Page 4 -The Michigan Daily - Monday, March 19, 1990 aE Lidjigan arIt EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN 420 Maynard Street Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109 Viewpoint Eating bugs for money could have possibilities as a TV show ARTS NEWS OPINION 763 0379 764 0552 747 2814 PE IOTO SPORTS WEEKEND 764 0552 747 3336 747 4630 Dave Barry, 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 Democracy? U.S. media skew the true meaning of freedom WHAT IS DEMOCRACY? MOST PEO- ple would include in their definition some basic rights like free elections, freedom of assembly, and the right to express one's opinion without fear of violent retaliation. Others would go further and argue that real democracy includes the right to meaningful partici- pation in the decisions that affect one's life - for example, at the work place. The corporate-controlled media in the United States, however, have arrived at a much simpler definition: democracy means the side favored by the U.S. government is in power. This definition has become increasingly clear in the media's reporting of events in Central America and elsewhere. A recent New York Times article (3/14/90) titled "Bush Urges Congress to Act on Aid to New Democracies" il- lustrates this definition. The "wobbly new democracies" referred to in the headline are Panama and Nicaragua. Never mind that Panama is under mili- tary occupation by a foreign power, which has closed down radio stations :and had trade union leaders fired from their jobs. And Nicaragua is now a "new democracy" because the candi- date backed by 12.5 million U.S. dol- lars won the elections. Nicaragua's freely-contested and internationally- monitored 1984 elections did not qual- ify that nation as a "democracy" in U.S. mediaspeak, because the "wrong" party won. The media are very consistent in ap- plying this definition. El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras are routinely referred to as democracies, without quotation marks. In El Salvador and Guatemala, military forces routinely murder political opponents of the gov- ernment. The same is true for Hon- duras, although the violence is on a smaller scale, and the U.S. embassy there has virtual veto power over presi- dential decisions. In keeping with this definition, the Sandinistas are still being held to a very high standard, much higher than even that of our own country, to be judged democratic. Thus it is not enough that they have allowed foreign funding of their opponents in the election (which is illegal in the U.S.), moved the date of the election up nine months, and agreed to turn over power to the win- ning party, including the ministries of defense and the interior. They are now being portrayed in the media as "undemocratic" if they do not agree to all of the constitutional changes neces- sary to eliminate Sandinista influence in the military. But no one would expect a newly- elected U.S. president to purge all of the officers of our own military. And it would be difficult, if not impossible, for a new President to accomplish this without having a two-thirds majority of Congress. Violeta Chamorro's coali- tion did not get the two-thirds of the legislature that she would need to make constitutional changes. She and her U.S. financiers will just have to live with this fact - after all, 41 percent of the people voted for the Sandinistas. It is hypocritical and irresponsible of the U.S. media to deny the legitimacy of the Sandinistas' position. Ironically, the mainstream media's definition of democracy in other coun- tries reveals more about the nature of our own democracy than anything else. For without a press that is independent of State Department manipulation and corporate control, the ability of our own citizens to even acquire the infor- mation that would be necessary to their participation in a democratic political life is extremely limited. There comes a time in the life of ever American citizen when Duty calls. "Hey YOU!!" are Duty's exact words, and unles you're some kind of flag-desecrating pe vert, you're going to stand up, as American have stood up for more than 200 years, an you're going to say, "Yes, I will participa in the Arbitron television-ratings survey. I answered The Call one recent afte noon. The phone rang, and it was a person informing me that I had been selected to be an Arbitron household based on an exhaustive screening process consisting of being home when my number was dialed at ran- dom. As you can imagine, I was deeply moved. "Do I get money?" I asked. The reason I asked this is that a couple of years ago I was a Nielson ratings household, and all they paid me was two lousy dollars, yet they wanted me to write down EVERY PROGRAM I WATCHED, which was virtually impossible because I'm a guy and biologically capable of keeping track of huge numbers of programs simultaneously by chang- ing the channel the instant some- thing boring happens, such as dia- logue. Whereas women, because of a tragic genetic flaw, feel compelled to watch only ONE PROGRAM AT A TIME, the way people did back in the Middle Ages, before the inven- tion of remote control. Anyway, it turns out that $2 is also all you get for being an Arbitron household. But, I agreed to be one anyway, because, let's face it, when anybody connected with the televi- sion industry asks you to do some- thing, no matter how stupid or de- grading it is, you do it. This is why people are willing to openly discuss their secret bodily problems in com- mercials that are seen by the entire natio These people become FAMOUS for havin secret bodily problems. When they go outt dinner, large celebrity-worshiping crow gather to stare and point and whisper exci edly to each other, "Look! It's Elston Quadrant, Hemorrhoid Sufferer!" At least these people get paid, whichi more than you can say for the people who g on the syndicated TV talk shows and seekt enhance public understanding of variou Dave Barry's column will be a weekly fe lure in the Daily beginning today. ry ss r- ns te r- AR51T~oN LOG - \\' \i tragic psychological disorders by candidly revealing that they are total wackmobiles ("I'm Geraldo Rivera, and these men are commercial-airline pilots with live trout in their shorts."). So I figured the least I could do, for television, was be an Arbitron household. This involves two major responsibilities: 1. Keeping track of what you watch on TV. 2. Lying about it. At least that's what I did. I imagine most people do. Because let's face it: Just because you watch a certain show on television, that doesn't mean you want to ADMIT it. Let's say you're flipping through your8,479 cable channels, and you come across a program $20,000. My point is that you'd watch this pro- gram, but you wouldn't tell Arbitron. You'd claim that you watched a National Geo- graphic special with a name like "The Amazir.g World of Beets." In my Arbitron diary, I wrote that our entire household (including Earnest, who is, legally, a dog) mainly watched the network news, whereas in fact the only remotely educational pro- gramming we watched that week was a commercial for oat bran, which by the way is clearly no more intended for human con- sumption than insects are. Speaking of which, here is a Late Bulle- tin: My wife - this is the wonderful thing about Free Enterprise - has considered i n. Ig to ds t- V. is go to us a- 1990 Tribune Media Services, Inc. All Rights Reserved called "Eat Bugs For Money," wherein they bring out a large live insect, and the contest- ants secretly write down the minimum amount of money they would have to be given to eat it, and whichever one has the lowest bid has to actually do it. Admit it: YOU would watch this program. In fact, right now you're saying to yourself, "Hey, I wonder what channel that's on." Unfortu- nately, at present it's still in the conceptual stage. It's based on an idea from my editor, Gene Weingarten, who has publicly stated that he would eat a live adult South Florida cockroach (average weight:11pounds) for Gene Weingarten's bid and announced that SHE would eat a live adult cockroach for just $2,000. If you sincerely feel you can beat that price, drop me a linec/o The Miami Herald, Miami, FL 33132, because I'd like to produce a pilot episode of "Eat Bugs For Money" with an eye toward - call me a Cultural Pioneer -advancing the frontiers of my income. I would also appreciate your lowest price on eating a nonpoisonous but hair-covered spider. Thank you. ©1990 The Miami Herald Distributed by Tribune Media Services, Inc. CVictimizing Disabled deserve compensation for discrimination THOUGH THE BUSH ADMINISTRA- tion has strongly supported a bill in the Senate to extend civil rights protections to 43 million Americans with disabili- ties, it is now backing away from ef- forts to toughen the punishment of businesses that don't comply. A new bill has been introduced in both the House and the Senate that would toughen the penalties provided in the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to allow for compensatory and punitive damages, a measure which would effect disability legislation as well. Senior officials in the Bush administration have threat- ened to withdraw support for the dis- abilities bill if its backers continue to seek penalties for job discrimination that are harsher than those now pro- vided for in the Civil Rights Act. If passed in its current form, the Americans With Disabilities Act would mandate that all new buildings used by the general public provide disabled people with access; further, existing businesses would be required to make modifications to buildings if the changes can be made without creating a financial burden. The bill would also require trains and buses, both public and private, to be accessible to people with disabilities, and would force phonedcompanies to provide public telephones that can be used by those with speech and hearing impairments. The White House and Senate Re- publicans have agreed to support the bill if its backers agree to link penalty provisions to those in the 1964 civil rights law. But proponents of the bill are seeking to provide recourse for dis- abled people in cases of willful job dis- crimination, and shouldn't be limited by the constraints of other laws. Instead of trying to weaken the de- mands made by the bill's backers, the Bush administration should support in- creased punishment for discriminatory businesses. All victims of such dis- crimination should be allowed to sue for punitive and cormpensatory dam- ages. The Civil Rights Law of 1990 was introduced in Congress with the back- ing of numerous civil rights organiza- tions, which include groups represent- ing people with disabilities. This law would allow victims of discrimination to sue for monetary awards. It is time to recognize the severity of the burden placed on people with disabilities and to strengthen their legal rights. Arab stereotypes need to be fought. By Dina Khoury Suppose a survey were conducted of University of Michigan students to deter- mine their attitudes towards Blacks, both African-American and African. Suppose that roughly one-quarter to one-third of the respondents said that Blacks in general were violent or prone to crime. Among any enlightened university community, such results should be met with alarm and despair. Such a survey was recently conducted on campus, but instead of testing student attitudes about Blacks, the survey was concerned with Arabs. Roughly 90 percent of those responding agreed that Arabs were both intelligent or competent and hard- working or diligent. And roughly 90 percent disagreed with the statement "Arabs are unclean." However, a core group ranging from 20-35 percent of the respondents consistently agreed with negative statements such as "Arabs are terrorists," "Arabs are warlike," and "Arabs hate Jews." While these statements might cause other ethnic groups to bristle, the Arab- American Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), the group conducting the poll, was somewhat encouraged by the results. Khoury is an LSA junior. The figures represent an improvement over broader surveys conducted in the past. However, we remain deeply concerned that approximately 30 out of every 100 people on this campus continue to believe in these racist stereotypes. This can only breed further tension on campus. The ADC conducted the survey to de- termine what stereotypes are most preva- lent among University students and there- fore in what ways we must educate the community to help end these stereotypes. The survey was conducted by phone and the respondents were chosen at random from the University student directory. The students were provided with statements and were asked to agree or disagree with each statement. After compiling raw percentages, we correlated various statements to show significant tendencies among the respondents replies. Our goal is to humanize Arabs in the face of traditionally dehumanizing media portrayals. To have 20-35 percent of those polled holding such negative attitudes to- wards Arabs in an educated community is unacceptable. In order for us to move for- ward to an atmosphere of greater tolerance, we must strive to understand one another rather than condemn in ignorance. Anti-Arab stereotyping is not a new phenomenon or on unto itself. Rather, it is deeply embedded in the ever-present intolerance of societies against those who are different. Education provides the best path to- wards the dismantling of stereotypes. March 19-23 marks Michigan's Arab- American Awareness Week, first declared by Governor Blanchard in 1988. Through- out the state, various activities will honor will Arab-Americans and their contribu- tions to American society. In Ann Arbor, the Center for Near Eastern and North African Studies will present a conference entitled: "Confronting the Past: A Century of Arab-American Experience." Four panel discussions and a poetry reading will take place Friday, March 23, in Rackham Amphitheater be- ginning at 9 am. For further information, please contact the Center in room 144 Lane Hall. In addition, the ADC wild sponsor a lecture by University of Chicago Sociology Professor John Woods on Arab Stereotypes in the media. The lecture will take place in room 132 Hutchins Hall of the Law School at 7 pm. Everyone is welcome. I 1 GREAT MOMEHTS IN UISTORY I I t i VNOLy oW!~FgMFo ECTIONS f r~~u t1U.S _R~s~ Perkins ignores issues To the Daily: I would like to nominate History Prof. Bradford Perkins for the "pompous ass" award for 1990. His letter (2/13/90) im- nlorinp' the former Daily Oninion Page ed- Regental by-laws by refusing to recognize student representatives and illegally ap- pointing members. Rosenthal has expressed his hostil- ity to the Daily in the media. He has re- cruited professors for the Board who have also shown previous hostility to the other well-documented incidents raised by the former editors but rather dismisses them as "paranoid" and "wallowing in self- pity." It is interesting that he mentions, in an attempt to disparage the former editors, the Daily of "long ago," which he notes . "was an effective voice of protest." I