4 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, January 13, 1999 (TIW itt jigFun laillg From Harry Truman to Stuart 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 'Our objective is to show continued vitality and energy.' -White House Deputy Chief of Staff Maria Echaveste, on President Clintons deci- sion to give the State of the Union address despite the Senate impeachment trial Scott: Sins mens.)wear and 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 FROM THE DAILY Stopnt eae re Code review should not be delayedfturther SCOTT ROTHMAN ZSo-ME KNUCKLEHEADS T he Division of Student Affairs announced last week that the Board of Regents review of the Code of Student Conduct will be postponed until February's meeting, delaying it one month. The review originally was sched- uled to take place at the regents meeting this month after they received the Michigan Student Assembly's reports and suggestions on the Code in late December. But Vice President for Student Affairs Maureen Hartford said the board has not yet had enough time to review the reports. This delay reflects poorly on the administration, as it is important that the regents take action on the Code - either by approving significant changes to make the Code less intrusive or abolishing it entirely. The Code must be dismantled because it violates many doctrines upon which American society rests. Among them is double jeopardy; the Code can be used to essentially try students twice for the same crime without the rights that all citizens are granted by the justice system, includ- ing legal counsel, the ability to appeal to precedent and burden of proof. By conducting hearings under the Code's auspices, the University denies the basic rights and principles of the justice system, something it should not have the authority to do. Also, the University's administration should not have a Code that acts in loco parentis when most of its students are adults. Another problem is the Code hearings are conducted in a secretive manner, mak- ing it extremely difficult to determine the Code's effectiveness and nearly impossi- ble to establish precedent for appropriate sentencing and procedure. As a result, each Code case starts almost from scratch, leading to a serious lack of conti- nuity. These problems should be taken into consideration by the regents when they review the Code. But the postponement of the review means the Code will continue to unfairly try University students for an even longer time. The claim that the regents need more time to review the Code seems somewhat disingenuous, and it helps no one if the board ends up sitting on the Code for a great deal longer. The month delay on the review of the Code has been long enough. But since the Code. review has been delayed, it is important that the regents use the extra time to consider MSA's reports in greater detail. These reports highlight many of the flaws of the Code; chief among them is the fact that it violates stu- dents' civil rights. This should not be toler- ated at a university that purports to be a stronghold of enlightened ideas. When the regents finally review the Code, they should take the opportunity to change it significantly - or eliminate it entirely. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Article focused on volunteerism TO THE DAILY: I applaud the Daily for the excellent article addressing the University's ranking for Peace Corps volunteers (" U' ranks 5th for Peace Corps volun- teers," 1/8/99). So many times the University is acclaimed for its academics and athletics, but this arti- cle reminds us that the University is also well- known for preparing quali- fied service volunteer lead- ers - graduates with an extreme passion and dedi- cation to devote several years of their lives for the development of other nations. The article raises aware- ness of the purpose and focus of the Peace Corps and reminisces upon the University's involvement when President John F. Kennedy announced the creation of the Peace Corps on the steps of the Michigan Union in 1960. Reading this work instilled in me a great 'sense of pride for the University and should be an inspira- tion for all students. We should take from this article to not only consider an opportunity with the Peace Corps, but most important, to participate in activities and organizations.dedicated to utilizing our skills for the development of the community around us. JUSTINA CHO ENGINEERING SENIOR Coach Guevara was not o 'bby' TO THE DAILY: While I agree that the Michigan basketball team's performance in the Minnesota game was poor, I take issue with Josh Borkin's suggestion that Michigan Women's Basketball Coach Sue Guevara's post-game appearance was "unprofes- sional" and "sobby" ("Disappointment reigns for Blue," 1/11/99). Guevara is doing a remarkable job turning this ball club around and deserves our full support and admira- tion. A setback like the Minnesota game is under- standably distressing and worthy of a few tears. 1 am confident that the team is working hard this week to make up for the loss and that we will see the Wolverines we have come to expect play- ing against Penn State. DAVID CRAMPTON SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK 'Patch' review was on target TO THE DAILY: After reading two letters of disagreement concerning Aaron Rich's scathing, r'eview of "Patch Adams" (" Patch' can't find funny bone," 1/6/99). 1 find myself forced to write in defense of Rich's article and review. I agree that "Patch Adams" is a very poor movie. The entire film is structured to make Robin Williams as Adams seem saintly and extraordinary, but is he? No, he is obnoxious and irritat- ing and excessively cloying. I wouldn't want Patch Adams anywhere near me were I in a hospital. But perhaps more annoying than Williams's performance was the disre- spect and destruction of the entire medical field in order to project Adams as superi- or. To suggest that the entire medical field is improperly treating every- one in their care is atro- cious enough - but to imply that the better way to do it involves sneaking around in the middle of the night passing out cap guns and balloon animals is downright insulting. DAVID GARCIA SCHOOL OF MUSIC Afresh start New speaker should stress bipartisanship Men, as a species, are not vain. There are exceptions, certainly. No one is completely without conc for their appearance. But we tripo s are usually pretty relaxed about it. This is part of our charm. You'll never hear a man whin- ing about his flab- by elbows or refus- ing to go out because his hair is "just, you know, not right." This disregard is _ AMES also a liability. The ILLER same uninterested : i , attitude that can be JA charming and unpretentious can also be slovenly, irritating and creepy. There are everyday sins,ethe venial sins of fashion. You can see these in any of the larger buildings such as Angell Hall or the MLB, where th@ are lots of students from different social groups. The first of these guys is "too-casual guy." "Too-casual guy" is not an athlete. Michigan athletes can afford to have a complete set of warmups and ,new shoes for every day of the week and two for Sunday. "Too-casual guy" wants to look like an athlete, but just misses a little bit. Real jocks aren't that concerned with dressing in the trappings of the tough guy. They 0 tough guys. They already look the part because they are the part. It's the five- foot-six guy in the "No Fear" T-shirt and six-year-old Air Jordans that make all of us men look like Bulls-worship- ping armchair coaches. I hesitate to mention the next guy, as I think I've traveled down this road before. I can't, however, in good con- science, talk about this topic with mentioning "Puffy, Jr." This guy usually white, almost always upper- middle class. Whereas the "too-casual guy" latched onto athletics to steal some masculinity, "Puffy, Jr." uses computerized, sterile hip hop that started with Puffy himself and now hovers over Master "1.6 points a game" P. "Puffy, Jr." likes to keep it real for his peeps in West Quad, and worse yet, doesn't see the comedy in it. He friends all over the city and brags about how he "gots the mad hookup at Wendy's in the Union. Word." Pursuant to histstatus as a hardcore gangsta, he wears his black North Face bubble coat, Nautica headband and big Koss headphones just to show every- one how hard it is to represent and get on the waitlist for Anthro 101. The mortal fashion sins are a,, pt more serious.it It's true that "Puffy, Jr." dresses like a rap video extra and looks foolish because he's essentially wearing a cos- tume everyday. But this isn't the worst of the offenders, as far as pretending to be someone you're not. This honor would be reserved squarely for the "Gothic Master of Darkness and C++" This gentleman thinks people laugh at his cape and Morressy T-shirt because they don't understand his deep affinity for the dark side.0 He has large black boots tied tight- ly to his skinny, chicken fat-colored legs. If he doesn't own a cape, he has a large trench coat. Further, just to let you know he's the spawn of Satan, he has three or four cheap, silver-plated rings with skulls and gargoyles on them, some of them won in a particu- larly heated game of "Vampire: The Masquerade." This is worse ty "Puffy, Jr." because the Beastm in question not only dresses like Elvira's pool boy, but because at least the suburban 'G' is dressing like peo- ple who exist in real life. "Gothic Master" doesn't even have that. I myself was a fan of dressing like fan- tastical role playing characters and pretending to be them. Then I turned 12. These sins all pale in comparison to the Sins of Formal Wear. Men of age and station are notoriously ba t dressing for formal and semi-formal occasions. The worst of these crimes, which is thankfully becoming less common, is the wearing of your father's clothes. You see these guys. Their cuffs stop on their knuckles. They have coats and shirts about 10 or 12 years behind the culture curve. These are the guys who have to have their roommates tie their ties for t or tie their own with double Windsr knots the size of navel oranges. The other mortal sin of this family is that of homogeneity. There really isn't a point to dressing up if you're going to do it like everyone else. It's not particul~arly special at that point, is he 106th Congress opened its ses- sion last week, electing Illinois Republican Dennis Hastert the new speaker of the House of Representatives. The former speaker, Newt Gingrich (R- Ga.), was very outspoken throughout his term and was familiar to a majority of Americans - something Hastert is not. In addition to becoming third in the line of presidential succession, Hastert has become the leader of the Republican Party in the House. The party has been in disarray since the 1998 elections, when Gingrich announced that he was going to hand the reigns of speakership over to someone else. Rep. Robert Livingston (R-La.) was supposed to assume the posi- tion, but following the outing of his extra- marital affair, Livingston resigned from his position and. from his seat in the House. Stepping into this intraparty tur- bulence is Hastert, a conservative, soft- spoken man whose past suggests that he is different from the always controversial Gingrich. An initial indication of this .changing of the guard took place when Hastert broke with tradition and gave his acceptance speech from the floor of the House instead of the speaker's chair. Hastert has been in office since 1986 when he was elected to represent the 14th Congressional District of Illinois. He has been a member of the House Commerce Committee, which reviews nearly half of all legislation that reaches the floor of the House. Hastert also serves as chair of the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee's National Security, International Affairs and Criminal Justice Subcommittee and has been the Republican point person on health care reform since 1992. Interestingly enough, he was the only Republican on First Lady Hillary Clinton's Health Care Task Force in 1993. As part of the taskforce, Hastert helped author the Health Care Reform age to the uninsured. He also helped write the Patient Protection Act, passed on July 24, 1998; which protects patients and guarantees Americans access to afford- able, high-quality health care. Hastert has a unique background that few members of Congress can match. In addition to hav- ing taught high school government and history for 16 years, Hastert has also coached high school football and wrestling. In his opening speech, he encouraged all members of the House to play an active role in the government's accomplishments. Hastert explained that a good coach knows when to step back and let others shine in the spotlight - something for which Gingrich was not known. The new speaker will need all of these assets in order to forge a bipartisan con- sensus with the Democratic Party that can accomplish significant legislation while maintaining control of his fractious party. The partisanship that currently clouds the Capitol Building only adds to the chal- lenges Hastert has to face in the next two years. Many Americans have lost faith in the government, particularly in the U.S. House of Representatives, which was recently the scene of disgraceful party-line politicking in the presidential impeach- ment vote. The majority of Americans want Congress to do the work of the people on impending problems, such as Social Security and other entitlements, and to resolve the Clinton matter swiftly and efficiently. A key intangible that will aide Hastert in his effort to restore the people's faith in government and specifically in the House of Representatives is the fact that he is widely respected and well liked by members of both parties. For now, Hastert should get the benefit of the doubt with regard to his ideas and vision VIEWPOINT Bribes shouldn't be part of Olympics BY THE STAFF OF THE DAILY ATHENAEUM When one thinks of the Olympics, he or she conjures up images of legends like Jesse Owens, Wilma Rudolph, Jim Thorpe and Mary Lou Retton. The Olympics are sup- posed to stand for what is good about ath- letics. But new allegations could destroy all of that. In 1995, the International Olympic Committee named Salt Lake City the site for the 2002 Winter Olympics. It looked like the committee's decision rested upon the city's beauty. Oh, it was that, and yet supposedly so much more. Former Salt Lake Organizing Committee President Tom Welch has been accused of bribing IOC officials. Welch says he has done nothing wrong, but according to The Deseret News, he has acknowledged cash payments and gifts to IOC members. Instead of bribing them, Welch said the SLOC made contributions to the Olympics. "We never bribed anybody. We never bought a vote," Welch said. "We made con- tributions out there as a part of the Olympic family, as an obligation we have. ... It was the responsible thing to do." Welch admitted giving $50,000 cash to Jean-Claude Ganga, an IOC member from the Republic of Congo. Ganga sought the money to help children in the African nation ravaged by civil strife, Welch said. This editorial ran in Mondays edition of 'the Daily Athenaeum, the student-run newspaper at West Virginia University. He alsoaacknowledged the bid committee made a $10,000 contribution to the cam- paign of Chilean IOC member Sergio Santander Fantini, who was running for mayor of Santiago. Welch also denied a rumor being investigated by the outside ethics panel for the SLOC that prostitutes were hired for IOC members visiting Salt Lake City. The first incident is gray. The money may or may not have actually gone to chil- dren in the Republic of Congo, but Welch really had no way of knowing for sure. The $10,000 campaign contribution is another story. What would Fantini's winning the mayoral race have to do with the Olympics? Whether he won or lost, he still has to make the decision. That "contribution" seems to be an outright bribe. The third alle- gation is the most heinous. The ax should fall on both sides if it is found out that prostitutes were hired for IOC members. If these allegations are proven, the 2002 Olympics should be moved to another city. Also, members of the IOC who took those gifts should be removed from their positions. It is the job of the IOC to make sure athletes behave ethically. How can they talk ethics when they cannot behave ethically themselves? This scandal has left a black mark on the image of the Olympics. If people .like Owens and Rudolph were alive today, they would break every speed record in the book - by run- ning away from this debacle.