Page 15 -The Michigan Daily-- Wednesday, April 22,1992 "{:: {J. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..'": :.1': J1 .4 Y":" .:"':.":t"J.t:::: : : {; .......... '.1' ..L. '~~:'Y.z. L4...1................................:J'.': :4.:.................".V.'.......:::."............. Ashe treated unfairly 1To the Daily: I'd like to share some of my own thoughts about Jeff Sheran 's article "Smith was right to print Ashe's condition" (4/13/92). What right did Smith have to Tint the story about Ashe's ondition? Arthur Ashe is not a crooked politician, he didn't break any laws and he hasn't slept with hundreds of women. He did not want his condition to go public and Professor Smith should have respected Ashe's right to privacy. There is more to journalism than printing everything a journalist can get his hands on. Journalists must be responsible with their information and most inportant, journalists must use good judgement. How has the public benefited from the story? You criticized the person who "ratted" on Ashe, don't you think Professor Smith was just as guilty r as the ratter for using the informa- tion? Do you get pleasure out of seeing a man suffer in public? Arthur Ashe's privacy and his family have been violated by a snooping, greedy journalist. Jennie W. Choi LSA junior What month is it? To the Daily: I recently read in the Daily that April is national rape prevention month. I thought it was "UH-HUH" month. I believe Diet Pepsi over your cheezy trash anyday. Dave Corbett Engineering first-year student Brad, I love you! (sigh) To the Daily: I am seriously in love with Brad Meltzer. He was amazing as Mr. Greek Week and now he is taking over'Nuts and Bolts. His humor and inginuity are second to none, and 1 want him to know: Brad, if you ever need a date - call me - I'll show you the night of your life. Barbara Gordon University graduate Since January, the Daily has received hundreds of letters from readers concerned about campus and national issues. Although the editors have tried to print all letters, the limited space has made this impos- sible. The Daily would like to apologize to those people whose letters have not appeared, and hopes its readers will continue to write vigorously during the summer and through the coming year. Thrilling rides in Angell Hal To the Daily: As I'm sitting in the Angell Hall computing center, I noticed that not too many people were around. I thought that was really strange, because when I checked out the computer, I had to wait a long time because the place was so full. Then I realized that when I first came, it was 9 in the evening. But now, it is 6 a.m., and I have been typing my paper the whole night. My day had brightened. I had just experienced a thrilling experience. This must be Cedar Point. Sandusky, Ohio, and Ann Arbor, Michigan are two distant, but not so-geographically opposite cities; in any case, neither is aesthetically pleasing. Nonetheless, I have noticed one similarity: the free rides. Everytime I come to Angell Hall to type a paper, I end up spending the whole night there. I don't get any sleep, and by the next morning, Iam so tired that I start feeling both sleepy and giddy. I have spent time laughing at nothing. I have spent time wandering around. I have spent time falling over, like a rollercoaster. I have not gone to great lengths or gone out of my way to experience these thrilling rides, like in Cedar Point. I have gone about my daily routine and have found these thrills accessible. When I go to computing centers on campus, I view them as normal rides, like in Cedar Point and I receive a big thrill. These may be called computing centers, but they are also rollercoaster rides, not just in Ann Arbor, but in Cedar Point. Bruce Fox Business School junior A few comments from a reader To the Daily: Bravo to the Daily for once again enlightening us with its authority. I do, however, have a few comments: 1. Daily mistakes. The Daily has continued its tradition of ignoring its own weaknesses. Nowhere in that "Best Daily Blunders" column did I see any mention of the misguided article about the DEA surveillance of East Quad, or the CODOH ad by Bradley Smith. I guess the Daily can't stand a little humor at its own expense, especially when there's no humor to be had. 2. TV shows. I agree about Hammerman, but Rescue 911 does not belong in the cops category. Although Rescue 911 does play upon the human eagerness to watch other people suffer (why else would we sit for a whole hour just to watch William Shatner sweat in a Bernini of Beverly Hills suit?), there is a definite message of hope and faith in humankind that has been lost nowadays. Perhaps I'm being Mao Zedong-ish, but the people on this show make the fat rich cats look pathetic (Donald Trump in particular.) 3. Best Dorm. No offense to West Quad, but I still champion East Quad, my beloved dorm, despite the food. I do, however, agree with the opinion that we are here at the U of M because of its U of M-ness. Despite the South University sulkers who seized upon the chance to prove their anti-deputization cause (I agree tear gas was a bit much), U of M is the best. Kristin Johnson LSA first-year student Kinison treated with disrespect To the Daily: Who in the hell wrote the Monday, April 13 obituary on Sam Kinison? I think its ridicu- lous the way that you stuck a tiny piece in the "Arts" section and critiqued him, as if his death was his final act (what the hell do Married with Children and Andrew Dice Clay have to do with it?). The fact that Sam Kinison (along with George Bush) is among your list of white men whom you consider the anti- Christ is not what bothers me. What really bothers me about this article, and about the Daily in general, is that you always assume that everyone on this campus is as liberal as you are. Because of this, you think that no one is going to notice you belittle the death of someone because he made sexist or homophobic jokes that happened to be entertaining. Well, I'm sorry to say, you were wrong. Not everyone agrees with your views on Sam Kinison. I, as a fan, do not. The thousands upon thousands who saw his comedy live or televised do not, and his newly wedded (and now wid- owed) wife most likely does not. I doubt that she would think of him as the "King of Crudeness and Insensitivity." The Daily seems to be the king here. John Kasiborski Engineering first-year student Ann Arbor's finest To the Daily: Respect for police officers is at all time low here at the Univer- sity. Many students feel that the police have been abusing their powers and forgetting the principle phrase " to serve and protect." Until recently, I have been reluctant to criticize the police and jump in the band- wagon. Every police officer I have met conducted themselves as professionals and have given me little reason to think otherwise. However, I have discovered that there is a war between the students and the police, especially the Ann Arbor police. The police expect students to act like dogs. To roll over whenever they command. Well, I have news for Ann Arbor's finest. The longer you behave like spoiled children who must have their way with every- thing, the longer you are going to be at war with students. Cherng Lee Engineering first-year student Open the JFK files To the Daily: David Berlin, assistant counsel to the Warren Commission on the assassination of John F. Kennedy, was correct in asserting that Oliver Stone's film JFK muddles the truth about the assassination. However, he failed to ac- knowledge that the Warren Commission has muddled the truth as well, adamantly defend- ing the lone-gunman theory, a theory since rejected by the 1979 House Committee on Assassina- tions. Frankly, in the age of Watergate, the Iran-Contra scandal, the October Surprise, etc ... and the fact that the files on the Support engineered disposal To the Daily: are cleaned using electrostatic I appreciate your environmen- precipitators or more advanced tal concerns as they are needed; fabric filtration. In both cases, however, I would also like to landfilling and incineration, the encourage you to become performance of the technology is educated before touting the pros monitored to insure environmen- and cons of environmental issues. tal safety. It is true that the dumps of the If one such as Kimberly past have produced disastrous Dunbar opposes both the environmental effects and that landfilling AND the incineration open burning (as well as leaded of waste products, there is NO gas emissions) has polluted the air place to put our trash. Refuse is a we all breathe. The statistics fact of life and ignoring the fifty associated with these operations tons of trash that Ann Arbor are horrifying. However, open produces daily or the hazardous dumps were abolished in 1976 by waste produced by hospitals, the Resource Conservation and laboratories, and industry will not Recovery Act. Open burning was cure the problem. Rather, outlawed even earlier by the ignoring the waste is the most Clean Air Act of 1965. detrimental option. Current sanitary landfills are The engineered disposal of isolated from the environment and waste, both by landfilling and the groundwater using two incineration, is proving to be leachate collection systems, two reliable, necessary, and environ- impermeable liners, and over six mentally safe. Please reevaluate feet of compacted clay. Hazard- the "Not in MY backyard" mind- ous waste landfills meet even set and support the engineered more stringent requirements. disposal of all of our waste Current incinerators effectively material. reduce the volume of waste needing to be landfilled while Phil Weeber recovering some energy. All Engineering senior emissions from these incinerators Sheran's column musguided To the Daily: Jeff Sheran's column on the disclosure of Arthur Ashe's HIV status ("mith was right to print Ashe's AIDS condition," (4/13/ 92) offends one's mind with its outright stupidity, one's emotions with the haste in which it dimisses the plight of its victim, and one's sensibilities with its barbaric abuse of the English syntax and style. As for my last complaint, perhaps I should not be so hasty to slight Mr. Sheran; after all, between his pen and the eyes of his readers lies an editorial board whose responsibility it is (and was) to make sure, among other things, that he uses prepositions properly, writes complete sentences, and does not burden his column with inane neolo- gisms. I will say nothing of his dangling modifiers and improper usage of regular English vocabu- lary. As for the content of the column, one has to be sympthetic with Mr. Sheran; the ethical complexities involved in report- ing on "public" figures have been debated with little success by better men than him. If he had simply stated his opinion and confessed his inability to justify it, perhaps this letter would not have been written. Once again, perhaps the blame should be directed not at he author, but at the editorial board which printed an inane article on a complex subject by an author inadequate to the task. Mr. Sheran did not confess and shut up, however. He bandies about the language of fairness and necessity without giving any consideration to the rules of journalism which he implicitly constructs. The issue of fairness rears its ugly head again later. It is the task of journalists, writes Mr. Sheran, to "report the news fairly and accurately." A noble sentiment, perhaps, but its proponent neglects to reconcile the "fairness" required of a journalist with the decision to publish articles about "unfair" events in the lives of others. Neither the USA Today nor the Daily feels obligated to report on every new victim of the AIDS virus; we must therefore inquire after the reasons for targetting Arthur Ashe. There is but one: he is a "public" figure. When reporters brandish the phrase, "the public's right to know," they are not simply positing a positive right on their part to invade the privacy of "public individuals. If the editorial board wants to do itself and its readers a favor, it will buy Mr. Sheran a manual of style (and one for themselves? and a dictionary, and perhaps encour- age him to enroll in a basic level composition class. As for his thought processes, maybe he would read a book or two. Clifford Ando Rackham graduate student Chase yourdreams;fmd your own Road Runner To the Daily: I was raised on cartoons. Every Saturday morning was spent enthralled in the adventures of Underdog, Hong Kong Phooey T and Bugs Bunny. Countless hours were spent wondering about the true meaning of life - how come Fred Flintstone didn't wear any pants? Why was Tweety Bird's head so big? And what were Scooby-snacks really made of? Cartoons consumed my Satur- days, while weekdays were spent with real people - the Brady Bunch, Happy Days and Gilligan's Island. To this day, my friends and I are still puzzled - if Wonder Woman's jet really was invisible, how did she find it? Yet, as we hurdle toward the "real .world," the questions we ask ourselves grow more serious. We are no longer individuals that can sit home and watch television. We are today a generation of people who are about to make an impact on this world. The media loves to speculate about what our generation will accomplish. They call us the "Television Generation" or "The Baby-busters." Above all else, the media loves to report that our generation, aged 18- 25, will be the first generation in history to have less than our parents. I cannot express how much this annoying little factoid bothers me. I do not question the economic principles on which this predic- tion is based, rather, I am concerned about the conse- quences of the statement. It is both silly and bothersome to hear anyone "tell" us what we will be. The logical flaws alone are staggering. How can they know what our generation will accom- plish when so many of our future leaders are still sitting here, awaiting graduation? It is as if they are trying to write that widely read year-in-review article before the year takes place. They don't know our capabili- ties or the extent of our ingenuity. They simply base their "predic- tion" on the assumption that our limits are equal to the limits of their generation. They are wrong. This is a new generation. Gradu- ates, it is "our" generation and we differ from all others. Granted, we may have lower national Math scores, and lower geographical knowledge. Certainly, there is some truth to the notion that we will not have the same economic advantages that our parents had. Yet, that does not mean that we will necessarily have less than our parents. Let the world know - we will not be counted out. I am confident we will surprise them. We have a different type of knowledge; more street-smart and clever, that David Letterman quickness. We are imaginative and more ingenious. Creativity is an elemental force of nature. Use that force in whatever you decide to do. Whether you choose law, medi- cine, business, teaching, or any of the other limitless doors that are open to you, show the world - our time has come - we have arrived and we will not be easily defeated. As we face graduation, do not be scared of the future. Embrace it. Do not weather the storm. Control it. Make the most of your time and we will all make the best of our generation. For the past two decades, we have seen Wile E. Coyote chase the ever-elusive Road Runner. For twenty years, we have known that he will never be able to catch him, yet, we still continue to watch. No matter how impossible our dreams might be, we must all practice the childhood lessons of Wile E. Coyote. Be persistent as you chase your own dreams, so that you may one day find your Road Runner. Thank you and good luck to you all. Go blue. investigation are closed, it isn't hoods is JFK, what has come to too hard to believe his film. The light since the release of the film best way to deal with this has been something we've known uncertainty would be to open the for a long time. When people files and let the evidence speak aren't told the truth, they tend to for itself. Ideally, all this con- believe the worst. spiracy business will be proved Jesse Snyder false. 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