Page 4-The Michigan Daily-- Tuesday, March 23,1993
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420 Maynard
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Edited and managed
by students at the
University of Michigan
JOSH DUBow
Editor in Chief
EiuN LizA EmIioR
OpinionEditor
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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Students should beware
T WAS ONLYtwo years agothatthe University
Board of Regents voted to force deputized
police officers down students' throats. This
year, its wholly unjust sidekick, the Statement
of Student "Rights" and Responsibilities, was
passed in the same manner. Both of these pro-
grams representthe University's standard policy
- expensive and wasteful programs masquer-
ading as protection for students. It is just now
becoming apparenthow the two programs have
been linked to create a "Big Brother"network
on campus.
Accordingtothecode'sjudicialadvisorMary
Lou Antieau, the Department of Public Safety
(DPS) is required to inform her of any student
cime brought to its attention. Admittedly, there
is nothing inherently wrong with DPS reporting
crimes to Anteau. DPS is a part of the Univer-
sity and should work in conjunction with the
University's code. However, this cozy relation-
ship could create a one-two punch that should
scare even the most law-abiding student.
For instance, take the recent case in which
DPS filed a formal charge against a male LSA
junior for physically assaulting a female non-
student. The alleged assault was committed
against a non-student, so an uncomfortable aca-
demic atmosphere was obviously not created.
However, under current operating procedure,
this incident was automatically reported to
Antieau.
ofDPS-Code alliance
The only rational reasoning for creating a
conduct code that attempts to supersede the legal
system is to protect students from a threatening
academic environment. But so far, the code has
not been used for this purpose.
The first few cases broughtup under the code
are examples of students being tried twice for the
same crime, once by the police and once by the
University. Double jeopardy is not permitted
under the Constitution, but the University has
developed its own kangaroo court to try these
individuals twice.
In addition, it seems pointless to prosecute a
student under the code when the legal system
could punish the student equally as well, and
probably more fairly. For instance, if DPS knew
a student rayed graffiti on a University build-
ing, it woud have to report the action to Antieau.
What good could come from usingthe code to
prosecute this lawbreaker when the legal system
could punish him for breaking the law? Simple,
logic tells us punishing this student academically
simply wastes University time and money.
Therefore, while it seems logical that DPS~
as an ann of the University- should report
crimes to Antieau, it only takes away more
students' rights as they are prosecuted under the
code. DPS, students and faculty must band to-
gether to protest this scandalous injustice before
the University's policies erode student rights
even more.
Class cannot be ignored, even when we try
* Once upon a time, a girl-baby was bom
into a happy, middle-class family. When
the child was five, her mother died. Her
father mourned a while and then married a
wealthy widow. With her help, his small
business grew and the family became more
prosperous.
Unfortunately, the father's new wife
hated her step-daughter, and always gave
14
I
On the Fence-
|
dream was replaced with visions of being a
romantically poor starving artist who lived
in a garret and drew pictures on the side-
walks in Paris. I read radical social theory
and thought about the nature of inequality.
In high school, my mother told me notto
date men who had money because they
would play with me but they wouldn't
marry me. I thought she was bitter, classist,
and slightly crazy. In the first place, Ididn't
wantto getmarried, and in the secondplace,
money didn't matter. I would fall in love
with whomever Iwanted to fall in love with.
And so I came to college and found the
woman of my dreams. She was beautiful,
brilliant, politically astute, artistic, funny
... and she also had alot of money.Not that
the money mattered, of course. We were
both adults, we lived in the United States,
we were equals, and we cared about each
other. That was all that mattered.
We hung out, went to movies and out to
eat, bought each other presents, and it was
wonderful. Ididn't balance mycheckbook
for months because I didn't want to know
how much money I was spending. I floated
on the easiness of her life. I bit my tongue
whenever class politics came up. I lied
about my student loans and listened to my
bustled into the room and shouldered me
away from the sink, babbling "Run along
now... I'll just clean up these ... you girls
just go have fun." The tension lifted from
the air and I left the room on the verge of
tears.
I was confused and angry. Confused
because I could not figure out how some-
one so sensitive to race issues could live in
the South and have a servant, let alone an
African American servant. Confused also
because I could not figure out why I was so
angry. I didn't say anything. We broke up
soon after.
When I re-read the Cinderella story
recently, I thought about this episode. I
realized that my anger stemmed from a
realization that I was much more likely to
end up in the position of being a servant
than that of having one, and that there was
no way my relationship with this woman
was going to work out. While we were
dating, I had felt like I had to lie about my
real financialsituation andclassbackground
in order to put myself on a more equal
footing in the relationship.
I realized afterward that she had never
thought of me as someone she could spend
the rest of her life with, and I thought of my
*1
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*
BREAKING BARRIERS
Bill would outlaw abortion clinic blockades
TATE SEN. LANA Pollack (D-Ann Arbor) However, the anti-choice organization Right
introduced a bill last week to the Michi- to Life of Michigan opposes the bill on the
ganSenatethatwould outlaw blockading grounds that it violates protesters' First Amend-
entrances and exits to state abortion clinics. ment rights. Members said the proposed legisla-
While this bill will surely arouse tion is the choice movement's at-
intense controversy among law- r tempt to use the tragic incident in
makers, its intentions are m the Florida to catalyze public inten-
best interests of the people and sity against anti-choice demon-
its regulations are long overdue. strations. But they must realize
The legislation technically the bill does not infringe upon the
covers all health care facilities, F ' ractof protest. It only stakes claims
butitstruegoalresides withabor- against protests that attempt to
tion clinics. As the battle siu- limit other people's rights.
mers between "pro-life" and Unfortunately, the bill may
pr-choice" ideologies, violent have difficulty passing the Re-
aborton clinic protests have be- ;.publican Michigan legislature.
come routine. Debate will begi next week in
The tactic of blocking en- the Senate, and Rep. Maxine
trances to clinic consumers is Berman (D-Southfield) will in-
widel' used and all too often PO [Wk troducethebillinthe House some-
successful. The violence hit a time in the next few days. The
crescendo two weeks ago when an anti-choice U.S. Congress is also discussing a bill - the
demonstrator murdered an abortion doctor out- Freedom of Access to Clinics Bill -which will
side a clinic in Pensacola, Fa. While the act of hopefully give Michiganlegislators the incentive
protest is guaranteed by the Constitution, the act they need to ps Pollack's legislation.
of murder and the incessant interference with Pollack is correct in sayingthebill reflects the
the freedom of others are not. public's stem condemnation of the terrorist-like
IftheMichiganlegislatureapprovesPollack's tactics of some anti-choice demonstrators. We
bill, protesters who attempt to block entrances must work to stop the use of violent and freedom-
canbe sued for damages to the clinic and forced hampering tactics used at abortion clinics on an
to y for police protection. The bill clearly almost daily basis. We must all learn from the
di erentiates the lawful practice of protesting lesson in Pensacola - while protests are legal,
from interfering with the rights of others to radical violence is a realistic danger that must be
obtain a safe abortion. outlawed.
MOTOR VOTER
GO0P sill blocks real voter partczatiuon
her the dirtiest and most unpleasant house-
work to do. As the family became more
wealthy, the girl sank to the level of one
servant among many..
Through a series of strange circum-
stances, Cinderella (who had become a
young woman) met the heir to the throne of
her smallcountry. Bewitched by herbeauty,
the prince swore he would marry no one but
her.
And so they were married (how could
she refuse?) and they lived happily ever
after.
I wonder about this part. As they went
about the business of living happily ever
after, didn't the differences in their class
backgrounds ever cause problems? Did
Cinderella feel uncomfortable having oth-
ers wait on her? Was the prince ever embar-
rassed by her accent or lack of education?
Did Cinderella ever feel that the prince was
condescending to her?
Asachild,I loved stories of poor young-
est sons and daughters who left their fami-
lies and class cultures behind and won the
hands of fair princes and princesses. I
dreamed of a fabulously wealthy man with
a beautiful house, an Alfa Romeo and an
indoor swimming pool who would sweep
me off my feet and carry me away from the
dreary life of a graduate student's child.
A long time passed, and my childhood
love talk about how only people who could
really provide for their children should give
birth. Everything was fine.
And then, I went home with her to visit
her family. She lived in a beautiful old
southern home (OK, so the swimming pool
was outside, and the cars were BMWs, but
it was close enough) filled with beautiful
things. I think I hid very well my shabby,
out-of-place feelings. I relaxed into her
family's hospitality and began to feel at
home as we ate a wonderful dinner.
After dinner, I automatically picked up
my place setting, carried it into the kitchen
and began to rinse my plate. Everyone
stiffened. An African American woman
mother's wamingsin high school. Itseemed
that she was right; the liberal ideal of rela-
tionships that transcend class boundaries
was just a fairy tale.
But this is not just a problem of the
wealthy. I too have taken relationships less
seriously because of my partner's class or
education. All relationships are to some
extent inter-class relationships. Although
class is not polite to talk about, it affects all
of us in our attempts to connect with other
people.
Bradley's column appears on the Opin-
ion page every other Tuesday.
... my mother told me not to date men who had
money because they would play with me but they
wouldn't marry me.
HE SENATE PASSED the Clinton-supported
motor voter bill along sharp partisan lines
lastWednesday. Now prospective Ameri-
can voters have the opportunity to register to
vote through the mail or when they receive or
renewtheirdivers'licenses. However, the GOP
argued in opposition that this legislation is a
covert means to increase the popular strength
and numerical membership of the Democratic
party. Furthermore, the Republican leadership
said Congress should not encourage the states to
increase voter turnout without providing direct
financial aid to register the additional voters.
The Republican party's anti-democratic stance
is an afrontto the ideals of the republic and is
indicative of the party's reactionary attempt to
effectively limit the number of disadvantaged
citizens participating in conventional politics.
The GOP succeeded, through the threat of
filibuster, in removing significant provisions to.
the bill that would have permitted people to
re 'sterto vote at welfare and unemployment
o ces. The Republicans are denying Ameri-
percent of the American population voted in the
general presidential elections, compared to 75
percent in the United Kingdom, 84 percent inthe
Netherlands, and 90 percent in Sweden. Political
scientists have determined that low voter turnout
in the United States can be attributed to the
restrictive registration procedures. The burden of
registration is placed on the individual citizen
and not on the federal government. The act of
voting is a two-stage process: registration and
then the actual casting of the ballot. People must
invest considerable amounts of time, resources,
and effort in locating obscure registration sites,
travelling to them, and filling out the proper
paperwork.
Poor, unemployed, homeless, low-income, ora
working class elements of the population are thus
immediately forced to devote a disproportionate
amount of resources to a complicated, bureau-
cratic process. This unreasonably involved pro--
cess requires high information costs, thereby
invoking socioeconomic factors that discrimi-
nates along class lines.
Daily story
endorses
thought control
To the Daily:
In the story "Letter
mobilizes campus gay groups"
(3/5/93), the Daily is less
concerned with addressing the
contents of the letter (by the
University Housing Staff),
than it is with airing contempt
for the sheer fact that the letter
was written.
A gay activist is quoted as
believing that these employ-
ees should be suspended"
following an investigation "of
discriminatory practices they
might have committed"...a
belief which is sadly reminis-
cent of a Joe McCarthyist/
witch-hunt mentality (shoot
first, find something they did
wrong later), and additionally,
more troubling, is an attitude
that the Daily appears to
endorse.
The above appeared the
day following Regent Baker's
request for an apology from
the Daily. In his letter, he
refers to the student
newspaper's attempt "to
silence honest differing
opinions."~
To the Daily:
Kinsley Foster wants us to
breast-feed our children in a
public toilet, "Public breast-
feeding is inappropriate" (3/
12/93)? Yuck! Here are some
facts: young babies who are
being breast-fed need to be
fed about every two hours
(because breast milk is
digested much faster than
formula). The mother and the
baby need a comfortable place
to sit and a relaxed environ-
ment.
Sitting on a toilet in a
cramped cubicle in a public
restroom is not an advisable
setting for breast-feeding.
Given our two-hour feeding
schedule, it seems that
Kinsley wants us to choose
between hiding out at home
for a period of several months
or feeding our children an
inferior substitute.
Thank goodness my
daughter was born in Africa
and that we stayed there for
the first six months of her life:
I was able to breast-feed her at
work, in restaurants or parks;
in the presence of family,
friends, colleagues, clients, or
whomever happened to be,
around.
Women in many cultures
all over the world breast-feed
their babies in public. Your
squeemishness, Kinsley, is
nothng but a clutural quirk -
a holdover from Victorian
days.
Maybe it was me you saw
breast-feeding: I kept it up for
several months after we
returned from Africa. Luckily,
no police came to drag my
daughter and me off to jail.
More and more women, who
appreciate the overwhelming
health advantages and
convenience of breast-feeding
and who want to continue to
participate in everyday life,
are doing it too. It's a certifi-
able trend. So get usedto it,
Kinsley.
Jackie Coolidge
R- ckhnm stud nn
Breast-feeding should not be hidden
14-
'U' lecture unprofessional, biased
0l
To the Daily:
On March 4, 1993, we
attended the lecture entitled,
"Rape as Genocide," held at
the Law School's Honigman
Auditorium, and sponsored by
the Law School, the School of
Public Health, and the Office
of Ethics and Religion. The
lecture dealt with rape and
factual evidence to support
claims in the title (no names
of victims or rapists, no army
units to which rapists be-
longed, no dates, no places).
All that resulted was many
members of the audience left
during the talk.
The point to which we
want to call attention is the
said that she absolutely agreed
that Mr. Karadzic was a
criminal who deserves
punishment. We were totally
appalled that a University law
professor, at an event spon-
sored by the Law School, and
in front of an audience of over
one hundred people, could call
someone a criminal, before he@