- h'e Michigan Daily - Wednesday, October 20, 1999

J Maynard Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48109v
daily.letters@umich.edu
Edited and managed by
students at the
University of Michigan
Unless otherwise noted, unsigned editorial
Dailvy' editorial board. All other articles, let
the opinion of The
Crash ai
Online investingc
T he Dow Jones Industrial Average took one
of the biggest plunges of the year last
Friday, taking back 266.90 points to close at
10019. For the week, the index had its biggest
one week loss in history, losing close to 6 per-
cent. Investors were taken aback by the release
of higher than expected U.S. producer prices,
raising the fear of inflation and the possibility
of a third interest rate hike of the year. Many
student investors on campus felt the effect of
the market downturn. So this raises the ques-
tion: Should you be investing in the stock mar-
ket? The tempting answer is, "yes." The stock
market's recent bullish tendencies are enticing.
But if you're a student on a limited budget, you
should consider the impact a crash would have
on your finances.
With the boom of online trading services
and the availability of free information over the
Internet, investing in the stock market has
become a national pastime. The media has
helped fuel the nation's obsession. This past
summer, the headlines that graced Newsweek
were "Everyone's Getting Rich But Me" The
media constantly reports about individuals who
retire at age 30 with millions of dollars in their
pocket because of the stock market. This has
led many students on campus to put their earn-
ings, savings and even their tuition money in
the extremely volatile stock market in the hopes
of making easy money.
But students need to be especially careful
when investing in a bouncy stock market.
Students usually do not have the time - or the
risk equity - to be aggressive traders. Many
students who do not have the available funds
often buy stocks on margin, which is borrow-
ing money from the brokerage firm. But when
the stock market takes a dramatic dip, as it did
last week, the brokerage firm issues a margin
call, which demands the investor to pay back
the money or risk liquidation. Some students
start investing in the stock market with the
Death to ti
Abu-Jamal's case dem
A fter a 17-year struggle, one of the most
controversial court cases in recent years
may be at an end. Last week, Pennsylvania
Gov. Tom Ridge signed a new death warrant
for former radio journalist and Black Panther
Mumia Abu-Jamal. Since his conviction in the

slaying of Philadelphia police officer Daniel
Faulkner in 1982, his case has become a cause
celebre for opponents of the death penalty. But
the U. S. Supreme Court has rejected his
request for a new trial.
Despite the rejection of his appeal by the
Supreme Court, Abu-Jamal has continued to
protest his innocence for 17 years. And it is
certainly true that his case is full of problems:
Abu-Jamal's lawyers contend that his rights
were violated when he was denied the right to
represent himself in court, and that he was
wrongly removed from the courtroom'after a
confrontation with witnesses. But regardless
of Abu-Jamal's guilt or innocence, he should
not be executed.
The government should not have the right
to execute its citizens. The criminal justice
system is often biased when administering
capital punishment. Factors such as race and
socioeconomic status very often influence
sentencing; minorities and those of a lower
socioeconomic status are far more likely to be
sentenced to death than upper-class whites. It
is unconscionable that a system that seeks to
deal out justice can be so biased.
Most importantly, unlike any other legal
sentence, the death penalty is completely
irrevocable. A person wrongly sentenced to
life imprisonment can be released, but some-
- - - -

yaniatftlv Duck and Cover! Sa
'jvcryone beware! We are all living in
HEAuii:HER KAMINS J2: a radioactive wasteland! tEvery day
Editor in Chief we are bombarded with radiation!
Sounds like panic, but in a way its
true. We niay not live in any wasteland,
JEFFREY KOSSEFF but we do get
DAVID WAlLACE exposed to radiation.
it comes from the
Editorial Page Editors sky, the ground,
brick and granite
s reflect the opinion of the majority of the buildings and each 8
ters and cartoons do not necessarily reflect other. In one year, t'
Michigan Daily. your average non-
smoker can expect to
receive around 360
E ® IL millirem of radia-
tion.
Don't worry
id about it. Since the Mike
beginning of time, Lopez
humanity has always
n spell a sreceived the same
can spe ll isaster yearly dosage. When s,.
you consider that the
notion that the stock market can buy them a general public's exposure from nuclear
new car or pay their rent for the coming month. reactors is less than 0.03 millirem per
Any finance major will tell you that if you are year, the threat posed by your local
nuclear power plant suddenly seems to be
trying to get the stock market to pay your way overshadowed by the radioactive pack of
through life, you are better off putting your Marlboro's in your pocket. (Smokers get
money under your bed. More often then not, 16,000 millirem per year. Ouch!)
people with this thinking lose money. Myths abound about nuclear energy.
There is not enough room to go into a
This raises the question about the wisdom detailed discourse, but perhaps a few
in investing tuition money in the market. The FACTS will encourage you do your own
first rule in investing is to not use money that research and find the truth for yourself.
cannot be lost. This means that if you were to First of all, nuclear power plants cannot
explode like nuclear bombs. They are
lose all your money, it would not affect your entirely different animals. Chernobyl was
daily living. For students who invest their a steam explosion, not a nuclear explo-
tuition money, they are in a very threatening sion. Since 1957, the total amount of
position. Also, the risk is tremendous for a stu- accumulated spert fuel in the nation is
dent who owns very few stocks. In a market
that is extremely volatile, money can be made
or lost in the blink of an eye. Besides the risk of
losing money, another cost associated with the
stock market is time. Students who invest in the
market often find themselves obsessed with THE EDITOR
what's happening on Wall Street. Whether it's
checking stock quotes every five minutes or Rec buildings need
gluing their eyes on CNBC, this can become
unhealthy new equipment
The stock market is much more risky than
what is portrayed in advertising and the media. TO THE DAILY:
But this does not mean you should not give the Picture the scene: 1982. Hundreds of stu-
stock market a thought. It is a great place to dnts on any given day crowd their way into
the weight room at the Central Campus
make long-term investments, especially since Recreation Building to work out on the brand
the returns can be much more than the 2 per- new equipment as a means of releasing some
cent in a savings account. Students who invest of their school-induced stress.
need careful planning and wisdom. This means Now picture the sate scene i I999:
Hundreds of studets crowd itto the ('CRtt to
using money that is expendable, building a work out on the same equipment that's been
diversified portfolio and actually researching there for nearly two decades.
stocks instead of just listening to rumors. In the four years that I've been at school
Another aspect that students need to look at is here. I've seen hardly any changes made at
either the ('(RH or Ittratura building
the time frame in which they are working. For weight rooms. The equipment is poorly main-
those who are using the stock market as a tained and out of date, and the space is severe-
means of saving, it is often wise just to hold on ly overcrowded.
to the stocks for a couple of years. But for those At a school of this size, which puts mil-
lions of dollars a year into making sure that
who are looking to make money fast, they varsity athletes have the best sate of the an
should also be willing to lose money fast. equipment, some effort should be put into tak-
ing care of the needs of the rest of the student
body. After all, we are paying thousands and
l e n a lthousands of dollars to go to school here
ADAM TOBIA
ionstrates weaknesses LSA SENIOR
one executed for their alleged crime will never Freedom of
have a chance to be compensated for the
wrongful conviction. speech' excuse to
Finally, it is hypocritical for the govern-
ment to punish convicted killers by commit-

ting the very crime for which they claim to be
delivering justice. If it is wrong for an individ- To THE DAILY:
usl o cmmi muder it s eualy wongfor 1 truly enjoyed reading the satirical srticle.
ual to commit murder, it is equally wrong for "Reader: Drag show was undeserving of cov-
a state to do so. erage" by Nikhil Kumar (10/18199). The
Early this year, a journalism class at irony in this letter was deep and penetrating,
Northwestern University helped to overturn atd raised a tumber of impontant questions
the death sentence of a man who was wrongly 'about the relationship beiweenitIhe freedom of
expression, and the rallying for ignorance and
convicted of a double murder. In the state of prejudice.
Illinois alone, there have been nine death-row This letter finds its clearest expression in
inmates set free after their innocence was the bititgly ironic statetnt "Forthose of you
provn. his egsthequesionof hw mn y who believe this letter is an sntack of the gay
proven. This begs the question of how many community - think otherwise. I am simply
other wrongful convictions have been over- exercising my First Amendment rights" The
looked. It should not take a determined group obvious stupidity of this juxtaposition shocks
of college students to do the work of the police the reader into facing an important issue:
and he justice system. If a journalism class "Freedom of speech" is more and more fre-
quently being used as an excuse to insult and
can determine that a convicted man was iMno- bash on some group of people, rather than to
cent, why can't the government do so? And in express any thoughtful point of view.
a case as full ofholes as Abu-Jamal's, carrying if freedom of speech is meant to increase
tthe death penalty would be a grave risk, the diversity of ideas and prevent oppression
out e aby a majority viewpoint, what does it mean
Regardless of the eventual fate of Abu- when that same freedom is used to claim we
Jamal, his case has done a great deal to bring should not hear about the activities or interests
about debate over the death penalty. But that of sone minority groups? As is made plain in
debae souldnotquie don wih te en of this article, these are issues that need to be
debate should not quiet down with the end of addressed.
the furor over a trendy case. Death-row The fact that this article is satirical and
inmates who do not have the support of ironic is clear With devices ranging from use
celebrities and activists of all stripes also of the term "anti-conservative" (obviously
deserve attention. poking fun at thte linguistic stunts used on both
sides of the "anti-choice" versus "anti-life"
The government should not have the right debate), to self-consciously ignorant claims
to administer capital punishment. If one inno- like, "I cannot fathom how the affairs of ...
cent person is saved by striking down the queers can take precedence over major inter-
national crises in other countries,' we know
death penalt, it would be worth it. that the tone of this article must be ironic.
After all, no one would actually have written a
letter like that seriously - would they?
GREG STEVENS
RACKHAM STUDENT

ve Yourselves! R
one coal plant spits out 750 tho
of ash, 7 million tons of carbi
(global warming), 120 thousat
sulfur dioxide (acid rain), and
sands tons of nitrogen oxid
Chernobyl happened because t
was inherently flawed. A Unite
European reactor under the sam
stances would shut down auti
Have a question about radiatio
expert. Ask a nuclear engineer.
What comes to your mind
think of a nuclear engineer'? Bo
few nuclear engineers avoid bei
a "bomb maker" every once i
Images of mushroom clouds,
and Three Mile Island dance in
of little boys and girls. Yes, the
parts to nuclear energy. Ther
bad parts to biology and ch
guarantee that nuclear enginee
develop biological and
weapons.
Despite the "bomb maker"
nuclear engineering has a long
guished history at the Univer
have proven that nuclear ene
only attincredibly efficient,
safe way to make electricity, b
incredibly clean and safe way to
and advance scientific unde
Really, it is no lie. They have 
it for years on North Campus.
This week the 50th annive
bration of the PhoenixI
Laboratory and Ford Nuclear R
commence. Many good ment a
dedicated to the peaceful use
power will be on hand. Togethe
salute the incredible contribt
our nuclear reactor has made t
for te past 50 years.
Everyone ktows someotev
THOMAS KULJUR
AmOT E. Wlt4 SCIE
respectable newspaper, is a ne
University students and it cov
events and things happening to st
The Daily covers major internatio
other countries as well, but its ma
inforn readers of things happei
pus, in any community, which
LGBT community. Nikhil Kuma
of "Reader: Drag show was un
coverage" (10/18/99) believes th
had "wasted its time in doing
piece for the Gay and Lesbian
and that "the Daily feels it's our
Schmoe is shopping at Victoria
himself"
Two things; first, the Daily a
our business to inform us of wh
in California or Egypt or China
and sotne people wat to knows
others don't. You catt please al

pIe all of the time. If "anti-c
shows and articles are a waste oft
and space then they are just as
conservative ones. Secondly, di
evettaanend the evettt? Obviousl
because tis opition is at exam'
exactly the program was for, to c
stereotypes of what drag is.
RE
L
Drag show wac
newsworthy e
TO THE DAILY:
As two of "the Universit'
claimed queers," please let
moment to respond to Monday'
letter to the editor "Reader: Dra
undeserving of coverage." What
Nikhil Kumar failed to rea
"Conceptions of Drag," part oft
Coming Out Week celebration,
worthy event, deserving of equ
in the Daily, just as other Comit
events have in the past. By del
the responsibility of the free pr
issues of public interest - pub
the incredibly diverse popula
University. Thus, the Daily has
write about all campus activitie
tive or liberal, sotne of wh
Gandhi Day of Service, Dance
religious speakers in the Diag
LGBT events.
The purpose of "Conceptio
was to challenge gender b
explain that gender roles' shi
defined by what one chooses to
one chooses to act. It was s
"show for cross-dressers, trans
others who belong on the Jer
show." The LGBT community
contributing members of the
"real people," many of which
"traditional" gender roles. Evet
personally, are not cross-dress
vestites, we do value the custo
lures of LGBT members, as we

adiation is Everywhere!
usand tons has been threatened by cancer. Tragically,
on dioxide some didn't make it. Thankfully, some
nd tons of did. It may be that those who did owe
1 20 thou- their lives, in part, to Ford Nuclear
e (smog). Reactor. The reactor produces radioactise
he reactor isotopes used in PET scans, cancer diag-
d States or nosis and cancer therapy. These isotopes
ne circum- are shipped to 52 hospitals in 24 states
omatically. and three Canadian provinces.
'? Ask an The Cobalt-60 gamma irradiator at the
Ford reactor is used to sterilize food#
when you Gamma radiation doesn't make things
tnbs? Very radioactive. It only kills microbes and
ing called insects that cause food poisoning. The
n a while. gamma irradiator is also used to sterilize
Chernobyl human bone and cartilage. This aids the
the heads patient's body in accepting the new bone.
re are bad Geologists use the Ford reactor to deter-
e are also mine the age and material content of arti-
temistry. I facts. Car manufacturers use the reactor
rs did not to see inside an engine while it is running.
chemical Ever since coming on line, it has run
without a hitch. fb
stereotype, A lot of people spread bogus informa-
and distin- tion about nuclear energy. Maybe they
sity. They have good intentions, but so did the peo-
rgy is not pIe burning witches in Salem. Do yourself
clean, and a favor and learn about it before you
tut also an knock it. Visit the NERS department
save lives homepage and click on the Cool Nuclear
.rstanding. Facts link,
been doing http://wwu'nkc'gin.umnich.edu/dept/unuclear.
Educate yourself. If you and a grow
rsary cele- would like to see just how safe and welI
Memorial run the Ford Nuclear Reactor is, call 764-
eactor will 6220 and schedule a time to see it for
nd women yourself. Tour guides will be happy to
of nuclear show you around and share facts about
.r they will nuclear energy.
utions that Mike Lopez is a graduate siudeni
o humanity in iuclear eiineering. Ie can be
reac'/edvia e-mital at
whose life imtauutargrcatntdii'h.edti.
GIS k..N AT.. E ..SPEA K N
- ~
4r
wspaper for toms and cultures of all students. The
ers campus LGBTA is a place, just like ISA, KSA or
udents here. Hillel, where a student can find his or her
nal crises in home in this large academic institution.
in goal is to To single out the LGSTA as the only org
ing on cam- nizalion undeserving of coverage itt our
includes the school newspaper, and instead depicting us as
ir, the writer a "freak show" is blatantly ignorant and nar-
deserving of row-minded. In addition, saying that
at the Daily University money should not be utilized to
another puff fund an event which attempts to instill positive
community" attitudes towards the only minority group that
business Joe is still socially acceptable to be prejudiced
's Secret for against is patently offensive and an "attack of
the gay community'"

lso feels it's
at's going on LINDA MATES
or anywhere, LSA SENIOR
this stuff atd STEPHANIE POTTER
I of the pej- ENGINEERING SOPHOMORE
onservative"
time, money
must as the At tack was
d the writer
plehed t |contradictory
hallenge the
TO THE DAILY:
We would like to respond 10 the Oct. I8
BECCA Y00 letterwritten to the Daily, "Reader: Drag .shw
SA SENIOR was undeserving of coverage." First of all,
Kumar's comment concerning the exercise of
his First Amendment rights is well taken how-
S ever, his request to overlook his letter as an
attack on the gay community is sadly contra-
vent dicting. His last statement clearly shows his
offensive attack on the gay community
implying that cross dressers, among othr
who similarly deter from the "norms" i
y's self-pro- society, belong on the likes of the Jerry
us take a Springer show.
s (10/18/99) To assert that LGBT issues are even
ig Show was undeserving of coverage is indisputably
LSA senior undermining of the gay community by
lize is that implying that their identity is irrelevant or
the National secondary in the greater context of society.
was a news- Understandably so, international issues are
ual coverage of great importance; however, he considers
ng Out Week "these anti-conservative shows" a "coi
finition, it is plete waste of space and timer
ress to cover Furthermore, he states that "drag queen
lic, meaning ishows are not the typical front-page materi-
tion at the al of a respectable newspaper.
the duty to Well, what constitutes as typical, front-
s, conserva- page material in your apparently conserva-
ich include tive world? Is it the agenda of College
e Marathon, Republicans bringing Dinesh D'Souza to
as well as campus in order to show us that racism no
longer exists? If you are seeking this type of
ins of Drag" coverage, we suggest a subscription to the
arriers and Michigan Review. The Daily covers what
ould not be happening on campus and if it happens to
wear or how be something "anti-conservative" then it is,
imply not a by no means, the fault of the Daily.
vestites and The University is a liberal campus and
rry Springer events such as the pageant will only expand
consists of as will the diversity and perspectives of its
University, population.

o
t,
L
\ _ r G
=y I Jo
1 06
q 72
a

Coverage of all
student activities is
the Daily's job
TO THE DAILY:
If I amn ot mistaken, the Daily, a

live outside
n though we,
ers or trans-
mis and cul-
ll as the cus-

RUPAL PATEL
ENGINEERING JUNIOR
AMI PATB
BUSINESS SENIOR
I