4 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, December 2, 1994 U E firtIch Y gtt t I . w ANAL MW M M = Allk 2 0 AONL Alk Oft 0 I I MOI F~ ~1 I ~*IU 101 I!1 :i I I w .-....... wr.ww rswa.i. I 420 Maynard Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan 'Well, I guess we can stand it, so long as hogs are 20 cents a hundred.' - An anonymous farmer, explaining his indifference to the issue of imperialism in the 1900 election JessieHallad y Editor in Chief Samuel Goodstein Flint Wainess Editorial Page Editors Thanks? For what? Pass 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. AdvisorCorps 50N, WITH COM4PET iTiO2N LIKE THAT, YOU'RE C2NONNA ' ATARVE! 4 j)EMoCkA- +CONC--IMm f FOR svs . .. w . i * L-i ,,? te _ , /. ... r \- ZO, O the turkey ecently, Vince Keenan, Chairofthe Michi- gan Student Assembly Students' Rights Commission formed AdvisorCorps, a new service to be provided to students charged under the University's Statement of Student Rights and Responsibilities (aka the Code). This new service has the potential to be very valuable to students if the administration offi- cially recognizes its existence and purpose. AdvisorCorps advisors will be students trained by MSA's Students' Rights Commis- sion and the University's Office of the Judicial Advisor. They will all have an extensive knowl- edge ofthe limits and workings ofthe Code. As students charged under the Code seek AdvisorCorps' help, student advisors will be well qualified to help these students make it through the Code process fairly. No longer will students solely have to rely on the Judicial Advisor's biased "neutral" interpretation of The Code. While MSA has already approved creating AdvisorCorps, it cannot begin successfully functioning without the approval of the Judi- cial Advisor, who first communicates with charged students and, therefore, is the one who can best notify students of this valuable ser- vice. Withoutthe administration's help, charged students would likely not know of AdvisorCorps and, therefore, solely rely on the University's Judicial Advisor's advice. Because of the unique and small clientele AdvisorCorps will attract, typical advertising methods would be fairly ineffective. The Uni- versity has nothing to lose in promoting AdvisorCorps; in fact, AdvisorCorps can only help the University dispute charges that its Code is unfair to charged students. Supposedly, the Judicial Advisor remains a M neutral party in Code disputes. However, there is an inherent conflict of interest in the University being both prosecutor and defense attorney. Regardless of what the University maintains, this is the case. One cannot most effectively advise a charged student if one does not care about the outcome, but only a fair and simple process. Under such circum- stances, justice is sure to be sacrificed. Admittedly, AdvisorCorps advisors may not have as impressive of a legal background as a lawyer. But, since many students may not want to enlist the service of Student Legal Services or an expensive private attorney, student advice is far better than no advice. Additionally, if the AdvisorCorps advisors are committed to learn- ing the Code's unique process, such a back- ground should be sufficient to successfully advise students. AdvisorCorps would also be beneficial to students who have just a simple question about the Code or its process. The student advisors would surely be more willing to fully explain the provisions and ramifications of the Code than a busy attorney who is not receiving compensation for their advice. Over the past two years, the administration has shown no concern for the rights of accused students; from the limited information avail- able from the expunged files provided by the University, it is apparent that the University has systematically ignored the Code's proce- dural protections for the rights of students. The University's enthusiastic support andpro- motion of AdvisorCorps could begin to re- verse this apparent sentiment and prove that it cares not only about a safe campus environ- ment, but the legal rights of students. r e ism ,r r = RSS, '!Z 9 f ,r 'hrll U4 I1.Y' i' f ,j ; r ! Espresso accused of booting homeless man To the Daily: On Nov. 22, a cold, windy night, I ventured out to Espresso Royale Cafe on South Main to relax and continue my studies. The wind seemed to blow right through me as I made the four to five block trek, chilledI was happy to arrive at the establish- ment and enjoy the warmth of the building within. I purchased a cup of coffee, sat down and proceeded to read my textbook for the next hour and a half. Like many others at this coffee shop, I was encouraged by the environment to linger long af- ter my beverage had been con- sumed. Around 10:00, an elderly man wandered in off the streets, no doubt to escape the brutal conditions outside. I got his at- tention by greeting him, and he asked to borrow my pen. I obliged, and invited him to join me at my table. His name was Wayland, and although he was quite clean, his haggard fea- tures seemed to indicate that he was homeless or had been out- side for some time. He was not drunk or smelly or boisterous; indeed he was polite and unas- suming. Peacefully, we sat across from each other, I re- turning to my book, and he jotting down some thoughts on a piece of paper. I was glad to have made the acquaintance of my new friend. Suddenly, another man, this one well-dressed and comfort- able-looking, came to our table and said he wanted to talk to Wayland outside. It took a few moments for me to realize that Wayland was being kicked out. I protested and told the man it was okay, that I wanted Wayland to stay and that I was buying him a coffee. The man said it didn't matter, that he didn't want Wayland there, and that since he was the propri- etor, he had the right to kick Wayland out. So Wayland was thrown back out into the cold. After dispensing of my guest, the proprietor returned to explain that Wayland had been "making people uncom- fortable" in front of the shop before joining me. Although he admitted that Wayland had not been bothering anyone as he sat with me, he muttered something about Wayland ear- lier smoking in the non-smok- ing section. He explained the type of customer who was wel- come to hang out there, imply- ing that Wayland detracted from the atmosphere that the estab- lishment tries to effect. I don'tdoubtthatifWayland was loitering in front of the store, it made people uncom- fortable. The mere thought of an older man having no place to sleep is disconcerting, and it is not pleasant to be reminded of such people. Even more dis- concerting, however, is the ease with which some elements of our society comfortably shove people like Wayland back into the streets. To be sure, if Wayland were merely making a scene or being unruly in any way, there would be cause for reluctantly imposing this cruel circumstance upon my friend. But once hejoined me, Wayland presented no inconvenience to the patrons of the shop, except that he didn't fit into the exclu- sive environment of the estab- lishment. Now that's something that makes me uncomfortable! So if you want to talk to me about this topic, you'll have to track me down at Sweetwater's cafe on Ashley or Dom Bakery on Main St. or one of the other Espresso Royale establish- ments in the area. Keenen Dworak Rackham student After ingesting enough turkey to feed most of Brazil for a week, I sat down to watch some football on tele- vision. That's when I was hit with a striking revelation: Thanksgiving is basically just an excuse for Ameri-q cans to take a couple of days off and eat. As far as health is concerned, the average American is basically a walk- ing McNugget. Our average choles- terol level is higher than Keith Richards. We have the body fat of a congressional budget. I think our health problems can be summed up by the fact that George Foreman i our heavywight champion. Think aboutit: amiddle-aged guy whocame out of retirement to support his $300- a-day cheeseburgerhabitis the tough- est guy in the country. Big George is the first heavyweight champion in history to be larger than life, literally. That doesn't mean Foreman isn't in excellent shape. I think most of us would agree that round is an excel lent shape. But my point for today (yes, in a shocking development, this column will have a point) is not that Ameri- cans are too fat. My point is that we have been focusing our tunnel vision on those sweet potatoes and stuffing for a little too long, and we have forgotten the true meaning of Thanks- giving. I spent six hours eating an watching television last week, and the only time anybody said "Thanks" was aftersomebody passed the noodle pudding. That's why I spent the last week doing research on this national holi- day, assembling this little quiz. Turn your answers into the Daily. Second prize is a free copy of today's Daily. First prize is a free copy of today' Daily, minus the column on page four. (Hint: all answers are wrong, unless otherwise noted.) Question No. 1: Thanksgiving means: a) Two days off. b) Four days off. c) A three-day week. d) Literally, "Giving thanks." Question No. 2: Although the original Thanks- giving feast was in October, the fol- lowing President scheduled the ac- tual holiday in November: a) Alexander Hamilton. b) James Duderstadt. c) Roosevelt. (This is the correct answer.) d) What are you looking at D for? Come on! You already know that is the correct answer! You should know better than that. Go on to the next question, namely: Question No. 3: The reason Roosevelt scheduled Thanksgiving for the last Thursday in November was: a) He wanted the day off so he could watch the Lions game. b) He wanted to keep February open so he could make his birthday a national holiday. c) Because. d) If he scheduled it for Friday, he wouldn' tget two days off, now would he? Question No.4: The day after Thanksgiving is the busiest shopping day of the year. This is because: a) People around the nation need to buy heartburn medicine. b) That's when Cher buys her makeup. c) That's when Madonna buys her chains. d) More people go shopping on that day than any other. (This is the correct answer.) Question No.5: There are dozens of songs about Christmas, yet none about Thanks- giving. Why? a) Nothing rhymes with "Thanks- giving." p 0 0 0 NI Seniority rules Sen. Jesse Helms' (R-N.C.) statement that President Clinton "better have a body- guard" if he visits the senator's state has pro- vided fodder for the media to blast Republi- cans and their forthcoming choices for com- mpittee chairs. Despite the talk about not elect- ing Helms as Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, most likely, the Repub- lican party will maintain the status quo by bowing to seniority and handing over the posi- tion to Helms. In light of this impending deci- sion, rather than bickering over Helms' nomi- nation, Congress and American voters should reconsider the Senate's nominating procedures 4nd demand more credible operations and leaders. In the next Congress, the Republican ma- jority will most likely renew their old proce- dures for choosing chairs. The process in- volves forming the Senate committees and then relying on the Republican members of the individual committees to vote on a chair. After the committees nominate their chairs, the Re- publican Caucus votes by secret ballot to con- firm the nominations. If the Caucus disagrees with the nomination, it can suggest its own preference and force the committee to recon- sider its original nomination. In fact, the last time the Republican Caucus questioned a committee nomination was in 1987, when the Senate Foreign Relations Com- mittee nominated Sen. Lugar (R-Indiana) as ranking minority member. The Caucus voted down the nomination and recommended that the Committee nominate Sen. Helms. Although Lugar and Helms held equal time on the Com- rnittee, Helms had seniority in the Senate, and the Caucus was determined to hold to senior- ity. The same issue of seniority is likely to emerge in the next Congress, and once again, the Caucus will not question whether senior Senators such as Helms and Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.) are and can be capable and responsible leaders. The Caucus will ratify them solely because of their advanced years in office. By law, the individual committees and the Caucus are not bound by seniority. By practice, the Caucus is partial to senior leader- ship. However, judging from the 1987 nomi- nation, committees such as Foreign Affairs do not rely solely on seniority and want to take responsibility to elect the most capable chairs.. In order to maintain its integrity and to respond to the American voters' desire for leadership and change, the Senate should alter this practice. One option is for the Senate to create a rule or a new body, like the House's Committee on Committees, which aims to put the best people in leadership positions. Per- haps more effective, voters can pressure their Republican Senators to vote against unfit or embarrassing nominees in the Caucus vote, which is by secret ballot. Incoming Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) has pledged to abolish se- niority as the sole determining factorforchair- manships in the House. The Republican lead- ership can not afford to spend their time worrying about GOP politics; they are now the governing party. It's time they put the interests of the coun- try above the Caucus and followed the lead of the House. Notes on The Bell Curve To the Daily: I am writing in response to Jean Twenge's column on natu- ral intelligence (11/29/94). In her column, she states that in the book, the Bell Curve, au- thors Murray and Horrenstein "overgeneralize their findings into social policy, racial differ- ences and lots of other places where they don't belong." She then continues to write that the SAT is not a good indicator of general intelligence or perfor- mance in college. In this argument Ms. Twenge assumes that Murray and Horrenstein are saying that the SAT is an indicator of intel- ligence and performance in col- lege. This is not what the authors have written or believe. Murray and Horrenstein have written that "some con- vergence has been found when SATs are used as measures of ability and grade point average is used as the measure of achievement. Students with dif- fering SATs sometimes differ more in their freshman grades than in later years. That is why President Bok [former presi- dent of Harvard University] granted predictive value to the SAT only for first-year grades." This passage does not say that Murray and Horrenstein con- tinue to agree with Ms. Twenge that "figuring out the net ef- fects of testing or not testing is no small matter. No one has yet done it conclusively." I am not writing this letter in favor of the findings of the Bell Curve, nor am I opposed to them. My purpose is to re- mark that debate of the issues raised should be restricted to close readings of the treatise. Those tending to read or hear about the book are most likely misinformed. Most of the con- clusions strictly concerning in- telligence and success are noted as observations based on sta- tistical correlations(notion cause-and-effect relation- ships). I hope informed discussion on this matter will continue, as it is a controversial topic which deserves attention. James C. Kim Engineering senior College Republicans are sick hypocrites To the Daily: Throughout the past few years, the College Republicans (a.k.a. The Jesse Helms Fan people about the disease. The College Republicans' flyers tar- get homosexuality as being immoral and imply that moral- ity and family values will stop the spread of AIDS. We think that most students would agree with us when we say that this is a very short-sighted view on a very serious problem. Who made the College Re- publicans the experts on moral- ity? Actually, these "defenders of morality" are hypocrites. The College Republicans printed a newsletter just prior to Thanks- giving break. In this newsletter they included a list of things to "be thankful for this Thanks- giving." One of the things that was on this list was "the man on the Grassy Knoll." The College Republicans seem to be thank- ful for the assassination of a President of the United States, John F. Kennedy. Our organi- zation finds this Thanksgiving list appalling. Is celebrating the assassination of an American President "moral?" We believe that most of ourfellow students would agree that it isn't. Our organization is dis- tressed that the College Repub- licans have such a warped sense of "morality." We hope that they can reflect upon their own morality and values before they force them upon the student body again. We also hope that they can use the remainder of this week 01 01 Thhe media circus When the 1985 Agusta 109 helicopter took off just after 10 a.m. to pick up a critical cardiac patient in Howell, Mich., only to crash into a grassy field near North Campus, killing all three on I I