4A - The M chgan Daily- Monday, March 10, 1997 Ah lift- 420 Maynard Street Ann Arbor, MI 48109 ~Edited and rmanaged by stucP Intthe - VUniver it y of M ichi gan >, .. _: . r j ( , -_ JO C::.. A 4 :: 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 ~tiOn 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 ,I I