4 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, February 4, 2000 (bt £irig&zilg A few words of advice: Avoid plaving the 'Blame Game' V ~ l ~ C3 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 offThe Michigan Daily. InewetIion och Title IX needs revision for success hat is it with blame? Whenever something goes terribly wrong, people don't feel satisfied unless some sort of blame is placed. Instead of look- ing to the deeper problem behind things, we are all so quick to point the finger. Why? To get the blame off ourselves, off anything that we may be associated with. When too many people point. the finger, a sort of 33. mob mentalityx forms, and whatever is being blamed is labeled as bad or wrong. A chain Erin reaction starts; now McQuinn all things resem- bling the blamed are. at fault. It's a dirty w i e Wi ldsn little circle that only ends in everyone being hurt. "The Blame Game" is not just a show on MTV. The blame game is what ends relationships, friendships and fraternities. But why shouldn't we have the right to blame, if we believe we didn't do it? Well I suppose it all boils down to what you're trying to accomplish. If you want frustra- tion and broken ties. blame away. But what are you really accomplishing? Absolutely nothing. To point the finger is a selfish act. Instead of using our time to accuse and bitch about how the blamed wronged us/the University/society, etc., we should step back and look at the larger problem that is at hand. What went wrong here, and how can we fix it? Not, "who's fault is this?!" Applied to relationships and friend- ships, this means that instead of focusing on who started the fight, question why the hell you're fighting with the person you supposedly care about. The second the blame is placed, they're on the defen- sive. Nothing will get accomplished when someone feels threatened and com- pelled to defend their actions. No one ever believes themselves to be wrong. It's a lost cause to try and make someone accept the blame. So blaming is a selfish act. The only conceivable rea- son to blame is so one can say, "Here, see - I didn't do it! I am not responsible! It's totally them, not me." Pointing the finger relieves the blamer of any prior felt guilt. The Greek systeni is a prime example of the evils of blaming. Whenever some- one drinks too much, it has to be the fault of the provider, not the consumer. Since the domino effect of bad publicity has already begun for fraternities and sorori- ties, the University community is all too quick to follow the trend and point the finger. It is a basic human need to have a tangible thing to blame. People don't set- tle so well when events happen and are left with no cause. It's a modern day witch-hunt - someone has to take the fall. It is so convenient to label the Greek; system as the only source of underagA drinking. It's a nice little package when social problem can be pinned on one3 organization. When stuff happens, the public demands the guilt be placed so they can have something to discuss an* bash. And here comes the domino effect. After a really crummy relationship, the entire male/female gender becomes evil. After one friend turns out to be a back- stabber, you suspect all future friends to do the same thing. One fraternity gets a bad rep and suddenly the entire Greek system is full of dangers to society. Notice the trend? It's our nasty friend called blame. Just once, try looking to the deepe$ structural problems behind things. Initial anger is natural, but try to see past it to discover the truth. Don't fall victim to the "domino-effect" mentality. Blame, while it may feel terribly liberating, does jack in the long run. What can we do as a society to solve problems that are hap- pening not just across the street, but across the nation? Work to solve instead of searching to blame. -Erin McOuinn can be reached via e-mail at emcquinn@umich.edu. TEi.NTAfTl VELY: SPAKJ(I Title IX, the statute which has provid- ed academic and athletic opportuni- ties for women, is coming under fire this weekend at a symposium held at the University. The spirit of Title IX, as well as much of what it has actually accom- plished, is indisputably positive. It does for women and athletics what affirmative action does for minorities and University admission -- it levels the playing field. During the past 25 years, the University has made great strides in providing equal athletic opportunity to women. But Title IX is not perfect - the implementation of the policy has lots of room for. improvement to keep Title IX from hurt-' ing others while it tries to help women. While Title IX has been overwhelmingly positive, the University needs to keep striving to meet the ultimate goal of com- plete gender equality on and off the ath- letic field. 7 The complications with Title IX stem ; from the three-part test to determine whether a university is compliant with the law. The first part of this test states that sports opportunities must be "substantial- ly proportionate" to the full-time under- graduate enrollment. This means that ifi the University has an undergraduate pop-4 ulation that is 50 percent male, then the number of athletes at the University1 should also be 50 percent male. The University is working towards this goal,1 but this is not the only criterion judgingi their success in enforcing Title IX. Title IX's compliance test involvesi mandating that universities must continue4 to expand the underrepresented athletic programs. These programs involve many women's sports, especially those that do not generate a lot of profit. But if the University is not able to meet this require- ment (due to revenue problems, this is usually difficult to do), it can uphold an alternative requisite involving the "inter- ests"of the "underrepresented sex" (in our case, women). The obvious problem with this part of the law is its ambiguity. The "interests" of underrepresented programs can be broadly defined. The University must continue to make a serious effort to enhance the welfare of women's sports across campus. According to Title IX, if the University's underrepresented sex has been accommodated, then the school is compliant with legislation. This is a diffi- cult issue, since the interests of the under- represented sex are not readily attainable; also, the University may not consider the interests if they are compliant with the "expansion" platform of the Title IX com- pliance test. The University should take steps that would take the difficulty out of these issues, steps that would make the issue cut and dry. Michigan should survey the underrepresented sex to make sure that their policies are meeting the interests of women, as it should be a priority regard- less of Title IX compliance. Once the interests are defined, they can be met; once they are met, our university can more easily refer to itself as a proponent of equality. THOMAS KULJURGIS Dead wrong Death penalty should be eliminated Sanz' column missed the point TO THE DAILY: So the headline on Brandon Sanz' col- umn is "Even idiots have First Amendment rights" (2/1/00). Sure enough, right below it is a picture of the hammerhead. How ironic. Sanz' column defending Rocker's "right" to be a racist, make slanderous comments about anyone he wishes and ultimately be an idiot is all wrong. He points to the classic whining response that sports figures are not accountable as role models, and if they are it's our own fault for respecting them so much. Well my friend, you are wrong. Wrong, as usual, and on so many levels. First of all, everyone is responsible for tolerance. Although we have the right to speak offensively, we still should not. If someone is a racist, age-ist, supremacist, or any other type of unwarranted hate monger, their words are viciously harmful at worst, and worthless at best. Yes, Congress shall pass no law restricting their right to speech, but we don't have to waste our time reading their poisonous words of hate they can only get away with saying because "they have free speech, man." Second, I don't care what you think, celebrities such as baseball stars are held to higher moral standards than regular joes. How many times did you hear your elemen- tary school principle throw out something over the PA like, "Now children, you are representing the school, so be on your best behavior...?" Even the University's student code attempts to justify itself with clauses reminding us that our actions reflect on the school itself. This goes infinitely so for national personalities such as World Series contenders. They simply cannot reflect such ignorance and hatred on the rest of the country this way and go unscolded. Sanz, if you want a medal for being the only dumbass standing up for Rocker, that's fine. But if you truly believe that his com- ments have any place in our society, then you need to take a good long look at yourself and realize that you are contributing negatively to the world around you, just as our knife- tongued hero Rocker did before he apolo- gized. Maybe it's time you do the same. JESSE MILLER LSA FIRST-YEAR STUDENT KR~nzQow T~ hlic~Ai& V h.'L M4 1 ' fi plp4S -LO5s iAS JUST A LITTLE /BM K t1I'R~i. Former Supreme Court Justice William Brennan once said, "perhaps the bleak- est fact of all is that the death penalty is imposed not only in a freakish and discrim- inatory manner, but also in some cases upon defendants who are actually innocent." Illinois Gov. George Ryan apparently, albeit temporarily, agreed. On Monday, he placed an indefinite moratorium on executions in that state until a special commission could . reveal why Illinois sentences so many inno- cent citizens to death. While the move to stop executions was a step in the right direc- tion, the eventual move should be the com- plete elimination of the death penalty on a national level. Illinois alone provides a great example of why, even if the death penalty was not deplorable in principle, it certainly is in practice. Since the death penalty was rein- stated in 1977, 13 prisoners in Illinois alone have had their convictions over- turned. That number is higher than the amount of prisoners executed in that state over the same time period. Last year Anthony Porter came within a mere two days of execution before journalism stu- dents at Northwestern University were able to get him released. The last straw occurred this January when Chicago police officer Steve Manning was released after he was sentenced to die on the word of a jailhouse informant. The problem goes far beyond the bor- ders of Illinois. Since 1971, 85 people who have been sentenced to death have been exonerated across the nation. Those are just the people who made it out alive. the type of mistake we can afford to make, let alone allow innocent people to make for us. A sentence of life in prison can be lifted, death cannot. It might be comforting to believe that the system is effective at weeding out the inno- cent from the guilty because of the high number of innocent people released from death row. But this is not the case. Recent cases in which innocent prisoners were released from death row appear to be acci- dents rather than triumphs of justice. An episode of "60 Minutes" helped clear Clarence Brandley. Judges did not free Anthony Porter, journalism students did. Inevitably some inmates were not so lucky. We will never really know how many inno- cent people have been killed as a result of our ignorance. We must make sure that such horrendous accidents never occur again. Not only is the death penalty given to a surprisingly large amount of innocent peo- ple, it is also disproportionately applied to those who are guilty. Several studies done across the country demonstrate that minori- ties are far more likely to be sentenced to death than white offenders for the same crime. Given the death penalty's racist nature, it is not surprising that it took the release of Steve Manning, a white prisoner, for Illinois to reexamine its killing policies. The death penalty should be eliminated. While Gov. Ryan should be commended for putting a temporary stay on capital punish- ment in the state of Illinois, he ignores the fundamental flaws with the death penalty. The ultimate conclusion must be its com- plete elimination. Besides being adminis- tered incrrctly it is a form of cruel and 0 Column incorrectly interpreted issue TO THE DAILY: Branden Sanz's column "Even idiots have First Amendment rights" (2/1/00) makes a simple and unfortunately com- mon error. The First Amendment protects us from government censorship and interference of personal expression, it does not relieve us of personal responsi- bility for our expressions. All the negative reactions have been from citizens exercising their freedom of speech to disagree with Rocker. We haven't seen a government official attempting to imprison, fine or censor Rocker,bbecause his comments are pro- tected by the First Amendment. What Rocker is learning is that everyone is responsible for what he or she says and the more people who can hear your com- ments the deeper your responsibility. If you don't believe that you are responsible for your comments, next time you go to work say something similar to Rocker's comments to a coworker or your boss. I'll be willing to bet that your employer will be unamused. In closing I saw an interview of Will Smith once, where he voiced the opinion that anyone in the public spotlight has the responsibility to attempt standard for their actions s English and be a role model. I could4O agree more with his sentiments.cud ADAM MULLER UNIVERSITY ALUMNUS Underage drinkers are responsible I TO THE DAILY: In response to the Daily's article on Delta Sig "Delta Sig may face charges for party" (2/2/00) and the girls who got alcohol poisoning, why is the fraternity being blamed? The girls who drank were underage. They broke the law. Why not write a story on the stupidity of the tv girls, one of whom is still in high school who nearly drank themselves to death? Title the story "Two immature girls ille- gally drink, yet fraternity charged with wrongdoing," because that is what hap- pened. No matter where the alcohol cane from, or where it was consumed, the girls chose to drink it. Instead of portraying them as victims of the fraternity, why not hold the girls responsible for their ow. actions? MICHAEL SALMONOWICZ LSA JUNIOR Students should participate in C urt Levey of the Center for women. It aims, in a case now pending Individual Rights will be speaking at before the Supreme Court, to bar women the Law School Friday, Feb. 4, on Title IX from bringing civil action against men and sex equality in collegiate sports. This who have raped them. It defends sexual is an opportunity for all pro-affirmative harassment as "free speech." Meanwhile, action forces on campus to come together it seeks the dismantling of minority in defense of affirmative action and race scholarships and the resegregation of K- and sex equality. 12 public schools. CIR's assault on Title The affirmative action movement at the IX is part and parcel of its attack on affir- University has provided leadership to the mative action. nation's campuses and has gained wide- We have more power than CIR. It is spread respect. Because our movement well financed, but it is small. It has been has demonstrated political clarity and unable to inspire any social movement in untiring activism in response to CIR's its image - in no small measure because anti-affirmative action lawsuits, a new its most virulent supporters harbor a spirit has awakened in all those who debilitating, racist fear of black people. hunger for the promise of equality. The CIR's visit to campus gives the affirma- 50,000-person, integrated march against tive action movement an opportunity to the South Carolina confederate state flag, declare that Michigan hospitality does not ---A +U ; ; . V F 1 ..:~.a f' - ink 1. 1 chl..i'-. *,- ('d 'C ' ,-c r pntni cm anti .x CIR protest old, biological-determinist prejudices about what is in women's "nature." If la of opportunity and encouragement do not limit women's athletic participation, then innate urges must. Since Title IX's inception, women's participation in sports has grown by leaps and bounds. This can be explained by the social progress achieved by the civil rights and women's movements and by the changes they effected in social and legal attitudes translated into opportunities for women. Growth in female athletic "int* est levels" certainly did not occur as the result of impressive, spontaneous changes in women's biological constitution, nor did it happen independently of these social advances. In sum, CIR's arrival on campus is a great chance for the pro- affirmativem action movement to flex its