I OPINION Page 4 Saturday, December 8, 1984 The Michigan Daily Trip to yland is a cultural experience 0 By Jackie Young Thirteen years ago around this time of year an elementary school friend and I set out to do our Christmas shopping. And, of course, our highest priority was to check out Kiddie-Land, the toystore on South Main Street. Though we had originally set out to buy something for our parents, the toystore seemed the natural place to look for the best gift for anyone: mom, dad, grandma, or gran- dpa. I remember the toy stacks looming like huge mountains over our heads; pink plastic ballerina dolls with blond hair down one aisle and G.I. Joes down another. It was es if we had just taken a trip to the North Pole to visit Santa's elves. A couple of weeks ago I had a chance to return to Kiddie-Land to see if it had changed at all since I was in second grade. Surprisingly, the shelves of toys seemed just as high and somewhat threatening as they had before. A friend who had come with me on this excur- sion picked up a Raggedy Ann doll to examine it and, as feared, the stack of toys beneath the doll began to give way. Luckily, an avalanche was avoided. Though I expected to be less interested in the selection of toys, I found that I was fascinated by the variety and originality of what I saw. And, though I didn't expect to see many college students roaming the aislesat Kiddie- Land, there were actually quite a few. FOR GOOD REASON. All University sociology students and American in- stitutions majors should visit a toy store. Yes, even political science con- centrators may be able to glean from the visit some interesting tidbit of in- formation regarding American culture. After all, the kinds of toys young children play with may very well determine what kinds of values they have in later life. Right? So I set out to ask the experts what kids were into these days. I thought that there would be a lot of really spec- tacular, high technology toys, perhaps building off of the Star Wars motif. But I was mistaken. As Mrs. Plotner, who has been owner of the campus Bike & Toy Shop for 40 years, told me, "(the store hasn't) really changed that much." She noted, though, that "toys do more today" and are "more sophisticated." For example, toymakers produce battery operated dolls that drink from a bottle and wet their pants. Yet traditional toys like slinkys and jacks are still sold in good numbers. A lot of the trend toward traditional toys, she believes, is a belief that a child should have the same toy the parent had as a child. It's almost as if the parent gets as much out of buying the toy as the child does. One newfangled toy that is anything but traditional, however, is the "tran- sformer." This toy, according to local merchants, is perhaps the hottest selling item outside of the ever-popular Cabbage Patch dolls. Believe it or not, the transformer, as its name implies, can change from robot form into truck form. By moving different parts, a plane can turn into a robot. And a walkie talkie, which by the way isn't functional, can be transformed into a radio, which also isn't functional. Ap- parently this toy is designed for the fickle and finicky child who gets sick of borland's Toys-R-Us, says "people still tend to buy 'girl toys' for girls and 'boy toys' for boys," Cabbage Patch dolls are the exception. She says that they are so hot that everybody wants one. Boone believes boys have ceased to worry about the stigma of getting a "doll" and want Cabbage Patch dolls as collectors items since everyone is def- ferent. Dolls also come in basically every ethnic group as well as male and female. It seems that affirmative ac- tion has had an impact on the manufac- ture of Barbie dolls as well. Boone says that for at least a year there has been a Hispanic Barbie on the market. Much to my displeasure, Boone ing formed me that there seems to be a resurgence of interest not so much in* Barbie, but in G.I. Joe. "G.I. Joe has made a comeback," Boone says, ad- ding that there is practically a whole aisle in the store loaded with G.I. Joes and their accessories, such as jeeps and amphibious paraphernalia. She thinks that perhaps the absence of war has lead to a glorification of the military hero once again. Perhaps President Ronald Reagan's new patriotism has trickled down to the tots too. As for my original conviction that Star Wars toys would be the most popular, Kiddie-Land's Toy Depar- tment Superior, Denise Machnak, in- formed me that Star Wars is passe. Harboring apersonal dislike for the Barbie doll and the G.I1. Joe, which I believe might encourage materialism and militarism, I was discouraged to find that in the world of toys, somel things never change. Daily Photo by MATT PETRIE The world of high technology hasn't really invaded Kiddie-Land on S. Main Street yet. Traditional dolls, including Bar- bie and G.I. Joe, can still be found on the shelves of local toy retailers. looking at the same toy all the time. By the way, depending on the size and brand, this toy can cost from $4 to $29 group of superhero figures, is also a hot-selling item. Once a figure is pur- chased, there are many accessories to choose from, including a "good-guy" and a "bad-guy" castle. Little boys are most fond of this toy, retailers say. The Cabbage Patch dolls have a broader appeal with both little boys and girls hoping to receive them. Although Liz Boone, assistant manager of Ar- dollars. MASTERS OF THE Universe, a Young is a Daily Opinion editor. Page Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan Vol. XCV, No. 77 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Editorials represent a majority opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board Bowling behind bars Deu~caTe HeGaoTTON My 4Dr APiWSTRaTioN UNeRTal(eS, DUT DTeNre is a &&i PRORiTY FOR HeLLO1 MicHaeL? THIS IS MR. SHULTZ. YOUR DUP WaNT- YoU To KNOW He Loves YOU VeRY MUCH.,. A mwmww /dl r LA Unless the fine art of bowling has been, accepted as an effective means of criminal rehabilitation, Michigan's prison system is headed in the wrong direction. It is time for the State to conduct a thorough review of its correctional facilities. The system has serious fundamental problems and must be revamped. Last Thursday, the State Corrections Commission made a plea to Gov. James Blanchard to declare "an over- crowding emergency" in the state's women's prisons. Next week, the com- mission is expected to send another- request to the Governor declaring that the men's prisons are in the same state of emergency. As a result of the 1980 Prison Over- crowding Emergency Powers Act, Blanchard has the authority to take emergency action, such as prisoner relocation or early release, in severe cases of prison overcrowding. Blan- chard has said that he will not sign either order. Since the emergency legislation was enacted in 1980, there have been nine sentence-cutting or- ders, which reduced sentences for most of the state's inmates. Blanchard has decided that functional concerns cannot stand in the way of criminal justice. The state is caught in a bind. Because of the increasing number of inmates, Blanchard and the Depar- tment of Corrections are cast into a no- win situation. The choice is between releasing criminals from their cells prematurely and packing convicts into an extremely volatile situation. The Commission is aware of this, and has proposed placing inmates in state- owned cottages, camps-and even a bowling alley. But these are all temporary solutions. Housing a few hundred in- mates in a bowling alley will not solve the more basic problem facing the commission. Instead of finding state properties where the overflow of the state's criminals can be temporarily stacked, the commissioner's energies would be better served in thinking of more long-term solutions. What is the purpose of a Corrections Commission if they cannot even define the problem with Michigan's facilities or find a viable solution to that problem? The State is facing a crisis in its prison system and a committee that cannot anticipate these crises and must run to the governor at the first sight of trouble has no place making decisions on the future of the Correction system. In short, the system needs to be completely revamped. No longer will one more prison-or one more bowling alley-solve the problem. The com- mission must take a long hard look at what they are doing and, more impor- tantly, what they should be doing. Until the State is willing to accept this fact, the Prisons will continue to overflow with inmates-until there are no bowling alleys or cottages left. M 4 LETTERS TO THE DAILY MSA will stand behind the BDSO To the Daily: The article "MSA Fights for Minority Recruiter" (Daily, Dec. 5) captured the spirit and intent of the assembly's action-op- position to the weakening of minority recruitment and reten- tion efforts in the School of Den- tistry. I am happy that the con- cerns brought to the attention of the assembly by the Black Dental Students Organization received front page coverage. The elimination of the position currently held by Dr. Lee Jones is slated to occur at a most unfor- tunate time. The University is finally responding, albeit slowly, to the pressure to attain the 10 percent Black student (BAM) enrollment goal reaffirmed earlier this Fall by Dr. Niara Sudarkasa, the Associate vice- president for academic affairs. Those points were clear in the ar- ticle. However, there are several errors included which are impor- tant to correct for the public record and historical accuracy. First, MSA at its December 4 meeting unanimnusl Pndnrseg issue of the MSA News. The assembly members urged me to continue to correspond with BD- SO and the Dental School officials on behalf of MSA. MSA will be updated and involved when and where it is possible. Secondly, the enrollment figures in the article are in- correctly reported. According to the "Report on the Recruitment and Retention of Minority Students in the School of Den- tistry(1981)" and the 1984 enrollment figures provided by the Office of the Registrar, total minority enrollment had been about nine percent in the seven years preceeding 1982, which is, one percent lower than the goal of 10 percent Black student enrollment. Sadly, the enrollment figures cited in the ar- ticle are better than what is currently the case. 1984 Fall Black student enrollment at the Dental School is 6.5 percent (43 of 659 total students). Total BLOOM COUNTY minority enrollment is 11.1 per- cent (73 of 659 total students). Additionally, the impressive "15.7" percent figure refers to the 1983-1984 entering. There is no question that the priority is' to assure that minorities will be recruited and graduated in proportion to their presence in the population, not to debate the accuracy of numbers, which vary according to source and statistical manipulation. That priority and the goal of ac- curate reporting are not mutually exclusive. The main issue is the elimination of the recruiting of- ficer's position and the reassignment of those respon- sibilities. MSA will not be swayed from its support of the BDSO in our efforts to convince the Dental School to strengthen and finance the attainment of the enrollment and retention goals for Black, Hispanic, Asian, and Native- American students. This is one of the first critical opportunities for' the University executive officers to support their espoused -goals The newly-appointed associate vice-president-for academic af- fairs, Dr. Sudarkasa should be given the adminstrative authority, research support, staff assistance and budgetary flexib- ility to effectively counter the temptation of this and other units of the University to retreat from affirmative action, recruitment, and retention goals during times of budgetary constraint. This issue is well within her area of administrative "oversight and initiative" responsibilities for recruitment and retention. The power and influence of her office should be used to remedy this problem. We urge widespread discussion of this issue and en- courage support of our position. -Roderick Linzie December 6 - - , ., \ //. a !% n 9 4." .. y Xl i kw, , , .___ a _ U ,ST _ Linzie is MSA 's Black student researcher. by Berke Breathed ^ .tni. .irn.-/ ni.n .u.. . i n-r..a ---- __ _ I CAN'r WA11H!