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January 13, 1993 - Image 4

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Publication:
The Michigan Daily, 1993-01-13

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01

Page 4 -The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, January 13, 1993

Ii Ebttnau &ul

I

420 Maynard Street
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109
764-0552

Editor in Chief
MATTHEW D. RENNIE
Opinion Editors
YAEL CITRO
GEOFFREY EARLE
AMITAVA MAZUMDAR

Edited and Managed
by Students at the
University of Michigan

Unsigned editorials represent a njority 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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Royalties burden students

T he beginning of the new term brings the inevi-
table rush to purchase textbooks and
coursepacks. Unfortunately, University students
will again be subject to outrageous prices for
coursepacks. Because of the series of lawsuits
filed nationwide against copy shops, the price of
coursepacks has increased dramatically over the
past two years. The real victims of these lawsuits
are the students. The University should investi-
gate ways to help students avoid paying these
prices. One possibility worth investigation is to
establish a University non-profit copy shop.
Currently, University professors hire one of the
several private copy shops in Ann Arbor to pro-
duce their coursepacks. Since these private copy
stations are selling coursepacks for profit, pub-
lishing companies are permitted to charge royal-
lies for their publication. Unfortunately, these
royalties are outrageous amounts which can some-
times more than double the price ofthe coursepacks.
For example, it took $20.13 in copying and bind-
ing to produce last term's Psychology 453
coursepack; but royalties bumped up the price by
an additional $41.91.
Sadly, the size of the royalties can even trump
a professor's effort to save their students some
money. For example, Political Science professor

Ronald Inglehart tried to save his students from
buying his own book by contracting a copy shop to
produce a coursepack with exerpts. Because of the
outrageous royality costs (to his own publisher),
the coursepack only saved students one dollar.
Students could avoid the royalty fees if the
University operated its own copy shop. Unlike
private copy shops, the University shop would sell
these coursepacks at cost. The law is vague when
considering whether royalties have to be paid for
publications which are used solely for educational
purposes. Some courts have ruled that royalties can
only be avoided if only very short excerpts are
reproduced, rather than whole chapters. The Uni-
versity should investigate the legality of a non-
profit copy shop, and attempt to lobby for the
rectification of any unfair laws in order to end the
out-and-out exploitation of students.
Due to the recent court order mandating heavy
royalties for selling coursepacks, copy shops are no
longer an efficient way to distribute these materi-
als.
Even if a University coursepack distributor was
less efficient than private shops, the absence of
royalties would ensure a far cheaper product for
students. The only people who would lose under
such a system would be the publishers.

01

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'U' should protect nonsmokers

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
has finally cleared the way to protecting
nonsmokers' rights. By endorsing a report that
directly links secondhand smoke to lung cancer
and child respiratory ailments, the EPA has sent a
clear message to the powerful tobacco lobby: the
nonsmoker should no longer be held captive in an
atmosphere of tobacco smoke. The University
should take note of this report and act accordingly
to protect
nonsmokers/
from sec-
ondhand
smoke.
Although A c
smoking is
already pro-
hibited in
most Uni-
versity - y
buildings,
the Univer-
sity contin-
ues to allow
people to
practice the
habit in cer-
tain areas.
T h e
m o k i n g
sectioninthe
MUG is the
most lucid
example.
Smokers puff away in their exclusive section
located no more than 5 yards from Subway. But
this egregious violation of the rights of the non-
smoker is not an isolated incident at the Univer-
sity. The lingering smoke that hovers in the milieu
of the Union Pool Room is reminiscent of a
prohibition-era speakeasy. The designated non-
smoking pool tables, which are outnumbered to
begin with, are located not 10 feet from a barrage
of cigarette-smoking billiard players.
The dormitory lounges - where students can

be found at all hours of the night watching televi-
sion or slipping yet another quarter into "The
Simpsons" pinball machine -pose a similar prob-
lem. Not only are these lounges devoid of any no-
smoking signs, the lounge in Alice Lloyd comes
equipped with a spattering of ash trays.
This seems to send a clear message that non-
smokers aren't even entitled to a lounge filled with
clean air.

.-- ..
-
.
....
' 1

T h e
powerful
BUTTNOJIIINfi H4 U.S. to-
ffN ,IVEN!b a c c o
Elobby,
which
spends $4
billion
dollars a
year pro-
'' \moting its
deadly
product,
can con-
tinueto ar-
gue that
smoking
is an in-
alienable
right. But
no smoker
has a right
RICH CHOI/Daly to endan-
ger the
health of
innocent bystanders by forcing them to inhale air
polluted with secondhand smoke. Moreover, if a
smokers want to light up, they can do it outdoors or
in their own home.
In light of the new report released by the EPA,
the University needs to take immediate action to
widen its smoking policy. Gone is the day when
advertisements featured the proclamation "9 out of
10 doctors smoke Marlboro." Smoking must be
proscribed in all public areas of University build-
ings.

Coverage helpful, but
Daily jumped the gun
To the Daily:
Thanks to the Daily for
covering the work of the Task
Force for Mandatory Retirement,
created jointly by SACUA and the
Provost's Office ("Task force to
look at forced retirement law," 1/
11/93).
Unfortunately, the article
reports as definite conclusions
(for example, not recommending
changes in benefits, post-tenure
review of faculty, etc.) matters
that we are still in the process of
actively considering.
Stephen Darwall
Chair, Task Force on Manda-
tory Retirement
Ignorance about
racism hurts all people
To the Daily:
I am writing in response to
Snehal Amin's letter, "Listen to
Gates, deal with facts." (11/19/92)
I was shocked, but not
surprised, that someone this
ignorant about racism and how it
works in this society would have
the nerve to write a letter defend-
ing Daryl Gates and the police
officers involved in the Rodney
King whipping. How dare you
insult my community and other
non-Black Americans by trying to
convince them that the King
incident was not racist.
As far as Gates is concerned,
you are right. Never mind that he
powered the SWAT team when in
relation to police chokeholds he
stated Black men don't bleed like
normal people. Never mind that
he is the father of DARE (Drug
Awareness Resistance Education)
despite the fact that he openly
stated that casual drug users
should be taken out and shot.
Any person who make
comments like these is obviously
uncivilized and as far as I'm
concerned these so called action
groups mean nothing when you
look at the barbaric mastermind
behind them.
Why don't you and other
ignorant people face the real
facts? Black men are harassed and
beaten by police forces around the
country every day. King's
incident drew attention only
because it was captured on video
tape.
What about the fact that
Blacks were forced to come to
this country against their will, our
families were broken up, we were
denied an education, awarded 40
acres and a mule and then had it
taken back. We have been the
victims of police dogs, water
hoses, batons, castration, rape,
hangings, lynching and attempted
genocide throughout the history
of this country.
I am sick and tired of ignorant
people on this campus and in this
country pretending that racism
against us is obsolete and that we
constantly create exaggerated
stories to gain attention. Blacks
have made numerous contribu-
tions to American society
beginning with our ancestors the
Egyptians to the more recent
African-American inventions -
while we get the least amount of
respect.
We are tired of these injustices
anri a lnnn c thawI"w nr-

To the Daily:
As sort of a hobby, I've
collected 10 common paradoxes
in the University.
® We can't find enough
qualified Blacks to recruit to our
campus. But, somehow our
coaches always manage to recruit
qualified Blacks who are also
outstanding athletes. We can't
explain how.
The majority of our
students are happy with the way
we run things. But, we can't have
majority rule in the University
because students,,by definition,
don't know what's good for
them.
When students question our
decisions, we tell them we are
operating the University for their
benefit. But, when students are
unhappy we tell them a university
doesn't exist to cater to them.
We hire the finest research
faculty in the world for our
students. But for some reason, the
more famous the members of our
faculty become, the less, contact
they want with students. .
Students already have
enough power as consumers to
determine who shall teach and
what is taught. But for some
reason, the most popular teachers
never get tenure and the most
popular courses are discontinued.
We can't allow students to
select faculty because they would
be fleeced by charlatans offering
glamour and entertainment
without educational substance.
But since students are attracted to
our University by its professors,
you'll have to take our word for it
that "we are not charlatans."
We tell students they must
grow up and accept responsibility
for their own education while
they are in the University. But,
we also tell students they are not
competent to sit on committees
that select their courses, curricu-
lum and professors.
Academic freedom means
that no one can dictate to faculty
what research projects they must
do. But, by sheer coincidence,
our faculty want to research what
federal sponsorswant.
The University is training

the future leaders of a democratic
society. But for some reason, our
graduates want to rule without
being elected.
The American university is
the world's foremost institution of
higher education. But for reasons
we can't explain, we have no one
on our staff we can identify as an
educator (i.e. someone responsible
to students alone).
The above paradoxes illustrate
an institution that does not know
itself. All hierarchical institutions
operate best in ignorance. The
University has sort of a knee-jerk
regard for the truth that runs
approximately as follows: "We try
so hard to stay ahead of our
competitors and we invest so
much in trying to win public
approval that anything negative
has to be denied, hushed up or
ignored if we are to keep our place
in the national rankings."
The criteria of policy are not
the truth or service, but success
and survival. Of course, the
modem university is a common
garden-variety institution - it
tries to get as much from its
environment while giving back as
little as possible. But what can
never be admitted, is that students
are part of the environment. The
world's greatest experts on
everything populate the Univer-
sity. Could they help you if they
wanted to? Probably. It's just that
everyone is powerless.
Lack of power to meet human
needs is not an accident. The
deepest and most tragic paradox in
the modern university is that to
succeed as an institution no one
must think beyond their narrow
concerns or feel anything for
others. Students must be numb,
faculty must be overspecialized,
and leadership must be obsessed
with naive boosterism. It is
essential that everyone believes
official lies. The survival and
success of the institution come
ahead of all other concerns. In
other words, paradoxical as it may
be, the modern university suc-
ceeds by becoming stupid.
Robert Honigman
Birmingham, Mich

Top 10 University paradoxes

0

0

Deportations endanger peace

L ate in December the 14-month-old Middle
East peace process came to a dead stop, due
to Israel's deportation of 415 Palestinians. While
those responsible for the recent killings of Israelis
should be brought to justice, the Israeli action is
clearly illegal under international law. The United
States should ensure Israeli compliance with U.N.
Resolution 799, which calls for the "safe and
immediate return to the occupied territories of all
those deported."
The U.N. Security Council moved swiftly to
""strongly condemn" the deportations and demand
that the deportees be returned home. The United
States did the right thing by supporting the resolu-
tion.
It should be remembered that the last (and only)
time the United States joined the Security Council
in condemning Israeli deportation orders, those
orders were eventually rescinded.
None of the deportees were accused of a crime,
nor did they receive any due process whatsoever.
The deported men's only "crime" is alleged mem-

had not been able to undermine the negotiations,
which are supported by the Palestine Liberation
Organization (PLO). But by binding and blindfold-
ing 415 supposed members, only to dump them in
a cold makeshift camp in Southern Lebanon, Israel
has made group members martyrs in their commu-
nity. Thus the Israeli claim that the deportations
would strengthen the hand of those Palestinians
who support the negotiations has proven way off
the mark. Besides, the New York Times reported
that "nearly all of those deported are theoreticians,
fund-raisers, and heads of Islamic institutions, not
gunmen."
Even if Israel had given the accused a fair trial,
the fact remains that deportations "of protected
persons from occupied territory ... are prohibited,
regardless of their motive," according to the Fourth
Geneva Convention.
Both sides must find legitimate ways of dealing
with threats and violence, or there will never be
peace in the region.
Stronger steps may be required to reverse the

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