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Page 4-The Michigan Daily- Monday, March 29, 1993
1je ki &iilg
420 Maynard .
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Edited and managed
by students at the
University of Michigan
JOSH DuBow
Editor in Chief
ERIN LIzA EINHoRN
Opinion Editor
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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CODE BLUE
Suspension violates student right to due process
E PREAMBLE TO the StatementofStudent
TRights"and Responsibilities claims that
it "protects the freedoms guaranteed by
the United States Constitution." But in the case
of the graduate student who Judicial Advisor
Mary Lou Antieau suspended last week, a stu-
dent was presumed guilty and punished before
his hearing. This is a clear violation of the due
process clause established in the 14th Amend-
ment. In addition, the suspension protected no-
body and violated the student's personal rights.
Procedure II of the Code gives the vice
president for student affairs the right to suspend
a student if "his or her continued presence on
campus or participation in University activities
poses an imminent danger to persons or prop-
erty." The authors of the Code created a clause
to allow administrators to arbitrarily dole out
punishment in the form of immediate suspen-
sion, circumventing the due process promised
by the Constitution and the Code. Granted, the
Code improves upon Regents' Bylaw 2.01 that
allows the University president to suspend a
student without a hearing, but the way in which
the University has applied this clause under-
scores the degree to which the Code violates
student rights.
Because Vice President for Student Affairs
Maureen Hartford was out of town last week,
she delegated this power to Antieau. The fact
that this former South Quad building director
was given power to preliminarily suspend a
student without afairhearingis frightening. She
is not an elected official and has unmerited
ability to soil a students record without proving
his or her guilt.
To add insult to injury, it seems that Antieau
may not have even been certain about the threat
the accused represented. During the past week
she seems to have waivered in her determina-
tion of threat. On the record Antieau stands
firmly behind her decision to suspend, but she
has candidly told people like campus American
Civil Liberties Union President David Schwartz
that the student may not have presented a threat.
She said she she felt strongly about the decision
at the time of suspension, and when she spoke
with the accused (after Tuesday) and decided a
suspension may not have been necessary, it was
already too late to revoke the suspension. How-
ever, the Code contains no clause that prohibits
revoking a suspension.
In any event, Antieau's uncertainty raises
questions about her -or anyone's - ability to
make such determinations about students' lives.
In addition to the violation of due process, the
student's suspension serves no practical purpose.
The suspended student is only prohibited from
attending class and University activities. The
suspension does notprohibit students-who can
remain in a residence hall - from presenting a
danger. If the student does in fact pose a threat, a
restraining order should be issued by a court of
law and the student should be turned over to the
police.
If the University leads students to believe it
has the resources or authority to handle criminal
activity, it could open students up to greater
danger by creating a sense of false security. This
is like substituting Supersoakers for police rifles
- and thinking you are safe.
And if it hasn't proved beyond a shadow of a
doubt that a crime was committed, the University
must keep within its own sphere --education-
and let the legal system do its job - protecting
justice. Even though the legal system is far from
flawless, it is a much betteravenue for students to
use in serious criminal cases.
The clause that allows for immediate suspen-
sion is only one example of the offensive nature
of the Code. To insure that students have the
same rights as other citizens, the Code must be
abolished, and the legal system should continue
to maintain safety.
Housing Division responds to criticism
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byAlan Le
Director of Public A airs and
Information for University Housing
There has been considerable attention
directed to a letter written by some Univer-
sity of Michigan Housing Facilities staff, as
well as to the responses from various parts
of the University community. We would
like to provide both a summary of the
University Housing Division perspective
and some clarification.
On Feb. 10, seven Housing Facilities
staffmembers sentalettertoRobert Hughes,
Director of Housing; Maureen Hartford,
Vice President for Student Affairs; Presi-
dent James Duderstadt; and the members of
the Board of Regents. The letter expressed
concern with what the Housing staff termed
"sexually explicit" photographs of nude
men and women included in a residence
hall display during last fall's University-
wide Gay Awareness Week. The Housing
staff were also concerned that the Housing
Division and the University were actively
promotingagay and lesbian lifestyle through
their programming, purchase of library
materials, and support of the Lesbian Gay
Male Programs Office.
It should be noted that the seven Hous-
ing Facilities staff membershinvolved, who
hold managerial or supervisory-level posi-
tions, received a number of work-related
complaints from other staff who were dis-
turbed by the photographs and objected to
having to clean around these cabinets while
the photographs were on display.
In writing the letter, the staff members
were presenting personal viewpoints with
respect to issues of sexual orientation in the
residence halls, and their views do not rep-
resent the official policies and practices of
the Housing Division.
The Housing Division does not condone
or otherwise encourage one sexual orienta-
tion or another. We do, however, have an
interest in promoting respect and tolerance
for all individuals, which includes insuring
that gay or lesbian staff and residents are
free from harassment or discrimination.
Beyond that, we want our residence halls to
be places that are truly inclusive and wel-
coming for all residents and staff. We are a
community that appreciates and celebrates
the contributions and strengths of all of its
members.
It is also important to respond to some
erroneous statements that have appeared in
a number of newspaper articles. A formal
response to theFeb. 10 letter was prepared
by the Housing Division prior to the Re-
gents meeting on Feb.18 and 19, and given
to the Ann Arbor News, the Daily, and the
University Record. George SanFacon, the
director and department head of Housing
Facilities, wrote a comprehensive letter to
his staff members on Feb. 19 following an
extended discussion about the issues ema-
nating from theletter.TheUniversityRecord
ran a lengthy article in its Mar. 1 issue,
including substantial excerpts from both
the formal Housing Division response and
the SanFacon letter.
The assertion of AFSCME leaders in a
letter to the editor appearing Mar. 12 in the
Ann ArborNews that"not one letter, memo,
or stance has been issued by the Housing
administration to retract the anti-gay posi-
tions" is simply not true. In fact, the
AFSCME letter appeared one day after the
News ran an article that again extensively
quoted from the Housing Division's re-
sponse to the original letter.
The photographs in question did include
ness, or provoke discussion and dialogue.
In moving toward and creating a com-
munity marked by diversity, difficult issues
andclashesofopinionwillalwaysbepresent.
In many respects, a college campus is the
mostuniquely situated institution in Ameri-
can society toactas a marketplace for ideas.
The "Living at Michigan Credo" is the
Housing Division's statement of core val-
ues with respectto human rights and civility
in its residential communities. The Credo
notes that "the University is a special place.
It is a community designed to foster free-
dom of thought and unconventional, even
uncomfortable opinions."
On that basis, we respect the right of
Housing Facilities staff to hold to personal
beliefs that they value strongly. However,
within the context of individuals acting as
Housing Division staff members, we ex-
pect that they will follow through on an-
other central principle of the Credo, "We
desire to build residence hall and family
housing communities in which individuals
are not harassed, excluded, or made to feel
uncomfortable" because, among other
things, of sexual orientation.
Our residence halls are not just places
'The Housing Division does not condone or other-
wise encourage one sexual orientation or another.'
REKINDLDACTMSM
Hunger strike shows newstudent comitment
~ESIXTIES. Several weeks ago, students at Yale initiated
term evokes unmistakable images a protest against the Clinton policy that denies
a concepts.The British invaded the HIV positive Haitians entry to the United States.
Rock world with bands like The Beatles, The The protestors charge the Clinton administration
Rolling Stones, The Who and Led Zeppelin. with knowingly violating U.S. law.
Bold colors dominated the fashion scene with Yale students launched a week-long hunger
tie-dyes and bell bottoms. Experimental drugs strike to signify their unity with the Haitians in
and longhair were the rage. Activism on college Guantanamo who have been on a hunger strike
campuses - like this one - dominated the since Jan. 29. Students at Harvard and Brown
political scene. Universities grabbed the baton and the strike
In the nineties everything old seems to be continues this week in Ann Arbor where ten
new again. Paul McCartney has released a new University students plan to fastuntil Wednesday.
album, bell bottoms and loud colors are coming In addition, more than 100 students have pinned
back, and even LSD is back on the scene. But black patches to their clothing bearing the num-
political activism, the comerstoneofthe sixties, ber264. This symbol represents the 264 Haitians
hasbeenslow in reappearing. Atleastuntil now. detained in Guantanamo.
With Bill Clinton's emergence on the politi- From here, the strike will probably move onto
calscene,theMTVgenerationbelieveditwould Columbia or the University of Virginia. The
have a sympathetic ear. Young people on this University of California at Berkeley has also
campus campaigned and voted for Clinton in begun recruiting students for the protest.
record numbers. But some students saythey feel This effort may not bring about immediate
betrayed by our new president and are standing change. But the passion with which these stu-
up to say so. When the Clinton administration dents are protesting injustice is encouraging.
renegedonapromisetoreversePresidentBush's Hopefully it will spark a renewed belief on
policy on quarantined Haitian refugees who campus that involvement can effect change.
tested HIV positive in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Maybe we'll see the beginning of a new student
students across the country and atthis university activism. In the past, the student voice has been
ate going as far as fasting all week to show their a powerful force for change. After decades of
dismay. This commitment to a cause is relative silence,itis againtime forthisvoice to be
encouraging. heard.
GAYSI
Segregation would undermine promise to 4ft ban
two nude same-sex couples and contained
prominent headings that carried a "safe
sex" message. It is undoubtedly the case in
a community of 10,000 residents and over
700 permanent staff members that indi-
viduals will have different personal bound-
aries for what they consider appropriate for
public display.
It has been asserted that if similar photo-
graphs of heterosexual couples had been
put up as part of a display that such photo-
graphs would be in violation of Housing
University policy. This is not the case. A
distinction needs to be made, for example,
between posting overtly pornographic ma-
terials in awork area as opposed toadisplay
of materials put up as part ofan educational
or programmatic activity directed at a very
general audience. The former is an act of
sexual harassment clearly in violation with
University policy. Thelattermaybe subject
to judgementcalls with respect to appropri-
ateness or good taste, but the fundamental
purpose is to educate, encourage aware-
where room and board are provided. The
Housing Division is an active contributorto
the educational and co-curricular life of our
student residents. Since the threshold that
individuals have for what they view as
offensive or problematic is so variable,
there is no realistic way we can deal with
important social,political, or cultural issues
without running the risk of offending some.
We are very concerned that all of the
attention given to a letter written by a very
small group of our very large Housing staff
creates a serious distortion of the substan-
tial efforts made by Housing to develop
supportive and diverse residential commu-
nities, which certainly includes our staff.
President Duderstadt speaks often of the
entire University working towards the goal
of becoming a mulitcultural university in
the 20th century. We, too, are committed to
'that vision, and we have prepared this state-
ment to do whatever we can to remove any
ambiguity that may have resulted from the
commentary during the past few weeks.
S
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Biased letters
denounced
To the Daily:
I am a little disturbed by
some of the comments about
TAs made by undergraduates
in "Negotiations continue on
TA contract" (3/9/93). I am
not arguing for or against their
salary increase or strike, but
something is clearly wrong
when a student calls TAs
"unqualified teachers" and
demands that the "standards
for TAs should go up." These
general statements should not
be based on the observation of
a few individuals. I wonder if
he ever studied the "standards
for TAs." Someone else
argued that TAs are students
since they have no teaching
license. I guess the vast
majority of the University
professors are also students,
and every single high school
teacher with a license is a
qualified teacher, correct?
When people make general
Brady Bill defies Constitutional rights
To the Daily:
In regards to your
editorial "Deadly Weapons:
Waco incident shows need
for Brady Bill" (3/17/93), I
think you should get your
facts straight. The Second
Amendment does in fact
guarantee any individual's
right to own any weapon.
The amendment actually
states the following: "A well
regulated Militia, being
necessary to the security of a
free State, the right of the
people to keep and bear
Arms, shall not be in-
fringed."
The amendment does not
confirn merely "the state's"
rights, but those of "the
people." As in the first and
fourth Amendments, the term
"the people" means the
citizens - the individuals.
Contrary to your liberally-
biased, false interpretation, a
militia in the 18th century did
not mean a formal unit like the
National Guard, but a system
under which every household
and every man of military age
was required to own a gun in
order to defend the commu-
nity against tyranny, foreign
invasion and crime.
Obviously times have
changed, but this amendment
has not.
The Second Amendment
does imply that waiting
periods are illegal, as are any
restrictions. Remember, "the
rights of the people...shall not
be infringed." So, proposals
like the Brady Bill are illegal.
Anyone who believes in the
Constitution will understand
this, and should support the
NRA's efforts to strike down
the bill.
The problem of gun-
related crime lies not in
weapon availability, but in
education and upbringing.
We need to teach the youth
that the misuse of guns is
wrong. Sounds obvious, but
go find out whether or not
this is being taught in South
Central Los Angeles schools.
Like the saying goes, "Guns
don't kill people; people kill
people."
Charles Starkey
LSA sophomore
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AF TER POLITICAL BAIT
sexuals in the militar
stabilityofthenew adn
dent Clinton backed off on hi
lift the ban and instead of-
fered the gay and lesbian
community a teaspoon of
hope. But as the date the
official executive order was
settobe drafted approaches,
military officials and a re-
ltctant Clinton have let that
hope drip away.
.ES over homo- ban. Like pouting children, these powerful poli-
y threatened the ticians are dragging their feet, all the while com-
iinistration,Presi- plaining about lowered morale and recruiting
is original plan to difficulties. Clinton must slice through Defense
Department red tape and lift
the ban - without any more
". ""I ""!J ~3concessions.
Clinton.who supposedly
against segregating troops af-
" ' ' ter he visitedthesleepingquar-
D ," A 51: k, ",ters of anaval warship, is paint-
inghomosexuals as sexual per-
______________________ 'gpj-te.,vandalle~n-Linimfnu ndedi
Christian view of homosexuality based on love
To the Daily:
In his letter "Love thy
neighbor. regardless of sexual
active rebellion against God's
desires for their lives? To me,
it seems far more loving to try
rather, we would consider
them cruel.
Of course, thi argument
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