4 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, October 9, 1996 cbe 3drtigau t Ui 420 Maynard Street Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan r r k t RONNIE GLASSBERG Editor in Chief ADRIENNE JANNEY ZACHARY M. RAIMI Editorial Page Editors Unless otherwise noted, unsigned editorials reflect the opinion of the najoritv of the Daily . editorial hoard. All other articles, letters and cartoons do not necessarilv reflect the opinion of The Michigan Daily TROM THE DAILY Looking for a eader Next SAPAC head should be from outside NOTABLE QUOTABLE 'They had a monopoly on chalk last night.' - LSA junior and College Repubicans President Nicholas Kirk, on the Queer Unity Project s chalked rebuttals to Republican chalkings JIM LASSER SHARP AS TOAST = T',5 A BEAU T)FUL DAY FOR SA5EALL IN &ALTiMORFw dl * ! XPA LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Watch where you walk: The sidewalk chalks irector Debi Cain has decided to leave the Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center - a move that should improve the organization.. Eight months after a faction of Peer Educators staged a work stoppage, Cain is finally leaving the organization. But not because of any bitter disputes - she found a better job. However, the University com- munity should not mourn Cain's departure. Her spotty record at the University made her a questionable leader for such a sensi- tive organization. In January, volunteers claimed she breached a survivor's confiden- tiality in front of other staff members - an action that would go against the basic prin- ciples of the group. Following that incident, Cain and others dismissed Peer Education co-coordinator Janelle White. Grounds for firing White were contrived and shaky. SAPAC members - both those who left in the work stoppage and those who remained faithful - also alluded to a number of serious internal problems. Some complained that members of the black community felt alienated and that SAPAC was not addressing issues of the lesbian/gay/bisexual community - and that the firing of White exacerbated those issues. PE Carmen Crosby told The 'Michigan Daily in February, "I pointed out (to Cain) that Janelle was the only black -Woman who was a representative of the les- bian/gay/bisexual .community working there, and Debi immediately started talking about her behavior, which is kind of code word for 'how to control (women of color)."' The PEs did not return to the organiza- tion, which undoubtedly is still in a state of transition. Associate Dean of Students Delories Sloan, who oversees SAPAC's operations, told the Daily this week that she hasn't made decisions as to who will replace Cain - and she hasn't discussed possible options with SAPAC staff. Sloan seems to think that Cain's departure is as insignificant as she treated Cain's faux pas to be. The University must preserve SAPAC's vital services - counseling, sexual assault education, etc. Cain's replacement must be a strong leader, able to pull up SAPAC's credibility and morale. New volunteers told the Daily that Cain is "competent" and "inspiring," but most who were uncomfort- able with Cain's style have already left. However, departures - White's, Cain's and some of the PEs' - do not erase deeply embedded problems. The University is likely to consider Joyce Wright, training and education coor- dinator, for the job - but Wright would be the wrong choice. Instead of exploring SAPAC's problems, she participated in cov- ering up Cain's indiscretion and firing White. Whatever other qualifications she may have, Wright was too involved in January's blowup to lead SAPAC to a new direction. Sloan should look outside of the organi- zation for a new director. The new leader should have ideas about taking SAPAC in a new direction as a powerful force on cam- pus. As students' only current place to turn, SAPAC should be focusing on helping oth- ers - not sorting out its internal strife. More than Congress makes tree-friendly agreement N ature lovers can now hug millions of additional trees - and their senators, too. The U.S. House of Representatives deserves commendation for excluding a 15- year extension of logging in the Tongass National Forest in a recent bill. That move, along with a deal with a logging company, made it possible for the government to pro- vide millions of dollars in funding to national park preservation. The bill, which the Senate passed last Thursday, consisted of several environmen- tal preservation financing plans. It would provide funds for a variety of parks and memorials nationwide, from a tallgrass prairie preserve in Kansas to a ski develop- ment in Utah for the 2002 Olympics. The most significant chunk of the funds - $17.5 million - was designated for the purchase of the Sterling Forest. The forest is a 20,000-acre tract near New York City; the government is buying the land to pre- vent it from purchase by a private owner who might have used it to for commercial development. Throughout the past year, various lawmakers heavily encouraged approval of this particular purchase. However, other provisions, such as logging in the Tongass, obstructed passage of the bill. The package included a stipulation to let an Alaskan company continue use the forest for timber, but only temporarily. Last week, the White House said Clinton would veto the bill unless that provision, and a few oth- ers, were dropped. The House dropped it and the bill passed with an overwhelming majority - a large accomplishment for environmental advocates. Congress then made a separate deal with the Ketchikan Pulp company. The company had a contract with the government to sup- ply timber and create jobs with their log- ging mill. The company had plans to close down the mill, but the government cried breach of contract. After much haggling, the two sides arrived at a compromise deal. The company will be able to log for two more years after closing the mill. All of these provisions are intended to preserve the environment without harming business. Many environmental groups con- sider the 104th Republican-controlled Congress the worst ever on environmental issues. While passing this bill will not com- pletely erase the lawmakers' blemishes, it is an important step in protecting the environ- ment. President Clinton has agreed to sign the bill. Also, the bill will allow for the nation's first protected tallgrass prairie in Kansas. Moreover, the bill includes funds to com- memorate the historic trail in Alabama's Selma-to-Montgomery civil rights march. Martin Luther King led the march during the 1960s civil rights movement. The trail is an important part of American history - Congress should have passed this provision a long time ago. Although the bill is not perfect, its bene- fits outweigh any drawbacks. an eyesore TO THE DAILY: Along with literally every single person I spoke with today, I was appalled at the Republican chalkings around campus. Writing your own message is one thing, destroying someone else's is completely different. Aside from the eyesore it made our campus, these une- ducational, unmotivational, offensive statements definite- ly lost the GOP many of the few votes it will squeeze from Ann Arbor. RYAN D. FRIEDRICHS RC SOPHOMORE Chalk talk is free speech TO THE DAILY: Freedom of speech is a wonderful thing. One of the things I like the most about it is not the political freedom, but rather the fact that it allows us to know the people around us. When speech is free, choosing to say some- thing - or not to say some- thing - is an expression of one's thoughts, feelings or beliefs. We can understand and make judgments about those around us based on the choices they make, as seen in the way they exercise their freedom of speech. So I am not concerned with compelling some kind of judgment on the students in the Republican student organization-a legitimate student group - who modi- fied the chalkings of the stu- dents in the lesbian, gay and bisexual student organization - another legitimate student group - in an offensive and demeaning way. I am not concerned with making sure they issue any kind of public apology - such an apology would not be an exercise of free speech, for it would be compelled by political moti- vations outside of free expression of their feelings. Rather, I am concerned with making sure that everyone understands what this act implies, for the people who did it, and for both the group they claimed to be represent- ing when they committed this act and the group they are representative members of. From the first time I saw the chalkings of the Republican student's group, several weeks ago, I was amused because I wondered what kind of message they were sending to anyone who thought about what they were doing: "Our candidate can't win on his own merit, we The choice to show the world that they do not respect the messages of oth- ers. The choice to show the world that they are not inter- ested in allowing anyone to express a view other than themselves. The choice to show the world that if they had their way, gay students should lie to their friends, their families. themselves. just in order to fit in with the Republican agenda. So, I think it is important that we all see and under- stand how, with the freedom to do what they did. they also take the responsibility of a very strong statement expressing their beliefs. The response to this is not to pun- ish them, but to exercise our own freedom of speech, every one of us. I lad I any influence, I would urge many specific individuals to express their freedom of speech: the right of the presi- dent of the University to pub- licallv announce that this action goes against the University's stated stance on the recognition of minority' groups and the nature of ver- bal harassment the right of the University newspaper to print the truth about how the messages chalked around campus came about and the expressed attitudes of those parties involved; and the right of each individual who is upset at the personal insults implied by the Republican student organiza- tion's chalkings - insults not only to non-heterosexuals, but to anyone who feels that bigotry based on sexuality is wrong - to contact people and organizations in power to let them know how you feel. GREG STEVENS RACKHAM There is no place for the chalk words TO THE DAILY: This is neither the time nor the place for those mes- sages. Honestly, there is no time nor place for these con- cepts. They are particularly inappropriate on the campus of an institute of higher edu- cation, and reprehensible at the beginning of a time dedi- cated to assisting homosexu- als in becoming more com- fortable with who they are. These messages are not simply words; they are attacks on the well-being of human beings. These words create the pervasive impres- sion that homosexuals are not people, but rather things to be avoided, ridiculed and hated. It was because I bought into that impression most people are repulsed by hlate. If the club truly wishes to garner support for GOP candidates during this elec- tion year, it might wish to clarify its stance on the attack by its members. To the students, faculty and administration of the University, I ask whether or not this is representative of the ideals of the University and those of us associated with it. Right now it is repre- senting us. Stand up and be heard if you believe other- wise. I believe otherwise. Finally, to everyone hurt by the statements scrawled all over campus Sunday night: Remember that hate, and everything inspired by it, is wrong. Love, in all its forms, is a beautiful thing, and it is right. CHRIS VAN ELK LSA SENIOR Sidewalk messages are effective To THE DAILY: ChalkingsLare an effective way for a campus organiza- tion to get out its message to rest of the University. And last Sunday, two such groups, the College Republicans and Queer Unity Project "clashed" with messages on the Diag. The QUP is pointing the finger at the College Republicans as gay bashers, using the chalkings as an example. Nowhere in the Republican platform or in any College Republican doc- umentation is there any men- tion of homosexuality or any positions regarding it. Before the Republicans' chalkings, members were encouraged to chalk only pro-Dole messages as opposed to anti messages. While most adhered, out of a group of 57, some may have not. If I saw any messages so blatantly offensive written by a College Republican, I attempted to either wipe it out or change it. Unfortunately, the QUP did not hold the same philos- ophy. What the Daily's article fails to report were the numerous QUP messages stating, "Kiss Me, I'm a Lesbian" or "Join a Fag Frat" or the amusing yet still offen- sive, "A pair beats a straight." I am all for groups having equal access to display their political message. I just wish that they do so with tact and respect to the rest of the University. I was uncomfort- able seeing all the gay agen- da messages, let alone all the offensive ones, but I still respected their right to utilize MILLER ON TAP Attack of a two- faced elephant Politics is where philosophy and human nature collide. John Locke's and Edmund Burke's theories of personal freedoms and property rights are perverted daily into the flawed constitutional reasoning of sup- ply-side economists and Phil Gramik loving NRA mem- bers with penis size issues. They provide the philos- ophy, we provide : the human nature. N As a nation, we are not serious or consistent about applying our philosophies to policy. Even a casual student of JAMES politics can see MILLER several glaring holes in logic, just watching the evening news for a week. Both parties are hideously guilty-of this flavor of two-faced rhetoric. However, since this is my column, and I am an unrepentant Democrat, oce again I will be picking on the conse - atives.sBecause Lord knows they-ve been safe for too long. In order to understand a big problem with conservative logic, it becomes necessary to explain a bit about liber- tarianism. Libertarians believe that government should take on the role of a night watchman. That is to say, keep- ing an eye on our stuff when we can- not, and performing other duties we can't for ourselves, like road buildiog and other large projects necessary for a smoothly functioning society. They believe that under no circumstances should a government try to protect its citizens from themselves (only each other) or try to force one person to help another. This having been explained: Complaint No. 1: drugs. Man smokes joint. Man eats. Man goes to sleep. It's hard to see what all the fuss is about. Drug use, except where minors are con- cerned (Bob Dole, Joe Camel, don't think I can't see you), is a victimless crime. Adults are allowed to waste their lives in any manner they see fit. A lib- ertarian would object to laws regarding victimless crimes. So what gives? I suppose a cynical man would sug- gest that since the United Smack Manufacturers don't donate to cam- paign war chests, they cannot benefit from the ignorance of law. But not ne. (And yes, I realize that both parties are strictly anti-drug, but we Dems never claimed to be the "get government off your backs" party, did we?) Complaint No. 2: Homosexuality. I hate to sound like a broken record on this one. There has never been, nor will there ever be, a convincing or log- ical argument as to why government has an interest in whom its citizens a sleeping with. Period. The pefense of Marriage Act was supported by claims that allowing homosexuals to marry freely would change the entire basis of Western society, namely the basic family unit. Why? Why is that bad? Other than it makes the several key members of Congress, and their repressed con- stituencies a little uncomfortable. The Civil Rights Act made an awful lot of people uncomfortable once upon'g time, but you don't see the rest of the nation marching in time to the morali- ty of Orval E. Faubus. Complaint No. 3: The war on big government. This is just hogwash. If there was just one true libertarian in Congress who was slashing govern- ment with feverish passion, at least I could respect that. But that ain't neces- sarily so. The "revolution'ary" Republican Congress proposed a of constitutional amendments, ranging from the slightly fiscally irresponsible balanced-budget amendment to the asinine flag-burning amendment. Mercifully, most of them died before they left the House floor. Government does not get any bigger than a constitutional amendment. And there are few processes more byzan- tine than the ratification of a constitu- tional amendment. Things like Dol's attack on the IRS and other bureau- cratic restructuring initiatives have less to do with saving money and sim- plicity than with attacking easy targets that will rile up stupid votes. Nobody likes paying taxes, not even us wild-eyed tax-and-spend liberals. But to give the taxman his walking papers because some people have a chip on their shoulder is the rashest flavor of silliness. 4 Cultural conservatives are opposed to cumbersome government, unless it's the kind of cumbersome government that makes the rest of the country obey their poorly misguided, suffocating, neo-Victorian, pseudo-Christian code of ethics And al ht the most hard- HOW TO CONTACT THEM DELORIES SLOAN ASSOCIATE DEAN OF STUDENTS 3,000 MICHIGAN UNION i