4A - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, April 1, 1999 420 Maynard Street HEATHER KAMINS Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Editor in Chief dailyletters@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. A Spartan Saturday night, right out Maing an MPACT Student athletes work to improve campus L ike many of you, I watched reports of flames pouring from overturned cars in the streets of East Lansing East Saturday night. Today, police are searching video- tapes frame by frame to find the culprits. They're looking for students, but I've got b my own theory: I think it was Sparty.x That's right. The seemingly harmless mascot best known# in these parts for having his crotch rammed into the upright at Michigan Stadium. We've all laughed as the cheer- leaders held his David limbs, lined him up Wallace and plowed him into Exile the pole as an excla- mation point on a Maynard__ double-digit win. No, you say. He's just a clown. And he's got a good heart. Did we not see him a few years ago in the ESPN studios, helping to carry Kerri Strug - a wounded American hero? And, you add, look at his face. Is that the face of one who incites a riot? His features tell a different story of a simple life: the permanent grimace, implying a look of puzzlement as though he had just been asked to differentiate an equation. Maybe the guy in green body paint and boxer shorts could have been involved, but not Sparty! Oh, how wrong you are. First, I doubt that the wiry green guy seen in the crowd at Spartan games could have been involved. If he was, he likely died in one of the fires and hasn't been discovered yet. But Sparty, oh yes, I'm sure he wanted his own little Peloponnesian War last Saturday. Thanks to the media, playing Thucydides in this millennium, we all saw police cars capsized in the streets like Athens' ships in the decisive battle. Now this was no scene of destruction that could have come about under the leadership of soft college students. Granted, I've never tried to overturn a car, but I know that it would require immense strength. Many students working together could accomplish such a feat, you say? Hah! A coordinated effort from students in an obvi- ously drunken state - I think not. Only someone from a military city-state bred for battle could do such deeds. Look at Sparty. He stands seven feet tall. And his body would make Mark McGwire stop wearing muscle shirts. I mean, Sparty looks like he downs Andro daiquiries at the campus watering hole, or maybe the rec building. I don't know for sure what it was that set him off. To show such good humor for years and yet hail from Sparta, well, he must have been suppressing his nature. The irony had to eat away at him - Spartans, the soldiers who never lost, suffering ignominious defeats on the athletic field of battle throughout the decade. Then things changed this year, led by the Spartan basketball team. Victories piled up and rival nations fell, including our own maize and blue. Ancient glories were recap- tured. But the Spartans could not crawl out of the shadow of Duke - college basketball's Periclean Athens. Duke: the richest, the most influential, and the most cultured. And at the head of Duke's empire, Pericles for our time, coach Mike Krzyzewski. His of Greek tragedy influence carrying across states, he assem- bles talent yearly into the most admired program in the land. The Spartans played their familiar role. Disrespected. Brutish. Unrefined. Sparty shined his armor, waiting to repeat history and storm Attica. The years of bruised pride, the bad-mouthing of haughty neigh- bors, it would end here. But events didn't exactly unfold as they did thousands of years ago. Duke would not play the role of the defeated Athens, and instead marched through the Spartan attack unscathed. The Spartan team accepted the loss, but I'm sure it was too much for Sparty. He must have seen things weren't going well and caught an early plane back to East Lansing. Impossible you say? I don't know how he did it either. Maybe the gods were involved. But here's the clincher for me: Sparty as we know him was born in 1989. That's right, he's only 10 years old. Now, assuming you can give MSU students a little credit, they are adults. Let's give them the benefit of the doubt and say they act like it. Now I ask you, were the actions of last Saturday night those of adults, or the kind of destruc- tion only a giant 10-year-old with reservoirs of strength could wreak? Thank you. I knew you'd come around to my way of seeing it. Sparty's story, the col- lapse of MSU, is right out of Greek tragedy. For us Michigan students, it was a little uncomfortable seeing the Spartans in what are usually our heroic exploits. We've all probably got a little touch of schadenfreude after the fall. I know I feel a little. But personally, as a Michigander, I feel sad more than anything. - David Wallace can be reached over e-mail at davidmw@umich.edu. L ast week, student athletes involved in Michigan Peer Advisers Creating Trust announced their new plans for an alcohol awareness initiative encompassing all Michigan sports teams. M-PACT is a peer advising program compromised of and for student athletes. Since its founding in 1995, M-PACT has included 105 student-athlete representatives from 21 oflMichigan's 23 var- sity sports. M-PACT has opened the opportu- nity to discuss serious campus issues, such as the newest initiative taken by the group that focuses on alcohol. The initiative requires each team to develop guidelines on responsi- ble alcohol consumption. For better or for worse, the University's athletic programs receive more national press an any other part of the school. Athletes serve as ambassadors - they represent the University to the nation. Their actions are watched more carefully than the average stu- dent. Because of their status, the members of the athletic community serve as role models for many other students. With the highly pub- licized alcohol-related student deaths on cam- puses across the nation, binge-drinking in par- ticular is a hot topic. The spotlight on college campuses highlights the need for educational, peer-oriented groups like M-PACT. M-PACT leaders have recognized that there are many problems on campus and that they could successfully combat problems with the help of student athletes. M-PACT leaders are also aware that while they cannot get peo- ple to stop drinking, they can help them with their problems and provide guidance. Trying to stop athletes -- or any other students - from drinking is clearly the wrong way to attack drinking-related problems on campus. Alcohol is an integral part of the campus social scene at the University and nationwide - a fact that M-PACT accepts, as any group wishing to be taken seriously by students would have to. M-PACT's long term goals will be to insti- tute team guidelines and work their initiative into BALANCE, an orientation program that covers a myriad of campus issues such as per- sonal safety, sex, drugs and alcohol. BAL- ANCE focuses on issues that affect the lives of almost every college student. Many stu- dents arrive at the University unaware of the reality of these issues -yet eager to test their newfound freedom. While not focusing on responsible drinking before, the new alcohol initiative developed by M-PACT will definite- ly add a very important component to the ori- entation program. Students behind M-PACT should be com- mended for taking on a leadership role and helping shape both the image and actions of the athletic community. Rather than preaching "just say no" - or letting an authoritative group, such as the athletic department, call the shots - these students have taken matters into their own hands and developed a program that they believe students like themselves will benefit from. e, THOMAS KULJURGIS TF,.NrATIixEiSPEAKIN'KG REGARDING THE : S~J A&( JONF~l CASi MAC, Diplomatic game Contest played in Cuba could help relations It has been called everything from baseball diplomacy to a tacit support of Fidel Castro's regime, but after 11 innings of intense on-the-field competition, Sunday's game between the Baltimore Orioles and the Cuban national team ended as the same thing it was when it began: a baseball game. For the first time since the Cincinnati Reds played the Los Angeles Dodgers in March 1959, a professional American baseball team played a game in Cuba. The contest was sug- gested in a package of new initiatives towards the Communist island nation, pro- posed by President Clinton in January. The Orioles - who play their home games clos- er to the nation's capital than any other Major League team - downplayed the game's pos- sibly contentious political significance in favor of stressing goodwill between the peo- ple of both countries: "Through the medium of baseball, the national game of both coun- tries, we will be able to establish ties of friendship and cooperation with the Cuban people," Peter Angelos, owner of the Orioles, told reporters before the game. Ironically, both the United States and Cuba - bitter political adversaries since Castro's revolution in 1959 - consider base- ball to be an important part of their cultural heritage. Castro, who was a pitcher for the University of Havana, is an avid fan of the game and Sunday's international competition brought a crowd of 50,000 to Havana's Estadio Latinamericano. Despite the fact that dozens of Cuban players have defected to the United States to play for big money in the Major Leagues - an issue that will be on everybody's mind when the two teams play a re-match in Baltimore in May - the Cuban national team has long enjoyed the status of one of the world's premiere clubs, winning the gold medal at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. Sunday's extra-inning bout - won by the Orioles in the 11th - was an indica- tion that the Cubans can hold their own with an., teamn nA rti a'4 Beyond the playing field, many have tried to extract a political message from this con- troversial game. In the early '70s, when the U.S. national ping-pong team visited Beijing, many saw the competition as a lead- in to President Nixon's famous diplomacy with Communist China. The two situations are clearly very different, but some hold out hope that Sunday's game will be the herald of improved relations between the two coun- tries. As Peter Angelos was quoted in The London Times: "If this leads to an improve- ment in relations between our two countries, and ultimately much greater contact between our two people, certainly the Major Leagues and the Orioles, and millions of Americans, would be delighted." While it is unlikely that a baseball game will significantly affect U.S. foreign policy, any event that improves the cultural dialogue between the two countries and encourages Americans to further their understanding of our Caribbean neighbors will be a step in the right direction. Cuba remains the last Cold War enemy of the United States and it has been the site of some of this century's most tense political moments. The importance of Sunday's game was largely symbolic, just as baseball itself represents so much to both countries involved. In Cuba, the game's political implications are bard to deny: in 1959, Fidel Castro's Barbudos (Beards) played a game against the West team led by Ernesto "Che" Guevara, after the two leaders had driven Fulgencio Batista from power. The recent death of Joe DiMaggio in America demonstrated how powerfully the game has left its impression on our collective consciousness and sense of national identity. As the Baltimore Orioles met the Cuban nationals in a spirited competition in Havana last week, one could almost perceive - if only for a brief, flashing instant - the tran- scendent mythology of baseball banishing years of raging international strife from its dmann_chnne hnAnre Activists on campus will continue to be heard TO THE DAILY: Too often in the Daily, articles and let- ters are written that attempt to make an argument by attacking and insulting those who hold opposing views. Branden Sanz's column in the Mar. 29 edition ("Ignorance, naivete and plain old stupid- ity - the 'U"') is a perfect example. The author lumps all those who fight against the death penalty, demand a living wage for sweatshop workers, are environmen- talists, oppose the bombing of Iraq, Kosovo or oppose U.S. imperialism and declares that they "don't know shit about life." I'll agree that I don't personally know anyone who works in a sweatshop or any- one who has lived through NATO/U.S. bombing and sanctioning of their country. However, one does not have to look far to see the effects of poverty and despair to know that it is very real. Those of us who "don't know shit about life" are attempt- ing to point out that humanity cannot in good consciousness continue to support a society that promotes a system where people are forced to live under such dire conditions. The fact that there are bad people in the world or that "the world is not fair" does not justify poverty or war. Sanz claims that a lack of common sense or a real understanding of the issues is the cause for this apparent stupidity on the part of activists. Has he ever stopped to actually communicate and share ideas with one of the people he attacks? They have usually spent large amounts of time and effort educating themselves. Does he think that Students Organizing for Labor and Economic Equality was able to go in and make their demands on the simple premise that they don't think sweatshops are nice? Does he think that no one who lives in the com- munities affected by poverty and war are fighting to end their oppression? It is not naivete that drives many of us to educate ourselves and fight against the atrocities in the world, it is the fact that we are aware that drives us. The University provides an excellent forum for people of different views to share those views, but Sanz prefers not to acknowledge the validity of any views that are not his own. We are here to gain our voice in this world, and whether or not Sanz approves, we will continue to be heard. ELIZABETH HAMILTON SNRE JUNIOR 'Chess' review did not give play enough credit TO THE DAILY: This plav review was extremely cast of Chess ("'Chess' dull to watch," 3/29/99). I was present at the Sunday matinee showing and felt the performance was phenomenal as well as the message about life and the Cold War that it shared. The play's cast, director, stage managers and other persons involved in this produc- tion invested much time, effort and heart into this weekend's performance and do not deserve this incredulous critique. It is not fair to those involved with the performanceto say their dedication was completely and utterly uninspired and worthless to the community. Granted, there were a few problems with sound, lighting and set changes, but not enough to overwhelmingly affect the entire performance. For instance, the lead characters' voices were beautiful, strong and in tune. So much emotion and strength was portrayed through their words and body language that only one who was unattentive would miss the qual- ity of their performances. ' To say that Freddie was "the only character to capture the audiences' atten- tion" is a bit short sighted. The struggles within and between characters, such as Anatoli's wife's visit and Walter's desper- ate greed for money, sparked audience interest much more than Freddie's rebel- lious antics. The tension on stage when the two women, Florence and Svetlana, meet in the same restaurant and then enter the terrace together, alone, was superb and yet frightening - after all, what does one say to the woman who takes her hus- band away? Furthermore, the interactions between characters was suspenseful yet fascinat- ing. When Anatoli first toucles Florence, a heart skips a beat. One asks if the American Florence can really betray her best friend and fall in love with a Russian opponent - only to be answered by a kiss. Then, when Florence sees her father again after 18 years, she is apprehensive and untrusting - could this really be him? Her silence and still actions hold the audience in dreadful anticipation until her hand enters the soft yellow light, reaching for the fragile, welcoming reach of her father. This play as a whole did not deserve the review that it received. Unfortunately, those who did not get a chance to see it could only catch a glimpse of it through hopes of restoring the confidence of the cast and crew of "Chess" and to reiterate that there were people who did thorough- ly enjoy the production and were equally grateful for an entertaining and enlighten- ing three hours. KRISTIE AIUTO ENGINEERING JUNIOP Mass e-mail does not promote student bonding TO THE DAILY: This is in response to Joel Snyder's let- ter defending e-mail group lists ("Mass e- mail can help bring students together" (3/26/99). I went to Andover and heard about this cheerful list. Funny, I did not see any of the aforementioned bonding going on: I saw the nerds from Andover letting the popular peo- ple know how much they sucked. The first response to a solicitation by,* some student government candidates was hate mail from one of the nerds saying, "you never liked me and I never liked you." I can feel the bonding, Joel. As a result of the vindictive mail, a flurry of responses arose. And because most of the people were in the College of Literature, Science and the Arts, they checked "yes" when asked "Reply to all recipients?" Soon enough, warfare ensued between different factions, those factions being the people who were cool at Andover, the people who were nerds at Andover and the people who just liked to piss people off. This is all because some MSA candi- dates wanted some extra votes. You readers say, Justin, you sound bitter. No, I'm not bitter at all my pals from high school. Hell, the love was so deep between me and my high school buddies that I did not even make the cut to be on this "buddy" list. I heard about it from a friend. So Joel, until people use these lists with proper etiquette, I am not sold on their benefits. In. closing, I hope no one takes this per- sonally. JUSTIN ADAMS mc~xr o 0ots~ - ULJ U Cs l 9 {-ulju-@ OM~ck. ech