4 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, January 23, 1998
le £irbiguu ailg
420 Maynard Street
-Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Edited and managed by
students at the
University of Michigan
::
. :: .
JOSH WHITE
Editor in Chief
ERIN MARSH
Editorial Page Editor
OTABLE QUOTABLE,,
'He built a new spirit of cooperation
with the community and transformed
Flint into an urban university.'
-Former University President James Duderstadt, on the resignation
of the University 's Flint campus Chancelloe Charlie Nelms
Unless otherwise noted, unsigned editorials reflect the opinion of the majority of the Daily's editorial hoard. All
other articles, letters and cartoons do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Michigan Daily.
FROM THE DAILY
Better proportions
,1-r EIS FASHD tJs.
il 2feldo4u.
I 0t,'ri'4 kno+i
U' should continue
his week, it was announced that for
the second year in a row, the
University's faculty received a larger aver-
age pay increase than the average pay
increase of administrators. Faculty salaries
rose an average of 4.9 percent, while the
average administrative salary increase was
2.9 percent. In fact, administrative pay
increases dropped an average of 30 percent
this year. One of the reasons for the dis-
crepancy is the recent restructuring of the
administration and turnover that occurred
in many positions. In recent years, the
University made efforts to increase faculty
salaries at a greater rate than administra-
tive salaries to partially compensate for
greater administrative salary increases in
the past. The University should continue
this trend of increasing pay raises for fac-
ulty members.
In the past, administrators received rela-
tively large pay increases, while the faculty
did not. This led to problems maintaining a
strong staff and keeping faculty retention
rates high. But if the trend of increasing fac-
ulty members' pay continues, it will be eas-
ier for the University to maintain a stronger
staff.
In addition, by keeping faculty pay
raises competitive, the University has a
better hand to play when trying to recruit
new faculty. This advantage is particularly
useful with administrative efforts to main-
tain high minority representation among
the faculty. Minority representation still
suffers and speculation exists to point
toward non-competitive salaries offered by
faculty pay increases
the University. The recent increase in aver-
age pay raises should be helpful in attract-
ing strong staff members to the University.
In addition, salary raises based on merit
and teaching ability should continue to
increase. Even highly respected teachers,
including many noted researchers and
award-winning teachers, receive relatively
low salaries compared to faculty members
at other universities. Faculty members
deserve better rewards for their teaching
ability.
In order for the University to remain
competitive with other schools, it is impor-
tant to retain and be able to recruit a strong
faculty. To do this, the University must
ensure that professors and other faculty
members are rewarded in due time for their
efforts. Increased salaries will be more like-
ly to attract good teachers as well as encour-
age current faculty members to stay at the
University.
The rise in average pay increases is a
trend that should continue at the
University. Administrators should consis-
tently reward staff members for their mer-
its. They should also be able to recruit
new professors by offering financial
rewards to prevent valuable faculty from
working at other schools. These improve-
ments can only benefit the students and
the University's academic goals. Pay rais-
es for faculty members are a good way of
using the University's money for the ben-
efit of students, faculty and staff - the
administration must continue the trend of
hiking faculty salaries.
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LETrERS TO THE EDITOR
Door's orders
Nurses should have prescriptive abilities
T he American health care system,
while advancing tremendously over
the past three decades, still needs many
improvements to create a system that pro-
vides high-quality care to great numbers
of people. Although more hospitals and
services have improved, the costs for
medical treatment continue to soar. This
has made health care less accessible to
patients in rural areas or who come from
economically disadvantaged back-
grounds. The state's health-care system
should be reformed to eliminate unneces-
-sary administrative costs and enable resi-
dents to obtain medical services.
The solution could be as easy as a
realignment within the medical hierarchy.
The health care system should allow nurse
practitioners, who already prescribe basic
drugs, to continue to do so without a doc-
tor's approval. This would not only provide
speedier service to patients, but also offer
cheaper health care for many state resi-
dents.
State Sen. John Schwarz (R-Battle
Creek), a physician, wants to begin this
reform. He has introduced a bill, due to
appear before the state legislature in
February, that would allow nurse practi-
tioners to offer the same services they do
now, although without a doctor's
approval.
By allowing nurse practitioners to set
up clinics and provide more comprehen-
sive medical care, supporters believe the
bill could ensure better access to health
care. Additionally, they say the bill could
lower the high costs of seeking doctors'
approval for basic prescriptions. The bill
offers the chance for low-income families
to have access to prescription medicine
wn~tmthe+P. npncp ofmnnn rn nnr to
To quell fears of nurse practitioners
overstepping their qualifications, the
nurse practitioners would have to com-
plete a one-year internship with a doctor
and 60 hours of additional training every
two years.
But some medical associations have
reservations about the bill. They fear
nurse practitioners could begin to over-
step their bounds within the medical pro-
fession and begin to compete with doc-
tors. Dissenting voices, such as those
from the Washtenaw Physicians'
Association, are misguided. Under the
proposal, nurse practitioners would not
provide any more services than they
presently perform on a regular basis. For
example, the bill clearly states that nurse
practitioners would have the authority to
prescribe basic drugs, such as antibiotics,
which many already do. They would not
be able to prescribe morphine, or any
other controlled substances. This concept
has arisen elsewhere across the nation -
16 other state legislatures passed similar
measures.
But nurse practioners will not usurp the
power of medical doctors. The bill would
not change the current division of labor in
medicine - doctors will still be needed for
specialized and more intensive care. It will,
however, allow nurse practitioners to offer
basic medical care at lower costs to
patients. The proposed education require-
ments, in addition to the current standards
of training that include a master's degree,
guarantee that the quality of medicine will
not fall along with the price for care. This
proposed legislation is needed to provide
qualified caregivers to patients in rural
areas or to those who find the present
inernienne Amn-t imnngcihle to over-
Bookstore
alternative is
cost-effective
TO THE DAILY:
I 've read with amusement
the recent letters concerning
Shaman Drum and the inade-
quacy of its physical setup.
Ironically, the response by
Shaman Drum's staff
("Shaman Drum tries to
accommodate students"
1/20/98) does not address this
point at all. Rather the
response notes the independent
bookstore's "commitment to
serving the needs of students
and faculty as opposed to
chain bookstores' interest in
"the bottom lin.°
I suggest that students and
faculty consider an alterna-
tive: Amazon(om
(hup:/ww amazon. cor).
Amazon.Com is not a chain
bookstore as it can only found
on the Web. h offers 2.5 mil-
lion titles. far more than any
Ann Arbor-area bookstore.
Moreover, ordering from
Amazon.Com can save stu-
dents as much 40 percent off
of retail prices. And for facul-
ty, there is an "associates pro-
gram" for referring students
(anyone, actually) to buy
books from Amazon.Com
these "associates" are ubse-
quently reimbursed monetari-
ly based on the number of
referred people who buy
books.
If only faculty would refer
students, through a Website
(which Amazon .Com can
help create with a set of step-
by-step instructions), then
students benefit w~ith more
money in th"ir pockets and
without being inconve-
nienced by long lines. And
the benefits for faculty are
quite obviousI avin used
Amazon.C om as both a stu-
dent and instructor, I've
found its service excellent,
and the savings superior to
any bookstore to which I've
been.
JOHN C. LOPEZ
RAC K HAM
uCOmmUni
should thank
football team
To THE DAILY:
Before the Northwestern
football game, I had to purge
myself cBore the Ohio State
game. I wrote a letter to The
Daily smar-assmg game secu-
rity. For my troubles, the
Department of Public Safety
called my house to harass me
before the game. At the game,
they looked up my seat num-
ber so they' could give a physi-
cal description of me to every
security guard there, and even-
tuallv I got arrested. I also suf-
and yours a reality. Through all
the talking and complaining,
the two seconds, the split title
and the limited pep rally tick-
ets, I think one thing needs to
be said above everything else,
and I'm sure I speak for the
entire University family when I
say it: Thank you. You are my
conquering heroes, and on top
of everything that happened to
me this season, I would love to
be hung, shot and stabbed to
do it all over again.
DAVE CALLAHAM
LSA JUNIOR
Law School
blocks needed
discussion
TO THE DAILY:
The Law School adminis-
tration has put a gag order on
electronic discussion that
does not support its affirma-
tive action policy. On Dec. 3,
in conjunction with the suit
already pending against LSA,
the Center for Individual
Rights filed a lawsuit attack-
ing the Law School's affirma-
tive action admissions poli-
cies. On that same day, the
dean of the Law School,
Jeffrey Lehman, distributed
over e-mail a two-page press
release defending the Law
School's preferential admis-
sions policies to every Law
School student and employee.
On that same day, CIR
made available on its Website
a short press release describ-
ing its reasons for filing the
suit. In order to facilitate a
balanced discussion of the
afirmative action issue, a
student attempted to distrib-
ute a copy of CIR's press
release to the same list used
by the dean to distribute his
own viewpoint. The dean
blocked distribution of the
CIR press release to the Law
School community. Although
asked about alternative meth-
ods of distributing the CIR
release, the dean has not
approved any form of general
distribution.
It is hard to imagine what
has brought the Law School
to this sort of overt censor-
ship. Are the Law School's
policies so unjust that they
cannot withstand the scrutiny
of public discussion? What is
it about the Law School's
admissions program that
demands secrecy? It seems
unlikely that anything but the
most arbitrary of programs
would so outrage the
University community as to
warrant stifling discussion.
So what is the secret of the
affirmative action program at
the Law School? So long as
the administration maintains
its stranglehold on public
forums, we will not know.
Note: I will forward a
copy of the CIR release to
2nvAne who sends me an e-
strong stand supporting the
University's efforts to increase
computer security ("Secure
measures," 1/20/98). You did
an excellent job of describing
how the benefits of improving
security by eliminating weak
passwords far outweigh the
cost of a visit to the
Information Technology
Division's accounts' office. If
all students, faculty and staff
heed the Daily's advice and
change their passwords now,
even that small cost can be
avoided.
For guidelines on how to
change their passwords, users
can check the lTD
Information System at
http: //wwwitd.umich.edu/id
doc/ and search for document
RI 1162, "Choosing and
Changing a Safe and Secure
Uniqname Password."
Thanks again for taking
the lead in encouraging your
readers to take password
security seriously.
THERESA HOFER
UNIVERSITY STAFF
U' athletic
facilities
need repairs
TO THE DAILY:
If I could make a short
film about Michigan athlet-
ics, it would run as follows.
Opening shot: Pasadena
on Jan. 1. The popping of
flashbulbs. Our Victors,
resplendent in maize and
blue, are clenching roses in
their teeth and raising their
fists to he sky. In the back-
ground, thousands upon thou-
sands of delirious fans are
screaming in ecstasy.
Fade out. Scene two:
Palmer field tennis courts,
May '97. Silence. Close-up
of a clump of weeds sticking
out from an ant hill in a large,
crack in the pavement.
Camera follows the crack as
it winds menacingly through
green concrete, crossing a
painted white line here and
there. Zoom out.
The "ping" of contact, then
slow motion of a tennis ball
looping cross-court, with a U
of M student in hot pursuit.
Ball bounces - right in a
crack, oops - and ricochets
sharply to the right. The sur-
prised student changes direc-
tion instantly with a spray of
sweat. But whooosh! - she
loosens her footing on the
huge patch of sand just behind
the baseline. She is falling
now, in ultra slow motion, as
the camera fades out. Lee
Bollinger's voice echoes in the
background, "This is the great-
est university in the world."
Screen goes black. Splat.
Credits roll.
No matter how many
national championships a
school has, you can't call it the
iretet snortin muniversity if
Technology isn '
bad, but the 1
hype is often
overwhelming
Iam not a technophobe. I don't fear
new things or changes to old things.
Like most people out there, I can get
pretty excited about new technolo
The latest gizmos and gadgets; I
I could afford
them. The more
serious advances
in computers,
information and
communicationu
devices spark my
interest and I will
generally take a
moment of my day
to read about it in
the newspaper or PA
online. SERILLA
Having said SERILLA
that, I am really WARFARE
sick of the infor-
mation superhighway, Windows, "Intel
Inside," America Online, and Mac and
IBM hype machines. I don't care
where my cable TV company can take
me with new "broad band" technology.
You've got modems that are so
people actually receive messages y
haven't even sent yet; so what?
Then Microsoft keeps asking me,
"Where do you want to go today?"
Listen Bill, you may have the big
bucks, but that is none of your damned
business, and I am not going to let yo
"Start Me Up" and you sure ain't my
"Hero:'
It's this media barrage that is getting
my goat --I realize all these techn
ogy companies are positioning
dominance in a powerful and growing
marketplace, but leave me alone fot
just one minute. In the end, Gates and
all his little Microserfs are laughing all
the way to the bank, because yahoo
like me are writing how much we hate
Bill on Word for Windows. I'd bet you
anything even Janet Reno runs
Windows 95 (she looks too tough to be
a Mac chick).
Really, it's not the technologies,$
even the companies that pound us with
endless commercials, that are at fault,
They may spawn the hype, but it's
everyone else, especially the media,
who keeps feeding this stupid frenzy.
I think that everyone can agree thai
the developments in computer and
information technology are pretty
astounding and that they seem to hav
virtually unlimited potential. But
far as Ilam concerned, it is, fore
most part, untapped potential.
The Internet is a great tool for doing
research - when you can find you
way through the cybersludge of misin-
formation and bad links. Still; it's rela-
tively efficient and you can get quite a
bit of information in a relatively sho
amount of time. Obviously, the
Internet will continue to develop and
mesh with other media channels (p
sumably television) and its power
influence will grow with its useful-
ness.
But even with more than 10 million
Americans tapped into America On-
line and several million more using
otheraservice providers, Internet user
are a small, economically powerful
minority. Despite all the talk about th
Web being a marketplace of free-flow
ing ideas and fostering a democratic
cyberworld, the Internet is still
plaything of an economic elite
can afford computers. Even as access
to information technology becomes
cheaper. I still think that people really
don't care enough or haveenough tim
to exploit the technical possibilities.
The ideal of the Internet that has beer
entered into our national consciousness
was forged by computer geeks. While
their enthusiasm in Java and 3-D2
Websites is unparalleled, their s
skills haven't matured much since their
Advanced Dungeons and Dragons Clut
elected the guy with the Mr. Spock shin
to be Grand Dungeon Master for life
way back in '88 (I know we all remem-
ber where we were that day).
The whole thing just seems to lack
any semblance of human social skill
- and it's supposed to be about com-
munication and bringing people
together. Take e-mail - I don't rea
care that much if people have J
given up on punctuation, capitalizatior
and spelling, but the average e-mail
message must be about four lines. You
can't say very much in four lines and
don't try to sell me anything about
streamlining communication.
"hi bob - write me :) pat;" does not
constitute anything worth anyone's
time.
While e-mail is great for keepin
touch over long distances, within b
nesses and institutions it is generally
used to avoid contact with others.
have known people who will e-mail
the person in the next office to avoic
talking to him or her. It's much easie