4 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, February 2, 2000
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Time to get something straight: it's not gay
420 Maynard Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
daily.letters@umich.edu
Edited and managed by
students at the
University of Michigan
MIKE SPAHN
Editor in Chief
EMILY ACHENBAUM
Editorial Page Editor
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.
Booster shot
would be willing to bet that every stu-
dent on this campus has had a conversa-
tion that goes like this (names changed to
protect the guilty):
Sally: "I'm thinking about taking this
history class next
semester."
Jim: "Don't do
it."
Sally: "Why not?"
Jim: "It's gay."
Feel free to substi-
tute "I'm on my way
to this party," "I want '
to go see this movie"
or virtually anything
you want for Sally's
initial statement.
Through their con- Ethan Shalom
versation, Jim dis- Johnson
suades Sally from her J
original intentions
simply by explaining Ny Mind
that what she wants to
do is "gay." The history class does not cover
homosexuality, there are probably few
homosexuals at the party and there are no
gay characters in the movie Sally wants to
see. Nothing Sally describes relates to homo-
sexuality in the least, but she knows not to
take the history class because Jim has a neg-
ative opinion of it.
University students and people around
the country freely equate "gay" with "bad"
when speaking. If you have never done this
in your life, you are better person than I am.
I used to call things I disliked "gay," but I
came to this realization: Anyone who uses
the word "gay" in this manner is being a
bigot.
Does that sound too harsh? What if,
instead, Jim responded: "Only niggers
would take that history class." Any right-
minded person would stop dead in their
tracks and confront Jim for being a racist
bigot. The reason people think lightly of
using "gay" to describe all things negative
stems from its widespread usage; most stu-
dents are desensitized to it. Certainly, this
does not mean that these individuals are not
good people otherwise, but they are never-
theless contributing to prejudice against
homosexuals.
Gay men and women deserve the same
rights as all human beings. Gays, like other
minorities, have been discriminated against.
because people have always feared anyone
different than themselves. It comes as no
surprise, then, that approximately 12 per-
cent of hate crimes in this country are relat-
ed to sexual orientation.
Luckily, xenophobia has a cure, and it is
called tolerance. Do not believe anyone
who claims that homosexuality is a mani-
festation of America's moral decline. First,
homosexuality existed long before The
Village People. Second, the promotion of
individual liberties is one of the central
tenets of American society.
Students of our generation cannot
remember the era when white Americans
viewed anything involving black people as
repulsive. But there was a time - in the no-
so-distant past - when whites were embar-
rassed to be associated at all with blacks.
Now whites are ashamed that they ever felt
that way, and for good reason. Will our
grandchildren look at us and wonder why
Athletic supporters need regulation
we were so obtuse?
Stop to think about it for a minute. We
are not in the 1950's. We are not Pat
Buchanan. Or Gary Bauer. We are progres-
sive college students and we should know
better than to perpetuate the prejudices of
past generations. The natural counter-argu-
ment would be: Who cares? They are just
words, after all, not sticks and stones. But
we all know that speech exerts great influ-
ence on social attitudes, especially when
the speaker is someone we like and respect.
Censoring individuals cannot be the
answer, because limiting freedom of speech
would be even worse. But by speaking in a
derogatory manner about any group, one
contributes to a culture of disdain that can,
in turn, foster hatred. When it is socially
acceptable to insult a given group of people,
the message is conveyed that physically
harming members of that group might not
be so terrible either. Matthew Shepard, the
homosexual University of Wyoming stu-
dent murdered last year by two young men
who left him tied to a fence for 18 hours,
might still be alive today if no one said, "it's
gay."
President Bill Clinton has proposed
national hate crime legislation, and while
passing this bill would address the problem
and send the right message to Americans,
such laws will not prevent hate crimes
alone. Only by taking greater care and
responsibility for our words as well as our
actions can we hope to create a society in
which homosexuals and all other oppressed
groups will be truly free.
-Ethan Shalom Johnson can be
reached via e-mail at ethanj@umich.edu.
ENTAI VELY SPEAKiNG~
T he University Board in Control of
Intercollegiate Athletics took anoth-
er step towards resolving the scandal and
rumor-plagued Athletic Department's
reputation last month. The Board
approved a set of guidelines that ban con-
tact between boosters - individuals who
financialy support athletic teams - who
have violated NCAA or conference regu-
lations and Michigan athletes and staff.
The new guidelines clarify the
NCAA's definition of "disassociation."
Under the newly adopted guidelines, stu-
dent athletes are forbidden to have any
contact with disassociated boosters.
Athletes and staff are also required to
report any sighting of a disassociated
booster on campus or at a sporting event
to the Director of Athletics.
"Better late than never" most appropri-
ately characterizes the Board's decision.
While the new rules are a step in the right
direction, they could have prevented sig-
nificant embarrassments for the
University's athletic program had they
been implemented earlier.
Serious trouble has been brewing for the
basketball program since ex-Michigan
coach Steve Fisher and his Fab Five ruled
the court in the early '90s, and it's been a
tawdry tale of Ford Explorers and favors
ever since. The Athletic Department
responded to initial criticism in 1997 by
forming a committee to ensure compliance
with NCAA regulations. Violations contin-
ued despite the committee's formation and
several athletic programs retained their less
than enviable public images.
Last summer, news surfaced that some
players had violated two NCAA regula-
tions because of their association with
former Michigan booster Ed Martin.
Martin is currently under investigation by
federal authorities for running an illegal
gambling operation.
It is difficult to overestimate the
importance of image for the University. It
may be impossible to prove a causal rela-
tionship between popular perceptions of
colleges and universities overall and pop-
ular perceptions of athletic programs at
those schools, but there tend to be strong
correlations' between the two. This phe-
nomenon often appears in the number of
applications a college or university
receiVes in the wake of athletic success -
and Michigan is the top-selling sports
logo in the world.
It may not be rational, but some peo-
ple's opinions of the University are
formed solely by its athletic program.
Even people with more intimate ties to
the University, like alumni, may be
strongly influenced by athletics. The most
recent evidence of this phenomenon man-
ifested itself in the debacle over the halo
crowning Michigan Stadium - alumni
donations to the athletic department
plummeted in the wake of the halo's
introduction.
Pragmatic reasons aside, as a matter of
principle, the University should strive to
maintain an ethical athletic program.
Students can take more pride in athletic
victories when they are achieved under
strict adherence to high standards of con-
duct. Hopefully the University's new
guidelines for boosters will usher in a
new era for the athletic department.
Wolverine fans are known for bleeding
maize and blue. We need to have some-
thing to cheer for.
0
THOMAS KULJURGIS
I . I
Taking charge
Gambling addiction deserves more attention
N ow that casinos have arrived in mechanism gets stimulated when some-
Detroit, the city can reap the sup- thing makes us feel good, such as music,
posed economic benefits supporters of eating, sex or gambling" explained Dr.
legalized gambling. Meanwhile, the nega- Howard Shafer, director of Harvard
tive social consequences of casinos are Medical School's Division on Addictions
manifesting themselves. Last Thursday, an at the 12th National Conference on
off-duty Oak Park police officer commit- Problem Gambling, according to the Las
Corporate sponsors
of MSU lab have
insidious motives
To THE DAILY:
Humor is selective dissection: Take a
point of fact, add an unanticipated twist,
and viola!
I point out this selectivity in regard to a
Daily cartoon ("Tentatively Speaking"
1/26/00) concerning the Earth Liberation
Front's destruction of a Michigan State
University lab that was being used for
experiments on genetic engineering.
"Yay, terrorism!" one of the gleeful
members cries. An arrow points to the ris-
ing smoke, indicating the "air pollution."
Here are a couple of other barbs of irony
that Daily cartoonists and readers might
wish to consider.
The multinational corporation that spon-
sors Catherine Ives' research into genetical-
ly engineering foods for "Feeding The
World" has done some other wonderful
things for posterity in the past. Remember
Agent Orange? Ever heard of Dioxin? The
same company created them.
Yay second-generation birth defects in
Vietnam! Yay asthma for East Saint Louis'
children and cancer for people the world over!
Since that time they've changed their
ominous-sounding slogan "Without
Chemicals, There Would Be No Life" and
have become what they call a "Life-
Sciences Corporation." Fortunately enough
for us, they've abandoned their old habit of
cashing in on human and ecological suffer-
ing. They bought up about 20 seed and gene
companies, and became so philanthropic
that they're working intimately with the
USDA and agricultural colleges to give the
world the fruits of their kindness.
Never mind the warnings by ecologists,
consumer specialists, foreign governments
and even dissenting federal scientists that
they may not be safe. Never mind that this
spring they trespassed onto farmer's fields
all over the US and Canada to test crops for
"their" genes, suing farmers who re-planted
seeds without paying their so-called "tech-
nology fee."
A multinational attempting to corner the
global seed market and suing the one per-
cent of our population that we depend on
for our very sustenance? Yay, terrorism,
indeed. Yes, burning a laboratory is outra-
geous, wrong and damnable. But who says
the hands of the corporate sponsors handing
money to MSU scientists are any less
clean? And who is brave enough to risk
legal and economic harm that comes from a
desire to speak truth to power? It's the pen,
not the flame, that should be used in this
battle. But as this cartoon so sadly illus-
trates, the media's humor will only cut so
far.
Whose pen will point out the darker,
less-obvious nature of this terrible incident?
JOSEPH GROENKE
SNRE SENIOR
Politically correct
phrases can stifle
true diversity
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ted suicide after losing a hand
in the '$ 100 minimum VIP room
at a Detroit casino.
Many students at the
University already know of the
temptation to risk high and
inevitably lose big when gam-
bling at casinos. Windsor and
Detroit casinos are only an hour
away from Ann Arbor and are
steadily becoming weekend hot
spots for students.
Gambling addiction has not
spared the University communi-
ty. Many students have at least
one friend who has or has had a
problem drawing the line
between gambling as entertain-
ment and gambling as a way of
life. Nor are gambling addic-
tions restricted solely to casino
betting - non-casino activities
such as money wagered on col-
lege basketball tournament and
large football events can
unleash the same destructive
forces as casino gambling.
from work or s
gambig?
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3. Have you
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Vegas Sun.
The University administra-
M lose t tion needs to get on top of the
growing problem of student
ling ver gambling addiction in the same
way that it had tackled eating
disorders and alcoholism.
cambling, Currently, there are no adver-
,, gmbl, tisements for counseling or clin-
ics on gambling addictions,
ffe although there are for eating
cisorders and alcoholism.
h eThe University does not dis-
tribute information on seeking
and finding help for gambling
ever gai addicts, but this does not mean
wom it isn't a serious and detrimental
4 g~e~problem for the student body.
W41arit1Qfl'Even if one denies that gam-
e bling addiction is a pressing
, anygo issue on campus, the arrival of
casinos in Detroit and Windsor
are bound to spread gambling
%truction oraddiction.
Just like any addiction, gam-
i srmc. bKng should be taken seriously
by the student body. Ultimately,
it is studerts' responsibility to exercise
moderation on trips to Detroit and
Windsor, but the University can still take a
to use the term "freshman" to describe fellow
students. Professors would immediately
frown upon my "blunder," and I was shocked
to be verbally reprimanded at an institution
supposedly striving for "diversity."
What I encountered was censorship; the
obvious downfall of promoting extreme
politically correct views. My freedoms of
speech and thought were simply not pre-
served at this extremely liberal institution,
and I decided to leave because of the
hypocrisy. I hate to see the University follow
this conformist path.
I wish the Daily staff instead would have
received representative input from the stu-
dent body to see whether this term is actual-
ly offensive to its members before reducing
itself to a preliminary stage of censorship.
From my experience, using only gender-
neutral terms to describe the class is not
worth sacrificing diverse views and lan-
guage. By the way, try not to fall into that
"personhole" on the street. And on a clear
night, make sure to gaze at the "person on the
moon."
SHARON HOROZANIECKI
LSA JUNIOR
Starbucks protest
shuns reality
TO THE DAILY:
To the student's protesting Starbucks:
You have got to be kidding me with this.
There is no justification for what you are
doing when there are corporations all over
Ann Arbor. Why not protest Domino's,
Wendy's and Tower Records too?
So what if they are a big company, so
what if they are successful - what the hell
is wrong with that? If other places are "dri-
ven out" it will be because Starbucks is
offering better prices. It is simple econom-
ics, if two places have the same product
(let's face it, they are all the same), then the
one that has the cheaper price wins, end of
story.
PIlNG To
9ES9MAV
about Thursday's
smoke" 1/27100).
editorial ("Where there's
In my opinion, the editorial had a good
title, hits a few good points, but misses the
larger problem altogether. That larger prob-
lem is false fire alarms.
As the editorial stated, and from my
experience in the residence halls years ago,
"False alarms are the norm." They are not
only the norm in the dorms, they are even a
norm in many campus libraries as well.
The Daily took on a completely "treat
the effect, not that cause" opinion. I say,
come on students, wise up! Whoever you
are, no matter how intoxicated you are,
stop pulling those shiny, red, attractive
handles, unless it's a real emergency! I
know that breaking glass is sometimes a
juvenile good time, but please, next time
you have the urge, break a beer bottle on
your head before setting off the fire alarm.
I'd rather you put your head in danger than
the hundreds of people in the building
with you. Just, think of what happened in
Seton Hall.
Now, I'll concede that when I was in
Markley we never had as many as 18 false
alarms in one year, but we had our share.
One false alarm is one too many. It should-
n't take much of an IQ to figure out that
once false alarms become more normal
than the real thing, that's dangerous.
From my experience, the sound of the
fire alarm anywhere on campus has lost the
sense of urgency that should come with it.
All too often people will leisurely vacate, or
even ignore the alarm all together. And, who
could blame them? Everyone's time is
important to them, and when false alarms
are so frequent ... heck, I even ignored the
alarm.
The Daily editorial did get some things
right. Overloading an electrical outlet is
indeed a severe fire hazard. But, since
Michigan folks are smart, I would assume
that most of us remember learning about
not overlading outlets in elementary school,
right? I'm not sure how much the Daily's
suggestion of a brochure would help. I like
the discounted surge protector idea, but,
how about having the University just install
more outlets in the dorms? I know that's no
easy task, but who was the wizard who
decided that a mere two outlets (at least in
Markley) is enough? To the powers that be:
When you install the sprinkler systems,
please install more outlets, too. I know
that's a little much, but consider the alterna-
tive.
To sum it up: Students, do your part by
In a perfect society I would like a lot of
variety too, but not at the cost of price.
Either have a choice or pay less, can't have
both. In closing, I respect the effort put
forth by the protesters but next time find a
real cause or just stay home and drink some
coffee (Folger's that is).
IFTY AHMAD
The medical establishment regards
gambling addiction as a genuine psycho-
logical disorder. "There's a reward mecha-
i
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