0 Page 4-The Michigan Daily- Friday, April 16,1993 UlbE 13ihigtui1 t 1 E MOUES OF ICKIGAN I'LL TAKE WITH ME WEl! J LEAVE.. 420 Maynard Ann Arbor, MI48109 Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan JOSH DuBow Editor in Chief EIN LIA EndoRN Opinion Editor C EM loco CRISPj "NJEFJ~LEtU1I.. . " .7 G/ 0 0 b ' p.AFNv ? F CLASS Of 113 Tqt NlIf f rAN £M!L I 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. GETTI~If CTL WCI I UA&r7L-7 TAKE BACK THE NIGHT Students should participate in rally/march I.- _ ' FPJA~~~L FhI tiN. i fi'S. JULIE WASAT the backdoorofthe UGLi for the Night Owl, instead of taking a six- minute walk to her dorm alone in the dark. Gwen doesn't go out at night on the weekends unless someone comes to her apartment and picks her up. Sarah spends the night at her friend's house, setting the alarm for7 a.m., when it will be light enough for her to walk home alone. Women, across campus and across the coun- try, have become victims of the night. While some have no problem walking alone in the dark, many women fear the night and the poten- tial violence that lurks in its shadows. Most women, whetherthey choose to walk in itornot, recognize the dangers of the night. That is why the Ann Arbor Coalition Against Rape has organized its 14th annual "Take BacktheNight" rally and march., Beginning at 7 p.m. tomorrow at the steps of City Hall, Take Back the Night events offer programming for both men and women. The purpose of the first rally is to unite men and women in a demand for freedom from violence. Then women will march across Ann Arbor in a symbolic gesture to "take back the night," in the hopes that for at least one night out of 365, a woman is safe to walk the streets. Because the idea is to empower women, the march is limited to females only. Men, however, areencouraged to participate in a men's rally which follows the initial rally, to solidify the male stance against violence as well. The theme ofTake Back the Nightis freedom - freedom for women too frightened to walk alone at night and freedom for society from the constraints the atrocities of rape have placed upon all of us. While it is true that over 80 percent of sexual assaults are committed by an acquaintance, attacks are still made by strang- ers. In fact, a sexual assault involving a stranger' was reported to the University's Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center (SAPAC) just last week.Take Back the Night will provide a learning, and possibly moving, experience for all who attend. Unfortunately, women still have to take the night back instead of it simply being there for them. AND hIAPPY If AT IICK'S. Accusation of censorhip distorts the issue by Ann Kraemer Law student FAIR WARNING. Summer MSA must do a better job for students I am writing in response to your editorial entitled "Porn'im'ag'ry" (3/24/93), which criticized the Michigan Journal of Gender & Law (MJGL) for removing a tape that contained commercial pornography from an art show that it sponsored last October in conjunction with a symposium entitled "Prostitution: From Academia to Activ- ism." Your accusation that the MJGL was guilty of "overt censorship" was made with little thoughtand even lessknowledge about what it means to censor something. "Cen- sorship" is a term of art legally associated with the First Amendment's freedom of speech. It means that an official (the state) removes or prohibits something which is considered objectionable. Censorship may violate theFirst Amendmentbutmany times it does not. (For example, the state can prohibit the actof yelling "fire"in acrowded theater.) Any person or organization that is not a state actorcannot literally partake in censor- ship, nor are these people or organization held to the First Amendment's standards in their relations with others. Your charge that the MJGL is guilty of censorship must first be based on the fact that the MJGL is a state actor. This is a tenuous position and athreatening one, too, because it implicates other student-run or- ganizations on campus. Is it the Daily's position that all student-run organizations on campus are in danger of violating the First Amendment if they make viewpoint based decisions? Should the Black Law Students' Alli- ance be forced to sponsor racist speakers? Must the Gay Male, Lesbian, Bisexual Stu- dents' Alliance ("GLBSA") display anti- homosexual materials in its showcase? If someoneputs thematerials there, isGLBSA prohibited from removing them? Would the Daily scream "censorship" in these cir- cumstances? Your editorial contains noconsideration of the larger implications for branding a student organization's acts with censor- ship. TheDaily should refrain from making inflammatory accusations of censorship without being able toconductameaningful discussion on the matter. Let me add that certain facts were con- spicuously skewed in your editorial. "Dis- approval from the public" never "poured in from every side" after the controversy was publicized. The position of the MJGL was understood and applauded by many - in- cluding our local Washtenaw Women's Lawyers Association. There has also been ample opportunity for the University community to view the videotape in question. Besides showings at various Ann Arbor theaters, the tape was shown at Angel Hall twice, and the Daily even interviewedpeopleaboutit. However, the Daily chose to portray the situation as if the video had not and could not be seen because of the actions of theMJGL. This is false. There is no doubt the MJGL made mis- takes in its handling of the symposium and artshow.Giventheintensity of theliberalv. radical feminist debate, the video material should havebeen viewedby theMJGL Arts Committee. It was not and.the tape began playing without the MJGL's knowledge of its pomographiccontents. The MJGL made decisions about this difficult situation. It does not deserve condemnation for that. WITH EXAMS ABOUT to begin, summer is fast approaching. The Michigan Stu- dent Assembly will soon dissolve and in its place the Summer Assembly will magi- cally appear. The Summer Assembly is the smaller group of approximately 10 MSA members that hang around for the summer and have the difficult task of doing the assembly's most arduous work. To avoid a repeat of last summer's incompe- tent performance, here's a laundry list of things we think the summer leadership should bear in mind as they go about their business: A majority of voting students rejected a request from MSA to raise the student fee from $6.27 to $7 this term. Last summer, assembly leaders pushed for a fee increase without sup- port from the student body, and forsaking many other student concerns. The MSA leadership should not request a similar increase this year, unless it can provide specific rationale for rais- ing the fee. Unlike the student fee, students again this, year approved support of the Michigan Colle- giate Coalition (MCC), an organization that lobbies for students in Lansing. The University Board of Regents - still angry about the coalition's support of a amendment to the state constitution to cap tuition increases at the rate of inflation - caught the Summer Assembly off, guard by voting to axe the 35-cent MCC fee. Assembly President Craig Greenberg should strongly voice support for renewing this fee, and present a request to the regents at their June meeting. Another concern the assembly should keep an eye out for is the inevitable move to increase tuition. With another expected 10 percent in- crease in tuition and fees, MSA must decide early how to oppose the increase. Last year, showing its apathy, the assembly completely ignored the regents' move to increase tuition, while at the same time approving a resolution expressing the assembly's "solidarity" with Rutgers University students fighting tuition in- creases in New Jersey. MSA should lay out an aggressive and spe- cific agenda carefully reasoning its opposition to tuition increases. Moral platitudes and philo- sophic statements against tuition hikes are not enough. If the budget can be cut, then MSA should suggest ways to do so. Finally, the assembly must take a more active role in opposition to the Statement of Student "Rights" and Responsibilities. Last Summer, the University, headed by Vice President for Student Affairs Maureen Hartford, wrapped all work on the "statement" with hardly a murmur from the assembly, and with tacit stipport from then-MSA President Ede Fox. This is by no means an exhaustive list. But these areas are where the assembly fell far short last summer, and are areas that the administra- tion is likely to act again. Those MSA members who stay for the sum- mer face a arduous task: fighting an increasingly inflexible administration while saddled by an apathetic student body more concerned with laying out on the Diag than fighting the admin- istration. But be forewarned: Summer is when the administration acts - and it will be here sooner than you think. Daily headline To The Daily: Normally I find that the Sports section is the most redeeming part of the Daily, however I was sorely disappointed to discover that it is not exempt from occasional displays of first- rate tackiness. I think that your choice of "Time to lose" as a headline (4/6(93) was made in poor taste. Give them a break; they did a pretty damned good job of getting as far as they did. To whom- ever came up with the brilliant headline - time for you to get some class! Michelle Reckman LSA Senior Every individual deserves respect To the Daily: As the headline in a New York Times editorial page (9/2192) well-stated, the current moral need is urgent to "let civility reign in the homosexuality debate." "Homosexual 'sickness'," "homophobe," "unnatural, mental disorders," "unloving bigots"- all of these labels are emotive, often unfair or gross caricatures describing the two opposing viewpoints on the very sensitive issue of homosexuality. What is at issue here? In view of the recent flurry of letters, editorials and articles in publications like the Daily and the Michigan Review that have dealt with homo- sexuality, the need is clear - we must truly learn how to communicate in tolerance with each other. We need to clear away the generalizaitons and address the fundamental concern involved here: why do we believe what we believe, and how are we to act in light of this under- standing? Within the Judeo Christian worldview, according to biblical testimony, homosexuality represents something contrary to the divine, created order. The assertions which try to deny this truth, such as Bucci and Worden's restating of Gomes' argu-, ments in "Abusing Religion Hurst Gays" (12/8/92) or those of Rev. Christopher Atwood, "Sexuality and the Supreme Being," (3/5/92), can and have been demon- strated to be in serious error. But this does not settle the issue. On the other hand, for those individuals who reject these biblical notions of right and wrong, their worldview holds that there exists no such divine, supernatural standard of morality under which acts such as homo-' sexuality fail to conform. We operate instead strictly under the moral code of true human love. From this standpoint, we can affirm fully the capability of the expression of mutual, genuine love between two people, whatever their gender. However we must not confuse this basic concern for truth with the independent conern for tolerance. That is, we must not confuse the rational question, "What is the correct belief-system?", with the ethical question, "How should I act in light of this knowledge?" Speaking in plain terms, if I morally disagree with an act, I am not necessarily being intolerant. Am I, for example, being 'intolerant' or a 'bigot' against a theif if I deem the act of stealing as morally wrong? Or, am I recognizing that there is an objective standard of morality, of which stealing is a violation? For the Christian, the act of homosexuality, or for that matter, adultery or premarital sex, are seen as violating these same "objective standards." Is this bigotry or is it consistancy with deeply- held religious beliefs? Which belief-system is the true standard for moral- ity? In every individual's attempt to determine the correct answer to this question, a self-evident ethical and moral responsibil- ity must guide us. Regardless of our basic disagreements concerning standards of right and wrong, we are morally obligated to treat each other with the concern and dignity every person rightly deserves. Ernesto Garcia LSA Junior DEATH BY SILENCE Silencing gay instructor thwarts AIDS education T WO HIGH SCHOOLSinthe Upper Peninsula abruptly cancelled special AIDS preven- tion programs last Tuesday after parents and administrators learned that one of the coor- dinators is gay. Succumbing to irate parents screaming that they don't want "queers" or "deviants" in their schools, the school system cut these teenagers off from the only HIV and AIDS education available to them. Homophobic parents-and school officials lacking the integ- rity and guts to put up a fight for the sake of education - once again sacrificed children's safety to perpetuate pathetic fears. The most appalling aspect of the incident is the complete disregard for the students - who protested the program's cancellation in a letter to the local newspaper. Correctly claiming that the decision was "homophobic," more than 40 tPnoatrc cicant ' 1PttPr that npad "Right nnwu not limited to remote areas in Michigan. These homophobic fears are being echoed in Detroit suburbs like Birmingham and at Ann Arbor Public School Board meetings, where parent opposition to a proposed AIDS education cur- riculum includes, among other complaints, claimsthattheprogram isafacade-thatits real agenda has little to do with decreasing HIV transmission and a lot to do with promoting gay rights. In Birmingham, parents threatened to removed theirchildren from high school classes in response to a proposed AIDS awareness curriculumthatwould teach, amongotherthings, that homosexuality is normal. Fortunately, the school board made some concessions but even- tually approved the proposal. As the Reproductive Health Curriculum Committee of the Ann Arbor schools continues tn invedIOrte sexual iucatinn nroi rams. it . B-ba lteam impresses fans To the Daily: Usually I have no interest in basketball, but a story in the Free Press about Juwan Howard caught my interest. The article explained how Randy, a young boy with AIDS at the university hospital, had given up and was expected to die. He was a fan of the basketball team though, so Juwan Howard was contacted about coming to see him in December. He came and befriended Randy as have other members of the team. Randy has since rallied and is doing well enough to attend games with his new friends. He is cheering Michigan on. Now news about the basketball team hasn't been good sometimes, but they are an impressive group of men. Recent experience in my family has taught me what it is like when someone you Michigan Party starts off on wrong foot* To the Daily: Without commenting on the ethics involved, LSA Student Government presi- dent, Bill Lowry, worked out a deal to appoint a Michigan Party candidate to the open seat on MSA. They did this however without interviewing any of the 15 other applicants, or get.ng approval of the overrule the president's decision and to void any appointments until interviews were conducted. After delivering four drafts of the resolution, LSA-SG vice president hand delivered a explicitly detailed resolution to the President of MSA, Craig Greenburg. Greenburg and Kight conveniently .- -A..1 .i........- ,CT0 the assembly. This was only the beginning of a sadly nm meeting, where the non- partisan parties voted right down party lines. I'm sorry to admit that this administration has broken more MSA rules in one night then previous presidents did in a term.