OPINION
4
Tuesday, September 16, 1980
The Michigcn Daily
Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan
420 Maynard St.
Vol. XCI, No. 11" Ann Arbor, M! 48109
Editorials represent a majority opinion of The Daily's Editorial Board
An anal fixation: It's not
what it's cracked up to be
plea for.
safety's
sake
'ARLY SUNDAY morning, an Ann
Arbor woman was stabbed to
ith outside her front door not five
es from campus. Police have poin-
out similarities in the methods and
tims of the crime with those of two
er murders over the last five mon-
rhe streets are no haven of safety
der normal circumstances, but.
ports of violence are rare enough'
it some might fall into a sense of
curity as they go out about their
siness after dark. We think such a
nse of security unwise and
ngerous, particularly at this time.
We urge women-and men-to take
special precautions, especially until
the murders are solved and the killer
or killers apprehended. Do not walk
alone at night, even in the seemingly
safe areas around your homes. Be con-
scious of suspicious activity. And
above all, don't be reluctant to call for
assistance whenever it seems even
marginally warranted.
One reaction people- might have to
the killings is an angry feeling of im-
prisonment when they have to stay in-
side rather than walking to a movie, a
friend's, or a class. But we urge that
city residents not let that justifiable
anger interfere with simple common
sense. Let's not make it any easier for
the killer.
If college students have a special penchant
for anything, it is self-diagnosis. You don't
have to be a pre-med to know that a sore
throat, runny nose, and aching head means
you've got the most popular disease on cam-
pus-mononucleosis.
In fact, I went to Health Service last year
with a wrenched ankle and the receptionist
asked me whether I had "mono" or "other."
OF COURSE, THE self-diagnosis craze is
not limited to physical ailments. While we
freely bandy about terms like "mono" and
"herpes," we play even faster and looser with
psychological jargon.
Anyone who has had Psych 171 will
psychoanalyze you at no charge.
Not to be one to buck the trend (and having
earned my self-diagnosis degree in Psych
192), I have decided that I have a genuine anal
fixation in the best Freudian sense of the
word.
ACTUALLY, TO BE quite frank, acquain-
tances have been calling me "anal" (or some
variation thereof) for years; I have only
recently agreed to accept the evidence and
label myself.
0
10
Witticisms
By Howard Witt
A positive evaluation
IT COULD be a very good year for
the Michigan Student Assembly.
So far, MSA-along with several ad
hoc student groups-has successfully
pushed for the resumption of late bus
service to North Campus and the con-
tinuation of late hours at the Un-
dergraduate Library.
And now, the all-campus student
government appears to have suc-
ceeded in a prodigious effort it started
last year-a course evaluation project.
MSA President Marc Breakstone has.
estimated that two-thirds of the LSA
students who registered at CRISP last
spring completed an MSA course
evaluation questionnaire, which asked
them to rate the workload, pace,,and
instructors of courses they had taken
during the winter term.
A special computer program to
analyze the statistics is now being
prepared, and the tabulated results of
the questionnaires should be available
in time for winter term registration.
Certainly the course evaluation sur-
vey is not scientifically conclusive: It
does "not present statistically valid
responses. Nor will the results be very
useful from the faculty's viewpoint:
The questions were assembled rather
casually and there are no essay-type
responses.
But the project should not be
discounted for these reasons. As a first
attempt at a student-administered
course evaluation program, the sur-
veys-flawed though they may
be-will prove helpful to many LSA
students in course and professor selec-
tion.
One must remember that MSA was
virtually compelled to develop its own
course evaluation program because
the University has repeatedly refused
to provide such an essential service.
Currently, departments across the
University are merely "encouraged"
by the administration to conduct
evaluations.
Because these University.
evaluations are inconsistently ad-
ministered, because various
professors attach varying importance
.to them, and because the results are of-
ten not available for student inspec-
tion, they are utterly useless to studen-:
ts searching for some indication of
what a given course is like.
In fact, a vicious course evaluations
circle has developed: Students often
don't take course evaluations seriously
because they see them as ineffective
and inconsistent; faculty members
resist attempts to create a more
uniform evaluation program because
they see students scoffing at the
present system.
Worse, some departments have been
relying on the truly skewed results of
the' inconsistent evaluations as in-
dications of teaching ability for use in
promotion and tenure decisions.
MSA, by creating its course
evaluation program, is accurately ad-
dressing the concerns of its student
constituency.
We- hope new improvements in and
expansions to the MSA program will be
made, and further, that the University
will respond to the MSA effort by
creating a campus-wide course
evaluation system.
According to psychoanalytic definitions, an
anal character exhibits a pattern of per-
sonality traits resulting from habits, at-
titudes, and values formed when he or she
was a child learning control of defecation.
An "anal expulsive" person often exhibits
conceit, suspicion, and ambition; an "anal
retentive" person is frequently meticulous,
parsimonious, orderly, and obstinate. The
two are not mutually exclusive, however:
Freud's psychology leaves room for the in-
dividual who exhibits both retentive and ex-.
pulsive tendencies simultaneously.
I DON'T REMEMBER much (consciously,
at least) about my first two or three
years-the period that Freud considers the
anal stage of development. Occasionally I will
have fleeting visions of a special .e'd ~
"potty stool" or a wad of toilet paper placed
into the bowl toward which I was encouraged--
to "aim," but it all fades away very quickly.
As I was looking through some old grade
school papers I organized into a file long ago
(anal retentive), I ran across the evidence of
my first anal act: a two-page paper about
Abraham Lincoln, written in Mrs. Stunkel's
first-grade class. Upon that wide-lined paper,
sandwiched between two sheets of red con-
struction paper with a crayon-colored visage
of Lincoln on the front, stands an incredible
example of first-grade plagiarism. Somehow
I managed to get past Mrs. Stunkel's aging
eyes "Lincoln was an industrious boy, always
willing to assist his family."
Although it's a little late, I would now like to
give proper credit for that too-sophisticated
line: It came from the schoolchild's helper,
Encyclopedia Brittanica.
JUST ABOUT THE time I was carefully
printing my Lincoln thesis, I began a neatness
fetish that I have since not been able to shake.
Every morning I would close the door to my
perfectly arranged room and not use it again
until I was ready to go to sleep. Friends would
comment that my room didn't look lived-in;
they were right-it wasn't.
I could go into my fear of germs or my
aversion to French kissing (Would you
swallow someone else's spit?) but I wish to
get on to something infinitely more anal: my
obsession with toiletpaper.
Most peoble hardly give a second thought to
toilet-paper;they don't care if it's "puffy" or
"pillow soft" or "stroft." I, however, live for,
commercials with that lovable old Mr. Whip-
ple.
I will not go on a camping trip if it means
being away from indoor plumbing and Char-
Daily Photo by JIM KUZ
min for more than wo days (my retentive
limit). I cannot deal 'ith the 51/2-inch squares
of toilet paper soplied in the men's
washroom in the student Publications
Building. 'And when' travelled to Europe
three years ago, I fkred customs officials
might stop me for muggling American
papers.
CLEARLY MY FARS of arrest for
espionage were justied: The Europeans
may have NATO, but iey don't -have effec-
tive toilet papers. The (rmans use a coarse,
almost corrugated vaety; the French,. a
fragile, stringy paper ,hey are extremely
backward plumbing-wi,; anyone who has
been to Paris and has sen a "pissoir" would
agree); and the proud Eglish, waxed paper
squares (in public retrooms at many
palaces, the waxed paer squares bear
"Property of Her Majest-the Queen" in red
lettering).
I don't know what terble trauma I ex-
perienced as a child goingthrough my anal
stage, but something has oviously knocked
my sensibilities out of whac It is one thing to
be able to diagnose my an preoccupations,
but it is quite another to actrlly be a slave to
'my bowels.
Makes me kind of wish I ha mono.
Wir
Opinion Page Co-EditoiHoward
is widely regarded as imalanced.
column appears every TuesQ.
Witt
His
LETTERS TO THE DAILY:
Springsteen ticket editorial slam med
THE MILWAUKEE JOURNAL
r
G\
T "
To The Daily:
On Friday (Sept. 12) The Daily
ran a lead editorial questioning
the ticket policies for concerts in
Ann Arbor. These criticisms cen-
tered around the three day line
last week at Crisler Arena for
Bruce Springsteen tickets. As the
concert goer who was in charge
of the line's list, I must comment
on the editorial.
I started the line on Tuesday
night. At that point we thought
tickets were going on sale on the
following Monday. This meant
six days on line. Later that night I
was joined by 21 others who spent
the night with me. We agreed that
there was to be one body in line at
all times for each space on the
list. This meant that people could
rotate with friends. Since there
was a limit of six main floor seats
per person, people went about
finding groups of six friends who
could run four-hour shifts once a
day. This is nothing outrageous.
Whether one spends four hours a
night for three days or twelve
hours the night before (the least
you could expect to wait for a top
show) doesn't make much of a
difference. This way everyone
could make classes and go about
their business except for that
four-hour shift.
The Daily calls this unfair. But
what could possible be fairer?
This was anyone who really
wanted a ticket could get one and
nobody ends up with a whole fist-
ful of tickets to scalp. The Daily
suggests that Major Events
prohibit camping around the
Criisler box office. Do you think
that would have stopped people
who were planning on staying six
days? If we had to stand in a
straight line, we would still have
been there.
sus of everyone there. It was the
most amazing group of people
that I've ever been in line with.
People shared blankets, food,
beer, and anything else they had.
These people reflected the spirit
of Bruce's music and this
devotion is the reason it is so hard
to get tickets.
The Daily claims that anyone
who was not able to stand in line
for three days couldn't get
tickets. Wrong. Major Events
provided these people with an
alternative. They put tickets on
sale at all CTC outlets, including
Hudson's in Briarwood. The
Daily claims that those unwilling
to spend three nights in line
couldn't get tickets. There were
obviously plenty who WERE
willing to sleep out. Don't these
people deserve the tickets?
The Daily suggests prohibiting
camping and lists. They call on
people to "refuse to recognize the
lists and roll calls, and then
natural selection would take
over-you drop out of line and"
you lose your place." This is a
totally irresponsible statement
on the part of our student
newspaper. The night before
tickets went on sale, scores of
people from outside the Ann Ar-
bor area came down to Crisler.
They sat down in front of the gate
and made their intention clear.
They were going to crash the
gate, push their way to the front
and make off with the best
tickets. Believe me, these were
people who could easily have
done it. What would have hap-
pened then? Fights break out,
people get hurt, the cops are
called and everybody loses. Is
this The Daily's idea of fairness?
They call this a "more rea-
sonable fashion of survival of the
student newspaper to air their
gripes is irresponsible and a
misuse of their position.
Our "primitive Springsteen
society" worked. My friend and I
who were running the list both
have experience in concert
promotion and crowd control,
and thus we enabled the 800
people to relax and not to worry
about having others crash the
line. They were able to have a
good time. Some studied, some
partied, but everyone relaxed.
Nobody wanted to stand in line
for three days. Certainly not I,
who started the line, but we made
URHC lauds
To The Daily:
The University Residence Hall,
Council, which is the represen-
tative body for the 10,000 residen-
ts of University Housing, would
like to commend the North Cam-
pus Bus Protest Committee for
its part in reinstating the late-
night bus runs to North Campus.
The Council agreed that the bus
cutback was an infringement on
the rights of students living in
North Campus Housing.
The University has been faced
with the economic hardship of a
drop in state support this year
and must tighten its budget con-
siderably. This will understan-
dably necessitate the cutback of
many programs throughout the
University. Students, staff, and
faculty will have to bear the bur-
den of this financial hardship.
However, programs that direc-
tly involve students ahould not be
deleted or diminished without
student input into the matter.
This was true of food con-
the best of it and turneit into a
party for 800. I do wanto send
my sincere thanks toKaren
Young and the Major Evnts of-
fice for their support and elp we4
so desperately needed Ad for
putting tickets on sale thrt days
early; my friends for briging
food, clothing and the mor sup-
port to get me through thelong
nights; and most importatly,
the 800 beautiful people whbeept
me company. We had a teat
party. There will be an fen
bigger one on Oct. 3.
-Marc Kenen
September 15
bus success,
was noted that Marc Breakstoi,
president of MSA, indicated tit
the decision to cut back bus s-
vice to North Campus was mat
without student input. Apparel
tly, MSA was not informed of th
decision and neither was URH(e
It is clear that the Universit
must cut back certai
programs, but if the Ac
ministration continues to mak
decisions that affect so man;
students, without student input
there could be trouble ahead ii
the coming months.
At this time, URHC would like
to encourage residents of Norti
Campus University Housing, at
well as residents of Central Ca
pus, to run for office a
representatives to the University
Residence Hall Council, so that
there will be guaranteed student
input into administr ative
decisions. URHC is not a radical
or pressure group, however, iUs
a direct liason between te
residents of University Housig
and the Housing Administratin.