Page 4 - The Michigan Daily - Monday, October 29, 1990
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EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS
AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
420 Maynard Street
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109
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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.
From the Daily
Safety concerns?
'U' actions go beyond task force's suggestions
THE UNIVERSITY ADMINISTRATION
justifies creating its own police force
'by pointing to the recommendations put
forth by its own task force on campus
safety. Although deputization was only
one of 12 tentative suggestions the task
force made, within days plans for a 24-
person force were drawn up. The other
11 suggestions were conveniently
passed over - until recent student
pressure forced the administration to
promise to fund these projects.
But even the task force itself never
advocated the immediate introduction
of a full University policeforce. Prof.
Harris McClamroch, a member of the
task force, recently expressed concern
that the administration was going be-
hind the backs of staff, faculty and stu-
dents.
He also said the immediate intro-
duction of a full security force was not
part of the recommendations; he envi-
sioned officers being armed incremen-
tally, one or two at a time, with their
performance continually being as-
sessed. But caution and thoughtfulness
concerning such a vital issue are not on
the administration's agenda.
Ironically, the University doesn't
need to deputize more security in order
to determine their effect. Two officers
have been deputized at the University
since 1988, and there is no evidence
safety has improved at all. The whole
issue of police harassment, in which
both deputized University security offi-
cers were complicit, was ignored. For
a report that was meant to consider all
aspects of student safety on campus,
this was a glaring, irresponsible omis-
sion.
That the administration is blatantly
ignoring the task force's recommenda-
tions in order to railroad through the
implementation of its own police force
highlights its total lack of concern for
real student safety.
There is a clear need for more dis-
cussion and debate, but this is exactly
what the administration wishes to
avoid. Walter Harrison, executive di-
rector of University Relations, has
suggested that any public forums
would "generate more heat."
He is right; they would force mem-
bers of the administration to admit that
their actions over the last five months
have little to do with increasing student
safety, and everything to do with regu-
lating students' lives. But if students
want real safety on campus,
"generating more heat" against the ad-
ministration's intransigence is probably
their only hope.
The Earle is insensitive to gay men and lesbiang
By Tracy Ore
and Barbara Vicory
"Come enjoy a glass of wine or quiet
dinner in the intimate surroundings of The
Earle."
This statement of purpose found in The
Earle's advertisements was not adhered to
on the night of Oct. 13. While my partner
and I were enjoying a quiet dinner on that
Michigan vs. Michigan State home game
night at this restaurant, a group of at least
six drunken men and women entered The
Earle, yelling over the crowd "Go State!
State won! Lighten Up!"
Although I, myself, was not affected
by the outcome of the game, I asked them
to quiet down and preserve the atmosphere.
When the ruckus continued, and no man-
agerial staff appeared, I approached the
crowd, reminding them that this is a quiet
restaurant, saying that we were trying to
enjoy our dinner and asked if they could
keep their celebration to themselves, con-
spicuously avoiding the use of profanity.
The most boisterous of the crowd, a
man, stood up. He spit in my face. He
said, "Screw you bitch!" Then he turned to
the crowd and said "Did you hear that? She
said fuck to me." A woman at the table
said to me, "Calm down sweetie."
My partner overheard, "She was
wrong" and "That stuff belongs in gay
bars" from a nearby table. This was di-
rected toward our lesbian sexual orienta-
tion, as we had briefly held hands during
dinner.
The manager approached their table and
I left. My partner told a member of the
wait staff that they should remove the
group and explained the situation. The
wait staff member ran to the manager. Al-
though the manager/owner, Dennis Wil-
son, approached their table immediately,
the group did not leave for some time.
When they eventually exited, yelling over-
the crowd at us, no attempt was made to
silence them.
After speaking to many of the wait
staff, we were made aware of the fact that
this is not an isolated incident but rather a
pattern exhibited by Wilson. We are left to
feel that this restaurant's management and
ownership is not committed to making a
pleasant atmosphere for lesbians, gay
men, and women. Since many of The
Earle's patronage is comprised of membe
of the above communities, this incide
and indicator of mismanagement must not
go unnoticed.
We, therefore, expect the following:
We are left to feel that this restaurant's management
and ownership is not committed to making a pleasant
atmosphere for lesbians, gay men, and women.
Wilson did not approach our table until
I flagged him twice.
This incident was handled horren-
dously. Although we appreciate the staff's
quick and sensitive response to us, Wilson
did not voluntarily or immediately visit
our table or offer an apology. He was
more concerned with the return patronage
of this boisterous table than that of two
lesbian women who are regular customers.
After our dinner, we confronted Wil-
son. As he had not offered an apology or
any means of compensation, had not im-
mediately telephoned the police, or in any
way tried to validate our position to both
this group and his other patrons, we
threatened not to return. In an attempt to
silence us, Wilson offered an insincere
apology and our next dinner on the house.
Written apologies, including a state-
ment whereby The Earle declares its com-
rmitmen.t to providing a safe and pleasant
atmosphere for lesbians, gay men, and
women.
The owners, management, and staff
must attend workshops, arranged through
the Sexual Assault Prevention and Aware-
ness Center and the Lesbian and Gay Male
Programs Office. These workshops wi
include education on harassment and rap-
language.
We, lesbians, gay men, and women,
are tired of being treated as "second-class
citizens" in establishments. If the above
expectations are not met, The Earle can
expect social actions from these communi-
ties.
The writers are Rackham graduo
dents. Ore is president of Rackha
dent Government.
ate stu-
am Stu-
Letters tU 3,
Daily alumni react to Board dispute
University police at South Dakota State University handcuff a partygoer last
weekend. Can similar police treatment be expected from University of
Michigan cops?
Domestic violence
Attend a vigil to help halt the battering of women
To the Daily:
I am a 1977 graduate of the University
and a former editor of the Daily. I am dis-
turbed to hear that the Board for Student
Publications, through its secretary, has
usurped the role and authorities in both
business and editorial matters that histori-
cally and rightfully belong to the students.
For me and hundreds of others, the
Daily was a real world experience, more
valuable than the theories and book work
of the classroom. It was at the Daily
where the experiences and lessons of real
life were discovered and learned.
At the Daily we were free to make mis-
takes. And we made many. But that free-
dom to try, fail, and try again allowed me
and all those who I worked with to be-
come successful in ways that would not
have been possible otherwise.
The experiences were equally important
for the students handling the business op-
erations of the Daily. They are now being
denied the opportunity to make basic deci-
sions.
The role of the Board for Student Pub-
lications should be one of making sure the
Daily lives within its means and that no
one is stealing its funds. When it goes be-
yond this limited role, the independence
and integrity of the Daily, which have
made it unique among college newspapers,
is in peril.
I have discussed this matter with cur-
rent Daily editors and with fellow Daily
alumni. I am in full support of the de-
mands of the student editors.
Timothy F. Schick
University graduate '77
Administrator, Local 41
Providence Newspaper Guild
Board threatens Daily
editorial traditions
To the Daily:
The celebration of the Daily's 100th
anniversary has been marred by contro-
versy about editorial freedom. When I left
Ann Arbor in 1966, I looked forward to
celebrating both the paper's 100th an-
niversary and 100 Years of Editorial Free-
dom on its masthead.
Nancy McGlothlin, the general man-
ager of the Student Publications Building,
apparently has overstepped her authority
- both in terms of the Daily's tradition
of editorial freedom and in the procedures
of professional journalism.
In high quality newspapers, the busi-
TRADITIONALLY THE HOME HAS
been exempt from the jurisdiction of
the legal system, where marital prob-
lems are considered "above the law."
Men who abuse their wives have gone
unpunished, and thus violence in the
home has gone largely unreported.
This attitude must change.
Violence against women is not going
to disappear within a system that
condones it. The fact that 50 percent of
women in the United States suffer from
this violence is tragic. What com-
pounds this tragedy is the escalation of
this violence into the murder of 2,000
to 4,000 women in the United States
revery year. An in-depth study of all
one-on-one murder cases from 1980-
1984 found that more than half of all
female victims were killed by male
partners.
Battered women are killed by their
the tragedy is usually portrayed as an
unintentional "crime of passion" caused
by the man's intense love for the
woman and his inability to live without
her. This is a dangerously false view of
a murder that is, in fact, the ultimate
expression of the batterer's need to
control the woman's behavior.
This false view allows men to-es-
cape punishment through a system that
punishes the innocent and sets the
guilty free. Abusive men who kill their
female partners serve an average of two
to six years in prison - hardlya fitting
sentence for murder. On the other
hand, men of color and those without
money are punished much more
severely for this same crime.
Within a society that produces men
who need to control their partners
through violence, the best we can do is
to take strength from the memory of the
ness side is separate from the editorial
side. The business side has considerable
influence on the product through the pa-
per's budget, the size of the news hole and
the production schedule. But a paper's
business managers do not control purel
editorial decisions such as deadlines lea-
ing to the close of an edition or the use of
a travel budget once the amount for the
fiscal year has been set.
Maurice Rinkel, McGlothlin's prede-
cessor when I worked at the Daily, did not
interfere with editorial matters. His job
was to prov:'de financial management
skills studenis did not have because of a
lack of training and experience. He was
part of the business environment in whic:
student reporters and editors worked.
The Daily always will need a skilled
business manager - but not one that in-
terferes with editorial matters.
I hope the student staff and the Board
for Student Publications can work out a
job description for the general manager
that follows the norms of high quality
journalism and the Daily's tradition of edi-
torial freedom.
Phil SutiP
Daily staffer, 1960-64
Board for Student Pubs., 1965-66
be respected and praised, while people's
basic human rights are ignored.
If the war in Lebanon is going to end -
though I do not see it ending - by having
40,000 Syrian troops on Lebanese land
(more than the Lebanese Army itself), by
having pro-Syrian puppets as president,
prime minister, government members,
Syria threatens peace
To the Daily:
The day after General Michel Aoun
announced that he would fight until the last
breath in defense of Lebanese Independence,
he surrendered and took refuge at the French
Embassy. Like may other Lebanese
politicians and Syrian-installed puppets,
brought to his area of East Beirut hundreds
of- pro-Syrian militiamen to steal, harass,
frighten and arrest civilians, regardless of
their political affiliation. Another good step
toward peace and independence! Today, the
Syrians control over 70 percent of Lebanon
and face no organized opposition besides
some PLO supporters in Sidon and the
Israelis in some parts of the south. Perfect