Page 4 -The Michigan Daily Centennial Edition- Friday, October 19, 1990 Wbe £idtigau &tiIy NOAH FINKEL Editor in Chief DAVID SCHWARTZ - Opinion Editor I STEPHEN HENDERSON Associate Opinion Editor One hundred years! Some of those University issues just never die, BEST W1b&ESUS(Wi OESTA1) EAN ? - - A i ;I/ W II 4ae 4 Ah, life at The Mcia al THE OPINION PAGE HAS CHANGED in many ways throughout the 100-year history of the Daily. There have been countless different editors, all with their own styles and layouts. The size of the Opinion section has increased from two columns to an entire page, and the masthead has slowly evolved into a box with the names of the Editor in Chief and Opinion Editor. However, through all the changes, there has been a certain continuity and consistency which Daily readers could ,count on. Besides always being in the center of controversy, there have been issues throughout the past century that have appeared repeatedly on the Opin- ion Page. These are issues that never die. Esu.N The Greek system is one such issue. It seems that the controversial prac- tices of fraternities - more so than sororities - have been juicy topics for editorials at least once a year. Hazing has a longer history on the Opinion Page than most other issues, ibecause it was at one time common practice not only in fraternities, but was a traditional ritual for all first-year stu- dents. In a November 1930 editorial, the sOpinion Page spoke out on the practice of hazing at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, which had just abolished hazing of all incoming students. The Daily disagreed with the new policy at Dartmouth. It supported the theory that the abolition of hazing would evoke considerable objection from the public at large, which believed "any deviation from the customs of the -1890s can be nothing but a softening influence on the present day under- graduate." The article concluded with a com- promise between the position taken by the Dartmouth student government and k the stance of the general public. "The cases of individual freshmen who need the 'plaster of humiliation' will still be treated summarily. But undergraduate discipline will be intelligent instead of indiscriminate. Tradition will be pre- served but an extreme nuisance will be bolished." In other words, the Opinion Page actually supported the practice of haz- ing. This is a stance almost entirely op- posite of the position taken by the Opinion Page today - which has a reputation for being completely against pthe practice of hazing. Society as well has changed its view R of hazing. In fact, hazing has become Ssuch a topic of national criticism that t many fraternities themselves have now eliminated not only the tradition of 'hazing, but the activity of "pledging" altogether. A September 1989 editorial ad- dressed the decision by Tau Kappa Epsilon and Zeta Beta Tau fraternities to eradicate their pledge programs. However, in being consistent with the Daily's modern reputation of being very critical of the Greek system, the editorial looked at these decisions skeptically. It commended the deci- sions in passing, but then proceeded to lambaste the membership policies of fraternities at the University - another cloud of controversy surrounding the Greek system. The article points to advertising slo- gans for that year's fraternity rush such as "membership has its privileges" or "be a winner" as evidence of their ex- clusive policies. The concluding paragraph points to ;the "specific racist, sexist and classist 'history of fraternities" as making insti- tutional reform impossible. U.. Another issue that appears fre- ;quently on the Opinion Page is that of *the rising cost of a University educa- -tion. For 30 years, this issue has been battled by students, and the Daily has consistently opposed increases in tu- :ition. Although by 1973 the annual tu- move farther away from the idyllic no- tion of the pleasure of learning and its availability to all." The issue, although inflammatory, did not appear again on the page until the beginning of the next school year. In a September editorial, the Daily called for a student mobilization against the tuition hike and suggested the pos- sibility of a tuition strike. The article explained such a reactionary measure by illustrating that "the only way stu- dents can challenge the arbitrary actions the regents take is through such a mass-based action." Later that month, the proposed mass-based action became a reality. On Sep. 27, the Daily Opinion Page called for a campus-wide tuition strike.,Citing that "we have been ordered - not asked - to bear the full weight of the University's financial problems, and this is an unjust order," the Opinion Page called for a "student veto" of the hike. Although the strike had the support of the Opinion Page, and approxi- mately 100 students who turned out for a protest at cashier lines in the LSA Building, it was eventually for naught. Just two months after the strike be- gan, it was halted by "student apathy combined with the University's refusal to comment on the strike's effect." However, even today, students and the Daily complain and protest over rising tuition costs. The 1990 New Student Edition included a story that is printed every year - the story of the reported tuition hike for that year. The 1990 rise was more generous to stu- dents, though, as it was only a rela- tively modest 6.5 percent. As the Daily enters its next century, itdis likely the Opinion Page will con- tinue to harp on the spiralling cost of higher education. mom A third issue that never seems to die is a proposed code of student non-aca- demic conduct. This has been a topic of discussion at the University since 1973. During that year, the approval of Regental Bylaw 7.02 created the Uni- versity Council, which was established in order to give students a hand in forming a comprehensive code of stu- dent behavior. Over the years, this issue has been opposed almost overwhelmingly by students and faculty members, but has been ardently supported by three dif- ferent University presidents. The latest in this line of "code- happy" administrators is President James Duderstadt. From the outset of his service as president, Duderstadt has made clear his desire for a code, and has come closer to its implementation than any other president. In the spring of 1988, in response to several racist incidents on campus, the University instituted a policy on dis- criminatory harassment. Although this policy was supported by many anti- racist activists, it was clearly a form of non-academic regulation - a piece of the code of non-academic conduct. That summer, the Board of Regents instituted a "five-part plan to restrict political expression on campus," ac- cording to a September, 1988 editorial. The plan included guidelines on free speech and protest, deputizing Uni- versity security officers and suspend- ing the regental bylaw that gave stu- dents a voice in the establishment of campus policies. By September, the third of those proposals was instituted and the others were not far behind. The University has, over the past three years, instituted a policy on dis- crimination and harassment, a Univer- sity police force and a free speech and protest policy. The Opinion Page has continually opposed these policies, as it has tradi- tionally opposed any University regu- lation of non-academic behavior, at least in the last four decades. President Duderstadt's success in instituting a code lies in the wisdom By Steve Knopper Saying my first Daily editor made "minor structural changes" to my stories would be like saying Zilwaukee Bridge workers made repairs by dabbing on a few dots of Elmer's Glue. I stared blankly at the Macintosh screen as the News editor changed almost every word in my third- ever Daily story during my first year at the University. As my eyes wandered around the room, I felt useless. Everybody seemed to be do- ing something but me. News reporters frantically called stu- dents, administration and city officials for comments on theirstories. Phones rang constantly. Sports staffers silently typed their reports from Iowa, Illinois or Min- nesota while their editors pored over lay- out pages. Occasionally a camerahclad teenager would clamber up the stairs, hold- ing up a black and white print and asking if anyone knew where it belonged. Naturally no one did. I didn't know anyone. I had no idea what was going on. That day, I decided I wanted to be editor in chief and bring order to the mayhem. In the next four grueling years, I painstakingly learned that the mayhem had no cure. The Michigan Daily had virtually no rules and big decisions could only be made after a giant staff referendum or a 15- hour town hall-like election in the senior office. And as I sat in Crisler Arena last May waiting for James Duderstadt to excuse my participation on the Daily just enough to confer my B.A. degree, I decided mayhem is good. Daily mayhem is like no other Knopper, who now works for the Rich- mond News Leader in Richmond, Va., was a Daily staffer from 1986-1989. He was Managing Editor in 1989, and before that served as a copy assistant. mayhem. Decades ago, Tom Hayden and Arthur Miller must have had the same feeling in the pits of their innards that deadline was approaching, and they had no copy ready to fill the pages. They must have franti- cally typed up Associated Press wire copy while murmuring, "We'll never make it." But they made it. Whether they begged now retired paste-up fixture Lucius Doyle to extend their deadlines "just this once," whether they managed to read and prepare a Sometimes groups would organize pickets saying we shouldn't have said God was dead in an April Fool's Day editorial or we shouldn't have run a rape survivor's ad- dress in a police story or our editorials, shouldn't have been so staunchly anti-I, rael. Perhaps that day, my first year, when I sat planning how I would become the boss of a place I knew absolutely nothing about, I should have fled the smelly, crowded, paper-strewn Student Publica- Decades ago, Tom Hayden and Arthur Miller must have had the same feeling in the pits of their innards that deadline was approaching, and they had no copy. ready to fill the pages. complicated University policy change analysis a reporter turned in 10 minutes before deadline, whether theyrewrote a new person's feature in five minutes that ought to have been finished the week be- fore, or whether they just slapped a "Daily Classifieds Are OK By Me" ad somewhere in the middle of the page, they made it. As one of my managing editors told me - several times - the paper will al- ways come out. It always has. During my four years, we survived heated debate over gender-in- clusive language (in other words, we say "first-year student" instead of "freshman" and so on); capitalizing the "B" in black when referring .to African-American peo. ple; if objectivity existed or was even worth striving for; if editors could protest publicly and if the Daily could quote them as sources in news stories; and all sorts of ethical issues with which real newspapers have long since stopped bothering. Sometimes we yelled. Sometimes gangs of students would mob certain edi- tors (like me) and DEMAND change. tions Building and headed for the nearest Theta Chi chapter. If I had, maybe the Daily experience wouldn't have grown to dominate my life. I might not have stayed up until 4 a m. the night before a test arguing with my seven housemates - all Daily staffers, of course - about a staff meeting that last, until 2 a.m. I might have avoided beiri protested ("Drop Knopper," proclaimed one protest sign my junior year), losing sleep the night before an M-desk meeting, going home in tears or blowing off impor- tant term papers in favor of another Daily story. Now I'm a "real" reporter, and I've de- cided the term papers weren't that impor- tant. Nor was peace of mind. Because I look around my curre*. newsroom and I notice reality has squashed many real reporters' dreams. They're con- tent to earn a sufficient salary and raise a family and go to bed every night in peace. Not me. I'm still dreaming. And dreams run amok at The Michigan Daily. I hope it stays that way. Activism is alive and well in Ann Arbor By Jnnifr Va n Va ley Students at the University of Michigan are known nationwide for their historical role in student activism on issues ranging from the totalitarian administrative control over students' lives to reproductive rights and women's issues to Palestinian self-de- termination. One of the most famous movements at the University's Ann arbor campus is the Black Action Movement (BAM) strikes that, occurred in the early 1970s during which time BAM was demanding that this university be accessible to all, and that at- tention be paid to the shamefully small presence of students and faculty of color here. These strikes, ironically, in part pro- voked an administrative response that we are still battling today. Although activism still enjoys a home in Ann Arbor, there is a theory that is be- ing pushed relentlessly by right-wing groups that the time for activism has come and gone, i.e. the '60s were it. By this logic, groups such as the United Coalition Against Racism (UCAR), the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT- UP), the Feminist Women's Union (FWU), and other progressive groups on campus are outdated and are in fact push- ing a new form of oppression on our "former" oppressors. This argument is very compelling, and banded the University Council, the only 'U' board on which students had a vote on policies affecting student life. This summer the regents approved the deputization of campus "safety" officers, even after a 70 percent majority of stu- dents voted against such a measure in the last MSA election. The Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center esti- mates that no fewer rapes are occurring on campus, but 80-90 percent of them are date or acquaitance rapes. The number of students of color at the University is actually decreasing when the retention rate for these students is consid- ered, and just last month homophobic re- marks were found written on chalkboards in classrooms. So to those who try to argue that the problems are all gone, I think its clear how ridiculous that assertion is. And to those who argue that activism is dead, let's again look at the current situation on campus. Since the beginning of the term, the Students' Rights Commission of MSA has been working in a movement to stop armed cops on campus. There were over 200 people at their first rally, and they have an organizing committee alone with more than 30 people. The Palestine Soli- darity Committee sent an MS A-supported delegation to Palestine this summer and solidified the sister-university relationship problem is that many of the issues rema the same. Yet we are just as committed to fighting racism, heterosexism, sexism, etc., as our predecessors were. As we celebrate the 100th year of the Michigan Daily, let's also celebrate the history of activism and social awareness in Ann Arbor, and let's especially celebrate the better future to come from this histori- cal committment. University president congratulates Daily To the Daily: On behalf of the entire University, congratulations on the 100th Anniversary of the Michigan Daily. We are proud of your long tradition of journalistic auto- omy and* achievement. Your frequen groundbreaking stories, over these many years have rivaled the efforts of major news organizations. As a training ground for nationally and internationally recog- nized journalists, the independent Michi- gan Daily has no peer. Yours continues to be a lively and valued student voice in University affairs. We appreciate the importance of your continued advocacy on behalf of students as well as your concern for urgent social I