4 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, February 10, 1999
ateicilian Bat t
laynard Street HEATHER KAMINS
bor, MI 48109 Editor in Chief
Win a date with handsome Daily columnist James Miller
420 M
Ann Ar
daily.letters@umich.edu
Edited and managed by JEFFREY KOSSEFF
students at the DAVID WALLACE
University of Michigan Editorial Page Editors
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.
- .1a I I11h
.- i V IlA W7E05m i/!1u
I
I%-
Take a hike
Alumni ticket price increase is disrespectful
I t is with great pleasure that I announce
the third annual, and final ...
"WIN A DATE WITH JAMES MILLER
SCAVENGER HUNT!"
Void where prohibited. Employees of The
Michigan Daily and their families are pro-
hibited from entering.
Males and girls who
own more than three
candles are disquali- ,
fied as well..
(Cheers from the
crowd, camera cuts to y
Jennifer Lopez looka-.
likes screaming and
waving their arms in
the air.)
Okay, cool it ladies!
You know the rules James
from past years. Find Miller
as many of the items
on the list in this col- t',
umn, load them into on51't
one of the little
Cushman trucks the
grounds crew uses to empty the trash and
bring them to the Student Publications
Building where Editorial Page Editor
Jeffrey Kosseff will test them for authentic-
ity and freshness.
The winner of the contest will be treated
to dinner at the local mental institution of
their choice. From there we will proceed to
dancing at Toothless Pines Retirement
Community's recreation period. Our
evening will end with drinks in the alley
behind the In&Out and Indian wrestling.
I would like to point out, however, that in
all three years of the contest's history, there
have been ABSOLUTELY NO ENTRIES
TO THE WIN A DATE WITH JAMES
MILLER CONTEST. EVER. Come on here
people. I got the new head shot and every-
thing. Meet me halfway here. I'm willing to
negotiate.
1) Nuts. Hot nuts. You get them from the
peanut man.
2) Jason Brooks' rap sheet (the abridged
version will be just fine.)
3) Something fun that is not in violation
of the Code of Student Conduct (accept-
able: board games, hand holding, puppy-
hugging, wandering the residence halls
reporting pot smokers.)
4) A men's basketball season ticket hold-
er (find someone who will admit to it.)
5) Truth
6) Beauty
7) My self-respect
8) A third white meat
9) An MSA representative or officer with
either common sense, realistic expectations
or a sense of why they were elected in the
first place.
10) (pursuant to #5) Copies of any truly
hilarious MSA resolutions. Past winners
have included the condemnation of cir-
cumcision, censuring Webster's Diction
for defining the clitoris as "analogous to
the penis" and outlawing every "Mr.
Gloomypuss, Frownyface and Party
Pooper in U of M happyhappyjoyjoy
land."
11) A Michigan Review staff member
who remembers when the Review wrote
about actual events and issues instead of
neo-conservative prickwaving.
12) A communications studies student
who believes in regular class attendance or
non logo-covered clothing.
13) Two film students together NOT talk-
ing about film.
14) A glass of hot fat.'
15) Two songs by the Knack ("My
Sharona" and um, uh, "My Sharona the
12"" dance remix'?)
16) Couples at Cottage Inn NOT on a
pre-sex date.
17) Sexual Chocolate's first album
18) Last year's list
19) A cold beverage (leverage required)
20) Two quarts of bull gravy
21) A copy of the Daily without a mistal
in it.
21) This isn't it.
In the event of a tie (probably at zero) the
following items will be used as tie breakers:
Proof that the following people are relat-
ed:
Martha Stewart and Patrick Stewart
Lucianne Goldberg and Whoopi
Goldberg
Oliver Stone and Sly Stone (or Sly
Stewart to the first two people on the list, if
you like a challenge.)
Eddie Murphy and Audie Murphy
Ed McMahon and Vince McMahon
Anton Chekhov and Mr. Chekhov
Leonardo DiCaprio and Liberace (shut
up, I'm on to something here)
Barry White and Betty White
Danny Glover and Crispin Glover
Randall Cunningham and Richie
Cunningham
Bill Clinton and George Clinton
Woody Allen and Ray Allen (they're bi.
from New England, sort of)
Kevin Bacon and Francis Bacon
Johann Sebastian Bach and Catherine
Bach
Isaac Stern and Howard Stern
- James Miller can be reached over e-
mailatjamespm ajumich.edu.
A thletics are among the most historically
rich and popular University traditions.
Many of the cheering fans are alumni, espe-
cially during the football season. But recently,
the Athletic Department decided to raise the
alumni football season ticket prices from $27
to $35 per game - a 30 percent increase -
while student season ticket prices remain the
same. The Athletic Department should not
impose such a large increase on a group of
loyal Michigan supporters.
Steve Papadopoulos, chair of the Board in
Control of Intercollegiate Athletics Finance
Committee, said this increase will generate
,more than $3 million in revenue each season.
The revenue will be used to replenish the
Athletic Department's reserves partially due
to the money that was used last year for the
purchase of the new scoreboards in Michigan
Stadium and Crisler Arena. Furthermore, the
money is used to cover rising costs of recruit-
ing student athletes, maintaining athletic facil-
ities and paying for teams to travel to events.
But the specific reasons behind this decision
still remain unclear.
The Athletic Department should be thank-
ful for alumni support. But increasing season
ticket prices by $8 per game does not show
respect nor thanks to the alumni for the loyal
support they have given to the University dur-
ing the years.
Last September, student hockey season
ticket prices were increased twofold, resulting
n many students being unable to afford tick-
ets to attend the home games at Yost Ice
Arena. Although this increase for alumni will
Rstricte
Microsoft should n
he latest fiasco in the Microsoft anti-
T trust trial revolves around a video-
tape the company made to demonstrate
that its Windows 98 and Internet Explorer
software are necessarily intermeshed.
Government attorney David Boies wasted
no time in pointing out problematic incon-
sistencies with the tape, prompting Judge
Thomas Penfield Jackson to call it "very
troubling" and Microsoft to dismiss it as a
mere "simulation" instead of a true test.
Scrambling to regain their credibility,
the Microsoft defense spent that night
constructing a new tape. They even told
several non-Microsoft people to monitor
the process, so Microsoft would not again
be seen as manipulative and deceitful.
Microsoft found it necessary to effective-
ly renege on this agreement, keeping those
individuals unaffiliated with the
Microsoft defense out of the room for the
first two hours of preparation. While this
in itself is certainly not a crime, it never-
theless casts more doubt on Microsoft's
already tarnished reputation.
Microsoft's defense has repeatedly run
into embarrassing situations. Earlier in a
related trial, Microsoft CEO Bill Gates
was so blatant in dodging questions on
the stand he made himself look foolish.
More recently, company witnesses have
been forced into making significant con-
cessions. One key witness admitted that
Microsoft's Windows operating system
has a virtual monopoly, commanding
more than 90 percent of personal comput-
ers. Another witness admitted Microsoft
previously met with Netscape executives
to persuade Netscape not to compete
against Microsoft. Microsoft, prosecutors
claim, also essentially bribed Intuit, the
software developer that makes Quicken,
to replace its Website promotions for
Netscape Navigator with Internet
likely have a less significant effect than an
increase in student ticket prices would, it will
nevertheless take away some of the alumni
support - particularly from new alumni not
earning large salaries. Increasing prices is
another greedy attempt to rake in more money
for a department that hardly needs financial
assistance.
Regent Daniel Horning (R-Grand Haven),
said that before the new scoreboards were
installed at Michigan Stadium and Crisler, the
University Board of Regents and Athletic
Department decided they would take the
money out of the Athletic Department's
reserve fund instead of passing on the cost to
season ticket holders. But this is not the case.
The Athletic Department's decision
required this extra revenue to cover the
increasing cost, it should be a gradual increase
over a number of years as opposed to the 30
percent increase that alumni are going to be
subjected to all at once.
The decision of the Athletic Department to
raise ticket prices for alumni, would have been
better justified if the reasons were made clear
to the public, rather than leaving the public to
speculate.
This ticket price hike will also have a neg-
ative effect on University fundraising, which
relies on alumni. Alumni will be less inclined
to financially support an institution that shows
them disrespect by increasing their ticket
prices. Alumni should be able to continue to
enjoy supporting the University on Saturday
afternoons without having to worry about
huge increases in season ticket prices.
d urlin
ot limit competition
Explorer. And Microsoft executive
William Poole admitted on Monday that
Netscape was "the primary target" of its
marketing and promotion tactics.
It seems quite clear that numerous
Microsoft decisions have been anti-com-
petitive. Ever since it began offering
Internet Explorer free of charge-to erode
Netscape's margins and market share,
Microsoft obviously has used its size and
financial strength to promote and preserve
its software. Jackson must determine if
Microsoft has gone too far, causing con-
sumers and competitors to suffer unduly.
Perhaps Microsoft would be compelled
to innovate further in the face of competi-
tion. A recent article in The Wall Street
Journal reports that Gates made the deci-
sion to develop web software grounded in
Windows instead of creating the whole
new software system of the future that
factions inside Microsoft had hoped for.
While it is difficult to know Gates'
motivations, his recent multi-billion-dol-
lar stock donations and sales could signal
a turning of the tides. Perhaps Gates, with
the most inside knowledge of anyone
associated with the case, has come upon
feelings of uncertainty for the future and
is in some sense "getting out on top"
while he still can.
In the end, what matters most is that the
consumer is offered the best software pos-
sible at an affordable price. It is true that
innovation and genius must be rewarded
so that the incentive for future develop-
ment remains. Nonetheless, it is wrong of
Microsoft to unfairly drive out competi-
tion and resort to alleged bribes and collu-
sion. It would not be right to punish
Microsoft solely because of its immense
success, but Microsoft must not be
allowed to stifle technological develop-
ment.
____IEWPOINT
Race and ethnicity classes are crucial to learning
By Jeffrey Kosseff
Daily Editorial Page Editor
Students have a talent for complaining. I
am among them. I could find any aspect of
the University and whine about it for hours
upon hours. One University initiative that has
upset students over many years is the creation
of quantitative, race and ethnicity and foreign
language requirements for graduation.
Yes, before you graduate you'll be forced to
suffer through a quantitative reasoning class
such as statistics - a true hurdle for humani-
ties concentrators. And if you did not have
adequate high school foreign language class-
es, you will be packed into a tiny room in the
MLB for four semesters, often finishing the
two years only being able to translate the
words "orange soda" and "sandals"
The race and ethnicity requirement is a
favorite punching bag of many of my fellow
students. I have had too many conversations
with my peers in which they claim their time
is wasted by taking a class that focuses on
race and ethnicity. Why should they waste
their time learning about groups they know
little about when they can take thrilling class-
es such as Accounting 271 and EECS 100?
Diversity is great, but most students just don't
have the time to learn about it.
This view is sad, but too prevalent. Unless
a class will directly help students in obtaining
jobs after graduation or get an easy A, it is
unlikely to see the enrollment numbers of
"weeder" classes.
Diversity is incredibly cherished at the
University. We're fighting two lawsuits for
diversity that could possibly be argued in
front of the U.S. Supreme Court. But often
students do not understand the concept for
which we are fighting. In addition to offering
people of all backgrounds an equal chance at
receiving a quality education, diversity allows
students to learn about people from all differ-
ent backgrounds.
Unfortunately, this is not a utopian society
in which students of all races and ethnicities
frolic together in the park and openly describe
their different life experiences. A great
amount of racial tension and separation con-
tinues to exist on campus.
The University has realized that sad truth
and has instituted the race and ethnicity
requirement in an effort to educate students of
different backgrounds. Departments includ-
ing history, Inteflex and sociology offer a
wide variety of classes that fulfill the require-
ment. They all serve the same purpose - to
increase awareness and understanding of
racial differences and similarities.
A race and ethnicity course requirement
should not be necessary. It is unfortunatethat
all students do not choose to take many class-
es educating them about people of other
groups. But given the competitive graduate
school and job market, it is understanda
that students must take many other requir
classes. Thus a requirement is the only way to
guarantee that students will have at least one
class on race and ethnicity.
But you should not stop intergroup learning
once their race and ethnicity requirement is
fulfilled. Even if you don't have more room in
your class schedule, there are many other
opportunities outside of class. This month, it is
especially important to remember the valu of
learning about people of different back-
grounds. February has many cultural celeb
tions - including LGBT Visibility Week,
Chicano/a History Week and Black History
Month. Attend an event that will allow you to
truly take advantage of diversity on this cam-
pus - by learning about other people.
-Jeffrey Kosseff can be reached over
e-mail atjkossefj@umich.edu.
SCOTT ROTHMAN SOME KNUCKLEHEAD1
Sr- i e*--
Diversity allows
students to learn
from one another
TO THE DAILY:
I think that Chris Georgandellis needs to
get his head out of the sand (to put it nicely)
and open up to the world around him. In his
letter to the editor ("Diversity not crucial to
education'h2/8899), Georgandellis mocked
the idea that diversity among students is
important.
He questioned why there wasn't some
kind of aura or "ether" flowing from
Michigan's diverse student population.
He wanted this ether to magically hit him
and make him care about people of different
cultures.
Well Chris, there isn't any ether. The way
it works is people open their minds and their
mouths and talk to one another. Imagine that-
some people are interested in the outside
world, not just in books and diplomas. I hope
that you don't really believe that the world is
filled with people who don't care about any-
one but themselves. This University is filled
with people who are stepping outside of their
social stereotypes and learning from each
other
I have only been a student at the University
for a little more than a semester, but I have
already learned a great deal from many of my
multicultural friends and fellow students. My
roommate is Indian-American (that would be
because she was bomn in India and now lives
in America). I have learned more from her
than I ever could have in class about her cul-
ture and Hinduism.
She has likewise learned about
Christianity and Catholicism from me. I have
met people here from around the world, and
with an open mind I have been able to lean
from all of them. We are all lucky to have an
opportunity to learn at the University. But
don't be fooled, we tears from each things we
could never leam from our classes or our
books.
ALLISON SAPSFORD
SNRE FIRST-YEAR STUDENT
Daily coverage of
Dance Marathon
was 'outstanding'
TO THE DAILY:
On behalf of the University of
'IoLW-
yr~%x
1
Michigan Dance Marathon dancers, vol-
unteers, Children's Miracle Network fam-
ilies and the Central Planning Team, I
would like to thank the Daily for its out-
standing coverage of this year's event. It
is vital for the success of this type of
event to have the support and encourage-
ment of the students, faculty and staff of
the University.
The Daily has contributed greatly in
this area by showing us its support and
spreading that throughout the campus.
Dance Marathon is unique in that it
encompasses a diverse group of students
who choosesto remain standing on their
feet for 30 consecutive hours, all to raise
money for children in need.
Those who choose to be involved with
Dance Marathon affect the lives of the
Children Miracle Network children, not
only for the 30 hours at the event, but for
the rest of their lives.
We studentsewho choose to be
involved are not only affected by the men-
tal and physical endurance we withstand
for 30 hours, but also by the memories
and emotions that we will remember for a
lifetime. We thank you for providing us
with memorabilia to keep that feeling
alive.
We look forward to working with The
Michigan Daily for years to come. Dance
Marathon 2000 is right around the corner
and it will be bigger and better than you
can imagine.
Thanks again!
JEN RIESENBERGER
LSA SENIOR
GEO proposal is
'ridiculous'
TO THE DAILY:
The Graduate Employees Organization is
being ridiculous. And I can say that with a
clear conscience.
Let's look at the facts. What GEO says
that their pay does not allow them to afford
the cost of living in Ann Arbor. But let's look
at that more closely. What they mean is that
their stipend does not pay enough to cover
rent, food, transportation and entertainmntn
for the month. What they conveniently foiget
to mention is that all of their tuition (for most
GSls) is also paid for. When you add this
amount (usually many thousands of doll
to their stipend, their pay is extremely big,
I realize that most GSis work very hrd
and are also pretty good, but they need to
realize how much they are getting paid-for
teaching usually less than 40 hours a week.
This comes out to avery high hourly pay, one
that any undergrad (and most people in the
working world) would love to have. So when
GEO says that they are not getting paid
enough, what they are really trying to say is
that they want to go to school for free. They
expect to have their tuition, food, rent-n
everything else paid for, without even ha ,
to take a summer job. As an undergraduate, I
work more than 100 hours a week for every
week of the summer to pay for my tuition 4nd
expenses, and I resent GEO saying that even
though it's members get their tuition paid for,
that they should also get paid enough on top
of that to cover all rent and other expenses.
TIM MCMIL EN
LSA SEN
I ocAsp'
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