0 Page 4 -The Michigan Daily- Tuesday, October 29, 1991 20 Maynard Streeta Arbor, Michigan 48109 ANDREW GOTTESMAN 747-2814 Editor in Chief 4 An Readers respond to ad, Daily V Edited and Managed by Students at the University of Michigan STEPHEN HENDERSON Opinion Editor L. ,y 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. .......... ......................... ..{.:..........:........................... "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - Voltaire SSAC report Committee defends 'U' cops' inappropriate action T he report of the Angell Hall incident where University police drew their weapons while arresting an unarmed man has demonstrated the hypocrisy of the University's Safety and Security Advisory Committee (SSAC). The report absolved the police of any wrongdoing in the incident and has now basically given police the go ahead to draw their guns in situations that clearly do not warrant such extreme action. The incident, which brought about conflicting versions from witnesses and involved a series of complex events, has been put to rest by a simplistic and far too general SSAC report. SSAC reviewed an internal Department of Safety and Security (DPSS) investigation and, without any thorough research of its own, concluded that the police had acted properly. This is incredibly insufficient coming from a committee which, as it stands, only has the ability to advise policy and procedural changes. Taking this incident and SSAC's response as an accurate indication of what is to come, SSAC has amounted to a University committee set up for DPSS to hide behind when it acts in improper ways. The DPSS account admits that a second officer arrived afterthe arrest and drew his weapon. SSAC justified this as "back up." SSAC said it reviewed the statements of 12 witnesses and that they "generally" were in line with the DPSS report. The vague and matter-of-fact nature of the report reveals what many people were saying when the committee first formed. It will not accomplish anything in the way of stopping police harassment and brutality because its members are hand-picked by the Uni- versity administration and it has no actual decision- making abilities. Clearly, SSAC is not being honest with itself or anyone at the University when it says, "SSAC recognizes that the campus is aunique environment and that the utmost restraint must be used with regard to the drawing of weapons.and the use of force."If it was being honest, it would not stand by. as police continue to draw their weapons virtually without restriction. Finally, students must realize that SSAC will be of no help in stopping the police harassment and brutality that goes on every day and that other methods should be sought to make them account- able to the community they serve. To the Daily: I am very proud of the response to the Oct. 24 advertise- ment on the Holocaust, but I feel that the anger was misplaced. The letters cursed the Daily and other papers for printing the ad. I feel these bold publications should be counted as a blessing. It gets the issue "out in the open" and ready for debate. Just because an idea is not in print that does not mean it does not exist. The sad fact is that in the future the revisionists ludi- crous ideas can be readily accepted because the Holocaust survivors and their immediate family will not be here to defend themselves. It is important to challenge these ideasnow before it's too late. If this issue is not confronted now, as time rolls on, it will be harder to dispute because the history books cannot tell you how the survivors felt or what ghastly horrors they had seen. The history books did not live the life of the survivors and can never really* express the severity of the Holocaust. I thank the Daily and the other publications who printed the ad, because it gives us a chance to destroy the revisionists' views and to tell them to take their half- ass notions to the trash where they most certainly belong. My only problem with the Daily in this ordeal is that they did not handle the situation very diplomatically. The paper knew that this is a very controversial issue. Therefore, it should have made certain provisions in the next issues of the Daily. For instance, the paper could have written an article on student views about the ad, or it could have set up an interview with the revision- ists. In fact, it could have at least given an explanation of why the Daily printed the ad and encour- aged the readers to share their views with the revisionists. At least something good came from the situation. Naomi Taylor LSA first-year student To the Daily: On Friday, Oct. 25, in re- sponse to the protests of the "Holocaust Controversy," the Daily printed "we, the editors of the paper, believe the ideas . expressed in the advertisement were offensive and inaccurate." The Daily also printed "the opinions expressed in this ad are not necessarily those held by the staff of TMD." What is this "we believe?" What does "not necessarily" mean? This is. not an opinion page debate with two-sides. The Holocaust is a well-documented fact. The Jewish community, this country, and the world know that the Holocaust happened. To claim that it did not take place not only is a blatant lie, but it is the most base insult that Smith or the Daily could offer the Jewish commu- nity. The Daily only compounds its original insult in running the advertisement by implying that the Holocaust is a matter of opinion. The only matter of opinion in this incident is that of what kind of people would. propagate such cruelty, but I think that most of the people on this campus have reached a consensus on that. Beth Frenkel SA senior To the Daily: Tam shocked an appalled by the advertisement published in the Oct. 24, 1991 issue by a so-called revisionist historical organization.. Bradley R. Smith, despite his erroneous logic and shabby conclusions, seeks to justify the methodical and deliberate genocide of six million Jews. Smith's claims posit a further and equally destructive violation of the Jewish people: a denial of our history. This article was not published in the op-ed column, which serves as a forum for infinite and diverse political platforms. I object to this article's publication as an advertisement. Any publication has the right to reject slanderous advertisements. How can money justify-the printing of a hateful, clearly anti-semitic advertisement for a thinly-veiled hate group? For shame, editors, to be so careless! Claudia Aron Stokes To the Daily- I am responding to the Daily's printing of the "advertisement," The Holocaust Controversy: The Case for Open Debate. I was extremely offended by the. printing of this piece.. Not only is it a complete distortionof reality; not only does it try to lessen the lives of those who perished in the Holocaust; but it makes me question the morals, or should I say lack of morals, that the Daily has in presenting this to. the University of Michigan's students and faculty. The Holocaust, a tragic event in human history, did happen. Smith can tell me that the interpretation of documents pertaining to the extermination of over six million Jews, "is always highly qustionable." .He can tell me, "that there was no German policy at-any of those camps to deliberately kill the.internees.". - He can also tell me that there never were any Black slaves in the South, that the Japanese invented the Hiroshima incident, and that four months ago, 10,000 Kurds simultaneously committed suicide. He can also tell me that the tattooed numbers on my. Grandfather's arm wash of; that my father's aunt's head was not bashed in by Nazi billy clubs and that the scars on her body had nothing to do with the fact that she was brutally beaten for three days straight. He can tell me that the sudden disappearance of more than six million .Jews as well as up to four million homosexuals, Blacks, and Gypsies, and anyone else who did not cooperate with the Nazi regime was purely coincidental. That the mountains of baby shes at Auschwitz were never there, and that the accounts of thousand of Polish witnesses living near the camps, who smelled burning flesh were forged. That my grandmother's memory of watching her baby brother being ripped from her mother's arms and smashed against a tree is all a figment of her imagination. And yet, the Michigan Daily and its editors have the utter gall to allow this disgraceful article with a tiny disclaimer on it saying "advertisement" to be printed at the University of Michigan's school newspaper? I understand that a good controversial piece can get readers' attention, but one has to draw the line betweeni a contro- versial idea and an outrageous and offensive account of one of man's most horrid tragedies. I am disgusted, hurt and angry at the poor judgement of this journal. Michael HarPaz LSA sophomore To the Daily, I read the full page advertise- ment the Daily printed Thursday entitled "The Holocaust Contro- versy: The Case For Open Debate." I found its contents disgusting and offensive. For those of us who lost relatives in the German effort to exterminate the Jewish race, the Holocaust is a reality that will never be forgot- ten. The attempt to deny its existence is horrifying. The Holocaust should serve as an example of the kind of atrocities that hate can generate. I am a true believer in the First Amendment guarantee of freedom of speech. The author of this advertisement, Bradley Smith, had every right to speak his views. However, the Daily used poor judgement in deciding to include this piece in whati had previously believed to be a quality newspaper. Stacey Sherr LSA senior To the Daily: I was shocked and outraged after reading the CODOH advertisement that was printed on the back page of the Daily on Oct. 24. That an organization would spend more than $1,000 for this advertisement is eye opening testimony to the legacy of neo- Nazi hatemongers that survives in our nation. The onlyconsolation from the advertisement is the focus that it will give to the ongoing effort to educate our's and future generations about the horrors of the Holocaust and the brutal Nazi regime. Through education and . discussion, we will have the intellectual arsenal to recognize to the beginnings of a movement similar to that of the Nazi's, further ensuring that a tragedy of the Holocaust's proportion will never again occur. Bradley Keywell first-year Law student University prevents students from studying late in Angell Hall L ast week, the University again demonstrated its University is falling in national polls. general lack of concern for undergraduate stu- The administration continually argues that bud- dent needs by chasing students out of classrooms get restraints limit the number of hours that librar- in Angell and Mason Halls. Students traditionally ies and computing centers can be operated. At the use these rooms to study while waiting for a same time, the University allocates thousands of computer in the Angell Hall computing center or dollars to an unwanted campus police force - to because they have no where else to study. keep students off the street but evidently not in the Yet, despite the obvious need for the open use of library. these classrooms, campus security guards informed Under -the current policy, hours are set to ac- students that they would no longer be allowed to commodate the greatest number of students. By use the rooms after midnight. following this policy, the University is acting un- This decision to close classrooms leaves many fairly to those students who choose to study late at students in a precarious situation. The only Uni- night. These students deserve more from their versity building open past midnight is the Under- tuition money and less polite explanations of graduate Library, which is often overcrowded and hudgetary constraints. noisy. Even if students who desire a more quiet . It is time for the University to reconsider its atmosphere study at the UGLi, rather than atAngell priorities and to think about opening a 24-hour Hall, they are forced to leave at 2 a.m. Where are library. The exam period would be an excellent these students to go? time to try out such a policy. Certainly, the University does not expect them The University has simply gone too far by to study athome where roommates maybe sleeping, chasing students out of classrooms that don't cost listening to music or watching television. the University a whole lot to keep open. Students Most reputable universities throughout the should take this cue to force a change in the country offer a 24-hour library as well as a student University's priorities. How can we as students union with extended hours. Unfortunately, this is refrain from questioning the academic integrity of not the case at Michigan. The University admin- the University if the administration fails to do istration does not see a need for adequate study something as simple as allocating space for late- environments despite frequent complaints that the night studying? + 0 Gene patent NIH idea hurts genetic research rThe National Institute of Health (NIH), along I with various other agencies, is heavily involved in researching the mechanics and applications of human genetic information. With an estimated $3 billion dollars budgeted for the mapping of the human genome alone, the research efforts of the NIH are a top priority. However, last Saturday, the NIH impeded progress in the area of genetic re- search. Biotechnology institutes, including many phar- maceutical companies, regularly isolate bacterial and animal genetic information that have particular applications that may prove useful. They are per- mitted to apply for patents to restrict anyone else's usage of these sequences, securing exclusive possession of the information for themselves. When these patents are made, the function of the DNA sequences is usually known. In sharp contrast, the NIH has applied for a very unspecific patent, which, if granted, would give it exclusive use of millions of sequences of DNA whose functions are completely unknown. This could prove to be very detrimental to the progress of genetic research. The purpose of a patent is toprotect somebody's invention orcreative and its own credibility idea. Although the NIH has no specific under- standing of this genetic information, it wants to secure the information under a patent. This move points out the NIH's greed. It is clear that the NIH is merely trying to assure future royalties that may result from the applications of this patented infor- mation. In addition, this move presents a great hin- drance to worldwide genetic research. The way research is now conducted, information from various international centers for genetic research, the largest being the NIH and the Human Genome Organization (HuGO), is shared freely. This pro- vides all the researchers with data which they can use to generate new ideas which can lead to further genetic discoveries. However, with this general patent in effect, the NIH will no longer want to share the data freely, thus ending the progress the scientific community has made to date. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office should see the grave problems that approval of the NIH patent will bring, and reject the application. In addition, the NIH should be condemned for mak- ing this move, clearly one that prioritizes economic profits over educational gains. - - ..".Y.".".": r.Y.vv:.".-.".".". :.". rJ. . .1 .".-r ".". ". "."r r r."vmi f r rr .'ry . f%.{"::"'":. J..... X Jam}: J."Y:..M 1 ... ::h ":"'rr: "."r. :i:" 1.. 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What are the rearl issues T The term "political correctness" has become a keyword for the me- dia, politicians, conservative inter- est groups, and many more status- quo cheerleaders. From the Wall Street Jour- - nal, to NBC news to CELEBRATES T i m e 49 p4 Magazine, to the Re- F public an0 Party, the term has by been deni- grated to a Julian sound byte. that now evokes sar-_ casm and disgust amongst the general popu- lation, including some of the more "educated" students on the most critics have shifted the locus of de- bate. Rather than addressing real issues such as racial stereotypes in the media, some people concentrate on what is "PC." The issues have been effectively blurred. The question of whether or not racial stereotypes really do perpetuate racist. attitudes is simply not ad- dressed, but rather, people concen- trate on the "PC-ness" of the argu-. ment, and noton the argument itself. Thus,-.such discussions are easily undermined. The argument that critics of PC- ness propose is that .it threatens democracy. But by only concen- trating on the political correctness aspectof the argument, we threaten democracy itself, for it reduces real arguments into meaningless-dogma. A democracy is based on open, in- telligent debate, where real issues are analyzed and discussed. But when conservatives talk about"PC- ness," they stifle debate about real societal problems, leaving no room which the media can easily latch on to. In the Cold War era, Harvard- bred, intellectual liberals who ad- vocated Keynesian social policies were readily dismissed as the communist "crimson crowd." In- stead of analyzing the real effects of policies such as social insurance, McCarthyites analyzed whether or not advocates of such policies were Communist. More recently, in the. 1988 Presidential campaign, Bush effec- tively attacked any policies that Democrats put forth by blanketing them as "liberal." Through such attacks, the ideals proposed by lib- erals get ignored completely. Instead of talking about -a program which may benefit the poor, the masses talk about meaningless labels. Again, the debate becomes shifted from real issues into key words and catch phrases. Hopefully, with'the benefit of hindsight, we will soon be able to Nuts and Bolts LJItLE CUOf SM A CONTESTANT ON AMMIcAN AVIAToRSt? by Judd Winick WHY NOT'!O OKAT HIMJP T'O ACtAL'CTINK I Ir IHE'S TIN'?. OL GLADIATORS nA 11)LCAiitII wtoWGErT COOLD SER100o&Y HURT HIMr. WATCH SOMEON~~ E M DID f T hu-YO IT'S LIKE TELEVISING THlE C 'LE.TE (POI1MEL.ED'TO 1TI lN SEosa.E&'1 prestigious college campuses.. What began as an effort to in- crease awareness and promote mu- tual respect between various soci-