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Page 4 -The Michigan Daily- Wednesday, January 6, 1993
1E Mtcxitgan &titt l
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420 Maynard Street
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109
764-0552
Editor in Chief
MATITHJEW 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.
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Sweet victory in Pasadena
-
F or a welcome change this
year, Michigan fans
went to bed happy on New
Year's Day, thanks to the Wol-
verines' 38-31 victory over
the Washington Huskies in
the Rose Bowl.
The game lived up to its w
billing of the "Grandaddy of
Them All," surpassing all
other New Year's Day games
in both excitement and sus-
pense. Michigan came from
behind three different times
to earn the victory.
The Wolverines overcame
a fine game by Washington
quarterback Mark Brunell and
somequestionablefofficiating
by the Western Athletic Con-
ference officials to give coach
Gary Moeller his first Rose.
Bowl victory.
The victory was an appro-
priate farewell for the out-
standing groups of seniors on
this year's squad. Players like
Chris Hutchinson, Tony
McGee and Elvis Grbac cul-
minated their careers in win.-
ning fashion.
Grbac, who shouldered
much of the blame for Michigan's tie with Notre
Dame, is worthy of special commendation. As the
Wolverine quarterback, he has handled the atten-
tion that the position entails with poise and class.
That poise enabled Grbac to
represent Michigan consis-
tently well in the public spot-
light.
Michigan proved its supe-
riority long before this game
even started. While seemingly
more than half of the Wash-
ington team was serving time
at the state penitentiary,
Moeller proved that his pri-
orities are consistent with the
Michigan tradition.
Moeller left behind one of
his key performers when the
r. Wolverines headed west. The
player in question had com-
a mitted some "social indiscre-
tion," and Moeller did not feel
comfortable with him mak-
ing the trip.
While this punishment
f..........................may seem harsh, it proves that
Moeller is more concerned
with the character of his play-
ers than with winning foot-
ball games.
The players who did make
the trip demonstrated that they
are capable both of represent-
DOUGLAS KANTER/Daily ing the university well and of
performing at a top level in
the athletic arena. With their perseverence and
determination, this group of Michigan Wolverines
proved they are indeed worthy of being called "The
Champions of the West."
WORKED SO "WELL
'HE RESIt)ENTiAtL
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Bush almost finished strong ...
Daily wrongs MCC,
owes apology
To the Daily:
I am extremely disappointed in
your December 7 editorial "MCC
needs support of all schools,"
regarding the funding of the
Michigan Collegiate Coalition
(MCC). MCC is the state student
association which conducts
legislative education, organizing
and lobbying for the students of
Michigan's public universities.
In the editorial you propagate
the myth that this school is the
only school that financially
supports MCC. Nothing could be
further from the truth. Of all the
dues-paying members of MCC, it
is only the University's Ann
Arbor campus which is behind on
its payments due to the double
whammy of a hostile Board of
Regents and a student government
being very careful with funds
allocated for MCC. Western
Michigan University, Michigan
State University, Eastern Michi-
gan University, Central Michigan
University, Ferris State Univer-
sity, and UM-Dearborn are all
paid up on their dues. UM-Flint
and Saginaw Valley State are in
the process of joining MCC.
MCC has never had more support
from the students across the state
than it has now that MCC is
facing "almost certain extinction"
or that all the other universities
have withdrawn their support is
untrue. MCC is only four years
old, but it is the fastest growing
state student association in the
nation.
If the Daily editorial staff did
a little research, it could have
discovered for itself that the
premise of their opinion was ass-
backwards. As a result, you
severely insulted all the other
member schools and MCC itself.
The MCC Board, composed of
Governors from the dues-paying
schools, has been very generous
in allowing the University to
remain in good graces with MCC.
As MCC Governor from the
University, I would be glad to
present your apology to the MCC
Board at its January meeting.
Roger De Roo
MCC Governor
To the Daily:
In response to "Women Will
Not Be Silent" (12/8/92), we must
intercede on behalf of the women
who find this to be slightly
exaggerated. How is it an errone-
ous assumption on the part of Ms.
Rosman can be inflated to the
point of sexual violence? Prank
phone calls exist, and probably
always will. We agree that this
kind of call is the product of an
immature mind, not necessarily a
violent one. It's unfortunate that
she was rattled by this call, but if
this was so offensive to her, why
didn't she hang up?
Ms. Rosman doesn't speak for
all women. It is unfair to catego-
rize all men in terms of every
move they make as symptomatic
of sexist behavior. To draw a link
between a prank phone call and
rape seems unfounded. A view
like this not only negates our
credibility, but perpetuates the
ideology that we have no control
over our lives.
We don't wish to belittle Ms.
Rosman's experience, but to make
the generalization that all rude
acts made by men are indicative of
widespread sexism is absolutely
unfair. People say rude things, but
both women and men perpetuate
sexism. We need to stop male-
bashing.
Kimberly Conley
Victoria Diromualdo
LSA Seniors
iould unite
Oppressed groups s
P erhaps the Halcion is wearing off. President
Bushhas displayed marked improvement since
voters threw him out of office Nov. 3. On Sunday,
for example, President Bush and Russian Presi-
dent Boris Yeltsin signed the most far-reaching
nuclear arms-reduction treaty of all time. The
president, who would "do anything to get elected"
and whose realpolitik both at home and abroad has
been devoid of ethical considerations, has dis-
played deft leadership on a variety of fronts now
that he is free of the yoke of an upcoming election.
It started with his concession speech to Presi-
dent-elect Clinton - a display of cooperation and
class. Since then, Bush has made a noble effort to
include and inform Clinton of policy matters dur-
ing the transition.
Bush strongly stood up for U.S. interests when
he stood up to unfair French trading practices,
threatening to launch an all out trade war if the
French didn't stop subsidizing agricultural prod-
ucts.
Then, he responded to the ongoing famine in
Somalia by sending in the U.S. armed forces and
cooperating with the United Nations. Some of the
policy goals of the mission remain undefined, but
Bush's decisive humanitarian action should be
commended.
In the world's other major trouble spot, what
was Yugoslavia, Bush has stepped up the rhetoric,
saying he will not allow continued Serbian aggres-
sion. Finally, he and his counterparts in Europe are
discussing the actual enforcement of the no-fly
zone, rather than just waving their collective finger
at Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic.
Luckily for the president-elect, the sluggish
economy that dogged the president during his elec-
toral bid has taken an upturn. If voters (rightfully)
gave George Bush the blame for his poor economic
policies, they might as well give him some of the
credit for his policy successes.
Last week, after Bush paid a New Years' visit to
the U.S. troops in Somalia on "that majestic plane"
(his words) Air Force One, he travelled to Moscow
to sign START II, an historic arms agreement, with
Russian President Boris Yeltsin. The Previous
START treaties took years to negotiate, but the
Bush administration managed to wrap up START II
negotiations in only a few months.
All of these accomplishments are commend-
able. Of course, it should be noted that they are
exclusively on the foreign policy front, where Bush
has always displayed more interest. During his
four-year term, he has failed to present a cohesive
domestic program, and even his New World Order
remains a sketchy buzzword. But in the last few
months Bush has been at least an able, if not a
visionary, commander in chief. History might have
even shown him some pity. Unfortunately, he dis-
credited all the improvement he had shown with the
stroke of a pen on Christmas Eve.
To the Daily:
On April 25, 1993, hundreds
of thousands of gay men,
lesbians, bisexuals, and their
supporters will gather to march in
Washington to demand and build
the movement for our liberation.
The Ann Arbor/Ypsi Gay!
Lesbian/Bi March on Washington
Committee has formed locally to
help mobilize the largest contin-
gent possible from this area and
from Michigan as a whole. We
aim to concretely link the
struggle against homophobia with
the struggle against racism and
sexism in order to mobilize as
integrated a contingent as
possible - connecting with other
groups of oppressed people.
infoil unately, in our early
efforts to mobilize such a group
our committee has already
suffered internal controversy.
Representatives from the regional
Michigan/Indiana March on
Washington committee have
attempted to block us and all
other local committees from
issuing political statements or
building demonstrations. They
have done this in order to
Rude acts are not all sexist
monopolize the power and
political views of the march,
saying the sole purpose of local
March on Washington meetings
should be to mobilize for the
April 25 March on Washington.
But we think the best way to
mobilize for the march is to
demonstrate locally with other
oppressed peoples (Blacks,
workers, women, etc.), to link all
oppressed peoples' struggles
together and build an integrated
lesbian/gay/bisexual movement
that isn't just talk.
At the Nov. 24 meeting of the
Ann Arbor/Ypsi committee, the
committee adopted a resolution
calling for a break with the
Democrats and Republicans, no
reliance on the cops or courts,
independent defense guards to
end gay bashing and other
bigoted attacks, and other actions
that we feel can further the
movement.
Paul Carmouche
Brian Matuszewski
Anna Goldsmit
Ann ArborlYpsi Gay/Lesbian/
8C March on Washington
Committee
I
0
Affirmative Action neglects injustices
... but then came the pardons
For a few moments, it appeared that outgoing
PresidentBush would end his term strongly as
he tidied up his failed presidency. Unfortunately,
he forever soiled his improving image when he
pardoned former Secretary of Defense Casper
Weinberger and five others implicated in the Iran-
contra affair. His reason: these men were patriots
of the Cold War and were victims of Congress'
attempt to illegalize differences in foreign policy.
On the contrary, these men were not patriots,
but criminals. Between the six of them, they
deliberately violated laws explicitly banning the
sale of U.S. arms to Iran or the arming of the
Nicaraguan contra rebels, and they lied about it to
Congress.
Such scurrilous acts deserve harsh retribution,
not passionate vilification from the president of
the United States. But by letting his friend
Weinberger off the hook, Bush is sending a tragic
message to the American people: that those with
left. But he may be a fair one.
Weinberger's notes, which Walsh had subpoe-
naed, make clear that Bush was present at least one
major policy meeting during the planning of the
arms-for-hostages deal. Now, according to Walsh,
Bush is stonewalling,,and he has been reluctant to
cooperate with Walsh's investigation from the be-
ginning.
In fact, these two are now embroiled in another
skirmish. Walsh wants Bush's notes to see if they
contradict his sworn testimony. Bush and his new
high-powered lawyer say they won't turn over the
notes until they see the testimony. For now Bush
and Walsh seem to be in a stalemate. But this
ongoing feud would probably not even occur if
Bush wasn't afraid he'd fudged on the truth in his
testimony.
Pardoning Weinberger just two weeks before he
was to go to trial further lends an appearance that
Bush is covering his tracks. A lot of relevant testi-
rtinnr_ inilr'iir- tnctrnnn., ml tn t o * flchl,
By Leo McNamara
The Daily has been perform-
ing a valuable service by printing
Professor Carl Cohen's critique of
affirmative action as presently
construed and practised (10/23/
92) and Mr. Zachary Morgan's
and Professor Ingo Seidler's
rejoinder. I hope that this willing-
ness to allow public debate on the
issue may be fostered and
continued.
The essence of Cohen's attack
on affirmative action in its present
form is that it is an unjust practice
and that the affirming of an
injustice as a response to injustice
produces bad consequences.
Morgan's position is that affirma-
tive action, while imperfect, is the
only effective response available
at this time to the historic
underrepresentation of minorities
in academia. He concedes that
white students are unfairly
displaced by affirmative action
but calls this "an unfortunate side
effect of the system". He goes on
to point to the fact that often other
defend affinmative action in its
theory and current application,
claiming that since it is extremely
doubtful that objective measures
of intellectual potential avail to
admit the best qualified students,
we need to take into account the
advantaged or disadvantaged
starting point of each respective
candidate. The trouble with this
reasonable enough proposal is
that affirmative action does no
such thing. It blithely assumes
that race and minority status are
sufficient indicators of 'advan-
tage' and 'disadvantage' and that
"the mechanical version of
justice" this remedy offers effects
a positive good. But it does not. It
substitutes, once again, new
injustice for old, producing
predictable results. If affirmative
action did indeed take the form of
discerning academic potential in
individual cases, each judged on
its own merits, as when Seidlers
early nineteenth century head-
master discerned and nurtured the
poet Stifter's ability, then we
might indeed rejoice: for this is
what nnaht *to tin And iA, th
But we're not talking about
little Austrian Counts, and about
Stifter. We're talking about the
places denied Jewish Kids from
Duluth and Sturgis, Irish kids
from South Boston and Detroit,
Italians and Poles and other
assorted Americans in Pinckney,
Michigan. Seidler's fixation on
Grosse Point is indeed quite
besides the point. The real
objection is not, of course, to
finding, recognizing, fostering
academic talent wherever it camn be
discerned, and in any race, class,
or gender. The real objection is to
the two-fold error of regarding
higher education as merely or
mainly an avenue to personal
aggrandizement and social success
and setting up engines (separate
applicant pools, preferential
treatment accorded to presumed
disadvantage', quotas) to
facilitate and perpetuate new
injustices in place of old ones, or
alongside old ones.
Affirmative action as origi-
nally conceived was it seems a
generous and willing response to
diffipilt ;n nfdnA ,rnf,,1 cAc.