4 - The Michigan Daily -- Tuesday, January 24, 1995 (fie r iYgt &zttg 'it is not the consciousness of men that determines their being, but on the contrary their social being that determines their consciousness.' --Karl Marx 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 i 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. 4rrq AIl FICTI ON .4 ~~~- I ~ . - m n I /I r- l"4 I F..] I / ccess, representation The push for a student regent must be student-led ..t. 1 iw w! F I V sC .v K--- I NW p - I 7 Pr frequent readers of the Daily editorial page, the issue to follow must surely be starting to become a bore. Still, of all the issues presently confronting students at the Univer- sity, the push for student representation on the Board of Regents remains the most salient - and retains the most urgency. It is a debate that is not new. Talk of a student seat on the Board of Regents has been tossed around in student leadership circles for at least a decade. But it has only been as of late - the last two years, spe- cifically that students began taking a different tack. Instead of embarking on the arduous task of amending the state Consti- tution, why not try to procure representa- tion in a non-voting capacity? Commendably, the Michigan Party leader- ship of the Michigan Student Assembly has kept the ball rolling by placing this issue near the top of their platform. Students, however, mustn't rely on MSA alone to obtain representation. Historically, the Board of Regents has not been the most responsive of sorts to student interests and concerns. While improvements have been made, and while two fresh faces on the board should re-energize the University's governing body, December's board meeting made it clear that the voice of MSA still doesn't command much respect among the regents. MSA Presi- dent Julie Neenan was allowed to present her proposal for student representation on the Board, but even the normally garrulous re- gents held their tongue. The only follow-up discussion to Neenan's proposal commended her - although slightly condescendingly - and then quickly moved to make clear that representation was OK, as long as it didn't take the form of an actual student sitting side by side with the regents. Simply put, this is unacceptable. The fact remains, the University shouldbe embarrassed by its reluctance to move forward in the way every other Big Ten University (save the pri- vate Northwestern) has. While Michigan State University has four non-voting student re- gents, students at the University are blessed with none. No access, no representation. The status quo is surely not to change without the help of students. The Daily en- courages interested students to e-mail Presi- dent James J. Duderstadt with their concerns about lack of representation. Moreover, as Vice President for Student Affairs Maureen A. Hartford seems to have placed student representation at the bottom of her hierarchy of concerns, perhaps a few messages and phone calls from students could serve as a reminder that the status quo just isn't good enough. The arguments against student representa- tion are easily deflated - and often times, disingenuous. The collective voice of students needs to come together to remind a sheltered Board of Regents that students deserve basic representation. Anything less simply won't suffice. I ii ~ & ~. 171 I..L.I..LL ~ I' . r/! : r = i I LSA takes a giant leap backwards by gutting Communication Department To the Daily: As a recent University graduate, I was present when the initial decision was made to restructure LSA's Communi- cation Department. Atthetime, I had the opportunity to discuss the decision with newly ap- pointed acting Chair (John) Chamberlin, and after doing so, was relatively confident that the decisions being made there would be carefully considered. Now I hear the majority of the qualitative communication cur- riculum, including journalism classes, is being scrapped. This, to me, is appalling. People have told me that, once upon a time, it was pos- sible to gain practical skills in an undergraduate liberal arts education. You could concen- trate in a subject area, and then count on the fact that such knowledge had prepared you for something otherthan gradu- ate school. The move with the Com- munication Department is just another step in the continuing devaluation of the undergradu- ate education. Iwas acommunication con- centrator at the University, and most of my coursework was in journalism. Through this coursework, I gained not just an understanding of how re- porting has been done, but how I could do it. I learned invalu- able skills with regard to inves- tigation - skills that are im- portantto know before moving on to a job in the field. Now, surprisingly, it would take a trip to the University's Masters program in journalism to gain these skills (and, of course, the additional years of tuition). With the cost of a college education as high as it is today, don't students have a right to leave the University with some- thing tangible? Burying them with watered-down concentra- tion programs and piles of dis- tribution requirements doesn't help the situation. I hope Dean Goldenberg considers this before axing an- other program. Andrew M. Levy LSA '93 Our long, slow Trek toward gender equity warps ahead "Thank you, sir," says an en- sign to his captain during the pilot episode of "Star Trek: Voyager." "Despite Starfleet protocol, I don't like being addressed as 'sir,"' an- swers Captain Kathryn Janeway. "I'm sory ... ma'amT' says the flustered ensign."Ma'am' is ac- ceptable in a crunch," says Janeway, "But I prefer 'captain."' Thus Star Trek enters the mod- ern era, with a woman at the helm of its flagship for the first time in its 30-year history. As an optimis- tic vision of the future, Star Trek has always been a symbol of eth- nic and gender equality on televi- sion, able to show powerful women, minorities in command and Americans and Russians work- ing together when such things couldn't be found anywhere else on the dial. Yet it has been a long and difficult journey getting there, laden with the symbolism of a society still uncertain of its beliefs and values. By today's standards, the origi- nal Star Trek episodes are obvious in their sexism, with Kirk and McCoy leering at any passing skirt before speaking condescendingly to the woman wearing it. Yet it didn't start out that way: The first strong woman of Star Trek ap- peared in its original pilot episode. NumberOne, a female first officer played byMajel Barrett, was calm, logical and in control. There was only one problem: Audienceshated her. To paraphrase Newt Gingrich's mom, they thought she was a bitch. So Gene Roddenberry axed the character, transferring her calm logic to Mr. Spock and turn- ing Star Trek into a buddy movie to the stars. Yet the show still managed to break a few barriers,portraying an interracial crew who worked to- gether well. Still, some of the ac- tors felt they had only token roles; Nichelle Nichols, who played Lieu- tenant Uhura, was ready to quit after several episodes of saying nothing but "Channel open, Cap- tain." That same week she went to a dinner and was introduced to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. When she told Dr. King that she'd decided to quit, he urged her to continue -it was very important for people to see Black role models on televi- sion, he told her earnestly. Need- less to say, she stayed. Captain Kathryn Janeway is also a role model, one of the few women on television who is in a position of power. The Trekkie crowd I watched the episode with wasn't quite sure what to make of her. She carries the burden ofpower well, almost effortlessly, until gen- der is not a central issue and she is not -a woman in command, but a person in command. Almost. It's the little hints of womanhood which make Kate Mulgrew's performance interest- ing, and speakto the real meanings of gender in the 20th century as well as the 24th. The first time we see Janeway, she is standing on an embankment with her hands on her hips. After Voyager is dam- aged in a plasma storm, Janeway stumbles through a smoky corri- dor-and quickly tucks her way- ward hair back into abun, provok- ing a laugh from the Trekkies. Yet for the most part Janeway is a captain, gender indeterminate. Her mannerisms, her speaking style, and many ofherwords could just as well be Jean-Luc Picard's ofNext Generation fame. The con- fidence in her stride is obvious, and she smiles on only the rarest of occasions. In many ways, she plays * Minimum wage, revisited Congress should pass a minimum wage increase Serpent's Tooth represents our worst qualities + W~f hen Bill Clinton ran forpresident in 1992 he promised to push for an increase in the minimum wage. Now, in 1995, after the unfortunate Republican victory in the mid- term elections, the issue has finally risen to the top of the president's list of things to accom- plish. The wage raise, alternately being pro- posed by Sen. Kennedy and the president as moving from either $4.25 to $5.00 or $5.50, has been publicly supported by the Demo- cratic leadership in Congress and Vice Presi- dent Gore. The President is expected to make a formal announcement in his State of the Union speech tonight. Whenever there is talk of raising the mini- mum wage, the same arguments surface in an attempt to squelch the measure. The discourse of late has been no exception. Politicians, and the economists that support their views, have already began the chant: "Think of the outra- geousjob loss! Think of the phenomenal infla- tion!" Just as these arguments have been disproven when the minimum wage was raised in the past, so they should be ignored again. Recent studies from Alan Kreuger and David Card, economists at Princeton Univer- sity, have shown that the arguments of mini- mum wage naysayers are unfounded. In the past, when theminimumwagehas beenraised, there has been some job loss - but not any- thing approaching the astronomical numbers suggestedby opponents ofthe measure. Econo- mists predict this raise, of a very considerable 18 percent, would result in the unemployment of less then 1 percent of the work force. The increase in total income overall would offset any possible rise in consumer prices, resulting from minimum-wage related costs employers could push onto consumers. Even if the opponents claims were valid, now is the best time to raise the minimum wage. Currently, the United States' economy going to have to be raised sometime -- as the cost of living rises. So what better time to raise it then when the economy can most easily swallow the unlikely negative consequences? Further, there are more reasons to support raising the minimum wage than reasons not to - and they are more economically sound. First it will raise the number of families above the poverty line, thereby decreasing the bur- den on the Federal welfare system by increas- ing the incentive to work. Contrary to popular belief, the majority of people in minimum wage jobs are not teenagers. Two-thirds of minimum wage earners are adults and 45 percent of those earn at least one-half of their families income. Raising the minimum wage by the proposed 18 percent will significantly increase those families' incomes. Studies also show that a raise in minimum wage causes a ripple effect in salaries up to 50 cents over the new wage. So, raising the minimum wage will make it possible for a large group of low income families to live above the poverty line. Secondly raising the wage will increase incentives forbusinesses to provide their work- ers with opportunities for increasing their skills. If acompany has to pay more per hour it is only logical that they will want to get more from each worker in that hour. If they are paid more it is in the companies' best interest to make them worth more. The United States' com- petitive edge in the global market is most definitely not low skill/low wage workers. In fact, there is no way we can compete with developing countries in this department. Our strengthis ahigher skilled, and therefore higher paid work force. Raising the minimum wage will give companies, and workers, further incentive to increase their skills and efficiency. Now is the most opportune time to raise the minimum wage. Right now the economy is To the Daily: I am sending you my re- sponse to the letter from Michi- gan Review stafferBakopoulos, and to all the defensive posing which recently appeared in the Review as a result of my brief letter sent to the Daily at the end of last semester. The letter from Bakopoulos was printed in your Jan. 9 issue, and it is interesting to compare the meek yet firm tone of that letter with the com- ments Bakopoulos posted in his most recent Serpent's Tooth column, wherein he made fun of my name. A copy of this is also being sent to the Review. I do this because they like to fiddle with people's writing, and I wanted my words to ap- pear intact in at least one publi- cation. Most of the Review's en- ergy seems to be devoted to making fun of other people, usually in a nasty manner. I'm responsible for my share of sat- ire, both on the radio and in writing, but I try and tempermy statements with a certain amount of empathy. I do not detect much empathy in the writings of Michigan Review- ers. These are predominately arrogant young people who have everything figured out and anybody who disagrees had better be quiet or they'll whip you in the pillory. Mr. Bakopoulos, of the Serpent'sTooth column, voiced disbelief in my objections, say- ing that I cannot possibly be talking about the current Re- view but rather I must be react- ing to something I read in the past. I have no idea how often the staff changes over, and I don't care. If he is suddenly the editor of a column which has pissed me off on a regular basis for several years, then welcome, the Serpent's Tooth column. Michigan Reviewers jump up and down denying this but lis- ten I've read your shit and sometimes it's that stupid and offensive. This is my opinion. I'm voicing it. Sometimes the Serpent's Tooth column does actually come across with funny bits. I thought the entry concerning an increase in sex among midg- ets since the truncating of restroom doors was a funny bit. Nothing too brilliant, but funny nonetheless. What bothers me are at- tempts at humor which only end up as horrid blobs of ques- tionable warpo logic. Again, I am myself a dedicated warper of logic, but when I try and bear in mind that when one writes something and it gets published and distributed to large numbers of people, then one has essentially planted a seed in the body politick. One little misconception can grow into a chest-thumping lie pretty darn quick. Example: Awhileagothere was a Serpent's Tooth entry which stated that since Nazis called themselves National Socialists, then that means Nazis were left-wing extrem- ists because of the word "so- cialist."This wasn'tfunny, and it showed tremendously insuf- ficientthoughtprocesses barely at work. The key word is not "socialist" but "national." You'd think by now people would recognize the fact that nationalism is a deadly mis- take. We've seen it proven in protracted, bloody wars again and again. Nationalism is when a healthy love for your mother- land mutates into a macho power trip. You'd think this would register by now in iam F. Buckley's National Re- view? It's the principle of seed- ing once again. Years ago, these college Review papers sprung up in obvious imitation of Buckley's rag. I believe the Michigan Review emerged right around the beginning of the Reagan administration. Right? If you're so different, now, then dissociate yourselves from the obvious connection and change the name of your paper. As it is, the combination of whatyou call yourselves and what you spout makes for a byproduct which I feel is sus- pect. How to trust you? I don't. Have you ever seen the video documentary dealing with the Dartmouth Review? How they hounded a professor of color until he resigned? The kids responsible were just as nasty, just as defensive when challenged as our own Michi- gan Reviewers. My own per- ception of the Michigan and Dartmouth Reviews being linked to a nationwide chain of William F. Buckley offshoots stems from having viewed this video. In fact, on two separate occasions, I was the projection- ist who showed it to an audito- rium full of students. I wonder, did they see any similarities? The Dartmouth dudes, to me, were indistinguishable from our Michigan Reviewers. Finally, let me state that being insulted personally by the Review is only a little bit more unpleasant than being insulted on a more generalized level by the overallcommentary. Ifound it ironic that after stating that Serpent's Tooth doesn't attack anyone on the basis of their religious beliefs, the editorglee- fully referred to my-name as a "silly pseudonym." Listen here: Arwulf is my II