4- The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, November 20, 1996
Urfz miditgun ailyg
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
"NOTABLE QUOTABLE9
'When you look at the future work force, the majority
going in will be minorities and women.'
- John Matlock, director of the Office ofAcademic Multicultural Initiatives
JIM LASSER SHARP AS TOAST
Oless otherwise noted, unsigned editorials reflect the opinion of the majority of the Daily's editorial board. A ll
other articles, letters and cartoons do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Michigan Daily.
FROM THE DAILY
Mo-Jo undertound
U' must exercise caution in new dining hall
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he University recently announced
plans to consolidate Hill-area resi-
dence hail dining services into a single cen-
-tralized facility. It would be located
rbetween Mosher-Jordan and Palmer Field.
It would not be in the best interest of the
University to build the new hall; its adverse
effects could include room and board rate
changes, an increase in construction and
loading dock noise, and a decrease in the
intimacy of the dining hall experience.
However, the University is proceeding; thus
far, the administration has taken positive
steps to address these issues, but further
exploration is necessary before construc-
tion commences.
William Zeller, Housing director, said
construction of the $15.5 million facility
would not increase room and board fees.
Instead, residence halls would recover costs
from consolidation efficiencies. For exam-
ple, the University would have to pay gas
and water bills for one dining hall - rather
than four. Administrators must plan for the
possibility that these savings will not be as
substantial as expected. Administrators
should formulate contingency plans so as
not to pass unforeseen expenses onto stu-
dents.
Residence Halls Association literature
lists one of the benefits of the plan as par-
tial elimination of the chronic labor short-
age in dining operations. Currently, dining
services provide employment opportunities
to students who qualify for work-study and
to others looking for a part-time job. Any
effort to cut costs should not limit these
opportunities.
Dining hall construction is expected to
begin in May 1998. Zeller expects most of
the heavy construction to be completed dur-
ing the first summer. Nevertheless, the pro-
ject completion date is summer 1999.
During the 1998 school year, Mosher-
Jordan residents will inevitably hear varied
levels of construction-related noise. The
University must require firms bidding on
the project to submit plans to minimize res-
ident disturbances. Another potential nui-
sance is the loading dock to be built along-
side the dining hall. Although a full cover of
the dock should reduce noise, deliveries
still should be planned at a prudent hour.
The dining hall experience can provide a
level of comfort to first-year students. One
of the most important challenges architects
face is to maintain intimacy in the new
facility. At peak lunch and dinner dining
hours, even the smaller dining rooms are
loud and swarming with students. The new
dining center, without architectural ingenu-
ity, would magnify these problems. Efforts
must be made to avoid long lines and
tumultuous mealtimes.
The construction of the new facility
would clear up 50,000 square feet of space
in the residence halls. The University plans
to use this space to enhance its living-learn-
ing programs - which is not the most
appropriate option.
During the past several years, many
incoming students received temporary
rooms in the residence halls for several
weeks. University Housing forced students
into lounges, overcrowded triples and other
uncomfortable living arrangements. The
additional space would provide an ideal tool
to alleviate this problem.
In the end, this entire project could
prove disastrous; the system works fine
now. However, if it insists on building the
Hill area dining facility, the University
must proceed cautiously. Student jobs,
funds and social opportunities must not
become victims of overly ambitious plan-
ning. Any mistakes in planning could
prove to be detrimental to the entire
University community.
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
DAILY PICKS
Michigan Student Assembly elections
LSA
Andy Schor (Ind.)
Srinu Vourganti (Mich.)
Michael Nagrant (Mich.)
Engineering
Kenneth Jones (UPC)
Vote Michigan Party.
Ballot proposals
College governments' fee raise ($1)
Vote no.
Michigan Student Assembly fee raise ($1)
Vote yes.
Black Volunteer Network and Project Serve fee raise
($1.50)
Vote no.
Remember to vote in the Michigan Student Assembly
elections and on ballot nronosals today and
Endorsement
displays logic
TO THE DAILY:
Since I am generally
known not to do the expect-
ed, allow me to continue the
trend by congratulating the
Daily on an editorial that did
not endorse either myself nor
my party ("Start with Schor,'
11/19/96). Don't get me
wrong, I still think that the
Students' Party is the most
qualified to lead the assem-
bly and I still think I can rep-
resent the interests of LSA
students better than anyone
else, otherwise I would not
be running.
No, what I would like to
compliment the Daily on is
that finally they have let us
(students and candidates) in
on their reasoning and pre-
sented clear logic as to why
they were endorsing, albeit
reservedly, a certain party. I
think the Daily misinterpret-
ed some of the things that
were said on behalf of the
Students' Party such as tak-
ing Olga Savic's comment
about our platform prepara-
tion a little too seriously, but
on the whole they recognized
some important points. They
have appropriately challenged
Fiona Rose on her ludicrous
statements, and have praised
Andy Schor and Mike
Nagrant for some of the
finest work on the assembly
that I personally have ever
seen. Rather than being rude,
snide, and demeaning, the
Daily has instead chosen to
act as seasoned journalists
with a well-reasoned opinion
and for the first time since I
got involved with Michigan
Student Assembly I can hon-
estly say that I can respect
the Daily edit board's differ-
ence of opinion.
JONATHAN FREEMAN
LSA SENIOR
Liberty goals
TO THE DAILY:
With the elections for the
Michigan Student Assembly
upon us, I believe that it is
necessary to comment on a
few points of the platform of
the Liberty Party.
The keystone of the party
is our plan to change the
funding structure of MSA
from one that is mandatory to
one that is voluntary. Back in
the early 1970s the student
government got its funding
through voluntary sources
and it worked out fine. MSA
is not very well-known on
this campus, and those who
are not involved in it have
much scorn for it. This new
funding structure would bring
back the faith in student gov-
ernment, for those who previ-
ously had ill feelings toward
from a paltry 50 percent (the
current rate). Students will be
able to check off the groups
that will receive their money,
too! We think that this is a
great plan, and others should
seriously investigate it.
Another part of our plat-
form calls for the decriminal-
ization of marijuana on cam-
pus. One might wonder at
how this can be accom-
plished.
Well, MSA surely can't
decriminalize marijuana, but
we can call for a restructur-
ing of the Department of
Public Safety. Currently, any-
one who is caught smoking
pot on campus is apprehend-
ed by the DPS and subject to
state statutes. Penalties for
consumption can include jail
time. On the other hand, any-
one caught smoking pot off
campus is merely given a $25
ticket courtesy of the Ann
Arbor Police Department. In
short, the Liberty Party
would at least like to see the
ticket procedure spread to
campus, thus replacing the
current absurdity of DPS pol-
icy with the more sensible
policy as set forth by Ann
Arbor. There is more to the
Liberty Party platform, but
my space in this letter is
rather limited. Should you
wish more information,
please feel free to e-mail us
at liberparty@umich.edu.
MARTIN F. HOWRYLAK
LSA JUNIOR
language
requirement
To THE DAILY:
I was more than a little
perturbed in reading
Monday's article concerning
the Michigan Student
Assembly's potential attempt
to recommend abolition or
modification of the foreign
language requirement
("Parties look to tweak lan-
guage requirement,"
11/18/96). Granted, I was for-
tunate enough to enter the
Residential College's intensive
Spanish program, far from the
allegedly (and I say this not as
an insult to the programs
there; I have only heard grum-
bling rumors) mediocre pro-
grams in LSA-proper. This
does not, however, change my
opinion concerning the neces-
sity of the programs them-
selves. Part of a well-rounded
liberal arts curriculum
demands a diverse training in
many fields. Languages give
us not only consciousness of
other cultures and diversity,
but endow us with a valuable
tool, a retrospective point of
view on which to base more
objective thoughts about our
own language and society.
Whether or not MSA's
reasons are legitimate, the
associated timing of elections
Vote UPC!
TO THE DAILY:
As much as I would like to
thank you in your generosity
in backing at least one candi-
date of the United People's
Coalition, I will decline from
doing so ("Start with Schor,
11/19/96). The UPC is indeed
an all-students-of-color party,
however, as you would have
others believe the opposite,
our slate is not. The UPC
slate represents all students.
At institutes of higher learn-
ing, it is a necessity that all
students expand their minds,
especially culturally.
Cultural centers, formation
of Latino/Latina, Native
American and Asian Pacific
American Studies
Departments, reinstatement of
the Baker Mandela Center and
full support of the United
Farm Workers Grape Boycott
allow all students to learn both
in and outside the classroom.
It was mentioned that
some of the candidates on the
UPC ticket are "weak and
inexperienced." My question
to you: Have you ever attend-
ed an actual Michigan
Student Assembly meeting?
In those MSA chamber lie
individuals that are truly
weak and inexperienced on
issues that are associative of
students of color. As the chair
of the Minority Affairs
Commission of MSA, at
every meeting I am disturbed
that none of the elected rep-
resentatives of MSA attends
the MAC meetings. We are in
agreement of one thing,
"People are aware of all con-
cerns of students - except
for those (of students) of
color."
If indeed it is wrong to
"take on concerns of a small
number of students," I won-
der why the MSA is out of
touch with student of color
issues. That includes
President Fiona Rose, Vice
President Probir Mehta, and
Communication Chair Dan
Serota, who I must say final-
ly began to reach out to stu-
dent of color organizations.
Politics!
Although most do not see
the works of the MAC, we
try to keep students of color
informed on many issues.
The credit for the successes
of MAC belongs to the stu-
dent-of-color community that
keeps me on my job. Next, it
is the works of a few specific
groups, Alliance 4 Justice,
Alianza, Black Student
Union, Native American
Student Association and the
United Asian American
Organizations, that keep
MAC going. MSA deserves
none of the credit.
UPC truly represents all
students. The party does not
solicit individuals of a certain
ethnic background to rere-.
MILLER oN T".
Complaint 101
by Prof James'
'm an editorial columnist. It's my
ob to complain. Actually, it's sup-
posed to be called social criticism, but
really it's just complaining.
But that doesn't mean I'm the only
whiner on campus, or the country for
that matter. It seems that huge nung
bers of people are taking an interest in
complaining, both
as a hobby and as
a career. And I feel
that in my capaci- ~
ty as a semi-pro-
fessional com-
plainer, I should
help those people
who are thinking
of getting into the
complaining biz.
The following are JAMES
a few simple rules MILLER
that will help you
become a more effective complainer.
1) Pick a big, amorphous target. This
is really important, especially if you're
not all that confident about your com-
plaining skills. Say you write a letter to
the Daily and say, "I think University
President-select Lee Bollinger is t
biggest twit this side of the Mississipp .
He shouldn't be allowed to run the
snack bar in Cobo Hall, much less a
huge public university." Now, that isn't
true, but even if it were, Bollinger
would probably have a few things to say
about your assessment of his abilities
and maybe even a few choice com-
ments about your mother's sex life.
(Actually, 1 don't think he'd make any
mother jokes, but God, I'd respect a
president who could play The Dozen
But if you say, "I think that the liber-
al media is causing the collapse of
Western civilization by refusing (o
cover Pat Buchanan rallies" or "I think
that society is responsible for making
women second-class citizens" then
you're doing much better. Who thethell
is "the liberal media" or "society?" Itis
not like the entire New York Times
news staff is going to respond
masse to your outrageous letter. If y
pick a victim that can't exactly be
defined, then you can't be proved
wrong. This is the favorite move of the
dimmer members of beginning level
poli-sci and philosophy classes.
2) Attack people who can't fight back.
This can be accomplished in two ways:
First, pick on people who are help-
less. If you have a problem with wel-
fare, insult the poor. Many novice
complainers would criticize the peo
who created the flawed system o
social welfare or the people who
administered it over the past 30 years.
But these people read newspapers and
could conceivably write it in a letter.
Stick to the down trodden and the
defenseless; it's safer. After all, God
wouldn't have given these people
unlucky lots in life if you weren't bet-
ter than them. This is the favorite strat-
egy of Young Republicans. 0
The other is to attack newspaper
reporters and editorial writers.
Reporters and editorialists are excel-
lent targets because professional ethics
prohibit them from responding in kind
to people who criticize their intelli-
gence in angry, misspelled e-mail (but
oh, if we could). It's like teasing the
guards at Buckingham palace. You can
say whatever you'd like without fear of
getting a rifle butt upside the hea
Consider the example below.
"I was saddened and disgusted by
(newspaper)'s coverage of (current
hot-button issue.) I don't suppose it
occurred to (reporter) that there may
be people on this who would find
something like that offensive? Since
becoming a member of (humorless,
pointless organization) I have learned
to sympathize with the plight of
(oppressed societal group that ri
white college kids attach themselves
for social cachet.) Such a thing is hard-
ly different than (outrageous metaphor
to Nazi Germany). In the future, I
hope that your coverage will be (exact-
ly what I want to read):'
The beauty of this one is that the
poor journalist is prohibited from
answering ad hominem attacks with ad
homninemn attacks. You can feel free to
include all the childish gibes and gra-
tuitous slams you want and, like shad
ing a tiger cage, all he can do is sit
there. In the art of complaining, people
who disagree with you aren't just folks
with valid opinions that differ from
yours, they are horrid, contemptible
little heathens that must be assassinat-
ed in the most creative and vicious
manner you can muster. This one is
especially popular with Residential
College and Engineering students.
3) Be negative. This is ke
Complaining about a problem is much
easier than solving it. If you say, "The
government sucks. They can't do any-
thing right. They're just a bunch of
bums. Boo hoo' such a statement is
hard to refute. No one is going to