4 - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, April 8, 1994
Ueiritgan Duig
420 Maynard
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Edited and managed
by students at the
University of Michigan
JEssB HALLADAY
Editor in Chief
SAM GOODSTEiN
FUNr WArEss
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.
Ad mnrativ e overload
Committee recommends LS&A honor code
'Point of order: the point of order is out of order.'
-Outgoing MSA Rep. Devon Bodoh, in a deft display
of parliamentary politics at Tuesday's MSA meeting
-
COFFE E 01 1
PROF. MARSEE
WIH EN INA COF-EE S.HOP.
I. WEAR 'BLAcK.
2 E A69y' AT AMERICAN SOCT
OR ,OVERNME NT.
\ - II1e
Fast forward, for a moment, to finals week,
and imagine that you are on your way to
take an exam. Forthepurpose of this scenario,
also imagine that you plan to cheat on this test.
Sitting down, prepared to start writing, you
are startled to find that on the exam passed out
to you, there is a cover sheet. Before you begin
the test, you are forced to sign this sheet,
promising that you have not and will not
cheat. Would this alter your actions in any
way? Common sense says no; the University
says, in effect, yes.
For students of engineering, this proce-
dure would be nothing new -a sort of honor
code is already in place in that as well as other
schools. For LS&A students, however, no
such code exists. According to the LS&A
Joint Faculty/Student Policy Committee, this
must change.
But the recommendations of the Commit-
tee, which consisted of eight faculty members
and five students, go beyond mere honor
codes. Chaired by David Schoem, from the
LS&A Dean's Office, the misguided Com-
mittee recommended hiring yet another ad-
ministrator to watch over this code.
Supposedly, these changes are needed
because the current academic conduct code is
weighted against faculty members. The Com-
mittee opined that since it is very time-con-
suming for faculty to compile and present
evidence against alleged cheaters, faculty
members often opt to simply not enter the
judiciary process.
And this is quite true. Faculty members
often feel like they are the ones on trial during
judiciary hearings, and this is a problem.
However, it is quite typical of the Univer-
sity to try to alleviate looming problems not
with simple reforms, but by hiring new ad-
ministrators.
Moreover, the faculty problem may not be
as big as some have made it out to be. The
judiciary process is about more than eradicat-
ing cheating from the University campus.
The process is also about ensuring that stu-
dents accused of cheating get a fair shake.
The process as it stands now is not perfect, but
it is pretty fair. Accused students go on "trial"
only before a "jury" of their peers. Self-
governance is the backbone of any functional
community, and bringing aboard a new ad-
ministrator - or "case investigator" as the
Committee calls the position-would serve
to tear apart the fabric of this system. The
Committee wants this investigator to be an
objective witness that will allow faculty to
step out of theprocess. But this is not realistic.
What will happen is that the University will
have hired itself a slick prosecutor, an indi-
vidual whose job consists of gathering evi-
dence against students. His or her salary, of
course, will come straight from the public
trough.
The problems with the Committee's re-
port go beyond suggestions. The theory be-
hind the suggestions are also flawed. In its
report, the Committee has absolutely no docu-
mentation of widespread cheating in LS&A.
Instead, the Committee relies on national
statistics and anecdotal evidence. It then takes
this shady platform and uses it to say that deep
structural reform is needed.
Not all of the Committee's reforms are
problematic. The creation of an Administra-
tive Hearing, as an option for accused stu-
dents is a good idea. However, any gains are
overshadowed by some of the ludicrous sug-
gestions of the Committee.
Students don't need a new administrator
working to prosecute them. Students don't
need a cover sheet honor code that, at the very
least, would lead to the death of many trees.
And students surely don't need to ease the
burden on faculty by shifting the burden to
themselves.
ADVICE magazine
data inaccurate
To the Daily:
ADVICE Magazine is a
course guide which utilizes
the evaluations filled out by
students each term with the
idea that students will be
informed of what others
thought about a particular
class and/or instructor. Eight
of the questions which
students are asked to rank
between 1 and 5 are averaged
by class and printed in
ADVICE. This project has
been ongoing since the Fall of
1980 and has met many
successes and pitfalls
throughout the past 13 years.
Last Tuesday, March 22,
ADVICE was released on
campus for the first time in
two years. Changes in MTS
had prevented the ADVICE
program from functioning
properly. In the meantime, the
ADVICE staff moved
ADVICE from MTS to a
database program on a
Macintosh. The database
seemed to run perfectly on
last fall's data, and the
information was placed into
our 22nd publication and
distributed in several
buildings across campus.
Unfortunately, the
information printed in this
issue of ADVICE is incorrect.
The database program on the
Macintosh jumbled the
numbers for the responses to
the questions. For most
records, the questions listed
do not properly correspond
with the numerical rankings:
Please be advised that, as a
result, the information for all
courses except those in the
School of Business is not
accurate and should be
disregarded. The ADVICE
staff apologizes for this error,
and regrets any problems or
confusion that it may have
caused.
We have taken several
steps to remedy this situation.
As soon as the problems with
the issue were discovered, the
ADVICE staff collected as
many copies as it could
recover from sites around
campus. All copies of the
magazine which the staff did
not manage to retrieve should
be returned to MSA or
recycled. We will also be
issuing a letter of apology to
all departments included in
the issue. The staff is
analyzing the problems with
the database and a correction
will be implemented as soon
as possible.
Please watch for a new
edition of ADVICE which
hopefully will be released
before CRISP is finished (this
one will be correct!). If you
have any questions,
comments, or concerns
regarding this matter, please
contact ADVICE at 763-3241.
COLLEEN TIGHE
ADVICE Director
Daily MSA coverage is
insufficient
To the Daily:
I have been extremely
disappointed in the Daily's
coverage of MSA activities.
Important issues have been
glossed over and neglected.
With this type of shoddy
coverage, it is no wonder that
many in the student body
react apathetically to the
MSA, and that the MSA can
act without any shred of
accountability.
During the MSA meetings
on March 22 and March 29,
there was a deliberate and
systematic attempt to silence
those voices in favor of the
AATU. At the March 22
meeting, many people could
not speak in the allotted
constituent's time. Craig
Greenberg, president of the
MSA, ignored motions to
extend constituent's time, and
in then decided to adjourn the
meeting. At the March 29
meeting, the MSA deliberately
changed the agenda order so
that they could vote on the
funding the AATU without
listening to the many students
and constituents who had
come to the meeting to speak
about that very issue. These
anti-democratic actions of the
MSA were not reported in an
adequate manner by the Daily.
In the past couple of
months, the MSA has engaged
in actions which have violated
certain people's civil rights,
and there is now a possibility
of various civil rights and
contractual lawsuits against
the MSA. The low-key
coverage which the Daily has
given to these important issues
is unacceptable, and represent
a breach in the the
responsibility to journalism
which the Daily carries.
KEVIN LEE
Rackham first-year student
Look on the bright side
To the Daily:
Like many graduating
seniors, I was less than
thrilled to learn that Cathy
Guisewite is our
commencement speaker. But
for those seniors who wake up
every morning and scream, I
offer a bit of perspective:
They could have picked Sally
Struthers.
JASON JUSTIAN
LSA senior
Prejudice:
its unseen
effects
Every now and then, many like
to fantasize about a world where
hatreds such as racism, sexism,
homophobia, xenophobia and a
host ofotherprejudices don't exist.
We've all done this, imagining a
time or place where the color of
one's skin, the country of one's
birth and the God one worships
play no part in shaping people's
opinions of one another.
Fantasies are nice as they are
the warehouses of hope. However,
we live in a time far from ideal. As
such, discrimination and prejudice,
twm plagues of the modern world,
exist everywhere. They are weeds,
constantly spreading their roots in
the soil of our thoughts and beliefs.
Regardless of the various evils
which sprout from them, prejudice
and discrimination, ironically, may
serve a significant purpose which
makes their existence important.
Discrimination is a monster.
Although people are grouped in a
variety of prejudicial ways, all types
of prejudices serve a common
purpose - to deny a particular
group of people their humanity by
making them sound, appear and
feel subhuman. Through
discrimination, Blacks become
"niggers," women become
"bitches" and Asians become
"chinks."
However, from discrimination
comes more than simply the
stereotypical epithets we've heard
(and used), prejudiced violenceand
the like. Just as discrimination
exists, so do those who refuse to
allow the prejudicial views and
actions of others intimidate them
from proclaiming and rejoicing in
their heritages, whose richness and
variety grace our land.
We've all heard the saying that
something worth having is worth
fighting for. I assert that
discrimination is a catalyst which
drives many people, especially the
historically underrepresented and
oppressed, to acknowledge and
proclaim their ancestry. From the
establishment of NOW to the
building of the Holocaust Museum
to even something as seemingly
simple as a young Black child
reading a book about ancient
Egyptians, people have risen en
masse to learn their individual
histories and rebuke those who dare
question the valid contributions of
their ancestors to the modernworld.
A world void of discrimination
sounds good. Who wouldn't want
to live in a world where people of
all backgrounds live in mutual
harmony? However, I fear that if
prejudice didn't exist, peoplewould
grow so comfortable with the
"oneness" of mankind, they would
lose individuality. This would be a
fate worse than death.
I dream of the day when we can
all live as one. I support the idea
that we are members of the human
race first. But we are more than just
a mass of organisms constituting a
large human race. We are
individuals with a variety of
histories, beliefs and goals. Our
individuality is, in many ways, a
product of our racial, national,
religious and gender differences.
Never should the histories of
our distinctive cultures be
forgotten.
Discrimination is a tool used by
those seekingto smotherthe origins
of the creative contributions of
minorities and their ancestors. It
also helps to assure that we never
forget our, or any other, ethnic
history by driving those of uswhose
heritages are being attacked or
overlooked to fight back by
acknowledging our past and
refusing to let it die.
As long as prejudice exists,
those prejudiced against will
continue to fight it. As long as we
continue to fight prejudice, the rich
diaspora of traditions which grace
our nation shall never be taken
away from us.
0
0
Saving the tenants' union
Finally, the AATU fiasco has ended, in the right way
Students can breathe a sigh of relief. The
long, draining AATU controversy has
come to an end; hopefully, we can finally
close this chapter and move on. On Tuesday
night, MSA representatives voted to return to
the Ann Arbor Tenants' Union $11,000. Be-
cause of communication problems between
the Michigan Party leadership and AATU
Director Pattrice Maurer, this money had
recently lost its entitlement status and been
moved into MSA's Budget Priorities Com-
mittee. After months of rocky relations with
the tenants' union, juvenile bickering be-
tween MSA representatives over the issue
and unsubstantiated pleas to cut AATU's
funding, MSA has finally come to its senses
and Voted to restore necessary resources to the
AATU - resources that should never have
been denied them in the first place.
The AATU is an invaluable student ser-
vice; it is one of the most tangible benefits
available to students, and it should not be
subject to the political whims ofthe day. From
the beginning, outgoing MSA leaders Craig
Greenberg and Brian Kight never quite grasped
this. They, and some others on the Assembly,
became so wrapped up in the few idiosyncra-
sies of the tenants' union that they lost sight of
the quintessential role it plays in the commu-
nity.
MSA's reasoning for cutting AATU's
funds was absurd in the first place, asserting
that AATU should be penalized because it
failed to submit paperwork on time. This
mistake, that clearly resulted because of mis-
communication, is an unfounded - if not a
ridiculous-motivationfor denying students
one of their most essential resources. While it
may be true that AATU is somewhat unorga-
nized-as Greenberg and Kight claim-this
all of its resources.
Moreover, as former MSA Rep. Tobias
Zimmerman brought up at Tuesday's meet-
ing, earlier in the year MSA froze AATU's
funds over a disagreement about the appoint-
ment of MSA members to the AATU Board.
Since the funds were frozen, it could be
argued that Maurer's deadline for submitting
the paperwork would have had to be ex-
tended, as MSA was temporarily failing to
provide the tenants' union with already guar-
anteed money. Therefore ,Greenberg and
Kight's complaints about Maurer breaking
the deadline would become moot. The Michi-
gan Party leadership was prepared to slash
AATU's funding over a supposed breach-of-
contract. But hadn't MSA violated its con-
tract with the tenants' union earlier in the
year?
Although Greenberg did not vote on the
resolution to restore AATU's funding, it is
good to see his tenure ending on an optimistic
note -one in which order has been restored
and all operating procedures returned to nor-
mal. Now that this issue has been put to rest,
the new officers have a clean slate on which
to begin tackling new agendas and urgent
matters that desperately need attention. Is-
sues such as campus safety, the Diag Policy
and the code can now come to the forefront.
It is distressing that Neenan and Stern
were two of the 13 assembly members that
were not in support of AATU. Fortunately,
they lost, and the issue will not bring further
aggravation into their new term. The rest of
the goals on their platform are extremely
important - and less controversial. As we
say good-bye to Greenberg, we also say fare-
well to the AATU issue. We look forward to
a new term, and are glad to see that this source
-C.. ......i,,, . - ... -. . 1_.,
Take Back the Night decision
01
By JENNY BRENNAN
I am one of the 30-some
organizers for the April 9th
Take Back the Night rally and
march. I'd like to explain
some of the thoughts that
went into our deciding to
include men at the end of this
year's march, and offer a
response to some of the
debate that has been going on
in the pages of the Daily and
among friends concerning
what this decision symbolizes.
The umbrella
organization that plans this
annual march is called the
Ann Arbor Coalition
Against Rape; although we
are a student organization
at the University of
Michigan, we acknowledge
our responsibility to the
wider Ann Arbor
community. Our
organizers are both women
since we work by
consensus, we decided to
skirt the enormous issue of
what we wanted Take Back
the Night to stand for, for
every person seems to see
it differently: as a night to
feel safe and strong on the
streets among women, as
an anti-sexism march, as a
time for both male and
female survivors to stand
together, as a
demonstration of outrage
against sexual assault.
We all had ample
opportunity to voice our
opinions but then focused
as a group on decision-
making. Consensus was
blocked in both directions
(both for and against men
marching), but we found a
common agreement in
having men and women
join together about four
women's-only march to
City Hall with an extended
mixed march to briefly
follow. Unfortunately, Ann
Arbor authorities would not
allow us to amend the
march route. Therefore, at
this time, we can suggest
only that women be aware
of the point at which men
will join the march, and
using this knowledge, seek
the most comfortable place
for themselves within the
group. If the turnout is as
great as in past years, the
women towards the front of
the march will be at City
Hall enjoying the dance
party before the male
marchers can join the
march's tail end.
Take Back the Night
belongs to this community,
not just to the Ann Arbor
Coalition Against Rape. To
I