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OPINION
Page 4
Wednesday, March 28, 1984
The Michigan Daily
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Thou shalt hear Hal's commandments
By Bill Spindle
And on the one hundredth and sixty-
seventh year of the coming of the
students to campus, the regents said
unto Harold, create a code of non-
academic conduct for thy people the
students.
And it came to pass that there were
thunders and lightnings, and a thick
cloud of repressive academia fell upon
the dorms and fraternities and
sororities as the regents spake. And
upon the lands of off-campus housing,
which surrounded the holy campus, the
homes of the peoples began to tremble.
AND THE PEOPLE perceived the
thunderings and the lightnings, and
they were afraid; and when the people
saw it, they trembled and stood afar
and tried to ignore it.
But the power of the regents was held
high above them. And the kegs at their
parties drained more slowly, several
marijuana deals were aborted, and
none of the people dared enter the
steam-tunnel catacombs, for it had
been called a sin and those who enter
sinners.
And Harold questioned the regents,
and asked, Why must I now bring this
burden upon my peoples? For I have
just led them through the barren desert
of fiscal reductions. I have tested their
faith with high tuition fees. And for
many years I have forced them to seek
knowledge without the help of
professors in introductory-level cour-
ses.
HEARKEN THOU to our voices,
spake the regents. Thou shalt teach
them the statutes and the laws, and
shalt show them the way wherein they
must walk and the work that they must
do.
For the students have forgotten their
gods the regents. They have reveled in
progressive parties in the dormitories.
They have debased and broken the
monuments of the holy academic
kingdom of the regents. And like ser-
pents they have lain on the floor of
laboratories after our chosen leaders
have told them to leave.
So Harold went to the people and spake
the commandments of the regents:
Thou shalt not own a dangerous
weapon.
Thou shalt not harass any member of
the regents' peoples.
Thou shalt not light fires in Univer-
sity buildings.
And the commandments went on past
ten as Harold listened.
Thou shalt not sell drugs, destroy
property, steal property, forge
documents, use fireworks, threaten thy
neighbor, tresspass, or misuse fire ex-
tinguishers.
AND THE REGENTS said unto
Harold, Come up to us unto the Fleming
Administration Building, and be there:
and we will give you the commandmen-
ts engraved on sheet upon sheet of
Xerox paper, and the law and the com-
mandment which we have written, that
thou mayest teach them.
But as Harold went unto the building,
the people corrupted themselves.
And the regents spake unto him, Go
get thy ass back there; for thy people
that thou sheparded from high school
have corrupted themselves. They have
turned away quickly from the ways we
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commanded them, and they have begun
to worship the false gods who sit in
laboratories; they have spaken the
names of their gods in vain; and they
have written the blasphemous words,
"No Commandments," on the
cherished buildings of the gods.
They have even considered writing
their own commandments and wor-
shipping them falsely.
And the wrath of Harold waxed hot,
and he said to the regents, Let me alone
so that I may consume them and take
their vote so that they will have little
choice but to abide by the comman-
dments. And they will blindly obey the
commandments until the eternal fires
of hell frost over, for only the hoary
regents will be able to change them.
For the students know not what they
speak. They do not understand that the
commandments arise from powerful
and all-knowing gods. They do not see
the love of their gods.
They have forsaken their regents.
Spindle is the Daily's editor in chief.
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Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigar-
LaBan
Vol. XCIV-No. 142
420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Editorials represent a majority opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board
Rape not racism
WAS THE GANG rape trial of a
21-year-old woman in Fall River,
Mass. a victory or a defeat for victims
of such violent crimes? Four of the six
men charged in the case were found
guilty and sentenced to prison terms
=.or either raping the woman, forcing
'her to have oral sex, or cheering on her
assailants. But while the woman's
attackers will soon be behind bars, the
victim must face a community which
is hostile to her for supposedly stirring
anti-Portuguese sentiment in the area.
In fact, so many thousands have
rallied protesting her trial that the
issue of whether or not the men were
guilty of the crime seems to have been
lost.
The tragedy remains: a woman is
raped, stands through 17 hours of
questioning, her reputation is
challenged, her name is printed in the
newspapers, her trial is broadcast over
cable television on channels, and she
gets little support or comfort from men
or women in her community. It seems
that in all the ruckus, the rapists have
been forgiven.
While the woman's attackers face
tough prison sentences, the victim
must face an almost more painful
punishment - rejection and guilt
inflicted by the community. One
Portugese resident of the community
went so far as to say: "I don't care if
these people were guilty or innocent.
What hurts is what this case has done
to my people." Apparently the man's
national pride has been damaged. But
what about the victim's life?
The woman has had to move her.
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411
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children out of the community. She has
to stomach comments such as one
from an elderly woman outside the
courthouse who declared that, "She
had no business being in a bar. She
should have been home with her kids
instead of destroying men's lives!"
The victim's attorney said .one
concerned citizen reported that angry
residents had even placed cans in some
bars to collect money to pay a hit man
to kill the woman.
The residents' charges seem
somewhat ridiculous considering that
the victim and the District Attorney
are both of Portuguese decent. But that
shouldn't even be an issue. Women are
raped everyday, everywhere - no
matter what nationality this woman's
attackers, the crime is the same and the
victim still suffers. This time the
victim will suffer a little more.
It is hard to understand why those
charging that the trial represents anti-
Portuguese sentiment don't feel more
compassion toward the victim of such
a violent crime. It's hard to imagine
that a woman would purposely place
herself under such close public
scrutiny unless she felt that justice
should be done and that the men should
be locked up.
While this case is technically a legal
victory for rape victims, it certainly
isn't going to encourage women who
have been raped to come forth and
identify their assailants. The
bitterness shown the victimized
woman can give rapists new hope that
they will go unpunished and their
crimes unrecorded.
c
LETTERS TO THE DAILY:
Hartman responds to accusations
To the DAILY:
I am writing in response to the
accusations of Battaglia, et.
al. in their letter "Hartman's let-
ter incorrect" (Daily, March 25).
First and foremost, I entered into
this MSA debate as an impartial
third party. After the candidates
spoke, I made recomendations
based on their comments. The
RAP, YOU, and IOU candidates
who co-signed the letter must
realize that a debate is a forum
where the public judges the can-
didates on what they say.
To substantiate my point that
YOU has no experience: when
Scott Winkelman, the editor-in-
chief of Consider, asked "Why are
you qualified to be MSA
president?" Ron Senkowski of
YOU replied, "For myself and
my vice-president, Susan
Thomas, we have no prior ex-
perience in any MSA activities."
This was also confirmed by Mary
Rowland, present MSA president,
and by the Daily. If
Senkowski was involved in any
organizations, he certainly didn't
tell us during the debate.
I do stand corrected that
Frego is the vice chairman and
not the chairman of Students for
Academic Freedom. I never
directly stated RAP's views on
military research or the code but
since Frego is the vice
chairman of a group whose only
purpose is to advocate military
rPean mu than nn .ni. .1 A nmP.,r
movement." If ' Weinstein
chooses to lie to me and the sixty
students also present at the
debate, that is his prerogitive.
He did indeed say he was very ac-
tive in PSN and the No Code
group, it is not my job to check
his speech for lies.
If anyone cares to question any
of these quotations, please feel
free to contact me for I have the
whole debate recorded on tape. I
also find it amusing that the
authors of this letter against me
mentioned Scott Page and he
didn't even co-sign with them.
This leads me to believe that he
MSA polit
To the DAILY:
After reading Marcy Fleisher's
presentation of the different can-
didates running for the Michigan
Student Assembly, "MSA can-
didates air their views" (Daily
March 25) I was stunned by Mark
Weinstein's platform.
He claims he will propose that
MSA representatives be paid and
receive college credit for their
positions. This is the most
ridiculous proposition I have ever
heard from a political candidate
at this University. Student
government acts as an environ-
mental base for those interested
to pursue objectives of the
student population. It allows
them to develop and improve
BLOOM COUNTY
either agreed with my letter, or president. I still strongly support
disagreed with theirs, or both. Drew Plevin and LMNOP. The
It is true that every voter has to false accusations and incon-
make up his or her own mind on sistancies by the other can-
who to vote for, I merely wrote to didates demonstrate that LM-
inform the students- about the NOP not only has the leadership
candidates from an unbiased qualities and new ideas but also
position. Three of the people who has integrity that is lacking in the
wrote the accusatory letter have other parties.
their own selfish interests at For the good of the student
heart since they are presidential body and the Univesity as a
candidates themselves. This let- whole, I urge you to vote for Drew
ter written against me demon- Plevin and his LMNOP party
strates that YOU, IOU, and RAP today and tomorrow.
are willing to distort the truth, -Andrew Hartman
omit crucial facts, and even to March 26
outright lie in order to get elected
icians don't deserve pay
Ashes to ashes $ to dust
G ETTING that nicotine craving as
final exams loom ever,closer on
the horizon and the term papers begin
to pile up faster than they can be
typed? Find another way to deal with
the stress. Smoking, especially for
young men, is not only unhealthy, it's
too expensive for a college student.
Too often it is the quick fix - that
easy way to relax without taking all the
time to exercise - but a costly
fix in more than one way. A study
smokes more than two packs a day will
lose an average of $58,987 over his
lifetime from cigarette-related
medical bills and lost work. A woman
in this category could lose $20,152.
Students, especially if they get federal
assistance, shouldn't be allowed to
smoke, afterall, many have student
loans to be paid back.
For all those econ majors out there
who smoke cigaretts: face the
statistics. A cost-benefit analysis
leadership skills, express the
voice of students, and keep an eye
on the administration. MSA is
NOT a means for increasing
one's income and college credits.
I suppose Weinstein recom-
mends that athletes be paid
(collegiate and intramural) for
their participation in sports. The
University provides an environ-
ment for students to further
themselves academically,
socially, and extracurricularly.
We do these activities because we
want to, not out of economic
needs.
Weinstein is right about one
thing: student interest will cer-
tainly increase if college credits
are offered. . . and that's because
MSA would be considered one of
the biggest "blow-off" courses
this University has to offer.
The University might as well
offer credits to band members,
intramural officials, and student-
employees of the University and
of local merchants.
Come on , Weinstein, these
proposals ruin the beauty andat-
tractiveness of extracurricular
activities. Real politicians get
paid, not amateurs. By the way,
if you need a campaign manager,
I am for hire.. . but only if you
pay me.
-Randy Moss
March 26
by Berke Breathed
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