4A - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, October 9, 1997 UNe idNJtAFilg Ift 420 Maynard Street Ann Arbor, Ml 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 Dailys editorial board. All other articles, letters and cartoons do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Michigan Daily. FROM THE DAILY Washed away "NOTABLE QUOTABLE, 'Yes- (the Red Cross) has kept silent with regard to the Holocaust, and I would say that this is the heart of the moral failure.' -George Willemin, archive director for the Geneva-based International Committee of the Red Cross YUKl KUNIYUKI 2 R N ;E - K,'N~J4 TDBACcO 4y47 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 'U' should leave O n Monday, National Coming Out Week kicked off amidst a sea of con- troversy. Members of the University's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered community spent four hours chalking and posting flyers on Sunday night. Much of their work went for naught - with the University grounds paint crew removing most of the chalked statements by noon the next day. The reasons and motives for the removal are, at this time, purely speculative. However, chalking on public grounds results in no permanent damage, and is an extension of first amendment rights. The University, in removing the chalkings, repressed individuals using a valid form of expression. Moreover, it stifled attempts to reach out to students who might otherwise go uninformed about National Coming Out week and its series of events. A press release from Ozell Hayes, MSA's LGBT commission chair, claims the Department of Public Safety ordered the University grounds paint crew to use graffi- ti removal equipment to erase the chalkings. Hayes said the University's actions "were homophobic in nature, and constitute dis- crimination based on sexual orientation." Other LGBT community members won- dered why their chalkings were removed immediately, while those of College Republicans and Michigan Student Assembly candidates often seem to remain for weeks. The University must find out why the removal orders were given, and thoroughly investigate whether the accusa- tions, which Hayes and others set forth, have a factual foundation. An equally important issue in this debate 4ti e University's disregard for freedom of speech. QUP concentrated a large number of their chalkings in the Diag, the West Engineering Arch and around the Cube. chalkings alone Students hold rallies, seek charitable contri- butions and espouse religious beliefs in these areas. Chalking differs only in form from these other types of expression. The University must not erase student chalkings on state-owned, public land - for aesthetic or other purposes. In addition, an unknown "'party took down and tore to shreds two Diag bulletin boards advertising Coming Out Week. Whether Hayes' accusations are true, both the chalking and the boards' removal send a discouraging message to the University's LGBT community. National Coming Out Week aims to encourage students to reveal their sexuality, and tries to provide them a comfortable environment in which to do so. Discrimination against the gaycommunity is all too common - and the week's events are meant partly to reassure individuals pondering "coming out" that Ann Arbor's gay and straight communities are support- ive. Removing the chalk, whether done for discriminatory reasons or otherwise, is more than just an incomprehensible viola- tion of first amendment rights. When com- bined with the other vandalous acts, it may give the impression that the University is not as tolerant an environment as it must be. It implies that certain people on campus do not want gay community members to "come out of the closet," and openly take pride in their sexuality. Such an attitude is all too prevalent nationally - the long path to erasing homophobia should begin in Ann Arbor. Straight and gay University students, faculty and staff can help quell the mixed messages this week's events have sent by coming out to support the National Coming Out Day rally Friday, Oct. 10, at noon, on the Diag. Closed session Bill may close loopholes in OMA ast year, during the search for a new University president, the Presidential Search Advisory Committee was sued by a, bevy of local newspapers, demanding that the search be opened to the public. These publications cited Michigan's Freedom of Information Act and the Open Meeting Act to open up the search process. By the time the courts made a ruling, the search was already down to the final five candidates. Earlier this week, State Rep. Harold Vorhees (D-Wyoming) proposed legislature to clarify the OMA. It will clearly define that once a presidential search at a public institution reaches a certain point, it must be open to the public. Although the current version of the OMA states that interviews of the final five candidates must be open to the public, recent cases have spurned a fur- ther review of the OMA. When Northern Michigan University concluded its search for a new president in April, its Board of Trustees held some of the interviews with the final five candidates in private. The board claimed that the closed-door interviews were protected by the OMA. After a challenge by the Detroit Free Press, the courts ruled in the newspa- per's, favor and ordered NMU to recoup the legal fees. Vorhees' bill would prevent public insti- tutions from claiming OMA loopholes in the future. It clearly defines that all inter- views for the final five candidates of presi- dential searches at public institutions must ILo nra. * +1.. a i n This , rvr11 rnrA. man+n nu i confusion and possible legal action that, in the end, costs taxpayers money that could remain with the schools. The proposed bill may also offset amendments to the OMA made in January, that made it easier to hide earlier stages of presidential searches from the public. Last year, when the University searched for a president, it did so behind closed doors, prompting an outcry from students, lawmakers and their con- stituents. Already, preliminary stages of searches at public institutions are closed, and records of the search advisory com- mittee are exempt from the Freedom of Information Act until the selection of five finalists. These rules make a mockery of selecting the leader of the top public uni- versity in the state, virtually shutting out those who matter the most - the students and taxpayers who support public col- leges and universities. The impending clarification of the OMA is a step in the right direction to keep the students and the public at large aware of all impending searches.,They have the right to know the exact process of choosing the leadership of a public uni- versity. The Freedom of Information Act holds legislators and the Board of Regents responsible for their actions by making sure their business is kept on public record. Secret searches deny the commu- nity participation. Open searches foster trust. It preserves the long-standing stan- .dard of democracy on which the nation hancac' *fc ninrl 1at Q UP invites U' to come out to the Diag Friday To THE DAILY: Queer Unity Project, All Us, and the MSA LGBT Commission invite the entire campus and community to join us in celebrating National Coming Out Day on Oct. 10, 1997. by attending our 5th Annual National Coming Out Week Rally. National Coming Out Week is a time of celebration and awareness during which les- bians, gay men, bisexuals. transgender people and het- erosexuals unite in pursuit of a world in which everyone can feel free to be who they are. In light of the recent atmosphere of hate on cam- pus, we specifically encour- age heterosexual students. staff faculty and administra- tors turn out in large numbers to demonstrate support for equality by "coming out" as allies to the LGBT communi- ty. Please join us at our rally this Friday, Oct. 10, at noon on the Diag. See you there! NEELA GHOSHAL RC JUNIOR 'Real world' workplace shows lack of diversity TO THE DAILY: I am writing to comment on David Jordan's letter ("Affirmative action is no longer useful"' 106/97). Jordan has missed the prover- bial "nail on the head" and instead smashed his thumb. He states, "No longer are the corporations and educational institutions of America run almost exclusively by mid- dle-aged conservative white males ... Today there are enough enlightened individu- als to ensure that everyone has a fair chance." I'll try to shed some light on the fallacies in these state- ments. Since Jordan is a first- year enginee, he probably has not had the benefit of working in industry for a "big, Fortune 500 equal opportunity employer." I have had three internships at dif- ferent companies, and I can report who is in charge: white, middle-aged males. All of my bosses have been white, all of their bosses were white, and guess who ran the whole company? A white middle-aged male. Guess who I worked with? White country is no longer "run almost exclusively" by white males. But they do speak from real world experience, something Jordan seems to be lacking. Although I'm not a proponent of affirmative action (the irony of it all!), naive statements like Jordan's are not going to get anyone anywhere. I suppose I am writing because I think there are a lot of white males that seem to believe Jordan's argument. I think people get these ideas of a colorblind world by spending to much time in school and not enough time in the real world. Thirty years of social progress do not wash away thousands of years of standard practice. Anyone that believes that should go get a job and see for themselves whats really going on out there in the real world. RICHARD HOFER ENGINEERING SENIOR Autism affects thousands TO THE DAILY: I was excited to be one of the participants of the Scream-In on the Diag, orga- nized by Mentality and Project Serve in support of awareness of mental illness. I was pictured on the front page of The Michigan Daily (10/7/97) and would like to call attention to a mental dis- order that was not mentioned in the accompanying article. This disorder, autism, affects my younger brother. Autism is a tragic, devas- tating, neurological disorder first discovered 50 years ago. It is often mistaken as a rare disorder and is more common than believed. occurring in 10-15 of every 10,000 individuals. It is the third most common develop- mental disability. Autism affects fine motor, growth motor, language, commu- nicative, emotional, cogni- tive and behavioral skills. It is estimated that there are nearly 400,000 people in the United States with some form of autism. Autism affects people throughout the world of every racial, ethnic and socioeconomic background. Few disorders are as devastat- ing to a child and his or her family. Although normal in appearance, autistic people seem withdrawn, within their own world and are unable to speak and communicate nor- mally, relate to others, learn or understand the infinite nuances of human interac- Erasing chalkings silences students TO THE DAILY: I stepped over the puddles on the Diag left by the University's high-pressure water hoses, used to erase National Coming Out Week chalkings Monday morning. At first, I thought maybe one or two messages had been offensive orhnegative. But on my way to the bus stop I noticed that they had all been erased. The chalkings encour- aging timid students to tell their friends that they are gay were ordered removed from campus by a public universi- ty. When I asked my friends who were there for the chalk- ing, they told me that Queer Unity Project made a clear, strict announcement of the University's policy for legal campus chalking: No chalk- ing on brick, non-offensive, and so forth. QUP made a point of following the rules to the letter. The University has no justification for taking a troop of workers from their regular duties and ordering them to blast away the gay- supportive messages. If the Muslim Students Association or a Jewish group chalked the campus with messages telling kids that it's safe to admit you are Jewish here and then had the University order those mes- sages high-pressure sprayed away, the University would certainly come under intense legal scrutiny. Think about the point of National Coming Out Week. "It's okay to tell your friends you're gay. They won't stop talking to you - they won't hate you. Nobody will hurt you. You don't have to hide it." Last year, the College Republicans defaced the chalkings and in so doing relayed the opposite message to students.hThis year, the University has quietly done the same thing; the University of Michigan, a public institution, has ordered messages ofiencouragement for curious, intimidated and all-too-easily-hidden students removed from campus. These kids are your friends. They have unfulfill- ing opposite-sex relation- ships. They are afraid to tell you that they aren't grossed out by same-sex kissing like you are. They internalize what you say about how fags are all swishy, effeminate weaklings. They think things are wrong with them. And they need the encouragement of the gay community to help them feel less alone. Athletes are not the only students who struggle with schedules A thletic Director Tom Goss listed graduating student athletes with marketable degrees as one of his prio ities at Monday's meeting of the Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs. But as part of his emphasis on the student halfof I "student ath- lete," Goss said athletes may need special consideration from the faculty as to class MEGAN scheduling and SCH Ntpp a c a d e mi c PRESCRIPTIONS responsibilities. He said many student athletes are restricted to the Division of Kinesiology because their athletic schedules are too unforgiving to pur- sue a degree in other schools at th University. Applaud Goss for serving as an advocate for his athletes. Applaud him for seeing student athletes, who have, more obligations at the University than practices and competition. Applaud him, as an athletic director, for recog- nizing that there is more to life than sports, and that only a small fractionof student athletes, even at Michigan, will have professional athletic careers And yet, jeer him for considerin athletes to be special students. Student athletes should not feel as if they must get a Kinesiology degree. Students, both in Kinesiology and out, ridicule it for having an easy curricu- lum with no practical purpose. Student athletes should be able - and encour- aged - to pursue a degree in any sub- ject they choose. But they should not have priority over other students because of it. Between practices, team meetings, conditioning workouts, competitions and travel, student athletes have a lim- ited window for classes, studying and socializing. It is understandable that they might need classes at different, times or assignment extensions every now and then. In that respect, professors should be understanding. Not overly lenient, but understanding. Just as they should for other studen with scheduling conflicts. If only we had an advocate like Goss for student parents, who shuffle child care, quality time and classes. If only students who financially must have jobs had someone asking SACUA for understanding. If only overachievers could request help from the faculty, about attending classes and doin assignments on time. Almost every student on campus has a scheduling conflict. Because of this, some students take early-morning or night sections. Some classes are simt-. ply impossible because of meetings, jobs or family time. All these students juggle their oblig- ations with creativity and an occasion- al shoulder shrug. They prioritize some commitments above others. They cope with restrictions bea the benefits easily outweigh eas CRISPing. But when Goss goes before SACUA, does he ask for consideration of these students? No. Instead, he mentions schools such as the University of California at Los Angeles, where stu- dent athletes have priority over other students for class registration. Keep in mindrthat student athletes are receiving free tuition, includin} books, extra tutoring if necessary, tai lored academic advising, special study sessions and access to study table. Not to mention the benefits they derive. frombeingon a team and competing at the level Michigan provides. They should not also get CRISP pri- ority before other students who are working just as hard - sometimes harder - to cope with scheduling. Professors should be understandi' of all their students' time restriction They should not feel pressure to make special exceptions for student ath letes. Student athletes knew when they signed letters of intent that their schedules would be distinct from non-athletes - just asin high school. They knew they'd be required to take - and pass - classes. The national graduation rate for Divisio I athletes is increasing, meaninl more student athletes are successful- ly balancing sports and academics. Every year athletes at the University achieve high levels of performance in schools other than Kinesiology, and go on to prestigious jobs and gradu- ate schools.