4A - The M chgan Daily- Monday, March 10, 1997
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420 Maynard Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
~Edited and rmanaged by
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VUniver it y of M ichi gan
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JOSH WHITE
Editor in Chief
ERIN MARSH
Editorial Page Editor
(Unlesn oulerw is mned unsagrd ediioria/s reflect the opinion of the majority of the Daily's editorial board. All
wther artidcls Mers and cartoons do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Michigan Daily.
-in-the ranks
rt . n the rnks
NOTABLE QUOTABLE,
'Ultimately the parties are the ones who have to
make a determination as to whether they want to
dig ditches for mass graves or for mass transit.'
- US. Defense Secretary William Cohen, stating the United States'intention
to leave Bosnia by June 1998, and let its citizens choose war or peace
JiM LASS E R > A R. m
SCOT ISH SCI EN T I T5 LWE'VE KNOWN A8OU-T
CLONIN c, FRO TZ YPL
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Photo albums
hold memories
ofpeople and
places loved
Y ou're back. You're, well,
unpacked enough to find some-
thing to wear to class. You're adapting
to taking notes again during that fi
lecture.
And you're not
smiling. Because
it's still winter im
Ann Arbor.
7
hi
: on<
marke
public
natioiv
World
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and gr
-Thi
cral pi
school
a posi
while
the Ur
its laui
define
dents.
officia
remerr
dents
*benefi
U.S
amon{
ties nt
v'hich
place
tions a
of co
cation
Sranked
base ai
As
Ut maitain evaluative standards
g al outreach efforts universities have refused to comply with
St g r projects, educa- U.S. News' requests for information.
S ntwkng -double as Dartmouth College's Thayer School of
Sd barometers of Engineering Dean Elsa Garmire raised
nmes annually, the some eyebrows last week when she refused
e U.S. News and' to return questionnaires that would fuel the
at these efforts in edi- magazine's rankings for next year. She
h non undergraduate maintained that the questionnaire gathered
adu as irrelevant data that would cause an unfavor-
N duate and pro- able comparison between Dartmouth and
program rankings other institutions. Several other small
ihe op 10 for sev- schools followed suit, including Alma
Th University's College of Alma, Mich. While the schools
Srk hard to maintain are correct to place little stock in the rank-
.A H put ition. Hiowever, ings - U.S. News certainly cannot deter-
p a eeem are welcome, mine the schools' worth - they should not
tnot res too heavily on continue to withhold information.
ew rankings do not Uninhibited flow of information is key to
stru worth or value to stu- educational systems' operation. The schools
W e y1th!ir high rankings, could better serve their own interests and
Sw t hosen schools must defend themselves against unfair rankings
b ri judges are the stu- by providing the magazine with requested
Scff that work in and information and taking the resulting rank-
from those programs. ings with a grain of salt - while keeping an
News rankings inspire tumult eye on their own students' satisfaction.
the counrys colleges and universi- More important than magazine rankings
early every ye'r. The criteria upon are the opinions of students and faculty who
the mugaie bass it: rankings often work within the colleges and universities.
smaller schools and public institu- Rather than using U.S. News' rankings to
,t a disfavor they exclude a group jump-start reform -- as did the University
ecges and universities that offer edu- of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in a high-
al programs on par with the top- ly criticized move - college and university
sh s, bt k he large alumni administrations must remain attuned to the
nd banks of prie funds. quality-control experts on campus, the only
a result. several smaller colleges and judges that matter: students.
hea op ition
Clito must:remain committed to choice
ha invigorated abor-
tion rts to ban the anti-
abortiomv i 'part birth" abor-
ns. Lat w ar1on rights advo-
'ate re di v n siatements about
the frequ procedure. With 75
percent o cs polled opposed to
late-term a n Pesident Clinton is
facing mo gpresure to sign such a
ban. Anse would be disastrous.
Abortion opponents renewed their cam-
paign whe'n Ren [itzsimmons, executive
director of the National Coalition of
Aborton Proaid he had "lied
Srough (his) teeth" when he said earlier
Sa t e-erm abortionsx were performed no
rethan 451 imes per year. The actual
figures are sgnifieantly higher, perhaps as
often as 5, imes, and the procedure is
performned nm ony in the third trimester.
but late in mhe second. These new facts are
cases.
Abortion opponents are resorting to
scare tactics to pass the "partial birth" ban.
Their literature aims to mislead legislators
and the public at-large - it does not accu-
rately state the medical facts of the proce-
dure, but instead features gruesome up-
close pictures of an aborted fetus. If these
tactics work, abortion opponents may use
similar tactics to overturn Roe v. Wade -
attempting to outlaw abortion, procedure by
procedure.
The bill to be reintroduced to Congress
would make late-term abortions illegal
unless the woman's life is in danger. Clinton
has said he will sign the bill if it makes a
similar exception for women's general
health. He must recant this position - he
should not sign the bill in any form.
Opponents have found a new way to scale
back abortion rights and Clinton and other
pro-choice lawmakers are being duped.
Legislators must re-examine the medical
truths of late-term abortions rather than
relying on Right to Life of America's mis-
leading pamphlets that misrepresent the
medical facts.
Legislating abortion by arbitrarily ban-
ning subjectively defined "inhumane" pro-
cedures is illogical. At times, late-term
abortions may be the safest choice for
women. Determining whether it is a moral-"
ly acceptable option is something that indi-
viduals must be allowed to decide. Roe v.
Wade must be maintained at all costs.
Efforts to ban any form of late-term abor-
tion cannot be taken at face value - they
are simply a clever tactic aimed at eroding
the landmark Supreme Court decision.
Story taught
valuable
lessons
TO THE DAILY:
I am not a student, but an
employee of the U of M who
faithfully reads The Michigan
Daily. I was in the process of
griping about how bad my
luck was and how things
were so terrible with me. I
had to buy insurance for my
car, pay bills, ride the bus to
and from work, etc., when 1
saw and read Meg Exley's
article ("Nowhere to call
home,"2/28/97).
I guess you know that
shut me up quick! 1, like
most people, don't really
know how good I do have it.
I'll just bet the people in the
article never had a car to buy
insurance for, or even had the
money to ride to and from
somewhere on the bus, or a
roof always over their heads.
The main intent on writ-
ing this was to let Meg know
she really reached me and
hopefully a lot of other peo-
ple who read the Daily.
We're all just a couple of
paychecks from joining those
already at the shelters.
JACK JANVEJA
UNIVERSITY EMPLOYEE
Half-Shekel's
goals span
religions
TO THE DAILY:
Regarding the ongoing
debate about UJA's Half-
Shekel Campaign: I am not
Jewish - rather, a Roman
Catholic - and I am proud
to wear that now-famous Half
Shekel pin on my backpack.
Why? Simply because
everyone does count. Perhaps
I am painfully ignorant, but I
would think that the cam-
paign's goal of unifying the
community through service
to the world should be
focused on more than divi-
sionary bickering.
RANDALL JUIP
LSA SENIOR
AIDS graphic
contained
errors
TO THE DAILY:
I was surprised to see the
gross errors in the box you
ran with your article on the
decline in deaths from AIDS
("AIDS deaths drop for first
time," 2/28/97). While the
article clearly stated that the
number of AIDS diagnoses
rather picky, it is just this dis-
tinction that allowed Bill
Clinton to hound the
Republicans last year over
welfare reform. They pro-
posed a decline in the growth
rate and he claimed they
were cutting welfare, imply-
ing an absolute decrease.
While I don't care to
argue which party has the
better welfare package, I
would like less time wasted
on similar misunderstand-
ings. The Michigan Daily has
a responsibility for clear and
accurate reporting. Exercise
that responsibility: educate,
don't confuse.
BILL POWERS
RA KHAM
Investigation
should seek
Mehta's
'ill intent'
TO THE DAILY:
As the MSA probe into
Probir Mehta's affairs contin-
ues, 1 would like to put for-
ward a few points of discus-
sion on the subject. I under-
stand that there are already a
clutter of opinions on this
subject, but I found none that
could reflect my true feelings
towards what the "investiga-
tion" should be focusing
upon.
First of all, Mehta's guilt
was never in question - as it
was pre-determined by his
own admission, the investiga-
tion's focus should be placed
on determining the severity
of his punishment, whether
he is excusable for his crime
and how much ill intent he
possessed while breaking
those rules.
The first question that
could examine the extent of
Mehta's ill intent is that if he
is so confident of his action's
innocence, why did he not
reveal his actions earlier to
prove that he had nothing to
hide? Why wait six months
for a sensationalistic expo-
sure by an observer before
acknowledging his wrongdo-
ings?
And where was Fiona
Rose when all these
occurred? She was either
guilty of being an accessory
to a wrongdoing or guilty as
an incompetent president
who does not even know
what is going on in an orga-
nization she heads.
Many of Mehta's support-
ers proclaim his innocence
under the shield of "he did it
for a good cause" But in that
defense also lies his most
damning evidence of his ill
intent: Why break the rules
only for the UAAO and not
for other student groups?
What makes the UAAO more
special than other student
organizations? Was there a
"special" relationship
between UAAO and Mehta
when the funding was illegal-
ly approved?
I hope that Mehta could
be punished for a crime he
admitted committing with a
punishment that reflects his
ill intent.
PAK MAN SHUEN
LSA FIRST-YEAR STUDENT
Lackluster
season is not
fans' fault
TO THE DAILY:
I am a four-year basket-
ball season ticket holder
insulted by Steve Fisher's
implication that Michigan
does not have enough fan
support ("Fisher asks fans to
fire up," 2/26/97). Every
year, when students crowd
Crisler Arena, first-year stu-
dents typically settle for a
split-season package. How
the fans react during the
game is a function of how the
team performs. And it is
quite obvious this team is
underachieving.
Yes, the fans are laid
back. This attitude has been
building for four consecutive
seasons. I will reveal the
roots of fan discontent.
Year after year, Michigan
gets some of the top recruits
in the country. Since 1993-94
Michigan has been losing to
teams with far less talent.
This year, we find ourselves
7-8 in a conference with only
one legitimate program:
Minnesota.
I have read past Daily let-
ters that the players do not
have heart. This is nonsense.
These players give up hour
upon hour practicing and
doing their best. Regardless
of their recordthey should be
hailed.
Yet, over the last four sea-
sons it has become apparent
that our players are not pre-
pared. Players are not real iz-
ing their potential. Our team
makes strategical blunders
late in the season that should
be ironed out in pre-season
games. In pressure moments,
the W6lverines seem as
though they've never pre-
pared for the situation.
If 10-10 was all the
Wolverines were capable of
mustering, the fans should
get up and shout. But with a
collection of would-be NBA
players chasing their tails, the
discontent is justified. Place
the blame where it rightfully
belongs: on Steve Fisher.
DAN MATLOW
LSA SENIOR
But you've got
doubles of all
your photos, in
which you are
smiling, because
at least the
weather was pre-
dictable where MEGAN
you were. SCHIMPF
Pictures are PRESC iPTIONS
more than just a
snapshot of where we've been and
what we've done. Because just as col-
lege is a unique experience, so are
these images. Just like anyone else, we
take pictures because we want to
remember how we spent our time
who we spent it with, but also becaus
they will be more valuable later.
So at practically any event of mean-
ing. and many that seem to have none,
at least one person will be clicking and
flashing. Using a camera.
This is especially true for seniors:
Take as many pictures as you possibly
can. Hopefully, this has been trte
since longbefore you CRISPed for the
last time, or you will one day attempt
to explain to your kids why y
friends are all wearing the same out- t nec htwe h elr4
ftndseach phto hent the real ea-
son is that you only brought your cam-
era to three things the entire time you
were here.
College pictures eventually fit into
one of several categories:
The dorm collection. All the peo-
ple living on one hall crowd into a suc-
cession of rooms - all located ont
same hall - and smile in front
lofts, room refrigerators, bean bag
chairs, closets and those generic dorm-
room posters.
No mention of fights between room-
mates, but there's also a collection of
the same people doing zany things like
standing on their heads and wearing
underwear on the outside of their
clothes - it made perfect sense at the
time - in residence halls. These are
easy to spot because of the distinct*
walls and carpet.
The "campus life" and "my col-
lege friends" collection. The same
group of people move from place to
place around Ann Arbor. I have exam-
ples that include bagel shops, football
games, restaurants, birthday parties,
Christmas dinners and concerts. The
reason for these pictures is either that
someone had a camera' or "we we
dressed up"
The road trip collection. This
time, a smaller group of people travel
around the country. Get ready for ran-
dom "during-the-drive" pictures; ran-
dom places-around-the-city pictures,
including landmarks, unique buildings
and restaurants; -and random people-
we-met photos.
Of course, most of these snapshots
-just like any vacation slide show -
are amusing only to those people w
endured the trip, but because th
only bring back the good memories,
we think everyone else will die laugh-
ing, too. Even for the people who
were there, these also sometimes fall
under the it-was-funny-at-the-time
rule.
The parties and bars collection
Everyone in a three-room radius
crams their sweaty face into the
frame, helping everyone involved
actually remember what went on.
Because the background is pitch=
black, everyone looks like a red-eyed
demon. Later, these photos usually
double as either perfect blackmail
fodder or slightly less serious forms of
embarrassment.
If you've been conscientious enough
to remember to take photos throughout
your years here at the University
and different nights at Ashley's duri
senior year do not qualify as "throug
out the years" - turning the pages of
the album is almost like one of those
little flipbooks when you were a kid.
Except instead of cartoon characters.
you see your friends.
Photos, unlike some class assign.
ments we turn in, are worth much
more than the paper they are printed
on. Looking at them, we put ourselves
back in time at that moment, wh*
everyone was smiling, and everythin
was good. We rarely take pictures dur-
ing unhappy moments, so we're left
with the hugs and the laughter, not the
anger and the tears.
We also rarely have a professional
rnn-rtra it rhntnrennhsar va i fi n Xvp
11
nott rea son
ioiulh to ban late-term abor-
tions. Doing so would set several dangerous
medical and poh:y-makn p edents.
There is a plethora If misinformation
regarding the medical nes:ity of the pro-
cedure. Dr. Richard Schwartz, chairman of
obstetrics and gynecology at New York
Methodist H lospital, said the so-called "par-
tial t eth a developed as an
alternative to procedures that could perfo-
rate a woman's uters and cause infertility.
a woman
abortion op
ite o e
dur~e is nmos
j E
eonly way to save
i hb> may be the best way. In
o ban "partiali brh" abortions,
ponen1s are overstepping their
ctos, *o legislators, are best
termine whvh pbortion proce-
suitable and afe in individual
9 TAT TH EM
LEE BOLLINGER
UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT
cm(r-4rf*TU C pD Ce,'ir C IT' 1: I C KA If
WHAT'S AFFECTING U' THIS WEEK
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