The Michigan Daily- Friday, November 1, 1991 - Page 5
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Most students are unfamiliar with the complete Michigan
Marching Band experience. Apart from the noticeable
Football Saturday routine, including three shows and marches
to and from the stadium, much remains hidden behind the end-
less practices that take place in early-morning fog and late-
night darkness.
The hard work, dedication, time commitment, competition,
and rewards that go along with the blue jacket (ever meet Joe
Tuba?) are not for the consumption of 100,000 or even 100
spectators. Most of the time, it's just a band, its instruments
and its music on a parking lot off South Division.
"It's an intense escape," said snare drummer Mark Lemon.
For us, too.
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1. The Marching Band hits the
pavement, not the turf, when it
practices on a lot near Elbel Field
each afternoon.
2. Reservists Wendy Parsons (1)
and Amy Glezen (r) practice their
"machines," a drill that breaks
down marching fundamentals.
3. The "225-member Meeech-igan
marching band" actually contains
348 total students, including
reserves.
4. Mark Lemon, a snare drummer,
"dresses to attention."
5. Director Gary Lewis, in his
second year, conducts from atop
a practice platform.
6. Tuba players Greg Burke and
Todd Bannen share the music for
a medley by the group Chicago.
7. Win or lose, home game or
away, light or dark, the band
practices until 6:15 every evening.
Graduate Assistant Ken Polsinelli
checks his drill chart near the end
of Tuesday's practice.
Listen to
what your
mother
tells you
"Use your mouth!" my mother
would say sternly, taking care to
articulate each word and simulta-
neously point to her own mouth.
"Use your
mouth and
your mind Stephen
instead of
your fists!"
Usually,
she'd say this
after I socked
the kid down
the block,
who would
often say
things to
which I took
great offense. Many times, he'd
say hurtful things about the color
of my skin. I'd hit him, and he'd
stop doing it - at least for the
time being.
I was pretty young then, and
didn't take much stock in what
my mother was saying. That kid
made me angry, and shutting him
up was much easier than address-
ing or ignoring what he wanted to
say.
But as I got older, I began to
understand the idea my mom was
trying to get across. Besides
preventing me from pummeling
the kid down the block, she
wanted to teach me to respect
other people's ideas and their
right to express them, no matter
how hurtful or offensive they
were. More importantly, she
wanted me to counter ideas that
offended me with my own ideas,
not a muzzle.
So I learned to argue verbally
instead of fight physically; I
learned to reason instead of stifle.
And I learned to censure instead
of censor.
These were important lessons.
Not just to apply in my personal
life, but also in my chosen
profession,journalism.
The power that I have as an
editor to keep offensive ideas out
of the newspaper is essentially the
same power I had to silence that
kid who lived down the block.
That's why, as Opinion Editor
at the Daily, I try to print every
letter that comes in, and I never
turn a submission away because
of what it says. I disagree with
most of them; many offend me
and perhaps offend other mem-
bers of the community even more.
But because something is offen-
sive or hurtful to some doesn't
mean it shouldn't be published.
The ideas people express in
their letters exist, whether I
choose to print them or not. And
I'd rather have them out in the
open, where the community can
address them, than hidden away
somewhere.
But I don't employ this polic.
because of a law. The First
Amendment guarantees my right
to do it, but it certainly doesn't
tell me I have to print everything I
get. In fact, most newspapers
don't print all their letters, and
many print only those with which
they agree.
The strongest influences on
my decision to print all the letters
are the lessons I learned from my
mother's advice.I feel a responsi-
bility to give a voice to everyone I
can, no matter how distasteful I
may find their ideas.
"That's the way to truth..."
my mother used to say, "...truth
and understanding."
Am I writing this in response
to the criticism the Daily's
received for printing the anti-
Semitic Holocaust revisionist ad?
You bet.
I feel it's important to take a
stand in defense of what the
editors did, and explain why I
support it. Had the decision been
mine, I would have run the ad for
the same reasons I run all my
letters.
But I also feel it's necesarto.
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