The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, April 18, 1995 - 15
-LET'TER8S
Congress should
not take action
for Armenia
To the Daily:
As condemnable as any massacre
is, I hope Congress does not take any
extraordinary acknowledgement con-
cerning the genocide of Armenians
during World War I-era Turkey on
my account.
The Armenians were playing a
nationalistic game and they lost. Un-
fortunately, the same players are at it
again, only this time it is the Arme-
nians who have made the refugees -
one milion Azerbaijanis - and nary a
word of apology from the former refu-
Wgees, or even from their Holy Church.
Should now these refugees ask the
U.S.A. to condemn the Armenians?
Being on a merry-go-round is not my
idea of civilization.
An intonation: As long as we honor
our particulars more than our com-
monness, genocides are natural to ter-
ritorial imperatives.
The earth has been here for four
billion years, and for some puny indi-
vidual or group to come along waving
a Bible or a deed saying "This is my
land" is beyond stupidity, which
shows up as genocides.
Another intonation: All the work-
ers of the world - everyone from a
toilet cleaner to a brain surgeon to a
super star - get the same pay.
I do this in memory of all who
have suffered because of the prides
and prejudices of ismistic knuckle
heads.
Sahag Avedisian
Ann Arbor resident
MSA stands
against code
To the Daily:
Like the Energizer Bunny, the list
of organizations dedicated to abolish-
ing the University's non-academic
conduct code keeps on going and go-
ing and going: MSA, The Michigan
Review, The Michigan Daily,
NWROC, the College Democrats, the
College Republicans ...
What sort of a policy must this
ode be that it provokes the ire of such
a diverse slate of groups and indi-
viduals? In short, it is a monstrosity
beyond what any of its framers could
have imagined.
For one, it's extremely expensive.
Your tuition dollars continue to pay
the exorbitant salary of the code's
judicial advisor, Mary Lou Antiau,
'and other code lackeys. Some of you
might have read about Antieau after a
few of her "stellar" interpretive deci-
sions: For instance, Antieau's con-
sideration of charging a female Uni-
versity student under the Code for
telling a reporter her story of how her
ex-boyfriend was charged under the
Code for physically abusing her.
. But the central problem with the
code isn't dollars and cents; it's that
the code discriminates against com-
plainant and accused alike. The ac-
cused are left with few due process
rights while the complainant wastes
time that could have been better spent
in a court of law. What does the com-
plainant get for his or her time pursu-
ing charges? Usually a letter of repri-
mand saying the University thinks the
accused acted poorly.
President Duderstadt's first name
isn't Dad. The rights of students
needn't be sacrificed by a kangaroo
court that thinks it's the University's
business if you have a scuffle at Score-
keepers or, as one case would have it,
are threatened with water by your
neighbor holding a garden hose.
MSA stands unanimously in stead-
fast opposition to the Code.
Flint Wainess
MSA President
Cemetery not
proper party site
To the Daily:
As the semester comes to a close,
many of use feel the urge to go out and
celebrate. With our IDs in hand, some
real, others fake, we head over to
Strickland's and stock up on celebra-
tion fuel. The cemetery is wide open
and inviting us in. It's the perfect
place to drink in peace. Dark, quiet,
empty, and oh so calm ...
Not quite. This past weekend For-
est Hills Cemetery was not a place for
a loved one to rest in peace. Some of
us took the celebration a bit too far.
As I remembered my sister this Easter
Sunday, I approached the area where
she onced rested in peace, but was
mortified by the site of her freshly
vandalized stone. linteligent and edu-
cated as we might think we are, some
of us are apparently unaware that
choosing to party in such a manner in
any cemetary is a federal offense
which carries a mandatory sentence
of four long years. We are all excited
to have one more semester under our
belts here at the University, but to
deliberately knock over five or six
headstones is absolutely sickening.
Bridget Mann
LSA sophomore
True meaning of
Easter ignored
To the Daily:
In four years year at the Univer-
sity, I have never seen such an unpro-
fessional disregard for newsworthy
events and an entire segment of the
student population as what has been
displayed by the Daily staff this past
Friday and Monday.
How is it that a group of less than
10 students get full coverage for a
political demonstration, when not five
minutes later a group of more than
600 students gathered in the very same
place to celebrate a religious holiday
and not a word appeared about it in
the newspaper on Monday? How is it
in a feature article on Easter there can
be only a passing mention of the sig-
nificance that the Good Friday and
Easter holidays have to one of the
world's largest religions?
If the Daily staff must ignore these
events, please allow me to elaborate
on why those 600 people on the Diag
were gathered there last Friday:
Almost 2,000 years ago, God came
to Earth in the form of a man, Jesus
Christ, to offer humankind a substitu-
tion atonement - a way for us to
claim God's perfect love and forgive-
ness that has been shown to humans
throughout Tanakh, the Gospels and
the rest of the New Testament. You
can choose to ignore this message,
you can choose to refute this mas-
sage, you can try to change the truth in
God's Word as some have done, but
ultimately, you can not forget the
picture of the cross and what God's
sacrifice has done for all humankind.
David Hoard
LSA senior
Daily slights
Christians
To the Daily:
Once again the Daily has demon-
strated its incompetence in delivering
trustworthy news, or even the news at
all. Friday's article on Easter dis-
played an inability of the reporter to
investigate facts about the holiday.
The fact that Easter is the celebration
of the resurrection of our Lord, Jesus
Christ, was barely mentioned as a
side note. Instead, this article picked
up the cultural celebration of Easter
and inadequately attempted to por-
tray that celebration as reminiscent of
the religious aspects. In addition, the
reporter distorted facts to make the
whole holiday look like a pagan ritual.
The holiday is determined by the lu-
nar cycle, one determined by the He-
brew calendar, which is used to ob-
serve Jewish holidays as well - the
pagan celebration of the moon and
spring play no part in the religious
celebration of Easter.
Then, today (4/17/95) I picked up
the Daily and saw more than a quar-
ter-page article on the front, talking
about five people who dumped Pepsi
on the Diag. Had the reporter cover-
ing the event turned around, she would
have seen between 500 and 1,000
people worshipping Jesus Christ. It
happens every year: the Good Friday
Rally. Last year the Daily feebly at-
tempted to cover the event by placing
a picture, with caption, in the center
of the first of four pages of Hash Bash
coverage. This year the Daily has
allowed five people to preempt cov-
erage of what really happened on the
Diag.
Does the Daily's typically liberal
agenda preclude giving any coverage
or truth to Christianity on campus'? I
sincerely hope not.
Instead, I hope that these were
unintended mistakes by the staff. I
urge editors and reporters to work
together to fix such problems, and
demonstrate to this campus that the
Daily is truly dedicated to unbiased
reporting and does not preclude unfa-
vorable groups, in its eyes, from open
media coverage.
Joe Cox
LSA senior
Religion article
neglects Hindus
To the Daily:
Today, with nearly a billion people
following the Hindu way of life, the
religion would hardly seem to be one
easily ignored. However, Friday's
Focus article, "Keeping up with Reli-
gion on Campus," (4/7/95) blatantly
chose to do just that.
The omission is even more sur-
prising, however, when one recog-
nizes the lengths to which Hindus on
campus have gone to increase aware-
ness and understanding of their heri-
tage and culture. This school year, the
Hindu Students Council celebrated
Diwali with a puja (a traditional reli-
gious service), receiving extensive
coverage by the Daily. In addition, an
entire week in January was declared
Hindu Heritage Week in an effort to
draw attention to Hindus on campus.
The culturally and spiritually rich
week included lectures by speakers
from across the country, a discussion
on Hindu Contributions to the World,
a celebration of India's Republic Day
and concluded with a traditional dance
festival. Last year, the Hindu Stu-
dents Council sponsored the First
Conference on Spirituality, promot-
ing the concepts of tolerance and open-
ness through speakers from Hindu,
Christian, Jewish, and other commu-
nities. The Hindu Students Council
has been recognized by the Officeof
Academic and Multicultural itia-
tives and the Office of the Vice Presi-
dent of Student Affairs as an organi-
zation that promotes awareness and
understanding on campus.
The blame, however, does not lie
fully with the Daily. At a university
where the third largest religious fol-
lowing is Hinduism, it is disturbing
that Hinduism is not even offered as
an option for students to select on the
freshman questionnaire. It is unjusti-
fiable that Hindus are demeaned by
being forced to select "other religion."
The Hindu stundents on campus
have actively attempted to enrich the
student body by exposing all to the
universal ideals of their religion. Hin-
duism has developed from arich philo-
sophical tradition, from the wisdom
and experiences of sages and seers.
Hinduism, in essence, provides paths
to a life of righteousness. The details
of each path, however, are not a mat-
ter of Hindu dogma. As the saying
goes in Sanskrit, "Ekam Sat Viprah,
Bahudha Vandanti," which translates,
"Truth is One, paths are many." For
each personality, there lies a separate
path to the same spiritual end. By
admitting such flexibility, Hinduism
professes and breeds tolerance. Ev-
ery religion is valued and every path
recognized.
While tolerance is a Hindu main-
stay, tolerance of ignorance cannot be
justified.
The Hindu Students Council
Hillary Clinton's
failure not due
to gender bias
To the Daily:
Regarding the April 6 editorial on
Hillary Clinton: I am sick and tired of
feminists and other sympathetic lib-
erals using misguided attempts to both
defend the first lady's supervision of
health care reform and condemn Mrs.
Clinton's critics. with the usual liberal
arsenal (basically, labeling those who
disagree with them as racist,
homophobic, or, in this case, sexist).
Conservatives were not, I repeat not,
calling Mrs. Clinton's gender into
question when her plan was defeated.
Republicans are very supportive of
women such as prestigious Sen. Nancy
Kassebaum (R-Kan.), and Christine
Todd (hopefully the next Vice Presi-
dent of the United States). These are
extraordinarily talented women who
embrace conservative ideals.
As with Clinton administration
members Joycelyn Elders, Ron
Brown, Henry Cisneros, Mike Espy,
and others, Mrs. Clinton's perfor-
mance has been characterized by
utter incompetence. First, she held
closed-door meetings, effectively
keeping the public in the dark on her
health care reform. Then she hand
picked advisors that would support
her first step in the path to socialized
medicine. She arrogantly brushed
aside any form of compromise with
the Republicans, feeling she could.
ramrod her plan through what was at
that time a Democratically controlled
House and Senate. Well, she gambled
and lost. The public, not fully aware
of what exactly the plan entailed,
thanks to Mrs. Clinton, strongly re-
jected it. The Republicans of course,
opposed the plan. Even the Demo-
crats in Congress were largely against
it. When it comes to politics, Mrs.
Clinton is a rank amateur, even more
feeble than her her husband - wel,
at least she stands for something. She
tried to pass major legislation without
the support of the public, and her
despotic leadership was spurned.
Gender is not, and never was, an
issue. Mrs. Clinton has been criti
cized for being incompetent, nothing
more. Mrs. Clinton blames gender fo
her failure; this is an easy way out
She doesn't have to face up to he?
faults with the scapegoat of sexism.'
Women are equal to men, meaning
they are not infallible. There are
women who fail. There are women.
who are incompetent. When a woman.
makes a mistake and is criticized for.
it, gender should not immediately be
cited as the underlying reason -for
such criticism. This is how the Wash-
ington system works: You screw up,
you receive relentless criticism. Con-
sider Vincent Foster; the man was
ridden so hard, he commited suicide.
Mrs. Clinton was qualified for her
position. She did her best to enact
what she felt was health care refoni
that was for the good of the country
She did so in a particularly arrogang
manner, and her plan was soundl
rejected. This course of action inevi
tably marks the end of a non-congresi
sional legislative career. Mrs. ClintoN
was not condemned for being
woman; she was condemned for b
ing an arrogant, unlikeable, and uIt
mately futile woman.
Michael Judson
LSA sophomore
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