4 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, April 11, 1997
ZEE firtich41vljDat7lla
420 Maynard Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Edited and managed by
students at the
University of Michigan
JOSH WHITE
Editor in Chief
ERIN MARSH
Editorial Page Editor
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
Steppng ahead
Take Back the Night event fights violence
omorrow evening, local women will and Awareness Month, Take Back the Night
launch an attack on sexual assault and seeks to yield community-wide awareness
other violence against women as they gather of the problem of assault against women and
for the 18th annual Take Back the Night to catalyze the movement to end violence.
rally. Beginning at 7 p.m., at Top of the Park, Past rallies included talks by sexual assault
next to the Power Center, the event seeks to survivors, as well as presenters who list
draw people from the city of Ann Arbor and demands for making the streets safer. The
the University together; rally organizers march, through its high visibility, should
expect a turnout that could exceed 3,000 par- also impress upon observers the severity of
ticipants. The rally will precede a women- the problem of violence against women.
only march through the city's streets. The Recognizing the need to show unity
Ann Arbor Coalition Against Rape, in con- against assault, the rally adopted inclusion
junction with the University's Sexual Assault as one of this year's themes, said Susan
Prevention and Awareness Center, sponsors McGee, executive director of the Domestic
Take Back the Night, an event that consti- Violence Project/SAFE House. In accor-
tutes an effectual reaction to the ever-present dance with the theme, the Ann Arbor
issue of violence against women. Coalition Against Rape sought allies for
The need for a highly visible protest this year's event in other communities, in
against violence has become sadly evident high schools and over the Internet. In addi-
in recent years. For instance, a 1993 con- tion, sponsors will provide vans so that
gressional record reveals that, due to fear of women unable to complete the march on
rape, women are eight times less likely than foot can actively participate.
men to walk alone in their neighborhood. Though men may participate in the rally,
Moreover, most women refuse to use public the coalition voted in 1995 to exclude men
transportation after nightfall out of fear of from the march in an effort to preserve the
being assaulted. symbolism of a safe nighttime walk for
Worse, statistics show that women's women. Though this exclusion diminishes
fears are well substantiated. A 1996 con- the underlying themes of unity and inclusion,
gressional report estimated that 25 percent the march still proves an effective way to
of all women in the United States will suf- assemble support for the anti-violence cause.
fer a violent sexual attack sometime during The 18-year-old Take Back the Night
their lives. Another study showed that in rally and march serves the dualistic purpose
1990, the number of sexual assaults - the of heightening awareness of the prevalence
bulk of which are directed toward women of violent crimes and of solidifying com-
- increased four times as fast as the total munities against such assaults. Community
crime rate. In that same year alone, women members should support tomorrow's march
reported more than 680,000 cases of rape. - preferably through direct participation.
Clearly, the threat of violence has precluded Widespread participation will demonstrate
many women from leading normal lives. intolerance for violence and will strengthen
Falling in the midst of Rape Prevention the call for a safer Ann Arbor.
Wresling administ an
BU must support learning-disabled rights
oston University President Jon learning-disabled children. The loss of key
Wrestling is fighting a foolish battle to staff members caused BU to shut the pro-
limit the services BU provides for the learn- gram down. According to Sam Goodin, the
ing disabled. Wrestling has hindered learn- University of Michigan's Director of
ing-disabled students' ability to meet course Services for Students with Disabilities, the
requirements, along with mandating that he University is forming a program along simi-
will make all final decisions on applications lar lines that would fill the void BU created
for special services. His actions are discrim- by dissolving its program. Administrators
inatory - under Wrestling's leadership, BU must not allow this idea to fall through the
is unjustly denying its learning-disabled stu- cracks. A summer program could expose tal-
dents federally required services. ented, learning-disabled youngsters to posi-
In a class-action lawsuit, learning-dis- rive environments conducive to learning,
abled BU students claim that Wrestling and increasing the likelihood that they will enroll
BU violated federal laws that require acad- at the University or other institutions of
emic institutions to provide "reasonable higher learning.
accommodations" to those with learning Learning-disabled students, if they
disabilities. They also accuse Wrestling of choose to attend the University of Michigan,
facilitating a "hostile learning environ- have a large number of services available to
ment." Monday, Judge Patti Saris, of the them. Alternative arrangements are avail-
Federal District Court in Boston, dismissed able for note-taking, and students who have
the hostile environment charge. However, difficulties writing can check out laptop
while Wrestling's inflammatory speeches computers for written examinations. If nec-
may be constitutional, they subordinate essary, students can achieve exemption from
BU's learning-disabled students' important the LSA foreign language requirement -
interests. however, learning-disabled students should
There remains a strong possibility that still have an opportunity to learn a language
BU denied these students reasonable accom- if they so choose. The Office for Services
modations. Saris, referring to Wrestling's for Students with Disabilities is working on
personal biases, warned that if "a vociferous designing foreign language courses that are
administrator with a concern about a per- slower paced and focus on the needs of visu-
ceived abuse of learning disability protec- ally or auditorily impaired students. The
tions" was involved in administration of the University should allocate funding to bring
policy, "that might be of some consequence these ideas to fruition.
in the court's determination of the fairness of To improve conditions for students at
Boston University's program." Wrestling, a BU, Boston's Federal District Court should
former humanities professor, is not qualified rule against Wrestling's ill-advised policies
to determine what constitutes a learning dis- on the learning disabled. Wrestling must
ability - the court should return decisions stop his attack on the learning disabled and
granting special services to clinical psychol- follow the University's example - working
ogists and other qualified professionals. to form innovative programs that would
BU's learning-disabled program services increase learning-disabled students' educa-
included a renowned summer program for tional opportunities.
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given this information out sooner, I'll give that apology.
We should have gotten it out sooner.'
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CIA's knowledge of chemical weaponry in Iraq during the Gulf War
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14
PRESIDEN M
LGRTTEET
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Bollinger must
not submit
to 'thugs'
TO THE DAILY:
University President Lee
Bollinger set an incredible
precedent for his presidency
last Thursday. Apparently,
one no longer needs merely
to request an appointment.
Now all one has to do is
engage in physical intimida-
tion and the president will be
glad to see you.
Not only did Bollinger
capitulate to a group of gate-
crashing thugs, he gave their
tactics his moral sanction by
calling their shouting and
intimidation an exercise of
first amendment rights and
implying that drowning out
his speech was an example of
idealism. The only conclu-
sion one can draw is that
bully tactics are OK if one
feels that "justice" is on your
side.
Of course, any group that
advocates physical force as a
legitimate means to an end
loses any tenuous claim to
justice it might have had.
And the claim LUCha has is
nonexistent. What kind of
diversity could possibly be
fostered by shouting down
someone who might say
something contrary to one's
liking? On the one hand, we
need to be "diverse" On the
other hand, if you disagree,
or agree but do not act quick-
ly enough, LUCha harasses
you. LUCha's actions expose
the hypocrisy of multicultur-
alism, which only allows one
to speak a different language
and dance a different step,
but not, apparently, to have
diverse opinions on the right-
eousness of multiculturalism.
If one wishes to deny the
use of physical force a moral
sanction, then one must con-
sistently advocate the use of
reason and persuasion.
Reason and force cannot
coexist. LUCha has shown
which means it chooses to
further its ends. The adminis-
tration has agreed whole-
heartedly. I, however, do not.
BRADLEY MALESTEIN
LSA JUNIOR
Miller's facts
are wrong
TO THE DAILY:
I read James Miller every
week and usually it is the
best thing about the Daily,
but in his column
"Compromise: The newest
political scheme" (4/9/97),
Miller seems to have acci-
dentally overlooked a couple
of things and actually got a
couple of facts wrong.
To begin with, Miller
wants to place Gingrich in a
bad light by blowing up the
number of scandals he has
faced. Miller wrote that
Gingrich endured "questions
surrounding his history class,
then a fat fine from the ethics
committee." The fine from
the ethics committee was in
fact due to a filing error from
money garnished from his
class. That is right, a filing
error, not Gingrich's refusal
to pay the taxes. This same
error was committed by
Richard Gephardt (D-
Missouri), when he was
majority leader under the
Democratic-run Congress.
However, when this same
mistake was discovered in
Gephardt' forms, the ethics
committee did not fine him.
His punishment was to redo
the forms correctly and then
resubmit them. If Gingrich's
fine was a punishment, it was
for him being a Republican,
not for misfiling his tax
forms.
Miller also states that
Gingrich "engender(s) him-
self to his bloated, greedy
constituency." This is a bla-
tant lie. Gingrich's con-
stituency consists of a rather
small district in Georgia, far
from the homes of the bloat-
ed and greedy.
Finally, Miller was sucked
into the biased view of
Gingrich's tax-cut comment.
What Gingrich actually said
was that the Democrats dis-
agree with the Republican
balanced budget because of
the tax cut involved. So to
better America and get this
balanced budget passed, we
will take it out. Now, the
Democrats cannot complain.
Then, Gingrich went on to
say that the tax cut will be
introduced as a separate bill.
The tax cut is still there, it is
just not in the budget.
Finally, Miller states that
Republicans believe that their
money is, "mine, mine,
mine. I will not disagree
with him there. I work hard
for my money and it is mine.
However, he also thinks,
because we believe this, that
we do not care about
America. This is far from the
truth. Republicans believe in
helping the disadvantaged,
but they believe it is the indi-
vidual's job to do this, not the
government's. Maybe if
Miller was unbiased, he
would get more of the facts
straight.
PATRICK ELKINS
LSA FIRST-YEAR STUDENT
'U' Hospitals'
'costly' profit
To THE DAILY:
This is in response to the
Daily's article, "'U' Hospitals
predicting fiscal gain for
1997" (4/3/97). While all this
looks good for the hospital's
budget, etc., the one thing
left out was how it affected
the 1,000-plus people who
were "eliminated."
As one of those 1,000-plus
people, I would like to tell my
- and probably a lot of other
people's - side. In the article,
Vice President for University
Relations Walter Harrison
said, "I'm sure we all measure
the success of the Medical
Center by the lives it's
helped."
What he neglected to
include was how many people
it is hurting. Let us take the
patients. They are receiving
less than they deserve in care
and caring. The employees
now have no morale and are
wondering if they will have a
job in the coming months. If
you are wondering about if
you are going to have a job to
support your own family, you
will not care that much about
taking care of anyone else.
Sure the hospital is making
money, but at what cost?
JAMES YATES
FORMER UNIVERSITY
MEDICAL CENTER EMPLOYEE
Protest was
'terrible'
activism
To THE DAILY:
I am all for any group
with a political gripe to freely
display their voices in the
University community.
Although I may not agree
with a group's message and
goals, I strongly believe in the
First Amendment.
Unfortunately, the most
important document guaran-
teeing our freedoms does not
include any provisions for
taste or tactfulness in protest-
ing.
Last Thursday, at the
reception with University
President Lee Bollinger for
leaders of various campus
student groups, a terrible dis-
play of activism occurred. A
group known as LUCha
stormed the reception, pur-
posefully ruining thereep-
tion and at the same time pos-
sibly alienating their cause in
the name of protest. LUCha's
militaristic tactics should not
be encouraged or be accepted
as normal means of commu-
nication.
LUCha disrupted the
reception to the point that
President Bollinger could not
deliver any normal address to
the student leaders, nor meet
many of them face to face.
They ambushed the reception
by throwing grapes all over
the place. In a clearly pathetic
tactic, LUCha cornered
Bollinger with their incessant
chants. They literally forced
former MSA President Fiona
Rose to attempt to mediate
the ambush and put Bollinger
on the mike.
As a true leader, Bollinger
attempted to appease the pro-
testers by "guaranteeing" a
meeting. However, that was
not good enough for them.
They immediately demanded
to know "when and where'
I hope that Bollinger
keeps his word and holds a
meeting with these thugs who
hijacked and ruined some-
thing that had the potential to
benefit everyone at the
University. I hope he treats
them with the respect they
deserve, which is very little.
We cannot allow militant
groups to continually get their
way be making the lives of
others miserable. That is not
what protests are supposed to
be about. Protests should be
able to get your message
across without alienating the
rest of the University in the
process.
Society crumbles when it
lets minority pressure groups
to continue to get their way
by using such immature tac-
tics. If LUCha is successful in
all their goals, who is to stop
groups like NWROC and
other groups from disrupting
everything from MSA meet-
ings to class lectures in the
name of whatever they are
protesting?
The ideals and changes
LUCha is fighting for could
be valid. They do deserve to
be looked at. But I can't help
but feel negatively toward
them just for the very fact
that they denied student
group leaders a great oppor-
tunity to meeting our presi-
dent.
DAVID TAUB
LSA FIRST-YEAR STUDENT
Boxers v. briefs-
The great debae
T here is something that affect
your if on a diy basis withou
your giving it a second thought. 3ut
me, oh, it keeps me up at night. How
your ethnicity mediates your relation
with others in this society? No. Thi
plight of the royal housepets now a
Charles and Di have split for go
Closer, but still no stogie. My mi s
on your underwear. So, let us delvi
into our pants for
further investiga-
lion, and put tis
egregious neglect
to anend.
I would like to
begin our diseus-
sion today wibha
review of men's
underpants fash-
ion, as it pertains
to boxers versus HEATER
briefs, the great GORDON
debate. I have RIDE WITH
done extensive ME
research, inter-
viewing many men, and have come t
the conclusion that their preference is
split fairly evenly down the middle
Some go for the support offered b
briefs, some te freedom of bo4
But as for the women, the war cry it
virtually unanimous: Give us boxers
or give us death! Unless you encounte:
a chick who had some traumatic expe-
rience being flashed by the aged prin
cipal of her junior high school, -whc
happened to be wearing jockeys at the
time, she is probably going to vote ir
favor of the shorts because, in general
they are just so much more appealing
I cannot quite put my finger on it
why, but something about tig
whities just curdles the stomach, per-
haps in that they frequently get mien
tally associated with men of undesir-
able ages and statures, i.e. little boys o
dad.
Unfortunately, I have met, or rathe
should I say dated, far too manyguy
who are resistant to the obvious supe-
riority of boxers. Like this one, we wi
call him Dork, who thought he wge
put a spicy spin on the normal bneft
action and wear these special tiny
tight, colored speedo-esque jobbses
To this day, I still have nightmares 0
this pair of aqua ones with the specia
mesh front for added visual enjoy-
ment. 0 men of the 'U,' leam frontmn
sad experience and do not buy thai
leopard-print bikini pack that is callint
your name at Hudson's (you are no:
Joe Montana); and if you do, and
is a promise, you will never get
again.
Boxers should provide you wit
ample creative outlets, considerinl
their myriad of witty patterns, vibrani
colors and soft fabrics, not to mention
that silk pair for which you :will
undoubtedly spring for those Barr)
White nights. And, if you feel yov
must have more support, then I high
recommend you go for that new so9
boxer/brief hybrid I have been se
in the J. Crew catalogues and whatnot.
A friend of mine has them and I have
heard nothing but wonderful thingi
about such a perfect balance of snug-
ness and freedom that they just make
his whole day. And frankly, they are
quite sexy, to boot.
And now on to the ladies. In select-
ing their delicates, I think that most
giris have in minds mix of functinal
ity and appearance. Do they matco
bra? Do they show through my pants
Do they look like something my grand-
ma would wear? Like something Tracy
Lords would wear? You get the drill.
But me, I have an added problem:I
am possessed of the unwavering con-
viction that at birth, before even leav-
ing the delivery room, the doctors per-
formed a special operation on me
install a small, yet staggeringly powg
ful vacuum up my ass, as it seems I
it is merely a matter of seconds before
any pair of underpants I choose to put
on finds its way indelibly up there. Yes
I know everyone is prone to a melvin
or two in his time, but my friendswill
back me up when I tell you that I an
specially plagued in this departmtent
and thus have spent years of mylife
dedicated to finding the perfect pair ol
underwear, which will not spend quali-
ty hours sucked up my butt.
Sadly, my butt has won. I have gven
over and waved the white bikinis is
surrender, and all underwear to me
now is not measured on a matter of
cuteness or color, but rather wedge-
proneness. Oh, this hot little number is
great, but if I wear it with those jeans,
I will not even be able to reach them to
pull them out.
In a fit of despair, I was discn
this matter with my best friend
who, being the typical guy that le is,
suggested that I try a thong, insisting
that he has heard nothing butK ve
reviews from girlfriends - these
thongs, they say, change their lives:
'A's on all their papers, job offers when
they have not even sent out resumtes
and it does not hurt that guys dig thern
hard-core, either.
So I give it a shot, and you know
what? They suck. I spent the whole
day with the overwhelming urg o
grab my ass and pull out something
that had nowhere else to go. There was
no getting used to them - they hurt
and I felt like a sex-maniac freak who
was wearing porn-star panties' to
Angell Hall. So that is that. I am cur-
rently taking any suggestions you have
to offer: Just look for the girl on the
street with her hand in her pants. K
- Heather Gordon can be rea 4
over e-mail at yutz@umich. -