Page 4 - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, April 17, 1990 Ewe ITdjtgan BaiI EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN 420 Maynard Street Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109 ARTS 763 0379 PHOTO 764 0552 NEWS 764 0552 SPORTS 747 3336 OPINION 747 2814 WEEKEND 747 4630 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 . TO -T~ u _ ITS' MvXo Alk IT fr4511VE r'' T;Vf b O)& 9/ *1 MIER, ANP TILE( UUTUVIAT 0 Fresh hopes MSA has the chance to forge a new beginning TONIGHT, A NEW MICHIGAN STU- students for their off-campus cond -dint Assembly president and half of the and should be strongly opposed by :bdy's representatives will begin their new assembly. one-year terms on the assembly. Also, a new bill before the s incoming President Jennifer Van legislature would, if passed, allow Valey and the rest of the assembly have University to set up its own po "much to do, but nothing as crucial as force. These so-called cops would efiding the infighting that has plagued able to carry guns, and would repl MSA for at least a year. This term, the many Ann Arbor police patrols assembly deteriorated to the point that campus. Such a possibility warr iepresentatives would vote against a student response, as Van Valey has rbposal simply because "one of them" ready demonstrated in a trip to Lan bad written it. It's time MSA represen- to lobby state legislators. tives, who have taken on the respon- Still, MSA should do more to F sibility of standing up for students' mote student safety. Increased ligh 'concerns, focus their attention on the both on- and off-campus, as wel problems facing students, instead of education about crime prevent conflicts with each other. would benefit all students. The ass( MSA shouldn't have trouble bly should take a leading role in remaining busy, either. The most couraging the University to recycl important of student concerns, high waste, in pushing for longer libr and rising tuition, still needs to be hours, and in standing up for the c ,combatted, and it's time the assembly cerns of students, whatever they -took a leading role in the fight against be. the ever-increasing cost of a University education. Whether by lobbying the administration in Ann Arbor or Over the last year, students h lobbying the state legislature in suffered because of an assembly Lansing, MSA needs to actively work ranked the concerns of students sec for stable tuition. to their own agendas. We can In addition, a slew of other prob- hopeful, though, that our new ref lems awaits the new assembly. Uni- sentatives will stand up for our c versity President James Duderstadt has cerns and work hard to make sure shown he intends to institute a policy dents have a loud voice at the Uni governing students' out-of-the-class- sity. room behavior, which would severely So as we wish the new assem limit students' expression and activity. well tonight, let's hope it will b Such a code of non-academic conduct fruitful year - both for MSA and would allow the University to punish the students they represent. (Z uct, ythe tate the lice dbe ace on ants sal- sing pro- ting 1 as ion, >em- en- e its rary con- may ave that cond be pre- on- stu- ver- bly be a for Daily forgets LAGROC rally, week's other events _" q; « r - a - A horror show Don't stand for Showcase's outrageous prices LIGHTS! CAMERA!l MONEY CARD? ,. It used to be that a trip to the movies for two, including popcorn, would cost about $10. In that not-so-long-ago past it was actually affordable to go see a movie - but that's all changed now. Ann Arbor's mega-movie metropo- lis monstrosity, the Cinema City out on Carpenter Road also known as Show- case Cinemas, doesn't want to give students, a large chunk of its business, a break. As a result, a trip to Showcase for two with popcorn costs about $20. The admission price for a movie is $5.50. Last year it was $5, and the cost paused briefly at $5.25 before rising to its current level. So we better hurry out -there before it becomes $6, which will happen any day now. Showcase also doesn't offer student discounts, which many other theater chains do. Consequently, a trip to the movies for the average student presents some serious economic concerns, especially when that film is playing at Showcase City. Showcase also no longer offers matinee prices on week- ends, so a Saturday afternoon movie will hurt as much as one on a Saturday night. In a college town where many moviegoers are full-time students, this is insensitive. The number of movie houses on campus has dwindled over the last decade. First the theater on South Uni- versity closed, and since the fantasti- cally large, 14-theater Showcase com- plex opened a year and a half ago, the State Theater has also closed. It is not only getting economically difficult to go to the movies, it is getting physi- cally difficult as well. There are still thC Michigan Theater and the Ann Arbor Theater, which both offer student dis- count prices, but it seems that the stub- born giant on the edge of town won't budge. Obviously, there are many more im- portant things to students' lives than inflated movie prices, but a movie escape is still a recreational favorite for many people. The next time you are considering a trip to the movies, check out what's playing at the campus the- aters. Also, don't forget Briarwood, which still has matinee prices and that ancient $5 admission fare. But don't choose Showcase. It's too expensive, too far, you need a Ph.D. to park, and it's obvious that students are not one of their patron priorities. Be- sides, on a Saturday night, the lines for tickets and candy are longer than lines at CRISP. To the Daily: March 26 marked the beginning of Lesbian and Gay Men's Awareness Week 1990 at the University of Michigan. The festivities, organized by LAGROC, began this year on the central campus with a bal- loon studded rally, which included both speakers and entertainment. Of the 200- 300 people in attendance, emcee David Horste estimated that 75 to 100 people "came out under the rainbow." Horste was referring to a rainbow colored "balloon arch" LAGROC had constructed on the rally site. Sounds great! This is how the Daily might have covered this story if it had managed to get a reporter down to the rally site that day. Their reporter might have also written about our speakers, Tracy Ore, President of Rackham Student Gov- ernment and Ron Wheeler, U-M law stu- dent and member of Black Lesbian Womyn and Gay Men in Struggle. Both Ron and Tracy delivered stinging attacks to University administration officials. They also provided inspiration to the U-M Lesbian and Gay Men's community, a large group of people on the U-M campus who find themselves regularly marginal- ized and diminished by the University's harsh climate of heterosexist bigotry. Oh well, never mind. Our community is used to being ignored by the media. We're used to having to fight harder to get Hash Bash has an important history To the Daily: David K. Leitner (4/9/90, "There is not a need for a Hash Bash") totally misses the point of the Hash Bash and the Univer- sity's role with it. Leitner is unaware of the events and reasons leading up to the first Hash Bash and the latest one, and is obviously more concerned with the Uni- versity's image than the right of free speech. Just because a student does something or voices an opinion does not mean that the University approves and advocates it. It's not as if Duderstadt and the regents were sitting around trying to think of some activity that would show how di- verse and intelligent the students are here. "Hey, let's have a Hash Bash!" pipes up a regent. This is how Leitner seems to envi- sion the University's role in the Hash Bash. However it is quite the opposite. The University tried to stop NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) from obtaining a permit this year, but the court ruled in favor of NORML and free speech. The first Hash Bash was held in 1972 and provoked was by the 10-year prison sentence of John Sinclair, a political ac- tivist unpopular with the majority, who was convicted of giving a cop two joints. Ann Arbor then decided that drug sentences should not be due to political activism and thus adopted the five dollar fine. This year's Hash Bash had special meaning because the day before Ann Arbor was to vote on raising the fine, and the Hash Bash was partially a rally against the raise. The Hash Bash has always been, at least in part, a protest for the legalization of marijuana. Thus the reason why there have not been any spinoffs in 17 years. Leitner states, "It is the University's duty to promote an atmosphere where study is possible." The Hash Bash did not interfere with any studying except for clos- ing the front doors of the Graduate Li- brarv. On behalf of the attenders nolo- media coverage than many other groups, and twice as hard to get accurate coverage. So, we really weren't surprised when we didn't get our article the next day, or even the following week. What we were surprised to see was an attack on our community by people who claim to be sensitive to the "intercon- nectedness" of social issues. I am referring to a letter written by Elise McLaughlin, who I assume represents the Earth Week Planning Committee. At this point, I would like to say that I resent having to write this letter at all. There were two homophobic letters in the Daily recently which desperately need a good "answering" (one by MSA represen- tative Brian Mistele and one by some ROTC guy trashing L/GM's civil rights). Aaron Williams and his buddies are going to try to re-recognize the Cornerstone Christian Fellowship tonight (7 pm). We will be interviewing Affirmative Action Office Director Zaida Giraldo on WCBN this evening (6 pm) and also meeting with President Duderstadt about the LAGROC demands. The criticisms made, however, do require a response. In her letter, McLaughlin made some good points. The balloons LAGROC re- leased at the rally site are destructive to the environment, she says, and dangerous if ingested by aquatic wildlife. These are valid complaints. Many of the people in the U-M Lesbian/Gay Men's community agree. Many people in the L/GM's com- munity are environmentalists. I'm sure many people on the Earth Week Planning Committee are Gay Men or Lesbians. We certainly have no desire to fight our politi- cal "allies" in the Daily. In fact, if McLaughlin had confined herself to environmental criticisms, this letter probably never would have been written. Instead, she chose to display her arrogance and insensitivity to our commu- nity by deliberately dragging the names of two innocent people through the mud in the pages of the Daily (emcee David Horste and keynote speaker Ron Wheeler). She did this without even attempting to contact the members of LAGROC, who actually organized the rally. In her letter, McLaughlin discusses the damage done to the environment by the "wall of balloons" released at the L/GM's Awareness Week rally. She accuses the organizers of Lesbian and Gay Men's Awareness Week 1990 of "narrow-minded- ness" and suggests they lack the "moral courage" to "do the right thing." As the co-coordinator of this event, I wonder if McLaughlin realizes how much damage she has done. I wonder if she is ready to "do the right thing." Bran Durrance LAGROC ROTC should have no place on campus To the Daily: This is in response to William Gre- gor's letter (4/12/90, "ROTC restrictions are necessary and legal"). In lieu of recent court cases, the public has been made aware that the government condones this type of discrimination.-This is yet another example of the common misconception in our society that because something is legal it is inherently benefi- cial and "good." The Constitution, in attempting to give equal rights to everyone, is unable to prevent the existence of blatantly offensive groups such as the White Aryan Resis- tance and the Ku Klux Klan. Because the law does not or cannot eliminate the exis- tence of these groups does not imply that their views are acceptable or that we would welcome or tolerate their presence on this campus. Although he states why this exclusion is legal, I fail to see why it is necessary. As homosexuals are enlisted when the need for recruits is high, the military ac- knowledges that homosexuals are compe- tent and capable of military service. Ho- mosexual service members, enlisted during these times of need, have spent years in the military and are now being discharged solely on the basis of sexual orientation. As they had been serving competently, I fail to see how their presence was in any way "inviting disorder." The argument that the military has suf- ficient combat power without this "very limited pool of manpower" as justification for excluding homosexuals is ludicrous. Historically, our heterosexual, white male. dominated society has been sufficiently empowered that they have not "needed" the skills and talents of any minority group in the workplace - thus condoning the op- pression of homosexuals, women, and people of color. Fortunately this mentality is becoming less and less popular. I now can reason- ably expect to be hired in the field of engineering, in spite of the obvious fact th , ati. - . - alto h ni ner nil rl }s..r question: "If a university unit can be ex- pelled because of its policies are lawful and constitutional, is any unit or anyone protected?" ROTC is not being protested because of its constitutionality. It is clear from recent court cases that our laws sup- port this type of discrimination. The question here is whether or not the University should allow ROTC to be a unit on this campus. The University states that it attempts to provide an atmosphere free of discrimination due to sex, race, or sexual orientation. I call on the university to own up to its promise and eliminate from this campus an organization that ac- tively discriminates against homosexuals. Kim Watson Engineering junior Letter was hilarious To the Daily: I had to laugh at William Gregor's edi- torial regarding the armed forces' exclusion of homosexuals, not because anything he said was particularly humorous, but rather because Gregor's avowed purpose was to "school the students in subjects they scrupulously avoid." Nothing is more hi- larious than when an individual makes un- intelligent comments in a patronizing manner, especially when those comments are directed at an audience that could clearly teach the good lieutenant colonel a thing or two. Gregor's entire article was filled with nothing but insensitive and incoherent drivel. Gregor proposes, without even an attempt at substantiation, that allowing homosexuals will "invite disorder." Why? Your guess is as good as mine. If Gregor is suggesting that the armed forces are filled with homophobic individuals such as himself who could not behave in a ma- ture manner when confronted with individ- uals who are homosexual, then there defi- nitely is nroblem. 0 -- /pd46 4v /'frixiu4l 5-z-rge JF/W-4Gs & A'i( ~cssI 6 Js-axt1w /oFA ,J'lc,w /frie/[ AY' tt -rL 6tmra~N-&47t '7k'IMENDIXC5$ /AF4XOF VSrn *v% A iZ~4C OF J PF D CTt'36 g eLp", f i