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4 - The Michigan Daily - Monday, April 20, 1998
t1ie £lirbi~twn 3&dIg
420 Maynard Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Edited and managed by
students at the
University of Michigan
LAURIE MAYK
Editor in Chief
JACK SCHILLACI
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
Too little, too ate
ITD's plan does not solve allocation problems
NOTABLE QUOTABLE
'Capital is like horse shit. If you build it up in one place,
it stinks. If you spread it out, it makes stuff grow.'
--Kevin Danaher; founder of Global Exchange. on probems
with the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank
KAAMIRAN IHAFEEZ
A% 1 - A155Al MI ogw STS - q0
Lv* s1it .al # GAlore 1+o v...
t A s ATAL' .
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
D iversity is a valued aspect at this
University, and the administration has
demonstrated its commitment to maintain-
ing a racially and ethnically diverse student
body. And yet, the University's Information
Technology Division is less tolerant of stu-
dents' diverse needs. ITD eliminated the
freedom previously available in the basic
computing package to allocate specific dol-
lar amounts to students for each computing
service, many of which are only used by a
fraction of the student body. In an attempt
to alleviate the difficulties caused by this
change, ITD has more than doubled the
number of pages that students may print and
has made available additional dial-in hours.
But these changes do not correct the origi-
nal problems in the basic computing pack-
age and come too late in the term for their
benefits to be fully realized by the student
body.
ITD's new computing package allows
each student to print only 120 pages
before charging them eight cents per page.
This number is ridiculously low and has
been exceeded by the vast majority of the
student body. But ITD's addition of 180
pages to student allowances will not great-
ly aid the situation. The 180 pages are to
be used between last Friday and April 30.
Only those students with final papers
rather than final exams will need to print
anywhere near that many pages in such a
short period of time. If ITD believes that
students print that many pages in such a
short period of time, why is the allocation
for the entire semester so unrealistically
low?
Additionally, ITD will cease to charge
students for dial-in access between the
hours of midnight and 3 p.m. for the same
two weeks. These hours come too late in
the semester to be fully utilized as well.
ITD has conveniently waited until most of
the student body has already CRISPed
and students have already spent hours
searching the incredibly inconvenient
online course guide. Most students will
be studying during the next two weeks -
not spending hours each day online. The
addition to the dial-in allocation will only
benefit a small portion of the student
body.
These new allocations, courtesy of the
Office of the Provost, do not solve but
only temporarily alleviate the problems
caused by the present computing package.
The fatal error of the package is the lack
of flexibility for students. Students who
live in residence halls or log in from
Angell Hall do not need dial-in access
and should not be forced to pay for ser-
vices that they do not require. Instead,
they should be allowed to divert those
dollars unused in other portions of the
computing budget toward areas in which
they are falling short, such as printing.
The previous system allowed such flexi-
bility, but according to ITD, was too
expensive to maintain. So, instead of real-
izing that the benefits of a flexible system
are worth the added costs, ITD increased
its funding by charging students for ser-
vices that they are not using. Whatever
the case, students are being charged for
services that they are not using under the
present system, and ITD is mistaken if it
believes that its basic computing package
is sufficient and is satisfying the needs of
the student body. The computing needs of
students are varied and diverse - the
University should not limit the options
tuition-paying students have when they
boot up a computer.
Limited choices
Task force looks into living-learning programs
R ecently, the Residence Hall
Association announced the formation
of a task force to study the status of living-
learning programs in University residence
halls and provide a report to the Office of
the Provost. This comes on the heels of a
proposal to expand the current six living-
learning programs to a total of 11. While
the creation of the task force takes a posi-
tive first step toward pinpointing and cor-
recting specific problems with these pro-
grams, the proposed expansion most likely
will just create new troubles.
In their current state, most of the
University's living-learning programs
have problems that must be worked out in
order for their students to have a more
rounded education. Living-learning pro-
grams require their students to live in a
certain residence hall and register for a
specific group of classes. Such restric-
tions create a group of students somewhat
separated from the rest of the University.
Students in the living-learning communi-
ties see many of the same people in their
classes, creating a small clique within the
larger student body. Also, the required
curiculla may prevent living-learning stu-
dents from taking courses in other
University departments.
A glaring problem with the living-learn-
ing communities is that students choosing
to leave a program must still reside in the
residence to which they were assigned for
the duration of the year. This policy causes
students no longer wishing to be associated
with the community to remain with their
former classmates. These students are then
isolated among students taking a common
curriculum.
nities to nearly twice their present size
can only further complicate these issues.
Increasing the number of these programs
will result in more students taking a
restrictive curriculum that prevents them
from taking advantage of the rest of the
University. In addition, the five new pro-
grams will require additional residence
hall space, perhaps resulting in non-liv-
ing-learning students forced to live
among groups of students linked through
common academic programs and inter-
ests.
The newly formed task force should
recognize these problems and work
toward a solution that gives living-learn-
ing students greater freedom and a bal-
anced academic experience at the
University. Ideally, living-learning pro-
grams should ease their restrictions so
that students may choose from a number
of residences and enjoy greater control in
designing their studies. It is essential that
these problems be addressed before any
expansion to preserving the integrity of
these programs.
The life of a University student is
about personal development, both acade-
mically and socially. A student learns how
to deal with all sorts of problems inside
and outside of University classes, both of
which play a part in the formation of his
or her identity. In their present state, the
majority of living-learning programs
limit aspects of University life that would
aid their students' growth. These pro-
grams, and the University as a whole,
should seek to provide students with the
widest spectrum of options available so
that they are well-prepared for life out-
Letter slighted
engineers'
contributions
TO THE DAILY:
After reading Pak Man
Shuen's letter "Career mind-
set of LSA students is
'wrong"' (4/14/98), I became
confused. Maybe I should
blame my "glorified trade
school" training; perhaps it
has left me without the skills
needed to decipher Shuen's
prose. I do wonder what
Shuen means when referring
to LSA students as those who
"ask the right questions for
others to come up with the
solutions." I can just imagine,
near the turn of the century
when some LSA grad came
up with the brilliant question
"Wouldn't it be cool if man
could fly like a bird'?" To he
or she, I am eternally grateful
for the airplane.
The point I'm trying to
make is that maybe Shuen
doesn't comprehend what role
the engineer plays in our soci-
ety. What I like to believe sep-
arates engineers from just
someone good at science is
that the engineer has the cre-
ativity to pose and answer a
question. I don't suppose
Shuen has taken an engineer-
ing course (few LSA people
do, unlike engineers who take
LSA courses from various
departments); if Shuen would,
then maybe the picture would
become a little clearer.
Shuen also confused me
by stating that shareholders
are the ones who originally
had the idea and have liberal
arts degrees. First, I believe
most companies start out pri-
vate and then go public.
Therefore, most of the share-
holders cannot be the ones
that created the idea. Second,
Yahoo's founder was an engi-
neer, as was Intel's, Hewlett-
Packard's and Sun's.
This list is not complete,
and I do not say all of those
who "originally had the idea"
are engineers, but Shuen's let-
ter makes it sound as if a
bunch of LSA grads are start-
ing companies being fronted
by engineers and MBAs.
That's simply not the case.
DAVID GRANDA
ENGINEERING SOPHOMORE
'U' community
dismayed
over election
TO THE DAILY:
During the past weeks, our
community has been involved
in an intense debate related to
the completion of the
Michigan Student Assembly
elections for the 1998-1999
academic year. We feel it nec-
essary to address issues con-
cerning the tenor and content
of some of the publicity pro-
vided by an MSA candidate.
lates values so"important to
our sense of community.
Some of the campaign
materials, both printed and
electronic, have offended
many individuals and groups
by their racist, sexist and
demeaning tones. A thorough
evaluation of the complaints
filed about this election pub-
licity has concluded that
there has been no prose-
cutable violation of the
University's Code of Student
Conduct, the guidelines on
groups as monitored and
enforced by the Department
of Public Safety. But that
does not mean that we, as a
community, must find these
to be acceptable expressions.
As we look to the 21st
Century, it is imperative that
all of us in this community
work together toward a
shared vision. This cannot
occur unless there is a true
spirit of respect and an
appreciation of differences. A
true spiritof community is
forged not just by making
certain that we exercise all of
our basic rights to the maxi-
mum. It is instead created
and nurtured by an awareness
of others around us and by a
mature appraisal of the con-
sequences of our behaviors
on others who also comprise
this community.
We recognize the pain this
campaign has visited upon
the African American com-
munity directly and the other
communities of color by
extension. We also recognize
that the lack of respect
demonstrated in this cam-
paign affects and diminishes
all of us in this community.
Our hope is that we can pro-
vide support to those individ-
uals whose historic struggles
have been trivialized and
mocked. We also must recog-
nize that we are all lessened
when any group in our com-
munity is harmed.
We wish to invite all
groups to continue to express
and assert their concerns in a
constructive and productive
fashion. We realize that this
letter, the latest in the many
campus communications dis-
tributed during the last cou-
ple of weeks, is part of this
ongoing dialogue and debate
that we wish to foster and
support in these difficult
times,
MAUREEN HARTFORD
VICE PRESIDENT FOR
STUDENT AFFAIRS
E. ROYSTER HARPER
ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT
FOR STUDENT AFFAIRS
Ramphele's
importance
not recognized
TO THE DAILY:
I was pleased to read your
article about Mamphela
Ramphele's visit to this institu-
tion, but rather surprised that
enmP, c, A0,,t v int nra.,iu atin
racism should be very excited
to hear a speaker of this cal-
iber, who has managed to rise
above the harshest limits
placed on her by apartheid, to
one of the top academic posi-
tions in South Africa.
So what if somebody on
the street wouldn't recognize
her name? Isn't that a rather
shallow basis on which to
judge someone's character?
For anyone who would
like to further explore what
sort of person she is, I recom-
mend the University of Cape
Town's Website at
http://wwwuct.a.za/. More
specifically, a short summary
of Ramphele's history can be
found at
http://wwwuct.ac.za/depts/dp
a/execbios/vc-biog.htm.
PHILIP MACHANICK
UNIVERSITY FACULTY
Daily lacks
coverage of
club sports
TO THE DAILY:
I am writing in response
to John Gekas's letter that
appeared in the April 10
issue of the Daily ("Daily
does not cover all club
sports"). Having been a
member of a club sport at the
University, I too have experi-
enced the frustration of try-
ing to get my sport covered
in the Daily.
I have competed with the
U of M Waterski team (yes,
Michigan has a Waterski
team) for four years. In
September of 1996, the team
qualified to compete at
nationals for the first time
ever by placing second in the
Midwest region. Since the
team was only six years old at
the time, had no coach, and
paid for its boat and other
equipment on its own, this
was quite an accomplishment.
When I called the Daily
about getting this event cov-
ered in the paper, I was told
that they had just changed their
club sports policy and no
longer covered any of them.
Two days later, a story about
the women's rugby team ran in
the Daily. The story was not
about them winning any titles
or qualifying for any major
competitions; instead, it was
simply about a game they had
played. When I subsequently
called the Daily to ask why
there was a story about a club
sport after their policy change,
I was told that "the story had
already been given to the
writer before the policy
changed so they didn't want to
take it away from her" I'll buy
that, but why for the next year
did I continue to see sporadic
articles about other club sports
in the Daily? If the Daily sets a
policy, it needs to stick with it.
Many club teams could
use the publicity of a story in
the Daily for recruiting new
members, and I'm sure that
Beatin gIvy Envy
and other 'M'
maladies
Fou rsdow n day to go in
colege. and I ve just overcome the
painful am ition from which I and
thousand s o t her people on this cam-
pus sufer-- a diease I call Ivy Envy.
Oine of mynumerousRMichigan T
shirts reads.
''Ilarvard, the6
Michig n ok the
Last ."Ira l yer
ply on theelhst.
suggestisnhthat any
"good" Schol 51not ~
the fiarL rd
(read: the bestsosC
impressiv e institu
ion) Ofmits rcipeee-
ine reg ion. Iunder- JOSHUA
stand there; are sine- RICH4
der itemns at Duke rs
and Stanford z d k
n ivesint is, but I don't think students
at those schoo l suffer from Ivy Envy as
severely as ie do. Their colleges arenrel-
atively snall - and private.
As a pubic school that also happens
to be a top-notch academic institution,
Michigan has a hard time explaining
itself to tie greater American intelli-
genisia. When US. News & WorldO
Report's college rankings come out, for
example, we alxwars cry foul because
our stellar academic reputation is over-
shadowed by our grand size and lack of
private monetary endowment.
That's Ivy Envy at its worst,
Besides, our dominant sports prowess
further tarnishes our image: We aren't
just football- and hockey-playing
brutes, we are the epitome of the brutes.
Since I'm a typical out-of-state snoby
who always frowned on large state col-
leges. I used to feel that way.
I'm from de East Coast I'm more
Jewish than Christian (although I don't
believe in (od, uatch), and I drive a
Jeep Grand Cherokee. I went to adsmall,
preppy private school in Washington,
RC~, that didn't have a football team
and I have been surrounded for most of
my life by rich, pretentious people,
many of whom speak French fluently.
ew around here seem to understand
that I'm an rlitist by nature, not by
choice. Few around here seem to under-
stand the degree to which hailing from
such a privileged environment - where
children are placed in particular nursery
schools to ensure their acceptance at
I-arvard, where my graduating class
nmumbered 110 and where my peers
included children of g.S; senators and
oreign diplomats made venturing to
the= Midwest difficult (especially since
the commencement speaker at my high
school, the direcor of the Central
Intelligence Agency, was infinitely
more ipressive than any Michigan
graduation orator in recent years).
Most kids in my high school apply to
Ivy Leaigue colleges, not so much
because they are especially smart or
wealthy, hit because that is just what we
do. To make matters worse, the 4
University tends to accept most appli-
cants from my high school who conse-
quently consider Michigan - get this
--- a "fall-hack" Needless to say,
plagued with Ivy Envy, I've spent many
hours malking excuses for the fact that I
attend this gigantic public institution.
Still, now I know that if anyone longs
for a smaller school where academics
are priority one, then spending a
Saturday in October at Michigan
Stadium with 107,000 other people of .
all shapes and sizes probably isn't their
cup of tea. It's just their loss.
Of course, had I not been rejected by
the I ould've been my loss, too.
Ive amed a few other things about
the w while in college -surprising,
considering that Im now living here in
the dreaded simple Midwest. I've found
tthere exist countless schools, like
Mihigan State. Ohio State and Purdue,
whh pide fine educations that put
wrrounded people into the world
ecome from, the term "Michigan
n't exist in the vocab-
uu Moreover, I've found that a lot of
the myths with which I grew up and
brou ith me to Ann Arbor are mis-
W s to say tht smaller classes are
pero Ma prfessors would argue,
I er class offers a broad-
e range o ewpoints and opinions.
Wot os t a s nts do better
by, IyLauedctoshan those of
other antastic job that I'll
soon bbecause I
a e ono Columbia.
one needs to be
n t oram," the single ele-
ment o vrsity that East Coast
sb tox their attendance
here, e many suffered
endles oer their 'reat Books"
s of h Ihad already read) and
Senior T I took my time in my
studis g lenty of -A's and enjoyed
life. W educated just the same.
While wahing Ohio State beat Yale
and Michigan deeat Princeton in the
I