4 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, January 14, 1998
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420 Maynard Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Edited and managed by
students at the
University of Michigan
JOSHi WHITE
Editor in Chief
ERIN MARSH
Editorial Page Editor
Unless otherwise noted, unsigned editorials reflect the opinion of the majority of the Dailys editorial board. All
other articles, letters and cartoons do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Michigan Daily.
FROM THE DAILY
Legal nleaps
General counsel named to vice president post
NOTABLE QUOTABLE
'One thing that I know as an educator is
that education is important for all.'
-.Margarita Arellano, assistant dean of students for retention services,
University of Texas at Austin, discussing Hopwoods significance
MATT WIMSATTu
c8
ONf
4
- This cartoon originally ran in the April 2, 1996 edition ofthe Daily.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
I
Eulogies bring
out the Byron
and Shakespeare
in mourners
A t a time when the University's legal
affairs have taken center stage -
even on a national level - the importance
of the University's litigation department is
pivotal to maintaining present policies.
Last month, President Lee Bollinger and
the University Board of Regents made the
general counsel post - the University's
head attorney - into a vice president
position. While last month's decision on
the change of title does not alter the job
requirements of the position, it calls for
the general counsel to report directly to
the president and regents rather than the
chief financial officer, as in the past. Due
to the increasing complexity of the
University's legal problems and their sig-
nificance to the student body, this change
could not have been more timely or neces-
sary. By elevating the position of the gen-
eral counsel, Bollinger and the regents
have done the University a great service.
While Bollinger claims that the title
modification is not related to the two law-
suits threatening the University's admis-
sions policies, the future court battles
clearly place an added importance upon
the general counsel's position. With the
general counsel reporting directly to the
regents' table, administrators can be kept
abreast of all issues surrounding lawsuits
against the University. On the flip side,
decisions made by the general counsel,
especially regarding the admissions poli-
cies lawsuits, can quickly gain the neces-
sary approval and support from the presi-
dent and regents.
The direct contact between the general
counsel and the president should also keep
the student body more aware of updates on
the University's legal affairs. Even though
the interim co-general counsels have
A
reported to the president since last
February, the change is now official and a
better flow of information should soon
result.
Since the beginning of his presidency,
Bollinger sought to bring greater attention
to the general counsel's position. Earlier
this year, he invited Interim General
Counsel Elizabeth Barry to join the
regents and executive officers at the
regents' table during the board's monthly
meetings. This step, along with the change
of title, has gained strong support from the
regents and executive officers.
While a major change such as this usu-
ally takes time and spurs much debate, the
changes were welcomed, as they clearly
focus on the way the office is perceived,
not on the way the counsel performs. The
symbolic gesture of gaining a seat at the
regents' table and the change of title sig-
nify how involved the office is at all lev-
els of the University's internal function-
ing and grants it the recognition it
deserves.
Most major universities typically hold
the general counsel post as a vice presi-
dent and now the University will follow
suit. Much of University business relies
upon complex legal issues, especially
since affirmative action, minority prefer-
ence and admissions to higher education
represent the hot topics of politics today.
Bollinger's steps were important and
appropriate given the present litigation
climate at the University. Due to the stu-
dent body's keen interest in the legal
affairs of the University, particularly in
regard to the two lawsuits against LSA
and Law School admissions policies, the
vice presidential general counsel is a wel-
come change.
Drug stores need confidentiality policies
The right to privacy is one of the most
fundamental that Americans have. But
in order to keep many facets of their lives
private, citizens must depend on others to
not reveal important information. This is
particularly true of medical conditions and
illnesses, as patients must rely on doctors,
nurses and pharmacists to keep their per-
sonal information private. Often, certain
diseases such as AIDS and other sexually
transmitted diseases carry a certain stigma
with them. It is imperative that such pri-
vate information be kept from the public's
pervue.
A Mount Clemens man is suing the
Arbor Drugs chain for disclosing his status
as an AIDS patient to his children. A clerk
at one of the chain's pharmacies recog-
nized the man's prescriptions as those used
to combat the AIDS virus. She told her
teen-age son of his status, who relayed the
information to his children at their Mount
Clemens school. Due to Arbor Drugs' fail-
ure to have an established policy regarding
customer confidentiality, the man's very
personal information became the topic of
schoolyard gossip.
The damage done by this breach of pri-
vacy is no doubt tremendous. The man kept
his diagnosis from his children because he
did not wish to burden them emotionally
with his illness. But now they must deal
with the shock associated with this revela-
tion, from an inappropriate source. The
AIDS patient filed suit in the Macomb
County Circuit Court in 1996 for at least
$10,000 for emotional distress and breach
ing client confidentiality at the time of the
incident - it was clearly negligent in fail-
ing to protect its customer's privacy.
Pharmacy customers deserve to have
their medical condition kept private. People
must be able to know that they can purchase
medication and seek medical treatment
without the risk of their status being publi-
cally known. If such protection cannot be
afforded, people with stigmatized illnesses
may fear public scrutiny and choose not to
obtain proper medical care. As a result, they
could risk advanced illness and possibly
even death.
While pharmacists are bound by the
doctor-patient privilege, other drug store
employees are not. But clerks and other
staffers can often identify illnesses by the
medications prescribed for it. While Arbor
Drugs now has a confidentiality policy, it
is too little, too late for the Mount Clemens
man. The retail pharmaceutical industry to
establish a policy to prevent future confi-
dentiality breaches. The privacy of its
clients is vital and deserves universal pro-
tection.
It is clear that steps must be taken to
prevent another breach of confidentiality
of this type. The Montcalm County law-
suit should send a powerful message to the
pharmaceutical industry that they must
have provisions to protect their customers.
Patients' privacy deserve protection both
in and out of the doctor's office. A indus-
try-wide rule would eliminate the need for
patients to fear that their personal infor-
mation would be released to the public -
Indoor and
outdoor track
seasons need
equal billing
TO THE DAILY:
Thank you for outstand-
ing coverage of the women's
and men's cross country
teams throughout the fall.
However, please do not let
your coverage of track and
field slip during indoor and
outdoor seasons. The open-
ing indoor meet for both
teams only got five column
inches combined in the
sports section on Monday,
with no mention of the two
Olympians who made spe-
cial appearances in the
men's 5,000-meter and 800-
meter races.
The Daily should send
someone to cover the
upcoming meets and include
a listing of results in the
paper, not just a mention of
the few winners. Running
fans like to hear about how
everyone does, regardless of
place.
LADALE WINLING
LSA SOPHOMORE
Winter term
courses
focus on
environment
TO THE DAILY:
This semester will be one
of the most exciting semes-
ters that the University has
seen in years. The University
has had themes for their
semesters in the past. My
first semester freshman year
it was "Death and Dying," I
believe. But this semester
marks a joint effort between
several of the colleges
including the Residential
College, LSA, the School of
Art and the School of Natural
Resources and the
Environment to bring the
University the Environmental
Theme Semester:
"Rethinking the
Relationship"
It is the first time when
students have come together to
plan programs for a theme
semester. Some of the exciting
events scheduled for the
semester include a film series,
career fairs, speakers, forums,
teach-ins and concerts.
So I hope that you could all
join us for the Environmental
Theme Semester.
KRISTEN GENOVESE
SNRE JUNIOR
Bickering has
national championship out-
right, I ask that you give it a
rest and stop complaining.
The unexpected revival and
emergence of our football
team this season should be
something that we should be
rejoicing about and not
something we should be
grieving over. I have waited
four long years for a
moment like this, and it is a
shame that people at this
University are constantly
trying to ruin such moments
with stupid, childish bicker-
ing.
Where were all these
complainers when our hock-
ey team won a national
championship a couple years
ago after years of no titles?
Their pep rally was held in
Cliff Keen Arena, and they
were lucky if 1,000 people
showed up. When the hock-
ey team went to visit the
president in Washington,
D.C., he wasn't even there.
Now, the football team is
getting the royal treatment:
a pep rally in Crisler in front
of 13,000, which was tele-
vised locally, and a parade
around the city. Yet, this is
still not good enough for
everybody.
So please, everybody give
it a rest and stop complaining.
Whether you were in the Big
House the day we beat Ohio
State and you stormed the
field, or whether you were in
Pasadena to watch the team
win the roses, or whether you
just saw it all on a television,
enjoy the celebrations we are
able to have now and take
pride in our school and its
athletics so we can prove to
the rest of the nation that
whether they want to believe
it or not, we are the true
national champions of college
football in 1997-1998.
JEFF BLIVAISS
LSA SENIOR
Editorials
spread 'liberal
propaganda'
at the 'U'
TO THE DAILY:
I'm sorry to say this, but
the Daily is not reflective of
the student body. It seems
that the Daily's outright sup-
port of affirmative action and
liberal agendas are without
the support of most students
on campus. Students like
myself, who are not as articu-
late as your writers who con-
tribute to the liberal propa-
ganda served up by the
University on a day-to-day
basis, probably would like
their viewpoints to be heard,
but can't.
This is because of the
conspiracy of the Daily to
make the I Iniversit anner
issue to appear daily in its
newspaper, not only the more
utopian viewpoint.
NIKHIL KUMAR
LSA SOPHOMORE
Daily covered
'awesome'
season well
TO THE DAILY:
My congratulations to
the Wolverines on the finest
Michigan football team in
50 long years. My congratu-
lations as well go to the
thousands of Michigan
alumni, students and friends
who provided a roaring
backdrop of support in the
Rose Bowl on Jan. 1. And a
very special thank you to
the current editors of the
Daily, who did such a fine
job producing the special
Rose Bowl commemorative
edition I viewed on the
World Wide Web.
Leaving the Rose Bowl
on the night of Jan. 1, the
word I heard Michigan stu-
dents use most often to
describe Michigan's stirring
victory over Washington
State was "awesome." I can't
think of a better one.
SHUFFLIN DOUGLIS
LSA ALUMNUS
Rose Bowl
helped bring
generations
together
TO THE DAILY:
I am an international stu-
dent from Columbia in the
College of Engineering. Like
all Michigan fans, I am
extremely proud of our
Wolverines. However, there is
an extra reason for being
especially proud: I was able
to share the excitement of the
championship with my
grandfather (whose name is
Antonio Paz, like myself). He
happened to be an interna-
tional student, here at U of
M, also attending the College
of Engineering, at the time
the Wolverines won the last
championship in 1948. He
graduated with the class
1950, and although he went
back to Colombia and never
again lived in the United
States, he remained a
Wolverine fan. Now, nearly
50 years later, he was able to
experience again the excite-
ment he felt back then,
through my season updates
and cable television! Apart
from sharing that emotion
with him 50 years later, if
everything goes well, we'll
be. charina anther rnmmmn
blame the season. Every year,
Iaround this time, news magazines
and tabloid-type TV shows do their
"year in review" programs. Inevitably
there is a segment or special section
about the people
who passed away
this year. Some
soft music, a
rolling video mon-
tage showing the
recently deceased~
smiling, laughing
and playing with
war orphans, and
little sound bits
from their friends JAMES
and family saying MILLER
what a worthy per- MILLER
son they were and ON TAP
what a shame it is
they had to take the dirt nap so young.
As a culture, we get a little uptight
about death. It does something strange
to us. But at the same time, we love a
good funeral - more than weddings
even (actually, depending on your per-4
spective, they're kind of similar). We
kick into high gear when dealing with
death. We put on our best suit. We find
ourselves inappropriately quoting
from Byron and Shakespeare. I
promise you that few people get plant
ed in this country without some boob
minister mumbling about Aunt
Myrna's candle burning brightly at
both ends. But I'm getting ahead of
myself
We love to over-eulogize. The dead.
have a way of being canonized immedi-
ately upon their passing, with the possi-
ble exception of executed criminals, if
you're William Kuntsler. Eulogies and
similar bits of rhetoric are strange, in
that they are categorizedwithsbar pick-
up lines and pillow talk. That is to say
that they are more fiction than truth and
they have more utility to the user than
to the target. I'll give you an example.
Everyone had at least one kid in their
high school who managed to get him-
self killed before graduation. Alcohol
poisoning, car wreck, knife fight,
whatever. From a resume standpoint,
dying was the best thing they ever did,
Think of the way people talked about
him before and after he kicked the
oxygen habit.,
Alive: Dave? He was such a punk.
The way he'd get out of that Datsun
wagon in the school parking lot, blar-4
ing Sir Mix-A-Lot, smoking a
Newportand adjusting his Puma
sweater. The jackass. He used to sell
pages out of porn magazines to kids on
the elementary school playground. I
think he shot his mom once.
Dead: I can't believe it. I saw Dave
in history just the other day. He was so
happy and full of life. He was talking
about going to Princeton and becom-
ing a pediatric neurosurgeon. Oa
famine aid worker. It's so sad when
such a charming and promising young
man dies. So tragic. Honor student,
too.
Sonny Bono, God rest his soul, got
the same treatment.
Alive: A punchline. A mediocre
songwriter, singer and restaurant
owner whose only significant achieve-
ment in life, other than giving geeks
everywhere the vague hope they might
score with the likes of Cher, was that
he managed to get elected to Congress
in a year when Gregg Alman could
have gotten a seat if he cut his hair
and turned Republican. Not to men-
tion that "The Sonny and Cher Show"
made "Laugh-In" look like "Upstairs,
Downstairs."
Dead: What a great man. From the
son of poor immigrants to world-
famous entertainer to brilliant song4
writer to genius restaurateur to well-]
loved Congressman. Sonny Bono will
always be remembered by his huge
legions of fans, and all his congres-
sional colleagues who admired him.
Witness Michael Kennedy.
Alive: Trouser snake. The only
moral accomplishment in his entire,
big-toothed, vacant, blow-dried
Kennedy existencetwas waiting for the
family babysitter to be legal before
"taking her to Hyannisport." Coddled,
clothed and employed by money made
decades before his birth. Didn't even
have the ambition to have his family
buy him a congressional seat.
Dead: Oh, when will the curse o'er
the Kennedy house be lifted? Why
must these great statesmen and their
loved ones continue to be punished?
Star-crossed, they are. Star-crossed!
As far as Sonny is concerned, the
truth is somewhere in the middle. He
wasn't a musical genius or a brilliant
law giver, and neither was he a fum-
bling, walking taste disaster. He was
just a nice guy, who did alright for
himself. Kennedy, on the other hand,
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