Page 4-The Michigan Daily- Monday, September 28, 1992 E.ditor in C lief 420 Maynard Street Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109 764-0552 MATTHIEW I). RENNIE Opinion Editors YAEL.('ITR( GEOFFREY IARLE 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 of the Daily. An alternative to the Fleming code C2NLERAND I l1A1 oINH o W TO GI V -I T -To YU I .t/ t' c O opS!FOR.Yu !-n CEl\JTINQ! THOSE OHFIRt'GOSTIN )'ouRP LIFE CAN'T AT-rEJVD 7-6Yoauf NEEDS -ANb UTIT/ HEY : TART TFZEATi N' >You RI6-HT I'l-L 13E HERE FoR YOU, DARLIN' j MIICHIG-AN4DAiL-y 'Q2. GOD, I i~ovFm5f'00 i Federal law requires thatthe University of Michi- gan have a comprehensive code of nonaca- demic conduct, or so says Vice President for Stu- dent Affairs Maureen Hartford. Using this justifi- cation, the administration has declared most pro- visions in its Statement of Students' Rights and Responsibilities "non-negotiable," because the University cannot violate federal law. (Actually, it would not "violate the law," but risk losing federal funding.) This argument is only partially correct. Amend- ments to the Higher Education Act mandate that the University implement a policy to control on- campus sexual assault and harassment only. The Drug and Alcohol-Free Schools Act requires that the University have a policy dealing with alcohol and drug abuse. This is a non-factor, however, because the University already has such a policy. So to fulfill federal requirements, the Univer- sity does not need a code anything like the one the administration has proposed. It only needs a sexual assault policy. But working from the false premise that a comprehensive code is non-negotiable, the administration has been receptive to only the most peripheral changes in its code. What will be left, after a bit of tinkering, is a code that gives the administration enormous control over students' behavior outside the classroom. If the impetus for the code truly comes from students, as the administration maintains, then students should be given a real choice. The admin- istration should start by putting two proposals up to a campus-wide vote. One choice would be the comprehensive code advocated by the Fleming Building. The other choice would be a policy dealing only with sexual assault, since this is all that the law requires. Here is a preferable alterna- tive policy: The one benefit of the code is that it protects victims of assault or harassment until the courts can take action. As it stands, many victims may be placed in the uncomfortable or even dangerous situation of having to continually encounter an accused rapist or harasser in class or on campus before the case goes to court. Rather than usurp the legal system completely, our policy's primary re- sponsibility would be to protect the alleged victim until the accused's guilt or innocence can be fairly determined in a court of law. Victims of sexual harassment or assault would appear before a student judiciary. The jury's pur- pose is not to determine guilt or innocence of a crime, but whether or not the alleged victim is in danger of further harassment, rape, or injury. If all six jurors find, beyond a reasonable doubt, that there is a possibility of a second offense, they will impose a restraining order on the accused. This may entail preventing the accused from attending classes with the victim, and will protect the victim from further harassment. If the restraining order is violated, the judiciary can expel the offender. The restraining order should last until a verdict is rendered in a court of law, whereupon the sanction will be terminated. If the victim chooses not to press charges, the order will last up to one semester. When standing before the student jury, both the accuser and the accused may be represented by attorneys, serving the same function they would in a court of law. This may require expanded funding of Student Legal Services for those who cannot afford to retain counsel. This proposal differs drastically from the State- ment of Students' Rights and Responsibilities. It covers only sexual assault, rather than many forms of nonacademic conduct. It also contains more safeguards for therights of the accused, including: unanimity among the ju- rors when deciding potential danger; the standard of "more likely than not" will be replaced by "beyond a reasonable doubt;" the rights of both parties for unrestricted access and use of counsel would be protected. University administrators claim that the code has broad student support and protects student interests. Let them prove it by giving the final decision to the students. The administration should give the students a real choice - one between a minimalist and a comprehensive version of the code. H ERS _ Daily report ignores Asian Americans To the Daily: In "Mandate report shows increase in minority students on campus" (9/18/92), the Daily reports the increased numbers of students of color. It then details the increases for each of the African-American, Hispanic/ Latino, and Native American populations. Strangely, however, the figures for Asian-American students are absent (rising 49.6 percent to 2,697 students, or 8.2 percent of the student body). Does the Daily feel that the increases in the largest minority group on campus are not in accord with the Michigan Mandate? Are we in the Asian- American student community to believe that we are not beneficial to the diversity of the University? The article is a classic ex- ample of the marginalization of Asian Americans, and of minori- ties in general. The Daily owes both the Asian-American student community and the University an explanation and an apology for its inappropriate selectivity in reporting. Al Chan LSA senior Degar Ho LSA sophomore Winfield free agent To the Daily: The Associated Press article about Dave Winfield ("Milestone looms for Winfield," 9/22/92) read that he was let go at the end of last year by the California Angels. Actually, Winfield was a hot free agent pursued by many teams, including the Angels. He signed a contract with the Toronto Blue Jays. Loren Shevitz RC senior Editors' note: In Noah Finkel's let- ter to the Editor (9/24/92) his com- plaint was that students would be able to volunteer for the judiciay panel, not that students will be ran- domly chosen. Greek brats noisy, obnoxious 0 To the Daily: Why is it that the members of the Greek system on this campus seem to be able to enjoy them- selves only when they are irritating the rest of us? I am, of course, referring to the day every year when the sororities offer bids to their perspective pledges and feel compelled to ride around campus in their Volkswagen Cabriolet convertibles and Isuzu Troopers honking their horns. This is about the most obnoxious thing I have ever experienced. Although it is impossible not to share in the joy of these women who are about to embark on a four-year odyssey of fake friendships, Stairmaster, and holding sorority bonding sessions during Psych 172 lectures, I have to wonder why they feel it necessary to create a general nuisance every year just because B uffy got into Kappa Kappa Gucchi. I know that it is a big day for them, but the amount of noise they make disrupts the normal course of life on campus and in the North Burns Park neighbor- hood where I live, making it impossible to study or relax. And whatever happened to Ann Arbor's famous noise ordinance, invoked whenever a person who is not from the same white upper-middle class back- ground that produced these women drives through town playing their stereo a little too loud. I think that there is a little bit of a double standard here. We should make these over- privileged Greek brats live by the same rules that everybody else does. Jim Chapman LSA senior Math TAs given a bum rap Party policy not worth discussion According to University Activities Council President Jason Hackner, the administration is considering enacting a policy limiting social events held in University facilities to Friday and Saturday evenings. Additional restrictions would ban parties on final-exam study days; only "educa- tional" and "cultural" events would be allowed. The administration insists that the policy is not on its agenda. Director of Communications and Planning Shirley Clarkson said, "(Vice President for Student Affairs Maureen Hartford) is not ac- tively discussing (the policy) at this time." Still, Hartford should be warned, that if such a policy were discussed in the future, it should be discarded as unacceptable; University facilities like the Union should remain open for any student function throughout the week. Many administrators, notably Associate Vice President of Student Affairs and Dean of Students Royster Harper, worry that the University has become a "party school." In a series of articles that ran this summer, the Detroit News insisted that the university students are far more concerned with gettingtdrunk than getting As. The policy proposal seems to be a result of bad press. The groupthink that is behind the suggested policy supposes that students from all over the state - and indeed all over the country - have come to Ann Arbor to experience a party only Michigan can give. Maybe Michigan State, with its party-school reputation, will one day be strug- gling to keep its students within the confines of East Lansing in fear of a southern migration to Ann Arbor. In all seriousness, however, there is a sense of paternalism implicit in the proposal. Administra- tors don't seem to believe that students have the ability to decide what is good for themselves. Consequently, control over a student's social life seems only a reasonable course of action. Also disconcerting about this would-be policy is that it has been discussed behind closed doors. Whether this policy is on the administration's agenda or not, as Clarkson asserts, students should be involved in the process. The administration should not impose any restrictions on student ac- tivities unless those restrictions are crafted by students. In the meantime, the competition between the University and Eastern MichiganUniversity (EMU) over the erosion of student rights continues. First, the University rules that non-students are not al- lowed in the Union on weekends unless accompa- nied by a student with valid ID. Then EMU rules that non-students are not allowed in on-campus parties at all. Now, the University may restrict the type of events students are allowed to hold during the week. The policy may not be on anyone's agenda today, but the administration has shown no reluc- tance to institute such policies in the past. DROP THAT -B-~R To the Daily: Every year it seems that a new bevy of whiners emerges from the depths of LSA to complain of poor teaching in the Mathematics department, and more often, they blame the teaching assistants. The majority of Math TAs, it is alleged, are inexperienced, unable to speak English and not properly trained to teach undergraduates. Academic advisors and even faculty members from other departments have taken part in these perennial tirades. I'd like to point out a few facts from last Spring's issue of Advice, the course evaluations for fall of '91. According to these evalua- tions filled out by students, TAs as a whole have once again outscored faculty members for teaching in most of the lower level math courses. In Calculus 115, for example, TAs scored the average faculty rating of 3.7 on the "instructor overall" category, 16 percent higher that the average faculty rating of 3.2. In Calculus 116, TAs had an average rating of 4.0, higher than every single faculty score except one. If TAs lack teaching experience, it is evident in other factors, such as their high levels of energy and commitment, more than compen- sate in the classroom. This is not to knock faculty teaching, nor to suggest that TAs themselves couldn't stand some improvement. Both suffer from high demands on their time from the administration whose other priorities often leave undergradu- ate teaching far behind. And in the end student evaluations are not, by any means, the best form of assessment for teaching quality. It does suggest, however, that TAs too easily have become increas- ingly concerned about the bottom line at the expense of the vitality of the education process. I hope that members of the University community will begin to think twice before indiscrimi- nately blaming TAs for educa- tional shortcomings that clearly run far deeper than the nearest graduate student. Douglas T. Shapiro Mathematics teaching assistant " COMIIVTJNIT'Y INSIGHAT Rosh Hashana: Students' dilemma 0 e 4 U 0 by Leona Shaw My stomach rumbles as sump- tuous smells of honey cake drift from the kitchen into my room. I feel a pang of frustration as I wish I could enjoy Rosh Hashana with my family downstairs, rather than sit in my room studying hysterically. Once again, the panicked time of year of juggling classes and reli- gious obligations has arrived. Rosh Hashana (literally "head of the year") is the Jewish New Year. It is supposed to be a time of deep meditation. Friends wish each other a "sweet new year" and eat sweet foods such as honey. How- ever, throughout my life, I have found it hard to fully savor the tra- ditional apples and honey, knowing that the festival is an obstacle in my secular life. I first experienced the problem- atic side effects of Rosh Hashana in England. I lived in England until I was 12 and my family was fairly religious. Every year, I would take parents tried to withdraw me from the indoctrinating, yet mandatory, religious education classes, the school foughtback. They could not comprehend why my parents did not want me to learn how to be a good Christian. At one point, four older Jewish girls were told by the religious education teacher to try to persuade me to participate in the class. At the age of 10, I was approached by four 18 year old a special meal plan for those Mus- lims observing Ramadan. I have to point out these benefits to my Jew- ish friends who complain aboutmiss- ing so many classes in which pro- fessors make it difficult to make up the work. I only perceive the reli- gious tolerances since I am used to a different culture's attitude. Yet I cannot blame my friends for complaining since this is a coun- try that stresses separation of church " No excuse for not voting However, throughout my life, I have found it hard to fully savor the traditional apples and honey, knowing that the festival is an obstacle in my secular life. Despite the great amount of political activity on college campuses, student-age voters have among the lowest voter turnout rates of the entire American population. The 1992 election, how- ever, is not an election to dismiss or ignore. Young people often grumble that "all politi- cians are the same," and therefore do not vote. support "the lesser of two evils." This is nonsense. In such a huge, diverse country, virtually nobody is going to be perfectly content with any one candi- date. Politics entails compromise. We live in a de- mocracy, not a utopia. The most valid excuse given for not voting is the inconvenience of registering Jewish girls who backed me into a corner and confronted me. Why was I different? After all, they were Jewish too. I was speechless; too young to respond that we should have the right to choose our reli- gious standards without conflict- ing with school requirements. Since moving to the United and state, combined with tolerance of all religions. It should be natural that professors would try to help those who have to miss classes for the holidays. It is possible for pro- fessors to help students with this problem. For example, one of my profes- sors is taping his class during Rosh 01