4 -The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, January 17, 1996 Adbr £i arbigrn aiI aynard Street ------MICHAEL ROSENBERG -,r Aft 1n(Editor in Chief I JORDAN STANCIL LAST-DrITc APPEAL 420ON A.-.r..Ai Ann i rbor, ivi 48siu9 Edited and managed by ' students at the University of Michigan __ ' Unless otherwise noted, unsigned editorials reflect the other articles, letters, and cartoons do not necesY N Blooi Will wriYeforfood: "Co nfss i from the columrnist'clhair wl JULIE BECKER JAMES M. NASH Editorial Page Editors opinion Of a majority ofthe Daily's editorial board. All ssarily reflect the opinion of The Michigan Daily. vow c an seria mon serie retur P inve scrir with the buts Ii who colle crim the vide retur tand Mitc argu tabli and: Kinco Sney] "not T shelf Shel samj Judg and the saml regre used yet t on th City should do more than return samples ore than a year ago, Ann Arbor police future city officials that such a search must seized the blood samples of 160 Afri- not happen again. American men in connection with the Though the city is acting correctly in al rapist investigation. On Friday, seven returning the samples, it cannot erase the ths after a man was convicted of the grievous wrong police committed during the °s of rapes and assaults, the process of investigation. Officers arbitrarily targeted rning these samples finally began. African American males because anonymous olice obtained the samples during the tips suggested the suspect was a black male stigation from men who fit a rough de- fitting a very sketchy physical description. tion of the rapist and who were found Many men who gave DNA samples also in the areas of the crime scenes. Most of provided alibis for the crimes. The AAPD samples were handed over voluntarily, targeted them because of physical character- several were subpoenaed. istics alone, creating an ugly situation - one n June 1995, Ervin D. Mitchell Jr. - that reeked of racism. se blood sample was not among those The blood samples would still be gather- ected by police - was convicted of the ing dust on a shelf today if not for Shelton's es and sentenced to life in prison. After efforts. He deserves credit for fighting a verdict, some of the 160 men who pro- battle that, on the surface, appeared more d blood asked for the samples to be trouble than benefit. With no monetary re- rned. Requests were denied due to city ward ahead, he still sued for the right to his county officials' fear that it might give property, as well as for a larger principle: the hell grounds for an appeal. But that constitutional protection against illegal search ment was flimsy - DNA evidence es- and seizure. The requirement that law-en- shed a positive link between Mitchell forcement officials obtain search warrants is such a number of assaults as to be nearly designed to prevent witchhunts in which ntrovertible. Even Assistant City Attor- police compel evidence from large numbers Robert West conceded the argument was of innocent people. the most compelling." Although the AAPD is acting correctly by he blood samples sat on a laboratory voluntarily returning all blood samples to f in East Lansing until 37-year-old Blair their proper owners, it should not be the ton brought suit last month to have his city's only gesture ofatonement.Many ofthe pie returned to him. Washtenaw Circuit men were both scared and angered when re Kurtis T. Wilder ruled in his favor - pressured to give a blood sample. At least a while the ruling applied only to Shelton, sincere apology should accompany the re- City Council voted to return all 160 turned blood samples. It is not possible to ples. Many council members expressed undo past'wrongs. The only sensible step the et over the selective and coercive tactics AAPD can take now is to apologize for its during the investigation, but the city has actions and ensure that the mistakes of the o issue a formal apology. Apologizing serial rapist investigation will not be re- e record would send a strong message to peated. There was once a man who had nothing interesting to say. Actually, there have been many men (and women) with nothing interesting to say, but in this story there is only one man with nothing to say, and, in fact, his problem was even worse than it seemed at first because he also was suffering from sleeplessness and hypochondria and what he liked to call "a certain fallowness, if you will, of the mind." This meant that he couldn't think of anything at all, because his mind had been plowed but not seeded with even a single idea. Compounding these difficulties, our hero had somehow managed to obtain the position of columnist at a local newspaper, which added a tinge of irony to the whole affair, since, of course, columnist types are generally thought to have minds that are never fallow. But this man was in the unen- viable and unusual position of having to write a newspaper column with nothing in- teresting to say. Hence the tragedy of the whole thing. Actually it might be possible to turn this apparent tragedy to your (and my) benefit. What I'm thinking here is that Icould kindof discuss various techniques of writing and just sort of walk you through the whole writing process. Since lamafterallaWriter, while you are only a student (probably a lazy one), you may even be able to get ECB credit for this. Basically, my technique differs abit from that of other Writers. I think I once. heard of a Writer who said that he or she would put a blank piece of paper in the typewriter, all ready to go, and then stare at it until beads of sweat or blood or something started to pop out all over his or her forehead. (I really did hear of this.) Using this process, the Writer continues staring, undaunted by the possibility of dehydration or blood loss, until infused by his or her muse with a really good idea. I tend to find this method, although popu- lar among "serious" Writers, a bit uncom- fortable. Plus, we now use computers and it ruins the whole effect if, while staring and bleeding, you have to move the mouse every few minutes to make the screen saver go away. Instead of going to all that worry about what you're going to write, why not just take a nap and hope that something comes to you in a dream? Isn't that what happens in mythology and history and ev- erything? The king is at a complete loss as to whether he should kill his daughter/kill his son/kill his mother/kill his father/kill every- body and destroy everything/agree to a seven- year balanced budget. During a nap, some type of thing happens where he finds out, while asleep, what he should do. Actually, I can't name even one case in history where this happens, but I'm sure it happened quite frequently during the Reagan adiinistration, and besides, this anecdote proves two things. One is that artists t themselves too seriously, what with alli Is staring for hours at a piece of paper. The other is that the Political Method, i.e. using one's sleeping hours effectively, is clearly the best way to find inspiration. After all, who really runs this country? The freaky artists or, the down-to-earth types who are mature enough to know when they need a nap? Now that we have that cleared up, we can move on to how one is supposed to wri. Actually, I'll leave that for next time. SW fice it to say that the first step is to remember that it doesn't really matter what you write because much has been written and much will be written and it's not like little old you can "forge in the smithy of your pathetic soul the uncreated conscience of your r4ce." Maybe that's a misqoute, but I would like to close by addressing something that's probably on your mind right now. The word "hack" has always seemed a bit harsh to r I think that it would be better for society general if we were to come up with a word that doesn't sound so violent. At the very least, it would make me feel better ... -.Iordan Stancil can be reached pver e-mail at rialto@umich.edu. JIM LASSER SHARP AS TOAST NOTABLE QUOTABLE } 'Racism is still alive and kicking on campus. If necessary we should keep, marching every week.' - LSA senior Monique Marshall, a participant in the annual Unity March sponsored by the Blqak Student Un I PRESS CLIPPINGS Scared sober Med Center program teaches critical lesson Library 110: I'd rather eat meatball subs he University ofMichigan Medical Cen- ter deserves recognition for initiating its proactive new program, "Facing Alcohol Challenges Together." The Trauma/Burn Center provides the gruesome and morbid realities of irresponsible alcohol consump- tion and drug use in a blunt, graphic two-day seminar. The program utilizes innovative methods to target tragically preventable sub- stance abuse injuries and deaths. It paints a vivid portrait of the dizzying and painful series of events involved in emergency treat- ment, sparing no detail for the faint of heart. The object is to scare teens sober. Facts and a hospital tour introduce teens and their parents to the grim realities of substance abuse and injury. When faced with the glaring effects of medical trauma treat- ment, teens' illusions of immortality quickly disintegrate. Unlike school health classes, the program does not sugarcoat the harsh reality that substance abuse kills. An effective facet of the UMMC's pro- gram is parental involvement. Instead of fur- ther condemning first-time substance abus- ers, the UMMC is working with law enforce- ment agents to prevent future offenses: It warns parents and teens about the conse- quences of alcohol and substance abuse. In- stead of a simple slap on the wrist, teens and their parents must discuss the repercussions of their actions. :Po Through a mock-death scene, parents ex- perience the pain and shock of hearing from . HOW TO CONTACT THEM Ann Arbor Mayor Ann Arbo 100 N. Ann Arbor, the chaplain that their child has died. The horror is only an exercise-these parents are given a second chance. Three real truths arise: second chances are rare, alcohol and drugs kill and death is a permanent condi- tion. Witnessing the consequences of personal irresponsibility grants a rebirth that forces parents and their children to confront sub- stance abuse issues openly. Conversations ignite and relationships strengthen as fami- lies verbalize fears, emotions and anxieties. Discipline, expectations and priorities are reassessed before real accidents occur. Through education, emotion and experience this program forcefully empowers parents to be proactive with regard to alcohol. Community outreach in preventative care is both cost and life saving. A similar pro- gram in Indiana found that after attending the seminar, re-arrest rates for teens plunged from between 50 and 80 percent down to 30 percent. The costs of sponsoring preventa- tive seminars are minuscule when compared to the enormous expense of hospitalization and the incalculable cost of the loss of life. A similar shock-value approach should be used to deter other high-risk health behav- iors. For example, introducing teen smokers to emphysema sufferers demonstrates how smoking kills and could extinguish teen smok- ing. Basic warnings of infallibility often fall on deaf ears - the time has come to scare people straight. By Kasey Kerber This semester, I'm paying $209 to learn how to use Lov Library. For that price I could buy 209 Subway6-inch meatball subs, but instead ... I'll be learning to use the library. You se. $209 is the amount required for an out-of-state stu- dent like myself to pay for one- credit hourand an 'extremely high quality. -cookbook-bound ''Li- brarv 110" text book. Not that I had a choice of whether I wanted 209 meatball subs or "how to use the library." Library 110 is a one-credit course required forall first-year students. Yet taking the course might have advantages. May be I would make the most of my money yeah, or maybe I'd be able to eat 209 subs in one sitting. I'll be straight out: I hate Library 110 more than 3 a.m. phone calls front a drunk guy who swears my name is "Jenny."' My main objections to the course is are: it will not keep first- year students from "failing' out Kerber is a first-year stulent at the UniversitNx' of Nebraska. This article is reprinted with permissionflrom the Iailyv Nebraskan.. otschool (as designed), it teaches students very little about using the library and it costs students too much. One of the main reasons for establishing the course was to keep first-year students from fail- ing out of school. The first-year dropout rate is somewhere close to 60 percent, and the adminis- tration feels that if students have better library skills, they would have a better chance of staying in school. Let me clear this up right away: Students are not failing out of school because they don't know the Superintendent of Documentsclassification system. Bert and Ernie are failing out of school because they went to the nearest pub with Grover and got so drunk that they ended up passing out on Sesame Street. Students also are failing because they haven't learned good study skills, they skip class or they never wanted to pass in the first place. Requiring students to take a li- brary class is not going to have any profound impact on the drop- out rate. Also, Library 1 10teaches stu- dents very little about using the library. The main reason is that students have to do little with the textbook and prove even less of' what they've learned. To pass the class, a student has to do five assignments and pass a final with 35 out of 50 questions correct. The worksheets are easier than remembering your Social Security number - I did all five in a half-hour. While I have not taken the test, the mere fact that you need a'70 percent to pass is pathetic. Bert and Ernie could guess their way to a 70 percent on a multiple-choice test, and they just learned how to count. Any student who's crammed for a final in five hours can tell you - the moment after they've taken the test ... the knowledge is gone. Although it has not been scientifically proven, I believe all information from a class is trans- ferred directly to the scantron test sheet by means of No. 2 pencil lead. Once you turn in the test, you are as dumb as when you first walked into that class. Lastly, this course is not worth 209 meatball subs. The main rea- son is because students have the ability to pass out of the course by the second week. They simply pass a test with 40 out of 50 ques- tions correct (Bert and Ernie may struggle, but Grover's in easy) and the credit hour is theirs. Pay no heed to the fact that you wasted $83.50 (in-state cos with textbook) or $209.00 (outj of-state with textbook) fora credit hour that won't even figure into your GPA. The question is Why pay $83.50 or $209.00 tc take a test and get out of the class when you could save your money in the first place'? Library 110 should be op- tional, not required. If I want te learn how to use the library; then I'll take the course. If I suddenly find the need to become a librar- ian, I'll take comfort in kno that goodo1' Library 110is there. Otherwise, it'll be anothet name in the schedule of classes. Iftheadministration feelsthai library skills are somethingevery first-year student must have; fine. Require students to buy, or bette yet, issue them the cookbook' bound Library 110 textbook. It thoroughly explains h( tc do everything in the library, when the student finally needs tc use the library, he or she has the book handy. Glancing back, Li- brary 110 makes about asmuchl sense as swishing down a few Vivarins with a cup of Nyquil. Its intentions are good, but its struc- ture and workings are miserable Well, I gotta go now -- Bert. Ernie, Grover and I have 209 meatball subs to work on ..0 LETTERS GEO honors King, opposes 'scab' editor To the Daily: I appreciated the article in Tuesday's paper about GEO's presence at MLK Day events. It was fair and to the point. I would be hesitant to characterize our entire presence as protest, how- ever. Certainly, members ofGEO .-f;" ."t f }i ..-kA t otfr pher Tuck says, Martin Luther King Jr. stood for a lot of' stuff. One of those things was the labor movement. One was social jus- tice. These are not the things Joe Stroud represents, and these are not the things the University re- flects by inviting him to speak. Our action was in no way unre- lated. Many of us involved in GEO believe that it is truer to King's legacy to fight for social justice than it is to honor a scab. GEO is an organization com- Lack of fan support cripples 'M' basketball To the Daily: In reference to Antoine Pitts' column ("Things that make you go hmmm ..." 1/12/96), I can't help but wholeheartedly agree with him on several issues. The Wouldn't it be nice if they could say the same thing about Crisler Arena? Even with the 10,500 capac- ity of the Mullins Center and a successful team, UMass still packs the place and gets peop to stand up for the entire game. n the team plays poorly, there is no booing (like Dugan Fife gets), but rather, explosive cheering. I think buying my Michigan hoop tickets was a mistake. Iguess I expected a little more -from a Big Te~n school with a huga'p~th- Ingrid B. Sheldon r City Hall Fifth Ave. MI 48107