4 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, March 15, 2000 (lw tiigan HIlg Census 2000: prying and trying to make sense of us 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 refict the opinion of The Michigan Daily. Undergraduate work at LSI will benefit all n case you haven't received notice yet, Census 2000 kicks into high gear this week. Answer this question to see if you're ready for it. What is the method for taking the census? Option one: You fill out a survey the gov- ernment sends you and send it back. Option two: At some point this weeka all the fire alarms in the country will go off simultaneously. Every citizen will then pro- ceed outside and line up single file while a census worker goes down the line, tapping each person on the head in rapid succes- sion as he or she counts, to make sure David everyone's there. Peo- Wallace ple talking receive detention. Exile on No, you don't have Maynard St any lifelines left. The __ answer is option one. But like you, I see the appeal of option two. However, it's too late for that. Most of the population receives its form between March 13 and March 22. Knowing how much the public likes telling the govern- ment how much money it makes, the census braintrust launched an aggressive advertising campaign using.Sopranos-like subtlety. You may have seen some of these commercials. In one ad, a distraught couple looks on as the local fire department struggles with what I believe is a manual water pump mounted on a horse-drawn carriage. Failing to draw enough water, the firefighters give up as the house burns to the ground. A smug voiceover says, "Oops, forgot to fill out the census. Don't leave it blank." The obvious moral of the story is that your census form is made, of paper, which constitutes a fire haz- ard if left lying around. Also, the advertise- ment threatens that not filling out the census may cause your community to lose federal funding and revert to an 1850s infrastructure. In another, we observe the clotted halls of Any Public School until we arrive at a broom closet. The closet's door opens, revealing a class of 15 students and a teacher. The message is simple: If you're a janitor and you don't fill out the census, you might be out of a job. I think it's tailored to a little too specific a population, but I'm not paid to make these kinds of decisions. Clearly, the Census Bureau desperately wants everyone to take them seriously and wait at the mailbox for the form to arrive. One suggestion to increase participation that it explored and rejected was to make the census into a sweepstakes. I'm a little worried over what that says about us as a country. In all seriousness, I think the census is important and everyone should fill it out. But if you didn't trust the government before, I'm a bit alarmed if you'll sell out the family to the government for a chance at a Cuisi- nart. At any rate, the Census Bureau, syndicate, whatever, might as well stick with the bully- ing ads. I suggest taking them a step further with the slogan, "Census 2000: Fill it out early and fill it out often.' Which brings us to actually filling out the census. The questions always serve as a source of controversy. For example, Libertarians main- tain that you only need to answer the ques- tion regarding the number of people in the household, per the constitution. So Bill Maher, Dennis Miller and your crazy eighth- grade shop teacher likely will hand in mostly blank surveys. For the record, the Census Bureau asserts that every question is required by law and if they have to, I think they'll crack skulls. The census is a pretty short task, at least for most of us. The standard census form has only seven basic questions. A lucky one in six of us (there' s your sweepstakes) gets a long form, asking more personal questions. Of course, some of these questions make people pretty nervous. I'm only quoting rumor here, but I believe the following are some of the questions. People in the house? Party people in the house? How much money do you make? What is your PIN number? Are you a citizen of the United States? Would you tell us if you weren't? What sex are you? Are you sure? How many bowel movements do you have per day? If more than four, do not answer. Do you watch Public Television? (The question lacks a "yes" answer). Are you still using drugs? Personally, I don't see the need for most of these questions, and I'm scared to know how they all relate. But they are government man- dated, so if you're not a Libertarian, be a good citizen and fill them out. -David Wallace can be reached via e-mail at davidmw@umich.edu. TENTATIVELY SPEAKING W hen the University's new Life Sciences Institute opens a few years from now, many students will have the opportunity to become involved in a new approach to the sci- ences. A committee consisting of Uni- versity faculty, graduate student instructors and undergraduate students is working out an interdisciplinary pro- gram for first-year students interested in the life sciences, with courses in such fields as molecular biology, learn- ing and behavioral sciences and com- parative genomics. Each course will accommodate 70 to 80 students and be taught by three professors simultane- ously. This could be a wonderful opportunity to give to undergraduate students, and LSI should carry the pro- ject further. The LSI should make an effort to expand research opportunities for undergraduates. While the LSI will and should be focused on graduate students, undergraduates should also have a chance to be involved in scientific research. The University has traditional- ly been a strong research institution; programs such as UROP have given undergrads a chance,to gain experience with the research aspect of the Universi- ty. The inception of the LSI could create more chances for undergrads to broaden their experience. It is also important that undergradu- ate programs at the LSI are reasonably substantial. While having a few courses for first-year students is all well and good, undergrad involvement should be more expansive than that. The Universi- ty and the LSI should look beyond insti- tuting token courses, and give undergraduates a chance to make use of the University's vast resources. Although the LSI will focus largely on graduate education, it will be beneficial to everyone if all students have an opportunity to have a part in scientific research. The opening of the LSI will be a worthy addition to the University's research community; all students should have the chance to be involved. THOMAS KULJURGIS Life begins at birth Late term abortions should not be restricted G ov. John Engler and his anti-choice allies have lost the most recent bat- tle in their crusade to limit women's access to safe, legal abortions. The latest round ended when a federal judge declared the Infant Protection Act uncon- stitutional due to vagueness. We wholeheartedly agree with the court's decision and urge it to strike down any and all laws that would put any restriction on a woman's right to choose. At the same time, it is obvious that pro-lifers will continue to pursue their agenda through contrived laws, misinfor- mation and outright lies. It is critical that people understand these tactics and the issues at the heart of the abortion debate. The Infant Protection Act was a per- fect example of legislators trying to cir- cumvent Roe v Wade. Doctors who killed a fetus that had been partially removed from a woman's body and either breathed, moved or had a heart- beat would have faced penalties of up to life in prison and a $50,000 fine under the law. The law contained an exception for cases where a woman's life was in danger but had no such clause for a woman whose pregnancy endangered her health. The law would have effectively pro- hibited most women from obtaining abortions after eight weeks of pregnancy. The Infant Protection Act had classist and ageist elements to it as well. It would have especially limited the options of poor women since it often takes more than eight weeks for them to come up with enough money to pay for abortion procedures. There is currently a ban on state-financed Medicaid abortions. The law would have also limited teens' access to abortion disproportionately, since teens are likely to be more indecisive about abortion and it can often take weeks for a teen to realize she's pregnant. The absence of a clause that would exempt a woman whose pregnancy is a danger to her health would also have forced women to carry to term pregnan- cies that could leave them infertile, or extremely sick. Anti-choice arguments vary in degrees of sophistication, but they gener- ally begin with the premise that all peo- ple are entitled to a set of rights, one of which is the right to life - a right that supercedes all other rights. So when a woman's right to liberty and a fetus's right to life come into con- flict, the fetus's right to life "wins" over the woman's right to choose what to do with her body. Thus, abortion should be illegal. The problem with this argument is that a fetus has no rights because it is not a complete person, if it is a person at all. State Sen. Joel Gougeon (R-Bay City), who supported the Infant Protec- tion Act, told the Detroit News that his eventual goal is to force the Supreme Court to define when life begins. By answering people like Gougeon, the Court could put an end to much of the dangerous anti-choice legislation that unnecessarily clogs the lower courts. The Supreme Court should conclude that "life," in the legally and morally relevant sense, or "personhood" begins no earlier than when a fetus is born entirely. Even at the most advanced stages of pregnan- cy, a fetus possesses only one of the uniquely human characteristics that make something a person - that it is biologi- cally human. But even very young persons are more than just organisms with a certain body structure - they are self-aware, think rationally, have a moral compass, feel complex emotions, communicate, etc. If we accept this definition of a "person" then the pro-life argument - that biolog- ical humanness is the only relevant char- acteristic of "personhood" - ceases to appear as self-evident as pro-lifers would like to believe. A legal standard of "life" beginning at birth would not lead society down a path towards legal infanticide as some pro-lif- ers would contend. Rather, since the vast majority, if not all of the other uniquely human characteristics besides biological humanness start to develop simultane- ously after birth it would be arbitrary for the courts to pick a time when an infant's faculties have developed to a point where it becomes a "person." By defining the beginning of life as a live medical birth, the Supreme Court could make it significantly harder for anti-choice pundits to sneak laws restrict- ing access to abortion into the books. Not only do these laws erode a fundamental right for women, they prevent legitimate cases from being heard in the court sys- tem. In the meantime, everyone sympa- thetic to women's right to abortion should continue to fight all laws aimed at blocking abortion without guilt and on- demand. Minimum wage hike hurts small businesses TO THE DAILY: The editorial "Cheap Move" (3/f4/00) badly misjudges the implications of a mini- mum wage hike to small businesses. Also, it disregards the positive steps taken by the Congress to reduce the excessive and unneeded estate tax. My parents' small busi- ness, a 100-head dairy farm, will be greatly affected by both provisions of the 2000 mini- mum wage bill. Currently employing one full time worker and three high school students earning near minimum wage, labor costs are crucial to our farm's yearly income. Raising the minimum wage obviously increases labor costs, but it also means that the business owner must pay that much more in social security taxes to the government. For years, farming families have inherited debts when loved ones die because of the excessively high estate tax. Like our government, most farms operate with a huge debt. Farmers can only retire when they believe that selling the farm can cover that debt. Whie it may seem that the estate tax is irrelevant to businesses, at least one very important industry is happy to see it reduced. i would like to remind the Daily that the world extends far beyond the University, and that while some government actions may seem trivial they may have far reaching affects on someone in our nation. Although less than one percent of the population owns a farm, these (mostly) small businesses feed the world. Eventually, the expenses facing them will cost you at the grocery market. KEN MASCHKE ENGINEERING SOPHOMORE MSA is like a 'prom committee' TO THE DAILY: As we head into yet another Michigan Student Assembly election, students have probably noticed the names of the so-called candidates plastered all over campus. Yet, the common student must wonder: What is MSA and why are the candidates crying for votes? The answer is: MSA is an attempt at a prom committee which stinks of represen- tatives trying to pack their resumes for law/business school (you know who you are). While new parties emerge from time to time, it is the same old story year in year out - no significant repeal of the oppres- sive Code of Student Conduct, no improve- ments in campus parking, no tuition freeze and no significant dialogue with the admin- istration (the purpose of a student govern- ment). Students must also wonder: Why was there no advertisement by MSA urging students to get involved with campus poli- tics? Most likely, current MSA representa- tives want to keep the number of candidates low to reduce competition to increase the chances of their buddies to get elected. Sadly, many students are also unaware this government confiscates over $10 of their haelerndmnnev to icnianer it at ITHESt & ASMIIRE PRV ~CARY LW~ELY. .. OUT A PAYME'4T m STA TiOM. a 0 CES W4AV~ E EVk4 LTTLE~ -y. In this and every election, MSA should create an issue-based campaign of sub- stance with weekly debates/town hall meet- ings -- to transform the assembly from a resume-packing prom committee into a diverse marketplace of ideas. ScOTr BEHNAN LSA SOPHOMORE Anti-semitic play should not have been advertised TO THE DAILY: The anti-Jewish bias of the Oberammer- gau Passion Play has been criticized by the American Jewish Committee and by leading Catholic and Protestant scholars. Historically, the play, performed in Oberammergau every ten years for the past 360 years, incited viru- lent anti-semitism. It boggles my mind that the University Alumni, Association would advertise a trip to see the play without at least mentioning in the travel literature the serious criticism the play has received worldwide ... (and by extension, the conscious efforts American play-givers have striven to try to present the event as less damning and anti- semitic). I realize that the University Alumni travel opportunities are not funded by our dues, but the close association of the University, as well as the participation of a University Professor, is troubling. I would hope that Residential College Prof. Martin W. Walsh who will be accompanying the Alumni Association of the University Millennium Passion Play trip to Obermmergau, Innsbruck, Bolzano and Rome in September, intends to address the issue of anti-semitism in his lectures. I find the offering of such a trip to the University Alumni community disappointing. MARCY FISHER UNIVERSITY ALUMNUS Jurgies should have criticized Zionism TO THE DAILY: It is most appalling to read the statements mechanism by which the Israeli state came into existence in 1948, and how more than 750,000 native inhabitants of Palestine became refugees to make room for Jewish immigrants and for a new Jewish state named Israel. It is outrageous that a Holocaust sur- vivor refrains from from criticizing the ideol- ogy of Zionism, the racist and exclusionist ideology that created the state of Israel and whose founding fathers spoke freely of dis- placing Palestinians and depopulating vil- lages and cities of their original Palestinian inhabitants. It is even more offensive and disgraceful that Jurgies would utter unfounded allega- tions like "the Jewish people have given more than 120 percent to them (meaning Palestini- ans)" or would use religion to further a pure- ly racist argument that "the Land is Jewish land, not Arab. It was given to us by an Almighty Lord." I think Jurgies' racist politi- cal agenda discredits her as a genuine spokesperson and a witness of the Holocaust. I encourage the Jewish community to seek knowledge from other Holocaust survivors who have been empowered by their experi- ence of surviving that outrageous human suf- fering only to stand up for what they believe is right and fair. I shall only give Israel Sha- hak as an example, but I am sure there are many like him that are still alive today. SAWSAN ABDULRAHIM SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH STUDENT MSA candidates should be barred from residence halls TO THE DAILY: This being my first year at the University, I expected my residence hall room to be a safe place where I can study, sleep, watch TV or just plain relax. During the past two semesters I have learned that this is not the case. Apparently, there are two weeks each semester where my rights are allowed to be violated. During Michigan Student Assembly elections I have had to endure the gross waste of paper from posters all over my residence hall and people who are allowed to knock on my door whenever they want. Why do Hous- 0