4 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, October 8, 1997 be Bidiligau alig 420 Maynard Street Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan JOSHi WHITE Editor in Chief ERIN MARSH Editorial Page Editor Unless otherwise noted, unsigned editorials reflect the opinion of the majority of the Dailys editorial board. All other articles, letters and cartoons do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Michigan Daily. FROM THE DAILY Funding fiasco Legislature bungles school budgeting NOTABLE QUOTABLE, 'It's something that you're not allowed to admit that you have. Everyone is affected by it. Everyone knows someone who's affected by it. We want to let people know It's out there.' -LSA senior Summer Berman, at Monday's Diag Scream-In for mental health awareness JORDAN YOUNNGGT UE P a~y ac~a aoa aavvd LS tS WF Yt a Q ,, F oP F R~. .t '1"N t1 CA iven the state's history of short- changing education funding, recent trends in the state Capitol are not particu- larly surprising - but they still threaten students across Michigan. In August, Gov. John Engler vetoed a budgetary measure that would alleviate the special-education funding gap that plagues many districts - the Democrat-controlled state House responded by voting down Engler's action. The education of the state's youth must not suffer at the hands of political rivalries in Lansing - Engler and the leg- islature should provide adequate funding for its public schools, and rectify past inequities. The state failed to provide adequate money for special education programs at schools across the state, in clear violation of the Headlee Amendment to the state consti- tution. In response, several of the jilted schools filed a class-action lawsuit against the state to recover the funds in 1980. After years of bouncing around lower courts, the Michigan State Supreme Court ruled in favor of the schools in July, ordering the state to recompense the schools' coffers for years of financial abuse. Last week, the state legislature's two political parties each hatched their own plans to fill the judicial order. Both plans would take money from the Budget Stabilization Fund, the state's "rainy day fund," to compensate the plaintiffs' short- fall. The Democrat-controlled House's plan would pay the remainder of state schools $77 million a year, while Engler's plan calls for $768 million in 15-year bonds. However, in time, the bonds would have to be paid back - the governor's plan unnec- essarily delays the inevitable. Both plans also unfairly break the state's . schools into two groups - those that sued the state and those that did not. Some schools did not have the financial resources to participate in the lengthy law- suit, but they should still receive their due. The legislature should pay back all of the schools - whether or not they were plain- tiffs in the lawsuit. The day after the court's decision, Engler vetoed $252 million in funding to help "at- risk" children. This would have been a $32 million increase over fiscal year 1996-97. The bill also included an extra $66.7 mil- lion to alleviate the present special educa- tion shortcoming and to prevent future law- suits against the state. Though he promised to replace $230 million, Engler's actions threaten to damage programs that help keep at-risk children in school. Last week, the state legislature approved restoring $232 million for at-risk children. This modest $2 million increase is not as attractive as the funding that would have been provided in the initial plan. However, Engler should sign the bill, ensuring that the state does not make up for past errors by taking funding away from students and pro- grams that need it. The state has wronged its schools for years. By evading the dictums of the Headlee Amendment, Engler and state leg- islators defied the state's duty to provide special-education students with adequate resources.. At the same time, the state should not threaten funding to help at-risk students. Engler should end his vendetta against public schools - the state should recompense school districts and ensure that the grave funding inequity does not occur again. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Puffing Earthefirst Environmental issues retain their importance M ore conservation goals have been met, the Clinton White House is gen- erally friendly to the environment and more businesses are environmentally sound. While these trends may appear to signify the end of environmental front page news, there are causes that still need publicity, and organizations that still need donations. For example, the American arm of Greenpeace International, as a result of tactical mistakes and waning public inter- est in the environment, has suffered a drastic decrease in donations and mem- bership. But now, while undergoing intense soul-searching, it decided to close down all 10 of its permanent branch offices in the United States. The prob- lems leading up to Greenpeace's downsiz- ing are similar to those many environ- mental groups are experiencing - and may signify a growing environmental apathy among the public. Something needs to be done. Greenpeace fills a certain niche within environmental activism - it must examine its current difficulties to figure what went wrong, and more important, what must be changed. The main problem Greenpeace faces lies in its inability to adjust and retain the fickle public's support. Today, environ- mental issues hinge more on complex trade-offs, instead of all-or-nothing approaches. Because of this, Greenpeace suffers accusations of more self-promotion than environmental promotion. Greenpeace lost a flagship issue when whaling drew national attention - its tac- tics became more familiar, thus losing its initial shock value. Greenpeace also lost a sense of its own broad international mis- tives like providing behind-the-scenes help to local environmental groups. These prob- lems, along with poor management, forced Greenpeace to shut down its branches in the United States, end its door-to-door fundraising and lay off 335 of its 400 staff members. However, in lieu of past mishan- dling, Greenpeace should remain confident and optimistic - leaving past problems behind. Corporations hire lobbyists and regular- ly flex their muscle in state capitols and in Washington. As long as environmental issues remain, organizations like Greenpeace are necessary - legislators need to hear both sides of complex environ- mental issues. Even though environmentalism is not as trendy as it once was, problems such as global warming and rain forest destruc- tion still exist. Downsizing Greenpeace will have significant and dire environ- mental effects, especially in third-world countries. While every arm of Greenpeace International contributes to the support of these needy nations, the U.S. branch set aside about 18 percent of its yearly pro- ceeds to such nations - one of only four countries with such a large donation. Greenpeace contributes much to the environment, but it can continue to do so only with increased activism and funding. The poor decision-making of the past needs quick remedy - Greenpeace must recoup and reunite under a new sense of self and under a well-defined mission. With the changes that it promises - reduced debt and a narrowing focus on campaign tactics - Greenpeace will once again be able to tweak public interest in and support for 'Graffiti squad' erases QUP chalking TO THE DAILY: I have never known of a student group that goes out chalking and wakes up the next morning to find that before 9 a.m., their chalkings have been completely washed away by the University's "Graffiti Squad." Except for Queer Unity Project, that is. This happens with regu- larity to QUP - every year, when National Coming Out Week rolls around. It is a sad and tiresome tradition that needs to come to an end. Either the University should remove all student group chalkings within 10 hours of their appearance, or should leave them alone for a few days. SALLY GREEN R ACKHAM Sobriety is a personal choice' TO THE DAILY: In response to Greg Stevens' letter ("Banning alcohol would not address the problem" 10/6/97), I would like to make a clarification. I never proposed that alco- hol be made illegal, nor did I suggest that alcohol is devoid of benefit, despite the heading that was given to my letter. I agree with Stevens that ban- ning alcohol is not a realistic solution. The period of Prohibition is clear evidence that it is practically impossible to impose a law that the mass- es are unwilling to accept. Living alcohol-free must be a personal choice. It is about realizing that extra fun is not worth the risk that drinking entails. It is about preferring the full ability to reason over excessive laughter. While the government cannot ban alco- hol, we still retain the com- plete choice to renounce it. EYAss ALBEIRUTI LSA SOPHOMORE MLK's is a 'dream deferred' To THE DAILY: Affirmative action may be "un-American," but as a woman of color, I am aware that racism and discrimina- tion unfortunately are not just like baseball, hot dogs and apple pie. Affirmative action in any form, past, present or allows a lot of people to get their foot in the door that would be closed otherwise. Being judged by lesser standards is not what is most insulting. What is insulting is the widespread ignorance about the idea that we as a society have now reached a point where we are collective- ly judging people by the con- tent of their character and merit, as opposed to the color of their skin, religious back- ground or sexual orientation, and even better yet, believe it to be the norm. Let us face the truth: This hope is very optimistic, but for the most part, unrealistic. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s dream, at least at this point, has turned out to be Langston Hughes' "Dream Deferred." To address the issue of the "stirred up resentment" felt by some whites in response to the letter "Affirmative action is no longer 'necessary"' (10/5/97), 1 am not sure that it is resentment that they are feeling. I suggest it is the slap on the face by a system that is no longer working for them like they think it should. In a nutshell, affirmative action is an admirable attempt to right a wrong of years of unfair and unjust treatment of peo- ple in the United States. Perhaps now its effects are trickling down their way, and it does not feel good. CAROL WHITTINGTON RACKHAM Defining 'discriminate' TO THE DAILY: Can a word be its own antonym? Confused by the use of the word "discrimi- nate" appearing so ofen in discussions, publications, etc., I decided to look it up in the dictionary. The basic def- inition, of course, is "to dis- tinguish; to mark or perceive distinguishing features." Subsequent definitions, doubtless added as clarifica- tions to this initial attempt, were less easily digested: "to use good judgment," and "to make a difference in treat- ment or favor on a basis other than individual merit." These latter two are rather contradictory. Perhaps the value-laden connotations added on to the original, rela- tively direct definition, are the source of the difficulty. Many persons seeking to address issues relating to the selective process or choice- making are not able to dis- criminate among the possible uses of the word. DOUGLAS NELSON LSA STAFF Media and ad low students could not believe that this boy had committed these acts. They said that he had always been "nice" and "quiet." As I thought about this story, along with many other recent stories of domestic murder, I began to question the under- pinnings that allow violence such as this to flourish. Obviously there are many elements that feed into this sort of societal dysfunction. Today, I want to focus on the influence that the media and advertising industries exert upon society. As a culture, we have allowed the notion of roman- tic love and sex to be used to sell everything from tooth- paste to pasta. One cannot turn on the television or open a magazine without being bombarded with images of "couplehood" and sex. This sales tactic reinforces the notion that without a mate, we are not substantial mem- bers of this society. Further, the images of violence that are flooding the screens of movie theatres and televi- sions serve to inure us to the notions of violence. As we watch the images again and again, our minds become calloused. So the heightened value of the romantic ideal, coupled with the declining shock value of violence, serves to prepare us to accept this obsessive vio- lence into our communities. There is nothing more dangerous than a person who has nothing to lose. If con- trolling and obtaining the object of affection is the most important feature of some- one's existence, there is little that can be done to truly pro- tect the target of such obses- sion. Perhaps as a society we need to consider how our propaganda affects our citi- zens' world views. I am not a proponent of censorship - I am just one person who sup- ports conscious discussion and thinking around these complicated issues. ANNE SARGENT SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK 'M' fans do not approve of program TO THE DAILY: I have a few things to say in response to John Leroi's article ("Empty Crisler will be pathet- ic without students," 10/6/97). Leroi derides students for being "bandwagon" fans and uses this year's lack of basket- ball ticket sales as evidence. However, the lack of ticket sales is not evidence of a loss of support for the tradition of Michigan basketball. Rather, it is a showing of disapproval with the current program. Keep Godsv code at home - andfar away from legislators T his past weekend, an organization of Christian men who call them- selves the Promise Keepers staged a rally on the mall in Washington, D The National Parks Service estima that the march drew more lambs of God than its holy predecessor, the Million Man March. The exact size of the group is hard to pin down, so no pre- cise figure was given. The group does say thato JAMES about 2.6 million MILLER men have attended h MeLLER their stadium- ChTAP packing rallies over the past year. The Keepers have one simple goal: to ameliorate society's ills by improv- ing the moral fiber of its men. Andthe path to that discipline is straight, n row and leads directly through God. According to them, nearly eery social problem - from drug abuse to high divorce rates to abortion to racial strife - can be traced back to men forgetting their duties to their families, their church and their God. Predictably, they have all the core beliefs that other Christian and/or right-wing groups espouse, i.e., women staying at home with the fami- ly, "sexual purity" (what, like cl sheets?) and a bunch of othi't Arthurian-sounding stuff. But what makes the Promise Keepers different is their attitude. Christian groups sometimes get a ebad rap for good reasons. People like Satan's bat boy, a.k.a. Ralph Reed, and groups likethe Christian Coalition have perennially had the most unChristian attitude possible. Whereas the book of John tells us check our own pockets for sins before starting a stone-tossing war, these plastic zealots have no trouble pelting everyone that doesn't comeout at the end of Revelations with a clean score sheet. The Promise Keepers do not indulge in this kind of un-Christ-like behavior. Instead they focus on their own per- sonal shortcomings, and how they can use the teachings of Christ to gA their families and communities. A for this, I commend them. For all its failings, the church used to be a pow- erful instrument of social progress and bulwark of charity. True Christians are good people, and it's a shame that I have to stick up for people like my pious grandmother, but I guess that's secular humanism. I have a queasy feeling brewing in my stomach, however. Groups t Promise Keepers can never be satis- fied with a secondary position in 'our culture. It's the nature of their agenda. People who are both pious and politi- cally active will become restless. They see how well God and the church have put their lives in order. They also see immorality, sin and cor- ruption running like dingoes through our country, and they can't help but think that the same ointment that cured them could turn us all around. If 0 could just touch the hem of His gar- ment, perhaps we'd all be made whole. This is where it becomes painfully obvious that God and policy mix about as well as Roman Polanski and a day care center. Maybe this once was eone nation under God, but that was C0O years and several million immigrants ago. More like one nation udder Buddha, Jehovah, Allah, Vishnu, Q (of several kinds) and a groo Moreover, despite what starry-eyed undergraduate religion majors think, all of the major faiths do not co-exist like we're all just one love, man. But back to the Promise Keepers. Should they decide to go the route of the Christian Coalition and become a politically active body, they stop being a group ofpeaceful, good-hearted folks, and become the- red-hooded Cardinal Ximenes from the Jeo Fallwell days of my childhood. If.for no other reason than because religious doctrine is, by its nature, inflexible. Try combing the Bible for the word "maybe" if you don't believe me. In the instance of abortion, a lobby- ing firm or congressman affiliAted with Promise Keepers would not be open to debate and compromise on the issue in any of its permutation because God's word on the issue* final and unmistakable. To vulgarize, religion is a code, a way of living your life. People with a code that they regard as immutable and universal make bad legislators, because good policy is most often made with deals and handshakes, rather than fire and brims~tone. I