4*- The Michigan Daily - Friday, February 21, 1997

(The l Cir i tn ]Dtrlq

420 Maynard Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Edited and managed by
students at the

JOSH WHITE
Editor in Chief

i NOTABLE QUOTABLE
'It's a perfectly legitimate office expense.'
- MSA President Fiona Rose, defending her purchase
of a $127.94 Franklin planner with student funds

ERIN MARSH
Editorial Page Editor

University of Michigan
Okless 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.

JIM LASSER

~.. *~ 4~ .> ..*,~

ROM T
ederal d
ebruary is
Awareness M
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health educators a
the increase in ma
Locally, two foru
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350-million med
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tic, is going to pu
problem. Local he
eral government n
reality and imple
cation program.
. The Universit
Research reported
percent of eighth-
cnt of high scho
percent of twelft
smoked pot in th
Tng statistics, up
worth addressing,
tactics are unreaso
.To address lo
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Ann Arbor area.
grams are an admi
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divides the cost be
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major new anti-dr
the budget pro
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f students vi
Rackham this
easels from the
Matisse. Instead, t
of a different orig
displayed - throu
entirely by inmate
tional facilities. TI
duced by the Univ
Dsign, LSA, Rac
Council for the Ar
in mediate positiv
wo participated.
yet another exar
enrichment progr
facilities - not
ariund the countr
1uzz Alexand
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ing their work dis
a thrill for inmate
th School of A
inmates benefit fr

ty to express
Overall, the even
ndthing but positi
ticipants and fror
forward to seeing
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cooperative effol
stretches further t
; Creating artw
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bit can give pr
acomplishment.
artwork on display
tion to the outsid
approval that ma
backgrounds of

'HE DAILY
Smoke screen
ollars should support drug education
National Marijuana McCaffrey, chief of the White House drug
[onth. While many may office, says, "There is every reason to
ht up a joint, proclaiming believe that this absolutely will turn around
he government and local drug abuse by youngsters." McCaffrey, in
re attempting to address his infinite wisdom, is carrying out the
urijuana use among teens. campaign for five years admitting: "You
:s will attempt to discuss can't do it in a year." On that point,
educate the community. McCaffrey is right - but scare-tactic, anti-
eral government has pro- drug commercials with catch phrases will
ed war on drugs with a not erase the drug problem in a year, five
ia campaign designed to years or a decade.
age increase. Neither tac- Drug education programs have failed the
t much of a dent in the country in the past, seemingly because of
alth officials and the fed- the slippery-slope scare tactics the pro-
nust take a step back into grams implement. Anti-drug campaigns
nent an honest drug edu- treat marijuana like any other illicit drug -
such as crack or heroin - when nobody has
y's Institute for Social ever died of a marijuana overdose. Children
i last December that 11.3 absorb such misinformation. When those
grade students, 20.4 per- who choose to experiment with marijuana
ol sophomores and 21.9 realize it is not killing them, they may
h-graders said they had employ the faulty logic that harder drugs
e last month. These star- will not harm them either.
from the 1991 report, are Some people blame the rise on recent
but the current anti-drug bills passed in California and Arizona,
)nable. allowing marijuana to be used for medicinal
cal concerns, groups are purposes. Anti-drug advocates claim that
forums this month in the advertising marijuana as therapeutic is
However, while the pro- increasing teen usage. However, agencies
irable attempt to reach the gathered the teen-usage statistics before the
not be enough. The real bills passed. Anti-drug advocates cannot
drug education in schools. blow a smoke screen around the truth:
Administration, with its Marijuana is beneficial to many chronic-
ia crusade, also seems to disease sufferers.
point. The plan, which In this case - and on a larger scale -
'tween the federal govern- the truth must be told. The federal govern-
ivate sector, is the only ment should step up and put their money
ug program contained in where it really counts, in drug education
posal recently sent to programs that advocate the truth about illic-
ed General Barry R. it drugs.
Giving back
ams benefit inmates and society
sit the art gallery in Herschell Turner, art instructor at the
week, they won't find Ionia Maximum Security Facility, said that
studios of Van Gogh or he is excited about the program taking place
hey will find masterpieces in Ann Arbor and its many positive ramifi-
in: prison cells. The work cations. Turner hopes that other prisons will
gh Feb. 24- was created be able to include expressive arts into their
s from Michigan's correc- programs. He maintains that programs like
he program -jointly pro- Ionia's are not expensive and would be
rersity's School of Art and money well spent. Turner believes that if
kham and the Washington inmates dedicate their hours to productive
ts - has achieved almost activities, so-called "problem" inmates
e results for the inmates might show behavioral improvements.
The art show's success is Research shows that providing inmates
uple of the benefits of with opportunities to express themselves is
ams within correctional healthy and beneficial.
only in Michigan, but The idea that positive outlets can lead to
y. better behavior is one that prison adminis-
er, an English professor trators should take seriously on several lev-
the exhibit, says that hav- els. If inmates can build self-confidence
played at the University is and improve behavior through simple and
s. Janie Paul, a lecturer at inexpensive enrichment programs, they
rt and Design, says the could make even more progress through
om having the opportuni- more extensive programs, such as in-house

themselves artistically. high school and college-level classes.
it's sponsors are hearing Educating inmates and allowing them to
ve feedback from the par- use their natural talents could, in the long
m visitors, who can look run, reduce the probability of recidivism.
powerful pieces and raw Inmates who are able to gain skills and
the exhibit - and the build confidence increase their probability
rt that sponsored it - of successful contribution to society upon
han pure enjoyment. their release.
ork can be a part of Due to Gov. John Engler's consistent
ative process that will not neglect of state correctional facilities, the
e with something positive institutions are in dire need of attention.
isoners a real sense of Additionally, with the "adult time" for
Even more, having their "adult crime" bill taking effect, many more
y gives inmates a connec- juveniles will find themselves within prison
e world. It is this type of walls. Providing enrichment programs to
ny inmates seek. Often, these inmates could significantly improve
poverty or abuse often their behavior within the criminal justice

WE HLAVE SO MUCH To LOOK
FoRwARD lb0 IN TH E '.

V

I , C

FROM THE UNIVERSITY

An open letter to the 'U,

n Friday, Feb. 7, 1997,
O there was a rather seri-
ous fight at a student organi-
zation dance in the Michigan
Union. This well-attended
event included both
University of Michigan stu-
dents and guests from outside
the University. The fight start-
ed at around 12:45 a.m. and
involved a large number of
people. Student sponsors of
the event, Michigan Union
staff, some guests and the
Department of Public Safety
were all involved in trying to
restore order and safety. The
event had to be canceled and
all attendees evacuated from
the building.
We are very concerned
about the violence that took
place. As individuals and as
an institution, we will not tol-
erate violence of any kind -
it has no place in a communi-
ty dedicated to intellectual
inquiry and learning. As
members of this academic
community, our students are
expected to maintain high
standards of conduct - and
should expect that their guests
meet those same standards.
These standards include
responsible behavior and
respect for the rights of oth-
ers.
Those individuals involved
in the fight at the Michigan

Union last weekend violated
our standards and our expecta-
tions of them as students or
guests of the University.
People were injured and many
people had their evening
ruined by the actions of those
involved in the fight.
The purpose of this letter
is to let our community know
what actions are being taken
as a result of the fight and to
re-emphasize the importance
the University places on civil-
ity and responsible behavior.
The University of Michigan
will:
investigate Friday
night's incident
t charge criminally and
through the Code of Student
Conduct any individual stu-
dents involved in the fight
who are identified by these
investigations
continue our ongoing
review of the Dance/Party
policy and
make every effort to
explore additional ways to
create a safe, social and edu-
cational environment for our
students and their guests.
Students and staff spent
significant time in pre-plan-
ning the Feb. 7 event - this
was not a spontaneous or
loosely structured party.
Issues of crowd control and
safety were a high priority for

everyone. Despite these
efforts, this event became dan-
gerous for everyone present.
We conclude that failure here
was individual: students and
guests who showed no respect
of others or of the event; stu-
dents and their guests who
could not control their tempers
or their actions, and students
and their guests who failed to
intervene and stop their
friends from fighting.
While we take the respon-
sibility for investigating this
event and holding people
accountable for their actions,
we ask the students of the
University of Michigan to
take responsibility for assur-
ing that this does not happen
again.
MAUREEN A. HARTFORD
VICE PRESIDENT FOR
STUDENT AFFAIRS
WALTER HARRISON
VICE PRESIDENT FOR
UNIVERSITY RELATIONS
ROYSTER HARPER
ASSOCIATE V.P. AND DEAN
OF STUDENTS
LEO HEATLEY
DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC
SAFETY
FRANK CIANCIOLA
ASSOCIATE DEAN OF
STUDENTS

CafeEviL:ousy
servie comes *
on the side
There is a boil on the butt of
humanity in our very own home
University environment and I feel that
it is up to me, your savior Heather,
Warrior Princess, to alert those of you
unsuspecting mortals to it. A plague
infesting a particular coffee house
the South U. locale
shall go unmen-
tioned no longer.
Suffice it to say
that this errant
EM N
establishment
bases its name on
a clever rhyme for
another word for
coffee. Let us just
refer to it from
here on in as Cafe HEA
Pretentious, just GORDO
for anonymit's GOWIT
sake, shall we?
But fear not, ME
mere mortal patrons; this evil illness
need not infect yon. Like a canary in a
mine, your courageous columnist has
foregone you to the site of contagion,
risking life and limb, and determined
that this malady cannot be transmitt
through the products that you
have ingested from said establishment.
It appears that one must be on the
payroll of Cafe Pretentious in order to
fall prey to its evil, soul-stealing ver-
min disease demons. But one must be
aware of the symptoms, for rare cases
of extra-employee transmission (note:
this newly discovered virus can be sex-
ually transmitted, i.e. sleeping with an
employee of Cafe Pretentious may be
hazardous to your health!!). If
notice any of the following traits
sourceless existentialist angst, a weary
and morose look about the eyes as
though making change is just more
effort than they can afford to expend,
or just a crappy attitude in general,
please report to your local health
authority immediately.
Now I shall begin my narration to
explain how I have become alerted to
this crisis on campus. Sophomore yB
I was at Cafe Pretentious attemptingto
study for a final with a friend, just like
everyone else there. I say "attempting"
because the new age vagina music of
the day was blaring so loudly that
although my friend and I were sharing
the same tres petite little table, we
could not manage to hear a damned
thing the other one was saying. I
understand that places turn up their
music near closing time to assist in
vacating of the premises, but as itU
at least an hour or even two before
closing, I hardly found this necessary
and was so moved as to go upstairs and
bother the silly man behind the
counter. Snooty Man had the nerve to
inform me that he does not care what I
was doing downstairs and that his
manager (I am catching loads of butt-
fleeing monkeys here) wanted the
music that loud. Some way to tr
your paying customers, don't y '
think?
So, I decided to privately boycott
Cafe Pretentious due to my horrid
treatment and did not return there until
this semester, when forgiveness filled
my heart and I was really rooting for
them to shape up. Last week I stagger
in there, having just woken up 10 min-
utes before with just enoughtsanity to
get on my pants before I went out into
this great white wasteland of *
Michigan winter. When Bastard Man
(my superpower arch nemesis) waits

on me, I ask him for a hot cider to go.
I was not amused when he thwarted
my attempt by telling me that cider is
in fact seasonal and I cannot have any
since there are no more apples.
I am thinking, "That's funny, since I
have got some in my refrigerator at
home and since it is on your yea-
round menu." So, I switch gears
order a steamed milk with a shot of
strawberry. Bastard Man deftly alters
forms and becomes now Milk Nazi
and tells me that no, I cannot have that
either. But now he thinks he is some
kind of frigging chemical analyst and
gives me some song and dance about
how the strawberry has too strong an
acid content and it will make the milk
curdle. I already know this, but I don't
really give a damn.
Condescending to throw me a bone,
Bastard Man offers me a shot of rasp-
berry instead, because the acid content
in raspberry is so vastly different from
that of strawberries, you must be a
moron not to know it. I do not even
like raspberry, but I break down and
agree. Now that he's got me, he snaps
into a joyous mode and practically
sings whenrhe asks me if I want sm
or large, here or to go. Yeah, Bastad
want a great big vat of it for here so I
can sit and sip it while I watch your
sexy ways as you serve up' the drinks.
In exchange for enough money to put
my kids through college, Bastard man
gleefully hands me a container smaller

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Mehta acted
responsibly
To THE DAILY:
This letter is partly in
response to "Executive MSA
officers 'corrupt and arro-
gant"' (2/19/97). In his letter,
Carlos Hernandez stated that
the action taken by MSA
Vice President Probir Mehta
was "not a mistake but rather
a conscious decision."
It most certainly was a
conscious decision: a con-
scious decision to help a stu-
dent group. During the'elec-
tions last year, nearly every
candidate ran on a platform
that included the ideas of
making MSA more accessi-
ble to student groups and
making the government work
for them.
In the end, Probir was
simply living up to that cam-
paign promise. The money he
allocated was critical funding
needed by a particular stu-
dent group. The funds MSA
collects do not belong to
"(Fiona) Rose or Mehta," as
Hernandez seems to infer.
Those funds were intended
for student groups and that is
exactly where they went.
Furthermore, to argue that
Mehta allocated funds to a
group he later became part of
has no logical premise. He
was not an active member of
that group at the time, so to

instead of trying to destroy
one of their members.
Perhaps the members of
MSA should pull out those
old campaign posters pro-
claiming how they would
make a new, student group-
friendly MSA. The actions of
MSA indicate that those slo-
gans were merely words, not
actions.
The decision to investi-
gate Mehta after an initial
vote against an investigation
shows students that those
people elected to MSA ran
on empty promises. They are
not interested in helping stu-
dent groups; if they were,
then the focus of the assem-
bly would be to develop a
new process.
Instead, by recanting their
original vote, the members of
MSA have shown that per-
sonal politics and front page
headlines screaming "scan-
dal" are much more impor-
tant to them than the well-
being of the people who
elected them.
PAREEN SHAH
LSA SOPHOMORE
Kirk's fraud
reflects badly
on 'U' CRs
TO THE DAILY:

Republicans on campus and
statewide.
I am not speaking of par-
tisan ideology. I feel that the
actions of Kirk have caused
the College Republicans to
seem not respectable to many
in the University community.
This action, along with the
actions against the Queer
Unity Project earlier in the
year, have been blemishes
that will be long remem-
bered.
I think that in order for
the College Republicans to
return to the level of respect
that they need on this cam-
pus, they need to make
reforms internally. The
opportunity next month for
them to elect officers of the
organization that will
promise reform and healing
on campus is too good to
pass up. People like current
Vice President Elias Xenos
and Rich Kovacik, who have
been calling for reforms of
the organization,need to be
elected to the leadership of
the organization for the next
year.
I hope, people like Nick
Kirk will stop talking about
"people conspiring" and will
focus on electing such
reform-minded members as
Xenos and Kavacik to take
the reigns of the organiza-
tion. This will once again
allow conservatives on cam-
pus to voice their opinions