4 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, January 12, 2000 cbe Lirtigan &Iiltu 420 Maynard Street Ann Arbor, MI 48109 daily.letters@umich.edu Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan HEATHER KAMINS Editor in Chief JEFFREY KOSSEFF DAVID WALLACE Editorial Page Editors 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. Halo no! Do not let the evil T hese days it seems as if the Uniersity community has lost focus of real issues. All I hear is talk about GOP func- tions, fraternities and sweatshops. What's wrong with you people? There is a greatI evil on this campus and it must be stopped. It discrimi- nates against no one. All are subject to its iron fist. Spam, peo- ple. I'm talking 4a about spam. Someone make it go, away. Perhaps you have" experienced the fol- lowing scenario. Class has just let out and you decide to Lopez check your inbox. Walking into the nearest computer Large lab, you find a vacant machine and log in. Pine. Hey, new mail. Cool ... wait, I got 150 new mes- sages? What's this? Yeah, what is this? Some of you people out there have got a lot of nerve sending half the campus your crappy advertise- ments. You're as bad as telemarketers are. Football tickets at five times the retail value? Whatever. Your 1990 purple Ford Escort with 150.000 miles and only three tires? No way. I'm sorry esteemed gentle- man of Gamma Lambda Phi Ra Ra Ra; I do not want to know about your upcoming party, rock jam, binge-fest. To those devas- tating ladies of Lambda Who Gives a Crappa, devastating is a bad adjective. Tornadoes are devastating. Hurricanes are devastating. Now, quit devastating my e- mail. of spam conquer you from within We all have our fatal flaws. Things that names in the List. Although I've never we can't let go of and which eventually used it, I have rather elaborate plans for lead to our downfall. Achilles had his heel. the day when one of those idiots pushes I have anger towards spam. Why? Spam is me over the edge. pure evil. That's why. Let me illustrate. My favorite scenario is that I send all Do people like spam? No, people hate it. those fools an anonymous e-mail telling Maybe there are a couple freaks out there them that they should have never sent out who like it, but the vast majority hate spam spam. Then, I post the list on Christian with a passion. Even though people hate fundamentalist newsgroups along with a spam, do spammers stop spamming? No. declaration that all these people need sav- Is this right? No. I don't buy the argument ing. Next, I send their addresses to NAM- that spam is just another form of advertis- BLA, order them Sea Monkeys C.O.D. and ing. If the post office had to deliver 50 inform the FBI that they know who really pieces of spain to every house every day, I shot JFK. Revenge is sweet. bet they'd have a problem with it. The post As much as I'd like to ctrl-X those office is good, but they're not that good. If spammers, I'll never do it. I can dream, but every house got 50 telenjarketing calls per if I did anything mean, I'd feel worse. night, I'd bet Congress would have some- Some of my lady friends call this thing to say. Spam is not another form of "Catholic guilt." They tell m that advertising. It is another form of nuisance. "Catholic guilt" holds too many of us back The only thing that spam does is raise the from "expressing ourselves." Am I being temper of the recipient. The spammer has "held back" from getting revenge? Sure to know this, which means that the spam- am. I'm held back from doing a lot of bad mer is purposefully causing people to get things. If it is "Catholic guilt" that keeps mad. The spammer's care and compassion me in line, I'll keep it. Perhaps more peo- for humanity is so low that they think the ple should get some. Somewhere along the money they make is worth all the hate they line, somebody thought it would be a good kindle. How can this not be evil? To spread idea for everyone to express themselves ill will in exchange for money sounds like without care for something cabled conse- a deal only the devil would offer. quences. The result has been road rage, I'd like to say that I am part of the solu- Jerry Springer, spam, school shootings tion, but for the past year, I've been part of and Bill Clinton's popularity rating. the problem. I haven't turned the other I'll keep getting spam from idiots and cheek or forgiven them. I've been planning people will continue to drive very badly. to get sweet revenge. It all started about a The world isn't fair. Nobody ever said it year ago. I had been receiving quite a few was. I guess that is why we're just sup- messages from a number of spamming posed to turn the other cheek and forgive idiots. They were really getting on my people. It is better than dwelling on injus- nerves, so I started the List. The List is tice and planning your revenge. As you've basically a collection of names and seen with me, this only lets the evil eat you addresses. Each time a piece of spam lands from within. in my box, I add the spammer's name to - Mike Lopez can be reached over the list. Currently, there are about 50 e-mail at manatlarge umich.edu. Decision to re-renovate stadium is wise When students, faculty, alumni and other fans entered Michigan Stadium in September for the football team's 1998 season opening game against Syracuse, they were greeted by renovations to the stadium. Among those changes were increased seating capacity, which caused the attendance at that game to break an NCAA record. Naturally, the fans' response to the increased seating was positive. But some of the other changes drew a much less favorable response. Encircling Michigan Stadium was a yel- low halo that stretched across most of the top of the stadium. The halo was criticized by students, alumni and other University members and has even been blamed for the Athletic Department having received $500,000 less in gift revenues this past year. Recently, University President Lee Bollinger has said that the halo will come down before the start of next football sea- son and that any future renovations will be planned as a more public process. Both taking the halo down and the pub- lic disclosure of future construction plans are good for the future of the University and Michigan Stadium in particular. Not only is it likely that revenue will increase in the wake of more public participation in future renovations of Michigan Stadium, but as a _ matter of principle, fans ought to have a say in stadium changes. Viewing the situation from a fan's point of view, taking the halo down will make attending a game at Michigan Stadium a more visually pleasing experience. And making any future renovation plans public knowledge before they are enacted will allow the University community to play a greater role in maintaining and expanding upon campus traditions. Whether or not the halo is responsible for decreased donations is probably unmea- surable. The answer to that question proba- bly won't come until this time next year when the football team will have played a full season in the post-halo era. Regardless of whether the halo is responsible for decreased donations, taking it down is clearly a good design decision and demon- strates respect for fans on the part of the administration. Allowing the University community to be involved at the grass roots level of any future renovation plans can only make peo- ple feel more connected to the University and will probably result in an increase in alumni donations. Putting up the halo was clearly a mistake; we hope that removing it will alleviate any negative l6ng-term conse- quences that could have resulted from retaining it. The re-renovation to Michigan Stadium is an excellent decision and should allow the traditions of the Big House to flourish well into the next millennium. Erecting the halo was a bad decision, but if its lasting effect is that future decisions regarding Michigan Stadium are made on a communi- ty-wide level, then the halo can rightfully be remembered as more than just an eyesore. THOMAS KULJURGIS T'ENTATIVELY SPEAKING VIN I S tNW AO L- a UJl- SE AT M'? s ~ ' 'il~niZ''J. 0. ~~'1 n ! ' EaR NLQ cst° ' - s ~~)SOVA ofv a tr . 2bZoO Easing the burden Proposal for tuition trust is good in principle J T he prospect of attending the University free of cost might seem as far fetched as low-cost housing in Ann Arbor, but this may soon change if state Sen. Alma Wheeler Smith (D-Salem Twp.) gets her way. Smith, a member of the Senate Appropriations Higher Education Subcommittee, hopes to organize a peti- tion drive that would put the idea of creat- ing a trust fund to pay for Michigan resi- dents' tuition cost before voters. Smith's idea is a beneficial endeavor for college students, parents and the state of Michigan. The concept is simple: stretch a .5 per- cent decrease in the state income tax across 10 years instead of five and add five years to the 23-year-phase-out of the 2.3 percent Single Business Tax. The revenue generat- ed by the tax deferment can help parents and students finance four years of school at any of the state's public universities in the form of tax credits. Georgia instituted a similar plan that attempted to provide col- lege education at low to no cost. Under Georgia's HOPE scholarship, any student with a "B" average in high school is enti- tled to free college tuition and a $150 per semester book allowance. By Jan. 1st, this year, 426,110 students earned $861.7 mil- lion in HOPE scholarships. The main selling point for the plan's potential supporters is that Smith's propos- al does not increase Michigan residents' tax burden. Instead of increasing taxes, the plan only slows present tax decreases. This means that if Smith's proposal was put into effect, Michigan residents would see little to no change in their pocket books. Furthermore, residents with children would see much of their money returned if wise would be unable to attend college in Michigan far exceeds the meager savings incurred through the faster tax cut option. Smith's proposal could not come at a better time. College students know that most tuition assistance, both state and fed- eral, now comes in the form of loans instead of grants. The loans, which must be repaid in full, leave many students with not only a college degree but huge amounts of debt after graduation. This pre- vents students who have the capabilities and intelligence but lack the financial resources from attending larger, more competitive four-year institutions like Michigan State University and the University of Michigan. Because of mone- tary considerations, these students must attend a community college or not attend school at all. A tuition trust fund gives these residents an opportunity they may have otherwise never received. Despite higher education's large influx of money if the plan is instituted, Michigan's 15 public universities must hold back the urge to drastically increase tuition rates. Colleges might see the tax credits as a chance to improve their school's quality instead of improving their school's accessibility. By increasing tuition past the allotted tax credit amount, services and programs that were thought of as too costly before could come within reach. Universities must remember that the aim of Smith's program is to eliminate cost as a factor in a student's decision to attend college. Although there are benefits in raising the higher education bar even fur- ther, colleges will benefit from the inflow of quality students who were previously unable to attend a four-year university. rusn is vital to the campus Greek system I would like to point out some factual and logistical mistakes that the Daily editorial made about "Winter rush being a better alter- native for Greeks" ("Right on time," 110 00). As long as I have been at the University, the Daily has been saying the same thing and frankly it's getting a little old. Most people experienced with managing Greek life would contend that not holding fall rush would be a disaster for the Greek community and it's potential members for a multitude of reasons. I will touch on a few: First and foremost, eliminating Fall rush does nothing more than take away options. Many students choose to rush Winter term and many others very much want to get involved in a campus activity the first day they arrive. Is this to say that the Daily (also 'a rigorous time demand) should not accept new staff writers in the Fall? My good friends, who include past editors in chief and sports editors started working around the clock at the Daily in the fall of our freshman year. They did this because they chose to and the Daily allowed and promoted them for it. Do I detect a dou- ble-standard? In my fraternity, we typically have the same number of new members both terms. Every person has a different reason for rushing (or not rushing) when they do. Also, many people don't rush until their second, sometimes their third or fourth year! By eliminating fall rush, you take another semester away from the people who want to get involved in Greek life later in their college careers. The idea that the, Greek community only rushes as many people as it needs to fill its houses is completely foolish. My fraterni- ty has more than 100 members with a house that holds less that 40 guys. I can't speak to the reasons for which sororities admit new members, but I can tell you that by and large fraternities admit as many people as come through their doors whose ideals and, person- al philosophies match up with those of the membership. Typically, my chapter has about 20 new members each term. That means each semester we have 20 new people to integrate into the social unit, to teach about the history of the organization, to help deeop as people and scholars through learning better time management, getting involved in community service and improving our social skills. We have a hard enough time getting to know 20 new people in one term, let alone 40. On the issue of housing, anyone who has lived in Ann Arbor for more than a year can attest to the fact that if you don't have housing secured by January, you're more or less out of luck. Trying to find new members to sign leases to live-in fraternities and sororities at the beginning of winter term is a nightmare (trust me, I've tried!). From a financing, house management and getting-to-know-one- another perspective, the idea of once:a year rush is completely ridiculous. Why would you want to rush befriending and learning about 40 people in one semester when you can do it over two? Our time here is so short, why would we want to take any time away from our friendships and fond memories of our col- lege days. One semester can make all the dif- ference in getting know a close friend even better. My only regret about Greek life is that I didn't rush sooner! As a final note, I must say that the incident that happened at Alpha Epsilon Pi this term is not a function of "'why fall rush is bad" but, rather it is the unfortunate result of a funda- mental lack of respect and lack of good sense exercised by a very small minority within, what I feel, is an overall very positive Greek community. That group is no longer a part of our community and rightfully so. The only reason the Daily included this "hot topic" in its editorial was to add a fallaciously slanted bite to an otherwise baseless recommendation at terminating fall rush. - This viewpoint was written by LSA senior Josh Henschell. Like the much-over-hyped Y2K crisis, Boris Yeltsin stepped down from the Russian presidency on the last day of 1'999 not with a bang, but with a whimper. In a tearful address, Yeltsin apologized to the Russian people for the continued hardships of everyday life across the country, despite his repeated promises to cure Russia's woes. Yeltsin's part- ing words were a far cry from his defiant stance against a communist coup in August 1991, when he memorably leapt on a tank. While this time Yeltsin stole the New Year's thunder, he did the mature thing in admitting to his limited capabilities. Yeltsin's actions during the 1991 coup did Russian president, is better known for brava- do than diplomacy. His abrupt moves marked a politician more concerned with his personal future than that of his nation. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin stands to govern Russia in Yeltsin's stead, at least until elections are held on March 26. Famed for his tough stance against Chechen separatists, Putin is confident in his new post. Unlike Yeltsin, Putin is a relatively youthful 47 years old and doesn't have to worry about his own health in addition to that of his country. The former KGB insider is a career opportunist whose first act as prime minister was to offer Yeltsin immunity from prosecution. Yeltsin's inner circle, who have also come under fire for corrupt practices, from their government positions. His promises of eaonomic reform sit well with investors. The Russian stock market rose by about 20 percent in the wake of Putin's assumption of the presidency. The front where Putin will have to act most carefully is the war in Chechnya. A shuf-40 fle last week in the top Russian combat gen- erals suggests panic over the need for a hasty resolution of the conflict before the March elections. Unfortunately, high civilian death tolls and unannounced deaths of Russian sol- diers have not been perceived as impediments