4 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, February 6, 1998 c e artIC4igttit tjJU 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 'I don't see affirmative action as artificial, I se it as an important aspect of what we do.' - Ann Arbor Pioneer High School Principal Bob Galardi, discussing the increasing interest in affirmative action policies among high school students YUKI KUNIYUKI GROUND ZERO ONE FtL4 OVER THE C HICk'EN'S Coop 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 Take the lead Faculty should encourage departmental clubs //I COME JAA''s~ o T#/' F W hile many University undergraduate students develop relationships with professors according to whether or not they attend weekly lectures, students who are involved with department clubs often bene- fit from closer relations. On Monday, proof of this was released during an LSA faculty meeting. The Joint Faculty-Student Policy Committee shared the results of a year-long study of University undergraduate student department clubs that claimed students can benefit from increased faculty involvement in the organizations. University faculty should take notice of these results and initi- ate more involvement with these groups which are beneficial to both students and the professors involved. The benefits and opportunities that 'department clubs offer students are numer- ous. The size and time constraints of University faculty and the complexity of course scheduling prohibit many students from taking classes with prominent profes- sors within their concentration department. Department clubs offer the opportunity for undergraduate students to learn from pro- fessors with whom they are not acquainted. The relationships students and faculty form are on a more personal level than tradition- al student-teacher relationships. Undergraduates can also take advantage of scheduling advice from professors who actually teach the courses - advice that will likely surpass that given by normal aca- demic advisers. The benefits of departmental clubs are not limited to students - faculty members can gain from the experience as well. In addition to the opportunity to better acquaint themselves with those students who may have previously been a small fig- ure at the back of a lecture hall, clubs offer professors a more tangible opportunity to search out prospective student assistants. Many professors at the University are in need of research assistants and prefer to individually select students to fill these positions. Departmental clubs are an excel- lent resource for professors to find dedicat- ed students interested in and willing to help with their research. In addition to the report's claim of insufficient support and leadership from faculty members, undergraduate depart- ment clubs also suffer from inadequate funding and office space. In lieu of charg- ing high dues - a practice that discour- ages students from joining these benefi- cial and supportive organizations - or spending countless hours preparing fundraisers to maintain self-sufficiency, the committe recommendeed that each department allot at least $200 for its undergraduate club. Considering the ben- efits these organizations offer to both stu- dents and faculty, this minor request for funds should be generously fulfilled by departments. Undergraduate student department clubs have the potential to create an indi- vidual niche for each student within the University's academic community. At such a large university, students often feel as though they are merely a number. Undergraduate clubs offer personal yet professional relationships between stu- dents and professors. Through the organi- zations students can be transformed into scholars, fulfilling the essence and ideal of the University. But potential scholars are being deprived of this opportunity by a lack of funding and interest from the very faculty members who could provide inspiration to University students. M FzUE7C j o Asrap fl" 5, f;vA4 ,+ Ebola SSE & ''*3 A P Arcs LETTERS TO THE EDITOR A ugmenting the arts Congress should approve NEA funding increase A midst the recent frenzy in Washington. D.C., President Clinton unveiled his budget proposal on Monday. While announcing greater spending for teachers, police and federal employees, the president also unveiled a funding increase for the National Endowment for the Arts. Conservative outcry over certain artistic projects made the NEA one of the Republicans' strategic opponents in their 1994 "Contract with America," resulting in significant appropriation drops. Once again, Republican leaders quickly declared their opposition to the proposed increase for the agency from $98 to $136 million in favor of tax breaks. But Congress ought to support this effort by Clinton - rejuve- nating the NEA will strengthen the nation's artistic fibre and give aspiring individuals and programs the opportunity to reach their goals. The Republican party's leadership has, on numerous occasions, scaled back feder- al spending since its ascension to power in 1994. They specifically targeted the Public Broadcasting System, National Public Radio and the NEA. The Republican Congress claimed a better government was a smaller government. But denying funding for programs that enhance the public's understanding of current events, facilitate national discussions and provide quality entertainment is not a good way to improve the government's budget. Additionally, some conservatives' reasons for these cuts are narrow-minded reactions to controver- sial works of art that received money from the NEA. endeavor. But only the creator of art may determine how to communicate an expression - politicians have no place denying funding to possibly controversial art forms. The government should support cul- tural and intellectual development. With this proposal, Clinton shows his support for the arts and his understanding that they are critical. His proposal, while ask- ing for just a slight increase in military spending, shifts away from the Cold War mentality toward the new challenges that confront the nation. One of these challenges is to the nation's unity, which depends on a sense of commu- nity and lively discussion for support. By guaranteeing funding for the arts, the pro- posed budget would counter tendencies toward social stratification and division. Technological developments of the last cen- tury have almost eliminated a sense of local community and belonging. Although these changes certainly improve the standard of living in the United States, the nation urgently needs supplementary means of communication, expression and social con- tact. The National Endowment for the Arts addresses this need. Additionally, the University community would consider- ably benefit from increased federal spending on the arts, as the endowment often grants money for creative projects across campus and in the Ann Arbor com- munity. The funding increase will improve the quality of life for individual citizens nationwide, Congress should Letter ommitted Iraqi faults To THE DAILY: This is written to rebuff some claims made by Aaron Stark in his recent letter to the editor ("Article Omitted Iraqi Suffering," 2/4/98). Stark described the horri- ble things that he believes are happening to the Iraqi people as a result of U.S. leadership in the Gulf War when in fact many nations of the world united to employ force to evict Saddam Hussein from Kuwait. Although it is unfor- tunate the Iraqi people are suffering, this is not due to a concerted effort by the United States (or the United Nations) to cause pain to the citizens of Iraq. The situation in Iraq is caused by one man, Saddam, who cares more about building lavish palaces than about the welfare of his people. I ask Stark why Saddam has more than a dozen palaces around the country while "more than one million people - more than 500,000 of whom are women and children - have died from starvation and dis- ease as a direct consequence" of sanctions against Iraq. If Iraqi's beloved leader wanted to end the suffering of his people then he would comply with U.N. resolutions and allow U.N. inspectors to ensure that weapons of mass destruction are not in his pos- session and will not be built in the future. It is Saddam's choice, not an effort by the U.S. government, to oppress the Iraqi citizens. Stark thenclaims that during the Gulf War, the United States "deliberately destroyed the civilian infra- structure of Iraq." Perhaps he got his information from Saddam's weekly newsletter. This is entirely incorrect. The United States had no quarrel with the Iraqi people and in fact, cancelled bombing mis- sions because they were too near civilian centers. It's all a question of proportionality and military necessity. The United States had no reason to and wasn't going to strike civilian targets because it wasn't necessary to do so (the mission was nearing completion before the ground assaultbegan). Perhaps Stark would be enlightened by an example of U.S. restraint when it came to civilian targets in Iraq: Saddam purposely parked two Mig-21 fighters near a religious center, daring the United States to bomb these fighters on the ground and risk hitting a cultural site, thereby turning world opin- ion against the United States. U.S. military strategists decided to leave the fighters ,..A .tf na m ntn further suffering within his nation. The United States can't help it if he doesn't care. AARON BROOKS ENGINEERING SENIOR Daily should be ashamed of errors TO THE DAILY: The Daily should be ashamed, and Mike Wallace would surely be embarrassed, to have the caption under his photo have three spelling errors on the front page of the Feb. 3 Daily. With the availability of spellcheck, there is no excuse to have spelling mistakes anywhere in the paper, but it should be a newspaper's goal to have its front page perfect. I hope "reknowned" "correspon- dant" Mike Wallace doesn't even see the Feb. 3 Daily, reporting his appearance at the "Leauge," for he may decide the Daily is unworthy of his continued support. DAVID PEARL UNIVERSITY STAFF Coverage of forum was incomplete TO THE DAILY: The coverage of the "Diversity and the News" forum was a model of bad journalism ("Journalistsbdraw crowd at 'U,"' 2/3/98). Although the Daily described the protest of locked-out Detroit News and Free Press workers, it said nothing about why they were there or what they were protesting. For more than two years, newspa- per reporters, printers, distri- bution managers, copy edi- tors and typographers have been on strike against unfair labor practices at these news- papers. The National Labor RelationsBoard ruled last year that the newspapers had broken federal labor laws by replacing these workers - many with more than 20 years seniority - with other workers, hired in some cases for half of the wage of the people they replaced. The newspapers have appealed this ruling to a federal court, dragging the case on for years. Anyone who knows the details of this strike would find both the newspapers' actions and their coverage of the strike sickening. Both newspapers have declined in Center's calculations are feasible To THE DAILY: The Daily recently pub- lished a letter attacking the legitimacy of the claim by the Center for Equal Opportunity that white appli- cants to U of M are 174- times less likely to be admit- ted than their African American counterparts with equivalent grades, test scores and high school class rank- ings ("CEO's study was pseudo-scientific'," 2/3/98). Although I agree with the author that deciding which applicants are qualified clear- ly goes beyond just evaluat- ing test scores and GPAs, I must point out to the author and to all Daily readers that an odds ratio of 174 is not, statistically speaking, ridicu- lous. To understand this issue, one must differentiate the probability of an event occurring and the odds of it occurring. For example, if the probability of an event occurring is 0.5 then the odds of the event occurring are one in two (that is, the event is just as likely to occur as not to occur). The formula for the odds of an event occurring is probabili- ty of the event / (1 - proba- blity of the event). Furthermore, an odds ratio is not the ratio of two probabil- ities but the ratio of two odds. Therefore, if the proba- bility of an event was 5 per- cent for one person and 95 percent for another person, the odds ratio would not be 0.95/ 0.05 (or 19,) but instead (0.95 / I - 0.95)/(0.05 / 1 - 0.05) which equals 361. Again, I am not bringing this to readers' attention in hopes of supporting the results of the study by the CEO. I simply want to point out that the finding of an odds ratio of 174 is not a rea- son to dismiss the study as "pseudo-scientific." BRUNO DIGIOVINE MEDICAL SCHOOL President deserves privacy TO THE DAILY: Everyone, as a U.S. citi- zen, has every right to say whatever they choose about whomever they choose. But I would like to point out that despite what President Clinton's opposition and television journalists might The future can be scary, so liv in the now For many people, college becom something beyond simple educ tion. Certainly college should be mo than training for a nine-to-five job a attending good parties on the weeke College life should even transcen intellectual fulfillment of adva study and the cru- cial transitions from parents' homes to dormitory to the real world. Higher education is the convergence of a lot of resources - time, money, intel- lect and, more often than not, a little hard work. I gues SERILL the message this: SFRILL walk away with WARA more than a slip of paper that says you bought a degree I would never question that pop want to get more out of college than diploma, but sometimes the focus g misplaced. Sometimes the procss self-discovery is nothing more planned route. "You know I'm:ona frosh, I don't know what I want toi with my life, but I figure I'll get degree in biochemistry, go to medic school, get married, have a son hen daughter, buy a timesharecondo in t Florida Keys and then decide what want to do with my life' That isn't fin ing yourself, it's a roadmap for the ne 20 years, complete with every rest st picked out in advance. Culturally speaking, Americanss individuality. While many moralists w claim that this causes social breakdow I think they are wrong. If you are happy with yourself, it is hard to much else than try to better yourself. other words, you don't have much ti to donate to the betterment of socie when you can't get out of bed in t morning. So many of us use the fre doms college life provides to figur who we want to be for the rest o lives and what will make us comple people. Many turn to spiritual answe some of us try to find ourselves in o relationships with others, and ma more find contentment in the prospe of paychecks that close in on six fi ures. But again, it seems to me that we ha preconceptions about what findi yourself means and how you ca. about it. What are the appropriate t Read the work of dead German philos phers, preferably ones that seem chro ically angry and depressed, or poetry romantics from the 19th Century at beatniks from the '50s (either way, r going to require purchasing a bla turtleneck). Backpack through Europe, Asia the subcontinent, never spending mon on a night in a comfortable be almost impossible to find yours good night's sleep. Finally, move to a commune, live monastic life and find truth by combi ing eastern mysticism's greatest hits a eating granola. Through this metho you are much more likely to find an e Grateful Dead roadie instead of you self. Since the '60s, Americans seem search for individuality in the sa cookie-cutter fashions; quite simr everyone is rebelling, then it represn the status quo and not a revolution. also seems that for all our talk of eiE open to different ideas, we are simp close-minded to possibilities, that f lack ofa better term, simply aren't co We want to learn from sources th~ seem daring, exotic and maybe just o kilter enough to be dangerous. We al become so focused on looking ahead what we will be that we can forge we are now and what brought us to th moment. I am reflective in part because n Great Grandmother passed away th week, losing a close family m-embi makes you take stock of who and wh you are. I feel lucky to have had her my life for more than 20 years and 1 have had a closer relationship with r Great Grandma than most people ha with their grandparents or any~ older family members. She ha mind, her bountiful sense of humor ar a lot of passion to live right up into h4 final weeks - she never made a headlines, but she affected countle~ people with her warmth, wisdom ar open mind. Grandma is a part of the person I ai today, and that is something I coul never find in a book, a job or an insti tion. We shared more than a lo 1 cheap Mexican food and the belie a really good pie might qualify as its o% food group. She was a key ingredient keeping four generations of a famil together and was a testament to tt value of surrounding yourself with t