4A - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, March 16, 2000

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Only five weeks left, just enough time to finish a checklist

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Ann Arbor, M1 48109
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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. Allother articles, letters and cartoons do not necessarily
reflect the opinion of The Michigan Daily.

F ive weeks, that's all there is. If I had to
choose one word that sums up the attitude
that seniors take during their last five weeks of
undergraduate education it definitely would be
apathy.
After three-and-a-
half years of paying
attention during lectures,
toiling over essays and
exams, updating
resumes, applying for
internships and jobs,
waiting for acceptance;
letters and collecting let-
ters - I'm bored. Bored
with it all.
Although my future
is still very up in the air, Heather
I've got choices, and KaminS
have resolved to do noth-
ing more than enjoy and
myself during these last K mi
few weeks. This is what
it is supposed to be all
about second semester senior year. We're sup-
posed to come back from spring break tan and
relaxed. The biggest weight on our minds each
day is supposed to be whether it is a bar night
or a party night, right?
So we waste away the last few days to
avoid becoming weepy while thinking of the
past or overwhelmed by the uncertain future.
Everything becomes one big love-fest. We
even become nostalgic at Blimpy Burgers,
wondering if it will be the last time we'll get
scolded by the fry lady.
And all the details (classes, homework,
meeting, meetings with professors) that have
filled our days at the University become super-

fluous. Few events seem interesting. The presi-
dential election has become dull. It's March
Madness time but Michigan basketball still is
dull.
My book bag and day planner have both
been stored safely away in a drawer. My time
now is divided evenly between sleep and
socializing. The only commitments I have yet
to fulfill on campus (besides a few credits here
and there) compile a checklist of a few Univer-
sity nicks and crannies that I have to hit before
I leave.
I agree, it may be cheesy, but bear with me
- you'll understand when you're a senior. So
here it is, my list of things I need to do before I
graduate:
Climb up the Michigan Union flagpole.
Maybe I'll steal flag. Oops, that's already
been done.
Grow plants in the green house behind
the Natural Science Building. Or maybe I'll
just write my initials for posterity sake in the
white gook on the sides of the windows.
Take a photo atop the pumas in front of
the Natural History Museum.
Go skinny dipping in the Huron River.
Actually, I may just go fishing in it.
Paint the rock. It's unoriginal I know,
but I've never done it.
0 Play in Maya Ling's landscape sculp-
ture "Wave Field" on North Campus. She's
world famous and a little culture never hurt
anyone.
Visit the Ann Arbor Hands on Muse-
um. It's not just for kids.
Eat at Le Dog. I'm pretty partial to the
"Dollar Dog" guy, but the little red stand
always looks pretty enticing.

Holocaust events deserve attention of all

Jump off the high dive at Canham.
I've always wanted to do that. Hopefully, I
won't have to make the diving team to getO
my chance.
Go rappelling off the side of the
School of Dentistry Building. They let the
ROTC kids do it, why not me?
0 Forget running the Naked Mile, how
about doing it on a skateboard. Don't worry
Mom, I'm not really going to do it.
Take over The Michigan Daily. Oh, I
already did that.
Rent a helicopter to view the campus
from overhead. I really just want to see if the
School of Dentistry Building really looks
like a molar or if the School of Music Build-
ing looks a piano.
Have a meaningful conversation with
the CRISP lady. A girl can hope, right? It'd
be even better if they'd get James Earl Jones.
Figure out how to open up my IFS
space through Telnet. I've always wondered
how to do that.
Occupy a major campus administra-
tor's office. Maybe I'll just take over the
CRISP lady's office. It's how you get noticed
on campus, at least how you get the press to
pay attention.
Run for MSA. I've always wanted to
wear a sandwich board on my chest.
Buy a coursepack. Speaks for itself.
Start reading all those books I bought
for my classes. I guess I have the rest of my
life to do that. You never stop learning,
right?
- Heather Kamins is definitely open to
more suggestions, as she has a lot of time oi
her hands. She can be reached via e-mailat
hbk@umich.edu.
GRINDING THE NIB

Tn honor of the 21st Annual Confer-
- ence on the Holocaust this week, the
University will be holding several
~ events to the memory of those killed in
.concentration camps. All students
should attend these talks, discussions,
and poetry readings in order to honor
the memories of the millions murdered
by the Nazis. Yester-
day's 24 hour vigil on
:' ;the Diag was only one Up11 <
: the first of many
events scheduled; other
events include speeches The Stories
by both survivors and Teach A Survi
iberators and round- rp>a.12noon
table discussions.
w While the Holocaust H vda1
is taught in several lec- Desst, Havdb
ture halls across cam-....d b.d4
pus, no professor could s talk
, ever portray the sheer 8pm at Hilke'
^ horror and brutality of. . a.
the concentration.Petry R e
;tamps better than a Brock, Charl4
survivor. That is why Myra rw;
many student organiza- ll:
tions chose to remem- Michae...:
ber those who were ecture: 51ave
killed by asking sur- :3Opm atMLi
vivors to come speak at
the University. The
first such speaker this week was Reb-
betzin Esther Jungreis, a survivor of
the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp,
who spoke to 200 people in Rackham
Sunday about her experiences and
Judaism.
Many students know very little
about the injustices suffered during
World War II, and this week is about
education as much as it is about
remembrance. Many people try to con-

vince both themselves and others that
these events took place so long ago that
they are no longer relevant to today's
society, let alone to the University.
But the unfortunate truth is that lit-
tle has been learned in the passed 50
years. One painful example of how
much hate still exists was demonstrated
in May 1998 by the
prejudice and anti-
lg Evnt Semitism brought to
Ann Arbor by a Ku
Klux Klan rally.
that Tuch and All students should
"r ndLiberator take part in this
t 3O4Q rz week's events on cam-
pus in order to better
:erenony and educate themselves.
ah servce, fol- And those students
Irs wheir as who claim to be too
rth suvivos' busy to attend the
scheduled talks can go
 19 to a photo exhibit in
drng: Van K the Art Lounge of the
Fshman and; Union between class-
es. The exhibit tells
: 2 the story of Jewish
sten Memoial refugees in Vichy
-abor Lawsuits. France; it is on loan
Aud 3. from the U.S. Holo-
caust Museum and
will remain open until
Friday, March 31.
Any student who had any doubts as
to the severity of the Holocaust was
given a solemn reminder yesterday as
students held a 24 hour vigil on the
Diag. Hour after hour, they read the
names of thousands of Jews murdered
by the Nazis. The numbers alone are
reason for every student to learn all
they can in order to ensure these atroci-
ties never happen again.

CHIP CULLEN

Nixed
Vouchers hurt Florida's public education

Taunting is a fifth-
grade' tactic
TO THE DAILY:
I was saddened to see the picture that
adorned the cover of the Daily on March
14th. As I read the signs that the protesters
are holding, it became abundantly clear that
this whole issue was, and still is, being han-
dled in an extremely immature fashion. The
picture of the protester holding the sign that
says "Michigamua you suck! Big Time" is
the most disheartening image I have seen in a
very long time. It seems to me that if this
group of people is trying to seek equality and
harmony, they wo'uld refrain from using the
same taunting techniques common to your
everyday fifth grade student.
I am not saying that I totally disagree
with the issues that this group presents. My
point is that we are all members of a distin-
guished learning community, allowing us to
find a more constructive way of dealing
with the problems. Though you may find
this suggestion appalling, I would say that
these protesters could take a lesson from
Michigamua. Over the course of thiswhole
ordeal, the members of Michigamua have
acted peacefully and have earned my
respect.
JONATHON NELSON
LSA JUNIOR
Cowen right about
pro sports
TO THE DAILY:
I have to agree with Josh Cowen's article
"Memories of a fan" (3/14/2000), sports are
become more of a joke every year. Besides the
off the field troubles of athletes and coaches
alike, now sports fans have to face the possi-
bility of the professional leagues doing any-
thing for high ratings.
This new rule of the NBA forcing coaches
to wear microphones and allow cameras in the
locker room is detrimental to the competitive
integrity of the game. Now opposing coaches
can simply tune into the broadcast to find out
the other's strategy. The NBA has traded away

In a major victory for public education,
a state judge ruled Tuesday that Flori-
da's school voucher program violated the
state constitution and would have to be
ended after this year. Florida's program
had been the first statewide voucher pro-
gram instituted in the United States.
Republican presidential candidate George
W Bush has pledged to bring the program
to the rest of the nation if elected.
This ruling, along with an earlier deci-
sion that struck down Cleveland's use of
vouchers, clearly illustrates the incompati-
bility of school vouchers with federal and
most state laws. Cleveland's program was
ruled unconstitutional for using public
money to pay for tuition at parochial
schools, a practice which violated the con-
stitutional separation of church and state.
Florida's program was overturned based
on a provision of the state constitution
mandating a "high quality system of free
public schools" which the judge said
would be undermined by redirecting pub-
lic money to private schools.
Both of these rulings should be signals
to politicians across the nation to work on
measures that will actually help public
school students and to stop holding out
the false promise of vouchers as the only
solution. Voucher proponents usually
argue that students will receive better edu-
cations in private and parochial schools
and should not be prevented from attend-
ing them because of cost. Besides the fact
that studies have shown this to be untrue,
only a small portion of students would
have that option because of the relatively
tiny number of private schools. Most stu-
dents would have to remain in the public
schools at the same time money was being
funneled out of them. Most students could

also not choose to attend better public
schools because of distance and school
capacities..
Another problem with voucher pro-
grams is they give public money to private
schools without any public oversight.
Schools operating without any account-
ability or that are not required to adhere to
certain educational standards should not
be publicly funded. The recently outlawed
Florida program points out another huge
problem with many voucher programs. In
order to help get them instituted, many
voucher systems only affect students in
poorly performing schools, as measured
by standardized tests. It is often claimed
that those schools will themselves be
improved by the competition with private
and parochial schools. As the schools
affected by this program demonstrate,
they certainly do change their behavior in
response to vouchers, but not for the bet-
ter. In order to score higher on the state's
standardized tests, these schools have
eviscerated their science and social studies
programs, subjects which do not appear
on the tests, and are pouring all their avail-
able resources into the tested subjects of
reading, writing and math. While these
subjects are obviously important, they cer-
tainly do not constitute a complete educa-
tion on their own.
Voucher programs can violate the sepa-
ration of church and state, take needed
money away from already ailing public
schools and warp the curricula of those
schools. There are many steps politicians
could be taking that would be of actual
benefit to public schools and they should
stop continuing to peddle vouchers, which
are clearly detrimental to the vast majority
of students.

~T'LN.k BCS 'TO SSE TN I
U

true human drama for one simple reason, the
networks asked them to. What's next, cham-
pionships awarded in secret meetings, point
shaving schemes that would put Northwestern
to shame?
C.J. CHAPPELL
ENGINEERING SENIOR
Tennis Center too
expensive
TO THE DAILY:.
I am writing in regards to University's
new Varsity Tennis Center. The tennis center
is extremely state of the art and personally, it
has some of the nicest courts that I have ever
played on. But one major factor that keeps
me from playing there more times then I
would like. That factor is the overpriced
amount that it charges students for court time.
Students are charged $50.00 to use the
indoor courts, but that fee is just for the mem-
bership and does not include the court fee of
$10.00-$12.00 or $5.O0-$8.00 per person for
EVERY time you want to play.That means
that if you are an avid tennis player who plays
3 times a week, you shell out $24.00 a week,
$96.00 a month, $384.00 a semester and
$768.00 a year!
So, yes it is nice to be able to play at a
brand new $16 million dollar complex and I
am glad that the Michigan Tennis teams have
a great place to hold competitions. But what

about those of us who can't afford the outra-
geous prices, and therefore, can't afford to
use this grand facility? After all, the Universi
ty's goal should be to create a place where
people, especially students, can just play ten-
nis without having to worry about sacrificing
their grocery money in doing so.
LANNI LANTTO.
LSA SOPHOMORE'
Solutions to football*
ticket problem
TO THE DAILY:
Another solution to student ticket scalp-
ing is this: A special, students-only entrance.
Students could move quickly through two
turnstiles. At the first one they swipe their M-
Card, verifying its validity, and at the second
turnstile, as always, they present their tickets.
Little fuss, little muss, and only valid students
could use student tickets. Where they sit once
inside the fence is their business.
Student tickets are intended for those who
attend games. They are not a right but a privi-
lege, and if they are only used by students, I'll
bet that there will be plenty of tickets avail
able. The scalpers (who buy a season's worth
of tickets only to resell them) will have to
find more honorable ways to earn a buck.
MICHAEL BUHLER
UNIVERSITY ALUMNUS

Hoes before Bros: A new form offeminism

I yat a bitch. "Did you see her outfit?" "I
/ ' /cannot believe she's hooking up with
that pig." "Someone's getting a little chunky."
Comments from last Wedne'sday's episode
of 90210? Not hardly. The above is the run-
of-the-mill bathroom
banter that seems to
occur so frequently on.
our campus. Whether
I'm in a stall in Angell
Hall or fixing my hair
in front of the mirror
at the bar, I seem to
hear the same thing
over and over: One
woman insulting
another. Maybe it's a
friend or an acquain- Camille
tance that's being scru-
tinized. Maybe it's Noe
someone completelyL
unknown who hap-
pens to be wearing last Call
season's dress. From

whole male mentality. I really believe that
what keeps most men afloat is the fact that
they can count on other men to back them up.
Period. If a man has a problem with another
man, he lets him know, instead of telling 42
other people first, and he's not going to throw
away a friendship because another guy bought
the same pair of pants as him.
It seems to me that the problem is this:
Men love men and too few women like women.
Men like what being a man stands for, and
there's always room for plenty at the top. You
know, the old boy's club mentality: Being suc-
cessful or good looking doesn't mean being
alone for males - it means being among sim-
ilar company. Women, on the other hand, com-
pete with each other for just about anything,
and not only is the competition fierce, but
there's also never room for more than one
queen bee.
For example, I went to the bar last week. It
was filled with women who were well-dressed,
well-groomed, and who more likely than not,
had a lot going for them. Yet as I was washing

spends all her time thinking about how she
can't look like her friend, how is she ever
going to focus on how she looks good based
on her own individual standard? Likewise, it's
pretty bad if you actually do think your friend
has an eating disorder and you're talking about
it to everyone but her. I truly believe that if*
you refuse to acknowledge your own personal
beauty, then you'll be hard pressed to get any
one else to notice it. Nearly every woman I
know is beautiful in her own way, but if she
starts comparing herself to everyone else, of
course she's not going to measure up. More-
over, comparison brings about the criticism of
others, for snide comments and gossip are a
way to compensate for insecurity.
My plea is simple: Women, let's start sup-
porting each other. How can we worry about
"women's issues" if we don't even like women,
plural? Everyone has a right to dislike another
person. Believe me, I've made my fair share of
enemies on this campus over the past four
years, and you bet your bottom dollar that I'm
going to say crappy things about the roommate

LIS Ito