4 - The Michigan Daily --Thursday, November 17, 1994
a. E l Cgttn 3 ttilg
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.
'I tried school for a while, but it got in the way of
touring.'
-Avid Phish fan (why?) Chris, waiting to enter last night's concert
FRAT BOY C 5 HOME::ADJUTMEN T RLROLEMS --
H-INEY, WHAT TH HEL- - N? tNT RRT'SCA T
k$vWRONG%'WITH t1HO s4NPy$ CAARNOUND
TiH E . Kv 5 E
-%<F
C.
s *4
First-year progress
seminars make strides to improve LSA education
O ne stop on the road to improving the
quality of life for undergraduates at the
University is the recent addition of 100 new
seminar courses in the College of LSA. These
small courses, offered in all departments within
LSA, serve as a shot in the arm for many first-
year students who are not comfortable taking
primarily lecture and lab courses and who may
become disillusioned by the large scope of the
University.
The first semester is crucial for all students
at the University. The ability to cope with the
shift from high school class sizes to large
lectures-and-discussion format is what sets
the tone for how well a student adjusts to
University life. All too often, the University
bureaucracy makes students feel like nothing
more than numbers within the system. Classes
of two hundred do nothing to change this.
These seminar classes are especially im-
portant for two reasons. Not only do they limit
class sizes to 25 or less, but they provide first-
year students with direct connections with
professors -men and women whose reputa-
tions have resulted in the University being
accorded world-class status. By actively en-
gaging students, professors are provided a
chance to demonstrate that research and grants
make up only a part of their profession. Offer-
ing these seminars is a demonstration of a
,commitment to teaching by these professors in
LSA.
Furthermore, seminar classes facilitate dis-
Icussions that will deal with the needs of first-
year students. In this way, students will not
feel the pressure or intimidation of discussion
classes with sophomores and upperclassmen
who may already possess a stronger knowl-
edge of the subject matter.
The eventual goal of LSA should be to
provide a seminar course or similar program to
all first-year students. Before the seminar plan
was implemented, first-year students gener-
ally had to be in Honors, the Residential Col-
lege or Pilot Program to ensure that they would
be able to enroll in smaller classes. By intro-
ducing seminar classes to all first-year stu-
dents, the University is making an honest at-
tempt at acclimating each student into the
academic rigors of college. However, if semi-
nars are to be expanded to include all first-year
students, more professors will have to be avail-
able to teach the classes. There are almost
certainly a few faculty who will see this as an
additional burden on what can be an already
stifling work schedule of classes, teaching
preparations, grant applications, etc. However,
faculty will eventually have to realize that if
they wish to teach undergraduates at a school
of Michigan's caliber, and if the Michigan
undergraduate experience is going to remain a
worthy one, they must contribute to top-notch
instruction for first-year students.
Many students are attracted to the Univer-
sity because of its excellent academic reputa-
tion.
However, the sincere commitment the Uni-
versity demonstrates toward prospective stu-
dents - with active efforts at introducing
students to faculty members and various as-
pects of the campus - is often lost the moment
a student starts attending class. LSA's efforts
to reverse this trend are to be commended.
Students should take full advantage of these
newfound opportunities to get their feet on
solid, intensive academic ground by giving a
serious look at these seminars.
I
Due to dismal season, Moeller,
To the Daily:
As a devoted follower of
Michigan sports and an alum-
nus of the University, as well
as the Daily, I feel compelled
to express my outrage over the
current state of Michigan foot-
ball. Since I now live and work
in Los Angeles, I am physi-
cally removed not only from
the games but from local press
coverage as well. I donotknow
if Gary Moeller and Lloyd Carr
have been the subject of scru-
tiny as to their futures with the
team. However, as removed
as I am physically, I am about
as emotionally and mentally
linked to the plight of this
year's Michigan team as any
one of the 106,000 fans who
attended the Oct. 29 loss to
Wisconsin.
I firmly believe that
Moeller and Carr should be
either asked to resign or re-
moved form their current posts.
In my opinion, they have now
failed two years in a row with
a team containing extraordi-
nary talent. Although Moeller
did take the team to the Rose
Bowl early in his tenure, he
has demonstrated an inability
to motivate and coach the team
effectively over the last two
seasons.
Michigan is currently
ranked number 20 in the coun-
try. This is not where any Michi-
gan team should be ranked. Ev-
eryone has an off year (look at
Notre Dame this year, for in-
stance) however this is the sec-
ond year in a row of embarrass-
ing disappointments. Michigan
stands for excellence, a historic
tradition and an unequaled bal-
ance between academics and
athletics. All Michigan fans
should be outraged by the cur-
rent state of affairs. There isn't
another school in this country
which can claim that they fill
"The Big House" with 106,000
fans week after week. I am a
member of the Alumni Asso-
ciation (as well as the local Los
Angeles chapter) and, despite
the recent football follies, I will
always be an extremely outspo-
ken and proud graduate of the
University.
There is something wrong
right now and I know of no
other solution than to fire the
head coach and the defensive
coordinator. The team seems to
lack motivation on the playing
field, the defense appears lacka-
daisical and the coaching strat-
egy is incomprehensible. We
should have worked the clock
better and earned a first down to
insure a victory against Colo-
rado. We looked mentally ab-
sent during the first half of the
Carr must go
game against Penn State and
we were thoroughly humiliated
(yet again on our own turf) by
Wisconsin, a far less talented
team than the Wolverines.
Carr should be fired because
the defense has repeatedly lost
games for us. Moeller should
be fired for a different reason:
simply put, he is not a motiva-
tor. He may be a nice, loyal guy
however he doesn't have the
"stuff' of a Bo Schembechler,
a Joe Paterno or (dare I say?) a
Jimmy Johnson. Michigan de-
serves better than Gary Moeller.
Living in Los Angeles, I am
exposed to press coverage on
Michigan untainted by any lo-
cal bias. We are being laughed
at, we are consistently per-
ceived as choke artists and we
are underachieving.
Although firing a coach is
always risky, a little shake-up
may wake up some people.
President James Duderstadt
and the Athletic Director Joe
Roberson must find a top of the
line coach to lead the football
program back to where it be-
longs: Pasadena. We, the fans
of the Maize and Blue, suffer
too much with Moeller's in-
competence: we deserve to
smell Roses again.
David Lubliner
Class of 1991
Maze? Wov!
ALL APOLOGIES - to Marty
V. Turco of Sault (rather than Sioux)
Saint Marie, Michigan. Turco, the
starting freshman goalie on th
Michigan hockey squad, has led the
Wolverines to a No. 1 ranking in the
nation and a weekend sweep of pre-
viously unbeaten Michigan State and
conference foe Bowling Green. Jeff
Marsh, a junior engineering prot6g
hibernating up at North Campus,
pointed this geographic miscue out
to me over the information super-
highway, and suggested that I peg
litely "consider expanding my hori-
zons and journeying north, of say,
Whitmore Lake." Says Mr. Marsh,
who by the way, won't be receiving
that complementary Michigan Daily
T-shirt: "As anyone from Northern
Michigan knows, Sault Ste. Marie
was founded and consequently
named by the French, not the Indi-
ans. Down with the proletariat." He
me with that last bit, Jeffrey. But let
it be known, "Jason's Lyric" is not
inerrant, nor has its author released
his latest catechism. Gotta say
though, those Soo locks rock. Beats
anything South Florida can offer -
beaches, sun, tropical depressions
named Gordon, above-freezing tem-
peratures, Lawton Chiles and Palm
Beach Gardens' finest, Cheeburgg
Cheeburger. Does Whitmore Lake
house one of the largest malls in the
country? I think not.
MAZEL TOV--to the winner of
last week's quiz of the ages, Jason
Hwang, a third-year Inteflex bio
major from Arcadia, California.
Oddly enough, Jas has turned down
the new R.E.M. Monster disk, and
instead is requesting the sharp oot
ing, long-sleeved Daily T normally
worn by Daily geeks like me. Why,
I do not know. Confesses Jason, in a
moment of contemplative reflection:
"I watch tons of TV and movies ...
interests include most sports (except
the slow ones like golf, bowling and
curling) ... I like Seinfeld (there ya
go!)" Although Mr. Hwang, a physi-
cian-in-the-making, did not kno
that George Costanza's real-life par-
ents currently reside in Boca Raton,
Fla. (not Palm Beach, silly) and
thought that Belarus - the home of
my grandfather Leonard Lewinson
and a nation now caught in one nasty
security dilemma with Russia - is
responsible for my present despair.
The obvious answer, of course, i
Spain (that red-eye is fast approac?9
ing). Jas must be rightly commended
for his prescient fashion sense (re-
member: corduroys are in, rollnecks,
bluejeans and DocMartens are out!)
and his accurate chronological as-
sessment of Madonna's brief foray
into collegiate dorm life (at
Stockwell). The ever-exciting, bee-
hive of liberalism - Couzens Hall
- was not the correct answer. 1
Without further ado, the rest of
the quiz answers: The last time we
defeated those pesky Badgers was in
1992, long after U.S. involvement in
Vietnam was over. A Super Nova at
the Bagel Factory is composed of a
bagel, cream cheese, a singular to-
mato, onions (optional) andofcourse,
lox (a.k.a. smoked salmon). Yes,
furry, knotty, unkempt canineroan
the plain of Middle Earth on South
U; groceryman John Starks missed a
crucial 3-pointer in Game 6 of the
NBA Finals last year that cost my
beloved Knicks the championship;
Jefferson Holt, not Miguel Stipe, is
the professed ambassador of R.E.M.,
a position of vast importance; and U-
M alum President Gerald Ford log
to Jimmy Carter in 1976. -Th
also to kzaruba@umich.edu for re-
minding me that the U of Penn. is a
private university, because state-sup-
ported public universities are just
not tolerated anyway by the ivy-
towered, Northern elite, you-get-the-
better-jobs-in-the-Democratic ad-
ministrations Harvards and Yales.
Where do you think Clinton beatn
George Stephanopolous went to la
school? That just steams me up!
MORE DAILY EXIT POLLING:
A newly released study of Green-
wood resident's auto preferences
confirms a long-held suspicion, pre-
Video justice
Ito decides correctly to allow TV in court
T he decision by Judge Lance Ito to
allow TV cameras in the courtroom during
the upcoming O.J. Simpson trial underscores
the great importance of televised proceedings
in ensuring a fair trial for defendants. While
many (including Ito at one point) have com-
plained that the presence of cameras and sub-
sequent media coverage of high profile cases
have sensationalized them beyond rationality,
a commission headed by Supreme Court Jus-
tice William Rehnquist has proven otherwise
- there can be no doubt that the positive
effects of allowing cameras in court cases far
outweigh the negatives. The issue of TV cam-
eras in court goes beyond the inherent media
publicity surrounding publicized cases such
as Simpson's. Cameras not only allow the
ordinary viewer insight into how the judicial
process works, they provide a measure of the
accountability necessary in protecting a
defendant's Sixth Amendment right to a fair
trial.
The marvel of the United States' judicial
system is that each person who stands ac-
cused, no matter what the crime or the evi-
dence, holds an equal right to a fair trial. TV
cameras hold judges, prosecutors and defense
attorneys alike under the scrutiny of the lens,
thus helping to ensure justice in the court-
room. The pressure of amillion eyes watching
the figures in each case will undoubtedly force
those figures to pay heed to not only the letter,
but the spirit of fair and honest examination of
the law.
Televised proceedings of the McCarthy
hearings in the 1950s allowed people to wit-
the Red Hunt. Coverage of the Clarence Tho-
mas confirmation hearings in 1990 served as a
wake-up call to the problems and prevalence of
sexual harassment in this country, and acted as
a springboard for many female politicians who
decried the Senate Judiciary Committee's treat-
ment of Anita Hill. Had these proceedings not
been televised, they might have faded into the
record of history with little or no outcry from
the public.
Cameras don't lie: If judges' actions are
anything less than impartial, then the camera
will record them and hold them up for scrutiny.
If prosecutors are overzealous or attorneys are
inept, the camera gives the proof necessary to
hold them accountable. As long as cameras are
allowed in courtrooms, violations of an
individual's rights or discrepancies in case
handling will be witnessed by an indirect jury
of millions of Americans.
All too often we hear of injustices within
our court system: persons convicted wrongly,
defense attorneys who provided inadequate
defense for their often indigent clients or pros-
ecutors who used illegal evidence in building
their cases. The most tragic examples of these
injustices are the cases of overwhelming preju-
dice against people of color in handing out
death sentences. While cameras cannot eradi-
cate these travesties completely, they can go a
long way toward solving the problem. Video
does not forget, nor does it misrepresent the
facts. It preserves the facts of the case and may
serve as the evidence of mistrials or miscar-
riages of justice in the system. For this reason,
it is imperative that other judges follow Ito's
I
Sex can wait
To the Daily:
Jean Twenge in her col-
umn regarding the new chas-
tity movement states: "female
desire is a powerful force ..."
I agree. However, she believes
that this desire must be acted
upon and that "the chastity
movement does not move us
forward." I disagree. Absti-
nence empowers women,
completely protecting them
from STDs and putting them
in control of their bodies and
sexual desires. This holds
equally true for men. Contra-
ceptives, on the other hand,
provide no guarantee against
STDs, pregnancy or, equally
important, emotional scarring.
Unfortunately, Ms.
Twenge misrepresents an ex-
cellent article that examines
this emotional scarring -
"The Neglected Heart" by
Thomas Lickona in American
Educatorquotes young women
and men who feel that "sex
that isn't tied to love and com-
mitment undermines charac-
ter by subverting self-control,
respect and responsibility."
The woman in this article ex-
pressed remorse that they had
the Catholic Church requires a
six-month waiting period be-
fore marriage, as well as mar-
riage training and seminars.
However, Ms. Twenge be-
lieves that abstinence is "clearly
not the right choice for others."
Why? Will people die if they
don't have sex? The married
couples I know, my parents in-
cluded, who waited until mar-
riage for sex and have always
tried to serve God to the best of
their abilities have happy and
strong marriages. This speaks
louder than words for the re-
wards of abstinence.
Alice Mackenzie
Class of 1993
Vote NO on
proposal 1
To the Daily:
With the MSA elections
here, I feel it is necessary to
clear up some things about Pro-
posal 1. This proposal wants
the student body to volunteer
$.25 per student per semester to
go towards funding of the Ann
Arbor Tenants' Union. What
isn't being saidis thatthe AATU
can still be funded without this
age little over $100 each. Why
should one student group get
180 times the amount of fund-
ing of another? Why should
they have special status? I hope
everyone thinks about these
questions when voting on pro-
posal 1, and votes NO on pro-
posal 1.
Matt Phillips
LSA senior
MSA Representative
i.7