Page 4-The Michigan Daily- Tuesday, February 9, 1993
420 Maynard - Josi Dunow
Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Editor in Chief
Edited and managed YAEIL M. CITRO
by students at the ERIN LIZA EINIIORN
University of Michigan Opinion Editors
Unsigned editorials represent the majority opinion of the Daily editorial board.
All other cartoons, signed articles and letters do not necessarily represent the opinion of the Daily.
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OPERA
Clinton ha
BORION RIGHTS,
can rest easy no
dent. With aDen
choice executive, it se
abortion safe and legal i
recent events ought to b
should serve as a wake-
First of all, a recen
found that the 1871 K
prohibit groups such asC
ading abortion clinics. In
recently started running
(a "boot camp") in Mel
extremists.
These occurrences
rights supporters should
years to push pro-choi
gress. A good start wo
proposed bill which wo
tremists from denying
clinics.
Such legislation wou
choice activists. Pro-life
peacefully. They have th
pro-life candidates. Bu
have the right to harass
They do not have the rig
ers' homes andcars. InM
was gassed and blockadc
tires ofa doctor's car and
Activities such as t
NEWIF
Canada g
SHE CLAIMS THAT if
her life will be in d
on the status of w
she tried to go without
university education. As
life was threatended nur
Despite advances to'
dustrializednations over
worldwidecontinueto
be persecuted soley
on the basis of their
gender.
Last week the Ca-
nadian Government
became the first gov-
emnent to officially
g consider granting
refugee status to indi-
vidualson the basis of
gender-bias. The
United States should
follow Canada's lead.
By granting asylum to
individuals who are
victims of gender-1
F bias, President
Clinton would set an ex
while demonstrating a co
In many parts of the
basic human rights. W
opportunities in educatic
tion, the government a
protections, creating an
jugation and dominati
Under these conditions,
ornocontrolover thecou
q gets married, her father
*NASA
Progress n
AS THE NATIONA
Administration
cuts, some are
of the manned spacef
these flights "simply p
of the "space race" b
and the former Sovi
unmanned probes are
sufficient for the coun
however, makes lightc
manned spaceflights p
tion of space and our p
Proponents claim a
manned space explora
ernment to cut the $30
a mere $2 billion. If on
that the reorganization
then the figure might
cally, however, NAS/
whichhas beenin exist
out the space shuttle pr
difficult and costly. TI
almost the entire spac
kTION REsCUE
s authority to outlaw extremists
ADVOCATES may think they considerable number of pro-lifers, go far beyond the
w that Bill Clinton is presi range of social dissent and into the realm of the
nocratic Congress and a pro- dangerously subversive. Abortion has been declared
ems like the fight to keep legal by the Supreme Court of this nation. It is
s finally being won. But two contrary to every principle of our system to have
e noted by pro-choicers and mobs blockade clinics in order to prevent women
up call, from getting a medical service that is supposed to be
it Supreme Court decision legal.
:u Klux Klan Act does not Operation Rescuehas sharply decreased the avail-
peration Rescue fromblock- ability of abortion in many places through its relent-
addition, Operation Rescue less abuse of doctors and clinic workers. Very few
a 12-week training program doctors are willing to perform abortions when they
bourne, Fla. for anti-choice know that anti-choice fanatics will find out where
their children go to school in order to harass them.
make it clear that abortion By passing not only the new bill to prevent clinic
takeadvantageof the Clinton blockades, but also the Freedom of Choice Act,
e legislation through Con- Congress and President Clinton can show that this
ild be passage of a recently nation is ruled by laws rather than by activist mobs.
uld specifically outlaw ex- If abortion rights opponents are dissatisfied, they are
women access to abortion free to protest with demonstrations, marches and,
t rt o perhaps most importantly, with their votes.
ddnotdeny thenrights of anti- Bruce Cadle of Operation Rescue was quoted as
rs have the right to protest saying, "There's not much legislative hope and not
ie right to cast their votes for much judicial hope. So, we're going to take it to the
t pro-life extremists do not streets."Unfortunately, "the streets" areexactly where
doctors and their families. the debate shouldn't take place.
ht to vandalize clinic work- Women shouldn't have to be harassed if they go
4elbourne, an abortion clinic to an abortion clinic, doctors shouldn't have to be
led. Pro-lifers punctured the persecuted for performing abortions and the will of
harassedhiselderly mother. the majority, as expressed in the laws of the nation,
hese, which are used by a should never be subverted by near-terrorist fanatics.
RERJGEE
rants asylum on the basis of gender
she returns to Saudi Arabia, wife, she is considered an appendageofher husband,
anger becauses of her views with no voice, no identity of her own. Many govern-
men there. While in Saudi, ments do not provide protections for women against
a veil, she tried to pursue a domestic violence, rape, genital mutilation or sexual
a result of her behavior, her abuse. In some countries a woman reporting a rape is
nerous times. arrested for adultery.
ward gender equality in in- By recognizing the severity of womens' situa-
hepastfewdecades, women tion, the Canadian government has forced nations to.
deal with gender ineq-
REAISON FOR NAN ' WO'g d ioaghd e-
ON OR tAAA I , J~ uity through foreign
WANTINGi TO I FOR policy.
VA WNG C INFORPolTyerehave been vari-
TOMI T TF SENATO ousproposals toalter the
To CANADA? SERVICE ffj ~rj r v United Nation's defini-
tion of a refugee and the
European Parliamenthas
passed token statements
in support of changing
refugee policies. How-
ever, until now, no coun-
try, had taken the initia-
tive of turning words into
, - Q action. TheUnitedStates
- Jhas traditionally fallen
behind in the protection
of women's rights, do-
ample for others to follow mestically and international. Our present refugee
)mmitment to human rights. policy demonstrates a callous irreverence to women.
world, women are not given The United States offers protection to people able to
)men suffer from restricted demonstrate a well-founded fear of persecution ac-
n and employment. In addi- cording to various categories. Gender-bias is not one
paratus provides few legal of them.
environment where the sub- Clinton should follow Canada and change the
>n of women is the norm. United States' guidelines. As the only superpower,
women typically have little we still command great influence with our allies and
irseof their lives. Ifa woman lesserdeveloped countries. U.S. backing forCanada's
chooses her husband. As a initiative could spur other countiries to action
needs manned, unmanned flights
L Aeronautics and Space moving toward a completely unmanned space
(NASA) faces budget program. Due to the success of their Ariane
alling for the eradication rocket, American and other countries' telecom-
light program. Labelling munications corporations areturningtotheESA
)restigious" and products to realiably place their satellites in orbit. Never-
etween the United States theless, this success has not saved their ailing
et Union, they say that Hermes spaceplane project, prompting them to
more cost-effective and turn to the Russians, who havepresently the only
itry's needs. To say this, space platform, Mir, orbiting the Earth.
of the important role that In regard to Mir, scientists concede that a
lay in the future explora- space platform will be necessary for any viable
planet. missions to the Moon or Mars and beyond. The
t move to exclusively un- proposed American platform, Freedom, cannot
tion would allow the gov- be built without space shuttles and research into
billion NASA budget to its construction requires manned spacewalks.
ie were to naively believe Clearly, NASA must keep some amount of
costs would be minimal, manned spaceflights to ensure the progress of
be significant. Realisti- the space program, whichhas told us much about
A is a huge bureaucracy our ownplanet andtheuniversein which welive.
ancefordecades. Phasing A better solutionto this budgetary dilemmais
rogram would prove to be cooperation between NASA, ESA, and the Rus-
he thought of phasing out sian space agency. ESA can represent the un-
e program, seems nearly manned arm of the space exploration. NASA
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Pespctve
Serve, protect and break a Nigga 's neck
While trying to find some good, clean
(relatively speaking) way to procrastinate I
decided to turn on the tube and I acciden-
tally flipped on some old show about our
scions of good will and caring: police offic-
ers. I think it was Starsky and Hutch, Kojak
or some other cheesy ultra-seventies fodder
like that. In a flash of polyester, afros and
sweater vests I was flooded with memories
familiar from my childhood.
I worshipped such shows, my brown
eyes turning a deep shade of blue over the
V Brian Meeks
prospect of watching my heroes bust the
bad guys (invariably Black guys). With the
guns, the action and those snappy one-
liners I was hooked. Cops and Robbers
time. Then we would run outside, heady
with the rush that a six-shooter, fake badge,
and imaginary bullets can bring. And you
couldn't tell me athing with that"cop-chip"
that I had on my shoulder. You know, that
I've-got-a-pistol-and-the-law-at-my-side-
and-I-will-interpret-it-in-any-way-I-see-fit
attitude. In all of it, I think ... I know it was
the power that I loved.
But enough of that. Old times, old ideas
and old games I don't play anymore.
Never will again. My mind will never
allow me to entertain such ridiculous
thoughts. Something happened at the ten-
der age of 12. A friend and I were walking
home when we were stopped by a cop.
While being questioned (12-yearolds!?!!?)
my friend reserved some wry response for
the cop. After hearing this, the cop slapped
him anumberof times. Sure they were only
slaps, you might say, but that amounts to a
horrific beating if a child is being slapped,
hard, by someone three times his size. I can
remember his face beginning to swell and
darken in certain spots. Tears streamed
down his face. And the officer? My desire
to help my friend was sapped by one iron
glance that he shot my way. I stood trans-
fixed with the awesome horror of it all. And
that's how it ended. Big hands, small head
and powerlessness.
"They'll kill 10 of me to get the job
correct, to serve, protect and break a nigga's
neck"
--Ice Cube, "TalesFromtheDarkside,"
AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted
The angriest voice we have to date said
that four years ago. Cube burned that phrase
into my head forever. Ask many Blacks and
they will echo these sentiments. Funny how
these "incidents" confuse and anger me.
But when I'm out walking or driving by
myself, no witnesses around, I feel some-
thing else just as intensely. That something
else is fear.
I'm so paranoid of police officers I can
spot their cars' headlights by size and shape
at least 100 feet away. And I can scope an
undercover cop miles away. Some built-in
radar. But I feel like I need it. If the unthink-
able happens and I am pulled over, I'm the
nicest cat you ever met. Then Uncle Tom is
in the house. My mouth sprouts flowerful
"Yessuh's," "Nossuh's" at the drop of a hat.
Being made to sit on the curb because
you're Black and "inherently criminal" or
hearing the phrase "go ahead, run!" from a
cop on a bad donut trip with an itchy trigger
finger will do that to you, too. All this shit
goes down as I warily eye the cop's hands
and gun. Better to suffer hot degradation
than to receive the most coveted of urban
awards, a nightstick lick. Seems ridiculous
to have to ingratiate yourself to someone
who only controls your life for a split sec-
ond. But as long as violence and disrespect
toward the Black community are constants
and I have a desire to keep my head intact
these will remain necessary tools for sur-
vival.
Strangely enough, my worst nightmare
has nothing to do with the threat of violence
against my person. This particular night-
mare has a more sinister, cold touch. In it
people simply don't care or they ignore the
very truths placed before their eyes. Like
Simi Valley. Finally,afteryearsofignoring
these brutalities somebody gets abrotheron
videotape getting that "extra-special atten-
tion" he so obviously deserved from the
police. You know the rest of the story.
Acquittal. Shock. Disbelief. Powerless-
ness. It's like discovering that a child has
been molested and abused by a parent for
years. There is a sense of relief. The child
says finally we can right this situation ...
somebody knows ... somebody knows!"
Then the "powers that be" mercilessly or
blindly scratch that dream by ignoring ev-
ery bruise, every scar, on the child's bat-
tered body. Who'd lie about such abuse?
What is left to us? Redemption? Retribu-
tion?
My parents would bristle when I settled
down to watch my favorite pork produc-
tion. I thought they would explode every
time I mentioned aspirations of wanting to
be a cop. They tried to show me otherwise.
Even going as far as calling them "legal
hitmen." Being a kid I would just laugh and
take aim to shoot at something. Now Iknow
that they were right. Where does that bit of
wisdom leavemenow?Better ableto"help,"
- better able to voice these concerns. But
like the abused child I question whether that
voice will everreally beheard by those who
need to hear it.
Meeks is an LSA junior. His
column appears every other
Tuesday.
Bring back
Shades of RED
To the Daily:
I am writing regarding
Katherine Metres' column
Shades of RED. Why was it
cut? All last semester I looked
forward to and enjoyed her
insight and style. She writes
skillfully on a variety of issues
in a refreshing and courageous
manner. This is a quality the
Daily should encourage in its
writers and not punish by cut-
ting their columns. Please
bring back Katherine's col-
umn.
Rochelle Davis
Rackham student
To the Daily:
I just wanted to say that I
enjoyed Katherine Metres' col-
umn and was sorry to hear that
it was canceled.
Mary Whittington
LSA junior
New Orleans,
you gotta go
To the Daily:
In reference to your Spring
Break article, "Get outta town:
where togo, whattodo and how
MeizlishlBrown incident out of hand
To the Daily:
As a feminist and a civil
libertarian, it pains me deeply to
witness the unseemly battle
building up over the Meizlish/
Brown incident in the Political
Science department: a student
writes something stupid in a
paper, the T.A. threatens "for-
mal action" againsthimand now
outside organizations (Accuracy
in Academia) are threatening
law suits. Have we lostourabil-
ity to resolve such minor dis-
agreements on our own? Is it
really a good idea to put into
motion the heavy machinery of
official committees, much less
courts of law over something
like this?
Interested observers, mean-
while, have been more con-
cerned about taking up sides
than in offering constructive
ideas for solving disputes like
this. Here, for what it's worth, is
my offering:
To Brown - I sympathize
with your antipathy for speech
codes, but did you try a more
direct approach, such as a letter
to the department chair, before
you tried the route of deliber-
ately antagonizing your T.A.?
And, having got the Dean to
admit publicly that the depart-
ment mishandled the incident,
and if this is only a matter of
"principle," do you really need
to file a law suit?
To Meizlish - Brown's
comments were certainly irri-
tating, and I understand he was
trying your patience all semes-
ter, but I would think you could
have made an ass of Brown
simply byasking him toread the
offending passage out loud in
class (or reading it for him if he
was too embarrassed).
To the Michigan Review -
I'm glad you brought the inci-
dent to light, but the glee with
which you toss around phrases
like "thought police" suggests
you are more interested in
preaching to the choir than in
solving problems.
To Arlene Saxonhouse - I
can appreciate your concern to
stand by your T.A. when Pro-
fessor Rosenstone, by his si-
lence, left her dangling on the
rope, but I wish you had made a
distinction between supporting
Meizlish as a person, and sup-
porting her actions, which were
clearly inappropriate.
To Jamey Wheeler - butt
out. We can handle this our-
selves.
Finally, to the regents -
this incident should be taken as
a warning. How long do you
think it'll be before someone
brings up a similarly inane
"case"~ before your kangaroo
"code-of-conduct court?" I'd
suggest you scrap the code now,
before you bring real trouble
down on our heads.
Jackie Coolidge
Rackham student@
Offensive sign in dorm must go
To the Daily:
The University is supposed
to be such a liberal place where
everyone is equal. However,
there is a sign in a West Quad
window thatIand many others
are protesting to no avail. Two
residents of West Quad have
taken itupon themselves todis-
ening with a suit if forced to
take the sign down. I must say
that I do not think that the sign
would still be up if it were
violating another group. If the
sign were insulting to a minor-
ity group, to men, or to those
who pursue different lifestyles
it would not still be up. Some-
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