4 - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, September 13, 1994 c'be £idigta &dlg I I a w a s-a r w v r(+ V V i-s Y r v I 420 Maynard Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan Jessie Halladay Editor in Chief Samuel Goodstein Flint 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. A flawed alcohol policy 'U' attempts to regulate student values, norms 'The University won't protect you. A subpoena is an easy thing to give, but a very difficult thing to stop.' -Graduate student Charles Griffith , whose transcript is being subpoenaed in a local court case.. WHEN ALL 1$ SAID AND DON E... NO ONE ASKS ... NO ONE TELLS... ...,AND NO OE CARES. } \ e C- Communication Dept. Fiasco After a year and a half of wasted committee M~meetings and expensive work hours, the University has finally enacted its new Student Policy on Alcohol and Other Drugs. The re- vised - and permanent - policy continues the University's stance against the improper use of alcohol and drugs. But the policy also suggests the regulation of student organiza- tions and documents the use of the Statement of Student Rights and Responsibilities (a.k.a. the Code) to penalize illegal consumption or distribution of such substances. While the new policy is mostly University rhetoric designed to "develop, affirm, maintain and modify com- munity-wide, behavioral norms," it contains many disturbing elements which highlight the University's desire to further regulate stu- dents' behavior and student organizations. Although the University has claimed it was mandated by the Federal Drug-Free Schools and Campuses Act of 1989 to enact such a policy, the Code and the former interim Alco- hol Policy were sufficient to meet these re- quirements. While it is proper for the Univer- sity to discourage the use of drugs and alcohol, and important for the University to provide services to those who abuse these substances, it is not necessary for the University to impose far-reaching values such as abstinence from alcohol on its students. The new policy's lan- guage concerning student values goes beyond the federal mandate, and the long time spent drafting and redrafting this policy is further proofoftheUniversity'sinfatuationwithcom- mittee meetings and bureaucracy. The most offensive and potentially danger- ous section of this document is that which covers student organizations. The policy strongly recommends that student organiza- tions adopt the administration's outlined guide- lines to "reflect the values of this policy." However, the guidelines are hypocritical, re- strictive and vague: Organizations "should not sell or provide any alcohol to any person," but, if they do, six guidelines should be fol- lowed, including banning the purchase of alcohol with organizational funds or member contributions and forbidding the serving of alcohol from common or self-serve contain- ers. This leaves no other viable option, sug- gesting that the University is attempting to proscribe alcohol use. And, what in the world does not constitute a common or self-serve container? Not surprisingly, the ramifications of these guidelines were clearly not thought out during the year the University spent revis- ing this policy. The new policy will probably not affect the everyday lives of the student body. But it clearly shows that the University is continu- ing its efforts to further regulate students' lives beyond the restrictions already imposed by the Code. Moreover, the University is overreaching its bounds by attempting to regulate student organizations, an authority granted solely to students through the campus student govern- ment, the Michigan Student Assembly. This is the second in afive part editorial series explaining changes in various University policies that occurred over the summer. By Richard Campbell For the record, LSA Dean Edie Goldenberg's appoint- mentof the six-person commit- tee to investigate the future of the Department of Communi- cation follows her usual pattern of top-down administrative rule. No one in the department, excluding her self-appointed administrators, was asked for suggestions about the make-up of the committee. The dean apparently was so desperate for people to serve that one mem- ber, who has taken a job at another university next year, will be flown in for weekly fall meetings. (I hope the press keeps careful track of what de- partment endowment fund is being exploited for such travel.) And although one of the big- gest issues remains the rela- tionship between theory and practice, no one from the pro- fessional areas of journalism, film or video was named to serve on the committee. The dean apparently has already decided that teaching and study- ing these areas will no longer be central to a vibrant commu- nication department. One thing missing from the dean's "charge" to the commit- tee is an investigation into the college's treatment of the de- partment over the past five years. And there's plenty to investigate here. After many of us worked for seven years to upgrade the curriculum and cre- ate an atmosphere that sup- ported multiple research per- spectives, Dean Goldenberg charged in public that "in her judgement" the department was not providing "educational ex- periences for our students that compare with the best avail- able in peer institutions." This came as a big surprise to many of us in the department who had won teaching and research awards under this dean's ad- ministration. So how did she arrive at her harsh evaluation? It is hard to tell. The dean made these charges-amazingly repeated in public by Provost Whitaker and President Duderstadt - without the benefit of formal internal or external reviews, which is the usual way admin- istrators arrive at informed judgements about departments and programs. At any rate, I hope the com- mittee will investigate the College'sown record at "build- ing" the department under the current dean. With six junior faculty (only two remain) hired between 1987 and 1989 to re- energize the department, prom- ises were made by the College to balance humanistic and so- cial science perspectives and to provide additional senior lead- ership (there were only four senior faculty in the department in 1987). Neitherhas happened. Under the current dean, two senior male faculty have been added through the ISR "back door"; neither competed for his tenured position against other qualified senior scholars in the field through a democratic na- tional search and both spend much of their time at the ISR. The third addition, former chair Neil Malamuth, brought in by the College through a search orchestrated by the dean, de- cided to return to UCLA. And for the record ... when the cur- rent dean took office, there were four women on tenure track in the department; beginning in 1995, no tenure track women will be working for the depart- ment. Dr. Campbell is a former asst. professor of communication at the University. Everything I learned in college Daytime television is hell. Base- ball -save the Little League World Series - is gone, the O.J. Simpson hearings are dwindling into the ri- diculou s, and the Price i s Right hasn't gotten any better since I had the flu when I was nine. It was time to go back to school. When people started returning last week I found a new amusement - putting point-totals on the heads of you careless pedestrians ("50 points for the guy reading The Excit ing Life of the One-Toed Sloth! Wait -he's wearing more than five items of Michigan clothing! 75 points!") Nevertheless, it's really not nec- essary to read books while walking. Here, in handy clip-out form made possible by technology fromDuPont is Everything I Learned in College (subtitled A Know-It-All Grad Stu- dent Tells All, only $39.95, not avail- able in stores, operators are standing by, place your tray tables in an up- right and locked position, itemsmay have shifted during flight.) English: Having a conversa- tion in college is really very easy. As long as you don't mention your marvelous SAT scores or the num- ber of awards you got in high school, you'll be fine. (Depending on your conversational intentions, it may not be smart to mention your high school girlfriend, either.) All it really takes to have a conversation at college during the first few weeks is mastery of a few simple questions: - Where are you from? (then say you know someone from there, once lived there, or passed through on the way to someplace more inter- esting.) -What dorm are you living in? (hopefully it'll be the same one you're in. Otherwise, end the con- versation immediately, because you'll never see them again.) -What are you majoring in?("I don'tknow yet" is the best response, because then you can convince them that your esteemed major is far and away the best choice.) " Economics: You practically need a course in economics to sur- vive in college these days. Outside of playing the stock market or get- ting a job at Taco Bell, the best way to make money is not to spend it. I think the biggest economics lesson I learned in college was to get into publishing - $20 for a paperback book is almost as good as the $100 screwdrivers the Pentagon buys. In the end, you'll beat the father Iover- heard in a bank last fall: when the teller explained that his daughter would withdraw money using her ATMcard, he exclaimed, "You mean she's going to get money from a machine??" This, kids, is called the generation gap. " Sex Education: Forget Fallo- pian tubes and spermatozoa - liv- ing in a dorm is the best sex-ed class anyone ever had. At least when you're a first year in college, noth- ing feels more adult than staying up until3a.m. with everyone telling All You Ever Wanted to Know About Sex But Your Mother Thought Was Disgusting. Onthemore serious side, a co-ed dorm can also be an educa- tion in equality - once you've ar- gued free will vs. determinism over the baked eggplant in the dining hall' or brushed your teeth in a co-ed bathroom, the opposite sex ceases to be a mystery. " Politics: Campus elections are always a lot of fun, especially if no one takes it seriously. The easiest way to do this is to form a "joke party:" you promise balmy tempera- tures in January, Elvis as a gradua- tionspeaker, small classes, and other laughableimpossibles. Runon aplat- T,. . :,.r....,,r w... ..a 0 01 01 01 Spiraling textbook costs 01 H ow much did you pay for your books this year? How many of themwere you forced tobuy new? Andhow much money did you get last term when you sold back your old books? Textbooks prices are too high, and every- one knows it. That's why the University, on a cue from a state Congressional committee, has set up its own study of Ann Arbor's textbook prices. The Daily applauds the University's decision and hopes the University guides this committee in the right direction. The Univer- sity must help establish a better convention for the buying and selling of used books. The problem with the textbook market is that, at the end of the term, the bookstores are placed in the difficult position of gambling on the resale value for many of our used books. They must gamble because many professors don't report their textbook lists for the upcom- ing term until afterthe initial buyback phase. In order to protect their own interests, the book- stores must offer very low trade prices for students' used books. As a result, students receive even less money for their used books than would normally be dictated. The less money students get for their used books, the less money students can put to- wards book purchases for the upcoming term. Moreover, the lower the resale prices, the smaller the number of used books resold to the bookstores. Many students decide their used textbooks are worth more to them as reference or display books than they are to bookstores. As a result, students buy more new books the following term, and the cycle continues. Luckily, there are two simple answers to this problem. First, the University must help modify the existing textbook reporting proce- dure. Second, we as students must do more to support our collective interest in higher resale value for used textbooks. procedure by setting definitive standards and deadlines. At the University of Illinois, the college acts as an overarching reporting appa- ratus; all textbook lists must be submitted - to the University itself-by a given deadline. As a result, bookstores in the area are able to assess their needs and stock used books ac- cordingly, and students get better prices for theirusedbooks.A University-imposeddead- line would have another advantage as well. In addition to forcing professors to choose their lists ahead of time, a deadline would make professors aware of the problem students face. Many professors simply do not realize the impact their laxity has on students' finances. Second, students must do a better job of supporting their own interests. For example, students should support the Student Book Exchange (SBE), which provides the student body with a cost-effective way of reselling used books directly to other students, thereby eliminating any middleman. Since the public- ity, labor and overhead costs associated with SBE are covered by a small percentage fee applied only to purchased books, the risks are minimal. Moreover, SBE allows students to set the prices for their used books so both the seller and the buyer benefit from this price- setting mechanism. And, most important, an investment in the SBE is an investment in more student control over textbook prices. One of the biggest problems with the cur- rent SBE system is its length. The exchange only lasts five days, due to a lack of publicity and help. An MSA-sponsored Student Book Exchange could providemore labor and fund- ing, better publicity, lower percentage fees and a longer total span. But the solution lies in the hands of the University and its students. And if no action is taken, spiraling textbook costs will continue 21st Century Ghosts, and an MSA resignation To the Daily: I grew up in Pittsburgh (and arrived there the day of the recent plane crash) with a be- lief that strange beings lurked in the dark, in closets, under the beds, from crackling stair- ways and by means of other unexplained occurrences. But that was in another century, the 20th. Humans living in caves, tents, mud huts and snow shelters had different monsters and ghosts in other centuries. Today, technology, con- trolled by computers, has ush- ered in new mysteries for the 21st century and along with them postmodern fears and dangers. It is frightening enough when you enter your bank, savings-and-loan or credit union for an emergency transaction andyou arehaunted by the apprehension of "our system is down." You can of- ten survive the message sys- tem failures and the computer viruses in your storage files. But lurking in our lives are other spooks that experts are reluctant to discuss. There are computer pro- grams that operate "smart" weapon systems, health care equipment and passenger air- planes. So when wehear about friendly fire that destroys our own troops, strange circum- stances that bedevil our hospi- tals and passenger airplanes that mysteriously drop out of the sky, the experts are afraid to tell you for fear of their careers that these may be the computer monsters and ghosts of the 21st century and that there is much more to come. Mel Williams Professor of Anthropology To the Daily: Ladies and gentlemen of MSA, with no small measure of personal satisfaction, I re- sign from this body. However, I would like to say that my few months with MSA have been excruciating. I have been un- able to work with this organiza- tion since it is composed of self-serving, resume-stuffing lapdogs. Iq Edgar Francis LSA Junior I Irr m II