4A - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, March 23, 2000

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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 of The Michigan Daily.

Get them in the crosshairs:
rowfor some of you, it doesn't matter: sucks. That experier
You were born rich and you're going us that wants to se
to stay rich. But here's my advice to the every once and awl
rest of you: Take dead aim on the rich one of the only time
boys. Get them in the crosshairs and take the chance to let the
them down. Just remember, they can buy can't compete again
anything, but they 2,000 committees wi
can't buy backbone. and dozens of gro
- "Rushmore" names on sidewalks
life, MSA elections
I voted for the ing. Life's not fair -
first time ever yester- . . election fair.
day at the Michigan w I met Hideki last
Student Assembly's me about his campa
online voting site. I crazy for two reason
voted for Hideki. MSA president. Se
Like the vast | |> himself up as the b
majority of you, I joke with that sign a
think MSA is pretty to do that to themse
pointless. I don't care Emily lived in Texas or Al
if it is "successful" or Achenbaum Arbor, Hideki woul
not, nor does it matter x months ago.
if the "best" candi- Diamond i I chatted with hi
date is elected. In the Rough my name. I ran into
words of MSA alum ary - half a year
David Burden, "Life baum," he said wh
would continue normally even if Satan floored. While mos
took over the assembly." pressed to remembe
I want Hideki to win not because of his professors from last
politics or what he could bring to the met nearly everyon
assembly. I want him to win because he's remembered me -
earned it. He has a passion that I can't light-eyed, not-exa
possibly fathom and gutsiness I can't help me. "You work for ti
but respect. He won my vote
We have all been slighted at one point even planning on v
in our lives, lost a competition because the an activist, promotin
fight wasn't fair. We've all been the under- for MSA president
dog at one point and know how much it non-annoying way.

Vote for Hideki
nce instills a desire in Although
ee the underdog win president, I
hile. And for perhaps genuinely de
s in our lives, we have There are lo
underdog win. Hideki are "passionz
st the kids already on take a day-t
ith frats in their pocket library and
upies chalking their Bollinger's
. Like most things in start to see
are elitist and irritat- doing things
- but we can make this me. But Hid
without sen
t July and he spoke to puuuuhlease
aign. I thought he was ing pamphl
s. First, he wants to be man, unpre
cond, he was setting campaign un
utt of a campus-wide You shou
lone. Who would want you care abo
elves? After all, if we an "active r
abama instead of Ann community."
d have been beaten up Do it bec
because the
im briefly and told him friends from
Hideki again in Janu- probably wet
later. "Emily Achen- pre-cast.
en he saw me. I was Do it bec
t of us would be hard a certain Gi
r the names of all our with the leg
t semester. Hideki has you out of th
ne on campus, yet he Do it bec
- white, light-haired, old you got
ctly-original-looking the playgrou
he Daily," he said. Here's yo
that day, and I wasn't and beat the
oting. But he has been Go vote foi
ng his cause - Hideki http://wwwau
t - in a captivating, - Em,
via e

Verdict defends free speech of all students

I wouldn't want to be M*
'm not Hideki. Anyone th
dicated deserves our suppoi
ts of people on campus wl
ate" about things, but as bool
rip from the undergradua
barbecues are thrown c
front lawn, their intentiol
m suspect. The concept
out of symbolism isn't lost (
eki is the center of attent
ding out mass "please plea
vote for me" e-mails or sho
ets in my face. He is a on
ecedented movement -
like any other.
ld vote for Hideki not becau
ut platforms or MSA or be
member" of the "Universi
ause you didn't get into a pl
student director picked z
his little theater clique -
nt into auditions with the she
ause you didn't get a bid fro
reek house because the gu:
gacies and Lexuses knock(
e competition.
ause when you were 8-year
sand kicked in your face c
nd by the bully.
ur chance to spit the sand
bully with your plastic shoe
r Hideki. MSA's Website
mich. edu/-vote.
ily Achenbaum can be reach<
-mail at emilyisaC@umich.ed
GROUNn ZERO

If you are in a student group that gets
funding from the University, and U.S.
Supreme Court Justice Anthony
Kennedy's words don't mean anything to
you now, they should: It is inevitable that
government will adopt and pursue pro-
grams and policies within its constitu-
tional powers but which nonetheless are
contrary to the profound beliefs and sin-
cere convictions of some of its citizens.
The Supreme Court handed down its
ruling in the case Board of Regents of
the University of Wisconsin v. Scott
Harold Southworth et al earlier than
expected yesterday; the ruling is a tri-
umph not only for potentially controver-
sial student groups but also for anyone
who cares about the First Amendment.
Had the Court ruled otherwise, all public
colleges and universities would have had
to cut off funding altogether or find alter-
native ways to fund many student groups.
The Southworth case began when a
small Christian fundamentalist group on
the University of Wisconsin-Madison
campus sued the University to recover
mandatory student fees that would have
partially funded progressive student
groups like the Lesbian, Gay, 'Bisexual
Campus Center, Amnesty International

and the Campus Women's Center. The
argument: Forcing students to pay fees
that would be used by groups whose
opinions are fundamentally opposed to
their own constitutes "coerced speech."
There are problems with the South-
worth ruling. It requires public colleges
and universities to distribute funds on a
"viewpoint neutral" basis. In funding stu-
dent groups a university "may not prefer
some viewpoints to others." This seems
fine at first but it could potentially cause
problems for universities in the future.
Justice David Souter opposed the "view-
point neutral" language in the ruling in
his concurring opinion with Justices
Steven Breyer and John Stevens.
Souter compared funding student
groups with mandatory fees to using
tuition dollars to pay professors with
controversial views. "The University
need not provide junior years abroad in
North Korea as well as France, instruct in
the theory of plutocracy as well as
democracy, or teach Nietzsche as well as
St. Thomas" he wrote.
The "viewpoint neutral" language
aside, the Southworth ruling is a tremen-
dous victory for all student groups, not to
mention free speech.

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Puttingndo bizeoU'
2000 Campaign could mobilize 'U'

.S. Reps. David Bonior (D-Mt.
Clemens) and Lynn Rivers (D-Ann
Arbor) came to the University last Mon-
day to rally student support, but not nec-
essarily for themselves. They are
organizing 2,000 campaign workers
throughout Michigan at the grassroots
level for the 2000 campaign. Grass roots
activism is a good mechanism to give
power to young people. This type of
community-based support is being uti-
lized in the coming up presidential elec-
tions. Grassroots organizations are
non-profit groups that fight or support a
cause at the community level. But poli-
tics is just one aspect of grassroots sup-
port.
Which political party a student sup-
ports - Republican, Democrat or an
independent - is not as important as
the act of stepping in and witnessing the
political system at a more community
based level. Students at the University
need to take more advantage of these
types of opportunities to get involved in

politics. The American political system
can seem rather complicated or intimi-
dating, but it is the priority of the people
to step in and take action for what they
believe in. Grassroots organizations give
young people the chance to make a dif-
ference.
Students at the University need to
remember that voting and involvement
in the American political system is a
privilege. A privilege that was not
divinely mandated by the heavens a mil-
lennia ago, but a right given to the peo-
ple by their government of today. Many
countries deprive their citizens of this
right and suffer in a world filled with
dictators and power-hungry leaders. Stu-
dents.should get out there and get
involved. Even the act of placing flyers
on car windshields or signs on the cor-
ners of busy intersections has an impact
on the elections and future races.
There are not small roles in the
American political system, only small
minds.

GAA was 'righting
wrongs' with action
at UGLi
TO THE DAILY:
After readingthe March 17 letter
"GAA out of line" by Zachary Beck in
reference to the UGLI protest by the
Graduate Action Alliance, I thought,
"This guy has no idea what he is talking
about!" However, I was wrong. Beck
demonstrated that he was not totally
clueless when he wrote "Their actions
(GAA) symbolically worked to defeat
every ideal that this country was founded
on." Well, Beck, you were right!
The United States was founded by indi-
viduals who systematically slaughtered and
pillaged Native Americans, nearly wiping
out an entire race of people. This country
was founded by individuals who displaced,
enslaved, and dehumanized the African
people.Let us not forget the countless
atrocities the forefathers committed against
people of Latino and Asian origin as well.
So you see the GAA was, in fact, working
to defeat the long lasting effects of the
"ideals" this country was founded on.
Despite the negative reactions of
some students to the GAA's action, we
will continue to labor against the institu-
tionalized racism that persists at the Uni-
versity. It is not only our right as students
to demand an academic atmosphere that
is fair and equitable for all students, but
it is our duty for those students who will
follow.
DEIDRE DOWDIE
SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK
Men shouldn't tell
women how to feel
about abortion


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4


who have been writing pro-life letters to
the editor.
You are male, as am I. So lacking a
vagina and the relatedareproductive organs
capable of producing a human, your opin-
ion is biased.
It is true that abortions nullify poten-
tial lives, and not actual lives, but this is
usually the lesser of two evils. Which
prevents more loss, allowing a 15-year
old rape victim to abort her baby as she
attends high school and has to work a 20-
hour week anyway, or letter her ruin her
life plans (and career aspirations because
she has to babysit) and that of her child
with an unwanted child?
Newsflash: If someone doesn't want
something (including a baby) that person
will not likely take care of it. What about
all the babies thrown away in dumpsters
and left on doorsteps? Now I'm not say-
ing abortion is the solution every time,
but it definitely is some of the time.
Abortion should not be looked at as birth
control, per se. No woman (I would hope)
goes around having unprotected sex, say-
ing "Oh, who cares if I get pregnant? I'll
just nuke it!"
A woman makes the best judgement
she can when aborting and she knows


Who the hell are you to tell a wom
what to do? That is all.
STEVE SIEGEL
LSA JUNIOR
Schillaci should
stay in hometown,:
TO THE DAILY:
In his March 20th column,"'U' students:
Two parts bread crumbs, one part meat" Jaec
Schillaci criticizes various behaviors anc
characteristics of university students (.ant
administrators), interpreting them as con-
scious acts of rebellion against "normalcy.
Whether or not people use cell phones, dye
their hair purple, and purchase iMacs out di
personal desire or a desire for attentior
doesn't matter. What does matter - for ne
and for many others - is that we have to
opportunity to spend a few years in an oasi,
where closed-mindednessdoesn't reachep
demic proportions. He may feel more com"
fortable in the safety of his hometown bN
I'm grateful to live in a city were most peop
don't criticize those who try something new

Snuffed out
FDA should regulate tobacco

T

W hile calling tobacco use "perhaps the
single most significantbthreat to pub-
lic health in the United States," the
Supreme Court nonetheless struck down
the federal government's efforts to address
the threat by ruling last Tuesday that the
FDA did not have the authority to regulate
tobacco as a drug. The 5 to 4 ruling blocks
the FDA's efforts to regulate tobacco on the
grounds that Congress never explicitly
authorized the agency to do so.
While Congress has proven reluctant to
tackle this issue in the recent past, it is
essential that they take action soon. The
FDA should have the power to regulate
tobacco. The agency already regulates
nearly every legal substance specifically
designed for consumption and tobacco
should not be treated any differently. The
government has taken on the responsibility
of safeguarding public health through the
regulation of potentially harmful sub-
stances and is abrogating that responsibility
by not regulating tobacco.

The inability of Congress to take almost
any action regarding tobacco in the past
demonstrates how easy it is for a narrow
interest to hijack the public policy of the
United States. Members of Congress and
Senators, up until recently, routinely repeat-
ed the lies of the tobacco industry regard-
ing their efforts to addict children to their
products. Even after the industry's wrong-
doing had been unmasked, Congress con-
tinued to resist imposing any type of
consequences for those actions.
The most unfortunate casualty of the
Supreme Court's ruling is a program creat-
ed by the FDA to help states monitor the
enforcement of their own laws regarding
the sale of tobacco products to children.
While blocking most of the FDA's pro-
posed regulations, lower courts, including
many in tobacco producing states, had
allowed this program to be implemented. If
it does nothing else, Congress should at
least authorize small steps such as this pro-
gram to help protect children from an

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that having the baby will result in negli- ERIN MULADOR
0 THE DAILY: gence to a degree, or some other sort of LSA JuNIoF
This letter is in response to the men shortcomings.
Complaining about illness and discretion in e-mailing
r he two topics seem incongruous, I complied. I don't know that I could enjoy have a problem, address the e-mail tot
T know. such a sum at this point. I'd probably spend people it concerns!" There's also the "Cal
This column is about mass e-mails. It's a good amount of it on sedatives to put me please be removed from this e-mail, list
bout forwards. It's about clutter in one's out of my misery. My stars! Why not address your e-mail
tailbox. I apologize thatit isn't quite as I've never quite understood the princi- the people sending out mass e-mails y(
xciting a topic as ple behind a fortune-teller e-mail. Essen- moron? God I hate being sick!
ASA elections or tially I make a wish, scroll down, and if I The jokes are sometimes amusing.
mpty libraries, but keep my mouth shut and do what the binary could use a joke right now. Althoug
'm sick as a dog, code of Os and is tells me what to do, I'm hurts to laugh, as my lungs and throatY
nd when I'm sick going to marry whomever I want. That so sore. The dirty ones tend to be pr
he most trivial things would be nice. But scrolling down through dictable, and the truthfulness of the "tr
nnoy me, and my all the clutter of e-mail code is just too irri- stories" is questionable. But they're wortl
rain tends to slow tating a thought. I'll delete, thank you. shot. You never know what might tick
own. The small, Sometimes I get suckered in. I don't someone the right way. Perhaps someone
nsignificant things think I'm the only one we all do. A lot of miserable as I am is reading this a
ecome a nearly my friends think that they can justify their chuckling. Perhaps not. Everyone needs,
nbelievable source ' dorkiness by including a disclaimer at the outlet to complain. I'm using this as mir
f frustration. Read top. Something along the lines of, "Guys Again, my apologies go out to the reade
n though - given David - I don't usually do these, but just imagine The trivial becomes less so when it's t
hat it's really nothing Horn if it's true! It's too much $$$ to pass up! I'll sidered in detail. Usually. Not in this cai
tore than me whin- write a real e-mail soon." Which brings up however. Now I'm just further annoyed;
ng about being sick g p an interesting point: Who are the retards how much my head hurts, how incons
nd having to deal who don't have time to even send a mass quential my ramblings are, and how war
ith something that isn't really a big deal, "checking in" e-mail to all their friends? I and comfortable my bed looks right no
ou might get annoyed too. I'm feeling suppose in my delirious state I'm calling despite the evening of work that yet awa
mAct for an imnrAvement in e-mail etiquette. me tonight.

I