4 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, January 21, 2000 JGbe artkignx ail Michigan stadium heading for 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. Necessary action Protesters' actions in-line with MLK spirit cow made national news for grazing in a flooded field two months ago in Debary. Florida (if you missed the story. it's probably because you were too busy stocking up on bottled water for the end of the world). People in Debary were worried that thei cow was stuck in4 knee;deep water just off of Interstate 4. Traffic was backed up for several miles as motorists placed an overwhelming amount of 911 calls to the highway patrol about a "drowning" cow. Dispatchers sent Strausz out a state police a officer who investi- gated the scene and d u determined that the cow was able to move around and was in the flooded field on his own free will, According to the trooper. the cow was offi- cially "just hungry, not stuck," but the fran- tic telephone calls kept coming in, and the traffic jam did not let up. "It was a real mess," said a spokesman of the Florida Highway Patrol. "Traffic was backing up, people were pulling into the medians. We had to do something to let people know that the cow was all right, that he wanted to be there." So after some careful thought, highway workers from the Florida Department of Transportation decided to set up an elec- tronic sign that flashed the message, "The Cow is OK" to passing vehicles. The 91 1 calls let up once the sign was in place, but the Department of Transportation was surprised that the traffic jam did not. Mo stopping to gawk at the cow a sure that they were reading tI rectly. Some were even takir Two days later, the sign was sti backing up traffic for milesa slowed down, looking for the c long since walked away. Two years earlier and 1,165 a certain university athletic began to make extensive reno certain football stadium. One renovation process would mv 5,000 new seats, and around circling the outside of the stal be a large yellow halo. It wou the kind of backdrop that s something like "The Cow is C across it, but it would instea like "Hail to the Victors Valian to the Conquering Heroes" bright blue lettering. Trouble would arise at the 1998 season when football have the audacity to dislike th would openly criticize it as b "Tacky." "Garish." "Tastele They would "absolutely hat would say that it is "expensive essary," that it "looks cheap" "makes the stadium resemble ment park." For two seasons would return to the football s appointed each time to find t was still there. And its bright ("clearly not maize") would ev sume their minds long afterI away from the games. Both of these stories have well-intended actions that had results, and they both end wit down of signs. greener pastures to discover The Florida highway workers put up torists were their sign intending to aid traffic flow. But nd to make because it proceeded to spark even more he sign cor- interest in the cow, the traffic jam ng pictures. remained - an unanticipated reaction. ll there, still Two days later, they took down the sign. as motorists This week in Ahn Arbor has marked the ow that had beginning of the $100,000 process (includ- ing patchwork and painting) of de-halo-ing miles away, Michigan Stadium. department I have no problem believing that the vations to a Athletic Department put up the halo with part of the good intentions. Somebody obviously olve adding liked it and assumed that we would like it these seats, too. It was a mistake not to ask us first, but ium, would even if they had, I'm not sure that we ld look like would have unanimously decided against hould have it. Until you see it in person, it's hard to )K" painted imagine just how gaudy a thick band of d say things yellow can be. t" and "Hail The action of putting up the halo has had in 7.5-foot some clearly unintended results. It has turned Wolverine fans into harsh design W start of the critics. It could be responsible for the ath- fans would letic department's lower-than predicted gift e halo. They revenue. It has caused the community to be eing "ugly." confronted with more bad puns involving ss." "Vile." the word 'halo' than anyone should ever e" it. They have to hear, and the story of wasted time, and unnec- money and resources has been told one too and that it many times (two too many times, you say an amuse- as you flip to the crossword puzzle). loyal fans The repercussions of the action were tadium, dis- contrary to the intent. The oversight that hat the halo the Athletic Department made was failing yellow hue to anticipate this. So we are starting again. vidently con- deconstructing the halo, re-renovating the they walked stadium. While we're here, still knee-deep in yellow, we might as well imagine an to do with electronic sign with a flashing message for I unintended passing vehicles: The stadium is OK. :h the taking -- Jennifer Strausz can be reached over e-mail at jstrausz@umich.edu. tGIS ITENl ATIV SPEAiN S eldom do today's University students possess the courage or will to risk punishment for voicing their beliefs. But last Monday, 15 students, despite the pos- sible consequences of their actions, took it upon themselves to stand up for some- thing they believed in. Directly before Henry Louis Gates Jr.'s keynote address for the University's 13th Annual Symposium Commemorating Martin Luther King Jr., a group of stu- dents unexpectedly walked on stage and overtook the podium. The students sur- rounded one student in a semi-circle as she spoke to the audience. The woman reminded- the audience of, among other things, an important fact: While the University promotes diversity in ways such as holding the MLK symposium, its minority enrollment has dropped signifi- cantly.. The content of the students' message carries the most impact. Although the University tries to deal with minority issues, it still must be held accountable when its performance is sub par. The pro- testers cited a lack of minority faculty and underfunded and understaffed agencies set up to assist minority students, as well as a low retention rate for minority facul- ty. The truth is that the administration could be doing more to support minorities and defend affirmative action. Whether they do so voluntary or unknowingly, many students remain ignorant to the facts of the lawsuit against the University's affirmative action policies. The University attempts to convey its stance through discussion groups and let- ters to students, but more needs to be done than the creation of an open dia- logue. There is validity in the protesters' complaints. If the University believes in diversity and supports affirmative action, it sometimes behaves in a way inconsis- tent with its own philosophy. The University must make good on its promise to "shatter barriers and transcend borders." The history of discrimination and per- secution against minorities fades all too quickly from our memories. The time -when few, if any, minorities attended the University is not so far into the distant past. And, if students continue their apa- thetic ways, the University could see a return to this type of campus life in the future. While the protesters' actions were impolite, they also addressed an issue that few others seem willing to undertake. In a day and age when not even direct limits on students' voting ability get much rise out of young adults, both the protesters' actions and message were appropriate and correct. Some ques- tioned the group's untimely and intrusive nature, but their actions were in line with the true spirit of Martin Luther King Jr. Too often, those wishing to portray King as less of a radical and more as a polite protester now soften his message. Yet, his acts of protest were anything but polite. As his essay "Letter from Birmingham City Jail" suggests, King worked with an "unavoidable impatience." It was with King's character - his intense urgency - that the group of students demonstrat- ed their beliefs. THOMAS KULJUR Rock the vote MTV sponsored program promotes turnout God's opinion on abortion unclear TO THE DAILY: Throughout this past year I have truly enjoyed reading what Mike Lopez has had to say. However, it saddens me that one of his final articles, "The greatest trick the devil ever pulled..."(1119/00), is probably one of his most flawed pieces. Lopez lists some people who he believes agree with the ideals of pro-lifers, "four are saints and the other is God." I am not quite sure how God could be considered a sup- porter of pro-life when you consider the fol- lowing: I. God created everything (Revelation 10:6). 2. Therefore, God created abortion. Why would God create something that he now considers evil? He wouldn't. So what happened? Well, either he messed up and is an idiot, lie is Satan or simply, God doesn't considereabortion bad at all. You decide. JESSE HERZOG LSA FIRST-YEAR STUDENT Editorial cartoon misidentified frate rn i ty TO THE DAILY: I would like to make a remark about the cartoon in today's Daily in which it states, "I don't see why we can't just have some Delta Sigs shoot these down." Now, I don't pretend to know what tihe actual purpose of the statement was, but it is clear what most people will associate it with. To inform all of you, Delta Sig was not involved, in any way, with the BB gun shooting. Additionally, Delta Sig has been exonerated of all hazing allegations. As a member of the Delta Sigma Phi fraternity, I don't see the rationale in dragging our 01 //r I VIa With the primary elections for presi- dential candidates looming, once again it is time for students to exercise this country's greatest democratic right: The right to vote. One might think that the youngest voters would be among the most eager to get to the polls, looking to sup- port the candidates that will change the future of our country.Yet the 18-25 year old age bracket, which includes most col- lege students, is still the smallest segment of voters going to the polls on election day. This needs to change. Although all elections hold impor- tance, the presidential election is perhaps the most important. Based on the way that our country's system of government works, while there is a balance of power, the president is easily the most powerful person in the United States. More signifi- cantly, the president represents issues that American voters deem important - including the issues raised by younger adults. If we as University students fail to vote in these elections, we create a way for politicians to avoid going after issues especially relevant to us - such as a greater support for higher education, affirmative action and improved health care. If you do not care for the candidates, vote to send a message that the youth vote matters. By voting in the 2000 election, young voters can draw more attention to youth issues in the future. Youth Campaign 2000, a grassroots organization, along with their co-sponsor , rM TV h, o rrni' A anamnian nt trv and goal is to increase the youth vote by at least 10 percent and make voters in the 18-25 yr. old age bracket understand their votes count. Youth Campaign 2000 has already planned for an all student run debate later this year. So far, with only short notice, nearly all the presidential candidates have agreed to participate. MTV, which worked on similar cam- paigns in 1995 and 1992, has seen what extra advertising and youth participation can do. In the past election, turnout for the 18-25 yr. old age group did increase, and MTV's support was partly responsi- ble. MTV is the number one station watched by youths nationwide, and because of their constant advertisements reminding youth to vote, and their extra effort to make voting an important issue with young people, they can have a pow- erful impact. Hopefully, through its efforts in this year's election with Youth Campaign 2000, as well as that organiza- tion's other projects to increase youth vot- ing, we will have the greatest youth vot- ing turnout yet. Do your part to make that happen. Register to vote here in Ann Arbor, or in your hometown. Remember that democracy requires voter participation to work correct- ly and that voting is not a chore but a privi- lege. Millions of people around the world do not have the right to select their leaders or their government. This is the best oppor- tunity that young adults around the country will have to make governmnent pay attention to issues that affect students. Take advan- still good name through the mud once again. Considering that after thorough investigations by the University as well as our national fraternity yielded no evi- dence of hazing, it seems inappropriate and slanderous to make a comment about our house. A comment that any reason- able person would associate with the recent hazing incident. I certainly think that a retraction and an apology are in order. DAVID S. KOVsKY LSA SOPHOMORE Daily shows 'trend of bad journalism' TO THE DAILY: Over tie past two weeks, numerous articles and a cartoon have been written about events involving the Delta Sigma Phi fraternity. When I saw the first article, my initial reaction was of shock that a newspaper would so quickly print some- thing that was blatantly false when they never made any effort to find out the truth. When I saw Chip Cullen's political i I (if you can call it that) cartoon, I was again taken aback. He shows a man taking down the stadium's controversial halo, saying "I don't see why we can't just have* some Delta Sig's shoot these down." I now realize that the Daily has absolutely zero integrity. First of all, Delta Sig never had any instances involving any sort of gun; that was another fraternity. Second, the events involving Delta Sig were dismissed after it was found out that it was not a hazing inci- dent. If the Daily is going to try and be funny while incorrectly using political humor, at least get your facts right. More importantly, this negative press that the Daily has decided to press against Delta Sig cannot have a good effect, espe- cially with Rush starting this weekend. I don't know if the Daily realizes the impact they can have, but if they do realize this, and still print such slanderous, misinformed information, then the Daily has less integri- ty than I could have ever imagined. I hope this trend of bad journalism does not con- tinue to cloud the minds of this University. I REID WAINESS LSA SOPHOMORE Affirmative action propaganda misses important faCts R eading the myth v. reality ad ("Advertisement about affirmative action") in the Jan. 19th issue of the Daily, I felt compelled for the sake of public record to respond to the propagan- da presented in the ad. As we all know, statistics can be used in very distorted ways. While it's true that even using a class based affirmative action system, minority representation in California's elite public schools has dropped, it's also true that such represen- tation has increased in the last couple of years. and that the minority drop out rate has decreased. Such an increase over the last couple of years means that given the stimulus of higher admissions standards. minority students, primarily from privi- dents not ready to compete at elite col- leges, considerthe fact that the University offers a bridge program and tutoring to its weakest admits precisely because these students can't compete in college without a crutch. Moving on to the lies on the Texas pro-' gram that admits automatically the top 10 percent of students into its system. First, these programs do not assume all high schools are the same: While the top 10 percent from a good high school may wind up at Austin. the top 10 percent from a poor high school will probably wind up at El Paso State. Second, students at the good schools are not penalized because there are so many spots in the Texas system that mative action program would. Fourt these programs do rely on segregated hig schools. "However, given the fact that nothing is being done to desegregate the high schools in the status quo, the Texas program was constructed to serve present reality. Should it instead be set up to serve some utopia that doesn't exist? Of course not. The bottom line is that minority repre- sentation in California and Texas school systems are analogous to what it was wit* affirmative action. While minority repre- sentation at elite institutions has decreased recent trends indicate that such decreases are temporary. It is alarmist and irresponsible for the Office of the VP for Communications to ~t.,.,,*h^ n ~n~.~: ir-tira rtn 0