4A - The Michigan Daily - Monday, September 28, 1998

420 Maynard Street
Ann Arbor, MI 481093LAURIEAYKi
Edited and managed by E
students at the JACK SCHILLACI
University of Michigan Editorial Page Editor
%-Unless otherwise noted, unsigned editorials reflect the opinion of the majority of the Daily's editorial boan
All other articles, letters and cartoons do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Michigan Daily
FROM THE DAILY
Twsacurowd
BPC and Service Board funds should be combined
ast week, the Michigan Student benefit their members without having to
Assembly approved its annual budget worry about the stress on their pocket-
with an increase in funding for student books.
organizations through the Budget Priorities But the dichotomy of the BPC and the
s Committee and the Community Service Community Service Board presents a
Board. There is currently $168,000 avail- problem for the equitable treatment of
able to student groups from BPC - an student groups. By splitting the organiza-
increase from the previous year, in which tions into two groups and forcing them to
only $140,000 was available to on-campus use separate means of obtaining funds,
organizations. In addition, $75,000 is avail- the assembly is increasing the likelihood
able to student community service projects that some student groups that need and
through the Service Board. This represents deserve funding will not get it. To split
more money available for students to use student groups up is also to cast an inher-
and is something of which students should ent value on community service groups
take advantage. while other student groups are given less
This year's increase in funding for stu- preferential treatment.
dent groups has largely been a result of MSA should combine the two entities'
funds rolling over from last year, when funds and put all student groups on level
students claimed only 80 percent of the ground in the competition for the assem-
funds managed by the BPC. According to bly's money. BPC has proven itself to
MSA President Trent Thompson, one of wisely dispense student fees to campus
the reasons behind the unclaimed funding organizations - the Service Board is, in
is a lack of awareness in the University many ways, superfluous. It provides a
community about the role that BPC plays. resource for important community ser-
-MSA should endeavor to make sure that vice projects, but MSA should not be
student groups are aware of the funds that playing favorites - instead, it should
the student government makes available make sure that all groups are treated
}-- or else money will continue to be left equally.
over year after year. This year's increase in funds available
The increase in funds available to stu- to student groups is a welcome trend.
dent groups is a positive trend, though. MSA should work to keep its internal bud-
With a combined available pool of funds get small so that even if there are not
exceeding $200,000, the Board and BPC future budgetary rollovers, the amount of
are making it easier for student groups to funds available to student groups contin-
sponsor events and provide services to the ues to rise. BPC should also ensure that
campus community. The role BPC plays student groups are aware of its presence
on campus is arguably one of the most and its purpose to distribute funds com-
important things the assembly does. In pletely. Lastly, the assembly should com-
providing student organizations with bine the resources of the BPC and Service
funds, the committee makes it possible Board to give all student groups equal
for groups to contribute to campus and footing in competing for resources.

Kicking State
in the ball

'The University's athletic programs have a strong
commitment to play by the rules, but I think it's impor-
tant to add to that commitment the force of law.'
- Rep. Kirk Profit (D- Ypsilanti), on a bill he is sponsoring in the state
Legislature that would penalize sports agents for contacting student athletes
KAAMRAN HAFEEZ As IT HAPPENS
ARE YOU A HOME OWJNER WHO HAS BEEN DINNOSED WITH A TERMINAL
ILLNESS? IF SO, YOU MAY BE ELIQULE FOR A PHYSICIAN-ASSISTED SUICIDE.
NO MATTER WHAT STAGE YOUR ILLNESS IS IN. CALL I-80-4 ESS.
WDRLDWIDE EUTHANASIA. DEATH FAST, WHEN YOU NEED IT MOST.

0

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR


Stopping the violence
Panel's suggestions could help prevent abuse

he state of Michigan has been a model
for other states for its domestic vio-
lence legislation. In 1978, Michigan was
one of the first states to pass legislation to
g combat domestic violence. Last week, Gov.
John Engler presented new recommenda-
tions from the Batterer Intervention Task
Force he convened last year. The group
includes judges, police officers and abuse
prevention specialists. The recommenda-
tions, made public at the 20th anniversary
of the state's Domestic Violence Prevention
and Treatment Board, came up with several
solid ideas that could set Michigan's
4 domestic violence legislation ahead of
many other states in the nation.
One recommendation involved closer,
communication between courts and victim
services, including mandatory reporting of
violations of court orders to courts, police
f and victim services. Making the courts
serve a more integrated role has several
positive benefits. Domestic violence cases
that are presented in court often do not
involve a single incident but a series of inci-
dents. The court may need to intervene on
more than one occasion rather than simply
make a ruling and end their involvement. In
order to help break the pattern of domestic
Z violence, continued court influence over an
individual's situation is important.
Other recommendations included the
establishment of minimum levels of vio-
lent behavior for which intervention will
be mandated. In addition, the panel sug-
gests mandated comprehensive evaluations
for any batterer who needs any variety of
treatment services, such as substance

problems such as drug addiction. It is cru-
cial to treat all the problems surrounding
the violence in order to prevent it from
happening again, because the violence
can, and often does, escalate.
Another suggestion is to set criteria for
successful completion of batterer interven-
tion programs. To complete the intervention
program requires no reported incidents of
violence and the acknowledgement of
responsibility and abuse. Such intervention
programs could be quite helpful and need to
be fleshed out with the goal of making them
mandatory. The penal system should not
simply protect society from certain individ-
uals, but should try to reform perpetrators
so that they can eventually contribute to
society.
Engler said he would take the group
recommendations to the state Supreme
Court, which will help implement them
across the state. The Court should use its
administrative influence to get state
courts to follow these recommendations.
Domestic violence is a wide-spread -
but usually hidden - social problem. In
order to end domestic violence, survivors
of the abuse must be protected and given
a place to heal and grow. Ann Arbor's
SAFEhouse is a fine example of such a
place, and more havens of a similar
impressive scale need to be established
across the state.
In 20 years, the state has come a long
way toward making it easier for abused
women to come forward. The task force's
work is a needed extension of this trend.
While domestic violence was probably as
common in 1978 as it is now, it is slowly
becoming easier for women to receive the
protection and justice they deserve.

Clinton
should be
punished
To THE DAiLY:
Certain segments of this
campus seem to have an
interesting opinion about the
whole Bill Clinton saga.
The idea that this is part
of Bill Clinton's "personal
life" is ludicrous. Bill
Clinton's personal life is
whatever/whoever he may
have done down at the Ritz-
Carlton. Receiving oral sex in
the White House, a house
that we all own in some way,
is not only disgusting, but
very much a public matter.
Since Clinton was in the
Oval Office area during each
of the encounters, it is pre-
sumed he was "on the job."
Last time I checked, you
weren't supposed to be hav-
ing oral sex in the workplace,
at least not anywhere I have
worked.
Since we as a country'
(not myself, thankfully) elect-
ed him to be president and do
a job, we have a right, no, a
duty, to hold him responsible
for his actions on the job.
The female defenders of
this president, particularly the
feminists, should be ashamed
of themselves, How can they
say "empower women" and
then turn around and support
someone who uses a woman
and denies ever having any
"sexual relations" with her?
The argument that anyone
would lie about their sex life
is comical. Yes, it is true that
the vast majority of
Americans would lie given a
tough interrogation about
their sex life, especially given
the sordid details of
Clinton's. But just because
everyone's doing it doesn't
make it right, as our mothers
have told us countless times.
Clinton lied under oath to a
federal grand jury, and that is
a felony. Plain and simple.
Clinton is a despicable
man. If he were honorable,
he would resign and spare the
country this debacle. While
these offenses may not fall
under the "high Crimes" pre-
scribed by the Constitution,
Clinton must be held
accountable in some manner
for his actions. Hopefully,
Congress can devise a suit-
able punishment.
Scorr HowEs
ENGINEERING JUNIOR
Article makes
Engler look
like a villain
TO THE DAILY:
I almost blew my top
after reading the Daily's dis-
graceful Associated Press
article on Geoffrey Fieger
("Fieger, Engler address
workers," 9/24/98). The arti-
cle in question foolishly

ards in the workplace, then
the workers should exercise
their liberty and counterat-
tack with boycotts and
social ostracism.
Instead, Fieger and the
misled workers once again
falsely hold Engler account-
able for quandaries in the
workplace.
In a socialist or totalitari-
an state in which the govern-
ment holds complete owner-
ship over industry, the gov-
ernment would be held
accountable. But in a capi-
talist-mixed economy, the
private sector maintains
order and freedom unless it
violates individual rights. In
this particular situation, the
private sector has not
infringed on the workers'
rights because the workers
accepted their occupations
carte blanche, not by brute
force.
Our founding fathers
denoted three specific pur-
poses for the federal govern-
ment: The establishment of a
police force to protect citi-
zens from domestic crimi-
nals, the founding of an army
to protect citizens from for-
eign criminals, and the court
system to settle disputes
between citizens. With these
roles in mind, the government
was not designed to create or
produce industry, which
should be reserved to individ-
ual citizens.
Consequently, Engler
should be absolved from
these ridiculous accusations
regarding industrial safety.
ScoT BEHNAN
LSA FIRST-YEAR STUDENT
Eldridge is not
a 'flawless
demigod'
To THE DAILY:
As a new student at the
University, I'm compelled to
take this opportunity to
express my relief that the
Daily is staffed, at least in
part' by flawless demigods in
the guise of columnists.
I'm referring, of course,
to Jeff Eldridge's "An
Anatomy of Bill Clinton's
Disintegration" (9/24/98), a
piece which asks questions
like, "If you were (Bill
Clinton) wouldn't you
resign?" and "Would you
even be able to get out of
bed in the morning? Glance
at your face in the mirror
while you shave and comb
your hair?" It is a piece
which may, given only a
hasty review, strike many
readers as unfathomably
self-righteous and even
childish in its judgement of
Bill Clinton. Of course, clos-
er analysis reveals that the
column is no less than the
expression of moral indigna-
tion by our resident divinity,
Jeff Eldridge.
Given the celestial influ-

Daily should
have quoted
different fan
To THE DAILY:
In the article headlined
"Hockey student ticket sales
plummet," (9/24/98), LSA
first-year student Chris Joob
is quoted as saying "More
people are fans of sports
other than hockey. I don't
think people know enough
about this year's team to even
have any expectations."
It annoys me as a
Michigan hockey fan that this
quote was chosen to appear
in the article. As a first-year
student, Joob has been on
campus for less than one
month. From the quote, it is
obvious that he never attend-
ed a game at Yost Ice Arena
last year or followed the
team's magical season
through the Daily's compre-
hensive coverage. Had he
done so, like so many of this
year's sophomores, juniors
and seniors, he would in fact
know a lot about this year's
team and have great expecta-
tions.
Even though the team
lost five key seniors, includ-
ing Hobey Baker candidate
Bill Muckalt and goalie
Marty Turco - the NCAA's
all-time leader in victories -
the team also had a solid
group of 10 freshmen and six
juniors who made enormous
contributions.
If Joob had been at the
Fleet Center in Boston or
watching the 1998 NCAA
Championship on TV, he
would have seen freshman
Mark Kosick's two goals and
freshman Josh Langfeld's
title clinching goal with 2:09
left in the first overtime peri-
od. In fact, contributions
from the freshmen in the
Wolverines' lineup were cru-
cial in their 34-11-1 record.
In total, the freshmen com-
bined for 50 goals, 106
assists and 156 points. Those
figures represented 30.7 per-
cent of the team's goals, 41.6
percent of the assists and
37.3 percent of the points.
The freshmen recorded
points on 107 of the
Wolverines' 163 goals scored
last season (65.6 percent).
The freshmen also combined
for I1 of the team's 34 game-
winning goals (32.4 percent).
In addition, last year's
junior class - which consist-
ed of Bobby Hayes, Dale
Rominski, Greg Crozier,
Justin Clark, Sean Ritchlin
and Bubba Berenzweig-
combined for 57-65-112.
Those numbers represented
35 percent of the team's goal
supply, 25.5 percent of the
assists and 26.8 percent of
the points. The six juniors
scored 10 of the team's 34
game-winning goals (29.4
percent) and three of the
team's six overtime-winning
goals.
So please, the next time
the Daily decides to insert a
quote about the reason ticket
sales are down, ask a student

It has been common knowledge in this
state for more than a century that the
University of Michigan is superior to
Michigan State "University." Though the
students and alumni of MSU continually
argue to the contrary in an effort to hide
the devastating shame they feel at being
branded Spartans, we Wolveines have
more than 100 years of excellence and a-
dition embell-
ishing our lega-
cy. Not only
does our school
outshine MSU
in ters of the
criteria people
typically use to
evaluate a col-
-e such as
the price of
liquor -but we SCOTT
also surpass HUNTERO
them in terms of ROLL DotROUG
everything from TH So1
our city to our
mascot to our president.
Like most Michigan natives, I've spent
an entire lifetime listening to the verbal
ammunition fly back and forth in the IW-
year-long battle between U of M and
MSU. Though the subject of the conflict
- whose college is better - seems real-
ly trivial, I have actually seen friends an
family maul one another just to prove that
their University is the shiznit. Though I
never really knew anything at all about
either school as a child, I always found the
battles engaging and entertaining.
But now I am older and far more dis-
cerning.. And after a while, listening to the
same old arguments all the time gets pret-
ty trite. This whole matter could be settled
quickly and easily if people would just
take a look at the cold, objective facts (as
I see them):
N The University was founded in
1817 by the Michigan State Legislature
in an attempt to offer an outstanding
educational resource to residents of the
then-territory.
0 Michigan State was founded in
1855 as a safety school for students
applying to the University of Michigan.
U of M is interwoven with the chic
cosmopolitan city of Ann Arbor, a
municipality noted for its convergence
of intelligentsia - doctors, attorneys,
artists and such.
MSU is secluded in the pastures of
East Lansing (a town you might recognize
from the hit TV series "Green Acres").
Gerald Ford
John Engler
N Madonna
Steve Van Wormer
I could go on, but why?
To put it delicately, Wolverines have
always been certain of their edge over the
Spartans and have never hesitated to make
it known. That is why talking trash about
MSU has become an art and a time-hon-
ored tradition on this campus.
But even though University o*
Michigan students have always been so
vocal and so confident about our domi-
nance over MSU - even though we have
had no reason to doubt our innate superi-
ority at any time over the last 100 or so
years - we still plunge ourselves into
vicious competitiveness every year when
the Michigan-Michigan State football
game rolls around.
But why the rivalry on the field? Why
do we still feel as if we have something
left to prove to MSU?
The simple reason is this: All of our
Ann Arbor coolness - derived from the
coffee shops, the Hash Bash and the
Naked Mile - means absolutely noth-
ing if we can't prove to the rest of the
world that we can physically beat the

crap out of Michigan State University.
As with all contests, competitions
and rivalries, the main denominator is
swift and blinding violence. Unless we
show that we can smack the competition*
around like a small defenseless child, no
one will ever give us the respect we so
plainly deserve. This is why the ultimate
crucible of collegiate competition is the
sport of football - a forum that prizes
and rewards the ability to kick the snot
out of the opponent. (Haven't you ever
wondered why wailing fans don't throng
to the annual Michigan-Michigan state
golf competition?)
The way I see it, there's nothing
inherently special about the game o01
football that draws 118,000 people to sit
in oppressive heat on Saturday after-
noons. People are really only drawn to
see violence -- in whatever form it may.
present itself. The Romans had gladia-
tor battles to satiate their appetites for
violence; we have football. Same thing.
If we took the same set of guys,
stripped them of their football and
instead sent each of them into the stadi-
um with a set of brass knuckles and an@
attitude, we'd still get the same effect.
And truthfully, who wouldn't pay to see
Sam Sword swinging away at Sedrick
Irwin for a couple hours?
Violence and brute strength have
always been major components of
schools' image and prestige - especial-

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abuse and mental health screenings.
Domestic violence, like many other social
issues, is often the product of multiple

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