4A - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, March 25, 1999
U| {iigan Da1i
Skip your lectures
For Christina
L eave Chem 1800 now. Let sleeping
cadavers lie in Med Sci, leave
Socrates and his methods to hemlock in
next week and go to your real classes
420 Maynard Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
daily.Ietters@umich.edu
Edited and managed by
students at the
University of Michigan
HEATHER KAMINS
Editor in Chief
JEFFREY KOSSEFF
DAVID WALLACE
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.
the Law Quad, public
poli sci majors. To
the psych majors, yes
I'm nuts, come study
me. Art students,
leave empty canvass-
es. Engineers, tear
yourself from moni-
tors and let the North
Campus bell tower
toll for no one. Give
me the Golden Apple
now, because I will
give the greatest lec-
ture ever.
There is no joy in
Organic Chemistry.
This is my lecture.
Now leave. Yes, go I
said.
opinion beckons all
Reonsible action
Greek system's plan aims for safety
Michael
Nagrant
Life
Keep your New York Times in a pile on
the doorstep. Speak of Kosovo, racism,
Bill Clinton and AIDS in living rooms
amongst your closest friends throughout
the night. Solve the biological warfare
question with your best friend over 24
hours of Mario Kart. Burn resumes, report
cards and parking tickets in the Diag like
mad Germans. Take sidewalk chalk and
tag the campus with your most outrageous
thoughts, breaking down the barbed wire
fence between what you really think and
what you say.
Strap on rollerblades and fly free through
Ann Arbor at 3 a.m. with nothing but the
glare of city lights to guide you. Explore the
tops of parking structures and burn among
the stars. Pick up instruments and give con-
certs in the state street corridors. Empty
your pockets and share your minds with the
homeless on South U.
Sip shakes and drink of the minds of peo-
ple you have never met in the back of the
Brown Jug. Take a camcorder and film the
Dionysian revel this will be. Meet your pro-
fessors for the first time as people. Dreamp
of the Bastille, Prague or Paris and call your
friends studying abroad. Tell them what
they are missing out on. Run the naked mile
early. Prance around Palmer field in pick-
up games of soccer, tennis and volleyball.
Do what you would not otherwise do if you
were bound by classes, work, research or
teaching. Spend the next weekend over cups
of mocha at Espresso and revisit what you
have learned.
On Sunday we will hold a commence-
ment, beach balls, mortar boards and all.
You will be awarded the honorary PhD in
life and everyone will be a valedictorian.
You can all give speeches if you want. We'll
bring in James Earl Jones dressed up as
Darth Vader to give the keynote.
Finally, on Monday return to the real
world and be bound again in exams, books,
work, stress, ambition and failure, but
return committed, and refreshed, to whatev-
er it is you do out there in Ann Arbor and
work with ease the next five weeks, because
for one week you were finally alive. Think
of this week as a spring break in Ann Arbor
with no limitations. Do not think of it as a
dream, diversion, or an unrealistic possibil-
ity, because this was the week we did the
things which were most important to us.
This was the week where social conventions
took a backseat to family, friends, passions
and exploration. This was the week that
should always be.
- Mike Nagrant (mjnagran aumich.edu)
would like to thank the following for teach-
ing him how everything should be: Mom,
Dad, Logsdon, Eames, Jared, Scott,
Tamatha, Sonders, Mattei, Nick, Apt. 10,
19, Jerbear, Gibbs, King, Tocco, Brad, A.D.,
Srinu, Shoe, Ben H, Ben L, Chandan,
Rahul, Josh E Jen, Lisa, Ohm, Jim,
Senehal, Gregg, Freeman, Savic, Natalie,
Morgan, Friedrichs, The Stella Bros,
Forster, Tomlin, Boyer and anyone who ever
wrote for the Independent, Review, or Daily.
Trent, Bram, Chopps, Colouris, D.
Caroline, Kolkman, Probir, Joecool, Reich,
Page, Andy Shotwell, Whirling Road and
Getaway, Kovacik, Geeta, Schor, Wright,
Miller, Bret and Liz McIntosh, Port, Mayk,
Josh White, Greg Parker, Plona, Kamins,
Flint and Sam, Goodison, Amrine,
Caulfield, Coppola, LeeC, Cantor; Royster,
Frank C., old S.P, MSA, Cajones crew, Jeff
K. and Dave Wfor the column, Brandemihl,
Dave Engel, AQB, C. Larson, Anitha, Ang,
Brig, Jen Len, Raj, Jyoti, C. Spenser, Mary
G., Jenny M., Tina G., Candelas, Andres,
The Brears and all thefishes at sea, sorry if
I left you out.
T he past week has been a refreshing
change of pace from the negative
atmosphere that has surrounded the Greek
system all year. Greek Week reminded the
University community of the principles the
Greek system stands for -- community ser-
vice, friendship and leadership. But the
leadership didn't stop with Greek Week. By
developing a new social policy proposal in
response to alcohol related problems, the
Greek system has shown it can effectively
manage itself. While keeping the process
completely internal, the Greek Social
Environment Task Force took nearly seven
months to draft a comprehensive proposal
that emphasizes safety, event management,
enforcement and education.
After the death of LSA first-year student
Courtney Cantor and a slew of other alcohol
related incidents on campus and nation-
Wide, safety became an even greater priori-
ty for the Greek Social Environment Task
Force. The measures they propose to ensure
safety within the Greek system will be
effective. Top on the list of reforms is the
abolition of "friends" parties from the
beginning of the semester to the end of the
rush period. This is usually the time when
fraternity and sorority chapters court mem-
bers, but as the report notes, "a party is not
the proper atmosphere to really get to know
a potential rushee." By eliminating
"friends" parties with potential pledges at
the beginning of the semester, the Greek
system will not have to contend with the
typically unsafe early-year party.
In addition to emphasis on safety, the
Greek Social Environment Task Force also
made important reforms in event manage-
ment. One proposal calls for a clear, limited
guest list for all parties. By limiting the
number of guests and ensuring that the
guests at Greek parties are friends of the
chapter members, this proposal will ensure
that parties are less likely to develop to dan-
gerous proportions. Also, the task force
suggested requiring at least two sober mem-
bers to be in attendance at all functions.
These members will be able to serve as
monitors, and will make sure that partygo-
ers return home safely.
The task force also addressed enforce-
ment and education. One of the best ideas
the task force had was to employ an impar-
tial third party to regulate Greek functions.
This unbiased party would be able to objec-
tively evaluate the level of safety at a party.
And for education, the task force proposed
,requiring at least one-alcohol related educa-
tion program per semester. Fraternity and
sorority members who are educated about
the damaging effects of alcohol will be less
likely to put themselves in danger.
Now that the proposal has been made, it
must be ratified and respected. When the
individual members of fraternities and
sororities review the proposal for passage,
they should acknowledge the effort by the
Greek Social Environment Task Force and
pass the provisions immediately.
But once the proposal has been passed,
the true test begins. While the proposal
itself is a commendable action, only adher-
ence will guarantee effectiveness. Respect
of the proposal's guidelines by leaders of
the Greek system as well as all members
will promote safety for the Greek system in
the future.
Go to the places you long for most, to the
places you have set aside beyond books and
exams. Go to the Arb and swim in the
Huron River. May your cups overfill and
your conversations bubble in the smoky
halls of Scorekeepers and Mitch's. Go to
your dorm rooms, watch movies, do illicit
drugs, drive your RAs nuts. Sleep in the
booths of Denny's and on the tables in the
Fleetwood, and do not despair if they are
out of Moons Over My Hammy. Raid Taco
Bell and give out free gorditas to all who
pass by. Throw manic raves in off campus
apartments. Go to your lovers and lie in
their beds until dusty beams of morning
light smile upon your embraces. Dream of
poetry and write of nightmares. Become
characters in great novels and leave the lim-
its of life to your imagination.
0
THOMAs KULJURGIS
PV~~SPE:A IN G
IN THE FALL' OF;
AMERIC.AMS ONCE
THAT QUESTION...
SENING~
AGAI N
aTROOP5 INTO
1ND THEMSELVes
CONBAT;
ASKING
Costly revenge
Michigan should not revive the death penalty
F or two Michigan state senators, it is
never too late to reintroduce bar-
barism into the state constitution. Even
though it has been banned in Michigan for
the past 153 years, Sen. David Jaye (R-
Macomb) and Sen. Bill Bullard (R-
Highland) are intent on bringing back the
death penalty. In Pontiac on Tuesday, a
hearing promoted by the pair was held on
two identical proposals sponsored by Jaye
and Bullard, respectively. If either of the
proposals passes by a two-thirds majority
in both houses, a constitutional amend-
ment that would restore the death penalty
will be put on the 2000 ballot.
While polls indicate that endorsing the
death penalty has its political merits, the
logic behind the death penalty itself is fun-
damentally flawed. The problems inherent
in executing criminals are manifold and
cannot be ignored.
The figures speak for themselves -
putting Michigan in the same league as
such states as Texas and Florida will cost
taxpayers millions. States with the death
penalty waste millions of dollars every
year on the inevitable and lengthy appeals
process that follows sentencing. The 31
people who were executed in 1994 spent
an average of 10 years and two months on
death row. A capital trial in Texas costs
$2.3 million, three times the cost of keep-
ing someone behind bars for 40 years. And
Florida taxpayers have to dig even deeper
- a capital trail in that state costs $3.2
million.
Despite all of the money spent on
appeals, the system is far from foolproof.
Last month Northwestern University Prof.
David Protess and five of his students
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der for which he spent 17 years on death
row. Porter has an IQ of 51 and was only 48
hours away from execution. According to a
1990 Congressional Record, U.S. courts
have sentenced at least 350 innocent per-
sons to death since 1900, resulting in the
execution of at least 25 innocent people.
Unlike prison terms, the death penalty is
not reversible. To allow even the potential
for an innocent person to be executed is
unconscionable.
Equally appalling is the U.S. record with
regard to executing individuals whose lives
ought to be spared. Thirteen men have been
executed for crimes they committed as
juveniles since the Supreme Court reinstat-
ed the death penalty in 1976. Currently, 74
men who were sentenced as juveniles sit on
death row. Similarly, the mentally retarded
are given no special consideration -- 33
mentally retarded individuals, some with
estimated IQs as low as 55, have been exe-
cuted since 1984.
Studies overwhelmingly indicate that
the death penalty discriminates against
minorities and the poor. A study in
Philadelphia by law prof. David Baldus
and statistician George Woodworth, con-
cluded that the likelihood of a black defen-
dant receiving a death sentence was 3.9
times higher than other defendants con-
victed of similar murders.
Within many people, the desire for ulti-
mate vengeance burns in reaction to
heinous crimes. But, Michigan cannot
afford to have its legislators turn away from
reason. Both the practical and moral impli-
cations of this government-sanctioned mur-
der make the death penalty an inappropriate
punishment for Michigan and the United
LSA-SG vice
president must have
internal knowledge
TO THE DAILY:
I would like to add one important con-
sideration that was not addressed in the
Daily endorsement of the Students' Party
candidates for LSA Student Government
("Vote Harris, Madia, 3/23/99). The role of
LSA-SG vice president is mostly internal
development. The ideal VP would be an
experienced representative that other reps
could easily turn to for advice and support.
Mehul Madia is a strong candidate for
MSA, but he has not attended any LSA-SG
meetings. In contrast, the Blue Party candi-
date for LSA-SG VP, John Naheedy, has
been a very activehmember and leader of
LSA-SG for more than a year now. In fact,
he helpedme organize the LSA-SG retreat
in January.
1 encourage voters to look at the plat-
forms of both parties and see that together
with their experience and well-developed
goals, the Blue Party's Seema Pai and John
Naheedy make strong candidates for LSA
Student Government.
GREGG LANIER
LSA SENIOR
All MSA parties
should stop wasting
paper
To THE DAILY:
In my capacity as a student, I am dis-
mayed that neither the Defend
Affirmative Action party nor the Blue
party have taken up the Students' Party's
eco-friendly challenge. Last week the
Students' Party decided to issue a chal-
lenge - even though it was politically
dangerous - to stop all of the wanton
waste and irritation created from poster-
ing Angell Hall.
Yet, as I walked through Angell hall
yesterday, all I saw was a plethora of
multi-colored edit-styled political gimic
ridden waste! I realize that many candi-
dates want that "all important poster spot,"
but really is it worth all of this waste and
annoyance? For parties that claim to be
"the voice of the students," the DAAP and
Blue Party sure aren't listening to the
deafening cry to stop the postering.
RORY DIAMOND
MSA REPRESENTATIVE
Pro-lifers have a
fundamental
respect for life
TO THE DAILY:
I was extremely disappointed by the lack
of judgement the Daily showed in printing
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the article from the Brown Daily Herald
entitled "Clinic bombing shouldebe taken
seriously" (3/17/99). I have never before
read an article of such shear ignorance and
lack of research. The number of totally false
statements in this article is truly startling.
First off, it implied that all pro-lifers
have within them the ability to bomb a
clinic. This cannot be further from the
truth. At the very heart of every pro-lifer
is a fundamental respect for life -
everyone's life.
I, as well as all true pro-lifers,
denounce the acts of Eric Rudolph and
people like him.
But the Herald's error is that it
equates Rudolph with us. Eric Rudolph is
not pro-life, no matter what he or others
like him may say.
To murder someone, anyone, be they
abortion doctor or unborn child is
extremely wrong and against everything
that being pro-life means.
This article is also wrong in saying
that pro-lifers don't try to change the law
through legislative channels and don't
work to help women with unwanted preg-
nancies.
I can't claim to know what is happen-
ing in Rhode Island, but I can say that in
Michigan the pro-life movement is very
involved in trying to help those women
who don't want to have an abortion
through such organizations as Problem
Pregnancy Help in Ann Arbor (975-4357)
and Abigail Ministries, which is a shelter
for unwed mothers ((810) 326-0459)
among many others. Also, we try to make
our voices heard by writing to our gov-
ernment representatives and supporting
Pro-life candidates.
The article was right about one thing,
calling this a civil war. Pro-lifers are try-
ing to save the millions of children killed
violently each year and we are trying to
do it the only way we know how, without
violence and with respect for all human
life.
We are trying to protect the funda-
mental right that deserves to be protected
to the fullest extent of the law, the right to
life.
RACHEL CAscos
ENGINEERING SENIOR
Use caution with
mass e-mails
TO THE DAILY:
Mass e-mailing of large groups of peo-
ple who didn't ask to receive your mail is an
unethical abuse of the e-mail system, and
doing it is just like cutting in line, or break-
ing a promise, or disregarding any of the
other common courtesies that make society
work.
"Why the big hassle? It only takes you a
second to delete the mail if you don't want it."
Let me tell you why it makes me angry. It's
just like people cutting in line. It's one person
breaking a societal set of rules, and it depends
upon 99 percent of people keeping the rules.
If everyone just walked up to the front, it'd be
a mob; but if just one person cuts, they get a
huge reward, and everyone behind them gets a
small penalty. At a fast food restaurant, it's
probably less than 30 seconds. Not really that
big, is it? But I bet you get annoyed when peo-
ple cut in front of you.
Imagine, for just one moment, if every
time anyone had an event, or a message they
wanted to get across or a thing they wanted to
advertise, they sent you an e-mail. Imagine
every singing group, poetry group, charity
group, sending you an e-mail every time they
had an event. Imagine every Christian group,
Muslim group, Jewish group, Buddhist group,
feminist group, Marxist group, Objectivist
group, etc., sending you an admonition to join
their cause or come to their thinking, every
time they felt the need to inform the ignorant
public of the importance of their beliefs.
Imagine every person with a textbook or a car
to sell, an apartment to rent, a purse or some
keys they left somewhere in Angell Hall, e-
mailing you and everyone else on campus,
just in case someone wanted to buy or rent, or
had found the lost article.
In effect, e-mail would be completely use-
less. The success of one's advertisement stunt
depends on all of the other people and groups
on campus behaving well, and using more tra-
ditional forms of advertising - just like cut-
ting in line depends on all the people behind
you staying in their place.
I hope ITD has the sense to cut off people's
account for this kind of activity.
GEORGE DUNLAP
RACKHAM
:* T -IOU MEAML "WIoe"?
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