4A - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, November 19, 1998

Ulbe Sli!Jan & tilg

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

'There's a lot of issues people will say they're running
for, and they have no idea what they're talking about.'
--Michigan Student Assembly President Trent Thompson, on
the campaigning for today and yesterdays MSA elections
THOMAS KULJURGIS TENTATIVELY SPEAKING

Unless otherwise noted, unsigned editorials reflect the opinion of the majority ofthe Daily s editorial board.
All other articles, letters and cartoons do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Michigan Daily
FROM THE DAILY
Get on the bus
Free passes could help prevent congestion

UALI i foPsa is
CRAcKIU1(X *4t ou4

ARaYCK5 tW.EZ21 WSAO
i s Imi QfAsSSISOI4 6F

Wralso MUCHA
K NSTEAD~.

Six ty years of
memories have
been made at
the Brown Jug
A set of vicious thunderstorms
knocked out the electricity on
South University Avenue this summer.
The days that followed were strange,
unsettling - shops and restaurants
sat dark and quiet,
streetlights out,
sidewalks empty
after sunset.
But The Brown
Jug stayed open. I
Power outage be
damned, the
restaurant contin-
ued its sidewalk
seating. Inside, a
generator provided JEFF
the power neces- ELDRIDGE
sary to keep the Si i A
kitchen running. ____________S
And it was the only
place alive.
We sat outside the Jug at night with
the usual beer and breadsticks, sur-
veying the empty street, the waitstaff
crossing between sidewalk and dark
restaurant.

a

A Ithough most University students
do not drive their car to class, most
do have to artfully dodge the heavy traffic
created by Ann Arbor residents commut-
ing to and from work. Ann Arbor's notori-
ously confusing one-way streets and end-
less streetlights are not exactly conducive
to the flow of traffic. If driving in the city
was not tricky enough, there is also the
issue of where to park once drivers final-
ly get downtown. The current parking
structures are not large enough to hold the
volume of commuters the downtown area
experiences. In addition, several of them
are also deteriorating or under construc-
tion. The city makes a king's ransom off
of parking tickets every year because of
the lack of available parking spaces. The
lack of space downtown discourages
using more parking as the answer to the
downtown congestion problem.
;There is one untapped transportation
option: the bus system. Ann Arbor is
becoming increasingly more urban and
tho surrounding communities are growing
.wildly. If more people used public trans-
portation, there would be fewer cars
downtown. The problem is convincing
people to take the bus. Pushing an idea
that came up during his recent mayoral
campaign, Ann Arbor City Council
Member Christopher Kolb (D-5th Ward)
proposed that the city provide free Ann
Arbor Transportation Authority bus pass-
es to downtown commuters. Kolb's idea is
a smart and relatively simple solution to
what has been a major city issue for
years.
Under the resolution - which has not
yet been approved by the Council - the
city administrator would come up with a
plan within 90 days to issue the bus passes

to downtown employees. Funding for the
passes could come from the AATA, the
Downtown Development Authority or the
businesses that employee commuters. Since
this program could potentially have a dra-
matic effect on the city, it should be planned
by more than just the city administrator.
Other council members, representative
employers and employees should also be
included in a forum to help ensure that all
parties are satisfied with the result.
The cost would be about $22.50 per
year for each employee who opted into
the program, Kolb said. That amount was
based on an estimate using city hall
employees made by the AATA. The plan's
biggest glitch is that no one is clear as to
who will be picking up the tab.
Employees would be saving money on
gasoline and parking fees if they took the
bus, but that alone might not provide
enough of motivation. The city needs to
cut a deal with businesses to make sure
that this plan does not prove financially
prohibitive in the long run.
The $22.50 per person is not a huge tab
for businesses or the city to cough up. Of
course, the city could potentially lose thou-
sands of dollars due to the reduction in
parking tickets the plan would surely cause.
Kolb did not know how many employees
would ask for the pass or the total cost of
the program. Even if employees use the
passes only once or twice a week, Kolb said,
it would have an effect on the traffic and
free up parking spaces downtown. In addi-
tion to helping traffic and the parking prob-
lem, there is also a possible benefit to the
environment. Fewer commuters means less
carbon monoxide released into the air.
Kolb's plan is clever and should be careful-
ly pursued by the city.

LETR T
- 1
lLET TERS TO THE EDITOR

* ,*
s

Ponting the finger
Child abuse laws should consider live-in partners

E very child should be safe within his
own home. The home, if nothing
else, should be a place of refuge for a
child, a place where he or she is safe from
harm. Unfortunately, for all too many
children, the home is not a safe place due
to the presence of a physically or emo-
tionally abusive person among their fam-
ily. Child abuse can be perpetrated by the
parent, and laws are in place to prosecute
such parents in the interest of the child.
But child abuse also can come at the
hands of other members of the home, who
are all too often legally shielded from
prosecution for their actions.
Richard Bearup, Michigan's children's
ombudsman, said that FBI statistics show
that 14 percent of child abuse cases in
1993 were caused not by the parent of the
child, but by the parent's boyfriend or
girlfriend. Live-in partners presently are
shielded from child abuse laws, while
fault is automatically laid at birth parents'
feet, whether they are guilty of the crime
or not. Current laws hold only the parent
responsible for child abuse, and prosecu-
tors can only attain justice for the
boyfriend's or girlfriend's actions through
alternate routes. The Michigan House of
Representatives, however, is considering
a law that would further the protection of
children in domestic situations.
The law would allow the state to pros-
ecute live-in boyfriends and girlfriends
for child abuse of their partner's child.
Such a law is very much needed in the
State of Michigan. The parent should not
be the only one held accountable for his
or her child's abuse. It is, of course,
neglect and abuse on the part of a parent
to watch his or her child being beaten or

to fail to observe or deal with the effects
of such abuse. Such poor parenting is
obviously harmful to the child and merits
removal of the child from such an
unhealthy and dangerous environment.
But the parent should not be the only one
prosecuted for such acts, but the partner
perpetrating the abuse should be held
strictly accountable as well. Abusing
innocent children is not a crime that the
state should let anyone get away with,
regardless of their relationship to the
child.
In addition, it is not productive for the
state to hold men or women accountable
in situations when the birth parent is
being abused as well. When the parent is
also being abused, it is vital to separate
the parent and child from the abusive
partner, not to prosecute the parent and
allow the partner to roam free. A battered
girlfriend who is in physical danger from
her boyfriend cannot protect her child
from her partner, and should not be
forced to serve as a legal shield her
boyfriend from justice. Such a parent
needs help, not prosecution.
The state Legislature should recognize
the need to prosecute the perpetrator of
child abuse and work in the child's best
interests. Separating the child from an
abusive or neglectful parent is vital for
the child's well-being, but prosecution of
a battered parent who failed to protect her
child sufficiently -- possibly at the risk
of his or her own life - is nonproductive.
The child may need to be separated from
the parent, but the parent is in more dire
need of counseling and assistance in sep-
arating from the abusive partner than he
or she is of jail time.

School of
Americas is
beneficial to
Latin America
To THE DAILY:
There seems to have been a
recent surge in interest among
University students in the on-
going national debate over the
U.S. Army School of the
Americas. Unfortunately, the
Daily's coverage of this issue
to date has been very one-
sided, discussing only the argu-
ments for closing the School.
I'd like to play devil's advocate
and present some of the argu-
ments often cited by support-
ers of the School. This will
hopefully inform interested
parties and add to a healthy,
balanced debate of this very
important topic.
The School of the
Americas is a training facility
for Spanish-speaking militaries
and police forces. The School
provides coursework in drug
interdiction and eradication,
peacekeeping and resource
management. Most important-
ly, the School is recognized as
having developed the foremost
human rights training program
available at any military train-
ing institution in the world.
While the vast majority of
the School's graduates have
returned to serve their nations
honorably, some former stu-
dents have acted illegally and
immorally in spite of what
they learned at the School,tnot
because of it. Suggestions that
the School has somehow been
responsible for atrocities com-
mitted by rogue Latin
American soldiers are unsub-
stantiated.
In fact, many affiliated
with the School are notable
and respected around the world
for their accomplishments.
Latin American military offi-
cers trained at the School
negotiated a peaceful settle-
ment to the Ecuador/Peru bor-
der dispute. Jose Serrano,
Colombia's new drug czar, was
recently applauded by The
Wall Street Journal for his
progressin attacking police
corruption and the operations
of that nation's drug kingpins
- he is a former guest instruc-
tor at the School.
In short, many respected
government officials believe
that the School of the
Americas is an invaluable for-
eign policy tool that allows
the United States to maintain
a positive influence and pres-
ence in important regions of
the world. If one wishes to
effect a better understanding
of human rights and democra-
cy in Latin American mili-
taries, closing down the only
facility providing its soldiers
and police with training in
democracy and human rights
is not the way to do it.
GREG HiLSON
LSA SENIOR
I, a . ...

decide that force and force
alone is all that will sway him?
Admittedly, a diplomatic
solution is better than a mili-
tary one, but he is testing our
resolve each time he makes a
move. It is only a matter of
time before we are not so
quick to respond to his lunacy,
and he will consolidate money,
power and weapons. I say that
enough is enough.
Iraqi leader is not the only
problem I have with the cur-
rent Gulf situation. What
bothers me the most about
this month's run around with
Saddam is the French. If any-
one should recognize the
problem, it is they. A defeat-
ed war enemy with a fanati-
cal following is attempting to
shuck international pressure
and build up a dangerously
large weapons supply. Hmm
... where have we seen this
before? And still, the French
government is ardently
against thenuse of military
force in the Gulf.
As we are told from an
early age, "those who do not
learn from history are con-
demned to repeat it" Well, I've
learned. I've learned that the
Iraqi government just keeps
pushing the level of tolerance
further and further with each
action. I've learned that
Saddam is not changed or
moved by warnings, inspectors
or embargoes.
Instead of waiting for him
to break the latest agreement
and then threatening, the
United States should take a
stand now. Tell Saddam that
the next time he crosses the
line that the missile will fly.
No more "until Tuesday"s, no
more "please comply"s, no
more idle threats. One more
indiscretion and it is time to
put the heaviest foot on the
planet down firmly and unmis-
takably.
JOEL HAAs
LSA FIRST-YEAR STUDENT
AAPD should
calm down
TO THE DAILY:
I had a hell of a weekend.
I was maced on Friday night
by the Ann Arbor police out-
side of Rick's. Then I was
arrested at my own party on
Greenwood Ave. on Saturday
night. Needless to say, I am
frustrated with the police. But
as the officer who arrested me
on Saturday implied, he was
just doing a job he had to do.
To an extent, I believe that,
and there is no doubt that I, if
in his situation, would be
equally as impatient with
intoxicated students. As he
said, he and the other officers
were simply responding to a
noise complaint.
No doubt there is some-
thing motivating the police to
be as strict as they have been
recently. Perhaps it is parents.
Perhaps it is the citizens of
Ann Arbor. Perhaps it is the U
of M administration. But who-

er and hanging out. Certainly
there is drinking by students of
age and under. For whatever
reason, this American pastime
has suddenly become an
abomination in the perception
of our elders. I would ask them
to settle down. As you did
when you were in school, we
break the law and drink under-
age. As you remember, I'm
sure, it's actually very exciting.
Also, it is the practice of those
far younger than college age as
your surveys of high school
and junior high students clear-
ly show. Occasionally a young
one dies, whether by being
overly ambitious on their 21st
or by the simple accident of
falling out a window.
There is something very
special about being a college
student. It is the craziness of it
all. It is the high-speed pace of
it all. We work our asses off all
week to make the grades and
make our parents' - and some
of our own - income valu-
able. But then we party like
hell on the weekends to enjoy
one another's company and
enjoy these solitary four years
of ultimate freedom. This is an
aspect of college life that
ought to be treasured as much
as the education attained from
it, and in fact, as my parents
have always told me, it is an
education in itself. I ask our
elders then, or whoever it is
that seeks to shutdown our
weekends, please don't ruin
our college experience. Please
don't ruin our good time.
J1 SAUL
LSA SENIOR
Nadel article
ignored
earlier events
TO THE DAILY:
I would like to make it
known that there was a serious
error in the article regarding
Steve Nadel's suspension in
the Nov.6 issue of the Daily
("Nadel suspended after Code
hearing"). The most significant
mistake was the phrase refer-
ring to the "alleged incident"
in South Quad on Feb. 13. The
incident is not alleged, but
actual. That fact was also
reported on by the Daily in the
Oct. 21 issue. That day's article
reported Nadel's sentencing for
the sexual assault that occurred
on Feb. 13, to which he plead-
ed guilty in a criminal court of
law. This is, therefore, not
alleged. How could the Oct. 21
article and the events it dis-
cussed have been overlooked?
I don't want to say bad editing,
but it is a serious topic, and it
is extremely neglectful to
make such a mistake.
In addition, the article
made it seem as if Nadel had
been wronged by the suspen-
sion, but I can't imagine that
anyone would find a suspen-
sion anything but appropriate
considering the nature of his
offense. If he pleaded guilty,
admitting the legitimacy of the
a.--m,.a;...himar hecn

Nature gave a slap in the face. The W
Jug turned the other cheek and kept on
going. It always had my affections,
but this was the clincher, the sort of
quirky, cheer-inducing perseverance
that makes the Jug a great Ann Arbor
establishment.
The Brown Jug commemorates its
60th birthday today. I hope it lives for-
ever.
The restaurant will celebrate
tonight with champagne, not the usual
cheap pitchers. Organizers will take
photos and hang them next to a hun-
dred others that paper the walls.
And the pictures help make the
place. Stand in the perfect strategic
location, and it's possible to see an
eclectic mix of photos that includes
Jason Robards, Desmond Howard,
WDIV anchor Carmen Harlan and
former Daily editors Mike Rosenberg
and Brent McIntosh.
There are pictures of old people at
the Art Fairs, girls in tight shirts, '50s-
era professor-types and various appro-
priately casual locals.
The Jug is also true to its name: No
place could be more brown. Walls,
tables, floor - all brown. Not beige,.
not tan, but brown. Consequently, the
restaurant is always dark. It feels like .4
somebody's finished basement. At
night, cigarette smoke hangs in the
air, making the place feel even more
damn brown.
Amidst all this is a one-of-a-kind
wait staff. There's a distinctive sort of
waitress at The Brown Jug. She tends
to be attractive, quick-witted and pre-
pared for the challenges flung her
way.
Not long ago, a group of us ordered
a pizza late one night.
"I'm really sorry, but we're out of
dough," the waitress replied. I think
she suggested nachos as an alterna-
tive.
The Jug sometimes runs out of beer.
It once ran out of pop, and a waitress
came to the rescue with a fresh-
bought two-liter. At some establish-
ments, this would be annoying, but
not at the Jug, where its unpredictabil-
ity is its charm.
Then there was the fiasco of
February 11, 1998 in which a friende
of mine vomited into an empty pitch-
er of beer - and all over a table - on
the night of his 21st birthday. The hor-
rified group screamed and scattered.
But the waitress was the portrait of
cool.
"I should have cut him off earlier,"
she said, apologetic and nonchalant,
as though such an incident happened
every night. She got out the mop and
quickly secured the situation. WeO
walked the vomiter home and gave the
waitress a 50-percent tip.
Vaguely familiar with its name, I
first went to the Jug during freshman
Orientation. Since that summer of '95,
it has become familiar as my living
room. It was where I saw the Red
Wings win the Stanley Cup in 1997,
where I ended up last spring after
Michigan won the national hockey
championship, and where the night
wrapped after the famous party at
President Bollinger's house.
We all have those places - houses,
bars, restaurants, even rooms that
become intrinsically embedded in our
memories of Michigan. The Jug is my
place. Being in the Jug is being con-
nected with a history, and not just the
memories of a personal history. It's a
connection with events and people
I've never seen.
In Ann Arbor, greatsplaces come
and go. The Jug has staying power.
Sixty years in this town is nothing to
scoff at. Over 60 years, a continuous
stream of people also have made the
Jug their own, known similar celebra-

tions, clamor, arguments and conver-
sations