4 - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, January 13, 1997
(Dhje 'rct i m 3 ttil
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
NOTABLE QUOTABLE
'All of these years, I could have sworn
coaches were much smarter than writers.
But I have to admit - I was wrong.'
- Michigan football Coach Lloyd Carr; cracking a joke about the split
national championship polls at Sunday night's celebration and pep rally
YUKI KUNIYUKI
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
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Credit hours should reflect class work
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Last week, University students began
their Winter term classes. Students
often find that 300- and 400-level classes
have large workloads for fewer credit hours
than intoductory-level classes. As a result,
many upperclassmen have to take more
courses in order to compensate for the fact
that the classes frequently offer fewer cred-
its than introductory-level classes, despite
their greater difficulty and broader scope.
Credit hours are assigned by academic units
- often leading to a great disparity
between upper-level courses in different
divisions. The University should restructure
the way in which it assigns credits to class-
es to account for the increasing amount of
work required of high-level courses.
The University's credit system is unfair
for several reasons. First, the fact that class
workloads are apparently not taken into
account when distributing credits increases
the burden on upper-level students. Upper-
level classes are more difficult than intro-
ductory classes; because students often
must take more classes to reach the required
number of credits for full-time students sta-
tus, this increases their workload and denies
them the opportunity to spend adequate
time studying for each course.
The current system of credit distribution
takes into account the number of hours stu-
dents spend in class, but not the amount of
homework. Therefore, a first-year student
enrolled in four classes could easily carry
16 credits of introductory courses, while a
senior taking four classes might have sig-
nificantly fewer. Full-time tuition rates are
based on a 15-credit hour schedule - so
students may feel pressured to take more
than just 12 credits.
The credit system also makes it difficult
for many upperclassmen to maintain their
status as full-time students, especially those
who have to work while going to school or
who take part in time-consuming co-curric-
ular activities. Students particularly com-
mitted to a student group may find them-
selves faced with an ultimatum: work for
the group or maintain their GPAs. Many
students also hold part-time jobs to offset
the cost of attending the University - mak-
ing academic success harder for these stu-
dents to achieve.
Another problem students may face in
getting a fair number of credits for their
work is that professors are often limited by
in the number of credit hours they may
teach. Though intended to prevent depart-
ments from overworking their faculty, this
rule could deny students the credit that is
due to them. Students may take a course
with a heavy workload because it appeals to
them, but the professor may be only able to
supply one credit - an unfair situation.
The professors are still teaching the same
amount as they would with a greater num-
ber of credits but they are barred by a tech-
nicality from giving students sufficient
credit for their time.
The University should restructure the
credit system to take course workloads into
account. The current system, which gauges
course difficulty only by the number of hours
students spend in the classroom, is clearly
inadequate. If a change were implemented, it
would allow those students required to hold
jobs to do so while still giving them the
opportunity to succeed academically. In addi-
tion, it would not penalize students for taking
classes that expand their academic horizons
but are not required for their concentration by
offering little credit for them.
2
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
_..,
Healthy expansion
Clinton's plan offers coverage to early retirees
L ast Tuesday, President Clinton
unveiled a plan to offer health insur-
ance to middle-aged Americans who are
out of the work force but are too young to
qualify for Medicare. The program would
enable them to pay for comprehensive cov-
erage under the nation's public health care
system. The self-financed program would
stay afloat by charging clients reasonable
fixed-rate premiums and would place no
new burdens on the projected spending
plan of the current Medicare system,
which already occupies 12 percent of the
federal budget. As the program seeks to
provide new choices to a category of
Americans who have traditionally fallen
through the cracks of the country's insur-
ance system, Congress should quickly
approve the plan when it comes under
review next month.
Clinton's plan proposes a system that
would allow persons age 62 to 64 to pay a
premium to secure the coverage Medicare
currently grants to all Americans older than
65 years of age. Current estimates place the
annual cost at approximately $4,500 per
year. In addition, Clinton wants to broaden
the plan's coverage to encompass workers
as young as 55 who have lost employee cov-
erage due to layoffs or downsizing.
The proposed expansion of the plan
would allow workers whose employers
have discontinued retiree benefits to pur-
chase health insurance through their for-
mer employers for full price. This condi-
tion proves timely in light of recent stud-
ies that place the proportion of full-time
mnrkparcm wnoe emnimvrc rnvrmidiae nen
new options to about 1.2 million
Americans.
Though the price tag on Clinton's pro-
posed system does place it out of the finan-
cial reach for some Americans, it would
provide a new alternative for hundreds of
thousands of full and partial retirees who do
not currently qualify for Medicare cover-
age. Furthermore, the proposed expansion
to cover Americans as young as 55 would
provide assistance for people who might
have to wait up to 10 years for Medicare
benefits. The program would act as a safety
net for Americans with an uncertain future
in the labor force.
Republican leaders have already faulted
the plan as an unnecessary burden on the
financially ailing Medicare program, which
already costs the country $200 billion per
year and covers 38 million Americans. In
fact, a recent overhaul of the program saved
it from bankruptcy in 2001 by slashing
$115 billion from the projected spending
estimates over the next five years. While the
proposal would expand the current
Medicare system, Clinton staffers contend
that the proposed self-funded system will
not add to Medicare's already unwieldy
cost. The plan will merely offer pre-
Medicare-aged retirees another avenue to
explore.
While Clinton's latest plan does not offer
an absolute remedy to the problem of unin-
sured retirees, it constitutes one of few - if
any - governmental efforts to cover this
often overlooked segment of Americans.
When the official proposal comes before
r1nnxrrep next month leislators should
Using Shaman
Drum is an
inconvenience
TO THE DAILY:
To all professors who insist
on listing the books for their
courses only at Shaman Drum:
Please stop! While I can cer-
tainly appreciate the warm
feeling of nobility you proba-
bly get helping out this small-
er, independent bookstore, I
don't think you fully appreci-
ate the hot feeling of anger I
get pufing up with their less-
than-adequate facilities. I
don't think you realize that a
trip to Shaman Drum during
book rush typically involves
waiting in line just to get in
the store for sometimes up to
a half hour, most of which is
spent outside.
Then, when one finally
does get in, one has to
maneuver among three tiny
rooms overcrowded with
books and students in an
attempt to view the only list
of the books avaiable in that
room. After one finally does
get all of one's books, one
has to stand in line for anoth-
er 10 minutes(I've waited
longer) to cash out. Total trip
time: anywhere from 30 min-
utes to an hour. Now don't
get me wrong, I'm not saying
that lines don't exist at the
three major campus book-
stores or that the stacks are
alwaysseasy to navigate
through, but they don't come
anywhere near the physical
discomfort one can get from
a typical late-August or
early-January day at Shaman
Drum.
As far as helping out the
independent bookstore is
concerned, does it really mat-
ter whether your students are
forking their savings over to
the "chain" bookstores or to
"independent" Shaman
Drum? What's the difference
between stuffing your money
into the pockets of the share-
holders of the chain stores or
stuffing your money into the
pocket of Shaman Drum
owner Karl Pohrt? I don't see
much of a difference; except
that Shaman Drum has an
outright monopoly for some
courses. But for those stu-
dents who want to support
Shaman Drum, I ask the pro-
fessors to make this compro-
mise: Take the booklists for
your class to Shaman Drun
and the other bookstores.
That way, those students who
want to support the "indepen-
dent" can shop at Shaman
Drum, and those of us who
like to buy our books in
under an hour, without claus-
trophobia setting in, can shop
at the University bookstores.
JIM KNAPP
LSA SOPHOMORE
applied to Asian Pacific
Americans or Asian
Americans, but not for the
reasons suggested by Patel.
Being Oriental is not only
skin deep, but is also a
description of the content of
one's character.
To call the self-proclaimed
Asian Pacific Americans
"Orientals" would actually be
factually incorrect. While
many of them travel to the Far
East and carry themselves the
way people of that region do,
they would be labeled
"American" by the natives.
The people who would be
angry at the thought of hav-
ing the term "Oriental"
applied to the Asian Pacific
American would be the
Chinese, Taiwanese, Korean
and Japanese who live in
their respective countries and
view the Asian Pacific
Americans as corrupted form
of the real thing.
So please stop calling
self-proclaimed Asian Pacific
Americans and Asian
Americans "Orientals."
PAK MAN SHUEN
LSA SOPHOMORE
Band is
important to
'M' football
tradition
TO THE DAILY:
The Jan. 7 issue of the
Daily commemorated
Michigan's victory over
Washington State in this
year's Rose Bowl but failed
to mention some traditions
worthy of recognition. All
Wolverine fans are aware of
the many elements which
have contributed to our foot-
ball team's dream season: the
Big Ten championship, the
Coach of the Year award and
Heisman recipient Charles
Woodson (just to name a
few). This victory also marks
the 50th anniversary of
Michigan's last capture of the
national championship.
Many fans may not be
aware, however, that 50 years
ago the University was the
first Big Ten college to send
its marching band to the
Rose Bowl as a representa-
tive of it and its tradition.
That year, the Michigan
Marching Band set the stan-
dard that all Big Ten bands
now follow and other bands
admire.
This year, the Michigan
Marching Band was given the
opportunity to perform at that
very level which was set Jan.
1, 1948. Marching and playing
the greatest fight song ever
written throughout a 6.5-mile
parade in heavy wool uniforms
(not to mention living to tell
U.S. military
should not be
a 'social
experiment'
TO THE DAILY:
After reading the Daily's
editorial ("Trouble in the bar-
racks," 1/9/98), 1 once again
became incensed by the utter
blindness in the search for
"equality" displayed by the
ideas presented. The two years
I spent in the Navy only
served to solidify my belief
that men and women should
be separated - not only in
the barracks, but also on ships
and in front-line units.
I was at the Naval
Amphibious base in Little
Creek, Va., when an officer
pointed to a ship across the
basin. "'You see that ship?"
he said. "During the Gulf
War, 60 percent of the
women on that ship became
pregnant." I remarked that it
must have been a problem
with that individual ship, but
he remarked, "No, that hap-
pens on all ships."
The Daily remarked that
men and women in some
groups are not allowed to
speak to each other without
witnesses. This is entirely
false, but the mere idea shows
how much of a problem there
is in the military. Senior com-
manders are so concerned
with sexual harassment that
any remark made to a woman
along the lines of sexual
harassment immediately
launches a full-scale investi-
gation. Furthermore, the
accused is often considered
guilty until proven innocent.
From my experiences,
many women have not fully
earned the respect of their
male peers. At the Service
Academies (the U.S. Naval
Academy and West Point),
women routinely fail physical
exams. I know of one woman
(a senior) who has failed
every physical readiness test
since her first year, but will
still graduate. If a male fails
once, and does not pass by the
end of the semester, he is sep-
arated - no ifs, ands or buts.
And again, this is not iso-
lated. It is common, and
everybody inside the military
knows this.
Imagine this: A plane is
about to crash. Instead of let-
ting the pilot take control,
some crazed passengers charge
into the cockpit and try to take
the controls. Who is more
qualified to save the plane?
The pilot is, obviously.
Consider the military -
whenever there is a problem,
civilians charge in and try to
fix it with new policies, more
"training" and new rules that
often go against everything the
chain of command is working
for. The military is not a social
experiment - it is a war-fight-
Monday should*
not just be the
finish to a three-
day weekend
W homever named this year's
Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King
Jr. Symposium surely knows the impor-
tance of this year's event. And I thi
that the same person (or people) knows
the importance of
Martin Luther
King Jr. Day
nationwide - as
do the many people
at this University
who have worked
tirelessly to put
together this years a
program. But, I am °1
sad to say, 1think ~
most people at the JOSH
University and WHITE
most people in the JUMPING
United States do THE GUN
not have even the
slightest clue as to what this coming
Monday means, and that may be the
most frightening thing of all when it
comes to the future of our nation.
This year's symposium is entitle
"why we can't wait," and its progran
promises to offer students and mem-
bers of the University community the
opportunity to learn about and reflect
upon the life of Martin Luther King Jr.
While I hope that everyone in our
community knows who this visionary
man was, it is clear to me that there are
far too many here who have no con-
cept and who maybe never will.
On Monday, this country will stop i
its tracks to observe a day of learnin
and understanding - on Monday, the
life of a great leader and a strong advo-
cate for every person on Earth will be
remembered in many ways. At the
University, the celebration begins
today with a film at Trotter House on
the history of the Puerto Rican people's
struggles for equality and will continue
through Monday, Jan. 26, when there
will be a performance and awards ce
emony.sThe crux of the events, howe
er, is less than a week away.
Monday, which is essentially a day
off from our normal routine, will be a
true day off for most people on cam-
pus. While the past i1 annual sym-
posia have drawn excellent crowds,
most here will take the day to party,
use it as a three-day weekend, or will
sleep in, taking a rest from the early
crunch each semester inevitab
brings. While Monday is a day off,
should be treated as a day "on," and
students should take it upon them-
selves to participate in the many dis-
cussions, fora, speeches and work-
shops that fill the day from dawn to
dusk. Students, who in the end are
here to learn both about themselves
and about the world, should take this
one day to expand their horizons,
regardless of their political beliefs
personal biases. 16
While not everyone on campus will
ever agree on anything - if that were
ever to happen it might be a larger
problem than we have today -it is
important to at least listen to each
other. With tensions rising over affir-
mative action both nationwide and at
the University, it is time for both sides,
and everyone in between, to sit down
and try to understand one another.
While I believe there may be a "righe
answer to such a problem in societW
clearly there is a lot of dispute over
what such a "right" solution would be.
On Monday, there is no excuse for
bowing out of the discussion; there are
three panels about this topic on
Monday alone, and on that day, the
University is aboutthis discussion.
What Monday should not be about is
anger nor apathy. As King espoused, we
all must live together as one people, r
divided along the lines of the militai
nor the ignorant. What we all need to do
is embrace the other side, if at least just
for the moment, to celebrate a man
whose only dream was to see the world
as a colorblind society filled with gift-
ed people and made of community.
And our community is what the title
of the event speaks to. The reason we
can't wait is that such issues as race
and gender are upon us in the form of
two high-profile lawsuits and a lar
contingent of hurt, angry people.
Whether it be minorities who feel they
are being attacked or non-minorities
who feel they are falling victim to the
same discrimination we are trying -to
avoid, all of us have a place at the
table. We all have a say.
This is our University, and there
have been several examples justgthis
year of how we can come togeth
around both tragedy and triumph.V
have shown that we are truly the lead-
ers and best and that, above all, we are
students living in a vast community
that will have a lasting affect on our
lives. But those who ignore Monday's
imortancea ndf feel that it is hetter to