4 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, January 13, 1995
AmUmbt d.ju & 41F
This is not a bottomless pit. We can't cut every
tax for everyone.'
- State Rep. James Agee (D-Muskegon), on state efforts to lower tax revenues
I
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
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.
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Remembering Dr. King
'U' celebration based on compromise
O n Monday, students, faculty and staff at
the University will postpone their regular
daily activities to celebrate the birthday of Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Unlike last year at this
time, the University is united in celebration of
the holiday, offering a wide range of activities
to commemorate the great civil rights leader.
The theme of this year's celebration is
"Conflict and Community - The Struggle for
Racial Justice." This title is particularly apt, as
the holiday itself has been the source of much
conflict in recent years. The most severe strain
came last year, when the Black Student Union
staged a boycott of the University's MLK day
activities. Calling the celebration "more aca-
demic than activist," BSU members protested
the University's perceived failure to focus on
King's legacy of activism and on issues of
concern to minorities. They instead organized
their own activities, designed to honor the
history o~f activism on which the holiday was
established.
While last year's BSU boycott may have
been warranted, it was unfortunate. It served
only to divide the University community, on a
day designed to bring it together. It undoubt-
edly confused many students, some of whom
were experiencing their first MLK holiday -
since the day is, sad to say, still not officially
recognized in many areas. It pitted students
against administration, group against group,
on a day created to remember a man whose
dream was to bring people together.
Fortunately, it seems history is not about to
repeat itself. The celebration this year is the
result of collaboration between students and
administrators, including the BSU-sponsored
"Unity March" as well as University-spon-
sored speakers and panels.
For this, praise should go to Vice Provost
for Academic and Multicultural Affairs Lester
Monts and his office, including Michael Jones
Coleman - the coordinator of the celebration
- and the planning committee made up of
faculty, students and staff. Those designing
the commemoration have done an excellent
job of cooperating with student groups to
incorporate their ideas into the celebration. In
addition, the BSU should be commended for
its willingness to compromise and work with
the administration for a day that all can partici-
pate in and enjoy.
"Conflict and Community" is a good way
of approaching MLK day, since the struggle
for racial justice in the United States has
included - and still includes - elements of
both. From slavery to the civil rights move-
ment to economic disadvantage, Blacks have
had to fight those who would prefer the status
quo of racial discrimination. Yet the history
of the struggle for equality is also one of
cooperation among people who believe in
equality, without regard for racial differ-
ences. The BSU is correct in asserting that
the observance of MLK day is a celebration
of activism, as progress toward racial justice
has been made at each and every stage only
through the work of people - Dr. King
foremost among them - who refuse to ac-
cept the presence of injustice.
The University's 1995 celebration recog-
nizes this. With lectures on topics such as
"Brown vs. the Board of Education-Histori-
cal, Legal and Social Impacts of 40 Years of
Desegregation" and "The Legacy of Student
. Activism at the University of Michigan," stu-
dents have a unique opportunity to learn about
the significance of MLK day and of the history
of agitation for racial justice. Along with
sleeping in and enjoying a day without
classes, students should take advantage of
the day's events.
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w t+ 1 L 1 j r ,
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Cartoon
An end in sight?
Rapist suspect arrested, but problems remain
offensive to
Catholics
To the Daily:
I am responding to the Jan.
9 depiction in the Daily of a
Catholic priest surrounded by
children. Although many forms
of intolerance and prejudice
seem to be diminishing, preju-
dice against religious groups is
as popular as ever. One could
imagine the response to an
equally offensive depiction of
any ethnicity or race, for ex-
ample. Ironically, prejudice
against religious groups is so-
cially acceptable. Catholic and
Muslim bashing are especially
in vogue.
All persons, regardless of
sex, ethnicity, race, sexual ori-
entation, religion or any other
category, should be treated with
respect and dignity. I cannot
accept jokes or cartoons that
negatively depict people of
color,'women, homosexuals or
the physically challenged...
Norcan I accept such insulting
treatment of Catholics.
"Prejudice ... 4. Detriment
or injury caused to a person by
the preconceived and unfavor-
able conviction of another or
others." - American Heritage
Dictionary.
Thomas A. Rodriguez
Rackham student
Female
condom
allows male
irresponsibility
To the Daily:
Great news! Female
condoms are here -I read it in
the big half-page ad in the Daily
on the 10th! Now guys like me
can completely shift the last
tiny piece of responsibility for
safe sex and birth control over
to women! Yahoo!
Come on, that's ridiculous.
Up until now, the one remain-
ing method of temporary birth
control that men use (besides
abstinence) has been the male
condom. But no, that wasn't
enough! They were too uncom-
fortable for us. We couldn't
stand to have our precious
schlongs humbly wrapped up
like that. We had to make the
woman wear it.
The female condom, hah.
Why isn't there a male birth
control pill? Why isn't there a
male hormone implant that
messes up our chemistry, makes
us gain weight and causes acne
breakouts? Why don't men get
comfortable method that lets
the guy be a gentleman and
bear the responsibility and cost
of birth control for a change.
The advertisement reads,
"Now, even if he's not using
condoms, you can." Girls, if
he's not using condoms,
DUMP HIM and find a real
man.
Bryan Theis
Engineering junior
Language
shouldn't be
hiring barrier
To the Daily:
As the founder and presi-
dent of the Michigan Chapter
of T.A.P.P. (The American
Progressive Party), I want to
congratulate you on your edi-
torial entitled "Minority fac-
ulty," printed 1/10/95. In order
to foster diversity, increase
equality and heighten minor-
ity awareness, the 'U' must
work diligently to hire and re-
tain minority faculty.
Iam writing on behalf of an
academic minority that is
grossly underrepresented as a
percentage of University fac-
ulty, because they are not fully
able to speak up for themselves.
The strict language require-
ment imposed on incoming
prospective faculty members
clearly discriminates against
multicultured linguists who are
non-Euroamerican, and par-
ticularly against scholars who
do not require and therefore do
not possess the ability to notate
in written form.
The obvious lack of profes-
sorships being granted to these
academics is appalling. I have
first hand experience with one
such professor who was clearly
no master of the "English" lan-
guage, but who was a brilliant
mathematician, and while Iad-
mit it made calculus a bitharder
to learn, the extra challenge of
a language barrier only added
to my educational experience.
I urge the 'U' and President
Duderstadtto actively seek and
employ these people, as the
future educational validity of
the 'U' depends on it.
Jeffrey Gordon
LSA senior
Writer
overreacts to
bathroom
signs
To the Daily:
Oh my God, the "Estab-
lishment" is taking away the
rights of the eole once again.
Doesn't he think that DPS has
more important things to worry
about in public restrooms such
as, say, violence and vandal-
ism. Call me crazy, but it seems
to me that those are the more
likely reasons to post signs of
this type.
Again, this seems to be one
of many instances where people
rush to assume that the "Estab-
lishment" is taking away their
rights. Perhaps they should ex-
amine the more logical and usu-
ally more prevalent facts be-
fore deciding.
Chris N. Jamros
LSA first-year student
Counselor
bids farewell
To the Daily:
The beginning of a new se-
mester always brings mixed
emotions: the relief that the
previous one is over, the ex-
citement of a new opportunity
to learn with and from my stu-
dents. Unlike previous years,
this upcoming term includes a
particular sadness.
After over ten years with
the LSA Honors program, Iam
not returning to that counsel-
ing cubicle which I have occu-
pied for so long. This decision
occurred late last semester and
I did not have the chance to
individually communicate it to
the many wonderful students
with whom Ihave had the plea-
sure of working all these years.
While I know this is not the
same as a personal farewell, I
do wish all of you a bounty of
academic success and life ful-
fillment!
I am still around the Uni-
versity (and on e-mail:
dtburkam@umich.edu) and
hope I do not lose contact with
all of you. Good luck to all!
David Burkam
LSA faculty
Write the
Daily.
The Daily wants to
know what you think.
Send letters to:
Letters to the Editor
420 Maynard
Ann Arbor; MI48109
or e-mail to:
daily.letter@um
Letters should be 300
words or less. The
Dail reserves the right
to edit over 300 words
Dear editors,
Sorry. I can't do the column this
week. Too much stuff to do. I've got
schoolwork up to my ears, which, quite
frankly, makes it very difficult to
breathe. So now I've got to go to the
doctor. Also, I have this little thing I
would like to do: sleep. I've heard
good things about it, and I'd like t
give it a try. I haven't had a good
night's sleep since "Poltergeist" came
out. Granted, for a few years, I was still
freaked out by the movie, but I'm over
that now. I'm not scared to sleep any
more. To prove it, I'm going to sleep
now. Anyway, it's nap time. Fill the
space with advertising or something.
- Mike
Dear Mike,
That's funny. Write the damn col-
umn. - The editors
Dear editors,
I think you misunderstood my last
letter. When I said "I can't do the
column this week,"thatmeant "Ican't
do the column this week." I can see
how you took it to mean somethin
different, like, "I would love to do the
column this week." It was just a simple
misunderstanding.
In any event, I can't do the column
this week. In other words, I can't do
the column this week. - Mike
Mike,
We understood the damn messa
which is more than we can say for an
of your columns. We chose to ignore
it, like we do with most of your col-
umns. We don't care if you have your
head caught in a waffle iron. You will
write the column. You will like it.
Sleep later. - The editors
Editors,
Look. I have been churning thel
things out for you idiots every week
for several months. For the most part,
they have been of the highest quality,
unless you consider "quality" to mean
I see no reason why I can't take a
week off. Michelangelo didn't paint
every day. Einstein took vacations.
Heck, even God sat down on the sev-
enth day and relaxed in front of the T
Bed, here I come. - Mike
Moron,
Is it us, or did you just put yourself
on the same level as Michelangelo and
Einstein? You have nothing in com-
mon with either of them, except that
you all have heads. Of course, they
knew how to use theirs, you intellec-
tual midget. 4
It's amazing that someone who
would lose agame of Trivial Pursuit to
a can of tuna would complain about
not getting any vacation. Vacation?
What would you callthose three weeks
of winter break? - The editors
Tyrants,
I would hardly call winter break i
vacation. I would be far more incline
to call it an arbitrarily chosen time
period when the University forces stu-
dents out of their semi-permanent
homes, leaving them out on the street
to fend for themselves.
In protest, I wrote columns every
week over break. It's not my fault you
chose not to run them. - Mike
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01
Finally, the Ann Arbor police have a sus-
a pect in custody in the gruesome saga of
serial rapes that have frightened the citizens of
Ann Arbor for over two years. The suspect is
Ervin D. Mitchell Jr., whom police caught
Christmas Eve after an attemptedpurse snatch-
ing on the city's west side. Preliminary DNA
tests have provided evidence that Mitchell is
indeed the serial rapist, and the police may
charge him with at least four of the rapes
within the next several days. As the city, its
residents and University students breathe a
much-needed sigh of relief, several issues
must be addressed pertaining to the now-
infamous serial rapist investigation.
The police handling of the serial-rapist
case must be seriously questioned. First, the
Ann Arbor police did not inform the commu-
nity that a serial rapist existed until after the
fourth victim, University employee Christine
Gailbreath, was raped and murdered in a field
behind her residential neighborhood. It was
only after this incident drew statewide atten-
tion that the police allowed the public in on its
little secret, the existence of a serial rapist in
Ann Arbor. The police knew of the serial
rapist for several months prior to this fourth
rape and clearly should not have waited for
another incident to inform the community of
the threat. At the time, police claimed they had
been quietly informing citizen groups of the
serial rapist. Unfortunately, they ignored Uni-
versity students - perhaps the largest and
most threatened of all citizen groups in Ann
Arbor.
Second, while the police department con-
force composed of both local and state offi-
cials - the identity of the serial rapist rested
untouched in the nearby city of Inkster. Mon-
day-morning quarterbacking aside, it would
seem that the police should have investigated
potential rapists in surrounding areas; if the
police had asked the city of Inkster, they could
have had theirman months ago, saving one life
and averting at least two rapes in the process.
But perhaps the most important lesson to
be learned from the seral rapist saga is that
although Mitchell is currently locked away,
the city of Ann Arbor, its residents and the
students of the University are far from com-
pletely safe in Ann Arbor. The city has its
share of crime, and with the arrest of a suspect
in the serial-rapist case, perhaps one more
criminal has been taken off the streets. But
that's it - only one. There is still a vast safety
problem on and around campus, and the arrest
of a rape suspect should by no means be an
excuse to decrease work toward the protection
of all citizens.
Simply put, students must continue to pro-
tect themselves both on and off campus. The
threat is still there even though the serial rapist
may not be. For example, a serial molester -
known for breaking into local residences and
assaulting his victims - is still currently at
large and reportedly has been seen around
North Campus. Students and Ann Arbor resi-
dents must continue to protect themselves
now and in the future.
If the DNA tests continue to identify
Mitchell as the serial rapist, this sad chapter in
the city of Ann Arbor may be finally put
01
01
Nitwit,
We don't know what kind of drugs
you have been taking, but it wouldbe
in your best interest to look into some
serious rehab. Wadon't care what you
did over break, although we hold a
strong suspicion that you sat around
becomingJell-O.Butthat's irrelevant.
Write the column. - The editors
Your holy incompetence,
I'm sick of this kind of abuse. If I
wanted abuse, I would lock myself in
a room with Barry Manilow. Here's
where I draw the line. I'm going on