4 -- The Michigan Daily - Friday, February 3, 1995 (The stichtottn trtiv MICHAEL ROSENBERG RosEs ARE READ 01 420 Maynard Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan I I MICHAEL ROSENBERG Editor in Chief JULIE BECKER JAMES NASH Editorial Page Editors Court and the code: open hearings, closed minds 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. Communication cleanup New committee a good temporary solution n a new development in the ongoing saga of the much-maligned LSA Department of Communication, the faculty advisory com- mittee for the unit released a report that made pivotal recommendations about the future governance of the department. The commit- tee declared the current body of faculty unfit to rebuild and govern the department. It rec- ommended appointing an executive commit- tee comprised of LSA faculty outside com- munication, as well as some professors cur- rently employed in the department. Although an unusual step - a committee of this sort is convened only under extreme circumstances - this course of action could be highly beneficial, but only as an interim measure. In the long term, if the Communication Depart- ment is to be viable, it must be run primarily by its own professors. Under the plan recommended in the re- port, the communications chair would ap- point an interim executive committee that would include faculty from within the de- partment, as well as several professors from other LSA disciplines. There are a number of advantages to doing this. First, a large num- ber of the current faculty within the depart- ment will be replaced over the next year. There will not be enough professors with experience in the workings of the University, and the running of a University department, unless some are brought in from elsewhere in LSA. Also, as the interim committee will be making decisions about which professors are retained and which are not, it must not in- clude faculty who are concerned about keep- ing their jobs - a category into which many communication faculty currently fit. For better or for worse, the Communica- tion Department is in the midst of significant changes in its mission and scope. In order for these changes to be implemented smoothly, it must be led by experienced people who understand the University, LSA and the new credo of the discipline. However, despite the plan's advantages, it could prove detrimental if employed on anything but a short-term basis. If University divisions are to run smoothly, it is critical that they be administered primarily by mem- bers of their own faculties, who are knowl- edgeable about the unique needs and direc- tives of their departments. Communication, except in this extreme case, is no exception. If the discipline is ever to assume its rightful place within the structure of the University, the department must regain its autonomy as quickly as possible. Desperate times call for desperate mea- sures. This plan, although unconventional, seems to be the most efficient and expedient solution to the Communication Department's current ills. However, the University com- munity must hope that the bodies making this decision will keep their promise to imple- ment the plan only on a temporary basis. Last Friday at 3:37 p.m., millions of viewers were watching as the double- murder trial of O.J. Simpson was televised around the world. Meanwhile, back in Ann Arbor the administration of the "lib- eral" University of Michigan was being forced to open a hearing under the State- ment of Student Rights and Responsibili- ties. Perhaps there is a reason why O.J. Simpson's double murder trial is nation- ally televised, but you have to threaten a lawsuit to hold an open code hearing. Perhaps it's because, unlike the University's code of non-academic con- duct, the U.S. justice system actually con- cerns itself with checks and balances. Perhaps it's because, unlike Judicial Advisor Mary Lou Antieau, Superior Court Judge Lance Ito is actually secure enough in his ability to do his job that he can handle the glare of the media spotlight. Perhaps it's because unlike Antieau, Ito actually spent years studying the law he must interpret. In fact, he even took an exam to prove his knowledge. Clearly, if a similar exam pertaining to the code were administered to Antieau tomorrow, she would have to spend some serious time holed up in the Grad tonight cramming. . Here is one short exchange between Antieau and faculty chair Peter Bauland during last Friday's nine-hour hearing for student Melanie Welch. The exchange took place after Welch asserted that events that took place more than six months ago are no longer valid under the code. Bauland: "Is that right?" Antieau: "Is what right?" Bauland: "Does that render anything before six months irrelevant?" Antieau: "I don't think so." Bauland: "What does the statementsay?" Antieau: "We'd have to get it out." All of this would be really funny if it weren't so disconcerting. Antieau is the judicial adviser for the code. "She's an assistant to me," said Vice President for Student Affairs Maureen A. Hartford. "She's responsible for the University's Statement of Student Rights and Responsibilities." If you were drawing up a list of things you would like the judicial adviser to know, it would probably look something like this: 1) The code. Ito is required to know thousands of different legal procedures and nuances. That is his job. Antieau is required to know the workings of a five-page state- ment. That is her job. The statement itself, as is well-docu- mented, is unconstitutional. For instance, before the code hearing, Welch's case went through the U.S. legal system - a novel approach. She pleaded no contest, and three months later the charges were dropped. Then last week she was forced to go on trial again. In the face of the blatant unconstitu- tionality of the code - which we already knew about - this latest news is more irritating than troubling. Certainly it is not surprising. With the way that the code has been handled for the past two years, very little is surprising. Basically, what we have here is a code of conduct that violates several essential freedoms. If you're charged under the code, you aren't allowed to have'a lawyer represent you. During a trial - and you may notice a slight conflict of interest here -- Antieau not only serves as virtual pros- ecutor but also advises the virtual jury on virtual rulings. Is it right for the prosecutor to be in on the jury's decision while the defendant can't even have an attorney at all? Ask O.J. Michael Rosenberg is an LSA junior and editor in chief of the Daily. Questions, comments and suggestions regarding his column - or the entire paper - can be e- mailed to him at mcr@umich.edu. 0 JIM LAsSER SHARP AS TOAST - - FOR EV E R... -CLEF 'SU NOTABLE QUOTABLE "We're pricing Michigan's young men and women out of an education." - State Sen. John Schwartz (R-Battle Creek), on a proposal to create a tax deduction for college tuition The global community U.S. must not back out of U.N. commitment A s the 50th anniversary of the founding 1 of the United Nations nears, the inter- national body's very existence is imperiled by a Republican bill recently introduced in Congress. This bill carries vital foreign policy implications, threatening the authority of the president and the future of the United Na- tions as a peacekeeping organization. The proposal as it stands would force the president to seek congressional approval be- fore contributing troops to U.N. peacekeep- ing forces - unjustly usurping the powers of the president as commander-in-chief. In ad- dition, the United States would cease to pro- vide money or supplies to U.N. peacekeep- ing missions. Instead, the Pentagon would offer loans, which the United Nations would have to repay later. Such a shift in policy would cost the United Nations around $1 billion a year in direct losses. While this alone is reason for concern, the indirect losses to come from the bill could be immeasurably greater. For the United States - the world's sole superpower - to make such a drastic shift in policy would have dire consequences for the future of the United Nations. The symbolic implications of such an American maneuver would greatly damage the workings of the organization. Furthermore, once the United States cuts off aid to the United Nations, many other contributing nations will un- doubtedly follow suit. This accumulated fi- nancial burden will incapacitate the United Nations as a peacekeeping body. The bill awaiting passage in the House of Representatives is unwise legislation for a wide variety of reasons. As an attempt to save the American taxpayer money, it is certain to backfire. After the U.N. peacekeeping forces are practically eliminated - a certain result of such a law - the United States will be forced to act unilaterally in almost all its foreign policy endeavors. This will ultimately cost more than funding a portion of the U.N. forces. In addition, as the world's strongest power, the United States will be forced to assume an even greater role as the "world's policeman," which the multilateral actions of the United Nations have allowed it to avoid. In the post-Cold War world, U.S. foreign policy has been amorphous, to say the least. The United Nations has played a particularly important role in this new geopolitical world - a world lacking the definition the Cold War provided for U.S. policy. Although cer- tain Republican members of Congress would like to revert to the days of isolationism, such a decision is both myopic and unrealistic. Recent passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement and the General Agree- ment on Tariffs and Trade are symbols of collapsing national boundaries. Technology continues to make the global community smaller and foreign policy decisions must adapt to this general direction. America's role in this new and changing world is still being defined. However, if international trade is any indication, nations are becoming increasingly interconnected in a web of telecommunications and decreas- ingly definitive borders. The United States cannot back away from the United Nations - on the contrary, leaders must embrace the United Nations as a vehicle for multilateral action and as a necessary part of an increas- ingly global community. VIEWPOINT Race-based scholarships necessary by Damon Jamaal Walker In response to the article on race-based scholarships ("Race- Based Scholarships," 1/20/95): the time has come for us as Blacks, whites and all colors and creeds to define and rede- fine racism, discrimination, prejudice, race and minorities. Race refers to the community of people of the same color, creed and ethnicity. Minorities is the term-used in the United States - to refer to people who do not consist of the majority of the population. Discrimination re- fers to the act of being against individual(s) based on one's envy, jealousy or greed. Preju- dices and discrimination repre- sent similar ideas, but they are not the same thing. Racism is the notion that one's race is su- perior and is usually as a result of stereotypes, assumptions or generalizations without prior knowledge or understanding. I am defining these terms for two reasons: 1) People often misun- derstand these terms and use them when they are not called upon, and 2)I will refer to some of these terms throughout my response and I wish for people to have a better understanding of this article. Before you assume that I have received race-based finan- cial aid, I would like to tell you that I have not. I support race- based scholarships and I will inform you why later in this norities had 20 years ago still exist today. In many cases, mi- norities cannot graduate or even attend college orientation as Mr. Chen has because the financial rewards which are said to be offered for all races and creeds are not evenly distributed and in every eight to nine of 10 cases are given to "non-minorities." For every dollar that Uncle Sam donates, a percentage must be paid back and some people can- not afford to pay our uncle. If having race-based scholarships is a crime, then having gender- based scholarships is just as unlawful. Mr. Chen, I agree that academic merit and scholastic achievement should be the ba- sis for financial aid, but all scholarships may not out-and- out ensure all desegregation and eliminate all racial discrimina- tion, they will be a stepping stone for this goal. This will in turn create opportunities for all minorities and create a more racially diversified atmosphere among college institutions. Here is another point to follow up on. If the University is so racially diversified, then why are only 5 percent of the faculty African American and only 15 percent of the student population non- white? Are these small percent- ages the only qualified citizens of the United States worthy of membership and enrollment in the University? Another point to think about. The University racially diverse institution. Sec- ondly, one of the factors that causes racial disharmony here at the University is under-rep- resentation of many different ethnicities. Thirdly, the only people who are harming actions by our - not their - grandpar ents and parents - as oppose to just fathers and grandfathers - are people like yourselves who oppose actions that will eventually create diversity among races in society. Last of all, you and Jeanette Lamer agree that you all should not pay the price for things that should have been done in the past? Wh are you to say what should and should not be accomplished at what time? Are you God? It is While scholarships may not out-and-out ensure all desegregation and eliminate all racial discrimination, they will be a stepping stone for this goal. people cannot receive limited "diversified" aid. Therefore, some people will not attend col- lege because there is no other. available aid and Uncle Sam can only provide so much free money for 250 million people. Jessica Pfeiffer states that she's white and that she was not as limited in her economic back- ground as a student of color might have been. So what if you're white? I'm Black. There does not recruit potential en- rollees in the state of Alabama - my home state. So why am I a member of this prestigious institution? I am a student for my rank as valedictorian in my graduating class GPA, my ex- tracurricular interests and the fact that my being African American will help increase a lower enrollment. of African Americans and help the con- tinuous flow of funds to the U~nivemi~ty_ And niennl iclaim up to all of us, not just the U.S. citizens of the 1960s, to end all racial strife and work for racial unity and harmony. People, young and old, it is now time to stop sitting on our asses and watch brilliant minds of the future deteriorate hint nothing because people such as Mark Fletcher, Jeanette Larner and Robert Chen are ignorant of our history -not white history or Black history, but history. We tn nt live in azltnnian How TO CONTACT THEM Michigan Student Assembly Julie Neenan, President Jacob Stern, Vice President