9
Page 4-The Michigan Daily -Tuesday, September 18, 1990
Ule Alidflgun Bailg
EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS
AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
420 Maynard Street
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109
I
NOAH FINKEL
Editor in Chief
DAVID SCHWARTZ
Opinion Editor
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.
Homophobia
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Zeeland discrimination
A HIGH SCHOOL IN ZEELAND,
Michigan needs an English teacher, and
in the community there is a man with
both experience and skill fulfilling this
need. Yet parents, who acknowledge
his teaching abilities, want him fired.
In Michigan, systematic discrimina-
tion against gays, lesbians, and bisexu-
als is common policy. Even worse is
that this policy is enforced by our po-
lice and courts.
The teacher, David VanHeest, is just
one of many victimized by their com-
munity's homophobia. VanHeest was
arrested on charges of alleged homo-
sexual activity with minors. These
charges were a clear attempt by the Ot-
tawa County Sheriff's Office to frame
VanHeest and five other men. The six
men were arrested at a private party at-
tended by a 17-year-old working un-
dercover with deputies, but in spite of
this expense of both time and money,
the sheriff's office was forced to drop
the charges for lack of evidence.
After his release, VanHeest was re-
instated to his position in the high
school. In response to this reinstate-
ment 600 parents signed a petition de-
manding that the school board fire
VanHeest for "health and psychologi-
cal" reasons.
The apparent health risk, according
to parents, is that of AIDS. This is a
dangerously ignorant myth, that only
serves to further persecution of gay
men in our society. Even if VanHeest
must be remedied
had tested positive for AIDS (which he
has not) he could not transmit it to the
students in a normal classroom setting.
AIDS is only transmitted through the
exchange of bodily fluids (i.e.blood
and semen).
The parents' fear of psychological
damage is as unfounded as their fear of
AIDS. They seem to be concerned that
this man, because he is gay, will se-
duce their sons. In reality they should
be more concerned about their children
whose teachers are heterosexual men.
Ninety eight percent of all rapes are
committed by heterosexual men.
Thecommunity in Zeeland should
welcome this opportunity to achieve a
greater diversity on their high school
staff. Children growing up in our soci-
ety are bombarded with heterosexism
- the constant affirmation of hetero-
sexuality, and the resulting persecution
of gays, lesbians, and bisexuals -
often leading to the unhappiness and
confusion that is caused by repression
and denial of their true sexual orienta-
tion. Those who are able to come to
terms with their sexuality face harass-
ment and discrimination in both their
personal and public lives.
The discrimination and harassment
of this man on the basis of his sexual
orientation is equivalent to the harass-
ment of a person of color on the basis
of race, or the harassment of a woman
on the basis of gender. This discrimi-
nation must stop, in our schools, insti-
tutions, and communities.
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Redefining the world: Bush's Iraqese shines
By Philip Cohen
It is a time of political redefinition in
the world and in the United States. As al-
ways, the definition of terms is crucial.
Let's look the terms of President Bush, as
displayed in last week's speech to the
American public.
Take the passage - read by the Presi-
dent - from the historic new joint agree-
ment with the Soviets. It read, in part:
"No peaceful international order is possi-
ble if larger states can devour their smaller
neighbors."
Now, to anyone even remotely familiar
with U.S. or Soviet history this assertion
of course rings true. The history of inter-
vention and invasion by the Soviet Union
since the 50s, and the United States since
its inception, shows that, indeed, there has
been no peaceful international order. And
there is no indication that Gorbachev or
Bush have any intention of changing that
now.
So, either this is a remarkably frank
assertion that the two imperialist powers
mean to continue to prevent the emergence
of a peaceful international order - or the
definition of "peaceful international order"
has simply been changed to mean some-
thing like "uncontested imperialist interna-
tional domination." You decide.
The best new catch-phrase employed in
the President's speech was: "America and
the world."
Philip Cohen is a Daily Weekend
Magazine columnist.
The is supposed to symbolize the pow-
erful mandate of a world consensus behind
the U.S. invasion of Saudi Arabia. To
make phraseology and reality meet, how-
ever, here the definition of "the world" is
being altered to refer only to the United
States and its client states. All of the other
world governments - including roughly
half of the Arab nations - who oppose
the action are not considered.
So the President says, "America and the
world must defend common vital inter-
ests." Now, obviously, if "the world" is
"the world," as far as climactic zones,
North versus South and so on. To be even
more clear ecologically perhaps he should
have said he envisions a new world in
which "the rule of law supplants the rules
of the jungle and the desert," but instead
he leaves the inference to us. (Besides this*
would only offer confusion about those ar-;
eas which the North colonized so long ago
that they no longer appear to be contested
- occupied Mexico, for example.)
Bush adds: "America and the world must
stand up to aggression." As "the world"
Now, obviously, if "the world" is really supposed to
mean "the world" then there is no one to defend any- R
thing from, and no such thing as a conflicting interest.
The definition is changed.
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really supposed to mean "the world" then
there is no one to defend anything from,
and no such thing as a conflicting interest.
The definition is changed.
And he says, "America and the world
must support the rule of law." Here it be-
comes more clear, because we can simply
define "the world" as whichever group cur-
rently supports the U.S. definition of "the
rule of law" - meaning here unchallenged
U.S. domination.
The President explains that he sees a
new world emerging, one in which "the
rule of law supplants the rule of the jun-
gle." That's just to clear up any confusion
about who's who in the new definition of
fights "aggression," who is what fighting?
Here, the definitions of both "the world"
and "aggression" will have to be changed
to make the sentence fit.
President Bush may be a dishonest man,
but at least what he says is quite clear. Of
particular interest is his assertion that*
even after the Cold War, "The world is
still dangerous... Stability is not secure."
Therein lies the recognition that our fear-
less leader's greatest fears are never far
from the surface. And therein lies the hope
of the oppressed people of the world, as.
they prepare for the royal dethroning of the:
President who changed our definition of
"the world."
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D e e to
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about who's who in the new definition of "the world."
r.0"
Housing responds to
parent's allegations
To the Daily:
David Bruce Weiss, in his column "'U'
Housing restricts free trade during move-
in" (9/12/90) regarding the sale and deliv-
ery of Wolverine Carpets to students in
University residence halls, omits that
while he may be a concerned parent, he is
also the attorney for the company and was
personally involved in many of the events
he describes. In addition, there are so many
erroneous allegations and misstatements of
fact in his remarks that it would take far
more space than is available in this forum
to begin to offer serious rebuttal.
Two of his central assertions must be
contradicted. The University's sole pur-
pose in securing a commission from the
successful bidders of products to be sold
and delivered to students during the Labor
Day weekend move-in program was to de-
fray its administrative costs not budgeted
for room and board costs. Contrary to Mr.
Weiss' claim that the costs were minimal,
they amount to approximately $20,000.00
he amount to be received in commissions
will be insufficient to fully reimburse
those costs to the University.
Wolverine Carpets has for the last three
years solicited student business here and
knows the University's policies regarding
the delivery of commercial products in the
residence halls. Wolverine failed to com-
ply with those rules for the 1990 student
move-in. These rules do not constitute "an
illegal restraint of trade" but are the only
means by which the University can moni-
tor traffic flow in the halls and insure that
the many vendors who comply with Uni-
versity policies are not placed at a compet-
To the Daily:
It's unfortunate that staff writer Mike
Sullivan didn't spend more time research-
ing his article about bookstores in Ann
Arbor (NSE 9/6/90). He did new students
and Michigan Daily readers a disservice by
not learning more about the bookstores in
Ann Arbor and their specialties. The kudos
for Border's, Shaman Drum, and David's
Books are well-deserved. However, Mr.
Sullivan didn't mention in his article The
Hundred Acre Wood, a wonderfully stocked
children's bookshop in Nickels Arcade.
Neither did he mention The West Side
Bookshop on W. Liberty, one of the better
antiquarian bookshops in the country. Nor
did he mention two shops which have
opened recently on State Street: Kaleido-
scope Used and Rare Books and Books in
General. Given the flip tenor of Mr. Sul-
livan's article these bookdealers might
have preferred to have been left out of the
article.
His comments about bookstores in-
cluded in the article lead one to believe
that perhaps he's never been in them.
Afterwords on Main Street is a unique
bookshop with an outstanding selection of
remaindered and out of print books. State
Street Bookshop has the largest collection
of antiquarian maps and prints in the
Midwest ass well as an excellent collec-
tion of books and documents relating to
Michigan history.
Ann Arbor has an active Antiquarian
Book Dealers Association which sponsors
a book fair each spring, as well as an An-
tiquarian Book Society and an Antiquarian
Map Society. Information about the Anti-
quarian Societies and the Book Fair can be
obtained at any of the shone in town.
To the Daily:.
As of September, 1990, Student Legal
Services (SLS) has suffered recent staff
losses that cannot adequately be filled, due
to severe budget problems. Presently,
among our staff of six, we have only two
attorneys and one paralegal to provide di-
rect legal assistance, including advice,
brief service, negotiation and court repre-
sentation. We are doing our best to cope
with the situation and provide the students
maximum service - but by necessity we;
are curtailing intake and refusing cases we
previously would have accepted.
. Our control over our own budget is
limited. We are funded by the Michigan
Student Assembly (MSA), which receives
a small ($6.77) stipend from each stu-
dent's tuition bill. From that sum, MSA "
decides how much to allocate to various
student groups, including SLS.
In July, MSA proposed a very modest
37¢ per student increase, which would
have helped them (and SLS) to keep pace.
with inflation and maintain service to the
students. Unfortunately, the Regents re.
jected this request.
That decision, along with other factors,
significantly affected the SLS budget, and 0
correspondingly reduces our level of ser-
vice to the students. We sincerely regret
this and are doing everything in our power
to change it, or at least minimize the im-
pact. One option includes charging stu-
dents an additional, substantial fee when
our 'services are used, which we strongly
hope to avoid.
If you have any thoughts or concerns
about this situation, please contact Stu-
dent Legal Services, the Michigan Student
Bookdealer responds Scaled down SLS
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