I - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, April 7, 1998 420 Maynard Street LAURIE MAYK Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Ci Editor inChe Edited and managed by JC S IA students at the JACK SCHILLACI University of Michigan Editorial Page Editor Unless otherwise noted, unsigned editorials reflect the opinion of the majority of the Dailys editorial hoard. All other articles, letters and cartoons do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Michigan Daily. FROM THE DAILY Tour talk 'U' visit could benefit national race dialogue onight, the University community tions is dialogue, not bickering. People on will have another chance to discuss all sides of the issues must be allowed to Boston. the road 0 trip to success 'People gettin' busted for this Is inhuman.' -An Ann Arbor resident known as Eagle Man, on Hash Bash and the illegality of marijuana use YUKI KUNIYUKI GROUND ZERO AN ODE TO CHAMPIONS In the year of '98, the hockey ice was cleaned By the blood of the opponents of the Mighty Wolv'rines. They fought with all the gallantry of warriors renown'd, And stormed each icy battlefield to win the hockey crown. While Spartan dreams were shatter'd and hopes of vict'ry lost, At another Thermopylae in a building named for Yost.< The Wolv'rines marched steadily, throughout the tumultuous fray, To unleash an Armageddon on the final Judgement day. Lead by senior veterans, spurred by youth and age, They raged a path to glory, their hour upon the stage. The Eagles were no match for them, lead by destiny, They could not stop the Wolv'rines, who marched on to vict'ry.- LETTERS TO THE EDITOR he state of race relations on campus and n society as a whole when the Michigan tudent Assembly hosts a Town Hall 'Meeting on Race in conjunction with 'resident Clinton's Initiative on Race. The neeting will feature a panel led by repre- entatives from the Clinton administration - including Judith Light, executive direc- or of the initative - and from the Jniversity's faculty and student body, as veil as an open dialogue on the subject of ace relations. University students should ittend this meeting to voice their opinions >n diversity and on the direction and esults of Clinton's race initiative. The meeting is not intended to focus olely on affirmative action. Although ffirmative action remains an extremely mportant issue at the University, it is not he only issue regarding race worth dis- ,ussing. Affirmative action can ensure liversity on campus, but it does not nec- -essarily provide for calm, productive race elations on campus. And while the Jniversity is succeeding at creating a mul- icultural community, it is notorious for laving a socially segregated atmosphere. 3ut this problem is often forgotten in the Nake of the affirmative action controversy - even though bad feelings can often levelop as a result of the University's tdmissions policies. While this forum is a place for open lebate, it is important that it does not >ecome a shouting match, as has hap- )ened at more than one past University -vent involving race relations. The most mportant factor in improving race rela- speak openly if the dialogue on campus and the nationwide initiative are to suc- ceed. Bringing Clinton's race initiative to the University may help to foster constructive discussion of racial issues. But that does not change the fact that the initiative has lacked direction and commitment since its incep- tion last year. The college campus tour, the portion of the initiative of which today's discussion is a part, is intended to produce a report from the president at its conclusion. While the report will likely detail race- related problems that universities across the country are facing, it will not have a signif- icant impact unless specific recommenda- tions and suggestions are made. Since it has not been well-promoted, Clinton's race dialogue has had little effect on the state of race relations in the nation. While it is almost impossible to set tangible goals for a program intended to promote discussion and understanding between races, it is still important that the initiative. at least gets people to talk openly about improving race relations outside of the ini- tiative's discussions. The race relations forum could help fos- ter constructive discussion at the University and give students a chance to address their concerns about racial issues. It is also a good step toward establishing some direc- tion for the race initiative; this forum also gives students a chance to ask questions about the initiative and to voice their expec- tations. It is important that University stu- dents take advantage of this opportunity to engage in a constructive debate. Admitted failure UC schools should increase diversity efforts he news last Tuesday that minority acceptances to the University of california plunged has cast an ominous ihadow over the University's admissions policies. In the first year that the University Af California system has not used race as a factor in its undergraduate admissions rocess, its Berkeley campus will see a 65- ercent drop in the number of black stu- :ents in its first-year class. California's unfortunate fate provides a clear vision of what may happen at the University of Michigan if affirmative action proponents lose their fight. For the sake of the University and society as a whole, affirma- tive action must remain strong in Michigan. The University cannot afford to follow the UC system in becoming ethnically unrepre- sentative of the nation's population. In 1995, the UC Board of Regents banned the use of racial preferences, and a year later, the passage of proposition 209 - a statewide referendum - eliminated the use of affirma- tive action in public institutions across the state. The results of these actions are in, and the nation can see that without affirmative action, college campuses will lose one of the aspects most crucial to the strength of their educational missions - diversity. Although the University of California has hit a speed bump in keeping its campus diverse, there is still hope for the University of Michigan. Residential College Prof. Carl Cohen, state Sen. David Jaye (R-Macomb) and the Center for Individual Rights, among others, are all intent upon removing the University's primary mechanism used to sup- port campus diversity. But there are numerous ways to work against these actions. The University must continue to defend its admis- challenging the University's admissions poli- cies with precision and diligence. Students also should continue to express their voices through constructive dialogues, rallies and educational events. The University administra- tion must defend its policies in court and work to counteract efforts to end affirmative action. In light of the UC system's upsetting admissions results, their admissions offices should employ other methods to promote diversity. The University of California should first increase its recruitment efforts at high schools with large minority populations. It should also consider altering its admissions criteria so that more minority students will be accepted. By minimizing the role of quantita- tive measures such as SAT scores play in admissions decision and increasing the weight of socioeconomic status, essays, extra-curricular activities and personal expe- riences, minority enrollment would probably rise. In addition, California should evaluate programs that other schools have implement- ed in lieu of affirmative action admissions policies such as the University of Texas' pol- icy of allowing the top 10 percent of every high school senior class to attend the public school of their choice. The UC regents have already discussed using a top four-percent standard, and high school counselors in Texas say the policy is working. This past Thursday, more than 300 Berkeley students blocked a busy intersection with a sit in, calling for Chancellor Berdahl to defy Proposition 209. Although Berdahl can- not be expected to break the law, his promise to "make sure the effects are minimized" should help ameliorate the situation. What has occurred at Berkeley should act as a por- tent for all University students, faculty and Race dialogue will benefit 'U' To THE DAILY: The upcoming week of will be an important time for race dialogue on campus. President Clinton's Initiative on Race gives U of M a national spotlight in which we can set an example for the rest of the nation. It is impor- tant to promote understand- ing, not hinder it with igno- rance, apathy and hatred. That is why there will be events on campus participat- ing in the President's Initiative. On Tuesday, April 7, there will be a Town Hall dialogue on race at 7:30 in the Union Ballroom. There will be extensive discussion of race relationships from the stand- points of students, faculty, and administrators. Affirmative action won't be the subject, but existing rela- tionships and their future will be addressed. More information on these events can be obtained from the Michigan Student Assembly Website at http://ww.umich.edu/~msa. WILL YOUMANS LSA SOPHOMORE Do not give the Klan the attention it wants TO THE DAILY: I have a request for the "slam the Klan" groups that will inevitably spring up before the Ku Klux Klan's next visit to Ann Arbor: Let them have their rally in peace and isolation. Last time, the groups gave the Klan exactly what they wanted. They got national news coverage, a lawsuit against the city, a bunch of people angry and most important, they got the right to claim the role of vic- tim. Don't give that to them again. Does that mean you should let them have their rally and not do anything about it? No. Plan a counter- rally, but plan it anywhere else in Ann Arbor but City Hall (or wherever the Klan's rally is going to be). Plan your rally on the Diag, in the stadium, in front of Rackham or on Main Street - any- where else. Have speakers on unity, have games, have a cotton candy machine for all I care. Make it a fun, posi- tive, uplifting affair away from the hate of the Klan. Then, when the national media comes to town, as we all know they will, they will have two things to cover. On them what they want. Deny them the very thing they are coming here to get - atten- tion. Let the Klan have their rally in isolation. STEVEN CLARKE RACKHAM Anti-day of action logic is not racist TO THE DAILY: I've read some letters to the editor that contain some rather thinly veiled sugges- tions that I am a racist, because I think the first day of action was misguided. And with all the insinuations, no one has been able to give an answer as to why it's a good idea to disrupt University business when the University is the strongest proponent of affirmative action in the country. This isn't racism - this is logic. It's also logical to believe that the day of action would have been more successful if University organizers would have postponed it until after midterms: Fewer fence-sitters would have been alienated, and more people who support affirmative action would have been able to attend. It's also logical that to facilitate an end to racism and ethnic tensions, we need to get away from splitting ourselves into such groups and demanding rights and privileges for one group and denying the same rights to other groups. We need fewer labels, fewer classifications; why support something that perpetuates these labels? How can the letter writers think that something that, by its very nature, divides us will bring unity? I call it logic. Some call it racism. Po-ta-to, po-tah-to, I guess. ent reasons for supporting or opposing affirmative action. We must realize that a black person's motive for support- ing affirmative action could be anti-white just as easily as a white person's reason for opposing it could be anti- black. Heilig indicates that there is an underlying note of racism inherent in all opposi- tion to affirmative action. This is the same ignorance that is calling all who oppose affirmative action "resegre- gationists." This is a ridicu- lous tag that stinks of propa- ganda. Further, Heilig makes a mistake in saying that we should champion the "plight of people of color and women.' It seems to me that the purpose of this movement should be to champion the plight of the dis- advantaged. Until education at the high school level is improved, the number of dis- advantaged students will always be the same. If every- one living in a poor school dis- trict is disadvantaged because of the education they receive, what difference does it make if the district is 90 percent white, 90 percent black or 90 percent Asian? The same number of people are still being screwed by the American education system because we continue to focus on racial discrimination. Most of the people who oppose affirmative action do so because they are against racial discrimination of any kind. There is no plight to speak of other than the plight of humanity. I will never accept the notion that the rights of a poor black person, a poor white person, a poor Asian person, a poor woman and a poor Hispanic person are unequal. I wish to help them all. TIM COURTOIS LSA FIRST-YEAR STUDENT %A~h"E+ iLA .i;+h F or some, the road to Boston was 750 miles long. For others, it was 12 hours. For still others, the road was a superhighway, the beauty of the Finger Lakes and the subtle majesty of the Berkshires. For me. the road to Boston was four years of twisting and turning, of wind ing roads and the most exciting o prospects. It was payback and it was redemption; the road to Boston most certainly went through Ann Arbor and unques- tionably ended in success. One friend, who braved my driving and the monotonyJOSH of Interstate 90 WHITE this weekend, t N made the observa- i, ,,xg tion that they should offer a course at the University on "Practical Life" - that the University itself doesn't prepare us for what we really need to know. In the ensuing conversation, we discussed' our four years here (something m father alluded to later as my great ten- dency to reminisce) and agreed that what we learned is not so much about the school as it is about those of us who attend it. As a group of us - both current students and recent graduates - sat in a small apartment on Tileston Street in Boston's historic North End just hours before the emotional hockey victory; the tension was extraordinary. It was not so much nervousness about the game itself as it was the anticipation of sharing the experience with each other; it was about the bond that comes with going through so much. The road trip, one that did in fact cover 750 miles each way and took about 12 hours in each direction, was less a journey to a hockey tournament than it was a journey toward discov ery. Much like the various crazy things each and every one of us has done while at school here, this road trip was a story in the making and a story that will doubtless be told thousands of times from now until forever. All of us agreed, hockey game or not, that this is what college is all about. Sure, the argument that classes and grades are why we are here holds a o4 of clout; there are courses here that are invaluable and help each student to grow and become ready for the "real world." But the real lessons are not learned in Angell Hall nor are they con- tained in any lecture that any professor has ever given. We were not put here to study alone, and our lives do not revolve around what we got in English 125 or how we performed on a midterm exam- ination. The hardest part about life, and consequently the hardest part about college, is how we learn from each other through experience. I could say that I have learned more on road trips than I ever could have in any class- room, and this past one was no differ- ent - the most important aspect of your college education is something that cannot be quantified on paper and something that has no yardstick fo success. The interactions we have wit our fellow students are in no way graded nor do they transfer well to a transcript or a graduate school appli- cation. I am certain that singing "The Victors!" at the Cask and Flagon on Landsdowne Street is not something that I will offer as a positive attribute to future employers, but it was one the best moments of my colleg1 career, and that I could share itwith friends made it a thousand times bet- ter. I can guarantee that 20 years down the line, I won't remember my Tuesday political science lecture, but that moment in Boston will live with me forever. Sometimes we forget what is really important to all of us and we offer undue weight to things that don't real- ly mean a hell of a lot. The hockey championship is wonderful and a greay achievement by the best team in col- lege hockey - something truly to be admired - but in the grand scheme of things it didn't really matter who won the game or that about 17,000 Boston College fans went home unhappy. Each and every one of them was wit- ness to one of the greatest games ever, and so were we, and so we all have a story. This trip to Boston, my hometown, was particularly redeeming because it was the trip that never happened from freshman year. That time around, I was in a car with two of my best friends as we heard Michigan lose to X4§kinp i pt a in C'AA JASON MAILLOUX V aldI1bWI «1 LSA JUNIOR all the Ks? Letter was propaganda' To THE DAILY: I found Julian Heilig's let- ter printed in the March 23 Daily to be insulting and igno- rant ("Minorities are affirma- tive action's main supporters"). Heilig says, "In fact, some of the people closest to my heart are white ... the white majority is going to have to search their hearts and continue to champi- on the plight of people of color and women." No person should ever think that they deserve any kind of praise for having friends of another race. No person should ever do their friends the disservice of classi- To THE DAILY: OK, maybe I am just a lit- tle oblivious of what it going on around ourcampus, but this is getting a little ridicu- lous! What are are these 'K's that I see everywhere? Now at first, I thought they were from some sort of hate gang or cult or something. But I have found an ever more con- cerning trend that these little 'K's seem to be hand written by little kids. It was rather pleasant for me to head to the bathroom and see a 'K' scrawled with smiley faces and the word "service" underneath it on a dry-erase board. Walking down that hall, I saw that the same combination appeared quite frequently.