4 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, January 19, 2000
(1h Stiigun ailg
420 Maynard Street HEATHER KAMINS
Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Editor in hief
daily.letters@umich.edu Et nC f
Edited and managed by JEFFREY KOSSEFF
students at the b' ' 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.
The greatest trick the devil ever pulled...
Well, it is almost time for me to
leave the pages of the Daily. With
qualifying and oral examinations com-
ing up, time has suddenly become a pre-
cious commodity.
This week marks
the 26th anniversary
of the legalization of
abortion in the
United States.
Multitudes will cele-
brate Roe v. Wade
throughout the week.
On our campus,
the pro-choice militia
will be' out and about
spreading its propa-
ganda. They'll be
toasting the right to
kill. They'll be cele-
brating the right to
"choose" wrong.
If you were pro-
life and wanted to
Long lines and more
IDing students fixes a nonexistent problem
Milo
Lopez
hM , n
One set of rules has been held by the
likes of Martin Luther King Jr., Mother
Theresa, Ghandi, the Virgin Mary, and
Jesus. You know these people. Four are
saints and the other is God. In a recent
national poll, Mother Theresa was named
as the most admired figure of the 20th
Century. The Mahatma was pretty awe-
some and this week, we celebrate King's
commitment to life.
People like Al Gore, President
Clinton, Madonna, Jane Fonda and
many other moral philosophers in
Hollywood hold the other set of rules.
Real model human beings. I've always
wanted to be like a movie star. They
always seem to have their lives together.
I guess all those trips to rehab help out.
I don't think I need to highlight the self-
lessness and moral character of these
misguided ones.
Many think that abortion is one of the
greatest problems that society faces.
More than a problem, I see it as a symp-
tom. It is the latest symptom of the dis-
ease that threatens to take over all our
lives. It is the cough that spreads the
virus. The virus is Evil. All around us,
evil forces bombard us with negative
images of life and society. Gluttony,
pride, lust, avarice, wrath, sloth and envy
permeate our music, television and read-
ing.
What do we all want? We want to be
big shots. We want to be famous. We
want people to think we're cool. We want
money. We want nice cars. We want lots
of beautiful women. We want to pay back
everyone who screwed us. Evil forces
-want us to want the best for ourselves.
Only in self-centered existence can evil
insure that the maximum number of us
get screwed. The seven deadly sins are
alive and well. Movies are made about
them. Jerry Springer celebrates them.
You see, in order to convert the pro-
choice to the pro-life, the person must
forget about himself or herself. The
seven deadly sins must be replaced by the
seven virtues.
A person whose thoughts and actions
spring from the theological virtues of
faith, hope and charity can do no wrong.
From these virtues flow the moral
virtues of prudence, justice, fortitude
and temperance. Have you ever heard of
these? The number of people who don't
recall the seven virtues, but know the
vices by heart often surprises me. If as
many people attended seminars on
virtues as do attend seminars about mak-
ing money, I think the world would be a
better place.
Remember these words of King.
"Darkness cannot drive out darkness;
only light can do that. Hate cannot drive
out hate; only love can do that. Hate
multiplies hate, violence multiplies vio-
lence, and toughness multiplies tough-
ness in a descending spiral of destruc-
tion ...
The chain reaction of evil - hate
begetting hate, wars producing more
wars - must be broken, or we shall be
plunged into the dark abyss of annihila-
tion.
-Mike Lopez can be reached over
e-mail at manatlarge@umich.edu.
TENTATIVELN SPEAKING
A recent proposal would require stu-
dents to present their M-Card upon
entrance to the football stadium.
According to Marty Bodnar, the manager
for athletic tickets and promotions, the
goal of the policy is to get "as many stu-
dents into the stadium as possible" and
"maintain the community atmosphere of
the student section." While foiling
scalpers and increasing the student popu-
lation within the stadium are both
admirable ambitions, checking M-Cards
would do more harm than good.
The plan to check student IDs at the
gate will only make attending football
games less convenient. Instead of the
simple process of tearing off the ticket
stub, long lines will result as students
wait to get their IDs checked. Students
will have to arrive even earlier than they
currently do in order to be in their seats
by kickoff. This makes it more difficult
for students to get to games on time,
especially when there is an early starting
time.
While it is understandable that the
University is trying to keep scalpers out
of the student section and increase the
concentration of students, part of the
enjoyment of the games comes from out-
siders being in the student section. If a
friend or family member of a University
student wants to sit in the student section
and watch the game with a University
student, they should be allowed to do so.
Scalping is an issue, but a larger issue
is the right of students to secure tickets
for their friends and family.
The University need not be concerned
with the concentration of students in the
student section. The quantity of student
season ticket requests continues to be on
the rise as more than 22,000 students
bought season tickets to the football
games last year. Tickets to athletic events
are already in high demand; the
University does not need to implement an
ID checking system to remedy a problem
that does not exist.
Adding to the futility of an ID check-
ing system would be the ease with which
it could be circumvented. For example, if
a student wanted a family member to sit
with them in the student section, they
could simply buy that friend or family
member a regular ticket and then obtain a
student ticket stub once inside the stadi-
um to get the family member into the stu-
dent section.
Many people live by the ideal that "if
it ain't broke, don't fix it." This is one of
those situations. Michigan football games
are attended by more people than at any
other college or university in the nation.
Many students regard football games
as one of the greatest aspects of attending
the University. Facing unnecessary ID
checks and not being able to watch the
games with friends or family will only
inhibit this enjoyment.
explain your position to an abortion
rights advocate, how would you do it?
How would a pro-choice activist get his
or her view accepted by someone who
values the right to life? I don't think it
can be done.
They're like oil and water. Not only
don't they mix; they have totally differ-
ent chemical compositions. Pro-choice
and pro-life are not two sides of the same
coin. Conversion from one to the other
requires a radical change of world view.
It requires the rejection of one set of life
rules and adoption of an entirely contra-
dictory set.
THOMAS KULJURGIS
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Don't harass
Military should let homosexuals serve openly
L ast week, the British government lift-
ed its ban on homosexuals in the mil-
itary. This change in policy follows a
September ruling from the European
Court of Human Rights in favor of four
people who were dismissed from the
British military because of their sexual
orientation. The decision brings Britain in
league with the majority of European
nations. Previously, Britain had overtly
prohibited gays from serving in the mili-
tary - unlike the U. S. armed forces,
which follow a "don't ask, don't tell" pol-
icy. Though it may not be an outright ban
on gays in the military, the "don't ask,
don't tell" policy still denies gays and les-
bians the right to serve their country like
any other American citizen.
The "don't ask, don't tell" policy for-
bids military officials from making
inquiries about soldier's sexual orienta-
tion, but it also allows them to discharge
anyone who openly admits to being
homosexual. This is intolerant and a clear
violation of civil and human rights. It
forces gays and lesbians to choose
between serving in the military and freely
expressing themselves, a choice no one
should have to make - anyone who does
declare their homosexuality can be dis-
charged. Anyone who is gay and wishes to
serve in the military must live in silence
and denial.
Clearly the "don't ask, don't tell" poli-
cy has done little to improve the status of
homosexuals in the military. According to
the Servicemembers Legal Defense
Network, a legal watchdog organization,
the Pentagon fires three to four people for
being lesbian, gay or bisexual every day.
In addition, the policy not only forces
gays and lesbians to remain in the closet,
gay servicemen and women - there have
been several cases where members of the
armed forces were harassed for their
known or suspected sexual predisposition
yet would not come forward for fear of
being punished under "don't ask, don't
tell." This problem only highlights the
homophobia inherent in the "don't ask,
don't tell" policy. Recently, this problem
has publicly manifested itself in the trial
and conviction of Specialist Justin Fisher
who murdered Private First Class Barry
Winchell, who was suspected of being
gay
But for every publicized case of harass-
ment motivated by homophobia, there are
many more cases that go unnoticed. The
SLDN "documented 400 incidents of anti-
gay harassment, including death threats
and verbal gay-bashing" in 1998 accord-
ing to their web page (wwwsldn.org).
Those incidents marked a 120 percent
increase in harassment from 1997.
There is no good reason to prohibit
gays and lesbians from serving in the
armed forces. Homosexuals have always
been active in the military, despite the
prohibition. Inappropriate sexual behavior
is prohibited by fraternization policies
that affect all personnel, and gays and les-
bians are not more likely to engage in this
type of behavior than anyone else.
The belief that gays in the military
would make the service less effective is
simply homophobic. Sexual orientation is
merely one aspect of a person, and has no
bearing on the way one would carry out
military service.
Gays and lesbians are ordinary people
and must be granted the same rights as
anyone else. The U.S. armed forces
should dispense with "don't ask, don't
- -
Attendees of the Martin Luther King
Jr. Memorial Lecture in Hill Auditorium
Monday morning were witness to a pre-
sentation rich in the ideals of King and
inspiring in our dedication to fulfilling
his vision. Unfortunately, it only lasted
about 5 minutes, and it did not involve
the headlining speaker. As Dr. Henry
Gates was approaching the podium to
begin his address, nearly a dozen stu-
dents calmly stepped in and took control
of the microphone. There, they articulat-
ed a poignant message to the University's
guests, faculty and "especially students."
The student speaker outlined signifi-
cant instances of inequality in the work-
ings of the University in order to illus-
trate the deeply rooted "borders and bar-
riers" still plaguing our everyday lives.
She criticized the University's pride in
organizing several days worth of passive
symposium events while it falters in
attempts to actually engage such princi-
ples throughout the rest of year. Then,
having laid out their statement, the stu-
dents quietly and respectfully yielded the
podium back to the scheduled program
and exited the auditorium. No disruptive
chanting, no physical obstruction to the
Eflerbe needs to
Watching the Michigan Basketball
game vs. Illinois on Sunday, I finally
realized what it was about coach Ellerbe
that bothered me so much: a complete
lack of originality. He has some of the
best new talent in the NCAA on his team,
but he continues to thwart it by keeping
gifted players on the bench and playing
old school basketball. His players con-
stantly try to break out of the mold by
excelling at motion and spread offenses
with 3-pointers and running jump shots.
But then Ellerbe has to substitute in a
slower, less talented player that screws
everything up.
Traylor is gone and so should that
style of basketball. No matter how much
we pretend, Asselin, Vignier ard Young
are not big men. Asselin is no center and
I'm reluctant to call any of them power
forwards. They consistently don't pro-
duce the points we need. Moreover we
planned events, no excessive flagrance;
just a simple yet powerful statement
voiced to a listening crowd. King would
have been proud.
Despite being inspired by their pre-
sentation, I was initially troubled with
the fact that they walked out on Gates
without listening to what he had come
here to say. Sadly though, I soon found
myself wishing to have joined them in
the admirable protest. In his lecture,
Gates unfortunately embodied the objec-
tions made by the students and painfully
failed to offer any sort of meaningful
reflection so desperately called for by
this occasion.
Sure, I laughed at some humorous
accounts of his earlier academic exploits
and even got some insight into his out-
standing CD-rom, Encarta Africana, and
the extensive history behind it. I did not,
however, hear Martin Luther King's
name beyond a few mentions, and even
less did I hear about his vision and what
it means for us today.
Now, I am not attacking the notability
of the issues addressed, nor am I trying
to mock the intellectual integrity or ora-
torical deftness of the highly respectable
change his style
On defense the outlook is much
worse. Vignier is slow and Asselin is too
often found out of position. Someone
explain to me how in a 2 - 3 zone Asselin
doesn't have 10 defensive rebounds? But
he had two and trust me, that is a bad,
bad thing. He simply is not strong
enough. Even if Asselin was kicked in
the teeth while rebounding, he shouldn't
drop the ball. Power forwards do not
drop the ball and centers certainly should
never drop the ball. He needs to quit
griping about fouls and be strong with
the ball - holding it tight and keeping it
above his head.
With some work our big men could be
infinitely better. Here's the good news:
We don't need a true big man. I say we
can beat teams without one. No, we don't
have a "Fab five," but we sure as heck
have a fast five! We can play the run and
gun style basketball of the early '90s and
Gates. However, I am saying that he
should be ashamed to have presented
those words under the title "Dr. Martin *
Luther King Jr. Memorial Lecture" on
this holiday. This is a day set aside to cel-
ebrate the driving spirit King injected
into the Civil Rights Movement and to
revitalize our commitment to making
continuing strides in the name of equali-
ty.
Gates's speech is a discouraging
reflection of the dangerous comfort
seducing much of our nation within these
topics. The true nature of this memorial
to King lies not in any warm, fuzzy nos-*
talgia of past advances, but rather in
sounding a call to earnest action in fac-
ing the challenges here today.
I extend great thanks to the students
who faced up to the issues at hand and
saved the event from being a complete
disappointment. They reminded us that
we cannot disregard the distance we have
yet to achieve and at the same time, they
effectively demonstrated that ample
virtue and courage do exist for us to truly
realize the dream.
- This viewpoint was written by
LSA senior Aaron Boyle.
of basketball
so-called big men for? We've got most
of our defensive rebounds from
Blanchard at small forward anyway.
What are our big men doing for us? Not
a whole lot except screwing up the tempo
and not being strong with the ball.
So let's be originals. Lets try:
Blanchard, Smith, Jones, Gaines and
Crawford and I say really try. Full court
press, run and shoot, dunks, trick passes,
the whole works with little to no repri-
mand for mistakes, because they will
come.
Use a light full court press into a
loose 2-3 zone with all five players
rebounding. Keep Smith and BlanchardO
and Jones down low and with our speed
we will overcome our lack of height.
Play your best players and you'll win
more games. Didn't somebody famous
once say that?
Trust me, Ellerbe, for five minutes
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