9
Page 4-The Michigan Daily- Tuesday, March31,1992
ditohianr ii(i
1-ditor in Chief
420 Maynard Street
Ann Arbor. Michigan 4810)
764 - 0552
MAITIIEW D. RE NNIIE
Opinion Editors
YAEL CITRO
GEOFFREY EARLE
AMITAVA MAZUMDAR
Edited and Managed
by Students at the
University of Michigan
C 'IL o 1V j& t Y ' s : ' Io i'Jtv I -r A I N T o lM O N AI ' 92 -t tt D W A V E - D - ~ 5
MiYRMf /Th E PtP-E HA I/ji~
01
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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Pep band has to g
Sunday, Michigan basketball qualified for the
Final Four. Despite the fact that the team made
it this far, it did not have the help of the band all the
woy. Michigan was the only team competing in the
NCAA tournament that
diqnotto send apep band
to .ts first round game.
The University of South
Florida sent its band to
Boise, Idaho and Indi-
ana sent its band to Ari-
zopa. Yet both of these
trips were considerably
longer than Michigan's'
trip to Atlanta. Duringv
the football season, the
band was only allowed
to ;travel to one out of
fii~e road games as well.
The athletic department's
failure to send the band
to,'crucial contests is a
thoughtless oversight.
,Successful sports pro-
grams represent one im-
poitant way in which Mic gan is recognized in the
nqfonal media. The athletic department profits
from its teams, grossing millions of dollars in
television rights and merchandising.
It is embarrassing that such a powerful program
would not want to send its band to the playoffs.
Nationally-televised games offer the University a
t more play
chance to prove the talent of Michigan students
outside the athletic program. Sending the band
would have furthered this goal.
Collegiate sports revolve around school spirit.
The fans, cheerleaders,
mascots and songs are
an integral part of the
games, as well as being
inspirational to the ath-
i' letes themselves. It is
hgood that Michigan
4 teams win as well, but if
the Wolverines had lost
* .~~. inthefirstround, theonly
memories that Michigan
a= fans would have had is
the East Tennessee State
SUniversityband volun-
trypaying "The Vic-
tors."
The band is spirited,
disciplined and benefi-
cial to the image of the
school as a whole.
The athletic depart-
ment owes it to Michigan fans, students and band
members to send our pep and marching bands to
more games.
If money is the problem, the athletic department
should draw the necessary funds from its budget. If
leaving the band behind was a mere oversight, it
should be more careful in the future.
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IDS bill plays on hysteria
The emotionally charged issues surrounding
the HIV virus have once again inspired reac-
tionary legislation. State Rep. Kirk Profit (D-
Ypsilanti) has introduced a bill in the Michigan
Houserequiring mandatory AIDS testing for crimi-
nal suspects.
irofit introduced the legislation at the request
oiwa police officer who felt he could have been
exposed to AIDS during an arrest. Because of the
officer's fear of being infected with the virus, he
wanted the suspect tested for AIDS. House Bill
4754 would amend the Public Health Code to
allow for mandatory testing. The Michigan De-
partment of Public Health has already voiced its
opposition to the bill.
However, this legislation is dangerously flawed.
First, it does nothing to prevent the spread of AIDS,
while encouraging AIDS hysteria. This kind of
legislation is pointed at an "undesirable" element
of the population: suspected criminals. It is unfor-
tunate that the hysteria surrounding AIDS has
degenerated to placing blame rather than finding
solutions.
Allowing the state to act on any suposition of
HIV infection by instituting mandatory testing is
in clear violation of a person's right to privacy.
Mandatory testing would require not only the
humiliation of medical examinations, but a disclo-
sure of the results. An individual need not be
convicted of a crime, only suspected, to be subject
to the test. Similar legislation has been proposed
for accused rapists.
What makes the bill more ridiculous is its
uselessness. Actually, the test offers no real solace
since AIDS carriers may test negative for several
months while still being able to transmit the virus.
It would provide only a false sense of security.
When dealing with a police officer who has
been infected with the virus (such cases are
excedingly rare), the issue in question should not
be who infected the officer, but how to maintain
officer's quality of life. The only reason to record
which criminals carry the virus is to begin con-
struction of the legal machinery to eventually
allow the indictment of HIV carriers, who
inadvertantly infect law enforcement officers, for
homicide. In fact, many states have already em-
barked on this immoral and unconstitutional track.
The fear that grips the public is understandable,
considering the rate at which AIDS is spreading
through theAmericanpopulace. But placing blame
on criminals, an undesirable element of the popu-
lation, and infringing on their civil liberties does
not help find a cure.
Incident at
MSA embarassing
To the Daily:
I caused the "fight" at the
Michigan Stujent Assembly
meeting last Tuesday. That is, I
responded when Safiya Khalid
had "bitch" screamed at her by
one of the MSA representatives.
I did not know Ms. Khalid
before I got involved in defending
her right to speak. She was
making some very serious charges
against several members of the
Conservative Coalition. The
charges were deemed sufficiently
serious that she was given extra
time to clarify them. She did so in
a calm and concise manner. In the
process, several MSA representa-
tives became very agitated.
Before the chair chose to call for
order, Ms. Khalid was verbally
abused.
This lack of respect is not
acceptable. I grabbed the offender
by the wrist with the intention of
taking him out of the room and
explaining to him how an MSA
representative should behave
toward his constituents.
At that point, most MSA
representatives jumped out of
their seats. The chair started
yelling at MSA members who
were offended by the abusive
language.
I found it all rather embarrass-
ing.
Here are our representatives,
who spend upwards of $50,000 of
our money each year, first
abusing one of us and then
abusing -each other.
Students fought hard to have
MSA. Turn out and vote for
whoever truly represents you.
Max Weintraub
Rackham graduate student
The Daily encourages its readers
to respond. All letters should be
150 words or less and should be
sent to: The Michigan Daily, 420
Maynard, Ann Arbor, MI 48109.
Or via MTS to: The Michigan
Daily, Letters to the Editor.
To the Daily:
Your editorial ("Practicing
Safe Computing," 3/12/92)
contained a few factual errors
which need to be corrected.
First, the Michaelangelo virus
was not specifically programmed
to wipe out computer data on
March 6, 1992, but every March
6. Part of the reason that such
wide publicity had been given to
stopping Michaelangelo was that
the virus had first attacked on
March 6, 1990. Thus, the threat
from Michaelangelo may be gone
for this year, but nothing will
prevent Michaelangelo from
attacking IBM-compatible
computer systems on March 6,
1993.
Second, your advice to users
to "simply not use their com-
puter" when a virus is known to
be coming is dangerous. Many
computer viruses do not behave
with the regularity of
Michaelangelo: they attack
without warning, with no,
predictable pattern.
Not using your computer
when you are aware of an
upcoming virus attack is not a
reliable method of protection: one
rarely knows when a virus is
about to attack.
Third, your advice to avoid
paying high prices for anti-viral
software by seeking out free,
public-domain software from
bulletin boards may also be
dangerous. Viruses are most often
spread by copying programs from
one system to another; and while
many bulletin board operators are
careful to check the programs
available on their system for
viruses, some do not. And not all
programs that purport to scan for
viruses actually do so: a few years
ago, a destructive program was
placed on several bulletin board
systems claiming to be a well-
known virus scanner.
The best general advice is to
follow the credos of "safer sex"
with respect to obtaining pro-
grams. Remember that many
viruses exist, and that one can't
tell if a program has a virus
simply by looking at it. Know the
"history" and "behavior" of the
systems from which you obtain
your programs; be cautious of
programs obtained from sites
known to have viral infections or
that do not scan for viruses. And
use "protection," good anti-viral
software, to keep yourself from
getting infected.
The University has a site
license for the McAfee anti-viral
software programs for IBM-
compatible computer systems. All
University faculty, staff and
students may use these programs
free of charge while at the
University. Information on
obtaining a copy of these pro-
grams for your own use can be
obtained through the Computing
Resource Center.
Jim Huggins
Rackham graduate student
Lunch hour
wastes students' time
To the Daily:
Why is it that the entire
University shuts down from
12:00 noon to 1:00 pm? I've
found this to be a major inconve-
nience both when I was an
undergraduate and now that I'm
in law school here. A student's
time is valuable and I do not think
it's asking too much, especially
considering the tuition we're
paying, to ask University employ-
ees to stagger their lunch hours.
While I understand that University
employees probably "bond"
during those 60 minutes, I also
understand that the students are
paying for their services and
deserve better treatment.
Jeff Alperin
First-year law student
Advice about safer computing
9
White House snubs environment
The citizens of the United States preach envi-
ronmentalism. "Re-use! Recycle! Reduce!"
Americans cry. Unfortunately, screaming will be
futile if environmental warnings are not heeded by
those in power.>Summer is rapidly approaching,
with it comes the United Nations Conference on
Environmental Development (UNCED), where the
country will no doubt be embarrassed once again
by the Bush Administration's archaic environmen-
tal policy.
Wealthy and impoverished countries that gath-
ered at the United Nations before the conference
say that the United States' refusal to promise
environmental aid and cut down hazardous emis-
sions harmful to the ozone layer threatens to sty-
mie the upcoming event.
The June conference in Rio de Janeiro is ex-
pected to host participants from more than 170
countries. The primary goal of the conference is to
pass Agenda 21, an international environmental
cleanup plan for the next century.
The current administration's hazardous emis-
sions policy prohibits it from following the new
international strategy, which calls for emissions of
ozone-depleting gases to be frozen at 1990 levels
by the year2000. Environmental ProtectionAgency
Administrator William K. Reilly said that Wash-
ingtonhesitates to approve "binding commitments"
on emission cuts and does not plan any fundamen-
tal changes in its position.
The position, bluntly stated, caters to big busi-
nesses in the name of economic growth and ig-
nores any global responsibility. The results are
painfully obvious. The United States, the wealthi-
est industrial nation in the world, continues to
produce horrifying amounts of waste and toxic
emissions while countries all over the world suffer
the effects.
Al Gore, Senate leader for the Rio meetings,
said, "The United States must use its moral author-
ity, its political and economic strength and its
leadership skills to resolve the impasses."
What kind of "moral authority" ignores com-
plaints of acid rain in Canada in addition to dump-
ing waste inthird-world countries where the people
can't afford to turn away money in the name of
safety?
In the words of Michael Dorsey, School of Natu-.
ral Resources junior who was chosen to attend the
Rio meetings, "Until the United States accepts its
responsibility in resolving these problems by sup-
porting proposals like Agenda 21, nothing can be
achieved."
One of these days the warning cries of concerned
citizens will reach the ears of the government,
hopefully before it's too late.
Daiy nalsi ig ors r...ab teaara a".ra r ro .rism
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by David Walner
Not surprisingly, the Daily has
once again blatantly
mischaracterized the Arab-Israeli
dispute and lied about Israel's
action in the Middle East (3/4/92).
Either the Daily editorial staff is
so steeped in anti-Israel animus
that it consciously manipulates
facts or it is abysmally ignorant of
past and current Middle East
realities.
The Daily complains that
.Israel has displayed an "aversion
to conciliatory gestures" and
seems "unable to display any truly
peaceful intentions." How about
the peaceful intentions of the
Arab world?
The Daily conveniently
ignores this issue, and for good
reason. If it focused on this issue
for even a sentence, the utter
illogic of its position would be
self-evident. Israelis are still
killed by Arab terrorists daily.
Three Israeli soldiers were
recently pitch-forked and axed to
death in a terrorist attack. Cur-
rently no Arab country except
tion Organization (PLO) charter
itself, remains committed to the
destruction of the state of Israel.
Yasir Arafat, terrorist par
excellence, recently had the bad
luck to be overheard by western
journalists when he called Jews
"dogs " and "filth" who deserve
to die, a calumny that he utters
almost daily to Arab audiences.
Given this appalling record of
Arab hatred and violence, the
Daily has the audacity to ignore
all of it and simultaneously
complain about Israel's "overtly
belligerent" behavior.
The Daily also fails to note
Israel's main objection to the
freezing of settlements in the
Disputed (not the Occupied)
Territories.
A freeze on settlements is
something to be resolved between
the Arab states and Israel, not to
be unilaterally imposed by U.S.
diplomats. Why haven't the
Arabs been asked to take any
steps to indicate their "peaceful
intentions" and modify the
condemnable behavior described
deep in anti-Israeli hatred, calling
for a Holy War of destruction, but
that's OK, according to the Daily,
Israel alone should make peaceful
gestures.
Americans must ask: Why
force a steadfast, democratic ally
to make unilateral concessions and
ask nothing of the traditionally
anti-American, dictatorial,
repressive states whose popula-
tions America just recently saw on
television demonstrating against
the United States in displays of
anti-Americanism that have
become commonplace in this part
of the world.
The Daily's criticism of Israel
appears pitiful when one considers
its abysmal silence at the atrocities
directed at Israel and other Arabs
by the Arab world. Given a cast of
characters that includes Hafez-el-
Assad, the "Butcher of Baghdad,"
Yasir Arafat, Saddam Hussein and
Iran, the Daily singles out Israel
for an "aversion to conciliatory
gestures."
When did the Daily editorial
staff become such slaves to Arab
Nuts and Bolts
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