4 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, March 24, 1995 UI1~E41 k b,rxO 4 -r MICHAEL ROSENBERG RosEs ARE READ 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 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. The real fun begins In election's wake, MSA has work to do Voting in this year's Michigan Student Assembly elections was no easy task for even the mostpolitically aware students. Given candidates and parties with very similar goals and only minor differences in their plans for implementation, it was tempting to simply vote for the party with the most witty cam- paign slogan. Now, however, this difficult campaign has finally come to an end. No more will party members engage in partisan bickering, insignificant detail-smashing or constant complaining on the floor of MSA. Or will they? The majority of University students should hope the opposing parties will now see their common goals and merge together to work on matters of general agreement. Issues such as seating a student regent, campus safety, and the Statement of Student Rights and Responsi- bilities (the code) must be at the forefront. As students look toward new leadership, outgoing MSA President Julie Neenan's ad- mirable progress'in paving the way for a non- voting student regent is to be commended. Over the past year, Neenan has led the way in bringing the regents to the verge of voting a student on board. Her efforts should not be in vain. If the new administration does not pick up where Neenan leaves off,. the immense progress she has made will slip through our fingers. Opposing parties must work together with the new administration in full support until the regents purchase the nameplate for the first student regent. On another matter, every student and can- didate agrees that the issue of campus safety is important. With no elections in the midst, MSA should be able to ignore internal differ- ences and come to the best possible solutions. The efforts of Neenan and MSA Vice Presi- dent Jacob Stern's administration - most notably December's campus safety walk - have been admirable, but there is still work to be done. Another issue that unites almost everyone is the code. Each candidate's platform called for at least a vast overhaul of this invasive policy. Efforts are being established to bring together the entire assembly and even the entire University in a united front against the code and its mockery of student rights. Now is a critical time for MSA. Although partisan politics are easy to get caught up in and everyone likes to act like bona fide politicians, this petty waste of time brings no satisfaction to constituents. The regents will not vote for a student regent or for a change in the code if the request comes from any- thing but a unified student body. Indeed, the regents must be assured that an overwhelm- ing majority of the 35,000 students at the University want and need a student regent and do not want and do not need the student code. If the regents are approached on sev- eral flanks by several parties, each with dif- fering demands, students' only gain will be stalemate. And no one likes a stalemate but a bad chess player. bu Matt Theurer should have said no. His bosses at a McDonald's restau- rant in Salem, Ore., asked Matt to work more hours. He should have said no. The extra shift was against the establishment's policies for teen-agers. It was probably against Matt's own better judgment. But Matt Theurer said yes. And it killed him. He left work one night, after working 12 of the previous 17 hours, and drove into another car. Matt had fallen asleep at the wheel. This death would have gone unnoticed by the general public, as most deaths do. But there was a lawsuit. It seems the driver of the car Matt Theurer hit, a man by the name of Frederic Faverty, didn't take kindly to the accident. So he sued. Didn't sue Matt, of course. Didn't even sue the Theurers. No, Faverty sued the people who he felt really caused the acci- dent. He sued the people at McDonald's. Faverty claimed that the restaurant should never have allowed Matt to work so many hours. He said the establishment indirectly caused the accident. Does this sound like a frivolous law- suit? The judges on the Oregon Court of Appeals don't seem to think so. They awarded Faverty $375,000 this week, con- curring with an earlier jury decision. The people at McDonald's aren't happy, of course. They will continue their appeals. The next step is the Oregon Su- preme Court. Then, who knows? Maybe the case will even reach the U.S. Supreme Court, where seven men and two women can sit down and decide whether a young man's employers had a hand in the car accident that caused his death. The people at McDonald's may not be the worst criminals in the world. But the fact remains, the establishment did have policies in place for ths very reason, and they did ask Matt Theurer to violate these policies, and he probably would be alive today if they had not asked. Still, McDonald's is absolving itself of any blame. In the decision, one of the dissenting judges warned of "grave conse- quences" for employers if employees' negligence due to exhaustion can be traced back to employers. There is an inherent irony in this case. A young man volunteers to work harder than even his employers allow. Then, when disaster strikes, the employers claim inno- cence. Meanwhile, around the country, people criticize the young man's genera- tion for being lazy, for not taking respon- sibility for their own actions. Unknowingly, each character in this te blame candbe sldfted, t thefacts stand still S 0 story is a symbol. Matt Theurer is everyone in his gen- eration, labeled Generation X by elders who do not understand them. The people at McDonald's are the older generation, trying to squeeze everything they can out of Generation X, but not willing to sacrifice for them. Frederic Faverty is caught in the middle, trying to grab his share of the pie from anyone and everyone. Faverty gets the criticism because he is the leech, trying to make a buck off the problem. But he is not the problem. The judges are the oldest generation, looking down at everyone else and shak- ing their heads, wondering how this mess came to be. They have trouble understand- ing a world where people do not trust each other, a world of $4 trillion debts and war. zones in the streets, a world of people who can't just get along. At some point, Matt Theurer will be forgotten, and this lawsuit will be forgot- ten, just another news item in another news day. That's too bad, in a way. There are lessons to be learned here. It's OK to go against the establishment's policies, but only at the establishment's convenience. And sometimes it's tough to tell who really fell asleep at the wheel. Crimes against women Clinton deserves praise for new office P resident Clinton has finally begun to tackle the issue of violent crimes against women - a step no past president has taken. Tuesday he named Bonnie Campbell, a former Iowa attorney general, director of his new Violence Against Women office, which falls under the Justice Department and was autho- rized in the recently passed crime bill. Another positive measure in the law was an allotment of money for state grants to deal with violence against women. After years of avoidance, the government is right to face up to the challenge of eliminating this type of crime. And whether it is wife-beating, rape by a stranger, incest, acquaintance rape or some other form does not matter -- all these crimes must be eliminated from everyday life. Violence against women cannot be an accepted part of society. The office should begin its work in the proper direction. In order to devise a solution to the problem, the cause first must be deter- mined - a cause that is deeply rooted in the tenets of American society. Sexism plays a key role in enabling violence against women to take place - women historically do not merit as much respect as men, placing them in a supplicant position. In planning to combat the problem, the Violence Against Women Office must take this into account. Also important to consider is that no woman is immune from the danger. While many feel they can prevent it, it is often unpredictable. For this reason, no survivor of violent crime is to be blamed. As government officials wage their campaign, they must remember this. Another notable point is that violence against How TO CONTACT THEM women reaches into every level of society. It makes no difference whether the survivor is wealthy or poor. This type of violence crosses socioeconomic lines - as well as state lines. For this reason the $26 million in grants will be a vital part of the effort to end violence against women. Each state will get grants of up to $462,000 to further law enforcement, pros- ecution and services for survivors. Not only must the states put the money to the fullest use - they must encourage local governments to make efforts as well. Down to the smallest level, steps can and should be taken. In the area of domestic vio- lence, restraining orders are difficult to obtain - women have to go through excessive red tape, and here in Washtenaw County must pay a hefty fee. These must be made more easily obtainable - they are essential in protecting women against abusive husbands or partners. Also, tougher sanctions on spouse-abusers should be implemented. Do- mestic violence must be acknowledged as a serious offense, not a problem "within the home" as many would like to believe. Mistreatment of women in this manner is everyone's problem. The number of violent crimes are committed against women is a national disgrace. President Clinton must be commended for calling attention to the prob- lem in a way none of his predecessors have had the courage or the caring to do. Yet the execu- tive office is only one small step toward elimi- nating violence against women. All Ameri- cans must concentrate their efforts to put an end to violence against women. JIM LASSER x,1PAT 8 VCHANANJ WILL NoW 6o AND ANNOUNCE To 'THEWORL D M Y CA NDIDA CY FO R TDE51 DEN T.- kIWPO NT The nternet: Yu By Virginia Rezmierski ... so she did. She thought of the Bob could send electronic reactions it would get and chuck- mail to Joan, a girl in his class, to led to herself She could evern ask her to go out with him... so he print pictures on ashared printer did. After all, e-mail was a great around the cornerfrom the com- wav to communicate and he puter she was using, wait for wanted to communicate with others to retrieve their output, Joan. He could keep sending her and witness their reactions when messages even though she said they came across her pictures. she wasn't interested ... so he She could do it ... so she did. It did. Whv shouldn't lie continue didn't matter that these people to try to persuade her? After all, didn't want to see herpictures. It it was easy; sending the message didn't matter that they might be only took a few seconds. When interrupted in their work, feel Joan became annoyed and asked hurt, upset, angry, and perhaps him to stop bothering her, he become fearful because of the could send her e-mail using an material. After all, Kendra alias to throw her off-base ... so wanted to see their reactions and he did. Perhaps she would think she could do it ... so she did. he was clever andfunny. So what Peter could create a direc- if the name he used belonged to tory of information about people another classmate? It didn't who workedfor him ... sohle did. nwtter that she might get angry As their boss, he could require vwith the other person or that the that they give their names, home person was being misrepresented addresses, phone numbers, pic- by Bob. It just didn't matter that tures, and other bits of informa- he was bombarding Joan with tionfor inclusion in the directory this unwanted mail and unsolic- ... so he did. Peter wanted to ited attention. Why should she be know more about the people in upset? After all, Bob could do it his group and be able to contact and he wanted to do it ... so he them more easily. He also wanted did. others in his division to know Vtl? '\b-1 ~~1 iK?- J SHARP As TOAST -~t/+k '9 I .. PINK IfHE ARMfA &AD MAY 6E A 131T MVCH; NOTABLE QUOTABLE "The higher-ed pie has been shrinking consistently and we should not further exacerbate the problem by giving some universities more than others." - State Rep. Liz Brater (D-53rd district), on state cuts in University funding 0 an do it ... even curtailing them, for the sake of others, for the sake of higher values, and for the sake of the community to which we belong. This kind of maturation contin- ues throughout our lifetimes if we stay open to growth; in fact, we continue to learn to manage impulses many years after we consider ourselves grown. Though we may continue to change, non-egocentric, higher- level social thinking and moral behavior is the goal. In each of the previous vi- gnettes a line was crossed. The line may on one side demarcate the rights of one individual and, on the other side, the rights of another. It may be a line that everyone would agree divides right and wrong, one that marks the difference between egocen- tric and social behaviors or one that defines the difference be- tween appropriate and inappro- priate use of shared resources. Sometimes the line is blurry. But clear or not, it is a line of judg- ment that should always be con- templated by individuals - for themselves and for organizations they represent. On this campus we see con- tinual examples of individuals wanting to do something, being able to do it technologically and then doing it seemingly without passing judgment on the effects of the action on others. From posting creative writing, to for- warding chain mail, to using an- other person's name withoutper- mission, to reposting material to wil you? others or for the community of which they are a part. Undoubt- edly and unfortunately, we may see more of these behaviors. How, then, should we respond? We would do well to reflect a moment on the thoughts of Ernest Boyer, president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, who wrote: "A col- lege or university is a disciplined community, a place where indi- viduals accept their obligation to the group, a just community where the sacredness of each person is honored, a caring com- munity, a place where the well- being of each member is sensi- tively supported." We are a community of grow- ing, maturing individuals who don't act solely on impulses. Though we have the ability to act, we don't act without think- ing of higher values and the needs of others. Technology has made it possible for us to do many things with incredible speed, sometimes so quickly that cogni- tion has little chance to mediate between stimulus and response. We can act before we think of the implications of our actions. How- ever, technology is neither the answer for how to behave nor the excuse for solelyegocentric, self- serving ways. At our best moments at the University of Michigan, we se- lect one behavior over another because we care about one an- other, honor personal boundaries and rights, exercise our freedoms with responsibility and value this State Rep. Mary Schroer (D-52nd district, North Campus) 99 Olds Plaza Building Lansing, MI 48909 (517) 373-1792 State Rep. Liz Brater (D-53rd district, Central Campus) 412 Roosevelt Building Lansing, MI 48909 (517) 373-2577 Kendra was a whiz on the Internet; she could locate elec- tronic information easily on the network using her computer and read it on the screen or print it... so she did. After all, there was so much to discover in cyberspace, connecting to resource after re- source and to news groups all overthe world. Kendra especially liked reading material that she believed others wouldfind offen- more about aged, so the more easily4 technologyc pilation of i the transpor in ways that munication. someofhise their pictur home add Peter's opi, the people he man- y could contact them as well. After all, the allowed for the com- mages and text and .- of that information would enhance com- It didn't matter that mployees didn't want es included or their resses published. pion was that if they State Rep. Alma Wheeler Smith (D-Washtenaw County) 410 Farnum Building 1InnincsNAI AQOQ~IC I