Ilctfaky - it part of the routine 4ou are the music, while the music lasts." -T.S. Eliot from "The Dry Savages," 1941 s you step through the threshold of yourdorm room, you may A' eel as though, you finally have arrived. You may see coming to the University as an opportunity to set yourself free of parental encroach- ment, a means to find your true call- in life, or a place to find intellectu- imulation. And you will probably be confused as hell about where you're going, what you're doing, and who you're becom- ing. Or you may think that you have it all figured out. Either way, the next four of years of your life could be the most exciting and frightening of your life. Or they could royally suck, Before I go on, let me clear some egs up. In this column, I will not babble on about how much fun you'll have singing "The Victors" at Saturday football games, I will not try to tell you JACK about the joys of SCHILLACI drinking beer out Slam it of a keg of Ice *the left House at your - first four-way at Theta Delta Kappa Zeta Phi (or some other, equally unpronounceable name), I won't wax nostalgic about all the great fun to be had people watching oh the Diag in the spring, and I won't make any vile misuses of the 'U' con- structions. The University is what you make of Some of your fellow freshmen (no, you're not "first-year students," you're freshmen, FRESHMEN!!!) will find themselves sick of this place after a semester or a year and bail at the speed of sound. Others will stick around for far too long, becoming vol- untary or involuntary members of the classes of 2003 or 2004. But no matter how long you are here, you will no doubt find yourself awash i opportunities to enjoy new experi- s, meet new people, and all of those other things that will not doubt cut your future therapy bills. These opportunities will start the second you step foot on campus and continue until well after you stand in the pouring rain at Michigan Stadium in four years' time. As the quote above indicates, your chance at grabbing these opportunities will be fleeting and come only once. #llege is a once-in-a-lifetime oppor- tunity. For most students, it's the first time to set their own schedules, lead their own lives, and set out to figure out what is going on without someone else trying to stuff something down your throat. Not that there won't be plenty of people trying to push their own agen- da on you. MSA will preach the gospel of student government, BAMN will tell you to build a grassroots ,8vement for some reason, the ZIlege Republicans will tell you about the insufferable climate for con- servatives on this campus, etc.... Like spending a day at the Mall of America, everyone has something to sell you - twice in my first year here, guys in stuffy little suits came up to me to try and tell me about the Bible and how I could save myself. It's your b to sort through the mountain of p that you'll be presented and find what is best for you. The music, so to speak, is what you will find yourself living in for the next four years, as long as you make the effort to hear it. A few of things are common to everyone's experience in Ann Arbor: Arguing about "pop" ver- sus "soda," fighting with your room- mates about trivial things, fighting with them about not-so-trivial things, and discussing the merits of your dorm feteria's interpretation of chicken pot pie. But you will also experience things that no one else will. And this is what will make you become a different person, possibly even a better person. After four years here, you will find that some of the things that once made sense aren't really logical anymore. Your parents, friends and family may find that you have become something would never expect: An atheist, a mocrat, a smoker, or - God forbid - a lawyer. Let their ripples of shock slide off you - what they might view as a sudden change took time for you. Do yourself a favor, don't pretend to know exactly what is going on all of the time. Everyone around you .-- -+ v11.o h ak not a mhia. (Ij Moto=~~ &adg NEW STUDENT EDITION r . l\ f r t ' \ l S CTIDN pAffi riiativeyi~i,;r By Peter Romer-Friedman Editorial Page Staff Writer Imagine a university where everyone looks exactly alike. No people of color - a homoge- nous body of students who have little to exchange about different cultures through peer contact. If anti-affirmative action advocates have their way, this is precisely what the University of Michigan could become. Last fall, the University found itself under siege by a right-wing attempt to resegregate higher edu- cation. The Center for Individual Rights, a Washington, D.C.-based firm, filed two lawsuits against the University for employing racially dis- criminatory admissions practices. The CIR claims that both the College of Literature, Science and the Arts and the Law School have accepted under- qualified minorities over white students. The nation is now at a critical point in history as the 20th century draws to a close. Will it aban- don substantial gains in race relations stemming from the civil rights movement or will it defend social policies like affirmative action that have allowed minorities and women to attain impor- tant positions in higher education, government and corporate America? Unfortunately, in 1998, the former ideology is starting to prevail. Although prestigious public universities in the states of Michigan, California and Texas have crafted their student bodies to reflect the melting pot we call America, their efforts are now being trampled by conservatives who believe blindly that racism and inequality do not exist. Under the guise of ideas such as meri- tocracy and words like "equal opportunity" and "racial preferences," state Sen. David Jaye (R- Macomb) and state Rep. Deborah Whyman (R- Canton) are spearheading an effort to make Michigan into the Mississippi of the early 1960s, where segregation was the norm and opportunity was scarce for minorities. Jaye, who recently won a seat in the state Senate on a single-issue campaign - eliminat- ing affirmative action - denounced the University for achieving racial diversity by means of affirmative action and helped organize the two lawsuits against the University. Jaye believes that the University should not take into account the color of one's skin, but rather it should put emphasis on the Scholastic Aptitude Test, which studies have shown to be biased against women and minorities, and a poor pre- dictor of success in college. Jaye wants the University to ignore 300 years of slavery, decades of segregation under Jim Crow, under- funded schools for poor and minority communi- vital o Pr-ogram of admis~ on ads minority ties and discrimination in the workplace through cially on the the "good old boys network." He says that the students mu University violates the U.S. Constitution when it exactly what adds points to the application of minority stu- Klux Klan s dents. But in most cases, don't minorities start decided to " out will far fewer points than white males like sary" by ass Sen. Jaye? Has he stopped to think about how and police o minorities feel when he tells them that they don't and bottles. belong at the University of Michigan, that they group said1 only got in under the guise of "racial prefer- rights mover ences?" Probably not. enemies. Whyman is another white, middle-aged legis- But what lator who is hoping to shut out minorities from the Civil Ri higher education. Over the past six months, tancy. The R Whyman has collected signatures to put an ini- us to turn1 tiative on the ballot in November that, if passed, came aroun would end affirmative action in Michigan and at down at Ker the University. University students and faculty anyone. The must vote against Whyman's initiative and hate, and pc defend the University's commitment to diversity. the universi Just as when the University accepted its first same vein, t black student in 1868 when the practice was today's stud uncommon, administrators are still at the fore- Supreme C front of promoting student heterogeneity, defend- tive action. ing the Michigan Mandate - a policy initiated University's by former University President James Duderstadt precedent o that has doubled minority representation since tion since V the late 1980s. In his first full year as University president, Lee Bollinger, a First Amendment scholar, has become a national spokesperson for affirmative action. He has exhibited diligence, integrity and intelligence, declining the use of pro bono counsel for the two lawsuits and keep- ing the student body informed on the University's ideology. While many cynics believe that the era of stu- dent activism is pushing up daisies, University students are launching the same type of move- ments that occurred in the '60s and '70s. In late February, more than 500 students boycotted classes and midterms to participate in the first National Day of Action. Eighteen student groups sponsored the day's events, including the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action By Any Means Necessary. A massive rally on the Diag, a march and a three hour sit-in in the Fishbowl drew national news coverage, as did similar events in Berkeley, Calif. About a month later, more than 600 students showed up to blast University of California Regent Ward Connerly, who organized the vote that banned affirmative action in 1995 in the University of California system. Above: Who In most cases, students have peacefully dis- become hea played the power of their voices. Their words one exampi have been eloquent and ideas noteworthy, espe- topic. Abov ... ~io t e N tona tydf n f e 4 i t tetMicigaqhasemerged as us no4 esDrf tQ mihtan&V' Jjtih is~gpter for ativ etin debate, several a red oM tfi "a other are expate ng sinkiar attacks on ttezp x4rb7o rty,Vnive e"ty e hluher 0n. In 1995, the smash the nyny me s4e s~ Unive it ,f Cali ia system Board of Regents aulting peacekeepers, Klan mrie ,Y V td ' d tive action. CIR won an officers with a barrage of rocks, keys 4pgrt9ttdecn ,19 96, Hopwod v Texas. Leaders of the "smash the Klan" bantirnig> : ' off ative action at the that they were continuing the civil uve' o N$iseool. ment in a militant attack against their In j teniipe. ti dire effects of losing affirmiaive Texas has implemented a poli- these groups must understand is that cy that allows the top1 Gpercent of all high school ghts Movement was not about mili- seniors to attend any public university in the state. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. told The CIR has also filed a lawsuit against the the other cheek. Even Malcolm X University of Washington. Washington state vot- d to pacifism. The four students shot ers will have the chance to vote on initiative 200 nt State in 1968 were not out to hurt - placed on the state's ballot similar to y favored butter over guns, love over Proposition 209 in California - this fall. eace over war. The government and While New York's public colleges and ities received their message. In the Universities have produced dozens of politicians, he Supreme Court hears the voices of poets, actors and leaders of this century, city offi- dents and it will inevitably be the cials are boarding up higher education from minor- urt that decides the fate of affirma- ity students. Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and the It may even be one of the two Board of Trustees terminated remedial education lawsuits that becomes the first major this summer - effectively denying minorities and n affirmative action in higher educa- immigrants access to higher education, a necessary 978, tool for social climbing in today's society. FILE PHOTO an it comes to affirmative action debates and the lawsuits before the University, students ated in their views. This sign "Defend Affirmative Action By Any Means Necessary" is just le of the numerous protests that took place on the University campus this past year on the e left: A protester during the Ku Klux Klan rally in May attempts to avoid tear gas. Students should wait to gro Greek By Sarah Lockyer Editorial Page Associate Editor The University is notorious for the many divisions of which it is composed - Greek or independent, athlete or academic, LSA or Engineering, out-of-state or in-state - the list goes on and on. Perhaps due to the sheer size of the stu- dent body or perhaps because of the highly independent and self-motivated students the University attracts, it is next to impossible to cross these stereotypical boundaries. But even more disturbing is the fact that many first-year students fall into, or even willingly join, one of the pre-determined sets of students as early as their first few months at school. Nowhere is this more evident than during the Greek System's Fall Rush. This multi-week period for prospective Greeks heightens the need for new students to fit in and fit in quickly. Rush is held at the end of September - relatively early in the acad- emic year - and can have a huge impact on a student's entire collegiate experience. Within a little over two months at the University, a student who rushes and receives a bid can acquire a group of friends, a predetermined party schedule, and in some cases, a place to live for the following year. But what rushing so early fails to acknowledge is the possibility of missed opportunities. First-year students often fail to look nnnn their erh, Arcinns with thes