4 - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, September 22, 1998 UlIe £rIdlimrn ?O&IUQ 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 NOTABLE QUOTABLE 'It is a time for introspection, a time to ask who you were, what you have done, who you want to be. It is a giant spiritual stop sign.' - Rabbi Rich Airschen of the University Hfllelc hapctr speaking about Rosh Hashana. THOMAS KULJURGISTIA 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 Stcking it to students Athletic Department raises hockey ticket prices n response to Michigan hockey's sec- ond national championship in three years, one would assume that Athletic Director Tom Goss would want to allow more students a chance to experience the frenzy and excitement of Michigan hock- ey games at Yost Ice Arena. But instead of increasing students' access to the pro- gram, Goss has opted to more than double the price of season hockey tickets for stu- dents. Weighing the penalties and benefits of the price increase, there can' only be one "onclusion: This ill-informed decision will tremendously hurt the athletic pro- gram and the students who love Michigan hockey. Michigan hockey fans are a different breed. They swear, taunt and cheer until --their throats and bodies ache from exhaustion. The Athletic Department should recognize that students are the dri- ving force behind Michigan's firm home- ice advantage. Athletic Department officials who were selling tickets said that there are usually long lines. But this year, the $155 season ticket price has kept hundreds of students from purchasing tickets. While the Athletic- Department allotted 2,200 tickets for students, only 1,600 students had secured seats for the upcoming sea- son with one day left until they stopped selling on Friday. Since students just had ' to spend hundreds of dollars on books, how can the Athletic Department expect most of them to drum up $155 and still pay their bills? Just as professional arenas have lost their blue-collar spectators by raising prices and catering to skybox- seeking businessmen, so will Michigan hockey as it is making it harder for the non-affluent to participate in a rich Michigan tradition. In addition, very few first-year students will purchase season tickets at such a high price, thus breaking the tradition that upperclassmen hand down to the first-year students at Yost. Last year, each individual ticket prices ranged from $4 to $5; this year, it will be $9 to $10, with some tickets costing as much as $17. Why would an already eco- nomically healthy athletic department make such a change? Officials say they just realized, out of the blue, that other comparable teams like Wisconsin, charge their students more than Michigan does. These officials travel to road games and certainly have seen other schools' prices. It appears to be a greedy attempt to bring in more money for a department that hardly needs financial help. If inflation were out of control or the hockey program were bankrupt, one could forsee a $85 increase. But in reali- ty, inflation is the lowest it has been since the 1970s and the hockey program is thriving. Thus, there seems to be no valid excuse as to why students have to shell out twice the amount to attend games as they did last year. While Tom Goss and the Athletic Department have tried their best to enable all students to attend football games, they have done the exact opposite in this case. Many believe that hockey games are the most exciting events a student could par- ticipate in at the University. If anything can be done to return students' money or make tickets more affordable for students in the future, the Athletic Department owes it to students to do so in exchange for their long-lasting dedication to the program. ..PtNCARE HOW I1 4 STAR YOU ARE, tMR. JREMY. MY REPORT 1S O FOR 5AL. AS AN APUVT FILM SCRiP11 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR G } ! N4 . .,, RK v Made public Committee should not have released tapes Or n friday, during its analysis of, the charges leveled against President Clinton by Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr, the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee voted to make public almost the entire videotape of the President's grand jury testimony. While as much infor- mation regarding the alleged misconduct of the president should be available to the public as possible, the release of this testimony to the American people is a poor decision. The nature of grand jury testimony in criminal proceedings lends itself to be highly confidential. This sort of testimony is only used to establish that there is enough evidence to charge the accused with a particular crime. It is one-sided; although the prosecutor is allowed to make a case for criminal indict- ment, the accused must wait until the actual trial to be given the opportunity to defend his or herself. Because of this, grand jury testi- mony is highly prejudicial and generally can- not be used in an actual trial with rebuttal by the defense.# Thus, releasing the tapes and transcripts gives the public a biased account of the president's testimony. While Congress has every legal right to do what it sees fit with the information submitted to it, the release of grand jury testimony to the general public sets a dangerous precedent. Testimony of this sort must legally be kept confidential by all of those involved in the case except the accused, who has the sole right to publicly repeat what he or she might have said under oath to a grand jury. And there is good reason for such strict confidentiality - cases in the past against organized crime and drug kingpins have used the testimony of indi- viduals who later felt compelled to enter the Federal Witness Protection Program due to perceived threats against their safety and the safety of those close to them. In such cases, if grand jury testimony were to have been pub- licly released, the exposure to potential harm of those who testified would have skyrocket- ed and consequently, most witnesses would probably choose to remain silent. Thus, for the sake of future cases, the secrecy of grand jury testimony must be preserved. But this act of the committee does nothing but counter such course of action. Additionally, with the vote on this matter divided along party lines, the stench of Congress playing politics in a system of law and order is strong. The president's testimony includes graphic references of his sexual behavior. Its release causes the President much embarrassment and most likely will sig- nificantly affect the standing of the Democratic Party in nationwide elections that are less than seven weeks away. Starr's politi- cal sympathies are well-known and any attempts by him to remain ideologically impartial have been fleeting. Consequently, claims of objectivity made by the Republican members of the judiciary committee appear suspect. The American public has a right to know about matters involving the president. This right becomes even more important if such information may lead to impeachment pro- ceedings against him. Yet in the pursuit of granting the public access to all available knowledge about a particular set of events, it is important not to step on important legal customs that guarantee the viability of the criminal justice system. Releasing the presi- dent's testimony threatens these important protocols and may further threaten the future ability of the legal system as a whole to act decisively against those accused of criminal activity. Retiring DPS head deserved criticism To THE DAILY: I find it a shame that in last Thursday's article about the head of DPS retiring ("DPS head announces retire- ment"), no mention was made of how DPS attacked students at last year's Ohio State football game. The arti- cle only mentioned his posi- tive accomplishments and I feel he deserves some form of scrutiny. This guy was the head of DPS last year when students were pepper sprayed and beat senseless for trying to rush the field after the Michigan-Ohio State game. Due to his position, he must have had a hell of a lot to do with that. I'm upset that no actions were taken against those officers and anyone responsible for their orders. The University needs to realize that we are college students, and we like to stand and yell and rush fields at football games. We only get a few years to do this before we either move away and can't attend games or have to sit on our asses so the 80-year-old $1 mil- lion donor behind us can see. Seeing the ushers at Notre Dame help students onto the field after they beat us two weeks ago made me even more pissed off about DPS's actions last year. DPS officials argued that students would be hurt because of the drop onto the field, yet no one was injured from the drop.. Notre Dame's stadium has the same drop, so instead of macing kids, they helped them down. Leo Heatley did not deserve to be portrayed as such a great man just because he's retiring. He should have been held accountable for the brutal actions of his officers. MIKE KHOMUTIN ENGINEERING SENIOR Daily article advocated underage drinking TO THE DAILY: I wanted to give a hearty thank you to the Daily. Thanks for encouraging all of the U of M's new stu- dents to drink and try to get away with it ("No RA In Sight," 9/17/98). Not only that, but thanks also for encouraging them to avoid their resident advisor no matter what. Thanks also for brazenly displaying pic- I do not want to be the one who watches them become permanently brain damaged or perhaps even die. I've seen it happen. As an RA myself (hav- ing also been a freshman in the residence halls not so long ago), I feel it is my responsibility not to get people in trouble but to ensure the health and safety of residents in the hall. I don't want to catch people in the act, but I also don't want to have things get out of hand. I also don't want to find people trying to hide their drinking. Basically, I'd rather people watch out for their health and safety. If that means one less night of drinking per week, so be it. What I am also saying is that by the Daily advocating ways of getting away with drinking, it is also advocating ways of continuing alcoholic habits. And the more people feel like they can get away with something, the more they will do it. Eventually, one of three things will hap- pen. One: Someone they know personally will get seriously hurt, and that will cause them to rethink their own habits. Two: They will get caught and perhaps slow down their rate of drinking. Three: They will end up in a hospital for any number of reasons. That said, I again want to thank the Daily for advocat- ing underage drinking. By its actions, perhaps we will see more people in the emer- gency room. Perhaps, also, we will see RAs more con- cerned about their residents and more likely to keep a watchful eye. Who knows? All I know is that the Daily's article was careless and unfortunate. LUKE H. KPP LSA JUNIOR Palestine discussion was poorly timed TO THE DAILY: I am writing in response to the numerous posters I have seen around campus from a student group called the Palestine Catastrophe Committee. The posters advertised an event to view a film by a Palestinian activist as well as stating various statistics that criti- cize Israel's dealings with the Palestinians. The posters also claim that after the showing of this film there would be an "open discussion" with the audi- ence. Unfortunately, this film and open discussion was closed for most Jews on campus as it took place on Sept. 21, the second night of Rosh Hashana, one of the holiest nights of the debate. The group limited a fair dialogue about this matter by presenting their views under the guise of an open discus- sion when many (but defi- nitely not all) of the people with a different perspective on the situation observed a religious holiday. This is sim- ply ridiculous. There are many students on this campus who have strong views on both sides of the debate regarding Israel and the Palestinians. There is no reason why they cannot be discussed when neither side has a religious obligation to fulfill. Ichal- lenge members of both sides to get together and discuss these pressing issues of our time and not to limit fair discussion by excluding the other side. MICAH PELTZ LSA SOPHOMORE Daily misinterpreted statistics To THE DAILY: The editorial "Affirmed" (9/17/98) is filled with misin- terpeted statistics. The editorial exerpts a study on affirmitive action at 28 highly selective col- leges. According to U.S. News and World Report, there are only about 35 "highly selective universi- ties," so the study has no adequate control. The sec- ond problem is that the edi- torial doesn't address the fact that affirmitive action occurs in at least as great of numbers in graduate schools, most specificly business, law and medical schools. If these schools continued to give minorities an edge in admission, their enrollment numbers should be inflated. If the Daily is going to write in defense of affirmi- tive action, it has to find a defense, not create one through misused statistics. CHARLES BURHANS ENGINEERING FIRST-YEAR STUDENT An ideal use for higher hockey revenues To THE DAILY: In response to the article "Hockey ticket prices hit all-time high" (9/17/98), 1 have an idea for the Athletic Department. Now that the University will be making thousands of Hillary Rodham Clinton for president in '00 n January 21, 1993, with Fleetwood Mac blaring "Don't stop (thinkin' about tomorrow)' in the background, the Clinton administration got of to a peppy at a sort of rally innaugura gala with wife H illary and daughter Chelsea there to strengthen the traditional-yet-hip fam- ily image spin doctors wished to portray. But the Clinton administration was ar departure from the traditional image of the first family for a variety of reasons What many people ~*~ noticed the most - both the traditional ists incensed by it and those adamantly thrilled by it - was JACK 0 that the new first SCHILLAC lady, Hillary > Rodham Clinton,. defied the tradition- al mold that had previously defined what role first ladies played in the White House. First of all, Rodham Clinton was the first professional to be betrothed to the commander in chief; she was the first to be appointed by her husband to hel develop a significant, though unfortu 0 nately unsuccessful, piece of legislation with the Task Force on National Health Care Reform. Gone were the days of pill-box hats with matching Chanel suits, nomes de plume like "Ladybird," and the mousy- yet-ingratiating public characters that might easily be nicknamed something adorable like "muffin." Hillary demand- ed her own set of nicknames, most of which I can't print in good conscience. And there was quite a reaction - to this day, the backlash against the first lady can still be found by watching CNN as "average Americans" (most of whom are usually from somewhere in the Bible Belt) announce their disgust of "that Hillary Clinton," blaming her for such things as far beyond her control as the bombings of Sudan and Afghanistan. But there was also an outpouring of support. The Hillary Rodham Clinton Fan Club - which has its largest chap- ter here in Ann Arbor - cropped up to fawn over the new first lady. On top of that, dozens of Websites spot the digital superhighway vowing support of the first lady. But about midway through her hus- band's first term as president, the for- merly vocal Ms. Clinton became more publicly sedate, more content to sit on the back burner as the "big boys" wor- ried about such things as national policy and economic development. When her husband signed the Welfare Reform Act into law in a clear showing of election- year ass-kissing, White House spin doc- tors played Hillary's former vocal oppo- sition to the bill down, further pushing her away from the spotlight and closer to the role of the first housewife. But there's nothing like a scandal to- bring out the guns fully ablaze. After the revelation of the Lewinskygate, she went on national television to announce her belief in "a vast right-wing conspr- acy." Since then, she has continued to stand steafastly by the president throughout his troubles, causing many pundits to consider her anti-woman. Some believe that she should burn her bridges and move away from her philan- dering husband. But I view it differently. I have no doubt that her feelings for the president have long since passed out of the range of love. What with Gennifer Flowers, Paula Jones and Monica Lewinsky all knocking at the gate to her conscience mind, I doubt anyone in her position could still hold any amorous feelings for Billy boy. But even the administration's greatest enemies have to admit that the president and his wife make an excellent team. She has as much invested in his presidency as anyone. They say politics makes strange' bedfellows, and in the case of Hillary Rodham Clinton, they couldn't have been closer to the truth. She probably realizes that to split with him now would" not only damage him but would also hurt the progress of many of the policy perog- atives that Hillary wants just as much as her husband. She also probably realizes another chilling reality of American politics.- that women (or minorities, for that mat- ter) don't get elected to the highest office,* in the land. It's become something of a normative political reality - evidenced by the fact that even in our "enlightened" times, no major political party has ever even nominated a woman to run for pres- ident under its auspices. This is really a sad commentary. Fora government that claims to be represen- tative, you'd think that women and- minorities would have broken throegh the "glass ceiling" by now. Indeed 4he only break our country has ever had with WAS P-y male domination was., by the election of JFK, a Catholic. y- Through her husband, Hillary has had the opportunity to work in as close to a°-' capacity as president as any woman ever. She has had the chance to shape a r r "a a I is il ti -rl -.. Ad -.- 1i rl 'I 1kV~1111 MIEN U1