4 -- The Michigan Daily - Friday, December 11, 1998
(9i 141§ua~
420 Maynard Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Edited and managed by
students at the
University of Michigan
LAURIE MAYK
Editor in Chief
JACK SCHILLACI
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
Conduct unbecoming
U' regents to receive Code reports this month
'At the least, it could make for a better learning
environment. At most, it could save some lives.'
- state Rep. Alan Sanborn (R-Washtington 74p.), on a bill he
sponsored in the state House that would allow state universities
to condition admission on the signing ofa responsibility contract
A LOOK BACK YUKI KUNIYUKI
R C1L4 4 tE q os
Ao . I
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
W hile students are off campus during
break, an important process that can
affect the life of every student will be going
on - the University Board of Regents will
begin a preliminary review of the Code of
Student Conduct. The Michigan Student
Assembly and the Office of Student Affairs
will present their reports on the Code to the
regents. The University's administration
should use this opportunity to either revise
the Code extensively or abandon it alto-
gether because not only is it ineffective, it
violates various doctrines that American
society holds dear.
Under the Code, the University can try
to convict students for offenses already
handled by the criminal justice system. But
unlike the justice system, the Code does
not allow students the rights they have as
citizens: legal counsel, appealing to prece-
dent, burden of proof, among others. The
University should not have the right to
hand out punishments that add to those that
have been deemed suitable by a court of
law; this basically amounts to double jeop-
ardy. And as the majority of University stu-
dents are legal adults, the administration
should not have a punitive system that tries
to act as a parent. '
The secrecy of the Code is another of its
flaws. All participants in Code hearings are
required to sign a statement of confiden-
tiality, resulting in the lack of evidence that
the Code is effective at all. In fact, the only
time the Code is in the public spotlight is
when it fails to work. The secrecy of Code
hearings means that there is no way of
seeking precedent for appropriate punish-
ments, which is an important part of the
criminal justice system. The result is that
there is no basis for determining the proper
sentence or procedure, making the sanctity
of the Code's processes questionable at
best.
In addition to the unfairness and inef-
fectiveness of the Code, it is also suspect
that the University has selected a time
when the student population will be off
campus to begin reviewing it. Given the
general lack of student knowledge of the
Code in the first place, this scheduling
makes student input on the process incred-
ibly unlikely. But since public review of the
Code will probably not begin until January,
students should make an effort to get
involved in the process.
In addition, the two regents-elect, Kathy
White and David Brandon, will likely get
their first exposure to the Code within the
next couple months. Since they will be
involved with the many important decision
on this policy in the coming months, it is
important for them to take an objective
stance on the topic. They should not allow
votes of boards past to crowd there deci-
sion-making - instead, they should try to
see the Code for what it really is.
The University should be a place where
students prepare for life in the outside
world. And since they must face the same
laws as any citizen, it is not the
University's place to continue to enforce
those laws when the legal system has
already done so - that violates students'
constitutional rights by effectively placing
them in double jeopardy. Furthermore, the
secrecy of Code hearings makes it impos-
sible to know for sure whether or not the
Code works, and may be a hindrance to
determining fair sentencing. When the
regents formally review the Code, signifi-
cant changes should be made to solve
these problems - or, better yet, it should
be abolished entirely.
Making a connection
College courses benefit high school students
T he days when a high school graduate
could land a lucrative job without any
additional training are gone. It is almost a
given today that students seeking any type of
career will need to continue their formal edu-
cation. Despite this trend, higher education
has not taken great strides to become more
accessible to those who could benefit from a
college education but cannot afford it. Many
high school students do not even consider col-
lege because they were not encouraged by
their parents and teachers to pursue higher
education. A new partnership between Wayne
County Community College and the
Belleville and Romulus high schools is
attempting to help solve this dilemma. The
partnership between the community college
and high schools allows juniors and seniors to
earn college credits in vocational areas such
as heating ventilation and air conditioning
instillation and repair. The partnership gives
students another chance to get ahead. The
goal of making students job-ready in a short-
er amount of time is not only more efficient
but opens up opportunities to some students
who might not have had them otherwise.
Community colleges are ideally positioned
to pick up the slack and take on a role that bet-
ter fits a community's needs. Rather than
waiting for students to come to them, the part-
nership puts Wayne County Community
College in an active role in recruiting stu-
dents. About a dozen high school students
currently attend at least two morning classes
on the five campuses the college has through-
out Metro Detroit. Once the two-year program
is complete, students earn their high school
diploma and are just 15 credits away from
receiving an associate's degree. To enroll
for tuition, books and transportation. This pro-
gram has allowed the high schools to expand
their vocational programs without spending
much money.
A partnership between high schools and
colleges is not a new idea but a highly
underused one. For example, Ann Arbor's
Pioneer High School offers a program for
juniors and seniors to attend Washtenaw
County Beauty College and work toward
their cosmetology degree while completing
their high schools diplomas. Washtenaw
Technical Middle College also serves as a
high school and vocational school in one.
While the WCCC-Belleville/Romulus high
schools education sharing program is new
to the district, administrators should recog-
nize the diamond in the rough they have on
their hands and jump at the chance to
expand the current program to make it
available to more students and offer a wider
selection of classes.
Pioneer, Belleville and Romulus high
schools are using their community college
partnerships to track students into blue-collar
jobs. While not everyone has the ability or
interest to attend a major university and
become a professional, these options should
still be open to those students. Education is
empowering; students who planned on taking
jobs that do not require much training may not
have been aware of their talent and interest in
other fields because they were simply not
exposed to it. Community college partner-
ships with high schools give students -espe-
cially those at high schools that do not offer
Advanced Placement classes - not only a
better chance of succeeding in the workplace,
but a second chance at their education. It
..1 Ua ~ws" vei4s n ha~t vA^.I.n-n -a
'one nation,
under the
Code ...'
TO THE DAILY:
I would just like to say
that I supprt state Rep. Alan
Sanborn's (R-Washington
Twp.) ideas for reducing the
state budget. In the Dec. 10
article "Bill may lend support
to Code," Sanborn said that
passing a bill allowing insti-
tutions of higher education to
require students to sign a
responsibility contract
"would put the full force of
the Michigan Constitution
behind codes of conduct cur-
rently in place." What
Sanborn is saying is that
there is no need for the state
Supreme Court since any bill
that the state Legislature
passes must be constitutional.
So millions of dollars per
year could be saved by abol-
ishing the Michigan Supreme
Court. While he's at it, he
could pass a bill allowing
people to shoot anyone who
looks suspicious. That way
we could save millions more
per year by not having a
police force. And think of the
relief on the legal system!
How do you try a dead man?
Just think if Sanborn made it
to the White House. We
could wipe out the U.S.
Supreme Court. And why not
pass a bill allowing Texans
and Californians to shoot
immigrants coming across
the border, thereby reducing
social expenditures in those
states by millions more a
year? And the education sys-
tem could be improved
because students shouldn't
have to waste time taking
civics in high school. I mean,
that whole checks and bal-
ances thing can't be right,
can it? I guess it's too bad for
Sanborn that term limits can't
be found unconstitutional.
One nation, under the
Code, with closed hearings
and dry campuses for all.
JOHN GES
RACKHAM
Lockyer is
'insensitive'
TO THE DarLY:
When we opened Tesday's
issue and read Sarah Lockyer's
article ("The 20-something
guy is not all that bad, just ask
Susan and Sarah"), we were
horrified at the messages con-
veyed. Lockyer insists that the
TV show "Sex and the City" is
about feminism via female
sexual assertion, but the rest of
her article makes it clear that
such assertion is in fact little
more than destructive objecti-
fication of men.
As Lockyer states, the
show's female protagonists
"encourage us to simply take
guys put us through the soli-
tude of the morning after and
the bore of the pr-game."
Excuse us, "our" guys?
Not all 20-something men are
insensitive pigs who abandon
their sexual partners within
hours, nor do all such men talk
exclusively about sports. Many
are perfectly decent, caring,
affectionate human beings
with cultured tastes to share.
In fact, by saying that the
women in "Sex and the City"
have the right idea when they
use men strictly for sex,
Lockyer is showing herself to
be on the same insensitive
level as the type of man she
mocks
ASTRID PHIWlPS
LSA SENIOR
DAVID PAM
ENGINEERING SENIOR
Granger does
not belong at
the 'U'
To THE DAILY:
I was amazed at the opin-
ion that was expressed in the
editorial titled "Closed doors"
in Tuesday's Daily that reflect-
ed "the opinion of the majority
of the Daily's editorial board."
If this truly is the majority
opinion, then I am beginning
to see how the idea of
"accountability for one's own
action" is failing in today's
society.
The argument in the article
went something like this:
Daniel Ganger did a bad ting
by committing statutory rape,
he was punished by the courts
and is serving his sentence,
and when done, he should be
able to go on with his life as if
nothing had happened. The
Daily then declares that his
rights were being stepped on
and that the University is mak-
ing a judgement on the justice
system by revoking his admis-
sions.
So, using the same logic:
Should the police officers who
beat Rodney King be allowed
to come back to the job after
having finished their prison
terms? I mean, they are reha-
bilitated right? And it would be
stepping on their rights and
interfering with their rehabili-
tation if they were not allowed
back on the job, right? Wrong.
The action that those officers
took will stay with them for
the rest of their lives or until
they convince the community
otherwise.
"Rehabilitation" does not
equal "clean slate." Serving a
prison sentence does nothing
for the trust that must be build
back up between granger and
the community. The campus
community will accept
Granger if he shows that he
has changed his ways by suc-
cessfully completing a year at
another educational institution
I'm sure that Washtenaw
Community College would
the University makes such a
move as in Granger's case, I
am comforted that such factors
are in fact being considered.
If the University allows
other students who have com-
mit similar offenses to contin-
ue their schooling here, then
that is a separate issue that
does need to be dealt with.
Those individuals should also
be encouraged to continue
elsewhere until they have
proven their worth. It should
not, however, be used as an
excuse for Granger to stay.
SCOTT CRAWFORD
RACKHAM
Beethoven
never wrote a
Requiem
To THE DAILY:
Yet again, I find myself
writing to the Daily as a result
of faulty journalism. This time,
however, I am responding to
an article that covers my actual
area of expertise: music. 1 am
referring to the preview of
Wednesay night's concert at
Hill Auditorium ("Great work
returns to campus," 12/9/98). 1
was glad to see a concert by
the philharmonia and the
chamber choir covered in the
Daily. Heaven knows the clas-
sical music coverage is slin
due in no small part, I am sure,
to the decreased interest in this
art form in the general popula-
tion. Two small items in your
article, however, are in need of
correction.
First, in your discussion
with Prof. Morrison on the
sporadic performances
Beethoven's "C major Mass"
receives you printed that "he
speculated that the more wide-
ly known Beethoven's late
'Requiem' may be partially
responsible for overshadowing
this work..." I found it inter-
esting that a work that does not
exist should overshadow the
"C major Mass." It might
behoove you to learn that
Beethoven never wrote a
Requiem. The piece Morrison
was most likely referring to, as
his half-humorous comment
that "no one can sing it or play
it" leads me to believe, is the
"Missa Solemnis in D major"
This is indeed a work of
intense difficulty from
Beethoven's late creative peri-
od and is probably the work
Morrison was referring to.
The next item is simply
semantical. In mentioning the
second half of the program the
article talked about
"Metamorphose and Till
Eulenspiegel, two composi-
tions for strings by German
composer Richard Straus."
The only problem with this
statement is that only
Metamorphosen is scored for
strings. Till Eulenspiegel is
scored for full orchestra.
In giving money,
people show a
bit of themselves
j admit I used to inwardly groan when
I saw groups collecting money on the
Diag. As if "anything you've got in your
pocket" really makes a difference.
So it was with terrific reluctance and
a wry nod to irony that I picked up 4
bucket last year to fulfill membership
requirements in a
group I had
recently joined.
It was one of
the coldest days
of winter, of
course. Life has
a way of laugh-
ing at you like
that. But by the
time I had
dethawed later MEGAN
that night, I had SCHIMPF
new insight into PRESCRIPTIONS
people, bucket
drives and the dedication of anyone who
does one.
Last weekend - pleasantly warmer
- was my second as one of the medical
students who blanket Ann Arbor annual
ly to collect money for Galens Medicap
Society.
In its 71st year, Tag Days is a well-
known and generally respected charity
among Ann Arbor residents. Many peo-
ple who seemed to want to keep walking
stopped when they saw Tag Days signs.
Others were convinced by the description
of what Galens does with the approxi-
mately $68,000 it collects every year -
making those two days by far one of the
most successful charity drives at the
University. Galens donates all the mone
to children's charities; a majority of th
money goes to Child Life at Mott
Children's Hospital, a program that pro-
vides toys, art supplies and games to help
children be kids instead of patients, if
only for a couple hours a day.
Of the hundreds of people we
encountered, most were polite, some
were friendly and some were rude. And
while this is to be expected, it is quite
different on the asking side than on thq
ignoring side.
One man wanted to know who Galen
was before he'd donate. Another pre-
sented a flash card and asked the name
of the pictured muscle. We found high
school students willing to dig intheir
pockets for change while adults who
drove up in expensive cars walked by
stonily. We met people who had benefit-
ed from Galens money in childhood.
One woman told me about her father
a traditional neighborhood doctor,
whose memory she donates every year.
We met a man who first donated in
1956. 1 convinced my senior prom date
to donate, which bought him endless
taunting from his wife for his previous
disavowals of Tag Days. I heard stories
about people who did not donate -
including priests and sports columnists.
We encountered plenty of nodding and
smiling, all people who kept walking.
Some of the more amusing response
to the question, "Would you like to
donate to help the children of
Washtenaw County?":
E "Yes," while walking by without
donating.
8 "Help Washtenaw County? They
locked me up!"
"I hate kids."
"I'm having enough trouble raising
them."
0 "1 do, but not in that way."
"They should be helping me.
While it is obviously preferable to
collect as much money as possible when
you've devoted 12 hours to standing
outside with a heavy bucket, it is also
understandable when people cannot -
or do not want to - contribute at a par-
ticular time. We watched people scurry
with eyes cast downward, try to slip past
unasked and wear their tag as protective
armor.s
Particularly offensive, though, are
those who outright ignore the request -
as if you are not a person, as if you did
not just speak to them, as if because
they are the askee that they are at some
higher level of humanity.
Absolutely not.
This is the most direct lesson I have
learned: Saying "No, I'm sorry" or "Not
right now" is the best thing to do aside
from contributing. It is the respectful
way to treat another human being wh*
asks a simple question.
Stand outside collecting money for
any period of time, and you will begin
to appreciate just some of what home-
less people face every time they ask
strangers for money. You will feel relief
at simply being acknowledged and the
frustration of being completely ignored.
Because of my experience, I now
respond in some way to everyone who
asks. I have found that almost everyonW
is appreciative for just that effort.
And pocket change does make a dif-
ference. The man who declined because
he was too "poor" but later added a cou-
ple coins to my bucket is equally chari-
table as the man driving the Mercedes