4 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, February 18, 1998 (be £girbiun &ifg 420 Maynard Street Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan LAURIE MAYK Editor in Chief JACK SCIHILLACI Editorial Page Editor 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 Stadium Crunch Students deserve 'M' M ichigan Stadium is a well-loved fix- ture at the University. The memories that ensue season after season will never leave the hearts and minds of University students and alumni. But from the Athletic Department's misguided decision to issue split-season tickets to first-year students to the recent proposal regarding new high-tech scoreboards, the Michigan football stadium has been the subject of many controversial suggestions. The latest proposed change for improving the Big House - presented by the Task Force on Football Ticket Policies - is to relocate the students' section from the southeast side to the northeast corner of the stadium, creating additional seating for students. This proposal is practical and benefi- cial to students. Many students enter the stadium through gates 9 and 10 on the northeastern side closest to Central Campus. Relocating students to the north- east corner of the stadium will shorten the route students take to enter the stadium and loosen the congestion outside the "Big House." It will also displace the non-stu- dent season ticket holders presently seated in the northeast section, allowing those who enter the stadium from the southeast to access their seats without venturing out and navigating through the human traffic jam that inevitably forms in the stadium's perimeters. The most important aspect of this plan is its intent to ensure that last year's issu- ing of split-season tickets to first-year stu- dents will not be repeated. According to the task force, the relocation of the student section will consolidate seating and aid in the efficient allocation of the 5,200-seat expansion planned for the 1998 season. According to Athletic Director Tom Goss, Stadium's new seating the primary purpose of the expansion is to mitigate the shortage of student seating that was made painfully obvious last sea- son. With a national championship under its belt, the Michigan football team promises to attract an even larger crowd this fall - students deserve to be guaran- teed a place to sit. The department should allocate the seats as such, providing the students with additional room rather than allocating the expansion seats to non-stu- dent ticket holders. The University boasts a strong football tradition. The "Big House" is a historic site, full of nostalgic memories for thou- sands of University alumni and students. The stadium's rich heritage should be respected and honored. The Big House should be protected from unnecessary changes that will detract from its historic tradition. But some changes are necessary, and the relocation of the student section is one of them. Every Michigan fan who has attended a football game can vouch for the congested state of the stadium's perimeter. Every first-year student issued a split-sea- son ticket for the 1997 national champi- onship season can attest to the need for additional student seating. Adjusting the seating arrangement to encourage fans to enter the stadium at the gate nearest their section is only logical. And while the students will have to adjust to a new perspective, the overall benefits outweigh the break with tradition. The congestion will be alleviated outside the stadium, allowing students to thoroughly enjoy their football experience rather than fight with crowds outside. Students should have access to the new seating added for the 1998 season - and to full- season tickets as well. 'Behavior like that is a violation of what we consider to be our values at the University.' - Ken Blochowski, interim director of the Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Affairs, commenting on the offensive vandalism found in Angell Hall KAAMRAN HAFEEZ As T H AI ENS WvUW3LE UUT WW L QW T LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Veto violation Line-item veto should remain stricken 0 n Feb. 12, U.S. District Judge Thomas Hogan ruled that the line- item veto violated the Constitution's requirement that the president sign or veto bills in their entirety. Stating that "although the Line-Item Veto Act may have presented an innovative and effec- tive manner in which to control runaway spending by Congress, the (Constitution's) framers held loftier val- ues." The Line-Item Veto Act, passed in 1996, transferred too much of Congress' legislative power to the president. By allowing the president to delete certain spending clauses within individual bills, it was believed that wasteful spending could be cut from the federal budget. Since the bill was enacted, President Clinton has cast 82 line-item vetoes. Thirty-eight of those vetoes were for mil- itary construction projects, which angered many lawmakers. This conflict caused the president to .slow his pace, drawing further criticism that he was leaving billions of dollars of special interest projects untouched. The bill also never defined what wasteful spending is. While many people view "hometown pork" spending - money appropriated to projects in legislators' home districts to garner favor for him or her - problemat- ic and wasteful, the line-item veto is not an appropriate solution. Restraint on such wasteful spending must come from the lawmakers themselves, not from laws that ignore the Constitution's intent. If the electorate wishes to effect the power of its vote to elect officials whose spending ideas are more reason- able. When the president vetoes a specific appropriation, he is in essence negating the input of one or several lawmakers. The executive is negating the vote of thousands of constituents who those leg- islators represent. A line-item veto also second-guesses the citizens' will - something that goes well beyond the pres- ident's pervue. This is why the Constitution states that laws must be passed in their entirety - so that no one person can have complete control over legislative outcomes. While the president is elected by the people, so too are U.S. senators and representatives. When Congress passes laws, it does so on behalf of the people. When the president takes power into his own hands that was not originally granted by the Constitution, he is negating the will of the people and the basic values held by the United States. Consequently, not only does the line- item veto take away from the power of the people, but it is unconstitutional and its annulment by the federal district court should be upheld. The line-item veto has lofty ideals but its good intentions do not make it acceptable. The means of this act do not justify its ends. It is now up to the Supreme Court to decide the law's ultimate fate - they too should see the unconstitutionality of this act. No one but the citizens of the United States and their elected legislators should be allowed to decided where and how Daily did not cover sell-out comedy show TO THE DAILY: The Daily needs to make sure to throw Comedy Company a plug for its next show. The group consistently sold out its previous perfor- mances and it does a great job, but the Daily failed to mention us. Before its last show "Boogie Laughs," a reporter from the Daily came during a practice to hold an interview. Needless to say the members of Comedy Company were disappointed that there wasn't a plug for us before the show. Then the group hoped for at least a review but that didn't come either. The Daily needs to come to the group's next show and see for itself why it sells out time and again. Comedy Company has an improv show at the League Underground on Feb. 20, and its last and biggest show of the year on March 20 and 21. Keep an eye out for us, OK? NICHOLAS YU LSA FIRST-YEAR STUDENT U.S. is responsible' for suffering TO THE DAILY: This is in response to Aaron Brooks' Feb. 6 letter, "Letter Omitted Iraqi Faults." Brooks said that only Saddam Hussein is responsi- ble for the suffering of his people and not the United States. He dhded his letter by saying, "The United States can't help it if Saddam does- n't care." Well I beg to differ. This is similar to a police officer trying to get a fugitive to surrender - so he puts a gun to the head of a random- ly chosen person and threat- ens to blow his head off if the fugitive won't surrender. Then the officer explains that it is the fault of the fugitive if he eventually kills the inno- cent bystander. The embargo against Iraq is immoral because the U.S. leadership knows that Saddam doesn't care about his people. Saddam has, in the past, gassed his own peo- ple, imprisoned, tortured and executed tens of thousands of dissidents and has ruled Iraq as a police state. Saddam will never step down from power even if mil- lions of Iraqis starve to death. Sure, the United States may not have directly bombed civilians during the war, as Brooks claims, but enforcing the embargo has indirectly led to the deaths of more than a million people. UNICEF reports that his stance. Let's face it, the United States is using the whole situa- tion in the Persian Gulf as an excuse to maintain its presence there. It has several military bases in the gulf and continues to expand. The United States has the weapons and sophisti- cation to find and kill Saddam but it doesn't plan on doing so. Even President Clinton said that removing Saddam is not in the best interest of the United States. Also, the United States has the ability to find and annihilate all of his weapons by using its advanced satellites and stealth aircraft, but this would mean that there would no longer be a "threat" to justi- fy its military presence in the gulf. I am no supporter of Saddam, nor do I support his manufacturing of weapons of mass destruction. I am sim- ply speaking on behalf of the innocent Iraqi civilians. Americans should start to see this situation for what it really is - an effort by the United States to maintain control over its oil fields. The United States is not the police officer of the world but rather the bully. What the United States is doing is abusing its power, and as it continues to do so, the United States will become increasingly unpopu- lar with other nations. It is time for ignorant people such as Brooks to see through the empty and mean- ingless statements uttered by U.N. and U.S. officials. No matter how much it is rationalized, the United States is responsible for the suffering of millions of inno- cent people. AMRU ALBEIRUTI LSA JUNIOR Daily reporter misunderstood Jewish faith and traditions TO THE DAILY: The Feb. 11I article "Orthodox community faces challenges in remaining kosher" reflected a common and unfortunate misunder- standing held both by people in and out of the Jewish com- munity. In fact, Conservative Jews are bound by all laws of Judaism, including the dietary laws and the laws of Sabbath, as opposed to the indication in the article that only Orthodox Jews are obligated to these laws. It was an irresponsible omissioh on the reporter Susan Port's part. She should have done more research. This poorly written arti- cle was further hampered by decontextualized informa- tion. According to Jewish dietary laws, milk products ter about which she was writing. Errors by the media con- tribute to the continued mis- perceptions by fellow Jews and non-Jews of what Conservative Judaism stands for. DANIEL SILVERMAN LSA JUNIOR Affirmative action places 'unfair stigma' on students TO THE DAILY: Should the University sacrifice self-esteem for cul- tural diversity? I contend that affirmative action policies do much more harm than good. Suppose that two minority students, both from Detroit, apply to the University. The first student worked hard dur- ing high school to achieve a high GPA and good test scores. The second student was aver- age but not good enough to gain admission to the University without the benefits of affirmative action. Because of affirmative action, both students obtain admission to the University. Although the first minority student did not need affirma- tive action policies to gain admission, most students and professors are likely to assume that he or she is an affirmative action student. This is exactly why affir- mative action policies are harmful. It places an unfair stigma on all minority stu- dents whether or not they worked hard to achieve their goals. The students who do work hard are not getting the recognition they truly deserve. Furthermore, I am sure that there are more minority students who earn their right to be here than those who gained access through affirmative action. This makes the issue an even greater tragedy. The University has a long history of being one of the most elite academic institu- tions in the world. To tarnish this history by allowing admission to a few individu- als who are not academically qualified to attend the University is an injustice. The University is only setting up failure for those students who don't qualify on their own merit. If these stu- dents don't succeed and their self-esteem is broken, then the University should be held accountable for the psycho- logical and emotional dam- age caused to them. But instead of laying a blanket stereotype on all white male conservatives, people should concentrate on Winter Olympic bring more th just sports to television vie By now, it's common knowled that the 1998 Winter Oym Games are on their way to being t most ignored event since the last Fa Aid. For the longest time I couldn't fig- , ure out why. After all, athletes from all over the world competing for the glory of their fatherlands, one man stands victori- ous over a sea of inferior warriors, light glints off the gold on his chest as his national anthem j" plays in the back- N ground. What's not to like here? It occurred to me this morning: T Winter Olympics are just weird. The summer games are much eas to get into. There are lots of races, a races are fun to watch. Seven hu guys line up on a clay track on ab tiful summer day. With their nt inhuman physiques they fly. at t sound of the pistol shot and the Winn is declared in the matter of seve dozen seconds. That's perfect forus. Plus, the summer games have bi ticket sports, some of which are ev already popular. Basketball, baseb track, soccer, tennis and pingpo (whatever) are sports that most of have engaged in or at least watched, i non-Olympic context. The winter games, by way of cntra are totally alien. (With the exception hockey, although presented in a sligh castrated form.) Budwieser doesn't sponsor the lu too often, nor does ESPN carry offs son bobsled training reports. Outside this fake little CBS publicity wor these sports just don't exist. With t exception of a few events like sn boarding and skiing, most of us never evenattempted some of the They require some explanation: Curling: Combines the raw athle cism of bowling, with the non-st action of billiardswand the natu charm and charisma of Scandinavia A sport that, if someone told you find the one event that was put in the Olympics as a prank, you wou pick it in a second. Pudgy people, inertia and m* zamboni technology at their fine expression. Curling is a good one tune into if you don't like lots of qui movement and excitement or if y like to take drugs in the middle of t day. Two-man luge: For people w don't get enough homoeroticism men's figure skating. Two guys, ob ously very close personal friendsa covered in some kind of synt* material tight enough to show of good moyle's handiwork. They stuff themselves, one on t of the other, into a plastic tube a slide insanely fast through an i track, like a hamster trapped in a . never mind. The two-man luge is n closed-captioned for the metaphor cally impaired. Which brings us to.. s Figure skating: The most unho& sports. Women's (apparently define anyone who can just spell "menstru tion" or heard of it in Cosmo) skating really, really creepy. Aren't people who encoura teenage girls to dress scantily a jump around in front of a video ca era arrested in any other context? N during the Olympics (or the '70s f that matter. I'm looking at yo Polanski.) "Lolita" gets an NC- this country, but network televisio allowed to make us familiar with t topography of Michelle Kwan crotch. Ick. Men's skating: The gay Nation Hockey League. The funniest thin about men's figure skating is that t announcers and reporters have to t so hard to make "it sound like oth sports. How else do you think that a wo like "lutz" gets into our national v ulary? They try and whip us into a fre zy over someone doing a triple axle i practice like it was Babe Ruth gesturin to the stands with his bat. It's hard respect an athlete who you know for fact in two years will be wearing Aladdin costume and ice dancing wit Nancy Kerrigan. Speed skating: A sport for midwes erners to watch. Women with behinds and thighs that could ci bowling balls. We're used to it. Spot the black athlete: With tI exception of the year we had th Jamaican bobsled team, this sport h not had a medal winner since ... h ever. I I