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Page 4-The Michigan Daily- Wednesday, February 19, 1992
Editrcb 4jn C& I
Editor in Chief
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MAITIEW D. RENNIE
Opinion Editors
YAEL CITRO
GEOFFREY EARLE
AMITAVA MAZUMDAR
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Edited and Managed
by Students at the
University of Michigan
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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Duderstadt is ilel
Ilegal consul for the University
filed a legal brief asking the Michigan Su-
preme Court to overturn a recent State Appeals
Court ruling which stated the University con-
ducted illegal meetings in its search for a new
University president. The closed meetings held
during that the search process was in direct viola-
tion of the Open Meetings Act. The University's
move to appeal the decision is disheartening and
ill-advised. Despite the appeals-court decision, the
regents are willing to continue openly breaking the
law. It is unfortunate that they chose to waste
University resources on additional fines and legal
costs that will accompany the trial.
The University is asking the state to grant it the
authority to pick administration officials "any way
it wants." This requestis superseded by the public's
interest to be privy to the dealings of governmental
bodies, including elected regents, as defined by the
Open Meetings Act. The University's argument
that it will be unable to attract qualified candidates
to fill top positions if it follows the law is ludicrous.
Institutions that comply with the law have no
trouble finding suitable candidates. It is crucial
that the community, and especially students, have
the right to have a voice - and a right to be
informed - during the presidential selection pro-
cess if the institutions governing universities are to
remain democratic nand responsive to the voters
gal, why appeal?
thatelectedthem.Unfortunate y,theregents prefer
the public is kept in the dark throughout the pro-
cess.
The administration argues in a legal brief that
simply because the state constitution charges the
regents with selecting a president, the regents can
select the president in any manner it sees fit. On
this basis, any governing body from the U.S.
Senate to the Ann Arbor City Council could make
decisions in secret, without regard to the public
interest, as they see fit.
If the Michigan Supreme Court decides to
hear the case, the decision will have lasting im-
pacts on the rights of the people to be involved in
the governing of colleges and universities through-
out the state.
The Court must then affirm that the regental
action is a clear and willful violation of the Open
Meetings Act. Without upholding the decision of
the appeals court, the court would allow the Uni-
versity to meet in secret, through conference calls
and smoky back rooms, dictating public policy,
without considering the concerns of community
residents, University employees, or students.
The University's decision to appeal means that
the regents will continue to view the public, includ-
ing students, as an enemy to openly deceive, rather
than a public that has a constitutionally guaranteed
right to oversee the activities of the government.
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Don't mess with the press
'r e Michigan Court of Appeals ruled yesterday
that a Detroit judge must return notes confis-
cated from a reporter and and allow the media to
return to the courtroom. Last week, Judge Vera
Massey Jones confiscated a reporter's notebook
and ejected aphotographer in the trial of Cassandra
Rutherford, one of six Black women accused of
beating three white women at last July's Detroit
fireworks festival. Jones barred all note-taking and
photography from the courtroom. Citing fears that
the jury might be affected by the media presence,
she stated that "If I don't stop it, we won't have a
fair trial."
The Appeals Court ruling is welcome. Jones'
decision was a direct violaton of the First
Amenment. The public and the press have a right
to monitor the administration and application of
criminal justice. This is constitutional law. That
basic right implies that members of the press, as
representatives of the public, should be able to do
their jobs and report on a trial.
The notion that note-taking could be prohibited
in a court of law is extraordinary, if not unprec-
edented, in the history of the U.S. legal system. It
is difficult to understand how note-taking could
disrupt the trial. But Judge Jones stated this as one
of her reasons for confiscating the note pad. If the
jury is chosen and agreed to by both the prosecu-
tion and the defense attorneys, then bias is irrel-
evant.
The judge should realize that even if it is her
responsibility to ensure a fair trial, she should not
limit the public's access to the facts or the proceed-
ings of the case.
Surely, the fairness of the case rests on the
judge's ability to protect the rights of the accused
within the court room.
. But, reporters can have little or no effect on the
opinions of the jury by looking at them and taking
notes. This case has relevance to the entire Detroit
metro area. Since there is no way the nearly six
million residents of the area can attend the trial at
the same time, it is necessary for coverage of the
trial to be available to interested parties.
Jones surely has a difficult task in keeping the
trial as fair as possible. But the press, by simply
taking note of the events that occur, does not have
a great influence on the outcome of the case, unless
the members of the jury are allowed to read the
reports - which is not allowed. In order to restrict
the access of the press, the judge must give plau-
sible and specific reasons why the press is endan-
gering the fairness of the trial. The fact is she has
not.
Daily tells lies
To the Daily,
Regarding your attack on Jeff
Muir and the Academic Affairs
Commission's effort towards a
24-hour library ("We can't take
any Muir" 2/3/92) I wanted to
correct some of your lies. First,
you stated that no other student
governments were involved.
Since the beginning I, Brett White
LSA SG President, have been
involved with and have attended
every Academic Affairs Commis-
sion meeting on this subject.
You state that there had been
only one meeting. This is untrue,
in fact there had been two.
You criticized the Commis-
sion for not contacting Maureen
Hartford, the new vice president
for student Services, concerning
the subject. The truth is that I
spoke to her personally about the
subject in a meeting on January
31. All of this could have been
avoided if you would have
bothered to either show up at one
of our meetings or called someone
to verify your false information.
To do otherwise is extremely
unprofessional and unethical.
Brett White
LSA SG President
FIier tacky, not sexist
To the Daily:
This letter is in response torthe
letter (1/31/92) regarding the flier
distributed by Theta Delta Chi
Fraternity for winter rush. The
woman who views this flier and
thinks only of rape is missing the
point. Beer and scantily dressed
women display the lack of taste
and sophistication promoted by
Theta Delta Chi. This particular
woman in the flier is not pre-
sented as a future rape victim, but
as a slut, a woman of loose
morals, a willing participant in the
whole copulatory act. Beer and
cheap sex, the stuff of which
fraternity pipe dreams are made.
Or is that just a stereotype?
Rick Shick
RC Senior
The Daily encourages its
readers to write. Send all
signed letters to: The Michi-
gan Daily, 420 Maynard, Ann
Arbor, MI, 48109. Or via MTS
to: The Michgian Daily,
Letters to the Editor.
To the Daily:
Kudos, for once, to Mary Ann
Swain and the 'U administration
for denying NORML the right to
hold their rally on the Diag for the
Hash Bash (2/4/92).
While the legalization of
marijuana is certainly a legitimate
political question, the Diag is not
the place for it. People go to the
Hash Bash to relax and have a
slightly illicit good time, and I for
one do not want my valuable
brain-free time taken up by the
Kudos to Swain
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exhortations of a group of people
who have smoked so much pot
that they're willing to devote their
lives to its cause.
Although the rallies generate a
certain amount of unintentional
high camp, I and most other
Michigan students, and perhaps
even the sullen teens from
Livonia who seem to have
invaded the event in recent years,
would much rather indulge in the
activities that make the Hash Bash
such a pleasant tradition: Frisbee,
staring at the sun, and saucy grins.
Ian Campbell
LSA student
Protesters disruptive, abusive
To the Daily: Demagogic chants meant to
Not only was the disruptive further disrupt the lecture dis-
display by Ann Arbor Committee played the closed-minded
to Defend Abortion and Repro- ignorance of the demonstrators,
ductive Rights (AACDARR) at who openly believed that all
the lecture on "Racism and students and others attending the
Abortion" violent, vulgar, and lecture were racist, sexist, anti-
misguided, it also attempted to gay, supporters of the KKK,
suppress not only the freedom of communists and against mastur-
speech we enjoy, but also the bation and birth control.
University's attempts to create a Before I had said a word, I
learning environment in which all was condemned as inherently
sides of an issue, however racist and sexist because I am a
unpopular with certain members dreaded "white male."
of the campus, may be subjec- Though none of my open
tively and creatively explored and questions were intelligently
expressed. answered by the group's mem-
Reactions of AACDARR bers, who seemed more interested
members to the speaker and in personal attacks, and who
audience members (who were declined to stay for the majority
indicted by their mere presence) of the lecture, I was offered an
included violent shrieking, analogy comparing abortion to
yelling, assorted bodily noises, cutting fingernails.
and constant outbursts of profan- Though I fundamentally
ity. respect AACDARR's right to free
AACDARR seemed quite speech and disagreement, the
upset that MSA gave financial hatred in their eyes as they all
support for the speaker to come yelled at me led me to the
and speak from an anti-abortion conclusion that they have become
perspective, though they failed to like the racists they claim to be
produce a speaker of their own against, in that their misunder-
with a grant request. standing stems from an ignorance
Such disorganization and lack they have no desire to learn about.
of insight was also evident in the More open-minded students
propaganda flyer they distributed who are responsible enough to
before the lecture began, which seek the opinions of both sides on
suggested that AACDARR an issue as important as abortion
members, in seeming contrast to should not be subjected to anger
anti-abortion people, were against and violence because they are
racism and sexism, but for AIDS searching for their own personal
research, and improved health truth. AACDARR's actions were
care and educational systems. " a display of ignorance and
Almost every listed goal of showed a lack of responsibility
AACDARR that is not supportive toward the University community.
0
of abortion is also a goal of anti-
abortion and other human rights
groups at this campus and
nationwide.
Rich Martin
SNR junior
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Polk distorts
by Andrew Mutch
Deputization public hearings will be held today from 4to 6p.m. in the Michigan,
League Ballroom and tomorrow from 4 to 5 p.m. in the Michigan Union
Ballroom.
The viewpoints of MSA
representatives are so rarely seen
in the Daily that it was unfortu-
nate to see a MSA representative
use the opportunity to attack other
representatives. However, Amyr
rPolk's use of the Daily to slander
her fellow representatives can not
be ignored. Starting in the Daily
(12/11/92), Ms. Polk accused
Conservative Coalition (CC)
members of voting "the party
line" in order to secure every
committee and commission chair
on MSA. In an opinion article in
the Daily (1/15/92), she continued
spewing her lies which included:
Lie 1: Budget Priorities Chair
Sejal Mistry had "almost no
previous experience with budgets
facts in op-ed
Lie 3: "MSA representatives
from opposition parties, indepen-
dent representatives from small
schools and interested students
with no previous affiliation to
MSA were all rejected by the CC-
dominated assembly."
First, an independent and a
student who had run against CC
in the fall elections were both
elected chairpersons.
Secondly, only one small
school representative ran for a
vice-chair position. The CC
candidate won by nine votes
because of the support of indepen-
dents on the Assembly. The same
representative was later selected
for a vice-chair position by the
same "CC-dominated assembly."
Finally, after criticizing the
piece
those with whom he disagreed
could not attend." Actually, he
said that he would "stack" the-
commission with people favorable
towards his goals.
This was a tactic used by
Corey Dolgon when he was the
Students Rights Commission
chair. "Stacking" a commission is
perfectly legal and Mr.
Vanderburg has publicly an-
nounced where and when his
meetings are held.
How quickly Amy Polk has
forgotten the days when the
radical-left dominated Assembly
passed around sheets asking
fellow radicals which commis-
sions and committees they
wanted. Back then there was
never any talk of representatives
Nuts and Bolts
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