4A - The Michigan Daily - Monday, November 8, 1999 420 Maynard Street HEATHER KAMINS Ann Arbor, MI 48109 - Editor in Chief daily.letters@umich.edu Edited and managed by JEFFREY KOSSEFF students at the DAVID WALLACE University of Michigan 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. Bleeding hearts, bad politics and bullshit pragmatism." Code red Process violates students' rights E very so often, the political methods used by activists and policy pundits from the left and right cross. Following the lead of the liberal reform-minded liti- gants like Jane Roe from the '50s, '60s and '70s, the Center for Individual Rights has spear- headed a drive to make fundamental changes in affirma- tive action policy through the use of the last great American pastime: the lawsuit. Gerald' Rosenberg notwith- standing, conserva- tive groups using the Jack courts have begun to Schilladi see success, due in S a some part to the massive number of the Left court appointments that Republican presidents have gotten to make during the past 25 years. But recently, another tool often associ- ated with liberals has found its way into the arsenal of conservatives. Where would we be as a society that so enjoys labeling people, especially political groups, without the stereotype of the bleeding-heart liberal? He who makes his case by complaining about abstract notions of equity and justice complete with anecdotes about some poor, defense- less victim of American largesse. There are obviously a great number of liberals that do not fit this stereotype. But this little barb has long been a favorite among the Republican arsenal and has been applied universally to deride leftists for using somewhat faulty arguments to support their position. But in many ways, conservatives are as much at fault. Take for instance, the great time-wast- ing issue of the burning of the American flag. Sitting in the U.S. House gallery this past summer, I witnessed a representative on the right side of the aisle arguing in favor of a constitutional amendment to prohibit the desecration of the Stars and Stripes to the 20-odd members that actu- ally cared enough to show up for the debate. Midway through his speech, the man broke down and began crying about how such expression violated everything that he stood for as an American and a veteran. Wait, and I'm the bleeding heart? Oh boo-hoo. I mean no disrespect to him and have no doubt that he was quite genuine in his feelings, and I cannot even begin to imag- ine what horrors he encountered as a sol- dier. Further, I can empathize with his love of American ideas and his contempt for those who burn the flag. Though I think it should be protected, I find it a pointless means of expression that is used more to fan the fires of dissent than actu- ally say something. But our two opinions are not what was at issue. What was at issue is whether or not applying First Amendment protection to flag burning was a mistake that Congress should cor- rect. Evidently, he had assigned emotional value to an object and let that overrule the rational processes that a legislator should use. Sigmund Freud would call it projec- tion, but whatever it is, it confused and maligned the debate that followed, demo- nizing the proposal's detractors and mak- ing the argument completely useless. A similar aberration can be seen in the debate surrounding gun control. Following the Columbine shooting, Republicans on the Hill were quick to counter moves to regulate arms with claims that gun possession was too hal- lowed a right to be toyed with. It's a fun- damental right, and it's in the Bill of Rights, and we shouldn't overreact, and Congress shouldn't do anything to tread on that territory, etc., etc., etc. This coming from the party that is all- too-quick to cite its faithfulness to the so- overused-that-it's-virtually-meaningless doctrine of pragmatism. "Those damned bleeding-heart liberals, how dare they even consider banning the sale of assault weapons at gun shows. This is a constitutional issue here, and we have to protect this inherent right that our forefathers guaranteed us. Burning the flag, on the other hand, now that's really causing some damage." Pragmatism at its finest, folks. If the logic doesn't wash for you, remember: Bleeding hearts only have to make sense to those that will blindly follow them anyways. Bleeding hearts, by virtue of their tem- perament, almost invariably fail to make a solid, compelling argument. But rather than just being a stereotype that fits the donkeys, it seems the elephants are just as likely to qualify for a bleeding heart award. Emotion will never find its way out of the political arena, but the old, tired idea that Democrats wrap themselves in abstractions and warm fuzzies while Republicans stick to the bottom line and cold, hard facts is about as viable as Vanessa Williams's career. -- Jack Schillaci, who is not and never will be a bleeding heart, can be reached via e-mail at jschilla@umich.edit. In 1995, University students staged a protest at the Fleming Administration Building and marched to former University President James Duderstadt's house to voice their disapproval over the Code of Student Conduct. Once an active student movement, apathy now shrouds the fight for student rights. As the Office of Student Conflict Resolution - the University department that enforces the Code - begins its search for a new director, the Code of Student Conduct's plethora of glaring flaws come to the forefront once again. We strongly encourage University President Lee Bollinger to abolish the Code. The Code's philosophical foundation stems from the University's attempt to raise students' social standards higher than those of the crim- inal justice system. In its opening paragraph, the Code dictates the values the Administration expects of students. These include "civility, dignity and diversity" among others, all of which are "dedicated to main- taining a scholarly community." No list of val- ues can encompass all beliefs and convictions held by students. By assuming a defined set of values, the University closes students to indi- vidual values or those different from what the Code advertise. One is hard pressed to make an argument against values such as "honesty" or "safety" in the code. Yet forcing any set of values on stu- dents hinders their growth into adulthood and the development of their own philosophy. Assuming students should be held to a higher standard of conduct than the society they live in separates and shelters the campus environ- ment while promoting an air of elitism. The University has no place enforcing social stan- dards on students because it is a student's own job to create their moral system. Double jeopardy is an alarmingly unfair aspect of the Code. Students can be brought up for violations under the Code even if charges are resolved within the legal system. Students can commit a crime and fulfill punishment required by the court system - and still face disciplinary action from the University. This The Code's Many Flaws Part one of a two-part series: tdenExamining the disciplinary process. practice is unjust because it punishes a student twice for committing a single crime. The Code oversteps its bounds by penaliz- ing crimes committed outside the University environment. Section L of the Violations por- tion makes "Violating state or federal law if such action has serious impact on the University community" a violation under the code. Yet the concept of "serious impact" is not defined, which leads to punishment of misde- meanor level behavior even when it occurs off- campus. Perhaps the most stunning infringement upon students lies with the Code's lack of due process. The University views the Code process as administrative and not as judicial and therefore is not required to give due process rights the same way a court must. This rips any right a student may have in a court of law away and shifts power to the University. Students are not allowed legal representation. The burden of proof is shifted from prosecu- tion to defendant, and students are not allowed to appeal to precedent. Lack of precedent allows decisions to be highly subjective and based on a personal bias towards an individual case. The dean of students and vice president for student affairs have the authority to reverse certain Code rulings. This concentrates too much power in administrators' hands. The Code of Student Conduct is a direct attack on students' rights. Bollinger must seize the power vested in him by the regents and putF an end to the University's misuse of power. 'A THOMAs KULJURGIS .1 FTNTUVEL SEKNG 114E LATEST ELET(OM4 200x FolS ARE IN! Held back Link between poverty and education Hazing isn't the only way to build character TO THE DAILY: I am writing in response to Branden Sanz's Oct. 29 column "To haze or not to haze?" Sanz's basic argument is that the gov- erning body of any private organization has a duty to ensure that they only accept new members of sufficient character and that hazing builds such character. He writes that hardship and adversity build character, and that hazing creates "artificial hardship," thereby building character. As justification for his position, he refers to the fact that hazing takes place in the military. The fundamental flaw in Sanz's argu- ment is the mistaken premise that there is only one type of character building. He assumes that the character desired of a sol- dier is the same character desired of a fra- ternity member. Nothing could be further from the truth. The function of hazing in the military is to break down the individual per- sonality and create a soldier who does not question authority and whose purpose it is to kill others without concern for the risk to his own life. This is vastly different from the function of a fraternity, which exists to build men of deep intellect and high moral virtue. The true fraternity man seeks to uplift others, not to destroy. The true frater- nity man learns to sacrifice his life, not on the field of war, but in his daily efforts to (serve his fellow man. The true fraternity man also loses his own individuality, not to ecome a fighting machine, but in the sense hat his initiation marks a transformation from one who is most concerned with his own material desires to one who recognizes the essential role he plays in improving society. This type of character building does not take place through hazing. Society's common view of the function of fraternities today is not the same as the function that they were actually created to serve. The transformation began in the '40s when soldiers returning home from war allowed their concept of "character build- ing" (shared by Sanz) to become confused with the type of character building which should take place in a fraternity. As a result, the fraternities began to see character build- ing as something that must be accomplished before the individual can be a member of the group, rather than something that takes place throughout a lifetime of membership in the organization. The means to the end (attaining membership) was confused with the end itself (character-building) and led to what is now the common but mistaken notion that fraternities have little more to offer than a four-year opportunity to belong to a social group. The rituals of initiation, which served to introduce ideals to the member for his new life as a fraternity man, were misunderstood to be "outdated" cere- monies in those fraternities where this atti- tude was dominant. As a result, the cere- monies were replaced by hazing activities. This only perpetuated the notion that the I BIxey s!^'utmuttoamaAo .., ~ r +..... W hen people discuss the economy today, the talk generally turns to how well things are going - the stock market is boom- ing and unemployment is down. But this opti- mistic outlook does not see the millions of Americans for whom life is not so good; the rise in economic prosperity has not been accompanied by a drop in rates of poverty. Last week, the U. S. Census Bureau released a report revealing that nearly one in five American children live in poverty. In some areas, such as the District of Columbia, the figure is as high as one in three. An analysis of these statistics shows the states with the highest education spending per student have the lowest rates of poverty. For instance, Iowa, which has a high rate of spending per students, has the sixth-lowest percentage of residents who live in poverty. This demonstrates just how important it is that state governments increase funding to educa- tion. The link between education and reduction of poverty is not difficult to determine. It has become increasingly difficult to get a well- paying job without a college education. But many schools, especially in inner-city and rural areas, lack the resources that will help their students go on to attain a college degree. Students in underprivileged areas will find it ment to ensure all people have an equal opportunity to improve their quality of life by seeking a higher education. In recent years, the state of Michigan has faced spending cuts in the field of higher edu- cation. Since taking office, Gov. John Engler has reduced funding to the states' universities, or proposed only minimal increases to educa- tional funding - often way below the rate of inflation - preferring to devote state funds to the corrections system. Yet Michigan has the 16th highest percentage of children living in poverty. This shows that Engler's priorities are skewed - increasing funding to prisons does nothing to solve the problem of poverty, and does almost nothing to fight crime. On the other hand, devoting state funds to improving the quality of education in Michigan would help to combat both problems. The state legis- lature should increase funding to schools, not r1E% g~ ovERAE years before them, to devote themselves wholly to the ideal of the "Brotherhood of Man," a concept which is entirely inconsis- tent with the mentality of a soldier of war. It is these fraternities that will continue to build better men who will have a positive and uplifting influence upon mankind. Dark night is always banished by the sun. JOHN MONGOVI NATIONAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE, PHI Mu ALPHA SINFONIA FRATERNITY OF AMERICA INC. Sloan concert was disappointing TO THE DAILY: In response to Erin Podolsky's and Ken Barr's claim in their Nov. 1 review ("Sloan's sugartunes rock Pontiac show") thatthe crowd at Clutch Cargo's "enjoyed every moment of Sloan's exciting concert:" What were you watching? I have never been so disappointed with a show, or band for that matter, as I was on Friday night at Clutch. Stupefied/bored audi- ence members stood and watched Sloan play just about every song from their new album. Released a month ago, most of the songs were unfamiliar to all but the most die-hard of fans. Sure, there was a "frenzied chorus" for "Money City Maniacs," but that was.because nearly two-thirds into the show everyone still had full lungs of air and dormant heart-beats. Miracle upon miracles, we finally knew something. Even then, only Chris Murphy looked like he wanted to be there. Patrick Pentland and Jay Ferguson looked deader than usual, even turning their backs to the audience on more than one occasion. I suggest you do your research in the future, kids; maybe the assorted cursing and yelling when the lights went up should have been a clue. When a Sloan show ends and I've still got time for the 10:30 p.m. show- ing of "American Beauty," I am not being delivered a maybe. If Madonna hadn't dropped out of the University, she would have probably risen to the occasion. Regarding role models, why do woment "not have role models to emulate," as Kamins believes? I consider my mother and grand- mothers to be role models, in ways that tran- scend the kind of narrow evaluation criteria used by Kamins. When we evaluate success in this way, we inherit a definition handed down from our sexist foreparents. My grandmother never played in the NCAA; however, I still look up to her (and she wasn't even redshirted). I recall a high school graduation speech made by a friend. His mother was his hero@ plain and simple. His speech made plain her role model status. To this day, I consider it one of the most genuine and inspirational sights I have ever seen. Models can be male or female,, so can role models. Also, there are a lot of young women who , will not end up with the privilege of attending-, the University. These are the girls who don't get called on three out of 10 times in junior high math classes, the ones whose participa tion in athletics is inhibited by their particular eating disorder, often known as "vegetarian-, ism." These are the women who need role models. More specifically, they need roleo models like Kamins, articulate females in col- lege who can inspire them to aim for the stars. There are large numbers of women in our country (some less than an hour away from Ann Arbor by car) who exist in a void where women are not created equal to men. They've never heard of glass ceilings, and unless something is done to share some of what we learn in Enlightenment 101, they probably never will. It's time that we realize that one does not have to be a CEO, movie star or athlete to be a role model. Kamins, as well as all those who feel like there are no good role models out there, would do well to appoint themselves. MATTHEW MURPHY LSA SENIO Affirmative action to already overcrowded prisons. Even though the economy is strong, there are still many people who have difficulty affording life's essentials. This should not be forgotten because of the current economic prosperity. But the results of the Census Bureau's report provide an insight into a pos- sible solution. Education is a key factor in the battle against poverty, and the government should help by increasing educational fund- RYAN MOLONEY supporters insincere; LSA JUNIOR Ta .n L IMn mifliLt t I 10 THE DAILY: