4 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, April 3, 1996
UhIe #3idtigtn Udg
420 Maynard Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Edited and managed by
students at the
University of Michigan
RONNIE GLASSBERG
Editor in Chief
ADRIENNE JANNEY
ZACHARY M. RAIMI
Editorial Page Editors
Unless otherwise noted, unsigned editorials reflect the opinion of the 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
A helping
NOTABLE QUOTABLE
It's a good way to like someone for their inner qualities
without their physical appearances Interfering.'
- LSA sophomore Stacie Sherman, explaining the benefits
offinding romance on the Internet
JiM LASSER SHARP AS TOAST
VHY Do EL RU~i5 .?"na-l
ONE DAY TAKE MY
I'4oTH ER AROUDJ ThE
BLOCK ir' A B161
NEWE TAEE
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Two 'U' programs c(
wo University programs are actively
trying to offer hope and motivation to
underprivileged children - the
King/Chavez/Parks program and Project
Lighthouse.
The University's Office of Academic
Multicultural Initiatives sponsors both inno-
vative programs. King/Chavez/Parks focus-
es on underprivileged middle school stu-
ourt underprivileged
message: Opportunities are available.
As visible support for high aspirations,
some benficiaries are now program hosts.
Former middle school students from
depressed neighborhoods attend the pro-
gram to encourage children to work hard in
high school. The adults return to their old
schools and help young people in similar
circumstances.
dents, most of whom are
black, Native American and
Hispanic.
Project Lighthouse per-
forms many of the same
functions, but addresses the
unique problems of
Asian/Pacific American
students. Pigeonholed as a
"model minority," the prob-
lems they face are often
overlooked.
The programs bring
middle school students
i(
Project Lighthouse and the
King/Chavez/Parks program
are win-win situations.
Students win because they
can discover options open to
them - and may gain inspira-
tion to pursue those opportu-
nities. The University wins
because the programs help
foster campus diversity, bring-
ing in students from a variety
of socio-economic and ethnic
backgrounds. The University
should continue to develop
such programs, as well as pur-
suing diversity from other
directions.
from underrepresented
school districts to theM
University for a visit,
which aims to give them a glimpse of all
aspects of college life. Students observe
residence hall life, classes and campus
activity. Through financial aid presenta-
tions, students learn feasible means to attain
a University education. These glimpses of
campus life may encourage students to put
strong emphasis on their studies - and set
their sights on higher education. The basic
ITT WIMSATT/Oaiy
America has a long way to travel toward
making its educational system equitable and
accessible. While far-reaching changes
must occur to keep underprivileged chil-
dren from falling through the cracks, both
the King/Chavez/Parks and Project
Lighthouse programs motivate students to
rise above difficulties by offering them a
chance.
Hiking for fairness
Congress should raise minimum wage
T he purchasing power of Americans
employed in low-paying jobs has
decreased dramatically in the past 15 years.
To rectify the problem, President Clinton
proposed a minimum-wage increase.
Congress should disregard the pleas of big-
business lobbyists and instead further the
interests of low-income Americans.
Clinton has been advocating a raise in
the minimum wage since his 1992 presi-
dential campaign. Recently, he pushed
Congress to enact the proposal. He wants to
increase the minimum wage from $4.25 to
$5.15 per hour. When the bill came before
the U.S. Senate last week, Republican lead-
ership prevented a vote; House Republicans
employed a similar tactic earlier - hence
the bill is disappearing quickly from the
legislative agenda.
In 1979, the minimum wage was today's
dollar equivalent to $6 per hour. Moreover,
the purchasing power of the minimum wage
decreased by more than 10 percent since
1991. No mechanism allows the minimum
wage to keep pace with inflation. Thus,
since its induction in 1938, Congress has
raised the minimum wage 17 times.
Congress is responsible for keeping the
minimum wage at a reasonable level.
Opponents of a minimum-wage hike
have little foundation for their claims. They
argue that Americans will have fewer
employment opportunities for low-skilled
workers. Renowned economists David Card
and Alan Kreuger recently studied the fast-
food industry and discovered that a mini-
mum-wage increase would not decrease
employment - instead, it would create
more jobs. Other research reveals that a
minimum-wage increase could lessen the
widening gap between the lower and upper
classes.
The minimum wage has not increased at
a rate even close to that of college tuition. In
the past, many students worked their way
through school. Now, it is nearly impossible
to pay tuition with a minimum-wage job.
Those who claim teen-agers do not need the
minimum-wage increase are mistaken.
Teen-agers' job earnings are often not used
as casual spending money, but instead as a
means of getting an education.
The other significant case against rais-
ing the minimum wage is that the most
affected workers are teen-agers from well-
off families or secondary part-time work-
ers. This assumption is untrue. According to
the Economic Policy Institute, more than 70
percent of minimum-wage workers come
from families with low incomes. Currently,
almost 50 percent of minimum-wage earn-
ers hold a full-time job - and they are still
below the poverty line. If Clinton's propos-
al passes, minumum-wage workers could
earn enough to push above the poverty
level. A minimum-wage hike could provide
the means for support other than welfare.
Minimum-wage earners working 40
hours per week earn less than $9,000 per
year. Some may choose to go on welfare
rather than work and earn a salary below the
poverty line. The number of entry-level jobs
probably will not decrease; middle- and
upper-class families could use the wage
increase to help pay college tuition.
Republicans in Congress must pass
Clinton's proposal to help Americans sup-
port themselves.
Code should
not be used
in paper theft
TO THE DAILY:
I would like to applaud
The Michigan Daily's deci-
sion to pursue the prosecu-
tion of the miscreants who
stole the Daily on March 27
through the legal system
rather than charging them
under our quasi-legal Code of
Student Conduct. By making
this decision, the Daily has
also stood up for two impor-
tant notions. First, that cen-
sorship, be it from the right
or the left, based on the doc-
trines of fascism or political
correctness, will not be toler-
ated on this campus.
Second, that students are
perfectly capable of using the
real legal system of this
nation rather than the mock-
ery of an imitation Maureen
Hartford et al. have set up for
us. If we cannot get rid of the
Code, then the least we can
do is refuse to use it.
Someday, perhaps, the Code
will be nothing more than
hollow words, a slip of paper
which signifies as little to
this university as the treaty
guaranteeing Belgian neutral-
ity signified to the troops of
Imperial Germany in August
1914.
BEN NVICK
RC SENIOR
Mad gun
disease
strikes
To THE DAILY:
Mad cow disease is a
health threat in England, but I
am pleased that Daily colum-
nist Jordan Stancil is stand-
ing up and voicing his oppo-
sition to the spread of "mad
gun disease" in the United
States ("How could Congress
be so ... dumb," 3/27/96).
Mad gun disease, of course,
causes a person's brain to
turn to fertilizer upon touch-
ing a gun, leaving him liable
to pop someone for cutting
him off or not thanking him
for holding the door open.
While Stancil correctly
recognizes that mad gun dis-
ease can propagate through
human contact with any gun,
certain politicians think that
only certain types of
"assault" weapons can trans-
mit it. They consequently
move to ban this subset of
firearms and tell us that
crime will be all but eradicat-
ed thanks to their action.
But since few Americans
seem to appreciate the preva-
lence of mad gun disease and
support a total gun ban, other
politicians who agree with
and Charley Reese that they
are intolerant and cruel to
accuse those mad gun disease
victims in Texas and (recent-
ly) Detroit of "deliberately"
wasting a couple motorists
when they clearly had suf-
fered irreparable brain dam-
age from touching a hand-
gun.
Thank you, Stancil. Keep
up the good work and the
fight for mad gun disease
awareness.
MICHAEL R. WHEATON
ENGINEERING SENIOR
GSIs deserve
increased
pay, benefits
To THE DAILY:
I would like to respond to
Jose Alvarez's letter (Title of
the letter, 3xx96). He
expressed some confusion
regarding the bargaining
process and some anxiety
regarding the prospect of
strike, both of which I would
like to address.
First, teaching here is an
honor and a pleasure.
Working with undergraduates
at the University is one of the
most challenging and reward-
ing jobs I have ever held.
Second, it is also precisely
that: a job. As such, its terms
of employment (as statedin
our contract) are of profound
importance to me and to
other graduate student
instructors.
As employees of the
University, we are, under-
standably, interested in the
terms of our employment and
are invested in shaping the
conditions under which we
work.
Bargaining is a process
that takes place when our
contract is about to run out
(as it did on Feb. 1), not an
informal discussion that can
be moved to the summer
months. Indeed, moving
negotiations to June or July
would simply pose the same
dilemmas for those teaching
and taking classes during the
spring and summer terms.
I understand and share
your concerns regarding the
disruptions that a strike
would cause. No one ever
wants to go on strike.
A strike would pose
extreme problems for gradu-
ate students who, like every-
body, need to pay rent and
feed themselves (and some-
times their dependents).
However, when over 80
percent of us voted yes on
the strike authorization vote,
we sent a message that we
would be willing to undergo
that hardship in order to cre-
ate a better work environment
for us, for future graduate
students, and for undergradu-
ate students who are unde-
administration urging them to
settle with us. Thanks.
REBECCA PoYouRow
GSl
Stop the
racist bias
To THE DAILY:
I must admit that
Wednesday March 27, 1996,
was a very pleasant day.
Especially after noticing as a
replacement of the Daily is a
sign that read: The Michigan
Daily Has Been Canceled
Today Due to Racism, signed
by the "Ad Hoc Committee
Against the Bull!@#$ in The
Michigan Daily." I figured it
was about time someone real-
ly did something about one
of the many racist pillars on
this uncomfortable campus.
It upsets me to see that
this newspaper that is for the
students does not represent
the students, especially the
minorities. Being a first-year
student, I am inclined to
notice your daily reflection
upon us students treated
unlike equals. Starting with
unfair coverage on a student
party, as you put it, "a party
built on single-minded resis-
tance" ("Vote Michigan
Party: Rose, Mehta would
provide strong leadership,"
3/26/96).
As a candidate with the
United People's Coalition
party, I must ask: What
makes you think we are "not
fit to lead the assembly"? Is
it because we are running a
slate of candidates who hap-
pen to be non-white. Just
think of all the other parties
that are running candidates
that happen to be non-
African American. Of course
you didn't, seeing that your
staff is just one happy "multi-
cultural" family. It pleases
me to see that UPC (mem-
bers are) caring individuals
that happen to be minorities.
But of course I know you
would have been happy if we
would have been like Andy
Schor and Matt Curin's
(Wolverine) party that just
had to place a picture of a lit-
tle African American child on
their flyers with the possibili-
ty of influencing us African
American folks. Or maybe if
UPC would have recruited
one African American or per-
son of color just like the
other parties did. Maybe it
would have pleased you if
UPC would have pulled in
individuals that happen to be
white and have them do our
"majority interacting" work,
just like some of the folks in
your staff. A music editor and
a staff writer, I wonder which
minority issue they will cover
next? Or maybe we should
have sat down with Jim
Lasser concerning us stu-
dents that are "Sharp as
LAsr-DFFC.H APPEAL
The mysteious
conneci'on
between Crosses
and women
It was, to paraphrase Garrison
Keillor, a quiet week in Grayling.
At the Women's Prayer Circle at the
Methodist Church they were getting
ready for a banquet and the theme of
the banquet was
goingto be the
History of the
20th Century.
It was a ban-
quet for women,x.
so they thought
that they would
concentrate on
women's history.
They would have
posters about
women getting the JORDAN
vote and about the STANCIL
law passed in Utah that said that
women couldn't wear skirts more than
three inches above the ankle. Things
like that. No controversy.
The problem started when Hert*
suggested that the women make minia-
ture Iron Crosses for everyone to wear.
That would commemorate the World
Wars. Iron Crosses! In Grayling, home
of the Michigan National Guard and
the place where, in 1915, an arma-
ments plant blew up under mysterious
circumstances and everybody knew the
Germans did it. Iron Crosses in this
place!
Now, even the Methodist Womens
Prayer Circle is a kind of melting p*
and Hertha is not exactly from this part
of the world. She's from Austria, and
she left Austria for America in the
1930s after Austria became a part of
the Third Reich.
Kurt von Schuschnigg was, the
chancellor of Austria in 1938, and he
was forced from office by the Nazis.
There were Nazis in Austria, Gestapo
men were in Vienna. Big Germ
armies were at the border, and wh
was tiny Austria to do?
There was only one thing to do.
Chancellor von Schuschnigg walked
around the Chancellery, looking in on
all the offices that had been occupied
by the great statesmen of the past, none
of whom had ever faced disasters like
this one. It was evening, or it was get-
ting to be evening, when Schuschnigg
went on the radio and announced that
Austria would not oppose Germany.
So Germany "invaded." Austria,
unlike Belgium or Denmark or
Finland, was not about heroism, and all
that remained to be done was for Hitler
to march into Vienna, the city that had
rejected him as a painter, and to pro-
claim the Anschluss, the pan-German
union, between Germany and Austria.
Hertha lived in Vienna while all
this was going on. But she left, s
came to this country, she came
Chicago.
She lived in Chicago for a while,
but eventually moved to Grayling,
where she ran the gift shop in the
Holiday Inn. It's a long way from
Vienna to the Grayling Holiday Inn.
She's been in town for a long time, run-
ning her gift shop, and she goes to
church and she's in the prayer circle,
but she still has an accent when she
speaks and, besides that, people s
she tries to run everything. Some pe
ple just don't like her. She's a little dif-
ferent.
But she's hardly a Nazi and she's
not even German, so it's unclear why
she wanted to make Iron Crosses.
Maybe she has an underdeveloped
sense of irony.
Some of the women in the Prayer
Circle didn't know, or didn't remem-
ber, what an Iron Cross is. Some@
them can't hear too well anymore,
some weren't listening. Maybe they
were thinking about what to cook for
dinner that night. But some heard loud
and clear. They heard the words "Iron
Cross" in a German accent. And they
were mad. Just about mad enough to
make Hertha buy a Liberty Bond.
"Not on your life, Hertha," said one
of the ladies.
"Vell!" said Hertha.
Now, Grayling is a small town a
everyone knows Hertha. They've
known her for a long time. She's not
ostracized or anything like that. You
might think that someone would have
asked her why. Or explained why not.
If there's any hope for inter-cultural
understanding in this world, you would
think it would be in a small town,
among people who know each other
well and see each other all the ti
You would think that in Grayling, ofa'
places, in the Methodist Women's
Prayer Circle no less, people would be
communicating with one another.
They do communicate with each
other about some things. They might
HOW TO CONTACT THEM
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