4 OPINION Page 4 Tuesday, October 2, 1984 The Michigan Daily 4 MSA demands voice in policy-making By Scott Page On Tuesday, September 25, the Michigan Student Assembly passed a resolution stating the restrictions needed before we can responsibly un- dertake any negotiations with the University administration regarding the proposed student code of non- academic conduct and the proposed University judicial system. We enacted the resolution so that the ad- ministration, specifically President Harold Shapiro, must publicly announ- ce whether or not the executive officers of the University will respect students' right to approve or reject any code of nonacademic conduct guaranteed un- der regental bylaw 7.02. The restrictions are as follows: * The executive officers of the University will make no proposals, either formal or in- formal, to the regents that regen- ts' bylaw 7.02 be changed, suspen- ded for any period of time, or deleted for the purpose of abrogating or restricting the right of the Michigan Student Assembly to approve, reject, or renegotiate a code of nonacademic conduct. The executive officers will respect the right of MSA to ap- prove or reject the code of nonacademic -Iconduct, i.e.prohibitions and sanctions and the corresponding judicial system whether or not it applies only to students and whether or not the University Council for- mally issues it. -The executive officers will treat for the purposes of negotiation and approval, the code and system as a unified document. The system, no less than the code, must be approved by MSA. "The executive officers will revise the March 5 version of the code and system to reflect restrictions 1 and 2. Specifically, but not exclusively, the amen- dment sections of the code and system must reflect the present wording of regents' bylaw 7.02, i.e. the regents must not have the sole authority to amend the code and system. In addition, the jurisdiction sections must reflect bylaw 7.02. appear righteous in their latest effort to pass the code. They publicly say the student input is not only welcome, but also important in the code's revision process. However, student input without the above restrictions may only serve to legitimize the administration's code. Also, by inviting MSA to par- ticipate in potentially meaningful The students must join the assembly in its fight to protect their rights. Apathy will not. defeat the code; students will. ministration could ignore substantive student objections to the code and still claim it reflects students' concerns. The code will only be a student code when ' students approve it. Moreover, if MSA steadfastly ad- vocates student rights, the ad- ministration will again portray MSA as an adversarial, intransigent body. The administration undoubtedly considers MSA's restrictions as unacceptable because the restrictions themselves limit the administration's authority to pass the code. AN EXAMPLE of this is President, Shapiro's letter of September 28. He writes that our restrictions "would necessarily constrain what may be creative approaches to any particular problem." We do not consider guaran- teeing student rights a constraint on any creative solution. The ad- ministration does. Although President Shapiro says that he "welcomes the opportunity to have direct negotiations with represen- tatives of MSA", he also asks that no "preconditions" be attached to them. Preconditions protect students and limit the unilateral authority of the ad- ministration to tamper with the code and students' lives. So when the administration contends that its invitation was made in good faith, we will know otherwise. MSA is eager to work with anyone on revising the code, so long as President Shapiro reaffirms the rights of students set for- th in regents bylaw 7.02. Our restrictions upon entering negotiations are reasonable. They only ask that 35,000 students, who spend years studying and living in Ann Arbor, have the right to decide what rules govern their nonacademic behavior. MSA continues to promote negotiations in good faith. Yet, MSA alone can only achieve limited goals. The students must join the assembly in its fight to protect their rights. Apathy will not defeat the code; students will. 4 The motivation to pass the above resolution was a result of an informal invitation from the administration for MSA to discuss the details of the code and system. The administration feels the code debate has festered long enough and that students must accept the inevitable code. OSTENSIBLY, administrators try to negotiations, the administration is trying to dispell the feeling among students that it has no intention of draf- ting a code acceptable to students and student governments. By recognizing the above restric- tions, the administration can guarantee an outcome acceptable to all parties. Without the above restrictions, the ad- Page is president Student Assembly. of the Michigan A Wasserman die erdbt an a n Edited and manoged by students at The University of Michigan t2AGANI C N IA T S o F E IL Vol. XCV, No. 23 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, Ml 48109 USED 'TO CiLL JS, US LIARS, B UT No wR -i GT ) ) WNITh TA~Lv. OF ~E APND Editorials represent a majority opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board Vanessa's ' VOiNN\N& oP- A S THE SCRAMBLE for the November issue of Penthouse begins, Vanessa Williams provides an interesting, and disturbing, study in race and gender relations. The rush to purchase nude shots of the fallen Miss America is reminiscent of the crowds flocking around a serious accident. There is a strange fascination with the destruction or degradation of another human being and Miss Williams' life has indeed been ruined. Her story is a tragedy but not in the strict sense of the word. She is not the victim of sexism or racism, she is the victim of her own misguided participation in an activity which in- vites sexist and racist judgments. . There are those who have taken Williams' plight as an affirmation that hatred and conspiracy are everywhere. Criticisms and suspicion have recently been elicited on this campus by a flier promoting a meeting for the student yearbook, the Michigan Ensian, which reads: "Vanessa Williams says, 'Get Published'." A ruined life is a tasteless subject for clever pitches, but more than that has been read into the fliers. Accusations of racism and sexism have been leveled against the Ensian, ac- cusations that are hasty and counter- productive. Williams is the butt of the joke, not because she is a woman and a black, but because she made a big mistake. Her victimization is not equivalent to Ku Klux Klan rallies or gang rapes. She should not be held up as a symbol of racial and gender. in- justice because she is far more than a black woman. She is a Miss America who posed for Penthouse. Race and gender relations are aggravated by petty accusations, they are improved -Y C YouQ tragedy by trust and a broad search for under- standing. Miss Williams should not be held up as a representative of the negro race or the female sex, nor as one to be lavished with pity. She was stupid, not >ppressed. It is naive to assume a lack >f willingness on her part to par- ticipate in the sale of her sexuality. Ihe problem is that society encourages females to believe that parading around in a bathing suit in front of millions of people is an honor. And the difference between promenading in a skimpy bathing suit and posing nude is >ne of degree only. She is the victim of forces she responded to willingly. The social forces of sexism and racism are at the roots of the problem, but so is the willingness to yield to them. One who consents to exploitation, as Williams did, takes the essential fole in the process. Williams sold herself for noney and prestige. That is not something to be defended. The September and November photo spreads should not raise questions of racism. There is no doubt that nude photos of a white reigning Miss America would inspire as much in- terest as Williams' have. The photos also fail to provide an example of overt sexual oppression. Hundreds of Miss America aspirants participate in a contest which defines sexuality as a commodity to be wielded for their benefit and the Penthouse shots do nothing more than that. Williams' case is unique because she got caught wielding her sexuality in a society that expects and perpetuates such degradation, while at the same time punishes it as a crime. The sentence has been severe. And that's no joking matter. ,S 4- . Ndow 'D e iAOUTWT{ I C H A N G E 1 ?W S - E L WNN f +1o Jw WNE'VE ALWAVS 4a MM w N4O vNWSw§IS W Q v p T t13 tP W A s oa 0 LETTERS TO THE DAILY One person's needs don't define life 4 To the Daily: I must admit that Brian Leiter's article "Defenders of the a- sensual lifestyle" (Daily, Sep- tember 26) got my dander up. Af- ter all, it's not every day that I'm told the reason I oppose abortion is because I am "possessed of a crippled and thwarted sexuality". Being pretty in- terested in and on good terms with the opposite sex, I found this quite a sweeping judgement on the author's part. Yet on reading through the piece again, I found that judgement was only one example of the shaky logic and ad hoc style of definition that per- meate Leiter's train of thought. In fact, the entire thesis of the article rests on a definition seemingly plucked from thin air: namely, the definition of life as "the sensuous (or emotional) ex- perience of the world". Leiter, did you ever take any biology courses? How do we know if grass, bushes, trees, amoebae, or paramecium'have "sensuous ex- periences"? They're still alive by any scientific criteria I can think of. Life cannot be defined by cataloguing what one person needs to feel value, significance or satisfaction and assuming that the same needs apply to all people. Maybe quality of life can be defined that way, but that's an entirely different argument. Such vague generalities are un- fortunately not an exception in the article. Leiter's view of anti- abortionists as repressed, unloving, unfeeling spoilsports is as much of an unfounded God's creation (including sexual intercourse). As a practicing Lutheran, I can only say that Leiter's opinion of me and my faith is the opinion of an outsider who has already closed his mind to contrary argument. Strip away all the impressive verbiage, and what's left? The usual argument for abortion, which places the welfare of the self before the welfare .of other creatures, and which is justified only in a few cases (rape, incest, mortal danger to the mother). Admittedly, I'm speaking from a pretty safe position on this issue - I can't get pregnant. But Leiter fails to tackle' what I believe to be the real conflict below the surface of the abortion issue, namely the conflict bet- ween those who want to set stan- dards for the quality of life and those who base their position on a beliefin the sanctity of life. In- stead, the author stands up on his soapbox and starts slinging mud at those who oppose him. -Rick Krueger September 26 4 A nti-abortionists are not cold-hearted To the Daily: This letter is in response to Brian Leiter's article "Defenders of the asensual lifestyle" (Daily, September 26). It seems extremely sad that one so knowledgeable as Leiter about philosophy and law remains so ignorant about life. Yet you profess to be an expert on the subject. First of all, you con- demn "anti-abortionists" (as you call us) for advocating the right to life. Opinions differ among pro- lifers on various abortion issues, but all have one goal in common: BLOOM COUNTY the preservation of human life. Our desire to preserve life has nothing to do with a "non- sensual, non-emotional, non- cognitive experience of the world." Furthermore, we are not cold- hearted people who wish to "punish others for their sexual desires." Rather, we say: Enjoy your sex life! Be as sensual as you desire! Live life to its fullest! Just don't take the life of a human being in the process. It's as sim- ple as that, Leiter. This has little to do with the denial of sexuality; instead, it reinforces people to act responsibly and examine the choices which they are making - life and death decisions! I'm not an expert on abortion issues, norado I march in protest to stamp out abortion. I simply value and cherish human life and hope someday all people will realize that we can no longer make any more excuses, such as Leiter's, for the massacre of the "silent majority." - Laura MacDonald September 27 by Berke Breathed 4 600P 6VEWIN&. NEWS"~ 4 RN, BUTE 1l~ U.JrA s ET ? 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