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Page 4 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, November 7, 1990
eb £idijan &iy
EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS
AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
420 Maynard Street
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109
NOAH FINKEL
Editor in Chief
DAVID SCHWARTZ
Opinion Editor
Unsigned editorials represent a majority of the Daily's Editorial Board. All other cartoons,
Isigned articles, and letters do not necessarily represent the opinion of the Daily.
Meal Services
Entree force-feeds thousands, grosses millions
(~EjO5 13OSH ThATS \YH.
4 rte_ _ _ _ _ _
If
VES3 : - -i
p-
ACLU will bea deputizationwtho
FOR MANY STUDENTS LIVING IN
Universityeresidence halls, the credo
"Put your money where your mouth is"
just doesn't hold true.
All students living in dorms which
serve food.are forced by the Housing
Office to pay approximately $1,800
each year for Entrde, the residence hall
meal plan, without regard to how
much, how often, or even if they eat
the meals.
Entree, the standard meal plan, enti-
ties each student to two meals a day
Monday through Saturday, and one on
Sunday. Entitles, though, is probably
the wrong word; it would be more
correct to say that these meals are re-
quired, because the Entree plan makes
no provision for'those who, for :any
reason, choose not to eat in the esi-
dence halls.
The flat fee is only waived in the
case of conflict with classes, religious
objection, health concerns, or other
cases at the discretion of the Housing
department and the Entree office. The
only option offered to those who want
to get off the meal plan is a raw food
ctedit the value of which is miniscule in
comparison to the initial fee.
Other Universities have more flexi-
ble approaches to meal services. At
Yale University, students choose a
*certain number of meals to buy at the
beginning of the term - an amount
equivalent to nine, 15, or 21 meals per
week - and each meal is subtracted
from a meal account. Under this plan,
students have the flexibility to eat, for
ifstance, four meals one day and just
one the next, and the amount evens out
in the meal account.
' At Duke University, students pur-
chase any numfber of meal "points" at
thebeginning of the term. These points
ca ibe used not only in the dormitories,
but at a number of participating restau-
r-ains it the area. And, again, the stu-
e ters o
dents can spend their meal points
their own discretion over the course
the term.
at
of
At Wesleyan University, the meal
plan resembles Michigan's Entrde Plus
program. Students have money on ac-
count with meal services, and they pay
for what they eat in the cafeteria on an a
la carte basis.
These programs are all viable alter-
natives to the Entrde plan. And each
one should be explored by the Housing
Office as a potential replacement be-
cause, quite simply, the Entrde pro-
gram is an inflexible failure.
A survey of University students
would likely show that the food served
in residence hall cafeterias is generally
unsatisfactory from a culinary stand-
point. In other words, it doesn't taste
good.
A number of students simply would
rather spend their money at restaurants.
An enormous amount of food is wasted
each day by meal services, thrown out
because many students do not eat the
meals they are forced to pay for. And
outside competition for food dollars
could only serve to increase the quality
of the cafeteria offerings.
The University, last month, entered
into an arrangement with Domino's
Pizza that would eventually allow stu-
dents to purchase pizza on meal cards.
Under this agreement, services offered
to students simply would not improve;
and, for other reasons, the University
should deal neither with Domino's nor
owner Tom Monaghan.
Housing must engage in a wholesale
overhaul of the Entrde program, not to-
ken agreements with the private sector
that benefit nobody. This overhaul
must lead to a flexible system in which
students can choose whether or not
they want to eat in the residence halls at
all.
mom
By Matt Adler
In the past two months, students and
faculty members have made commendable
efforts to protest the deputization of a
University police force. In an era of wan-
ing activism and growing apathy, it has
been refreshing to watch this movement
gather such momentum. Undoubtedly,
these efforts should be continued in order
to reinforce the fact that the University
community opposes this measure.
We should continue to show the re-
gents that we realize the police force,
along with the impending code of non-aca-
demic conduct, is part of an ongoing at-
tempt by the administration to manipulate
the lives of students outside the class-
room. The ultimate goal is to restrict our
First Amendment freedoms.
President Duderstadt and the regents
would rather control us like quiet, obedient
children than accept us as the critical,
questioning, thinking individuals that we
are.
Although we must not yield in our ef-
forts to stop the deputization, we must
reconcile ourselves to the fact that eight
people are already in "training" as Univer-
sity police officers. Despite our protest,
Duderstadt and the regents are likely to
proceed with their plans. They are far too
Adler, a Residential College junior, is a
member of the campus chapter of the
American Civil Liberties Union and the
Daily's News staff.
anxious Lo gain the devious power which
their own police force would give them.
In addition to the administration's ve-
hemence, their success seems likely be-
cause their is no legal recourse with which
to prevent the deputization. Many public
and private universities throughout the
country and the state have their own police
forces, and the court system has never
found this objectionable.
This is troubling since in keeping with
the spirit of the Constitution, it seems
that a state should not have the right to
delegate it's police power to a university.
The University's mandate is to educate,
ity?
Because of the likelihood of a fully op-
erational University police force within
the next few months, it is important to be
prepared to deal with the consequences.
The University's chapter of the American
Civil Liberties Union is doing so by ex-
panding its police complaint clinic. 0
In the past, the clinic, composed of uh-
dergraduates, law students and attorneys bf
the Washtenaw County ACLU, has helped
students whose Constitutional rights have
been violated by the Ann Arbor police de-
partment, and by University security per-
sonnel. In the future, the clinic will also
Although we must not yield in our efforts to stop the :
deputization, we must reconcile ourselves to the fact:
that eight people are already in "training" as
University police officers.
not to enforce laws.
Additionally, there are many practical
legal questions which arise from a univer-
sity police force. The University has
buildings disseminated throughout a large
section of Ann Arbor. Where exactly do
the University's boundaries lie? What
would be the jurisdiction of a University
police force? Most importantly, what
would prevent the police from setting their
own jurisdiction, and abusing their author-
help anyone who has been harassed by the
University police officers.
The clinic will be a watchdog over thle.
police, and will take steps within the legal
system to reprimand them every time they
infringe upon our freedom of speech, our
right to privacy, and our right to due pro-
cess of law. If you or someone you knoW
is harassed by University police, call tile
ACLU at 998-7975.
Tell your parents what's really up with safety
To students:
Your parents recently received a letter from President Duderstadt. He spent
thousands of tuition dollars on this mass mailing in order to counter the bad
publicity his administration received when hundreds of students protested last
month against an armed campus police force. We hope you will send home the
following letter, which attempts to shed some light on the University's misleading
propaganda.
r Dear folks, experiences of other campuses havl
Recently, you received a letter from demonstrated the importance of cam-
University President James Duderstadt. pus security as well as the necessity of d
The University suddenly became being sure that officers understand and
interested in students' safety following are sensitive to the special needs and'
student opposition to a deputized values of an academic community."
'campus police force. I want to clear up Funny how Duderstadt didn't i
1a few inaccuracies and misleading enumerate the "experiences of otherl
1statements in that letter. campuses," like the officer at Western
Duderstadt opened his correspon- Michigan who shot a student while'
dence by expressing concern for your trying to arrest him after a mis-
Ifears about campus crime in the wake demeanor; or the Michigan State police
lof the recent tragedies at the University officer who broke a woman's arm whiles
lofFlorida in Gainesville. Of course, he putting her into a squad car during a f
ineglected to mention that the protest; or our own security officer1
University of Florida already has an Robert Patrick, who is currently facing*
Iarmed campus police force, and it didn't litigation for kicking a student in the'
Ihelp. groin during a protest.
, He also enumerated the wonderful He also forgot to mention that the I
things the University is currently doing Task Force on Safety and Security - t
,to reduce campus crime: "We are also whosereportthe administrationisusing
considering ways to achieve... more as justification for the deputization -
'direct student involvement in never looked into the records of other'
preventive measures." I guess he must universities to see if their crime rates I
have lost my phone number, because I were affected by their police forces.
haven't been invited to give my input. Duderstadt closes the letter by
In fact, many students have been saying: "I hope you... will let me hear
'particularly vocal lately trying to get from you if you have 'questions' or l
Ithe University to listen to student want to express your own opinion onl
Iconcerns, but the only response so far some of these matters of mutual l
ihas been this letter to our parents. concern."
After discussing the many other In spite of the dubious nature of the'
safety features the administration is letter, I would like to believe that'
"in the process of" installing, PresidentDuderstadt willlistentoyour'
Iuderstadt finally got to the point of input. I hope you will send him a letter I
the letter: "The University of Michigan telling him you support students in ours
'is the only public University in the fight to end campus deputization.
State, and one of the very few in the1
University has misguided spending priorities
To the Daily:
While the foremost purpose of a Uni-
versity should be education, recent Univer-
sity actions indicate fundamentally mis-
guided priorities.
Over the last four years, students have
seen annual tuition increases of at least
seven percent. The President and Board of
Regents have consistently tagged the rate
hikes as necessary to match increased costs
in the face of tight budget constraints.
Yet somehow this semester alone these
same governing bodies have found an es-
timated two to four million dollars to
establish a University-controlled police
force. The force was established without
any kind of student input during the sum-
mer - when the population of those peo-
ple most affected would be at its lowest.
This act, though, is claimed to benefit
students when in fact there has been a no-
ticeable lack of any evidence establishing a
positive correlation between what will, in
practice, amount to only marginally in-
creased uniformed police presence and di-
minished crime.
The only possible positive effect, the
worthy one of a safer campus, could, how-
ever, actually become a closer reality were
these astronomical amounts of expenditure
directed towards more practical considera-
tions, such as improved lighting, more
busing, expanded Safewalk and Northwalk
programs, and increased funding for educa-
tional, preventative programs such as the
Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness
Center.
What is truly amazing is that in the
face of both tight budgets and tuition in-
creases, the University has recently decided
toi etwndAhA n~rrbnt .~rnnra .,,nav thn n n
fits, whereas the additional teaching assis-
tants that could be hired to open more sec-
tions of overcrowded classes would benefit
the entire scholastic community.
If the University spent less on cops and
grass, then they could spend more on edu-
cation.
Brian Hirsch
LSA senior
Daily neglects minor
party candidates
To the Daily:
I read with interest the beginning para-
graphs of the article "Four vie for two po-
sitions on 'U' Board of Regents"
(11/6/90), noting especially the mention
that not only are Democrats and Republi-
cans running candidates for the Board of
Regents, but the Workers World Party and
Libertarians are as well.
But when I opened to the questions and
answers section inside titled "Candidates
for Board of Regents" and looked for the
comments of those running on the Work-
ers World Party and Libertarian tickets, I
was disappointed. They were not even
mentioned.
What happened? Weren't these candi-
dates worthy of an interview? I, for one,
was interested in learning more on the
views of these people, not just the views
of the four "mainstream party candidates"
(as you put it) from the Democrats and
Republicans. (Who, by the way, concurred
on nearly all of the issues, something that
would not have been true had you included
the opinions of the non-mainstream party
candidates.)
Is it really the candidates from alterna-
tive parties such as the WWP and the Li-
ertarians who are taking a "low profile" in
the campaign (as the story asserts), or is it
members of the media, such as the Daily,
who do a low profile on them? "
If you really want a "wider spectrum of
views to be heard and taken seriously," as
you maintain in your editorial of the same
day, you ought to do your part in provid-
ing coverage of those views.
Jeff Boland
LSA junior
Law student writer
was misinterpreted
To the Daily:
When I said in my Res Gestae piece
that rape victims were depersonalized, I
was arguing for more empathy with vic-
tims, not less. Karen Akerlof and I are on
the same side, at least as far as impersonal
lawyers who side with rapists are con-
cemed.
I was arguing for more law classroom@
discussion of how sexual violence affects
women, and what can be done to prevent
violence. I was not one of the men joking
about rape whom Akerlof refers to. Like
many law students, male and female, I
have no "underlying sympathy with the
perpetrators."
I'm sorry my writing did not make this
clear. John Ogilvi
University Law student
;