Page 4 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, October 24,1990
EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS
AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
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420 Maynard Street
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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.
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Recycling
Proposed city ordinance is a long-overdue step
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THE ANN ARBOR CITY COUNCIL
Will hold a public forum Nov. 19 to
4iscuss an ordinance which would
make recycling mandatory for all Ann
Arbor citizens. This marks the first
sign of progress towards new recycling
legislation after three years of empty
rhetoric.
- The city should approve a compre-
hensive, mandatory recycling program
that makes recycling the responsibility
of both the citizens and the government
of Ann Arbor.
Currently, many Ann Arbor resi-
dents recycle on a voluntary basis. Re-
cycle Ann Arbor, a non-profit, private
company, conducts monthly curb-side
pickups. The revised recycling ordi-
nance calls for weekly pick-ups of
glass, metal, cardboard, plastic and of-
fice paper.
Increased pick-ups are necessary in
today's world of diminishing resources
and limited landfill space. The Arbor
Hills landfill, the only operating landfill
in Washtenaw County, is expected to
reach its full capacity in less than five
years.
If passed, the ordinance will be in-
stituted in July, 1993. This is inexcus-
ably late; the government has the nec-
essary infrastructure to begin weekly
pick-ups now. Simply by adding a
trailer for recycled materials on the
back of every garbage truck, the city
could pick up recycled materials at the
same time as other trash. This is con-
venient for the citizens, and economi-
cally feasible for the government.
Mandatory recycling has been
proven to work in much larger areas
than Ann Arbor. The entire state of
New Jersey mandates curb-side recy-
cling. Other cities associated with ma-
jor universities - such as Rutgers,
N.J., and San Jose, Calif. - have also
implemented successful mandatory re-
cycling programs.
Unfortunately, even if passed, the
city's ordinance would not affect the
University. The University, like the
city, is in dire need of recycling re-
form. Residence halls currently collect
only newspapers and corrugated card-
board.
The University should also start
programs to collect glass, aluminum,
plastic and tin. Each dorm generates
thousands of pounds of non-recycled
materials each year, and the close living
conditions in dorms makes recycling
easier than in less-cohesive communi-
ties.
Considering Ann Arbor's reputation
as a progressive town, critical legisla-
tion like mandatory recycling should
have been passed long ago. As landfill
space and time are running out, the
City should pass a tough mandatory re-
cycling law now.
A car
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Adoption case should be no big deal
0
Speak Out
People can learn from sexual assualt survivors
By Michael W. Bangert
Last night, I stayed up into the wee
hours of the morning studying, but at
about 3:00, I took as study break and
turned the television on.
Shortly thereafter, Channel four gave
its hourly update of the newsworthy sto-
ries from the prior day. I just could not be-
lieve my eyes. On a week and a day in
which Gorbachev was awarded the Nobel
Peace Prize, the Reds upset the A's, Bush
threatened to veto a budget proposal put
forth by Congress, and the Israeli govern-
ment tried to defend its mowing down of
Palestinians, the news reporter used a sig-
nificant portion of time to inform us late-
nighters that there was a white couple
which has been given approval by the
courts to adopt an African-American child.
While I'm not saying that this does not
reflect anything significant about contem-
porary U.S. society, I find it incredible
that in a world in which so much else is'
happening that we, or at least the news re-
porter, chose to portray this inter-racial
adoption either as a slap on the back for
progressive social change or as a problem
that needs to be addressed.
Come on, both leave something to be
desired in the strictest sense. It seems to
me that using it as a slap on the back ac-
tually indicates how outrageously pathetic
our racial relations presently are.
If people really want to live in a world
of equality, then such events should just
be part of the day-to-day events rather than
being some sociologically profound
statement conveyed through the media.
Now, if people have a problem with
this adoption then I have a problem with
their problem. To quote from Public En-
emy's Fear of a Black Planet, "Black
Banger is a Graduate Student in
Biological Anthropology.
mother, white father, black baby."
Small surprise, but I am a white male
and I vehemently take exception to the
idea that my skin reflectance would
preclude me from being an appropriate
father to a child of mine should he or she
result from an inter-racial conjugal
relationship.
Certainly, there is no better criterion
for who ought to be responsible for the
upbringing of a child than the persons re-
sponsible for creating his or her life.
For me, I would really be hard-pressed to tell any
African-American that there is something so
qualitatively different about being European-American
that their skin color makes them unsuitable to raise
fair-skinned children.
racially adopted children? Undeniably, I
cannot claim to have lived an African-
American experience and this hinders my
capacity to realize and subsequently to
teach others the intimate knowledge gained
from such an experience. But does this
preclude the suitability of cross-racial par-
enting?
For me, I would really be hard-pressedl
to tell any African-American that there is
something so qualitatively different about
being European-American that their skin
THINK OF THREE WOMEN YOU
kpow - for example, your mother,
your sister and your best woman
friend. According to FBI statistics; one
out of every three women is sexually
assaulted in her lifetime. This means
that one out of these three people have
the potential to be, or have already
been, sexually assaulted.
- Unfortunately, many people do not
lok beyond these horrifying statistics
to realize how many people, often
people they know, are sexually as-
saulted.
This is why tonight's Speak Out on
Sexual Assault and Harassment is im-
portant. It gives people the opportunity
to see how the issue of sexual assault is
silenced. The Speak Out gibes women
and men who have been sexually as-
saulted a chance to break this silence by
providing an open-microphone forum
that will allow them to voice their
anger, pain, and any feelings or stories
surrounding their assault.
A separate back-stage microphone
will be provided for those who want to
remain anonymous.
Throughout the night, those who
have been assaulted and raped will be
referred to as survivors rather than vic-
tims to emphasize their strength and
ability to deal with the assault. Past
Speak Outs have created an empower-
ing atmosphere by providing support
and validating the experiences of sur-
vivors.
Many survivors believe society
blames them, and not their attackers,
and that may explain why only 10 per-
cent of sexual assaults ever get reported
to the police.
Another focus of the Speak Out is to
bring the issue of sexual assault to a
personal level. More people may finally
realize how many of their peers are
survivors of sexual assault after listen-
ing to people relate their stories to the
audience.
Whether you are a survivor, or
simply a person concerned with this is-
sue, tonight will be an extremely pow-
erful, emotional, and consciousness-
raising event. The program begins at 8
p.m. at Hillel and is sponsored by the
Sexual Assault Prevention and Aware-
ness Center.
SAPAC has also created a 24-hour
sexual assault counseling line. The
phone number is 936-3333.
So to make a leap in faith, why is it
that the child of an inter-racial mating
should be treated any differently .- in
terms of the appropriateness of cross-
"racial" rearing - than a child of an intra-
racial mating even though both children
can look almost identical? It smacks of
separate but equal.
Sure, such an arrangement is theoreti-
cally possible, but I am inclined to believe
that in a practical, contemporary sense
such a situation is nearly impossible to
justify. If you need any evidence of how
improbable a "separate but equal" ar-
rangement is, just took at education in the
South, past or present.
Take for instance the present-day uni-.
versity system in Louisiana, the predomi-
nantly African-American state universities
look extremely impoverished when con-
trasted with their predominantly European-
American state universities (e.g.,
Louisiana State University).
This brings me to my last point. What
about the cultural sensitivities of the inter-
color makes them unsuitable to raise fair-
skinned children.
Whether or not I choose to ignore or
accept it, African-Americans specifically,
and African-American culture generally
have greatly moved me to the point that I
would find it highly inappropriate for me
to tell any African-American (or anybody
who is a good human parent) that the
amount of sunlight which is absorbed by
their skin prevents them from being a
good parent to any white child.
If one believes that one's unique access
to racial (cultural, gender, etc...) knowl-
edge forms the backbone of one's exis-
tence, then what is the problem with
white males projecting their male, Euro-
centric viewpoints?
Under such a supposition, it would be
a logical expectation; white males can.
only really know and subsequently be ex-
pected to express what is the essence of
their being! Clearly, such a view is per-,
verted at best and it is unlikely ever to lead
us to the equal rights that all of us strive
to establish. Right?
Everyone should have the right to an education
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To the Daily:
Nothing is more perturbing than the
denial of academic freedom. It would be, at
best, unjustifiable to imagine otherwise.
In reference to a letter written by Philip
Resnikov ("Palestinians Deserve Criticism
for Supporting Iraq," 9/25/90), we think
he was in high oblivion when he at-
tempted to explain the reasoning for the
lack of academic freedom which were, at
best, pathetic.
Of the countries which he describes, he
indicates that "Syria, Yemen, Saudi Arabia
and Jordan" already lack the "freedom, aca-
demic or otherwise, even for its own citi-
zens." He was attempting to justify the
closing of the schools in the occupied ter-
ritories, rationalized in an unspeakable
manner.
In his childlike mentality, he applied
the "if-he-can't-have-it,-then-neither-can-
you" train of thought. The Israeli authori-
ties have asserted that schools in the occu-
pied territories pose a security threat. Are
Shamir, and Resnikov, concerned that sec-
ondary, primary, vocational and nursing
schools as well as kindergartens, pre-
schools and summer camps for children
under the age of 12, which have been
closed, could lead to the total annihilation
and destruction of Israel?
Evidently, the repressive Arab regimes,
vhi. t o T 4tn C tt s x.11.l ....-
dent advocates of a separate Palestinian
state." Implicitly, Resnikov states that the
Palestinians do not have the right of self-
determination.
The uprising of the Palestinian people
has raised the international level of aware-
ness, after 40 years of being forgotten. To
the Israeli authorities, this poses a greater
threat than Saddam Hussein's possession
of chemical weapons. The Israelis have
painfully learned that although they can
break any conventional army, they cannot
break the will of an entire people.
This is evident with the establishment
of underground schools as an alternative to
those closed by military orders. Imperative
is the fact that all individuals, including
those referred to by Israeli authorities as
"cockroaches," have the need and the right
to be educated so they can be nurtured in
such a way that peaceful settlements and
solutions can be attained.
Kifah All
Farah Arabo
Where are the lights?
To the Daily:
While walking around campus in the
past few weeks, it has come to our atten-
tion thait the liht a re nut nn thei nnrth-.
on this campus!
What if some of that money' being
spent on deputized security officers went
to the expeditious repair of the lighting
system? Those officers won't even be
able to see where to shoot.
Joyce Gresko
Juliette Cherbuliez
LSA Juniors
Lights instead of guns
To the Daily:
I was out walking the other night when
I noticed something that I thought was
odd. It was approximately midnight, and I
was walking by Haven Hall toward the
Diag. The majority of the lights that are
supposed to be there for our safety were
not working!
Another thing I noticed was that .the
frequency of the blue emergency phones is
extremely small.
- The apparent remedy for this is to give
University security officers guns and
badges.
I, personally would feel much safer
with more lighting and phones than with
armed officers. This seems much cheaper
and effective than with armed officers.
Wouldn't more lights and phones bet
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