4- The Michigan Daily ° Monday, April 10, 1995
c~I1je £kigau Dui tg
420 Maynard
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Edited and managed by
, students at the
' University of Michigan
MICHAEL ROSENBERG
Editor in Chief
JuuE BECKER
JAMEs NASH
Editorial Page Editors
JaMs R. CHo BENEATH THE PALIMPSEST
Graduation marks the end
of college dasys=m- almost
Unless otherwise noted, unsigned editorials reflectthe 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.
Han gt U'todry
State House action
Last week, the Michigan House of Repre-
sentatives passed its higher education
appropriations budget, exclusively withhold-
ing a 3-percent increase in state funding from
the University. This decision signals an alarm-
ing trend toward both the University and the
state of higher education as a whole in Michi-
gan.
Although Gov. John Engler proposed an
increase of at least 3 percent for all 15 state
universities, the House voted to deny the
University's share, while increasing appro-
priations to Michigan State, Western Michi-
gan and Grand Valley State above 3 percent.
The reason for this cut, as stated by lawmak-
ers, stems from the University's current 33-
percent out-of-state enrollment, 3 percent
higher than the Legislature would like to see.
The irony here is that in the effort to
increase the percentage of Michigan resi-
dents at the University, the House has taken
action that will result in higher tuition for the
in-state students who already attend the
school. This follows a pattern that has been in
place for the past 20 years: State appropria-
tions have plummeted to account for only
55.4 percent of public university funding -
from 75.1 percent in the 1972-73 school year
- while tuition has steadily risen to account
for the state's stinginess.
Caught in the middle of this conflict be-
tween the University and the Legislature are,
of course, the very students the government
claims to be trying to protect. The University
already has the second-highest tuition rate in
the country, with the University of Vermont
a mere $50 a year higher. Perhaps the Legis-
lature is looking out for No.1--although the
University fell short of a hockey or basket-
ball national championship, it can still be the
leader in forcing the burden of the cost of
education on students. There is no other
logical explanation for flatly funding the
University of Michigan while increasing
funds for all 14 other state institutions.
signals grave trend
Michigan is currently among the top 10
states in forcing its schools to rely on tuition
money for funding. This state appropriations'
bill may only affect the University of Michi-
gan, but Michigan State, Western Michigan
and other schools that benefited from our
loss should take note: They, too, can easily
fall victim to a tight-fisted state Legislature.
The University may be out of favor in Lan-
sing this year because of its population ratio,
but there is nothing to prevent other schools
from withering under the spotlight for differ-
ent reasons. The overall trend in the state is
that of fewer dollars for education - and
from such a governmental attitude, no school
is safe.
The current majority in the state Legisla-
ture clearly wants nothing more than to con-
tinue posturing on inane tax and spending
cuts. Lawmakers cannot seem to understand
such a simple concept as cost-benefit analy-
sis: The benefits of well-supported schools
help the state as a whole. The University of
Michigan brings in far more dollars to the
state's economy every year than the Legisla-
ture offers in return. If the House wants to
slash education and turn the Michigan uni-
versity system into a shining example of
mediocrity, then this bill goes a long way
toward that goal.
The bill to punish in-state students and the
University now rests in the hands of the state
Senate. If it passes, the responsibility will fall
on Gov. Engler to live up to his former pledge
and veto a bill that fails to achieve 3-percent
across-the-board appropriations increases.
State senators and the governor need to think
long and hard about whether the lasting con-
sequences and continuing pattern of neglect
will be worth $8.4 million. They need to
decide whether an education at the Univer-
sity that is already prohibitively expensive
for many of Michigan's working-class fami-
lies is to placed further out of reach.
By a circuitous route but with great
enthusiasm, you, the graduating se-
nior, third-year law student, fourth-year
medical student, will soon leave the self-
contained, sheltered community of the Uni-
versity of Michigan. Diploma in hand, you
prepare to embark on your childhood
dreams. (You don't get the diploma until
six weeks later.)
The cold, hard truth is that in our times,
Fate (read: unemployment) lurks, wield-
ing its scintillating machete, ready to cut
your ego down to size.
Whether Monday, May 1 marks your
first day on the job or September locks you
back in the classroom, remember that as a
Michigan alum, you're part of the largest
"family" in the world.
(Eds'. note: What would have followed
the preceding paragraph is a laundry list of
alums, their accomplishments, anecdotes
about Deloreans and a proposal for a man-
datory class titled Drugs are Bad 101 for
all MBAs and athletes without the pass/
fail option. In the interest of the reading
public, we cut directly to the chase.)
Whether you're competing in the Olym-
pics, implementing public policy or plant-
ing a Michigan flag on the moon, remem-
ber you still are and always will be a
Wolverine. President James J. Duderstadt
will always welcome you back with open
arms - especially if you return with a $20
million endowment for the University's
Western Civilization program. (Just don't
ask for the privilege of hiring faculty.)
As Michigan men (and women) you've
learned to hope for the best but expect the
worst - like forward-thinking Chris
Webber, we thought he'd return to take the
team to another NCAA championship but
we all knew he'd never turn down millions
to play in the NBA.
(Eds'. note: That's the requisite sports
analogy in which the answers to deep
philosophical questions are found in the
simple musings of graceful athletes.)
As you exchange addresses, tearful
good-byes, please remember a few things:
1. If you work 80 hours a week at the
corporate headquarters of Kmart in Troy,
remember the important things in life -
family. Shed your self-centered, utility-
maximizing ego and make time to give
back to the community. Coach Little
League baseball. But make sure they're
real and not replacement players.
2. When Lana from Michigan Telefund
calls asking for a "small donation," give
generously because the students you're
leaving behind will have to contend with
triple-digit tuition increases now that the
state Legislature despises us and refuses
to increase state appropriations. (And don't
give the minimum $19.95 either. For next
year's graduates, like me, the minimum is
$19.96. You're lucky.)
3. Don't be satisfied pushing papers
across the desk your entire life. Strive to
right historic wrongs; push for equal rights
for all people; address injustices in immi-
gration or welfare policy; demand lower
taxes and, of course, rights for women.
4. If you have to move back in with
your parents: Be nice. Hey, you belong to
a generation of people less likely to own
their own homes than any since before the
days of Reconstruction. Rent away!
We grew up in a world where the
ominous cloud of foreseeable nuclear an-
nihilation eventually blew over, thanks in
part to thousands of demonstrating stu-
dents in Eastern Europe demanding free-
dom and forcing the fall of the Berlin Wall
and the Soviet Union. With the end of the
Cold War, we should be entering an era of
unprecedented progress. Yet it seems we're
losing a more vicious war.
You're entering a sick world where
disease, hunger, teenage pregnancy, crime,
crumbling freeways and widespread inci-
vility pervade. But battle against the drum-
beats of despondency and cynicism. Shed
your callousness and apathy. Search for
answers you may never find.
What is life anyway? Life is not the
neoclassical model of maximizing one's
own wealth - it's contributing a verse to
the poetry of the world. "Heard melodies
are sweet, but unheard ones sweeter still."
So contributed the 20-something, ode-writ-
ing John Keats.
So frame your diploma, send out more
resumes/applications, indulge in post-teen
angst. Read Allan Bloom. Remember your
first job won't be your last. And remember
what Hamlet said of life, love and labor:
"If it be not now, 'tis not to come; if it be
not to come, it will be now; if it be not now,
yet it will come. The readiness is all."
Be ready.
Jim LA SSERSSAmm As TOAST
1:r'i A CooD THMGIcYU&
out OF Thi
jeff WAS
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NOTABLE QUOTABLE
"Service is the
rent you pay
for living."
- Stella Ogata,
spokeswoman for the
Children's Defense Fund
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SAC the code
New group embodies student activism
Sack the code. That is how Students
Against the Code (SAC) feel about the
code of non-academic conduct, the State-
ment of Student Rights and Responsibilities.
So they mobilized 80 students and are plan-
ning steps to protest the policy.
SAC is student activism at its best. De-
serving special praise is Vince Keenan, who
was instrumental in forming SAC. Keenan's
tireless efforts as the MSA Students' Rights
Commission chair have been a driving force
in the movement against the code. The new
group gathered a following in a relatively
short two weeks, with supporters ranging
from members of MSA, Student Civil Liber-
ties Watch, The Michigan Review and the
National Women's Rights Organizing Coa-
lition. These groups and others have shown
coalition-building ability by uniting in the
fight - SAC members possess diverse back-
grounds and ideologies, yet have converged
on a common goal: elimination of the code.
Part of the group's strategy is a protest
rally and march set for April 20, the same day
as the University Board of Regents meeting.
The march will begin on the Diag and end at
the Fleming Administration Building. At the
same time, student activists, MSA officials
and other concerned students will be inside
the meeting to negotiate with the regents.
Students should make an effort to attend the
How TO CONTACY THEM
rally to show the administration their opposi-
tion to the code. However, the regents meet-
ing is scheduled during final exams, poten-
tially discouraging many students from par-
ticipating or speaking. The 12 students who
will be allowed to speak at the meeting will
have to limit their comments to five minutes
each. These circumstances are only one more
reason to hope the non-voting student regent
will be on the April's agenda. The passage of
this item would greatly improve students'
ability to communicate with the administra-
tion.
The code will be evaluated as an interim
policy at the meeting, as it must be every
April as long as it is temporary. Also during
the meeting the regents will examine the
first-ever proposed amendments to the code.
Students have worked hard on these amend-
ments and they should be given serious con-
sideration. However, regents must acknowl-
edge that students, through SAC and other
efforts, have overwhelmingly called for abo-
lition of the overbearing policy.
The cooperation among SAC members
already makes the group an enormous suc-
cess. Perhaps the regents will finally listen to
the voice of students, which will be heard
inside and outside the regents' room next
Thursday. The cause is important enough for
students to join and say: "Kill the code."
LETTERS
Hartford
slights APA
cultural show
To the Daily:
As concerned Asian Pacific
American student leaders, we
write in regards to comments
that appeared in the March 31
Daily in the article "Pan-Asian
program attracts big crowd"
about the United Asian Ameri-
can Organization's first annual
cultural show: "GENERATION
APA." In the article, Vice Presi-
dent for Student Affairs
Maureen A. Hartford said, "It
amazes me how much talent
these kids have, especially be-
cause they aren't performance
majors."
"... because they're all pre-
med and pre-law,"added Engi-
neering Prof. George Hartford.
GENERATION APA was
not merely a cultural show, but
a catalyst that ignited over-
whelming feelings of together-
ness and pride. On Thursday
night, unity in the APA commu-
nity was not just a much ideal-
ized concept, but a reality. Many
of us went home filled with hope
for the future and waited with
anticipation for the Daily's cov-
erage of this milestone event.
It was with great sadness,
shock, and disappointment then,
that we read the aforementioned
an oppressive stereotype of
APAs that limits the perception
of APAs to the submissive,
highly successful minority that
doesn't "make noise" in this
society. It places all APAs un-
der the generalization that most
of us are "pre-med and pre-law"
or engineering students.
This generalization ignores
the struggling APA, and gives
those in power to dispense aid,
financial and otherwise, an ex-
cuse to deny aid to the many
needy APAs. It insults the intel-
ligence of those who would
openly recognize' the; diversity
of backgrounds in the APA com-
munity, and misleads the ma-
jority of society into buying into
a falsehood. Why should it come
as a surprise to the general popu-
lation every time Asian Ameri-
cans excel outside of the aca-
demic arena? If indeed we are
as talented and successful as
everyone seems to say we are,
should not our talents extend to
areas such as the performing
arts and other "non-traditional"
Asian arenas as well?
There are those who would
argue that one or two comments
are not significant in the whole
scheme of things. Dr. Hartford's
comments and in particular
those made by her husband,
however, point to a general ste-
reotypical perception. This view
is not limited merely to stu-
perpetuate an oppressive ste-
reotype, to look beyond this ste-
reotype and recognize us as in-
dividuals.
We would challenge espe-
cially those in positions of lead-
ership, the Daily staff and oth-
ers who have a responsibility to
the community, to be more
aware of this and to make an
effort to show a more informed
understanding of issues of such
importance to the community.
Nguyen Park
UAAO advocacy chair
and fifteen other students
Hartford ought
to apologize
for comments
To the Daily:
We would like to comment
on a grossly disrespectful and
repugnant remark made by En-
gineering Prof. and Executive
Director of the Office of Tech-
nology Transfer George "Jay"
Hartford Jr. In reference to last
Thursday's pan-Asian culture
show, Vice President for Stu-
dent Affairs Maureen A. Hart-
ford, Hartford's spouse, ex-
pressed surprise. at the talent of
the Asian performers because
they were not performance con-
centrators. To this comment,
George Hartford added, "...
................................................................
University faculty member can
watch a performance that illus-
trated the diversity within the
Asian community, and then af-
terwards classify the members
of all Asian ethnicities as "... all *
pre-med and pre-law." This
comment implies that there is
no diversity within the Asian
community, and it stereotypes
all Asians as aspiring doctors
and lawyers.
Both of these assumptions
have dangerous consequences.
Whether he was being serious
or "just joking," Mr. Hartford is4
responsible for perpetuating
myths which have historically
served to dehumanize Asians.
By labeling all Asians as pre-
professionals, Mr. Hartford dis-
courages others from seeking
out and appreciating the indi-
viduality of each person. Fur-
thermore, Mr. Hartfofd's remark
is a disgrace to a University
whose administrators pride
themselves on their commit-
ment to combating racism.
As is often the case, we rec-
ognize the possibility that Mr.
Hartford may have been mis-
quoted, or may have had his
comment taken out of context.
Therefore, Mr. Hartford should
either clarify what he said, or
apologize to the pan-Asian com-
munity and the University at
large.
Jeff Ganldblatt
CC
University Regent Philip Power
(D-Ann Arbor)
412 E. Huron, P.O. Box 7989
University Regent Deane Baker
(R-Ann Arbor)
4944 Scio Church Rd.
I