4A'- The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, January 10, 1996
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JORDAN STANCIL
LAsT-DrrcaRtArr.A
0
,420 Maynard
Ann Arbor, MI
Street
48109
Eited and managed by
students at the
Oniversity of Michigan
MICHAEL ROSENBERG
Editor in Chief
JULIE BECKER
JAMES M. NASH
Editorial Page Editors
Postponzg the ievitable onset
ofgrades, school and reality
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.
4
Try again
ACLU rightly calls for
N~eed a friend? Don't call on the Board of
Regents.
The Washtenaw County chapter of the
American Civil Liberties Union is likely to-
be iost sympathetic in a crisis, particularly if
it iovolves the Code of Student Conduct.
Last month, Martin Gold, chair of the
Senate Advisory Committee on University
Affairs' Civil Liberties Board and an ACLU
member, began investigating the November
regents meeting at which the Code passed.
Gold noted that University President James
J. Duderstadt invoked accreditation to com-
pel a quick yes vote - and became suspi-
cious of the president's sly maneuver. Gold
was right to be wary, because the University's
accreditation is quite safe, code or no code.
,Gold brought the issue to the local ACLU
chapter, which voted in Deccmber to take a
two-pronged approach. The organization will
publicize the mishandling of the vote, and
pressure the Board of Regents to vote again.
In the meantime, it will try to help students
charged under the Code. The ACLU is mak-
ing a tremendous effort on students' behalf
-Gold spoke of finding the original 1990
accreditation team to discredit Duderstadt's
reasoning - a far stronger effort on behalf of
student rights than Duderstadt demonstrated.
Chhpter President Mary Rave said Duderstadt
"behaves more like a corporate executive
than a (university) president." He saw a deal
and pounced to clinch it, forgetting about the
people aboard his corporate ship. The ACLU
- if no one else - recognizes this, and
Code reconsideration
believes the regents should have a chance at
an independent vote.
While they lobby the regents and the
press, ACLU members plan to get involved
with AdvisorCorps, the group that will ad-
vise fellow students on the intricacies of
Code procedure. Even ifinembers can't speak
with every student brought up under the
Code, they would at least like to be aware of
cases as they happen. The ACLU can screen
for egregious injustices, as well as provide a
legal safety net for Code defendants.
The ACLU shares concerns with many
students about the Code's inherent civil rights
violations. Member Jean King, who gradu-
ated from the Law School, mentioned a stu-
dent who had been sanctioned both by the
University and the state for marijuana pos-
session, effectively punishing the student
twice for the same crime.
For all ofthe University's in locoparentis
propaganda, the outside organizations are
the ones coming to students' aid. The regents
pride themselves on their parenting skills,
which is why they advocate a behavioral
code. Gold said he has always advocated a
code of ethics rather than a code of conduct,
but apparently the regents never listened.
ACLU members are afraid their demands
will get little attention from regional news
sources. Their efforts must not go to waste.
The regents should vote again on the Code,
this time with accurate information. The out-
come may not change, but Duderstadt's ma-
nipulation must not go unchallenged.
This is a column about evolution. I don't
know much about science, but I do
know how what should have been an easy
three-hour drive from home to Ann Arbor
yesterday ended up as a day-long, full-
fledged road trip. It's a story about how three
guys who didn't really want to go back to
school and who definitely didn't want to get
their grades prolonged their agony through
childish silliness.
It all started at 8 a.m. when I woke up,
planning to drive back to school with Nick
and Max at about 9. We left town at about 11
and, after driving about 10 miles, realized
that Max had forgotten his new lighter at
home. We actually turned around and went
back, but this time we were ready. No more
excuses.
Our next problem was the road itself.
Since northern Michigan has only three
snowplows, there were a good four inches of
unpacked snow covering the freeway. Since
this tends to cut down on one's speed, we
weren't very upset. The only problem was
the 45-mile drive to the nearest Burger King.
Not that I'm a big fan of Burger King, but we
had discovered that our glove compartment
contained eight coupons for two-for-one
double cheeseburgers, which really meant
that we could get 16 for the price of eight. Be
glad you weren't there. It was ugly. To put
Ann Arbor and all that it entails off as long
as possible and to soak up a little more of the
local flavor, we ate in, alongside large smelly
men wearing orange hunting gear.
We realized at this point that we had no
tapes, and this is where things got (sort of)
interesting. America being a great country,
you can generally buy tapes at gas stations.
In fact, in many areas of northern Michigan
you can buy tapes only at gas stations. If you
ever find yourself in need, these tapes can
usually be found near the cash register. They
have titles like "Sunoco's Drivin' Classics."
We desperately wanted to buy a tape like
this, one with songs that shamelessly glorify
America's wasteful, classist and environ-
mentally unsound automobile culture. We
decided to stop at every gas station along the
way until we found what we were looking
for. The fact that this took about two hours
and 52 gas stations seriously weakened my
faith in American capitalism.
Just when I was about to renounce my
citizenship at the nearest consulate, we hap-
pened upon Conlee's Travel Center in Birch
Run, Mich. It is true that the Conlee Travel
Center is oddly named and holds within
itself many cashiers with big hair and many
threatening men who easily could and prob-
ably would take you out back and kick your
ass, Out I would still recommend the Center
for its wide selection. Right there by the side
of the road they sell car parts, wiper fluid,
firewood, motorcycle and paramilitary maga-
zines, shotguns, ammo, fishing poles, bait,4
clothing, assorted foodstuffs and these cal-
endars that have pictures of old steam loco-
motives. They even had one for 1996. They
alsohad ... tapes! After buying CCR's"Have
You Ever Seen the Rain" we were ready to
go. Seriously this time. There was no longer
any way to put off the inevitable. It was time
to suck it up, finish the drive and ... get our
grades.
Of course, we couldn't start our new tape
until we were actually on the freeway, with
cigarettes ready. "Run Through the Jungle"
and Buick City and we were seriously con-
sidering getting a room for the night. It's
amazing how the strong the desire to avoid
school can be after spending three weeks in
a state of mental torpor. After all, I spent
virtually my entire vacation either asleep or
lying on the living room floor with my
golden retriever. How can I be expected to
take classes, write a thesis and look for ajob,
when I just spent 22 days eating breakfast at4
2 p.m. and worrying only about the fate of
Wayne Fontes?
At any rate, now I'm back and, yes, it's
great to see my friends and all that crap.
The real question is: Will I evergrow up?
God, I hope not.
- Jordan Stancil can be reached over
e-mail at rialto@umich.edu.
1
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Jim LASSER
,WHO 15 ULTIMATELY RESIONS
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NOTABLE QUOTABLE
It all depends on
the weather.'
- Detroit Metro Airport
spokesman Michael
Conway, on when normal
flight schedules woul
resume
'I
On again, off again
Budget accord needed to avert 3rd shutdown
LEI RnS
F ollowing a reprieve in which furloughed
federal workers are finally coming back
to work, party differences again threaten to
plunge the government into a third shut-
down. With public faith in the government
collapsing along with federal services, party
leaders once and for all must approve a bud-
get that incorporates the agreed-upon seven-
year time line for a balanced budget as well
as protections for Medicare, Medicaid and
welfare.
On paper, the dollar differences between
the Clinton and GOP budget proposals are so
wide that an agreement may seem impos-
sible. Republicans have proposed a budget
thi over seven years would cut $168 billion
inanticipated growth from Medicare, com-
pared to $102 billion under Clinton's plan.
Furthermore, the Republican plan would trim
$85 billion of expected growth from Medic-
aid to Clinton's $52 billion and $75 billion in
welfare and the earned income tax credit for
the working poor, compared to $45 billion
under the president's plan. Both sets of num-
bers result from an arduous negotiation pro-
cess punctuated by a six-day shutdown in
November and a three-week closure that
ended this past weekend.
Emboldened by their success during the
19,4 congressional elections, Republicans
cdisider their massive budget cuts a mandate
frin the public. Clinton, on the other hand,
rightly wants to preserve government pro-
grains that date back to the Great Society of
the' 1960s and have helped countless Ameri-
caps. Clinton's budget plan would slow the
grbwth of Medicaid, Medicare and welfare,
making the seven-year balanced budget pro-
jeption realistic. The Republican plan takes a
mbre slash-and-burn mentality.
HOW TO CONTACT THEM
President
And for what? The GOP wants to offer an
estimated $200 billion in tax cuts, primarily
to corporations and wealthier Americans.
Clinton's own budget would cut taxes by
about $78 billion. Cutting taxes at all while
butchering worthy programs like Medicare
is bad policy, but Clinton's budget is the
lesser of two evils. The Republicans have
shown some willingness to budge from their
tax-cut numbers, and Clinton should force
them to a more practical level, thus preserv-
ing programs for social welfare.
Republicans and Democrats have already
agreed on one major point: the seven-year
schedule for a balanced budget. Assuming
that current projections hold true, the federal
government would actually register a sur-
plus in the year 2002 - for the first time
since 1969. It is encouraging that both par-
ties have vowed to break the quarter-century
cycle of deficit spending that has burdened
the economy with large interest payments on
accumulated debt and undermined public
trust in government. While this latest round
of budget talks has sharply divided Demo-
crats and Republicans and roughened politi-
cal dialogue on both sides, in the larger
picture the promise of a balanced budget
may well overshadow the petty bickering.
Unless Clinton and Republican leaders
reach a compromise by Jan. 27, the govern-
ment will again lapse into dysfunction. Pros-
pects do not look positive - though opti-
mistic about an end to the stalemate, Clinton
announced yesterday that talks will halt for a
week while he travels to Bosnia. The last
thing the government - and the country as
a whole - needs is a third government
shutdown. There is still room for compro-
mise. The parties should seize the moment.
Men face
chilling
atmosphere
on campus
To the Daily:
While reading Stephanie Jo
Klein's viewpoint which railed
against "bald, fat white men,"
"Old Boys Clubs" and the term
"feminazi" ("Flippant use of
Nazi' cheapens history," 12/7/
95) a word came to mind:
misandry. The following defini-
tion comes from the book by
Patrick Arnold, "Wildmen, War-
riors & Kings: Masculine Spiri-
tuality and the Bible" (1991).
"Misandry (mis'-an'-dre) n.
hatred of men. (1) the attribution
of negative qualities to the entire
male gender. (2) the claim that
masculinity is the source of hu-
man vices such as domination,
violence, oppression and racism.
(3) a sexist assumption that (a)
male genes, hormones and physi-
ology,or (b) male cultural nurtur-
ing produce, war, rape and physi-
cal abuse. (4) the assignment of
blame solely to men for
humanity's historic evils without
including women's responsibil-
ity or giving men credit for
civilization's achievements. (5)
the assumption that any male per-
son is probably domineering, op-
pressive, violent, sexually abu-
sive and spiritually immature.
"Misandry is an ideological
spin-off of extreme feminism,"
Arnold wrote. "Its practice is by
no means limited to women. Many
men, full of self-hatred and guilt,
also purvey it. Where it prevails,
it presents a bizarre and Kafka-
esque form of moral algebra to
the males who live under it. Their
very masculinity attaches to them
a negative value. No matter how
hard they try, no matter what they
do to prove themselves, the best
they can do is remove the 'minus'
t".a a c n a . vnr tpm ,_ a
aspect of feminism is
matronizingly accused of
backlashing and dismissed as a
chauvinist or worse. Even though
there are many, many examples
of discrimination against men
such as incarceration statistics
(men far outnumber women for
incarceration for equal crimes),
male-female survivorship
(women live close to eight years
longer than do men, yet we have
special women's health agendas),
family law matters (women get
custody of children in the major-
ity of the cases whether or not it is
in the best interest of the child, as
in the Ireland-Smith case) and
others. Diversity seems to include
every group except white males.
Only they can be excluded from
special scholarships and pro-
grams. Ethnic and cultural pride
may include everyone except
them. The only racial slur accept-
able on this campus is "angry
white male." The list goes on. To
use feminist terms, there is a "hos-
tile, chilling environment" on this
campus for any male who dares
speak out in defense of his gen-
der, and worse for any white male
who speaks out in defense of his
ethnic group. While this preju-
dice clearly is not held by most
people on campus, as it is also
true that the vast majority of white
males are not sexistsor racist,the
fact that there exists an aggres-
sive loud group of prejudiced
people cannot be denied. Yes, the
tide of prejudice has indeed
turned.
The fostering of this situation
on our campus speaks volumes. It
speaks of a campus environment
with a new underclass; it speaks
of division rather than unity; it
speaks of alienation rather than
inclusion and it speaks of preju-
dice. Whether people agree with
it, whether they see it, it doesn't
matter; it exists just the same.
This should not be tolerated any
more than any other form of sex-
ism or racism, yet it is.
I don't like the term feminazi;
Don't fight
prejudice with
stereotypes
To the Daily:
It is a new low for the Daily
when one of the people they have
chosen to do unbiased and care-
ful reporting can write such gar-
bage as "Flippant use of 'Nazi'
cheapens history."
It is true that some valid points
were raised - obviously, we
should not trivialize the English
language.
But, the author goes on a tan-
trum and decides the solution to
stereotypes is - voila! - more
stereotypes: "The old boy net-
work of bald, fat, white men."
Moreover, NWROC is a pro-
totalitarian, demagogic commu-
nist-sy.mpathizer organization
that seeks violence ("smashing
fascists") to achieve their means.
Also, a man who "stands up
for his beliefs" is not a mascunazi
(thank God), but a chauvinist! I'll
bring that up at the next meeting
of the International Conspiracy
of Angry White Men. It's in the
Michigan League Ballroom.
This groupthink is subverting
intelligent and provocative
thought. We are individuals first
and members of the "Old Boy
Network" secondly. Let's treat
people like people, not spokes-
men for different groups.
We're sorry, that's all we can
say for now. We're "running from
militant females and uppity mi-
norities ."
Jon Winick
Chris McCann
LSA juniors
Viewpoint
writer abuses
language
To the Dfliv:
nothing to do with the totalitari-
anism of Nazi Germany from
1932-45."
Speaking as a bald, fat white
man, I have to wonder if yo*,
think we are the only members of
the "network" you mention. Some
good-looking buffed football-
player types that you might date,2
are also making strides toward
gender equity. Don't hate these
guys because they're beautiful.
Thanks for the compliment. My x
wife agrees with you. We're glad
you don't think fat, bald, white
guys are comparable to Nazis.
If any sexist wench though
we were, we would hoist our-
selves out of our easy chairs and
go to her campus commons. We
would protest until she was fired
from her lofty newspaper job and
made to feel like dirt for her un-
conventional views. And we
would make sure she never again
voiced a prejudiced view about
people who did not fit her imag'
of male beauty.
Personally, I think only femi-
nazis who know how to use the
English language should be al- A
lowed free speech, don't you? .
Matt Gilbert
Northern Illinois University
w.
a
'M' fans had
class; at
Alamo Bowl
To the Daily:
I am a student attending Texas
A&M University. I would like to"
thank most of the Michigan fans
for showing their class in the 22-
20 loss to Texas A&M. The game
at the Alamo Bowl was as good
matchup between good teams as
the Fiesta Bowl. I enjoyed talk-
ing with the Michigan fans who
sat around with us as much as I
am sure they enjoyed the conver-
sation. The fans from both sides
showed that a group of competi,
tive neonle ould ge ogther and
Bill Clinton
The White House
Washington. D.C. 20500
.