E
OPINION
Page 4
r
etanv t Michigan
Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan
Monday, November 9, 1987
The Michigan Daily
MSA polls dorm
Vol. XCVIII, No. 43
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.
Observe MSA poll
POLLING RESULTS ARE pervasive in
the media. Every major candidate and
news organization has a professional
pollster. Polls can be valuable when
they force politicians to take public
opinion into account when making
decisions. Rarely, however, are stu-
dents' voices heard through this
mechanism; a poll of dormitory res-
idents, in which 950 students par-
ticipated, by the Michigan Student
Assembly takes steps toward rectify-
ing this oversight.
Last April, every dorm resident re-
ceived a list of questions in their
mailboxes about issues ranging from
racism to military research on cam-
pus. While the poll is by no means a
perfect guide to student opinion,'
SA should take it into account when
dciding how it can best serve the
needs of its constituents.
One clear result of the poll demon-
strated that students are interested in
international issues. When asked
what aspect of The Daily's coverage
could be improved, the most common
response was "more national/world
news." Students also supported the
granting of an honorary degree to
Nelson Mandela, the imprisoned
leader of the African National
Congress, by a margin of almost two
to one.
When students were asked to iden-
tify the issues MSA should prioritize,
however, they named only campus
issues. The two issues named most
often were "fighting the code" and
"campus racism." Both of these is-
sues have received extensive attention
in the assembly.
Elections for assembly representa-
tives will take place November 18 and
19. Just as candidates for national of-
fice consult polls when determining
the interests of voters, those running
for seats on the assembly should de-
vote attention to the issues empha-
sized by the poll's respondents.
Last April, the Student Rights Committee
of the Michigan Student Assembly sent a
survey on issues of campus concern to every
dorm resident on campus. Ten percent of the
residents returned the survey and the
following are their responses. All of the
results are in percentages.
1. Have you heard of the Michigan
Student Assembly?
Yes-96 No-4
2. (a) What is your class year?
First Year Student-36 Sophomore-20
Junior-16 Senior-15 Graduate-13
(b) What is your expected major?
Creative Arts 12, Business 11,
Engineering 17, Languages 2, Liberal
Arts/Social Sciences 32, Natural Sciences
17, Undecided 9.
3. How would you rate your knowledge of
the proposed non-academic code of conduct?
On a scale of 1 to S with 1 = no knowledge
3 = knowledge based on Daily articles 5 =
quite knowledgeable
(1) - 15, (2} - 15, (3) -47, (4) - 16, (5) -
5
4. If the administration implemented a
code without student approval
(a) How would you feel?
Upset/angry - 77, Would not care - 8, In
favor of a code - 3
(b) What would you do?
Would protest or demonstrate against the
code - 57
Would write letters against the code - 18
Would support the code - 2
Would do nothing -9
5. What could be done to improve your
life in the residence hail?
Order of responses:
Better food
More social activities with other residence
halls
Quiet neighbors
Clean up living area
6. Should the University of Michigan
conduct
(a) classified military research on campus?
Yes-51,No-49
(b) Unclassified?
Yes - 71, No -29
7. (a) Why is there a lack of Black-
American students on campus? Order of
responses:
Lack of recruitment by the University
High School system is lagging
University costs too much
Blacks could not get into University
8. (a)Will financial problems affect your
decision to attend school this semester or in
the future?
Yes - 48, No - 52
(b) Do you have to work while attending
school to make ends meet?
Yes - 56, No - 44
9. Should the University award Nelson
Mandela a honorary degree?
Yes - 62, No - 38
10. Do you use Nite Owl? If so
(a) how would rate on a scale of one to
five with one = horrible, three = neutral,
five = excellent?
(1)-2,(2) 4, (3) -25, (4) -45, (5)23
(b) What could be done to improve the
present service? Order of responses:
Need a North Campus route
More stops along routes
Need better drivers
Should run more frequently
11. Do you use safewalk? Using the same
scale as 11 how would rate it?
(1) -5, (2)3, (3) -23, {4) -45, (5) -25
What could be done to improve the present
service? Order of responses:
Need friendly walkers
Need weekend service
Service should run later
Should publicize more
12. What criteria should be established for
teaching assistants before they teach a class?
Take a training on teaching the subject
Should speak fluent English
Should receive paid training
13. What could be done to help those
students with cars find enough parking to
accommodate them?
Need student only parking areas
Need more parking areas
Should remove all meters from campus
-esidents
Should share existing
faculty/administration parking areas
14. What could be done to improve the li-
braries on campus?
Should have quiet study areas
Should stay open later
Need more books
Should clean up libraries
15. What could be done to improve the
computer centers on campus?
Need more computers
Should stay open later in the evening
Need computer instructional classes
Need more centers
16. What could be done to improve
University transportation to and from North
Campus, and in general?
Need more buses
Should run on weekends
Should run 24 hours
Should run more frequently
17. (a) How would rate the Michigan
Daily as a newspaper, using the same scale
as (11)?
The five rankings received the following
percentages: (1) 10, (2) 23, (3) 28, (4)
24, (5) 14
(b) What would you like to see covered in
the Michigan Daily?
Need more national/world news coverage
Need more comics
Should be more mainstream
Need more women's sports coverage
18. Should MSA lobby representatives at
the local, state, and national levels to
express the views and opinions of the
student body?
Yes - 67, No - 33
19. What should MSA put as its top
priority for the upcoming months?
Fighting the code
Campus racism
MSA constituent contact
Ann Arbor housing crisis
Minority issues
]Financial aid for students
Lighting on campus
Improving the bus system
Crime in Ann Arbor
Improving the computer centers
Increasing awareness
Today, the United Coalition Against
Racism begins a petition drive to
press for three demands. The entire
community should support this effort.
The aims of UCAR's demands are
to increase awareness of racism on
campus and in the community. Two
reasons for the renewed attention
devoted to racism are the allegation
that a University Building Services
employee harassed maintenance
worker Mary Clark and racist
comments directed toward students
by local high school teacher Dale
Greiner. The racist attacks on a
student in a University dormitory and
another student in the SAB heighten
this need.
1 The first item on the petition asks
for a mandatory class on racism and
sexism. This is badly needed
considering the recent wave of racist
attacks. Many people don't believe
that some of the incidents are racially
motivated or deny the prevalence of
racism. The class would increase
understanding of the reasons behind
these incidents.
Shapiro'i
UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT HAROLD
Shapiro's threat to take unilateral
action against two students for the
airing of racist remarks on campus
radio station WJJX is only an attempt
to get a foot in the door on the code of
non-academic conduct. Demonstrat-
ing no interest in racism, Shapiro
would like to return to the days of in
loco parentis when the University
could assert itself as judge, jury, and
jailor over student life with the ability
to punish activities of which it does
not approve.
Shapiro's desire for the code is not
unique to the WJJX broadcast. He
has requested the code in response to
the racist flier incidents in University
dorms, the alleged rape at Phi Gamma
Delta fraternity, and reported assaults
ib University buildings. Shapiro must
The secondly, the petitions requests
full observance of the Martin Luther
King Jr. national holiday. King's
birthday should be a day to look at
racial injustices here and all over the
world. Educational programs o n
racism and other forms of inequality
should be offered in place of regular
classes.
King's birthday is also a much
needed chance to remember the the
many, often overlooked contributions
Blacks have made in history.
The final item on the petition calls
for a sister school relationship with
the Solomon Mahlangu Freedom
College (SOMAFCO) in Tanzania.
The petition iterates, "... the
University has much to learn from
SOMAFCO, since S O M A F C O
epitomizes much of what the
University is striving for: quality
education, nondiscriminatory access
to such an education and the
preparation of the world's youth in
building a better society."
Support and sign the UCAR
petition.
power grab
In the last week, Shapiro also
ignored the racist attacks on students
and University workers. If he were
interested in combating racism, he
would make some attempt to
investigate these attacks and at least
show support for the coalitions which
have been formed to examine the
incidents.
The code is fascism. Shapiro wants
to suppress free speech in many cases
and has seized upon the W J J X
broadcast as a mechanism to divide
students. He uses the punishment of
racists to divide student opinion over
the code. Further, in the WJJX case,
the radio station already correctly
acted against speech it deemed
offensive by firing the people
responsible before it was shut down
by the administration last semester.
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LETTERS
4
.
Divergent views shold be welCOMed
To the Daily:
I am writing in response to
Glenn ,M. Kotcher's letter.
"Uncle Joe must be smiling"
(Daily,11/2/87) in which
he, a member of the College
Republicans, attacks the
behavior of those who chose to
protest the two Contra speakers
at Schorling Auditorium.]
I too attended the Contra
speeches. I am not a member
of the College Republicans nor
am I affiliated with any Latin
American organization. I went
because I was interested in
hearing what the two men had
to say. But what I found more
interesting, and more pathetic
than the speeches was the nar-
row-minded comments yelled
during the speech which are re-
flected in Kotcher's letter.
At the speeches, and when
reading Kotcher's letter, I was
reminded of the inability of
certain individuals to accept
deviant opinions because they
are perhaps thought of as dan-
gerous to American tradition,
security, and democracy. At
one point during the speeches
someone yelled to a protester,
"If you're such a Communist,
why don't you move to Rus-
sia?" Maybe the protester con-
siders him/herself to be a
of this country" because I think
that the millions of dollars the
Reagan administration spends
on military aid to the Contras
could be better spent on social
reforms in our own country.
And I hope I don't suffer from
"a malady which can best be
described as sophomoric ni-
hilism" because I feel ill when
I think of the 20,000 men,
women, and children murdered
by the Contras in Nicaragua.
I have never read Mother
Jones and I have never watched
Miami Vice. I learn about for-
eign affairs from the newspa-
per, television, classes, and
lectures. I have formed an
opinion based on facts and my
conscience. I am not scared to
think or voice my opinions. I
am scared, however, of people
who refuse to try to understand
my thoughts. I was a silent
protester at the Contra
speeches. I instead listened to
the angry exchanges between
two groups of opinionated. But
I cannot be a silent protester
when I am confronted by peo-
ple who must revert to using
stock labels to describe those
who do not share their beliefs.
I do not want to be called a
liberal, a leftist, a Marxist, a
communist, a socialist, an an-
stand or recognize the wide
range of beliefs and emotions
present in American society. It
is sad to witness how much
ignorance
campus.
exists on our own
-Karen Moscow
November 2
A
English prof.faults Hamann
To the Daily:
I am appalled and angered by
Lawrence Hamann's letter on
the subject of University
maintenance worker Mary
Clark's recent exposure to
racial harassment. To suggest,
as Mr. Hamann does, that the
phrase "Funky Black Bitch" is
not racist in intention is to en-
gage in a breathtaking kind of
linguistic sophistry. The words
"funky" and "bitch" may indeed
have non - racist meanings
(although Mr. Hamann seems
to overlook the offensive sex-
ism of "bitch"), and "Black"
may indeed be able to stand on
its own as an "indifferent
adjective." Scrawled on a Uni-
versity bathroom, however, in
the midst of other displays of
vandalism, the words embody
insolence and insult. There
could be no more straightfor-
We're watchir
To the Dailv:
ward example of racist harass-
ment, and of the cowardly
anonymity within which such
harassment thrives. Further-
more, the Daily most certainly
does not display a "racist atti-
tude" when giving front page
coverage to such a blatant at-
tack on an individual's dignity,
not is its staff guilty of "when
in doubt, cry racism." The
Daily is to be commended on
its response to incidents such
as this: they challenge our
deepest level of integrity as a
community. I invite Mr.
Hamann to look more honestly
at the world around him, and to
pay more attention to language
and its uses.
-Stanton Garner, Jr.
Assistant Professor of
English Language and
Literature
November 4
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sexism
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