4 - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, November 10, 1998
Ure Afidium an d
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
'Only nationals can ban a fraternity.
The University can make It very tough for us.'
- Interfraternity Council President Bradley Holcman, on possible repercussions
of three fraternities being cited for having minors in possession of alcohol
THOMAs KULJURGIS TENTATIVELY SPEAKING
Unless otherwise noted, unsigned editorials reflect the opinion of the majority of the Daily's editorial boanr.,
All other articles, letters and cartoons do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Michigan Daily.
FROM THE DAILY
Searching for work
New program could help students find jobs
Apo
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Iwe
T he Ann Arbor area may have gained
an asset in National Student
Partnerships - if they have the proper
support from the community, students
and the University. NSP, a new organiza-
tion designed to help lower unemploy-
ment, is a good idea. But, getting a group
up and running takes more than an
acronym and some hard work by a couple
of people.
With the support of the National
Department of Labor in Washington,
D.C., NSP is out to combat the problem of
unemployment in the community. The
students in each chapter plan to act as
matchmakers, pairing up clients and
employers in an effort to use the knowl-
edge of University students to help people
find the right job for their skills. In addi-
tion to hiring a quality employee, the
employer gets free advertising with NSP,
which will raise awareness that the com-
pany is working to improve the communi-
ty.
NSP also offers additional services
that could be a benefit to the community.
The group is working to help the unem-
ployed overcome some of the obstacles
that often make finding a job difficult.
For example, there is a plan to help moth-
ers that need daycare, but are not able to
afford the high cost. They have a list of
daycare agencies willing to provide ser-
vices at reduced rates or as a donation to
NSP.
NSP began as the brainchild of two
Yale University students and the program
is rapidly expanding. In the short time
since its inception, approximately 200
universities nationwide have created
chapters. As the second branch of NSP in
the nation and the location of the Midwest
Regional Office, the University chapter
has a lot of work ahead of them. With job
placement in Ann Arbor scheduled to
begin in the winter semester, the group is
working with ProjectSERVE, the Center
for Community Service and Learning, the
Michigan Student Assembly, and other
community groups to help them get start-
ed. NSP also generated $50,000 in feder-
al grants and is working to raise more.
With some financial support already in
place and backing both locally and
nationally, the University chapter of NSP
is in a prime position to be a leader in the
community and the nation. The ideas
behind the organization are good, and
with the proper effort and outreach, NSP
could be an asset to both the University
and the community. The program would
provide students with another opportunity
to serve the community and help to tackle
the problem of unemployment.
NSP has a couple of big jobs ahead of
them - both getting an organization
started and providing such an important
service to the community take a lot of
dedication and time. Even with the sup-
port of the NSP members and other
University organizations, the project can-
not be successful without the support of
the community. Local businesses and cor-
porations should actively seek out the
program because many students at the
University would be an asset to their busi-
nesses. With support from the business
community, students and other University
organizations, NSP is an organization that
. could benefit all who are involved.
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LETTERS TO THE EDiTOR
Assault on anid
Lawmakers bid to tie sobriety to financial aid
T he federal government has a long
history of helping individuals break
down the otherwise insurmountable
financial barriers that prevent people
from getting a college education. But sev-
eral legislators in Washington have
recently made attempts to change this tra-
dition. As the U.S. House and Senate
revised and updated the Higher Education
Act of 1965 for its ultimate renewal last
month, lawmakers inserted language that
would deny federal financial aid to any
student with a drug conviction. While the
provision was stricken, legislators must
prevent the passage of similar laws in the
future.
As the provision was worded, students
with one possession conviction would
have been ineligible for federal aid for one
year, those with two convictions for two
years, and three convictions would have
disqualified the student permanently.
Likewise, one conviction for the sale of a
controlled substance would have resulted
in a two-year suspension of aid, and two
convictions would deny aid to the student
indefinitely.
Hopefully lawmakers will continue to
see how counterproductive it is to link
drug convictions with federal financial
aid. It makes little sense to all but doom
the educational prospects of young people
whom make mistakes in the eyes of those
on Capitol Hill. Not only are such laws
misguided, but they are also inherently
unfair because they attach additional pun-
ishments on top of those handed down by
the criminal justice system.
It is no secret that the use of alcohol
and sometimes lesser illicit drugs such as
marijuana has been prevalent on college
campuses for decades. For generations
now, students who choose to live it up on
the weekends often end up leading just as
productive lives as those who live sub-
stance-free lifestyles. Youth and experi-
mentation go hand in hand. To deny some-
one access to higher education because
they were caught with marijuana is ridicu-
lously punitive.
The states and the federal government
already have laws to punish those who
possess and sell controlled substances -
taking away a student's means of getting
an education reeks of double jeopardy
and does nothing to deter drug use. To
strip away a student's federal financial aid
in addition to the fines and community
service that are typically imposed by the
courts is simply unbefitting of minor
drug-related crimes. Furthermore, since
the benefactors of federal financial aid
are low- and middle-income students, the
rich would be exempt from any law that
places sobriety contingencies on federal
aid.
One of the best ways for people to bet-
ter their lives is to get a degree from a col-
lege or university. The societal benefits
incurred when citizens are happy and pro-
ductive are undeniable; it makes sense for
the government to help as many individu-
als as possible better their lives, regardless
of whether those individuals have made
"mistakes."
Only at the last minute was the provision
to deny federal financial aid to students
convicted of drug offenses removed from
the Higher Education Act. It would be over-
ly naive to assume that future attempts by
legislators to enact similar laws won't be
made. If a similar measure is brought
before the House or Senate, truly civic-
minded lawmakers should surely see the
harm in denying otherwise qualified stu-
dents access to higher education.
Community
overlooks
Gandhi visit
To THE DAILY:
Having attended the
speech of Arun Gandhi, I
was equally saddened and
disturbed to note that our
community did not fill
Rackham Auditorium to its
capacity.
We live in a community
where hate groups hold ral-
lies in the Diag and where
many respond to those ral-
lies by seeking to "smash"
the hate groups that initiate
them. In a place where
diversity and acceptance are
championed, defacto segre-
gation still occurs every-
where. At an institution that
claims to generate the
"leaders and the best" of
this world, racist graffiti is
found in residence halls and
across campus. Here, in a
city that prides itself on
being the nation's friendliest
town toward women, few
women I know feel com-
fortable walking alone at
night.
What kind of message
does it send to the world if
we hypocritically preach
about ideas yet do not sup-
port them? What does this
say about us, that the grand-
son of Gandhi comes to us
with a message of peace and
good will, sharing priceless
wisdom and memories of his
grandfather, yet we all are
not there to welcome him
with open arms?
While the University and
Ann Arbor may be great
places to live, and while
they may even be better
than many places, they are
far from perfect. Yet with
the lack of interest this
community displayed
toward such an important
event, I must sadly conclude
that the community either
feels it is perfect and no
longer needs the wisdom of
those such as Arun Gandhi,
his grandfather and Dr.
Martin Luther King or it
suffers from a severe case
of apathy.
And to be quite frank,
neither of these attitudes sits
very well with me.
SCOTTB ULLOCK
LSA SOPHOMORE
Ticket
scalping is
harmless
To THE DAILY:
When I read "'U' may up
ticket security"'(11/6/98), I
thought to myself, "there goes
the Athletic Department trying
to extract more money from
the students again." Then after
a while, I realized that by mak-
ing sure that only students sit
in student sections, the Athletic
Department is not making any
Department has already sold
the ticket, what good does it
do to allow only students in
the seat? Some students,
those insidious scalpers,
may not buy tickets any-
more, which means that the
student section may not fill-
up, and then the Athletic
Department will lose money
from unsold student tickets.
It seems to me that the only
motive behind what is sure
to an expensive and incon-
venient undertaking is to
punish students for partici-
pating in basic capitalistic
economics.
What harm does some
ticket scalping by a small
minority of students do? How
does the Athletic Department
suffer? They still get their
$13.50 per ticket, which is
the amount they were plan-
ning to get at the beginning!
What about students who
can't go to the game and
want to recoup their invest-
ment? Goss talks about how
students pay less. Well, duh,
this is a university, last time I
checked, not a sports fran-
chise. Or is it?
Is it really worth it to
make students wait in another
line (we already wait to get
into our section) to spend lots
of money on some expensive
new ID system and to risk
not selling out? Only if Goss'
angst at seeing tickets for
sale on the Internet is big
enough, or if he is really as
illogical as the decision to
put that hideous ring around
the stadium (get some Wisk!)
indicates. Frankly, I don't see
how the Athletic Department
benefits.
If there is something I
missed, and the department is
losing much needed money
from scalpers, why doesn't
the department reduce its
monthly living-expense pay-
ment to top athletes. I can get
by on far less than $900. Of
course, I can't afford to lease
a new Explorer either. I guess
I'll have to scalp my tickets if
I want that.
message implied political
motivations for students to go
out and vote. Don't get me
wrong, everyone should
make their voice heard and
vote. But given the strong
issues in the Ann Arbor and
Detroit areas, coupled with
the general political atmos-
phere on campus, this seems
like a move by the Office of
the President to influence the
final results.
Additionally, given that the
University is a public school
with a large percentage of out-
of-state students (like myself),
as well as foreign students that
cannot vote, this message was
very inappropriate for a signif-
icant portion of the student
body.
If Bollinger truly wanted
to get the message for stu-
dents to vote, there are sev-
eral other ways to do it: A
viewpoint in the Daily or
the Record (or other numer-
ous places). Setting up vot-
ing areas on both Central
and North Campus to aid
students that live in this
area. Even a public address
- that would have been
covered by the Daily -
would have the same effect.
But by using e-mail, espe-
cially mass e-mail, during an
election year where many
issues will be resolved by
political party affiliation - I
feel dirty. E-mail groups
should not be used for selling
tickets, but they should also
not be used to further politi-
cal motivation.
MwmaNnu
MICHAEL NEYLON
RACKHAM
Daily needs
more world
coverage
To THE DAILY:
I am continuously disap-
pointed by the ridiculous
articles that make front page
news at this University, but
the Oct. 6 front page takes
the cake as far as I am con-
cerned. "A space odyssey" is
the most appropriate
description of both the Daily
and the daily lives of
University students.
People on this campus
live in outer space. Our
newspaper devotes front-
page space to "news" about
parking structures; mean-
while, tens of thousands of
people are dying in Central
America due to Hurricane
Mitch.
Unfortunately, most of the
students on this campus are
completely unaware of the
tragic effects of this natural
disaster and the small amount
of relief that our national gov-
ernment has offered. Students
are also unaware of ways in
which they could contribute to
the disaster relief efforts spon-
sored by many non-profit
organizations.
I think the Daily needs to
The fervor of the
new convert a
T esca lmaeo n ro the University in particular - is so
very void of true public discourse. Sure,
we have our brown bag lunches, guest
lectures and speakers galore. But
between students, between peers and
classmates, public discourse is dead. It
has been poisoned. Poisoned by zealots
- those that become fanatical over cer
tain issues.
A little back-
ground:
Academics are
notoriously snobby
There are, of
course, those that
practice reverse
snobbery, you
know, the scholars
that drive the 10-
year-old beaten up SARAH
Volvo and pretend LOCKYER
not to notice. But in LOCKED AND
general, scholars LADED
and academics are
snobs. So it comes as no surprise that
another sect of intellectuals came into
existence - those who writeoff acade-
mics and promise instead to practice
what they preach and to protest. They
will not be academic snobs, they will be
activists, zealots even. But with the cre*
ation of this type of "intellectual," we
can't blame the scholars for becoming
even more snobby and secluding them-
selves within academia. Especially
today, when debates and dialogues
focus too often on volume and viva-
ciousness rather than cunning and con-
tent. Yes, today is the day of the zealot.
Woodrow Wilson once said that
"Nothing chills nonsense like exposure
to air," but today, the zealots and their
too-prevalent nonsense still remain.
How they survive:
Nowhere else do these types of peo-
ple prosper more than at institutions of
higher learning. Why? Enter the New
Converts - thousands at the University
and millions nationwide. New students
come to college with blank stares and
blank minds, and the zealots begin to
salivate like cows at feeding time. Fliers
adorn Angell Hall and advertisements in
the Daily alert the new converts of mass
meetings; and they attend like herds of
cattle being drawn to the slaughter. And
why shouldn't they? Everyone comes to
school to find their niche, to make
friends and to explore new ideas. Ready
to learn, ready to consume, the new
converts satiate themselves with the
knowledge so readily handfed by older
and more active representatives of the
student body (read: the zealots).
Yet the process stops here - zealots
unlike scholars, do not provide context
nor background. Wit has no weight
within the zealot's mind and there is no
room for humor. They spout statistics
like a faucet and buzz words like a bee.
Sarcasm stands no ground. Thus the
new converts, backed by the mentoring
of the zealots, become dangerous. Their
fervent fanaticism takes over scholarly
analysis.
We all know who the new converts.
are - they represent a broad cross sec-
tion of the student body and we've all
had some experience with them, howev-
er small. New converts are those who
have just quit smoking and now won't
shut up about lung cancer. They are stu-
dents who have just completed their
Race and Ethnicity requirement and
now won't stop talking about the evils
of Christopher Columbus or the
hypocrisy of Thomas Jefferson. They
are men who just finished their first and
only women studies course and now*
automatically understand the plight of
women and they are women who have
just done the same and now see oppres-
sion within everything. New converts
don't let their newly gathered knowl-
edge settle, nor mature.
Therefore, anyone who dares think
differently is demonized. People with
differing viewpoints are blackmailed -
intellectually speaking. The zealots and:
their new converts let it be known that
everyone should keep their opinions to
themselves. Otherwise they will con-
demn you, they will blame your speech
for encouraging homicide, rape, racism,
sexism and any other -ism that the
zealots protest.
But in reality, the zealots and the new
converts only serve to stifle speech and
poison public discourse. Even more,
they trivialize the awful power of speech
that is truly harmful. By labeling all
speech that is different as bad, theyW
group true hate speech with simply dif-
ferent speech.
Yes, words can cause harmful actions
and perpetuate harmful thoughts. But
no, not everyone is guilty of such harm
merely for voicing an opinion that the
zealots don't approve of.
While the nation seems to suffer from
this rampant blaming of speech (see any
abortion argument, racism debate or*
homosexual discussion on CNN), the
University is crippled by it. The
University, more than any other public
arena, should be a place where true dis-
cussions are held and where many voic-
es can be heard. Students here should
not be nervous to speak their mind, nor
NATHAN
LSA
COURT
SENIOR
Faculty
misuses
e-mail too
To THE DAILY:
I was very glad to see
that ITD is finally cracking
down on e-mail spam within
the University ("Overflow
of e-mail draws ITD aid,"
10/27/98). With the inexpe-
rience of most e-mail users
on this campus - users
unable to edit reply mes-
sages -- so that e-mails
bounce across massive lists,
plus the misuse of official
lists to sell football tickets,
it was quite difficult to read
e-mail for a time.
Yet I received (several
times, due to staff in my
department that considered
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