4A -The Michigan Daily - Monday, March 11, 1996 420 Maynard Street RONNIE GLASSBERG Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Editor in Chief Edited and managed by ' ADRIENNE JANNEY students at the ZACHARY M. RAIMI University of Michigan . 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. FROM THE DAwY A golden teacher Hillel's award acknowledges excellence NOTABLE QUOTABLE, 'This is not a victory for me but for all those who are suffering.' - Dr. Jack Kevorkian, after an Oakland County jury acquitted him for attending two suicides JIM LASSE R SHARP AS TOAST i V N'-HNK YOU 60rY5 COULD. MA K E SOME ROOM'? 7 j~or the first time, the Golden Apple Award has ventured into unknown territory - the School of Nursing. Prof. Carol Boyd's dynamic energy and passion for the study of women's health is contagious. Her provocative, inquisitive ap- proach inspires - ignites - thoughtful dis- cussion about health issues that plague women. In her Women's Health 220 course, Boyd examines the dangerously ignored spe- cial health needs and concerns women face, taking students on a comprehensive tour of the nuances of women's health. By addressing and de- fining women using psycho- logical, social, sexual, nurs- ing, legal and cultural per- spectives, Boyd paints a col- orful portrait of all women. Peppered with hard facts, her nursing and life experiences, and a genuine love for the material, Boyd fully injects herself into her teaching. She engages her students in ques- tioning social norms and stan- dard thought, practice and misconception. The University community has recog- nized her dedication, deep compassion, un- quenchable interest and style - Boyd is the 1996 recipient of the Golden Apple Award for excellence in teaching. The Golden Apple award, a brainchild of Hillel Director Michael Brooks, aims to help iefocus the University's attention on a range of issues based solely on the voice of the student body. By acknowledging and re- Wyarding Boyd, women's health - a subject sorely in need offurther study-gains center stage. Boyd's research on the correlation of mother-daughter relationships and women's illicit drug use furthers understanding of the lives of women and their needs, making successful treatment programs possible. Furthermore, the award serves as an out- let for tangible student recognition of teach- ing excellence. Enthusiastic student support and direct, vigorous approval helps to shatter the dark veil of apathy fre- quently draped over the 1 University's student popu- . ' . -_._ , {; r !j' L- . Ird lation. This year, the selection committee sifted through the 500 to 600 submitted bal- lots, and based their decision on both the content of each ballot and the number of nominations for each profes- sor. Hillel celebrates the art of teaching by challenging pro- fessors to deliver each lec- LETrERS TO THE EDiTOR' The letters to the editor section is a very important part ofthis page. We are pleased that we have received so many letters this term. Unfortunately, this enthusiastic response has created a backlog ofalmost 60 letters. For those ofyou who have sent us letters, please be patient; we will print them as space allows. For those who would like to send letters to us in the future, please continue to do so, but be aware ofpossible publication delays. We are taking steps to catch up with our readers' hearty responses to the Daily; however, we reserve the right to choose a representative sample of many letters on the same topic. In the meantime, we value your careful reading and thoughtful responses. -Adrienne Janney and Zack Raimi Editorial page editors. 4 Matt Wimsatt/Daiy ture as if it were their last, and its belief that every lec- ture should be as impassioned, lucid and full as the finale. Each recipient ofthe Golden Apple award is given a $1,000 cash award and the oppor- tunity to deliver a last, keynote speech. Past lecturers - all from LSA - include Drew Westen, Ralph Williams, Sidney Fine, Brian Coppola and Tom Collier. Carol Boyd will join this distinguished class April 15 at 7:30 p.m., when she will deliver her last lecture at Rackham Audito- rium. Through the wreckage Peace in Israel despite radicals' violence he land that flows with milk and honey soured some last week, as several sui- cide bombers ripped through Israel, placing the fragile peace process in jeopardy. These bombings in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv have killed more than 50 people, including young children celebrating the Jewish holiday of Purim. The latest developments have placed enormous strains on the Israeli and Palestin- ihn authority governments and their people. From beneath the blasted pieces of brick and iportar, and in the midst of human carnage, the citizens of the Middle East must heed a simple, but somewhat elusive message: Peace giust prevail. The road to peace in the Middle East has been rocky. It began in earnest four years 4go, when Yitzhak Rabin was elected prime thinister ofIsrael. Rabin emphasized the need tp put ancient antagonisms behind, and move frward to create a more stabile and less dangerous area. Soon after the election, Rabin and Palestinian Liberation Organization chairman Yassir Arafat shook hands at the White House in September 1993, and signed a declaration of principles for the peace pro- ess. Since then, Israel has turned over land slowly to the Palestinians to allow them self- governance. In addition, Israel and Syria agreed to forge a peace agreement. Last fall, the process took a significant urn for a worse: Rabin was assassinated by 4 right-wing Israeli who despised the peace process. And now, the perpetrators are a radical Palestinian group, Hamas, which pro- fesses to be dedicated to championing Islam in political, educational and social realms. Leaders of the United States, Palestine ind Israel must continue to work toward aLnr nA n-p,-c Pt-QiP+n Cmi,-tn h bloodshed. He reaffirmed the United States' commitment to helping the process. In addi- tion, the president promised that the United States will do everything in its power to "stop the killing, to bring the killers to justice and ensure that terrorism does not triumph over peace." As part of his commitment,- Clinton is scheduled to attend an international terror- ism conference in Egypt this week. Clinton's decision to attend sends a strong message to the world that the United States will stand behind the peace movement. He must con- tinue to use his office to advocate peace. However, Arafat is caught in a conflicted situation. He pledged to do everything he can to stop violence and to bring the killers to justice. Now he needs to act swiftly to assure Israel that he is still a proponent ofpeace, and at the same time, he cannot completely ig- nore the large contingent of Palestinians who are opposed to peace. The Israeli govern- ment, led by Prime Minister Shimon Peres, may soon run out ofpatience if Arafat cannot muzzle the violence. Arafat must demon- strate his commitment by taking a clear pub- lic stand against Hamas, for the sake of his people. Moreover, all sides - those in favor of peace and those against - must search for more effective ways to protest. One, ofcourse, is nonviolent protest. Another is the vote; Israeli citizens have the opportunity to pass a referendum on the peace process in the prime minister elections later this year. Violence only makes matters worse, and further rup- tures stability of an already shaky region. Now is the time for healing and peaceful discourse. Whatever the outcome, humility nA niiit, ,-w nraceiar chnrnrtritirC Stop using Native American imagery To THE DAILY: I would like to take this time to express my outrage at your flagrant use of oppressive stereotypes that refer to Native American people in your cartoons ("Sharp as Toast," 2/28/96). Over the past year I have noticed your references to "Indian stereotypes" with appalling regularity and dismissed them as ignorant tools of produdt of a .mainstreum cultre hat fails to recognize the indigenous rights of Native peoples. But for these offensive portray- als to be presented in a student newspaper that expressed an almost "enlightened" grasp of the issues concerning the Michigan Indian Tuition Waiver, I feel it is time for me, a Native American, student on this "multicultural" campus, to express my views. I would ask you to stop using Native American images, trying to demonstrate a respect for your cultural awareness, but that has already been done by a mentor of mine, Prof. Bob Megginson, some months back. Your continued use of derogative Native American images demonstrates a disrespect for Native American culture and the, Native American people on this campus. Instead I make an appeal to the editors of the Daily to discontinue your use of Jim Lasser's cartoons as they give the Daily a prejudiced air that offends many Native American people, despite any other Native issues the Daily tries to cover. As the student paper on campus conveys (or tries to) the views of the campus community, a Daily staff that continues to offend Native American people through oppressive images negates a "multicultural" view and expresses a disrespect forNative American cultures. LAURA KOTA LSA SENIOR Sc ran music that he should be giving his musical opinions to us. I've read many reviews by Gnatt, and I have disagreed with a majority of them, to say the least. Most recently I am talking about his trashing of the Bush show at the Palace ("Little things kill: Bush comes down," 3/1/96). I am not the biggest Bush fan in the world, but I was at the same concert (although you wouldn't know it), and I have to give them credit for the great show they put on. I don't know where Gnatt was, but the people in my section were rocking and singing along with Bush the whole night, and loving every second of it. Their music sounded great, and Gavin played to the crowd perfectly. I don't know how he could have fallen asleep (so he says), because the crowd was just in a frenzy, at least down in the front rows where I was. I was really impressed with the music - they sounded incredible. They opened with Machinehead, which rocked, and didn't let up the whole night, including great; renditions of Come Down and Everything Zen. I can't disagree more with what Gnatt said about the concert. I loved the improvs and solos that they added to the songs, and to say that these things detracted from the show is just plain stupid. I mean, if I wanted to listen to the CD, I could have stayed at home. His year-end review of music was the most hilari- ous ("Best of '95," 1/18/96), and yet disgusting, thing I have ever read in the Daily. He said that the best thing to happen to music was somebody's death, and that most music sucked. Well, when you take a CD as good as the one Alice in Chains released and give it the review he did, I guess everything would suck. But wait! The CD debuted at No. 1. It has already had two big hits, and many more on the way. Since the Daily obvi- ously isn't going to scrap music reviews, I think you would be doing a service to your readers to find someone else to do some musical reviews and leave the "cool" stuff to Gnatt. JAIMIE BIRK Settle GSI contract in summer To THE DAILY: When I first arrived to the University last fall I kept on seeing fliers for the Graduate Employees Organization. It wasn't until the middle of the fall term that my English Graduate Student Instructor explained to me what the term meant. Only a couple of days later, she read a memo or letter given to her by GEO. The letter asked GSIs to encour- age students in their classes to complain to the University and to help GEO achieve its goals. I can't help but think other students in other classes did what the letter asked for, just to either impress their GSIs or on their own. I thought that would be the end of it, though, now I understand that the same has happened in classes at the beginning of this term. Now, apparently, GEO has voted to strike because it and the University have not been able to come to terms. This is scaring me and others who I know into believing that if GEO strikes, classes would be delayed indefi- nitely and possibly we would not be able to finish our courses this term. Many of the students I have talked to are now angry at the University, because they do not want to waste a whole term because they and GEO can't agree. I can't say 1 blame them. I propose that the head of GEO and the University put this off until the summer. Why? First, it will allow the students to remain calm and feel secure about finishing their classes this term. Second, the GSIs that did not vote or want to strike will know they have job security till summer. Third, the University will most probably be more receptive when there are less students and therefore less hassles than there are now. In the end, waiting till the summer will give both sides more breathing room and time to reflect, meanwhile the students will not be penalized in the process. JOSE ALVAREZ ENGINEERING FIRST-YEAR THE DOUBLE X Dancing towad marnage - or not O nthe Wednesday before break I saw the production of "The Marriage Dance," a play my friend. wrote. Writing that sentence makes me proud. We have been friends for eight years, and I feel like I have piece of her accomplishment. In July, I will attend -take part in, actually - a different kind of event. My roommate is getting married Although she and ; I have been close friends almost four years, and have lived to- gether almost two andahalfyears,I have had trouble looking at her wedding with the same possessive KATE pride as I have in EPSTEIN my playwright friend's show. Possessive pride, perhaps, is not the most selfless, logical response to eitheroftheseevents. Neither ofthese events belongs to me, though I sat next to my friend at the play and will hold my roommate's bouquet during the ceremony. My job is to be happy for my friends, but the best way I can do that is by empathizing with them, by somehow feeling that the event is a little bit mine. Such blurring of ego boundaries is an expression of love. Love has been a little hampered in the case of my roommate's wedding., I have felt that taking pride in another woman's wedding comes danger- ously close to believing that the wed- ding event is the realization of all of a young woman's hopes and dreams. From the plaque of the young girl's dream on the LSA Building, which shows a woman turned mother and wife, to the UHS doctor who, upon hearing that my boyfriend and I had not decided on marriage, assumed that all reluctance was on his side, the mythology is present in my life. As I finish my undergraduate degree and plan for a life independent of my family, the presumption thatI want to transfer dependence to a man seems to surround me. Aside from being sexist, the pre- sumption that I really want to be married demeans what forme and my boyfriend is a fulfilling relationship. It paints me as a woman unable to get what I need and willing to settle for a man who will give me less than I need. Perhaps, one day I will marry the man I love now or another man, but it will not be because I fought for it and he surrendered to it. Treating my roommate's wedding with the kind of prideful anticipation with which I treated my friend's play will always make someone presume I want to be the bride instead of a bridesmaid. It will always make someone believe my roommates's skills in her chosen career mean less to me than her ability to catch a man. Pride in my friend as a playwright, on the other hand, will never seem to squeeze out the pleasure I would take in her wedding. Obviously, the belief that the per- sonal is more important than the pro- fessional crosses gender lines. But then, strangers aren't asking my boy- friend if he's getting married. Instead they're asking me if I can persuade him to carry out what they presume to be my desire. In reality, my boyfriend and I share a reluctance to make a lifelong com- mitment just now. And the manrmy roommate is marrying was never ca- joled. He shares her enthusiasm for the wedding event and for the mar- riage with which it will begin. Stupid people who presume otherwise can- not change these realities. In reality, my friend's play and roommate's wedding have a lot in common from my point of view. Each is a public event to celebrate something that essentially exists in private. On the one hand, there is a private relationship between two people; on the other, a relationship with language and ideas based on talent and skill. Both the play and the wedding, coincidentally, present an image of marriage. The wedding is, perhaps, a dream of what marriage could be - abeautiful fantasy ofpre-printed nap- kins and rehearsed steps. On the real- ism side, it allows many of the people who will witness the marriage to wit- ness its official inception."At its best, (marriage is) a dance where no one leads," says a character in the play, which has "The Marriage Dance" as its title. Both the wedding and the play are the culmination of a lot of work to- xv nr ..A4.a nrAoan tan ,4 o nun r.ict F Y S I. 4 S S S :, C i