4 - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, Octobe I I cft iEiutn Ttil g 420 Maynard Street Ann Arbor, MI 48109 edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan ____ JOSH W~HITE Editor in Chief ERIN MARSH Editorial Page Editor NOTABLE QUOTABLE I'm not going to say what I'm going to do to help people, I'm just going to do it.' - LSA junior Christina Branson, who participated in Philadelphia n Million Woman March this weekend YUKI KUNIYUKI AFFIKMATWEACT1otJ TAKEJJ ~-o F.. ote~. )her sisf' noeuid fnigned editorials ireflect the' opinlion of ithe mnajority of the' Daily ,v editorial hoaJrd. All other't (licles5, letters and cartoonlsdo fnot necessarily reflec~t the opinlion f Tfhe Michigan Daily RtOM THEE DAILY Sig Eps return too nly three years ago, tragedy struck the University campus. A Sigma Phi psilon pledge, in an alleged hazing inci- :dent, drank himself to the verge of death. :'ecently, on Louisiana State and MIT's cainpuses, pledges were not so lucky -two students died after binge-drinking episodes, aiid the shock waves reverberated nation- Wide. Just last week, Sig Eps announced :1ans to come back to campus as a trans- 4ormed, alcohol-free house. While their -intentions may be worthwhile, their return : eemns premature. The Sig Eps episode is too fresh in the minds of the University community, and while steps have been taken to prevent such incidents from occur- ring in the future, there is still much to be done. Details of the Sig Eps tragedy remain sketchy. Before a Saturday football game, some fraternity members allegedly forced pledges to drink an excessive number of shots of hard alcohol. As a result of the binge drinking, one pledge fell out of con- sciousness and lapsed into a coma. After a tense period of campus-wide concern and reflection, the student eventually recovered all his physical and mental capabilities. 'Sirnce that time, the Interfraternity Council 'has taken several commendable steps to help prevent similar tragedies from occurring. Organizers stress that the new Sig Eps chapter will be a different kind of fraternity. There will be no group initiation process, and rush will take place year-round. Pledges will be able to move through the pledge process at their own pace, and alcohol will constitute no part of the pledge process. While these ideas seem like a model for fra- ternities campus-wide, Sig Eps should have 'deflyed their return another year. The members of at least one initiated Sig g ack soon after incident Eps pledge classes remain on campus; such a quick return may indicate the failure to grasp the full meaning of that day three years ago. Former Sig Eps President Scott Sandler called the closing "a very disap- pointing time and unfortunate for me and the other members." But "very disappoint- ing" does not convey an understanding of the incident's severity. The University's remaining Sig Eps members bear at least part of the responsi- bility for the events that occurred. Following the incident, the national Sig Eps office beat IFC's enforcement officers to the punch, by giving up their campus char- ter. Perhaps it would have been wise for IFC to step in anyway, to prohibit Sig Eps' return before a full four years had passed. A fresh start for Sig Eps will be difficult while its older members remain on campus. Sig Eps is returning to a Greek system that is drastically different from that of three years ago. Almost immediately after the Sig Eps incident, IFC banned kegs from fraternities. The policy at parties is now BYOB, and IFC has sanctioned several houses for violating this rule. IFC is work- ing closely with houses to eliminate pledge hazing. Establishing a bond with the mem- bers of a house is important - but hazing is not necessary to achieve this sense of attachment. Thanks to public pressure and the IFC's diligence, hazing is not as preva- lent as it once was, and efforts to eliminate hazing should continue. Across the board, houses have been per- suaded to re-evaluate priorities, and are being held to a higher degree of account- ability. IFC has been the engine for this remarkable change, and must continue to ensure that fraternities are bound by both brotherhood and responsibility. u U~O~ REAF- 3f-kWHEt'j 1E Just~ Got 1. K ~3 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR CPS needs additional support to help children Tast Friday, Michigan Auditor General L Thomas H. McTavish released a report cancluding, among other concerns, that nearly one in four of all children in danger- ous family situations are not removed from those situations. Other major problems were that investigations did not always begin within 24 hours of the initial com- plaint, and investigators failed to conduct thorough investigations in nearly 20 percent of cases. The state of Michigan's Children's Protective Services are not performing at an acceptable level. Because this agency has such an important function - namely investigating cases of child abuse and removing children from dangerous situa- tions - every effort must be made to increase the agency's efficiency to the high- est possible degree. A major obstacle in the way of greater efficiency is the absence of uniform guide- lines that govern what exactly constitutes abuse or neglect. This leaves too much pres- sure on caseworkers. These government employees perform extremely emotional jobs; often having to remove children from their familiar surroundings. Overworked caseworkers, carrying heavy caseloads and working without firm guidelines to estab- lish abuse and neglect, can make mistakes. When 25 percent of abused children slip through the cracks of the system that is meant to protect them, changes are in order. Currently, CPS employs 624 workers and costs the state $48 million per year to run. This is clearly not enough when 25 per- removed from danger are not being helped. Consider the difficulty of the caseworker's job: each of these people must evaluate sit- uations to determine if children are truly being abused, and they must take these chil- dren into custody if they are being abused. These workers sometimes put themselves at risk dealing with hostile parents not willing to let their children be taken. Also, these workers must be very careful when investi- gating a complaint; it is not unthinkable that accusations may play a role in messy divorce proceedings or hostile separations. Dealing with irate parents and terrified children is a trauma in itself; caseworkers need all the assistance they can get when tackling these tough cases. To speed up this process and alleviate workers' heavy caseloads, more workers are needed. This should be McTavish's next concern: to determine how many more workers are needed to dramatically increase this agency's effectiveness. Once deter- mined, the state of Michigan should appro- priate the necessary funding to elevate the agency's number of employees. This is a simple nonpartisan issue; Democrats and Republicans alike can agree that child abuse is an unacceptable atrocity that deserves the state's best preventative efforts. Children often end up the members of society with the least amount of protection for their rights. Because of this, the state must make sure that they are protected from those who would abuse them. The state's child protection laws and hardworking CPS caseworkers are frequently an abused Childcare falls prey to politics TO THE DAILY: I would just like to ensure that the student body has a clear picture about the University's actions toward campus childcare needs and the facts involved. Around two years ago, an MSA childcare task force was formed and headed by Fiona Rose to determine how best to address the childcare needs of students. This was definitely an admirable pub- lic display of political cor- rectness. Unfortunately, Rose's task force did not per- form any kind of real investi- gation! If Rose had done her job, she would have spent more time on North Campus with those non-traditional students who need childcare. This was not the case. Instead, Rose placed a call to Family Housing Residents' Council only to ask what our feelings were on the issue of childcare. The council major- ity was ecstatic that the MSA might be interested in getting involved and suggested a meeting to discuss the coun- cil's previous in-depth research into this topic. Unfortunately, like Rose's investigation, there was no meeting! I would like to provide some of the lost facts. When last reported, around 1,500 parent-students need adequate childcare. For infant-care, costs are around $200 per week. Financially speaking, a fee increase of $4 per semester at the minimum would have been required, a fact that Rose was made very much aware of during her telephone call. Unfortunately, for the purpose of political appearance and posturing, an unrealistic and 90 percent inadequate fee increase of $1 per semester was put on the ballot. I con- tacted Fiona by e-mail to question her proposal. She said a realistic proposal might "scare too many people off" and that she needed a child- care proposal on the ballot. Now, Rose has successful- ly achieved her political objectives with MSA. But childcare still remains a prob- lem at the University of Michigan. With the departure of Rose coupled with the recent arrival of President Bollinger, Mike Nagrant and Olga Savic, I hope the issue of childcare and the increased student fees will finally be fully examined. If students are forced to pay a childcare fee, let's make sure it is not a fee based on someone's politi- cal agenda. No student should pay a fee based on one indi- vidual's uneducated opinions. CARLOS HERNANDE FORD MEDICAL SCHOOL meaning of the swastika, and James Miller's column titled "Taking a stand for the swoosh (10/22/97). What I want to suggest is that the University of Michigan's $7 million dollar contract with Nike comes at a price. Anand Parekhs' letter ("Swastika is a symbol of truth,"' 10/24/97) made the astute observation that sym- bols possess the meanings that cultures assign them. This explains why a swastika has different meanings depending on how it is rotat- ed. Placed in a clockwise (left handed) rotation it is a symbol of death, but rotated in the opposite direction (right handed) it is a symbol of life. Although to many, the rotation doesn't matter. It is a symbol more commonly associated with Nazi Germany, rather than with Judaism, Hinduism, or Buddhism. What does a swastika and Nike have in common? The swoosh is the symbol that Nike uses to market its athlet- ic-apparel. Itsassociation with athletes such as Michael' Jordan and athletic programs such as the University of Michigan's has come to sym- bolize competitive excellence. The meaning of the swoosh, however, is changing. "48 Hours" on CBS recently documented cases of abuse, illegal payment and inhumane working conditions in Vietnamese Nikenfactories. Employees are often young women and children that are paid below the Vietnamese minimum wage and are sexu- ally abused by their supervi- sors. Nike claims to be investing in the countries it uses to produce its products, but this is not the fact. Nike continually shifts production of its shoes to the country with the lowest wages; Vietnam and China now have the contracts that South Korea and Taiwan once had. At the turn of the century, the swastika did not have the meaning it connotes today. Twenty years from now the swoosh may not symbolize excellence on the court or on the gridiron, but out-sourcing of jobs and exploitation of labor. Can the University afford such an association? ' ADAM SNOW SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK Affirmative action has many faces TO THE DAILY: As an African American on this campus, I must say that I am very irritated and very tired of the attacks being thrown at affirmative action by ignorant students and even less astute alumni (vo know the African American student body could experience a vio- lent backlash. Let's not do this. Let's put the trueface of affirmative action on the cover of the Daily. It's time to stand up to those who would have the University turned back into an all-male, all-white country club, where minorities are working in the kitchen instead of attending classes. It's time for all the other groups on this campus who benefit from affirmative action to stand up like men and women and put them- selves on the line as you, the decision makers at the Daily, have so carelessly done by putting only black faces on your covers when you talk about affirmative action. It's time to stop using the African American student body as a scapegoat for this issue, while others hide in the shad- ows of this struggle for the sake of "fitting in" on cam- pus. MICHAEL BLAIR LSA JUNIOR Lawsuit based on racism TO THE DAILY: The current lawsuit against the University of Michigan is based solely on racism and a pervasive belief in "white privilege." This may seem quite an indict- ment, but it is the only viable answer when the facts are considered. From the lan- guage of those bringing the lawsuit, one would think that GPA, test scores and race were the only criteria in col- lege admissions. This obvi- ously is not the case. When considering an applicant for admission, such factors as underrepresented geographi- cal region, underrepresented minority, high school attend- ed and economic status all influence an applicant's chances of admission. My personal favorite is legacy. Essentially, legacy is the way universities, including this one, are able to receive generous alumni donations by rproviding privilege to those who already enjoy privilege. Sure, Michigan is not as bad as Notre Dame, where a quota of 25 percent is set aside for legacy applicants. Michigan is "only" guilty of giving all legacy applicants in-state admission status, significantly increasing the likelihood that they will be admitted. It can be assumed that in-state lega- cy applicants receive some other advantage to aid their cause. Is this fair? It is fashionable to denounce affirmative action, to cry about race being a factor in admissions; however, there is no public discontent over lega- cv Could this be because most School spirit arises in both strange and familiar lands A s Thomas Jefferson is quoted (t la ppears on many a U.S. passport) there is nothing so inspiring as seeing an American flag on the embassy i foreign country. Alluding to the prie and esteem that seeing such a patriotic symbol evokes. Jfferson had a wonderful point: sometimes it takes distance to e ry appreciate what you have right at bi home. Three years ago, is I arrived on this JOSH campus knowing WHITE little more than a JUMhNG handful of people rTHE (UN and with no con- cept of Michigai, the University or anything that goes along with it. Before my first football game in Michigan Stadium (ironically against Boston College, whose stadium i mere half mile from my home) IeM no real interest in football, no real enthusiasm for collegiate sports and no tangible feeling for the school. Standing with 106,000 Michigan fans changed all that as I am sure it has done for count less others. Since then, the 'M' has been a pow- erful symbol that seems to pervade my everyday existence. There is rarely a place on campus where the sM' is visible or Michigan is not a prevad k theme. On a campus where most stu- dents are proud to wear maize and blue and are not shy about blazing their support for the Wolverines, the spirit that underlies such symbolism can get lost because it is so common- place. I think most people would be hard pressed to find a school in this country with so much self-enthusiasm r walking onto most campuses it isha to find many students with their colors showing or their pride for their school out in the open. While wearing school clothing is often a freshman trademark elsewhere, at Michigan it seems as if we wear more as we age -just look at alumni when they return to campus. What I fear is that people don't notice this. It seems as if people want to con- stantly criticize Michiganr thns fori having enough spirit. Letters pour in about the poor crowd response at bas- ketball games or the weak alumni sup- port at football games, people gripe about quiet venues and lack of rowdi- ness. Yet all those people to whom these complaints refer are wearing maize and blue, are showing up for the games (and most likely have been for the past 20 years or they wouldn't have tickets in the first place) and c about the outcome. We are spoiled because we see sellout games each week and because we expect champi- onships - unlike most college crowds that are pleased with mediocre atten- dance and a few wins each season. Underlying this criticism is also a deep love for Michigan, or the criti- cism wouldn't come in the first place. So it is to be admired that people care enough to try to spur on their fell' Michigan supporters, but chastisi the maize and blue faithful for not being rambunctious is unfair. One of the most heartwarming scenes of this, my senior year, was watching the final minutes of this weekend's football game against Michigan State. The crowd of close to 80,000 had filtered out, save for the thousands of Michigan fans scattered about the stadium, there to witness t final play of this legendary rivalry. Th game was over long before, but those fans stayed to sing "The Victors" just one more time and to wave their flags and display their pride. Seeing Michigan flags flying over The Mall in Washington D.C. on the Fourth of July was also one of those moments. For an instant, you can tell that the person who has launched it knows the feeling that you kno about this school. The yellow 'M' on blue background is simple yet poignant, it is soft-spoken yet louder than anything else could be. The pride one feels when seeing a car with the University of Michigan sticker in the rear window when driving cross coun- try should be the same feeling that comes with watching a game on tele- vision when hundreds of miles away or when spotting a Michigan hat whil walking across the Diag. We are proud of this school and we are proud of what it stands for, it is just that it may take some distance to notice it. Any Michigan fan who wit- nessed Charles Woodson's marvelous, leaping interception this weekend, either on television or in person, had to