vol_25_no_9

THE MICHIGAN REVIEW T HE J OUR NAL

03.08.07 VOLUME XXV, ISSUE 8

P. 12 A look at the muchmaligned senior society, the Order of Angell P. 3

News Economists downplay the impact of 3À]HU¡V GHSDUWXUH P. 6 $UL]RQD 6WDWH Resident Advisor suspended after FULWLFL]LQJ GLYHUVLW\ training programs P. 8

Opinion “Unity� overrated and V-Day misguided Editorials, P. 4 The spectacle of death and the return of SDS Columns P. 5

Arts & Culture Website challenges youths to lose their religion P. 10 A closer look at suicide on college campuses P. 11

MR

C AMPUS A F FAIRS

AT THE

U NIVERSITY

OF

M ICHIGAN

INSIDE THE “SECRET SOCIETY�

Features Professor and former Provost Paul Courant discusses economics of the University

OF

A look inside Michigamua, the Order of Angell - and the progressive opposition

BY NICK CHEOLAS, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

tion of the Michigan Union, Michigamua was granted a permanent lease in the Union tower in 1932. The organization remained in the towO SERVE MICHIGAN. er until 2000.

The aim of the senior society is simple. For Among its membership – which includes 105 years, the organization formerly known as former President Gerald Ford and former Michigamua – and now known as the Order of )RRWEDOO &RDFK DQG $WKOHWLF 'LUHFWRU Ă€HOGLQJ Angell – has fought to serve the University of Yost – the group also lists civil rights leader Michigan above all else. and former Assistant Attorney General Roger But the simplicity of their mission stands HISTORY Founded in 1902 by a group of University Wilkins, a member of the Pride of 1953. in sharp contrast to the controversy sparked by seniors in conjunction with University Presi“Michigamua was integrated in the 1940s, the senior society. dent James Angell, early members adopted the up to two decades before many parts of camThe group exists, its members say, to serve Native American-sounding name and symbolpus,â€? said Yahkind.

Michigan above all else. But critics contend ism with the intent to honor Native culture, Controversy began in the 1970s, as the Nathat the society’s racially insensitive past and tive American community objected to Michsaid Andrew Yahkind, Spokesman for the Orsecretive nature make the group unacceptable igamua’s performance of Native American der of Angell.

RQ FDPSXV (YHQ DV WKH 2UGHU RI $QJHOO ÀOOHG rituals and ceremonies in public.

As a result, But the decision to adopt such symbolism its ranks with progressive student leaders, proMichigamua agreed to conduct all ceremonies has made the group a target for progressive gressive student groups have been hesitant to in private. student groups. embrace the organization.

As the controversy grew, the group be“Obviously, today, we see [the use of NaThe result, played out so often in the pages came more secretive, and in 1989, Michigamua tive symbolism] in a different context,�

Yahof the local media, has been progressive orgamembers signed an agreement with the Native kind said. nizations turning on Michigamua, other camAmerican Student Association. That agreement After playing a major role in the construcpus groups, and even on themselves. took note of “Michigamua’s long standing intention of honoring Native American culture through ceremonies, references and representations,� and declared that such intentions were “offensive to Native Americans.�

The agreement also stated that Michigamua would eliminate “all references to NaBY ADAM PASCARELLA, ‘10 formation provided to them, Cunningham re- tive American culture and pseudo-culture and SOLHG ´2XU DGPLVVLRQV RIĂ€FHUV DUH SURIHVVLRQ- extension and parodies thereof, with the one ATHER THAN REMOVE race and gen- als who are trained in the law. They are ethical exception being the name, Michigamua.â€?

Following the agreement, Yahkind said it der information from the application for people who don’t go around breaking the law. was his understanding representatives of the admission, the University has chosen to pro- It’s their job to follow the rules.�

YLGH DGPLVVLRQV RIĂ€FHUV ZLWK PRGLĂ€HG LQVWUXFShe also indicated that the public should Native American community were given tours tions to ignore this information. examine the U-M admissions website if they RI WKH 0LFKLJDPXD RIĂ€FH LQ DQG WR :KLOH 8QLYHUVLW\ RIĂ€FLDOV VRXJKW ZD\V would like more information on the admis- ensure that the group was in compliance with to keep the public informed about how they sions process. the 1989 agreement. would sustain diversity on campus, there was The relative calm lasted until 2000, when Roger Clegg, the President and General a delay in mentioning that race and gender Counsel for the Center for Equal Opportu- members of the Students of Color Coalition would remain on the 2007 application. Unlike nity, presented a less optimistic view. “Frankly, WRRN RYHU 0LFKLJDPXD¡V RIĂ€FH LQ WKH 8QLRQ the University of California system, which re- I’m more concerned that U-M will continue Tower. The occupation lasted 37 days. moved the racial question from the application to discriminate in favor of under-represented “It was a break in,â€? said Yahkind, “and it IRUPV UHYLHZHG E\ DGPLVVLRQV RIĂ€FHUV DIWHU WKH minorities.â€? wasn’t treated like a break in. [Then Univerpassage of Proposition 209 in 1996, U-M has The training provided to admissions of- sity President] Lee Bollinger refused to send decided to keep race and gender on the appli- Ă€FHU KDV FKDQJHG LQ RUGHU WR FRSH ZLWK WKH DPS.â€?

FDWLRQV WKDW DUH VHHQ E\ DGPLVVLRQV RIĂ€FH 7KH stated measures in Proposal 2.

During the occupation, SCC members DGPLVVLRQV RIÀFH KDV LQVWUXFWHG WKHLU FRXQVHO´$OO RI WKH DGPLVVLRQV RIÀFHUV UHFHLYHG claimed to have found items indicating that ors to simply dismiss this information. two hours of training on the new guidelines, Michigamua had violated the 1989 agreement.

The Review contacted the admissions of- going over all the areas and emphasizing that Following the break in, Michigamua deÀFH DQG ZDV GLUHFWHG E\ WKHLU RIÀFH WR 0HGLD race and gender can not be used in admission cided to leave the Union tower. The group has 5HODWLRQV DQG VSRNH ZLWK WKH RIÀFH RI 0HGLD decisions,� Cunningham said. faced a barrage of criticism ever since.

5HODWLRQV RQ VHYHUDO RFFDVLRQV ,Q WKH ÀUVW LQWhen asked if written guidelines for adThe saga continued up through last month, terview, with University spokeswoman Kelly missions existed, the Review was referred to ZKHQ WKH VHQLRU VRFLHW\ RIÀFLDOO\ FKDQJHG LWV &XQQLQJKDP D 8QLYHUVLW\ RIÀFLDO ZKR FRXOG the U-M admissions website. While the admis- name to the Order of Angell, in honor of not be quoted, monitored the conversation. sions applications ratings do not include race Michigamua founder and University President 7KH RIÀFLDO LQWHUMHFWHG LQWR &XQQLQJKDP¡V DQ- or gender, there was no instruction of how to James Angell. But the criticism didn’t die with swers and took notes on the conversation. The treat data on race or gender. the old name.

RIĂ€FLDO VWDWHG WKDW WKH 5HYLHZ¡V LQTXLU\ ZDV LQ Cunningham didn’t know why the UniRecently, allegations have surfaced that the poor faith, and inquired as to why our publica- versity did not adopt a system similar to UC organization used the name without the contion chose to examine the issue so closely. This Berkeley. Under the Berkeley system, an inde- sent of James Angell’s family. Others allege RIĂ€FLDO WKHQ LQIRUPHG WKH 5HYLHZ WKDW LW ZRXOG SHQGHQW JURXS Ă€UVW WDNHV UDFH LQWR DFFRXQW IRU that while the group has disposed of a name be “impossible to speak directly to the admis- statistical purposes and then blacks out race offensive to Native Americans, they have adVLRQV RIĂ€FH Âľ DQG JHQGHU IRU WKHLU DGPLVVLRQV RIĂ€FHUV opted a name that is offensive to Asian AmeriThe University has defended that it can When asked about the newly released ad- cans. The issue stems from James Angell’s role continue to both keep race on the application missions numbers, Clegg expressed caution. as minister to China and subsequent immigraand follow the law. “It certainly makes sense for the people of tion agreements with that nation. “There’s nothing in Proposal 2 that says Michigan to keep a close eye on U-M which we have to take race or gender off of our ap- has made no secret of its opposition to MCRI NATIVE OPPOSITION plication. The law states that the University and its proclivity for racial discrimination. We Despite the at times campus-wide controcannot use race or gender in admissions deci- need to ensure that it is admitting the best sions,â€? explained Cunningham.

TXDOLĂ€HG VWXGHQWV UHJDUGOHVV RI VNLQ FRORU RU See “Order of Angellâ€? :KHQ DVNHG KRZ DGPLVVLRQV RIĂ€FHUV ZLOO national origin,â€? Clegg said. MR Page  avoid accounting for the race and gender in-

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But the society lives on, despite lawsuits, documentaries, break-ins, expulsions, criticism and protests. And just as the society continues, so does the controversy.

All this in an organization that has, its members contend, but one goal: to serve Michigan.

Months after Prop 2, Race Remains on Applications R

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)

01.24.07

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THE MICHIGAN REVIEW www.michiganreview.com Editorial Board:

Nick Cheolas Editor-in-Chief Michael O’Brien Executive Editor 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, Tom Church, Jane Coaston, Marie Cour, Lindsey Dodge, Blake Emerson, Christine Hwang, Eun Lee, Anna Malecke, Brian McNally, Miquelle Milavec, John O’Brien, Katie O’Connor, Eddie Perry, Danielle Putnam, Shanda Shooter, 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 aairs 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 ďŹ nancial 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:

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page two. the michigan review

Ę„ 7KH 2EDPD )DPLO\ 4XRWHV RI WKH 0RQWK

“The reality is that as a black man, Barack could be shot just going to the gas station...�

-Michelle Obama (Really, Mrs. Obama? Does Barack go to gas stations in Chicago? Is he driving himself around the city at 3 a.m.?)

“If I’m outside your building trying to catch a cab, they’re not saying, ‘Oh, there’s a mixed race guy.�

-Barack Obama (Of course they’re not. They’re saying “Why the hell is a presidential candidate trying to to catch a cab?�

Hopefully the Obamas can get their stories straight by Election Day: Does Barack risk getting shot going to gas stations, or does he takes cabs? Either way – in case you didn’t know – Barack Obama is black.)

ʄ /HWWHUV WR WKH (GLWRU To the Editor: In the Review’s article about Boxes and Walls, it is stated that the event is annually hosted by the Trotter House. This is not the case. There is a student organization named Boxes and Walls on campus that put countless hours into making the event a success. Boxes and Walls chose the Trotter House as its venue this year, but other than that the House had no further involvement with the event.

Also, we would like to note that all stories depicted in the event were true, including the stories describing how handicapped students had their crutches kicked out from underneath them, as well as the janitor’s being treated poorly because they are perceived to be of a lower socio-economic status. These issues are painfully real and prevalent on our campus, but go unnoticed. Over 70 dedicated students from Boxes and Walls spent a lot of time putting the museum together to bring light to these unknown issues and we would like to make sure that they receive the credit and praise for it.

Tanya Nikam University of Michigan, 2008 Boxes and Walls

Copyright Š 2006, The Michigan Review, Inc. All rights reserved.

The Michigan Review is a member of the Collegiate Network.

else made.

Why shouldn’t a woman working as Here is a radical question. I am a pro- a maid make as much as her boss? If the gressive, 65 year old entreprenueral gal, “bossâ€? had to do the maid work, he/she KDG P\ RZQ KHDGKXQWLQJ RXWĂ€W IRU \HDUV could not have the time to do the “bossâ€? and have always found “ special giftsâ€? in job. every human being. Let me warn you, this I understand the hard rules about is a wild question. supply and demand. However, it is now What would happen if everyone in HDVLHU WR Ă€QG ´ERVVHVÂľ LQ P\ QHLERUKRRG this world got the same salary or compen- than laborers. No one wants to do physisation, despite their title? Why should a cal work anymore.

CEO of a multinational company be paid So, what would happen if everyone more than the janitor of that company made the same money? gets for cleaning out their toilets?

In many ways, it is easier and more 1) would it improve society? fun to be a CEO rather than a janitor.

2) would it decrease or increase eduCleaning out crap from a toilet stool is cation? hard, damn work.

3)which special interest group or :KHQ , KDYH P\ KHDGKXQWLQJ RXWĂ€W GLVDGYDQWDJHG JURXS ZRXOG EHQHĂ€W WKH I hired a guy who did the “rusingâ€? ( He most? found out the names of certain executives by making up stories over the phone) This I am dying to get your response. I ruser was essential for the success of our am not a “socialist.â€? What I am is a “free company. However, he was slightly “brain thinker.â€? My mission in life is to keep damagedâ€? and this was all he could do... thinking of new ideas to make humanity but he could do it wonderfully. The rest better and better. What would work and of us so called brainy types didn’t have what would not work? the guts to “ruseâ€? and we HAD to have a Michelle Tallent ruser...Yet, this ruser was paid the least. $V , UHĂ HFW EDFN RQ WKLV +H VKRXOG Edmond, OK have been paid as much as I and everyone

ʄ 7KH 6HUSHQW¡V 7RRWK (Diversity Blueprints) Task Force – whose launch was announced on December 22, when students were on winter break – held a forum on February 23 – when students were on spring break. Nothing to see here. Move along people.

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 aďŹƒliated 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 reect those of the advertisers or the University of Michigan.

To the Editor:

On the heels of the announcement that the student group formerly known as Michigamua will now be known as Order of the Angell, Illinois University announced that Chief Illiniwek will no longer be performing at University sporting events. This marks whitey’s second attempt at eradicating Native American culture.

The University of Michigan’s Shadeball

Recently, John Edwards has disccussed, what he sees, as Two Americas: one rich, and the other poor. Well we know the latWHU $PHULFD FDQ ÀW LQ KLV KRXVH January 2007 was the warmest January on record, the Albuquerque Tribune reported. Oh really, Albuquerque? Care to come up here?

Harry Potter star Daniel Ratcliffe is starring in the play Equus, in which he appears nude on stage for over ten minutes.

After the play, most members of the au-

dience wished they hadn’t seen his Harry Potter.

An IBM employee, James Pacenza, who ZDV ÀUHG IRU YLHZLQJ DGXOW FKDW URRPV while at work, is now suing IBM for $5 million dollars claiming that he is an Internet addict. Pacenza, who is a Vietnam War Veteran, said he used the chat room as medication for post-traumatic stress disorder. Obviously, sexual encounters with strangers from around the world should not remind him of Vietnam.

According to the Mayor of Rio de Janeiro, the annual Carnival, provided a chance for Rio to claim their “identity as people who [are] calm, peaceful, and happy.� Since no one in Rio could be contacted this week to make a coherent comment, we’ll take his word for it.

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this year. According to Shah, SAAN is “giving the Order of Angell the opportunity to implement the changes it promised last year.â€? versy, much of the tension rests between the %XW RWKHUV KDYH EHHQ PRUH GLIĂ€FXOW WR Order of Angell and the Native American please, and continue to push the Order of community.

Angell to become more transparent.

While the name change was a posi“Other student organizations are open tive step, said Brooke Simon, Co-Chair of to the public. You can go into their meetthe Native American Student Association ings and see what’s going on,� said Brooke (NASA), it came with problems.

Simon, NASA Co-Chair. “It doesn’t erase the history [of the orBoth Simon and former NASA Coganization] and all the pain it has caused,�

Chair Brittany Marino said that while they Simon said. didn’t want to understate the importance of Simon and former NASA Co-Chair the name change, the Order of Angell still Brittany Marino also raised questions about has work to do before gaining legitimacy in the new name of the organization, the Orthe Native American community. der of Angell.

For its part, the Order of Angell has “[James Angell] helped to instill values made many moves toward gaining legitimacy of racism,â€? Simon said. Marino and Simon already. Their membership has been made added that while the new name isn’t overtly public. Their stated goal is to “advance exracist, it still supports racism. ceptional leadership through a lifelong loyTheir criticism of Angell stems from his alty to and engagement with the University role as minister to China from 1880-1881. of Michigan.â€? They recently released the Angell helped negotiate the 1880 Angell name of two Honorary Angells, Jim Toy Treaty which formalized US-Chinese imIURP WKH 2IĂ€FH RI ,QVWLWXWLRQDO (TXLW\ DQG migration policies. Two years later, congress Rich Rogel, Chair of the Michigan Differenacted an outright ban on Chinese immigraence campaign. tion with the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act. But Order of Angell members say that “I don’t think we have to comb through the resolution some in the progressive may every document Angell signed,â€? said Yahbe hoping for – full transparency – may nevkind. “[The Angell treaty] is not objectioner be achieved. able to me, and Angell was anti-exclusion.

Order of Angell President Sirene AbouHe was a man ahead of his time�

Chakra said that she understands why stuAccording to Closing the Gate: Race, dents would be curious about what transpires Politics, and the Chinese Exclusion Act by at group meetings. But she also said that the Andrew Gyory, James Angell was against group members have built up a level of trust exclusion, and once wrote that “The absothat allows individuals to speak about private lute and formal prohibition of the laborers matters, and with genuine emotion. Without THE PRESS would be diametrically opposed to all of our While some campus groups have been that level of trust, the group would lose its national traditions...and would call down the vocal opponents of the senior society, few power as a unifying force, and a vehicle to censure of a very large portion, if not a mahave voices as loud as the Michigan Daily. foster understanding among student leaders. jority of our most intelligent and high-mind“Understanding makes better leaders,�

The coverage of the daily campus newspaed citizens.� In addition, Yahkind pointed POST 2000 per has drawn the ire of many Order of An- Abou-Chakra said. to Angell’s many progressive actions as U“We’re exposing people to corners of Order of Angell members said that by gell members.

M President, such as the establishment of a the time the Students of Color Coalition “It’s pretty obvious that [the Daily] is campus they’ve never been exposed to,� study program from Chinese students.

EURNH LQWR 0LFKLJDPXD¡V RIĂ€FH WKH JURXS pushing an agenda,â€? said Yahkind. “They Yahkind added.

Yahkind believes critics of the group are was well on its way to progressive reforms. involve themselves in our decision-making But what Order of Angell members grasping for straws by attacking the group’s But despite these reforms, the senior soci- process. No other group is held up to such view as humbleness and modesty, others history. view as secrecy and elitism. ety has faced a barrage of criticism since the scrutiny.� “We put ourselves in a tough position invasion. “They want to be held to a higher stanYahkind pointed to the controversy when we judge history with a modern lens,�

Last year, society members Neal Pan- surrounding the recent name change as evi- dard. They’re the ones that said ‘we’re the Yahkind said. “Are we expected to fault cur- choli of the South Asian Awareness Net- dence. best of the best,’â€? said NASA Co-Chair rent members of the Democratic Party for work, Sam Woll of the Coalition to Cut the “The family had no objection [to the Brooke Simon, adding that the group’s pritheir organization’s support of slavery 150 Contract with Coca-Cola, and Brian Hull use of the name], they just didn’t want their vate nature prevents the Order of Angell years ago? Do people sitting in the Michigan RI 6WXGHQWV 6XSSRUWLQJ $IĂ€UPDWLYH $FWLRQ names dragged through the papers,â€? Yahkind from proving it has escaped its controversial Union embrace sexism?â€? Women were not were expelled from their organizations. This VDLG DGGLQJ WKDW WKH Ă€UVW REMHFWLRQ WKH JURXS history. allowed inside the Michigan Union without year, the trend has continued.

Regardless, Yahkind maintained that the was aware of was printed in the Daily. an escort until 1956.

In January, the United Asian American Order of Angell members were upset at Order of Angell was dedicated to modesty But Simon disagreed, arguing that just Organization – a network of over 30 or- the fact that while every article written about and humility, as well as progress. He refused because racism was more acceptable in past ganizations on campus – expelled the In- the society mentioned that Daily Editor-in- to take credit for events the group has orgenerations doesn’t mean it was excusable. dian American Students Association and the Chief Donn Fresard was a member of the ganized, such as the vigil for former Michi“It’s wrong in every generation,� Simon South Asian Awareness Network. The inci- group, the paper failed to publicize the fact gan Football Coach Bo Schembechler held said. dent proved to be especially frustrating for that a member of the Angell family – sopho- this November. Yahkind also admitted that Yahkind and Michigamua members. more Emily Angell – was on its staff. Mem- while members try to select a diverse group THE BREAK IN According to Yahkind, the senior so- bers believe that the Daily repeatedly con- of leaders based on character and loyalty to Much of the distrust between the Order ciety offered UAAO an opportunity to sit tacted James Angell to solicit comment.

Michigan, the selection process is “imperfect of Angell and campus groups stems from down and discuss their concerns. But UAAO Yahkind also noted that James Angell’s and arbitrary.� the Students of Color Coalition’s (SCC) oc- spurned the offer.

Abou-Chakra believes the future is comments to the Daily contradicted each FXSDWLRQ RI WKH 0LFKLJDPXD RIĂ€FH LQ WKH “We do not believe a discussion would other. On January 26, the Michigan Daily brighter for the Order of Angell. winter of 2000. During their 37-day stay, be fruitful at this time because we have al- reported that “Angell said he had no objec“I believe the group will be come more SCC members claimed to have found Native ready made certain organizational decisions tion to the use of his great grandfather’s last transparent and less controversial,â€? she said.

American artifacts that indicated that Mich- regarding SAAN, IASA, and your organiza- name.â€? However, on February 8, the Daily “I think people are realizing how ridiculous igamua had violated the 1989 agreement. tion,â€? UAAO External Chair Atasi Satpathy quoted Angell as saying “Everybody seemed LW LVÂľ WR FRQWLQXH WKH Ă€JKW DGGLQJ WKDW VKH In particular, SCC members pointed to a told the society via e-mail. to be against it in the family. Nobody was felt it was ironic that so-called “progressiveâ€?

1996 picture depicting a Michigamua memstudent groups seemed so reluctant to let go UAAO executives also declined to be very happy with the idea.� ber holding a peace pipe, as well as pictures interviewed for this story. of the past. and plaques on the walls of tower.

Tony Saunders looks forward to the Yahkind called the episode a “hostage THE FUTURE But Michigamua members contend that situationâ€? because that UAAO issued deIn February of 2007, after 105 years, Order of Angell serving as a tool to unite the artifacts found by the Coalition were dis- mands, set deadlines, and refused to negoti- WKH VHQLRU VRFLHW\ RIĂ€FLDOO\ FKDQJHG LWV QDPH disparate campus groups.

FRYHUHG LQ D FUDZO VSDFH LQ WKH RIĂ€FH QRW LQ ate. “It taught me how to love Michigan. to the Order of Angell. The move was weluse, and unknown to members of the Pride But just as the Order of Angell has pit- comed by many on campus, including Na- Before, I just knew how to love my comof 2000. In regard to the alleged peace pipe ted progressive student groups against each tive American community members, and for munity,â€? he said. “We block ourselves from picture, Yahkind responded sharply. other, the organization has also caused con- many, the vestiges of Michigamua’s past have progress by cutting ourselves off from each “Give me 11 years of pictures to look Ă LFW ZLWKLQ JURXSV 7KLV IDOO 7RQ\ 6DXQGHUV died with the new name, and new members. other.â€? MR WKURXJK DQG ,¡OO Ă€QG VRPHWKLQJ REMHFWLRQ- External Relations Chair of the Black StuThe South Asian Awareness Network – able,â€? about every campus organization, dent Union, was stripped of his position af- a group that expelled member Neal Pancholi Yahkind said. “Does it make it right? Abso- ter his involvement with the senior society for his involvement with the society last year – chose not to expel member Ashish Shah lutely not. But you have one guy holding one was revealed.

“Order of Angell�

From Page 

thing. Can you claim based on one picture that this is somehow institutionalized?�

Order of Angell members also hinted that the tower takeover may have been a carefully executed ploy by SCC members.

While SCC members broke into the tower on February 7, 2000, tours of the “wigwam� did not begin until February 9. The two-day gap is of great concern to current members, who claim that items were brought out of the crawl space and placed out in the open to make it look like the artifacts were in use at the time.

Yahkind also pointed to the fact that Native American students requested an imSURPSWX WRXU RI WKH 0LFKLJDPXD RIĂ€FH LQ 1997, and that nothing objectionable was found. Notes taken at the 1997 meeting support this claim. “When you look at the stuff on the walls, it was all historical. Nobody denied that stuff was there. It was out in the open,â€? said Yahkind. The confusion, Yahkind continued, is between the historical items that were on the walls, and the items that were brought out of the crawl space. While Yahkind indicated that the items found in the crawl space should have been better preserved, he denied that those items represented Michigamua’s systematic denigration of Native American culture.

A videotape produced by SCC on day 35 of the occupation shows where many of WKH LQà DPPDWRU\ DUWLIDFWV ZHUH IRXQG ² LQ D closet, up a latter, and in a crawl space.

Over a month after eight SCC members IRUFHG WKHLU ZD\ LQWR 0LFKLJDPXD¡V RIÀFH the coalition made its way out of the tower, taking with them the items and artifacts in question. Following the invasion, Michigamua decided to leave the tower space, and its ties with the University were severed.

Saunders, who also serves as President of the National Panhellenic Council, an umEUHOOD RUJDQL]DWLRQ RI Ă€YH KLVWRULFDOO\ $IULcan-American fraternities and sororities, was tapped in the spring of 2006. After being approached by the senior society, Saunders contacted other African-American alums who had previously been tapped by Michigamua. “They had nothing but good things to say,â€? said Saunders, adding that Michigamua had historically included prominent AfricanAmericans, BSU speakers, and civil rights leaders such as Roger Wilkins.

After careful deliberation, Saunders decided to join the organization. When his involvement became public however, the criticism began. “I was called a sellout, an Uncle Tom, I got dirty looks. I had a lot of supporters, EXW >WKH RSSRVLWLRQ@ ZDV GHĂ€QLWHO\ REYLRXV Âľ Saunders said.

Saunders said he had learned a great deal form his experience. “It really opened my eyes to the fact that people accept whatever they hear,â€? said Saunders, who believes that the decision to remove him as BSU External Director was LQĂ XHQFHG E\ ORQJ JUDGXDWHG DOXPQL QRW current BSU members or recent alums. “If WKHUH ZDV QR DOXPQL LQĂ XHQFH , ZRXOG VWLOO be involved.â€?

Despite the criticism he has faced, Saunders stands by his decision. ´, ORVW IULHQGV WKLV WHUP EXW LI ÀYH \HDUV down the road, a black student feels more comfortable, it’s worth it,� Saunders said.

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editorials. the michigan review

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Order of Angell Criticism Exposes “Progressives�

I

F THERE IS one important thing to take away from the frequent stories of Michigamua/Order of Angell stories in the Daily, and from the lore perpetuated by progressive enclaves on campus, it is not about Michigamua itself. Rather, the lessons to be drawn are about the group’s many detractors.

For the past few decades, no group has underwent more scrutiny and castigation—and managed to survive—than Michigamua. Its position in student life is almost to be expected; it, after all, claims to have as members the University’s best and brightest. And yet, while the group has sought to “progress,� as it were, and evolve year after year—giving way to the demands of various student groups—it has become clear that the demands of these invariably racialized student groups can never be met.

Their expectations aren’t too high. Rather, they’ve simply expected to kill off Michigamua as time wears on.

Take for example the many demands of transparency in the society’s proceedings made by students. If Michigamua were to accede to such demands, their very purpose would be undermined. No other group on campus can count students as diverse as hockey team members to a leader of the Ex-Terrorist Walkout as its members. No student group provides the necessary forum where these leaders can talk about their corners of the campus community without fear of reprisal, save Michigamua.

We hear so much about the need to create true dialogues between different segments of the University community. Have Michigamua’s detractors noticed that they are attempting to undermine a key element—that is, privacy—that preserves this campus dialogue?

We need cooler heads to prevail on campus, when discussing Michigamua’s evolution. So many student groups are stuck in the quagmires of their own radical political dispositions to deal rationally with the situation.

Kicking out loyal members and leaders of student groups simply because of their association with the senior society is inappropriate. It is a true wonder that it is the groups who have proven themselves incapable to handle the issue intelligently are the very groups to whom the Order of Angell is often beholden in the public arena.

The Order of Angell should not be expected to want to adopt the values of groups who oppose it, nor should it be expected to.

The prospects of these challenges to the Order of Angell threaten to radically change the very structure, purpose, and function of an organization that, by its own PRWWR SURPLVHV WR ´ÀJKW OLNH KHOO IRU 0LFKLJDQ ¾ :H DUH fearful that the group will become neutered over time, and eventually devolve into a shell of its previous self.

The group needs to be free to conduct its activities, and it deserves that expectation of privacy. It deserves that expectation just as much as the Daily’s editorial board, the leadership of the Student of Color Coalition, and the Dance Marathon Planning Team do.

Perhaps the Order of Angell’s opponents should ask themselves, “So what?� So what if they exist? At this point, the group has done just about as much as possible to distance itself from the questionable elements of its past. If campus leaders want to cavort, so what? They’re not conspiring against other student groups. So what if they are secretive? Do we really want to have the same expectation of the public’s right to know applied to our own organization?

In the end, the fervor over the Order of Angell’s existence tells us little about that organization. It tells us far more, however, about “progressives� on this campus.

MR

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.

The Review reserves the right to edit letters to the editor for length and clarity.

Calls For “Unity�

Ignore Political Realities

Negative Focus of “V-Dayâ€? Wrongly RedeďŹ nes Gender

O

VER THE PAST weeks, “unity� has come back into vogue. Whether it is Barack Obama’s crusade against partisanship, Daily columnists clamoring for a campus consensus or the efforts of the vaunted “Unity ‘08� campaign, more and more people are pushing collective action.

But this push for unity is both naive and misguided.

While we recognize that a culture of perpetual bickering is not desirable, we also recognize that, just as there are different qualities of peace, there are also different qualities of unity.

Mindless agreement over inconsequential truths is as ineffective as a stalemate, while unity over obviously individual choices seems just as ill-conceived. To determine ZKHWKHU D VSHFLĂ€F XQLW\ LV ZRUWK SXUVXLQJ LW LV LPSRUWDQW to examine the goal.

A second problem with the current discussion of unity revolves around the monolithic mentality of those who are most loudly calling for it. On a campus rife with speech codes and a student body anxious to regain the “spirit of the 60s,â€? it is understandable that many conservative and libertarian students might be leery of a campus XQLĂ€HG DJDLQVW WKHP $V VKRZQ E\ 0LFKLJDQ 6WDGLXP RQ JRRG IRRWEDOO 6DWXUGD\ D XQLĂ€HG VWXGHQW ERG\ LV D SRWHQW force, and one that should be used in only the rarest of circumstances.

A university is a place for dialogue, for learning, and for respectful disagreement over controversial ideas. And as we are reminded on a regular basis, Michigan is a place for diversity.

But when we speak of diversity – a word hijacked and politicized by wayward college administrators – we necessarily include political and intellectual differences.

These differences, however, will rarely result in the unity professed by the aforementioned groups. Ironically, unity and diversity seem largely incompatible. $QG WKDW LV ÀQH ZLWK XV 7KH VDPH SUHPLVH KROGV true for the United States. Our system of government and, indeed, our Constitution are built for a country that lacks unity. With unity, there would be little need for compromise, for minority rights, or for a system that checked D XQLÀHG JURXS IURP JDLQLQJ WRR PXFK SRZHU Unity is not an unequivocally good goal. Unity must EH GHÀQHG E\ ZKDW LGHD WKH FRQVHQVXV LV EXLOW DURXQG The leaders and people who call for unity too often are calling for people to unify around their ideas, merely padding their own position with greater support. Would Barack Obama endorse an electorate united against the thought of a black man serving as President?

In his campaign kickoff speech last month, Obama decried the “smallness of our politics,� and criticized politicians for opting to score cheap political points rather than building a “working consensus.� Daily columnist Mara Gay declared that the “divisive� student group YAF would be happy to know that there would be “no broadbased movement across lines of race and class anytime soon,� while Toby Mitchell hoped we could become “One World� that could “hang together.�

Such positions show a stunning ignorance of the political world. Conservatives generally favor lower taxes and fewer government programs. Liberals tend to believe that the government should play a larger role, and this UROH UHTXLUHV KLJKHU WD[HV 7KHUH DUH EHQHĂ€WV DQG GUDZbacks to both positions.

But the desire for unity ignores a fundamental law of politics: there are no solutions, only tradeoffs. Ironically, it is the analysis of these tradeoffs that produces political diversity – diversity we couldn’t achieve if we had such unity. MR

mrev@umich.edu

F

OR CENTURIES, VALENTINE’S Day has been celebrated as a holiday for couples to express their love for one another. But in recent years Valentine’s Day has been hijacked and turned into a day focused on violence against women and their vaginas.

Valentine’s Day is now being referred to as V-Day, standing for Valentine, Vagina and Victory. This seizure of Valentine’s Day was started by Eva Ensler the writer of The Vagina Monologues in 1998.

Most of the skits in the play are focused on violence and anger involving women and seem to have notoriously “anti-men� tendencies. Both the play and V-Day have been praised by many feminists for shedding light on anti-violence causes and helping to generate charitable contributions. V-day now takes place in 81 countries and has raised $30 million for safe houses and to support political resistance in African countries where violence against women exists.

Although the group opposes rape and violence against women, one of the monologues entitled “The Little Coochie Snorcher That Could� portrays a young girl who describes her relationship of statutory rape with an older woman as a “good rape.� The older woman even gives alcohol to the girl, who was 13 in the original version and 16 in revised versions.

The idea of V-Day seems to be in the right place, but was it necessary to turn a holiday that traditionally celebrates romance and love between the sexes into a grim memorial to violence against women?

Most all of the other monologues are focused on negative relationships between men and women as opposed to any consensual, positive sexual or emotional relationships.

Others only portray positive lesbian relationships between women.

The idea of V-Day seems to be in the right place, but was it necessary to turn a holiday that traditionally celebrates romance and love between the sexes into a grim memorial to violence against women?

The V-Day group has a college campaign that the University of Michigan takes part in. Groups on campus are invited to put on their own version of The Vagina Monologues on or around February 14th. The University’s verVLRQ WKLV \HDU LV JRLQJ WR EH D ÀUVW EHFDXVH LW LV WR LQFOXGH PHQ DV ´SURSV¾³ LW VHHPV REMHFWLÀFDWLRQ KDV QR QHJDWLYH implications when women do it. Actions like this encourage women to engage in gender warfare, not only stopping violence but reducing men to mere silent statues. Last year’s coordinators worried that the event had previously stigmatized women of color, but this they seem to have no problem stigmatizing males this year.

7KH FRQWLQXHG LQĂ€JKWLQJ EHWZHHQ ORFDO SURGXFHUV DQG national organizers exposes the Monolouges as less unifying than its planners would like to believe. The work pushes a single, narrow view of womanhood.

The day has been hijacked into a mass event for making money and celebrating strength of women against men, not love and romance between them. Instead of a realistic Valentine’s Day portraying the majority of relationships as peaceful and loving, V-Day attempts to demonize all relationships. MR

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The Sanctity of Life Degraded by the Spectacle of Death

I

T IS REMARKABLE how quickly the world of the living can be consumed by the events that follow the death of a loved one. Since most of my days following the morning of February 8 have been spent in such a way—funeral home visitations, prayer services, the funeral and the burial itself—I am keenly aware of the toll such events play on even the most close-knit of clans in the most private of situations.

Not everyone, though, has the luxury of the privacy my family and I were afforded in the days after the death of our sister, aunt, mother, and friend, Pat Vasiliadies.

AMANDA On the same day she died, NICHOLS pop culture icon Anna Nicole Smith passed away in a Hard Rock Hotel in Florida. Not surprisingly, her death received much more fanfare. It was breaking news on many channels and even trickled down to the local news coverage in metro Detroit, seemingly as far from a pop culture or entertainment hub as one can get.

Of course, the circumstances of Smith’s death are convoluted—maybe that’s why so much attention has been garnered. Was it a suicide? Was Smith drugged, as her

mother, Virgie Arthur, claims? Was there foul play?

On February 15, the media outlets were still buzzing about it. The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch hosted a segment dealing with the future of TrimSpa, the diet pill Smith so obnoxiously shelled out for. At the same time, at least two other news channels also had coverage of the event: MSNBC.com has an entire section of its webpage devoted to the coverage, and has simply called it “Anna Nicole Smith.�

On February 16, news of Smith’s will made that website’s front page while, at the same time, the US House of Representatives debated President Bush’s plan for troop surges in Iraq. It’s amazing how this woman can gain so much fame in death—so much more than she ever did in life.

Perhaps you think I’m doing precisely what I’m complaining about—giving this woman even more press when she doesn’t really deserve it. Sure, I think it’s a bit ridiculous that the death of a stripper-turned-Playmateturned-oil-heiress-turned-reality-television-star is getting so much coverage. Who wouldn’t think it’s absurd to have two judges, one on each coast, battling over whether or not Smith’s body can be embalmed? Or that not one, not two, but three men are vying for the paternity of Dannielynn, Smith’s infant daughter? Or really, that any of this is national news?

But that’s not my point. The real shame here is that, in the midst of the media circus, no one who actually knew Smith has had any opportunity to grieve. The body can’t

be properly buried until the three men, who claim to have loved her and conceived a child with her, relinquish their UHTXHVWV IRU KHU '1$ $QG ZKHQ 6PLWK LV ÀQDOO\ LQWHUUHG there won’t be any privacy or discretion; like so much of her life, and now her death, this, too, will be a media spectacle.

Really, though, the media has missed the point: it doesn’t matter how she died—what matters is that she did die. And it doesn’t matter to anyone but those who knew and cared about Smith—this has become clear as the tacky coverage has increased in the days since her death. She may have often been a pop culture mockery, but her death shouldn’t continue this legacy. Doing that to her and her family—regardless of how ridiculous Smith is publicly perceived—is disrespectful and entirely in bad taste.

So, as I stood in the shelter in the Fort Custer National Cemetery in Battle Creek last month, the wind numbing my legs and the tears stinging my cheeks, I watched my grandmother lace her arm through my grandfather’s and thought of how important that kind of grieving moment is, for all families. It’s simply a shame that the media is denying Smith’s family and friends their right to do the same. MR

Ę„ 6WULFW 6FUXWLQ\

Campus Progressives get Regressive

I

FOUND THE LETTERS “SDS� staring back at me, posted on a piece of notebook paper in the lobby of the Michigan Union last week. I thought, “Nah, it’s not that SDS. I’m sure it’s just a new addition to the alphabet soup of campus organizations.� When I picked up the Michigan Daily the next day, I found out my original hunch was correct, that SDS—Students for a Democratic Society—was back on campus.

SDS was a national campus organization involved in Vietnam War protests. U-M boasted a well-known SDS group that KHOSHG WR RUJDQL]H WKH Ă€UVW LQ a series of teach-ins against the war. As the war concluded, ADAM ideological tensions, especially PAUL the schism of those members who formed The Weatherman (a group who planned explosions to “bring the war homeâ€?), cracked the group internally and discredited it to many in the mainstream. In the last two years, there has been a movement to bring the organization back to campuses.

A call for a new “New Left� may be underpinned by a desire to stop the fragmentation of liberal groups here at U-M. In my three years here, issues from sweatshops, University advocacy groups hiring staff, Israeli divestment, Coca-Cola, and the Vagina Monologues have all been con-

tentious issues. While these issues have all been spearheaded by small groups, they have focused on coalition-building to garner, at least nominal, support from other campus organizations. While coalition-building hasn’t gone away, no SRZHUIXO XQLĂ€HG PRYHPHQW KDV DSSHDUHG ODWHO\ This school year, Michigan students seem to have forgotten their role as the “leaders and the bestâ€? in the realm of campus activism. While students at Purdue were on hunger strike and students at Gallaudet University barricaded the entrances to their campus, U-M students just went to class. Where is the enthusiasm?

It would be easy to claim that general apathy has caused the wane in activity, if not for the continued presence and growth of conservative groups on campus.

Groups like YAF have been responsible for some of the year’s biggest events. While they have raised the ire of the campus left, there has been little attempt at sustained opSRVLWLRQ RI WKH W\SH WKDW W\SLĂ€HV FDPSXV DFWLYLVP Take for instance the walkout of the recent ex-terrorist speech. When asked about the organization of the protests, one of the organizers described the group as an “ad hoc coalition.â€? From the substantial size of the walkout, it’s clear this tactic managed to mobilize students—for a night.

The Wear Yellow Walkout coalition seems to have disbanded rather than solidify itself. Similarly, students recently attended a large anti-war demonstration in D.C., but odds are that if you did not go or do not know someone who did, you probably know little about it.

Through events like walkouts and marches, students are likely looking to emulate their heroic conception of the

60s. One reason that conservative groups may be seeing resurgence at U-M is that their heroes hail from a newer age. Take YAF, whose national leadership practically worships Ronald Regan (the group’s website claims they are “inexorably intertwinedâ€? with their hero). Regan and other FRQVHUYDWLYH PRQROLWKV HQFRXUDJHG DFWLYLVP WKDW Ă€W EHWWHU with today’s corporatist environment than Kennedy’s Peace Corps.

Despite often going for shock value, conservative groups have better institutionalized themselves—something that’s hard to do if you want to maintain an anti-establishment persona. By generating ties to well-connected, professional organizations, conservative groups have been able to parlay their college experiences into gainful employment, providing extra incentive for involvement. While progressives have done well over the Internet, they have adapted for a niche market: the already converted.

Instead of adjusting to new conditions, the campus left wants to remain idyllic about its mission. Rebirthing old “New Left� organizations like SDS gives students a clearer link to the activist tradition started by their parents. While this may help boast moral outrage, it may not translate into practical success. With a slew of national concerns troubling Americans and newly elected Democratic Congress, progressives should be poised to make a move. Yet if this year’s trend of ambush-retreat activism on campus represents a trend, it may be an opportunity with little outcome.

MR

Remaining Vigilant in the War on Terror

BY MICHAEL BALKIN, ‘09

L

AST NOVEMBER, SEVERAL Muslim imams were quietly removed from a US Airways Flight headed from Minnesota to PhoeSta nix for making suspicious Opinion comments and engaging in suspicious activity.

Following the incident, Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee, a Texas Democrat, said the September 11 terrorist attacks “cannot be permitted to be XVHG WR MXVWLI\ UDFLDO SURĂ€OLQJ KDUDVVPHQW and discrimination of Muslim and Arab Americans. Understandably the imams IHOW SURĂ€OHG KXPLOLDWHG DQG GLVFULPLQDWHG against by their treatment.â€? Soon thereafter, Mahdi Bray, executive director of the

Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation, called removing the imams an act of Islamophobia and compared it to racism against blacks. Finally, MSNBC ran a piece in which they equated the Imams’ removal with the plight of Rosa Parks.

But the critcism obscures the details of the incident. According to several passengers these imams held three prayer sessions before they got on the plane, and made anti-American comments once seated.

7KHVH LPDPV VDW LQ ÀUVW FODVV DIWHU à LJKW attendants repeatedly informed them that the seats were unavailable, and some of the men asked for seatbelt extenders (usually needed when one is obese or is carrying something around the midsection.)

If we are to win the War on Terror,

Americans cannot be afraid to report suspicious activity because it might be considered racist or Islamophobic. We would all rue the day when someone fails to prevent an attack because they were scared of getting sued.

But Liberal and PC fanatics seemingly do not understand that Islamic radicals will go to great lengths to achieve their goals and murder non-believers. These terrorists killed 186 children in Beslan, Russia when they took an elementary school hostage.

They were responsible for the Madrid and London train bombings, multiple attacks on the World Trade Center, the destruction of the USS Cole, the US Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania, the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing in which 241 US service-

men were killed.

Islamofascist terrorism is real, more real than it has ever been, and we need to stand our ground. We need to realize, as a society, that a person’s life matters more than another person’s feelings.

Of course, no rational person would DGYRFDWH RYHUW UDFLDO SURĂ€OLQJ %XW ZH QHHG to be not only vigilant, but realistic.

If an imam, let alone anyone, is praying loudly, making anti-American comments, asking for seatbelt extenders, and sitting in the wrong seat, then we should QRW FULWLFL]H WKH MXVWLĂ€DEOH KXPDQ UHVSRQVH Our society is focused on racism and ethnicity; instead, we need to focus on survival.

MR

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the michigan review

Economists Conclude PďŹ zer Closing Impact Pales Compared to Auto Industry Upheaval

BY JENNI CHELENYAK, ‘10

T

KH FORVLQJ RI WKH 3Ă€]HU IDFLOLW\ LQ $QQ Arbor, and the loss of over 2,100 jobs, came as a surprise for the Ann Arbor economy, which has been an island of relative prosperity in an otherwise depressed region.

Don Grimes, Senior Research Specialist at the Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations at the University of Michigan, said that neither Michigan nor Ann Arbor had been ORVLQJ VFLHQWLÀF HQJLQHHULQJ RU UHVHDUFK jobs. This fact surely increased the element RI VXUSULVH VXUURXQGLQJ 3À]HU¡V DQQRXQFHment.

3À]HU SODQV WR FORVH LWV UHVHDUFK IDFLOLW\ by 2008. However, the closing of the Plymouth Road plant seems to be related more to 3À]HU¡V LQWHUQDO ÀQDQFLDO LVVXHV UDWKHU WKDQ its location. The loss of the Ann Arbor facility is part of the company’s plan to consolidate its operations, as it plans to part with 10,000 employees in total.

The Ann Arbor economy has traditionally been healthier than that of the rest of Michigan. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the December 2006 unemployment rate for Michigan was 7.7 percent. ,Q FRQWUDVW $QQ $UERU ERDVWV D VLJQLĂ€FDQWO\ smaller 4.4 percent, which shines even compared to the low nationwide average of 4.6 percent.

With statistics like these in mind, the anQRXQFHPHQW WKDW 3Ă€]HU ZRXOG YDFDWH $QQ Arbor came as a shock. The closing of the facility will undoubtedly have an impact on University of Michigan graduates, many of whom have developed ties to the company, and live in Ann Arbor after graduation WKDQNV WR MRE RIIHUV 3Ă€]HU H[HFXWLYHV KDYH stated that 1,000 workers will be offered jobs elsewhere in the company, while severance packages will be offered to the other emloyees.

Economists have predicted the facility’s closing will cause 3,650 people to leave the state, according to mitechnews.com, a news service for small businesses and entrepreneurs. Furthermore, as those who support 3À]HU¡V RSHUDWLRQV OHDYH LQ DGGLWLRQ WR WKRVH who service employees who live here, an estimated 3,723 jobs will be lost in other industries. Professional and technical industries will be impacted the most, followed by the retail industry.

Governor Jennifer Granholm created WKH 3À]HU 6WUDWHJLF :RUN $FWLRQ 7HDPV (SWAT) to help those who may be affected when the company closes its doors; the governor, local business and community leaders, and U-M are involved with SWAT, which will make $1 million from the Michigan Department of Labor available to workers as one of its functions. How to keep talented graduates in Michigan, as well as expediting WKH XVH RI 3À]HU¡V VLWH RQFH LW EHFRPHV YDcant, are SWAT’s primary concerns.

In the end, the long-term impact of 3Ă€]HU¡V FORVLQJ LV QRW QHDUO\ DV FULWLFDO DV WKH future of Michigan’s automotive industry. ´>$OWKRXJK@ 3Ă€]HU LV D ELJ GHDO LQ Washtenaw County, the future of the state will be much more determined by what happens to the Big Three and their suppliers,â€? said Grimes. “If you look in Michigan, the economy overall is a challenge, mostly because of the problems in the traditional automotive manufacturers, both from original equipment manufacturers and their unionized parts manufacturers. That industry is in great trouble; unless it can work out a solu-

tion to its problems, it will make it [its problems] a great challenge [for the region].� $SSOLFDWLRQV IRU IHGHUDO EHQHÀW DVVLVtance in Michigan have risen by 1,336—a fact that makes Michigan’s economy stand out, as 38 states reported a drop in applications. Many blame statistics like these on recent layoffs of automotive workers.

DaimlerChrysler, following in the footsteps of Ford Motor Company and General Motors, recently announced plans to cut 13,000 jobs, many of which will be in southeast Michigan. The magnitude of this move emSKDVL]HV WKH VPDOOQHVV RI 3À]HU¡V PRYH LQ relation to the larger picture of Michigan’s hurting economy. MR

PďŹ zer’s fate in Ann Arbor is sealed, but the future of its displaced employees has yet to be seen.

As More Students Seek Alternatives, Detroit Schools Continue to Make Cuts

BY EDDIE PERRY, ‘09

trol, and better structural organization, this problem holds no plausible threat.

ETROIT IS ON the brink of closDespite this cause for hope, some are ing down 47 schools, a move which up in arms over the proposed closings. could save the city roughly $27 million. The At a hearing on January 24 at Cooley planned downsizHigh School, a ing will allow the “If one third of all Detroit-residing forum discussed district to focus the closings and students do not attend the public on improving rerelocations of 16 maining schools, schools provided, then not only are west side schools. downsizing pay- they hurting the city’s school system, Just over 200 parroll, and conceivents, staff, and they are an unpredictable weight ably end up with students showed the appropri- on all other schools, private, charter, up, hoping their ate amount of efforts would suburban public.� schools for the change the minds amount of chilof William Coledren who attend -Joel Beckett, AP English teacher at Detroit man, the CEO them, in a city of Detroit PubWestern International High School and where the populic Schools, or U-M alumnus lation continues Virginia Cantrel, to decline.

Detroit FederaMark Schrupp, attorney and the Deputy tion of Teachers President-elect.

Chief of Facilities Maintenance and Auxilia2QO\ SHRSOH VKRZHG XS WR Ă€JKW WKH ry Services for Detroit Public Schools (DPS), closings of 16 schools, suggesting that the explained that if current trends continue, the opposition might not be too strong. district will probably have less than 100,000 “I think it’s pretty evident why the city is enrolled students, meaning that the Detroit going to close 47 schools. People are leaving Public School system will lose its legal status the city at an unexplainable rate. The city is DV D ´ÀUVW FODVV VFKRRO GLVWULFW Âľ 7KLV VWDWXV getting smaller and consolidation is needed. does not hint at the quality of the school district as a whole, but refers to its size and special funding it receives.

This, it seems, is symbolic of the ongoing downward trend the DPS is experiencing. “I think that this is one of the most serious crises in the history of the Detroit Public Schools. There are a number of facWRUV LQFOXGLQJ SUREOHPV RI VFKRRO Ă€QDQFH serious issues with the teachers union, competition from charter schools, and above all the perception that the DPS is not providing a high quality education to most of the its students that are combining to make life H[WUHPHO\ GLIĂ€FXOW IRU WKH V\VWHP Âľ VDLG -HII Mirel, Professor and Associate Dean of the School of Education at U-M. 6DYLQJ WKRVH PLOOLRQ LV D Ă€UVW VWHS LQ revamping DPS’s structure and perhaps employing a more business-like strategy which will allow it to cut excess fat.

Getting smaller means principals will be more involved, and able to evaluate teachers more readily. Many ex-administrators will move to new schools, freeing up principals to examine teachers more thoroughly.

Granted, class sizes might increase with fewer schools, but with better teachers, better principles, somewhat “state-free� con-

D

We need to retain only the best teachers, reorganize, and put some money back into the city’s budget,� said Joel Beckett, an AP English teacher at Detroit Western International High School in Mexicantown and UM alumnus.

Also embodying the troubles for DPS is the fact that 51,000 students (nearly one-third of the entire student-base in Detroit) now attend charter schools or suburban schools.

During this current school year alone, more than 5,000 have chosen this route, according to a recent Detroit News study.

Beckett conveyed the implications of this last statistic, saying that he “cannot believe the city allows this to happen. If one third of all Detroit-residing students do not attend the public schools provided, then not only are they hurting the city’s school system, they are an unpredictable weight on all other schools, private, charter, suburban public. How would you like to be the one in charge of planning for the next school year not knowing if there will be an extra 130 students in your school?�

Although the Detroit Public School System has been nothing short of erratic in the past year, there remains hope that Coleman is now onto something that will provide solutions. MR

50,675

Detroit students do not attend Detroit Public Schools, of these:

42,378 attend Charter Schools 33,797 of these Charter school attendees stay

in Wayne County

8,297 attend a non-Detroit public school 12,656 leave Wayne County for either a charter or public school

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the michigan review for miscellaneous expenses they incurred during the lawsuit. Terry Pell, with The Center for Individual Rights, was quoted by the Associate Press saying, “I think this is in the best interest of everybody.â€? Both Hamacher and Gratz attended schools less expensive than U-M, and as time passed, LW EHFDPH LQFUHDVLQJO\ GLIĂ€FXOW WR FODLP WKDW 8 0 WUXO\ RZHG the two students anything tangible. Jennifer Gratz seemed VDWLVĂ€HG 6KH WROG WKH $QQ $UERU 1HZV ´,W ZDV QHYHU DERXW the money. This is about the principle about equal treatment under the law.â€?

The University, despite its current problems with Proposal 2, seems to be pleased as well. After adding all of the application fee refunds, compensatory damages, and interest being sought, the estimated cost of the class action suit for the University would have been around $1.2 Million.

The settlement requires the University to place advertisements in 14 Michigan papers informing anyone who applied to LS&A between 1995 and 2003 that legal options are still available. Doubtless the University hopes that the result of this six-year battle will dissuade anyone with Gratz-like ambitions.

The Gratz settlement, although important for the parWLHV LQYROYHG LV QRW WKH HQG RI WKH GHEDWH RYHU DIĂ€UPDWLYH LQ American colleges. Gratz and Hamacher were compensated for their rejection from Michigan, but their dispute arose

BY BLAKE EMERSON, ‘09 during a time when universities gave points to minority apORE THAN FOUR years since the famous Gratz v. plicants. With the state of admissions post-Prop 2, rejected Bollinger decision, Jennifer Gratz and her co-plaintiff students will have a harder time challenging admissions poliPatrick Hamacher have each been compensated $10,000. In FLHV DW 8 0 6LQFH DQWL DIĂ€UPDWLYH DFWLRQ EDOORWV DUH OLNHO\ 2003, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in favor of the plaintiffs, to pass in many states, it is unlikely that lawsuits like Gratz who argued that the University of Michigan’s admissions ZLOO SOD\ VXFK D SURPLQHQW UROH LQ RSSRVLWLRQ WR DIĂ€UPDWLYH point system, which offered 20 points to minority appli- action.

While Michigan is reaching closure, the debate over the FDQWV ZDV XQFRQVWLWXWLRQDO $OWKRXJK VSHFLĂ€F SRLQWV JLYHQ XVH RI DIĂ€UPDWLYH DFWLRQ LV EHJLQQLQJ LQ RWKHU SODFHV $FWR PLQRULWLHV EHFDPH LOOHJDO 8QLYHUVLW\ RIĂ€FLDOV VWLOO FRXOG cording to a recent New York Times article, Ward Connerly take race into account until the passage of Proposal 2.

DQG RWKHU VWDXQFK RSSRQHQWV RI DIÀUPDWLYH DFWLRQ KDYH The Center for Individual Rights, the organization that been planning, long before this decision, on rapidly expandUHSUHVHQWHG *UDW] DQG +DPDFKHU ÀOHG WKH RIÀFLDO GLVFULPLing ballot initiates in years to come. The success of the nation suit against the university in 1997. While the case beDQWL DIÀUPDWLYH DFWLRQ SURSRVDOV LQ OHIW OHDQLQJ VWDWHV OLNH gan with only two plaintiffs, a class action lawsuit soon grew California, Washington, and Michigan seems to indicate that to nearly 40,000 rejected LSA applicants, convinced they constitutional amendments like Prop 2 can be passed almost would have been admitted if not for the unconstitutional anywhere.

M R process used at the time.

The recent settlement excludes any compensation for these 40,000 people, and it compensated the plaintiffs just

Gratz Settles Case Against U-M, Bringing Temporary End to Race Issue

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UN Report on Global Warming Revives Debate, Sparks Criticism

BY MICHAEL BALKIN, ‘09

2001, the IPCC’s estimates and recommendations became more urgent and political. Even with the new assessment’s HE EARTH IS GETTING warmer.

UHYLVHG Ă€JXUHV WKH SDQHO¡V FKDLUPDQ 5 . 3DFKDXUL WROG Humans are responsible. reporters, “I hope this report will shock people.â€?

The consequences could be catastrophic.

Cohen believes that the IPCC’s desire to shock people These are the sentiments contained within the execu- may have skewed the language contained in the report. tive summary of a report released by the Intergovernmental ´7KH VXPPDU\ LV ÀOOHG ZLWK VHQVDWLRQDOLVWLF ODQJXDJH Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

QRQH RI ZKLFK FDQ EH MXVWLÀHG E\ D TXLFN ORRN DW WKH GDWD %XW WR VRPH PHPEHUV RI WKH VFLHQWLÀF FRPPXQLW\ WKH This report is designed to scare people,� he said. real story is the summary’s revised estimates. Contrary to :KLOH PRVW UHVHDUFK SHUIRUPHG E\ WKH VFLHQWLÀF FRPpopular belief, the extent to which the earth is warming is munity does conclude that the world is getting slightly still a cause for debate, as is the level of blame attributed to warmer, the debate rages over whether or not global warmmankind.

LQJ LV VLJQLĂ€FDQW HQRXJK WR ZDUUDQW GUDVWLF PHDVXUHV &ULW“The IPCC’s estimates are based on computer models. ics of the IPCC point to the fact that more than 90% of These models produce scenarios which are highly dependent the IPCC’s contributing authors are from governments who on the quality of data fed into them; projections based on have advocated emission-reduction policies. computer models are someCohen argued that the times not even worth the paIPCC report is a “consenper they’re printed on,â€? said sus documentâ€? put together Contrary to popular belief, the extent by political appointees and Dr. Bonner Cohen, a senior fellow at Washington, DCdiplomats, with little to which the earth is warming is still a career based National Center for RU QR VFLHQWLĂ€F WUDLQLQJ cause for debate, as is the level of blame Scientists and skeptics with Public Policy Research.

Lord Monckton, forother theories are usually attributable to mankind. mer advisor to British Prime excluded from contributing Minister Margaret Thatcher, to the reports. is also skeptical of the UN’s These skeptics point to report. Along with other independent analysts, he points several other theories on global warming that have recently to the fact that the IPCC adjusted several predictions and been proposed. For instance, a recent study conducted by estimates it made in its 2001 assessment. the renowned Max Planck Institute for Solar System ReAccording to Monckton, in its 2001 report, the IPCC search suggests that a more powerful sun is partially responclaimed that sea levels would rise by an average of three sible for the recent warming of the globe. feet over the next century. In its most recent assessment, Dr. Sami Solanki, the institute’s acting Director, stated however, the revised high-end estimate stands at a reduced that the institute’s research shows that “the sun has been at 17 inches. Furthermore, the new assessment seemingly dem- its strongest over the past 60 years and may now be affecting onstrates that the 2001 report overstated the effect human global temperatures.� industrial activity had on global warming by 30 percent.

Several other factors are helping to muddy the waters The lower estimates mark a reversal from the IPCC’s vis-à -vis global warming. Take, for instance, the unusual behavior over the last decade and beyond. From 1990 to frost California farmers have experienced this winter. Ad-

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Leading House Democrat Struggles to Know the Enemy

BY MICHAEL BALKIN, ‘09

A

CCORDING TO CONGRESSIONAL Quarterly, the new House Intelligence Chairman Silvestre Reyes doesn’t know basic facts about several international terrorist organizations. This brings into question the choice Mrs. Pelosi made when she decided to tap Silvestre Reyes to head up the House Intelligence committee. :KHQ WKH WK &RQJUHVV FRQYHQHG IRU WKH ÀUVW WLPH this year, the newly empowered Democrats controlled both houses. Democratic control meant several changes for the new Congress: a new Speaker of the House, possible rule changes concerning debate, fresh focus on the liberal legislative agenda, and new leaders of Senate and House committees.

Congressional committees work, either independently or together, to conduct oversight hearLQJV GUDIW OHJLVODWLRQ DQG LQĂ XHQFH Rep. Silvestre Reyes policy. The heads of Senate and House committees are commonly referred to as “chairs,â€? and they direct operations and determine the agendas of their respective committees. This GLVFUHWLRQDU\ SRZHU PDNHV WKH FRPPLWWHH FKDLUV YHU\ LQĂ Xential, which is why Speaker Pelosi’s choice was brought into question.

After her ascension to the house’s highest position, Nancy Pelosi of California appointed party member Silvestre Reyes of Texas’s 16th district to lead the House Intelligence Committee. Reyes, a former Border Patrol agent, served in Vietnam and received the Purple Heart for a combat injury.

Judging by comments made by several of his colleagues, no one in Congress doubts his patriotism or candor.

These accolades, however, cannot disguise the fact that Reyes apparently doesn’t know basic facts pertaining to enemies the United States faces today. To be sure, Mr. Reyes is acutely aware of the harm that al-Qaeda and other terrorist JURXSV ZDQW WR LQà LFW XSRQ WKH 8QLWHG 6WDWHV +RZHYHU E\ congressional standards, the House Intelligence Committee chair is supposed to have a sound understanding of terrorist groups and the threats they pose to American interests, at home and abroad, in a post-9/11 world.

Recently, Jeff Stein of Congressional Quarterly asked Reyes whether members of al-Qaeda came from the Sunni or Shiite branch of Islam. Reyes responded, “Predominantly probably Shiite.� In reality, Al-Qaeda members are part of the Sunni sect.

Stein then questioned the Congressman about Hezbollah, a Shiite dominated group. Congressman Reyes could not identify which sect of Islam claimed the allegiance of +H]EROODK ÀJKWHUV LQVWHDG GHFLGLQJ WR DVN 6WHLQ ´:K\ GR \RX DVN PH WKHVH TXHVWLRQV DW ÀYH R¡FORFN"¾ +H]EROODK LV the same terrorist group that launched rockets into northern Israel, sparking the month long war in July of 2006 with the Israelis. Furthermore, the group is allegedly funded and equipped by Iran and Syria. That information might be useful when dealing with future escalation.

Conservative political pundits often claim that the DemRFUDWLF 3DUW\ LV IXOO RI SHDFHQLNV DQG SDFLĂ€VWV 7KHUHIRUH WKH Democrats cannot afford to make such egregious mistakes if they hope to prove their critics wrong. Congressman Reyes’ lack of knowledge of the enemies’ culture and religion PDNHV WKDW FKDOOHQJH LQFUHDVLQJO\ GLIĂ€FXOW 3HRSOH PLJKW DVN themselves, “Shouldn’t the Chair of the House Intelligence Committee know these kinds of things?â€?

Surely, some Americans may be able to accept this lack of knowledge, as long as they believe Reyes will continue to VWDQG VWURQJ LQ WKH ÀJKW DJDLQVW ,VODPRIDFLVW WHUURULVWV DQG their state sponsors. Others will use Reyes’ ascension to the House Intelligence Chair position to discredit the Democratic Party in areas of national defense. MR ditionally, several studies completed by NASA have demonstrated that Antarctica’s snow is getting thicker, its average temperature is dropping, and the world’s oceans are cooling.

The earth may be warming, but the causes and consequences still constitute a relatively fuzzy area of science and public policy. MR

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the michigan review

Arizona State University RA Suspended After Criticizing Diversity Training

BY CHRISTINE HWANG, ‘10

Anthropology at ASU and the co-chair of Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education NetYAN VISCONTI WAS simply look- work (GLSEN) of Phoenix, explained that ing for a good job and a place to live. successful exercises share several characterInstead, he was told that he would have to istics. work as a landscaper and live in a ghetto “The most productive workshops I have apartment. The Christian church, he was IDFLOLWDWHG DUH ZKHUH SDUWLFLSDQWV IHHO VXIĂ€told, didn’t accept his lifestyle as a gay His- ciently comfortable to share unpopular or panic. socially undesirable attitudes or positions— Visconti, a senior Resident Advisor and this is how we make visible the assumptions Political Science major at Arizona State Uni- and stereotypes that launch discriminatory versity, was participating in a “diversity exer- behaviors, she said.â€? cise.â€? The exercise included a role-playing Successful workshops avoid confrongame: Residential advisors were assigned to tation, and instead focus on evaluation of a certain race, ethnicity, and sexual orienta- ingrained beliefs. tion and asked to live life in another’s shoes. “I remember very clearly a workshop The exercise included booths for everyday where a participant, who was a university elements of society, including housing, em- student preparing to be a teacher, shared his ployment, transportation, jail, and banking. attitude that homosexuality was a sin. Rather But when Visconti voiced his displea- than question his position, I asked him how sure with the exercise to the East Valley/ this stance on homosexuality might affect 6FRWWVGDOH 7ULEXQH $UL]RQD 6WDWH RIĂ€FLDOV the way he treats students who identify or placed him on probation. are perceived of as gay. That is my job—to “The students who designed the role- invite people to question their values so they play overlooked their own stereotypes, such FDQ EH VXUH WKHLU YDOXHV Ă€W ZLWK WKHLU SHUGraphic by Michael O’Brien/The Michigan Review as the notion that white men don’t have to sonal, interpersonal and institutional goals.â€? The Sun Devil eortlessly executes ASU university policy. work for wealth because society gives them a MR free ride. Or the idea that Christian churches DUH Ă€OOHG ZLWK ELJRWV DQG SHRSOH ZKR VXSport traditional family values such as hetereosexual marriage are hateful and narrowminded,â€? Visconti told the Tribune.

ASU Residential Life denied that Visconti’s probationary status was based on his opposition to the exercise, but on his past actions, including missing an exercise on homosexu- BY MARIE COUR. ‘08 cal comparisons with other times and places ality and gay marriage. across the globe,� said Scott.

HE FIRST DAY of each year marks the But Visconti claimed his outrage wasn’t Last fall, the ISI published a report that beginning of a new term for the new found civil knowledge to be at pitiful levels, in opposition to diversity. “Diversity is an important ingredient to president of the American Historical As- and Scott believes that expanding the curricthe college experience, it is important to in- sociation. This year, Barbara Weinstein, a ulum in colleges will not alleviate the probcrease awareness of issues that exist among professor of Brazilian and Latin American lem; instead, it will leave Americans even less history at the University of Maryland, was equipped to examine America critically. students,� he said in an interview.

His anger, Visconti said, stemmed from elected to hold this position. As could be “The globalists who insist on minimizthe University’s stigmatization of all Chris- expected from a new leader, Weinstein wants ing America from their global curricula are to reform the place of history both among not responsibly preparing their students to tians and white Southerners. “[The exercises] clearly targeted these scholars and the way that it is taught at uni- assess the ‘American exceptionalism’ proposition,� said Scott. groups. The staff member working the versities.

3RVVLEO\ WKH PRVW VLJQLĂ€FDQW GHYHORSDespite the criticism, Weinstein is not ‘church’ has an exaggerated deep southern accent. She was clearly talking about Jesus, ment with the election of Weinstein is her alone in her desire to augment the study of and referencing the Bible. There is no doubt desire to expand support for the teaching of history. Mamadou Diouf, a professor of Afthat these groups were being singled out as non-American and non-European history. rican History at the University of Michigan, New AHA President,Barbara being hateful, narrow-minded, and bigoted,â€? In a recent interview with the University of agrees that these reforms are long overdue.

Weinstein Maryland, she said that she wanted to ensure “History has become a more diverse he said.

Visconti also found himself confused WKDW ´XQGHUUHSUHVHQWHG ÀHOGV VXFK DV $I- academic market, and America is the most ULFD $VLD DQG P\ RZQ ÀHOG /DWLQ $PHULFD lucrative and prominent part of it. We need and we need to understand their culture.�

E\ WKH FRQĂ LFWLQJ PHVVDJHV RI WKH H[HUFLVH The debate between these two groups “It was ironic that we were being taught both feel welcome, and feel that they have a to make American history part of other hisnot to discriminate against others, but ASU stake in the continuing vitality of the AHA torical conversations,â€? said Diouf. To do is simply a continuation of nearly endless Residential Life was simultaneously ridicul- as an organization.â€? The implication of this this would require more scholars who were arguments about the relationship between historians and society. ing Christians and Southerners. ‘Tolerance’ is that scholars specializing Moreover, it is doubtful on this campus must mean intolerance to- in these parts of the world currently lack the instituthat encouraging scholarward Christians,â€? he said. ship of Africa, Asia, and Visconti said that while other students tional support for their “The globalists who insist on minimizing Latin America will bring took offense to the exercises, few were will- research.

America from their global curricula are not DQ\ VLJQLĂ€FDQW FKDQJHV RQ Weinstein’s new direcing to step forward in protest. “Many students either accept this obvi- tion has not been met with responsibly preparing their students to assess Michigan’s campus.

History majors are ous hypocrisy or have been intimidated into universal support. Gary the ‘American exceptionalism’ propositionâ€? required to study Amerisilence.â€? Residential Advisors must “adhere Scott, a Senior Research can and European history. to certain ideological beliefs‌The bound- Fellow for the IntercolThey are, however, also exaries of reason get skewed when the Uni- legiate Studies Institute, -Gary Scott, Senior Research Fellow for the pected to take at least two versity has a political agenda that it wants to Ă€QGV WKH VKLIW IURP $PHUIntercollegiate Studies Institute. ican history troubling, courses in Asia, Africa, or enforce.â€?

Latin America. Much as According to the university, these exer- arguing that the focus on some historians might want cises were modeled after national leadership American history is justistudents to focus solely on conferences. It recognizes a need to revise Ă€HG “Some think that emphasizing the study raised outside the United States. Neverthe- other countries, it is unlikely that students the exercise. Visconti agrees. “Exercises that focus on common of America is rooted in a naive ‘American less, Diouf believes that the knowledge that will stop caring about Western Civilization. bonds, positive aspects of diversity, a reason- exceptionalism.’ But America is in fact an they can provided is needed on American MR able understand of other culturesâ€? would be achievement in its culture, order, prosper- campuses. “There is a political demand for a more EHQHĂ€FLDO WR WKH XQLYHUVLW\ FRPPXQLW\ KH ity, security, and justice. Many do not see it precisely because they have not made all of diverse understanding of the world,â€? said said.

Madelaine Adelman, a professor of the important cultural, economic, and politi- Diouf. “We are still a country of migrants,

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New American History Association President Aims to De-Westernize History

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the michigan review

Suburbia Meets Hip-Hop: “Black parties� Expose Stereotypes

Courtesy, The Smoking Gun

Who wants pancakes and malt liquor?

BY JANE COASTON, ‘09

P

URPORTED TO BE partying in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, students at several colleges across America have stirred up controversy.

According to the news-gossip website The Smoking Gun, these “Living The Dreamâ€? parties featured “40-ounce bottles of malt liquor‌female partygoers who stuffed their pants to make their backsides look larger‌gold teeth‌gang apparel and Afro wigs‌handguns, and fried chicken, and even one woman dressed as Aunt Jemima.â€? There were even students in black face paint.

These parties occurred in locales as varied as a law

school in Connecticut, a small college in Texas, and at Clemson University.

The details of the parties might have remained unknown had the partygoers not posted photos on their Facebook SURÀOHV LQ SKRWR DOEXPV ZLWK WLWOHV VXFK DV ´0/. ¾ 8SURDU ensued at all of the universities involved, especially after the pictures were leaked to the media at CNN.com. The students involved have repeatedly claimed there was no racist animosity behind the parties.

Tarleton State University student Jeremy Pelz, who posted some of the photos, said that the annual party had begun several years ago as a way of making sure Dr. King was properly honored, and that no disrespect was intended. %XW XQLYHUVLW\ RIĂ€FLDOV ZHUH RXWUDJHG 7KH $VVRFLDWHG Press reported that Tarleton State President Dennis McCabe was “personally insultedâ€? by the incident and was “disappointedâ€? in the students involved. Forums were held at many of the universities at which the parties occurred, ZLWK VWXGHQWV DQG DGPLQLVWUDWRUV VWUXJJOLQJ WR Ă€QG D SURSHU course of action.

Even universities with no connection to the parties have taken notice—Stanford University has recently held a series of meetings and forums to prevent any such activity from occurring on campus.

These parties may be the worst example, but different ethnic groups have long emulated black culture, appropriating their concept of the culture to their own lifestyles. From the Harlem Renaissance to the Beat Generation to hip-hop, whites have often looked to urban society for something ‘real’ and ‘authentic.’ Associate History Professor Matthew Lassiter has been studying American suburbia and contemporary culture since the late 1990s. In an interview regarding the parties and the larger issues of white perceptions of black behavior, Lassiter said that “it has something to do with both the fact that these white suburban youth grow up in segregated neighborhoods and they are constantly consuming black culture.� Many of the youth have the dual experience of growing up in an exclusive, often monolithic environment, all the while admiring and identifying with a culture they see as more interesting. “White middle class youth tend to see their own culture as boring and sterile and they look either to cities or to the

countryside for something more authentic‌if you see suburban culture as bland or homogenous, where do you go?

You hit the open road or you look for more true ‘urban’ experiences. Black culture, or the version of black culture that is typically utilized is more based on rap records than on any kind of reality. It becomes a means of ‘escaping’ white culture, becoming someone else and ‘breaking the rules through deliberate performance or dressing up,� said Lassiter.

Lassiter drew a comparison with a less publicized but equally controversial concept of “White Trash Bash�—both are representative of a more “free� culture where people

“White middle class youth tend to see their own culture as boring and sterile and they look to cities or to the countryside for something more authentic. If you see suburban culture as bladn or homogenous, where do you go? You hit the open road or you look for more true ‘urban’ experiences.�

-History Professor Matt Lassiter “(give) themselves the latitude to do the things (they) think these groups can do.�

Lassiter noted that there seemed to be a lack of willingness for whites to realize that African-Americans are “just like them.â€? As for the students’ claims that there was no racial intent or motivation, Lassiter said that these were “old MXVWLĂ€FDWLRQVÂľ DQG WKDW KDG WKH\ QRW EHHQ VWXSLG HQRXJK WR put these pictures on the Internet, they might never have been pressed to apologize. Professor Lassiter said that these students should watch more Dave Chapelle, who Lassiter called an “equal-opportunity satiristâ€? able to point out the errors in hip-hop culture and the racist elements in suburban America in a comedic and clever way. MR

College Freshmen More Politicized and Polarized, UCLA Survey Shows

BY LINDSEY DODGE, ‘10

300 class. He notes his students are most “informed about and interested in global perspectives.�

S THE NATION becomes ever more polarized, colIn particular, recent years have shown increasing conlege students, it seems, have followed suit. According cern about the military and Iraq. According to Markus, this to a recent UCLA survey, “The American Freshman: Na- creates a need for students to become involved in “how the tional Norms for Fall 2006,� students – especially freshmen U.S. is viewed by the rest of the world.� – are becoming more political and polarized.

However, the Michigan statistics have not changed in Administered by the Higher Education Research Insti- pace with the national polls. tute from UCLA, the survey collected data on over 271,000 Matney says that U-M students are not at all more acfreshmen from 393 colleges nationwide. The statistics show tive in political activity; in fact, Michigan students are still WKDW RI VWXGHQWV IHOW WKH GHVLUH WR ´LQà XHQFH VRFLDO outpaced by the rest of the country, despite a slight increase values.� Interestingly, this statstic leaps at historically black in students to keep up to date on current events. colleges and universities, rising just short of 60%.

Furthermore, the Michigan statistics show that students In terms of political orientation, the party system has do care more about global issues – and really could not care never been stronger. Students identifying themselves as lib- less about the ones here at home. eral are at 28.4 percent, the highest since 1975. Conservative “Abortion is not a political issue [at Michigan]. Neither students are still slightly less at 23.9 percent, but this percent- UHDOO\ LV DIĂ€UPDWLYH DFWLRQ Âľ VDLG 0DWQH\ GHVSLWH WKH KXJH age is the highest in history. Middle-of-the-roaders have bot- VLJQLĂ€FDQFH RI LVVXHV VXFK DV DERUWLRQ DQG JD\ PDUULDJH QDtomed out at 43.3 percent, the lowest since 1970. tionwide.

The percentages from this survey mimic the numbers Professor Markus has a different view. “We’re ground generated in the 1970s, during Vietnam, the Civil Rights movement, and a presidential candidate’s assassination.

But what drives students today to bang the political drum?

Malinda Matney, Senior Research Associate for the Division of Student Affairs at the University of Michigan, observes that student activism varies by year, but election years tend to be more active. Furthermore, American students recently have demonstrated more interest in global issues, such as sweatshop conditions and the crises in the Middle East.

Gregory Markus, a political science professor at U-M who specializes in activism, has noticed this shift in his PoliSci

A

]HUR IRU DIÀUPDWLYH DFWLRQ :H¡YH SXW RXUVHOYHV RXW WKHUH as leaders in this example,� he said, adding that Michigan registered more students in the last election than any other university in the nation. :KLOH 0DUNXV EHOLHYHV WKDW WKH FRQà LFW IRU D GLYHUVH population is still an all-encompassing one, the UCLA study found that 53 percent of conservatives and 45 percent of OLEHUDOV FDOOHG IRU WKH DEROLWLRQ RI DIÀUPDWLYH DFWLRQ The UCLA study demonstrates a rise in conservative freshman, which is paralleled by the rise in conservative campus papers nationwide.

This, Matney says, is not necessarily true here at Michigan. If it is, however, it could be due to a greater number of active conservatives on campus.

Markus applauds what he observes as the effective and organized effort lately to encourage conservative student RUJDQL]DWLRQV DOWKRXJK KH VXJJHVWV WKDW WKH\ DUH EHWWHU Ànanced than liberal organizations. �Liberals and progressives could learn from that,� he said. MR

Courtesy: Higher Education Research Institute, UCLA

P. 10

03.05.07

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arts & culture. the michigan review

A Real Look at Marriage

Documentary on Electric Cars Fails to Spark

BY REBECCA CHRISTY, ‘08

The movie relies heavily on one-sided anecdotes and implications to make its points. Other left-leaning documentaries, like The Corporation, had the decency to interview their NEW DOCUMENTARY Who Killed the Electric Car? opponents. The viewer lead to believe that because there does its best to convict the culprit its name pursues. was a “waiting listâ€? for the EV1, they must have been wildly 8QIRUWXQDWHO\ WKH Ă€OP ODFNV GXH SURFHVV VR WR VSHDN popular. But there’s never talk of the exact volume of that In his documentary, Chris Pane sets out to explore the list to the actual number of models produced.

FXULRXV LQFDUQDWLRQ RI *0¡V (9 HOHFWULF FDU WKH Ă€UVW FRPSimilarly, the claim by GM that the EV1 was not profpletely electric car, which were introduced in itable is more-or-less scoffed at and then the 1990s. The EV1 and similar automobiles brushed aside, with no analysis of the claims debuted with much fanfare. The promise of by either side. emissions reduction even swept the CaliforGM and other American automakers nia legislature into a frenzy, spurring on lawRSWHG IRU WKH SURĂ€WDEOH TXLFNO\ VHOOLQJ EXW makers to pass a law requiring a full 10% of also gas-guzzling SUVs in the late 90s instead cars in California to be without emissions of electric cars. For this they’re faulted. But at by‌well, now. the same time, one gets the impression that The EV1 went by the wayside in a matLI *0 KDG SXUVXHG XQSURĂ€WDEOH HOHFWULF FDUV ter of a few short years, and Pane wants to we’d be talking about a documentary excoriknow why. In an era of emanations about ating the corporation for even more severe Ă€QDQFLDO WURXEOH DQG OD\RIIV emissions and global warming, politicians There is some great material in this docdecrying our “addiction to foreign oil,â€? and umentary.

Among the best plot lines is fola war in the Middle East that touches on lowing GM’s truly inexplicable recall of all issues of petroleum supply, Who Killed the EV1’s several years ago from their owners, Electric Car? addresses controversial issues LQ FRQWHPSRUDU\ SROLWLFV ,W LV ÀWWLQJ WKDW LW¡V QDUUDWHG E\ just to destroy the cars. Also, the discussion of hybrid cars none other than President Jed Bartlett himself, actor Martin towards the end leaves one with some shred of optimism Sheen. about the future of alternative fuels.

Pane sets up the premise early in the movie that the EV1 8OWLPDWHO\ WKLV ÀOP LV à DW ZKHUH LW VKRXOG VL]]OH GXH WR and plug-in cars were so popular, that they were the natural its relevance.

Documentaries are supposed to capture the truth of our heir of the internal combustion engine. He tries to make the point that a conspiracy of fools--from the auto industry, to contemporary world as it occurs—history in the making. But the government--and to the consumer ended the ascendancy as Who Killed the Electric Car? demonstrates even historians of contemporary America can be revisionist. MR of the electric car.

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ERRENCE REAL’S LATEST book, The New Rules for Marriage, may not seem applicable to the average college relationship, where a student is attached, single, or drifting in the abyss of “It’s Complicated.� How often does one hear of a girlfriend, however, who complains too much about her insensitive boyfriend who should “just know?� Real’s book may be more appropriately titled The New Rules for Relationships because it appears that, married or not, most people are in trouble because they do not know the fundamental methods required to make their relationships thrive.

While listening and communication skills are always at the center of relationship problems, Real suggests that modern contexts have created a new set of problems.

Men and women “have been trying to negotiate twentyĂ€UVW FHQWXU\ UHODWLRQVKLSV XVLQJ WZHQWLHWK FHQWXU\ VNLOOV Âľ says Real. Women have seen drastic changes in their posiWLRQ LQ VRFLHW\ RYHU WKH ODVW FHQWXU\ ZKLFK KDYH LQĂ XHQFHG their perceptions of a working relationship. In contrast, men have seen little transformation in their position within marriage and, thus, may not possess the skills or PRWLYDWLRQV WR DGDSW WR ZRPHQ¡V FKDQJLQJ GHĂ€QLWLRQV RI D IXOĂ€OOLQJ UHODWLRQVKLS Real believes it is crucial to acknowledge that 20th century marriages revolved around the aims of life long companionship, while modern women have reached for a higher continuous level of physical and emotional intimacy. This becomes problematic not only because men appear VDWLVĂ€HG ZLWK WKH SUHYLRXV VWDtus quo, but also because our society is not a nurturing environment for men to express or cope with emotions.

5HDO LGHQWLĂ€HV Ă€YH ORVLQJ strategies individuals resort to in times of disagreement, which can be responsible for the feeling that every argument is over the “same thingâ€? even when different issues are under contention. These include: needing to be right, controlling one’s partner, unbridled self- expression, retaliation and withdrawal. Once the individual is able to identify their losing strategy, they have the potential to SDUWLFLSDWH LQ PRUH FRQVWUXFWLYH EHKDYLRU VXFK DV WKH Ă€YH winning strategies, which include: shifting from complaint to request, speaking with love and savvy, responding with generosity, empowering one’s partner and cherishing.

While Real’s suggestions may appear overly simpliÀHG LW LV GLIÀFXOW WR DUJXH WKDW D UHODWLRQVKLS ZLWK OHVV complaining and more compassion would not be agreeable for both individuals. Real also devotes a considerable amount of time on strategies to clearly express needs, desires, and expectations as well as how to be an effective listener.

Throughout the book, Real provides some interesting conversations on the physiology of relationships.

One of the original concepts is the Core Negative Image, or CNI, that many people have of their partners. This is the over-exaggerated image of someone at his or her ´PRVW GLIĂ€FXOW LUUDWLRQDO OHDVW ORYLQJ PRPHQWV Âľ &1,V PRVW RIWHQ UHĂ HFW WKH ELJJHVW IHDUV RU GRXEWV RQH KDV of their partner, and also play a psychological role in the individuals’ approach to a disagreement. Meanwhile, Real argues that many individuals have partners with similar characteristics to one or both parents in order to “recreate the most familiar and unresolved childhood drama.â€?

However the partner’s character is dissimilar enough to create the “potential for a new and healthier outcome.�

While Real’s aim is to empower men to live up to the new expectations of 21st century women, the book is blatantly targeted towards women. The self-help genre is often targeted at women, and negatively associated with a demographic of desperate, needy, and vulnerable individuals. Nonetheless, Real’s analysis and suggestions are presented through reasonable and realistic examples, and KLV ZULWLQJ LV QRW H[FHVVLYHO\ ÀOOHG ZLWK SRVLWLYH UHLQIRUFHment or fervent encouragement which would make it a typical self-help book. MR

BY MICHAEL O’BRIEN, ‘08

A

The Ultimate Challenge Website Challenges Youths to Lose Their Religion

BY ANNA MALECKE, ‘10

O

NE OF THE most widespread stereotypes in society is that somehow, suddenly after hitting puberty, teens get the urge to rebel. This perception may have caused the VR FDOOHG ´5DWLRQDO 5HVSRQVH 6TXDGÂľ 556 WR IRFXV VSHFLĂ€cally on teens when they began their now infamous campaign entitled “The Blasphemy Challenge.â€?

The secular, “free-thinking� organization recently offered young adults a copy of the DVD The God Who Wasn’t There, if they upload a video of themselves denying the existence of God on YouTube.

Investing $25,000, the RRS placed advertisements in

day regret their actions, they can never erase those words from the mind of God, or as the website states, “this is a one-way road you’re taking here.�

Rogers does not agree. “The fact is, the verse that they are using is taken out of context, blaspheming against the Holy Spirit is seeing a miracle and knowing that it is God, but attributing it to something else,� he said.

Another student leader of CRU, Nick McElrath said that he believed that what the blasphemers did is not an unforgivable sin.

Much of the controversy surrounding the campaign stems from the fact that it targets teens, arguably the most volatile and easily swayed segment of the population. Pat-

“While it seems to be that the University of Michigan has a very large secular population, this population is on the whole a very apathetic one.� –Patrick Julius, President of the Secular Student Alliance online sites such as Boy Scout Trail, and CosmoGirl!. Nate Ardle, coordinator of the Michigan chapter of Campus Crusade for Christ (CRU), believes the advertisements could just serve the purpose of providing an avenue for teens to express ideas to which they already ascribe. “It makes not believing in God more of a “cool� thing which allows teens to be bolder in their disbelief,� said Ardle.

University student Brad Rogers, also a member of CRU, admits that he is not comfortable with the ads. “I personally have a passion for youth ministry, so the fact that they are advertising in these types of magazines does bother me a little, because those kids matter to me,� said Rogers.

The only requirement for participation the RRS speciĂ€HV RQ WKHLU ZHEVLWH KWWS ZZZ EODVSKHP\FKDOOHQJH com/) is that every video must clearly include a denial of the existence of the Holy Spirit. This condition is traced to Mark 3:29 in the Bible, which states, “Whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin.â€? According to the RRS, if participants some-

rick Julius, president of the newly-formed campus group, the Secular Student Alliance, is of the opposite opinion. “I think that it is teenagers who are best equipped to make rational decisions about their beliefs,� said Julius. “Children younger than about 14 haven’t had enough experience or education to really know where they stand; adults above about 30 have become set in their ways and unwilling to change.�

Ardle said that although many of the videos might feature those who have rationally come to the realization that God does not exist, the majority of the participation can be attributed to an everyday, irrational decision. “Most are just doing it to have fun,� he mused.

Surprisingly, the issue has not received much publicity on campus, though it was picked up by several major news organizations on television and in print. This could be attributed to the lack of popular atheist and agnostic student organizations at the University. “While it seems to be that the University of Michigan has a very large secular population, this population is on the whole a very apathetic one,� said Julius. MR

P. 11

03.05.07

$UWV &XOWXUH

arts & culture. the michigan review

Suicide Remains a Concern on College Campuses

BY REBECCA CHRISTY, ‘08

KRXUV DIWHU WKUHDWHQLQJ WR NLOO KHUVHOI +HU SDUHQWV ÀOHG D million lawsuit against her psychiatrists, a housemaster, and AST FEBRUARY, SUICIDE received added attention a Dean of Student Life at the university, although the school on campus after two University students killed them- had scheduled an appointment to see her the following day.

2YHU WKH SDVW ÀYH \HDUV FROOHJH FDPSXVHV KDYH WDNHQ selves by jumping off the same parking structure within a measures to prevent student suicide, but some methods have WZR ZHHN VSDQ 7KLV WLPH RI \HDU FDQ EH SDUWLFXODUO\ GLIÀFXOW come under criticism for their perceived harsh approach for students at the University of Michigan. January means towards students during a potentially fragile time. Universithe transition back to a school routine after two weeks of ties such as Cornell and George Washington University have relaxing and home-cooked meals, while February and March been opposed to the suspension or forced leave of absence offer the same drudgery of class and less than ideal weather.

These factors have universities concerned for the mental health of their students; however, some of their approaches 67 percent of University students said they to the issue have been under scrutiny.

According to the 1997 Big Ten Suicide Study conduct- sometimes feel isolated and alone. Overall, ed at 12 Midwestern campuses, suicide rates were 7.5 per 23 percent of University students reported 100,000 students. This rate was lower than the national averhaving some passing thoughts about age of 15 per 100,000 of people in a sample matched for suicide. age, race and gender. Although suicide is seen as a rare and severe decision, some University of Michigan statistics show that there are a number of students who experience feel- put upon students who express thoughts of suicide.

The University of Michigan’s approach to suicidal stuings which may lead to suicidal thoughts. 67 percent of Unidents, set out in the Emergency Health Withdrawal Policy, versity students said they sometimes feel isolated and alone. is similar to the other universities previously mentioned. “In Overall, 23 percent of University students reported having some passing thoughts about suicide. addition to disciplinary action that may be taken under other One of the most prominent cases of student suicide University policies and procedures, the University reserves occurred at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the right to request or require students to withdraw from ZKHQ VWXGHQW (OL]DEHWK 6KLQ GLHG LQ D GRUP URRP Ă€YH the University for reasons pertaining to mental or physical

L

health when the student’s behavior is a direct threat of harm to themselves or others,� reads the policy. Students may be allowed to submit for readmission into the University if the Vice President of Student Affairs deems that the behavior for which the student was withdrawn has been eliminated.

The University provides different avenues for addressing mental health issues. Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) offers a variety of free counseling services. U-M also has a student-directed program to help with such issues known as Peers Utilizing Leadership Sills for Education, or 38/6( 7KLV RUJDQL]DWLRQ GHÀQHV LWVHOI DV D ´VWXGHQW UXQ organization promoting health in residential communities through peer interactions and informative programming.�

PULSE members are dormitory residents and can provide students with further information on University services.

Dreyson Byker, a member of PULSE, said that, “the University has a responsibility to provide accessible mental health services for its students. The idea that a University should be knowledgeable of every student’s potential mental emergency seems unfeasible.� PULSE, then, provides a forum for students who feel more comfortable interacting with their peers than with the mental health professionals at CAPS. MR If you or someone you know is dealing with mental health issues or thoughts of suicide, please make use of either of these University programs. CAPS can be reached at (734) 764-8312, and the PULSE representatives can be contacted at askpulse@umich.edu.

Student Evaluations Show Bias Toward Easy Courses and Attractive Professors

Former NFL Commissioner Speaks on League, Business

BY DANIELLE PUTNAM, ‘08

BY DAVID BRAIT, ‘10

A

F

T THE END RI HDFK VHPHVWHU VWXGHQWV DUH DVNHG WR ÀOO RXW HYDOXDWLRQ IRUPV LQ their classes. Students are asked to rate characteristics like the quality of the class, WKH ZRUN ORDG DQG WKH TXDOLW\ RI LQVWUXFWLRQ D VFDOH IURP RQH WR ÀYH ,W ZRXOG VHHP DV if most students would consider how much non-class time was put into homework, their projected grade, and their experience when rating the professor. However, a study conducted by Bruce Weinberg, Belton Fleisher, and Masanori Hashimoto, three economics professors at Ohio State University, suggests students otherwise evaluate professors on their looks, the work load, and grading leniency.

According to the study, students tend to rate professors who are lenient graders and whose courses require little work more favorably than those who are tough graders or require a substantial amount of work. Although this may seem intuitive, the correlation between grades and evaluations indicates that “the use of evaluations may lead to grade LQĂ DWLRQÂľ EHFDXVH SRRU HYDOXDWLRQV PD\ YHU\ ZHOO DIIHFW WKH JUDQWLQJ RI WHQXUH Furthermore, the study states, “We have shown that student evaluations differ from WKH LGHDO FRQVWUXFW EHFDXVH WKH\ GR QRW DSSHDU WR UHĂ HFW OHDUQLQJ EXW DUH VHQVLWLYH WR grading leniency.â€? This bias may affect the administration’s ability to use the evaluations effectively.

Another important aspect to consider is the fact that the “We have shown that student evaluations SURIHVVRUV¡ GDWD VDPSOH LQFOXGHG Ă€IW\ WKRXVDQG HYDOXDWLRQV dier from the ideal but only from introductory courses in Ohio State’s departconstruct, because PHQW RI HFRQRPLFV ,W LV GLIĂ€FXOW WR VD\ ZKHWKHU RU QRW WKLV they do not appear to theory is applicable across all disciplines and relevant to all reect learning, but universities. In response to this, the professors suggest that are sensitive to grad- “any evaluation method will be affected by sampling error. ing leniency.â€? Extremely high or low evaluations may be cause of concern, –OSU Study but moderate variations in between evaluation scores are not.â€?

LSA junior and Central Michigan University transfer student, Madelyn Verlin, said of the evaluations at both CMU and U-M, “I have also witnessed people talk more positively about easy graders than professors who actually FKDOOHQJH WKHP , ZRXOG WKLQN WKDW WKRVH VWXGHQWV ZRXOG SUREDEO\ UHĂ HFW WKDW DWWLWXGH in their evaluations.â€?

A similar study was performed by a Central Michigan Professor, James Felton, but he focused evaluations submitted to the popular student resource, RateMyProfessors. com. This site explicitly includes a rating for “hot or not� by allowing students to assign a tamale to professors.

Felton explores the “Dr. Foxâ€? evaluation method. Students who do not want to spend a substantial amount of time evaluating the professor simply apply ratings in terms of the professor’s looks. The study seems to have very little relevance or substance. As Bill Dockery of University of Tennessee suggests, anyone can post any number of times. Since some students may submit multiple evaluations to a single professor, the results are not stasticaly valid. ,Q WHUPV RI VWXGHQW HYDOXDWLRQV WKH 268 SURIHVVRUV VD\ ´:H KDYH LGHQWLĂ€HG SUREOHPV ZLWK VWXGHQW HYDOXDWLRQV DQG SURSRVHG D QXPEHU RI PRGLĂ€FDWLRQV ,I WKH\ DUH XVHG at all to measure teaching ‘quality,’ we believe that any student evaluations are best used in conjunction with peer reviews of teaching.â€? This may very well be the solution to the “Dr. Foxâ€? and “Dr. Easyâ€? evaluation methods on which many students rely. MR

OR THE LAST seventeen years, former National Football League Commissioner Paul 7DJOLDEXH KDV EHHQ RQH RI WKH PRVW LQà XHQWLDO ÀJXUHV LQ $PHULFDQ VSRUWV FXOWXUH +H LV largely responsible for ushering the NFL into the modern era and turning the league into the giant that it is today, a league unrivaled by any North American sport or entertainment.

Taglibue served as commissioner for nearly two decades, before retiring recently. Tagliabue was snubbed in early February, on a bid to join the Hall of Fame, by a committee of 40 sports writers in favor of the likes of Michael Irvin and Thurman Thomas. Tagliabue was at Rackham Auditorium on Friday, February 16th to discuss the business aspect of the National Football League and how he was able to accomplish so much during his 17 year term.

7DJOLDEXH KDV EHHQ RQH RI WKH PRVW LQà XHQWLDO ÀJXUHV LQ $PHULFDQ FXOWXUH WKH ODVW \HDUV as he has ushered the National Football League into the modern era. Tagliabue helped create turn the NFL into the giant that it is today, a giant unrivaled by any North American sport or entertainment.

Tagliabue’s list of accomplishments is long and impressive: Tagliabue increased the NFL’s exposure, negotiated several large television contracts, began to globalize the game, and maintained labor peace for his entire reign. During his seventeen-year term the NFL became the crown jewel of American sports.

At Rackham on Friday Tagliabue explained how he achieved some of these remarkable IHDWV IRFXVLQJ OHVV RQ VSHFLĂ€F ORJLVWLFV DQG PRUH RQ XVLQJ WKH 1)/ DV DQ H[DPSOH WR LOOXVWUDWH important skills for varying career paths.

He stressed the importance of communication and clarity saying that “the ability to express yourself clearly is the most important skill in the world today. Credibility, clarity, understanding your audiences and candor in articulating what you say,� are the most important communication skills, according to Taglibue.

Tagliabue showed the importance of strong communication as he provided a brief description of the league’s marketing strategy. He compared the NFL to Starbucks; both businesses have shown that effective communications can substitute and sometimes be far more effective than advertisements. Both the National Football League and Starbucks have grown exponenWLDOO\ LQ EUDQG QDPH DQG UHYHQXH HYHQ WKRXJK QHLWKHU RUJDQL]DWLRQ KDV D VLJQLÀFDQW DGYHUWLVLQJ budget.

One of Tagliabue’s biggest challenges in marketing the NFL was reaching a complex and diverse audience. He said that “it is important for businesses to recognize the need to understand their audiences and develop their product accordingly.� The NFL’s strategy allowed the league to maximize their potential, by creating a product with such a broad market appeal.

The NFL’s new strategy is to develop the game on a global scale and bring in untapped markets. Last year there was a game played in Mexico City and there are upcoming games scheduled in London and Beijing. Tagliabue said it is imperative that “the NFL get local and attract players from across the globe because people in different regions can identify with local products.�

He used Yao Ming, a Chinese basketball player in the NBA who has caused the popularity of the NBA in China to soar, as an example of how local products are the best way to market. The Ă&#x20AC;UVW RYHUDOO GUDIW SLFN LQ <DR¡V SRSXODULW\ OHG WR WKH Ă&#x20AC;UVW HYHU 1%$ &KLQD *DPHV LQ Commissioner David Stern has said the league plans to hold such an event in 2007.

Tagliabue felt that there are three main challenges the NFL is going to face in the coming years. The demand for transparency of the product, similarly new forms of media would presHQW FKDOOHQJHV VSHFLĂ&#x20AC;FDOO\ IRFXVLQJ RQ SRWHQWLDO LQFUHDVHV LQ HPEHGGHG PHGLD PHPEHUV DQG Ă&#x20AC;QDOO\ WKH 1)/¡V DELOLW\ WR FRYHU WKHPVHOYHV ZLWK UHFHQW ODXQFK RI WKH 1)/ 1HWZRUN MR

P. 12

Features

03.05.07

features. the michigan review

Professor, Former Provost Addresses Realities of University Finance How UM deals with continued cuts in state funding, and the beneďŹ ts of receiving this funding, the core of economistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lecture

BY BRIAN BIGLIN, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;08

O

N FEBRUARY 8, Prof. Paul Courant, University Provost from 2002-2005, sat down to talk with members of the Michigan Economics Society to discuss sources of funding at the University of Michigan and the ongoing tension between the university and politicians regarding state appropriations were at the center of the discussion. Courant also came to the conclusion that the University is not run like D SURĂ&#x20AC;W PD[LPL]LQJ EXVLQHVV IRU D YDULHW\ RI UHDVRQV As the Michigan economy falters and tax revenues fall, appropriations to the general fund from the state budget have fallen, forcing tuition upward. U-M had an operating fund of $1.22 billion in 2005-2006; the general fund is efPaul Courant, former U-M fectively tuition Provost and new head librarian. plus state funding.

Courant said that the state supplied over $360 million toward this fund toward the end of his tenure as Provost, but the most recent allocation is down to $330 million, despite university operating costs increasing by a fairly standard $50 million per year.

In 1970, state appropriations made up two-thirds of the general fund. Within the past decade this funding decreased to one-third; it is now around one-fourth, which explains why the rise in tuition costs has outpaced the increases in cost of living. Courant explained that, given the lower state allocations, the University can either increase tuition, squeeze its costs and decrease quality, or seek more donations. To put things in perspective, gift aid made up only $28 million in funding in 2005-2006, whereas tuition accounted for $725 million.

0XFK RI &RXUDQW¡V WDON ZDV D FRVW EHQHĂ&#x20AC;W DQDO\VLV where the logic behind state subsidies for higher educaWLRQ ZDV H[SODLQHG 7KH PRVW REYLRXV EHQHĂ&#x20AC;W SURYLGHG E\ the University is a well-educated workforce, which is necessary in a global economy. Courant contended that wages for well-educated workers are increasing and that the presence of more highly-educated individuals leads to gains for low-skilled workers, as they are employed more effectively by the high-skilled members of the economy. In other words, a JRRG KLJKHU HGXFDWLRQ V\VWHP EHQHĂ&#x20AC;WV DQ HQWLUH HFRQRP\

When the U-M health system and other university auxiliaries such as An elite university cannot think like a business, the athletic department are included because that would mean cutting costly or litin calculations, U-Mâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s yearly revenue totals $4.44 billion. tle-used ďŹ elds of study such as dead languages Yet the debate over rising tuition or various ďŹ elds of anthropology, which may costs and declining state funding remained central in Courantâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s remarks. not be seen as eďŹ&#x192;cient or useful by a legislator, Courant made clear that UM is still a but which are markers of prestige among great great bargain; he said that no student pays the real market value for tuition. universities.

This amount would be a price set VXFK WKDW MXVW HQRXJK TXDOLĂ&#x20AC;HG DSplicants apply and are admitted. Since All the while, maintaining aďŹ&#x20AC;ordability remains the University has to reject many apa concern. plicants and many students who are admitted do not enroll, it is clear that the demand for a U-M education is a business, because that would mean cutting costly or litgreat. Because demand exceeds supply, the University must WOH XVHG Ă&#x20AC;HOGV RI VWXGLHV VXFK DV GHDG ODQJXDJHV RU YDULRXV be pricing below the market-clearing price, by economic fact. Ă&#x20AC;HOGV RI DQWKURSRORJ\ DQG KLVWRU\ ZKLFK PD\ QRW EH VHHQ Out-of-state students pay something close to market value, DV HIĂ&#x20AC;FLHQW RU XVHIXO E\ D OHJLVODWRU EXW ZKLFK DUH PDUNHUV Courant said, while in-state students receive a great bargain. of prestige among great universities, and important to many Hikes in in-state tuition make the most sense economi- intellectuals. cally, but Courant concluded that the market has plenty of All the while, maintaining affordability remains a con%H\RQG WKLV WKHUH DUH WKH EHQHĂ&#x20AC;WV WR FROOHJH WRZQV room for increases, but there really is no political room for cern. As Provost, Courantâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s goal was to use need-base scholespecially the best ones such as Ann Arbor, since they are increases. arships to fully shield families making less than the median generally good places to live and places that major employCourant explained the tension surrounding the politics household income from the effects of increasing tuition. Uers gravitate towards. Upon reaching this point, Courant of cutting state appropriations, and the thought-process of M also tries to keep tuition steady relative to other top univerVSRNH DERXW WKH LPSDFW RI 3Ă&#x20AC;]HU OHDYLQJ $QQ $UERU VD\- administrators who ask that the University be run more like a sities, and lately, its tuition has been increasing at a faster rate LQJ WKDW $QQ $UERU¡V HFRQRP\ ZLOO GR MXVW Ă&#x20AC;QH LQ WKH ORQJ business by cutting costs. He said that outsiders look at U-M than the major private schools. The University also keeps in run, thanks to the stability that the Universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s workforce and see how nice the campus is and how well-off the aver- mind that if it enrolls classes comprised of more than oneof 30,000 and student body of 40,000 provide to the city. age student is, and conclude that U-M isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t needy and should third out-of-state students it will probably be criticized by receive less funding. legislators, and may lose more funds, Courant said.

The University counters by calling to In the end, if legislators keep concluding that U-Mâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s apPLQG WKH EHQHĂ&#x20AC;WV RI RSHUDWLQJ DW DQ HOLWH propriation should be cut, the University will have to conlevel, and maintaining quality by paying tinue to decide between increasing tuition and cutting the professors well. Costs are always increas- programs which make it elite, Courant said. If the various ing at a University, while productivity real- EHQHĂ&#x20AC;WV DVVRFLDWHG ZLWK D TXDOLW\ FROOHJH DQG FROOHJH WRZQ ly cannot (as would be the case in another EHQHĂ&#x20AC;WV ZKLFK DWWUDFW WKRXVDQGV RI RXW RI VWDWH VWXGHQWV industry); the University must continue to willing to pay large sums, infusing the state and local econincrease professor pay, but it is hard to ex- omy with outside money, remain priorities, then something WUDFW PRUH EHQHĂ&#x20AC;WV IURP WKH DGGHG LQSXW will have to give, and the University will maintain its status In addition, the University has a â&#x20AC;&#x153;dutyâ&#x20AC;? by raising tuition and by pursuing donations, he added. Such to maintain a quality library, and to keep are the realities for a top-tier university whose funding is tied niche programs in existence. to a low-performing economy. MR An elite university cannot think like

In 1970, the state appropriations made up two-thirds of the general fund. Not long ago this funding made up one-third; it is now around one-fourth, which explains why the rise in tuition costs have outpaced the increases in cost of living.