Page 4-The Michigan Daily- Friday, February 14, 1992 Editor in Chief I - -- - - - WMNM" ,.re % / ! - N'r ! So(a '1T OF? G,1.. !TF n1W / O 4f' s. S (F -" y -- 7 420 Maynard Street Ann Arbor. Michigan 48109 764 - 0552 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. :.:.1]:} .^::.:: "::c""" /> 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- 01 0 .__. _% ... - L "..-- 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 S ------------ 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 Iu*I~HM.4EO"K. eurL by Judd Winick WEL WWSR,YOO AiYTOcsO HOME? I FV~otEAWGOtNE, Tor ( NS9STON W64RiNe, VE l{L LL t .)Y SKINS AND R)RS £FAIlM"d ITH&I EYCAN E' ANW LT07 ec'r OD F4Efl WI M 2 DWG Bt dd 0I I