4 - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, October 19, 1999 &be £iiigan &ailg 420 Maynard Street Ann Arbor, MI 48109 daily.letters@umich.edu Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan k& , Y HE AT HER KANIINS 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. At the polls Students take an increased part in government Academic writing Eschew obftiscation. My I10th-grade Eiglish teacher taught me that, and boy. she didn't know academic writing very w\ell. did she? This piece of advice. which means "avoid purposely making something unclear:'J comes back to me almost every time I' open a coursepack. Invariably, these foul, expensive little class- room accessories come crammed with verbiage. Big, heavy, Samsonite verbiage. Were an editor to take the equivalent of a weed-whacker to one. David he or she surely Wallace would emerge with perhaps as many as three or four useful pages of text. (Attention! Before we go any further, I would like to make a potentially grade-saving caveat should any of my instructors or profes- sors accidentally read this column. I do not blame any one person for the overwrought style of academic journals, nor do I harbor ill will toward those choosing to use said infor- mation. I read them and often take several good ideas from them. This column, for one.) Where was I? Oh yes, academic writings make Tolstoy and Dickens look efficient. I am in my fourth year of dealing with them -- the writings, not Tolstoy and Dickens - and I've found the obtuse style crosses dis- ciplines from English to history to psychol- ogy and beyond, I do not dispute that most articles in a coursepack contain valuable research. But why someone uses 20 pages for a point that never heard the phrase, requires five. I don't know. When I open Roget nea some of these articles and count the pages Increas to read. I often think ofa quote attributed to "Dave, Ambrose Bierce, whose humorous. sour found a w writings make lemons wince. I've elimi Bierce once remarked. "The covers of If the f this book are too far apart." lective cri Maybe my journalistic influence colors reason to my view a little. After all, newspapers strive and lengt for consummate clarity and slash excess code-brea language. If we r But one should remember that break- can put to through articles published in academic jour- U Not nals often end up summarized in 10-inches rule rewr: of newspaper print. Somewhere between the veyed in, lengthy academic style and a 10-inch sum- incorpora mary lies a strong piece of writing with a the intere subsequently larger audience. for the hi I do not know how academic writing U The began. Long ago, perhaps, a coffee-swilling enfor ced intellectual remarked to his cohort, "I know Arti big words. Do you know big words too?" that do n And ever since, all of academia has been shall be s writing articles until eventually, one lucky Aca scholar will write the piece that no one can another a understand, but that everyone agrees is ing reade extremely important. And we will find it in frequentl our coursepacks. authors Other students express a more conspira- In sum torial theory. They maintain the authors of importan such pieces write longer to secure increased problemi royalties. More pages equal more money. tion the We've all heard the expression, "That's a Academi 50-cent word." Maybe we know where it remembe came from. And with inflation, that 50-cent "Life is t word could be a $5 word a few years down Perhap the line. For example, a sociologist might now sayi describe an area as "poor." But wait, that Or ma word is at most a few pennies. Now, "impe- above fr cunious," that's a buck and a half. is comm The major drawback to academic writing as roomt is the time you need to read it. I spend hours - D wading through articles stocked with words 'simply said' arly forgot about. ing numbers of you might say. forget about coursepacks. I've Nay to cut the time spent on them. nated reading them altogether!" aculty has recovered from its col- inge, 1I11 continue. This is a prime edit academic writing for clarity h. People shun reading requiring a aker. eally study academic writing, we ogether the principles it follow s: hing shall be simply said. (This itten as: "All content possibly con- an expedient manor shall instead ate several additional wordings in est of fulfilling acceptable norms ghest level of research.) use of passive voice gill be at all times. cles extending beyond 20 pages ot put students to sleep by page 17 tricken from the academic world. ademic writers must reference author's academic writing, assum- ers not only know the author, but y dine and exchange gifts with the family. n, language should not bog down t research. Exclusivity is a major in the academic world, not to men- time readers must contribute. ia's writers would do well to r Anatole France, who once said, oo short, and Proust is too long." ps you agree with me, and are right ng to yourself, "Wow, that's cool." gybe you're saying, "Egad, that is vezing yet discernably below what only thought of in the mainstream temperature!" David W/lace can he reached over e-mail at davidm a uimich.cdii. GH NB 4 It's not every day a fellow classmate gets to pull some weight down at city hall, but that may all soon change due to student par- ticipation in local government. This year, LSA senior Gabriel Quinnan and Rackham student Charles Goodman are both cam- paigning with the Libertarian Party for spots on the city council, while LSA senior Jeff Irwin is running for the Washtenaw County Commissioner's Office under the Democratic ticket. Student participation in local govern- ment can be extremely beneficial to members of the University community. Student representation on the Ann Arbor City Council provides a voice for students' concerns that might otherwise go ignored. Problems like high housing cost, which are of greater concern to students who typically have less money than working adults, could be addressed with intense vigor and renewed understanding. As adults, students have a right to help set the moral and developmental direction of their city. Student candidates would possess the ability to do all this and more if given a chance to serve. The University and its students already affect Ann Arbor in many non-governmental ways. Student membership would further recognize the city's connection to members of the University and vice versa. By running for public office, student can- didates lead by example, promoting a level of activism and public service rarely seen these days. Even though two of the student hope- fuls are running under a non-traditional third party and therefore may not find the support needed to win, they are making an effort to participate in their community - an example all students can learn from. . This is not the first time students have tried to take an active role in Ann Arbor's city government. When 18-year-old citizens became eligible to vote and received the right to run for public office in 1972, a surge of interest previously unseen occurred. Three students were elected from the Human Rights Party in the '70s and caused quite a disrup- tion on the city council, prompting the coun- cil to redraw the city's voting districts. No new voting wards are occupied by a majority of students and therefore decrease the likeli- hood of a student being elected. Candidates like this year's bring attention to students' lack of representation in local government even though they make up one third of the voting population. As students vie for seats, the activities spotlight the voting wards' discriminatory nature. Ann Arbor's charter calls for the five council wards to be drawn in a pie-slice shape with its center in downtown near the Diag, thus dividing the student populations that live north, south, east and west of central campus. Through being elected or even just through running, students can bring attention to the present situation and hopefully take steps to correct it. Student candidates need all the help they can get. Even if a member of the University community does not agree with a student's political standpoint, he or she must under- stand the -benefit of someone representing students' concerns. Many issues, especially those facing students, are non-partisan and therefore do not concern a council mem- ber's party affiliation. Students should fol- low the lead of students like Quinnan, Goodman and Irwin and take a role in local government. ixl 9 CHIP CULLEN Daily gave 'false impression' of Penn state - L(°* - -j After the trials Ann Arbor should avoid future KKK visits TO THE DAILY: I laughed when I saw the headline "Penn State faculty strike postponed." which appeared on Oct. 14 as the lead Higher Education article. I didn't laugh because I harbored any anti-Penn State feelings. Rather. I laughed because the strike really has absolutely nothing to do with Penn State. True, the Pennsv ania State Systen f Higher Education is threatening a strike. But, Penn State University, a la The Pennsylvania State University, has no ties to this system. The system consists of 14 schools around Pennsylvania, such as Bloomsburg University, Shippensburg University and Vest Chester University. In fact, the article originally appeared in the West Chester Quad (with an accurate head- line), not the Penn State Daily Collegian. It's funny how "West Chester Universi" was absent in front of "The Quad" in the article's by-line, but lower on the page the article from the "Columbia Daily Spectator" was fully noted as such. Also, it is a misnomer to identify William Fulmer as "Penn State faculty union president." as he has no ties to Penn State. If the Daily is trying to give a false impression of Penn State to the Ann Arbor area, it has succeeded. Because of the inac- curate headline, I think readers got a blem- ished view of Penn State, whether they read the article or not. If that's the only way an Ann Arbor publication can blemish Penn State, I guess that's fine. Certainly the foot- ball team from Ann Arbor will not be able to blemish the team from the real "Penn State" on the field later this season. JASON NEISS RACKHAM STUDENT 9. s~ . I " y '.~ do -8fH F060 044* 1 kC, to-tot-11 i The weather on May 9, 1998 was sunny and warm but Ann Arbor's atmosphere was much more heated. The city ofAnn Arbor had given the Ku Klux Klan license to hold a rally in front of City Hail. Protecting the hate- mongers were anti-riot police and numerous yellow-clad volunteers to keep the peace. Dwarfing their number were hundreds of pro- testers from all over the Mid-West who had come to make sure that the Klan members' voices would be drowned out. Behind fences and barricades, Klan members spewed their rhetoric of hatred, inciting the anti-Klan pro- testers to riot. Protesters threw stones and glass bottles at police and destroyed the fence protecting the hate-mongers. Police used pep- per and tear gas on the crowd, making eight arrests before the scene passed. This incident has come back to the fore- front in lieu of the ongoing trials for the anti- racist protesters. Such is the legacy of the Ku Klux Klan in Ann Arbor. Prosecuting these protesters does little in preventing such a debacle from occurring again. The Klan members instigated the riot with their speech, and the city bears some responsibility for not preventing the violence. The Ku Klux Klan obviously does not deserve the treatment the city of Ann Arbor gave it at the last rally - though the mem- bers' rights mandate some of that treatment. Since its founding shortly after the Civil War, the KKK has been responsible for inciting and organizing countless racist acts under the pre- tense of furthering the cause of "white" peo- ple. The Klan is responsible for thousands of murders, burnings, lynchings, riots and other heinous crimes against humanity. In its cur- rent form, since its resurgence in the 1970s, Such a group should not receive the amenities the city of Ann Arbor provided for its last visit. The steps to the Ann Arbor City Hall are prime real-estate for activist rallies, and the city was under no obligation to supply the Klan with such a site. This only made the Klan feel more welcome in Ann Arbor. In the future, the city of Ann Arbor should try to avoid being a battleground for white supremacist groups seeking attention. The Daily supported the Klan's right to free speech on its prior two visits. While the Klan demands the right to assemble under the First Amendment, after two riots, the Klan's speech has become the equivalent of yelling "fire" in a crowded movie theater. The KKK's rhetoric during such rallies causes violent reactions from anti-racist demonstrators and threatens minority citizens. Other cities have found ways of resisting a visit from the Klan. Last Friday, New York City denied the KKK a permit based on an obscure loitering law about wearing masks. Ohio has been through two major cases on the issue recently. Cincinnati police fought to can- cel a KKK rally on the grounds that it spread their enforcement too thin. In the same month, Cleveland officials attempted to avert a Klan rally because of the immense cost of ensuring no riots occur. The Daily does not promote violence as a means of protesting racist groups. But it is questionable for the city's judicial system to prosecute anti-racists for inciting the riot when the Klan's speech incited the crowd. The Daily promotes free speech, but the First Amendment does not give anyone the right to express themselves through riot-inducing actions. If Ann Arbor's officials wish to com- Yet the University is clearly violating this act. Racial preference in college admis- sions is just as wrong today as it was when Alabama Gov. George Wallace stood in the schoolhouse door at the University of Alabama. Wallace felt that, by any means necessary, he had to defend these racist policies. This notion that the end justifies the means is a very dangerous one for any organization or individual to take, no matter how right they feel they are. I feel that the only way to overcome racism is to eliminate the concept of races all together, and think of all of us as belonging to the human race. Until we can eliminate this way of classify- ing people into such groups, we will never overcome the division and conflict that these ridiculous classifications cause. ERIC NYMAN ENGINEERING JUNIOR Gandhi's teachings offer guidance in wake of rally trials Diag preachers give inaccurate views TO THE DAILY:S Finally! As of 10/11/99 I finally found something that I agree with in Jack Schillaci's Column "Slam it to the Left: The diag preachers are a nuisance. In fact, they can be downright annoying. "But wait," you say, "aren't you a Christian?" Well, uh, yes I am. Call me a traitor to my faith, but I take serious issue with some of the evangelists on the Diag. I have heard some of them speak and have argued with many of them for misrepresenting the Bible and the mes- sage of Christ. Just last week, one of them told mydChristian friend that - by pursuing his graduate degree in engineering - he was serving two masters (God and the University). I challenge this minister to pro- duce Scripture to support such a ridiculous claim! The book of Ecclesiastes expressly states that "whatever your hand finds to do, do with you might." Who is this person to assume greater authority than the Scripture, they claim to preach? Who are they to judge my friend's motivation? What worries me most about these preachers is that they may be turning people off to Christianity on this campus. Now I don't know their hearts, but I do know that I'm repelled by their angry sounding shouts. I'm always upset by things done in the name of Christianity that are such dis- tortion of Scripture - shooting of abortion- ists, the Crusades, the list could go on for quite a while. But for a moment forget about these things. Tune out the shouts of the Diag preachers and ask yourself the questions that really matter. A good one to start with the the cliche "WWJD?" Seriously, honestly - if Jesus were to appear on our Diag, would he be wearing a sandwich board and screaming at people? Would he shoot an abortionist? Was this type of behavior ever his approach? Now - his love for people was what motivated.. him to act. And his manner was gentle. He did preach on "heavy topics" that should be considered when studying Scripture, but his whole life was one of selflessness and love. Even if you don't believe Christ was who he said he was - can you really mock such a man? So often his name is jeered at and used U admissions policies violate civil rights To THE DAILY: As the National Day of Action in sup- port of affirmative action nears, it is impor- tant for us to reflect on affirmative action's goals and impact on our society. Proponents of affirmative action often mention that a diverse student body is one of the most important things that our University can have to enhance our overall education, and I completely agree. However, the definition of "diversity" that seems to be used puzzles me. Why is it that diversity automatically means racial diversity'? I have many friends who are of different races and ethnic backgrounds, and I often find myself to have more in common with them than with friends of my own race. Diversity comes from people's thoughts, actions and beliefs, not from the color of TO THE DAILY: In honor of Gandhi's Day of Service, I am writing to remind each of us of a potent "alternative medicine" for healing our world. This medicine is peace. In light of the recent anti-KKK rally trials, I offer three age-old suggestions: 1. Teach peace by example. Violent reac- tions lend credence to messages that might be more effectively disarmed by a strong, peaceful presence, such as the circle who gathered to protest last year's KKK rally with a silent, powerful show of community. 2. Tell the truth. Let's be honest - a handful of protesters are standing trial not for confronting racism, but for their allegedly violent mode of expression. We must take great care not to "cry wolf" when it comes to identifying racism, because false claims such as "AAPD is on an anti- racist witch hunt" only serve to dilute the credibility of true reports of racism in our midst. As for the legal action, as much as I sympathize with the protesters' cause, to me such action seems necessary, for once we set a precedent of condoning violence "for a i