4 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, February 23, 1996

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420 Maynard Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Edited and managed by
students at the
University of Michigan

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RONNIE GLASSBERG
Editor in Chief
ADRIENNE JANNEY
ZACHARY M. RAIMI
Editorial Page Editors

NOTABLE QUOTABLE
'Art works on all kinds of levels, and one level is
transformation of people with horrific experiences of both,
the murder of a child, and also the murderer.'
- Richard Kainler, the Adeline Kent Award-winning
artist, discussing art that prisoners
create, in a speech Wednesday night
JIM LASSER SHARP AS TOAST

MCINTOSH CLASSICS
Life in the dorm
Badfood, weird
neighbors and
many memories

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Unless otherwise noted, unsigned editorials relect the opinion of a majority of the Dailv s editorial board. All
other articles, letters and cartoons do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Michigan Daily.
FROM THE DAILY
70% representation
MSA reps. slight out-of-state students

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O ne year ago, the University was prepar-
ing to battle Gov. John Engler and the
Michigan Legislature to repair an inequi-
table state allocation and to reclaim withheld
funding increases. At the time, Engler pro-
posed to give each of the state's 15 public
universities a 3-percent increase in their an-
nual allocations. He also wanted to give three
universities extra increases, but the Univer-
sity was not included in his bonus pot. The
Legislature then voted to withhold the
University's increase - more than $8.3 mil-
lion - because lawmakers said the Univer-
sity was admitting too many out-of-state
students. This year, Engler's proposal treated
all schools about equally, and he has pro-
posed a 4.4-percent increase in allocations to
the University. Ironically, some Michigan
Student Assembly members want the state to
take some of the money back.
What a difference a year makes.
Last Saturday, four MSA representatives
testified before the state Senate Appropria-
tions Subcommittee on Higher Education,
which was holding a public hearing at the
Michigan League. Two members, Andy
Schor and Olga Savic, asked the committee
to withhold $36 million in increases to state
universities in exchange for tuition rebates to
Michigan residents. Specifically, Schor and
Savic were protesting the part of Engler's
budget that would repeal the state's tuition
tax credit program. Schor and Savic argued
that by cutting $36 million from universities'
allocations, Michigan residents attending the
public schools would get a tax credit of up to
$250 per year. While the two representatives
are not trying to harm out-of-state students
-who comprise about 30 percent of the

undergraduate population - Schor's and
Savic's idea nonetheless treats non-Michi-
gan residents unfairly. It will needlessly take
money from the University.
When the MSA representatives testified,
the assembly itself had not passed a resolu-
tion to support the plan. Schor, who chairs
the External Relations Committee, had the
consent of that committee. Savic testified on
behalf of the Students' Party for which she is
the vice presidential candidate. Tuesday night
- after the fact - MSA passed a resolution
that supported Schor's and Savic's position.
The representatives were not speaking on
behalf of the entire assembly, but it is clear
that MSA supports their position - retroac-
tively. By supporting the plan, MSA dis-
played a lack of consideration for out-of-
state students. MSA representatives did not
fulfill their obligation as elected officials to
work for the needs ofall students. The External
Relations Committee and the Students' Party,
as well as the entire assembly, seemed to disre-
gard the interests of out-of-state students -an
important part of its constituency.
Savic said she thought asking the com-
mittee to reinstate the tax credit program
without giving up any ofthe allocation would
be "immature." However, asking the Legis-
lature to take back money already slotted for
the University appears not only ungrateful,
but it defeats the University's constant cam-
paign for more and necessary state dollars.
MSA is obligated to represent all University
students, and to fight for their rights. Asking
for a tuition break, in addition to a reasonable
allocation, is "immature" - instead, asking
for as much financial compensation for stu-
dents as possible will only benefit them.

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR


Engler target

Native Americans lose
Despite Gov. John Engler's proposed
funding increase for the University in
his recent budget, he has shown an overall
lack of regard for education programs in the
state. Current examples include his mediocre
proposed spending increase in K-12 school-
ing and the proposal to drastically cut adult
education programs. Engler's latest attack on
education is the cancellation of the Native
American college tuition

waiver program. Not only is
this an unnecessary cut to a
worthwhile program, it is
also complete disregard of a
long-standing agreement be-
tween tribes and the state.
In the state budget pro-
posed earlier this month,
Engler eliminated a tuition
waiver forNative Americans
who attend state universities
orcommunity colleges. The
program reimburses state
schools for the tuition of stu-
dents who can demonstrate

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again in gov.'s budget
dents to pursue a college education, and that
it combats problems in the Native American
community, such as illiteracy. The waiver
also provides an incentive to those who have
not finished school to return to complete
their education. George Cornell, director of
the Native American Institute at Michigan
State University, said the program has done
an effective job ofretaining students through
graduation.
The tuition waiver pro-
gram has been in place for the
past 20 years. It was insti-
tuted with the goal ofincreas-
ing the number of Native
Americans in universities.
The program is part of an
agreement between the state
and Native American com-
munities to amend past injus-
tices. The state is trying to
compensate Native Ameri-
cans for the land and educa-
tional opportunities taken
away from them throughout
Michigan's history.

Fraternity
left out of
article
TO THE DAILY:
To my surprise, you
published an article about
the Diet Coke/Friends
promotion recently ("Diet
Coke sponsorswatching
'Friends' promotion," 2/14/
96) on the front page. What
surprised me the most was
that I had absolutely no idea
that there would be an article
until I actually saw it. I am
the Public Relations chair
for Delta Sigma Phi
Fraternity, which is sponsor-
ing the promotion on
campus, and it is my job to
handle projects like this.
I have put a lot of time
into this promotion to help
us get our name out in a
positive manner; being that
we restarted the fraternity
one year ago we need all the
publicity (positive) that we
can get. I believe the person
who wrote the article should
have done more research as
to how the promotion was
possible at the University
(all things like this need a
student group to sponsor
them or they can't come on
campus) and included the
fraternity in the article.
While in no way is the
fraternity upset with the
Daily (which has been very
good to us in the past year
and is greatly appreciated),
we felt we should let you
know that we were a part of
the promotion and would
like to have known about the
article in advance and
included in it.
MIKE KHOMUTIN
ENGINEERING JUNIOR
DELTA SIGMA PHI
Negotiation
will lead to
peace in
Middle East
TO THE DAILY:
[he ongoing debate on
the Middle East taking place
in the pages of the Daily
should seem tiring. Not just
tiring because in my four
years as an undergraduate I
have heard the same
arguments reprinted time
and again, but tiring because
the same issues have been
debated for decades, if not
centuries.
As a Jew, I would like to
think that Israel is "better" in
some sense, yet I know that
better is a relative term. I am
sure thataArabs feel the same
way. No one wants to
believe their people could be
oppressors or murderers. But
there are no true innocents in
the Middle East.
The numerous letters to

am the victim or the moral
authority, and thus deserve
to get my way. Norwould I
want to. The only solution
for the Middle East is
negotiation. It is time for
these two peoples to move
on from their troubling past
of violence and hatred, and
into an era of peace. It is
time for two states for two
peoples.
MIKE NEWMAN
SNRE SENIOR
CHAIR, PROGRESSIVE
JEWISH COLLECTIVE
Daily article
adds to
racial divide
TO THE DAILY:
I came across the racial
phrase that appeared in the
article "'U' student recircu-
lates racist e-mail, angers
many," (2/9/96). 1 must say
that I was really angry and
most of all insulted.
As an African American
man, this word has perpetu-
ated my life for far too long.
To wake up in the morning
and see this sight (as well as
the photo on 1/31/96) made
me wonder if the Daily
really cares for the emo-
tional status of its readers,
especially minorities.
I now see that I was
naive to believe that people
in general were not out to
hurt others.
It really hurts to see that
a publication that has been
around for 105 years with
editorial freedom not use its
freedoms to keep away from
insensitive racial comments
and phrases, as well as
photos.
Realizing that the title of
the jokes made contained the
offensive term, I now
wonder if your skilled
writers have not heard of
substitutes for this unaccept-
able term, such as the "n"
word. Racial slurs should
not be tolerated nor should
they be acceptable in a
publication going out to the
readers.
KENNETH T. JONES
ENGINEERING
FIRST-YEAR STUDENT
CHAIR, MSA MINORITY
AFFAIRS COMMISSION
'U' works for
a cleaner
environment
TO THE DAILY:
In an article printed on
January 31 (Student wants
U' to use new EPC
program"), the Daily
reported on Basilla Yao's
initiative to expand the

The article also failed to
address the fact that many
other departments/buildings
have already began to
retrofit their lighting systems
in efforts to comply with the
Green Lights program.
Examples of these depart-
ments/buildings include the
Business School, the Dana
Building and the Harlan
Hatcher Graduate Libraiy,
among many others. Many
departments are eager to
retrofit their lighting systems
in order to save money and
energy but lack the capital to
make the changes all at once.
A more appropriate
spokesperson for energy
conservation could have
come from the Utilities
Department rather than the
Occupational Safety and
Environmental Health
Department. The Utilities
Department probably would
have been able to provide
much more accurate
information on this topic and
an update of current
University efforts to comply
to the Green Lights program.
Despite this, Yao's
efforts should to be ap-
plauded and it should be
recognized that the Univer-
sity must continue to work
toward conserving energy.
JON KAZMIERSKI
SNRE SOPHOMORE
Students'
Party will
not be too
partisan
TO THE DAILY:
For once I agree with a
Daily editorial when it says
that the early announcement
of the Students' Party
candidates must not interrupt
the functioning of MSA
("Jumping the gun: Early
race will augment partisan
politics," 2/8/96).
I think that Olga Savic
and Jonathan Freeman will
easily prove they are capable
of continuing to work for
students and campaign
simultaneously.
Their announcement,
however, had a positive note.
Instead of a number of our
party members bickering and
fighting for political primacy
as the filing deadline
approaches, we as a party are
settled on our candidates and
prepared to do the work of
the assembly.
Furthermore, the
assembly is not subject to
rumours about who the
Students' Party will run -
rumours that might disrupt
cooperative efforts much like
they did last year when
people theorized that
Jonathan would be our
presidential candidate.
The concerns raised by

The best thing about living in the
dorms is the food.
If you are an employee of the dining
halls, then - please! - by all means,
assume that I am
truly enamoredwith
the provender of-
fered by the
University's resi-
dence halls. Now
stop reading.
Those ofyou who
are not West Quad
dish washers or ~
Couzens cooks re-
alizeofcourse,that
claiming the foodas R BRENT
the best part ofdorm McINTOSH
living is nothing
short of an indict-
ment of the residence hall system.
University Housing would probably
prefer that I referto the residence halsas
just that, oras"ResHalls."Outofrespect
for the politically incorrect among this
fine newspaper's readers, I will continue
to use "dorms" in this column. Face it
You can "reside" in the "halls" if you
wish to, but during my time inthe dorms
I was happiest when I was asleep -"to
sleep" being the Latin root of the word
"dormitory."
But back to the matter at hand: the
food.
Dorm food is delicious - if you
haven't eaten in several years, and be-
fore that, when youdideat, you gobbled
nothing but raw tires sandwiched be-
tween ripened park benches.
The shade I'm throwing on dorm food
should be put in context. I am not trying
to say I'm a great cook and could serve
up wonderful gourmet offerings were I
the head of food services. No, most of
what I make for myself is pasta, the
cooking of which is about as difficult as
getting elected to the Senate: It doesn't
require competence, it just takes time.'
More context: I eat a little bit of pasta.
Not like a couple dishes every week -
no, I mean a "little bit" in the samesense
as "Bill Gates has a little bit ofmoney,"
and "sumo wrestlers are a little bit fat"
- that kind of "little bit."
Still more context: Entire Italian pasta
factories are supported by the business I
provide, so much so that I am now the
patron saint ofvarious towns throughou
Italy. One of them is Rome. That's how
much pasta I eat.
Conclusion: I still don't want to go
back to dorm food.
U..
Thebestthingabout livinginthedorms
is the company.
If you are among the people I know
from two years spent in West Quad-
Please! -- by all means, assume thatI
really love you, man. (You're not get-
ting my Bud Light, Johnnie.) Now stop
reading.
I certainly made great friends in the
dorms, and I met people I will never
forget. But I also met some real nutcases,
along with a lot of people who I liked,
but found just a little off-kilter.
Take, for example, the short kid who
lived acrossthe hall fromme when I was
a freshman. For a party trick, he would
take off his shirt and light his chest hai
on fire a little below his naval. It would
gradually burn skyward with a rather
sickening smell, until he patted it out on
his chest. Cool, huh, dude?
Down the hall from him lived a kid
who didn't realize this wasn't summer
camp until mid-November. Every Fri-
daynighthe would pack up his stuffand
wait for his parents to pick him up and
take him back for the start ofI10th grade,
only to be disappointed when they didn'
arrive. No one had the heart to tell him
he'd graduated the year before.
Once he figured out that he wasn't at

camp and that the neat crafts he'd made
wouldn't serve to brown-nose the camp
director, he sank into a deep depression
and proceeded to play that Whitney
Houston "I will always love you" song
24-seven for four consecutive weeks at
a volume loud enough to be heard in the
nearer parts of Ypsilanti.
This mildly bothered most of the resi-
dents of our hall, but not The Guy at the
End. We lived on a remarkably social
hall, but no one ever talked to The Guy
at the End ofthe hall. Sightings of The
Guy at the End were about as rare then as
good presidential candidates are now.
Evidence shows that the only person
ever to talk to The Guy at the End was
my friend Brett Kimmel, who had this
conversation with the mystery man:
(Scene: 4 a.m.; both groggy; bath-
room door collision)
Brett: Excuse me.
The Guy at the End: (something
mumbled).
And that was it. Brett was revered as
the pioneer of the hall, the man who

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that they are at least one-quarter Native
American and have been a resident of the
state for at least one year. About 1,800 state
residents qualify for the waiver annually.
The program costs the state about $2 million
per year. Engler made a similar proposal last
year, but it was eventually retracted as he
agreed to reimburse the schools for the tu-
ition. It was a bad idea then, and it's no better
now.
At $2 million per year, the program is
hardly a strain on the state budget. On the
contrary, it helps the state by encouraging an
underrepresented segment of the population
into higher education. Michigan's Native
American tribal leaders argue that the waiver

Engler says the waiver is unfair because it
singles out a specific group for special assis-
tance. He addedthat Native Americans could
find other sources of aid based on need.
However, the typical recipient of the waiver
may not qualify for regular financial aid.
Without the program, these students will
have no outside alternatives for funding their
education. The agreement was a commit-
ment on part ofthe state to aid Native Ameri-
cans in obtaining higher education. The Leg-
islature has no excuse for rescinding this
agreement. The state Senate Appropriations
Subcommittee on Higher Education must
act by continuing funding for this worthy

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