4A - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, November 5, 1998
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420 Maynard Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Edited and managed by
students at the
University of Michigan
LAURIE MAVK
Editor in Chief
JACK SCHILLACI
Editorial Page Editor
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
Breaking the solencen
SAPAC display should be more prominent
'Let them say, 'A vote for Jessie is a wasted vote.'
I'll say 'we wasted them with wasted votes.'
- Minnesota governor-elect Jessie "The Body"
Ventura, in an interview with The Minnesota Daily
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LETER TOTH ED.O
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
L iving in Ann Arbor, students often see
others wearing T-shirts with slogans
that catch them off guard, such as "Elvis
lives in Kalamazoo." Some T-shirts have a
more serious message and speak an often-
silenced voice of truth. A T-shirt displayed
in an office on North University this week
reads, "I need to stop just barely surviving
and live."
In observance of National Domestic
Violence Month, the Sexual Assault
Prevention and Awareness Center is spon-
soring the National Clothesline project. The
exhibit consists of various T-shirts painted
with messages of survivor experiences.
SAPAC's presentation is also featuring the
Silent Witness exhibit, which contains life-
sized silhouettes, representing women who
died in an act of sexual violence. Each sil-
houette carries a small plaque, telling the
story of the person's death.
The purpose of displaying survivors'
stories is both part of their healing process
and an education for people who are less
aware of the reality survivors live with.
The exhibit is also an example of the sur-
vivors' strength - to express emotions,
ranging from anger and disgust to hope,
kept bottled up inside. Participants in this
project should be commended for the
strength it took for survivors to express
their experiences. Students who did not
see the exhibit missed out. But SAPAC
kept this powerful and heart-wrenching
exhibit on display in its own North
University suite.
SAPAC should consider putting their
display in more prominent places next
year, such as the Shapiro Undergraduate
Library lounge or the Diag in order to
reach a greater number of students. Does
making a T-shirt, reading statistics about
sexual assault or looking at a silhouette
really change anything? Dubious critics
should take note: It makes people stop and
think. The statistics of sexual assault -
especially those that occur on campuses
- are often distorted because such a
small percentage of sexual assaults are
actually reported, and people have differ-
ent definitions of "sexual assault," rang-
ing from "only" fondling to a "real" rape.
According to the Women's Sourcebook,
98 percent of rape survivors never see the
arrest or prosecution of their attackers -
leaving only 2 percent of rapes to go to
trial.
But the number of rapes occuring dur-
ing the school year is not the issue SAPAC
is trying to address. They are offering a
visual aspect who shows how pervasive
sexualized violence is - and how
silenced it is. There are women and men at
the University that were sexually violated
as children by strangers or family mem-
bers - and who may not have become
aware of that experience for years.
Students must educate themselves and
be aware of what their friends might be
silently dealing with on their own. The
goal of the sexual assaulter is to make
their victim feel powerless. SAPAC can
take even further strides to give the power
to survivors back. Most students spend a
session of presentations during
Orientation learning about personal safety
on campus and the services that SAPAC
provides - but all too often, the educa-
tion stops there. SAPAC should make the
exhibit well known and handy for students
to access. With enough publicity, SAPAC
could do the University a great service by
extending their good work to a broader
audience.
Getting better
Detroit needs help of suburbs to redevelop
D etroit finally appears to be shaking its
reputation as one of the most decay-
ing, crime-ridden cities in United States.
In a grassroots campaign to take their city
back from Devil's Night arsonists, 35,000
Detroiters took to the streets between the
nights of Oct. 29 and Oct. 31 with impres-
sive results. In stark contrast to the 810
fires that plagued the city over the three-
day Halloween period in 1984, there were
only 155 fires this year, an 8 percent
decrease from the 168 fires in 1997.
Considering that there is an average of 60
fires a night in Detroit on any given night,
155 fires over a three-day period testifies
to the strength of the community in
Detroit.
Detroiters' victory over arsonists and a
distorted reputation is not only good news
for Detroit, but for neglected urban areas
throughout the United States. In an era
when suburbanites are abandoning their
homes in droves, favoring subdivisions
even further from the nation's metropolises,
the residents of Detroit have shattered com-
monly held stereotypes of inner-city
dwellers and shown that resurrection is not
beyond the realm of possibility for even the
most neglected cities.
It takes more than sheer will to turn a
city around, though. Detroit's ultimate suc-
cess will require active support from the
suburbs. While it is fine to celebrate Detroit
residents' spirit with an annual pat on back
the first week of November, suburbanites
ought to remember the past four consecu-
tive years of indisputable triumphs over
Devil's Night arsonists by remembering the
city all year. "Active support" entails invest-
ing in the city, supporting businesses based
cultural resources, hiring Detroiters and
electing lawmakers who are committed to
the city's revival. Detroiters have demon-
strated time and again that they have the
will to make their city successful again, but
suburbanites need to provide some of the
capital necessary to channel toward the
rehabilitation of the city.
Detroit does not need handouts; it needs
the faith of people and organizations with
the resources to establish mutually prof-
itable relationships between themselves and
the city. The General Motors Corp. obvi-
ously saw the benefits of investing in
Detroit when it hired 500 residents and
embarked on a multi-hundred million dollar
manufacturing venture within the city's
"empowerment zone." The advantages of
living by a vibrant city, while manifold and
self-evident, appear to have been over-
looked by all too many in southeastern
Michigan over the past three decades.
Those in the suburbs are bound to reap the
benefits of a healthy urban core in the form
of high property values, plentiful jobs, low
crime and a high quality of life.
Yet again, community members in
Detroit have demonstrated that apathy
and laziness are hardly as rampant in the
inner cities as suburbanites seem to think.
The people of Detroit have proved to the
nation that America's urban areas are
populated with passionate, hard-working
people who care about their community.
It is time for the suburbs to respond by
investing in and promoting the rejuvena-
tion of the inner cities. Dedication and
community spirit tempered with money
from the suburbs equate to a better future
for everyone in the nation's metropolitan
Lockyer did
not relieve
gender
inequality
TO THE DAILY:
Whew, and just when I
was beginning to really
worry! I was beyond thrilled
when I picked up a copy of
the Daily on Oct. 27 and
learned that, per the divine
wisdom of Miss Sarah
Lockyer, gender equality has
been achieved. "Hooray!" I
shouted, spinning around and
around in all of my feminine
glory (boy, was my skirt a-
flyin'). Yay, no more 1.3
forcible rapes every minute
in the United States, no more
eating and body image disor-
ders, a female president of U
of M and theacountry, no
more wage gap, no more
glass ceiling, no more
domestic violence, no more
privileged women stepping
upon the necks of (and ignor-
ing the real lives of) less-
privileged women, no more
women on my TV proclaim-
ing that cleaning an oven is
rewarding and that "your
period is more than just a
pain," no more judges asking,
"Well what did you wear that
night - could it have been a
'black shirt, tube top and
stilettos?,"' no more sexual
harassment! But why go on?
None of that is relevant any-
more! As a newly liberated
woman, I think I'll just sip a
little on this Diet Coke and
kick back with the latest J.
Crew catalog. That's all we
ever really wanted anyways,
right ladies?
CARLA PFEFFER
LSA SENIOR
Suicide does
not belong in
Crime Notes
TO THE DAILY:
I am writing in regard to
the Crimes Notes detail of
Oct. 27 ("Martha Cook resi-
dent tries to overdose").
Frankly, I am appalled that
this incident was put into a
section of the paper devoted
to crime since to the best of
my knowledge, attempted
suicide ceased to be a crime
with the end of the Victorian
era. Painting the act of a
depressed and desperate per-
son as such merely stimag-
tizes it, making other stu-
dents less likely to seek help.
I am especially concerned as
a fellow resident of Martha
Cook. Unlike many other res-
idence halls, Martha Cook is
small enough that every
woman in the building is at
least an acquaintance and
usually a friend - and as
such, we try to look out for
each other.
Categorizing this woman's
tion at large. A suicide
attempt is neither, and trying
to classifyv it as one merely
hurts students who are strug-
gling with emotional prob-
lems.
PATRICIA DARK
LSA SENIOR
Daily staffers
should not
intern for
'scab' papers
To THE DAILY:
I understand that the
Daily has recently hosted a
representative from the
Detroit Free Press, who con-
ducted interviews of Daily
reporters for internship posi-
tions.
The Daily must under-
stand that more than 2,000 of
the Detroit Free Press and
Detroit News workers have
been through a devastating
strike which started in 1995.
After two years, the workers
agreed to return to work, but
have been locked out of their
jobs since last year, with
most still waiting to be
rehired. The newspapers have
had a series of court rulings
against them, charging them
with provoking the strike
through unfair labor prac-
tices. They delay and appeal
while their workforce waits
for their jobs and millions of
dollars of they are owed in
back pay. These are the same
workers who sacrificed pay
raises for years to make the
newspapers profitable. The
News and Free Press are scab
newspapers, and the Daily
staff should not be talking
with them, and certainly
should not be working for
them. I urge the Daily to
reject the scab interviewer
from The Detroit News who
is coming this month.
I ask all University stu-
dents to join the ongoing
boycott against these worth-
less papers. We cannot let
corporations like these get
away with treating their
workers in this disposable
manner.
ERIC DIRNBACH
RACKHAM
Michiganders
should leave
the 'U'
To THE DAILY:
It's time for all us farmers
to jump back on our tractors
and let the New Yorkers have
their University of Michigan.
What they say about us is
true. We lack the fashion
genius they have, particularly
the black North Face jackets
that go so well with the inte-
Daily
misused
anonymity
TO THE DAILY:
I am the "Megan" identi-
fied in the Daily's Oct. 26
article on the Sexual Assault
Prevention and Awareness
Center's 12th annual Speak
Out and again in the notable
quote of the Oct. 27 issue.
As your article stated, all
survivors speaking out were
informed that they could
remain anonymous.Yet I
made a decision that what
happened to me was nothing
to be ashamed of and agreed
to have my statements repro-
duced. Furthermore, I gave
my name to a Daily staff
reporter when I was
approached. But I was only
described in the article as
"another survivor, who iden-
tified herself as Megan." In
choosing to disregard my
decision to reveal my identi-
ty, the Daily added shame to
my experience and perpetuat-
ed the myth that sexual
assault is a deep, dark secret
that the survivor must hide. I
am not ashamed of what was
done to me and wanted to
demonstrate that through
speaking out. Since I could
not speak out in the manner I
wanted to on Monday, I will
try again today.
MEGHAN ROHLING
LSA SOPHOMORE
Denying room
to Cohen is a
'disgrace'
TO THE DAILY:
I am writing in response
to the Daily's article ("RC
revokes offer to name room
for Cohen," 10/28/98) on the
decision to take down a
plaque honoring Prof. Carl
Cohen. As a founder and
prominent professor of the
Residential College, the deci-
sion had been made to dedi-
cate East Quad's reading
room to him.
The purported rationale
for the plaque's removal was
that University naming pro-
cedures had not been fol-
lowed by the College. This
seems a pretext, not a reason.
The Residential College's
hand was not forced. Its
director, Tom Weisskopf,
made a decision not to work
with the University to keep
the plaque up. In the article
he says, "This is by far the
toughest decision I've had to
make. There were many good
reasons for proceeding with
the naming and for not pro-
ceeding."
What reason was there for
not proceeding? The only
perceptible one is Cohen's
outspoken opposition to
University admissions poli-
cies. He and his contributions
If impeachment
efforts hurt the
GOP bring on
the showdown
T he Republican Party may have suf-
+ fered on Tuesday because of its
efforts to impeach a corrupt President.
If this is the case, I say it's a cats
worth suffering for.
Lately I've been
telling myself that
I've become a
something of a
moderate. I like a
few Democrats. The
GOP's handling of
the impeachment
investigation
wavers between the
embarrassing and
the catastrophic. JE
Then came ELDRIDGE
Tuesday night. S ' \
By early __________F4
Wednesday morn-
ing, I was consoling myself with a bottle
of Bass, glaring at people walking by me
as I worked at the Daily, and mulling over
the nation's latest symbol of mass insanity
- former WWF star and new Minnesota
Gov. Jesse "The Body" Ventura. (No fie
numbers were available for Oregon Sen.
"Hacksaw" Jim Duggan or New York
Rep. Junk Yard Dog.)
Watching the first election returns
was like watching a slasher movie. It
was a painful experience. One by one,
the President's foes fell - Al D'Amato
in New York, then Lauch Faircloth in
North Carolina, then Bob Inglis in
South Carolina.
Peter Jennings and Brian Williams
got gleeful.
The Republicans got bitter. Newt
Gingrich delivered his own victory
speech early in the night, warning the
news media and the public against
drawing conclusions too early in the
evening.
Sure, he was smooth. Newt's a
smooth guy. But I could tell he and I
were thinking the same thing: We're
screwed.
Around I I p.m., pundits started ta
ing about a Democratic gain of four
seats in the House. With alarming pre-
maturity, speculation flew about what
the election portends for Al Gore,
George W. Bush, Dan Quayle and the
other photogenic yahoos vying for the
presidency in the year 2000.
"BACKLASH?" screamed the ABC
News Website.
"LOBOTOMY" might have been a
more appropriate label.
Political science professors will wi
books about this election. How, in the
midst of one of the greatest presidential
scandals in history, does the president's
party hold steady in an electorate that's
slowly ebbing to the right?
"This is a dark day, man," muttered an
acquaintance, one of this campus's
many reticent Republicans.
Ambiguity abounds: Some of this
was local; most incumbents won.
considered across the board, there's an
obvious pattern.
Thepresident's biggest foes lost.
However sick and irresponsible it may be,
it has been noted repeatedly that the pres-
ident personally blames Faircloth for the
rise of Ken Starr. And D'Amato led early
Whitewater hearings in the Senate.
After Tuesday, Clinton will never
have to fume over them again.
Meanwhile, the very liberal, very
divisive and very pro-Clinton Bar
Boxer won reelection in California
It's morning again in America. But
this morning, opponents of perjury,
obstruction and deceit get punished,
while apologists for corruption are
rewarded.
One of my friends in high school, the
very witty and very sarcastic Louie
Shansky, used to have a saying: "In the
land of the foolish, it is foolish to
wise'to
Voters don't want to rock-the boat.
The stock market is back. These are the
good old days. All hail Olestra, the
Teletubbies, HDTV and low interest
rates. Those mean old Republicans
want to take away our nice president.
Shame on them. How dare they invade
invade his personal life? How dare they
distract us with silly talk about crimi-
nal wrongdoing and impeachable
offenses?
In late August I was having a convex
tion with a Clinton apologist. "if the
Republicans stand up for punishing the
president and lose every seat in Congress,
I won't care," I said. "At least they'll have
stood for principle. I'd rather see them
fight and lose than let this slide."
I still believe this. Certainly, I never
thought the situation would go this far.
No matter how disturbing the impeach-
ment proceedings proved, I never i
red a scenario where. voters woi
reward this president.
Whether or not they were intentional-
ly sending that message, it is the signal
that has been sent. It is how this
November will be remembered.
Over the past few years, I've grown