4 - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, March 8, 1994
(The3ibi tt i1g
'We are liberating our beautiful land. Tell Serbs in America it
is their duty to send us money for the church.'
-Branko Grujic, Mayor of the 'ethnically cleansed' city Zvornik, Bosnia-
Herzegovina as quoted inyesterday's-ew York Times
420 Maynard
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Edited and managed
by students at the
University of Michigan
JESSIE HALLADAY
Editor in Chief
SAM GooDSTIN
FuNT WAINESS
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.
wise compromise
Take Back the Night march to include men
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The Ann Arbor Coalition Against Rape
I(AACAR) took a great first step Sunday
when it agreed to allow men to participate in
at least part of the annual Take Back the Night
march. For 14 years only women could par-
ticipate in the march. But no longer. Hope-
fully, AACAR's decision to make the Take
Back the Night vigil march gender inclusive
will begin promoting the interdependence
'that is necessary to stop sexual violence.
It is crucial for two important reasons. First,
men, like women, must play an important part
in stopping rapes. Not allowing men to par-
ticipate in the march, the heart of Take Back
the Night, is synonymous to telling men they
play an unimportant part in stranger rape
prevention and can do little to mitigate the
rape culture - in short, it is synonymous to
saying empowerment requires women only.
And, of course, the purpose of this march
is empowerment - empowerment in the
sense that this is one night where both men
and women will not be attacked. These people
are united by a common cause-rape preven-
tion. Following the rape of a male which
occurred under the West Engineering Arch
during Spring Break, the University commu-
nity was awakened by a rude shock. No matter
how much more prevalent rape of women is to
rape of men, men are raped, sometimes bru-
tally. Disallowing men to participate in this
empowerment march is a snub to those men
who have also been victims of sexual assault.
We believe that the purpose of any sort of
protest march is to assemble people of all
races, sexes, nationalities and religions, and
allow them to proclaim their disgust at a
particular unjust thing or event. The Take
Back the Night march, in part, is a protest
march; it is protesting against a major rip in
the fabric of our society known as sexual
assault. But we recognize that for many
women Take Back the Night is more than a
political statement, it is literally the only night
of the year that they feel safe walking in the
street. This is why we can understand the
compromise that maintains the march as
women only for the majority of the time.
We all hold a common interest in ridding
our nation of rape, regardless of our indi-
vidual genders. Rape doesn't just affect the
victim; it affects us all. Simply consider your
reactions if you'd just learned that your sister,
mother or grandmother was raped. All people
who have an interest in ending rape must be
allowed to participate in the march. No single
group of people can halt incidences of rape on
its own.
To end rape, a collective effort must be
made by all people of all backgrounds. No
one can be segregated from the fight. Fortu-
nately, the AACAR has realized this fact and
has agreed to allow men to march for the last
10 minutes.
All Take Back the Night events are to be
held on April 9. All people are invited -
women and men. Please attend! Let the Uni-
versity community's voice be heard through-
out the nation, proclaiming that sexual assault
has no place in our midst.
We encourage all to participate in the
march. In this way, women and men together
may march sexual violence off this campus
and out of our society.
r°
2Kt L 1' tL.I''
I-I-
New MSA.Cityr retionship
New MSA liaison to forge better ties with City Council
Elementary education
needs more creativity
To the Daily:
I am pleased that
Michigan has begun to push
the issue of education to the
front of the agenda. But I am
disgusted that the debate has
focused on "how to fund the
schools," and not, "how to
make them better."
Granted, schools need
money to exist and to run,
but why continue to fund
programs that prove to be a
failure. Why continue to
purchase textbooks that are
used for memorization rather
than for applying a lesson to
everyday events? And why
continue to pay for
unnecessary paperwork,
which is time consuming and
costly?
The issue should not be
funding and it should not be
schools of choice. Why avoid
the problem when we are
given the opportunity to fix it.
We can improve the
curriculum by making
education fun and exciting. In
the high schools let's make
learning practical, with
members of the business and
civic communities teaching
studentsabout accounting,
marketing, business and
government. In addition,
certain curriculum besides
government and driver's
education should be
mandatory. Elementary
education should be creative.
Take students to the zoo and
have them count the animals
and spell their names. As
teachers give students
"report cards," the students
should do the same to their
teachers. There should be
several teacher, administrator
and school evaluations done
by the students. Lastly,
parents need to get involved
with their child's education.
They need to do homework
together and have a genuine
concern and interest as to
what their child learns.
Let's get back on track and
start thinking about our future
and the future of the next
generation.
DANIEL CHERRIN
LSA junior
To the Daily:
The undersigned strongly
condemn the massacre that
took place in Hebron, the
occupied West Bank, on
Friday, Feb. 25, 1994, which
resulted in the killing of 48
Palestinians, and the
subsequent killing of 30
others by Israeli Defense
Forces (IDF).
We mourn the loss of life
that has occurred in Hebron
and in other Palestinian
communities in the days since
Friday and extend our
condolences to the families of
those killed.
Prime Minister Rabin's
claim that this was "the
deranged action of a lunatic
individual" is simply not true.
Baruch Goldstein was a
radical member of the
extremist Kahane
organization and a local
leader of the Kach movement
represented in the Israeli
Parliament; both groups
advocate the expulsion of all
Arabs from Palestine and the
use of force to accomplish this
task.
Dr. Goldstein was not
insane. Nor was he alone in
his actions or in his blatantly
racist, anti-Arab
fundamentalist ideology-- a
direct extension of the overt
anti-Arab sentiments
flourishing in Israeli society.
This society arms settlers and
gives them the right to fire on
unarmed Palestinians. It has
tolerated violence by Israelis
against Arabs while cracking
down severely on Arab
protests. Palestinians as a
group are denied human and
national rights and instead are
stereotyped as irrational
terrorists or religious
fundamentalists, conveniently
invalidating their legitimate
claims to their historical
homeland. Israeli society has
fostered attacks on the
humanity of Arabs, their lives
and property by consistently
failing to condemn the
violence perpetrated against
Arabs living under 46 years of
military occupation. Israeli
society has not confronted this
racism because it has not had
to pay its price. While several
UN resolutions have been
passed condemning Israel for
its continued occupation of
the West Bank and Gaza, and
its human rights violations,
they have gone unheeded by
Israel, and the international
community has not taken any
steps to implement them.
We believe that there is an
immediate need to send an
International peacekeeping
force to the Occupied
Territory to ensure the safety
of the Palestinian population,
both from the Israeli settlers
and the soldiers of the Israeli
Defense Force.
We demand that the Israeli
authorities immediately
disarm the settlers,
permanently halt new
settlement construction and
begin to dismantle them, in
the interests of a just and
lasting peace.
A thorough investigation
must be conducted into the
events in Hebron. Specifically
we wish to know why an
armed settler was allowed to
enter the mosque; why
soldiers stationed in and
around the mosque did not
intervene to stop a shooting
spree that reportedly lasted
several minutes during which
the gunman was able reload
his weapon at least 3 times (he
changed 4 magazines) and
throw 3 grenades into the
crowd; and how many other
settlers or soldiers were
involved in the mass murders
(Palestinian survivors of the
massacre have testified that
Goldstein was not the only
man shooting at them).
Finally, in light of the
continuing violence in the
aftermath of the massacre we
demand that the Israeli
military halt the killing of
Palestinians under the guise of
"controlling the riots" and
adhere to all international laws
and conventions regarding
treatment of inhabitants under
occupation. Events such as the
massacre will continue to
occur as long as the
Palestinian people are denied
their legitimate right to self-
determination and a sovereign
Palestinian state. Israel, armed
and financed by the US,
receives up to $6 billion in US
tax payers' money, interest
free, every year to fuel this
injustice. Israel must be made
to heed calls from the world
community to conform with
international law and end its
military occupation of
Palestine, in the interests of a
just and lasting peace.
ARAB-AMERICAN STUDENTS'
ASSOCIATION
In the aftermath of the Hebron massacre
Generadional
struggles
revealed in
songs of old
In the back of one of my rarely
used dresser drawers lies my secret
shame - 10 tapes labeled "High
School Experiences (1984-1989)." I
go there in search of memories -4
some snippet of a song I heard long
ago at an awkward high school dance
or blaring from the windows of my
old 1978 Oldsmobile Cutlass Cruiser
station wagon, long gone to scrap
metal. (As my brother put it when he
finally inherited it, "Fake wood
paneling drives women wild.")
I hadn't listened to these tapes in a
few years, and I popped them into m
tape player only to discover that I had
forgotten what insipid drivel most
'80s music was. Had I actually liked
this saccharine-sweet ear candy at
one point in my life? I guess I had, but
then I hadn't really discovered any
music that truly spoke to me until I
turned on my Walkman one summer
day in 1992 to find that my favorite
"Best of the '80s and today!" station
in Chicago had changed its format t
"alternative rock." What had once
been underground "campus rock" had
hit the big time, and Michael Bolton
didn't have a chance with me once I
heard Pearl Jam, TheThe and Matthew
Sweet.
Last week I touched on the larger
concerns that our generation
(Generation X; the 13th generation)
have had to deal with throughout ou
lives. But there are a lot of things out
there in pop culture and social life that
haven't been addressed by the
mainstream press-alternative music
is just the least among them.
Though it has not been mentioned
much, we are the first U.S. generation
this century which has notbeen drafted
to fight in a war. Unless you count the
six brief weeks of the Gulf War, the
United States has not been at war at
any point in our conscious memory (if
you're a little older, you might be able
to remember Vietnam, but probably
not much.) As Kurt Vonnegut has
said, we all need "puberty rites" to
pass into adulthood, and "ordinarily
history will provide you with one,
which is a war."Weneverhad puberty
rites or really anything to challenge u
- and trying to find MTV on the new
cable system doesn't count.
On the other hand, we were forced
to grow up fast in an adult world of
divorce and mothers working to make
ends meet. Though we haven't fought
a war(or perhaps because we haven't)
we saw enough harsh reality as
children to give our music and writing
a decidedly negative bent. Just
compare the love-and-happiness pop
of the '80s (Madonna singing "Star
Light, Star Bright" or Rick Astley
crooning"Togetherforever, and never
apart") to the dark reality of Pearl Jam
("Daddy didn't give attention/To the
fact that Mommy didn't care /Jeremy
spoke in class today.") To those of
you who don't know the song, Jeremy
"spoke" by blowing his head off during
class.
Alternative music is a little more
cautious about love, a little less trusting
of relationships - just like the kids
who listen to it. We might have
swallowed all of the stuff about loving
forever when we were in junior high
and high school, but now we are more
likely to agree with Counting Crows:
"Every time she sneezes I believe it's
love / and Oh lord, I'm not ready fo'
this sort of thing ..."
We also approach relationships
quite differently from older
Americans, who experienced the
transitions of the feminist movement
and who weren't allowed in the dorm
room (or even the dorm) of a member
of the opposite sex. Most of us were
born after the watershed of the feminist
movement (about 1968-1971), an
the object of our infatuation is likely
to be the girl who lives two doors
down from us and we see in the
bathroom every morning, not the guy
we caught a glance of from afar.
Having grown up on "Free to Be
You and Me," women of our
oI
}
Today, when problems such as assault,
inadequate lighting and noise violations
trouble both University students and the year-
long residents of Ann Arbor, the Michigan
Student Assembly and the Ann Arbor City
Council can come together to confront real
problems of concern to both. In the past,
communication lines between MSA and the
City Council have been poor. However, the
adversarial and confrontational relationship
of the muddied past has hopefully been left
behind, symbolized by Andrew Wright's (the
newly appointed MSA liaison to city council)
recent discussions with the City Council. His
visit was much needed, for it reopened the
lines of communication between
councilmembers and MSA representatives.
It is an absolute must that the City Council
take into consideration the concerns of stu-
dents. Council members must be responsible
and cognizant of student concerns and inter-
ests because students are an important part of
the Ann Arbor community, and deserve rep-
resentation. At the same time, City Council
members understandably focus the crux of
their attention on voters. With the passage of
the pro-student VINE initiative in November
of 1992, City Council elections now occur
during the school year - students must uti-
lize this newly-found opportunity to demand
representation.
Wright and MSA can play a vital role in
this student awakening, and Wright has a few
good ideas to start with: to improve lighting
along Washtenaw Avenue by changing the
lights from amber to white lighting (sur-
rounding housing areas and the athletic cam-
pus); to rethink zoning laws related to frater-
nities, sororities, family status and occupancy;
to cooperate with the city on maintaining the
Rock at its current home in George Washing-
ton Park; and to open lines of bilateral com-
munication between MSA and the city on all
issues concerning the University community
Mayor Ingrid B. Sheldon was pleased
with Wright's overtures and on March 2, she
spoke to MSA - encouraging students to
take responsibility for themselves, but also
adding that the city council would help when-
ever possible. Concerning the issue of inad-
equate lighting, Sheldon said that funding for
improved lighting would be expensive, but
that proportional funding from City Council
and the University would improve the lights
-- making the streets safer for students and
residents. In the past, violentncrimes, muggings
and rapes have caused students to push for
and demand better street lighting. Little ac-
tion was taken until now - now there is an
arrangement in the planning stages to fund
the new lights.
Sheldon also encouraged students to work
together with Ann Arbor residents to find a
"peace zone" in response to noise violations
and other disagreements between students
and non -student neighbors. In response to the
Rock, Sheldon advised students not to renew
old fights: "Have your fun, do it in a reason-
able manner, and go on."
Sheldon said that Wright's visit to City
Council has renewed the lines of communi-
cation and that Council members and MSA
representatives need to keep in touch to ad-
dress issues of mutual concern. MSA Presi-
dent Craig Greenberg concluded the meet-
ing: "We look forward to strengthening our
relationship." MSA should be congratulated
on taking the initiative to work with City
Council.
Mayor Sheldon should be applauded in
her effort to take the concerns of students
seriously. MSA needs to continue to work
with the city in tackling the problems that
confront the University campus. The joint
cooperation of MSA and City Council offi-
cials is a much needed reconciliation, for it
brings together two very important political
groups that have much to accomplish.
Windsor, Ontario review severely flawed
To the Daily:
A critique of Windsor
made your list of Spring
Break get-aways recently (2/
3/94). I would have let your
writer's litany of errors pass,
except that they show a
fundamental
misunderstanding of things
Windsorian, Ontarian and
Canadian. Sorry, but the
Anyway, they don't meet you
at the toll. You pay on the
U.S. side first.
Wherever did you hear
Windsor's "reputation for
having the best Chinese
restaurants in North
America?" better than
Toronto's (with five China
towns), or San Francisco's?
You talk of strip bars.
You say that "the truly
unique feature of Windsor,
though, is its liberal drinking
laws," but that "for some
ludicrous Canadian reason,
once the clock strikes one ...
the bars and clubs close..." In
both cases, the wrong -
jurisdiction is identified. It's
Ontario which sets the
drinking age at 19. Province-
it