4 - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, December 2, 1993 Wbe £kdbiguu&tn iI 420 Maynard Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan JOSH DuBoW Editor in Chief ANDREW LEVY Editorial Page Editor 'Shar Toas 'W r Unless otherwise noted, unsigned editorials reflect the majority opinion of the Daily editorial board. All other cartoons, articles and letters do not necessarily represent the opinion of the Daily. l >I '; '' ; 'a ,, >' , 1 >' , ,' ", _ ; ' i ; ,'i Sliding in the 'back door'? 0 Article wrongly indicts 'U' Athletic Department 7he University's Athletic Department, given atop agement, whichprepares students forarapidlygrow- ranking in the nation this year by USA Today, ing field with courses in business and marketing, it often seems beyond criticism. While the teams may is not entirely unreasonable to assume that many be criticized, the department-under the leadership athletes -- who obviously have a keen interest in ofAthletic Director Jack Weidenbach and the expert sports-might be interested in a career in that field. spin control of Sports Information Director Bruce Reasoning such as that put forth in the Tribune Madej -is rarely accused in the media of many of article assumes that student-athletes,-- particularly the transgressions committed by college athletic those enrolled in Kinesiology- are merely looking departments around the country, and even when it for a major that will allow them the most opportunity does, the accusations don't stick. Yesterday's Chi- to stay on the court or on the field, requiring a cago Tribune, however, bucked the trend. minimum of academic effort. Such reasoning is As part of a series on athletics and higher educa- misguided. While a small fraction of student-ath- tion, the article explored the University's Division letes are bound for a stint in professional sports, the. of Kinesiology and, in particular, the sports manage- vast majority of them will be forced upon graduation ment and communication program offered within from the University to find a job. These jobs require that division. The article claims that athletes at the skills. And, as with any other University student, University take advantage of the division's lower athletes are allowed to choose what they major in. admission requirements and allegedly easier classes The sports management program prepares these as a "back door" to a University degree. But, while students very well. it is encouraging that somebody is taking an interest Furthermore, the article ignores the fact that, like in the behind-the-scenes workings of the Athletic in any extracurricular activity, a great deal of learn- Department, the majority of the Tribune article's ing takes place in college athletics. On and off the claims are neither substantiated nor valid, field, coaches such as football coach Gary Moeller, The center of the article is a perception that and softball coach Carol Hutchins have a wealth of Michigan -supposedly unlike other Big Ten uni- knowledge that they impart on their young students versities like Indiana and Wisconsin - "has a place - and it isn't all related to sports. to house its student-athletes." In other words, stu- Suggestions in the article that student-athletes are dent-athletes who either cannot or choose not to live likely to take advantage of less stringent require- up to the academic standards most University stu- ments are misleading as well. While there are un- dents are required to, are funneled through the doubtedly some student-athletes who do take the University in the Kinesiology division. The article easy route, such activity is not limited to athletes. goes on to quote former Michigan men's basketball Students seeking to coast through their time at the Coach Bill Frieder and Ohio State football Coach University have many options, and they are not John Cooper as evidence of this alleged wrongdo- limited to the sports management department. ing. The Athletic Department is certainly not perfect. However, quotes from these coaches are not In fact, allegations in the article that some incoming ample evidence of a problem, and neither are statis- athletes are strongly encouraged to major in sports tics that show athletes make up 30 to 40 percent of management, if true, are cause for concern. But the the total enrollment in the sports management pro- University should not be faulted for offering an gram. Though many athletes do opt for sports man- excellent program in an expanding field. t Ht fi1'E$E 04,> _ 01 Two more cents on JFK's presidency It would not be unfair to suggest that the televised memorials of the an- niversary of President Kennedy's as- sassination reached the point of over-saturation. Still, as a man who hangs a picture of Kennedy over his desk, I find myself unable to resist the temptation to throw in two more cents on the topic (albeit a little late). I for one readily admit that Kennedy fandom is not based on rational choice; appreciation for him is often necessarily unconscious, some- times even reluctant. Objectively speaking, Kennedy was not an outstanding president. Of the century's Democrats, I would suggest he ranks above only one (Jimmy Carter). On the other hand, I would also suggest that he ranks above all the century's Republicans, except maybe one (Will- iam H. Taft, the only one not to do anything that offends me). As presi- dents go, he was a little better than average. Still, mass media seems generally unable to speak of Kennedy without invoking images of Camelot, despite the fruitless attempts of historians to debunk the myth. Those who are knowl- edgeable about the period, however, know very well that Camelotwas mythi- cal; that Kennedy was not a liberal idealist at the forefront of the battle for civil rights; that his infidelity required the cooperation of the Secret Service and the FBI. American Heritage magazine pub- lished an article by Richard Reeves detailing the personal cruelty of which Kennedy was capable. Reeves ended the piece, however, admitting that de- spite all that, he liked the man. That presents the real question. How can Kennedy's appeal survive even when his character flaws are so well known? In truth, one need not rank Kennedy above all other presidents to appreciate him; nor must one believe in Camelot. Those who appreciate Kennedy do so because he, to this day, inspires many to work for the common good, not for the accumulation of personal wealth. He campaigned in 1960 on sacrifice, a strategy we have rarely since seen. Kennedy described his program at the 1960 convention: "The New Frontier is not a set of promises; it is a set of challenges. It sums up not what I intend to offer the American people, but what I intend to ask of them." The consequence of Kennedy's rhetoric are easily visible today. Thou- sands of Americans are still answering Kennedy's call to service by serving in the Peace Corps. Bill Clinton, Paul Tsongas, Gary Hart, and countless oth- ers entered politics convinced by Kennedy of their ability to affect change. Vietnam, Watergate, and the sav- ings and loan scandal, however, have left the profession hated. Congress is the most self-hating institution in American history, its member deriding each other for living off the dole. Pub- lic service is no longer viewed as a noble profession. That, in my view, is a great tragedy. Norman Mailer, I learned in a phi- losophy course, called Kennedy the first modernist president, describing him with the Greek word aret, mean- ing courageous and masculine. But arete is just a Greek word in the vocabulary of Camelot. Kennedy's value lies not in his masculinity, but in his commit- ment to public service. President Kennedy was not critical of those who chose to enter the public arena, rather he and his brother extolled the virtuesM of public service, "the most noble pro- fession." Moreover, Kennedy represented a progressive president, free from the hindering trappings of ideology. The consummate politician, Kennedy chose to make progress through the political system, not moral intransigence. When told by economic adviser Paul Samuelson that even if he lost the fight for a tax cut, Kennedy would have "fought the good fight." The president retorted, "That's vanity, not politics." According to Irving Bernstein of UCLA, Kennedy's skilled politicking would have resulted in success. By November 1963, Kennedy had already completed most of the footwork for the Civil Rights Act and medical insur- ance for the aged. It is from the glamour that Kennedy gave to public service and his prag-, matic progressiveness that I draw in- spiration. Those of us, who admire Kennedy to some degree know that he brings out the best in us: patriotism, altruism, and purpose. I was not alive to experience the period of innocence and hope, though I doubt either existed in any general sense. But I can look back today to Kennedy - past Ronald Reagan and* George Bush's tiresome rhetoric of the evil's of government - and under- stand that wanting to change society for the better is an admirable goal, and doing it through public service is a noble achievement. Orwellianeb? Canadian government unfairly restricts press ewspaper distributors removing the front sec- tions of their papers in order to avoid arrest. Readers reduced to traveling out of the country to obtain copies, only to be stopped by police and forced to hand over their contraband publications. Does this sound like "1984"? Unfortunately, these are not events out of an Orwell novel. Rather, they are true - and they occurred this weekend in Windsor, Ontario. The issue centers around a Canadian court case involving a couple accused of kidnapping, sexually molesting, torturing and killing teenage girls. Ontario Justice Francis Kovacs, the judge presiding over the case, has restricted the coverage of the media in his attempt to ensure a fair trial. This weekend, the Detroit News carried a story about the case and the upcoming trial, based on interviews and what limited press reports were available. Canadian distributors, mindful of the ban, refused to sell the Detroit papers, and Canadians who bought papers in Detroit and attempted to take them home were stopped by border police and forced to hand over their copies. It must first be acknowledged that Justice Kovacs's actions were perfectly legal. Under Canadian law, judges are permittedto order virtual media blackouts if they feel it necessary for the interests of a fair trial. Fair trials are an important objective, and judges are responsible for ensuring they take place by placing acceptable restrictions on publicity about the case. However, imposing a total media blackout goes beyond the acceptable restrictions. To bar papers from writing anything about a case -even informa- tion not gained from the courtroom itself - is censorship, plain and simple. Furthermore, once a story is printed, to prohibit its distribution is simply ridiculous. The idea of police confiscating newspapers from readers is a very scary one - it calls up the image of the all- controlling government, with the power to make decisions over every facet of citizens' lives. If we subscribe to the idea of an open society, where ideas are given free rein for debate, we must allow infor- mation to reach the public. To restrain the press, to decide what citizens can and cannot read, is detri- mental to the existence of a free society. The Canadian law, allowing judges to impose media blackouts, is a bad one. The Canadian government's actions, confiscating papers and pro- hibiting their sale, are even worse. If we are to hold to our ideals of freedom, we must condemn censor- ship in any form - including from a "democratic" government. College Roundup Mniorn exrss at ndan U Americans should heed words of Bible To the Daly: I am a spirit-filled Christian and would probably consider myself a Republican. I am not, however, personally involved with the College Republicans here at the University. I think what the College Republicans were trying to get across during AIDS Awareness Week was that Americans have turned their backs on God and any morals or convictions that are specifically explained in the Bible. I believe that AIDS is a disease resulting from immorality and I pray daily for those in our country who are caught up in this web of sin. All the Republicans were saying was that in order to stop the spread of this unmerciful disease, Americans need to change their moral values in life, like abstinence, don't use drugs, and don't commit the act of homosexuality. All of these ideas come back to whether people believe in God, Jesus Christ, and the Bible. Jesus said "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; nobody comes to the Father but through Me." Americans should beware of Satan and Hell and fear for their eternal lives. Those who don't believe in Jesus will be thrown into the fiery pit, but those who do believe will have eternal life with Jesus and God in perfect Heaven. UfIPM ARIE 53AOT promote a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, recognizing the right of both sides to live in peace and security. Most studentstat the University are unaware that there exists a "left- wing" Jewish voice on this campus. As Zionists, we feel a strong commitment to the State of Israel. However, we also recognize our right to be critical of its policies and practices. Israel's future depends on peace, and peace can only come about through a two-state solution. We are excited about the recent developments in the negotiations for peace in the Middle East, and we hope that the progress towards peace continues. The diplomatic gains are not enough. Compromise at the negotiating table must be complemented by a grassroots effort to build trust. Otherwise there is no chance that the agreements will bring peace and co-existence to the streets. We look forward to the day when Palestinians will be able to celebrate their official Declaration of Independence. e LARA SAIDMAN for the Progressive Zionist Caucus End oppression of bricks! To the Daily: As representatives of the Ann Arbor Area Association of Coalitions Balander's comment is typical of a society that persists in cruelly ' exploiting construction materials and then making jest at their expense. Further evidence of this not-so- subtle prejudice is in common sayings such as "He's dumb as a brick" (obviously demeaning the intelligence of all bricks even though they are individuals) and "That Joe Basketball player keeps throwing up bricks" (implying that bricks are somehow equated with a lack of athletic prowess - a common misconception as offensive as white men can't jump). One only need stand in the Diag to witness the extremes to which bricks are exploited. Accordingly, we call on all' agitators of conscience to action to stop this part of our culture. The brick, often hurled at cops, nazi/fascists/free-speech-types, and others equally offensiveis the friend of all who resist capitalist oppression. We MUST unite with our clay brethren! There will be rally on the Diag at noon followed by a march to the Colonial Brick Company. Bring a brick and a friend to smash the contractor oppressors and those who conspire with them to defame our loyal comrades! MARK CHASTEEN ADAM HEBERT LSA seniors The Indiana University Racial Inci- dents Team (RIT) handed down its decision recently. The comments made by four IU Student Association sena- tors were racially motivated, or at least that's what the RIT wants you to be- lieve. Although not wielding the power to discipline, the RIT has made its deci- sion in the case and will now forward its finding to the university administra- tion. This ought to raise some serious questions in the minds of students. The RIT is a low-profile organiza- his book"1984." While not employing secret agents or using video cameras, the RIT does in a sense monitor thought by invading the minds of students. For most of the cases reported to the RIT, the decisions are made behind the scenes with little public comment. The RIT's recommendations to the University administration often go unnoticed by anyone but those in- volved. But the IUSA incident has garnered so much press, the RIT has been thrust onto center stage, exposing their activities and their decisions. But it is when these decisions begin to involve thoughts and words that the RIT's purpose comes into question. No one but the four senators in- volved in the incident will ever know if the comments made at the now-infa- mous IUSA meeting were racially motivated. But it seems as if the RIT has assumed the role of mind reader in this case. By some indefinite wisdom, they have found a way to determine what does and does not constitute ra- cially motivated speech. The university experience is sup- WRITE THE DAILY!