4 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, March 25, 1998
c~Ije Skigan &Iiu
420 Maynard Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Edited and managed by
students at the
University of Michigan
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LAURIE MAYK
Editor in Chief
JACK SCHILLACI
Editorial Page Editor
NOTABLE QUOTABLE
'm pleased to see that the University is
attractive to a lot of qualified students."
-Associate Provost for Academic and Multicultural Affairs Lester
Monts, commenting on the flood of admissions applications for next fall
KAAMRAN HAFEEZ A S IT H A riP E
Building the
perfectly dateable
'College Male'
0
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
Waitlist worri -
U' should use waitlist but remain respectful
A s spring approaches, many University
students are anticipating the end of
another academic year. But University admis-
sions officials are focusing on the beginning
of next fall. Applications are being reviewed
by the Office of Undergraduate Admissions
admissions office and University administra-
tors are struggling to keep the size of next
fall's first-year class in check. This creates
more rigorous admissions criteria, an
increased competition from eager applicants
and fewer available spots.
In this situation, the most effective way for
University officials to review all applications
and eventually choose the most-qualified stu-
dents is by using a waitlist. This year, the
University has postponed more application
decisions than in prior years. As a result, the
admissions office has been flooded with calls
from angry parents and prospective students
who are forced to wait before hearing a final
decision from the University.
The debate about the process of using
waitlists to filter applications is argued
every year. Critics of the procedure claim
that it is unfair and disrespectful to the
applicants, allowing the University to post-
pone making a decision at the expense of
the student. But however unfavorable the
process of waitlisting may be, in a compet-
itive academic setting such as the
University's, it is a necessary evil.
This year, the yield rate - a calculated
percentage of admitted students who enroll
-is higher than usual. Available spots in
the incoming class are being filled at a
faster rate, but the strongest applications are
not necessarily being received first. In an
effort to maintain the rigorous standards
and reputation of the University, officials
need to review as many applications as pos-
sible before mailing acceptance letters. But
this creates an unnecessary number of
applicants who are expecting answers in the
meantime. Clearly, the only fair and effi-
cient solution is to implement a waitlist.
Postponing admissions decisions helps
regulate the relative size of the incoming
class. The number of students offered
admission is carefully watched and the tar-
geted class size remains in focus. This min-
imizes the effects of the more common
problems associated with inflated incoming
classes, such as overcrowding in the resi-
dence halls and increased classroom sizes.
While it may not be the most agreeable
method of sifting through applications, the
University must choose carefully from thou-
sands of very adequate students for those it
feels are most qualified. While many scon
the use of a waitlist, if acceptances were cho-
sen as the applications poured in, admission
into the University would be based in part by
postmark date, rather than the applicant's aca-
demic capacity.
While the waitlist is definitely a neces-
sary part of University admissions, con-
cerns about deadlines remain. It is impor-
tant that University officials realize the lim-
ited time students accepted from the waitlist
have to make their final college decision.
Minimizing the period of time waitlisted
applicants must wait to hear from the
University and allowing those accepted
from the waitlist more time to decide would
help alleviate negative responses to the
waitlist process. The University must
remember the precariousness of waitlisted
students' situations and try to accommodate
and respect the University's applicants.
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Jury duty
Racial quotas do not work well in federal courts
D etroit's U.S. District Court agreed early
this month to discontinue its policy of
removing all people accept African
Americans from jury pools in order to
increase the proportion of black jurors hearing
federal court cases. The decision comes after
the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in
Cincinnati ruled on Feb. 23 that the district
court's method of racial balancing violates
legal guidelines. The six-year-old practice,
used only in Southeastern Michigan, sought
to bring the percentage of black jurors to
reflect the African American component of
the district at large. Though Detroit's federal
judges have yet to establish an alternative
method of creating a jury wheel that repre-
sents a fair cross section of the community,
they are right in discarding the old policy.
The contest stems from an appeal by four
men who, found guilty by a Saginaw court in
a marijuana smuggling case, questioned the
district court's method of jury selection. The
appeals court sided with the appellants, stat-
ing that the selection process violated both
the Jury Selection and Service Act and the
equal protection clause of the U.S.
Constitution's Fifth Amendment.
Though the credibility of the U.S. legal
system rests on Americans' belief that a true
body of peers determines case outcomes,
eastern Michigan's well-intentioned Jury
Selection Plan failed to truly establish such
a representative body. By using race as the
sole factor in discarding jury candidates
prior to counsel-mediated selections, the
court, in effect, eliminated the randomness
essential to selecting an unbiased cross sec-
tion of the community. Increasing the
homoieneity of iurv nools. the selection
The system failed primarily because it did
not make similar efforts to establish equitable
representation for members of all racial and
ethnic groups. Latino/a defendants had com-
plained that while the court made efforts to
appease the black community, it did not enact
plans to balance the representation of other
minorities. Consequently, the court failed to
offer equal opportunity to all its defendants.
Even if it had endeavored to establish similar
plans for all underrepresented groups in east-
ern Michigan through the same "subtraction"
method. Clearly, the jury selection policy was
a complicated route toward achieving fair rep-
resentation.
Random-draw selection - the standard
method used for finding jury candidates -
ideally should turn up a jury that is more or
less representative of the district's population,
including its underrepresented groups. Noting
this statistical phenomenon, the district court
should have sought to remedy flaws within its
random-draw procedures before tampering
with jury pools. But instead of refining a
selection process that has become national
protocol, the court established a policy remi-
niscent of illegal quota system. It removed
non-black candidates to achieve an ideal per-
centage of black jurors - about 20 percent.
Despite its error, the court deserves
praise for making an effort to establish
racial equity within federal court juries. A
recent study commissioned by the
American Bar Association found that
Americans deem race a highly important
factor in fair jury selection, second only to
income brackets. Detroit's federal court's
Jury Selection Plan aimed to meet public
demand for eauitabilitv. Though its most
Daily failed to
give important
statistic s
To THE DAILY:
Regarding the Daily's
March 18 article, "Prop.
209 Affects UC," I was very
disappointed with the bias
in the reported figures. The
Daily mentioned how much
Black and Latino/a admis-
sions dropped in a few
schools, but it failed to give
the whole story. It failed to
mention that the white
admissions at UC-San
Diego and UC-Davis fell
9.8 percent, UC-Irvine fell
10 percent, and UC-Santa
Cruz fell 9.5 percent. The
decrease in white admis-
sions at Santa Cruz was
more than that of Asian
Americans (8.6 percent),
Hispanics (7.4 percent) and
African Americans (1.8 per-
cent). At Irvine, the Daily
failed to mention that the
Asian American admissions
dropped by only 1.5 per-
cent, which is much less
that that of white enrollment
(10 percent). At Davis, the
only category that showed
an increase in admissions
was Asian Americans.
Furthermore, although the
Daily mentioned that UC-
Riverside reported "increas-
es in minority acceptances,"
it did not mention the extent
of the increases. At
Riverside, admissions
increased 75.9 percent for
American Indians, 47 per-
cent for Hispanics, 41.9
percent for African
Americans and 12.9 percent
for Asian Americans in rela-
tion to the 13.7-percent
increase for whites.
Next time, the Daily
should report all of the infor-
mation.
AFSHIN BEYZAEE
LSA SOPHOMORE
US. military
deserves
praise, not
punishment
To THE DAILY:
I just read Noah
Robinson's letter ("Soldiers
must think about their
actions," 3/11/98) and Josh
White's column
('"Babykillers?' The men
and women in uniform
deserve better," 2/24/98)
and I was appalled but not
surprised to see yet another
naive and misinformed stu-
dent unknowingly bashing
the U.S. military. Believe it
or not, the military has rules
and laws that enforce moral
conduct upon its soldiers.
unexpected, people could end
up dead.
More important, one of
the foundations of the U.S.
government is civilian con-
trol of the military. The
second it has soldiers set-
ting policy, as Robinson
suggests, then it has a prob-
lem. Unless Americans
would prefer to live in one
of those countries where the
military really is in control
of public policy.
I was also very surprised
that Robinson's arguments
have so little substance. If
he is going to make an emo-
tional appeal, he should also
include a rational argument.
And don't the ultraliberals
ever get tired of calling peo-
ple "Nazis?" When they
degenerate to name calling,
they lose any chance of per-
suading peoplehand even
more, they're trivializing
some truly horrific acts that
were perpetrated by actual
Nazis.
Lzet me reiterate that the
military does what the U.S.
president tells it to do. Under
President Clinton's adminis-
tration, that means whatever
is in the latest opinion poll.
Therefore, if people don't
like what the military is
doing, they should elect a
different government and
stop ripping on people that
are selflessly trying to serve
and protect the country.
IAN CUMMINGS
RACKHAM
Hayden did
not support
his arguments
TO THE DAILY:
We are writing this letter
of concern regarding Brian
Hayden's Feb. 20 letter,
"Daily interview disappoint-
ed with ordinary questions."
In his letter, Hayden
responded to what he
thought "was an interview
that wasted Rudy T's time."
He also said that "thetDaily
should ask questions that
actually incite newsworthy
answers,"
Well, we've got news for
him. We may not have the
chance to read the Daily
everyday, but for the first
time in three years, there
are Q&As in almost every
SportsMonday. It seems like
Daily Sports Writer Jordan
Field does all of the inter-
views and Hayden should
thank him, not berate him
with questions Field should
or could have asked.
Hayden is correct that the
Daily should be thankful for
getting these types of inter-
views with big-time athletes
like Jalen Rose, Rudy T,
Desmond Howard and Glen
Rice. But what Hayden does-
NBA magazines to read
about those things. The
Daily may be a major paper,
but it is still the University's
paper. We want to read
about how the University
helped these athletes and
coaches become more suc-
cessful and learn from that,
MIKE FELD
LSA JUNIOR
JON CANARICK
SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
ADMINISTRATION
Cartoon
promoted
Irish American
stereotype
TO THE DAILY:
I was truly offended when
I opened the March 17 Daily
and saw Yuki Kuniyuki's
insulting cartoon "Ground
Zero The cartoon contained
the top five reasons that
make St. Patrick's Day spe-
cial and unique in Ann Arbor
and then promptly lists rea-
sons all having to do with
drinking heavily.
The implication that St.
Patrick's Day is a day
designed to drink excessive-
ly is ignorant and represents
insensitivity to people of
Irish descent. The day is
meant to honor St. Patrick
of Ireland, who is credited
with converting most of
Ireland to Christianity. The
holiday is a celebration of a
religious figure, and I don't
remember a priest advocat-
ing drinking beer the last
time I went to church.
Additionally, I opened the
March 18 Daily and saw an
article ("Students toast to St,
Patrick") that details how stu-
dents celebrated the holiday.
The article mentioned only
drinking-related activities
such as going to the bar and
partying.
There was no mention of
students going to church to
honor St. Patrick or showing
their Irish pride in ways other
than drinking.
It is funny how the Daily
preaches sensitivity to all
cultures and ethnic back-
grounds and an abhorrence
of stereotyping, but then
promptly goes and promotes
a holiday as an excuse to
get drunk and wear green
clothes. If Kuniyuki and the
editors were really aware of
other cultures, they would
realize that this is Irish
American month and take
an opportunity to learn
about Irish culture.
In the future, I hope the
Daily is more cautious in its
cartoons and reporting
about religious or cultural
holidays without bowing to
ve spent years observing my class-
mates flirt, touch, grope, fondle,
grind and humiliate themselves and
each other in the name of the drive to
continue the species. I have copiou4
notes and hours of stories and anec-
dotes. In the process of sorting
through all of this
material, 1 have
uncovered the key
to understanding
and exploiting col-
lege sexual poli-
tics,
In the name of
scientific advance-
ment and the good
of 18- to 22-year-
olds everywhere, I AMES
hereby volunteer to MILLER
become The Perfect IER,
College Male., o ' y)
"Gentlemen, we
have the technology. We can rebuild
him."
The first step is to transfer to a new
college out of state. Too many people
here already know I'm not The Perfect
College Male (in fact, the light from
The Perfect College Male won't hit me
for another several hundred years). So I
must start anew and transform myself
into the man that no undergraduate
female could resist.
Next, I need a new body. To be
blunt, my God-given form tends to be
uncoordinated and remind women of
their gay theater group friend or their
dark, sexually repressed English
teacher. On top of that, I have a
crookedleg and 15 pounds of Labatt
anchored to mly waist.
If I'm to be the darling of the psych
lecture, I'll need a host body. At least
5-foot-9, narrow waist and slightly
curly, dark hair. Eddie Haskel smile,
good-sized pecs (but not too big.
We're not capable of being shallow
now, are we ladies?).
The important thing is that I have toE
be attractive enoughsothe sort of
women that all live together can sit
around an episode of "ER" and argue
about whether I look more like Noah
Wiley or George Clooney, but not so
pretty that I make them feel self-con-
scious or guilty for having sex dreams
about me.
The specifics are not too important.
Anyone from a male fashion layout or
an Abercrombie and itch bag will dc
- that kind of raffish, beatnik-of-the-
soccer-team effect. As long as he looks
deep, we're money. Interested appli-
cants should sent a photo and current
EEG to James Miller, c/o The Michigan
Daily.
History: Worldly and well-traveled
is ideal. Perhaps the child of Peace
Corps volunteers or an Army brat.
Being a dorky child is always good
too because it creates the illusion tha
attractive people have the same prob-
lems that we tro.s do. (lint: They
don't.)
So my new p:iw il include a few
embarrassing sories from el mentarv
school, the pefect firt-date todder.
When she sees that I've turned into
such a "hottie" after coming from
such Poindexterish roots, I'll look all
the more accomplished and human
instead of the calculating trim hunter
that I am.
Subsection, romantic history: The
jilted-yet-resilient lover. Let me
explain: We're going for kind of a
Lloyd Dobbler thing here. I'll pretend
I used to be a little pimpdaddy, white
boy player in high school and the first
two years of college.
Further, I'll pretend like I'm not
proud of it, making generous refer-
ences to how "that sort of thing really
degrades both people, doesn't it?" But
at some point, I met this cruel, blond-
haired mean mistreater of a woman.
Das ubershixa. And she cast my love
aside.
Now, armed with my new knowl-
edge of painand sorrow, I've learned
temperance and respect. The advan-
tage of this fiction is that it will make
me look experienced, so she won't
have to worry about whether or not I
can get her to scream like a banshee
on Guy Fawlkes Day, but I'll also look
softened by heartbreak and neutered
enough to lull her into complacency.
It's great.
Myenew identity: I have to be in a
band. It seems like a cliche that women
like guys in bands, but it's true that
musical talent goes a long way to
enhancing one's sex appeal. But not just
any Blind Pig-playing slob with long,
thin sideburns. Something that seems
like it has a lot of character, if you don't
think about it too hard. Say, the trom-
bone player in a ska band.
That way, I can have that kind of out-
law appeal but still have the hipster fla-
vor, with John Coltrane records scat-