4 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, March 22, 1995 Eile 3irbijtaniu&lg DAI)WARTows u STANDING ON THE 0 420 Maynard Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan MICHAEL ROSENBERG Editor in Chief JULIE BECKER JAMES NASH Editorial Page Editors Students vs. meter maids: unite in the ticket fight _ ._. _.._. .................... AV . f: , s 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. Budget crunch State, U' must cooperate on funding issues .u he Michigan House appropriation sub- committee rashly decided last week to withhold $8.4 million of the University's pro- posed $280 million budget for 1995-1996. The committee cited Michigan's current 32 per- cent out-of-state attendance. By slashing funds without warning to the University and offering no chance to remedy its error, the Legislature unjustly penalized the Univer- sity and, more importantly, its students. Although the state has the inherent right to request levels of enrollment for in-state students, the decision to withhold funds came as the entering class for 1995 has already been determined. The 70-30 ratio was a "gentleman's agreement" between the state and the University in 1987 - under much different circumstances. The shift from 70- 30 to 68-32 does not seem significant enough to warrant the steep tuition hikes that in-state students would shoulder if the measure passes. The University has not been blameless in this conflict. The institution needs to face reality: The appropriations subcommittee has made it clear that it will not act as "Daddy" on every financial request the University brings to the table. The administration has been deemed arrogant by legislators in part due to its unwillingness to respect the state's concerns about the split between in-state and out-of- state students. This action follows a clear pat- tern of finding convenient ways to punish University students for the actions of their representatives in Lansing. Not following Michigan State in vowing not to raise tuition above the inflation rate brought many jeers from legislators. While this plan may not be appropriate for the University, the administra- tion has failed to provide any viable alterna- tives or goals for keeping tuition under control. Moreover, the debate itself over the 70-30 ratio is narrow-minded. Placing a cap on out- of-state attendance will hurt the competitive- ness of the University, one of the premier public institutions in the country. The state of Michigan suffers no financial loss from the 68- 32 margin: Out-of-state students do not re- ceive state dollars and contribute significantly to the state economy. Forcing the University to admit more in-state students will hurt both the University and other state schools, many of which already have excess capacity for in- state students. Rather than spark a bitter debate on the merits of in-state vs. out-of-state students, the Legislature and the University must try to understand each other and define their respec- tive positions without irrational financial de- mands. Legislators are free to request enroll- ment levels for in-state students. But they must realize that by cutting off funds, students, not the University, will pay the price in the form of tuition increases. This will make the cost of a Michigan education prohibitively expensive for the very students the Legislature wants the University to include. first used the term meter maid just recently, after months of frustrating parking tickets, but was reminded that meter maid is a derogatory term that should be replaced by something more "appropri- ate" like enforcement officer. That is true, if I am to pay these people any respect. But I don't care much for meter maids. They gain pleasure from catching vic- tims who left their car to do a quick errand. They can catch cars that have been stand- ing 61 minutes in a one-hour spot. They enjoy the painful expression on the face of a man or woman who has just realized that his or her vehicle has been ticketed. Meter maids roam relentlessly around Ann Arbor, waiting. Preying. Five min- utes is all they need. There is no grace period, no compassion. Victims unite. Because we can't shoot meter maids, students must find another way to deal with them. The ticket to stopping these mean people who carry out the desires of a mean city is banding together. Every man, woman and car-driving child in Ann Arbor should carry coins. Nickels are good. The concept is simple: Always be on the lookout for a meter maid. If you see a meter maid approaching, put nickels in all the meters that need money. For only a few nickels, you'll be helping a lot of people. One by one, go down the line dropping the coins and turning the dials as the smile of the meter maid fades in realization That there will be no tickets today - not where there are coin holders around. This band, this group of concerned and angry students, should be called the Coin Holding Association of Metered Parking Security (CHAMPS). If everybody joins this campaign, there will be no more tickets, only frustrated meter maids. Imagine the joy of seeing the ticket issuer who is frustrated, instead of you, the ticket receiver. U .. I called the city of Ann Arbor's Park- ing Enforcement Division (which, by the way, is a division of the Public Service Department. Oh, what a fantastic service. If they ever start randomly beating people with large clubs, I hope the city will put that under Public Service, too). According to the division officials, it is illegal to feed the meter of a vehicle that is not yours. Where's the sense in this? "I don't know," an enforcement officer (meter maid) said. I don't know, either. In other words, giving a nickel to some- body is unlawful. Perhaps next we should outlaw telling people the time and giving directions to a stranger. The point is, however, that no such law is going to stop CHAMPS. Although an obstacle, it is not a very big one. Gut instincts tell me that the maids, albeit well-trained, will not know enough to realize: a) what is going on b) that there might be a law against this c) that the car(s) you are paying for are not yours. On the chance that a maid is able to catch you feeding someone else's meter and (I really doubt) questions you about it, diverting the uniformed villain would not be difficult: Maid: Is that your car? You: No, but it's my brother's. I ran out here to put in some money for him. Maid: And all the other cars you just paid for are your brother's, too? You: Yes. All of them. Maid: OK. Just checking. By putting a coin in someone else's meter, you are doing a good deed. That joy alone should make you give coins to strang- ers. Plus you are hurting a profession that you dislike. This should push you even harder. And the good feelings will come back to you. Someone will put a coin in your meter some day, save you a ticket, and you will be happy. CHAMPS is about hurting the city by helping ourselves. If you like helping others, if like saving money, if you like screwing the city of Ann 4 Arbor after they have screwed you for too long, then be a CHAMP. It's just the right thing to do. 104,6.4 I I , Sanctioning murder Death penalty laws should rest in peace Jim LASSER ITASKS HERE TP WE'VE EVER BEEN INVOLVED IN AN 0RC6ANt2AT ION WHI CH CALLS FOR lH E UNI-ED 6TATES -oVENMENT TO 13E / OVERTHROWN. F.B.I. Employment Office FI /7 SHARP AS TOAST' S KNEW THAT CAMPAICNIN C WE DiIv FOIR NEWT 6IN6R1 CH WOUL COME BACK To 1-A UNT NO rime is a multidimensional problem that cannot be treated with a solution as simplistic and inhumane as execution. Capi- tal punishment does not stop crime. It serves only to burden already-overwhelmed state appellate courts. Yet the current national trend leans toward the death penalty as the answer to an escalating crime rate. On March 30, David Ronald Chan- dler - charged with hiring a hitman to kill a police informant - will be the first criminal to be executed by the federal government in 32 years. And now, following the aggressive lead of New York Gov. George Pataki, the Michi- gan Legislature is reviewing a proposal to reinstate the death penalty in Michigan. David Chandler was indeed wrong to have had someone killed. But in killing him, soci- ety becomes guilty of the very crime it is attempting to punish. It is impossible to take an honest and effective stand against murder when the state is performing the same act. Some argue that executing murderers is justi- fied by the criminals' actions - but the fact remains that in utilizing the death penalty, the state gives itself the right to decide who should live and who should die. Those who argue that capital punishment is an effective crime deterrent are similarly misguided. Passion, anger and chaos over- ride any rational thought about the repercus- sions of a murderer's criminal actions. A jail term forces the criminal to confront the act and live with the knowledge of guilt, while a sentence of death frees the convict of the torturous self-examination of isolation. In addition, when government is empowered to make decisions about life and death, there is the intolerable risk of sentencing an innocent person to death. To ensure against wrongful murder, multiple hearings and appeals are filed, causing the expense of killing a crimi- nal to exceed the cost of a life sentence. The anti-crime focus is misdirected. In- stead of reacting to the shock and horror of crime with quick, ineffective responses, soci- ety must work to prevent the perpetuation of murder. As citizens clamor for easy solutions to the rising crime rate and politicians eagerly capitalize on public fears and offer sound-bite answers, the causes of crime are overlooked. The conservative trend overrunning much of the nation has seized upon crime as a divisive and easily manipulated issue - and the death penalty becomes another shell in the conserva- tive artillery. However, what most Republi- cans and even many Democrats fail to realize is that the death penalty cannot be treated like any other anti-crime measure. Unlike other measures, it is irreversible. By executing Chandler, society no longer has to face his deed. Instead of confronting the act, through execution society chooses a rash solution in an effort to seek retribution for an unforgivable crime. Counseling, reha- bilitation, jail time and life sentencing are better ways of dealing with criminals. Using execution as the solution to crime implicitly condones murder, thereby undermining capi- tal punishment's initial goal of deterrence. By reinstating such an archaic method of punishment, the government lowers itself to the level of the criminal. A civilized society will not respond to crime with hysterical, reac- tionary, revengeful zeal. A modern nation is not an executioner. LETTERS Vote United People's Coalition To the Daily: The UNITED PEOPLE'S COALITION is the only all- people-of-color party running for election for MSA. We are run- ning because we believe that our "representatives" have ignored or tokenized us for far too long, left us under-funded and claimed to speak for us while instead pro- moting their own agendas. If elected, we will address issues affecting us at this Uni- versity - issues related to di- versity (or lack thereof), tuition rates, campus safety, recruit- ment, retention, under-funding of U.S. minority organizations, instead of devoting our time and energy to ego trips and squab- bling over petty issues while ignoring the larger picture. Our posters are all over cam- pus. But we feel that, as people of color, we should rely on our com- munities to get elected instead of littering Angell Hall for a few votes from passersby. We are depending on word-of-mouth and direct solicitations to our com- munities. Our obstacles are nu- merous, but still we persist, de- spite things like the Daily's re- fusal to cover our party., If anyone reads the Daily on a regular basis, you would have noticed the front-page treatment say they don't need to cover us, since we aren't running a presi- dential slate. We say that those are only figurehead positions, that it's better to let the candi- dates speak for themselves, that we have a spokesperson, that we are not about power tripping and that we meet the require- ments for party candidacy. Ob- viously, there's more at stake here than simple election poli- tics. How can other candidates lay the claim to speak for us when they won't even speak to us? How can the Daily deter- mine what is important news and not include us in the political (or general) dialogue? How long can we continue to let this happen? Vote United People's Coalition on March 22 and 23, and con- tinue the struggle for racial equality at the University. United People's Coalition candidates Candidates degrade MSA with claims To the Daily: Over the past few weeks, the, campus has been blitzed by the annual campaign rush for candi- dates seeking election to the Michigan Student Assembly. Aside from the interchangeable faces and witty campaign slo- gans, this season is traditionally beyond the bounds of good-na- tured campaigning and incorpo- rated the daily business of the Michigan Student Assembly into their election rhetoric. Unfortu- nately, both parties have taken what should be non-partisan suc- cesses for the assembly and turned them into seemingly im- portant campaign issues. The Michigan Party used the work done by Rep. Mike Christie to lower textbook prices and Rep. Jeffrey Brown to make campus safer as major portions of their "Students' Bill of Rights." Simi- larly, the Students' Party has an- nounced plans to revamp the fi- nancial structure of MSA, using the work accomplished by the Operations Task Force, an inter- nal portion of the assembly. Each of these examples should serve as examples of the effectiveness of MSA, but instead have be- come the basis of political fight- ing and can only harm the cred- ibility of the assembly. This type of campaigning demonstrates that each of these two parties have lost touch with the general student population. Because they have become so concerned with beating the other party, the Michigan and Students' Parties have lent further support to the belief that MSA does noth- ing for the students on this cam- pus. I only hope that the last portion of the campaign can fo- cus on issues affecting the entire campus, like the code, and stay NOTABLE QUOTABLE "The administrators seem to have shorter horizons than the faculty." -Engineering Prof and newly elected SACUA member Robert L. Smith Daily editorial misrepresents LSA-SG candidate To the Daily: The "Consumer Paradigm" which I continually referred to ("LSA-SG: Vote Students'," 3/ 21/95) implies the notion that the University should be more open to student concerns. Stu- dents pay high tuition costs, and are entitled to excellent service. The Daily deliberately miss represented our position on for- eign language. "It is not the stu- dents' duty to reform the foreign language requirement," states that students paying top dollar, should not be blamed for the ills of a failing department. The Michigan Party is vehe- mently opposed to the proposed measure of removing the foreigi, language pass/fail option for the fourth semester. This was clearly stated both in our plat- form and at the editorial board conference. The Daily gave a strong en- dorsement to the Students' Party presidential and vice-presiden- tial candidates based on experi- ence. It should be noted that mosO students never even knew that LSA-SG even existed, before the entrance of the Michigan Party in this year's election. The Daily editorial board Michigan Student Assembly Wolverine Party Mike Christie, president Brooke Holley, vie p|resident