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 rO . '" " :M I 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 p 0 0 1)1 0 0 0 0 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