Page 4-The Michigan Daily- Friday, February 14, 1992
Editor in Chief
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MATTHEW D. RENNIE
Opinion Editors
YAEL CITRO
GEOFFREY EARLE
AMITAVA MAZUMDAR
Edited and Managed
by Students at the
University of Michigan
Unsigned editorials represent a majority cif 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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viF
Fraternity
k astweek,theEasternMichiga
.4 chapter of Theta Chi Frater
two-year probation for discrimin
hatory harassment. The probatio
the fraternity's punishment for a
ist incident that took place at a T
Chi party on Nov.17, 1991.
According to several witnesse
the fall incident, approximately
African-American members
Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity w
4ssailed by racial slurs from m
bers of Theta Chi. Later, about
white men carrying chains, bats
clubs -some ofthem wearing'I
Chi apparel - began fighting v
theLambdaChi Aphamembers.
violen(
nUniversity(EMU)
nity was placed on
ation and discrimi-
)n is
rac-
beta
N to
five -
of
were -
em-:
t 30 L'-
andl
heta
with
Sev-
e warrants notice
and "We Hate Niggers," on two naked pledges, and
dumped them at nearby Rust college, a predomi-
nantly Black university. The list goes on and on.
Needless to say, such behavior on the
part of any campus organization is
rightfully and properly censurable.
Despite the long list of offenses,
however, it would be foolish to as-
sume that all fraternities engage in
such racist activities.
While the Greek system has long
been known to be exclusive and elit-
ist, it has made some steps of late to
clean up its act.
eTo assume that all members ofthe
Greek system are necessarily racist
and sexist would be unfair. However,
fraternities are a reflection of the society at large,
whichisinherentlyracist. While individual members
may not be bigoted, certainly a social wrong exists
that needs to be corrected.
All individuals must be held accountable for their
actions, regardless of whether or not they are in a
fraternity. If these individuals beat up members of a
Black fraternity, then they should be punished. But
considering the long history of racial incidents in-
volving fraternities, one begins to wonder whether
this behavior is fostered by the way the fraternity
system itself is structured.
.7-
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Daily thought it could get away with anti-Semitism
gral injuries were repot
violence occurred thro
This outburst of vic
wAot, however, the first
fraternity. In the fall
Wisconsin-Madison ci
slave auction in which
donned Afro wigs. Th
At a Trinity Univers
was forced to wear
through the campus ca
MVississippi, members(
'4tlastFriday's Bud
lature, Gov. John
pDsing unilateral cuts
General Assistance w
dren. This proposal ha
the last month, and m
speculated that this p
- piece of a new retruct
nately, wiser heads pr
ceded against includin
While Engler should
torestructureGeneral
ers who have addition
severe problems that r
Earlier this year,
Jersey), signed intol
General Assistance fc
dditional children. T
the flawed assumptic
;babies to get increased
$64 a month. In realit
affect in lessening wi
}nfairly penalizes mo
they need extra govern
This proposal wasv
groups across the spec
and has been compare
severely penalizes wo
rted and further escalations of
ughout the evening.
olence is a terrible event. It is
t such incident to occur at a
of 1988, the University of
hapter of Zeta Beta Tau held a
pledges wore black faces and
ey were subsequently bid on.
ity fraternity, aJewish pledge
a Nazi uniform and parade
afeteria. At the University of
ofa fraternity painted "KKK,"
does good,. for once
get address to the State Legis- dren.
Engler decided against pro- The Engler budget has substantial problems, that
s in welfare for mothers on are yet to be resolved. While attempting to keep
ho decide to have more chil- funding levels near current levels, Engler has cut
d been under consideration for many badly needed programs. In the '93 budget,
iany legislators had privately General Assistance is eliminated for single adults.
roposal would be the center- School finance, arts funding, additional general as-
ured welfare proposal. Fortu- sistance programs, and several other program fund-
evailed and Gov. Engler de- ing levels are hotly contested by Democrats in the
g it in his fiscal 1993 budget. Statelegislature. Withoutfurthercompromise, many
be commended for the refusal groups andindividuals will be in needof funding that
Assistancepayments for moth- is cut in the Engler budget.
al children, the budget still has Many states have looked for innovative solutions
need to be addressed. to get people off welfare, including workfare, job-
Gov. James Florio (D-New training, and the gradual reduction of welfare funds.
law a similar bill, that cuts But, the solution of the Republican-controlled New
)r welfare mothers that have Jersey state legislature, to end reliance on welfare by
he proposed law was based on cutting General Assistance to welfare mothers who
)n that women were having have additional children, is not to be followed by
welfare benefits amounting to other states as an effective means of controlling the
y, this provision will have no welfare system. Governor Engler's decision not to
elfare dependancy. Instead,it include the proposal to cut General Assistance for
thers and their children when welfare mothers, is a welcomed step forward from an
nment help. administration that has all too often forgotten the
widely condemnedbypolitical needs of the poor in this state. In this same spirit,
trum, as inhumane and unjust, Engler should correct the glaring inequities ofthe'93
A to a policy in China, which budget to make it more responsive to the needs of the
men who have additional chil- impoverished in the state of Michigan.
To the Daily:
I am writing in response to the
Insight column written by former
Editor in Chief Andrew
Gottesman (1/30/92). Though the
issues surrounding the Daily's
decision to publish the so-called
"Holocaust revisionism" ad have
been discussed endlessly since
Oct. 24, I feel the need to raise
questions about Gottesman's
justifications for running it.
Firstly, Gottesman cites the
now familiar "freedom of speech"
argument: that anyone, regardless
of whom they offend, has the
right to express themselves. This
is certainly true. It is not fair,
however, to use this as a defense
for publishing an advertisement
when the Daily, as do all newspa-
pers, regularly rejects advertising
material based on content. The
Daily freely admits rejecting beer
ads deemed sexist. No one has
denounced that as censorship, for
it isn't.
Secondly, Gottesman says that
rejecting an ad because of its
implicit anti-Semitism would
"expose papers to a whole range
of problems."
He goes on to describe
potential scenarios with ads
offending Blacks, homosexuals,
etc. The implication here is that
the Daily would publish such
advertisements if they were
submitted. In reality, this is not
the case.
Suppose the Daily had
received an advertisement entitled
'The Slavery Controversy: The
Case for Open Debate." The ad
might suggest that African-
American slaves were actually
treated very well by their masters
and that stories about plantation
owners' cruelty are completely
false.
These "ideas," of course, are
equally as absurd as the "ideas"
put forth in the Holocaust
revisionist ad. I am quite certain
that such ads as I have described
would not have been published in
the Daily, as they would have
caused an uproar much greater
than that arising from the
CODOH submission.
Contemporary America, the
University being a prime ex-
ample, is highly sensitized to
racism and homophobia. The
simple fact is, the Jewish people
are a well established part of
American society, having made
great inroads in political, finan-
cial, cultural and intellectual life.
It is therefore more acceptable,
in the minds of many, to allow the
"open discussion" of "ideas"
which are essentially anti-Semitic
than that of "ideas" which
discriminate against groups of
people less firmly entrenched in
mainstream society.
In short, the Daily ran the ad
concerning the Holocaust because
it knew that it could get away
with it. The Daily'sdecision to
run the CODOH ad is reprehen-
sible, for it allows people to think
that anti-Semitism is somehow
less wrong than racism or
homophobia, because Jews have
already "made it." This is
shameful.
Third, the Daily mistook
blatant self-promotion for a call to
open intellectual debate. I would
like to bring to Mr. Gottesman's
attention that fact that in claiming
that "ideas deserve open discus-
sion," he has played right into the
hands of CODOH, and has
provided it with free publicity,
something for which I am sure it
is are quite grateful.
No one truly believes the
contents of the controversial ad,
especially not the people who sent
it in. I am quite sure that
CODOH's agenda does not
include righting the alleged
wrongs of historical analysis. It
are a hate group and it is agenda
is undoubtedly quite anti-Semitic
(and probably racist and
homophobic, too). Publicity is the
single most valuable weapon of
groups with agendas of hate and
mind control.
By printing their advertise-
ment, the Daily put CODOH's
name on the lips of nearly every
student on this campus, and the
"issue" of Holocaust revisionism
has now gotten national attention.
By acting in traditional knee-
jerk liberal fashion, and thinking
that they were acting in an open-
minded way, Mr. Gottesman and
his colleagues have allowed a
non-issue to become a hot,
controversial topic and provided a
hate group with that which it most
cherish; publicity.
If the editors at the papers of
Harvard, Yale, Penn and Wiscon-
sin were smart enough to see
through this farce, why weren't
you?
It is disgraceful for the
official newspaper of one of
America's finest universities to
allow itself to be taken in by this
intellectual shabbiness.
Nathaniel J Chaitkin
Music and LSA senior
0
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Scholarships rectify past injustices
ast week, a federal court challenged the constitu-
tionality of a scholarship program for Black
students at the University of Maryland. The case
called into question the use of race-based scholar-
ships as a way of correcting past wrongs.
The issue first surfaced in 1990, when Michael
Williams, assistant secretary of education for civil
rights, and the Bush administration considered ban-
ning all scholarships awarded based on a student's
race. However, as a result of the uproar that ensued
after the announcement, the administrationretreated.
Now, the Maryland court is claiming that race-
based scholarships violate TitleVI of the Civil Rights
Act of 1964, which states that a person cannot be
discriminated against based on their race or ethnic
origin. The case was brought before the court by a
Hispanic student after he was rejected for a scholar-
ship that was open to all students. He then decided to
apply for a scholarship that was open only to Black
students and when he was refused, he claimed that
the scholarship was discriminatory.
Many of the students who acquire the race-based
scholarships may not be the students intended to
receive them. However, this is a fault in the system
Itself, and notin the existence of the scholarship. The
University offers a variety of different programs that
userace as either aninclusive orexclusive factor. The
importance of these programs should not be under-
mined. These programs bring a lot of students to the
University who would otherwise not be able to
attend. Without the scholarships, many minority
students would have to borrow enormous amounts of
money or may not be able to attend at all.
. The Maryland court claimed that it did not see
enoughevidenceto show that scholarships neededto
be used to correct past wrongs. Past wrongs, how-
ever, obviously play a role in the perpetuation of
current social problems. This attempt is one of many
attempts by the Bush administration to do away with
those programs which recognize the discrimination
faced by minorities and women.
This debate flatters our society and brings mi-
norities to a level of equality that only exists for the
sake of argument. The very fact that there exists a
debate over this issue down-plays the dire situation
that continues to plague the oppressed. Our present
is a reflection of our past. Scholarships and special
programs are the least that can be done to aid those
groups whose oppression is a result of historical
injustice.
What about
country music?
To the Daily:
I realize that college campuses
are the prime breeding and testing
grounds for music such as new
wave and house. I'm troubled,
though, by the blatant lack of
diversity in the Daily Arts record
reviews. Isn't the representation
of the thoughts and opinions of all
groups the prime concern of this
University? Why is it then that
the Daily Arts staff never reviews
a new release by a country artist?
Granted, there is a certain stigma
that goes along with country
music. Well, believe it or not,
country is the most widely
listened to form of music in
America Sounds like diversity to
me -
By the looks of students
walking around campus, I'd think
a lot of people would agree with
me. Or do they just wear cowboy
boots because it's a fashion
statement?
Christine Morton
RC sophomore
It's a good message
To the Daily:
I am surprised that the editors
of the Daily ("MSA Unaware of
Alcohol Realities," 2/11/92) are
unable to recognize the role of
alcohol in problems faced by
campuses across the nation. The
reality is that alcohol has been
cited as a major factor in the
occurrence of date rape, property
damage, and the South University
message is a necessary one.
Perhaps format changes should be
made to increase the audience.
The issue should not have been
trivialized as was done by the
editors of the Daily.
Barry Hart
Rackham graduate student
Gernan judge failed
To the Daily:
The German legal system's
conviction of border guard Ingo
Heinrich and the Daily's support
of the conviction ("Just Following
Orders?" 2/5/92) are disturbing.
Would American pilots who
killed innocent civilians in
Vietnam someday be sent to jail
because the nation decides that
the Vietnam war was morally
wrong?
The German court has not, as
the Daily proposes, "asserted
emphatically and correctly that
everything which is legal is not
necessarily right." Of course,
legality and morality are different.
No court, or newspaper for
that matter, should pretend that
this is some profound bit of
insight. Judge Theodor Seidel
certainly asserted his justified
hatred of East German law;
unfortunately, that assertion came
at the expense of Ingo Heinrich.
Seidel's job was to judge whether
Heinrich's actions were criminal
when they were committed, not
whether in hindsight, from a
comfortable chair, he deems those
action to be immoral.
He failed.
Cold homeless nights
To the Daily:
The sub-zero days and nights
in Ann Arbor cause students to
walk briskly across campus until
they are through the doors of their,
warm dorms, apartments or
houses.
Imagine spending a day on the
other side of those doors as 1,50Q
people in Ann Arbor do. These
people remain in this bitter cold
throughout the night because they
are homeless.
There are numerous buildings
around the city of Ann Arbor
which could be converted into
low-income housing for these
people.
One such building is the
Downtown Club which has had an
occupancy rate of under 50
percent since it was converted
into office space from low-
income housing in 1983. Many of
these buildings remain unused
while people remain unsheltered.
On Sunday, Feb. 9, the Ann
Arbor City Council representa-
tives from the Downtown
Development Authority and the
City Commissioners will be
meeting with organizations who
are concerned with the homeless
crisis.
The goal of these organiza-
tions is to have the Downtown
Club converted back into low-
income housing and to get these
people off the streets.
Hopefully this meeting will
begin to bring Ann Arbor's
homeless out of the cold and our
city officials out of the dark.
Liz ClIi,,mw,
S.,
Nuts and Bolts
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