4 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, February 16, 2000
JIe Siringrt &ilg
Bradley, Goss and the EU? A lesson from the B-Boys
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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.
Swallow your pride
Michigamua, SCC and 'U' need to meet
T he Beastie Boys, in their song "Pass
the Mic," eloquently paraphrase
Shakespeare: "So this is what I got to say
to you all/ be true to yourself and you will
never fall." It's one of my favorite lines,
but what exactly
does Mike D. mean
by it? That is, what
does it mean to be
loyal to oneself? I
believe, though, that
this concept can be
defined in one word:
Integrity.
Certainly, integrity
has many forms and,
it is important to take
lessons from those
around us who have Ethan Shalom
exhibited great Johnson
amounts of integrity Peac
as well as from those
who find it in short My ind
supply.
One impressive example of moral
integrity seen in the past several weeks
comes to us directly from Europe. The
European Union and its member countries
have subjected Austria to diplomatic cas-
tration after Austria allowed the misnamed
Freedom Party, led by neo-fascist Jorg
Haider, into its government.
Haider has accused immigrants of being
responsible for - among other things -
crime, drugs, welfare fraud and tuberculo-
sis increases in Austria. He has also
praised parts of the Nazi army. The EU is
acting in a manner true to its ethical man-
date by exposing Austria's moral neglect.
Back on the home front, we are witness-
ing what may be the rebirth of political
integrity. This year, more New Hampshire
citizens voted in the presidential primary
than ever before, and the driving forces
behind the record turnout were Bill
Bradley and John McCain. Bradley's
straightforward. no-nonsense attitude has
garnered the votes of Americans weary of
paper-thin campaign lies.
Sen. Bob Kerrey calls Bradley "incor-
ruptible," because hie has the integrity to
stand up for the caxuses he believes in.
(Interesting note: Michael Jordan recently
jumped on the Bradley bandwagon).
McCain, for his part, has attracted voters
by staring down the Republican Party with
his unyielding support for campaign
finance reform.
Of course, our political leaders are not
known for possessing overwhelming
amounts of integrity, especially when it
comes time to formulate policy for the
country. Members of Congress frequently
claim psychic power to predict the nation's
economy a decade forward while also pro-
moting the most near-sighted of legislative
proposals.
Last summer, congress passed a $792
billion, ten-year tax cut so ludicrous that
even many Republicans who voted for the
bill actually opposed it. The scoop on the
Hill was that everyone knew President
Clinton would veto the bill and so
Republicans voted for it just to look good
for their constituesncies.
The honest thing to do would be to rec-
ognize that no one knows for certain where
the economy will head next week, let alone
next decade. Therefore, congress should
not use the surplus for expanding pro-
grams or on massive tax cuts. Our govern-
ment should show some political integrity
and make sacrifices now to eliminate the
national debt.
The federal government currently
spends 11 percent of its budget paying
interest on the debt, which this year totals
just over $200 billion. Paying down the
debt will enable America to fund new pro-
grams and save social security. In addition,
eliminating the debt will effectively con-
stitute a gradual tax cut, because when the
government .does not need to borrow
money, car loans and home mortgages get
cheaper because of lower interest rates.
Something all of us can relate to more
easily (especially seniors) is professional
integrity, or being true to the requirements
and the mission of your job. Tom Goss
knows about professional integrity. As
Athletic Director, he worked hard to
improve the well being of student athletes
in the academic, athletic and personal
development arenas.
In contrast to Goss, the individuals, who
leaked information tc the media about his
departure exhibited a total lack of profes-
sional integrity, not to mention the jour-
nalists who ran banner headlines on the
basis of two sources they couldn't cite. You
know who you are and shame on you for
attempting to ruin a good man's name.
Most important of all, though, is the
personal integrity of one's goals in life.
Happiness and fulfillment grow out of
doing whatever it is that excites you. As
Adrock says, "You gotta have dreams to
make it all worthwhile." Chase your
dreams, and no matter what anyone tells
you, obey your conscience, because that is
what being true to yourself is really about.
- Ethan Shalom Johnson can be
reached via e-mail at ethanj@umich.edu.
S
9
T en days of occupation, hours of meet-
ings with administrators, immeasur-
able hurt feelings and centuries of ethnic
and University history add up to a mess --
and that's exactly what the University
community has on its hands with the cur--
rent situation centering on the practices of
the senior society Michigamua.
While leaders keep talking, MSA reso-
lutions keep passing and protesters keep
chanting, this situation will not be
resolved until each party - the Students
of Color Coalition, Michigamua, the
University administration and representa-
tives of the student body - come together
and talk.
The SCC, which has repeatedly refused
dialogue with Michigamua, needs to set
aside the well-justified feelings of resent,
hurt and disgust they feel toward
Michigamua and come to the table.
Michigamua must, in addition to
removing its offensive practices, come to
the table with an open mind, ready to bar-
gain on all issues, including their possible
removal from the tower.
The administration appears willing to
have a dialogue on the topic. They should
call for a meeting of all parties involved --
and not leave the room until there is a res-
olution.
This group, when assembled, will final-
ly be able to have a discussion on the most
pertinent issue for the University as a
whole: Should certain student organiza-
tions be provided with privileged space on
University property?
Students cannot shy away from their
responsibility to make this decision.
Students must actively voice their opinions
for an informed, just decision to be made.
While it was a regents' decision to give
Michigamua the tower, its our Union. We
can decide who keeps it.
THOMAS KULJURGIS
TENTATIVELY SPEAKING
Rehabiltation art
Exhibition is a model outreach program
A room surrounded by armed guards
and barbed wire isn't exactly the
most conducive environment for creative
expression. Fortunately, the Annual
Exhibition of Art by Michigan Prisoners
allows at least 118 prisoners to rise above
their surroundings. It showcases their
work in an exhibit at the Rackham School
of Graduate Studies. This exhibit is a great
example of the type of community-based
program the University should encourage.
The exhibition is a beneficial experi-
ence for the prisoners, both during and
after their incarceration. Art gives them an
outlet to constructively express their emo-
tions about their prison experience and
reflect on how their past decisions brought
them there.
Most importantly, the exhibit gives the
inmates hope by instilling in them a sense
of self-worth. The knowledge that their
work is on display at a major University
further magnifies this effect. When they
get out of prison, students of the art pro-
gram know that they can go to the studio
instead of the streets. As such, the exhibit
serves the ultimate goal of rehabilitation
by offering an alternative to a life of crime.
Not only is this exhibit a valuable expe-
rience for the prisoners, it also benefits
those of us on "the outside" by breaking
down commonly held stereotypes of
inmates. Because most people haven't had
extended interaction with the criminal jus-
tice system, they default to skewed images
that the media provides them; images of
violent psychopaths and crazy child
molesters. By viewing actual prisoners'
artwork, students and non-students alike
are able to move past this flawed concep-
tion. People can begin to see prisoners as
human beings.
The art exhibit is not the only program
sponsored by the University that works
with prisoners. There are multiple other
programs, such as Project Community,
which help to better the lives of prisoners
through such activities as creative writing,
debate, and acting. The University should
be commended for supporting these pro-
grams. The United States' 2,000,000th
prisoner arrived in jail yesterday - clear-
ly there is no shortage of need for this type
of program.
Flawed Marxist
reasoning pervaded
drug editorial
TO THE DAILY:
The Daily's editoriala Where Capitalism
Fails," (219/00) offers an overly-simplified
version of the pharmaceutical patents issue.
While it is true that shortening the length of a
patent drives down prices by the emergence of
generic brands, it also stifles innovation. By
offering long term patents, drug companies
have economic incentive to invest in costly
research and development projects, develop-
ing better, more effective medications.
It is very much the same as copyrights for
intellectual and artistic property, where pirat-
ed material (books, films, music, etc.)
decreases the authors' revenues, and that
equates to loss of incentives and an overall
decline in product quality. We may balk at
$80 textbooks, but that is because scholar-
ship is a costly undertaking that involves
many people: If we started buying pirated
textbooks en masse, scholarship would
become less lucrative and the quality of its
product would go down.
What the Daily seems to be suggesting is
that equality is better than quality That it is
more important that everyone have their "fair
share" than it is for there to be the highest
quality of product available and that is a
patently Marxist notion. Without incentive,
nations falter and crumble, just look at what
happened to Soviet Russia.
CHARLIE TOMPKINS
LSA JUNIOR
Hezbollah members
are terrorists, not
'valient Maqui'
TO THE DAILY:
It seems once again the Israel bashers are
out in force, distorting facts to justify their
hatred. I speak of course of Will Youmans'
recent Viewpoint ("Israel should observe
international law," 211 1/00). Although
Youmans never bothers to mention the back-
ground, Israel does not occupy a nine mile
stretch of Southern Lebanon for the sake of
occupation. It does so to ensure the safety of
its northern residential communities from
cross-border raids and missile attacks.
Consistently and repeatedly, Israel has offered
to withdraw from Lebanon - on the condi-
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tion that Hezb ollah dissolve and Lebanon
proper assume responsibility for safeguarding
the border. Both parties (Hezbollah and
Lebanon) have always rejected those offers,
with Hezbollah vowing to continue the fight
until Israel ceases to exist.
Yet, rather than report (or at least mention)
the facts, Youmans instead repeats the tired,
disgusting anti-Israel rhetoric about how
Israelis are like Nazis and Hezbollah terrorists
(I use that word because they frequently attack
civilian targets in Northern Israel) are valient
Maqui.
Interestingly, although Youmans critiques
Israel's occupaticn of nine miles of Lebanese
territory, he igneires the "other" occupation of
Lebanon. Specifically, the tens of thousands
of Syrian troops who essentially pull the
strings ofLebanon's puppet government. Why
does Youmnans teike issue with Israel's control
of a small portion of Lebanon (where they
rule, mind you, with large support among the
indigenous Christian population, who fear
Lebanese reunification), but ignore the much
greater, more serious occupation - the one
directed by an Aawite thug in Damascus.
My guess: Because the truth doesn't
always mesh with the Israel haters' agendas.
Besides, it's mu.ih easier to compare Israelis
to Nazis, trivializing the Holocaust
JACOB OSLICK
LSA SENIOR
Angell Hall 'caution'
tape has got to go
TO THE DAILY:
The burdensome shear of post-
Groundhog winter has set its discourag-
ing weight upon the University communi-
ty. Student faces (formerly bright and
affected with Abercrombian confidence)
have turned sour, their optimism replaced
by exam worries, GSI hassles and the
plank-walking anxiety of what-am-I-
going-to-do-after-April. Streets are
sopped with the ashen slush of salt and
snow, the basketball team founders help-
lessly and even the corporate bagel stores
seem somehow bereft of their usual
doughy cheerfulness.
I write in the midst of this discourag-
ing seasonal hardship to appeal to the
staff and students of the University to rise
(in collective umbrage) against what I
perceive to be a spirit-draining sight on
our campus: The bright yellow "caution"
tape on the Angell Hall stairs.
Must we drape our most august and
noble University building with the tacky
decoration of a homicide investigation? Is
there no more attractive way to discour-
age student slip-and-fallulitigation? Can't
we take more pride during the winter
months in our aesthetic appearances?
Anyone who'sf ollowed the controver-
sy over the stadium's yellow halo knows-
the emotional cost of loud ugly color
schemes on our favorite campus land-
marks. Let's not continue to make the
same sort of mistake with our beautiful
Angell Hall. Prospective students, alumni
and the family of staff, faculty and stu-
dents should be grateful to see this,
maudlin "caution" tape disappear.Let's
make it happen together!
NICHOLAS HARP
RACKHAM STUDENT
A benign parasite
ITD should permit students to use Napster
T he use of MP3s, music files designed
specifically for use over the Internet, has
become a very contentious issue. Napster, a
software service created to allow users to
search for and share MP3 files, has come
under fire from several other institutions. This
trend must not spread to the University.
Northwestern University blocked access to
Napster's Website last December due to con-
cerns about Napster's effect on its computing
resources. Napster turns any computer it is
installed on into a server - any of the pro-
gram's other users can then download MP3
files from that computer. Many users leave
Napster on at all times. With hundreds of stu-
dents logged on at all hours of the day,
Northwestern found that its bandwidth
resources were being monopolized. Prior to
eliminating access to the software, Napster
was taking up as much as 20 percent of the
network's resources. This caused a great deal
of cim Arhm on their network.
cation and administration and must not be
subjected to any superfluous drains on their
resources. But the University does not have to
worry about this problem. The network at the
University is much larger and stronger than
that at Northwestern and other smaller
schools. It is, in fact, one of the most highly
rated college networks in the country. Napster
cannot cause any serious problems at its cur-
rent usage level. According to ITD, Napster
currently takes up 3 percent of the network
resources, a noticeable amount but hardly
cause for a ban.
There is no legitimate reason for banning
Napster or any services like it at this time.
Other colleges that lack the power of the
University's network should consider block-
ing access to Napster if they feel that it is sig-
nificantly slowing their networks down.
Unless the amount of resources consumed by
the software grows substantially at the
Universitv and begins damamin the network's
Tower society controveirsy should initiate dialogue
On Sunday morning, Feb. 6, the Students
of Color Coalition gained access to the tower
space in the Michigan Union and said that they
intended to stay there until the University
addresses their concerns. Members of SCC
had presented on Friday, Feb. 4, a petition to
University administrators outlining a wide
range of concerns from increased space and
funding for minority programs to dropping the
term African American' from all University
Michigamua, Phoenix and Vulcan and they
agreed, that the tower office space be off limits
to everyone until finrther discussion. In essence
and for the first time, the current members of
the three organizations voluntarily agreed to
remove themselves from the space to help cre-
ate an opportunity for dialogue. It is my hope
that the SCC will see this action on the part of
the current members of Michigamua, Phoenix
and Vulcan as an acknowledgement that mean-
the group and have disassociated themselves
from any continuing club practices and refer-
ences that are offensive to and derogatory of
the Native American community. Club mem-
bers indicated they were not aware that the arti-
facts found by the SCC in their attic had been
stored there. They have surrendered all claims
to the Native American artifacts found in their
meeting space. The process of identifying and
cataloguing authentic artifacts, so they can be
I