4 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, April 18, 1997
(The £(itigunt &lg
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.
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NOTABLE QUOTABLE
'Santa Claus and a sleigh have been running around (the
Upper Peninsula) and the rest of Michigan. I hope no one
goes buying champagne and caviar too soon.'
- State Rep. Donald Gilmer (R-Augusta), in reference to the Michigan House of
Representatives'proposed appropriations increases for higher education
JiM LASSER SHARP AS TOAST
WHAT DOES IT Do?!
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IFORMATION To PEOPLE'
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L rFRS TO THE EDITOR
A2 tax policies should not hurt students
niversity students' paychecks may financial aid tend to work the longest hours;
soon feel a little lighter. To alleviate a therefore, with any income tax increase,
et shortfall, Ann Arbor is considering they are the ones who would be most great-
menting a citywide income tax. The ly affected. To pay such a tax, students
Mould tax residents' incomes up to 1 might need to work even more, and time to
nt and non-residents' income up to do schoolwork or participate in extracurric-
alf percent - with no exemptions for ular activities may be diminished.
nts. While an income tax may be a At its Tuesday night meeting, the
way of adding funds to city coffers, Michigan Student Assembly addressed sev-
current form, the proposal would eral more pressing concerns. Federal aid
students who work to pay for a and grants, along with scholarship funds,
.rsity education. might be taxed under the proposal; the
an Arbor is currently spending more assembly recommended that these funds be
y than it takes in. Last year, the city exempted. Rackham Rep. Ray Robb noted
orced to tap into its savings account to the problems that additional taxes would
ce the budget. Mayor Ingrid Sheldon pose to graduate students - many of whom
hat the city cannot always deplete the must be financially independent while tak-
gs account in this manner - it is ing a full course load. LSA Rep. Ed Wright
rative for Ann Arbor to find additional expressed the concern that students, if they
es of revenue. An income tax is an are out-of-state residents or are claimed on
tive way of doing so. However, most their parents' income tax returns, might not
ax revenue is used to provide services be able to deduct credit for paying a city
6rmanent residents of Ann Arbor. income tax. Sheldon and other council
sing an income tax on non-residents, members should not ignore these important
ding the vast majority of University student concerns - they must let MSA and
nts, is inappropriate. student input play a large role in framing
a Tuesday, speakers at a public forum their final income tax proposal.
ssed a city income tax. 'It became Sheldon emphasizes that no formal deci-
ent that the initial proposal is haphaz- sion has been made on a city income tax.
constructed and fails to solicit student She said, "We are truly in an information-
According to Alan Burns, the city's gathering mode." When searching for the
t director, the tax would be imposed means to raise additional revenue, city
y resident making more than $600 per administrators must take heed of an income
The threshold is ridiculously low tax's potential effects on students.
ermore, students will be ineligible for University students are not the primary ben-
responding tax break that will be eficiaries of city services, and most are
d to local property owners. If the city struggling financially; because of these cir-
this income tax proposal on the cumstances, if a city income tax is imple-
mber ballot, it must first undergo a mented, students with permanent residences
overhaul. outside of Ann Arbor should be exempt
ose students who are most in need of from payment.
Money for merit
Awards must not compromise need-based aid
hanks to a current nationwide trend,
excellent grades and high college
entrance exam scores are now worth more
than ever to high school students. Findings
published in a new book, "The Student Aid
Game," reveal that, at many institutions,
Merit-based scholarship money has steadily
increased in recent years. The extra merit
dollars aid colleges in luring the nation's
top students. The current trend greatly ben-
efits universities: Recruitment of high-
quality students increases an institution's
prestige and improves the quality of its aca-
demic community.
However, institutions should not allow
the rising number of merit scholarships to
impede the growth of need-based awards.
Colleges should remain more committed to
providing needy students the opportunity
for higher education than to recruiting the
academic elite.
Between 1983 and 1991, merit-based
cholarships to first-year students at public
institutions grew an average of 12 percent
nnually, according to "The Student Aid
Game." Though unsure of the exact rate of
increase, University Assistant Director of
Financial Aid Al Hersen said that the
University, too, has augmented its merit-
based scholarship provision since the mid-
'80s. The increases constitute a positive
trend. The higher availability of merit-
based awards will encourage better scholas-
tic performance among high school stu-
dents, increase college options for the acad-
emic elite, and will help institutions -
including the University - increase the
quality of their student populations.
': % ; -- e _ __ _ ..o.4-A rn._ m
paced the growth of need-based funds. In
fact, the annual growth rate of need-based
funds has fallen 3 percent behind that of
merit-based funds at private institutions. At
public institutions, need-based funds have
grown at only half the rate of merit-based
funds.
Given current statistics about the rising
cost of college, this disparity warrants con-
cern. Nearly 60 percent of United States
voters polled by The Washington Post in
1996 said college costs are putting higher
education out of the reach of most
Americans. A congressional record report
from the same year revealed that as a per-
centage of median household income,
tuition has nearly doubled over the past 15
years. Clearly, colleges have priced educa-
tion out of many students' reach. Therefore,
colleges must assure that ample funds exist
to extend the opportunity for higher educa-
tion to qualified students who demonstrate
financial need. Merit-based scholarships
must not cut into funding for need-based
ones.
To ensure that need-based funds remain
unscathed by the growth of merit-based
awards, colleges should, if necessary, exam-
ine alternative options. Institutions might
consider offering prestige-based scholar-
ships, whose distinction outweighs monetary
value instead of merit-based scholarships.
They might also explore the option of
revamping merit-based scholarships into
hybrid merit- and need-based awards. No
matter the avenue institutions decide to
take, they must not allow the desire to
recruit top students to overshadow the
:- - -rn - ^rm - i o r -t a -: f --nanra
Dogs, bikes
do more
harm to Arb
TO THE DAILY:
I happened to be in the
Arb on the day Ron
Holzhacker ("Get ROTC out
of the Nichols Arb," 4/17/97)
noticed the ROTC groups
training. It is interesting to
note that the Army ROf
was training there under an
agreement with the
University to do so. I hap-
pened to notice, on the same
day, about a dozen dogs run-
ning unleashed and at least
half a dozen bicycles, both of
which are prohibited activi-
ties in the Arb.
How come Holzhacker
has not mentioned any of
these violations in his numer-
ous reports and press releas-
es? It would appear to me he
is picking and choosing the
activities which he feels are
appropriate in the Arb or that
will give him the most expo-
sure and publicity as an attor-
ney pursuing an advanced
degree in political science. I
am just grateful that most
people appear to be support-
ive of the use of the Arb by a
legitimate campus group.
LARRY AMMERMAN
NAVAL OFFICER
EDUCATION PROGRAM
Culture is not
emphasis of
'U' language
classes
To THE DAILY:
I agreed with many of the
points in the editorial
"Language lessons"
(4/10/97). However, I was
somewhat surprised to see
that the University's goal for
the language requirement is
to expose students to differ-
ent cultures and expand their
minds. All along I thought I
was supposed to learn a lan-
guage.
Frankly, this is ludicrous.
Although I did learn a little
about Spain and other
Spanish-speaking cultures as
I took 231, 232, 358 and 361,
I learned far more about how
to use the Spanish language.
Furthermore, an anthro-
pology or history course
would do a far better job of
teaching about a culture than
a foreign language class.
Finally, much of what they
taught us about Spanish
speaking cultures seemed
rather stereotypical.
One other aspect of the
University's foreign language
program that bothered me
was that Conversational
Spanish 358 was excluded,
and therefore worthless for
ity to speak and understand
Spanish more than all the
other classes I took com-
bined.
I think that the University
should rethink the "excluded"
status of conversational class-
es, as they are an invaluable
tool in foreign language edu-
cation.
JEREMY MIRAL
LSA JUNIOR
Lipschutz
helped shape
'U' religious
conflict code
TO THE DAILY:
The untimely death of
University Associate Provost
for Academic Affairs Susan
Lipschutz was marked by an
excellent tribute to her life
and accomplishments
("Associate provost dies of
cancer," 4/15/97) but it left
out one important contribu-
tion Dr. Lipschutz recently
made to student life.
Last summer, I worked
with Dr. Lipschutz on draft-
ing the new University policy
on religious-academic con-
flicts. Through her efforts,
Dr. Lipschutz helped improve
the University climate for
students of all religious fla-
vors. After the policy was
adopted, Dr. Lipschutz went
above and beyond her stated
commitment to implement
the policy and publicize it to
students. It is sadly ironic the
benefits of this policy will
begin to become visible in
the coming weeks when final
exams coincide with the
Jewish holiday of Passover.
In all my work experience
with Dr. Lipschutz, I found
that she was a person of
utmost integrity. She was
honest, fair and treated others
with compassion. For all the
contributions Dr. Lipschutz
made to the University, and
for the extraordinary person
she was, her memory
deserves our respect. She will
be dearly missed.
ANTHONY SCAGLIONE
LSA SENIOR
GSIs look to
teach fewer
courses
TO THE DAILY:
We, the members of the
Ad Hoc Committee on
Teaching Load in Romance
Languages, would like to
express our gratitude for the
support conveyed to our
cause in the editorial
"Overload" (4/15/97).
At this time, we are seek-
ing a reduction in teaching
also necessary in order to
guarantee students a positive
foreign language experience.
Teaching only one course per
semester would enable
romance language GSIs to
rethink and revise current
practices within our program
so that student needs will be
better met.
Since we are currently
negotiating this matter with
the administration, we
encourage students to share
their concerns and sugges-
tions regarding this issue.
Please contact AHCTL care
of hcashman@umich.edu. If
we work together, we will
create a program that will be
satisfying to all.
AD HOc COMMITTEE ON
TEACHING LOAD
Registry wiI
not control
gun trafficking
TO THE DAILY:
I'm writing in response to
the editorial insisting we
need a national gun registry
("Across state lines"
4/15/97). I am not a gun
owner and have no reason at
present to own one. However,
why is it that no one ever
bothers to consider the full
implications of recommenda-
tions such as this?
First of all, the Daily
doesn't even use sound rea-
soning that reflects the reality
of gun control. Guns are and
will always be brought from
out of state into those states
with tough gun control laws.
Even if all 50 states banned
possession of any kind of
firearms, there would still be
plenty of weapons available
for those with criminal inten-
tions. Nations like China and
North Korea would be more
than happy to provide them.
In addition, in both The
Detroit News and the Detroit
Free Press, it was reported on
4/14/97 that violent crimes
have decreased over most of
this decade, which is when
Florida, Georgia and Texas
loosened their gun restric-
tions.
Finally, there are serious
privacy and Second
Amendment issues here. A
national registry not only
gives the federal government
an additional means of track-
ing people, it automatically
places any law-abiding citi-
zens who own firearms onto
a list of possible "trouble-
makers:' If history tells us
anything, it is that the first
thing a potential totalitarian
government will do is disarm
its people. This registry will
make it that much easier
should someone with those
intentions make it into office.
Then what will the Daily do
when it loses its "One hun-
dred six years of editorial
n inner battle:
Can she bare all?
T o run or not to run, that is the
question. Whether 'tis nobler to
suffer the slings and arrows of cheer-
ing onlookers gaping at your naked
white butt (among other things), or to
be part of the cowardly crowd. As
these last few days speed to their
inevitable end here for me in An
Arbor, I am faced with possibly t
most pivotal ques-
tion of my life -
whether or not I
should, in fact, run
in the Naked Mile.
For many, I am
sure, this is hardly
an issue - when
faced with the ^a;:«
option of getting
butt-ass stanky
wasted and then
running buck HEATHER
nekkid through GORDON
campus with the RIE WITH
better part of the ME
University com-
munity rooting you on, the answers
"Do cows have butts?" Indeed, it is'4
veritable exhibitionist's wet dream;
instead of slinking around with that
suspicious trench coat, he can j4
whip it out and revel in his glory, lea.
ing free through the streetswhile
applaud. But for an ultra-neurotic like
me (just think Woody Allen without
the incest tendencies), it has to
become some silly cerebral issue to be
debated over coffee, between the wax'
ring factions in my splitting psyche.
Personality A (Zelda) thinks that it is
an awful idea for so many reasons,
namely involving me being, witho
even a wedgie to shield me, in front
friends and foes alike, not to mention
the fact that it is usually rather cold out
there, or the potential pain of a mile of
unsupported breast bobbage.
Personality B (Frank) counters with
the standard attack of, "Oh, get over it.
It is only a body. It is a once in a life-
time chance. Grab some Saran Wrap
and pretend you are on the treadmill.
Yadda yadda yadda." And so on and
forth, until the thorazine kicks in.
So, the thing is, now I am torn. I
have witnessed three Naked Miles in
my time, so 1 knowewhat they are all
about. The night I came out to visit this
campus, when I was a mere senior in
high school deciding on my college
career, just so happened to be the last
day of classes, so there I was, a naive
little 17-year-old from Boston (where
we stay clothed under all circum
stances - it is a fact), watching
bunch of naked college hooligans
bounding through the snow on an
April night.
My parents managed to accidentally
get hold of my pictures from the event
(yes, I am a pervert; sue me) and like
to joke that that is why I selected this
school. Since then, I have seen a
whole host of delightful spectacles on
this nude night, including, but not
ited to, a lovely gent riding a motorc
cle with a face painted on his chestal
region and a fat dude pushing a dog in
a wheelchair. But never have I ever
been able to conceive of one of the
runners as me.
But now I am a senior and the fever
is catching on. The major part of me is
still not into displaying my wares in
front of people who I have been watch-
ing "ER" with and bitching about
boyfriends to for these past four year
because you know I will be damnediT
I run alone. Besides, if I am going to
be skivvy-less that near to perfect
strangers, I had better have a contract
and be getting paid extra for lap
dances.
Yet, it is not like anyone will really
see anything, right? Cuz' you are run-
ning by so fast that people have a
choice to look at either your face or
other more southerly parts, but o*
must have terribly deft eyes to catch
sight of both. And what if they do catch
a glimpse of the sacred Heather-ness? It
is not like I am disfigured and . am
revealing my true-all hermaphroditism
to anyone with the misfortune to glance
waistwards. I mean, no one has turned
to stone yet (except that one guy, but I
snuck up on him). Not to mention the
courageous men who go out there on
the nippliest of evenings, and submit t
public shrinkage scrutiny.
And to add fuel to the fire, I am
starting to get some serious peer pres-
sure to take the plunge, in the form of
statements reminding me of my
hypocrisy (in that I am the type of per-
son to air my dirty laundry for the
whole school, but not my clean
breasts), that I will regret missing this
opportunity, and that I am just plain
old chicken. I have never been oneI*
back down from a dare, and in theory
it looks so tempting, but I mean Jesus
G-d, do I really want to run down
South U. in the buff?
So, now I have got myself all worked
up into a tizzy. I cannot work, I cannot
sleep. The opening Hamlet metaphor
I