4 - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, September 9, 1997
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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
ll haorns
High-quality administrators fill top offices
"NOTABLE QUOTABLE
'We are looking at these wonderful results that adults
are reporting, and none of us are perceiving that we are
getting the same results in kids.'
- Pediatric AIDS expert Dr Ross McKinney, lamenting the failure of
new protease inhibiting drugs to slow HIV infection in children
YUK Ku NIYuGKGROU ZERO
There is no greater
gift than love,
And no greater
sadness tn when it
is taken away.
Mother Terems
1910 - 1997
LrT T
LETTERS TO THE IEDITOR
W hen Lee Bollinger took his place
TVYbehind the president's desk in the
Fleming Administration Building in
February, he faced a daunting task.
Vacancies abounded early on, as Bollinger
began to form the group of administrators
with whom he would lead the University
and guide its policies. The most notable
absences included the executive vice presi-
dent for medical affairs -- a position creat-
ed during interim President Homer Neal's
tenure - and the office of the Provost,
which J. Bernard Machen stated intentions
to vacate. In addition, former Athletic
Director Joe Roberson recently stated that
he would resign from his post, leaving
another hole in the administrative frame-
work.
Recently, Bollinger successfully filled
many of the administrative vacancies.
Former Rackham Dean Nancy Cantor was
named provost - the University's second-
in-command - over the summer, new
Athletic Director Tom Goss began his
tenure yesterday, and Gilbert Omenn will
soon begin as the University's first execu-
tive vice president for medical affairs.
Bollinger should be commended for his
fine choices that culminated in a strong
administrative team.
Cantor has the distinction of being the
first female provost in University history
while Goss is the University's first African
American Athletic Director. Recruiting and
maintaining a diverse campus environment
is imperative to enhancing the University's
academic mission. In appointing a group
with refreshing breadth, Bollinger helped
extend the ideology and benefits of a
diverse campus from the student body to the
administrative ranks. Diversity must contin-
ue not to be merely an admissions policy
but also an administrative hiring doctrine.
Omenn, with experience in the academ-
ic, private and governmental spheres, stands
well equipped to take on the challenges his
new position promises to deliver.
The University's Medical Center has
seen much tumult recently. Amidst a signif-
icant budget downsize, the Medical School
and the University Hospitals saw both of
their administrators resign in the span of a
week last year. The Medical Center is split
in its focus, with the school looking to aca-
demics and the hospitals oriented toward
profit margins. In response to the dilemma
facing the Medical Center, Neal created the
new vice presidency to help coordinate the
efforts of the center's two arms. Omenn
must now work to provide a common acad-
emic focus for the University's medical
establishment and ensure that the
University Hospitals serve as a place for
learning.
Cantor also faces significant tasks in her
role as the University's second-in-com-
mand. She should gear policies to preserve
campus diversity and the University's affir-
mative action programs. In addition, she
will serve as a conduit for student concerns
and help promote faculty relations to
strengthen the University's academic mis-
sion.
Goss, who has long awaited his position,
looks to tackle potential problems in the
University's Athletic Department. He will
be faced with a fractured program that will
require expertise and professionalism to
conquer.
Operating the University with a strong
team will ultimately benefit students, facul-
ty, staff and the greater academic mission
that the University holds in high regard.
Bollinger deserves commendation for
stocking his administration with a high-
powered group of administrators.
Finding the truth
Program seeks to identify domestic violence
M cPherson Hospital, in Howell, Mich.,
is waging a new war against domes-
tic violence, a severely under-reported
crime. The hospital is implementing a new
screening procedure for all patients over the
age of 16 to uncover the signs of domestic
violence, which often escape physicians'
scrutiny. Nancy Diehl, director of the child
and family abuse bureau of the Wayne
County Prosecutor's Office, stressed the
importance of this new policy when she
told the Detroit Free Press, "A medical set-
ting is the first chance to intervene. The vic-
:tim may not tell anyone else, and the doctor
has a wonderful opportunity to give proper
resources and support." Two more hospitals
in the St. Joseph Mercy Health System plan
to implement similar screening programs
following McPherson's lead. Hospital
administrators should be commended for
their efforts in detecting a widespread and
®ten concealed crime.
During an era in which legislators are
combating crime with tougher anti-gun
laws, domestic violence is a more complex
and secretive crime, making it harder to
detect and prevent. Domestic violence tran-
scends all racial and socioeconomic groups
and will occur at least once in two-thirds of
all marriages, according to "The Abusive
Partner." Abusive patterns often begin in
early relationships - presenting the prob-
e lem of dating violence, which appears on
u college campuses more than most students
would think.
The new screening programs are
Justice stated in its 1986 report,
"Preventing Domestic Violence Against
Women," that national crime survey data
shows that once a woman is victimized by
domestic violence, her risk of being victim-
ized again is high. During a six-month peri-
od following an incident of domestic vio-
lence, approximately 32 percent of women
are victimized again. Since the majority of
battered women eventually end up in hospi-
tals and emergency rooms, the new screen-
ing programs will provide them with the
option to receive help from various domes-
tic violence shelters, counseling programs,
or information about their legal options.
A "common-sense" policy like the one
at McPherson should have been around for
years. More hospitals throughout the state
of Michigan and the rest of the country
must begin to implement such inexpensive
and necessary screening programs designed
to help survivors of domestic violence
break free from the patterns that often char-
acterize their relationships. Telling statistics
demonstrate the program's effectiveness
and value: Since the program's inception,
hospital officials at McPherson have
recorded a 25-percent increase in the num-
ber of patients identified as victims of
domestic violence.
Detecting the signs of domestic violence
have challenged health care workers for
decades. With increased awareness and
acute training, domestic violence need not
escape notice. Health care systems should
emulate McPherson's "simple" screening
Affirmative
action gives
'unethical'
preferences
TO THE DAILY:
I am writing in response
to the story about affirmative
action at the University ("It
is only a matter of time ...''
9/5/97). To give preferences
based on race or sex is uneth-
ical. The notion of using dif-
ferent standards for minori-
ties in the admissions process
reeks of bigotry and sexism.
Who among us would say
that women are not as capa-
ble as men? Who would say
that those who are Mexican
American, African American,
or American Indian cannot
compete on equal ground
with whites? Admissions to
the University should be
based on academic merit.
Financial aid should be based
on financial need.
It sounds simple because
it is that simple. People are
people, regardless of race and
sex. In every race, there are
those who work hard and
those who do not. There are
those who strive to do well in
school and there are those
who don't. Advocates of
affirmative action say it is
necessary to give all people
an opportunity to education.
We all do have an opportuni-
ty to get an education. If you
work hard in school, you
should get an equal shot at
admission.Getting into a
prestigious university such as
U of M should be about aca-
demic ability. Anybody
exhibiting those abilities,
regardless of race, religion,
or sex, should be given equal
opportunity for admission.
Grants and loans shoud be
distributed based on financial
need.
Affirmative action merely
breeds bad feelings between
whites and minorities. It
keeps us in categories (that
you may have seen on a
Michigan application), which
keeps our races divided.
Advocates of affirmative
action say that it is needed to
help cure ills left over from
discrimination in the past.
But what, then, cures the
future ills created by the dis-
crimination being practiced
now? The answer is to simply
ban discrimination of all
kinds, here and now.
TODD SZYMCZAK
ENGINEERING SENIOR
Beer stones
dominated
Daily's NSE
TO THE DAILY:
You know, if I didn't
Wednesday's issue? Why not
just have an 80-point head-
line on the front page: BEER
= GOOD!
ANNIE TOMN
LSA SOPHOMORE
Country still
'waking up'
from years
of racism
To THE DAILY:
I find it really humorous
that there are a bunch of peo-
ple who are so concerned
with the delivery of justice
that they are willing to sue
the University to see it hap-
pen. They say that poor,
downtrodden white folks
have been the victims of
racial discrimination. Whoa!
Do you know that in the
hundreds of years of racial
oppression that this country
has kindly provided for peo-
ple of color, there has never
been a court in the United
States that has ever consid-
ered damages resulting from
discrimination against a stu-
dent of color?
Be honest folks, white
people have it easier at the
University. Period.
I'm not going to say that
we don't have our hard times,
but this country is still wak-
ing up from years of racially.
motivated hatred. Does some-
one who grows up rich and
suddenly disavows her wealth
to enter religious ministry
forget the upbringing of priv-
ilege that she had? No. Has
this country healed itself of
racism? No.
Who should be suing
whom?
CHAD BAILEY
SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH
Column was
inappropriate
welcome for
students
To THE DAILY:
Wow, what a way to wel-
come incoming freshmen.
The ripping of New York stu-
dents in Miller's column was
quite inappropriate for the
first day of classes. My prob-
lem isn't with the stereotyp-
ing of New Yorkers per se, I
might have even found it
amusing at a later date. My
problem is that it appeared
the first day of school. Here
you have 6,000 new naive
freshmen, people who
haven't even had a chance to
formulate their own opinions
yet, they go to pick up their
first Daily and read about
mention the New York fresh-
men who probably read the
article and are wondering
what the hell they did to earn
this nasty reputation. I under-
stand that this article may
have been written in retalia-
tion to the article in last
April's final edition against
Midwesterners, but a little
sensitivity should come
before useless revenge.
JONATHAN KuO
LSA SENIOR
'U' 'cannot
afford' to
lose equality
To THE DAILY:
Affirmative action was
established for a reason.
People of different races in
our society are not treated
equally and do not have the
same opportunities. Until
equality of both genders of
all races permeates every
niche in our society, we can-
not afford to lose programs
like affirmative action that
provide opportunity for many
who would otherwise have
little or no way to establish a
productive life for them-
selves.
America has bountiful
resources in its youth of all
races, and the best way to tap
those resources is to put them
in an environment where they
can learn, interact, and teach
each other acceptance. When
we reach the day where an
African American woman
gets the pay and the same
treatment as a white male
simplyby virtue of the fact
that she is a member of soci-
ety, then we can think about
abolishing affirmative action.
Until that day, policies that
promote diversity should be
maintained, even if it means
that a group that does typi-
cally have opportunities and
advantages is occasionally
gets its nose out of joint,
AMY PICKARD
SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH
Reduce
inserts to
save planet
To THE DAILY:
In keeping with the fact
that the resources of this
planet aren't going to stick
around forever, I think that
the Daily should at least try
to keep waste down. When
one picks up the paper and is
suddenly avalanched by a
cascade of flyers and inserts
it's quite disturbing to know
that a tree lost its life for the
few dollars made by running
the ad. Might I suggest that
Rankings tell e
students, alumni
the wrong story
S o, yet again, the University dwells
in the near-basement of higher
education's elite faction. Or at least
that is what U.S. News and Wo
Report would like all of us to belie
At 23rd (in a tie, I might add), the
University finds itself in good compa-
ny, but it is certain-
ly not giving the
biggest of the big
boys a run for their
money. Narrow
U.S. News' cate-
gories down to aca-
demic reputation,
and Michigan's
noteworthy 3.8 out
of 4 catapults the
University to 7th in - JOSH
the nation - for WHITE
the one category JUMPING
that should really THE Gu
amount to some-
thing more than coffee table reading
material or chatter over gin and tonics.
Pare the list even further to include
only the nation's public schools *
the University rises to No. 2, quite
respectable considering the company
- such as the University of Virginia
and the University of California at
Berkeley. But an overall score of 88 is
modest when compared with perennial
list-toppers Harvard, Princeton, Yale
and Duke. Modest, when among the
best schools the world over.
And who is it making this exalted list
that is held up on high as the bible ofe
legiate rankings? What grand poobl
the collegiate braintrust decides?
U.S. News crunches the numbiers,
the hard facts and figures, to tell the
world of academia where it stands. An
objective, respected news source pub-
lishes its list each year in the hopesof
educatingthe public about the finer
institutions of higher education and to
provide all those prospective students
with a third-party evaluation of
very schools they only wish to attel
Oh, and don't forget about that little
matter of making a buck.
The administrations of many .top
schools sneer at the rankings and high-
light the fact that they are a profit-making
enterprise designed to reach a large target
audience. At fist it seems easy to just sy
that the rankings mean nothing or to 4is-
miss them as merely an advertising ploy.
This University does the same thin;
the University's top officials, year aV
year, shrug the rankings off as non-
sense and almost got me to believe that
the numbers are as senseless as the
very idea of ranking schools that have
little in common to begin with. I men
how can a small Ivy League school like
Dartmouth, tucked away in New
Hampshire's Upper Connecticut River
Valley, compare with Big Ten power-
house Michigan, standing proud a
Midwestern mecca of universities?
The sad truth is that the numbers do
matter a whole lot, and they matter -to
a whole lot of people.
It is hard for me to believe that there
is one prospective student, one currnt
student or one alumnus who isn't at
least a little bit curious about ,the
University's ranking each year.
Whether it be ego, spirit, a way to nar-
row college choices or a source of
pride for the alma mater, everyoe
knows where we stand and every
perks up when the new list comes out
each fall. While the Associated Press
football rankings are also interesting,
the idea of our whole way of collegiate
life in some way not measufing, up
seems to raise a few more eyebrows
than a mediocre season on the gridiron.
When the rankings came out two
years ago, the administration, under
then-President James Dudersta
scrambled to explain why the sch o
ranks low as compared with other, top
schools. Given to the Board of Regents,
a carefully prepared presentation out-
lined dozens of reasons to ignore the
rankings and postulated many ways 'to
rationalize the low scores. In short, the
University was worried.
And it should be.dForget that stu-
dents can get a world-class education
here and that a Michigan degree issoe
of the most valuable commodities'
today's job market. Forget that
Michigan is a world leader in several
academic programs. Forget the nation-
al championships and the Big House.
The University needs to rise in.the
rankings because the people of the
state of Michigan, who fund this
school through their tax dollars, need
to recognize the jewel that sits here in
Ann Arbor and need to appreciate it@i
one of the best schools in the nation.
The reason Michigan is forsaken a high
ranking lies in part to its greatest strengt:
a high acceptance rate. By allowing
Michigan residents access to such a great
education, the school achieves its goal -
but instead of being ashamed of this, the
University should tout such a strength and