4 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, March 14, 1997 strbt Twv 420 Maynard Street Ann Arbor, MI 48109 JOSH WHITE Editor in Chief ERIN MARSH Editorial Page Editor Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan 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 DAILY Unfrendly skies Students should watch out for travel scams NOTABLE QUOTABLE, 'It has been a difficult decision for me and i have, with great reluctance, decided not to seek a second term in office., - Irish President Mary Robinson, the first woman to be elected president of Ireland, in a press conference on Wednesday JiM LASSER SH A.AsR sT PREI VAT LS TOTHEEDHWARD STERN " MIG H T 8E RIGH T - t e e - ~THi S ME -- --!- ('-F LETTERS TO TH E EDITOR Students must beware: They are prime targets for unscrupulous businessper- sons' exploitation, especially when it comes to "bargain" travel packages. Last Friday, more than 4,000 students traveling with the Take-A-Break Travel agency were stranded in Mazatlan, Mexico, after the Federal Aviation Administration grounded the agency's charter planes. This is not an iso- lated incident and should serve as an exam- ple. Many of the "bargain" packages direct- ed at college students are profit-maximiz- ing ventures - customer satisfaction and safety are not priorities. Students must exer- pise the utmost caution when investigating the details of their travel package itiner- aries. Last Friday, the FAA grounded Take-A- Break Travel agency's charter planes because of a cracked windshield and 32 other significant safety violaticns. The agency told students stranded in Mazatlan that their return home would be on a Northwest Airlines flight the following afternoon. After the agency informed travelers on Saturday that the Northwest flight was can- celed, students investigating the flight found that it never existed. Apparently, the agency misinformed the group to appease many worried and angry travelers. By this time, skeptical of the accuracy and credibil- ity of Take-A-Break's information and abil- ity to orchestrate their return home, student travelers scrambled to book flights on their own. The agency's incompetence forced some students to spend an additional - and unanticipated - $1,000. To prevent similar situations, students should thoroughly -nvestigate their chosen carriers and agen- cies - particularly seemingly "too- good- to-be-true" spring break travel packages. Every year, thousands of flyers circulate campus offering incredible prices on trips to popular spring break locations. Vijay Jayaraman, an LSA junior, among those stranded in Mazatlan, warns, "When you see a price too-good-to-be-true, it probably is." He says students are used to taking trips with their parents, which generally work out well, but they should not make the mistake of having the same level of trust in these travel agents as they would in their parents. It is true that "bargain" deals offer less security than the travel to which most stu- dents are accustomed. Before agreeing to an offer, students should check the safety record of the airline or charter they are fly- ing and the conditions and ranking of their hotel. It is a good idea to seek consumer ref- erences from those travel agencies booking trips. Most important, students should pay for all vacation costs and fees with a credit card. Any reputable travel agent will accept charge payments. Some credit card compa- nies offer safety features, so that if cus- tomers convince the company that a travel agency treated them in an unethical and deceptive manner, the transaction can be voided. Similar recourse is not possible if payment is made in cash or by check. The Take-A-Break travel agency debacle teaches students a valuable lesson - a glossy brochure offering bargains does not guarantee a hassle-free spring break. Take- A-Break Travel should be disciplined, but any punishment will not deter other travel agencies from making similarly shady spring break offers. Students should take note - when it comes to spring break, it is better to pay a little more and worry a lot less. Danger behind bars Harassment of female prisoners must end O n Monday, the Justice Department filed lawsuits against the states of Arizona and Michigan, claiming that the two states failed to protect female inmates from rape and sexual assault from correc- tional facility guards and staff members. The Justice Department, which filed the lawsuits in federal district courts in Phoenix and Detroit, brought the cases under a 1980 civil rights law aimed at protecting the rights of citizens housed in state and local :government institutions - including cor- rectional facilities. In 1994, the Justice Department began investigating two women's correctional facilities in Michigan after allegations of sexual assault and mis- conduct. It also received complaints about three Arizona facilities early in 1995. After its investigations, the Justice Department contended that female inmates at the Arizona Center for Women and at state prisons in Alhambra, Perryville and Tucson suffered instances of sexual assault, sexual misconduct and unlawful invasions of privacy. Similarly, at Michigan's Scott and Crane correctional centers, female inmates have been subjected to the same violations. Upon further investigation, the Justice Department found inadequate medical and mental health care as well. The allegations pose a serious potential threat to human rights - subsequent civil rights investiga- tions and pending trials must proceed with the utmost care. While sexual assault is always a terrify- ing, humiliating and belittling prospect, female inmates are uniquely vulnerable. Prison wards and emninvees occinv sienif- duct - must end immediately. For state-run prisons to violate basic principles of con- duct is a travesty. The federal government must not allow such heinous civil rights infractions to remain unnoticed and unpun- ished. Both lawsuits seek court orders requir- ing the states to protect female inmates from rapes, sexual assaults and other sexu- al contact by staff members. The Justice Department is seeking court orders to ensure that inmates and staff members do not engage in sexual relations of any kind and that female inmates are not viewed in a prurient manner when showering, changing clothes or using toilets. The allegations are another stab at the state-run correctional facilities, as it becomes obvious that the institutions are in dire need of supervision and improvements. Officials of both Michigan and Arizona's correctional facilities refused to allow Justice Department investigators access to the institutions, nor would they allow inter- views with facility inmates or staff mem- bers - a sure sign that problems exist just below the surface. The government must find a way to improve the country's correctional facilities and remedy the civil rights infractions that occur on their premises. A correctional facility should be a place where inmates can begin the process to make them fit for society - they should not feel threats of violence or abuse at the hands of their pro- tectors. The Justice Department should continue to investigate state-run correctional facili- ties to make necessarv improvements and Champion's efforts are 'belittled' To THE DAILY: Well, it seems as though you've done it again. My let- ter of a year ago seems to have fallen on deaf ears as once again you have belittled the efforts of a champion and four other All-Americans. While I understand that track and field is not a high-profile sport compared to football, baseball and hockey, that does not make our accom- plishments any less worthy of praise. And yet Neil Gardner's second national championship finds itself hidden on page eight, next to a picture of an athlete that graduated a year and a half ago ("Gardner wins 55 hur- dles at NCAAs," 3/10/97). There is also no mention of the fact that the distance medley relay team earned All-American honors with a fourth place finish. Fourth in the nation! If it were a foot- ball, basketball or hockey team accomplishment, it would have found its way to the front page. Instead, you buried us in the Sports sec- tion to make room for the uninteresting stories of an underachieving hoops team. I would like to say "hats off" to the hockey team with their continued success, but Gardner won a national championship! Why is that not worthy of winning "Athlete of the Week?" You are missing the point time after time. Perhaps you should spend more time researching your stories instead of coming up with cheesy analogies that have little or nothing to do with our sport. You are not going to win a Pulitzer Prize for an article in the Daily, so at least try to get your facts right. There are stories here, but you missed them by trying to fancy them up. Our sport is about dedication, determina- tion and perseverance. All of these things contributed to a strong performance at the NCAA Championships. Write about that. SCOT MACDONALD, CO-CAPTAIN, UNIVERSITY MEN'S TRACK AND FIELD LSA SOPHOMORE Congrats to swimmers TO THE DAILY: I'd first like to say "con- gratulations" to the University women's swim- ming and diving team. You ladies had a great regular season and won yet another QI n no nn i Getting along is a priority To THE DAILY: I find the article on extended applications for minority and scholar students very interesting ("Deadline extended for 'U' applicants," 3/10/97). 1 am not concerned with the affirmative action debate or whether students are being discriminated against or, as Nicholas Kirk says, that students who fall in the middle are disadvantaged. The University holds its system dear and there is no change in the foreseeable future. The University hails itself not only as a top learn- ing institution, but as one with a diverse atmosphere as well. This is all fine, for as a student who would fall into the category "white," I would not like to attend a school that looked only like myself. The point I would like to address is the meaningless- ness of the school's diversity. After being here for nearly two years, I feel I have gained a pretty good feel for the envi- ronment of the University. Living in Markley residence hall last year was my first taste of the segregated University. I first noticed that most students had roommates of the same race or ethnicity as themselves. Finding white Jewish students together, white Christian students together, black students together and Chinese students together was the norm. I had a roommate who would be classified as Asian, his parents being from India. We got along fine, but he seemed to hang more with his Indian buddies and I with my white Jewish buddies. When we ate in the cafeteria, the black students sat in their own section, the Chinese in theirs, and so on. It seems that these racial borders stay as the years go on. Now, in a fraternity, I have further separated myself from others. There is nothing wrong with these organiza- tions - they bring people together. Perhaps if the start had been different, students onship, Kleinbaum wrote about the team's position, saying "the Big Ten power- house is ready to fall:' Now, they have defied the predic- tions and won the Big Ten as they were preparing to do all along. I know what kind of quality swimmers this school really has. So congratulations again, ladies. And disregard the ignorant few who choose to misrepresent you to the rest of this school - they just don't know any better. JEFF BARTZ SOPHOMORE ENGINEERING Netanyahu hurts peace process To THE DAILY: Israel's intention to estab- lish Jewish settlements in East Jerusalem is clear evi- dence of a bow to political pressures. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is putting the ongoing peace talks at risk for the sake of blunting criti-. cism among right-wing mem- bers of the Israeli Parliament. If a leader fails to take com- plete authority and instead yields to political pressures, progress and peace will remain unfulfilled visions. It seems that for every small step forward, there is always an equal or greater reactionary force to cripple progress towards peace. Such a reactionary stance on the part of the masses is expect- ed and frequently occurs. However, for a political leader to yield to such pres- sures is a true disappointment not only to those he repre- sents, but also to those he is working with and with whom he has established a strong and trusting rapport. For him to turn around and essentially "give away" what the Palestinians had claimed as the capital of their hoped-for state is completely antagonistic to whatever progress has been made thus far. His actions are a clear slap in the face to both the Palestinians and Arafat and will lead only to increased conflict among the Israelis and Palestinians. ANITA Azzu LSA JUNIOR No student tickets for tournament TO THE DAILY: Judging by what the Athletic Ticket Office has told me, the University has gotten screwed by NCAA Hockey - so student season ticket-holders (even the reli- gious faithful) will, in turn, get screwed. The Athletic Ticket Office says that their allotment of tickets for the NCAA West Regionals will be 200 and that the order of eligibility for purchase of tickets will be: players' fami- lies (estimated to be 100 tick- ets), the athletic department (estimated to be 100 tickets), Victors Club members and then season ticket holders. They expect the entire alloca- tion to be consumed by the first two groups. They do not owp nvc .; ice College spring break memoies Tn coming to the horrifying realiza- Ition that last week was my last offi- cial Spring Break (need I more incen- tive for grad school?), I feel the need to write a tribute to the adventures of breaks past, present and future. Some take the jaunt to a hot southern locale that brings them back with both sun and alcohol poisoning, in additio to a fresh case of venereal disease, the v i s it - a - fr i e n d break, the job-hunt break, or even the<> alternative spring break to a new ; location in the interest of helping" underprivileged cmuntes u since I've got the column, I'm going ~ * to tell you all about HEATHER the glamorous GORDON vacations that I WITH have had. ME For my first two years of college, I hopped on the cheapest Northwest direct back to Beantown in order to sit on my sofa to watch movies and not get tan. One year, I actually watched so much TV to conclude that since Hollywood i obviously filled with all these Adonis- like bohunks, there really must just be a plethora of them in society and I- the goddess that I am, don't you know - should settle for no less than your standard Mel Gibson-type astrophysi- cist. Gladly, I've since snapped back to reality. The perk was that my best friend from high school had the same break as me, so we could sit home together. Or, rather, Tracie and I sat a4 our respective houses and chatted on the phone for free as opposed to the usual 12 cents per minute or whatever we standardly have to pay to repeat the same conversations we've been having since we were 10. Last year, Tracie and I happened to be studying abroad in London, so our spring holiday became reason to further explore the UK. We spent two weeks (with another friend of mine from the University doing the standard Yank-with-a-back- pack routine, staying in hostels and meeting fellow travelers and friendly locals. A certain one of us found Inverness to be not only the home of the Loch Ness monster, but also a real hotbed of love, if you know what I mean, which just goes to show that sometimes you can go for the VD without the sun poisoning. All that highland air has a strange effect on th libido, I guess. Like the Santa Ana winds, but different. Perhaps the hor- mones are triggered by the wind whip- ping through the kilts of all those Scotsmen going commando, but then again, I'm no chemical analyst. And finally this year: a. family ski vacation to Colorado that centered around my cousins' and my valiant efforts to breathe some fun into Vail's stale nightlife (what can one real4 expect of such a posh and shi-shi place as that? The richies there are too busy stroking their fur coats and sipping their Chateau Rothschild to appreciate a good disco night), being an obnox- ious enough brat to make my loving mother rescind her offer to let me move home after graduation (no, Ma, the cardboard box is terribly comfy and there's some nice ventilation by that subway grate, too), burning my face in effigy of "The English Patient on the sunny back bowls of the moun- tain, and walking around in some gen- erally goofy and uncomfortable clothes. Fortunately, I had just enough presence of mind to plan to go further west to Seattle for the last leg of my journey and visit my old roommate Rachel, who gave me the most phe- nomenal Cameron Crowe tour of the city. I saw the mall where Lloy Dobbler and Dianne Court had thei first date. I rode the roller coaster where Kyra Sedgewick was dumped by her boyfriend. I walked around the apartment complex where "Singles" was filmed. But my fearless tour guide Rachel would not let the fun stop there. Our little foray into Seattle nightlife revealed a gothic bar featuring people wearing more black than a panther at a funeral. The lovely bartendress, upo second glance, turned out to be a man in spiky black lingerie drag. I got stepped on by some darling gent who was doing his best impression of Tommy from The Who, and was mes- merized by some AxI Rose wannabe who was grooving with himself on what appeared to be one sweet hero- in/ecstacy party. Not to mention two spastic Irish guys doing arhythmic modern jazz which centered around writhing around on the floor. And let's not forget the obligatory couple who were getting on each other in the back ("He's gonna pork her dad! Right there at the table!") So after Rachel and I were through frowning on the side- 01