4 - The Michigan Daily - Monday, April 17, 1995
U~lbe £rbitu iit tlg
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
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.
Please don't tow s
City vigilance on parking tickets is misplaced
In a sudden burst of vigilance, the city of
Ann Arbor's tow trucks descended onto
campus last week, determined to haul off any
vehicles with four or more unpaid parking
tickets. By the end of the week, studentsjammed
City Hall with complaints and without trans-
portation. While the city is certainly entitled to
enforce its own laws, the current tow-a-thon is
an unwelcome and unexpected nuisance that
appears to single out students for special pun-
ishment.
The city initiated the recent crackdown in
the wake of a March 23 agreement under
which the city assumes responsibility for park-
ing violations on campus. The agreement was
meant to spare the University the expense of
administering its own parking-violations bu-
reaucracy. This followed the city's own crack-
down on unpaid tickets, which began last April
with a City Council resolution to tow vehicles
with four rather than six unpaid parking tick-
ets.
Now'the campus is targeted by city tow
trucks, and the timing is suspect. Is it coinci-
dence that the city and University cemented
their pact only a month before most students
head home? Not likely. The city apparently is
trying to coerce students into making good on
parking debts before they leave for the sum-
mer. However successful the tactic turns out to
be, it is an underhanded stab at the student
population and a transparent attempt to squeeze
more cash from those most inconvenienced by
a lack of parking on and around campus.
In playing "get tough" with ticket violators,
the city is conveniently overlooking the cause
of the parking dilemma: insufficient facilities.
Students who choose to maintain a car in Ann
Arbor are immediately faced with a dearth of
places to park it, often confining them to
metered lots or remote street parking. Because
of the city's unwillingness to tackle the park-
ing problem, students and others in the down-
town area are stuck with an unreasonably high
number of tickets. Instead of stepping up tow-
ing efforts, the City Council must commit the
city to building more parking lots and struc-
tures in student-populated areas of the city.
Until the lack of space is solved, the council
should reconsider last year's decision to begin
towing cars with four tickets. With the city's
dogged determination to ticket vehicles just
minutes after their meters expire, it is quite
possible for a car to accumulate the dreaded
four tickets in the course of a day. And if that
day's tickets are not paid, not only do the fines
deservedly go up, but the city - which re-
serves the right to pluck vehicles from their
owners' property - could come with a tow
truck and remove the offending vehicle. Such
a scenario is the product of a misguided vigi-
lance at City Hall, aimed squarely at drivers'
pocketbooks instead of a workable solution to
the parking crisis in Ann Arbor.
In October, Michigan wrestler
Kazaku had a run-in with sec
Law student Eric Wise that left N
multiple cuts and bruises and "he
ing of the eardrum."
Wise filed criminal charge
Kazaku, a native of Hawaii who w
the 134-pound weight class. Kaza
tainshis innocence, saying both
fault in the altercation. But spira
and academic cdsts forced Kakaz
draw from one class and plead no
district court. He was sentence
hours of community service, fined
placed on probation for two year
Wise told The Michigan Dail)
sentencing that he thought the pu
was too lenient and threatened to to
under the code.
Two years ago University ad
tors, in an authoritarian coup d'
cocted a disciplinary policy knot
Statement of Student Rights and F
bilities. With the policy, nickn
code, the University sought to
hazing practices, physical injury
students and even stalking (all u
infamous 30-mile radius fromcam
ministrators implemented the co
tect students outside the classro
such infractions as sexual harass
kidnapping. In reality, the policy
with flaws and inequities.
On Thursday, the eight-mem
versity Board of Regents will hea
plead for regents to "Screw the C
Friday, the regents will listen atte
Vice President for Student Affairs
A. Hartford extols the code and th
it has made in the past year. Har
field inane questions by regents
JAMEs R. Cuo BENEATH THE PALMPS
Wrestlers, lawyers, regents
and a kangaroo court,
Kendrick failure of the amendment process and other dants spent nearly 10 hours in Room 3
cond-year minutiae. They will then proceed to either the Union giving opening commentst
Wise with keep the code on an interim basis or make it Mary Lou Antieu, code judicial advise
morrhag- permanent University policy. a University administrator who will
But before voting, the regents must ask down a decision - and possible expu
s against the ultimate question: Has the University The case has since been postpon
wrestles in become a safer place under the code? Has Wednesday. It is understandable in ca
aku main- the primary goal of the University - to sexual assault or harassment for ca
h were at maintain stability and order on campus-- occurinprivate,buttheproblemwithc
ling legal been attained? Have students benefited from door cases is that freedoms are furth
u to with- the added protection of the code? stricted and improprieties tend to ru
contest in pant. How can procedural problems s
d to 108 Issue 1: Due Process? 10-hour hearings be addressed without
[$340 and Double Jeopardy? lic scrutiny?
s. "Students who have been accused of
y after the violating University policies have the right Issue 3: What next?
inishment to fair treatment." - the code. "You can't change the rules unle
ake action Kakazu, along with five other students know the rules." - Bill Clintont
who were allegedly present at the time of the Georgetown student newspaper, whi
fight,continuetofacetrouble withthe"law." was running for student government1
Iministra- Wise and a fellow Law student, who also dent.
6tat, con- claims he was assaulted, have brought The University delights in quashin
wn as the charges against Kakazu and his cohorts. dent dissent.Yet when membersof thel
Responsi- They are being persecuted under the code. Student Union boycotted Martin Luthe
amed the Underprivileged defendants do not have Day events two years ago, the Univ,
proscribe the luxury of a "court-appointed" lawyer. listened. The BSU was given its own#
to other Student Legal Services represented Kakazu to address activism this year. But no
within the in district court, but because the group re- will the University tolerate mass prote
ipus). Ad- ceives partial funding from the University, evidenced by its effort to co-opt s
de to pro- it could not help him in the quasi-legal code leaders by paying them: Leadership2
om from proceedings. Kakazu has been left to fend No one can dispute the Universit
ment and for himself. Wise and his co-complainant, gitimate right to regulate student ac
is riddled both Law students, however, have retained But to bring about change, students
the services of a lawyer. The attorney can play by the rules. No more will the U
aber Uni- only advise his clients and cannot speak on sity succumb to petty student protestso
r students their behalf. slogans of "Abolish the Code." It is si
ode." On students to think they can coerce Harti
ntively as Issue 2: Public or Private? annul the code. The code, whether t
>Maureen Unless the parties involved agree to an gents decide Friday to keep it interima
e progress open hearing, the cases remain confidential is here to stay. And students like Ken
tford will and are conducted behind closed doors. Kakazu will continue to fall victim t
about the Last Tuesday Kakazu and his co-defen- pernicious policy.
000 of
before
er, an
l and
ulsion.
ned to
ases of
ses to
losed-
her re-
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uch a
ut pub-
ss you
to the
ile he
presi-
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Black
rKing
versity
forum
more
ests, as
tudent
2017.
y's le-
tivity
must
'niver-
or cute
illy for
ford to
he re-
or not,
ndrick
to this
JIM LASSER
The perpetual campaign
Presidential election season must shorten
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Last week, Sen. Bob Dole (R-Kan.) be-
came the sixth Republican to throw his
hat into the presidential ring - a full 18
months before the 1996 election. The fact that
presidential campaigns now consume nearly
two years poses extensive problems for the
governance of the nation, as it lurches from
one election season to the next devoid of any
clear direction.
With four U.S. senators in the campaign,
Congress loses some of its most valuable law-
makers to the whirlwind called campaign poli-
tics. Especially troubling is Dole's position -
he must serve as Senate majority leader and
barnstorm the country at the same time. A
system for electing presidents that requires
sitting senators to sacrifice one-third of their
terms if they wish to seek the White House
inevitably damages the nation.
Yet long campaigns harm more than the
national scene. In 1987-88,Massachusetts Gov.
Michael Dukakis neglected his home state
while campaigning for the presidency. In the
meantime, the state's economy suffered from
the void in the Statehouse, giving political
ammunition to presidential opponent George
Bush. Dukakis was caught in a political Catch-
22: Campaign or risk underexposure, govern
or risk recession.
The political calculations of this presiden-
tial campaign are poisoning Washington, as
candidates cannot cast votes without an eye
toward political repercussions. It is especially
difficult for Dole - as GOP leader in the
Senate, he could be crafting substantive legis-
lation. However, he must placate the conserva-
tive wing of the party - the faction that votes
most heavily in the primaries - by avoiding,
compromise and bipartisanship in favor of
confrontation and right-wing ideology.
Furthermore, the fact that the campaign is
already in full swing on the GOP side makes it
all the more difficult for President Clinton to
govern. Forced to react to the attacks of the
candidates who wish to oppose him, he must
operate in an even more partisan, combative
political atmosphere than usual. Consequently,
the chances for productive legislation all but
disappear.
These problems are not new. However, the
presidential campaigns were once at least con-
fined to the year of the election itself. Today,
the campaign spans a full one-half of the
presidential term. Shorter campaign seasons
would minimize the damage to the govern-
ment. While there is no easy way to accom-
plish this, there are many solutions that should
at least be seriously investigated. Election
schedules could be modified: Primary and
caucus dates could be condensed, instead of
being spread out over such a long period.
Another option is to set a national date before
which no primaries could be held - as it is
now, the states compete to be ahead of one
another on the schedule, putting a large num-
ber of primaries excessively early in the elec-
tion year.
Another focus of reform must be money.
Campaigns are so expensive that candidates
must start early to build up the necessary war
chest. Finance laws should be reformed to
tighten spending limits and end the need to put
so much effort into fund-raising.
Solving the problem of the perpetual presi-
dential campaign will not be easy. However,
the nation must address the issue if it is to avoid
frequent two-year periods of paralyzed gov-
ernment. This year, the politicians will have to
make the best of a bad situation. In the future,
the campaigns must be changed.
SHARP As TOAST
A~re1- so-lf~v 5-U
NorAr QUOTABL
"An ideal
(leveraged buyout)
Is a company like
RJR Nabisco.
When you hit a
recession, people
keep buying those
Oreos and
smoking those
cigarettes."
- University of Chicago
professor offinance Steven
Kaplan, explaining the
risks of the attempted
buyout of Chrysler Corp.
-A.
._ ti
:
R = .I
LETTERS
Money for
smiles wasted
To the Daily:
In response to the Project
Smile rebuttal of words about
Friendly Days ("Friendliness a
yearlong bid, 4/14/95): The prob-
lem many people have with
Friendly Days and Project Smile
is not that they "want people to
smile at each other as they cross
the Diag," but rather that they
were funded with my money to
give out free food and balloons.
I find this an outrage. In addi-
tion, I find it completely disheart-
ening to know that our Univer-
sity administrators were more
than willing to invest my money
for Friendly Days' public rela-
tions for the University. When
there are students giving their
blood, sweat and tears for causes
like human and civil rights on
this campus, I can assure you,
those very same administrators.
have been nowhere to be found.
Sure, hunger and homelessness
are not as "cute" as smiley-face
posters, but I want to see my
University's administrators (and
as a resident of Michigan, it is my
University) delivering food to
homebound elderly and AIDS
path to Real Life." (4/14/95)
Mike, you typify the attitude we
all seem to have that if you're
naked, you have to be having
sex. You say things like "Several
thousand students, many of
whom will never purchase a por-
nographic magazine, will watch,"
and "there will be a few who take
photos of the event, hoping to get
some kind of sexual excitement
out of this." I thought you were
better than that. There is such a
thing as being without clothes
and not doing the horizontal
lambada. It's called skinny-dip-
ping and there are plenty of us
around here who do it.
It's quite a phenomenon on
campus, this nudity thing.
Throughout my many years here,
I've seen quite a few "Co-ed
Naked" T-shirts. "Coed Naked
Volleyball: Rude, Crude, and in
the Nude." Been there, done that.
But why do you think one would
wear such a shirt? Probably for
the same reason that one wears a
shirt that reads on the front "Col-
lege is ful of many difficultdeci-
sions," and then on the back has
the emblems of every beer ever
created. It takes quite a bit of
maturity to be stark naked and
carry on a conversation with an-
nther nerson who mav also he
your clothes off, and then just sit
back and enjoy the sun. I'll bet
you could make it an entire after-
noon stark naked with your stark
naked friends and not even once
jump one of them. If you haven't
been watching Melrose Place for
too long, that is.
After all, if God had meant us
to be naked, we would have been
born that way.
Zaid Salman
Engineering senior
A heartfelt
farewell to city
parking cops
To the Daily.
On the eve of my graduation,
I would like to take this opportu-
nity to express my sincere appre-
ciation for the most respected
group of individuals on this cam-
pus. No, I am not speaking of
tenured faculty, nor the leaders
of the student government.
Rather, Icommend asmall group
of dedicated, model Americans
-Ann Arbor's parking enforce-
ment officers. No other organi-
zation has displayed to me such#
genuine care for a calling in life
... one consisting of spotting ex-
pired meters and cars parked too
close to a driveway.
In my four years here, I have
gladly donated to their cause a
sum of nearly $500. Most re-
cently, this group had the cour-
tesy of towing my car right fror@
my own driveway to remind me
that it was time to donate to the
Ann Arbor parking charity again.
For this I thank you.
To the officers: My experi-
ences at the University would
not have been the same without
you. The Fab Five, Desmond
Howard's Heisman, the Jake
Baker incident and you peop
keeping an eye on my Jeep.
Lastly, please note that the
amount of truth and honesty in
this letter is equal to the amount
of slack you have cut me over the
years ... zero. Thanks again for
four great years. I will never re-
spect, I mean forget you.
HOw TO CONTACT TIHM
Lewis A. Morrissey, chief freedom of information officer
Office of the Vice President for University Relations
2064 Fleming Administration Building
763-5800
Lew.Morrissey@um.cc.umich.edu
Rick Klamka
LSA senior
MONDAY
Ann Arhor Citv Council meeting