4 - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, April 19, 1994
(Ije £iituitngrn aig
420 Maynard
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Edited and managed
by students at the
University of Michigan
JEssm HALLADAY
Editor in Chief
SAM GOODSTEIN
FUNT WAmIESS
Editorial Page Editors
Unless otherwise noted, unsigned editorials reflect the opinion of a majority of the Daily's editorial board.
All other articles, letters, and cartoons do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Michigan Daily.
hie students are away..
New policies and tuition hikes are 'U' rites of summer
'It's the end of the world as we know It (and I feel fine).'
- R.E.M.
NATVRE 1REAK
$J
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By next week's end, the 1994 academic
school year will have come and gone, the
libraries will be all but empty and textbooks
will be ceremoniously burned by ecstatic
students. However, while most of us are away
for the summer, Michigan Student Assembly
President (MSA) Julie Neenan and Vice Presi-
dent Jacob Stern will be in town-hopefully
watching out for students' interests.
Historically, the administration has viewed
both the spring and summer terms as perfect
opportunities to surreptitiously pass tuition
increases and other pernicious policies such
as the Statement of Student Rights and Re-
sponsibilities, or the code, and last summer's
alcohol policy. Neenan and Stern must be-
ware of new spurious policies, and more
importantly be ready to oppose an excessive
tuition increase. Michigan State University
demonstrated that a large-scale public institu-
tion can indeed hold down the level of tuition
increases when they raised tuition less than
the inflation rate. Neenan and Stern should be
certain not to let the regents forget this fact.
Another key summer issue for MSA, and
students, is lobbying for student issues in
Lansing. Because MSA cut its ties with the
Michigan Collegiate Coalition (MCC), a pro-
fessional student centered lobbying group,
MSA will be on its own as far as lobbying is
concerned. MSA summer lobbyists in Lan-
sing must diligently protect student interests
~Utter failure
- and a good start would be attempting to
ensure the passage of the Campus Sexual
Assault Bill of Rights.
Last summer, the Ann Arbor City Council
attempted to prevent students from painting
the famous rock on Washtenaw Ave. and Hill
St., while the administration concurrently
began implementation of the new alcohol
policy. Fortunately, there was strong enough
student support to prevent the alcohol policy
from becoming too restrictive and student
outcry saved the rock. Unfortunately, noth-
ing could stop the regents from once again
doubling the inflation rate in its annual tuition
rate hikes. There is a high probability that
the administration will once again attempt
to institute policies while students are away,
and the regents will raise tuition exces-
sively. Hopefully, Neenan and Stern will be
quick to react.
This summer is one of the most crucial in
recent memory. Amendments to the code
have been postponed until the beginning of
next year and actions during the summer
could make or break the quest for a code more
friendly to individual rights. Moreover, a host
of new administrative proposals have been
floated into the public domain recently, and
these proposals could become reality without
a watchful student eye.
Enjoy the spring/summer months, but en-
joy it with one eye open.
The war in Bosnia-Herzegovina rages on
"The fall of Gorazde is imminent."
-BosnianPrimeMinisterHarisSilajdzic
ate Sunday, U.N. official Yasushi Akashi
Finand Bosnian Serb leader Radovan
Karadzic agreed to an immediate cease-fire, a
withdraw of Serb military forces to 1.8 miles
from Gorazde, the release of all U.N. peace-
keepers taken hostage in the previous week
and to allow a new U.N. peacekeeping unit to
enter Gorazde. In typical fashion, the Serb
military machine has feigned a willingness to
negotiate and compromise with the United
Nations, while their forces on the ground go
on the offensive. And oddly enough, one Serb
tank effortlessly terrorized the people of
Gorazde on Sunday, providing the armor for
Serb snipers to shoot at innocents, while Lt.
Gen. Michael Rose and Akashi disagreed
over the U.N. Security Council's mandate in
Bosnia-Herzegovina. What is going on here?
This is fast becoming the most despicable,
unfortunate, murderous events of the post-
Cold War era. There really is no credible
reason why the United States, the United
Nations, NATO or the European Union has
basically this bloody conflict to escalate to a
point of sheer chaos. The threat of NATO
airstrikes is an on-again, off-again threat -
an empty, hollow threat most of the time.
4Secretary of Defense William Perry has con-
ceded that the U.S. role in Bosnia islimited.A
U.N. safe haven is invaded and terrorized and
action is deferred.
It is difficult to make any sense out of all
of this. But what is certain is that while the
West bickers amongst themselves, Bosnian
people are dying, and a once-sovereign nation
is being ravaged.
The future of Bosnia-Herzegovina should
be the concern of every one of us, and above
all, of the world community. The Serb inva-
sion of independent Bosnia, the human rights
violations and vile ethnic cleansing of vil-
lages perpetrated upon the people of Bosnia,
signals a most serious threat to international
peace, security and stability in Europe and
around the globe. The fact that neither West-
ern Europe, the United States nor the United
Nations could muster the political will, sup-
port and moral mandate to stop the blood-
shed, push back the Serbian (and Croatian
aggressors) and stand tough with the Bosnian
Muslims, is a slap in the face to the supposed
"new world order." The events that have
transpired in Bosnia over the past two years
have been a sad, sick comedy of horrors -
and the people that could have helped end the
carnage fumbled about and exhorted endless
rationalizations as to why they could not
intervene. And at what tremendous cost in
human life.
The image of the lone Serbian tank of
Gorazde - possessing the military and psy-
chological armor to harass, kill and maim an
entire town-go about its job while F- 16s fly
overhead, but cannot destroy the tank be-
cause the U.N. bureaucracy cannot agree, is a
patently ridiculous image. If the collective
conscience and military might of the United
Nations and NATO cannot agree on destroy-
ing one simple tank, then how can it be
expected to bring peace and security to the
region? How can the West have one iota of
credibility and believability if it cannot stop
one solitary tank?
The Bosnian President wrote President
Clinton on Saturday, urging him to: "Please
find a way to help. The lives of many people
are at stake ..." The United States needs to
take a firm stand, and push the rest of NATO
and Russia to act in unity, show some strength
and determination and tell the Serbs that they
cannot get away with what they have done.
The future of Bosnia, as well as the moral and
political future of the international system, is
at the edge of the cliff. What comes next is of
the highest order.
-w
NASA condemns racist
e-mail
This letter is in response
to the racist and hate-filled e-
mail messages that have
been circulating of late that
have been aimed at the
African American and
Islamic communities at the
University. The Native
American Student
Association condemns these
repulsive messages and the
intentions behind them.
When hateful remarks and
actions are made against
particular groups those
actions affect and touch all
of us. These actions are a de
facto affront to the presence
of special ethnic and cultural
groups at this University.
These actions should not be
tolerated by the University
community and should be
confronted with vigorous
resolve in order to dissuade
these types of vices in the
future. NASA supports any
and all efforts to make
amends for these
transgressions committed
against our brothers and
sisters in the African
American and Islamic
communities.
ANDREW ADAMS ll
Native American Student
Association
'Please don't litter'
To the Daily:
Thousands of people,
staff, students and visitors
walk and otherwise travel
around campus, so the visual
state of the surroundings is
very important. Spring
brings not just warmth and
singing birds, but other less
welcome visitors to the Diag.
The melting snow uncovered
months of candy wrappers,
old flyers and other assorted
junk, and this is joined daily
by a new batch of litter.
Students and other users
throw at least three big bags
full of trash on the Diag every
day when the weather is nice,
and this doesn't include the
added mess of ongoing
construction. University
grounds crew is responsible
for keeping outdoor areas of
campus tidy and attractive.
Picking litter is just part of
that job, and as a grounds
student employee I expect to
do a certain amount of
cleaning up trash dropped or
blown onto the Diag.
However there are many other
things I'd rather be doing, and
it seems employee hours and
our tuition money could be
spent on better things if there
were a few less Snickers
wrappers, Michigan Dailys
and doggy-doos strewn all
over. Grass needs to be
reseeded, and flower beds
Less abortion
regulation
To the Daily:
Bill Malone's 4/4/94
letter makes some interesting
assertions. He states that
"abortion is a major medical
procedure," and that
therefore a mandatory
waiting period like
Pennsylvania's is reasonable
because women may "make
a hasty decision to terminate
pregnancy before calmly
considering the options."
True, an abortion carries
some risk. But as procedures
go, the risk to a woman
having an abortion is quite
low - lower, in fact, than
carrying the pregnancy to
term. Why, then, are
abortions being held to this
special scrutiny? No other
medical procedure requires a
24-hour waiting period.
Patients may decide to
undergo surgical procedures
that pose far greater dangers
to life and limb without any
state intervention. From the
standpoint of medical risk,
the "patient's best interest"
argument doesn't hold.
Mr. Malone's second
argument, that state-dictated
pre-abortion counseling is
needed to help women make
an "educated choice," is little
better. Like the first, it rests
on negative assumptions
about women who seek
abortions, assumptions
which aren't made about
patients seeking any other
kind of medical service.
Even so, his argument is
irrelevant. No competent
clinician proceeds with any
significant procedure without
first discussing the risks and
benefits with the patient, for
both moral and legal reasons.
There is nothing in the
current practice of medicine
that warrants this special
government intervention.
Finally, as a physician-in-
training, I appreciate Mr.
Malone's concern over the
potential liability of
physicians treating minors.
However, I think his concern
for doctors would be better
directed towards preventing
other crimes like the murder
of Dr. David Gunn,
committed by people who
also presumably consider
themselves to have "the
patient's best interests at
heart."
DAVID COOKE
Medical School Class of '96
SALSA changes name
To the Daly:
To reflect our new
emphasis on political issues
affecting the Latino
community, SALSA, the
Socially Active Latino
Student Association will be
changing its name to
At. _ a _ _a_...- fla. .
emphasis comes an emphasis
on support of other
communities of color in our
common struggles. "The
people, united, will never be
defeated."
iViva La Causa!
USA QUIROGA
Public Opinion Chair
Alianza, the Latino Student
Alliance
Blackmun's decisions
may have caused the
most harm
To the Daily:
I must respectfully
disagree with your editorial
of April 11 about Justice
Harry Blackmun. Rather than
being a friend of the
oppressed as you suggest, the
decisions in which Justice
Blackmun was a leader may,
in the long run, turn out to be
the very rulings which have
caused the most harm to our
society. Justice Blackmun's
philosophy disregarded the
Constitutional system of a
balance between individual
liberties and restrictions for
the general good, in favor of
unrestrained freedom for the
individual, even when such
freedom of action treads on
the rights of others to be safe.
It is my hope that President
Clinton will appoint the next
Justice of the Supreme Court
from the ranks of
constitutional scholars who
understand and appreciate the
need for compromise
between freedom and
security.
STEVEN KNOWLTON
LSA senior
Kudos to Akins
To the Daily:
I write to salute J.B.
Akins as reporter
extraordinare magnificent
one. In one stunning coup,
J.B. proved not all articles in
the Daily are poorly
researched meanderings
about nonsense. When
reading this fine journalistic
presentation "'U' home to
illegal sex in restroom," I
almost became misty-eyed.
What care, what loving
attention was put into this
grand work. I ask you -
where did this saint of
investigation find the time?
Back when I worked for the
Daily, reporters were loath to
set foot outside the building
lest we discover something
newsworthy. But no more!
Integrity and justice won out
in the end. As the year winds
down I recommend J.B. lead
the brave staffers at the Daily
in group unveiling of their
derrieres to give those
Michigan Review pantseys
something to kiss on. Well
done.
GLYNN WASHINGTON
First-year law student
A guide to
summer
The snow has barely left the
ground and it's already time for
summer. The wonders of the
University calendar never cease to
amaze me.
So what are you going to do now
that you're not endlessly occupied
with going to classes and waiting in
registration lines so you can take
more classes? Four months without
school - boggles the mind. You've
got a dazzling array of choices fo
the summer:
" Graduate. This may seem like
something you do with one day
instead of a whole summer, but trust
me, it will take you most of the
summer to recuperate (if not the rest
of your life). Forget distribution
requirements, CRISP lines or even
dorm food - graduation is the
cruelest punishment ever devised b
our institutions of higher learning. A
friend of mine who graduated a year
before me described the experience
as "certain death;" mired in junior-
year papers and exams, I didn't
believe him. Well, he was right. Last
spring as I took apart my room piece
by piece and said goodbye to my
friends one by one, I could feel my
life cracking at the edges. Perhaps
had too good a time at college - I
was one of those people who cried at
graduation out of sadness and not
joy. (But then, how happy could you
be when you sit behind someone
who's spelled out "I need a job" on
their mortarboard?)
" Travel. This comes in three
main varieties: questionable hostel
and heavy backpacks in Europe,
truck stops galore in the classic road
trip and the family vacation. The last
is to be avoided like the plague,
unless you really do want to go to
your cousin's Catholic wedding in
Harvey, North Dakota. A road trip is
a wonderful experience with the right
group of people - just beware of
the couple who swears there will be
no PDA (you can guess the punchlin
- they'll kiss in the backseat and
make funny noises in the hotel from
Iowa to Nevada).
As for Europe, I had a great time
spending my college savings there
last summer; I wore my Michigan
sweatshirt and had about five people
at various points on the continent
say, "Do you go to Michigan? So d
I - see you in the fall!" Of course,
I never saw any of them again,
proving the fundamental postulate
that University is bigger than Europe.
- Go home. Unless you have
really cool parents, this one is not
particularly recommended, despite
the major advantage of not having to
pay rent. (It also has the major
advantage of your dirty plates an
used pizza boxes magically
disappearing - it's the invisible
force called "Mom.") If you do go
home, it's important to remember a
few things. For one thing, 11:00 p.m.
is no longer "the best time to arrive
at a party;" it's now bedtime. Your
language may also need a little
adjusting - as my dad used to say
"watch your mouth." Colleg
students tend to swear like sailors,
but there are still parents out there
who are shocked by what they hear
on MTV. Do NOT tell your mother
that dinner was "really fucking
good," no matter how easily the
words may flow out of your mouth.
You should also remember that
you will now be asked where you'r
going, when you're going to be bac
who you're going with, who's
driving, isrhe a safe driver, what
color underwear are you wearing, do
you remember what to do if you get
stranded? And please be careful!!!
Every time you walk out the front
door. Whatever you do, don't
frighten your parents unnecessarily
- when they ask you where you'r
going, for God's sake don't tel
them the truth.
, Get a menial job. By working
at a job that requires no education,
you earn enough money for tuition
so you can get an education, graduate
and get a job that doesn't require an
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Editors' Note
As the semester comes to a close, we would like to thank
our staffers for what we feel was a fantastic semester of
editorials, columns and, of course, letters. Without the