4
OPINION
Page 4
Thursday, September 11, 1986
The Michigan Doily
I
Bering
riw S iigan r i1
Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan
THE AMERICAN
SYSTEMI
OF
yol. XCVII, No.6
420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
CHECKS
AND
BALANCES
Unsigned editorials represent a majority of the Daily's Editorial Board
All other cartoons, signed articles, and letters do not necessarily represent the opinion of the Daily.
'i
Safety standards
EXECUTIE
JUDICIAL
I __ I
The red emergency phones
scattered around campus may
appear to first year students as
standard, long-standing
features of the University
campus. In actuality, this new
phone system represents a
victory for all students,
particularly those involved in
the drive for increased campus
safety.
The idea of an emergency
phone system has appeared on
the agenda of the Campus
Safety Committee for several
years. This committee,
comprised mainly of student
representatives from other
organizations such as the
Michigan Student Assembly,
MSA, and the Public Interest
Research Group in Michigan,
PIRGIM, serves to advise the
administration on ways to
improve and maintain safety .
In addition to the committee's
lobbying efforts, many students
have mobilized in an effort to
make campus safety a priority
for the administration. In the
winter of 1985, students
organized a sit-in at Vice
President for Student Services ,
Henry Johnson's office, to
protest the administration's
failure to address theissue of
student safety. Largely in
response to this obvious show of
student concern, the University
allocated $ 75,000 for the
implementation of the Sexual
Assault Prevention and
Awareness Center.
The administration is
beginning to recognize that
students have the right to safety.
While it recently has assumed
greater responsibility to make
the campus a safer place, the
administration is still reluctant
to make some neccessary
changes. Last May the Campus
Safety Committee provided the
administration with several
proposals addressing weak-
nesses in the Nite Owl, a shuttle
service primarily for women,
that circulates around central
campus after dark. The
executive officers have
supported part of the
committee's proposal, such as
better identification for Nite Owl
drivers, more bus stop signs,
and a new publicity campaign to
inform more students about the
service.
The second part of the
committee's proposal, which
calls for the addition of a second
route, more vans, and expanded
service , still awaits attention.
Action on these issues has been
delayed since June, and the
proposal will only be brought
before the executive officers this
month. Such hesitation to act
on the committee's proposal in
its entirety should not be
accepted by the student body.
Many women have experienced
the frustration of an over-
crowded van at midnight, and
an uncomfortably long wait at
isolated locations. Pressure by
the student body and student
committees must be accelerated
to inform the administration of
continued inadequacies in the
Nite Owl system.
For many students, male and
female, the threat to personal
safety is not a serious
consideration. As a relatively
small city, with a large college
community , Ann Arbor is
somewhat isolated. The
realization that violent crime
exists everywhere; that 90
percent of rapes are
acquaintance or date rapes; that
41 percent of college women are
raped , is frightening and
disillusioning . Naturally,
people hope that their
immediate environment is safe,
but they may feel that ensuring
this is beyond their control .
Students can take greater
responsibility for their own well
being by attending the Rape
Awareness programs sponsored
by the new Sexual Assault Pre-
vention and Awareness Center.
Through this kind of outreach
education, students learn to
channel aggression and
passivity into assertive behavior
which greatly reduces the
possibility. of acquaintance or
date rape.
The University has come a
long way in improving Nite
Owl, , installing emergency
phones, and upgrading lighting
. It is important to remember,
however, that this progress is
the result of changing attitudes
toward safety and the hard work
of commited individuals.
The administration has an
obligation to provide better
services and resources . From
these, students will have both
the information and the power
to protect themselves.
Ra
Flllll
F1
am"
e--1
ri
09
LEGISLATIVE
LOI$B3ILES
A A
-"--t-r-'r-s
I
T
TIT
T
'it
's
I
LETTERS:
I
Women 's golf deserves attention
To the Daily:
A " Congratulations !
and a " Shame on you ! " are
in order concerning " Aretha
Frankness " (Daily, 9/4/86 )
by Dave Aretha. Hats off to
Mr. Aretha for painting such
a dismal but ( unfortunately)
realistic view of the average
University student sports
fan. As the boyfriend of a
University women's varsity
golfer, I am genuinely
dismayed by the feeble
patronage given the team by
everyone but parents and
close friends of the golfers.
By everyone I mean
University sports fans, the
media ( in which I include
your paper ), and even the
University. These women ,
like every University varsity
athlete, not just football,
basketball, baseball, and
hockey players, make great
sacrifices in the name of
University sports and well
deserve a better shake from
all three of the afore-
mentioned groups.
In fairness to your paper,
thanks for the women's golf
article in Friday's sports
section, but c'mon now, five
days after the fact! Is it really
still news? Conspicuously.
absent from Thursday's
University sports preview,
however, was anything
concerning the women's golf
team. Could it be that you are
guilty of the same foibles of
which Mr. Aretha, wrote? Too
bad, because you've picked
the wrong sport to overlook!
This year's team has five
returning seniors and two
very talented underclass -
men, who, along with Coach
LeClair, are looking forward
to the best season ever in the
history of women's golf at the
University. With one tourn-
ment victory already under
their belts ( the first in the
team's history) they're off to a
great start with noreason to
expect anything less during
the rest of the season.
Unfortunately, the
University cannot apparently
boast a greater affection for
the lesser varsity sports
either. I have no doubt that, if
Mr. Canham really wished
to, he could glamorize all of
the University's varsity
sports. Goodness knows the
money's somewhere...For
enough regard for either the
men's or women's golf teams
to close the course for their
qualifying rounds. How can
these serious golfers be
expected to concentrate
during something as
important as a tournament
qualifying round when a
normal four and a half hour
trip around the course takes
them more than six hours
because the obviously slower
playing public is also using
the. fairways and greens.
You'd think that the " U"
could sacrifice one half days'
revenue to ensure uninter -
rupted and professional
conditions? Goodbye Don
Canham. Maybe your suc-
cessor will have a little more
regard for the less glamorous
but equally important and
self-sacrificing varsity
sports. 50 percent of our
athletes get 95 percent of the
notoriety. Ethics, what's
that?
-Jeffrey Wohl
September-8
4
Banner theft squelches free speech
To the Daily:
The Diag is traditionally
viewed as a haven for free
expression of ideas, where
one can hear all manner of
viewpoints and opinions,
collect an armful of flyers
promoting various causes,
and read colorful banners
announcing upcoming
events. This week, however,
students passing through the
Diag will be the unknowing
victims of censorship. Last
week, some person or group of
persons saw it fit to remove a
banner announcing an event
which they apparently do not
wish to publicized.
Members of the
University's 'Students of
Objectivism' spe nt-
considerable time and effort
constructing and hanging a
banner announcing this
Thursday's speech at the
Business School by Peter
Schwartz on "American
Nuclear; Arms: A moral
defense". The banner was
hung on Sunday with the
express approvalwof the
Michigan Advertising
Works, and displayed the
appropriate sticker. By
Thursday morning it had
been removed. It was not
removed by campus
authorities, nor was it the
target of random vandalism.
Had random vandalism been
the case, it would have been
pulled down haphazardly,
with at least some shreds
remaining. It was not pulled
down haphazardly. It was
removed systematically.
The ropes were cut off close to
the tree, at a height which
would require a ladder or
other means to reach. Once
cut down, it was completely
removed from the area.
Whoever did it planned
ahead, and had a definite
purpose. That purpose was to
find an appropriate forum to
express one's own ideas. The
supression of ideas by force is
a tactic representative of the
approach taken in Nazi
Germany and Soviet Russia.
It is certainly not appropriate
in the United States of
America. -Bradley J. Foster
President, U-M Students
of Objectivism
September9
I
Rush to see for yourself
To the Daily:
I was very disappointed
with the editorial " Why
rush? "( Daily,9/9/86 ) What
started. out to be some fine
advice to incoming students
turned into another anti-
Greek essay.
Regardless of that, I would
like to focus on your original
question of whether a student
should rush or not, or for that
matter, pledge a fraternity or
sorority. At least from my
own experience, .there is
definitely some things to
think about when rushing
and pledging a fraternity.
For one thing, fraternity
rush, unlike sorority rush,
does not take up as much time
as people think. In fact, it
offers a great chance for new
students to see what
fraternities are like
themselves, not from others
with anti or pro Greek biases.
Pledging, however, is a
different story. For a second
term freshman back in the
winter of '84, my decision to
pledge almost ruined my
career at the University. I
was not really comfortable at
the University yet, not
knowing how to schedule my
time for school and fun
effectively. Not all the guys
in my pledge class had the
same problem, but as many
fraternity members and
school counselors have told
me, my case was nothing
new. When I was close to
failing out of two of my four
classses, and doing poorly in
your feet on the ground here.
It can, be time consuming and
hard to manage. But if you
are curious, go ahead and
rush. You can decide for
yourself. But then you will
know what they are all
about. --Mike Avoio
September 9
ANC vs. Contras
To the Daily:
In your editorial,
"Supporting democracy
abroad" (Sept. 4), you state
that even though the
Sandinistas in Nicaragua
are repressive - and not
democratic, we should not
support the Contras because
they are mostly former
Somocistas and have "vio -
lated human rights on an
often ghoulish scale." On the
other hand, you say we should
support the ANC in South
Africa.
Your charge that the Contras
are mostly Somocistas is
unfounded and false. While
editing a publication in
California, I sent a reporter
to the main Contra camp in
northern Nicaragua. His
report, which is corroborated
by all other first hand reports
I have seen, is that the
Contras are mostly peasant
farmers with an average age
of 20 (making any
4
4
A zl W, - MM.W.- VIM I