0 Page 4 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, November 13, 1992 l E YC igttn ttYl 420 Maynard Street Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109 764-0552 Editor in Chief MATTHEW D. RENNIE Opinion Editors YAEL CI"TRO GEOFFREY EARLE AMITAVA MAZUMDAR Edited and Managed by Students at the University of Michigan Unsigned editorials represent a maujority of the Daily's E ditorial Board. All other cartoons, signed articles, and letters do not necessarily represent the opinion of the Daily. FROMTEDAILY Court rightly rules against NEED U ,. 52Z "I 3 i '1' ,-UG ouv'5EI+, XN -' __, / _To "T7?Y FIN/jUtL~Y cioYA P(' ov , L.-- ...... ZZK .,%4,: 0 6 arly Thursday morning, the Court of Common J2 Pleas, a student court that governs Michigan Student Assembly affairs, ruled in favor of MSA on all three charges filed against it by the NEED Service, a student charity group. The NEED Ser- vice, led by advisor Saliya Khalid, took action against MSA after it refused to renew the service's office space this year. Khalid alleged that MSA violated the Service's student-organization rights on discrimination and freedom of speech grounds. The court ruled unanimously on all charges save discrimination, which garnered a4-1 vote. In light of Khalid's many groundless accusations in the past, these charges must have been difficult to take seriously. Khalid's history with MSA illustrates the prob- lem. In February, Khalid was looking to recover some papers she left in a meeting room in the Union the previous night. Upon hearing that these papers had been lost or thrown away accidentally by the staif, Khalid allegedly threatened the build- ing staff with physical violence. She had to be restrained by campus safety officers. A month later, Khalid spoke at an MSA meet- ing, and accused the Conservative Coalition (CC) and the Michigan Moose Party of perpetrating this malicious act. She compared CC with the reac- tionary John Birch Society, and proceeded to pass out a folder containing what she said to be a summons and complaint made against MSA. The contents read as follows: "The next time that you will be served with a summons and complaint, it will be real!!" The other sheets in the folder were blank. Khalid conceded that she would not file these complaints if CC did not win the MSA presidency in the upcoming election. Later, Khalid had a run-in with an MSA em- ployee, and demanded to see the NEED Service's mail ahead of schedule. This confrontation ended with Khalid exploding into a lit of verbal abuse, accordi ng to Heather Lowman, the MSA employee. After being reprimanded for her behavior by MSA coordinator Colleen 'Tighe, Khalid dutifully responded, insisting that Tighe was "stressed" and suffered from "a serious psychological deficiency," but was willing to "refer (Tighe) to a local commu- nity clinic in (the) Ypsilanti area." If this behavior seems .childish - if the un- founded allegations of an MSA conspiracy against the NEED Service appear brash - then there may have been good reason for the court to doubt the allegations. In truth, one is naturally led to suspect that Khalid is not a victim of MSA, but rather of paranoia. After hearing the case, the court not only ruled against Khalid, but declared that her testimony was not credible, recommending MSA take action against the NEED service for perjury. Hopefully, MSA will pass up this invitation to get mired in yet another foolish lawsuit, and will heed the warning of Brian Kight. "It would just be another one of those big, stupid, goofy court cases," he said. ..... Read it, know it, join the debate AIDS: Facing the deadly epidemic The complete name is Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, but we know it as AIDS. AIDS is a sexually transmitted disease which causes the breakdown of the immune system leaving the body vulnerable to infection and other diseases. There is no known cure for AIDS. The number of people infected with AIDS is rapidly growing and so are the misperceptions of how it is actually transmitted. What are the facts? Who should be concerned? Is there hope for a cure? 0 Gay community must stay strong Illinois should retire Chief Iliniwek IAT hen the Wolverines play Illinois Satur- day, the point spread won't be the only controversy. The Illini are currently embroiled in a controversy regarding the team's use of the Chieftain as its mascot. If this game were being played in Champaign, an Illini student dressed as a tribal Chieftain would mock the importance of a spiritual dance and perpetuate a racist stereotype of Chief Illiniwek. At issue is the misrepresentation of a Native American tribe wiped out by European settlers. For the University of Illinois to continue this policy simply because it fears the loss of alumni donations is disgraceful. I ast year, the governing board o f Illinois voted to continue use of the Chieftains as the team's mascot, despite the pleas of more than 30 campus groups, Native Americantribes, and Native-Ameri- can students on campus. As campuses across the country re-examine their team mascots, it is the students and the Native Americans at hand who should be considered. Only seven of 35,000 Illinois students are Native Ameri- can. That, however is no reason for the governing board and administration to overlook their inter- ests. Illinois continues to sell sweatshirts and other paraphernalia with the chieftain's face. If a whole race of people are to be caricatured, those respon- sible may as well consult the victims. by Ron Genotti and Joe Easthope AIDS/HIV raises some vital, spe- cific issues in the gay-student com- munity. We would like to point out that, although we may sometimes use the phrase "gay and lesbian," this article is written from a male point of view and we do not assume to be able to speak for the lesbian half of the community. General society harbors many misconceptions about AIDS/HIV. There are, however, a few crucial misconceptions within the gay com- munity itself: If a person has AIDS/HIV, they must be promiscuous. This is perhaps the biggest mis- conception in the gay-student com- munity. AIDSIHIV is not a matter of promiscuity; it is a matter of unsafe sexual behavior. People can have as much or as little sex as they want to have. It is not the quantity of sex, but the quality of sex --safe or unsafe - that puts someone at risk. It is better not to know than to know a diagnosis. The truth is that the earlier a diag- nosis is made, the sooner one can make appropriate.lifestyle changes - quit smoking, drinking alcohol, etc. It's us or them. The AIDS epidemic, like many Genotti is an M.B.A.first-year student. Easthope is an LSA senior. epidemics, is thought to have polar- ized the community between the "in- fected" and the "uninfected." This is not the case. AIDS has brought us all together: infected and uninfected, male and female. The genuine and committed response of the lesbian community in the first stages of the AIDS epidemic is an example of this. Another concern is that of funda- mentalist"moral superiority."While the gay and lesbian community would like to spend all its time and energy on the AIDS crisis, it now faces the added challenge of battling those who use AIDS as a "hook" on which to "hang their prejudices." Many gay and lesbian students who have AIDS/ HIV find themselves redefining their lives, and do not need the added guilt and shame wrought by many funda- mentalist religious groups. The gay and lesbian community experiences overwhelming losses on a daily basis. Waking up each morn- ing to a litany of names in the obitu- aries is a numbing experience. How- ever, there have been positive im- pacts of the AIDS epidemic. AIDS has empowered the community. The "invisible minority" can no longer be silent. The "fight or flight" motto of the past has given way to a "fight or die" response. In addition, AIDS- related activism has spawned a re- newal in lesbian and gay activism and, more generally, civil rights ac- tivism. Facing the enormous inten- sity of AIDS, we have united and strengthened our community. Communities can stop violence M t 4 M } A rmed youths wounded 11 students in Detroit public schools last Wednesday. Police sus- pect gang-related activity led to the shooting out- side Mumford High School, only one of a few sites of violence. This threat to life and limb is yet another factor discouraging students from attend- ing school, and the schools need to find a way to stop it. The school system has already taken some steps to combat violence. The district presently conducts random weapons searches, totalling 32 last year. The school also has a Public Safety Department made up of 139 officers, eight of whom have been deputized by the Detroit Police Academy. As these methods have not solved the problem, a series of new ideas are being discussed that have the potential to help reduce violence in the schools. The president of the Detroit Federation of Teachers has proposed a SWAT-team type of op- eration that would tight gang warfareinand around schools. The fact that such a plan is on the table should convey the seriousness of the problem. A new plan (involving fewer snipers) from the principals of the Detroit schools looks promising. Among the suggestions are: installing electronic doors that can remain unlocked on the inside but locked outside; installing permanent metal detec- tors at the doors of all 23 high schools, some of which already have them; and increasing police and Public Safety Department patrols of the area. While such plans might make the schools more secure, there is only so much they can accomplish. The other method of attacking the problem of guns in the Detroit schools concerns the students themselves. Students join gangs because of the strain put on their homes by the devastating eco- nomic breakdown in the city. These gangs foster an environment disruptive to other students who want to learn. Community involvement is critical. A coalition called "Stop the Killing," co-founded by the South- ern Christian Leadership Conference, has called for the development of community policing and support groups. The new organizations are meant to emphasize education and turn gang members away from crime. The community has a role to play, and should foster an environment conducive to education. Violence in Detroit's public schools is symp- tomatic of much greater societal ills. Detroit Public School students are already burdened with inad- equate schools because of inadequate funding. Nevertheless, the community must take steps in the short term to at least provide for the physical safety of Detroit's students. Fight with fact; AIDS affects everyone Court should uphold Miranda by Geoffrey Cislo and Dylan Stewart "When ignorance, superstition and prejudice prevail, preventable disease will be allowed to slay right and left." These insights taken from a 1926 pamphlet examining the deadly per- ils of diphtheria were not meant to be grim omens of today's AIDS epi- demic, yet the words still ring true. They epitomize the present obstacles that prevent our society from effec- tively dealing with an invariably fatal disease. Many health experts believe the disease is just at the beginning of its catastrophic place in history. The potential costs of AIDS are staggering. The palliative care of AIDS patients presents a formidable challenge to a health care system that is just beginning to come to terms with its own financial crisis. The non- financial problems that AIDS poses for America today are equally formi- dable. Ignorance about AIDS, its transmission and prevention still pre- vails. Fear of AIDS is flourishing while attempts to educate the public struggle in the wake of the virus,. How unfortunate it is that AIDS first appeared in the gay populations of our country. These people have been exemplary in halting the ram- pant spread of the disease among their own ranks. Non-gays deluded them- selves with the idea that the disease could not affect them. Tt is imnerative Misperceptions concerning the AIDS virus by Kristin Hoppe The following are common misperceptions concerning the AIDS virus: Heterosexuals are dot at risk for HIV infection -wrong. It is not who you are but what you do that puts an individual at risk. Center for Disease Control statis- tics show that the fastest growing increasein HIV infection intheUnited States is occurring among women. They are being infected through un- protectedheterosexual contact, often with a partner who uses injection equipment, and sharing infection equipment themselves. World wide approximately half of those individu- als infected with HIV are males and half are females. The major mode of transmission worldwide (i.e. 65 per- cent of all cases) is unprotected vagi- nat'intercourse. A person who has had unpro- tected sex with one or more partners and tests negative on an HIV anti- body test can assume that previous sexual partners were HIV negative - wrong. A person is not always infected upon exposure to HIV. For example, a person having unprotected sex with an HIV infected individual may be- come infected on the first exposure or the 200th exposure. Lubricated condoms contain enough Nonoxynol-9 to be an effec- tive spermicide - wrong. For maximum protection, it is recommended that additional prod- ucts containing Nonoxynol-9 be used in addition to a lubricated condom. Five cc's or 1 tablespoon of spermicidal foams, creams or jellies orproducts containing apremeasured amount of Nonoxynol-9 such as sup- positories, vaginal film (VCF) and the Today sponge can be used. A person who tests positive for the HIV antibody has AIDS -wrong. The HIV antibody test is NOT a test for AIDS. A positive antibody test only indicates that a person has the virus (HIV) that causes AIDS. The person who is HIV infected may havenosymptoms,somemild symp- toms, or multiple symptoms, more severe symptoms. A diagnosis of AIDS is based on a positive HIV antibody test and the appearance of one or more of 23 specific symptoms defined by the Center for Disease Control and a severely suppressed immune system. The average length of time be- tween infection with HIV and diag- nosis with AIDS is 10 years. An individual who abstains from oral, anal or vaginal sex and doesnot inject drugs is at minimal risk of becoming HIV infected. One can greatly reduce the risk of becoming infected by using barrier protection (latex condoms or latex squares) with spermicide during all sexual activity and by not sharing needles. Anoenvnma rnnnfsAntiH.1mV eases in the past. The experience with diphtheria in the early 1900s provides a fairly modernexample. Diphtheria had long plagued cities before medicine could fathom its cause. Sinful living or di- vine retribution were its supposed origins. To avoid the scorn of soci- ety,patients often persuaded doctors to conceal their infection. The only effective public health measures were isolation techniques such as quaran- tine,removal ofhealthy children from infected homes, and mandatory test- ing. Given the stigma of the disease, resistance to these actions was un- derstandably great. Only the use of these classical measures against infectious disease, however, provided the containment of diphtheria and reduction of its incidence until a cure was found. The AIDS epidemic presents the same difficulties that faced care giv- ers in the early 20th century. It is paradoxical that the civil liberties fundamental to all people, including AIDS patients, may be contributing to the spread of this horrific disease. Only two states are doctors le- gally entitled to breach confidential- ity and inform the spouse of an in- fectedpersonthat they are at extreme risk of contracting a lethal disease. In no state are patients and health care professionals compelled to divulge their HIV-infection status to each other, giventhat--howeverunlikely W hile the voters of the United States were focused on the presidential election, the U.S. Supreme Court heard a crucial case regarding the rights of the accused. The question before the Court was whether the Miranda ruling should be overturned. At the heart of this controversial case is a Michigan resident named Robert Williams Jr., who was interrogated in 1985 about the deaths of two men who had been found shot on a rural road. A tape recorder captured Williams' admission that he supplied the murder weapon. However, police never told Williams that he had the right to remain cilar na i t havP an attnrnrav nrpcant ri ahtc that During the Court arguments, Justice David Souter asked whether the elimination of appeals based on Miranda would lessen crowded dockets. The size of courts' dockets is irrelevant. Protection of the rights of the accused has traditionally been the legal system's first priority, not an interest to be weighed against short term expediency. The recent beating in Detroit makes clear that the police cannot be trusted to look after citizens' rights. The 1963 ruling resulted from continued police abuse of the law. Moreover, people who have been arrested of a crime are often confused, fright- ened and unable to think clearly, or simply ignorant nftheir riohtc (iVPcn the die idnintnaie a nolice 6