4A- The Michigan Daily - Monday, November 25, 1996
E1 £Cirbi~grn Pailg
420 Maynard Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Edited and managed by
students at the
University of Michigan
f
5 0O
R C
RONNIE GLASSBERG
Editor in Chief
ADRIENNE JANNEY
ZACHARY M. RAIMI
Editorial Page Editors
Lnless otherwise noted, unsigned editorials reflect the opinion of the majority of the Daily:s editorial hoard. All
other articles. letters and cartoons do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Michigan Daily
fROM THE DAILY
Keep the door onnt M
Houe houd otaprove OMA changes
NOTABLE QUOTABLE
'Professional people will pay $2 for a cup of
coffee - a blue-collar worker won't.'
--Jim JohansiOn, gcneral manager at Cava Java
JiM LASSER SHARP AS TOAST
honky-tonk (hor ke torqk') n. 1. [Old Slang] a cheap, disreputable, noisy
cabaret or nightclub 2. [Slang] a bar, esp. one where country music is played-
Honolulu (han'.lo'l-o) i. capital of Hawaii: seaport on the SE coast of Oahu:
pop. 365,000.
honor (an'er) n. 1. high regard or
great respect given. 2. adherence to
action or principles considered right;
integrit y [to conduct oneself with honor!
(see Chuck Winters) T
honorable mention a citation of honor
to a person or work of merit, but of less
distinction than top honors in a competition
honoree (an'ar e) i. a person receiving f
an honor Chuck Winters-
honor guard a ceremonial guard assigned to escort a distinguished person or to
accompany a casket at a funeral Also Guard of Honor
Honshu (han'sh~b) n. largest of the islands forming Japan: 88,946 sq. mi.
(230,369 sq. km.; chief city, Tokyo- ;,e'8'v/rW
LETTERSTO THE EDITOR
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
n the wake of the recent University pres-
idential selection and lawsuit against the
University for a violation of Michigan's
Open Meetings Act, the controversy again
springs into the headlines with the state
House's recently proposed modifications to
OMA. If Gov. John Engler and the
Michigan House decide to change OMA,
the University would be obligated to change
ilts presidential selection processes in sever-
al ways - including having to release only
dhe names of the finalists to the public. As a
state university, the administration has the
obligation to inform the community of
exactly what is happening behind closed
ozs.
In defense of the University's OMA vio-
ldions, regents claim they were unable to
Veak freely with candidates. And, accord-
ilig to Engler, many candidates withdrew
fcom the search due to fear of their current
bosses finding out that candidates held an
interest in the position. However, the
regents should be able to ask the same ques-
tions in an open meeting that they would
have under closed circumstances.
State Sen. John Schwarz (R-Battle
Creek) said OMA helped University
President-select Lee Bollinger secure the
spot - due to his 21-year employment at
the University. The issue of an open or
closed interviewing process should have
had no impact on the selection of the best
candidate; the regents should know better.
The act needs no further modification.
Under the proposed legislation, Michigan's
public universities would be required to
release the names of the final three candi-
dates, making information about the other
candidates unavailable to the press and the
public during a 30-day "cooling off" peri-
od. Many members of the community
COMU TYCHEST
Shakespeare
loved the U'
would feel suspicious if the legislation pass-
es. With public tax dollars in the state uni-
versities' pockets, Michigan citizens feel
justified in asking for information about
how public institutions run.
Students deserve more than the filtered
information that the proposed modifica-
tions to OMA would provide. While stu-
dents cannot vote for the University presi-
dent, they are one of the most affected con-
stituencies. The faculty, too, deserves a
larger part in the process - as taxpayers
and as a part of the University. A public uni-
versity president represents the institution
to the outside world - and the public
should have both an input in the process and
a chance to view the regents' deliberations.
The whole University population should
have access to the same information about
the candidates as the regents who select
them. The University community should
feel that it knows its president at least as
well as the regents - who get the most
exposure to candidates.
With less than six weeks left as the
majority party in the House, Republican
members are rushing to vote on the pro-
posed changes before the Democrats take
control. If the proposals are worth approval,
legislators will pass them despite partisan
politics. Republicans should not ram
through important pieces of legislation in
this manner - it is irresponsible and overt-
ly political.
And these proposals are not worth
approval. Engler and his lackeys have a fur-
ther agenda - they want to have more
involvement in public university governing
boards. But the state, students and faculty
agree on this point: The Open Meetings Act
is a necessary and solid piece of legislation
- as it stands.
The unkindest cut
Engler's special ed cuts are ill-advised
n the wake of a lawsuit that pits local early intervention programs and minimiz-
school districts against the state, Gov. ing the number of students entering special
John Engler may ask Michigan legislators education in schools, Michigan would
to slash mandates that require special-edu- greatly lessen the cost of special education
Doctors do
use caffeine
TO THE DAILY:
I have not often had the
opportunity to read your
newspaper since my appoint-
ment at the Medical School
in 1994. 1 did pick it up on
my lunch hour on Friday
(11/22/96) and enjoyed the
read very much Thebhack
page article, ("The Beaning
of Ann Arbor," with "A drug
in every cup") I read with
interest Dr. James Shavman s
comments about caffeine.
most of which were accurate.
However he is quoted as
saying "we would never use it
in a medical setting" Never is
a long time and also a rarity
in medicine. In fact, caffeine
and medications containing
caffeine are prescribed very
often. Most commonly, the
use of caffeine is indicated
for controlling headache pain
(migraine etc.).
There are other uses, too.
including treatment of apnea
(interrupted breathing) in
premature infants. Sorry to
the weekend warriors though
- there is no evidence that
caffeine works very well to
cure a hangover.
Medline, a computerized
literature search tool, lists
500 references on the thera-
peutic uses of caffeine. The
Physicians Desk Reference
lists about 40 medications
that contain caffeine. Read
the labels on over-the-counter
painkillers - you'll be
amazed how many have caf-
feine in them. The nighttime
remedies won't! And don't be
surprised if you go to an
emergency room with a
headache and the doctor puts
caffeine in your IV
Best regards and good
health!
DR. SEAN K. KESTERSON
CLINICAL INSTRUCTOR
II, UMMC
Technology
doesn't cut it
TO THE DAILY:
As I sit here once again in
the multi-million-dollar
Media Union, the pinnacle of
information technology on
campus, I can't even get a
printer to spit out my work.
Either I spend half an hour
logging on to six different
machines until I find onenthat
works, or when I do get
logged on, I find out that the
printer chooser is messed up
so I can't even select a printer.
Supposing I even get a work-
ing computer with a working
printer chooser, then I have to
find a working printer. Which
is never the one that is two
feet away, instead it's the one
spend a little less money buy-
ing 200 Mhz Pentiums and a
little more money on 24-hour
manpower to police their
sites. ITD seems to have its
priorities completely mis-
placed currently. ITD charges
us for printing and then they
never work. et they seem to.
think that spending millions
on the latest Silicon Graphics
workstations is more impor-
tant than a student being able
to print out their project
report. Students need work-
ing computers and working
printers. It's just that simple.
I hope lTD (reads) this and
starts to notice their obvious
shortcomings.
RICHARD HOFER
ENGINEERING SENIOR
H arassment
policy strict
TO THE DAILY:
As an officer of the Army.
I was surprised to read of
how our harassment policy
actually is. I've been in the
Army for more than six years
now and I've never known
our policy to be built on the
"good old boy" network but
since I read it in the Daily it
must be true (Military
attacks." I /14196). I'm a
female pilot (enlisted rather
than commissioned) and have
usually been the lone female
in my training. I have never
experienced what I perceived
as sexual harassment at any
point of my career, but [can
see where someone coming
out of high school going to
basic training might be intim-
idated by their trainers and be
too scared to report miscon-
duct, but most people know
better. The Daily used this
scenario: A female is too
scared to report misconduct
because the "good old boy"
network would punish her for
reporting the men involved.
Therefore she will not get
promoted or advance since
she rebuffed a superior.
Reality is, a female could
accuse a totally innocent man
of misconduct/harassment
and because of this accusa-
tion, now in his permanent
file, his career is over. Every
promotion board that looks at
his file is going to see he had
an EEO complaint, and he is
going nowhere despite his
nnocence.
The Daily suggests closer
supervision. I don't know
what else the Army could do
besides bug all the rooms and
phones, and sit with every
female 24 hours, seven days
a week so they control all
behavior. By the Daily's rea-
soning that the institution
(the Army) is at fault for the
misconduct for these men,
I'm sure the University is at
fault every time one of its
students or staff commits a
shut. I guess it's more of a
challenge for the Daily staff
to find a topicswhere they
actually have some knowl-
edge from which to base their
opinions. As the EEO officer
in my company, I know their
pictures of how it is, is
indeed not how it is.
CHRISTINA C. DOSTER
ENGINEERING JUNIOR
Roberson is
wrong for AD
TO THE DAILY:
As an alumni who can
now read the Daily online, a
heartfelt "thank you" and
kudos for the great web site
my old daily paper has!
There is one issue, however,
that I'd like to see addressed;
the sooner, the better.
Our school has failed at
finding the best football
coach(es) in the region, let
alone the country. Who is to
blame? Not Coach Carr
directly. After all, this man
has done his best, but he is
not of head coach caliber.
'The blame falls squarely on
the athletic director himself,
Joe Roberson. I have no ill
feelings toward Roberson.
He, like Carr, is the wrong
man for the job. Roberson
won his appointment through
his connections to former
University President James
Duderstadt. There was no
national search for the most
qualified candidate.
Likewise, when a head coach
was needed, there was no
national search for a candi-
date. Why not?
This practice is both
unfair and misguided. If
seniority made people deserv-
ing of jobs, many underquali-
fied people might be in simi-
larly difficult situations.
Both Carr and Roberson
are good people, capable in
the correct job environments
-not the ones that are
bestowed upon them now.
The University prides
itself as a great public univer-
sity to send out its graduates
to compete in the "real
world." What is happening in
our athletic department does
not reflect real-world busi-
ness practices. The wrong
people are being hired for the
wrong job. How can the
University conduct a careful
and successful presidential
search and not do the same
for other important positions?
The in-coming president
could do much for his credi-
bility and standing with the
University community
(which is already very good,
I understand) to change this
hiring and promoting practice.
Both Carr and Roberson
should be reassigned or asked
to leave in order to let the nat-
ural selection process begin.
The last time the University
C hange of pace: Instead of e-mail-
ing me this week, drop a line t
George Cantor.
Who?
He's a columnist for The Detroit
News editorial page. (See: The Detroit
News, "U-M students deal with owt
King Lear," 11/23/96.)
I hear he wrote
about your'mother.
OK, that's a lie.
But he did write
about you. And
me. He thinks
we're a bunch of
apathetic anti-
intellectuals.
(Am I paraphras
ing you right
George? Can I call ADRIENNE
you George? You ANNEY
know, it's a Gen-X JA E
thing. I have no manners.)
On what information does he base
his theories?
He places students to the far right of
the faculty with a survey of 29 stud
dents. A non-scientific poll, I assure
you. He wrote that the day after elec-'
tion day a professor asked a political
science class who they voted for - he
reported that 15 voted for Clinton and
14 did not.
Hel-LO.
Who did the other 14 vote for? Old
big ears? Bob "Just don't do it" Dole?
Ralph Nader write-in'? Your mother
write-in? ( told you she wasin there.
Somewhere.)
What's more, George Cantor thinks
that 29 people is a representative sample
of the student body. "I don't think that is
a terribly inaccurate profile of the uni-
versity's student body," he wrote of us.
Obviously, he did not take statistics-
here -29 does not a sample of 40,000:
make. And what poli-sci class was that
anyway ..
Cantor is confused on other topics.
He thinks we "elected" Lee Bollinge)
as the new University president.
George: select. Since when do eight:
regents making decisions on a board
get to be called an election?
Semantics aside, Cantor could not
have attended the interviews. He
believes the focus was on affirmative
action and diversity. The regents were
more concerned about the budget and
the hospital than one candidate's han-
dling of a sexual harassment case."
Then he jumps into "King Lear."
'Zwounds. Sorry dude. I'm the English
major. You stepped all over my intellec-
tual specialty. Get out your swords.
And just who is supposed to be Lear
in this scenario? Who's crazy - the
students or the administration?
Cantor wrote of the presidential
search, "It all reminded me ofthe scene
in King Lear in which the aging
monarch's daughters compete to express
their adoration for daddy. Lear, being
gaga at the time, goes into a fury when
Cordelia answers honestly ... She is cut
off from the throne and disinherited.
"That's pretty much how it's done in
Ann Arbor, too."
Expletive. Oh! :) Sorry. That was'the
Gen-X in me again.
Then he brings Proposition 209 into
the picture - on which, may I remind
you, most University students did not
vote. Then he signals the downfall of uni-
versities due to a changing definition.
Well, now we get down to some
meat. Yes, universities are changing
the federal government is anti-finan-
cial aid, and the Michigan Legislature.
isn't particularly fond of the
University. But the students here are
just trying to scrape by, so pardon us if
we'd like to get the "ticket punched"
ASAP. We're broke.
I do see my degree as a ticket to the rest
of my life, to my career -- you've got to
have one these days, so they tell me.
But my experience here is something'
altogether different and invaluable.
I'm a different person than I was in the'
fall of 1993, academically and other-
wise. And what I've got to sell are my
mind, my skills, my experience - not.
my soon-to-be BA in English, but.
what I learned getting there.'.
"Lear, of course, died blind and crazy.4
Maybe U-M will do better." Thank you
for sharing, George. Guess we're all
going down with the ship. But as y6u
noted before, Lear was crazy to at the
beginning. We may be contentious -
and we may have a diverse array of.
beliefshere - but blind and crazy we
are not. Lear is a tragedy. And our edu-
cation is not. Let's keep that in mind.
University life is a "social experi-
ment," Mr. Cantor. Ask anyone living
in the dorms. And no matter how much
I kvetch, the University is comfortably
liberal. A little insulated, maybe, but
still liberal.
As for affirmative action, Cantor
was too busy with the poli-sci classes
to notice the turnout of 150 very un
n-n+- :- _:rnri:n: n h AAnbia .
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cation programs.
Last Thursday, the Michigan Supreme
Court agreed to hear arguments in a case
about whether state government or local
school districts must bear the cost of spe-
cial-education programs. If the court deems
the state responsible, the state government
must pay up to $3.5 billion to compensate
84 school districts that have footed the bills
for such programs since 1980. The Engler
camp has announced its intention to seek to
eliminate Michigan's special-education
mandates as a cost-cutting measure - if
the court rules against the state. Regardless
of the ruling, the state's special-education
programs should remain intact, as they pro-
vide a necessary means of priming students
with special needs for success.
State special-ed programs are at risk
because Michigan is the only state that
Jequires the Department of Education to
$rovide free special-education services to
4hildren from birth to 'age 26. Federal
jequirements only dictate that states fund
ograms for ages 3 through 21. If Engler's
fits take effect, the state program would no
enger target children in early developmen-
a1 stages, when special-care programs can
7nable physically - and academically -
hIallenged children to enter school on par
With their peers.
A 1990 Congressional Record substanti-
kes this fact, showing that for every $1
programs-
Much of the Engler administration's sen-
timent against special-education programs
stems from their large price tag. The cost of
special education for 1994-95 school year
was slightly more than $1.6 billion.
However, empowering special-needs chil-
dren to compete on par with other students
will inevitably command a greater percent-
age of resources than their percentage of
the population. Instead of denying special-
needs students certain advantages through
budget cuts, the state should meet their
needs through a more financially efficient
system. This might entail taking further
advantage of funds from Medicare's stu-
dent-coverage plans for impaired children.
By slashing many of the benefits and sup-
plementary programs the current mandate
affords them, Engler would, in effect, deny
special-education students - nearly one-
tenth of the student population - the
chance to achieve the same level of success
that most students may attain.
Special-education programs are crucial
in providing special-needs students with
extra attention to prime them for success.
Engler's intent to cut many such programs
from the state budget, pending the Supreme
Court ruling, would diminish the programs'
viability. The governor should revise the
programs, if necessary, rather than termi-
nate them. Despite potential financial trou-
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