4A - The Michigan Daily - Monday, September 29, 1997
lg Stirljuua ia ii
420 Maynard Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Edited and managed by
students at the
University of Michigan
x
.
A
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
Undue burden
Course credit should reflect workload
i NOTABLE QUOTABLE,
'Violence is not the answer to any problem. We must
face the tendency to blame women for men's problems.'
-The Rev. Charles Adams, at Thursday night's
vigil for LSA senior Tamara Williams
JORDAN YOUNG
- ..W pui:> T
~~-1o s
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
W riting five 20-page term papers in
slightly less than four months is a
daunting task. Add a part-time job and
extracurricular activities into the mix, and
and the end result could be unmanageable.
Yet, to graduate the University in four years,
students often have no choice but to juggle
this number of activities into an excessively
stressful schedule. The University's skewed
method of granting credit hours for specific
courses lies partly to blame. The number of
credit hours should reflect a course's work-
load, not just the hours spent weekly in the
classroom.
The University usually grants four credits
for introductory-level courses. However, the
time commitment required for these courses
often pales in comparison to upper-level,
three-credit courses. The workload for a typ-
ical intro may consist of a few papers, a
midterm and a final. However, a higher-level
English course, for example, may require
more than 40 pages of written material. LSA
students must complete 120 credits to gradu-
ate - an average of 15 credits per semester
if the student wishes to graduate in the stan-
dard four years. A student without advanced
placement credits, who has not enrolled in
any spring or summer term classes may be
forced to take as many as five difficult,
three-credit high-level courses per semester
to graduate in four years. During the final
two years of school, with money growing
tighter and the increasing need for part-time
employment, this is unrealistic.
Students who work may only have time
to take three courses in their junior and
senior years - these individuals face undu-
ly harsh penalties. Their schedule will most
likely carry nine or 10 credit hours -
although their workload will probably be
heavier than that of a first-year student tak-
ing 15 credits. Moreover, their full-time stu-
dent status will be revoked. Part-time stu-
dents lose a portion of their financial aid
package and may not be allowed to be list-
ed under their parents' health insurance
plans. The University's policy is placing
unrealistic expectations on upper-division
students - it needs to reevaluate how cred-
it hours are rewarded.
Other institutions have systems that bal-
ance class time and workload when evaluat-
ing class credit. For example, the Univeristy
of Rochester gives the same number of
credits per course, whether it meets for two
hours or five hours per week. Hence, lower-
level classes may have more class time and
less outside work, while the opposite will
ring true in more difficult courses. Another
alternative could be departmental estima-
tion of the hours per week a course con-
sumes, both in and out of the classroom.
The University could then assign credits for
courses on the basis of the combination of
class time and homework.
At the University, students taking upper-
level courses face difficult circumstances.
They might need to take stressful, heavy
courseloads to graduate on time. Also, stu-
dents with commitments outside the class-
room may place their full-time student sta-
tus in jeopardy. All this should change -
the University needs to move away from
granting credits based solely on time spent
in the classroom.
Exploring solutions
Caution is essential when testing HIV vaccine
The United States is entering new and
uncharted waters in the fight against
the AIDS epidemic. This past May,
President Clinton addressed the issue and
challenged the science community, calling
for a Manhattan Project-like mission to
develop a vaccine within the next 10 years.
Relatively few scientists have worked on
developing a vaccine, but a majority have
devoted their time and research to killing or
suppressing HIV in infected persons. Only
a small number of scientists have
researched the possibility of discovering an
AIDS vaccine - but their efforts have
recently made significant progress.
However, before the National Institutes of
Health give the go-ahead to test their pro-
gressive research on humans, scientists
should be sure they have performed as
much preliminary research as possible.
Over the past few years, a vaccine of a
weakened AIDS-like virus has been devel-
oped and tested successfully on monkeys
and now scientists claim the time has come
to test this possible vaccine on human vol-
unteers. The opposition to this research
debates the conclusiveness of the data pre-
sented, because further testing on the sub-
jects resulted in their subsequent deaths.
The final decision falls upon the shoulders
of the NIH.
There are no assurances that this weak-
ened strain of the virus will not mutate back
to the potent strain that is infecting 8,000
people every day throughout the world.
Historically, the NIH has been very careful
and deliberate when deciding if new thera-
pies can be tested on humans - but this is
often a lengthy process. The NIH, while
maintaining the strictest scrutiny, should
devnte rnnr ranjirref itr t tstthe va rnin
that, while somewhat frightening in nature,
could result in a tremendous discovery.
In the past, HIV and AIDS treatment
experiments posed serious ethical prob-
lems. Often, the subjects were people from
disadvantaged groups - particularly in
third-world countries - with no other
health care options. Thus, scientists who
claimed they were only using volunteers
were really exploiting innocent people who,
due to their socioeconomic status, had no
other medical choices except these
unproven drugs. Scientists claim, and must
ensure, that AIDS studies must follow strict
ethical standards.
For instance, The International
Association of Physicians in AIDS Care,
based in Chicago, has 50 volunteers -
including physicians and other AIDS
activists - who want to receive the experi-
mental vaccine. These volunteers, who were
not forced into this position by lack of
information or alternative options, are will-
ing to risk their lives for the sake of a cure.
They are aware of the risks associated with
their decision - the most dire of which is
death.
In the global picture, the countries with
the greatest rates of HIV infection are third-
world countries. Ultimately, these coun-
tries, which have little or no HIV/AIDS
education programs or accessibility to
advanced drug therapy, desperately need a
solution. But with respect to overwhelming
national and global pressure, the NIH
should not make a hasty, unsafe decision
that could result in more death. Although no
scientist will be able to say for certain that
the new vaccination trial is risk-free, the
gravity of the experiment demands intense
rnniA~rn+inn
News story
about murder
was 'trashy'
TO THE DAILY:
As a recent graduate of
the University of Michigan
Medical School, I am deeply
concerned about your cover-
age of the terrible murder of
Tamara Williams.
First, it is misleading to
depict SAPAC as the best
resource for survivors of dat-
ing or domestic violence. The
Domestic Violence
Project/SAFEHouse (24-
hour crisis line 995-5444) is
actually the community
resource for survivors of
domestic violence. SAPAC
does not do domestic vio-
lence counseling routinely.
Second, why is there no
emphasis on the lack of
police response to domestic
assaults on campus? There
are far more cases of domes-
tic violence on campus than
the less than two dozen that
DPS reported. What is wrong
with this picture'?
Third, your tabloid-type
story about the dead woman's
friend was trashy ("Friend
may know reason behind
attack," 9/25/97). Batterers
assault and terrorize their
partners to get control. When
they fear that their partner
might escape them, they kill.
They murder their partners
out of malice and revenge.
When you look for a "rea-
son," you are actually looking
for a way to blame the dead
woman (if she had only done
this or that, it might not have
happened). The assailant was
a batterer. He was convicted
once of domestic violence.
He was observed battering
Ms. Williams in front of her
mother's home in public.
Research shows that for
every conviction there are
multiple assaults.
Only when the communi-
ty and the media stop making
excuses for domestic vio-
lence assailants, and start
giving them jail time (as Ms.
Williams begged the judge to
do), will domestic violence
homicides be prevented.
KAREN MARCH
UNIVERSITY ALUMNA
Facts of
vandalism
point to hate
TO THE DAILY:
I am writing in regard to
the letter titled "Vandalism
might not be anti-semitism,
(9/24/97). It is always difficult
to guess the motivation
behind an action, especially
one as ridiculous as the van-
dalism against the Reform
Chavurah Diag board last
dents out having a good time
on a Saturday night. Did they
just also all happen to spit in
the same place, later in the
West Engin arch? Boy, isn't
that just ironic? Next time the
urge strikes me to urinate in
the middle of the Diag, I too
will be sure to find a Diag
board facing the sidewalk.
Let us be honest with our-
selves and look at the facts.
The possibility exists that this
was not an anti-semitic inci-
dent, and believe me, I hope
that is the case. But it is
tough to argue against an
eyewitness report.
Also, this is not the first
incident of vandalism this
year, against Jews or non-
Jews. I think it is time we
stop making excuses and
start opening our eyes.
AARON STARR
RC JUNIOR
Affirmative
action is 'un-
American'
To THE DAILY:
I am writing to say that it
is about time that the
University is held account-
able for its unjust and un-
American policy of affirma-
tive action. Every single one
of the arguments cited in the
Daily recently for affirmative
action further reflects the
absurdity of this policy.
Theodore Spencer states
that diversity is, and should
be, an important factor in
admissions. I agree. But I
believe that the University
should seek diverse back-
grounds, diverse perspectives
and diverse ideas --not
diverse skin tones - in its stu-
dent body; diversity in these
attributes make for a great
education. One's race, ethnici-
ty and gender do not necessar-
ily correspond to a particular
background or belief system.
To say otherwise is to stereo-
type and label.
Proponents of affirmative
action are also quick to point
out that universities give pref-
erential treatment to children
of alumni and athletes. So
what? Athletes are being
rewarded for their talent and
hard work; making alumni
happy by accepting their chil-
dren ensures a strong alumni
network and monetary dona-
tions. Rewarding hard work
and ensuring the financial
health of the University, so
that it can continue to allow
access to many, are perfectly
just and appropriate objec-
tives.
My favorite "argument"
for affirmative action states
that the state government
should not micromanage the
University and therefore
should allow the University
to continue its policies of
affirmative action, regardless
right of states to form their
own policies regarding
schooling. It is interesting
how history repeats itself.
The most important rea-
son why the University must
end affirmative action now is
that it harms minorities in the
long run. The only reason
that the scholastic achieve-
ment of minorties is, on aver-
age, lower than that of whites
is because some minorities
often come from substandard
school systems. Although
school choice would assuage
this situation, affirmative
action only hides the prob-
lem.
Finally, in response to the
argument that we must retain
affirmative action because
there is not yet a better alter-
native, I say that affirmative
action is actually counterpro-
ductive. How do you abolish
racism by focusing on race,
and stirring up resentment
among whites? To really
eradicate racism, we must
create a colorblind society by
focusing only on merit.
Problems do exist, but
affirmative action is a sim-
ple-minded, band-aid "solu-
tion." The University should
take the lead, transcend race
and gender and show the
nation that we are interested
in finally attacking the root
of the problem.
GREGORY HILLSON
LSA JUNIOR
Story ignores
basic tenets
of Islam
TO THE DAILY:
As a Muslim growing up
in the United States, it is not
unusual to read anti-Islamic
material in the press, and to
realize that a great deal of
misinformation exists in the
information age. However, I
have not come across anything
as utterly ridiculous (I must
give you credit for making me
laugh) as the claim that
"Djinn" is "one of the many
gods worshipped in ancient
Islam" ("Silly plot makes
'Wishmaster' a flop," 9/24/97).
I feel really condescend-
ing saying this because it is
so basic: Islam was founded
on the very idea that there is
only one God. I thought most
people learned that in their
freshman year of high school.
So as you might imagine, I
was quite surprised to read of
this "one" out of "many"
gods that had apparently not
been included in my religious
upbringing (damn, they must
be pissed!). As far as Islam
being ancient, it happens to
be the youngest of the
world's great religions.
The fact that nobody on
the Daily staff had enough
knowledge about the world in
which he/she lives to have
In the world of
journalism,
personal tragedy
is big business
amara Sonya Williams, a thriving
young student like us all, was
murdered last Tuesday. Today woul
have been her 21st birthday.
Today is also the birthday of The
Michigan Daily,
which has just
completed its
107th year of pub-
Iication.
Unfortunately, I * I
find this momen-
tous day bitter-
sweet. In the past,
few days, the
Daily has gotten
kudos from all JOSHUA
over the nation for RICH
its coverage of TRIVIAL
Williams' death. PURSUS
Yet this praise
arrives on the heels of great sadness.
One of our peers has passed away,
and I fear that, as is often the case, her
name will be quickly forgotten ami
the hysteria surrounding her gruesome
death. I am embarrassed to think that,
like many other journalists, I have not
distanced myself enough from the sit-
uation to understand its gravity.
A young child is without a mother. A
mother is without her daughter. A best
friend is without a confidante. These
folks are more than just facts to put in
the lead paragraph of a news story;
these people are real. And they contin-
ue to feel whether I report on thei
story or not.
It is a sad truth that most major news
stories tend to concern death and suf-
fering. And this troubles me.
As a journalist, I must provide the
reader with all the information he or
she may possibly want, and I am pre-
pared to do whatever it takes to find
that news.
As a journalist, I must be objective. I
do not have time to cry with a grievin
grandmother or a distraught witness. I
do not have time when my deadline is
two hours away.
As a journalist, I make my living on
the misfortune of others. I depend on
the occurrence of terrible things. I qui-
etly hope that they happen in great
magnitude, and I quietly hope that
they happen often.
Journalists like to say that we love
our work more than anything in th
world; we get paid for something w
would gladly do for free. To be sure,
there is something incredibly appeal-
ing and thrilling about covering a
breaking story.
When the news of a major story
Wen nwofbreaks, the typical newsroom - a
pretty boring place most of the time
instantly becomes the center of a fren-
zy. Ironically (and sadly), there is a
certain elation that pervades a news
room when news of a tragedy breaks.
Editors buzz about, planning courses
of action and dictating policy.
Reporters busily scrounge for facts,
and search in desperation for that one
subtle angle that will make them a star.
Telephones ring continuously.
The rules of the situation are always
the same: get the facts, get them out to
the public, do it fast.
When the euphoria subsides, howev-
er, I and many journalists are as
shocked by the horrible events that
have transpired. We are not callous
individuals; talking to a victim's dev-
astated best friend or hearing her voice
on an answering machine remain
strongly moving experiences, no mat-
ter our profession. But somewhere in
the madness, the victim is indeed
slightly neglected.
The media, as too many people like
to singularly deem the mass collectio
of global entertainment and news-
gathering outlets, has been under
attack lately for its behavior surround-
ing the death of Diana, Princess of
Wales.
But the ubiquitous "paparazzi" are
mistakenly blamed for this beloved
person's gruesome death. They are not
guilty for causing her death - they
are not guilty to her so much as they
are to themselves. The paparazzi and
related tabloid mongers are guilty
because they dehumanized a person to
the point where a photograph mattered
more than her welfare.
And the lay public frowns upon them
for behaving like savages.
Still, do we really remember the vic-
tims of such tragedies? Who, except
for their immediate families, remem-
bers Henri Paul, Princess Diana's
deceased driver, or Alice Hawthorne, a4
casualty of the Centennial Olympic
Park Bombing? I'll bet the name
Richard Jewel - a man who, as it
turns out, had little to do with the car-
nage in Atlanta save his heroics in its
aftermath - rings more of a bell in the
case of the latter.
The sa.,, ha sn nredentmer
0
Il
I