OPINION The Michigan Daily- Friday, March 24, 1989 Page 4 0 Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan 420 Maynard St. Never again: Remember the Holocaust Vol. IC, No.119 Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Unsigned editorials represent a majority of the Daily's Editorial Board. All ot1 ar cartoons, signed articles, and letters do not necessarily represent the opinion of the Daily. FBI chief tarnishes Law School commencement: Say no to Sessions IN KEEPING WITH the University tra- dition of honoring offensive and in- appropriate people at its commence- ment ceremonies, Law School Dean Lee Bollinger has invited FBI director William Sessions to address the school's graduating seniors this May. If Bollinger does not rescind his invitation and Sessions does not with- draw his acceptance, Sessions will join the ranks of such notably unworthy honorees as the Shah of Iran, Ferdi- nand Marcos, and Jean Kirkpatrick. The Law School recently decided to ban the FBI from recruiting at the school because of a federal court ruling that the Bureau was guilty of discrimi- nating against several hundred Latino agents in its hiring, promotion and as- signment policies. Four percent of the Bureau's agents are Black, four percent Latino, and nine percent women. In 1987 and 1988, Black FBI agents re- signed at twice the rate of whites. The Justice Department also ruled that Donald Rochon, a Black agent, was the victim of "brutal discrimination" during an assignment at an Omaha field office. In addition, the FBI has a history of harassing and violating the civil rights of organizations and individuals com- mitted to social change, including Martin Luther King Jr., anti-Vietnam War activists, the American Indian Movement, and the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El The Law School should be com- mended for taking a stand against the FBI's institutional racism, but Bollinger's invitation calls into ques- tion the sincerity of that commitment. Bollinger's insistence that Sessions does not represent the policies of the institution he directs is a weak attempt to justify his violation of what appeared to be the Law School's principled decision. Sessions is not an "individual representing the qualities valued by our school," as Bollinger would like him to be perceived. Despite his promises to make reforms in the Bureau, Sessions still represents the FBI and its racist policies. By inviting him to speak, the University lends credibility and institu- tional support to an agency which has been declared racist even by the U.S. Justice Department. Bollinger made his decision unilater- ally, with no student input. The Law School Student Senate held a referendum this week in which the majority of the graduating class stated that they do not want Sessions to come. Bollinger should acknowledge the students' right not to have their graduation marred by Sessions' visit. The Law School has taken several positive steps this year to begin to ad- dress its institutional inequalities. The decisions to offer a teaching position to Catherine MacKinnon, a feminist lawyer; to add sexual orientation to the school's anti-discrimination policy; and to ban the FBI from recruiting, are all commendable. But inviting Sessions to speak violates the self-imposed ban and undermines the affirmative stance the Law school appeared to be taking. Bollinger should rescind the invitation. By the United Coalition Against Racism Next week Hillel is sponsoring a con- ference on the legacy of the Holocaust. The United Coalition Against Racism (UCAR) urges students, faculty and mem- bers of the community at large take advantage of this opportunity to learn more about the history of anti-Semitism and the global and historic implications of Nazism. Such lessons are particularly germaine in the context of rising racism and anti-Semitism worldwide and in out own nation and communities. Signs of this trend globally include the rising popularity of neo-fascist skinhead cults throughout Europe, the sustained presence of neo-Nazi groups in West Germany such as the Freiheitliche Arbeiterpartei (FAP, Freedom Workers Party); the growing popularity of the fascist and racist Le Pen movement in France; and the increasingly open and brutal attacks on Asians, West Indians and Jews by Britains National Front skinhead thugs. Nationally, we have witnessed a simul- taneous upsurge in racial violence toward people of color, including Arab Ameri- cans, and increasing anti-Jewish anti- Semitism as well. All of this has been coupled with rising vigilante violence against gays and lesbians - another frightening parallel to Nazi Germany. Even our own so-called liberal community of Ann Arbor has been host to racists and fascists of all varieties. Most notably a local band of neo-Nazis from Dearborn have made routine annual appearances on the steps of various public buildings around the time of Hitler's birthday. For- tunately, they have met with visible and formidable resistance each time in the form of counter-demonstrations. Less threatening reminders of fascism have ap- peared as well, including anti-Jewish graf- fitti in University buildings, the painting of a large swastika on a predominately Jewish sorority house three years ago, and on the West Engineering Building a year and a half ago. Perhaps one of the most important Wasserman lessons of the Holocaust and other major human tragedies is that it is not only Jews who need to remember and take responsi- bility for fighting fascism; it is not only Palestinians who need to understand and defend their right for self-determination and humane treatment; it is not only the Black people of Southern African and the citi- zens of Central America who must carry the burden of fighting for justice in those regions, it is all of us. Just as much of the world stood by as the spectre of fascism threatened Europe and as the genocidal policies of the Third Reich consumed the Jewish communities of Europe, we must all take responsibility not only for what we do in the face of injustice and inhu- manity, but what we often do not do. Holocaust survivors and others who have experienced brutal oppression first hand understand the need for this type of funda- mental humanity, perhaps more than any- one. We should listen and learn from their stories. Never again must mean never again to any people, at any time for any .reason. Events of the Tenth Annual Holocaust Conference include: A Shayna Maidel, presented this Saturday and Sunday by the Ann Arbor Repertory Theatre, in the Irwin Green Auditorium of the Hillel building, 1429 Hill Street; "Education the Third Reich: Blueprint for Mind Control," a talk by author Alfons Heck, this Sunday at 7:30 pm at Hillel; the film Au Revoir Les Enfants, next Tuesday at 7 and 9:15 pm at Hillel; the film Murderers Among Us, next Wednesday at 7 pm in Angel Hall Auditorium A; and a presentation enti- tled "An Evening With Survivors," next Thursday at 7:30 pm at Hillel. 'Even our own so-called liberal community of Ann Arbor has been host to racists and fascists of all varieties.' Auschwitz concentration camp, the sight of hundreds of thousands of murders at the hands of the Nazis during World War II. Regents ignore process ON EtWfION DAY1 IN EL LVAM I us ARMED FoRcE S CER~ly W~bIMTRS W& 9ISI6LW OUT wIRNa MZAt1EM YuVt UWO AN4Y OVER CVIU~AN x M 6 UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT James Duderstadt and the Board of Regents have circumvented the Michigan Open Meetings Act, and escaped any ac- countability to students, faculty, or the voters of the State of Michigan, by meeting in small groups to consider candidates for the University's general legal council. This avoids violation of the act since the meetings do not have a quorum and are not technically official. The Open Meetings Act - to ensure accountability - requires that public institutions (such as the University) have open meetings when a quorum of their policy making body is present. But disregard for the intent of this law is nothing new. In interviews with presidential candidates last summer and applicants for provost this past fall, the regents used this small group method. The results were institutionally incestuous; inside-track hiring promoted Duderstadt to president and Engineering School Dean Charles Vest Regardless of the legal violation, these meetings go against the interest of fairness and participation of the stu- dents and faculty. Even the media can- iot observe the meetings. This system favors those with con- nections and promotes the old boy network. As Richard Kennedy, Uni- versity Vice President for Government Relations put it, the regents are not of- ficially interviewing the candidates, but rather satisfying themselves (Ann Ar- bor News, 2/14/89). There is no at- tempt to satisfy the criteria of the stu- dents and faculty, only a few select administrators. In conjunction with the disempow- erment of University Council - the president has taken away the student- faculty veto power over rules govern- ing conduct - and the passage of a protest code which is enforced by cam- pus deputies, this should be seen as one in a series of anti-democratic ac- tions by the Duderstadt administration. The University is not interested in stu- dent input. Duderstadt and the regents hope to snow the students into thinking they have their best interests in mind. In re- ality, student input is denied and stu- dent rights are curtailed while the ad- ministration escapes even its legal obli- gations for accountability. I 7 ^ r r"?3 Lettersto:::the-: editor:.":i ; 0 Remember Armenian tragedy To the Daily: Every year on April 24th Armenians all over the world commemorate the first geno- cide of the twentieth century, the systematic annihilation of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire. It was on the eve of April 24th, 1915, that the Ar- memian intellectuals in the Ot- toman empire were arrested by the ordes of the Youiig I uk gove ment, niatched off, and murdered. Following this, convoys of Armenians, men, women and children, also fol- lowed under guard, never to be heard of again. Well over a million Armenians perished as a result. All Armenian land and property was seized by the Turkish authorities and the survivors were left to fend for themselves. As a result, to this day, there are no Armenians left in historic wesitn Arme- nia. These lands now constitute the eastern provinces of the Turkish republic. This year the Armenian Stu- dents Cultural Association Club (ASCAC) will be host- ing a number of commemora- tive events which will include S terilize all men To the Daily: Having accepted that human life starts at conception and having accepted that ending that life is unacceptable morally-speaking as the New Right proclaims, this comrade proposes the sterilization of all men. This is the only way to ensure that abortion does not occur, even in cases of rape or incest. Sterilize all men: we have the technology. It is a simple office operation. Every male upon reaching a certain age will put a lifetime's supply of sperm in a sperm bank and then have his tubes tied for the good of humanity. Sterilize all men: the Ten Commandments outlaw mur- der, not artificial insemination. Sterilize all men: this would be a much less controversial way to resolve the abortion is- sue once and for all - no back alley abortions, no court fights and no lengthy political mobi- lization pitting feminists against born-again Christians. Sterilize all men: murder in the womb will never happen again under any morally diffi- cult circumstances. Sterilize all men: the anti- ready France has a birth control pill that automatically aborts the fetus or non-fetus every month in a way that makes it impossible to tell if an abor- tion happened. Comrade anti-abortionists: the time is now! Sterilize all men before it is too late! (The author is comrade 5 of the Maoist Internationalist Movement.) -Anonymous February 10 Food Co-op 'slandervine' To the Daily: The People's Food Co-op (PFC) is having a banquet this year instead of an annual meet- ing. The notice, which the People's Food Co-op sent to the members, boldly displayed "PFC Annual Meeting," was about caterers and musicians. There are no issues or agenda for the members to vote upon and thus no reason to have a meeting of the members. The PFC is having an elec- tion to clean up the language in its by-laws. Under the cur- rent set of by-laws (section 4.6), the board must set an agenda containing items submitted by members. The board was too lazy to set the agenda for this annual meeting a non-profit corporation. This is sad because the members used to run the PFC by having members' meetings, before submitting to a board-style co- op in 1980. The PFC put the Daily's editorial in a file and selec- tively showed it to members who were shopping and told these members that nothing in the editorial was true. This form of gossiping has been called "the slandervine." Unfortunately, no members have asked the obvious ques- tion: if the Daily's editorial wasn't true, then what is true? Members do not know what records are kept, if any. This makes it difficult to verify a long string of logic, gossip and events. The sad part is that this gos- sip gives the impression of open information and an in- formed membership. The sad part is that the "co-op" says (but doesn't print) that a total of four committee or board meetings were attended within the last year by the nine candi- dates running for the board (aside from the current vice- president and secretary.) The People's Food Co-op won't print this information and relies on gossip and misinformation to herd its members. 6 In honor of Michigan's Arab-American Awareness Week (March 20-26), several student groups are sponsoring an Arabic Cultural Night this Friday, March 24 at 7:00 p.m. in East Quad Cafeteria. Join the celebration of the 13th anniversary of Pales- tinian Land Day, featuring "Al Watan," the famous Palestinian Debka Troup from Wahington, D.C.; the "Chicago Debka Troup" and the "Detroit Folklore Troup." There will also be an Arabic calligraphy exhibit; an art and handicrafts exhibit; tradi- tional dresses; and Arabic Food. 6 I..