Page 4--The Michigan Daily-- Friday, March 19, 1993 c . c t ttatn: tt i dipi 'K' / .---. 1 / r - voT , ; Iw E~ -- .: 420 Maynard Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan JosH DUow Editor in Chief EUNO LiZo EitorN Opinion Editor V} ~~ ;T -, I « 4 0 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. S y / 1 A 1 4'I U * ! . I) b S " r SHANITICIDE 'U'gags Statue ofLiberty -and destroys her .HIS RESTRICTIVE DIAG policy is get- TheMSArepresentativeswhobuilttheshanty ting out of hand. have staged protests against the policy every It was ridiculous when University offi- Wednesday for almost a month - without a dais began selectively enforcing the policy to permit - and the University has never inter- includeonlygroupstheydon'tagree - vened. While we hope it continues to with, like the National Organiza- f I stay away from the Wednesday rallies, tion for the Reform of Marijuana it is interesting that this shanty, a con- Laws (NORML). But when Uni- , stant reminder of the anti-free speech versitygroundskeepersdemolished , policy, was removed. a student-built shanty on the Diag Tearingdowntheshantyservedonly Tuesday because it didn't have a one purpose: muffling the rights of permit under the policy,the Univer- students to protest. Although remov- sity proved just how totalitarian it ing a shanty may go unnoticed by could be. students, the Universityhas shown that The shanty, constructed by " ' it will enforce its repressive policy. Michigan Student Assembly mem- And when an issue more important to bers, was a small wooden structure " k : students arises, they will not be happy depicting the Statue of Liberty with to find out that protesting on the Diag, a red gag in her mouth. It aimed to once an unalienable right, has become protest the Diag policy, which sets aburdensome chore and a privilege for restrictions on use of the Diag and K> those who don't offend President the North Campus Common. Not Duderstadt. only did the shanty present little ' The StatueofLibertyrepresentsthe physical dangertopassers-by, many ,' freedoms and liberties granted to U.S. students did not even notice its existence. citizensintheConstitution.SincetheDiagpolicy It's ironic that a University that advocates has already stripped students of their rights, it freedom in its curriculum would not only gag seems only fitting that the University would tear the Statue of Liberty, but tear her down. down the symbol of those rights. iFE Reno must act to stop anti-abortion terrorists U.*,,. sV .r, "" , Q p ' i- I F *r EA .j b~f- 1DR ,IY 93 if - = r . * a o ,. <; i_ ..- . - " _111L' E= .r 0 (x Mencan be victims of the rape culture Recently, I read two articles that dealt with rape on campus. The first, Natosha's Morris' column "Women born guilty of their own rape," (3/4/93), concludes that "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 control- ling their own sexual behavior." Am I sup- posed to accept this nonsense without ques- tioning its validity? Because the topic is rape? Because I am male and the author female? I will no longer tolerate this kind of abuse. The second article, which appeared in New York magazine, entitled "Crying rape, the politics of date rape on campus," by Peter Helman, concludes that "...traditional courtship rites of decades past [have] now been replaced by wary maneuvers more suited to opponents in a chess match." The battle-cries of feminist activism call for division of the sexes, splicing the move- ment's most sacred alliances. In Mr. Helman's article, Dominick Moro, Columbia campus security chief, reports two incidents of rape claims in the 1991-92 school year. During that time- span, Iwasaccusedofdate-raping aBarnard student. My case - and many others - neverreached the PR department because it was an embarrassment to the University. After legal changes against me were promptly dropped by Linda Fairstein (As- sistant DA.,County ofNew York), Colum- bia initiated its own Dean's Discipline. The investigation was half-assed and lackadai- sical. The crux of their decision lies in this excerpt: "On weighing the statements, we have concluded that, although the circum- stances in [the accuser's] room were highly compromising to her defense, the evidence more strongly suggests that you indeed had intercourse with her without her consent, even though there is no evidence of her verbal of physical resistance at the time of the act." My accuser never even claimed to have resisted. Her claim was that after I had performed oral sex upon her, and led her to orgasm, I waited for her to fall asleep, and then I penetrated her with a condom she had given me. One of the deans later confided in me that the convicting piece of evidence lay in the fact that my accuser had subjected herself to rape. Ms. Morris, in her article, fumes at the notion of innocent until proven guilty in the case of an accused rapist. The only people who assumed my innocence were family members, my ex-girlfriend, and my closest friends. Most of my female acquaintances who caught wind of the accusatio, did not hesitate to alienate me. I lost friends, self- respect, self-confidence; I became de- pressed,self-doubting, paranoid; I feltused, violated, alone. You tell me who was the victim? Who is the survivor? So why wasn't the incident reported to the press? They would seem to have been politically correct, correct?I filed suit anony- mously under Article 78 of the Civil Prac- tice Law and Rules of the State of New York. Over ayear later, Columbia agreed to uphold the retroactive stay of disciplinary action set forth by the presiding judge, and not to communicate the details to any other person or institution. I'm sill waiting for iy invitation to return. I usedtobe astaunch feministsupporter. The psychological effects ofmy experience still haunt me, even here. I've had one real "date" since I resumed my education. After dinner, I was innocently invited back to her room. I was so relieved to find one of her roommates there. Otherwise, who knows what she would have expected? When s walked me down to my car, I was elate. We had such a good time -laughs, smiles, intelligentconversation. We stopped by the door and she put her arms around me. Elation transferred intoconfusion, my smile into u blank stare. She went to kiss me and I offered my cheek. Unsatisfied she pursued my lips. Trying to maintain composure, but almost panic stricken, I mustered the reac- tion associated with passive resistance to violence: I turned the other cheek. Sinc then, I've been hard pressed to elicit a emotion from her, barely even friendly phone conversation. Well those are my tribulations, and I:11 deal with them. I don't know where I staid anymore.I do know that rape is a heinously violent crime of which people should be- come more aware. I also know feminism has gained a tremendous power with which peoplemustbecomemoreresponsible. This society is about people -not about m notabout women-butaboutpeople livi together peacefully. There are too many schisms and rifts already separating us as human beings. Let's not create any more. This article was written anonymously by an LSA junior. * AST WEEK'S BRUTAL murder of abortion * doctor David Gunn by anti-abortion activ- sts is the latest in a rapidly spreading rash of terroist acts on abortion clinics. Compound- ing the tragedy of this man's death is theincreas- ing difficulty women must face when seeking an abortion. In the face of vigilante restriction of abortion rights, action must be taken by the U.S. Department of Justice and new U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno to reclaim for women what they have lost - the right to a safe abortion. As a result of terrorism, abortions are no longer available in many areas of the country. The country watched twice as many incidents of abortion clinic terrorism last year than in 1991. Gunn spent his life making up for other doctors' fears, traveling between Pensacola, Fla. and Georgia to serve as many people as possible. He was the only doctor in the area willing to brave death threats and unending harassment to ensure a woman's right to an abortion. Anti-abortion activists have declared war on abortion rights across the country. One incident occurred in Grand Rapids last October when anti-abortion terrorists sprayed a Planned Par- enthood clinic with gunfire. Just weeks before, activists sprayed a nearby clinic with butyric acid, a chemical that smells like vomit. Members ofthe fundamentalist group Lambs of Christ travel around the country blockading clinics by handcuffing themselves to car steer- ing wheels or cement blocks to make arrest difficult. In some areas, activists bring children to protests because they cannot go to jail. In Florida, Operation Rescue has opened a "boot camp" to train protesters to blockade clinics. But these abortion terrorists may finally be held responsible for their actions if Reno fulfills her pledge. As soon as Reno was sworn in, she promised to search for laws to prevent protests from impeding the operation of abortion clinics and to "pursue an appropriate Federal response" to Gunn's murder." Though the U.S. Supreme Court recently denied efforts to put a stop to these terrorist actions through a 19th century act designed to stop Ku Klux Klan terrorism, other legal efforts may prove successful. Leaders of the National Organization for Women (NOW) have tried to paint the intimida- tion of clinics' staff and patients as extortion, thereby seeking to invoke racketeering statutes on anti-abortion protesters. A NOW leader and a manager of the Ladies Center where Gunn prac- ticed may attempt to prosecute Rescue America -which stages frequent protests at the Center- under the anti-stalking law in Florida. John Burt, regional directorofRescue America and host of the rally where Gunn was killed, claims that with Gunn's early death, "quite a number of babies' lives will be saved." But murdering a doctorin the name of "life" is atragic irony. Burt and his fellow "pro-life" activists have circumvented the Supreme Court's guaran- tee of abortion rights by taking the law into their own hands. Such action cannot stand. Federal legislation has been proposed to out- law interference with abortion clinics' services. Hopefully Reno's strong pro-choice stance will help renew the right to abortion as a practice, rather than a theory. 'FAULTY COMPROMISE Amendment doesn 't haltAIDS immigration ban Senior pledge request absurd To the Daily: This letter is meant to ask just what the hell the Univer- sity is thinking when they ask for a senior pledge. A senior pledge! Yes, this pledge of $93, $50, or $19.93 will help make a difference. And I thought paying the highest tuition for a public university was enough to help make a difference! I find it appalling that the University solicits current students to write yet another check to this wasteful bureaucratic beast. Maybe the University should ask out-of- state students.to send in an extra donation seeing as how they already afford a whop- ping $14,000 tuition fee. I can understand the University asking for donations from alumni, but this is ridiculous. Todd Beeby LSA Junior Violent society is our reality To the Daily: Any woman who inebri- ated goes to a "strange" man's apartment (house), who is in a likewise state of insobriety, and does not realize she could be placing herself in a precarious situation is a "fool." Face up to the reality. Alcohol and other drugs are often associated with violent crimes. Wp livon in a vinfirar ni .ty AFSCME union attacks E. Quad letter To the Daily: We are writing to respond to the anti-lesbian/gay letter issued by Housing supervisors and administrators during Spring Break. First of all, it must be stated that the "workers" who signed the letter to the regents protesting the display of safer sex educational posters in East Quad and the alleged promo- tion of "unnatural human relationships" were not just "workers," but were in fact supervisors and managers for the University of Michigan Housing Division. As union representatives in AFSCMfE Local 1583, the 2400 member union which represents workers who are supervised by these management personnel, we see the public release of this letter as a direct attack on all the members of the union - gay and straight.- Our collective bargaining agreement with the University specifically prohibits discrimi- nation based on sexual orientation and HIV-antibody status. A "Presidential Policy" against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation supposedly exists too, but as anyone familiar with the University well knows, institutionalized homophobia, racism, and sexism are the rule at the University. It's inconceivable to think that these supervisors and manag- ers could foster a work environment that is anything but discriminatory, bigoted and hostile to lesbians and gay men. When these officials speak publicly as management of the University, they are represent- ing the University and its official policies and practices. Readers should be aware that-several of these supervi- sors and managers had a well- documented history of racist harassment that has been raised through the employee grievance procedure. One East Quad building manager, Monnie Clampitt, who was quoted as saying the safer sex posters were "sickening," never reacted as.strongly when truly sickening racist graffiti and swastikas showed up in the dorm she supervises. She and Joseph Kennedy, her supervisor and also a signer of the letter, launched a cam- paign of harassment and phony discipline against a Black woman custodian who objected to the graffiti and to racist harassment from two students. Another managerial signer of the anti-gay letter, Tracey Gonzalez, has also been the subject of grievances and civil -rights charges involving claims of racism. In their grievance response, the University management sided with their own management and let these supervisors off the hook despite an abundanc of convincing evidence. -Every minute that the University allows these managers to supervise workers is another minute tha the University shows its readiness to allow a hostile work environment for lesbians and gay men and for Black workers to continue. A union grievance has been filed calling for the suspension of these supervisors pending the outcome of an independent investigation of past and current problems of discrimi- nation in the dormitories where these managers work. History has shown us that we cannot rely on the administration to clear the road for our rights to be won. It is up to workers, students, and community members to build a struggle that will fight to defeat the institutional discrimination perpetuated by the University management 4 and shown so clearly in the case of the Housing supervi-. sors and administrators who issued the anti-gay letter. Judith Levy Bargaining Chaii Paul Lefrak District Stewaro AFSCME Local X58G 1 p r1 J EVERAL WEEKS AGO, President Clinton pledged to reverse the Bush Administration's fear-based ban on U.S. immigrants with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. But the U.S. Senate, in a compromise measure, passed an amendment to the ban last week that allows AIDS patients temporary vis- its to the country for treatment or family visits. Michigan Sen. Donald Riegle (D-Mich.) was out of town that day to vote, but Michigan Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) voted for the amendment. Clinton is unsure whether he will sign it. The amendment hardly scratches the surface -of what needs to be done. Clinton's idea to lift the ban is probably the most reasonable and humanitarian approach.Even though the amend- ment is not as strong as the original ban, Clinton -?n1irPlQ toi irsn lP Iclatnrc to racc hill to nt;tlly method we would never confront the problem, only avoid it by dehumanizing society. The assumption that removing a faulty cog will restore the machine cannot be made in this case because humans are not mechanical parts that can be thrown away whenever the system breaks down. Ban advocates need to understand that AIDS patients' health conditions do not stop them from contributing to and being a part of society. The segregation policy sends the mes- sage that people with HIV are "guilty," and therefore must not be allowed to normally asso- ciate with the rest of society. The United States cannot be so pompous as to think it cannot associate itself with foreigners. who have AIDS. It must continue to hold the image that it is the "land of opportunities," and. nnrhre immirantc' hnnoe fnr a hptterlife_ Impact dance group wrongly accused of sexism