4 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, January 28, 1998 a:je£icgni~ 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 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 dfinrmative steps 'U' should find solutions to negative atmosphere " NOTABLE QUOTABLE, 'This report shows a shocking resolve to allow 'the only highly selective university in the state' to become a segregated institution.' - Provost Nancy Cantor speaking to the press regarding the University's admis- sions policies and the recent report on the use ofrace as a factor in admissions MAT TW IM S ATT CK C 9 MPLY A OF ____'BBAEY - This cartoon originally ran in the Sept. 14, 1995 edition of the Daily. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR D ue to the two lawsuits challenging the University and the Law School's admissions policies, debate about affirma- tive action has been going strong for the past few months. But one aspect of the con- troversy, which has just recently come to light, is the effect the lawsuits are having on the University's minority students. Because the lawsuits target the University's use of race as a factor in admissions, some minori- ties feel their place at the University is being questioned. The University needs to quickly address this problem. While the lawsuits primarily affect future students, current students may feel the effects of the negative reactions toward affirmative action throughout cam- pus. Although the University has acted well recently in addressing minority students' concerns, it should continue to foster a pos- itive atmosphere for minority students who are facing unfair stigmas due to the race- based debates on campus. The main difficulty that minority stu- dents face is the ignorant belief, held by some, that they gained admittance to the University only because of their minority status. But admissions do not work that way - race is only one of many factors that help to determine whether or not a student is admitted; it does not play the primary role in admissions decisions. Nobody gets into the University on the basis of race alone - minority students must not be pressured to justify their admission to others. The University has been spending a great deal of time and effort promoting the future of diversity among the student body. These efforts are completely justified - the University community must continue to be Who's I Policy will not To many, the Greek system represents social opportunities and a chance to make friends. Parties are often part of the Greek system's socialization. A recent trend among fraternities and sororities - both at the local and national level - is to switch frfom communal alcohol sources to requir- ing that everyone bring their own drinks to parties. Last week, all but one of the Uiversity campus's fraternities signed the nterfraternity Council's new "bring your own beverage" policy, requiring that they only sponsor parties without kegs and open bats. While IFC has good intentions with th- policy, it does not adequately address the root of the underage drinking problems and could prove ineffective. Last December, nine sororities signed a similar contract at the request of the Panhellic Association. The association's policy requires that when sororities hold parties with other fraternities, they both abide by the BYOB rule. IFC's policy does not restrict the fraternities in this way, stat- ing only that fraternities holding parties will not supply alcohol. Many fraternities are already required by their national headquarters to adhere to BYOB party policies. When fraternities hand out flyers for open parties, they almost invariably have "BYOB" stamped strategi- cally in the corners. But these parties often have a common alcohol source regardless of the rule. IFC's policy faces a similar problem. Without an effective mechanism to punish offending fraternities, the policy will not have a significant impact. If fraternities that violate the policy are extricated from Greek social events or are threatened with some Thou shalt not covet thy 0 a comprised of a diverse population. But it is also necessary to address the situation that minority students are facing today. University President Lee Bollinger asked the faculty and staff to think of possible solutions to this growing concern among minority students. This is the kind of step that is necessary to make sure that the con- troversy surrounding affirmative action does not prove detrimental to students at the University now. Of course, this does not imply that debate over affirmative action is harmful. As long as debates try to educate those who do not fully understand what affirmative action is and how it works and the miscon- ceptions and stereotypes are kept out, open debate is a good thing. The University should promote an open dialogue between students to prevent negativity from dividing campus. It is not the debate itself that creates a potentially hostile climate for some minori- ty students - it is the misconceptions regarding the University's admissions poli- cies and the way affirmative action works. More specifically, the negative climate felt by minority students is based upon the com- mon, yet completely false belief that every minority student gained access to the University only because of their race. It is positive that the University is begin- ning to take some steps to keep the anti- affirmative action suits from forcing nega- tive repercussions on minority students cur- rently at the University. The University should continue working to address minori- ty issues to ensure that diversity works well in the present, as well as making sure it con- tinues in the future. ddress problem will later be mailed to national headquarters has no binding effect on the fraternities. As it stands, the policy is ineffective. Even if fraternities do stop supplying kegs, it will probably not have the desired effect. Since the policy does not prohibit minors from drinking outright, it is unlikely that the number of people using alcohol will decline significantly. Further, minors will probably be able to find someone to buy alcohol for them - negating any intent to loosen underage drinking. The policy goes only part of the way to affecting alcohol con- sumption at fraternity parties. In order to truly be effective, the ban would have to be outright. This policy is intended, in part, to relin- quish blame from any fraternity should something happen to a non-Greek member at a fraternity-sponsored party. Situations like this have happened in the past and while IFC is determined to protect all local chapters at the University from facing seri- ous sanctions either from the University or national headquarters, this policy is a Band- Aid and not a cure. Underage drinking will continue and non-members of the Greek system will still attend fraternity parties. IFC deserves recognition for pushing this policy, however useless, on fraternities. But instead of making this token gesture, it should establish a stronger set of guidelines that could actually effect change. The pre- sent policy will not only cause minimal changes in the number of underage drinkers at fraternity parties, and without stricter enforcement, it will likely not affect the presence of kegs and other sources of alco- hol. The policy is a step in the right direc- tion, but it will take several more leaps Oversight implies 'editorial bias' TO THE DAILY: After reading the article "Pro-life pioneer discusses abortion," (1/23/98) regarding Mildred Jefferson's speech, I noticed that there has been no Daily coverage of Marge Piercy's visit to campus, nor of the other events celebrating the 25th anniversary of Roe v. Wade (except a small mention of last Thursday's rally). Piercy, a University alumna, award-winning poet and nov- elist, is no more qualified in her opinion than Miss Jefferson but I suspect that a great number of students would have liked to have known she was coming. Piercy is admired by many students on this campus, not simply for her activism but for her sheer genius. (Perhaps a mention in last Thursday's "The Calendar" would have been nice). I think the Daily has been guilty of a gross oversight, which could be interpreted as editorial bias. ANNA PHILLIPS LSA SOPHOMORE Campus advertising is inadequate TO THE DAILY: Alpha Chi Sigma is a pro- fessional coed chemical sci- ences fraternity. In an effort to increase attendance at our events, we turned to the Student Organization Resource Center. After arriving, I was told that all the prime Diag boards had been raffled off the previous day and my only options were to hang a banner in the trees and place flyers in campus buses for a fee of $10. The first time that I visited the SORC, I was informed that while the service of putting a banner in the Diag was free, I would have to pay for the materials involved. This seemed like a reasonable mat- ter until I realized that they demanded that I use special banner material and weather- resistant paints that were only available through the SORC. Seeking to save my orga- nization money, I opted for the SORC banner and sought out my own paints, which cost roughly $55. Once painted, I brought my banner and flyers into the office and was informed for the first time that I was required to place special metallic braces in the corners ($7.50), purchase special placing these in the buses, which came to roughly $30 - triple the original cost. Finally, I asked if this banner could be placed within some proximity to the Chemistry Building and I was flatly told that it couldn't. I spent the next half hour untanglng rope and tying it onto the banner while the employee played Monopoly on the office computer. My irritation with this event is two-fold. First: The organization of the SORC is perhaps the epitome of the bureaucratic nightmare that is the University. Not only were hidden cost strategies imple- mented but the staff was incredibly unhelpful and despite the ridiculous price that I paid, I had to do half of the work myself. My organi- zation cannot afford to spend $67.50 on a banner that no chemistry student will see because it is not near the building. Under normal circum- stances, I would chalk this up to a learning experience and implore my friends of the ridiculous nature of the SORC and advise them to use any alternate organiza- tion. Alas, the SORC maintains a monopoly on Diag board space, tree banners and bus signs, and I have no choice but to submit to the extortive practices of the SORC the next time I need to advertise effectively on this campus. ADARSH PANDIT LSA SENIOR Coverage of homeless was 'phenomenal' TO THE DAILY: Kudos to Reilly Brennan and Jason Stoffer for their Friday Focus,"Things fell apart" (1/23/98). Their arti- cle was one of the best writ- ten and poignant that I have ever read in the Daily. The reporting was both balanced and deep, and the quality of detail was phenomenal. The problem of homelessness is something that many University students, with varying degrees of privi- lege, either actively or pas- sively ignore when encoun- tered in the city of Ann Arbor. I think that Brennan and Stoffer have effectively put real, human faces on the huddled shapes that we glanceat while walking past Taco Bell. TREVOR BOYER LSA SOPHOMORE i A Iivr r-+ra yo schizophrenic when mental examinations proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is mentally sound. Such ridiculous misinformation and bias should have no place in real journalism. ANDREW DEMPZ LSA SENIOR Abortion is not the only option To THE DAILY: During the days surrond- ing the 25th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, I have been part of arguments about the sub- ject of abortion. Personally, I would have to declare myself pro-choice because I hold no right to make such a personal decision for another person - especially when it comes to abortion. Since I am a man, I could never encounter the emotional and physical stress that would accompany a pregnancy or related abor- tion. But, to say that, as a man, I am unable to com- ment is a fallacy. I think abortion is wrong in most cases and should be used as a last resort in specific cases - those being health threats to the fetus or mother. The most common erro- neous theme that I found through many of these argu- ments was a quote similar to this: "America has to have legal abortions, because what about all those people who get raped, or all the times that the mother might die, or the baby could be born retarded or stillborn?" This is where I find the biggest problem with the abortion debate today. This tells us much about the state of abortion in the United States at this time. It is an excuse to remain ignorant about the status quo of today's push for awareness about pregnancy and abortions. It is a problem much larger than abortion. It is a halogen light illuminating our general apa- thy and lack of accountability so prevalent in today's society. There are other options to having an abortion, such as adoption and the various sup- port and aid groups. Personally, I know two sets of couples that waited about two years to adopt a baby. Some of this time was due to "red tape" butthe majority was due to the lack of avail- able babies and agencies. People simply aren't exercis- ing the alternative options that are out there. The next time readers are in a discussion about abortion with friends or even at a rally somewhere on campus, and neighbor's intern f Watergate had a positive conse- quence, it was to show that Americans still have the capacity for moral outrage. The mental image of a trollish, hunchbacked Nixon run- ning toward a waiting helicopter with dozens of torch-wie din "Frankenstein extras behind him is a beautiful thing, and a good lesson for all those who have come to follow. Every once in a while in a democ- racy, it's a good thing to have the electorate rise up and give the MILLER realpolitik pimp- ;MILLER smack to a truly MILLER odious, elected ON TAP official. The underlying message being: "Don't jerk us around. We can fix your behind double quick if we want to. Watch yourself." So you can imagine what a disap- pointing week this has been for me. Nobody wanted to play my reindeeW games, except other journalists; and believe me, other journalists usually are no fun at all. All of the "outrage" about the alleged affair with former Wite House intern Ms. Lewinsky is taking place on the other side of the televi- sion screen - in the studios, not the living rooms. I'll admit to a personal level of guilt here, in that I didn't give th "intern crisis" that much credence until every network and news artery jumped on the story as if it was about a half-wit, morally degenerate rich boy in a closed casket, ski poles akimbo. Oops. Pay attention, because this sort of thing almost never happens. The news media is right and the public is wrong. It's a rarity, I know. I'm as shocked A you are. Our president is under very serious suspicion of committing a premedi- tated felony, that is to say it's possi- ble that he perjured himself during the Paula Jones deposition. In most polls, the portion of people who think he lied, or at least screwed around, sometimes hovers near 70 percent. The portion of people who belie* that he should be impeached, even i more conclusive evidence is discov- ered, usually doesn't break 50 per- cent. There's an element of basic civics here. Saying you don't think the president should be impeached if he's suspected of committing a felony is like saying you don't believe the sun is a ball of hot gases or you don't believe beer is ma with hops. It's a question of definitions. The Constitution tells us what is or is not an impeachable offense, not a damned opinion poll. Oh, we're just all so jaded and cool, aren't we? The president may be a felon and an adulterer? Hmph, so? Everybody does it. Like, I'm so sure. Get with it, man. This is the '90s or like, something. Get with th irony, dude. It's not cool to have spine and a conscience. It took the entire national news media hitting us for days on end with this story before we finally said, "Hey, some- thing important seems to be going on here. Maybe I should drop my uber- hipster, post-O.J. morality and real- ize that there are some things that are still wrong and guilty people have to be tried and punished!" Folks, all kidding and columni hyperbole aside, if we lose the abili- ty to be outraged that the president may have committed a jailable offense while in office, or at least the desire to find the truth and mete out just punishment if necessary, it's over. The system has broken down beyond repair. There's no point in carrying on a democracy any more without these things. We might 14 well start shopping around for affordable juntas and working on our Canadian visas. Our government depends on our officials being held as responsible for their actions as the rest of us. The worst part about all of this is that they know we don't care. That's why they win all the time. That's why Nixon didn't go to jail, Charle Keating wasn't hung by his o entrails, and Reagan won't be buried like the cruel, incompetent -old butcher he was. Because they know we don't care. The president could spendtthe ast 10 minutes of the State of the Union