OPINION 'Page 4 Wednesday, April 13, 1988 The Michigan Daily Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan Asian-bashing is not funny - eVol. XCVIII, No. 131 420 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. Stop the administration's repression of student radio: Radio free Michigan TONIGHT AT 7:30 members of the University community should attend a board meeting of WCBN-FM and WJJX-AM to support the student-run radio stations. In a letter dated April 5th, Vice-President of Student Services Henry Johnson asserted what the Uni- versity administration views as its right to run the Campus Broadcasting Net- 'vork. -Johnson informed the traditionally student-run radio stations that Univer- iy officials were considering the hir- ing of a so-called professional general manager, on the heals of the regents' passing of Fleming's code of conduct which he calls a discriminatory acts policy. The administration's attempt to take over WCBN and WJJX proves yet again that the University bureaucracy is bent on extending its will into every aspect of students' lives. k Indeed, Henry Johnson is the same person who Fleming establishes as the second-in-command in t h e implementation of the new code. Johnson will be in charge of deciding what is discriminatory and what is not under the new code. Only the Univer- sity President will outrank Johnson in deciding whether or not to punish stu- dents under the new code. Just as the Fleming code exploits in- dividual incidents of racism to justify the extension of bureaucracies respon- sible for systematic discrimination, the CBN take-over attempt involves a ma- nipulation of public opinion. In January the administration attempted to fire the non-students at WCBN. At the time, the headlines about Chris Daly's run- ning of the song "Run, Nigger Run" - without explanation or criticism were still fresh in public's memory. To this day, there is a standoff as to whether or not Chris Daly can rejoin WCBN. Tragically, what has gone unnoticed is that the administration's ideas for running WCBN would actu- ally be counterproductive. DToward the end of Fleming's first term of president at the University, he set out to remove all non-students from WCBN-FM. Ten years later, the idea came up again after the Chris Daly in- cident. Yet, firing non-students on WCBN-FM would remove an impor- tant source of that station's diversity. At the time of the firing, 40 percent of WCBN disc jockeys were non-stu- dents, and 67 percent of the Black disc jockeys were non-students. The firing of non-students would have severely cut into programs involving Black cul- ture or sexual orientation for instance. The University administration could at least make up for its failure in minority student recruitment and reten- tion by allowing non-students to con- duct the kind of diverse programming that the student body is not capable of providing by itself. Instead, while the media focussed on a sensational individual act of perhaps unintentional racism, the University administration attempted to change the whole racial composition of WCBN for the worse. After years of letting WCBN-FM and WJJX-AM students and non-stu- dents raise their own money for the fi- nancially-strapped network, the ad- ministration is suddenly forthcoming with money. It is apparent that the ad- ministration is willing to spend taxpay- ers' money to hire someone to take over the stations for themselves. Instead of spending taxpayers' money to give administrators experi- ence in running radio stations, the ad- ministration should give the students in charge of CBN the money to hire their own people. The money so given should have no strings attached. Otherwise, the administration's plans for WCBN and WJJX further justify the rally against Fleming's new code scheduled by various student groups on Thursday at noon on the diag. The rally on Thursday has two themes: re- versing the growth of administration power over students and employees, and support for a community-con- trolled policy to handle discriminatory acts by students, workers, faculty and administrators. WCBN is a perfect example of how administration control results in more discrimination and less community control. Voice support tonight in the Student Activities Building, third floor. By Raymond Lin Korean people are "hardheaded, hard- drinking, tough little bastards." That is the description offered by columnist P.J. O'Rourke in the February 11 issue of Rolling Stone in an article entitled "Seoul Brothers." The article is supposedly a satiric look at the student protests in South Korea. However, filled with O'Rourke's condescending, bigoted atti- tudes towards Koreans, the article is less a satire than it is another example of the American media's traditionally racist treatment of Asians and Asian Americans. In the article, O'Rourke describes how he felt at one of the student protests: "...I was thinking, 'Oh no, they really do all look alike'--the same Blackgama hair, the same high-boned pie-plate face, the same tea-stain complexion, the same sharp-fo- cused look in one million identical an- thracite eyes." Elsewhere, he says of a Korean boy: "He was a normal looking kid (but in Korea everybody is normal. looking)." "Korean sounds like ack-ack fire; ev- ery syllable has a primary accent: YO-YO CAMP STOVE HAM HOCK DIP STICK DUCK SOUP HAT RACK...," smirks O'Rourke. He describes being shoved and kicked while amongst a throng of protesters and explains, "this is what Koreans are like when they're happy." Later he adds, "Elbowing your way through a crowd is Korean for 'excuse me."' He refers to the protesters' gestures as "karate chops," calls one protester a "little fuck," and mocks the Koreans' "authentic traditional funny clothes." O'Rourke also demeans the purpose of the protests and suggests that the Koreans do not even know why they are protesting. He patronizingly asks a protester to ex- plain to him what democracy is and then concludes the protester is ignorant when he cannot answer in English. Throughout the article, O'Rourke makes fun of anything that is not white and American, expecting readers to share his he-man's disdain for foreigners. He stereotypes Koreans as identical-looking, robot-like fanatics, whose bizarre culture and language can inspire only ridicule. Immediately after the publication of O'Rourke's article, Asian Americans across the country protested the article's Raymond Lin is a member the U of M Asian Student Coalition (UMASC). racism. Asian American groups organized letter campaigns to Rolling Stone calling for a retraction and for O'Rourke's dis- missal, publicized the article among Asian American communities and held a public demonstration outside Rolling Stone's San Francisco offices. In response, Rolling Stone promised a retraction in an upcoming issue. How- ever, when the "retraction" appeared in the March 29 issue, it read like this: "Under the heading Irrational Affairs, we are proud to publish P.J. O'Rourke, one of America's outstanding satirists. "Given the style and tone of P.J.'s work, we would hope that his writing would be taken for what it is--an irreverent look at authority and institutions. "Nonetheless, we appreciate the gen- uine unhappiness that was caused by cer- tain parts of his article 'Seoul Brothers;' we recognize that this unhappiness is le- gitimate; and we regret any offense that the story may have caused." Nowhere in the retraction did Rolling Stone admit that the article was racist. The magazine also did not promise that such articles would be prevented in the fu- ture or that any action would be taken against O'Rourke. Instead, Rolling Stone praised O'Rourke and fully supported his article, claiming it was only meant to be "irreverent." The retraction implied that all the "unhappiness" caused by the article was just a misunderstanding, that Asian Americans were overreacting to a piece of harmless satire. Rolling Stone rejected the notion that racism against Asians was a serious or legitimate issue. Would the magazine have responded with such nonchalance if O'Rourke had written about Blacks the same way he wrote about Koreans and if it were Blacks who protested the article? When L.A. Dodgers manager Al Campanis made derogatory remarks against Blacks, Blacks immediately protested, Dodgers manage- ment admitted Campanis' remarks were racist and Campanis was fired. When television sportscaster Jimmy the Greek outraged the Black community with his comments about the connection between slavery and Black athletes' abilities, CBS condemned his comments as racist and fired him. But when P.J. O'Rourke writes a highly ottensive article about Koreans in Rolling Stone which sparks off Asian American protests across the country, Rolling Stone praises the writer, claims the article is merely "irreverent," and to- tally ignores the racism issue. Though much racism against Blacks still occurs in the media, at least in blatant cases like Jimmy the Greek's, Blacks' anger is taken seriously, and action is taken. When it comes to racism against Asians, however, people do not admit that any problem exists and then dismiss Asian Americans' complaints as overreactions. Those who recognize Amos 'n' Andy as a racist stereotype find nothing wrong with a racist portrayal such as Long Duck Dong in Sixteen Candles. Those who wouldn't dream of glorifying white men's enslave- ment and sexual abuse of Black women during pre-Civil War times find nothing wrong with movies like Tai-Pan and No- ble House that glorify white men's en- slavement of Asian women. Those who realize Jimmy the Greek's remarks are racist find nothing wrong with P.J. O'Rourke's "satire." That Rolling Stone could even publish an article as blatantly racist as "Seoul Brothers" shows how ignorant the Ameri- can media are of anti-Asian racism. Rolling Stone's failure to admit its wrong in the face of nationwide Asian American protest of the article shows that not only are they ignorant, but they don't care ei- ther. We must all learn that articles like "Seoul Brothers" are not just innocuous attempts at humor. At the same time Rolling Stone praises a writer who tries to get laughs by explaining how foreign and odd he thinks Koreans are, politicians like Dick Gephardt try to further their own ca- reers by stirring up anti-Asian racism, by portraying Asians as foreign, devious cheats who the U.S. must get tough with. When P.J. O'Rourke reinforces for thou- sands of readers the stereotype of Asians as being indistinguishable masses, he helps set the stage for another Vincent Chin ' killing, where an Asian American is blamed for the actions of people in Asia and then murdered. While P.J. O'Rourke and Rolling Stone agree about how funny Korean people look and talk, reports at the Office of Affirmative Action show that Asian American students on this campus are routinely subjected to racial slurs and harassment So Rolling Stone "appreciates" the "genuine unhappiness" created by "Seoul Brothers?" They "regret any offense that the story may have caused?" Sorry, that's not good enough. 0 LETTERS: Triangle member presents another angle Hypocritical ;THE REAGAN administration's alleg- ed war on drugs is a media farce, ig- noring the real causes of drug addic- tion, selectively enforcing the laws, and actually exacerbating the problem, while providing lovely photo opportu- nities for Nancy. The administration does not seem to realize the intimate link between abject poverty and the lure of drugs. Due to the administration's catering to the rich and their corporate interests and its abandonment of anti-poverty programs, there are currently more poor people in the United States than ever before. Poverty creates both the supply and the demand for drugs. Lacking other op- portunities, people will turn to the easy money of dealing drugs as a means of financial escape. In a similar way, disadvantaged people use drugs to 'mentally escape their social standing. The current policy is to throw drug dealers and addicts in jail. This serves to; do nothing but pack the already overcrowded prisons and to punish people who need treatment. Not only is this policy wrong, but it's practiced in a racist and class-oriented manner. The police are more likely to arrest and prosecute a poor Black than a rich white caught doing the same thing. And now the DEA wants to use the death penalty as a tool to fight drugs. drug attitudes The hypocrisy of Reagan's "war on drugs" is evidenced by the administra- tion's tactic of financing unpopular covert activities with drug money. The most obvious example of this is the CIA-directed drugs-for-guns campaign on behalf of the contras. In addition, the U.S. simply turns a blind eye to- ward the illegal activities of nations and organizations that act to perpetuate U.S. hegemony, especially in Latin America. A case in point is the administration's treatment of Manuel Antonio Noriega, dictator of Panama. With the regional CIA headquarters stationed in Panama and Noriega's reportedly close ties to former CIA director William Casey, the CIA surely knew about General Nor- iega's drug trafficking years before the information became public. It was not disclosed because of Noriega's efforts in assisting the contras. As soon as Noriega decided to stop taking orders from Washington, he instantly became the most heinous drug dealer the world has ever seen. Nancy Reagan can tell middle class high school students to "just say no" until she turns blue in the face. As long as the administration ignores the actual sources of the problem and selectively allows drug trafficking here and abroad, the real drug wars will con- To the Daily: I am writing to correct sev- eral factual errors which were made in your series of articles last week on Gay Greeks. Specifically, I wish to clarify the relationship between my fraternity, Triangle, and Mark Chekal. In September 1987, Mark approached me and requested that I make a motion placing him on alumni status - meaning that he would no longer be an active member of the house. Mark explained to me that he was having finan- cial difficulties and could not afford the fees associated with membership. He also indicated that he was unwilling to make the time commitments neces- sary to remain active in the house. At our September 27th house meeting, I made the motion Mark requested and he was immediately placed on lo- cal alumni status. At this time, Mark. had not "come out" (admitted his homosexuality) to the house; therefore his ho- mosexuality played no role in removing him from active sta- tus. After becoming an alum, Mark made little attempt to maintain contact with members of the house and discontinued participation in house activi- ties. Eventually, Mark ap- proached me and several other Triangles about his homo- sexuality while the rest of the house found out from members of various sororities. Although the Daily article indicated that Mark was ostra- cized by Triangle, Mark in fact left the house by his own choice. Until the article was printed, a number of other Tri- angles and I were unaware of his feelings towards the house and were surprised by what we read -James Fieste April 10 Support Marcuse at trial To the Daily: On Thursday, April 14, I will be on trial for attempting to file a complaint against an Assistant Director of the Uni- versity's Department of Public Safety. As many Daily readers already know, Robert Patrick kicked me full force in the groin a a protest against CIA recruiting on campus last November. The charges against me, however, read that I as- saulted a Detective of the Ann Arbor police force, as well as another assistant director of Public Safety. It is apparently standard operating procedure to file counter charges against citizens who attempt to obtain justice in incidents of police brutality. I would like to invite all members of the University community to the trial, which 0 begins at 8:30 am in Court- room #2 on the sixth floor of City Hall. The trial will prob- ably last all day, with a break for lunch, .but spectators can come and go as they please. It should be very instructive to watch our police officers and Public Safety officials tell the jury how a 150 lb. graduate student beat and wrestled to the ground two considerably larger officers who are trained in self-defense. I will be trying the case myself and would appreciate a large show of support from all students concerned about their right to express their opinions on campus without fear of physical assault. -Harold Marcuse April 12 0 Unsubstantiated claims To the Daily: No topic deserves more at- tention than of American In- dian Mental Health. No group has suffered more than Amer- ica's indigenous people. If American Indian Mental Health is not approached with a dili- gent sensitivity, mental health professionals are in danger of further harming the-very people they seek to help. Recently, a lecture was given at the university by Mr. Thomas Biron on this subject. This lecture was troubling to us as Indian people. Mr. Biron presented material in a manner material on economic devel- opment of Indian tribes with no data or reference to possible damaging effects to Indian communities and culture. The overall theme to his talk was the belief that social science and anthropological research strengthen American Indian culture. This ignores the fact that Indians have been ex- ploited as research subjects by both disciplines. Information can be used in a number of ways, both harmful and helpful. Unfortunately, in- formation has been used in a harmful was regarding Ameri- Daily Opinon Page letter policy Due to the volume of mail, the Daily cannot print all the letters and columns it receives, although an effort is made to print the majority of material on a wide range of views. The Daily cuts letters and d*