The Michigan Daily- Thursday, April 16,1992- Page 5
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Fair-weather fans
A doctor's view
of homosexuality
To the Daily:
I would submit to you that the
deepest expression of love
between two women or two men
is no less valid than that found
betweena man and a woman.
Few would agree that sexual
promiscuity without love serves
either party or society well in the
short or long run. In fact, as a
physician, I have frequently seen
the ill effects of multiple, unpro-
tected and ill-conceived sexual
encounters.
However, I and several of my
colleagues may attest to that we
have yet to see the effects of a
monogamous same-sex relation-
ship in which mutual love and
respect plays an active role.
This is, by definition, a
healthy relationship - healthy for
both the individuals and society at
large because it fosters productive
lives for both individuals con-
cerned, which ultimately benefits
the society and enhances the
culture in which they exist.
Mr. Styles, I applaud you for
not being "frightened by homo-
sexuality." Further, I would
submit that "a higher pleateau of
moral conduct" is one in which all
our human interactions are
characterized by love (see I
Corinthians 12:31-73.)
Paul Kilgore, M.P.H.,
M.D.
House Officer,
University of Michigan
Hospital
Pro-Life often unfair,
* doesn't see big picture
To the Daily:
The people who call them-
selves "Pro-life" find it easy to
make emotional arguments about
"saving babies," but they appear
not to really care about children
after they are born.
In the Michigan legislature,
the conservative politicians who
support legislation to restrict or
abolish women's reproductive
rights are the same conservative
legislators who would like to see
a welfare cap for mothers who
have additional children while on
welfare.
Their message is: you have to
have a baby, but we don't care
whether or not you can feed it.
In national politics, many of
the anti-choice legislators are the
same ones who voted against the
Family Responsibility Act, which
would require employers to grant
unpaid maternity/paternity leaves,
and leaves for family emergen-
cies.
Their message is: you have to
have the baby, but we don't care
if you get fired when you try to
take care of it.
The pro-choice people, on the
other hand, are pro-child and pro-
family. They support legislation
that make life a little easier for
women who choose to have a
child, as well as supporting the
rights of those who don't.
Mary Meyer
Rackham graduate student
AATU and SLS serve students
To the Daily:
If the Ann Arbor Tenants
Union (AATU) is defunded,
University students will lose a
valuable service that is provided
nowhere else. The proposals to
require the AATU to ask for
funding "just like other student
groups" or "like other community
groups" are disguised attempts to
kill the AATU.
Unlike other student groups,
the AATU has a full-time staff
person, four work-study positions
and a budget to print and mail out
education materials. That's why
the AATU is ready when students
have a problem.
University students have
understood that an organization
that helps over 2,000 students
each year must have continuity
and stability if it is to function.
Combined with the fee cap
that would strangle Student Legal
Services (SLS), cuts to the
AATU reveal the conservative
attempt to undermind student-
initiated protections. Both SLS
and the AATU were created by
students and funded through
MSA because they represent
students in areas where the
administration took no initiative.
Over the years, many administra-
tors and regents have been
landlords.
Do you think they really want
a strong tenants' union? SLS
represents student protestors and
people arrested or charged by the
new campus cops. Do you really
believe the administration wants a
strong, independent SLS?
If you support organizations
that protect student rights, you
must protect those organizations.
The current MSA administration
has already caused the AATU to
lose one staff person and reduce
services to students. Now it wants
to eliminate the AATU altogether.
In my four years as a student. I
have worked at the AATU, served
on the Boards of both the AATU
and SLS and am the out-going
president of the AATU board.
University students will lose many
valuable services if MSA contin-
ues to undercut SLS and the
AATU.
Annette Law
LSA senior
Constitution protects gay rights
To the Daily:
My friends and I traveled to
Minneapolis for the Final Four.
Like other Michigan fans, we too
were disappointed by our loss to.
Duke, but we were still very
proud of our team.
Many people doubted Michi-
gan would make it to the Final
Four, but when it did, everyone
jumped on the Fab Five band-
wagon, praising them when they
won.
Yet, when they lost to Duke,
these fair-weather fans turned
their backs on the team. When the
team needed the support of its
fans the most, the fans couldn't
take a few minutes to show them
that they were proud of them and
all of their accomplishments.
While not everyone had the
opportunity to go to Minneapolis,
they still could have shown their
support of the basketball team by
welcoming them at Crisler Arena.
It disgusts me that only 2,000
fans showed up at Michigan's
welcome celebration, yet 6,000
plus people were celebrating on
South University on Saturday
night when Michigan beat
Cincinnati.
Michigan students need to
learn what it means to be a true
fan. Had Duke lost on Monday,
its fans would not have deserted
its team.
Alice Shin
LSA sophomore
Stereotyping Perot
To the Daily:
In your editorial ("Perot
shakes up the election game," 4/7/
92) you state that H. Ross Perot
"wants to abolish the North
American Free Trade Agree-
ment," which you call a "tradi-
tionally conservative position."
In fact, in the late 20th
century, opposition to free trade
comes traditionally from Demo-
crats pandering to the labor vote.
Of course, Pat Buchanan and
Jerry Brown show how this short-
sightedness crosses party lines.
Add this to the support Dill
Clinton and Paul Tsongas have
shown for North American free
trade and the quiet support Bush
has given to important restric-
tions, and you have a mess, but
not a "traditionally conservative"
position.
Jon Grantham
LSA senior
Bias broadcasting
To the Daily:
Yes, I am a Michigan fan and
I might be just a little biased on
this subject, but were those
announcers that called the
championship game Duke
alumni?"
Christian and Bobby, this Hill
or the other one!" That's all they
talked about. When Christian did
finally show up for the game in
the second half, the announcers
started to actually cheer for him
and for the whole Duke team.
This wasn't a coincidence
either. Dvring the Cincinnati
game, they made it sound like we
were trailing by a lot more than
10 points in the second half.
Then, when the tide turned
toward us, they started to praise
us a little more. In these games
that are nationally televised, they
should show some restraint
toward which team they prefer.
Neutrality is the key word here
guys! Just call the game, no
biased opinions, please.'
. But remember, I might be
biased myself.
Kara Pawlowski
Music school first-year
student
Daily analysis superficial
., l
Wouldn't it be cool?
To the Daily:
- Wouldn't it be cool if every
kid in America had to take acid in
kindergarten. Start them off with
one hit a week for the first few
weeks, then, periodically increase
the dosages.
It could be government-
sponsored, with Timothy Leary as
the president of the Kids On Acid
Coalition (KOAC). KOAC would
distribute acid sheets to each
elementary school, then let them
trip away.
This would be a tool to
promote drug usage among the
new generation. Who needs
education?
It would eliminate discrimina-
tion in schooling. Who cares about
SAT scores, little kids want acid,
plain and simple. They want to
trip until they die. They know that
the world sucks and acid is more
fun than math anyway. KOAC
would promote peace and har-
mony among all people.
Nothing else has worked so
why not give acid a chance.
Dave Corbett
LSA first-year student
To the Daily:
I am a bisexual woman. I am
not Christian. The arguments
against homosexuality and
bisexuality that have appeared in
recent letters to the editor and
that are based on restrictions in
the Bible have no bearing on my
behavior. Because the Constitu-
tion maintains the separation of
church and state, my behavfor
cannot be regulated, nor can my
civil rights be denied, on the basis
of the ideals of any particular
religion.
The First Amendment right to
freedom of religion allows
Christians, based on their own
religious beliefs, to choose not to
express homosexual or bisexual
behavior. They cannot force their
personal decisions on me. Biblical
opinions should be dropped from
discussions of homosexuality.
Others' religions should be kept
out of my sex life.
Kirsten Erin Anderson
Rackham graduate student
Re-examining responsibilities
To the Daily:
Unfortunately, those who
wrote the editorial concerning the
City Council's decision to
privatize the parking system
failed to analyze any facts before
complaining. The City's parking
system is in dire need of restruc-
turing. I know because I spent
part of my summer is a finance
intern with the city of Ann Arbor
analyzing the problem. The Daily
assumes that the city will only
save "some money"
At the present time, the
parking system is losing over $2
million a year. It hasn't broken
even in almost nine years and the
situation is getting worse.
Because it hasn't been profitable,
the city has been unable to make
needed repairs to the various
structures or provided for added
spaces. The quality of service,
which the Daily writers assume
will decrease because of profit-
minded entrepreneurs, can only
go up due to privatization. A more
profitable system means that more
money can be reinvested in
capital improvements. The Daily
also bemoans the loss of union
jobs.
If the Daily had investigated
the Council's decision at all, it
would have found that all union
employees currently in the parking
gystgm will be transferred to new
jobs: nobody is going to be laid
off. Finally, The Daily assumes
that a private firm will raise rates
because it has a monopoly on the
parking market.
Unfortunately, the pressure to
keep rates low is great. Businesses
in the city, in order to keep their
customers from going to
Briarwood and elsewhere, need to
have cheap parking. Any company
brought in to run the system will
have to face this reality. There
will be no lack of competitive
pressure.
The Daily's analysis of this
complex problem was superficial
and will do nothing except keep
the public ill-informed. It's fine
not to support a privatized parking
system, there are good arguments
against it. But if you're going to
do it, please do it logically instead
of trying to appeal to emotions.
When push comes to shove, logic
wins every time.
F. D. Clanciolo
Rackham graduate student
To the Daily:
I, Dyann Logwood, being of
sound African-American mind
and body, wish to enclose in this
letter a few things to the editor of
the Daily, and the cartoonist (I use
that term loosely) Greg Stump,
who "graced" us with his humor.
Even though both of you have
made apologies for the cartoon in
the March issue of the Daily,
which depicted a black monkey as
a representative of South Africa,
that is not enough. Since other
groups have been negatively
depicted in the past, this obviously
shows a lack of leadership on the
part of the editor and others who
have the last say-so on what is to
be printed.
It is your responsibility to
make sure that racist connotations
are not connected with what you
print.
It is a problem that has been
addressed in the past, and obvi-
ously has been tabled, because
nothing has been done to insure
that this will not happen again. If
you must create a cartoon about a
situation in the media or on
campus, please represent each
character true to scale.
In your cartoon you did not
accurately express reality. If you
had, you would not have used a
black monkey to represent South
Arica and Caucasian bystanders as
innocence.
You would have correctly
depicted the oppressors in their
true light and showed how South
Aricans have been kept down by
the minority Caucasian govern-
ment that existed, and still does.
The cartoon, meant to entertain,
only brought anger and outcry in
the community. It causes me to
wonder about the ethics of the
editor and the cartoonist.
I think that you should strongly
revaluate your positions and
examine your responsibilities.
And to set the record straight, if
anything, the people of South
Africa have been treated like
animals, but that does not make
them monkeys.
m And if you would like to learn
how to properly classify human
beings I suggest that you take
Biological Anthropology 161 and
leaf through Jane Goodall's book
"Through a Window" on chimpan-
zees.
Maybe you will learn some-
thing that will allow you to see
who is truly on the mentality level
of a primate.
Dyann C. Logwood
LSA sophomore
x
C
The Daily encourages its readers to respond. All letters should be 150 words or less and
mailed to: The Michigan Daily, 420 Maynard, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109. Or via MTS to: The
Michigan Daily, Letters to the Editor: The Opinion editors reserve the right to edit all
letters for style and space.
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