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. ":. l l :" TS:. 'I . 5":i.:.:".': ':.1:.'::. " ..........................:.:' ::"':":'."...""::":::':":"".':i'':: "'':..:"":...:':i:""~ti::.......""':::....Y.' .:: $FROM THEf||DILY.....................ilEEEEliE|EEEE ..............e...... " 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. -- ~- - .:*..:...-- 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 :' ' : : : " " " : : : : " ' : : " ' " ." : ': : ' : l " ': ^ 'i ': : ' :i i i i a r e 1 1 .J............1 ...a..r.a. "axr.. 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 ff 1. LHM ON STUDS.r WHENS tT ON .--- --. (E', H5CAWUNG I-IitELF ~ax HOW'. riJAJvN.IkIIL. LZ S by Judd Winick YHNS MRot. *ZZI7 ? .