Page 4-The Michigan Daily - Thursday, January 28, 1993 Editor in Chief 420 Maynard Street Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109 764-0552 MATTHEW D. RENNIE Opinion Editors YAEL CITRO GEOFFREY EARLE 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. N bYui..ess id:. ......... . .. No business banning Color ado / LDON, TKNOW, AlAN..0. I~Y1Ty!T". /fc'E 1-rA' Y1 EVC2Y YEAR &u-v T-r .)L'S- DOE-!J'T ju) 1R SEE/r? -r -)io ANYTHI-N. I oi-rHJ IS GUESS IT 'S juIS-rf'1E o 0 ~ eouc , 0 P 0 L ast week, the Michigan Student Assembly narrowly passed an amendment to its Budget Priorities Committee (BPC) guidelines that plunged it into the ongoing Colorado debate. "Until the repeal, of Amendment 2 of the Colorado State Constitution," the guidelines state, the BPC shall not fund, travel to, or participate in, events occurring in the State of Colorado." Colorado's Amendment 2 forbids the state from passing any progressive gay rights legislation - a severe blow to homosexuals and anyone who cares about civil liberties. Considering MSA's long history of ineffectual meddling in national and world politics, and the dubious value of the existing Colorado boycott, the move is misguided, though well-intentioned. The signal this move sends to student groups is especially discouraging. Afew years ago, political symmetry with MSA's majority was a prerequisite to receive student funding. In recent years, the assembly has finally recognized that students of all political bents should have access to the Assembly's coffers, and MSA should serve as a resource, not a political conscience. The Colorado ban could be a step toward re- versing this promising trend. With the ban in effect, even student groups like the ski team (which travels to Colorado) might risk losing funding. Moreover, some students may chose, for whatever reason, not to support the boycott. Should this political - and personal - decision strip them of MSA funding? Additionally, if MSAchooses - as it should- to champion gay rights, it can take up any of a slew of pet causes here at home. The regents still refuse to include homosexuals in their bylaw 14.06, which bans discrimination against virtually every other group. Duderstadt hinted in an interview that he might be willing to consider including gays in the bylaw if President Clinton reverses the U.S. military's gay ban. Butthe University regents would likely mount as great an opposition as the nation's Joint Chiefs, and Duderstadt has shownthatheis no champion of gay rights either. Gay couples are still forbidden from living in University family housing, and awareness and tol- erance of homosexual life-styles still needs to be encouraged on campus. The resolution does not specifically forbid MSA from funding travel to Colorado, but it does make allocating MSA funds for this purpose virtually impossible. By forbidding BPC from funding such activities, it would put any such action up to a full- assembly vote - which offers a window for politi- cal grandstanding. What's more, the logic behind the boycott itself is faulty. Coloradans passed Amendment 2 by a 6 percent margin, but a boycott of the state would punish the entire population. Cities like Aspen, Boulder, and Denver, which are fighting to repeal Amendment 2, would be wrongly punished as well. Additionally, the boycott may be achieving the oppositeofthe anticipated results. Many gay groups are supporting the ban and staying out of Colorado - thus playing into the hands of right wing, anti- gay groups - and Aspen has reported a record ski season. These are meager results for a boycott that MSA has mandated students throw their weight behind. _x u fi 4 i 4 .. '4 , ..E .54 A dismal state of the state There may be hope for humanity after all To the Daily: Just when I was about to give up on honesty, humanity and kindness, someone had to come along and put me back on the right track. Recently I left my wallet at Angell Hall and when I returned to get it, it was gone. Later that night I found a note on my door from the person who found my wallet saying they had tried to return it but I wasn't home. After attempting, and failing, to make contact with me, she tracked down my old room- mate and left the wallet with her. , Although there wasn't actually any money in the wallet and there isn't enough credit on my Visa to order a pizza, the wallet still held many personal and essential items. Michelle K., since you never left your number, I'd like to thank you very much for your thoughtfulness and trouble. (I'd like to do more but if you looked in my wallet, you'd know my thanks will have to do!) Michelle K. made me realize that there is still hope for us humans after all. Thanks again. Yeshimbra Gray LSA Junior Another top 10 list To the Daily: Top Ten Reasons why I go to the University of Michigan: 1. Babes, babes, babes. 9. Cold prevents'my testicles from becoming dangerously large. 8. Didn't want to go to an expensive school. 7. Always wanted to visit New York. 6. Like feeling dumb. 5. Enjoy tying games - that way, nobody loses. 4. 2 words: Greg Stump. 3. Get a kick out of saying, "No, it's maize, stupid." 2. No desire to go to one of those schools where I might have fun. 1. Penn has only 12 coffee shops. John Nomrettel LSA Senior Marshall valued youth, as well as justice, courage and truth "a ' 0 n Tuesday night, Gov. John Engler articu- lated his vision for the state of Michigan in his third annual "State of the State Address." With a working majority in both houses of the legisla- ture, the Engler agenda - oblivious to the needs of the people of this state and long stifled by a Democratic House - will undoubtedly come closer to becoming law. Earlier this month, the state House passed a complicated power-sharing agreement that virtu- ally eliminates the power of the Democrats to thwart the Engler legislative agenda in committee. Co-Speaker Paul Hillegonds (R-Holland) pre- dicts large cutbacks in funding to state cultural and educational resources. The Detroit Symphony Orchestra and the Detroit Institute of Arts expect Lansing to cut their funding in half. Smaller insti- tutions, including Ann Arbor's own Michigan Theatre, may see their funding slashed. Engler wants to cut property taxes by 20 per- cent - a generous tax break for those who own large homes and large corporations. At the same time, he refuses to address the vast differences in school funding between wealthier and poorer schools. While slashing property taxes, the pri- mary source of funding for education, Engler calls for a "Governor's Report Card," that would rank each of the 3,176 public schools. This, in combi- nation with his school choice program, will do little to settle the fundamental inequity in the state's financing of public schools. Aside from Engler's commitments to "reduce harmful regulations," he offered few specifics on how to boost the economy, or face the state's 9 percent unemployment. The property tax proposal was overwhelmingly defeated by voters two months ago. There are so many areas that require attention: health care, infrastructure spending, school fund- ing, job training and welfare reform. President Clinton has encouraged the states to experiment with new programs in these areas. Instead of dra- matic experimentation, Engler offers only rehashes old conservative policies. But between now and then, the voters will get what they asked for. More people will lose their jobs while the state refuses to provide General Assistance; mental hospitals will release more po- tentially dangerous inmates in the name of "budget cuts," the legislature will pass into law Engler's pro-auto insurance company proposal, providing less coverage; arts funding will be slashed; and the "savage inequalities" of school finance will only deepen. The laundry list of proposals for dismantling the state government's protections for its citizens will be implemented in the name of "less government." It's going to be a long two years. 01 To the Daily: The passing of Thurgood Marshall at age 84 makes me regret that there is no alternative to growing old. He was the kind of living monument to justice, courage, and truth who should have remained in his 30s and 40s at least until now. But my guess is that calling Marshall "a living monument" would have made him cringe. He seemed to be that kind of person. In 1988, my boss in Washing- ton, D.C. hoodwinked me into doing volunteer work there for a "jubilee" celebration of the humanitarian work of Lady Byrd Johnson, the widow of President Lyndon Johnson. Johnson, in a masterstroke, appointed Marshall to the Supreme Court in 1967. (When he did so, I would have loved to have seen the looks on the faces of George Wallace, "Bull" Connor, or Ronald Reagan.) My fringe benefit was renting a tux and being a guest at a large dinner for the former First Lady in the U.S. Capitol's Statuary Hall. Strolling violinists, potted plants, and celebrities abounded. At the next table sat Justice Marshall. Throughout the meal, he sat immobile as members of Congress, movers and shakers, actors and diplomats milled around and stopped by to greet him. Marshall looked totally and utterly unimpressed with the menagerie. A sort of weathered world-weariness dripped from him. I imagined that he had hung a sign around his own neck that might have read: "Look, I've seen it all, done it all, and heard it all. Time has proven me right, so there's not a damned thing in the world you could tell me of interest or that I don't already know. Move on." I did not dare approach him. In retrospect, he could not have been in the best of health. The Justice's chin was glued to his chest and his trouser legs were up around his knees, revealing long surgical socks beneath. Finally, the event ended and the crowd migrated to the exits, where staff helped the ladies on with their mink coats. Marshall moved toward an exit beside me. I cannot remember for sure if he walked with a cane. Then it happened - the Justice came to life. After a few seconds, I heard his voice happily and copiously greeting someone. I looked. It was an attractive young woman, no more than 21 years old. Then, I heard the Justice's voice again. This time it was another pretty young woman. The process repeated itself several times within as many yards. At one point, a group of young women stopped and greeted him. Marshall's eyes twinkled and he kissed one. All the young women he encountered acted as if they knew the Justice and seemed equally pleased. That was the last I saw of him. I was reminded of this encounter upon hearing of his passing. It only enhanced my view of the Justice as a man. My thinking is that Marshall knew deeply - certainly more than I, at 30, can fully appreciate - what he did not like, what he liked, and why. Title, prestige, and entrenchment did not seem to cut it for him. Instead, perhaps what he liked and valued most were things like youth and allurement, as well as justice, courage, and truth: things that while different, are as beautiful as they are precious. Rest in peace, Mr. Justice. Scott Berman Rackham Graduate Student 0 .i 9VLEWVPO1 r5~ .. ,,.IL Chait bids farwell in final column r Take Clinton's wife, please The degree of voter hostility toward aninfluen- tial, strong-willed Hillary Rodham Clinton in the White House became almost immediately clear during the campaign. In a matter of hours, the Clinton campaign revamped Mrs. Clinton's asenda, maximizing the cookie-baking photo-op- portunities at the expense of the policy-wonk speeches. It appeared at the timethat Mrs. Clinton's vast array of skills, her intelligence, and her in- valuable experience would go to waste. By ap- pointing his wife to head the President's Task Force on National Health Reform, President Clinton has ensured that the First Lady's talents will not only be properly exploited, but directed at the nation's most dire crisis. According to a U.S. News and World Report, gie majority of Americans disapprove of giving the First Lady significant responsibilities. While such sentiments are more likely than not a symp- tom of our sexist society, there are some who have concerns about how Mrs. Clinton can effectively chair a high-level task force. Committee members may, for example, be reluctant to speak frankly to the president's wife. And if the task force were to r0 e AiR E YOU1)fj7 AS ceptable to the teachers' union, parents and other interested parties and then drive it through the state legislature. The victory was not just the governor's, but the Clinton dynamic duo's. If the president wants to recreate that victory, only with health care reform this time, there are few people more equipped and trustworthy than Hillary Clinton to coordinate the effort. In any case, why pretend that Mrs. Clinton is not This is my last column in the Michigan Daily. God, I never wanted to see those words on a Macintosh screen. I've been doing this for two and a half years. Every time I've written a column - 52, if you're counting - I thought it would be my last, that I'd neverN T come up with another idea. I thought the end would come when I ran out of material. But the world's a pretty funny place, and I'm lucky that the Daily has kept me around so long. You may wonder why I'm leaving now, in the middle of a semester. This is when the old editors depart and new ones take over. Things are going to change on this page, and I'll be reading it every morning in class just like the-rest of you. There is a small chance that I could return one writer's block. (All those bad jokes? They were Jesse's. The good ones were mine.) I would like to thank Jay Mazumdar and Geoff Earle for allowing me to work beside them as associate Opinion editor. You are the two finest journalists I have ever known. You held yourself to a higher standard of conduct than you could have possibly been expected to. After comparing the work we've done with other college papers, I believe that we've produced one of the all-time great Opinion pages. Nobody can ever take that away from us. Working with those two, as well as a promising staff, has been the highlight of my college experience. (Actually, watching my housemate drink his own urine for money was the highlight of my college experience. But this was second.) Thank you for letting me work with you and learn from you. Most of all, I thank those of you who have read this column. I can truly say that without you, I would have had a lot less irate Jesse, a veteran writer who I looked up to. "There's this place in Massa- chusetts," he replied, "They send me a set of column topics every week. All the columnists sub- scribe to it." "Really?" I asked, earnestly. "No," he said. I still haven't figured out the secret. Jesse had a certain genius that enabled him to write quickly and well about anything. One day, as we sat in the Daily trying to think up column topics, he asked me, "Name a news topic." "Well, Lithuania is seceding from the USSR." "Lithuania," he replied. "Good. Name another." "Pete Rose was fired from the Reds." Jesse then proceeded to write a fabulous column about Pete Rose and Lithuania in half an hour. Myself, I usually drink Coke and play Tetris for about twenty hours until something hits me, or MSA does something incredibly dumb, whichever comes first. What now? Well, I hope to continue writing freelance. I'm 0 0 I