova’s views on Che Guevara are no secret. Through his books, online columns, and appearances on national television shows, Fontova has made it clear that he is no fan of Che Guevara, Fidel Castro, or communism.

“I got tired of the blizzard of BS in the mainstream media,” Fontova said via telephone from his home in New Orleans. “Advertising a mass murderer is easy,” he remarked.

“Imbecile” is the word which comes to mind when Fontova thinks of Che Guevara.

“The housing bubble caused lenders to make loans to homebuyers who were not very well qualified in terms of their incomes and credit histories. The foreclosures are therefore to some extent the natural result of such questionable borrowing and lending,” said Deardorff.

While the sub-prime mortgages originally increased spending on homes and boosted consumption, the slowing economy has reversed this effect.

“As this market turns sour, it causes these low-income borrowers to lose what little assets they had, and this presumably has a negative effect on their consumption,” said Deardorff.

Besides the special finance mortgages, other factors have led to an increase in the number of foreclosures. The rate of unemployment in Detroit has reached 14 percent, and statewide

See “Fontova” Page 9

See “Foreclosures” Page 9

W W W. M I C H I G A N R E V I E W. C O M First two copies free, additional copies $3 each. Stealing is illegal and a sin. (Exodus 20:15)

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THE MICHIGAN REVIEW www.michiganreview.com

Editorial Board:

Nick Cheolas Editor-in-Chief

04.03.07

page two. the michigan review

■ Video of the Week

Michael O’Brien Executive Editor

Appalachian State - Michigan’s opponent in 2007’s home opener released a promotional commercial several years ago with a jingle claiming that, among other things, “Appalachian is HOT HOT HOT!” We’re not averse to Michigan scheduling mismatched home openeres, but it’s a little hard to take this school seriously after watching this video.

Unfortunately, our newspaper doesn’t play videos. But for humor’s sake, please go to YouTube, and search for this video: h t t p : / / w w w. yo u t u b e . c o m / watch?v=pVENWl8uBeg

Adam Paul Managing Editor Amanda Nichols Content Editor Brian Biglin Assistant Managing Editor Business Staff: Karen Boore Publisher Danny Harris Jonny Slemrod Associate Publishers Staff Writers: Michael Balkin, Steven Bengal, David Brait, Erin Buchko, Kelly Cavanaugh, Jenni Chelenyak, Rebecca Christy, Jane Coaston, Marie Cour, Lindsey Dodge, Blake Emerson, Christine Hwang, Eun Lee, Anna Malecke, Brian McNally, Miquelle Milavec, John O’Brien, Kate O’Connor, Adam Pascarella, Eddie Perry, Danielle Putnam, Shanda Shooter, Chris Stieber, Evan Wladis, Christina Zajicek, Zack Zucker

Letters and Viewpoints: The Michigan Review accepts and encourages letters to the editor and viewpoints. Letters to the editor should be under 300 words. Viewpoints can be arranged by contacting the editorial board.

We reserve the right to edit for clarity and length.

Send all correspondence to mrev@umich.edu.

About Us: The Michigan Review provides a broad range of in-depth coverage of campus affairs and serves as the literary voice of conservatism and libertarianism at the University of Michigan. The Review is published bi-weekly September thru April.

Donate/Subscribe: The Michigan Review accepts no financial support from the University. Therefore, your support is critical and greatly appreciated. Donations above $35 are eligible for a 1-year (12 issues) subscription. Donations can be made on our website at www.michiganreview.com, or mailed to:

911 N. University, Suite One Ann Arbor, MI 48109

■ From the Editor

I

n this issue, we present an eclectic mix of campus politics, national speech rights issues, and local economic concerns.

Our cover story, MSA Meetings lack MSA members, highlights the chronic attendance problems that have plagued the student governing body in the past year. In the previous term, a full quarter of MSA Representatives were removed from the organization due to poor attendance.

We also take a look at the interesting tale of Humberto Fontova (Page 1), a Cuban native who came to campus recently to assail Fidel Castro. Fontova also blasted everybody’s favorite revolutionary Che Guevara – a man whose face adorns the t-shirts of many a campus ignoramus.

The Review also takes a look at free speech issues around the country. A school suspension in Alaska in 2002 sparked a legal battle that made its way to the Supreme Court last month. The Court will soon decide whether a Juneau, Alaska school was justified in suspending student Joseph Frederick after he displayed a sign which read “Bong Hits 4 Jesus” (Page 7) outside his school. In Arizona, Professors may soon face fines for taking political stands in the classroom (Page 3). But the bill has drawn the ire of many conservative pundits around the country. To that end, the Review editorializes on such speech restrictions, pointing out that a little liberal hostility isn’t all bad for conservative college students (Page 4).

In the wake of DP Day here on campus – a day that saw hundreds of University students spend a day in Detroit volunteering – we examine a few aspects of Detroit’s economic struggles. On our front page, Anna Malecke talks with Econ. Professor Alan Deardorff about foreclosure problems that plague the city. In another feature,

■ Serpent’s Tooth

The Michigan Review is the independent, student-run journal of conservative and libertarian opinion at the University of Michigan. We neither solicit nor accept monetary donations from the University. Contributions to The Michigan Review are tax-deductible under section 501 (c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Service Code.

The Michigan Review is not affiliated with any political party or any university political group.

Unsigned editorials represent the opinion of the editorial board.

Ergo, they are unequivocally correct and just. Signed articles, letters, and cartoons represent the opinions of the author, and not necessarily those of The Review. The Serpent’s Tooth shall represent the opinion of individual, anonymous contributors to The Review, and should not necessarily be taken as representative of The Review’s editorial stance. The opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect those of the advertisers or the University of Michigan.

Copyright © 2007, The Michigan Review, Inc. All rights reserved.

The Michigan Review is a member of the Collegiate Network.

Minneapolis officials were shocked when blood spurted out of a sewer and got on a city worker. More shocking is the fact that there must be an underground tunnel connecting Detroit and Minneapolis.

The Canadian Army’s counterinsurgency manual will not include references to “radical Native American organizations” to avoid offending such

Brian Biglin takes a look at the famed Laffer Curve (Page 12) with the aid of a stunning graphic. Interestingly enough, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick seems to have taken a hint from the island-nation of Iceland in his quest to reduce tax rates.

On our opinion pages, the Review opines on the state’s tax climate in the wake of Comerica’s departure, and highlights recent efforts by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy to find ways to reduce state spending. Amanda Nichols takes a look at DP Day itself (Page 5) in her column, and wonders where the liberal commitment to “social justice” went.

On page 6, Journalism Professor Mark McDonald talks about his experiences as an embedded reporter in Iraq, and provides an eye-opening view of the role of journalists in the War on Terror.

In our Arts and Culture section this week, the sexist and misogynist Michigan Review (and its majority-female staff) takes a look at two books highlighting the experiences of women in college (Pages 10 and 11). Then, our conservative, Bible-beating, Bush-loving, right wing publication takes a few swipes at President Bush (Page 4), who is becoming more and more of a liability to true conservatives.

-Editor-in-Chief, Nick Cheolas Note: In our previous issue, we did not include the byline on one of our feature stories, Ann Arbor Drug Culture Remains Shrouded in Smoke. The author was Kelly Cavanaugh, ‘10.

radical organizations. In a related story, the organization formerly known as Michigamua will be holding meetings across the border from now on.

subjects. The move has led to a rapid increase in ignorant high school graduates and Michigan Daily columnists named Toby Mitchell.

The University recently announced that students will be able to choose their “preferred” name to be used on MCards, in directories, and on official University documents. President Mary Diversity Coleman is hoping to use the plan to her advantage by forcing white students to adopt black and Latino sounding names.

The Supreme Court recently ruled that the EPA must regulate greenhouse gases including carbon dioxide – a gas naturally emitted by human breathing.

So for those of you keeping track at home, you’re probably better off getting an abortion than breathing.

The London Times recently reported that teachers are increasingly choosing to ignore the holocaust, crusades, and other controversial and difficult

Georgia State Representatives are contemplating removing former US Representative Cynthia McKinney’s name from an Atlanta area roadway.

You know, Rep. McKinney might not be the best person to anger.

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Features

04.03.07

features. the michigan review

New Study Claims College Students Are More Narcissistic Than Ever New Study indicts the self-esteem movement

By Lindsey Dodge, ‘10

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ollege students are more narcissistic than ever before, according to a recent study spearheaded by Professor Jean Twenge of San Diego State University.

Dr. Twenge, a University of Michigan graduate, started researching this phenomenon with four other psychologists last summer. She and her colleagues examined the responses of 16,475 college students nationwide who had completed the Narcissistic Personality Inventory, a psychological test evaluating the exam-taker’s level of narcissism.

According to their findings, all individualist traits have risen dramatically since 1982, when the exam was first administered. While self-esteem of students has risen, so has

“College students assume that they can be exceptional, that they should receive special treatment, when hard work will probably do a lot more for you than believing in yourself.”

–Jean Twenge, Professor, San Diego State University narcissism. Some conditions that denote narcissism are dysfunctional relationships and a lack of empathy. According to Twenge, narcissists’ relationships often end because of infidelity or a lack of commitment.

These characteristics help explain the dramatic rise of hook-ups in colleges and universities around the United States. According to one study published in August of 2006 in The Journal of Sex Research, casual sex of all kinds is now the norm for college students.

Looking closer at the data, they show that narcissism may affect men and women differently, including their sex lives. The NPI responses revealed that surprisingly more men than women are narcissistic, although the difference is negligible.

The Journal of Sex Research, though, cautions that more women demonstrate signs of depression after just one casual hook-up, as opposed to men, who are generally pleased with the sexual environment on their campuses.

In an interview, Twenge said that she thinks this bodes poorly for the development of relationship skills among college students. “It’s always ok to put yourself first [for narcissists],” she says, “So these individual, self-esteem trends create very high expectations which may or may not be realistic for everybody.”

This goes for careers, too. With a heightened sense of self, more students expect to pursue higher education. According to Twenge’s recent studies, fifty percent of high school students expected to receive a graduate degree, which is worrisome when compared to the nine percent who will achieve this goal.

Negative results for disappointed narcissists include anxiety and depression, which result from the greater predicament in the event that people do not find the best fit for themselves. Twenge explains, “People assume that they have to go to college to make a good living, but not everybody does need to go to college…College was the right choice for me, but I can’t fix my own toilet.”

These heightened expectations and self-esteem come from what researchers dub the “self-esteem” movement, which began in the late 70s and early 80s. They argue that the multitudinous self-esteem programs that have popped up in schools, the media, and in parenting techniques are

extremely detrimental to this generation.

“College students assume that they can be exceptional, that they should receive special treatment,” Twenge says, “when hard work will probably do a lot more for you than believing in yourself.”

She laments the loss of the virtues of humility and equality in the wake of a growing tide of self-absorbed youth singing the songs they were taught in elementary school, such as, “I am special, I am special, look at me! Look at me!” sung to the tune of Frere Jacques.

Although no one knows exactly what makes a narcissist, Twenge points to the undue emphasis on self-esteem in schools, where teachers do not correct student’s mistakes for fear of upsetting their emotional equilibrium.

Others point toward the development of personal technology. Sites such as YouTube and MySpace place their emphasis on the individual and, over the last couple of years, have become two of the most popular sites on the internet.

The portable iPod may have an isolating effect, as well, as students literally shut out their surroundings with their music.

Not all have accepted the study, though, with the most dissention coming from college students themselves.

In one article from the University of Washington’s independent student newspaper The Daily, a student responded angrily to the findings of Twenge and her colleagues. The student criticized a question asking whether or not a student thought the world would be a better place if he or she ruled it.

“Current and past world leaders that come to mind include George W. Bush, Saddam Hussein, Joseph Stalin, Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler,” the student wrote. “Yes, the world would definitely be a better place if I were in charge.”

Other analysts have pointed out that studies demonstrate increased commitment to volunteer work among college students, which hardly characterizes narcissists.

However, Twenge notes that many high schools now require community service. Moreso, students may feel pressure to list volunteer work on their college applications, which certainly is characteristic of the narcissists’ tendency to look out for themselves first.

When asked what college students can do to counteract the tide of self-importance sweeping campuses nationwide, Twenge recommended questioning clichés of self-esteem, media messages, and yes, even what your parents have told you. Her book, Generation Me: Why Today’s Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled…and More Miserable than Ever Before, discussing this study, comes out in paperback soon. MR

If the legislation passes, professors will be fined up to $500 if they take any position in the classroom toward: • “any candidate or nominee for local, state, or federal public office or any elected or appointed local, state, or federal official” • “any pending, proposed, or enacted local, state, or federal legislation, regulation or rule.”

• “any pending or proposed litigation in a local, state, or federal court” • “a social, political, or cultural issue that is a matter of partisan controversy.”

• “any activities that hamper or impede the lawful access of military recruits to campus.”

• “any activities that hamper or impede the actions of local, state, or federal law enforcement.”

Arizona Professors May Face Fines for Political Posturing

By Christine Hwang, ‘10

T

he Arizona State legislature is currently debating the amendment of a bill that would fine professors up to $500 for “politicizing” the classroom by “[advocating] one side of a social, political, or cultural issue that is a matter of partisan controversy.” The amendment, sponsored

by Arizona Senate Majority Leader, Thayer Verschoor (R), has stirred its own controversy, facing opposition from both sides of the aisle, along with school boards and professors.

The bill previously restricted only the “use of school district or charter school resources or employees to influence elections.” If the amendment passes, professors will be fined up to $500 if they take any position in the classroom.

In addition to adherence to these rules, professors at public institutions would be forced to receive special training regarding these rules for three hours every year.

Verschoor, who earned his undergraduate degree from

“If Arizona wants to drive good professors to other states, it could hardly come up with a better plan.”

–National Review Political Reporter John J. Miller Arizona State University, feels that his professors attempted to indoctrinate students.

“In our institutions of higher education, students should be learning how to think, not what to think,” he told the online education journal, Inside Higher Education.

Although the bill appears to have benefits, Serena Unrein, Executive Director of the Arizona Students’ Association, argues that it limits what students can learn in the classroom. Even though professors cannot indoctrinate students, they also cannot discuss issues and concerns about current policies.

“College students are adults and all these injunctions would effectively prevent university instructors from carrying out their professional tasks,” argued conservative writer and activist David Horowitz.

The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), a group that aims to protect “individual rights at America’s increasingly repressive and partisan colleges and universities,” has come out against the amendment from a legal perspective. It argues that this bill violates freedom of speech for professors who are opposed to freedom of speech for students.

FIRE argues that it is a double standard for there to be so much controversy over limitations on professors’ right to free speech while students have been subject to speech codes limiting expressions for decades.

“America’s colleges and universities are, in theory, indispensable institutions in the development of critical minds and the furthering of individual rights, honest inquiry, and the core values of liberty, legal equality, and dignity. Instead, they often are the enemies of those qualities and pursuits, denying students and faculty their voices, their fundamental rights, and even their individual humanity,” claimed FIRE. The group also argues that it must increase freedom of speech for both students and professors, saying, “It is essential that our nation’s future leaders be educated as members of a free society, learning to debate and to resolve differences peacefully, without resorting to administrative coercion.”

Professors and groups of educators such as the American Association of University Professors are also opposed to the bill and willing to take action.

“If Arizona wants to drive good professors to other states, it could hardly come up with a better plan,” wrote National Review’s John J. Miller.

Although it is not certain whether the amendment will be passed, it was approved by the Senate Government Committee by a 4 to 3 vote. If passed, the law will come into effect in January 2008. MR

Opinion

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04.03.07

editorials. the michigan review

The Review welcomes letters to the editor. Send letters to:

The Michigan Review

T

he Michigan Review is the independent, studentrun journal of conservative and libertarian opinion at the University of Michigan. Unsigned editorials represent the opinion of the Editorial Board. Ergo, they are unequivocally correct and just. Signed articles, letters, and cartoons represent the opinions of the author, and not necessarily those of the Review.

F

Hostile College Campuses Not All Bad For Conservatives

rom Bong Hits 4 Jesus to the Vagina Monologues, the speech rights of students have been back in the news recently.

Nowhere are such rights more important than on college campuses nationwide – areas where the free exchange of information, ideas, and viewpoints are critical to the educational mission. The presence of such diverse viewpoints (not simply skin tones) – even unpopular or offensive ones – vital to producing students that can think critically and argue persuasively.

Among conservatives, complaints are commonly targeted at liberal professors and establishments that, the argument follows, stifle conservatism and perpetuate liberal groupthink on campus. These views have some merit, as the majority of college professors do indeed lean to the left.

But this is not a death knell for college conservatives.

In fact, professor bias may actually benefit conservative students.

In an economy that increasingly relies upon intellectually active and articulate graduates, social science students who spend four years constantly defending and refining their views are more able to think critically and argue persuasively than students who spend four years swimming with the current. Just as athletes endure the pain and misery of training to improve their performance, conservative students tempered by liberal institutions can actually benefit from better argumentative and creative skills in the end.

This is not to say that conservative students should be shouted down in class, or put on show trial, as the College Republicans of San Francisco State University were after they defaced the flags of Hamas and Hezbollah. But by and large, universities are not openly persecuting and punishing conservative students because of their beliefs.

To this end, bills that have recently surfaced in states like Virginia and Arizona threaten many of the speech rights they are designed to protect, and actually run counter to other conservative beliefs and principles. Bills meant to balance professor bias and campus liberalism aim to punish professors for politically charged classroom speech, as is the case in Arizona, or mandate “intellectual diversity” in curriculums, as in Virginia.

Such legislative efforts are ineffective at best and dangerous at worst. Michigan – a prestigious public University that already battles private institutions for top-notch professors – would find the struggle far more difficult if professors feared fines for classroom speech. And we’re baffled as to how conservatives could not see the irony in supporting bills that mandate “diversity.”

President Coleman is right to espouse the benefits of diversity, although her administration is sorely misguided in believing that diversity begins and ends with skin color. The mere fact that the current “diversity crisis” was sparked by an amendment that banned racial preferences is indicative of this fact. Despite Coleman’s adherence to the theology of the Diversicrats, the administration has taken no efforts to recruit members of, say, “underrepresented” religious or political groups.

But institutions that value true diversity do so to the benefit of conservative students nationwide. The simple laws of supply and demand follow that the relative dearth of college conservatives makes such students valuable commodities at the next level.

So fear not, young conservatives, and stick to your principles. Government legislation won’t ease our struggle, but a brighter future awaits. MR

mrev@umich.edu The Review reserves the right to edit letters to the editor for length and clarity.

Tax Climate Fuels Flight of Businesses from State

A Vote of “No Confidence” for the President

I

S

t comes as no surprise that Comerica, the financial services giant currently based in Detroit, is relocating to Dallas. While Comerica and the Governor’s office claim the move simply follows population shifts, the economic climate of Michigan is pitiful. Statewide unemployment hovers around seven percent. Only the Katrina-ravaged Mississippi has a higher unemployment rate, albeit higher by one-tenth of a percent. Logical thought about any dire situation, especially one such as the economy upon which millions rely, says that when there is a problem, it should be fixed.

However, Governor Jennifer Granholm and her economic advisors see it differently, proposing the Michigan Business Tax as a viable solution to the anti-business climate that our state government helps strengthen. Governor Granholm has proposed the Michigan Business Tax as a replacement for the now-expired Single Business Tax, which brought in an estimated $1.9 billion in government revenue.

The Michigan Business Tax consists of a 0.125% tax on gross receipts, which, plainly put, means that businesses will begin to pay a noticable amount of taxes based on how much they spend on goods and services. Other proposed taxes include a tax on assets, a tax on business income, and increased taxes on insurers. Next time you get a haircut, get your dog groomed, or go to the bowling alley, you may be in for an unpleasant surprise when a two-percent excise tax is added on. Estate taxes are back and will be increased, along with cigarettes, tobacco, and liquor.

On the positive side, the new legislation does provide minute tax relief on certain things such as personal property and new car purchases. Unfortunately, the damage has been done, and new legislation mandating enormous tax increases will only make it worse. The Michigan Chamber of Commerce, which represents over 7,000 Michigan businesses, attributes the new legislation to an even more hostile environment for businesses and investment. In a press release examining Granholm’s plan, the Chamber states that “[the assets tax] sends a message to new and existing businesses that they do not want to hold property or other assets in the state because they will be taxed multiple times.” Major businesses, such as Comerica, understand these risks and flee to an area such as Dallas, where state government does not strive to ruin their prospects for success through harmful tax laws.

Increasing taxes with the goal of supporting the state infrastructure is one way to protect and maintain vital public services that serve millions of Michigan residents.

But tax increases that unnecessarily punish businesses will not do the trick alone. If government spending was substantially curbed, tax increases could be smaller and more pragmatic. The Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a Michigan-based free-market think-tank, has identified several areas where government can be substantially downsized, amounting to a saving of $1.9 billion. Reducing spending with the goal of improving the state can come in many logical ways, including reducing corporate welfare to technology companies in the “21st Century Jobs Fund,” or through privatizing certain aspects of public education such as food and custodial services.

Nobody expects Michigan’s economy to change for the better overnight. But what people do expect is a reasonable approach to the situation which does not include harmful legislation that may have disparate effects on our business climate, including unnecessary taxes. Indeed, Governor Granholm and Michigan lawmakers must stop the idea that the state government’s woes will be solved by taking more from businesses. If they don’t, who will be the next to follow Comerica? MR

everal years ago, in the aftermath of the 2004 election, our staff was elated that, if nothing else, John Kerry was defeated in his bid for the presidency. The election and its contention made us given to celebration that the misguided intentions of Kerry and his supporters would be abated. This, in turn, meant the reelection of George W. Bush. And for that, we were happy.

In retrospect, our elation should have been more muted. Our candidate had policies which, on their faces, we could seemingly line ourselves up behind. And we most certainly did not support the policies of Senator Kerry. Indeed, we still support the bulk of the ostensible goals of the Bush Administration.

Yet it is hard to argue, at this point, that the Bush Administration has executed its stated goals by any metric of competence.

For starters, the mammoth burden of Iraq indelibly lies on the shoulders of George W. Bush. Our editorial board supported the war, and has generally insisted on support of that cause. But the President has managed to squander any political competence by gross mismanagement of the goals of the war. Take, for instance, his obstinate support of Donald Rumsfeld for dozens of months longer than he should have. Furthermore, the reflexive reaction of the White House has been to more-or-less ignore criticism, constructive or politically critical.

The Bush Administration has evinced its lack of competence in more areas of policy than just the prosecution of the War. The Harriet Miers fiasco and the recent conflagration over the firing of several U.S. Attorneys exemplify the style of governance that has plagued the Bush Administration, only to their detriment. The modus operandi of the administration has been to supplant a system of meritocracy or accountability with one based on personal relationships with the president. Miers, Gonzales, Rumsfeld, et al., were all selected and protected in their posts because, after all, they were good people to the President, so they must be good executive officials.

Loyalty has been so highly prized that the President has become an emperor wearing no clothes, so-to-speak.

While virtually all outsiders have been able to clearly realize the realities of this administration, President Bush has become increasingly oblivious, with a cadre of friendly advisors who have become increasingly insular from the political realities of Washington.

The recent admissions of Matthew Dowd, the president’s former chief political advisor, are telling. His disenchantment with the unfortunate realities of life inside the administration was detailed in a recent article in the New York Times. His confessions paint the picture of a president who, unable to govern, is aimless in purpose and who seems content to “run out the clock” on his presidency.

We rarely, as a matter of editorial policy, write in this space about national affairs. But for too long, being a good conservative has meant fealty to the Bush Administration.

Finally, that bow is breaking. It is important to seize the opportunity to differentiate the nuances of our opinion from our ideological brethren. We, for instance, think it is important to emphasize the importance of winning the War in Iraq, reducing the size of the government, and protecting individual liberties.

But the most effective way to express our position might be to adapt a metaphor from another form of government. If our government were a parliamentary system, and President Bush were a prime minister, one might be able to expect us to level a vote of “no confidence.” MR

Columns

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04.03.07

columns. the michigan review

■ Strict Scrutiny

C

Carr Out to Protect Team, Not Play Justice

oach Lloyd Carr is often criticized by students for being too conservative on the field. That coaching trait seems to have followed Carr off the field as he recently dismissed three players from the team. Eugene Germany, who was recently ticketed for marijuana possession, along with Carson Butler and Christian Richards, who are facing legal charges for assaulting a student in West Quad, have all been removed.

Just like with 3rd and short, Carr does not appear to be risking anything here. Regarding Butler and Richards, little information has been released about the incident and it is yet unclear if the defendants will receive any Adam sentences.

Paul Yet Carr is a coach, not a judge, and there is no reason to expect him to uphold an innocent-until-proven-guilty standard. With pre-trial hearings not slated until mid-April, if the case does go to trial it will surely continue during summer training and possibly into the regular season. Carr needs to be assured that every member of his team will be committed. If a trial or probation gets in the way of that schedule, then it may be time for a player to go.

But wait, you’re thinking, why is it that wide receiver

■ The Feminine Mystique

D

etroit is a mess.

Now, I will be the first to admit that I have very, very little firsthand knowledge of the real Detroit. I know my way into, out of, and somewhat around the city—mostly, I can get to the stadiums, the bridge and tunnel, and Greektown. I am a metro-Detroiter in the loosest possible sense; that is, I live in the northernmost city in Oakland County, the farthest possible fringe of the “metro” designation.

However, I have always felt drawn to the city. Is it because my beloved Red Wings live in the big gray arena on the River?

Maybe. But perhaps my almost romanticized ardor for the city Amanda is really because, for all of my life, I’ve been so far outside Nichols of it—outside the danger, the abandoned shells of buildings, the blight and poverty of its residents. Still, as a resident of Southeast Michigan and a child of automotive industry employees, I am compelled to claim it as my own, at least in some small way.

So when I volunteered to work with the Detroit Project with other Review staff members, I felt that, finally, I

Adrian Arrington is simply not practicing while others are being removed from the team? True, Arrington faced domestic abuse allegations, which were eventually dismissed.

This eventual dismissal coupled with the fact that Arrington had no previous record with team discipline or the law may have made Carr view his continued presence as a benefit rather than a detriment to the team. Even if Butler and Richards receive no sentences, their actions could represent unacceptable damage to the team’s reputation that would not be accounted for in a legal context.

Again, a football club is not a court of justice; nor would I want it to be. But Carr’s goal comes in winning games, so he has every right to weigh the risks associated with retaining players facing off-the-field troubles.

Yet if one were to take the NCAA at face value, you would be led to believe that in college sports integrity, not competition, is the primary goal. In their core values, the NCAA describes the role of college athletes in “the higher education mission and in enhancing the sense of community.” While it’s well and good to promote sportsmanship and community, the role of the NCAA and coaching staffs are not to implement punishments for player behavior; that’s a role that can be carried out in court.

Instead, coaches have a duty to access the impact of players for their teams’ performance and the extent that legal troubles will have on commitment or press frenzy when making decisions about suspensions or removals.

Sure, star power effects a coaching staff ’s decision; Germany has been removed from the team for possession

Social Change? Hardly. could do something in a city for which I feel such strong pride. I felt that, finally, I could be more than just a white girl from “the real O.C.” who says she’s from “Detroit” but then subsequently qualifies that statement. I thought that I’d be working with people who shared my vested interest in a community from which so much of the state of Michigan—the population, the economy, and of course, the transportation—sprung from.

I was wrong.

Now, did our group make a difference at our site? I’m sure we did. Our group of Review staffers and editorial board members, along with at least 25 others, certainly helped clean up both one of the city’s revitalized buildings and an abandoned lot. But could we have done more? I’m certain of that. Of course, there is always more that can be done in Detroit; there is always work to be done in any city.

But that wasn’t it.

Instead, my biggest misassumption proved to be the how much actual work most of the volunteers were interested in doing. Of course, we all started out strong, the free Starbucks still coursing through our veins. But as I carried a table through a set of narrow doorways and a volunteer, wearing a sweatshirt from one of metro Detroit’s most elite private schools, tried to tell me what to do instead of offering any actual assistance, I could tell the day was going downhill fast.

Perhaps things went better elsewhere around the city,

of marijuana, a charge that in Ann Arbor is often regarded with little contempt. Yet finding fault in using playing ability to evaluate suspensions still clings to the belief that teams should grant a legal skepticism to guilt, for the sake of fairness.

This assumption forgets the “no I in team” adage. If a player experiences legal punishment as a result of some action that’s sad but if their teammates are made to suffer now that’s unfair. Teams are not designed around equity principles. Players always receive unequal playing time and prestige.

Yet rather than get drawn into speculation about players’ guilt, Carr, in his own austere way, has signaled that he will make his own decisions. I wouldn’t want coaches to provide disingenuous justifications about players’ innocence or guilt to a crime; doing so gives them arbitrary power and could bias jury pools against defendants. Jurors may well think that if a coach, who would arguably know a player well, makes a certain choice then it says something about the guilt of a player. Therefore it’s best that coaches publicly describe their decisions about players with legal troubles as decisions in the best interest of the team, which seems to be what Carr is doing here.

So congratulations to Coach Carr. Surely his differentiated decisions will get some criticism on fairness grounds but Carr will continue to make the decisions that suit his team best and leave the haggling over guilt to the court system: where it belongs. MR

but all I can speak from what I saw and experienced. And I watched—and worked—while many stood by, doing nothing. Alas, the perpetual plight of Detroit: too many hands doing not quite enough.

But in their defense, perhaps there wasn’t enough for all forty-odd volunteers at our site; if that is the case, the fault lies with the planning of DP Day. However, when we left, I looked around the site and saw much still to be done—much that the handful of volunteers who worked hard could not finish on their own, and much that the many idle hands at our site could have helped complete.

Interestingly, many (but certainly not all) of those volunteers who seemed most eager to work were the espoused “conservatives” of the site. This makes me seriously question the so-called “liberal” culture of social change at this University. And what’s worse is that many of those standing around are considered leaders on this campus. If they can’t look around a dilapidated city and find something they can do to make it better, well, then I fear for what the future brings with our “leaders and best” at its helm.

Now really, I don’t care if people volunteer for the free food or the cool t-shirt, but I wish they’d just be honest about it. That way, they wouldn’t have to pretend to be interested in social change or making a difference. That way, they’ll be out of the way of those actually working to make a difference in the city—the real agents of social change. MR

Dear Celebrities: Shut Up!

By Zack Zucker ‘10

R

osie O’Donnell dropped out of Boston University. She is a comedian, not a foreign affairs expert. I was a little shocked, then, when I logged on to AOL and saw that Rosie O’Donnell’s insane comments on The View about 9/11 and the new Iranian hostage situation were front page news. Naturally, I found this hilarious and watched the clip. While Staff watching, however, a disturbing thought Opinion kept huddling in the back corner of my mind: these idiots are influencing the collective opinion of our nation.

For those of you who are not regular viewers, The View is a weekday talk show featuring a once-credible journalist whose most famous question is perhaps asking Katharine Hepburn which kind of tree she would be, a former

English teacher and stand-up comedian, a Survivor cast-mate probably chosen as the token Republican because in her case the blonde jokes are true, and a comic/actor whose most poignant dramatic role came in Harriet the Spy. To be fair, the show did have a distinguished journalist (not counting Barbara Walters 30 years ago), but she left for The Today Show.

The View averages roughly the same number of viewers as NBC’s Meet the Press, but appears five times more often.

How are these women determined to be credible enough to be opinion leaders for the masses? The answer stems from the fact that they all had good auditions.

I used to think that the term “TV wasteland” referred to such educational programming as Beavis and Butthead.

Now, however, I have come to a frightening realization: today, even the informative news and talk shows are virtually devoid of worthwhile informative content.

And it’s not just The View. Was it just me, or did the “24 hour” news networks deliver more airtime about Anna Nicole Smith’s death than they did about 9/11? Maybe that’s a government conspiracy too, Rosie.

When Sean Penn (dropped out of Santa Monica college after studying auto mechanics) or Charlton Heston (studied drama at Northwestern; played Moses) talk, we listen. If you’re a Republican and want to hold political office in California, start off in Hollywood. Being an athlete sure helps getting elected to Congress.

Are these people qualified to inform or represent us because they are famous? We are a celebrity culture, but come on! The next time Rosie O’Donnell goes on a rant about George Bush invading Iran for money, just change the channel—though not to the news—they’re still reporting on the contents of Anna Nicole’s “death fridge”. MR

News

P. 6

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04.03.07

the michigan review

First Annual Economic Forum Examines Future of State Economy

Professor Speaks on Journalism in the War on Terror

By Eddie Perry, ‘09

By Mike Balkin, ‘09

Michigan Economics Society sponsors first in planned annual series of panels

T

he 1st Annual Michigan Economic Forum was held at the Biological Science Research Building Auditorium last Friday. This event was put on by the Michigan Economics Society and Michigan Interactive Investments. The theme of the afternoon was how the state of Michigan will regain its competitive advantage.

The gathering was headlined by prominent business, political, and intellectual leaders committed to improving Michigan’s economic conditions. The speakers were Dr. Peter Hooper, Chief US Economist; Dr. Charles Evans, director of research and senior vice president at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago; John Austin, Vice President of the Michigan State Board of Education and Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution; Joel Vander Kooi, assistant treasurer or risk management for the Kellogg Company; and Steven Szakaly, economist with the Center for Automotive Research; and John McElroy, auto analyst and host of Autoline Detroit.

Hooper opened the event tackling various macroeconomic issues facing the country as a whole.

“The economy is likely to run below trend for a good while…the housing market adjustment still has a good ways to go and this current drag of growth could be felt well into 2008,” said Hooper.

“While the Fed is concerned about inflation risks given the tightness of the labor market, slow growth should eventually elicit rate cuts later this year.”

This broad approach set the stage for the next presenter, Evans, who refined this data down to how it impacts Michigan.

“The housing market in Michigan is not doing very well because of the bigger jobs picture. The prices of houses have downright declined. In Michigan it has been very poor and until the rest of the country picks it up, I don’t see it changing in any way,” said Evans.

John Austin from the Brookings Institution was slated next. He spoke exclusively about Michigan and how the state should be able to adapt and thrive with global economic thinking.

“We [the Midwest and Ontario] would be the third biggest country in the world in terms of pooled GDP and some might complain about out-sourcing, but being engaged in the global marketplace is a great thing as long as the top stays here. Nowadays, manufacturing output and employment in Michigan is far more productive but employs far far fewer people. We won’t be better off with big, dysfunctional entities providing anyone who asks with a job, but with a lot of smaller, productive entities,” said Austin.

Joel Vander Kooi spoke about how Michigan does not need to cut taxes all the way around to attract future business, but that it needs to have an established, predictable system.

“If you want people to invest in this state, they need to actually know what they’re getting into,” said Vander Kooi.

Steven Szakaly dealt with economic forecasting of regional and global automotive trends, as well as financial analysis of the automotive industry and international automotive trade. He took a somewhat contrarian approach saying that while the Big 3 are in a agony right now, the world still views Detroit as the “quarterback of the car industry.” With Detroit still leading as the automotive research and development capital of the world, as soon as Ford, GM, and DCX rebound from having to pay huge payout packages, they will be in the black again, but for different reasons. MR

Interested in joining the Review, but lacking the time?

Join our staff this fall!

We need people interested in: -Writing -Reporting -Business -Photography/Graphics email:

mrev@umich.edu

W

ith changing ground conditions in Iraq and the dynamics of the media marketplace, the mainstream media has had to adapt and practice a new kind of “asymmetric journalism,” according to Professor Mark McDonald, a Howard R. Marsh Visiting Professor of Journalism, who spoke last week at the U-M Alumni Center.

McDonald, who has been the Marsh Professor for the past two years, spoke in particular about the dangers and realities of covering the War in Iraq, drawing on his own experiences. His statements come with certain credibility: He is a four-time Pulitzer Prize nominee and was awarded the prize in 1994, with his team, for a series called “Violence Against Women.” He has also worked for the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and the International Herald Tribune.

McDonald first arrived in Iraq in 2003.

Instead of entering Iraq directly, McDonald had to infiltrate Kurdish regions, because to gain entry Iraqi customs agents and border security officials would only accept extremely large sums of money as bribes. On the other hand, the Kurds asked for little and he was able to enter Kurdish regions with ease.

According to McDonald, once the invasion was complete, the Iraqis became desperate and took everything they could physically grasp. Huge stacks of food and water were stolen from U.N. aid depositories and the small number of U.S. troops could liter-

Professor Mark McDonald spoke recently on the coverage of the War on Terror

to make instantaneous decisions every day.

He noted that on one occasion, American forces were fired upon by a group of insurgents with a circle of children around them.

Given the situation, reporters in the field need to be embedded or must enter Iraq with fresh American troops via Kuwait.

In McDonald’s eyes, the process of embedding reporters is extremely curious (and effective). He believes that the Pentagon views the press as an enemy. Therefore, the Penta-

“You would never see a dead American soldier in a major newspaper. They need to be offensive and offending. If we lose half the newspapers in America, and the other half is great, that’s fine. We can live with that.”

–Mark McDonald, Visiting Professor of Journalism ally do nothing to prevent the looting that ensued.

Days after the initial hostilities ceased, McDonald saw an Iraqi man carrying two toilets, one on each shoulder, from one of Saddam Hussein’s former palaces. When asked about his intentions the man reportedly replied, “I want to sit where Saddam used to sit.”

While looting by common Iraqis was widely reported, theft by journalists was not.

McDonald said he saw foreign news teams taking vases, chandeliers, and other objects from palaces and museums.

McDonald went into great detail about his experiences in Iraq and elsewhere. For the first part of the lecture, he focused his comments on the direct aftermath of the U.S.-led invasion, particularly in relation to the practice of journalism.

During the second half of the event, McDonald spoke more specifically about the challenges reporters face in Iraq (and what it all means for the media members). He alluded to the fact that the situation in Iraq is becoming increasingly chaotic and that American troops, as well as reporters, have

gon created the “embed program” to keep American reporters close to their countrymen.

As a result of the intense, asymmetric war raging in Iraq, reporting has gone asymmetric as well. According to McDonald, reporters sit in the Green Zone—an area deemed to be safe—and are rarely seen leaving. To get the necessary footage, reporters hand out hundreds of small cameras to Iraqi citizens. These Iraqis must then acquire footage and bring it back to the correspondents waiting in the Green Zone.

While McDonald believes the “embed program” and “asymmetric journalism” been successful, he does not believe that America has succeeded in Iraq. According to the professor, Americans do not know how bad the situation really is, and for that, McDonald blames the mainstream media and their profit motives.

“You would never see a dead American soldier in a major newspaper. They need to be offensive and offending. If we lose half the newspapers in America,” McDonald said. “And the other half is great, that’s fine.

We can live with that.” MR

News

P. 7

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04.03.07

the michigan review

Bongs, Jesus, and Free Speech How these strange bedfellows have coalesced into a conservative issue

By Jane Coaston, ‘09

“

Soon, students may have more of an incentive to return empty kegs.

Liquor Control Commission Mulls Keg Deposit Increase

By Michael O’Brien, ‘08

W

hen students go to liquor stores on campus to purchase kegs for parties, they may be shocked by recent price increases.

The State’s Liquor Control Commission is in the process of raising the amount customers have to pay for keg deposits from ten dollars to thirty dollars. The change would take place this month, according to one article in the Ann Arbor News.

The decision comes in the wake of complaints from some companies, particularly Anheuser-Busch and Bell’s Isle distilleries. The companies claim that because the cost of a keg has gone up to roughly $120 in the last year, it is becoming increasingly costly when kegs are not returned. These kegs are sometimes sold as scrap metal, which can retrieve as much as thirty dollars.

The rule is currently in the public hearing stage, and will soon move to the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules in the legislature. The Committee can intervene in the Liquor Control Commission’s decision if they choose, and have the power to prevent the deposit increase from taking effect.

Ken Wozniak, the Director of Executive Service for the Liquor Control Commission, said in an interview that he has no reason to suspect that the legislature will intervene. The Commission’s decision, he said, “mainly was because of the value of the keg.”

“We settled on $30 because we didn’t want a big consumer outcry on this,” he said. “If the deposit is around the redemption value, then it should prevent theft.”

He said there was some debate over how much the increase in deposit should be, but the Commission ultimately did not want to upset those buying kegs.

Not everyone, however, is happy with the increase in the deposit.

Guss Batwo, the owner of Campus Corner at State and Packard, worried that keg sales will decrease.

“I don’t like this increase,” said Batwo. “I don’t think thee are a lot of stolen kegs, and now, if people lose the keg, they’re going to lose the deposit.” He speculated that sales on campus may shift away from kegs, and towards cans and bottles of beer.

He also worried that the deposit increase will encourage a black market for kegs.

“They already pay close to thirty dollars for the tap,” he said. “[Students] aren’t stupid. There’s going to be a lot of black market activity; kids going down to Ohio to get their kegs.”

Wozniak said that the Liquor Commission has not formally discussed the effect of the deposit increase on beer consumption.

“The people who buy by the keg are obviously using it for parties,” he said. “It’s still a lot cheaper to buy keg beer rather than cans or bottles.” MR

Bong Hits 4 Jesus” is a surprising statement to get attention from conservative legal defense funds and the federal government, but the free speech issues associated with it and recent controversies stemming from a production of scenes from The Vagina Monologues at a school in New York are receiving a considerable amount of notice.

In the first instance, the case stems from an incident in Juneau, Alaska in 2002. An eighteen-year-old student, Joseph Frederick, displayed a large banner with the words “Bong Hits 4 Jesus” on it across from his high school, although off school property, during the Winter Olympics Torch Relay.

His principal, Deborah Morse, seized the sign, and Frederick received a ten-day suspension when he refused to name others involved in the banner prank. He quoted Thomas Jefferson in his defense.

The case made its way to the United States Supreme Court. Interestingly, the case has become a matter of the rights of students versus the rights of schools and the government. Numerous organizations including Students for Sensible Drug Policy and several conservative organizations such as the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) and the Rutherford Institute have become involved in Frederick’s defense, and they have filed amicus curiae briefs in his defense.

In a press briefing, Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel for the ACLJ said, “We strongly disagree with the student’s message in the case but believe there is a much broader constitutional principle at stake here—protecting the First Amendment rights of students to express themselves—especially if the school district considers the message offensive…A decision to ban the student’s controversial speech would set a dangerous precedent and open the door for school districts to prohibit student speech that it considers offensive—speech in the future that could advocate a pro-family or pro-life message.”

In its amicus curiae brief, the Rutherford Institute stated that its purpose was to “work to preserve the maximum freedom for citizens… to express opinions in public forums without fear of repression or discrimination…student speech occurring away from school property should not be made subject to rote application of school rules based on an

administrator’s perception of what is and is not a ‘school-approved activity’.”

On the side of the school principal, Kenneth Starr, the independent council who brought impeachment charges against Bill Clinton, argued that political speech must “not be disruptive” and that the sign promoted drug use, which is “utterly inconsistent with the educational mission of the school.” Edwin Needler spoke for the United States government, saying that public schools are not required to allow students in their care to “promote or encourage the illegal use of drugs.”

The same free speech issues are being debated in the “vagina” controversy. During a talent show at John Jay High School, three high school students at were suspended for reading “My Short Skirt,” an excerpt from The Vagina Monologues. The line in question reads, “My short skirt is a liberation flag in the women’s army. I declare these streets, any streets, my vagina’s country.” The problem arose because their principal, Rich Leprine, forbade them from saying the word “vagina” after approving the rest of their reading.

The three decided to say the word anyway. “We had no doubt in our minds that we were willing to be ‘insubordinate’ to do the right thing and get this word out there and we were willing to take whatever consequence” said Hannah Levinson, one of the students involved at a press conference. They were suspended, the school claims, not for saying the word but for disobeying their principal’s mandate, which was made because of the possible presence of younger students in the audience.

Regardless, the incident has generated a considerable amount of press. Both cases ask interesting questions regarding the role of free speech in public schools—in one instance, the Supreme Court will decide; in the other, the ultimate decision may be long in coming. MR

U-M Frees $3 Million to employ displaced Pfizer employees

By Blake Emerson, ‘09

S

ince the announcement of Pfizer’s departure from Ann Arbor, pundits have been speculating about the consequences of losing upwards of 2,000 jobs in Ann Arbor. Pfizer is the largest private employer in Ann Arbor.

The University, however, has joined in the SPARK program, a joint project aimed at keeping displaced Pfizer workers in the state of Michigan.

According to the SPARK website, over 500 resumes have been collected from employees who wish to receive help moving to another job in the state of Michigan. SPARK reports that a team is working with 15 different colleague groups interested in starting a business within the state of Michigan. This initiative has garnered much support because of the already-problematic “brain drain” that is so familiar to people in the University of Michigan community.

In addition to participating heavily in SPARK, the University recently announced a 3-year, $3 Million initiative to hire upwards of twenty employees from the closed Pfizer plant to work in research positions on campus. Kelly Cunningham, Senior Public Affairs Specialist for the University, said the use of $3 million in University gift funds is justified by the tremendous need for scientists with the skills possessed by Pfizer employees, citing that the University saw an opportunity to capture their talent for the benefit of the University.

Beyond simply helping U-M, keeping high quality researchers is in Ann Arbor is an added benefit, Cunningham

said. The University plans to provide a mentoring program that will transition the worker into an “independent research track scientist at U-M by the end of the support period,” said Cunningham.

Paul Courant, Economics and Public Policy Professor, shares the positive view about the initiative, because of the publicized impact of the Pfizer plant closing. He supports the University’s decision to help, because the University already spends countless time recruiting the best talent in the research industry. Much of that talent is right here within the bounds of Ann Arbor, many of whom are “very good scientists, who prefer to stay in Ann Arbor,” said Courant.

Courant said he has noticed effects in the local housing market, and believes students may find it easier to park in the vicinity until an employer with similar scope moves into the area. Furthermore, he added, Pfizer has been a large supporter of the arts on campus, such as the U-M Museum of Art. As far as long-term prospects in Michigan, Courant dismissed the idea that taxes contributed to Pfizer’s move, noting that Michigan does not have a corporate tax rate. Despite that fact, Michigan’s former Single Business Tax (SBT) made it the only state levying a “de facto value added tax on its businesses,” according to The Wall Street Journal.

The Tax Foundation finds that the SBT has contributed to making Michigan “the highest corporate tax burden in the nation.” Whether this hurts prospects for companies to move into the region remains to be seen. MR

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P. 8

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04.03.07

the michigan review

Harvard’s Curriculum Undergoes a Rare Reform Exploring the details of curriculum changes at U-M

By Marie Cour, ‘08

E

arly this February, the faculty from Harvard’s Task Force on Education completed a three-year review of its curriculum, and they released a report suggesting changes to the general education requirements at the school.

In the opening pages of the “Report of the Task Force on General Education,” they articulated their desire to broaden the scope of their core by making it more relevant to the future lives and careers of its students. They emphasized the university as an essential force in civic life because it has the power to expose its students to cultural, scientific, and political knowledge that is essential for well-rounded individuals.

To some extent, the report rearticulated the classic defense of a liberal education. The report argued that universities are some of the few institutions that can challenge the assumptions of their students. They can make the familiar unfamiliar, and they can raise questions about the most basic principles of human nature. The report notes that a liberal education, such as the one that is offered at Harvard, “is vital because professional schools do not teach these things, employers do not teach them, and even most academic graduate programs do not teach them.” In other words, universities have an opportunity to expose students to a quantity and breadth of knowledge they could not receive anywhere else.

Despite their insistence that Harvard encourage its students to take a variety of courses, they want the courses to contain practical knowledge. Indeed, the report insists that it is essential that the school work to give its students the knowledge essential to participating actively in society.

The addition of a culture and belief requirement, for example, which requires students to examine religious beliefs and practices, is a response to a prominent criticism that the school is a bastion of secular liberalism.

To this end, the report proposed eight general education requirements: ethical reasoning, aesthetic and interpretive understanding, culture and belief, societies of the world, United States in the world, science of living systems, physical sciences, and empirical reasoning.

This was the largest curriculum reform at Harvard in nearly 30 years, and the changes are almost certain to have ramifications for higher education throughout the country.

As one of the most prominent universities in the country, it is possible that the new curriculum at Harvard will prompt a wave of reforms at universities throughout the country. The addition of a culture and belief requirement, for example, requiring students to examine religious beliefs and practices, is a response to a prominent criticism that the school is a bastion of secular liberalism.

It is possible that the curriculum at the University of Michigan may change to include a formal examination of religion or America, but it would probably be much harder to implement. Departmental curricula at U-M, but not necessarily college-wide distribution requirements, undergo constant reexamination. Robert Megginson, Associate Dean for Undergraduate and Graduate Education at Michigan, said that individual departments at the University are able to propose changes to their own curriculum on an ongoing basis.

They then submit these proposals to the LSA Curriculum Committee (LSACC), a committee that includes LSA faculty, students, and staff that has an interest in the curriculum.

Like Harvard, which has had the same requirements for 30 years, Michigan only periodically reviews its curriculum.

Unlike Harvard, however, the LSA curriculum can only be reformed by the faculty of U-M. There are a variety of ways to propose changes, and in the past the LSACC, Office of Undergraduate and Graduate Education, and the Dean’s Office have all played important roles in reconsidering requirement. Nevertheless, the decision ultimately resides with the LSA faculty, and any proposed changes must be introduced by and seconded at LSA faculty meetings. MR

New Models for Schools Show Promise for Urban Areas

By Eddie Perry, ‘09

this far-reaching gap. It has, however, an even longer history of failure. The NAEP found that, internationally in mathtudents at the Washington Jesuit Academy (WJA) ematics, American 15-year-olds were outdone by 23 of 38 in Northeast Washington arrive at 7:30 a.m. and leave other countries. In science, the U.S. was surpassed by 18 of school after a requisite study hall at 7:30 p.m. The school day 38 countries. The American educational system may need a includes recess, announcements, several breaks, a regular day new innovative engine instead of a tune-up. of school, and a 2-hour study hall. It has been wildly successWhile the Nativity-Miguel model has only proven itself ful and the students, mostly low-income African Americans, on a small level, it possesses characteristics that may help rehave shown immense progress. vamp the current educational structure. Bob Wassman, a facThe Nativity-Miguel Model, popularized by the Wash- ulty member at WJA said, “With 12-hour days, class sizes of ington Jesuit, is a new model for schools that may provide no more than 12 students, and 11 months of school per year, solutions to the ubiquitous we provide an optimal learneducational achievement gap ing environment. There is ex“In urban areas, this model thrives in public schools throughout cellent classroom instruction because it provides kids the proper skills and with a mix of experienced Detroit and America.

Brian Ray, WJA’s Director attitude to be excellent students and to take and new ‘mission-driven’ of Operations and Communiteachers; a strong emphasis on the next level. Our kids are being told cations, explains, “The majorion positive reinforcement… that, ‘they can do this and they will do this.’” and an equally strong emphaty of entering WJA sixth graders read at a third grade level sis on discipline.” and 95 percent graduate at or In the last calendar year, -Brian Ray, WJA Director of Operations and above eighth grade level.” He Detroit Public Schools have Communications also notes, “If you fall behind endured serious administrain reading early on, it is very tive and student flight. The difficult to keep up to speed in various other subjects.”

Nativity-Miguel Model may help DPS restructure, increase To boost students’ reading levels and overall aptitude, performance, become more competitive, and focus on funWJA requires that all students take a Reading class and a damentals.

Language Arts class. Students two or more grade levels beBrian Ray, WJA Director of Operations and Communihind enroll in a Reading Supplement class. cations, argues, “In urban areas, this model thrives because The National Assessment of Educational Progress it provides kids the proper skills and attitude to be excellent (NEAP) 2005 Report shows that for American eighth grad- students and to take on the next level. Our kids are being ers, only 51 percent of low income students achieved basic told that, ‘they can do this and they will do this.’” scores on the math portion of the NAEP, contrasted to 79 The Washington Jesuit Academy will be featured in the percent of middle and high income students. By race, 42 per- Washington Posts’ “30 Outstanding Middle School Models,” cent of black students, 52 percent of Latino students, and 80 published on April 15. WJA has made a convincing argupercent of white students earned at least basic scores. ment that their system prepares students for the next level The United States has a long history of trying to tackle and can make immediate progress. MR

S

Comerica Exit Not to Affect Policy Direction

By Adam Paul, ‘08

S

everal weeks ago, Comerica Bank announced that it would move its headquarters from Detroit to Dallas, Texas. The move is slated to finalize itself six months from now, on October 1st of this year.

“The growth in Texas is just so much higher,” said Sara Snyder, a Vice President of Corporate Communications with Comerica Bank. Snyder stressed that the move does not represent any defect with Michigan. “There is a benefit to moving our headquarters to be closer to growing markets,” she explained. Yet Michigan remains an important market for the bank, with almost 50 percent of its revenue coming from this state.

The move, which will see 200 executive-level jobs leave the state, has drawn criticism from some politicians, such as Michigan House Speaker Andy Dillon (D). Dillon went as far as suggesting that the state of Michigan buyout the bank.

“I don’t just want to roll over and let this happen,” Dillon told The Detroit News. As reported by the Associated Press, Dillon worked as a turn around specialist with GE Capital’s Commercial Finance Group before joining the legislature.

Comerica, however, did not make its current move because of trouble but with hope to achieve greater growth. Dillon’s office was unavailable for comment.

“None,” responded Snyder, when asked what kind of impact Dillon’s statements had on Comerica. She indicated that to her knowledge Dillon had entered no direct talks with Comerica about the move and made his statements after the bank had announced the move.

Snyder stressed that the move will not impact the services that bank customers in Michigan receive and that the 7,500 banking jobs in the state will all remain here.

“Remember that Michigan has its own specific leadership team, with some people who have over 30 years experience with the company,” said Snyder.

The bank will continue to have a public presence as well, and Snyder stated that “Comerica Park is going to remain Comerica Park.” Comerica also plans to retain the $9 million in annual charitable contributions that it distributes across the state.

Since the announcement, Comerica has continued to invest in Michigan. It has recently opened a bank in Rochester Hills and has just committed $250,000 to Oakland University’s School of Business Administration over the next 5 years.

Governor Granholm’s office provided similar impressions regarding the headquarters move.

“Comerica was very clear that their decision Comerica Tower in downtown Detroit will soon be emptied of was a market driven over 200 white-collar workers. decision that had to do with population trends,” stated Governor Granholm’s Press Secretary, Liz Boyd. She stressed that Comerica did not cite any concerns over Michigan’s business climate in their desire to move and that the Governor will continue to work to cultivate those businesses that are in Michigan as well as attracting new businesses to the state.

“We respect Comerica’s decision,” said Boyd. She explained that Comerica did not choose to include Governor Granholm or other state leaders in their decision-making process and that the Governor was informed only after the decision to move had already been made. “Their decision does not impact our focus on growing jobs and the economy.”

“Since the decision, we have seen renewed interest on the part of other financial institutions,” stated Boyd, stressing that Comerica was one of many businesses in the state.

MR

News

P. 9

04.03.07

news.

the michigan review

Funding Structure for State Universities Comes Under Fire

overnor Granholm’s recent budget proposal has sparked controversy among those employed in Michigan’s postsecondary education.

University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Wayne State University have argued against the old funding structure, claiming that it unfairly evaluated research universities under the same criteria as the state’s twelve other public universities. They won this argument, and the new budget reflects the advice of the state’s three research universities.

The state’s non-research universities operate on a much

smaller scale and have lower operating costs. They also have smaller professional and graduate programs. In some cases they do not have these programs at all. They do not produce research of the same quality as the research institutions do. The three research universities account for 95% of the state’s R&D and the majority of the state’s patents and tech transfer. It was for these reasons that U-M, MSU, and WSU argued for increased funding.

The three research universities, which currently account for 57% of the state’s university funding budget and 40% of the state’s students enrolled in public universities, argue that it is nearly impossible for the state to measure the progress of the three public research universities under the traditional allocation system. This is because of the fundamental differences between how the state’s research schools and the other public universities operate.

U-M provides the example of incentives to illustrate the

shortcomings of the old system. Incentives put in place by the state were often met fairly easily by the University, allowing for the maximum amount of fundraising but providing little incentive for the university to maintain the high level at which it operates.

The University argues that separate funding will help eliminate problems like the incentives. University spokeswoman Kelly Cunningham says that “separate appropriation for the three research-intensive universities will allow the state to more accurately measure its return on the investment in higher education.”

Cunningham goes on to say that each of the state’s “15 public universities have a unique and important mission” and that “the strength and diversity of Michigan’s public universities is a point of pride for all Michigan citizens.” “It is these fundamental differences which make a single funding formula untenable,” she says.

Cunningham says the new funding structure would benefit the state as a whole as “a separate appropriation will allow the state to better assess our three institutions’ productivity and economic impact.”

In response to the new evaluation system, nine out of the twelve remaining public universities in the state have formed an alliance called The Education Alliance for Michigan (TEAM). The goal of alliance is to maintain a level playing field for its members.

The alliance includes Western Michigan, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Grand Valley State, Saginaw Valley State, Ferris State, Oakland University, Lake Superior State and Michigan Tech. The three public universities who have not joined the alliance are Northern Michigan, UM-Flint, and UM-Dearborn.

Members of the alliance fear that evaluating universities under separate criteria will cause funding for the state’s research institutions to increase at the expense of all of the states other public universities.

The members of TEAM worry that creating separate initiatives and fundraising appropriations between research institutions and the rest of the state’s institutions will increase the fiscal divide between Michigan’s universities, creating separate tiers of education within the state.

TEAM argues that increased inequality between the haves and have-nots in the state’s public university system will put the state of Michigan at an educational, and eventually, an economic disadvantage. MR

“Fontova” From Page 1

“Foreclosures” From Page 1

“MSA” From Page 1

Indeed, Fontova’s lecture was filled with an opinion-shaped look at the true nature of Guevara and the military dictatorship under which Cubans lived under during the Revolution, and still live under today. Fontova blames Guevara with ordering the executions of thousands of Cubans, some as young as fourteen years old, without trial. “Castro never did like the guy,” said Fontova, referring to Che. “He found him useful as an executioner.”

Fontova also discussed his disgust toward the mainstream media over its portrayal of Che and communist Cuba. Targeting Carlos Santana’s proud display of a shirt emblazoned with an image of Che on the red carpet of the 2004 Oscars, Fontova discussed the consequences of listening to rock music in Cuba. “If government authorities caught you listening to rock music, you were a sympathizer with ‘imperialism.’ Fontova has touched on the topic before in columns posted on lewrockwell.com, a popular libertarian online newspaper: “Yes, Mr Santana, here you were grinning widely – and OH-SO-hiply! – while proudly displaying the symbol of a regime that: Made it a criminal offense to listen to Carlos Santana music!” The crowd laughed and cheered at Fontova’s rant on hypocritical celebrities who idolize the image of Che. When asked his thoughts on the future of Cuba after the death of Fidel Castro, Fontova expressed concern.

“Meet the new boss, the same as the old boss,” he quipped, quoting The Who. Already, Fontova contends, the Cuban government has begun to boot out foreign journalists in an apparent government lock-down on dissent in the months before Castro dies.

Humberto Fontova’s interesting and energetic lecture and character proved to be entertaining and informational for those in attendance. Although the event did not generate as much controversy and publicity as past YAF events, Fontova’s personal experience was a refreshing viewpoint which is not usually represented on campus. MR

unemployment is currently just under seven percent; Michigan’s unemployment trend has been the opposite of the rest of the country’s.

Layoffs in the auto-industry are at the core the problem.

For decades Detroit had lost population to outward sprawl, but the region as a whole was still growing; now, southeast Michigan is losing population, which is not good for housing prices in an area which just experienced a building boom.

“It is also true that the economy of Michigan, and especially Detroit, is doing worse than the rest of the country.

That too would cause lower incomes and therefore more credit delinquencies here than elsewhere, resulting in more foreclosures,” said Deardorff.

The high rate of foreclosures and the lack of demand for properties have lowered the auction price of foreclosed homes considerably. With houses selling for prices lower than cars in some cases in Detroit, the low demand and high supply is evident. A decrease in home values could in fact hinder the revival of economic growth in Michigan, since homeowners can use home equity to finance consumption.

Low home prices “make it harder or impossible for home-owners to borrow against the value of their houses in order to finance consumption, and therefore it is likely to further depress aggregate demand in the region. That will make it that much harder for the local economy to recover,” said Deardorff.

This does not leave much hope for the housing market in the Detroit area. Deardorff says there might be a light at the end of the tunnel.

“After the Michigan economy manages to extricate itself from its dependence on the auto industry and new industries take its place, the economy will recover and so will house prices,” said Deardorff. “Of course, that could take years.”

MR

note that MSA is an undergraduate centered organization,” explained Jacobs.

Elected MSA representatives have to meet certain attendance requirements in order to retain their position on the general assembly. They must be present at the beginning and end of every general assembly meeting and attend one committee meeting per week. Additionally, they must be available to hold office hours for one hour every week so constituents can raise problems and questions. A representative can be removed from the assembly if they accumulate twelve unexcused absences throughout their term.

While the attendance rules seem straightforward and clear-cut, there are sections of the MSA constitution that grant the general assembly the power to annul a representative’s absence for any reason. A unanimous vote of the Assembly is required to actually exercise this procedure which usually occurs once a month.

“The procedure doesn’t occur often. The representative must have a legitimate excuse to remove the absence,” said Jacobs. “For example, if a member has to go home because of a family emergency, that absence is usually excused.”

Even though it is understandable to annul an absence when a representative is facing a family crisis, the real dealcutting in eliminating absences from the record is generally not publicized. Baker stated that the granting of exemptions for absences usually involves some form of de facto reciprocation between members of the general assembly.

“Although one person could object to an absence which would defeat the representative’s request, the vote is almost always unanimous. Representatives are afraid to object even if they have a problem with a claim. If someone said that they missed a meeting because they were attending a review session for a class, we would be fine with that,” Baker said.

The Michigan Review was denied a request to obtain a spreadsheet showing the frequency of absences for every MSA member because of concerns from MSA officials about inaccuracies in the record. MR

“Big Three” Universities face off against the rest of the state in battle for greater funding

By David Brait, ‘10

G

Arts & Culture

P. 10

04.03.07

arts & culture. the michigan review

Documentary Brings to Light a New Book Examines Women and Different Type of Nazi Atrocity Their Role in Higher Education

By Christine Hwang, ‘10

I

By Rebecca Christy, ‘08

T

racing the Nazis’ looting and destruction of European art and architecture during World War II and the efforts by many to restore the works to their original owners, The Rape of Europa is a brand new documentary revealing many untold stories of World War II’s hidden impacts.

The film, based on the research of author Lynn H. Nicholas and her award-winning book by the same name, appeared at the Detroit Film Theatre March 15-17.

It is relatively well-known that the 20th century would have been drastically different had Adolf Hitler succeeded in his dream to become an artist. Unfortunately, he was twice rejected from the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. The Rape of Europa observes how Hitler’s passion for art, and his dream to hoard thousands of famous works played a significant role in his leadership of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party.

One of Hitler’s early actions was the removal of over 16,000 pieces of artwork which he deemed ‘degenerate’ because they did not reflect Nazi ideology. Another major plan which has been interpreted as a response to his rejection in the art world was the planned construction of a Fürher Museum in Linz, Austria. This would have been his response to Austrian ‘high society.’

Hitler used his expansionist tactics to steal art works and destroy monuments in countries such as Italy, Poland, and Austria. The Nazi party took special interest in targeting the art collections of prominent Jews across Europe.

Throughout the war thousands of priceless art works were moved as a result of accumulation on the part of the Third Reich, or, in anticipation of an invasion, for safekeeping by the museum workers in their country of ownership. The Rape of Europa tells the story of countless individuals who

took painstaking measures to protect pieces.

The film shows photographs from the Louvre where The Winged Victory of Samothrace was delicately rolled down staircases while museum workers held their breath.

Staff at the Hermitage Museum in Leningrad became trapped during their efforts to preserve Russian works, and many met their deaths in the basement of the museum.

The Rape of Europa also follows the roles of American soldiers in the salvaging of artworks after the war. In 1943 President Franklin Roosevelt approved the “American Commision for the Protection and Salvage of Artistic and Historic Monuments in War Areas.” These soldiers and museum directors became known as Monuments Men and traveled Europe looking for caches where Nazis had hidden vast amounts of art. Johannes Vermeer’s The Astronomer was one of many priceless pieces these men were responsible for preserving.

One of the prominent messages of The Rape of Europa is the role of art in European culture. This connection between art and culture appears to be more limited in the United States.

“Public art museums existed in Europe since the late eighteenth century and were seen as the heritage of the people. In America, art began in private collections then evolved into museums which displayed European pieces. It was only at the beginning of the twentieth century that the American art museum featured works by American artists,” explained Kerstin Barndt, Assistant Professor of Germanic Languages and Literature at U-M. As recently as 2006, the Dutch government returned 202 paintings to the heir of a Jewish art dealer who was forced to sell his paintings to the Nazi party.

It is this and the value of many other priceless works that The Rape of Europa, now on tour across the country, conveys to audiences. MR

f you skim through all 354 pages of Lynn Peril’s College Girls, you will find few facts about the education, dress, restrictions, and dating scenes of college girls from their first appearance at the turn of the twentieth century to the present. In some parts of her book, Peril seems to question the effects of the women’s movement on college education.

In the beginning of her book, she notes that “the history recounted here should remind us all not to take women’s right to higher education for granted.”

It’s hard to say things haven’t changed: drinking, smoking, and sex are far more acceptable for college girls than they were fifty years ago. Classrooms are split approximately equally between the genders, with the exception of those of higher mathematics, physics, computer science, and engineering, and suitors are no longer kicked out of dormitories at midnight, apart from the few Martha Cook-esque dorms that remain on college campuses.

However, although most colleges no longer have rules about skirts lengths or attending church, many of their concerns are the same. In addition to the typical genderneutral college concerns of academics and extracurricular activities required to be successful, college girls are still concerned with their appearances, reputations, and men.

College girls have almost always been viewed as liberated and even rebellious, but in the end Peril seems to argue that MRS. degree is what really matters to girls these days.

Peril touches very little on the modern day politics of college campuses. She makes no explicit feminist argument in the body of College Girls, a book that concentrates mostly on the pre-1960s era, but the implicit undertone is there. Two places in the book touch upon the “conservative” voice in modern day politics. Peril criticizes former Harvard President Lawrence H. Summers for the controversial remarks that he said about women in science and math. She primarily focused on Summers’s comment that there are fewer successful women in science and math, while ignoring his comments that dis-

crimination might play a influence their status in the field.

In the end of the book, Peril misrepresents a statement issued by the Independent Women’s Forum’s.

One of their studies found that college-aged women rarely “explore the marriage worthiness of a variety of men before settling into a long-term commitment with one of them.” Oddly, she wrote that women “didn’t go on dates, so they couldn’t get their MRS. Degree.”

Although there are certainly problems with some of the arguments in College Girls the book does highlight enduring cycles of “silly things that girls do.” Whether one agrees with its political message, the book does raise some important such as, “Wow, so that’s the story behind that tradition,” and the occasional, “Why did I date that jerk from the income-generating business school again?”

Peril also makes some interesting points on the ways that expectations have changed.

She includes the picture of Lynne Ford, a sorority girl and the former night editor of the Michigan Daily, who attended Michigan at the beginning of the 20th century. She has a head of nicely groomed hair and an armload of books, which graces a 1946 shampoo ad.

The caption reads, “It takes a good head to make the grade,” reflecting what every coed was expected to strive for in the mid-twentieth century: polished beauty and a sharp mind, implicitly arguing that the former was much more important than the latter.

At the end of the chapter titled “The Collegiate Look,” Peril includes a description of nineteen ambassadors, mostly coeds majoring in marketing and fashion merchandising, who were sent to college campuses, dressed to display sexuality and wealth, to advertise one of the biggest college trend phenomena of recent history: Victoria’s Secret’s “Pink.”

MR

New Jersey Teacher Involved in Dispute Over Creationism

By Christina Zajicek, ‘10

E

ver since September 13, 2006, Matthew LaClair has been taping his history teacher’s classes. The 11th grader claims he felt uncomfortable when history teacher David Paszkiewicz told his sixth period class that dinosaurs boarded Noah’s Ark, the Big Bang theory had no basis in scientific reasoning, and that non-Christians would go to Hell.

He began taping the classes, fearing that school officials would not believe his claim. “The first couple of days I had him, he had already begun discussing his religious point of view,” the sixteen-year-old explained to The New York Times.

“It wasn’t even just his point of view, it went beyond that to say this is the right way, this is the only way. The way he said it, I wasn’t sure how far he was going to go,” he said.

The shocking recordings expose Paszkiewicz, who is also a youth pastor at a local church in Kearny, New Jersey, making claims that challenge the line between the separation of church and state. “If you reject Jesus’ gift of salvation, then you know where you belong. He did everything in his power to make sure that you could go to heaven, so much so that he took your sins on his own body, suffered your pains for you, and he’s saying, ‘Please, accept me, believe.’ If you reject that, you belong in hell,” he reportedly told students.

Legal organizations have expressed their views on this controversial case. Reverend Barry W. Lynn, Executive Director of the Americans United for the Separation of Church

and State, thinks Paszkiewicz has surpassed his academic freedom to compare the beliefs associated with Creationism and evolutionary theory.

“This is extremely rare for a teacher to get this blatantly evangelical. He’s really out there proselytizing, trying to convert students to his faith.”

It is yet to be determined whether Paszkiewicz has abused his discretion, but citizens of Kearny are not afraid to voice their opinions. Though New Jersey is hundreds of

“If you reject Jesus’ gift of salvation, then you know where you belong. He did everything in his power to make sure that you could go to heaven, so much so that he took your sins on his own body, suffered your pains for you, and he’s saying, ‘Please, accept me, believe.’ If you reject that, you belong in hell.”

-NJ Teacher David Paszkiewicz miles from the Bible Belt, ironically, most of the people who live in Kearny side with the history teacher. Much of the vehemence has been directed toward LaClair, who has received several death threats after handing over the recordings to school officials.

LaClair explains, “I care about the future generation and I do not want Mr. Paszkiewicz to continue preaching to and

poisoning students.” Matthew has taken legal action against the school district and wants Paszkiewicz to correct all false statements made during class, the most outrageous accusation concerning how a Muslim student in the history class would go to Hell.

Matthew’s father, lawyer Paul LaClair, supports his son’s decision. “In a few short weeks, this teacher has displayed bigotry, hypocrisy, arrogance and an appalling ignorance of science. The school’s administrators seem not to appreciate the damage this man is doing to young minds. He has some real abilities as a teacher, but this conduct is the intellectual equivalent of the school cafeteria serving sawdust.”

The case has highlighted the controversy over using religious texts, such as the Bible, in the classroom to explain phenomena that sometimes cannot be explained by science.

Rose Tian, a freshman at the University of Michigan, who is also a member of the Christian youth group Young Life, explains that “ideally, in an academic setting, teachers shouldn’t incorporate their own beliefs into what they’re teaching.”

Some will argue that the purpose of education is to expand one’s beliefs through exposure to new theories, no matter how controversial.

Matthew LaClair could never foresee how much public debate the Creation-versus-Evolution controversy would stir. He jokes, “I should be worrying about who I’m going to take to the prom.” MR

Arts & Culture

P. 11

04.03.07

arts & culture. the michigan review

Unhooking the College Relationship Culture

By Rebecca Christy, ‘08

L

aura Session Stepp’s latest book takes an indepth look at our generation’s attitudes towards sex, relationships, and love. In Unhooked: How Young Women Pursue Sex, Delay Love and Lose at Both, Stepp interviews young women in high school and college about their feelings towards the hook-up culture.

Stepp describes how hooking up can range from a variety of actions from kissing to sex, but more importantly states, “Hooking up’s defining characteristic is the ability to unhook from a partner at any time, just as they might delete an old song on their iPod or an out-of-date ‘away’ message on their computer.”

This book is not another sermon about the dangers of multiple meaningless partners in an age of AIDS and other unwanted medical outcomes.

Instead, Stepp focuses on the emotional consequences of the hook-up culture.

Stepp argues, “Loving may be as basic as breathing, but

loving well is a learned behavior. Who and where are our young women’s teachers?” Stepp also questions how young women are being prepared for strong, loving, committed relationships when they only know the hook-up culture, which rewards women for remaining emotionally unattached.

Stepp has two theories which she discusses in her book regarding the cultural attitudes that provoke the hook-up phenomenon. “From the time they could walk, they’ve been told by parents and other adults… not only that they can go for whatever they want, but that they should. This mentality seems to encourage women to view sex as something to be obtained from using men simply for sexual gratification.

While men have been accused of these actions for decades, the narrative assumes that at some point a man finds the right woman who is worth the commitment. However, this story is contingent upon the belief that women are seeking a devoted relationship. Now that young women seem to be displaying the same attitudes, one wonders whether the dating and steady relationship is a thing of the past.”

Stepp also argues that the high expectations of women in today’s culture makes hooking up more realistic than a committed relationship.

“In order to accomplish the goals that their parents ― and by this time in their lives, them― want, they believe they can’t afford to invest time, energy and emotion in a deep relationship. Hooking up appears to be the practical alternative,” she writes.

In an interview, one woman reiterates this claim, saying, “I don’t have the time or energy to worry about a ‘we’.”

Stepp believes our society has focused on defining happiness in terms of tangible quantities such as degrees and careers, and as a result people have neglected to define how happiness can be obtained in the intangibles such as love.

The steady increase in the average age of one’s first marriage has contributed to the hook-up culture. One of the most thought-provoking sections of the book discusses the idea of “prolonged adolescence” and how it may be perpetuating the hook up culture. Stepp discusses how, in previous generations, young people were expected to get married and start a family relatively soon after earning a college degree.

Today, many men and women continue to graduate school, move back in with their parents, or continue to receive some sort of assistance which inhibits complete independence.

Stepp questions how this prolonged quest for identity and happiness affects the development of the individual into adulthood. “Do young people need to be able to take that much time to experiment in their search for what ―and who― will make them happy?” she asks.

It does not take a psychologist to understand that multiple hook-ups can result in damaged self-esteem, but Stepp has gone beyond the surface consequences of promiscuous behavior. Steady relationships can be trial runs for the commitment of marriage, but more than that, they provide an opportunity to care for someone besides oneself. MR

MLB’s New Satellite Television Upcoming Documentary Deal Not So Fan-tastic Tackles University

By Evan Wladis, ‘10

I

t was 1921 when Supreme Court Chief Justice and former Yale third baseman William Howard Taft penned the majority opinion to Federal Baseball Club v. National League. Asserting that baseball games were “purely state affairs,” independent of interstate commerce, the court ruled that Major League Baseball was not subject to the national Sherman and Clayton Acts, the two main anti-trust legislation. Though subsequent decisions on “interstate commerce” changed significantly in the past 85 years, the decision has not. Baseball continues today to operate as a monopoly, immune to U.S. antitrust laws.

It is this unique status as a 30-team cartel that allowed the MLB to finalize its new seven-year, $700 million contract with DirecTV, now the sole provider of the league’s out-of-market games.

The deal raises many questions concerning the legitimacy of baseball’s antitrust exemption. The satellite package will not be available to residents in certain areas of the country, and even where it is possible to hook up a dish, the onerous $900 price tag for a 12-month subscription seems less than “competitive.”

Although the MLB gave several cable companies the chance to match the offer for “Extra Innings,” InDemand president Robert Jacobson said the deal contained “conditions for carriage that MLB and DirecTV designed to be impossible for cable and DISH to meet.” According to Jacobson, the agreement will “disenfranchise baseball fans in the 75 million multi-channel households who do not subscribe to DirecTV” and “represents the height of disrespect and disregard for [baseball’s] loyal fans.”

In recent years, the migration of professional baseball games from network broadcasting to satellite and cable has meant the diminishing availability of games on free television and higher prices for those that appear on cable. Although the 1961 Sports Broadcasting Act allows professional sports leagues to package national television rights for over-the-air broadcasting, the act does not permit packaging rights for pay televi-

sion.

For this reason, baseball’s deals with ESPN and DirecTV could both be potentially challenged on antitrust grounds.

The free market alternative would be for individual teams or groups of teams to sell their games independently to national television. The outcome would be enhanced competition, greater availability of games, and lower prices. These were the exact consequences seen in college football after the Supreme Court ruled in National Collegiate

At least Kerry will be spared the humiliation of throwing like a girl on national television.

Athletic Association v. Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma et al, that the NCAA’s network football contract violated national antitrust laws.

Since then, Massachusetts democratic senator John Kerry has asked the Federal Communications Commission to investigate the deal, stating that he wants to make sure the contract benefits consumers.

“It may be necessary,” Kerry said, “for the Senate Judiciary Committee to have further hearings on the antitrust implications of MLB TV programming and whether it is in the public interest to allow the antitrust exemptions of [… ] MLB to continue.” While Senator Kerry’s public posturing will most likely not be enough to salvage this season for displaced fans throughout the nation, it may be the first step to ending baseball’s monopoly, ensuring that the free market is not only the general organizing principle of the U.S. economy, but also that of our national pastime. MR

Indoctrination

By Brian McNally, ‘08

T

his spring, a documentary is coming out that will shake “The Establishment.” The director asks hard questions, demands answers, and accepts the presence of policemen when showing up for interviews. Yet this documentary is not about global warming, nor is it directed by Michael Moore. Indoctrinate U is the new documentary directed by freshman director Evan Coyne Maloney whom the New York Sun has dubbed “the conservative answer to Michael Moore.”

In an interview with the Review, Maloney described himself more as a “libertarian, or a classical liberal, or a classical conservative,” he said. “The problem on campuses knows no ideological bounds.” Indoctrinate U tackles the current culture of political correctness that pervades college campuses across the country, from Duke to MSU to Bucknell.

“Everyone can get behind the idea of free thought.”

In filming this documentary, Maloney visited two dozen schools across the United States, and was surprised to see that they had a roughly uniform environment, from the Ivy Leagues to the community colleges. At each school, he attempted to interview administrators in an effort to get all sides of the story.

“We made over 200 phone calls, and we never received even one reply,” he said. That did not stop Maloney, who simply showed up outside of administrators’ offices, asking if they had any free time for interviews.

Even then, he faced serious barriers to getting an interview.

“I was threatened with arrest at my alma mater, Bucknell... One time, I was told that I would be allowed to film, but only after getting $1 million indemnity insurance on the film equipment.” Such indemnity insurance would have cost roughly four times the film’s budget.

Indoctrinate U does not rely on unsupported anecdotal evidence to support the arguments being made.

“No matter how much of the case we presented, the viewer would never know who was telling the truth,” Maloney said.

Instead, he relies mainly on the codes of the university itself, specifically those forbidding harassment.

“Harassment has been redefined from stalking, from making veiled threats... [into] if someone is offended by [your actions], that is implicitly harassment,” he says. Within such an atmosphere, Maloney feels that free speech across the political spectrum is in danger.

The University of Michigan even makes an appearance in Indoctrinate U, albeit with stock footage. Maloney explained that there is a story in the film regarding a girl that goes to MSU who wrote a letter to the campus paper relating her experiences and the fact that her Guatemalan-born brother will get preferential treatment in admissions, even though he was adopted at the age of 3 months by her parents. A professor, not knowing that the author was in his class, berated the letter and its ideas, calling the writer a “racist” and “bigot.” In order to present a better picture of the stance of universities and the students on Proposal 2, footage from Ward Connelly’s visit to U-M, accompanied by security, was included in the film.

Indoctrinate U is currently without a distributor. Unfortunately no companies in Hollywood believe that such a film could make enough money to justify support. In order to build up support, www.indoctrinate-u.com has created a petition drive so that people across the country can sign-up in support of showing the film in their locale. If 500 people in the same area sign up in support, the producers have said that they will have a local screening. Hopefully, such a grassroots effort will quickly move the film from high school auditoriums to major theaters across the country. In the meantime, more of Maloney’s short documentaries, including one in which he interviews Michael Moore, can be found on his website at http://brain-terminal.com. MR

P. 12

Features

04.03.07

features. the michigan review

A Fresh Look at Laffer: How and When Tax Cuts Can Increase Revenue

By Brian Biglin, ‘08

the optimal rate, then from a Laffer curve point of view, a tax cut would be advantahe once laughed-at Laffer curve, an geous. economic model which states that it is Regardless, both the state and the city possible to increase tax revenue by lowering of Detroit could use tax cuts simply as ecotax rates, has had its predications borne out nomic incentives, such that, regardless of in results in Iceland. The Wall Street Journal revenue effects, both economies can grow recently reported on by engaging in tax Iceland’s rapid growth competition.

Amid a statewide recession, and increased governHouse warned politicians across Michigan have against reading too ment revenues, calling looked to tax reform as a means the pattern an “almost much into how tax of reviving the local economy. perfect demonstration policy could affect Michigan recently removed the of the Laffer curve.” future growth in the Between 1991 to region.

Single Business Tax, but Gover2001, Iceland’s corpo“Not surprisingly, nor Jennifer Granholm is now rate tax rate fell from supporting various tax increases. most of the problems 45 percent to 18 per- In Detroit, Mayor Kwame Kilpat- that are facing Michicent (by contrast, the rick has championed various tax gan are structural and United States’ corponot tax related,” said cuts. rate tax rate is 35 perHouse. MR cent), yet revenue tripled. According to the Journal, these tax revenues tripled once again from 2001 through last year.

“Revenue can rise with a tax cut if the tax rates are fairly high to begin with and/or if elasticities of labor supply, labor demand, capital supply and capital demand are high,” said Assistant Professor of Economics Christopher House.

The Laffer curve is bell-shaped, and at its highest point, tax revenue in maximized, and this correlates with an optimal tax rate.

If the tax rate is higher than the optimal tax rate, then that means decreasing tax rates will move an economy back towards the top of the Laffer curve and maximized revenue.

Elasticity refers to how much supply or demand will change based on changes in price, or in the case of this analysis, prices including taxes. High elasticity means that demand, for example, will increase substantially if prices including taxes decrease.

While The Wall Street Journal was fairly convinced that Iceland was showing Laffer curve characteristics, House said that cyclical tendencies, an economic boom-time in this case, may have coincided with the period in which taxes were cut, and that this might explain the higher revenues.

“I suspect that most of the real story is just cyclical and probably not due to the tax changes,” said House.

Iceland’s economy has averaged annual economic growth rates of four percent since the mid 1990s.

House said that one should look to the idea of “tax competition” for clues explaining Iceland’s growth. Iceland’s lower tax rates may have provided enough incentive to lure firms from other European states with higher taxes, creating more taxable income within the boundaries.

“It [tax competition] sometimes results in behavior that can look like a Laffer curve,” said House.

Amid a statewide recession, politicians across Michigan have looked to tax reform as a means of reviving the local economy.

Michigan recently removed the Single Business Tax, but Governor Jennifer Granholm is now supporting various tax increases. In Detroit, Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has championed various tax cuts.

House said that he does know enough about policies in the state of Michigan or city of Detroit to know the effects of the various proposals as it pertains to revenue and possible Laffer curve tendencies. Many outsiders, though, criticize Detroit’s tax burden, and if its tax rates are indeed set beyond

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The famed Laffer curve shows how decreasing the tax rate can increase tax revenue, if the tax rate was set higher than an optimal level of taxation.