4- The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, September 17, 1996 I1w wrb1!a( TghdI 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 Daily 's editorial board. All other articles, letters and cartoons do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Michigan Daily. FROM THE DAILY Fighting again MSA falls victim to gridlock "NOTABLE QUOTABLE,, 'It's very much as Michigan goes, so goes America.' - Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole explaining the importance of Michigan in the 1996 election. Dole spoke in Freeland, Mich., last Friday. YUKI KUNIYUKI GROUND ZERO tO E L.ERs TTHE EDITOR GRAND ILLUSION Not necessarily the news I J ust two weeks ago, there was hope. The Michigan Student Assembly returned from summer vacation, and its first meeting benefitted from a spirit of cooperation. Assembly members - from the president down to the newest members - talked about a less partisan, more efficient govern- meht. Even two prominent members renounced their party affiliation to focus more on student issues, instead of partisan bickering. Barely two weeks later, the hon- eymoon is over. Last Tuesday's MSA meeting, which was held at Trotter House, was marked by a return to sharp partisan divide. The assem- bly considered only two major resolutions -regarding internal spending procedures and campaign advertising. After long and rancorous debate, the assembly tabled both proposals, pending further review. The meeting was disappointing. Given that MSA Reps. "Andy Schor (Wolverine Party) and David Burden (Students' Party) dropped their party affiliation two weeks ago, the assembly is effectively in the hands of the Michigan Party. At that time, MSA President Fiona Rose said she did not antic- ipate having trouble passing legislation in the absence of traditional party-line voting and coalitions. Unfortunately, Rose may have spoken too soon. Tuesday's meeting is an example of past problems with MSA. The meeting was plagued with miscommunication - at times, representatives voiced confusion over what the assembly was voting on. Debate often became heated, creating an uncomfortable atmosphere. These problems led to an unproductive meeting. History has proved that partisan bicker- ing burdens the governing process with inefficiency. Not only does it stall the legis- lation at hand, it creates ill will and bad feelings. Such bickering also undermines the credibility of the student government. The majority' of students currently view MSA as an incompetent, ineffective gov- ernment. Tuesday's meeting only reinforced this view. If'MSA is to change this percep- tion, it must work harder to stop the infight- ing. Moreover, student turnout at MSA elec- tions may never increase if the infighting continues. MSA would do well to overcome its partisan problems. In the last few elec- tions, only about 10 percent of the student body voted. MSA needs to convince students that it really does have a positive impact upon campus life. Getting bogged down in party politics is a sure path to failure for MSA, especially at the ballot box. In an effort to attract student interest, MSA held last Tuesday's meeting at the Trotter House instead of its usual location in the Michigan Union. This is a positive step forward for the assembly. With increased visibility comes a greater respon- sibility to be efficient. Here, MSA clearly failed, as the meeting became victim to infighting. Parties within MSA are necessary, if only to stop elections and debates from degenerating into pure popularity contests without regard for ability or merit. However, when it interferes with the busi- ness of government, assembly members need to take a step back and reconsider their elective mission - to serve the best interest of their constituents, the students. J a d a 1] a { tl 1l s I r c t f c f i r r l f e c s i 1 t f I Undue influence Dole should focus on election, not Congress L ast week, Bob Dole exerted his influ- on both sides of the aisle. The bill would ence over Congress by derailing two double the number of border patrol officers key bills. He urged the Senate not to ratify and increase workplace inspections. an international treaty that would ban the Clinton agreed to sign it in its original development, production and stockpiling of form. Dole effectively killed the legislation all chemical weapons. Also, Dole insisted by insisting that it include a provision that on adding a controversial provision to would allow states to deny public education immigration legislation that would result in to children of illegal immigrants. a presidential veto. Dole resigned from Increasing governmental deadlock is all Congress for a reason - he should keep his that Dole's political strategy accomplishes. pledge to distance himself from the legisla- Consensus building would be a more posi- ive process. tive approach for a presidential candidate. The chemical weapons treaty is an Dole relinquished his position as Senate important step in increasing international Majority Leader to distance himself from security. The treaty, negotiated during the bills, amendments and motions. Reagan and Bush administrations, would Unfortunately, trailing by up to 23 percent require participants to eliminate all chemi- in some polls, Dole is reneging on his cal weapons within 10 years and would pro- pledge in order to score politically. His vide for an international agency to set coercion of Republican congressional lead- guidelines and conduct inspections. Dole ers on the immigration bill and chemical believes that the treaty should not be rati- weapons treaty is disturbing. fled because it does not effectively ban A majority of the GOP feels pressure to chemical weapons from every point on maintain a united front in order to keep con- Earth. Dole's rationale is unsound - mak- trol of Congress and elect Bob Dole presi- ing headway toward chemical weapon dent. Dole, knowing that key Republicans reduction is better than no progress at all. will fall into line, is using this to his advan- James Baker III, secretary of state under tage. His political opposition to both bills George Bush, said that he expected a few smacks of cheap political trickery. Dole rogue states not to sign onto the treaty. does not want Clinton to receive foreign Nevertheless, the body of nations that did policy acclaim for the chemical treaty. follow the convention would be able to Furthermore, he wants to gain votes in exert significant influence in bringing other Florida, California and Texas by making countries into line. Dole must realize that a Clinton appear to be against immigration significant reduction in international chem- reform. ical weapon stockpiles is highly desirable. Dole's resignation from Congress is Weapons would be less accessible to both meaningless if he insists upon maintaining terrorists and rogue nations. The treaty lays control from behind the scenes. Vision, not forth a noble ideal to be worked toward - increasing government deadlock, is the key Dole should immediately rescind his base- to winning a presidential election. Dole Reagan years helped grow the economy To THE DAILY: Let's talk about the econ- omy. When Ronald Reagan took office, he cut taxes. Yes, this caused the income of the two top classes to increase faster than the lower class. And there is a simple expla- nation. The two higher class- es have more disposable income than the lower class; therefore, they can save and invest, and make their money grow at a faster rate than the lower class can. It's not the fault of Republicans that it happens to work like that. According to the Joint Committee on Taxation, most of Clinton's targeted-tax cuts will end after the year 2000, meaning taxes will only be lowered for a short time when he is in office, but will increase when he leaves. And Clinton has planned $64 bil- lion in new taxes, a fact con- firmed by the White House and congressional Democrats. Let me add one more cor- rection: Where was this depression that Luke Klipp referred to ("Clinton helps to improve economy,:" 9/13/96). There was a recession, but to describe the 1991-93 econo- my as a depression is a flat out lie. Finally, taxes on the mid- dle class were not supposed to stay the same - they were supposed to decrease. Instead, the United States was slapped with the largest tax increase in history. President Kennedy cut taxes, why can't Bill? NICHOLAs KIRK LSA JUNIOR Elizabeth is superior to Hillary To THE DAILY: Here we go again. In Wednesday's Miller on Tap ("To whom is the accom- plished, smart woman mar- ried," 9/11/96), we once again see the moronic left at work. Mrs. Dole very much deserves every compliment that Miller offers. However, he immediately turns around and insults her by saying "There's no practical differ- ence between the two women (referring to Hillary)." There is a world of difference between the two women. Elizabeth Dole tells the truth. Hillary is up to her neck in lies over Whitewater, Travelgate and the Vince Foster case. When Mrs. Dole America as head of the Red Cross. Hillary's contribution has been with the Children's Defense Fund. (Can you say "Socialist Elitism"?) As for Republicans not being able to handle women in power, let me simply say that most of us hold Margaret Thatcher in the same high regard as we hold Ronald Reagan. Finally, Miller closes by saying, "bear in mind that one party is gambling on the fact that you haven't got enough brains to recognize a huge, flaming untruth when you see one. He's right. But he seems to have missed the point that the party he's refer- ring to is the same one that's held the White House for the last four years. Jim RIsKE ENGINEERING SOPHOMORE MEMBER, COLLEGE REPUBLICANS Greek I ife fosters involvement TO THE DAILY: I have read the editorial titled "What's the rush?" (9/10/96), and I think you give some good advice. I think it is always wise for students to carefully reflect on their options. However, I have a couple of concerns that I would like to address. The first is that you give the advice to post- pone rush past first semester and wait a while so one can experience other campus activities. I believe that this advice is slanted. It is true that rushing and becoming an associate member takes con- siderable amounts of time, but so do other activities. By your reasoning, a student should not do any involved activity because it may inter- fere with another. I rushed my first term and found that the Naval ROTC program took a greater amount of time out of my schedule than my fraternity did. The Greek system is another activity to explore and one I would encourage others to take a look at. I can honestly say that I had more memories and great experi- ences in my associate-mem- ber term than I thought I would in my entire college career. The reason I would encourage people to get involved with any activity first term of their first year is so they can bring more into that organization. The Daily . does not turn down people who want to get involved in their first term because these people will be able to con- tribute significantly more than if they started their involved on campus. Examples from my own house in recent years are: USAC, creation of Project Smile, the water ski club, the Union Board of Representatives, the baseball team, University of Michigan pre-med club executive board, commander of the Naval ROTC battalion, the Interfraternity Council. We have volunteered our time at the Ronald McDonald and Pound House, LSA-Student Government, the campus radio station, ResComp, Omega Chi Epsilon, chemi- cal engineering honor soci- ety, ITD, Amazing Blue and the Marching Band. Every member of my house fully supports the people involved in these activities and realizes that these activities take time out of their schedule. The Greek system does not exclude or dissuade peo- ple from being involved; we encourage it. I think that the advice you give to students to understand the commitments they make when they join an organization is good advice. I encourage you to be sure to apply your advice to all applicable organizations, rather than selectively. ANDREW LEMANSK LSA JUNIOR, MEMBER, PI KAPPA PHI OSU reigns supreme To THE DAILY: Ah, it is football season again. And again the University is looking to the end of the season when the greatest rivalry in all of foot- ball - Michigan vs. Ohio State - will take place. Last year something strange hap- pened in Ann Arbor; the best team in the nation came into town and got beat. Ohio State hasn't had a team as good as last year's in 15 years. This year most peo- ple think with Ohio State los- ing superstars like George, Hoying, Glen and Dudley that a Michigan victory is in the bag. Well I am here to inform all Michigan football fans to think again. Ohio State is not rebuilding this year - they are reloading. Sure, Eddie is gone but let me assure you that his shoes fit Pepe Pearson just fine. Yea, but they lost their team leader Bob Hoying. Don't worry, Stanley Jackson is to lead this team for the next two years. Also don't worry about the loss of Terry Glen: OSU has many explosive receivers to put in that chamber of the gun. One more thing that OSU has on their side this year is the horseshoe. This year's game will take place in omeone once described our cam- pus as "one square mile surround- ed by reality;' and this is true for a host of reasons, one of which is the way Michigan students get their news. While the key sources of news for University students probably include The New York Times, National Public Radio, CNN or the Daily, out there in reality most people get .:*. their news from a combination of t, local newspapers, ~ the networks and local TV news- casts. Anyone who does watch local S A M U E L TV news, espe- GooDTsrfIN cially in urban areas, knows that it is typically domi- nated by crime storiesor reports of absurd happenings many local sta- tions devote about ten minutes to the local crime/freak-show, and two min- utes to news before moving on to weather and sports. This summer, on my local newscast, before I could ear about Congress passing health care reform I had to watch three separate violent crime stories, a story about a house in Rhode Island falling into the water (nobody was hurt) and a story about a man who ran through the zoo naked, frightening a group of children. While all polls indicate that Americans dislike unnecessary vio- lence in their local newscasts, the Nielson ratings tell a different story: Local stations with high levels of graphic violence get the top ratings. While psycho-analysts may attribute this paradox to the fact that we want what we detest, I think there is a more simple explanation: We hardly have a choice. Competitive local stations appeal to the lowest common denomi- nator - senseless crime that has no impact on the community but looks really gory on camera - because it is an easy way to get good ratings. Furthermore, crime is easy to report. Every TV station has a police scanner, so they can immediately find out when and where crimes have occurred, and it. takes minimal effort to put together a good, even sensational, crime story. Key characters are easy to get on the air, and easy to interview: Talk to a few cops, talk to the victim, the vie-. tim's family and friends, and if you are a lucky reporter you can even talk t6 the suspect and his or her friends and family. It all makes for a nice, quick story that can be prepared by 5 p.m.. "So what?" you ask. If the bulk of the population gets its news from a source that stresses crime over civic issues, vio- lence over real community developments and freak occurrences over politics, this° can easily corode participatory democ- racy. Even worse, the focus on crime dis- torts reality. Nationally, and in Michigan, crime has been going down; however coverage of crime is going up and fear of crime is going through the roof Coincidence? Maybe, but I doubt it. Fortunately, as reported on NPR, there is a station in Austin, Texas that is quietly revolutionizing the way local stations report the news, and maybe this revolution will spread. KVUE, the ABC affiliate in Austin, has decided to cut gratuitous crime out of their broad- casts, and focus on issues that really impact the community. This doesn't mean that KVUE will never report a crime, only that they will hold crime stories up to the same standards that other potential stories face. In other words, just because a crime happens doesn't make it news. Specifically, KVUE holds each story up to five cri ' teria: Is it an immediate threat to pub- lic safety? Is it a threat to children? Do viewers need to take action (this could include anything from leaving town to voting for or against a certain person or ballot question)? Does it have an impact on the community (the community could be Austin or it could be the world com- munity)? And is it a crime prevention issue (trials are included here)? Using these criteria, KVUE can still cover crime without turning the news into a laundry list of murders, robberies and oddities. For example, KVUE decided against running a story about a triple murder committed after a fight between a group of drunk men in a barn outside of Austin, while its main competitor ran it as the lead story. It does not surprise me that KVUE is the ratings leader in Austin; only that more local stations have yet to catch' on. While critics claim that KVUE is violating journalistic ethics by filter- ing out what they view as "bad" news, the fact is that every news organization must use some set of critereia in deter- mining what to run - some organiza- tions use better criteria than others.