Page 4-The Michigan Daily- Tuesday, December 3, 1991
Sh Itig dan 1arIg
420 Maynard Street
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109.
747-2814
Edited and Managed
by Students at the
University of Michigan
ANDREW K. GOTTESMAN
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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Condoms
Magic's flip-flop may do more
A t an interview given from his home in Lansing
last Tuesday, Magic Johnson, the media-ap-
pointed chief national spokesperson for AIDS,just
caved in. Yielding to pressures from conservative
and fundamentalist groups, Johnson retreated from
his earlier statements that birth control is the best
measure to prevent the spread of the disease, and
instead advocated abstinence from sexual activity
as the only reliable protection. Johnson's conver-
sion is disheartening, and is symbolic of an archaic
and ineffective stance that withholds information
that the public has a right to know.
When Johnson contracted AIDS and nobly spoke
out about the dangers of his disease and the fact that
it can afflict anyone, there was hope that at least
some good could come out of the basketball
superstar's illness.
Johnson, as a role model, is in a position to
reach many young people, including Blacks, who
are especially hard hit by the AIDS epidemic. As a
sports hero, Johnson's admission that he has AIDS
has helped de-emphasize the stigma associated
with AIDS - that it is a disease reserved for
homosexual men.
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harm than good
By preaching abstinence as the only safe way to
prevent the spread of AIDS, Johnson is nullifying
any good he could do as a spokesperson for the
disease. While abstinence from sexual activity and
intravenous drug use is the most effective way to
prevent the contraction of AIDS, to preach this
behavior as disease control is useless. No matter
how many heroes speak out for abstinence, sexual
activity will continue. AIDS education must be
based in this reality.
Frank discussions about AIDS must take place
in the nation's schools. Condoms must be made
accessible to young people and those who cannot
afford them. The New York City public schools
took this step last week by offering condoms to its
students. AIDS testing on a regular basis must be
encouraged.
Only through steps like these will the spread of
AIDS be curbed. The dangers of AIDS are serious.
The seriousness of this disease calls for drastic -
and perhaps uncomfortable - measures. If our
heroes and our politicians continue to skirt the
difficult and uncomfortable issues such as condom
use, the AIDS epidemic will only get worse.
Advertisers skirt real issues at public's expense
he AIDS scare reaches new proportions ev-
Tery day. It has become increasingly clear that
AIDS is not a disease exclusive to homosexuals
and drug users. AIDS is a disease that effects
people of every sexual orientation and every color.
Although researchers are working diligently to
find a cure, it does not look like one will be
discovered in the near future. As a result, it becomes
crucial to educate people on ways to prevent con-
tracting AIDS.
One way of educating the public is through
public service announcements that let people know
that using a condom during sexual intercourse can
prevent the transmission of the AIDS virus. Cur-
rently, there is a great debate as to how descriptive
and graphic these ads can be.
As it now stands, the most blatant ad that has
been accepted by the television networks compares
using a condom to putting on a sock. In the ad, a
man says: "If I told you that putting on your socks
could save your life, you'd do it." The man then
rolls up his socks. He then says: "Putting on your
socks can't save your life, but there is something
just as simple that can."
This ad makes the point and is even humorous.
However, it merely glosses over the real issues
behind the importance of using a condom. Other,
more direct, ads are being rejected because they are
deemed "inappropriate for television." They deal
specifically with teen sex, monogamous relation-
ships, and the importance of knowing a person's
sexual past. These are crucial issues that deserve to
be addressed. These are the issues that the public is
grappling with.
Most of these ads are run in Europe, where the
AIDS scare is equally troubling. Unlike American
television, European television is dealing with the
deeper issues that only enforce the need for the use
of condoms. In the United States, the closest we
come to addressing condom use is a sock analogy.
Ads that tell people not to drink and drive are
not promoting drinking. They recognize the reality
that people are going to drink alcohol, and act
accordingly to discourage drunk driving. Likewise,
ads that tell people to use condoms are not promoting
sex. They merely recognize the reality that people
of almost every age group are having sex, and it is
important to inform them about the disasters that
can come from not knowing your partner's sexual
history and from not using a condom.
By airing superficial ads and not addressing the
real underlying issues, the television networks are
denying the American public important informa-
tion. The American public does not need a sock
analogy that eludes to the importance of using a
condom; the American public needs to be told flat
out that using a condom during sexual intercourse
may save a person's life.
CC propoganda
To the Daily:
Last spring Conservative
Coalition campaign posters
promised to eliminate funding for
"anti-American rallies." Luckily
for all of us,the CC couldn't
legislate that blatantly
McCarthyistic promise into
reality. The term "anti-American"
remains as ambiguous and insipid
as ever, though I don't doubt that
some CC members still occupy
their time compiling lists of
things "American" and "anti-
American."
Such classification of the
universe is the citizen's right; I
exercised my own right to opinion
last year by calling these cam-
paign tactics ignorant. Yet this
year's CC campaign posters go
well beyond mere adolescent
Cold War stupidity.
With the CC's signatory short-
sighted idiocy, these posters asked
the U of M student body to
"exterminate the radicals" by
voting CC. It seems that last
year's campaign strategist, Joe
McCarthy, has been sacked in
favor of Hienrich Himmler, Pol
Pot, Idi Amin, and a familiar
rogue's gallery of intolerant
political despots.
Although I do not fear for my
radical little life yet, I must feel a
bit curious and apprehensive
about the way the CC dismisses
the intellect of the student body.
Do they really expect intelligent
conservative support for veiled
threats against the opposition?
Do they not expect thinking
students to ask obvious questions:
who are the "radicals"?; how will
they be "exterminated"?; WHY
should they be "exterminated"?;
how does a democracy go about
exterminating one group or
another?
This letter may come too late
to have any effect on this fall's
elections. But before next
spring's MSA election I ask the
student body to commit to
memory the CC's campaign
strategies: they dehumanize their
opponents through fascistic
propaganda and expect voters to
follow that line of thought as well.
I hope that both conservatives
and liberals will draw upon their
education and humanistic
sensitivity and reject the CC and
their abhorrent and elitist political
philosophy.
Eric Bauman
Rackham graduate student
Follow BYU's lead
To the Daily:
The "BYU Feminist group
proposes curfew for men" (11/26)
was a very interesting article. It
described an option for attempting
to solve the problems women on
campus face every night as they
walk home or to the library.
The University and student
groups concerned about this issue
should follow BYU's lead, by
creating a committee that could
deal with this problem at this
university, emphasizing on areas
where Safewalk becomes an
impractical option, and assessing
potentially dangerous areas.
Danilo N. Gutierrez
third-year engineering
MSA elections
To the Daily:
TThe lack of turnout for voting
seems to directly reflect the
parallels between student govern-
ment and U.S. Government. With
a bunch of little wanna-be
Republicans and Democrats
training for the real world on
student funds, there's little
question why students don't care.
Arguing in "court" over the
recycled content of posters while
the Defense Department spends
$18 million on campus mirrors
the same nonsense preached from
Washington, D.C.
Patrick Soule
LSA junior
'U' police inept
To the Daily:
I am upset and frustrated.
Correct me if I am wrong. The
University police were created to
protect the students from an
increasing crime rate and to be
able to answer calls more quickly
than the Ann Arbor police . They
were given guns to assist them
with these two objectives.
It boggles the mind to hear
how the University police have
been more involved and con-
cerned with the harassment of
African-American students than
the real issuses they were founded
on.
How can an incident such as
the one at East Quad go undocu-
men ted and unreported?
How can the there be no
official warning to the student
body about a sexual assault in
front of Hill Auditorium?
How can a suspected,
believed, and probable rape
outside of Stockwell dorm go
without any investigation?
Somebody's not doing their job!
The bomb scare incident is but
another case where University
police have shown their lack of
competence.
It was so funny to me to see
those "dedicated" students who,
by the way, are on the payroll,
support the actions of the police
by denouncing their critics.
Tell me, do those same
students feel safe on this campus
now?
As an African American and
as a woman, I almost feel like a
target rather than a benefactor!
Things must change!
Amy Ellis
LSA sophomore
*I
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Refugees
U.S. has responsibility to accept Haitian refugees
O n Sunday, the U.S. Coast Guard halted three
sailboats carrying 128 Haitian migrants in an
ongoing effort to deal with the exodus from the
impoverished island nation. Currently there are
3,772 Haitian refugees in U.S. custody at
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. By keeping these refugees
off U.S. shores, the Coast Guard is preventing
Haitians from exercising the automatic right to
appeal the decision of the Bush administration to
deny them political asylum.
This comes on the heels of a Bush Administration
decision last month to begin the forced repatriation
of Haitians, and to classify them as economic, not
political refugees. The policy neglectshumanitarian
concerns. It has no place in a country that claims to
be dedicated to the protection of human rights.
Since the Sept. 30 coup in Haiti that ousted the
democratically elected Jean-Betrand Aristide, the
military government has increased repressive and
violent treatment of Haitian citizens. At least 1,500
Haitian citizens have been killed in the violence.
Widespread reports of violence directed at citizens
opposed to military rule have been dismissed by
the Bush administration, despite the report of the
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights,
part ofthe Organization ofAmerican States (OAS),
that two mass graves have been found containing
the bodies of at least 60 people, including children.
The position of the Bush administration conflicts
with its opposition to the forced repatriation of the
Vietnamese boat people from Hong Kong by En-
gland. Since the British implemented the repa-
triation policy, the U.S. State Department has
harshly criticized this policy. The position of the
administration also conflicts with the United States'
acceptance of Cuban refugees seeking asylum
over the past several years. Cubans have entered
the country under the Cuban Adjustment Act,
which classifies these Cubans as fleeing the re-
pression of the Castro government.
In the late 1970s, President Carter was thought
to have been damaged politically by the immigration
of thousands of Haitians in Florida. President
Reagan immediately restricted immigration and
established the policy of forced repatriation.
President Bush has 'decided to continue in the
footsteps of his predecessor, ignoring the human
rights concerns of the Haitian people.
With less than one year remaining before the
1992 presidential election, itis politically expedient
to deport the refugees rather than allow them safe
haven. Instead of thinking in purely political terms,
Bush should think in humanitarian terms, and
reverse his policy of forced repatriation, before
more Haitians citizens are sent to their deaths.
The Statue of Liberty reads, "Give us your tired,
yourpoor, yourhuddled masses yearning to breathe
free." Obviously, the systematic political repres-
sion of Haitian refugees does not fit into President
Bush's interpretation of this statement.
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by Rich Constable
In September 1991 three new
elementary public schools were
opened in Detroit. This in itself is
not surprising, what is surprising
is that these schools are single-
sexed all male academies, which
were set up on the grounds of
helping the plight of African-
American males.
How is this to be accom-
plished? By putting forth positive
role models, in the form of Black
male teachers, placing the
students in a strict academic
environment, and instilling the
students with a pride for their
African-American heritage.
These academies received
resistance from many feminine
groups such as NOW and ACLU
because they exclude women
from the classroom. Conse-
quently, because of a law suit
brought by these groups, the
academies were forced to admit
female students. Is this so wrong?
No.
It is my contention that these
schools, no matter how high their
aims, fall short of their mark
schools. So, with the commitment
of principals and teachers, a
sound educational plan based
largely around an African-
American context was developed,
which would meet the unique
needs of urban boys, in an all
male setting.
These boys are not forced to
go to these schools, unless their
parents will it. If a parent feels
that another school in the district
is better, their child may freely
go. Also, these all male academies
will not result in a reduction of
resources from other Detroit
schools. The reason these schools
are single-sexed are so that the
boys will concentrate on their
studies and not have to worry
about distractions from girls.
I agree with the goals of these
academies. It is well documented
how low the graduation, and how
high the drop-out rate is for Black
high school males. The conse-
quences of this are the lack of
employment opportunities for
Black males, their high incarcera-
tion rate and the incohesiveness of
the Black family structure. These
the same horrid predicament as
Black males, and do excel in
greater numbers, would not they
too benefit from schools which
are implementing goals which
benefit the African-American
population in Detroit.
The boys are not forced to go
to these schools unless their
parents will it. What if parents
also want their daughters to go to
these schools (seeing the positive
benefit it may have on their
daughters)? Are parents to be
subsequently deprived of attaining
the same quality public education
for their daughters as for their
sons?
The idea that the academies
have to be single-sexed in order
for the boys to concentrate on
their studies is ridiculous. In
elementary schools most boys
have no special inclinations to
girls and usually treat them like
"one of the guys." Therefore, that
idea holds no merit.
As I have stated before, I am
all for the goals of these acad-
emies, I only question the fact that
then are consciously hnefitina
I
Nuts and Bolts
YOU UN STAND. YoARE
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SANTA FI~RER
by Judd Winick
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