4 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, February 13, 1998
he mr4tottn 3
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
'All students ought to be concerned.'
Retro politicians
are a solution
for our collectve
attention deficit.
Hey, remember when the Clinton
presidency was gripped by moral
dilemma?
Maybe your answer is, "Do you mean
last week, last month or last year?"-o
"Yeah I couldn't l4
Unless otherwise noted, unsigned editorials reflect the opinion of the majority of the Daily's editorial board.
,Al1 other articles, letters and cartoons do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Michigan Daily.
ROM TI
ECommu
ast August,t
American He
4wareness of speci
ai.ect the black c
egree than other
'ention was final
its of diabetes,
hpmicide, infant m
Aiices among the
i etance, diabetes a
oajenwide, yet Af
percent more likely
6di. *
esults from si
African Americanv
d face higher mo
ftied by others. Ev
have alerted many
health problems fa
zens.
The results prom
grams designed to
munity about speci
increased efforts to
ties and find possi
grams, along with
their creation, shou
encouraged to cont
the improvement
health.
Building on the
mit, the Task Forc
Health was rec
Washtenaw Count
ing these health c
rough draft of a
plan was release
describing the goa
wants to createa
accept grants and d
lish a quarterlyn
health issues, spo
Buyoi
R unning the sin
that prove ne
week soon may bec
might also become
recently been ann
Corporation will 1
Drugs, Inc., for $1
Arbor, which is C
Detroit, will make
store chain in ther
of stores and sale
part of a continuin
the drugstore ind
like CVS and Rit
regional chains. Th
because it enables
nate the market,
higher prices.
Since Arbor cur
cent of the Metro
wilj likely inherit<
consumers. In fac
sumers spend the
of money nationv
CVS plans to capit
ing 150-200 new s1
chains' 1998 rev
exceed $15 billionr
12 percent of all ret
nation. It is quite p
sition of Arbor
increase its domin
market, a move tha
in the long run.'
smaller regional ch
al chains shrinks t
the fewer number,
nies to raise their p
Becas of the
HE DAILY
Healthy steps
nity should unify to fight health risks
the first-ever African for young children, and use an effective
alth Summit increased media campaign to inform senior citizens
fic health problems that about various health resources.
ommunity to a greater The task force has excellent ideas
groups. Much-needed about what to do for the community but
ly given to the higher this should not be a one-way effort. Some
heart disease, obesity, proposals require financial assistance, but
iortality and teen preg- the majority just require willing commu-
black community. For nity members ready to make an impact on
ffects 16 million people people's lives. The task force and its goals
rican Americans are 55 can only prove productive to the degree
y than others to be dia- that the black community contributes to
its effectiveness.
milar studies show that The final plan will not be presented to
women with breast can- the public until Feb. 24; it is important for
)rtality rates than those all community members to support the
ents such as the summit task force and voice their opinions - all
people to the various input should be welcome.
cing this group of citi- The University also needs to take a
stand on health issues affecting the black
ipted the creation of pro- community. The University is a large part
educate the black com- of the Washtenaw County community and
fic health concerns and it has a wealth of resources at its dispos-
identify health dispari- al. Professors and students can combine
ble solutions. The pro- the education process with tackling one
the people involved in of society's unnoticed problem, and help
ld be commended and many people along the way.
inue their efforts toward In addition, one of the major causes of
of African American disproportionate health rates is the lack of
early detection. Access to health care is a
momentum of the sum- severe problem affecting the African
e on African American American community. The University has
ently established in one of the largest and well-respected
y focusing on address- medical facilities in the region - it needs
oncerns in the area. A to play a greater role in the health of
long-awaited strategic African Americans and others that have
d this past Monday notoriously lacked access to proper health
ls of the task force. It care. Through the cooperation of the
a nonprofit group to University and the task force, much can
evelop programs, pub- be accomplished. The entire Ann Arbor
newsletter about vital community and the University need to
nsor health screenings take on this challenge.
Drugstore warm
uts bode poorly for competition
nple and cheap errands small chains to remain competitive. In
cessary throughout the particular, the technology upgrades often
ome slightly easier but required to compete nationwide are hard-
more expensive. It has er for smaller stores to manage. Larger
ounced that the CVS chains also have a better chance than
buy Troy-based Arbor smaller ones of obtaining contracts with
.48. The acquisition of health care insurers, especially due to
;VS' entry into Metro their high number of stores, larger clien-
CVS the largest drug- tele and more readily available services.
nation in both number as a result, regional chains often must
volume. This deal is turn to nationwide chains to financially
ig trend of mergers in survive.
ustry, as large chains The CVS-Arbor deal will also nega-
e Aid buy up smaller tively affect some local Arbor employees,
ie trend is problematic as CVS plans to close Arbor's Troy head-
large chains to domi- quarters. This means that 150 employees
eventually leading to will either be relocated to Woonsocket,
R.I. - CVS headquarters - or be laid
rently controls 45 per- off. CVS claims that no other Arbor
Detroit market, CVS employees will be affected by the acquisi-
a large share of these tion. Still, the termination or relocation of
t, Metro Detroit con- any employees, is extremely detrimental
fourth-largest amount to local economies.
wide drugstores, and While the merger might not cause any
alize on this by open-- immediately noticeable changes, the loss
tores in Michigan. The of another regional chain does not bode
enue is expected to well for the future of smaller drugstores
and sell approximately or their patrons. Customers could find not
tail prescriptions in the only increased prices but also less per-
robable that the acqui- sonalized customer service. In addition,
will allow CVS to this deal could have an adverse effect on
ance in the drugstore some of Arbor's employees. And because
t could increase prices CVS will gain control of a substantial
The incorporation of part of the Metro Detroit prescription-
iains into large nation- drug market, prices could increase over
he market and allows time, affecting customers nationwide. In
of competing compa- the long run, this deal will probably end
)rices. up hurting, instead of helping, more peo-
nverherina nature of nie who are simnly trying to run their
- State Sen. John Schwarz (R-Battle Creek), on the ramifications of Gov. John
Englers proposed 1.5-percent increase to state colleges and universities
YUKI KUNIYUKI G ROU ND ZE RC
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S~I, I %U I I
believe he slept
with Monica, what
will Ross and
Phoebe think?"
But if you are
like most of the
television-viewing
public, your
response was simi-
lar to this:
"Dilemma? I sense
no dilemma. What's
a dilemma? And
who is this Clinton
man of whom you
speak?"
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Daily failed to
cover debate
TO THE DAILY:
I was very displeased to
see no mention of the debate
on the existence of God that
occurred on Feb. 5. This
event featured a University
philosophy professor and
drew more than 1,400 people
- mostly students - to
Rackham Auditorium. In
fact, there were so many peo-
ple that the organizers had to
close the doors and turn peo-
ple away. Yet there was no
mention of this in the Daily.
Smaller events that con-
cerned fewer people received
front-page placement while
this debate received not a
word of coverage throughout
the entire paper. I feel that if
the Daily is going to be a
paper that is on top of what
is going on at the University,
it needs to have coverage of
events that are important to
students.
BRYAN BERGHOEF
LSA SENIOR
Student
participation
in marathon
is important
To THE DAILY:
After attending the final
two hours of the Dance
Marathon last weekend, I felt
the need to share my personal
perspective of what this event
was like.
Though I did know a little
about the event, I went pri-
marily as a spectator in sup-
port of the cause. Not know-
ing what I would find when I
walked in, I was incredibly
impressed by what I saw.
Here was this collection
of dancers, volunteers and
planners who were 28 hours
into the event and still hold-
ing the energy of people
who actually had gotten
sleep. As I sat in the stands
and watched the dancers, the
morale boosters and all the
activity, I couldn't help but
be taken over by the energy
in the building. Later, as the
families spoke and the last
dances continued, not only
was the energy high but I
could feel the emotions of
success, happiness and
relief. And I know that if I
felt this as a spectator for
two hours, I can only imag-
ne what the marathon's
Central Planning Team, the
dancers and the volunteers
felt after more than 30
hours.
When the marketing,
promotion and planning
begins for the 1999
marathon, which I believe
will happen just as soon as
everyone gets some well-
Ar -v reset T n I nP fl,
nessed. And because I'm
graduating in May and
probably won't get to see
next year's marathon, I want
everyone else who will be
around to strongly consider
getting involved.
Congratulations to the
planning team for an out-
standing event. The partici-
pants, dancers and volun-
teers should know they did-
n't just make a difference in
the lives-of the families and
children they raised money
for.
JOE GUTOWSKI
RACKHAM
Letter's
analysis was
'flawed'
TO THE DAILY:
I feel compelled to com-
ment on John Caraher's letter
("CEO's study was pseudo-
scientific," 2/3/98). 1 find it
ironic and somewhat amusing
that Caraher attempts to
refute a statistic as being
"pseudo-scientific" by con-
structing such a remarkable
and creative example of
pseudo-science himself.
Consider that he predicts 5-
percent chance of admission
for a white student with
shaky numbers.
He states "Clearly, it is
mathematically impossible
for anyone to be 174-times as
likely to be admitted since
the best chance the hypothet-
ical minority competitor
could ask for is a 100-percent
chance of admission."
He is right, this is mathe-
matically impossible but
totally irrelevant as it is not
at all what the statistic is
saying. His example asserts
that the total probability of
admission for an African
American applicant can be
derived by multiplying the
probability of white appli-
cants' admission at constant
numbers exclusive of non-
white applicants by the aver-
age ratio of admission of
African American to white
applicants at constant num-
bers inclusive of all appli-
cants. This example is non-
sense.
Caraher must understand
that these statistics, even if
they were drawn from the
same data set (which they are
not), would still be mutually
exclusive and therefore could
not be multiplied in any
meaningful fashion. So no
conclusion may be inferred
by any relationship between
the two. That includes all
inferences regarding the
validity of each individual
statistic.
I caution everyone from
blindly accepting, and
worse yet, drawing conclu-
sions from an arbitrary sta-
tistic. Even though there are
many well-understood
m.athnrc fr ctticina) nrii
assured tone - such a
ridiculous and obviously
flawed analysis.
CHARLES LOWELL
LSA SENIOR
Headlines
need better
checking
TO THE DAILY:
As the principal daily
newspaper of the University,
students expect the Daily to
at least make sure that the
headlines are without mis-
takes. In the article
"Assassins in Ghandi plot
found guilty" (1/29/98), noti-
fying that 26 people were
convicted and given the capi-
tal punishment in the Rajiv
Gandhi (ex-prime minister of
India) assassination case, the
headline spelled his name
"Ghandi." Pronunciation or
ignorance is one thing, but
putting it to print in a head-
line in the Daily is another. I
am sure it was careless proof
reading, as the name was
spelled correctly in the story.
The Daily should exercise
more care and thoroughness
in the future.
DHRUBA CHATTERJEE
UNIVERSITY STAFF
'U' should
ignore the
myths of
homelessness
TO THE DAILY:
Homelessness is a prob-
lem that society has let go for
too long. Lack of affordable
housing and high unemploy-
ment are major causes of this
problem. The homeless in
Ann Arbor are considered
"undesirables" because they
are considered non-tax-pay-
ing citizens by the city.
I was in a shelter for a
long time. So I know the ins
and outs of homelessness.
The homeless are ridiculed
and harassed by University
police, as well as Ann Arbor
police. But the fact remains
that the majority of the
homeless do have jobs.
Students at the University,
educate should educate them-
selves and ignore the myths
about the homeless - they
just feed more negativity. To
homeless people, everyday is
a struggle and for some, a
struggle that ends in death.
The Homeless Power
Union has been an active
organization around the cam-
pus and in Ann Arbor. It has
accomplished much for its
small size - its goal is to
fight for the rights of the
homeless.
While the media is still scrambling to
interview the head cook from the dubi-
ous intern's third grade summer camp
("She always got to the mess hall early
on Tuesday mornings because Tuesday
is grits day - boy could that girl ea0
some grits."), the rest of the country has
seemingly moved on to more pressing
issues than the president's alleged sexu-
al indiscretions.
Yeah, right.
It's not that we don't care about the
president; on the whole we don't care
about anything. Take Iraq, for instance:
weapons of mass destruction, thousands
of civilian and military lives on the line,
and Americans don't care about it on
bit unless we get to see another one
those homing missiles go down another
chimney. This week the stock market hit
a new high and unemployment and
inflation are at the lowest levels in
recent memory. With that kind of econ-
omy, most of us wouldn't care if the
United States were preparing to bomb
Iowa, much less Iraq.
The Olympics are another news-day
snoozer. But I am watching because,
have a feeling that little elf girl Lipinski
is going to whack someone with a tire
iron, and I heard she and the president are
quite an item (you say Lewinsky, I say
Lipinski. Oh, let's call the whole thing
off).
The problem is, I am not sure that the
nation can shake this communal case of
attention-deficit syndrome (what was I
talking about?) We no longer watch the
news, we just wait for the juiciest detail
of the day's current events to be con
densed into a Fox special (next week
they are showing "When Presidents
Attack 11 "). As a nation, I think we need
to start thinking about how we are going
to address our inability to stay focused
on any one topic for any significant
amount of time.
But let me put that aside for a
moment. It also seems to me that the
recent interest in the moral fiber of th*
commander in chief has made As ques-
tion what we want in a president next
time we get to "choose" one. If the
economy is doing well, most of us will
probably ignore the broader implica
tions of the year 2000 race and fall back
on the party we traditionally suppot.
Therefore, that whole lack-of-focus
thing will pop right back up and bite us
in the butt because we will once again
know nothing about the dolt we have
elected (for further insight on this topic
reference the Reagan years).
The way I see it, we need to cut the
work down for ourselves and get a presi
dent we already know. That was the
epiphany I had watching the movie "My
Fellow Americans" (I also pondered why
real life can't be more like HBO). At the
end of the movie, two former one-term
presidents - one from each party--run
together. You know what I am thinking:
Put George Bush and Jimmy Carter in thO
same room for 20 minutes and you have a
winning strategy totally sans parties.
First off, they are both well respected,
more popular as ex-presidents than they
ever were as presidents, and both politi-
cally moderate. For you doubting liber-
als: Since leaving office, Bush has quit
the NRA and confirmed that he and
Barb were always closet pro-choicers,
not to mention that this is the guy who
coined the term "voodoo economics.
For you skeptical conservatives: Carte
was always on the economic right and is
big on private-sector social welfare like
Habitat for Humanity.
Let's face it, these two have foreign
policy wrapped up. Carter is like the
Susan Lucci of the Nobel Peace Prize
- always a nominee but never getting
the medal. Domestically? Sure, it seems
a little shaky, until you remember
Carter's problem was inflationan@
Bush's was unemployment. Put them
together and what do you got? No, not
inflated unemployment - a happy
equilibrium (maybe).
Frankly, that's what this election is all
about - Carter and Bush (they could