Page 4 --The Michigan Daily- Monday, January 25, 1993
lE iie £11d143UU &UI
420 Maynard Street
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109
764-0552
Editor in Chief
MATTHEW D. RENNIE
Opinion Editors
YAEL CITRO
GEOFFREY EARLE
AMITAVA MAZUMDAR
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/ r
Edited and Managed
by Students at the
University of Michigan
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Unsigned editorials represent a nwjority of the Daily's Editorial Board.
All other cartoons, signed articles, and letters do not necessarily represent the opinion of the Daily.
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Alcohol punishment doesn't
nce again, Michigan's State Legislature has excessive punishment-
proposed a bill which would punish minors Many minors need to d
in possession of alcohol (MIP's) with a 90-day Taking away this privile
driver's license suspension. Previously proposed bearing no demonstrate
last session, this bill is largely intended to be a propriate.
deterrent to drunken driving. But by targeting "We have a strange s
minors guilty only of anti-possession laws as the try," Ehlers claimed, "1
culprits of drunken driving, and good th
then assigning a punishment that .... Peo
forbids them from driving at all, countr
Lansing would be handing down tolerate
undue punishment on Michigan's Suc
minors. Though alcohol is at the far bey
heart of several serious problems to cont
in our society, this bill will tackle The
none of them. brings
Sen. Vernon Ehlers (R-Grand the 21
Rapids) proposed the bill, and the ing ag
Legislature is expected to con-fMo
sider it Feb. 2. Ehler's stated mo- have d
tive for drafting the bill is his yet suf
concern about the large number drunke
of alcohol-related accidents in associa
Michigan. Lansing nearly passed The
the bill last term. Thankfully, the low thi
end of the legislative session put effectiN
off passage. with alt
Currently, Michigan law only EVAN PETRIEJDaily driving
mandates suspension of a minor's driver's license cation regarding the dar
and a $25 fine if they are caught drinking and alcoholism.
driving. The constant danger
There is no question that drunken driving is a was the primary rea
serious crime, and one worth fighting. A minor in government's push for
possession may endanger their own body, but age.
certainly poses no threat to random drivers, as But it must distingui
does someone who drives under the influence of crime - driving under t
alcohol. and the relatively minor
Moreover, confiscating a minor's license is sion.
fit crime
- it targets their livelihood.
drive to work and school.
ge because of an infraction
d relation to driving is inap-
ocial attitude in this coun-
'People simply think it's a
hing to go out and get drunk
ople don't do that in other
ies and we're not going to
e it here."
h anti-alcohol zealotry goes
yond a reasonable mandate
rol drunken driving.
debate over this bill again
up the question of whether
-year-old minimum drink-
e is justified.
st other western countries
rinking ages of 18 or lower,
fer fewer problems (public
.nness, spousal abuse, etc.)
ated with alcohol use.
United States should fol-
is example and enact more
Ve ways to fight problems
cohol, such as stricter drunk
g laws and extensive edu-
ngers of drunk driving and
posed by drunken driving
son behind the federal
the 21-year-old drinking
ish between a very serious
the influence of alcohol~-
crime of underage posses-
" ";.tif ::::'::"1":. ..1:":: :"} ....
New Daily cartoonist Pro
needs Stump's help To the D
To the Daily: It's 1
I sympathize with Greg possible
Stump.He has a long hard road roommat
ahead of him training Terry Rudd spouse, i
(if he hasn't started already). "choice.
Rudd: Listen to Clinton's The
message and look to the future. sanction
Quayle's out of office and the been ofc
transition was gracious, so lay couse,
off the guy, will ya? The joke is would ha
-getting old million c
dead than
Kristin Johnson existence
RC sophomore welfare.
know wh
D lwould ha
Daily movie critics Thisi
should be less critical freedom.
columniE
To the Daily: I affirm,
I am appalled that the Daily pro-choi
rarely has anything nice to say activists
about the movies that it reviews. woman'
The latest atrocious review ("Film what toc
doesn't get outta of here 'Alive,' body. Th
1/20/93) was an unneeded tongue who adv
lashing of the movie "Alive." condoms
Sarah Weidman attacked the because
movie more for the fact that its
actors are not able to grow full insignifi
beards or even much more than a overlook
"scraggly goatee" (which is not a on the sc
facial hair "problem" not to be readers t
able to grow a full beard, and it is worthwh
insulting to assume that only men review it
might be able to grow full More
beards). know ho
Secondly, how is she an expert critics, b
on the effect that eating human noted thz
flesh would have on the appear- everythir
ance of one's teeth? Or how is it deemed
possible that she knows that it In fa
would be impossible for the rugby say some
team to be a good looking bunch? critic. M
I wonder if she totally missed the assign th
story of courage and survival of are not p
the living. Her criticisms of the realize ti
<: [!" , :::AlT'NTA1YV TMTMCITT
-choicers prevent choice
Daily:
993, and it's quite
that your classmate,
te, even your potential
s dead - a victim of
"
irst victims of legally
ed homicide would have
college age right now. Of
"pro-choice'' activists
ve you believe that 30
children are better off
n to be leading a pitiful
e in poverty, crime and
But we'll never actually
hat kind of lives they
ave led, will we?
is in the name of
,"of "reproductive
." Well, as a former Daily
st once wrote, and which
"Pro-choicers are not
ce!" Abortion-rights
proclaim that it is a
s choice (and a man's)
do with her (and his) own
hese are the same people
ocate distributing
s everywhere you look
young men and women
cant details cause her to
what is really happening
creen. I offer to the Daily
hat this movie is actually
hile despite the poor
t received.
in general, I do not
w the Daily chooses its
ut I think that it should be
it critics need not judge
rig severely in order to be
a "critic."
ct, it is possible to even
ething nice and still be a
aybe the Daily needs to
he reviews to people who
prima donnas and who
hat the last decade has
are going to have sex anyway,
and they can't be expected to
control their urges.
Then, when an unwanted
pregnancy results, "pro-choicers"
want to expunge the mistake by
compounding it with murder,
telling a woman that she can't
possibly go on with her educa-
tion, career and life the way she
wanted to, and therefore she has
no choice but to have an abor-
tion. This convenient solution
also absolves the father, who is
just as much at fault, of his
responsibility.
So, when the choice is before
you, men and women alike,
whether or not to have sex,
remember that youare not dogs
in heat.
If you have the "reproductive
freedom" to control your own
body, you also have the freedom
to control your reproductive
urges. And this choice, as does
all freedom, comes with respon-
sibility.
Howard Scully
Business School senior
produced some worthwhile films
(reading the Daily one would
begin to believe that the'last
decent film was "Citizen Kane").
I suppose the Daily motto is, "If
you don't have anything nice to
say, write a review."
Paul Tackett
LSA senior
The Michigan Daily encourages
its readers to voice their opin-
ions. All letters must be 300
words or less. Send sumbissions
to The Michigan Daily, 420
Maynard, Ann Arbor, Mich.
48109.
aking auto safety jo No.
eginning in 1995, all cars manufactured in the million dollar lobbying contracts, coupled with
United States will be equipped with anti-lock enormous campaign contributions that allow them
braking systems and airbags. The automobile in- to, for all intents and purposes, write their own laws
dustry, which has historically fought safety regu- and regulations. With this power, the Big Three
lations tooth-and-nail, has agreed to take action have long been able to block legislation that, while
and install these critical safety devices. This is a helpful to consumers, may take money out of their
welcome, albeitlate, step forward for the industry. pockets.
The success of airbags and anti-lock brakes is Hopefully, along with the apparent shift in atti-
indisputable. Because the two safety features are tude of the car companies, the government will
becoming more common, the number of deaths by begin to take a more active role in ensuring con-
automobile accident is decreasing. Fewer people sumer safety. For years, a federal law has been
died in automobile accidents last year than in any necessary to force the automobile industry to shape
year since 1962. However, many of the 39,000 up, and politicians have failed to act quickly.
lives lost may have been spared had an airbag or With a new administration, and a new Congress
anti-lock brakes been installed. Proven to increase devoted to destroying the status-quo, consumers
driver safety, these devices have been left out of can hope that their safety will be a higher priority
too many cars for too long. than money from political action committees.
Both the automobile industry and the govern- Including airbags and anti-lock brakes in every
ment are to blame for allowing the production of automobile offers maximum safety to all consum-
cars that could have been made considerably safer ers. Until now, most auto makers have only made
had available and affordable technology been in- air bags available in more expensive models or
stalled. Foryears, car companies have been claim- offered them for a substantial fee. Wealth was a
ing that installing airbags and anti-lock brakes on prerequisite to automobile safety.
a massive scale was not feasible. These were the Now, the auto companies have acknowledged
same arguments that the Big Three offered against the unfairness of this policy. In more general terms,
installing seat belts in their cars. Luckily, these the industry, faced with criticisms of poor quality
ridiculous claims have finally been refuted. and inefficient management, has stepped forward
Furthermore, this development is a hint that the and proved that it is willing to make the necessary
Big Three may change their ways when it comes sacrifices to turn things around.
to government interaction. General Motors, Ford Hopefully, this is a trend that will continue in the
Motor Co. and the Chrysler Corp. all have multi- future, especially when driver safety is concerned.
Diffusing the population explosion
0I
: ..I~1'4I :::1 ::'L1
Enforce international law consistently
by James Piazza
D uring the past 20 years, the world has wit-
nessed an unprecedented level ofpopulation
growth. From Asia to the Americas the population
explosion continues.
In an attempt to remedy this global problem,
President Clinton this week reversed a restrictive
policy dating back to the Reagan administration
forbidding U. S. funding of any program that advo-
cated birth control - the chief method of popula-
tion management - or made abortion services
available. Clinton has opened the way for Con-
:gress to fund such population programs (which
President Bush repeatedly vetoed) and address the
clear link between population growth and eco-
nomic stagnation.
Countries at one time had stable populations
because birth and death rates were roughly equiva-
lent. Most development strategies aim to raise life
expenctancies by improving living conditions.
But while these worthwhile programs allow people
to live longer, healthier lives, few focus on reduc-
ing birthrates and raising infant mortality.
can reduce the number of children born and slow
population growth. Clinton's election has made it
easier to rally Congressional support for these
endeavors.
The effectiveness of such programs is obvious.
The few programs that do exist have been success-
ful. Only a need for more funding has kept them
from making greater strides.
Family planning programs are also a preferable
alternative to the immoral population control pro-
grams, such as coercive family planning. China has
implemented such programs, which include forced
sterilizations and coerced abortions.
The United States is most responsible for sti-
fling international family planning services. Reagan
withdrew U.S. support from the United Nations
Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA), prefer-
ring to placate the religious right and impose its
anti-abortion anti-contraceptive sentiments on the
poor.
Reagan succeeded in constraining family plan-
ning programs around the world, spoiling the
As a new presidential adminis-
tration enters the White House, the
American public has promptly re-
ceived not only an endorsement of
former President George Bush's
punitive actions against Iraq for
Saddam Hussein's refusal to com-
ply with the cease-fire tenets of
U.N. Resolution 687 by President
Bill Clinton, but also a proposal,
from President Clinton, to continue
the present policy.
It seems that the Clinton admin-
istration expects foreign countries
to abide by the U.N. resolutions and
intends to confront those "outlaw"
regimes that respect neither inter-
national law nor human rights.
Since the Ba'athist regime in
Iraq has a history of brutalizing its
Shi'i and Kurdish citizens and has
not complied with the demands of
the U.N. Security Council, the
United States is morally bound to
militarily ensure the safety of
Hussein's victims and enforce in-
ternational law.
Overthe last summer, the Ameri-
can public was curtly informed by
former Secretary of State James
Baker that the Bosnian people
should not expect any significant
intervention by the United States to
halt the Serb invasion and brutal-
ization of their populace simply
because, "The United States is not
the world's policeman."
The rn .. ,,..rnrnent of
ground forces with air support.
Yet in spite of all this, President
Bush did not feel that the United
States should be expected to help
with the enforcement of interna-
tional law and the halting of naked
aggression in this case. The Ameri-
can people have yet to receive a
definitive commitment on the part
of President Clinton to pursue an
active policy with regards to the
illegal Serbian invasion.
The hypocrisy is striking. Both
the Iraqi and Serbian situations
present similar, although hardly
proportional, violations of interna-
tional law and human rights. But
the U.S. policy displays not even
policies of oppression, human
rights abuses and outright mass
murder are currently being under-
taken against the people under re-
gimes such as the ones in Mynmar,
Haiti, India, China, Guatemala,
Syria, El Salvador and many oth-
ers.
Where is the Presidential out-
rage, or popular outrage for that
matter, for the peoples of these
countries? Why isn't there a will-
ingness on the part of the United
States to militarily coerce these
regimes into adherence to the 1948
U.N. Declaration the international
community adopted, and which
many of the previously enumer-
0
0
Both the Iraqi and Serbian situations present
similar, although hardly proportional, violations
of international law and human rights.
the pretense of consistency in deal-
ing with Mr. Hussein and Mr.
Milsejevik. Although Bush did pub-
licly condemn the Serbian invasion
and the sponsorship of brutal re-
prisals against the citizens of Bosnia
and Croatia, no definitive policy or
enforcementof the U.N. resolutions
has materialized.
The Serbs continue to flaunt their
disregard for the "no-fly" zone and
the arms embargo, refuse to sus-
pend their sponsorship and organi-
zation of rape and genocide. They
remain virtually unhindered in their
activities, despite the token imposi-
ated countries endorsed?
The ironies of "realpolitik" are
disturbing, especially upon thecon-
sideration of the past and present
first-hand accounts of oppression
and genocide. It may be true that
the United States cannot, and
should not, be expected to solve all
of the world's problems.
Would it be therefore possible
for the President to drop the offen-
sive public pretensions that the
United States finds unacceptable
and will confront all violators of
human rights in light of the fact
that we are not even close to con-
01