4A - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, November 20, 1997
I
Cite £Iidiguu iagilg
420 Maynard Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48109 JOSH WHITE
Editor in Chief
Edited and managed by IN MARSH
students at the Editorial Page Editor
University of Michigan
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
Give blood
'M'-OSU battle transcends the gridiron
SNOTABLE QUOTABLE9
'We have done everything we can do short of
adding a new building ... but the growth of the
freshman class has outpaced our ability to add
new spaces to the system.'
- Univrsu i ty//usg DireC tor of Public Affairs and Information Alan Levy, after a
decision that r 'tsri t ditional residence halls to first- and second-year students
PURPLE ERRING
1o
uQI
This Saturday, the Michigan football
team will take the field against Ohio
State to compete for its first Rose Bowl trip
since 1993. With Michigan in the running
for its first national championship since
1948, excitement about the game is at a
high. Even before the kickoff, blood will be
shed - but not on the football field. This
week, even non-athletic University students
will have the opportunity to defeat the
Buckeyes in the annual Michigan vs. Ohio
State blood battle.
Today and tomorrow is the last chance
during the drive for students to donate
blood. The Red Cross Bloodmobile is sta-
tioned at the Michigan Union between 1
p.m. and 7 p.m. today and between 9 a.m.
and 7 p.m. tomorrow, or students can make
an appointment by calling 994-9588. The
drive, which is sponsored by Blood Drive
United, ends on Friday.
The blood battle gives all University stu-
dents a chance to save lives while helping
defeat an archrival, although the University
has not won the competition since 1991. As
of Monday, the University was leading the
campaign, with 874 pints of blood to OSU's
753. The combined goal for both schools is
2,300 pints; although the drive started off
slowly, it is now picking up speed.
But the real reason to donate blood has
nothing to do with school spirit. Although
victory over Ohio State is a bonus, the true
goal of the competition is to help save lives.
One pint of blood can save up to four lives.
In this region, about 1,000 pints of blood
are used every ,day. The area frequently
experiences crisis shortages and must rely
on emergency drives to replenish blood
stores. The blood supply in southeastern
Michigan is currently quite low; more blood
donations are necessary. Without these
donations, the Red Cross will have to
import blood from another area.
Donating blood is an easy, harmless and
relatively painless procedure. There are no
health risks; new, sterile instruments are used
for each person, and the Red Cross volun-
teers who extract the blood are well-trained
in the procedure. In addition, pre-donation
blood test results are strictly confidential.
The process takes about one hour. The only
requirements are that donors must be older
than 17 years of age and weigh more than
110 pounds. It is also recommended that
donors eat a good meal before giving blood.
Every University student who can give
blood, should. The majority of students ful-
fill the requirements for potential donors,
and all should be able to sacrifice the hour
it takes to make a donation. Although most
students are usually pressed for time, they
should make time to contribute to the Red
Cross' worthy quest.
The blood battle is an excellent way for
University students to help save lives -
and gain a victory over Ohio State in the
bargain. If all eligible University students
donate blood, the Red Cross would fulfill
its supply goals and thousands of people
needing transfusions would benefit. In the
end, regardless of which school collects
more pints, in this contest everyone is a
winner.
YEAR 19 G.00 ft..,,I E 'h.1/9 YEAK 2.194 GS MILfA£. IqfA/
cadS { O 7 OF ILLINCA obas o- I(-U tr
TONS 1OPER0 P'F-9 fIK 15,44-ToNS W44I6 Op-RTINQ 34001'0
LETE5RIRS TO TEED TR MNIETDETN
Justice for all
City Council backs action against hate crimes
Between 1990 and 1995, anti-gay vio-
lence rose 102 percent. During 1996,
2,429 episodes of anti-gay harassment and
violence were reported in just 14 U.S.
cities. While race, religion and gender are
protected under Michigan's Intimidation
Act, sexual orientation is not.
Monday night, the Ann Arbor City
Council took a step to push Michigan
toward including gays and lesbians in the
Michigan Ethnic Intimidation Act. In a
unanimous decision, the Council approved
a resolution supporting a proposed amend-
ment to the Intimidation Act. Proposed by
Rep. Lynne Martinez (D-Lansing), the
amendment would extend protection to
gays and lesbians. The City Council should
be applauded for its efforts to support this
important amendment. Now the state legis-
lature must act responsibly and pass the
bill, assuring Michigan citizens the right to
personal security.
It is important to realize the reality of
hate crimes. While the numbers speak for
themselves, it is easy for many to become
blinded to the hatred that persists in society.
Snide remarks, racial and sexual slurs and
physical violence threaten everyone's per-
sonal security. Yet when the law fails to pro-
tect certain groups from these hideous hate
crimes, their civil rights become legally
trampled.
Members of the University community
may also forget the reality of hate crimes
toward gays and lesbians on campus.
Simply because the University is seen as a
"liberal and open" environment does not
mean hate crimes do not exist. While most
harassment goes unreported, its existence is
nonetheless apparent.
Twenty states and the District of
Columbia, as well as several cities -
including Ann Arbor - have hate crime
legislation that includes crimes based on
sexual orientation. But take a step outside
of Ann Arbor, and gays and lesbians rights
become invisible.
On Nov. 10, 1997, President Clinton
held the first White House Conference on
Hate Crimes. The historic conference was
hailed as a success by many gay rights'
groups. Parents, Families and Friends of
Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) President
Nancy McDonald, praised Clinton for the
conference claiming it "lends more credi-
bility to the seriousness of anti-gay vio-
lence." The conference did bring hate crime
issues to the forefront for a moment, but
more must be done.
While the Conference on Hate Crimes
certainly lends more credibility to anti-gay
hate crimes, a conference alone does little
to prevent the violence. Cities and states
must work toward adopting legislation that
will legally protect gays and lesbians from
hate crimes. Michigan is now in a position
to take this important step.
The amendment to Michigan's Ethnic
Intimidation Act has support from many
sides. Aside from the Ann Arbor City
Council, the Michigan Association of
Chiefs of Police, the Prosecuting
Attorney's Association and the Michigan
Municipal League all support the amend-
ment. To rally more support, state repre-
sentatives' personal biases against gay
rights must be placed on the back burner.
Fighting hate crime is an issue that sup-
ports basic human rights - something
everyone deserves.
Everyone must recognize the serious-
ness of hate crimes, especially of anti-gay
violence. Lesbians and gays face the scary
reality of hate crimes while lacking the
necessary protection from city, state and
federal governments. Michigan must adopt
the proposed amendment to make the state
a safe environment for all its citizens.
Military does
not control
foreign policy
To THE DAILY:
I am writing in response
to the letter by Joe Sexauer
("U.S. military actions are
'imperialistic" hI / 97) I
Sexauer had taken the time to
read the column by .orh
IWhite ("Respect the militr
for the peace of mind it
allows all of us, 11/ 497) he
would have seen that the arti-
cle was referring to the mili-
tary and the men and women
who fill its ranks not U.S.
foreign policy. It appears that
in his effort to belittle the
members of the Armed
Forces who serve this nation
he has forgotten one very
important point. Irrespective
of the morality of the mili-
tary actions that he chose to
highlight, it stands that our
military is simply an instru-
ment of policy. The U.S. mili-
tary does not make national
and foreign policy, it was not
designed for such a role and
is not in a position to dictate
such policy. The military
does not choose to conduct
military operations in other
countries, rather the govern-
ing body of this nation
directs it to do so.
If you do not agree with
the foreign policy adopted by
this nation then you need to
vote and make yourself
heard. Write to your congres-
sional representatives and to
the president, exercise your
freedom of speech. H owever,
keep in mind as You direct
your energies to changing
these policies and bringing
attention to what you per-
ceive as wrong and unjust
make sure that you are focus-
ing on the correct targ.et.
The individual soldier who
is sent to war by his country is
simply doing his job - he
cannot and should not be held
responsible for the policy that
sent him there. The men and
women who serve in our mili-
tary take an oath to risk their
lives at the request of their
nation. The risk of losing
one's life is only one of the
many sacrifices that they
make. Military service will
not make you rich, it rarely
makes you famous and it
often tears your family apart.
Despite all of this, the mem-
bers of the Armed Forces con-
tinue to serve this great nation
of ours. So while Sexauer
may disagree with the our
national policy, he should not
fault the military for it.
MICHAEL DUCEY
RACKHAM
Bollinger
wins points
with students
done. He has just shown again
that he doesn't want to be an
"untouchable" person in
power when it comes down to
the students of the University.
Bollinger wants to reach out
to the student body and really
connect with them, and allow-
ing people to actually talk
with him and see where he
lives certainly brings him
down from on high.
We got to see President
B~ollinger for what he is: a
person. I think he truly shows
the spirit and devotion to the
University that every presi-
dent should.
MATT GARGETT
LSA JUNIOR
Vote in MSA
elections
To THE DAILY:
Students may now cast their
vote as well as learn about can-
didates at the Website:
http://www umich. edu/~vote.
This site will accept ballots
until midnight on Nov. 20. The
accuracy and influence of cam-
pus decisions are contingent
upon your participation. Please
take a brief moment during
these two days to voice your
opinion at this Website or a
campus polling site.
MICHIGAN STUDENT
ASSEMBLY
lTD plan
gives core
services
TO THE DAILY:
Thank you for helping us
informistudents about the
upcoming changes to the
University's computing ser-
vices. I'd like to take this
opportunity to comment on
your editorial, "Division's
decision" (11/17/97).
While it istruethat stu-
dents (and others) may lose a
measure of flexibility in mak-
ing service choices this
January, we are pleased to be
making significant improve-
ments in providing uninterrupt-
ed access to core services and
simplifying billing options. You
touched on some of these
improvements in your editorial
but there are in fact more -
including, for students, access
to computing services through
the summer or during other
terms of non-enrollment.
ITD fully understands that
there's no such thing as a
one-size-fits-all solutionato
providing computing
resources for the campus. As
you pointed out, different
constituencies have different
needs. However, it's our top
priority to provide the
University community with
reliable, high-quality core
services (such as e-mail and
as well. Yet LTD's budget for
the basic computing package
(which comes from the
University General Fund) has
remained essentially
unchanged for several years.
Given the growing demand
for information technology
services, it is a great chal-
lenge to find the best possi-
ble solutions for a communi-
ty as diverse as ours.
Jose-Marie Griffiths and I
welcome student input and
look forward to working with
the MSA information tech-
nology committee on these
issues in the months ahead.
LAURIE BURNS
INTERIM DIRECTOR,
CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPS
AND SUPPORT INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY DIVISION
'Crime Notes'
report student
'stupidity'
TO THE DAILY:
I am writing to comment
on University crime in the
"Crime Notes" section. I feel
that University students
would be much better
informed if you were to print
actual crimes in this section
instead of humorous incidents
of student stupidity (i.e., "res-
ident burns foot with butter,"
"woman swallows plastic
fork;" "student locks self in
bathroom overnight").
Also, I wonder why I am
paying part of my tuition to
DPS to investigate such idiotic
"crimes,' usually with no real
leads. As a service to students,
the Daily should either print
real felonies or misdemeanors
in this section or change the
name to "comic relief.
CANDACE CORREA
ENGINEERING JUNIOR
Security won't
stop this fan
To THE DAILY:
This letter is written in
response to the story,"'U'
forbids Rushing the Field"
(I 1/18/97) and is directed to
the "heightened security" that
will be present on Saturday.
Provided a win against
OSU, I am going to rush the
field on Saturday, and you
cannot stop me. I will do it
alone or with 107,000 of my
best friends. But I will do it.
This is not a threat, it is a mat-
ter of fact. I am a University
of Michigan Wolverine, and
you cannot stop me from exer-
cising my right to celebrate the
possibility of the first unde-
feated regular season since
before I was born.
And so I will rush the field.
And you will not stop me.
Because I am faster than you. I
Attention-loving.
Kevorkian is an
embarrasment
to medicine s
O f all the famous alumni the
University has produced, there
are a few the admissions departments
don't talk about. One of those is Jack
Kevorkian. Medical School class o
1952.
Perhaps that's
Kevorkian no
longer holds the
medical license
for which he
trained. Or
because he has
been repeatedly
disowned by the
American MEGA",
M e d i c a I SCHIMPF
Association for cRECRtpTIOH$
gross ethical
violations.
Or perhaps it's because the man is
insane.
Making generalizations about what
is "normal" is dangerous. How can a
standard of normalcy be anything
more than subjective proclamation'.
Consider Kevorkian's case.
Doctors who worked with him early
in his career tell how Kevorkian asked
to be paged when a patient was about
to die so he could watch the moment
of death.
Last week, the so-called Dr. Death
said he helped a New York woman die
in an unnamed Detroit-area church.
The woman was one of more than 60
he has helped die; he has counsele
hundreds of others, his lawyer says.
The Roman Catholic Church has been
one of Kevorkian's strongest oppo-
nents, and Kevorkian has said Jesus
Christ should have chosen assisted
suicide in his van rather than crucifix-
ion.
Last month, Kevorkian announced
phase II of his plan: he will provide
organs for donation from his suicide
victims to the first in line. As"
trained pathologist, he lacks the
expertise to remove an organ for
donation, the facilities to preserve it
and the agreement of any hospital or
implant surgeon to complete the pro-
cedure.
Phase Ill, incidentally, is exper-
menting on willing subjects under
"irreversible" anesthesia before death.
Kevorkian set up his three-pronged
plan in his K91 book, "Prescription:
Medicide."
This is not about physician-assisted
suicide. That is its own issue, left to
the quiet of a doctor-patient relatioXf
ship. This is aout Kevorkian, who has
never been qtiet and has made himself
into his own issue.
He has said - watch the documen-
tary currently on HBO - that he will
violate any anti-assisted suicide legis-
lation because it is "immoral." He has
repeatedly demonstrated disregard fo
any authority other than himself.
Along the way, hethas created a Aew
image for patients with terminal ill-
ness, one of expendability and
insignificance. He says he is their only
help. He tempts with promises of cof-
trot, scorn for a medical system that is
only now learning to deal with long-
term pain, conpassion instead of for-'
profit insurance companies and an en
to pain.
He is wrong, and he has caused great
emotional stress among patients with
the same illnesses as some of his vic-
tims. It takes them longer to cope with
a diagnosis because they know some,
have given up. But terminal-disease'
patients are not useless to society not
the people who love them; there are
sources of support and understanding.
Hospice organizations help= patients
die comfortably at home. 4
But does Kevorkian respect his'
patients enough to call what he does-
mercy killing or is this simply his'
personal campaign to garner as
much publicity as possibleT
Kevorkian takes the personal benefit'
over the person each time. Take the'
suicide he assisted the sagne day Gov.-
John Engler signed an assisted-sui-
cide ban into law several years ago.
Or the death of a depressed drug user
who had been misdiagnosed with
multiple sclerosis. Or the patients-
who have made public statenlents.
supporting him soon before theil
deaths.
Ironically, his actions - almost
every one makes news - are actually
hurting the right-to-die moveme t, at.
least in some respects. Melians
Friends, a group trying to put assisted"
suicide on the 1998 Michigan blallof,4
has avoided associating with
Kevorkian. His extreme, radical-on-a-
mission behavior repels moderates and
strengthens opponents' convictios
He would help more patients have
access to physician-assisted suicide by
fading into the sunset with his suicide'
machine. But Kevorkian has pever
fy
I
I
A4
0
b
$I
Afi
{
[.