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Page 4 -The Michigan Daily - Thursday, March 5, 1992
Tbe 4 tIrrbtXtji aiIld
420 Maynard Street
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109
764 - 0552
Ed(itor M Ch'ieaf
MATIEWD . RINNIL
Opinion Editors
YAEL CITRO
GEOFFREY EARLE
AMITAVA MAZUMDAR
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 oftthe Daily.
Register to vote in Ann Arbor
L ast fall, students of the University were tear This divides campus into five wards and dissipates
gassed by officers of the Ann Arbor City the force once maintained by students voters.
Police. Because the police force is accountable to Ann Arbor would not exist were it not for the
the people ofthe city, the incident on South Univer- University and the University would not exist were
sity is a clear example of how University students it not for students. Still, the City Council continues
are not independent ofAnn Arbor politics. And still to regard the student community as a necessary
very few students let the city know they were angry evil.Those students living off campus should also
and very few vote in city elections. remember that as property taxes increase, so does
Many students claim devotion to their home their rent. Registering to vote is also a financial
town, declaring only transient status in Ann Arbor. issue - student interests are at stake.
But, unless every student steps forward and regis- Students who are concerned about losing their
ters to vote in the city where they spend eight voice at home can maintain the option of negating
months out of the year, the city will continue to their Ann Arbor registrations on April 7 - after
ignore the concerns of students, and do so without proving to City Council that they exist - and still
remorse. vote at home in November. This is a simple proce-
Monday, March 9 is the last day to register to dure and enables students to be heard in two
vote in the April 6 City Council elections. No communities in the same year.
responsible studentcan complain about being shov- Registrars may not be stopping every passer-by
ed around or brushed aside, unless every eligible in the Diag and no one may approach students in
student registers and tells a friend to do the same. the Fishbowl with a clip board and a pen. But every
Students made such an impact on City Council student needs to register to vote.
during the early 70s that they developed their own Any resident - even temporary residents -
student party- the Human Rights Party -which can register at the Ann Arbor public library, the city
won two seats on the Council in 1972. clerk's office or any office of the Secretary of State.
Eventually the Democrats and Republicans, It's important. It affects students. It does not re-
feeling threatened by a growing student power quire much effort to register, but Monday is the last
base, re-drew the city ward boundaries so they now day.
branch out from the center of the city in a pie shape. Register.
fI-iA~skr-MANS / P SCORES HAv-E
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Student activism does not mean mob violence
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To the Daily:
At the February regents'
meeting I did something I have
never done before and I hope I
never have to do again: I apolo-
gized for the behavior of students.
The behavior I referred to
resulted from the demonstrations
at the scheduled public hearings
on the issue of deputization. I was
surprised, disappointed and
embarrassed by the actions of the
protestors.
As a newcomer to the Univer-
sity, I expected student activism
- in fact, I looked forward to
working on a campus where
student apathy was not the status
quo. What shocked and disap-
pointed me was the form student
activism took two weeks ago.
Disregard for the rights of free
speech for others, disregard for
people's safety, and mob violence
were the approaches taken to
express disagreement with the
actions of the board of regents.
Asking for more student input
into decisions by screaming
obscenities at the Board through a
bull horn does not strike me as
method with much chance of
success.
The most upsetting actions,
though, came on Thursday when
the coalition leaders lost control
of the crowd, and it became a
mob which turned violent. There
is never a place for violence on a
university campus, nor a place for
violent people.
Learning to deal with differ-
ences of opinion is an important
part of human development. In
our youth, we see things as right
or wrong with no shading or
compromise. We see people who
disagree with us as wrong and
disagreement frequentlytakes the
form of name calling and
punches. That is the behavior I
saw in the protestors.
If we at the University want a
university which values diversity
of opinion, we must learn to deal
with people who differ from us in
more mature ways.
I am sincerely committed to
finding ways to gather student
opinion on important issues at the
University and to using student
opinion in decision making, but I
do not condone the violent actions
of a few students and non-students
two weeks ago.
To create a new paradigm for
student involvement in this
university we need higher
expectations for everyone,
including students, which include
non-violent behavior (and perhaps
a better vocabulary).
Maureen A. Hartford
Vice President for Student
Affairs
Housing cost mcr
Continuing in along history of sucking students'
wallets dry, the University Board of Regents
voted in another housing rate increase. This will
raise the already high costs of living in the dormi-
tories by 4.9 percent. This is a comparatively
merciful increase in light of the 6 percent increase
for 1991-92, but it is not justifiable.
Put into perspective, the thievery involved be-
comes more apparent. This year, students pay,
$3,605 to live in a residence hall triple, $4,084 for
a double, and $4,855 for a single. This is just room
and board. Add the tuition bill, which may increase
by as much as 7 percent this year, and the cost of
attending this university approaches $8,000 for in-
state students and $17,000 for out-of-state stu-
dents.
The University says that these increases are
,necessary for renovations for the dormitories, es-
pecially the ailing Mary Markley Residence Hall.
The Housing Division expects to garner $3 million
for capital improvements through this new in-
crease. While there is little doubt in any dorm
resident's mind that the residence halls need reno-
vations, such an increase, in light of these difficult
economic times, is too expensive.
e
ase is robbery
Considering the University of Michigan is al-
ready one of the five mostexpensive public univer-
sities in the country, these increases will only serve
to turn away prospective students.
Regent Shirley McFee (R-Battle Creek) said
that "with the 4.9 percent increase, the rates are still
about the same as accommodations in Ann Arbor."
McFee, like the rest of the regents, only comes to
Ann Arbor on occasion, but leaves thinking she
understands all the issues in Ann Arbor. Her esti-
mate was probably made comparing her hotel rates
to dormitory figures, for few students are paying
over $540 per month in off-campus housing.
If the Housing Division wants to keep students
in the dorms, it needs to justify rate increases.
Renovations are indeed necessary throughout the
University, but the solution is not to stick students
with the bill every time, as per the regents' stan-
dard operating procedure. Wiser spending and
trimming unnecessary positions in the administra-
tion are more efficacious methods.
For incoming students, dormitories are the best
way to integrate into the University. However, this
does not give the University the right to wring the
buyers of its exclusive product dry.
Broken promises
To the Daily:
The 1992 election year has
arrived. We think it is important
that students have the following
facts at hand.
Four years ago, the president
promised the American public
that he would create 30 million
new jobs. Since that time, less
than 1 million new jobs have been
created. This does not include the
hundreds of thousands of jobs lost
during his term. In the last four
years, the United States has
experienced the slowest economic
growth, the smallest economic
gains, and the fewest number of
jobs created since the Hoover
Administration.
Ten years ago, the American
workers had the world's highest
wages, while today, the United
States is ranked tenth.
Perhaps it is time that we
consider the economic policy that
our president has mapped out. As
we witness the continuing erosion
of the middle class, we believe it
is time for American voters to
take a closer look at how well off
they are as compared to four
years ago.
Do you really want to go
through another four years of
false promises and trickle down
economics? However, maybe if
you are into extended recessions,
this Bush is for you.
Dan Friedenzohn
LSA junior
William Kolakowski
Engineering junior
What's next?
To the Daily:
I find it interesting that the
University is so fucking liberal
that it allows gays to live together
as couples yet a group pushing for
reform of marijuana laws isn't
even allowed a chance to speak.
It's also trying to stop smoking m
the union. How liberal. What's
next? Are we going to need
permission to take a shit?
Dave Corbett
Engineering first-year student
Is anybody safe?
To the Daily:
So I hear that the University's
Department of Public Safety has
40,000 rounds of ammunition
shored up in their central campus
armory. Isn't that just about one
bullet for every student and
faculty member at the University?
Miguel Cruz
LSA senior
The Daily encourages responses
from its readers. Send letters to:
The Michigan. Daily, 420
Maynard, Ann Arbor, MI 48109.
Or via MTS to: The Michigan
Daily, Letters to the Editor.
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Continued tuition hikes unjustified
E arly last week, members of several advocacy
groups for college funding testified before the
Michigan Senate Appropriations Committee on
Higher Education.
Addressing the Senate subcommittee was the
Association of Independent Colleges and Univer-
sities of Michigan, a 47 member group that in-
cludes the University. Because the Senate appears
to support Gov. John Engler's decision to keep
university funding levels the same as last year -
despite inflation - many of the group's members
expressed the fact that they would be forced, once
again, to greatly raise tuition rates above the rate of
inflation.
Northern Michigan University announced that
it would be necessary to have a 30 percent tuition
increase to cover all costs or to drastically cut
spending. According to an informal survey, mem-
bers of individual schools announced that it would
be necessary to raise tuition rates on average of
over eight percent, which is above the rate of
inflation.
The Michigan House of Representatives is ex-
pected to add to the Engler proposal when the
budget reaches the House committee. However,
regardless of the small increases in the budget, it
will result in exponential increases in tuition. This
kind of unnecessary tuition hike cannot occur in
light of the recession and the already high burden
faced by students who are attending schools in the
state of Michigan.
Over the past decade, tuition at schools in the
state of Michigan has increased 120 percent, while
inflation has been less than half this figure. This
stream of repeated inflation increases has been
explained by budgetary needs of the universities.
This is ridiculous. At the University of Michigan,
while increasing infrastructure and the administra-
tion at incredible rates, student class size has in-
creased, departments have been combined and the
number of professors decreased.
Last year, House Speaker Lewis Dodak (D-
Birch Run) proposed a plan to limit the amount of
tuition that universities could raise to the rate of-
inflation. While this infringed on the autonomy of
state universities, it was the first attempt by the
legislature to ensure that the Michigan schools
attempt fiscal responsibility.
This summer, the regents will inevitably raise
tuition by 8 percent to 10 percent without regard to
the level of state funding. Schools must be required
to show fiscal responsibility and justify tuition
hikes during the worst recession since World War
II.
The students of this university and other Michi-
gan schools should not be required to endure
substantial increases in tuition, regardless of the
University administration's view of fiscal reality.
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Sorority women are not sex objects
by Melissa Peerless
A few weeks ago, I was in my
sorority-house room-writing two
papers and studying for a midterm
- trying to figure out how I could
get to bed at a decent hour and
counting the days until spring break.
One of
my sorority
sisters came
in and told
me that
some frater-'
nity mem-
bers hadP S T
come over
and wanted to sing us some songs
they hadjust learned. She said that
not many people were downstairs
and asked me to come down so that
the men did not feel bad. She con-
vinced me that the serenade would
be a great study break and stress
reliever. So I went downstairs. The
women in my house stood in the
living room while the guys clus-
tered in groups of three or four
around song sheets.
The serenade began with a
deeply sincere song in which the
Ways to Leave Your Lover." But
the men had written new words to
the song and instead of telling us
how to leave them, they graciously
assured us that there must be 50
ways for us to please them. The
song gave such useful suggestions
as "Put on your lace, Ace" and "Let
me hear you moan, Joan."
The song disgusted and angered
me. But the way my sorority sisters
reacted to this sexism set to music
upset me even more. While these
men stood in our own home un-
abashedly advertising the degree to
which they objectify us, my soror-
ity sisters laughed.
After the men left, I thought
about what had happened at the
serenade, and I came to the conclu-
sion that the song was all in good
fun, and I was just overreacting.
But not 12 hours later, one of
my sorority sisters told me a story
which reignited my anger - and
showed me that the serenade was
not an isolated incident, but an in-
dicator of a larger problem.
She told me that one fraternity
on campus requires that each of its
play on campus disturbs me. These
organizations are supposed to pro-
vide women with homes, support
networks and social opportunities. I
feel that they serve this purpose well.
Unfortunately, they also serve to
provide fraternities with women.
Frequent sexual assaults plague
the Greek system. I think that the
current relationship between frater-
nities and sororities creates an. at-
mosphere where this kind of beiav-
ior is able to exist.
The majority of Greek system
parties take place at fraternity
houses, so during most fraternity-
sorority interaction, the man has the
woman at "his place." This situation
becomes dangerous when it is
coupled with a view of women as
sex objects. And fraternity mem-
bers do nothing to hide that this is
exactly their attitude. Sorority mem-
bers do nothing to discourage these
men from thinking of them this way.
As long as fraternity members
openly objectify sorority members
and the women permit it to happen;
the situation willonly become worse.
I did not name the specific fra-
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Nuts and Bolts
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by Judd Winick
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