4 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, January 20, 1999
ate 3iitjau tu1g
420 Maynard Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Edited and managed by
w students at the.:
University of Michigan
Unless otherwise noted, unsigned editorials reflect the
All other articles, letters and cartoons do not nece
FROM THE DAILY
Major imp
: Faculty should adopt
s a leader in the world of higher educa-
tion, it seems the University has fallen
somewhat behind other schools by not estab-
lishing a formal minor program. But the
College of Literature, Science and the Arts's
Task Force on Academic Minors and the
LSA Curriculum Committee are working to
put the University back on track with the
development of a structured minor program.
The program, which would require about
half the credits necessary for a major, would
give students the opportunity to broaden their
in-depth studies while fulfilling often trou-
bling distribution requirements. The program
would give students the incentive to elect
required courses of interest rather than suffer-
ing through those they dislike. Under this pro-
gram, classes that are part of a minor program
also may be applied to a distribution plan.
As a result of the lack of a minor pro-
gram, many students have opted to double
major, which can prove to be both costly and
restrictive, as they are forced to take all the
required courses within their respective
majors, leaving little opportunity for explo-
ration of other fields. The whole idea behind
obtaining a liberal arts education is lost in the
frenzy of completing requirements.
Recognition of the completion of one or
more minors would appear on students' tran-
scripts, but not on their diplomas. While they
are taking a structured program of courses,
they are not earning a degree in those fields,
just in their concentrations. While students
n Medical il
Schools should not os
R]ecently, the Poudre School District in
Colorado unanimously approved a new
policy that could bar students with HIV and
AIDS from participating in school sports.
The approved legislation will require a com-
mittee of parents, school ddministrators and
health professionals to determine whether an
infected student should be allowed to play.
When the first individuals contracted the
HIV virus, society's response was unjust and
based on fear and ignorance. People suffering
from the virus or AIDS were subject to dis-
crimination, banishment from society and
other forms of injustice. This policy is based
on a lack of education and fear, and is a step
in the wrong direction.
As the world has generally come to the
realization that AIDS is not just a gay per-
son's disease, education about the illness and
how to prevent its contraction has grown dra-
matically. With this step in the right direction
have come subsequent stumbles in the wrong
direction. School boards across the nation
have grappled with the issue and its proper
education. Many school districts have decid-
ed that dispersing free condoms is essential.
At the same time, several school districts
have decided against such a measure due to
fears that free condoms would lead to
increased sexual activity among teens. To this
date, no cure or vaccine has been discovered
for the virus or the disease, so education
remains the most effective route. At the heart
of educational programs lie thousands of
school districts and their individual prescrip-
tions to counter the spread of the disease.
The school district plans to identify
infected students through voluntary submis-
sion of such information by each individual.
Under this new policy, high school students
must be willing to submit their HIV status
LAURIE MAYK
Editor in Chief
JACK SCHILLACI
Editorial Page Editor
opinion of the majority of the Daily's editorial board.
ssarily reflect the opinion of The Michigan Daily.
rovement
LSA minor program
should receive a notation on their diploma
for all work done, graduate schools and
prospective employers look at the transcript
and not the diploma when making their deci-
sions - making the problem minor.
The details of the proposal, currently not in
their final form, must be discussed and
reviewed by the LSA Task Force and the LSA
Curriculum Committee before being present-
ed to the faculty Senate Assembly. There will
be no discussion at that time. A month later,
the faculty will discuss the proposal and make
necessary changes to the, faculty code. The
final vote is expected to take place in March.
At that time, applications for departments to
develop structured minor programs will be
drafted and sent out to each department. The
plan is still in the process of review, and the
task force hopes to be approved completely by
the end of the semester.
The absence of a minor program has put
the University behind other prestigious
schools. As a pioneer and role model in aca-
demics, there is no excuse for the University
to fall behind in the field of course curricu-
lum for students. The implementation of a
minor program will be a positive addition to
every facet of the University. As proven by a
ballot question in the last Michigan Student
Assembly election, students have shown sup-
port for the program. Students, faculty and
administrators should be commended and
supported in their continued efforts to
improve the University.
~iorance
tracize based on HIV
and could be shut out from extra-curricular
activities because of it. Medical professionals
have determined that the disease cannot be
spread through the mixing of sweat or saliva.
Second, rules already in place dictate that in
all high school sporting events, anyone who
has an open cut must step off the playing field
and get it cleaned and covered up. It is
extremely unlikely that athletes could con-
tract the disease during sporting events.
These two reasons alone make it safe enough
for all students to participate in school sports.
Another flaw with this policy is its belief that
students will get tested in the first place, and
then come forward with the results if they are
found to be positive. Ideally, students should
get tested, especially if they are sexually
active or engage in other risky behavior, but
they have no obligation to violate their own
rights to privacy in order to participate in
school activities.
Policies like this open a door to an arena
of regulation that is not and should not be
acceptable in American society. If this policy
is not deemed unconstitutional, it would be
difficult to stop other schools from instituting
a mandatory testing policy or for health
insurance providers to not provide coverage
to people with AIDS. Ultimately, this regula-
tion will lead us back down a path of system-
atic exclusion based on fear and intolerance.
There is no argument against just regulations
based on sound medical advice that is
designed to prevent the spread of the disease.
But what took place in this Colorado town
was not just, and it certainly was not based on
medical evidence. Whenever the decision is
challenged, it should be stricken down with a
firm statement against attempts to restrict
infected people's rights without substantial
medical proof.
MLK Day
events were
well-organized
TO THE DAILY:
The events surrounding
the Dr. Martin Luther King,
Jr. holiday brought so many
programs, panels, lectures
and performances that were
filled with such dedication,
such passion and such con-
viction that it is difficult not
to be moved. Whether moved
to action, moved with anger,
or moved to tears the 1999
MLK celebration reminds us
of not only the challenges,
but also of the progresses and
celebrations we must consid-
er in striving for a fair, just
and diverse world. I com-
mend and thank all of those
who worked so hard to put on
such amazing programs, from
Saturday's Encompass: Many
in One performance that
showed us that cultural diver-
sity truly "encompasses" us
at the University, to the call
for improvement in urban
education so well articulated
in a School of Education-
sponsored panel, to an after-
noon of community service,
we learn that we can, and
must, all play a role in cele-
brating diversity and working
for justice.
To those who used the
day without classes as an
excuse for an extended week-
end - to catch up on school-
work put off during the days
before. I say that we all have
work, but we must realize
that some of the most impor-
tant work, that which we put
off most other days of the
year, has yet to be completed.
If we cannot all work on the
issues of diversity, equality
and justice on the one day set
aside for it, there is little
hope for change and action in
the other 364 days of the
year.
On the verge of a new
millennium, we all must
stand.
AMANDA EDMONDS
SNRE JUNIOR
Davis's plan
would not be
effective
TO THE DAILY:
California Gov. Gray
Davis's plan to admit the top
four percent of all high
school graduates into the
University of California sys-
tem will reduce the pressure
on California's failing public
schools to reform and instead
will create an incentive for
parents to send their children
to sub-par schools in the
hope of securing them a
place in the system. Thus, in
the same breath as Davis
claims to want to hold
schools and teachers more
accountale for ad nerfor-
tem is to prepare them in
grade school and high school.
Davis should stop placating
teachers' unions and actually
try to improve schools by
making it easier to fire bad
teachers. Then there would be
no need for these silly admis-
sions rules designed to pack
the system with unqualified
students,
CONRAD DEWITTE
LSA SENIOR
Flynt is
justified in
investigating
Congress
TO THE DAILY:
I disagree with the con-
clusion of the Daily's editori-
al ("Sad state of affairs,"
1/14/99) that "Flynt must
keep his interest in prurient
issues out of the nation's
capitol." Flynt's scandal prob-
ing is a natural extension of
the sad state of affairs with
our laws and legislators. It is
our nation's policy and prac-
tice to restrict, expose and
punish private and personal
behavior that is of no conse-
quence to the matters of
state. As offensive as this is
in general, it is utterly repre-
hensible that such action is
used to achieve political gain
through personal destruction.
Although Flynt's behavior is
disgusting, is it any worse
than that of the Republicans?
'In order to awaken the University,
it took the action of students.'
-former University President James Duderstadt, in a speech Monday on the
Michigan Mandate, policies he implemented to achieve diversity on campus
ScOTT ROTHMAN SOMIEKNUCKLEHEADS
L RT E
COM E St 1'
LET TERS TO THE EDITOR
the college equivalent pro-
vides. In most cases, the class-
es are taught in a much smaller
setting than their University
equivalents and students have
more opportunities to learn
from and interact with teachers
and fellow students. When
these students arrive at the
University, they get a report of
which courses their AP credits
take the place of. And although
these courses, when taken at
the University, can be used in a
distribution plan, students who
receive credit for them via AP
tests are"barred from using
them for distribution.
So students who arrive on
campus with AP credits find
themselves with a lot of credits
they can't really use, except to
get them a little nearer to grad-
uation - or to fulfill a prereq-
uisite at best. And although
these students may still be able
to finish earlier than four
years, they may still find them-
selves having to take more
than the required number of
credits in order to fit in distrib-
ution requirements, prerequi-
sites and credits taken for the
major. The University needs to
allow students to use AP
courses to fulfill distribution
and other college requirements
so that students are able to use
their time at the University to
focus on their studies.
EMILY CLOYD
LSA JUNIOR
Suspension
shows double
Uncle Aldus'
Noggin Nook
and the origin of
the species
ve spent the last three years trying
to figure out my fellow students.
Why they do whatever it is they do,
why they talk and act a certain w
and what all of that might mean.
I never thought
about where they
came from. Orif I
did, it was superfi-
cially - they're
from New York,
they're from subur-
ban Detroit, etc.
But that never
did it for me. We
have students from
all over the coun- J AM
try, every state of MILLER
the union, from Mn o
Seattle to
Savannah. So if
everyone hails from such different
places, why is it that there seems to be
about five or six different types of
people on campus? Given the geo-
graphic range, why is the campus get-
ting so homogeneous?
And then it occurred to me.
My conclusions may be shocking.
Some may call me revolutionary, radi-
cum or a "deluded idiot."
There are only one or two thousand
actual human beings enrolled at the
University. The rest are not human, not
in the literal sense of that word.
Behind the faceless doors in the
basement of Angell Hall and the LSA
building, behind the unremarkable
offices in Mason Hall and the wildsO
North Campus, there exists a secret
project sponsored by the University.
under the name "Office of Student
Life." This phantom organization is
not charged with assisting student life.
It creates it.
The heart of the project consists o
seven or eight giant tanks hidden in
buildings throughout campus. In these
tanks there is a viscous solution
formaldehyde, amino acids and ot@
chemicals of unknown origin. The
tanks contain thousands of body parts
- heads, torsos, legs and arms.
Every morning before classes get
started and even before the dorms
begin their breakfast meal service, the
machines spring into action. They cre-
ate "The Student Bodies." Each
machine spits out a head, torso,, legs
and arms and assembles them to create
a student, a completely new organ
to fill a seat in Math 115. At the end
the day, they return to the tanks from
whence they cae to be disassembled
and reconstituted back into the collec-
tive.
Crazy? Not remotely. Think about
it. Have you ever noticed that most of
the people in your lecture classes are
the same every day, but there's some-
thing a little off? It's because they are
different everyday, they're just mad4
look the same.
Why do you think most of yor
classmatesare sotconfusedtand inert
during class? Because during the last
lecture his head was on a body in a
completely different class. The body
his backpack is attached to is in A
Friars rehearsal on the other side of
campus. Starting to make sense?
In the old days, this system worked
perfectly. In the days before women
were allowed in the Michigan Uni
there were no black or Latino studen s,
no shade darker than a ski trip-induced
cafe au lait. All the men looked like
the Princeton football team and all the
women looked like the Andrews
Sisters. It was a pretty simple calcula-
tion and the illusion of an actual stu-
dent body was maintained.
But the system hasstarted to break
down. Enrollment has skyrocketed.
There are black kids, brown kids, W
girls with nose rings, alarmists from
SAPAC, snotbag Republicans with
their conservative paper yellowing
unread in the kiosks, dirt eaters, dope
smokers, coke freaks and earnest, shit-
head poli. sci. majors. There are too
many social groups to duplicate in
order to maintain the illusion that all
the students are real people with par-
ents and self-awareness.
The machine can no longer keep
with the demand for credible, belie
able, assembled bodies. It is starting to
make mistakes. A ~Rage Against the
Machine" torso with Tommy Hilfiger
legs. A female head with a nappy little
Sarah MacLaughlin haircut stuck a
big, tubby body. Or worse yet, Eryka
Badu arms with the silver bands
attached a torso wrapped in a "Porn
Star" T-shirt.
We have a hairy, orthodox femit
body with a Madonna fan's head on
We have an acne covered head with
braces on its teeth attachedeto what
looks like a member of Wu-Tang Clan.
We have MBA students in tie dye. It's
unholy.
The machine has too many parts to
WILLIAM WALSH standard
RACKHAM
Daily must
not glamorize
drinking
TO THE DAILY:
I think most of us would
agree that alcohol abuse on
campus is a growing concern.
But did anyone notice a
strange combination of arti-
cles on Jan. 6? On page 1,
there was an article about a
student who died in a car
accident with a clear infer-
ence that the accident was
alcohol related ("U' student
dies in car accident"). On
page 3, there was a picture of
a student at commencement
chugging from a champagne
bottle. Such merriment. Must
the Daily continue to glamor-
ize such behavior?
ALBERT SAYED
MEDICAL SCHOOL
'U' should
include AP in
distribution
TO THE DAILY:
TO THE DAILY:
When I read of the
recent suspension of two
Michigan football players
("2 M' football players sus-
pended from team"
1/14/99), 1 was disgusted
with the disparate actions of
Michigan football Coach
Lloyd Carrand the Athletic
Department.
Jason Brooks, one of the
two men suspended from
the team for his "alleged
involvement in a fight out-
side the Sigma Chi fraterni-
ty house," was recently
inadequately disciplined
using the University's Code
of Student Conduct for sex-
ually assaulting a woman on
campus.
Brooks admitted to com-
mitting sexual assault, yet
he was in no way punished
by the football team or
Athletic Department. Carr
and the Athletic Department
affirm the notion that men
have a right to assault
women through their actions
in disciplining Brooks.
In suspending Brooks
for his recent altercation
while choosing not to sus-
pend him or punish him in
any way for his past sexual
assault, the Athletic
Department is making a
clear statement about who
they feel are imoortant -
INTERIM DEAN,
PATRICIA GURIN
COLLEGE OF LITERATURE, SCIENCE AND ARTS
2522 LSA BUILDING
ANN ARBOR, MI 48109
764-0322
.