4 OPINION ,..age 4 Friday, September 25, 1987 The Michigan Daily i Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan Vol. XCVIII, No. 12 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 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. Boycott Herman's PEOPLE SHOULD AVOID SHOPPING at Herman's Sporting Goods stores. The United Auto Workers union has been striking against Herman's stores all summer. Although some of their reasons might not compel people to join the picket lines, the charges of racial discrimination are damning enough to call for a general boycott o f Herman's products. Protesters admit that the UAW's main interest in striking Herman's 4 is money. The union was originally chosen to represent employees, but was voted out after the strike started .in July. Union leaders are continuing their strike in part because they want their dues. There are allegations of insincere r negotiating of a union contract on fthe part of Herman's, proposed changes in health and educational benefits, and pay cuts. Also, charges of sexual harassment have ' been made, though they no longer seem to be mentioned as often by the picketers. w The most substantial and disturb- ing complaints against Herman's involve pay and hiring inequities against minorities. According to C union statistics, 313 out of the 314 managers hired in the last ten years in Michigan were white. This is a trend nationwide. Even in cities like Washington, D.C., which is two- thirds Black, whites occupy 29 out a of the 30 management positions. Blacks are getting ridiculously few hiring and promotion opport- unites in management. In addition, pay inequities at Herman's dis- criminate against Blacks across the board. At one point, Herman's management admitted to a 37 cent/hour difference in wages be- tween Blacks and whites. Accord- ing to union figures, the gap in wages between the lily-white Briarwood store and the Northland store, which is 91 percent Black, is 51 cents/hour. This means that full- time Black employees have to work almost an entire day extra to make the same amount weekly as their white counterparts. These numbers, if accurate, are disgusting. Unfortunately, the na- tional strike is making little if any impact on sales at Herman's. People seem to be viewing the protest as solely a union issue, and professional cities like Ann Arbor tend to be unsympathetic. Only recently has the UAW expanded the focus of their strike to the racism issue. Public interest is small, and Michigan UAW locals are now asking students to help protest the stores. Whether people will take interest in the strike has yet to be seen. However, racist hiring prac- tices should be of interest to everybody, and tolerated by none. Please, do not shop at Herman's. Daily. By Kurt Heyman I have regularly read the Daily during. my three years at the University. I can honestly say that I have never witnessed anything so completely tasteless in your pages as last Monday's Op-Ed article ('Typo Snaps Olive Branch," Daily 9/21/87). I happen to be an Editorial Board member of the Michigan Review (MR), the brunt of your attacks in this article. It may come as no suprise, therefore, that I believe that you inconsiderately maligned our good intentions and misrepresented us in the process. I am not writing to you as a representative of MR, however, and your characterization of MR is not what particularly disgusted me about this article. Such confrontation between ideologically opposed media forms is perhaps inevitable. Savage personal attacks, on the other hand, are definitely unconscionable. If you have not surmised by now, I am referring to your cruel treatment of another Board member of MR, Rebecca Chung. I will refer to her as "Rebecca" in this letter because she is a friend of mine. You should have refrained from this first-name tactic in your article, as you have shown that despite her years of service to the Daily, you are no friends of hers. I would point out that for all your self- righteousness about inclusive language, Kurt Heyman is Associate Publisher of The Michigan Review. displays your insinuations about Rebecca were wholeheartedly sexist. In referring to "Seth and the boys--Sorry Rebecca," you imply that she is the token female on the Board. While she happens to currently be the only woman on the Board, there is nothing token about her. Rebecca's position as an Executive Editor of MR was offered to her after she had considerable journalistic experience, culminating in serving as an Arts Editor for a certain daily newspaper on this campus. Someone at your paper obviously felt she was capable of doing the job. You also call Rebecca's move to MR a case of "girlfriend swapping," making a juvenile reference to MR's self-description as a Student "Affairs" Magazine. Is this how you view women at the Daily? As token dues to the laws of Affirmative Action who should serve at your sexual pleasures? These are issues that women who currently work at the Daily may want to bring up with whoever is responsible for this trash. To say that I sense some bitterness about Rebecca's move from the Daily to MR would be a gross understatement. While bitterness may explain your actions, it does not excuse them. Conceptions of institutional loyalty do not permit character defamation. You may perhaps be wondering why Rebecca is not addressing your slanderous remarks herself. Am I some knight in shining armor coming to the rescue of a maiden in distress? Hardly. That would be sexist. Like you. sexism You really left Rebecca no room to respond. While I am quite sure that she is confident of her own abilities, she could not possibly write you a letter touting her qualifications as a journalist and editor. She would look asinine and arrogant. I, however, can afford to say as many good things about Rebecca as I want without similar costs. No, I'm not a knight in shining armor. I'm someone whose friend has been unfailry treated by others' vindictive abuses. Furthermore, your hiding behind a pseudonym to deliver personal attacks was highly timid and unprofessional. It is true that you parodied MR's regular feature which appears under the pen-name of "Joe Typho." As I said, I am not representing MR in this letter, but I will address this issue. First of all, I am not "Joe Typho," and do not take responsibility for his articles. However, anyone who regularly reads MR should know who "Joe" is, and he at least has the decency to attack people for their views, not for their sex. Neither of these things can be said about "Joy Typo." Someone is responsible and he (this is not an inclusive language slip-up; I'm sure it was a "he") should personally and publicly apologize to Rebecca for this outrage. Editor's Note The line "girlfriend Rebecca swapping" was not in the author's original. The Daily sincerely regrets its inclusion. Zi, in 1 V V ALJ. ' ls Y ltNQWyON SEVEA$ A M60PHANT 4F SA7AN; WANNA WY VESSEL? A ovV NR 'E.sU Gut-F ?A1'oo%0IGHT? Gulf anyone? cZ:Zjt %&I -_.. _ ' , -. UNLESS CONGRESS BEGINS exercising more control, Tuesday's Persian Gulf incident may lead to events similar those which followed the Vietnam Gulf of Tonkin dispute. The Defense Department says the U.S. military acted in self-defense' when a Army helicopter attacked an Iranian ship. The Pentagon pointed out that 10 mines were captured and six had already been dropped by that Iranian ship. These mines were being laid in an anchorage used by American warships and commercial ships. More important than whether the attack was justified, however, is the Reagan administration's unwillingness to consult Congress in the aftermath of an armed attack on a sovereign nation. The War Powers Act requires the president to inform congress within 48 hours of subjecting U.S. forces to imminent hostilities. Reagan should have invoked the Act when the fleet was deployed to the Gulf. The president's refusal runs counter to the intent of the act. If the president refuses to invoke the act, congress should direct him to do so. In addition to forcing the president to inform congress, the Act requires congressional approval for U.S. forces to remain over sixty days. The administration argues that invoking the act would indicate that a timetable has been placed on the U.S. presence and undermines the fleet's effectiveness. More likely, notifying Congress would force the administration to justify the policy. The U.S. should strive to bring an end to the long and bloody Iran- Iraq war. U.S. support for a ceasefire resolution in the U.N. is admirable, but the effect is severely diluted when American actions seem more likely to prolong the conflict. , - Mai W'Sf. E Il4-. LETTERS: Who's To the Daily: I am writing in response to two article which appeared in The Michigan Daily. Both articles ("Sexual Assault Trial Begins," Daily, 9/22/87 and "Conflicting Testimonies Muddle Assault Trial," Daily, 9/23/87) deal with the trial of Griffth Neal, a University student accused of raping another student. Although I feel that the Daily could have been more sensitive in its presentation, I would like to say that I am glad the story is being covered. Sexual assault is a very real problem, and too often, it is swept beneath the rug. Reading about the trial has made me furious. Perhaps it is because I can identify so much with the woman who was "allegedly" raped. It frightens me to think how easy it would on trial for sexual assault? woman sustained bruises, internal bleeding, and tears in her vaginal wall. What more needs to be said? Calling witnesses to the stand to set the scenario for the assault was needless. First of all, it would be very difficult for a sorority sister or a fraternity brother to testify against a close friend in a situation where the stakes are so high. But more importantly, since they did not witness the assault, their testimonies are completely inconsequential to the case. The defense called Neal's fraternity brother's to the stand in order to prove that the alleged victim actually intended to "pick up" Neal and that she consented to have intercourse with him. Neal's fraternity brothers maintain that she was drunk and that she expressed a desire to "go to his intercourse." For God's sake, even the defense admits that the alleged victim was bleeding on Neal's bed! How the alledged victim got there, why she was there in the first place is unimportant. The question of consent is Cover both To the Daily: I was shocked by the fact that your obviously anti-Greek periodical did not publish a story concerning the recent rape accusatioi )y a U of M female. Of course front page headlines were printed ,while the prosecution stated its case. Though when the prosecution rested and the defense began its case, including the testimony of the alleged victim's own sorority sister.vn find it more absolutely ludicrous. After all, if a man were drunk and asked a woman to suck his. . . er.. . finger, and she bit it off, would it be his fault for asking for it? -Jeana Lee September 23 sides of trial a situation such as this. What ever happened to unbiased reporting? Leave your editorial descriptions of the case in the opinion section and print both sides of the story for the benefit of the reader. Today, the defense is calling five sorority sisters of the girl to the witness stand and I assume that tomorrow you will print a story entitled "'M students watch grass grow." Give both sides of the story unbiased * I7, . I .u i