24 - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, April 19, 1994
Malamuth says article
contained errors
To the Daily:
Your April 15th issue contains a
letter from Edie Goldenberg, dean
of ISA, regarding the "numerous
factual errors and misleading
assertions" that your editorials have
contained in discussions of the
Department of Communication. The
same issue also includes an article
about me written by Karen Talaski.
Although I believe that in some
respects Ms. Talaski indeed
attempted to write a fair article,
there are unfortunately also various
errors in her article. Here are some
of them:
1) The photograph appearing on
the page incorrectly states in the
accompanying caption that it is a
picture of my fourth floor
laboratory. This photograph is
actually of the wall further dawn the
hall from the lab. It is of an office
belonging to some department
faculty. The rooms are clearly
marked, so it is difficult to
understand how such an error could
have been made by your
photographer. Perhaps the picture
of a broken wall served the
purposes of your article, even if it
did not present the truth.
2) In regards to the reaction of
faculty members in the department,
I told Ms. Talaski the exact
opposite of what she wrote. I told
her that the majority of the faculty
members have been friendly to me
and only a small minority have been
less than completely friendly.
3) Our research on the causes
and prevention of violence against
women uses many different
methods. Your article implies that
we essentially study it by using
penile cuffs. This is absurd! The
continued fascination of the media
with writing about this assessment
technique is somewhat perplexing.
4) Ms. Talaski never asked me
what research has been done in the
laboratory. It is incorrectly stated in
the article that I admitted not using
the lab. In fact, two important
studies were completed there this
year. Their focus, however, was not
on a "sensational" subject and that
is perhaps the reason there hasn't
been much media interest about
their methodology or content.
I decided not to teach a course
this Spring partially because of
misrepresentations of my research
and lies about me in the media and
by some people. These distortions
may have created a hostile climate
that could stifle intellectual
discussions about the focus of the
course. If I looked "weary" to Ms.
Talaski, it is partly because I have
become tired of misrepresentations
of the issues and facts. When she
approached me for an interview, I
was somewhat reluctant to speak to
yet another reporter. While I must
commend her for accurately
presenting quotes from me (and for
taking the time to verify them),
some of the other content of the
article could have been more
accurate.
NEIL M. MALAMUTH
Former Chair, Department of
Communication
Decision was serious
To The Daily:
I am wondering what the point
of the article about Aaron Ward and
Cam Stewart was. It appeared to be
an Aaron bashing article and
nothing more. I expected a higher
quality of journalism from The
Michigan Daily.
I know both Aaron and Cam. I
am sure that for both of them the
decision to turn professional was a
serious one that was not made
without consulting others. I know
for Aaron, it was not a decision
made because he thought he would
play in Detroit his first season, or
that he would have a large income
immediately. It was a stepping
stone that he took to further his
career. As a result, he is now
playing in a professional league,
earning enough to return to college
whenever he desires.
Why isn't the criticism as wide-
spread for the basketball players
that leave early? Is it not as
important to the University for them
to complete their education as
Michigan and he wanted a
professional hockey career, why
should he have spent another year
in a program that was not helping
him achieve his goal? The Red
Wings are a professional hockey
team. They are in the business to
make money. Wouldn't it be rather
pointless of them to invest time and
resources in a player that wasn't
capable or had the talent to compete
in a professional league?
It appears that the Dekers have
forgotten their purpose as an
organization. They are there to
support the University of Michigan
Hockey Program. They are not
there to live their lives vicariously
through the players. If a player
signs with a professional team, it
means the program has succeeded.
They have trained and educated that
person to be able to compete at a
professional level. The ability of a
player is what coaches are hired for,
and what professional scouts ate
paid to find out. How a player's
personal and professional life is run
is what parents, counselors and
individuals are for. If personal
problems interfere with the player's
performance, then the coach should
do what he can to help. But above
all, everyone should support the
players as much as possible,
especially The Dekers, and not
make a concerted effort to control
and undermine their personal lives.
If anything contributes to the death
of an athletic program, it is lack of
support.
The Dekers have not been
supportive of Aaron Ward. They
have not been in his corner, not
wanted him to succeed. Many have
openly expressed their pleasure that
he is playing in Adirondak and not
Detroit. Many associated with the
hockey program would go down to
Joe Louis to watch David Roberts
or Cam Stewart play and then leave
before Aaron came out of the
dressing room, but made sure that
Aaron knew they were there and
left. I've seen them smile when they
learn that Aaron has suffered an
injury. And yet they feel he owes
the Dekers, the hockey program,
and even the University of
Michigan something. From the
outside watching these things
happen, I feel Aaron owes them
NOTHING. They at least owe him
the courtesy of leaving him alone.
He made his decision, he is no
longer playing for Michigan.
Whether his decision was good or
bad, only Aaron needs to worry
about it. It is his life, and it only
affects him.
LINDA MCCROSKEY
Ann Arbor
Racist comments
hypocritical
To the Daily:
To the 'M' athletes in the blue
Suburban, Sunday morning in front
of the Union:
This past weekend there was a
large number of Asians here on
campus. Was it the Asian invasion?
What it actually was the Midwest
Asian American Student Union
(MAASU). MAASU is a
conference by Asian American
students to learn, promote and share
ideas to improve life for ALL
minorities.
I would like to personally thank
these athletes for greeting them
with an attempt at their language.
The comments made while driving
by the Union at 2:00 a.m., "Su Kee
Ya!! A-soo!! Chink!!!" was more
than any person on the MAASU
committee could have hoped for.
Their timely comments are indeed
an achievement for us all to ponder
upon.
For with these words, they have
separated themselves from all those
who have struggled for equality.
Never will they have to pay
attention to the historical words of
Malcolm or King. If one ever
complains about being the victim of
racism he is a hypocrite ... a liar.
By their comments, they are no
longer oppressed, but oppressors.
I sincerely hope all of them
reach athletic stardom and never
have to face the real world. If they
don't, they will experience that all
people of color face discrimination
and racism. For them to
discriminate against any minority
group, is to discriminate against all
...ritAe
another passenger bus, this time in
Hadera, which killed nine persons.
Hamas has promised at least four
more similar acts of murder.
Second, following the Hadera
bombing, Yasser Arafat issued a
statement "regretting" and
"rejecting" the violence "on both
sides." Unlike Israeli reactions to
the Hebron massacre, which
explicitly condemned the actions of
Baruch Goldstein, Arafat still has
not "condemned" the murderous
actions of Hamas and the Islamic
Jihad.
The distinctions between the
terms "regret" and "reject" and the
term "condemn" are significant in
the parlance of international
relations. While "regretting" and
"rejecting" indicate opposition to an
action, a "condemnation" is the
clearest statement of both the
wrongness of terrorism and the
wrongness of the responsible party.
In the present context, as Israelis
ponder tangible territorial sacrifices
in return for an end to the violence
and suffering, they look to the
Palestinian leadership for a decisive
reaction to Palestinian terror. In the
absence of explicit condemnation,
Arafat's "regrets" and "rejections"
are not sufficient to reassure them
that such sacrifices will not be
worthwhile.
J. MICHAEL JAFFE
Ph.D. student
Department of Communications
Baker's comments off-base 4
To the Daily:
I must respond to the article
quoting Regent Deane Baker's
outlandish remarks at the most
recent Regent's meeting and the
class paper which appeared as an
article written by J.B. Akins in last
week's Daily.
First, Regent Baker suggests that
the University initiate prosecutions
of people under Michigan's felony
law involving gross indecency. He
implies that the state law applies to
just homosexual activity. That is not
the case. The gross indecency
statutes in Michigan apply equally
to heterosexual and homosexual
conduct, committed in public or in
private. The Michigan Courts of
Appeals have interpreted "gross
indecency" to be oral-genital sexuai
activity. The laws apply, on their
face, equally to married and
unmarried heterosexual couples
engaging in oral sex. I would
suggest to Regent Baker that the
majority of illegal sexual acts under
the statutes he suggest be used are
being committed not by gay men,
but by their heterosexual
counterparts at the University.
Moreover, the statues that
Regent Baker suggests the
University use for prosecution have
been declared unconstitutional in a
case in Wayne County Circuit Court
(MOHR v. Kelley) in which the
Attorney General elected not to file
an appeal. His failure to do so has
been interpreted by some as an
indication that the statute should be
considered unenforceable in
Michigan.
Second, the original article and
Regent Baker imply that the activity
occurring is homosexual in nature.
A letter in yesterday's Daily written
by Lee Sussman suggests that the
photograph which accompanied the
article was also indicative of illegal
sexual acts. (The photograph
purported to show semen on the
walls of a stall in a men's room on
campus.) In fact, the photograph
may be good documentation of the
complaint of custodial staff that
people are dirty, but it does not
imply illegal activity. There is no
illegality to masturbation not in the
presence of others who might be
offended. I am not suggesting that
such a practice is a good idea, but
just pointing out that the
photograph does not tell us if the
person leaving the evidence was
alone at the time. Nor does it tell us
whether the person was gay or
straight. As a recent Daily
columnist suggested, masturbation
is pervasive at the university.
I would suggest that many
people are affected by sexual
activity of others which prohibit
them from using private spaces at
the University, but that most of '
them are heterosexual and that they
are much more inconvenienced than
neonle who might see evidence os
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