4 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, March 26, 1999 Uatw #I{tltn ]Daig{ Springtime in Ann Arbor brings distinctive images 420 Maynard Street Ann Arbor, MI 48109 daily.letters@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. Smoke out 'U' should divest its tobacco stocks Ci "or; lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land." - from The Song of Solomon, and read by Ernie Harwell to open the first game of Detroit Tigers spring training every year: First are the rays of r sunlight in the morn- ing through the blinds. Then that peek that confirms it's finally time to wear short-sleeved Megan shirts. Then the blind- Schimpf ing glare if a door is opened. P________o___ It's springtime. Spring came in like a lamb this week, the final days of March. Because this winter earned a place in record books - despite several weeks of relatively fair weather - we're definitely ready for spring's freedom. Wander around Ann Arbor - it's easy to tell spring has come because ... 0 We now think 40 degrees is balmy. Consider that in November, this was cause for fleece and wool sweaters - together. 0 Dominick's is bustling and once again the place to be seen on sunny afternoons. People start jumping into Jell-O and stuffing whole pizzas in their mouths on the Diag. 0 Exercising outdoors sounds like it might actually be fun - and possible. 0 The MSA people emerge from the third floor of the Michigan Union for just long enough to irritate everyone on campus. Everyone who thought writing a senior thesis was either a nice way to get out of a lot of class time or an unparalleled opportu- nity to intellectually delve into a topic of real substance is regretting that thought. Taking a year off is now something "I'd really always thought was a good idea" - especially considering the attractive rejec- tion-letter wallpaper. Sand volleyball courts and entire- block-vibrating stereo systems are revived by the fraternities on State Street and Washtenaw Avenue. It's almost time for the inspiring activism that is Hash Bash - and the fes- tering mess that we get to clean up when they all crawl back under their little rocks. . Ice cream sales at Stucchi's start out- pacing soup sales again. It's possible to sit on the Diag for an hour or two - hey, a whole afternoon - and watch the entire world walk by, stop- ping for a quick conversation. ® Porches are the best part of a house. Parties can once again spill outside into the fresh air. Countdowns to the end - be it finals, graduation, moving day, big exams, whatev- er - are the stuff of on-the-street greetings. O Wandering through the Arb is a source of peace, solitude and nature appreciation - except for all those other people doing the same thing. Outgoing administrators start packing up their offices in preparation for the move to a smaller school that will offer them more power ... um, opportunities. Conversation turns to the will-you-or- won't-you for the little-known, quaint little tradition that is the Naked Mile. The snow piles are almost gone. Television (excepting some basketball games this weekend) is not so interesting anymore. At least during daytime. T he University has recently started to form a committee of students, adminis- trators, alumni and faculty to evaluate its ownership of tobacco stocks. The University currently has $25 million invested in tobac- co companies. The purpose of the commit- tee is to decide whether the University's val- ues preclude this investment. This is part of an ongoing process started in 1997, in response to the faculty Senate Assembly's call for the University to withdraw its invest- ments. And in January, the Michigan Student Assembly passed a resolution sup- porting this cause. The formation of the committee is a step in the right direction; now the University must take action by divesting its tobacco investments. In the past, the tobacco industry has demonstrated many times that it is unde- serving of the University's investment. It has attempted to deceive consumers about the the harmful effects of its product, claim- ing repeatedly that tobacco is not very harmful or addictive. In truth, it is responsi- ble for over 40,000 deaths per year, result- ing in $50 billion in direct medical costs. It is only in recent years that tobacco compa- nies have reluctantly begun to acknowledge the addictive nature of nicotine. In addition to its denial of the dangers of tobacco, cigarette manufacturers have been guilty of launching advertising campaigns specifically designed to attract young peo- ple - the most obvious example is Joe Camel. The purpose of these campaigns is to addict new smokers to nicotine; eventual- ly, a third of these new smokers will die from smoking-related diseases. Clearly the tobacco industry's modus operandi centers on deceiving and manipu- lating the public - and hiding the truth about its product. The University should not contribute to this deception by investing in the tobacco industry; rather, it should divest its funds and seek out more productive industries in which to invest. It is also important that the University actually take decisive action once the com- mittee is formed. In the late 1970s, the University considered withdrawing invest- ments in companies dealing with South Africa, which at the time was still governed by the apartheid system. This action can set an important precedent. But the University must do something more than simply form a committee. The faculty, students and administrators should work together to reach a decision on this issue. The University should not continue to invest its money in companies that are devot- ed to selling harmful products and manipulat- ing the public. The new committee needs to work out an alternate plan for the University's investments so that the University's money can be used in a cause that helps people rather than harming them. We are all once again at risk for pedes- trian-inline skater accidents. E The rest of the University gets a little tired of that whole I'm-a-second-semester- senior-as-if-I-care routine. (Just wait - a couple more weeks and it'll be, "I'm not leaving already, am I? This is the last time I'll ever ...") Procrastination seems universally jus- tifiable. It's like the reward for sludging through 20 inches of snow and all the gray days since November. Who could argue? ® The Gap, J. Crew and Banana Republic have a whole new wardrobe for you to buy. Quickly, as the summer clothes are coming soon. * Pick-up softball, soccer and basketball games appear on Palmer and Elbel fields. The muddier, the better. Frisbees are tossed around residential streets. Sunglasses are the most popular acces- sory in every outfit. Cars on the street are clean again. (I heartily recommend a car wash experience as a must for a bright sunny day.) ® The wait is at least an hour anywhere that has outdoor seating. O Shirts and shorts get smaller and tighter. (Stop. Think for a minute. This is not always a good thing. See the note about exercising.) 0 Opening Day for major league base- ball is in 10 days. And it's the last season ever in Tiger Stadium, one of baseball's hal- lowed homes. They say the first part of a relationship is the best - that tingling, heart-pounding, willingness to throw everything else aside feeling. That newfound, consuming energy. That conviction that it may last forever. Yeah, that happens in spring, too. - Megan Schimpf can be reached over e-mail at mschimpf@umich.edu. R'NDLINkG T HENI ,*1 . CHIP CULLEN Tuition was $92? This editorial originally ran Dec. 4, 1921 It is only natural for members of a student body which has during the past enjoyed the privilege of admission to all the University athletic contests of the year at a blanket price, to become concerned when the announcement is made that one sport has not been included in the bill of fare for this season. On its face, to some, this omis- sion smacks of injustice. But a consideration of the facts, both in connection with athletics at Michigan and elsewhere, gives the decision of the Regents in charging extra for basketball games a dif- ferent complexion. The first thing about the situation which might easily be overlooked is the rise in the cost of athletics that has taken place in recent years and its relation to students' fees. The rate charged this fall for member- ship in Michigan's Athletic association was just $1 more than the amount fixed in 1912. In the meantime tuition here, which in 1915 was $49, has increased to $92. At other schools it has increased more in many cases, having gone up $225 at Leland Stanford, and $100 at Johns Hopkins, Pennsylvania and Harvard, between 1914 and now. The same causes that have been working to necessitate higher tuition fees have increased the cost of college athletics. In this activity expenses are no longer at the 1914 stage. For example, footballs that then retailed for $5 are now more than $10; the old one-and-a-quarter baseball now costs $2.50; and all along the line, sporting goods have practically doubled in cost. Railway fares, which make up an important item of expense, are more than one-and-a-half times what they were in those balmy days. Hotel bills and the rest have increased in proportion. The cost of maintaining athletic teams is vastly different now as compared with the time when the $5 blanket fee was established. It is also worthwhile to note that when this minimum was fixed, basketball admissions were not covered by it. This game was estab- lished as a Varsity sport in 1917 and admis- sions to it were "thrown in."No increase in the blanket tax was made. Since then, the game has been carried on at an annual loss. As is usually the case in collegiate ath- letics, football has been standing the losses incurred by other Michigan sports. It is our only paying sport, as is illustrated by the fact that during the 1920-21 season, basket- ball ended with a $7,000 deficit, baseball ran approximately $5,000 short and track was a loser by $13,000. Furthermore, the gridiron sport must pay for the upkeep of Ferry field, which is generally considered as well kept as any other in the country, and which, like a good golf course, takes a lot more money to maintain than might be imagined, costing about $15,000 annually. It is true that even after these items have been deducted, a surplus remains, yet what- ever is left over goes right back into Michigan athletics. This goes a long way toward accounting for the fact that while we have never had a stadium drive here, we have our present mammoth plant. So far improve- ment campaigns such as recently held at Illinois and Ohio have been unnecessary here. The burden has been distributed the easiest way by carrying over a surplus each year, and unless the Athletic association changes its present policy, future additions will be taken care of in the same way. An increasemin the cost of things is always hard to take but if all the angles to the admis- sion situation are considered, it is hard to escape the conclusion that the plan adopted by the Regents is only fair and reasonable. Proposed voting legislation unfair to students TO THE DAILY: I find the proposed state voting legisla- tion troubling. Elected officials are forcing college students to choose between chang- ing their official address (and therefore rerouting all their important mail) every nine months, or not voting in the elections of the college district in which they live. This would essentially eliminate any signif- icant influence of college students on local issues. The city of Ann Arbor already thumbs their nose at students through parking fee hikes, overzealous ticketing and police party raids. Eliminating us from their voting base surely wouldn't make the local govern- ment any MORE sensitive to college stu- dent concerns. MARK SCHAIRBAUM LSA SENIOR Student activism is getting out of hand TO THE DAILY: I am writing to you to announce the cre- ation of a new student action group. The group, called IMBORED, was cre- ated to protest the University's practice of giving exams to students to measure how well they have mastered a subject We cur- rently have only one member, but we will begin a membership drive next week, and we expect to double that number. As our first protest, we plan to sit in President Lee Bollinger's private bath- room until he agrees to our demands, which are totally arbitrary, and will change as time passes. If Bollinger does not have a private bathroom, then we will sit in the public bathroom closest to his office. Other protests, planned include sitting in the north campus bell tower until a clock is installed on it, and sitting in ny GSI's office until I receive an automatic A. If anyone would like to join IMBORED, then get a life. J O~YUf(PV /~T~p'rH'0 A4 mater," 3/24/99) was an illustration of the poorly written and edited work that the Daily does. As a member of the marching band, I think that a reporter would be hard-pressed to find a member of the band who does not hold Sedatole in the highest esteem and the tone of your article did not convey that obvious point. The Daily left out the important facts that James Tapia, who will be taking over for Sedatole, has had input in the program as assistant director for the last two years and that there will be no drastic changes in the program. I don't know why the reporter felt it necessary to' make a story about the departure of a great Michigan band direc- tor and excellent musical mind and edu- cator into a negatively slanted story of disloyalty and jealousy, but it is another example of the Daily's amateur lack of journalism skills. RONALD PAPKE MUSIC SOPHOMORE Viewpoint offered 'gullible' opinion of military case To THE DAILY: This letterwisintresponse to Stephen Reinach's viewpoint, "Captain should not be accountable for deaths" in the Mar. 15 issue of the Daily. Reinach provides an elaborate analysis of the "facts" of the case, gullibly accept- ing at face value all the excuses that the perpetrators made. He, however, com- pletely overlooks the most telling fact: the "lost" video tape of the flight. Obviously the good captain has some- thing serious to hide, and the tape would show it. Obviously he was hotdogging and the crap about the malfunctioning altimeter was just that: crap. If the altime- ter had been malfunctioning, I doubt that Ashby would have been flying so reck- lessly. Ashby and his buddies and jury pals are like the cops when they cover for each other. Pilots like Ashby shouldn't be fly- edly murdered them. If it had happened in the United States, do you think the acquittal would have been so easy? Will Ashby show the video tape to his grandkids when it is all long forgotten? CHARLIE REYNER UNIVERSITY ALUMNUS Mass e-mails can bring students together To THE DAILY: In yesterday's Daily, George Dunlap expressed the negative effects that mass e- mails have upon our University community ("Use caution with mass e-mails," 3/25/99). However, the idea of a mass e-mail list has its perils; for one group at this University, it has done wonders. Last week, the graduates of Bloomfield Hills Andover High School who attend the University were brought together behind the LSA-SG candidacy of two of Andover's fine graduates, B.J. Orandi and Laurie Linden. An e-mail from Orandi sparked the kindest of dialogue between the members of the University/Andovercommunity, some- thing otherwise unforeseen. The more than 300 students here, in all sorts of different activities, all were brought together behind the support of these two candidates and were given an opportunity to reminisce and reconnect in a way they would not have been able to had this candidacy not sparked the e-mail group. A true love for the high school we attended and a pride in being Wolverines pervaded through all of us. It was an inspirational event to bring together such a group that was notoriously sordid dur- ing high school, behind the maturity that college has taught us. On behalf of the proud former Barons of Andover High School, and current Wolverines, I would like simply to provide a converse perspective to that given yester- day. Our fondest wishes to Orandi and Linden, who I know wear their Andover RICHARD ENGINEERING KOWALCZYK SOPHOMORE Coverage of Sedatole was poorly reported To THE DAILY: I have thought for the last two years that the Daily's coverage of campus events was slanted and usually poorly reported, but the fact that we have no journalism school and that the news is being reported by amateurs W. .: " v }.+.m.vv " m": .v .. .4..:}v:.