4 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, March 3, 1995 Ole £ihigwu laivg MICHAEL ROSENBERG Ross 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 Dreams, even hoop dreams, can be fleeting 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. New blood Housing director will A fter an intensive search process that began last year, the University recently tapped William Zeller of Washington State University as its new housing director. With this sound choice, the University can begin to meet some of the challenges facing the stu- dent housing system. Zellerhas accumulated an impressive record at Washington State. He won praise for his attention to student concerns and was effec- tive in dealing with student organizations and leadership training. Even more heartening about his selection is the fact that the process was open, with student input playing an integral part. Students would be more comfortable with Zeller knowing that they played a part in selecting him. The openness and student participation of Zeller's selection should carry over into his administration. Nobody can successfully run the University housing system without con- stant exposure to the facilities and input from students. Zeller should spend time in the residence halls and eat at the dining facilities. He should maintain contact with residents and be open to student concerns. Accessibil- ity must be a priority as Zeller prepares to mnake changes to the housing system. N These changes are needed, if for no other reason than the flight of students from Uni- Eversity housing to off-campus accommoda- rtions. The declining reapplication rate in recent years demonstrates that something is obviously wrong. Zeller needs to identify the face tough challenges problems with University housing ifhe wishes to attract students to the system. Once again, student input will be needed. Clearly, the system is failing many students. Zeller will need to determine how and address the prob- lems. One of the biggest issues that Zeller will face is the University's stated desire to expand its system of living/learning programs. These offerings - which currently include the Resi- dential College, the Pilot Program and the 21st Century Program - design academic pro- grams around specific residence halls. In theory, this is a laudable effort to personalize the University and integrate academics and extra- curricular activities. However, it does not al- ways work well in practice - there is a lack of follow-through on ideas and a general lack of student enthusiasm. Before the University creates new living/learning programs, it needs to evaluate existing ones. Expansion should not be hasty. And given the questionable performance of some of the programs, it may well be prudent to strengthen the existing programs before creating new ones. The selection of Zeller as housing direc- tor brings hope to a troubled area of the University. He faces many challenges, from accessibility and falling reapplication rates to addressing the issue of living/learning programs more constructively than the Uni- versity has in recent years. His move to Michigan should spur developments that ben- efit students living in University housing. W hen the documentary "Hoop Dreams" recently was overlooked for an Oscar nomination, several high- profile movie critics were incensed. Joel SiegelGene Siskel and Roger Ebert, among others, said the film deserved not only Best Documentary nomination but Best Picture consideration as well. But the controversy blew over in a few days, largely because the average movie- goer had not seen the film, would not see the film, did not know anything about the film, and besides, who cares? The Oscars are just an awards ceremony anyway. The controversy quickly disappeared, affecting nobody. "Hoop Dreams" follows two inner-city Chicago kids from eighth grade through college age, documenting their dreams of basketball stardom and their goals of NBA success. The film also looks at the boys' tough times in a tough neighborhood. One of the boys has a crack addict for a father, a man who fades in and out of his son's life. The other boy's parents can hardly afford the bare necessities of life. They both have~ almost no money, few available role models and little chance for success. All they have, really, is basketball. And so they play. Constantly. In the rain, in the cold, in the heat, in the snow. They would play at all hours of the day. They would even play midnight basket- ball, a proposal made in Washington last year to help keep inner-city kids out of the crack houses. Midnight basketball was a big issue last summer, debated on television, covered by the media, talked about by people around the country. Before long, however, people stopped talking about midnight bas- ketball, largely because most Americans would never play basketball at midnight, and weren't going to be helped by the pro- gram, and besides, who cares? It's just a game. The controversy quickly disappeared. But while senators and representatives have moved on with their politics, "Hoop Dreams" has been shown in theaters across the country. This past Presidents' Day, 'Hoop Dreams" was shown in a theater on Long Island, N.Y. The theater is part of a multiplex in a mall in a mostly white upper- class suburb of New York City. Before the film started, two previews were shown. Both were for lighthearted action-comedies starring Black actors. Ap- parently the previews were chosen with a predominantly Black audience in mind. The distributors of "Hoop Dreams" must have decided the movie was just about basket- ball. So of course only Blacks would want to see Black kids play basketball. And besides, who cares? It's just a game. The previews had little effect on the mostly white upper-class audience. The people in the audience came to learn about life in the inner city. They were given a message: You are not supposed to care. The thing is, in "Hoop Dreams," basket- ball is not just-a game. Nobody in the film sees it as just a game. The boys and their families see it as their way out of the ghetto. For them, there is no other way out. But as far as most peopleare concerned, basketball is just a game, and besides, who cares about inner-city kids? They quickly disappear, affecting nobody. 01 0 9 Ji LAsSER SHARP AS TOAST 1995 THE GOOD NEWT GINGRICIFS ORPHANAGES MOM 4OM OLD U.S.A. - 1 BASEBALL APPLE I G V . , NoTAILE QUOTABLE "It's not really fair that half the population can't walk outside after the sun goes down." - LSA sophomore Alison Hanover, a member of MSA's Women's Issues Commission 0 PIE Measuring up Cost-benefit bill would harm environment 01 LETTERS Misinformed letter maligns homosexuals Ejarier this week, the U.S. House of Rep- resentatives passed a bill that will radi- cally transform the way our government en- acts environmental, health and safety regula- -tions. The risk assessment bill, part of the Con- tract with America, raises important questions about the nature of such regulations. Although it is evident that some type of cost-benefit analysis needs to be initiated for environmental and public safety regulations, how this should be done is a more difficult matter. This most recent attempt is fatally flawed. The risk assessment bill is both imprudent and myopic. Although taxpayers cannot af- ford to pay for endless regulations, it is very difficult to apply cost-benefit analysis to issues of health and safety. The cost of cer- tain regulations can often be measured. How- ever, it is very difficult to measure benefits. How can one quantify the benefit of saving a human life? Can dollar values be placed on clean air and clean water? Allowing the de- struction of the environment for the sake of jobs and money is certainly shortsighted. Many argue that these regulations will de- stroy businesses. However, growing technol- ogy will surely lead to the emergence of new, less environmentally damaging industries. Closely linked to the risk assessment bill, 'the private property bill is scheduled to come to the House floor in the near future. This bill would require federal government "to reim- ,burse private property owners for any de- ,Cline in private property value due to regula- tions regarding endangered species, wetlands water rights, and coastal zone management." -imilar in spirit to the risk assessment bill, this bill implies that government is at fault for the environmental insults of industry and real estate developers. With a public consensus that government has grown too large, cost-benefit analysis for regulatory measures is not a bad idea. How- ever, the risk assessment bill unwisely threat- ens the future of our air, water and general public safety. Ironically, this new system - set up to keep a growing bureaucracy from unduly burdening taxpayers and businesses - is a bureaucratic nightmare. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the new bureaucratic apparatus needed to carry out cost-benefit analysis of all environmental, health and safety regulations would cost more than $250 million annually. In addition to the monstrous bureaucracy this bill creates, it gives birth to a skewed system ofjustice. The new peer-review panels to be set up for evaluating costs and benefits does not exclude any participants, regardless of conflict of interest. This new system could result in panels composed of those who would benefit most from decreased regulation. By not allowing federal agencies to bar certain executives from panels, this bill harkens back to the days before the Progressives increased government's role to protect citizens from the abuses of big business. On a similar note, the risk assessment bill threatens to eliminate 25 years of legislation that protects individuals from environmental and safety hazards caused by profit-minded businesses. Not only does this bill endanger legislation protecting citizens from smoke- stack emission and nuclear dumpings, but it also destroys the spirit of the last 90 years of Progressive-inspired legislation. Industry's motives are clear and sensible: Profits. Government's purpose should be equally clear: To protect the well-being of its citi- zens. To the Daily: I was reading the Wednes- day, March 1 edition of the Daily, as was my wont, and I noticed a curious letter in which the author states that he is op- posed to homosexual activity ("Congress, 'U' should not give approval to homosexual activ- ity"). I would infer that he is opposed to homosexuality in general, but I read further and noticed that it was in fact the Valentine's Day "Kiss-In" on the Diag by which the author of the letter to which I refer, one John Yob, was so incensed. In this letter he states that the LGBPO and Queer Unity Project should not be allowed to stage such actions on the Diag, or, I would assume, anywhere in public. I was then to under- stand that Mr. Yob felt sickened to see such a display where "het- erosexual students," (a socio- logical group I assume Mr. Yob has discovered to be well-de- fined on the Ann Arbor campus of the University), would have to see it. (I assume he was actu- ally speaking for himself and perhaps some friends with whom he may have had occa- sion to discuss this issue.) He called this event an injustice to the heterosexual students and to the prestigious institution he believes the University of Michigan to be. Upon reflection, my first in- clination was simply to remark, "How awful that affectionate expression makes this poor man feel so badly." I personally have, in my years as a student at the University, seen many hetero- else living under granite for the last five years is that he was quite incorrect in stating that gay and bisexual men are responsible - or at least bear the major portion of responsibility - for spreading AIDS which he, claims, quite incorrectly, is the leading killer of men ages 25- 44. Mr. Yob, one does not spread AIDS. AIDS is a syndrome, the major etiological agent of which is the HIV or Human Immuno- deficiency Virus. In point of fact, Mr. Yob, one does not ac- tually die of AIDS or HIV in- fection but of secondary infec- tions which take advantage of the depressed state of the patient's immune system. In fact incidence of HIV infection in gay and bisexual men has been on a decline for the past two years. The societal groups with the highest and, I might add, fastest growing incidence of HIV infection are heterosexual women and adolescent males. I could of course continue indefinitely, but as I am sure the Daily has only limited space, I will sum up with a few final thoughts that Ihad while reading Mr. Yob's somewhat less than adequate analysis. First off, it strikes me as odd how Mr. Yob - believing the University of Michigan to be a prestigious school - could wish to have President Duderstadt and the re- gents ban such activities when in fact they have just recently passed the amendment to Bylaw 14.06 which guarantees the protection of students, faculty and other members of the University com- munity from discrimination on gan State have had this sort of protection in place for years, as well as the Law School and School of Dentistry right here at the University of Michigan. I cannot help but wonder how disillusioned Mr. Yob will be when he realizes this is true. Finally I would like to comment on the "maleness" that Mr. Yob seems to apply to matters of homosexuality. No where in his letter did I see him refer to les- bian and bisexual women. Per- haps because they are not expe- riencing a current "prevalence of HIV infection" that clearly scares Mr. Yob. One can only speculate as to where such a gender-specific idea of sexual- ity could originate. If in fact Mr. Yob is as both- ered by homo/bisexuality as he claims I wish him luck in trying to avoid having to look at those who identify as such. While I wish him luck, I do not believe he will be successful because, Mr. Yob, we are everywhere. We are your friends, your pro- fessors, your neighbors, your police officers, your sales clerks, your bankers, your doctors, your nurses, your dentists, your ac- countants, your dry cleaners, your street cleaners, and we are not going away. You see, Mr. Yob, the injustice rests not in the -fact that you must tolerate that we exist, but that we must endure your intolerance. We have done so for years, and I expect we will continue to do so for some time, but what we will not do is sit quietly and allow inane, ill-informed opinions like yours to continue to be spread in To the Daily: In response to John Yob's Wednesday, March I letter r garding the Diag Kiss-In, a few important things need to be said. The Kiss-In, while to Mr. Yob and others, may have been "a disgusting and demeaning dis- - play," symbolized for some a certain courage and openness not always enjoyed by gay and bisexual citizens. These are freedoms that he@ erosexuals take for granted. The idea, for those who just don't understand, is that homosexu- als deserve, and are guaranteed constitutionally, the same rights and liberties as straights. This is not a difficult con- cept to grasp. Yob's idea that the University should "ban all future activities like the 'Kis* In"' is nothing more than advo- cating outright discrimination and denying members of the gay community the right to live in the same comfortable atmo- sphere that heterosexuals do. I agree 100 percent with Yob that the University should not, by any means, take to su porting indecent exposure. However, I am unaware of any accepted definition of the term "indecent exposure" that in- cludes two people standing up, fully clothed, and kissing and embracing each other. Oh, and let me say that I don't appreci- ate Yob lumping all of us het- erosexuals together and takio the stance that a "gross injus- tice" has been done to us by the Kiss-In. I don't feel that way about it, and most other ratio- nally minded heterosexuals on ~~How c To CONTACT THEM interim Ombudsman Jennifer Walters Office of the Ombudsman