Page 4-The Michigan Daily- Thursday, March 4, 1993


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420 Maynard
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Edited and managed
by students at the
University of Michigan

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Josii DUBow
Editor in Chief
YAEL M. CITRO
ERIN LIZA EINIIORN
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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GREEK WEEK
Activities increase sexual-assault awareness

REEK WEEK, MARCH 14-24, has been a
time when fraternity and
sorority members frolic, sing, dance,
eat spaghetti and jump in Jell-O for a philan-
thropic cause. This year, however, Interfrater-
nity Council (IFC) and Panhellenic Associa-
tion (Panhel) leaders plan to give their mem-
bers a chance not only to help various charities
but - through mandatory programs aimed at
preventing sexual assault, alcohol abuse and
AIDS transmission - to help themselves.
Although IFC and Panhel have hosted as-
sault-awareness programs in the past, they
have often reached only a fraction of the mem-
bership. By incorporating assault prevention
into Greek Week-the event that involves the
most Greek men and women - the program
will encourage awareness that lasts beyond
refreshment time. University Health Services
and the University's Sexual Assault Preven-
tion and Awareness Center (SAPAC) will give
presentations to fraternity and sorority pledges
about alcohol and sexual assault and how the
two relate. SAPAC has designed a program for

the officers of individual chapters addressing
the causes and consequences of sexual assault,
as well as providing a supportive environment
for survivors of assault. Each Greek Week
team is required to send participants to all of
the programs, many of which will be held at
fraternity houses to promote attendance.
Greek leaders should be commended for
their enthusiasm and commitment to assault
and disease prevention. They have recognized
the prevalence of these problems within the
system and society and have made them a
major focus of a previously lighthearted event.
However, this is only a start.
Greeks can show a real commitment to
these issues by making them a year-round
focus. SAPAC has appealed to Greeks to get
involved by applying for their Sexual Assault
Crisis Line and Peer Education Program. In-
creasing involvement in these kind of pro-
grams, as well as continuing education through-
out pledge programs and general house activi-
ties will help Greeks to combat these problems
within the system and throughout their lives.

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Women born guilty for their own rape

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MCC
'U tries to stop MSA om distributing fnds
T HE MICHIGAN COLLEGIATE Coalition (MCC), whose members are elected in campus wi
along with MSA Rep. Tobias elections. While its abilities to deal with t
Zimmerman, in an attempt to force the administration may be suspect, its distributii
University to reinstate the 35-cent MCC fee of funds to deserving student groups is u
and pay MCC operational fees for the winter doubtedly worthy.
term, filed suit against the University. In- The University has wrongly taken the stan
cluded in the University's ensuing motion to that because student approval of a certa
dismiss the case was a 1982 decision by the group may not be unanimous, it should not1
California Supreme Court which prohibited funded by the student government. More sp
the California University-Berkeley student cifically, the University dislikes MCC andi
government.from funding organizations with students rights lobbying, and would love
any political slant. While no such ruling will see it lose its funding from MSA. If this is n
be instituted in the state of Michigan, the fact the reason for the University's submitting
that the administration has endorsed it is ap- the 1982 decision, the only other viable expl
palling, nation is that the administration wants to d
By requesting that the judge review the mantle student government.
1982 decision, the University is advocating a Hopefully the presiding judge will refu
policy where MSA would be forbidden to the motion to dismiss the case. MCC, whi
support financially any group with the slight- lobbies the state Capitol in the interest
est political slant. Student groups, many of students, desperately needs financial help, a
which receive funding from MSA, would be MSA provides it.
forced to find funding elsewhere because few If unable to support any group with a poli
campus groups are completely void of any cal agenda, MSA obviously could not supp
political agenda or bias. MCC.
Not only would the groups suffer, but stu- By supporting the California court's de
dent government on campus would be debili- sion, the administration is expressing its d
tated. MSA is a non-partisan organization taste for MCC in a shameful manner.
CLINTON
Cigarette tax subsidizes health care costs
HROUGHoUT THE CAMPAIGN, President ground market for cheap cigarettes. As long
Clinton made it clear that reforming cigarette costs remain relatively reasonab
America's defunct health care system (ask Canadians who pay around $6 per pa

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I find it sickening how people in this
society are preconditioned toautomati-
cally blame the woman for rape unless
there is evidence of brutality by a total
stranger.
Ct
Natosha Morris
Although the standard of judgment
in our country today is that all people
are "innocent until proven guilty," for
the female rape victim it's the reverse.
She is considered "guilty until proven
innocent."
Think about the most common
questions asked when a woman has
been raped.
"Where was she and what was she
doing there? Was she drunk? What was
she wearing, (was she dressed like a
slut)? Was she flirting, leading the man
on, being a tease?"
All these questions are asked with
the intent to find an answer to a more
important hidden question: "What did
the woman - who is already stereo-
typed in society as being deceitful,
conniving and down right treacherous
- do to provoke this man into doing
such an awful thing to her?"
When a man reports that he has been
raped, most people think "Damn that
must be a terrible experience for him to
live with."
When a small child reports that they
have been molested we see the accused
as a sick pervert who should be pun-
ished - no questions asked. In both
Morris is an LSA junior. Her column
appears every other Thursday.

cases we immediately take the side of
the victim and their stories are un-
doubted from the very beginning.
When a woman reports that she has
been raped people think about it all
together different. Her role is switched
within a matter of minutes from the
accuser to the accused. Instead of
having to prove her offender as being
guilty, she is forced to prove her sexual
innocence - because she is a woman.
This can be extremely difficult for a
woman to convince people of in our
society unless she is handicapped, a nun
or under age 11.
Take, for example, the well publi-
cized rape case, Tyson vs. Washington,
currently back in the news. When
Desiree Washington first made her
trauma public around this time last year,

tance at 2:00 a.m. wearing a sheer low
cut blouse and a miniskirt, and he raped
me, the majority of the people in our
society would immediately place me at
fault even if I said "no."
This is ridiculous, absurd and I
would argue until my face turns blue
and black that this way of thinking is
biased, ignorant and deep rooted in the
famous old phrase, "she wanted it just
as much as I did." In other words,
because I am a woman I have to
constantly monitor the way I dress, act
and the time I choose to visit a man
because I am held responsible for both
his actions and mine.
The bottom line is that "no means
no." It does not mean, "wait a few
minutes and try again." It doesn't mean
"maybe." And it definitely does not



The bottom line is that "no means no." It does not
mean, "wait a few minutes and try again."

0

after hearing the scenario, the main
questions people wanted answered were,
"What was she doing in his hotel room
at two in the morning? Why did she take
off her panty shield if she wasn't
planning on having sex?" Both of these
questions immediately place the blame
on Washington, by focusing solely on
her actions and implying that she
provoked the attack.
How in the hell does visiting a man's
room, when you were invited, at 2:00
a.m., justify rape? And how does
removing a panty shield signal consent
to rape? Is there some 'Safe to Rape'
handbook for the rapists in our society
that states it is OK to attack a woman if
she does either of these things?
I seriously doubt it.
It both scares and upsets me to think
that if I were visiting a male acquain-

mean "yes," in female secret code. The
word "no," does not have two parts, but
when used where rape is concerned it
also means "stop" and "I don't want to."
It does not matter how short or tight my
skirt is, how many drinks I've had, and
what time I am alone with a man in his
bedroom.
I think it's high time we all wake up
and stop treating men as if they are
incompetent when it comes right and
wrong.
We women should not be held
accountable for our actions and theirs
simply because of our gender.
If men can run our country as
president, head our country's top
corporations and defend our lives as
soldiers in the military, surely they can
handle the minute task of controlling
their own sexual behavior.

Regent Baker demands apology from Daily

as
ble
ck

would be a top pri-
ority. Members of
Congress, on both
sides of the aisle,
recognize thatf
solving the health-
care crisis and
trimming the gar-
gantuan deficit go
hand in hand.
According to
Clinton's cam-
paign figures,
funding the solu-<
tion would be
simple.
Supposedly,
eliminating sub- 0
stantial waste,
fraud and abuse
from the current =
health-caresystem ThBA CCO
wouldcreatemore Ft IME 1R
than enough rev-te
enue to fund an ef-
fective system that
would serve all Americans. But those crazy
campaign numbers seem to have a mind of
their own. Last week, White House officials
announced that it would cost $30 billion to $90
billion to finance a revamped system.
But all is not lost. Clinton and Budget
Director Leon Panetta have endorsed an ciga-



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what reasonable
means), it is not
unfair to ask
smokers to pay
their fair share.
U n fort u -
nately, cigarette
taxes, as they
have been in the
past, will be met
by ardent opposi-
tion from the vo-
ciferous tobacco
lobby, strongly
backed by many
powerful south-
ern senators.
But the to-
bacco industry
doesn't have
much reason to
gripe. Tobacco
growers' interests
are represented
far beyond their
n u m b e r s.

To the Daily:
When The Michigan
Daily, in its editorial
"Homophobic regent: ignorant
comment lends dignity to
bigotry," (3/3/93) calls the
employees of the University
"intolerant heterosexual
bigots," it demeans, insults
and injures those working
people and their supervisors
who labor each day and night
to keep the buildings clean,
the cafeterias operating and
the dormitories safe.
The Daily calls the deep
concern registered by seven
supervisory dormitory
employees of nude, life-size
photographs of homosexual
and lesbian couples displayed
in many of the student dorms
for a month during Gay
Awareness Week a "minor
complaint," which it obviously
is not.

The Daily neglects to say
that if photographs of
heterosexual couples were
similarly displayed the rules of
the dormitories would require
their immediate removal.
That the Daily insists its
opinion on these matters is the
only acceptable opinion is
folly enough, but attempting
to silence honest differing
opinions is not only bad
journalism, but contemptuous
conduct in a university where
freedom of expression ought
to prevail.
My patience is worn thin
with The Michigan Daily's
record of seeming libelous
comments about my person.
I ask that you formally
apologize to both the working
people of the University and
to me and, in the future,
confine your criticism of my
and other peoples' comments

Daily policy
To the Daily:
In your coverage of the
infamous "Pussie Rd."
scandal, you have scrupu-
lously avoided using the last
names of Charles and Dan, the
residents of West Quad who
own the sign.
Yet when Dan submitted a
letter to the editor ("W. Quad
sign will not be taken down,
matter of principle," 2/18/93)
to tell his side of the story, you
felt free to print his last name,
even though a page one article
in the same issue ("Students
relate with 'Penis P1.' sign," 2/
18/93) did not use his last
name.
Perhaps your editorial staff
and news staff need to talk
with each other so that you
enforce your policies on
privacy consistently.
Jim Huggins
Radkham student

Baker

to the content of those
comments and not to the
personalities of those who
offer them.
Deane Baker
Regent (R-Ann Arbor)


Protests regarding 'Pussie Rd.' sign embarrassment to University


Clinton's own secretary of commerce, Ron
Brown, came to government straight from a
tenure on the board of tobacco company Philip
Morris.
Additionally, the farmers who grow to-
bacco would not really be affected by the
increased cigarette tax. They would continue

To the Daily:
The theme is all too
familiar. A boorish student
expresses an insensitive idea
that is interpreted by some to
be an egregiously offensive
case of sexual harassment.
Legal action is threatened. The

tional modes of persuasion.
But apparently Ms. Mechele
de Avila ("Offensive sign in
dorm must go," 2/9/93) and
inspiration for the related front
page article ("W.Quad sign
'offensive' to female stu-
dents," 2/9/93) is eager to

could outlaw any speech the
majority finds distasteful, the
free-speech clause loses all
effective meaning.
It is not an exaggeration to
say that Ms de Avila's.
crusade inherently encom-
passes all forms of speech

sign offensive, then the
precedent created by Ms. de
Avila's action demands its
immediate removal.
Ms. de Avila asks what we
are teaching the future leaders
of tomorrow when the
University does not take



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