Page 4 -The Michigan Daily- Monday, November 4, 1991
Sbr 3rrbtgau BaiIy
20 Maynard Street
Arbor, Michigan 48109 ANDREW GOTTESMA
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Edited and Managed
by Students at the
University of Michigan
Editor in Chief
STEPHEN HENDERSON
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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MSA
Assembly should respect Daily's independence
I n a pathetic display of governmental ineptitude
I and meddling, the Michigan Student Assembly
(MSA) last week passed a resolution calling for
The Michigan Daily to donate revenues from a
controversial ad to an "appropriate organization."
Not only does this demonstrate the assembly's
willingness to pass useless legislation that it has no
power to enforce, it points to a general disregard
for newspapers' necessary autonomy from gov-
ernment.
The assembly passed the resolution in response
to the controversy surrounding the Daily's printing
of a full page advertisement titled: "The Holocaust
Controversy: The Case for Open Debate."
In the past week, the Daily has garnered intense
criticism for printing the ad because the paper has
rejected ads in the past for being offensive or
inappropriate.
The resolution suggests that in light of the
offensive nature of the ad, and the Daily's history
of rejecting other offensive ads, the paper should
donate the money it received for the ad to a
Holocauast memorial center.
Regardless of whetherthe Daily should or should
not have printed the ad, or whether the paper
violated its own policies, MSA has absolutely no
business passing legislation suggesting what action
should be taken. The Daily is an independent
newspaper that receives no student funds, and
therefore is not under the auspices of MSA. The
paper is not in any way responsible to student
government.
The assembly also lacks the mechanism to
enforce its resolution upon the Daily. Only the
editors and business manager have the power or
right to affect policy at the paper. It's sadly ironic
that the assembly's conservative majority was
elected on a platform of eradicating such empty
legislation.
More importantly, MSA, by passing this reso-
lution, has displayed a disquieting ignorance of
newspapers' need to run themselves free of gov-
ernmental interference.
The New York City Council would never pass
a resolution suggesting what the action the New
York Times should take. Nor would the Detroit
City Council ever suggest ways for the Detroit
Free Press to handle an internal matter. By the
same token, MSA should refrain from meddling in
the Daily's affairs.
The Daily has a long, proud history of editorial
freedom on this campus, and has never tolerated
outside manipulation of its policies. Neither MSA,
the University administration nor any other gov-
erning body has the right to influence or otherwise
affect the way in which the paper is run. The
assembly should recognize this, and rescind its
ludicrous resolution.
j CULl I 'N7 /7i AIN(/
a f A c T T d
wV NL - V
Poor attendance records need to be cleaned up
0ne of the biggest problems currently facing the
Michigan Student Assembly is convincing
enough members to show up at the weekly meet-
ings to reach quorum. Twice in the past three
weeks, there were not enough members present at
the end of the meeting to vote on proposals.
The poor attendance records of many members
shows they have a blatant disregard for their po-
sitions.
These individuals ran foroffice, and were elected
by the student body. With that election comes the
responsibility to represent the interests of the stu-
dents from each of their respective schools.A
minimum requirement of this position would be to
attend meetings regularly. When these members
were elected to office and accepted the position,
they made acommittment to MSA and the students
they supposedly represent. This committment can-
not be brushed aside when it infringes on their
schedules.
How can students be expected to vote and
participate in MSA if even the representatives
aren't interested enough to show up? This demon-
strates a lack of enthusiasm that is a pathetic
example to set for the rest of the student body. Our
current student government has let our student
voice become one of disinterest and apathy.
Two weeks ago, eight representatives were
dismissed from the assembly for having missed
more than 12 meetings. It is encouraging to see that
President James Green has taken some initiative
on this problem, but more must be done.
Students themselves must demand that their
elected representatives fulfill their responsibilities.
Though the individual representatives who skip
meetings are directly responsible for their actions,
student apathy on the matterhas only made it easier
for them.
The assembly cannot have a shred of credibility
in the eyes of students or the administration until it
can prove representatives have a basic commitment
to show up once a week. MSA itself should take
harsher steps to ensure this, and students should
help them with pressure at the ballot box.
Bad Daily decision
To the Daily:
I'm writing to voice my strong
opposition to the Daily's decision
to run the anti-Semitic advertise-
ment in the Thursday, Oct. 24
issue. The "give-with one-hand-
and-take-with-the-other" apology
that appeared on Friday was
fundamentally inadequate. Either
the paper believes that there
should be no guidelines about
what types of advertising may be
run in the Daily (in which case the
Daily has nothing to apologize
for) or the paper believes that hate
speech does not deserve the same
protection accorded other types of
discourse in our society, in which
case the appeal to journalistic
objectivity and the First Amend-
ment is null and void.
My understanding is that the
Daily already has a policy of not
printing racist, sexist,.
homophobic or otherwise
offensive advertising. If this is the
case, I fail to see why we have
encountered such resistance and
defensiveness from the Daily staff
on this issue. The group that paid
for the advertisement is an openly
anti-Semitic neo-Nazi right-wing
hate group, similar to the Ku
Klux Klan. The fact that the
writer of the advertisement was
able to appropriate academic
language in order to appear
rational does not change the fact
that he is actually a raving lunatic
who believes that the Jews will
take over the world unless they
are exterminated.
In an era where right-wing and
religious fundamentalists are
gaining power, David Duke is
sitting in the legislature and the
Supreme Court is packed with
Reagan/Bush appointees, I take
the threat of holocaust revisionists
and other hate groups very
seriously.
As a woman and a Jew in this
society, I know that the First
Amendment does not guarantee
my right to safety. I do not trust
the Supreme Court to protect my
interests and I would like to
remind the Daily that Hitler was
democratically elected.
Those with the privilege to do
3o may argue among themselves
about the details of Constitutional
law; I know when I smell danger.
God help me if I deny the
memory of my people and stand
by silently as these people take
the floor.
Susan Kane
LSA senior
Maurer letter
h atef ul1, offensive
To the Daily:
If I understand it correctly,
Ron Blum's letter about Pattrice
Maurer ("More Maurer!") is
particularly upsetting because I
can only imagine an intention to
cause harm to Pattrice, people
who know her, or people who
share her experiences.
These sorts of malicious
intentions, when coupled with a
physical act, can land a person in
jail1, and even when accompanied
only by words they are no less
harmful and no less offensive.
Understand that my statement
here is not about politics; it is
about ordinary decency. A
difference of belief with Pattrice
Maurer (or Corey Dolgon, or
James Green, or Deane Baker)
should be reason for contention or
d ialogue, not for childish taunting
and name-calling that - I repeat
- has no other intention than to
cause harm.
The feckless indignity of
Blum's remarks ought to give one
pause to consider, for example,
the integrity debate of late
between Clarence Thomas and
Anita Hill.
With no other evidence than
one person's word against
another's, why should Thomas get
the benefit of the doubt, as
Senators like Joe Biden assured
Thomas he had during the
hearings? The sort of pervasive,
stupid, malicious name-calling
that goes on at this University, a
place where the future Clarence
Thomases are supposedly learning
their arts today, only underscores
charges such as Anita Hill's that
someone in the position of the
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Sharpton confusing
To the Daily:
Rev. Al Sharpton is a self-
proclaimed civil rights leader, and
as a leader, he has a number of
competent, justifiable points and
grievances.
But in his speech last Tuesday
night, he made two comments that
I felt undermined his movement.
He said that black youths watch-
ing Lifestyles of the Rich and
Famous realize that they can
never become what they see, and
that black students are not at
Michigan for their intellect, but
because civil rights leaders paved
the way for them to be here.
Does Rev. Sharpton really
believe that black youths don't
have the intellect or the drive to
accomplish their goals and
dreams? If so, not only is he
drastically wrong, he is ignoring
history.
One of the first polarizing
events of the civil rights move-
ments in the 1950s was when four
black teenagers staged a sit-in at
an all-white lunch counter in
Greensboro, N.C. Their actions
were the stimulus for hundreds of
sit-ins on college campuses.
These black youths did make a
difference.
The Reverend should consider
what message he is sending out to
the black youths of today, whom
he says he represents. He does not
want - at least I don't think he
wants - to stifle the strength of
our next generation of civil rights
leaders.
Douglas Heise
LSA first-year student
highest authority is never beyond
Cl uestion.
The only fitting way I can
imagine to close this comment is
to say that, frankly, Blum owes
Maurer an apology.
John Guidry
Rackham graduate student
01
Cou rsepacks
'U' should find ways to cushion added financial blow
M
Y
In a case settled two weeks ago, Kinko's Graph-
ics Corporation was fined $500,000 to the pub-
lishing company Basic Books for copyright in-
fringement. The decision does not bode well for
copyshops in town who put together University
coursepacks. There is now no doubt that copyright
laws concerning royalties apply to the sale of
coursepacks, so Kinko's and its competitors will
have to make the difficult process of securing
publishing rights for every coursepack they put
together.
Of course, Kinko's and other copyshops should
have realized that their free ride would end
sometime. Individuals do have property rights to
printed material, and the law prohibits copy makers
from making a profit off of these materials without
paying royalties. By limiting the irresponsible
profiteering of these shops, the recent award of
damages at least recognizes the validity of these
property rights.
Unfortunately, the decision throws a double
load on the backs of students. At least in the short
term, the copyshops will pass along some of the
royalty costs to their customers, making the high
costs students experienced this semester more than
just a temporary thing. In addition, students will be
burdened with annoying waits while the copyshops
take time to clear the copyrights.
Some key solutions to these problems may lie in
the hands of professors and the University. For
now, professors can make a special effort to order
their coursepacks from copyshops that can clear
copyrights in a quick and efficient manner.
University-wide action could solve all of these
problems quite nicely by taking onthe responsibility
of making coursepacks. Since the royalties must
only be paid by profit-making enterprises, the
University's non-profit status as an educational
institution might exempt it from paying such fees.
Under this type of arrangement, students would be
able to buy the coursepacks at a price that reflected
only administrative and material costs.
Such a system would take time to develop, and
might run into the costly problem of bureaucracy
that pervades so many other aspects of the Uni-
versity. To avert this outcome, reading materials
could possibly be distributed at the department or
class level. This would involve more effort on the
part of faculty and staff, but it would be a small
price to pay when compared to the royalties and
profits connected withprivately made coursepacks.
As seen by its annual tuition hikes, the Univer-
sity is too often the source of increased costs for
students. Taking action to curb the runaway prices
of coursepacks would minimize the costs of an
otherwise over priced college experience.
Who will prevent it next time?
by Michael Weiss
On Oct. 24, a paid advertise-
ment by Bradley R. Smith and the
"Committee for Open Debate on
the Holocaust" put forth the
Revisionist claim that the Holo-
caust never occurred-that "no
execution gas chambers existed in
any camp," and that the system-
atic slaughter of six million
European Jews is nothing more
than a cruel hoax, a myth created
by "Zionist organizations" who
were deeply involved in "promul-
gating anti-German hate propa-
ganda."
In the face of such half-truths,
distortions, and outright lies, I
cannot remain silent.
I have been to Poland, and I
have seen the evidence that Smith
denies. I have stood beneath the
gates of Auschwitz and felt the
shadow of the words "Arbeit
Macht Frei" ("Work Will Set You
Free") on my back. I have stood
recording the date of arrival and
date of execution of each pris-
oner. I have been in the barracks
of the women's section of
Birkenau; I have sat in the very
barracks in which my aunt Zsoka
Mr. Smith, then I ask: What
happened to Bertha Rein, and to
Ella and Andor Friedman? To
Magda, Agnes, Ida, and Tibor
Rein; to Sandor and Fanny
Goldstein; to Bella, Joseph and
I have sifted through the earth at Birkenau
and found, here, a fragment of bone; there, a
tooth. It's there, scattered all over the
grounds of the camp, for anyone to find.
Nuts and Bolts
R V s.
CR "
by Judd Winick
_elY-VVNG HATE
ROLLEROLA1>ES.
0
was a prisoner; the barracks from
which her sister was taken to the
gas chambers; the barracks to
which her sister never returned.
I have seen, at Majdanek, a
memorial consisting of a vast
mound of human ash - roughly
the size of the Diag. I have seen,
at Auschwitz, an entire room,
sealed off by a glass wall, full of
human hair; and I have seen bolts
of fabric made from that hair, and
Tommy Neiman? Who murdered
Olga and Deszd Klein? Who
gassed Rosza, Erszi and Clara
Goldstein? Who killed Ignatz and
WIlma Gal? Heinrich, Esther,
Mortichi, Emery, Leslie, Nick,
Zoli, Tibor, George, and Andor
Posner? Julia and Adolf Goldner,
and their children? And Hannah
Fishman? And Beni and Rosza
Weisz, and their children? Samu
Klein, Gizella Salgo, and Imre
i
I