. . 4 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, January 9, 1998 ig e ll ck Ygtttt J)U7[ 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 Tainted celebration Ticket lottery prevents fans' participation NOTABLE QUOTABLE 'For how I do my job, having a seat at the table doesn't really change the way I work ... the change comes in the way the office is perceived.' - Interim General Counsel Elizabeth Barry on University President Bollinger invitation to join the executive officers at the University Board of Regents 'table YU Kl KUNIYUKI 15IC1VJ61 TH1- L. -uNC , AP I A sohuha 4- o one- o- 1ire's m.. MCH 0 , p \VIET TRiS T AHEElOI CH1IAIPJO4SHIPP LETTERS TO THE EDITOR or the first time in 50 years, the F University community is celebrating a football team returning to Ann Arbor with a national championship title. Many students, faculty and staff want to celebrate Michigan's victory in the Rose Bowl. In response, the University arranged a pep rally on Sunday with the football players, coaches and the marching band. But a flawed mechanism for distributing tickets to the rally will deny hordes of student fans the ability to attend the event. The Athletic Department has done its fans a disservice by denying many access to something in which the entire campus should take part. But this is not the first time the Athletic Department has solved logistical problems by cutting into student space. At the begin- ning of the football season, many first-year students found themselves with split-season tickets - preventing them from attending home games other ticket holders saw. This band-aid tactic did not solve the underlying p-oblem but penalized first-year students. The rally will be held in Crisler Arena. Since the arena holds only 13,000 people, student seating is limited to 7,000. Rather than exploring the possibilities of a rally in Michigan Stadium or another venue, the Athletic Department limited student access to the rally by holding it in such a small forum. To determine which students can attend the event, the Athletic Department held a lottery between all student season-ticket holders. Students can check the Web site http://www.umich.edu/~mgoblue/peprally to determine whether they will receive tick- ets. On Saturday morning, the department will distribute unclaimed tickets at Cliff Keen Arena. The lottery is fundamentally flawed, as it fails to take into account which students actually have an interest in attending the rally. Some students often sell their tickets and might not care as much as others about the football team's success. Further, some students who could not afford season tickets may want to go to the rally - but since only ticket holders even had a chance in the lot- tery, their lack of funds will prevent them from celebrating with other student fans. Senior Associate Athletic Director 'Keith Molin said that the lottery is the only way to distribute tickets to students. But for the Rose Bowl, the department handled ticket distribution efficiently - having all inter- ested students wait in line to purchase tick- ets. Instead of continuing with this system, the department adopted a mechanism that would deny tickets to many students while supplying them to some who may not want them. As a result of the Athletic Department's faulty system, many hard-core Michigan football fans will not be able to celebrate with their fellow students on Sunday. Department officials stated the possibility of holding a parade to allow all students the chance to celebrate the victory. The University should go through with this plan to make sure that all student fans have a chance to cheer for the football team. The victory belongs to the entire University community - everyone should have the chance to celebrate. Affirmative Family feuds New court personalizes family lawsuits n Jan. 1, the beginning of a new year was not the only cause for celebration. "Acoss Michigan, counties geared up for a new division of the circuit court system - one that places all domestic disputes into one arena. As of the first of the year, a "one judge, one family" doctrine will apply in a new branch of circuit court: the family divi- sion. During a time of frequent divorce, bit- ter child custody cases and feverish alimo- ny suits, the family division is a welcome change and a necessary effort toward plac- ing families first. The primary feature of the division puts most domestic cases stemming from one family into the hands of a single judge. Those cases can include divorce, custody, alimony, child support, adoption and cases involving juveniles, among other domestic matters. This represents a major change from the old system in which these kinds of cases were divided between circuit and pro- bate courts and heard by various judges. By changing the system, all family cases are brought together into one court and ideally, in front of one judge. Not only will this quicken the judicial process, but it will also allow private family matters to remain pri- vate. The state's new family court promises more personalized and timely service. Under this family division, judges are able to make more informed decisions to better serve the family involved. Furthermore, judges within the family division practice in a specialized field and therefore become more knowledgeable about family-related issues. As a result, cases will become personalized and judges can be more sympathetic and knowledgeable of the intricate workings of family matters. In addi- tion. referrals to branches of the state's Youth parenting, mentoring and skill-building ser- vices, among others, and has proven to aid children as well as adults who are involved in divorce or other troublesome domestic issue. Even more, having all family matters within one court will provide an opportunity for judges to better detect and prevent poten- tial delinquency of children who are involved in divorce. Divorce, custody and child delinquency cases are often related. Many of them rise out of dysfunctional fam- ily environments - the child's delinquency is often related to issues at home. The new court presents all family matters in front of one judge who can then decide the best course of action for the family as a unit - not simply decide what is best for a parent or child at any given time. In addition, the family court aims to decrease conflicting verdicts between circuit and probate court cases. Under the old sys- tem, a family could face a delinquency and a name change in probate court, while also facing a divorce in circuit court. Not only could conflicting verdicts exist, but the pos- sible root of the problem - the family - could never be addressed. A complete merg- er of the two courts cannot go into effect without an amendment to the state's consti- tution - the Michigan Supreme Court rec- ommended passage of such an amendment. Until then, the family court division will have to suffice. Logistical problems do exist, such as transferring databases, the collection of files between circuit and probate courts, and the merging of two separate buildings into one court, but optimism abounds. The family is placed first within this new system and the welfare of all involved is considered fore- most. Judges. families and the judicial sys- action should be phased out gradually TO THE DAILY: Like many other students at the University, I've been reading with great interest the argumentsgand latest news regarding affirmative action and our admissions policies. While the people who have taken either side of the issue have offered many good points, I feel that most people have lost sight of the goals and purpose of affirma- tive action. Instead of pointing out possible solutions or ways to improve the current system and our society the discus- sion has focused on its moral or ethical validity and specific details. Regardless of where you stand on the issue, most people will agree with the following two points: Diversity at the University is a good thing, and minority groups have been discriminated against in the past. In an ideal world, there would be no such thing as discrimination or racism, and diversity at the University would happen automatically without any special interven- tion regarding admissions policies. Obviously, we don't live in an ideal world, but that doesn't mean we should- n't work toward one. We must begin with the end in mind. I propose that the current system of affirmative action should be phased out over a 50-year time period, and that the two grids the University uses for admission decisions should merge into each other at a rate of 2 percent every year. A 50-year timeline would avoid many of the problems now faced by schools that have completely abolished affirmative action (homoge- nous student bodies and tense racial atmospheres), and allow enough time for society to fix the problems that necessitate the need for it (racism, poor education sys- tems at all levels before col- lege, etc.). Since the 50-year time period is approximately the length of two generations, this would be more than sufficient time to "level the playing field" and allow certain ethnicities to "catch up" It would give the University time to figure out what "diversity" really means and to find produc- tive mechanisms for the sharing of ideas and cul- tures. Finally, solutions to problems of racism and poor education systems solutions. Let's as a commu- nity, work toward the ideals we all share. MATTHEW WANG ENGINEERING SENIOR Nebraska did not deserve No. I ranking TO THE DAILY: Only at Michigan would some students declare that they believe the "split" championship to be fair. I can't believe that any Wolverine would say that (let alone being quoted in the Daily as saying so). If U of M played teams like the Akron Zips (I lived in Akron; trust me, they're nothing more than a trumped-up high school team), we'd have huge victo- ry margins as well each game. U of M fans should take solace in the fact that Nebraska had to beg at the altar of Michigan to scrounge up four points to win a poll only in existence for 7 years while U of M smashed Nebraska in the all- important Associated Press poll. They won the coaches poll by one first-place vote. So any Nebraska fan who tries to tell you that none of those coaches voted for Nebraska out of sympathy for Coach Osborne is delu- sional. Even a former coach (but current idiot), ESPN's Lee Corso, said on national television in response to the coaches poll, "I'm not happy for the Nebraska players, I'm happy for Tom Osborne." That should give you an idea of where those coaches' minds were during the vote. U of M should be No. I and Nebraska should be No. 2. They can keep the trophy from Sears; we know who the better team is. MARK FLETCHER UNIVERSITY ALUMNUS Daily sports coverage is excessive TO THE DAILY: As a Residential College and Law School graduate, I look forward each day to reading the Daily Online. I am firmly convinced that the Daily is one of the preemi- nent student publications in the country. Nevertheless, I am dis- turbed by the disproportionate attention the Daily's homepage dedicates to athletics at When you dedicate so much attention to sports, you perpetuate this phenomenon. Where is your homepage cov- erage of our Rhodes Scholar winner this year? Where is your homepage coverage of other academic achievements? I write this letter to the Daily not to grind an ax, but instead out of concern for the sort of label the Daily places on the University. Is this the sort of image for which you want to be recognized? MATTHEW HAYEK UNIVERSITY ALUMNUS Daily 'blurb' failed to reflect GSI's contributions TO THE DAILY: I was saddened by your weak coverage of the passing of sociology graduate student instructor Daniel Glos. Not only did the tiny page 3 blurb serve as an injustice, it seems as though you completely forgot about the actual man who Glos was and the way he contributed to the University. It is unfortunate that for the readers of the Daily, he will be remembered simply as a man who taught a sociology class who did not seem to have any problems, rather than an active member of the Graduate Educators' Organization and a great sup- porter of affirmative action policies at the University. SARAH THANKACHAN LSA SOPHOMORE Gilbert and Sullivan's style escaped Ida' reviewer TO THE DAILY: I was extremely disap- pointed with Gerard Cohen- Vrignaud's critique of the production of "Princess Ida" ("'Ida"s slow plot, dull music fail to captivate," 12/8/97). Cohen-Vrignaud clearly does not understand the funda- mental aspects of a Gilbert and Sullivan Operetta. He writes, "Leap ... sounds as if she is singing opera rather than campy songs." Cohen fails to under- stand that an operetta is in fact an opera, the only differ- ence being that it is sung in English and there is dialogue. The two leads represent the outstanding reputation of the Fans beware whiners can ruin a unique sports eventfor all Right now, I am sure Ann Arbor is still buzzing with thousands of anecdotes about trips to Los Angeles, the Rose Bowl and the excitingly rar. national championship season - my stories aren't much different. In fact, would bet a significant amount of money that my vacation photos aren t even that different. So instead of rehash- ing the same ground about New Year's Eve parties yPAUL and how a FHail SERILLA Mary touchdownbeg shA pass looks from WAFR 50 rows up in the end zone, I have a few trivial poiits about vacations in general. First off, any anthropologist who doesn't have a thesis yet should look into the herd mentality of people .a ' chartered flights and packaged vaca- tion tours. My package tour came through the University Alum'ni Association and was pretty error free; we got everywhere pretty much on time, accommodations were as expect- ed, and for the number of people this tour handled, it did a bang-up job. But to be quite honest, being on such a tour does rob you of your individuality and most of your ability to make decision for yourself. Peopletold me to get o planes or buses and I did it, if no tore told me what to do I just followed at rest of the herd (a smarter man than'I would have read the itinerary; but then, who reads on vacation?). When I got off the plane, for all I knew my herd could have been follow- ing lemmings off a cliff and I would have just gone right along. For allI kgnew, the bus Iheard was goingty Universal Studios might have bee heading for Tijuana to sell us all into sweat shops to produce oversz d moo-moos and culottes for K-Mart's Kathy Lee Collection. I guess the fact that I was not sold for slave labor by my travel agent should point out that perhaps I am a little too suspicious at times - but my faith in my fellow man is not completely restored. I had a great time in the Cityo Angels. You know, the game was fu and as I said, the tour was incredibly well executed. The only real problem with my trip came from the least like- ly places - from where I least expect- ed. It came from complaining. Throughout my entire trip, one group of young ladies was glued to my peripheral vision and just within er shot. I never actually met them but 1 can assure you, that was their one say ing grace. I don't mean to reinorS stereotypes of the fairer sex, but thes women were as thin-skinned ast were shrewish. I also don't mean io reinforce any college stereotypes, bl never did figure out which house te young ladies belonged to. Our tour was very well planned.Ii game day, the alumni association hd luncheon for thousands of people 00l~ fed them all in an hour. The last tirfI heard about a meal like that was Sunday school, and they called it,,l miracle of divine origin. The aformen- tioned females could only complain about the chicken, which was obvious- ly not free range. # I complain constantly, but these ladies found fault everywhere and expressed their distaste just long enough for it to annoy me. Whether it was the food they had at dinner, how fast or slow the luxury tour bus w, driving, or even the weight of each"o their 25 over-stuffed suitcases, they found incompetence all around." I don't know if they hadn't ever trav- eled outside of their own little subur- ban bubble or if they had just never experienced a vacation that slummed at three-star hotels; perhaps it was the great distress of only being wait- ed on hand and foot 78 percent of-the time that was so frustrating. For the five days of bitching I endured never once heard them justify one complaint. Interestingly enough, the only thing that I perceived slowing down our tour was when they usurped the time of our tour guides and bus drivers with their vapid whining. I guess what bothers me the most is that while they were complaining about what was aperfectly good ti in a steady 75-degree climate, re hard-core Wolverine fans were freez- ing their butts off at home - in Michigan because they couldn't get tickets or couldn't afford it. Three of my close friends got into a car acci- dAt n~n. 04',, katw,,n Ann A rhnr 'and ,I