4 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, October 22, 1999 (7I didligt Batill 420 Maynard Street HEATHER KAIINS Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Editor in Chief daily.letters@umich.edu xu Killing centipedes for world peace Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan f kY jz 6 ,W JEFFRE KOSSEFF DAtxID XWALLACE Editorial Page Editors Unless otherwise noted, unsigned editorials reflect the opinion of the majority oflthe Dailv:s editorial hoard. All other articles, letters and cartoons do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Michigan Daily C Comed aher 'round Daily called for a unified student movement After you have hied with someone for awhile, there is not mauch you don't know about him or her. Mi roommate and I swere friends when we cere little, so we came to school already knowinc a few vital pieces of Infor- mation about each other. I remember her as the girl at summer camp with, curly brow n hair who had the same x name as me (Jen),_ k the same favorite color as me (purple), and who Pit ketchup x on everything she ate (everrthin).f After a year of ]It- tng in the dorm with Strausz her and a fens months of living in our apartment. I have come to an even greater understanding of my room- mate. Not only doll know more about what it is that she likes, I have also come to know about and be compassionate towards her dislikes. She definitely has the same understanding of mine. I was thinking about this the other day while I was standing, shivering, in a towel. with the water from my hair drip- ping all over the copy of The Michigan Daily that was on our kitchen table While Jen is not sery experienced at killing insects. I have a feeling that her "trap the centipede in a blue plastic cup" imethod would not be recommended by the coun- trv's best insect killing schools. It does not seem very tuie-efIficient, it is diffi- cuii to tell if the centipede is actually in the cup and there's the problem of decid- tng shat to do sith it once you're pretty sure it's there. You can't flush a plastic eup d ossn the toilet. But regardless of her technique, the poitt is that my roommate took care of the situation forime. She knows that an itsect sthin 10 feet of me. especially a big scary one, is my absolute least tan orite thing in the whole world. except maybe for Sarin rap (I hate the way it sticks to itself). So when I came out of the shower and said "centipede," she did not give it a moment's thought. She paused her game of FreeCell, grabbed a plastic cup and got to work. She took care of the centipede, made sure that the rest of the bathroom was safe and even checked the insides of my shoes for insects (I have nightmares about that). When I thanked her afterwards. Jenjust smiled and said. "We look out for each other." I guess we do look out for each other, but my jobs seem much easier than hers. I do things for her that I really don't mind doing. I'll look out the window to see what the mailman is wearing if Jenis to call). She'll have the steamed seggie@ chipati on wheat, please, with no mush- rooms. extra tomatoes and raspberry s inaicrette. She will mo e 'Dance Parts '99' out of our living room if I am trying to study for a midterm. She'll answer when people ask us questions about han ing the same first name ( )Cs. it does per a i/ttle ui con- usin' especial/y wO the phone, hur ito. it 's not tio a. Thank eou mr asking). and she will tell them about the three Omars that lived together in Markley last near. If there's something moldy in the refrigerator, she'll get rid of it for me. And if there is a centipede in the sho\ er Jen Roth completely understands. It came to me, suddenly, while I was standing there, that in order to chatnge world problems and overall negativity. maybe grand solutions should only he part of the plan. I think that world attitudes sould change if everybody felt completely understood by someone else. Everybody needs someone who knows about the small things that they dislike most in the whole world. And if they dislike insects, everybody should find someone who dis- likes insects a little bit less than they do - someone who will stop what they're doing to take care of the problem.-I think that outlooks and actions would start to change. We wouldn't feel alone. But for now, Roth and I have a world problem of our own: We're more than uring the Cambodian invasion of 1970, campuses all over the country exploded in protest. Thousands of students angrily denounced the Nixon administration, and these denunciations had a substantial effect. No longer could the United States govern- ment commit open atrocity and proclaim it to the world as a victory for the forces of free- dom. Whatever one's political outlook, it is dif- ficult to challenge the fact that anti-war demonstrations have had a major effect on policy implementation in this country. And most of these past demonstrations have occurred through a "spontaneous combus- tion"- an eruption of outrage at a particular course of action. Yet there are many weaknesses with this approach. First of all, it leaves the anti-war move- ment in a state of virtual rigor mortis when there is no conspicuous immorality to protest. Thus, we have seen a mood of apathy prevail over the campuses during the last year, with profile of the war dropping lower and lower. The administration has learned that a purely visual "winding down" of the war can be as effective in stifling dissent as would vir- tual end to the hostilities. With fewer American casualties and more soldiers com- ing home, the administration can throw up the facade that the war is drawing to a close. More than anything else, this has illustrat- ed the problems of spontaneous demonstra- tions, yet the fact that U.S. atrocities are not quite as blatant now should not serve to thwart the anti-war movement. The move- ment must be an ongoing activity, which con- stantly points out the interconnection of gov- ernmental policy. It must, for example, link the war to economic stagnation at home, and show the connections between overseas n >. .a ~s : y ; i a ,l , ' ' a "