4A The Michigan Daily - Monday, January 27, 1997 420 Maynard Street RONNIE GLASSBERG Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Editor in Chief Edited and managed by ADRIENNE JANNEY students at the~< ZACHARY M. RAIMI University of Michigan 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 DA ILY VOiCes NOTABLE QUOTABLE 'I don't think this University could've been better served than with the grace, dignity, warmth and integrity which (Neal) brought to delicate matters of continuity.' - Regent Phillip Power (D-Ann Arbor), complimenting Homer Neal on his tenure as interim University president Jim LASSER SHARP AS TOAST 17CAN' TTAKE IT'AN YMORE I YoU )10r CArY6 E(7 ANY 50E WISTH AN UNDER6 AD DECREFE! I CAN T' $E A DOCTOR, LAWYEJ ZOR EN6C4NE ER W ITHOV A 1 SPEIjALJ lZeVeC&APLVAT,. (S f I* E YOU CAN E A A TEACHE . LETTERS TO THE EDITOR SMOKE & MORS [,J Reaching the Students in city govt. will increase input Students makeup a significant portion of act on them. Ann Arbor's population, so they play a To fill the positions, the CGC will large role in the city's diversity, culture and duct an applicant search through Feb. 4 economy. Student involvement in city poli- CGC has contacted many student grou tics is limited comparatively - leaving a inform members of the new position large section of the population without spur interest. Nagrant said the comm proper representation. Students must estab- also plans to post flyers in high-trafficz lish a voice within the encompassing com- around campus. The advertising is im munity. tant to ensure that qualified candidate And a couple of students have been selected. The student body must have i doing that. This month, Michigan Student ligent and appropriate representation Assembly Representative and Campus hence, the CGC must have a large nu Governance Committee Chair Michael of applicants from which to pick to fin Nagrant and LSA senior Andrew Wright most qualified students. met with Mayor Ingrid Sheldon. The trio While the new positions may spa addressed the lack of student involvement positive trend in local student involven and representation and proposed solutions the city must make available more opp to dissolve the problem. The student pair nities to allow students to participat successfully secured voting positions for many facets of city politics. Sheldon sh students on 11 city committees, task forces establish student seats on other city c and advisory boards. mittees - making the city's work repr The groups to receive student input tative of the wants of the entire commu include the HIV/AIDS Task Force, the which includes the ever-changing stu Domestic Violence Coordinating Board and sector. Students need to have represent the Publie Advisory Committee for Parking proportionate to the pertinence of parti Management. Given the importance to the issues. For example, students will oc University community of the issues with only one chair on the DDA citizen cou which these groups deal, this student access while the issues the group handles im is an excellent means to obtain input - and students a great deal more than citizen .L. con- . The ps to ns to nittee areas npor- s are ntel- n - umber d the ark a ment, ortu- te in hould com- esen- unity, udent ation cular cupy incil, npact s liv- put it to good use. For instance, the Downtown Development Authority is planning to repair many of the city's downtown roads. The construction will impact students greatly - the University and the city must make cooperative efforts to prevent con- struction from making worse the city's already horrible traffic and parking prob- lerns. With a position on the DDA's citizen council, students can express concerns and ing further from the downtown area. Students require additional positions to pro- cure equal representation. Ann Arbor's student population plays a significant role in the city's economy and industry. However, the students have not had sufficient say in local decisions. Formation of the new student positions has set the city on the right path. Now the city must not stray from the path Sheldon has marked - students must continue to partic- Good credit House bills would help working families T he Democratic majority will open the 89th session of the Michigan House this week by introducing the Quality of Life Act of 1997. The proposal would give fam- ilies under financial duress tax credit - allowing them more money to pay for necessities, such as food and housing. Moreover, it would help to prevent them from falling into the safety net of welfare. The act is an excellent measure to keep cit- izdns independent and, in turn, save the state money. The Legislature should adopt the act. Rep. John Freeman (D-Madison Heights) plans to sponsor one of the act's bills, which gives poor working families who receive a federal earned income tax credit an additional financial support through state taxes. Under this legislation, families could receive a state tax credit in the amount of one quarter of the federal earned income credit. If the federal govern- ment supports independence for poor fami- lie's, the state should make efforts to match that support. Families struggling to stay off public assistance are in desperate need of whatev- er financial help they can get. Tax time can be particularly trying as families stretch their resources to come up with money to pay not only regular expenses, but also taxes. For- example, a family may have to decide between, paying to heat its home or paying taxes - placing them between a very real rock and hard place. Additional support might keep families out of debt and reduce the need for state support programs, such as welfare. The bill is an excellent measure to stop further If the bill passes, the state will save money in the long run. A family that depends on welfare can cost the state thou- sands of dollars, while tax credits would account for only a fraction of that cost. If a family gets stuck in a welfare rut, the finan- cial consequences can initiate a self-perpet- uating cycle. As a result, it will cost the state even more over time than a slight decrease in tax revenue. Also included as part of the act are two bills that Reps. Karen Willard (D-Algonac) and Dennis Olshove (D-Warren) are spon- soring. Olshove's bill would provide fami- lies with dependent adults and sick children an income tax refund of up to $2,400. It would help ease the cost to families who do not want to leave their loved ones at the hospital. Willard's bill would grant tax exemption to adults who are dependent on their fami- lies for more than half of their support - reducing the burden on the families. State- sponsored health care and institutions also cost a great deal more than the tax credits would. Families with adult dependents deserve help from the state, as their work takes the place of expensive state-run insti- tutions. The act is an excellent way to improve the lives of working-class families. It pro- vides them with the opportunity to get ahead and allows the state to act as a cata- lyst in their pursuit of financial solvency. But it is also a savvy financial move on the state's part. It behooves the Legislature to pass the act as it not only saves money and provides a partial solution to a social prob- lem, but it raises the standard of living for a MLK Day provokes reflection To THE DAILY: In light of the recent holi- day celebrating the life of Martin Luther King Jr., it is appropriate that the University community and each of us as individuals reflect on the current status of racism and other race- related issues. A general question we might ask our- selves at this time is: Where do we stand now relative to where King left us in 1968? The scope of this question is larger than any one letter can cover, perhaps larger even than any one person can attempt to comprehensively evaluate. But to the extent that America's race-related "improvement" has necessar- ily decelerated with the pass- ing of one of the greatest men history has known, per- haps it is time now for us to look for newdirections to explore in ameliorating the stresses of diversity. After reading about MLK Day events on campus in the Daily, it occurred to me that we spend a great deal of time "fighting racism," accusing others, pointing fingers.: find I do this myself. The truth is, this reaction has become natural, something. we have seen in history and we do it now. Whether or not this approach is "good" or "bad," who can say? In any case, 1 think we would all agree that it does little to fos- ter love among the races. Maybe now it is time to turn our focus inwards. It is easy to accuse others of racism, but what of our- selves? Even more scary, how about our own race, our own people? Believe it or not, white people do not have a monopoly on racism in America. Moreover, we can- not continue to simplify race relations in America as black versus white anymore. In the almost 30 years since King passed away the face of America has dramatically changed. As minority groups gradually grow larger and larger, we must learn to look at ourselves not only as vic- tims but also as perpetrators. Can we stop racism in our own communities? It's a daunting question but one we must address nevertheless. In short, at the dawn of the 21 st century will King look down on us with tears of joy or of sorrow? PATRICK OH LSA SENIOR Daily misses - . . ,.c .z lic record, is exempt from disclosure, if that is the rea- son for denying all or a por- tion of the request." LEwis MORRISSEY UNIVERSITY FOIA OFFICER Roe doesn't guarantee choice TO THE DAILY: We are responding to the Jan. 21 editorial "Anniversary of Freedom." In responding, we wanted to address two central arguments in the the- sis, mainly that a woman really chooses to have an abortion and that the govern- ment has the authority to decide such matters of life and death. We know three women who have "chosen" abortions. Their situations are not unique. The first involved two college students, a white women who had become pregnant through her black boyfriend. Living in the South, mixed marriages aren't nearly as common as in the Midwest. The woman's family applied pressure for her to have an abortion because of the potential "embarrassment of having a mulatto child" while her boyfriend "couldn't be both- ered." Her child was subse- quently aborted. The second was an 18- year-old high school student. Her parents were just enter- ing retirement and thought a grandchild at this time would be inconvenient. Once again, external pressure was applied and the child was aborted. Finally, there was the sin- gle mother who told her 16- year-old daughter that the child growing in her was badly "deformed" to encour- age her to have an abortion, which she did. The daughter later discovered her mother had lied to her. So when you write, "The anniversary of Roe is an important date in the struggle for women's reproductive freedom," I have to question if this decision really took power away from pregnant women and placed it instead in the hands of par- ents, boyfriends or others in her life. Second, the editorial states "that a woman's body is her own, and as the Court said, she can do with it what she chooses." The basis of your argument is that the highest authority in the land is man's law. This a humanis- tic idea that places man at the center of the universe. While we don't expect you to agree, there is a higher authority that man answers to. The question to ask then, We want to encourage the Daily editorial staff and read- ers to really think about what you believe regarding this subject. As an example, con- sider Norma McCorvey, the famous "Jane Roe" in the landmark case. We can't think of anyone more famil- iar with the issue. She has recently re-evaluated her thoughts on the subject of abortion rights and now believes abortion takes a life. RODNEY TRICE ENGINEERING GRADUATE STUDENT ANDREA TRICE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION Talking must continue past M LKDay TO THE DAILY: I am white and Jewish. I supported the "Day Without Diversity" and was very excited by the prospect. I feel that such a form of protest is much needed and not seen nearly enough in today's soci- ety. I can understand Jennifer Bucholz's ("Protest under- mines diversity," 1/23/97) reasons for writing the letter that she did. I am assuming that she is also white, but I could be wrong in that assumption. She mentioned several other minority groups in her letter and was upset that they were not included in the day. I agree that these groups are stigmatized to some degree, and some more than others, but I also feel that it is a very different situ- ation for someone who can hide their stigma than for someone who cannot. I cannot speak for a per- son of color, but from the conversations that I've had, and the impressions that I get, there are times when people of color don't need or want help from non-people- of-color. The "Day Without Diversity" asked non-people- of-color to show their support by engaging in discussions about the problem. They did- n't ask us to show support by joining in the protest, they asked for our support in another manner. White peo- ple have been telling people of color what they can and cannot do for too long. I feel that it is wrong to tell a per- son of color the "best" way to protest. We, who do not wish to be part of the problem, are in a difficult position. If we try to "help" then we easily offend those who have not asked for our help, especially if we say, "this is the way it should be." At the same time, whether we are aware of it or not, if we are not part of the solution, then we are part of promised land' "I am convinced that you may kill the dreamer but you cannot kill the dream." - Benjamin Hooks Isat toward the front of Hill Auditorium that day, just a name less face in a sea of diversity. The audi- torium was filled with people of all ages, races and religions. We were gathered to hear Benjamin Hooks, former director of the National Association for ~ the Advancement of Colored People, deliver the University's ZACHARY Martin Luther M. RAIMI King Jr. Day Symposium Keynote Address in January 1995. 1 was covering the speech for the Daily; I was a young reporter then, yearning to see my byline in print. Before attending the event, I wa perturbed; I didn't want to wake up early on what should have been a day off from school. But as it turned out, the speech had a profound impact on me. Looking back now, in the twilight of my University career, the speech was one of the most moving experi- ences of undergraduate education. It made me appreciate the purpose of MLK Day and it made me more aware of the rampant complacency regarding. racial matters that hovers over much i our community and nation. Hooks' message was straightfor-' ward: America has made significa~ progress in its quest for racial justic and equality, but work remains. H' spoke movingly about Martin Luthdr King, calling him a "prophet." Hooks marveled at the stunning simplicity and beauty of King's dream, where ai Americans are united. Hooks' words were not cliched, his retelling ca King's dream was not trivialized. 1It was a powerful lecture. At the conclusion of the speec, audience members embraced and sang the spiritual "We Shall Overcome And goose bumps overcame me as , experienced and witnessed - albeit on a small scale - what Martirr Luther King envisioned: people of all different backgrounds joining hands and reveling in song.10 One of Hooks' driving premises was the idea that Americans must not become complacent or indifferent in. the struggle for racial justice. Yes, he said, we have made progress, but only through hard work and the "kind of' faith that Martin Luther King had" - qualities we must never lose. The University is on the right path in this struggle. Last Monday, the University again celebrated MLK Da with a huge symposium of events. And, its many programs aimed at increasing diversity - including the Michigan Mandate -are helping to shape a more inclusive and dynamic community. But, a protest on the Diag last Tuesday reminds us that MLK Day is not enough - people must pay atten-. tion to diversity and racial equality, throughout the year. Members of sev- eral student groups joined together and declared last Tuesday "A Day Without Diversity." They wore gags and. marched silently to symbolize the complacency that grips this communi- ty for most of the year. Such indifference is even worse away, from college campuses. I have wit- nessed this first-hand in the communi- ty in which I reside; friends and acquaintances relay similar observa- tions about their hometowns. Too many Americans are out of touch and indif- ferent to the struggle for racial justice. And that's why Hooks' speech was. so powerful: It was an eloquent plea for all Americans to consciously work, toward racial equality. One only needs to take a step back to see that the possibility of improving racial relations exists at the University. Like many public universities, the University of Michigan is creating an artificial community of learning an living, where people of all different backgrounds are mixed together and asked to thrive. Within this social" experiment, we can find ways to under- stand each other better. With such a dynamic community, we have the. potential to study and discuss issues of -racial equality and try to determine how to keep the message of MLK Day, prevalent throughout the year. Very few other communities offer such promise. After his speech, I asked Hooks wh he speaks at universities and what he_ hopes college students gain from hi( talks. He said he brings "the message: of moving forward and to remind pea- "lo., tp. m s stll - .+ *toha,... s nTf.AA L