4A - The Michigan Daily - Friday, November 1, 1996 be £idi3&u ullg 420 Maynard Street Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan Ni; RONNIE GLASSBERG Editor in Chief ADRIENNE JANNEY ZACHARY M. RAIMI Editorial Page Editors Unless otherwise noted, unsigned editorials reflect the opinion of the majority ojfthe Dailv s editorial board. All other articles, letters and cartoons do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Michigan Daily. FROM THE DAILY Reelect Mayor Sheldon Incumbent continues to work for students NOTABLE QUOTABLE, 'I want every person in America to have a chance to live out their dreams if they're responsible enough to work for it.' -President Clinton, speaking at a campaign ally at Eastern Michigan University on Wednesday JIM LASSEERSHARP AS TOAST ST'LL SLINC-1N, MUD...... L E T H D 4~ t LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Republican Ann Arbor Mayor Ingrid Sheldon deserves re-election. Her active working relationship with the University, combined with her great acces- sibility, are two compelling reasons to give her another term. Her opponent, Christopher Kolb, a Democrat and current City Council member, would bring enthusi- asm to the job. However, Sheldon has estab- ished herself as a pillar of the community she has earned another term serving Ann Arborites. Sheldon, a two-term incumbent, has earned the Daily's endorsement in her two previous mayoral elections. She continues to display a nonpartisan, moderate approach to city government that has made the City Council more effective. She consistently puts the city's interests above partisan poli- tics, making her a likable and effective mayor in a heavily Democratic town. While Kolb has some good ideas, Sheldon satis- fied her constituents for the past two terms. Sheldon has had a stabling influence on the Ann Arbor community. Residents seem much more satisfied with the work of Sheldon than they wire with the skills of Sheldon's predecessor. Among her accom- plishments since taking office, Sheldon has improved and expanded Ann Arbor roads that both city commuters and football spec- tators use. One of Sheldon's greatest assets is a willingness to work with the University to improve the lives of one of her constituent groups - the students. Sheldon has gone out of her way to improve safety for University students who live in the city's neighborhoods. During her tenure as mayor, Sheldon approached the University and suggested that the city and the school share lighting costs for off-campus housing areas. When the University chose not to take part in the project, Sheldon took matters into her own hands and had the city pay for the lighting. Before implementation, however, she walked around the area with students to determine where the lighting would be most effective. This type of hands-on leadership offsets Sheldon's calm style well. When Sheldon was a City Council mem- ber and the council was selecting a new police chief, Sheldon was one of the only council members to seek student opinions actively - she put a student on the com- mittee. Her attitude did not change after stepping into office. In fact, she often seeks Michigan Student Assembly input on cam- pus issues. Sheldon's stability in the mayor's office is also a plus. The current status of the University administration is shaky. The new University president will need some time to adjust to the job and secure an administra- tive team. Meanwhile, Sheldon will contin- ue to provide a stable relationship with the University - which voters should not underestimate. Democrat Christopher Kolb would bring strong leadership skills to the mayor's office as well as abundant energy. However, he and Sheldon seem to differ on few points. Some of his many ideas have merit; for example, he would like to introduce a cus- tomer service plan for city services, where residents have a better opportunity to evalu- ate the Ann Arbor's public agencies and ser- vices. Voters would need a compelling reason to drop a solid incumbent like Sheldon to take a chance on Kolb. Ann Arbor has ben- efited from Kolb's contributions as a coun- cil member, but Sheldon has maintained her reputation as a competent mayor. She dis- plays political savvy - and has proven her- self to be approachable and fair with the University community. Vote Ingrid Sheldon for mayor to let her continue the substantial impact she has already made on Ann Arbor. She has given voters every reason to keep her. Computing co Vote 'Yes' on WCC millage Rivers fights for families TO THE DAILY: In light of recent articles and television ads that have attacked Lynn Rivers, I feel compelled to support and defend her record. Rivers, it may not be known, was mar- ried at age 18 and was a mother by the age of 21. She was able, though, to raise her family and work her way through college and law school, often depending on student loans and assistance to help pay for rising tuition rates and fees. Prior to being elected to Congress in 1994, Rivers was a longtime community activist and served as school board president for three years. But let River's strong record speak for itself. Rivers fought against Republican- proposed cuts to student loan programs, co-sponsored a bill that would give companies tax-credits for employer-pro- vided educational assistance and fought to continue fund- ing Head Start and other pro- grams benefiting disadvan- taged children. Also, Rivers opposed Republican-spon- sored bills (H.R 743, H.R. 1279) that would weaken or abolish trade unions, and fought against a proposed amendment to the Fair Labor Standards Act that would give employers the power to "average" worker's overtime over a two-week period, thus cheating the workers out of their hard-earned overtime earnings. Rivers exemplifies com- mon sense values and com- munity involvement while understanding the struggles of the nation's workers. Unlike her opponent, Joe Fitzsimmons, who only moved back to Ann Arbor in 1995. Rivers has a genuine interest and concern for the community and is dedicated to students and workers alike. Don't be fooled by negative attacks by Republicans like Fitzsimmons - Rivers is the common-sense, outstanding choice for Congress. JOHN LEFFEL LSA STUDENT MSA should absolve itself TO THE DAILY: I think the entire Michigan Student Assembly machine has gotten way out of hand! I keep seeing state- ments from these little resume inflators about the need for more money and how much it is needed to help students. Should I laugh now? Not a single MSA politi- cian campaigned on the plat- program they want to sup- port. If there is no program an individual wants to sup- port, he or she could have a Happy Meal. Because if pro- grams end due to a lack of student funding, it means stu- dents did not want to fund the program. I am sick and tired of groups of people deciding how our money should be spent. I am even more dis- gusted when a useless, child- ish, petty group like MSA says things like "we have a mandate" and "we need this money ... it is our duty to support studentsu..." frankly, I need this money in my pocket. I am sure that a lot of students need this money in their pockets. Why should part of my student loans go to support an organization that is, for all intensive pur- poses, a money pit? Does MSA want to lower our tuition (as they claim) so that they can raise our fees? I am at the University to get an education not to fund some micro-welfare system. The best thing the members of MSA could do for every stu- dent is issue student fee refund checks and then resign immediately. If that doesn't look good on your resume, MSA should ask the regents to allow students to opt out of the student fee and all its glorious benefits. CARLOS E. HERNANDEZ LSA SENIOR LSA-SG funds help students TO THE DAILY: I am writing this letter in response to the editorial ("Money Madness," 10/29/96). As an elected stu- dent representative and trea- surer for LSA Student Government I feel it is nec- essary to defend the criti- cisms directed toward the proposed $1 student fee increase to benefit individual college governments. The Daily claims that governments such as LSA- SG are most effective in han- dling administrative details and "these endeavors do not require much money." An astute reader of the Daily will quickly realize that this directly contradicts an article that was run four days prior to this editorial. The article "LSA-SG budget increase to benefit many groups," 10/25/96) describes a recent- ly approved budget that has allowed $20,000 for student groups. "When MSA turns students (funding requests) down it suggests alternatives," the article said. LSA-SG is one of those alternatives. A $1 budget increase to LSA-SG would potentially provide $25,000 more for increase to both MSA and the individual college govern- ments lightly. However, there is no possible way to keep up with increasing student group demand and inflation without increasing the student fee. The Daily claimed that "MSA often is the only avenue groups have to receive funds." I hope that after reading this letter stu- dents realize that this is not the case. LSA-SG is the largest college government on cam- pus (serving 15,000 stu- dents). I can ensure the stu- dents of this University that a $1 student fee increase would go right back to the students. Let's continue to make this University something we can all be proud of. One way to do that is to continue to pro- vide money to the 600 stu- dent groups on campus that make this University great. ADAM SCHLIFKE LSA JUNIOR LSA-SG TREASURER Vote Dole TO THE DAILY: Thursday night is defi- nitely the night for comedy on TV NBC held true to its tradition by showing a Clinton ad. In the ad, Clinton claims that he is the choice for supporting women and children. Then how do you explain Clinton vetoing increasing funding for the Violence Against Women Act by more than $175 million? Or legislation to go after deadbeat dads who live in luxury across state lines while their dependents suffer elsewhere? Or constant veto- ing of tax breaks for middle- class families? The ad claims that Dole's campaign is full of personal attacks and no ideas for America. But the end of the ad levies a person- al attack against Dole and Newt Gingrich. It claimed that they were in favor of cut- ting Medicare. However, the Republicans never proposed reducing Medicare benefits. Both Republicans and Clinton have proposed restraining the future growth of Medicare: the GOP by $270 billion over seven years, the president by $124 billion over the same period. Under the GOP plan, Medicare spending still would have risen by 7 per- cent per year, the Congressional Budget Office says. Of course, one of Clinton's stated goals was to balance the budget, even though he vetoed Congress' balanced-budget amendment. Is Bill Clinton really the can- didate to support women and children, as he would like you to believe? No. Bob Dole is the better choice for the American fami- SHAKING THE TREE Ways to cope with campus human rights violations was in Angell Hall computing site the other day, minding my own business, when this chick put her coat in MY space. You know the area - there are lines dividing your space from the space at the next "$a computer. And zi people inadeMt your space all the a time - with books, bags, their 4 butts and the like. KATIE Not that I neces-~ HUTCHINS sarily need the HTHN space. But it'stthe principle of the thing. If I should need the space in the future, I want to know that it's there. It's as if one of ny housemates put food on my refrigerator shelf Not that I ever have anything but beer and left- over pizza in the fridge, but should I become domestic, I want to know the space is there. Now picture me telling this girl - who has deliberately placed her coat in my space - to get her damn coat out of my computing area. All of a sudden I'm the asshole rightp? Everywhere on campus, incidents like this occur in which you have every reason to assert your rights. Somebody is stepping on your territory, and they shouldn't be. But you're the asshole if you step on theirs. The most common place these viola- tions of human rights occur is at the time "limit" spots. You know the ones - five-minute limit at the UGLI com- puters, the 10-minute limit at Angell Hall and the Union, and the 10-minute limit for the typewriter at the Career Planning and Placement Center. Nobody ever observes these limits. Last week, I was typing up another4 application for law school and, observ- ing the 10-minute limit, I got off the typewriter so the lovely young lady behind me could take her turn. She took five minutes figuring out how to use the typewriter, five minutes figur- ing out how to load the paper, and another 10 minutes typing the first two lines on her form. Then she turned around and said, "Oh, are you waiting?" Really sweetly. What could I do? I told her that, yes, I did have more to type. And I also informed her that 1 had only relinquished the typewriter in observation of the 10-minute limit. "Oh, I have no idea how long I've been on. Sorry!" She giggled, turned around, and said she'd be off the type- writer in a few minutes. What do you do with these people? Do you say, "No, sorry, you've already exceeded your limit?" Do you inform the reference letter staff that she is breaking the rules? No. You can't. Because then you're the bitch. The same goes for people wandering around the computing site looking for a free computer in the middle of the day. First of all, nobody puts their "Open" signs down when they arrive, and nobody puts them up when they leave. So you still have scores of peo- ple hovering over computer screens4 trying to assess which one will be available shortly. A friend of mine had a system worked out. He would stick with the sections where most people were checking e-mail, because that's some- thing you do just before you start your paper or just before you leave. He fig- ured it would be more likely that someone would leave in these areas. Little did he know, there are students on this campus who happen to have time in the middle of the day to spend hours and hours on e-mail, who have 12 credits and nothing to do but find a Cyberfriend in Australia. He also wasn't aware of the vicious computer vultures, who hover some- where unseen and dart in front of you when you glance down to read the Daily for a moment. And then there are the people wh leave their computers while they take a beer break at Ashley's. You know these when you see a computer with the "print"command on the screen; they leave their computers like this so they won't automatically turn off while they're gone. Sure, we're all guilty of leaving our computers at oneutime or another. Some of us need bathroom breaks, some need a cigarette, but for God' sake - give it up if you're going out for beer or a hook-up in the third floor restroom. I've started a sort of personal rebel- lion. When I'm in the computing site, everyone is the enemy. Whether it be pushing people aside at the printer, 01 0 0 6I U niversity students are used to walking into their residence halls, classroom buildings and libraries, and finding a num- ber of modern and mostly well-maintained computers. The University owns and oper- ates a vast supply of superior technological tools. Not all institutions are so fortunate. Some schools cannot collect millions of tuition dollars and therefore must turn to millage-based funding for technological improvements. Washtenaw Community College is one such institution. This Tuesday, voters should vote yes for WCC's .85 mil computer and technology proposal. The college - which has not had a mill- age-rate increase in 10 years - is sorely lacking the funding to update its computer systems. As University students know, a school's computer system is all-encompass- ing - it affects students' abilities to com- municate, do research and obtain sources from other schools or even other countries. At WCC, an extensive adult job-training program makes the situation more urgent. In August, the school approved a bond issue to improve high-tech training programs and to construct a new technology education facility. However, the newly appropriated funds are only able to do part of the job. WCC's business-centered job training pro- grams must focus on computer systems like the ones popular in the business world. To prepare its students for the work force, WCC must update and integrate its current In accordance with high-tech training programs, the millage would allow WCC to offer employee training programs for local companies. Broadening the scope of educa- tion by incorporating local business is a good strategic move for WCC - coopera- tion now helps to place students in jobs later. One of the most important functions the millage would serve is to rewire WCC's campus to provide students, faculty and staff increased access to communication networks and the Internet. Research using the Internet has grown significantly over the past few years, fast becoming an inte- gral part of higher education. WCC stu- dents need the chance to improve their resources and catch up with technology. In the classroom, the millage would allow instructors to modify the curriculum to improve basic skills instruction. Adults who want to take advantage of WCC's job training programs may feel intimidated because of their lack of basic skills. A few refresher courses in math, reading and writ- ing could alleviate some of their worries. Due to Gov. John Engler's cuts in adult edu- cation, adults interested in job training pro- grams must increasingly rely on institutions like WCC to continue their education. This Tuesday, when voters choose a president to take the country into the future, they also should remember local issues. Voters should support WCC's proposed 01 01 I ii