4 - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, December 7, 1999 420 Maynard Street HEATHEF Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Editor dailyletters@umich.edu a Edited and managed by JEFFREY students at the DAvID R KAMINS in Chief KOSSEFF WALLACE age Editors University of Michigan Editorial P 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. FROM T HE DAIL.Y Stalled out Code review process should pick up the pace Its about time Exploring questions on the millennium (1 n'' yells the raucous crow d in the Observatory reports the atomic clock is millennium. It also i nores olor calendar; T imes square as confetti falls and accurate to "one second in 1,400.000 with differinL dates for ithe Ie s ir noisemakers toot. Only nine seconds years.' Nice of this information to coic alon remain until the big ball drops and all four It's little wonder then that the .S. Naval and screw everything up. \\e'e already got numbers in the date turn over for the mile- Observatory is "the official source of time plans to ring in the ness millennium. Maybe stone -2000. for the Department of Defense and the you'll be in Miami for the Orange Bowl. We love to count standard of time for the United States." Maybe you'll be in Times Square whooping down the last ten see- Because one atomic clock wouldn't be it up. But you'll be a year early. onds. But I started enough of an accurate measurement on its It's irritating because 2000 is a nice, wondering how we own, the Observatory operates 70 of them, round number to begin with. It's made to know exactly what and averages their measurements. This is all start a millennium. but like us, it's arrivinI time it is. Hos do we in the name of good science. and keeping be fore its time. get our measures of with the requirements of good science. it's I think I have a perfectly unscientific pla* time? cool. to make everything work: Let's say there I found out all I If you would like to get into the heavy-duty was a year 0, and that nothing happened. needed to know. For specifics of atomic clocks and time measure- Year 0 was completely unremarkable, so example, with each ment, check out the U.S. Naval Observatory's we'll make no mention of it. second, we're actual- Website (tvcho.usno.narm.til). Ironically, you The year is the equivalent of a kid getting ly counting down David could lose track of the time exploring all the home from school. Father Time asks. "So, from more than 9 Wallace information. what did you do today, Zero'?" million. E .. So I'm reasonably confident we can tell "Nothing." Zero replies. It's true. I looked it exactly what time it is when the year "Got any homework?" up on the U.S. Naval changes over. But I'm not confident we're "Eh." A shrug of the shoulders, and he Observatory's Website entering a new millennium, disappears into his room. (nacho.usno.nav.mil/cesiiint.html). In 1967, Plenty ofadvertisements tout "the new mil- Think about it. We'll suspend anythin* the 13th General Conference on Weights and lennium." I even considered calling this col- that carries over from B.C. to A.D. to pre- Measures defined the second as, stay with me umn "my final column of the millennium.' serve the dates. here, "the duration of 9,192,631.770 cycles of Of course, I knew some nerd would point No wars. Nobody is born and nobody microwave light absorbed or emitted by the out, "The millennium doesn't start until dies. No end of the year best and worst lists. hyperfine transition of cesium-133 atoms in Jan. 1, 2001." Positive developments remain largely their ground state undisturbed by external This is technically correct, because our unnewsworthy. The year was good, but fields.' Atomic clocks use this standard to calendar does not incorporate a year 0. bland. give us our most accurate measure of time. Instead, our calendar was arranged to It's completely unscientific, but let's Ugh. Now I remember why I'm an reflect the first year of Christ's life, and just say year 0 exists, and then never English major. But here goes nothing. As I begins at I A.D. So if a millennium com- speak of it again. That way, the millenni understand the process in unscientific prises 1,000 years, the first millennium um begins Jan. 1, 2000 and we're a terms, the atomic clock measures the fre- A.D. ends on Dec. 31, 1000, and our own happy. quency of microwave light absorbed and millennium ends not on Dec. 31, 1999, but As for this no wars business. maybe we emitted from cesium-133. And we decided Dec. 31, 2000. should try to have more years like 0. Years that 9,192,631,770 oscillations form one Of course, this ignores that Christ likely we find completely unremarkable. second. This is like the pendulum of a, was born a few years earlier than 1 A.D., so Of course, that would be remarkable. clock, marking a uniform unit of time. But if we're counting millenniums since Christ's - David Mallace can he reached over it's far more accurate than a pendulum - birth, we're likely already into the second e-mail at davidmw@umich.ed. ime after time, the University has delayed the review of the Code of Student Conduct. As another year concludes, the Code remains virtually the same as it was a year ago. While we strongly encourage University President Lee Bollinger to abolish the Code, in the meantime the University needs to speed up the review process. In the beginning of this year, the Michigan StudentAssembly and the Division of Student Affairs carried out reviews of the Code. The University Board of Regents was expected to "use these reports to review the Code in 'February, but since then the momentum has stalled. The Code violates basic student rights as the University uses this as an excuse to raise the social standards of students higher than those of the criminal justice system. Students choose to attend the University so they can develop personal values and beliefs. Instead, the Code forces a set of values on students which hinders the development process. These include "equality, freedom and safety" among others, all of which are "dedicated to maintaining a scholarly community." The Code of Student Conduct puts too 'much power in the hands of administrators. It allows the University to put itself in a position beyond the legal system. Crimes committed outside the University environment are still subjected to punishment under the Code, thus putting the student in a form of double jeop- ardy - one of many unfair aspects of the Code. Even the Code states "its standards of conduct, while falling within the limits of the law, may exceed federal, state or local require- ments" The Code should not be in such a posi- tion in the first place. Students can be cited for violations under the Code even if charges are resolved within the legal system. Although a student may have fulfilled the required punishment under the legal system, students still face disciplinaay action from the University. One just has to be reminded of former Michigan football player Jason Brooks to illustrate the violation of double jeopardy. Under the Code, six sanctions were placed on him. But prior to this decision, Brooks had already resolved the fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct charges brought against him in the Washtenaw County court system. In a country where double jeopardy violates the Constitution, the University is not justified to punish a student a second time for committing a single crime. The Code also lacks a formal procedure. The Code arbitration hearing is a closed process. All participants in Code hearings are required to sign a confidentiality statement and thus leave the student body in speculation as to the effectiveness of the Code. Decisions made by this panel are based highly on per- sonal bias towards an individual case and inadvertently lies down different standards to which students are subjected. Trying to seek a precedent on appropriate punishments is therefore virtually impossible. Furthermore, hearings can drag on for more than a year, during which the panelists reviewing the case change. Unlike the Engineering Honor Code, the Code of Student Conduct is non-academic. Student rights are left exposed to the adminis- tration. They must be protected. There are no reasons for the delay. Bollinger must seize the power vested in him by the Regents to make many necessary changes to the Code, if he will not abolish it altogether. L ETTERST~o CHIP CULLEN T HE Ei DeT- Snowball fight illustrated poor group behavior ' RIN IN Covering our eyes, Bill infringes on the rights of young adults T rips to Ypsilanti's adult entertain- ment nightclub Deja Vu may soon end for University students if representa- tives ainthe Michigan State House get their way. Under a bill proposed by state Rep. Michael Bishop (R-Rochester), chair of the House Constitutional Law and Ethics Committee, adults under the age of 21 would be forbidden from enter- ing adult establishments, such as strip clubs, massage parlors, book stores and topless bars. The bill also includes other regulations that increase the amount of state control within the adult entertain-. ment industry. This bill infringes on the rights of citizens more than 18 years old, but younger than 21. The concept behind the adage that helped lower the drinking age during the Vietnam War, "if you're old enough to die for your county, you're old enough to drink," applies beyond the statement's surface. After reaching 18 years of age, people are legal, voting adults. The feder- al government can both conscript them to fight in war and execute them for capital offenses. Eighteen-year-olds are free to run in most state and local elections and deemed fit to purchase both pornography and ,',-tobacco. Yet certain House representa- tives feel that although 18-year-olds can even serve as mayor of their hometowns, they are not mature enough to enter estab- lishments providing adult material. Regulating the activities of adults over the age of 18, but younger than 21, con- "'tradicts the notion of adulthood. Once people turn 18 in our society; they are given the standing of legality and the honor to participate in government. This regulation of adults over the age of 18 implies a half-adult standing, where half- adults are allowed some rights but denied others. If this is the case, denying people under the age of 21 access to adult estab- lishments sets a dangerous precedent to deny other freedoms to people more than 18 years of age but less than 21. A problem with the bill is it hinders an 18-year-old's right to purchase pornogra- phy by limiting access to it. Lawmakers seem content with the idea that people under the age of 21 can own pornography but cannot go anywhere to buy it. The idea that 18-year-olds are mature enough to own pornographic material, but not enough to purchase it, is a contradiction of terms. Nudie bars may not be on the pathway to academic enlightenment, but the First Amendment protects their existence. Lawmakers who would like to see the end of the adult entertainment industry try to .skirt the U.S. Constitution by effectively regulating the trade out of business. The bill currently in discussion does so by forcing all adult entertainment business to close by 10 p.m. Without actually participating in the constitutional amendment process, law- makers find loopholes, like closing time, to take away First Amendment rights and undermine the U.S. Constitution's purpose as a safeguard against zealous politicians. If politicians believe adult entertainment is truly inappropriate, they should attempt to change the law in a proper manner instead of sneaking through backdoors. TO THE DAILY: I had a great time at the West/South Quad Snowball throwdown Sunday night, but near the end I found myself disgusted with (in)human nature. A group of people decided that no snowball fight would be complete without kidnapping an opponent ,throwing them on the concrete and roughing them up. And once West Quad had claimed victory, dozens of people raided the lobby of South Quad dumping garbage over and destroying fuimiture. The mob ruled. It seems that whenever people get riled up over a common goal. they start to act like idiots (ie. Seattle: "Let's bust some sin- dow's for 'the m'osemetnt!"'). Out with the morals and in with whatever someone sug- gests. I can see sshere comunits gets its strength. You don't wise to wake eseryone believe in your cause. just get them to do what eseryone else is doing. I douibtatty one person would brag about how they went apeshit and trashed a lobby, but if a bunch of people do it, it's great fin! It's group pride that always seems to lead to wrongdoing. I'd find it utterly incomprehensible if esery person there did not stop and think, "this is just wrong and stupid." But,they went ahead and did it any- way. I fear to think that these people may one day be running the government. People tmight say'. "it's just a friggin' lobby' bit it's the same reasotnthat fiercely patriotic countries always seem to be at war (except Canada). I believe in the strength of humanity, but we have to start acting like humans, rather than animals. What good is intelligence if we're no better off than four-legged critters? The kind of animal behavior displayed last night won't end until people start thinking of themselves as self-sufficient entities, rather than part of a group. Down with group-identity movements! Burn every flag for the sake of humanity! BRIAN LYDIC ENGINEERING SOPHOMORE Snowball fight was exhilarating TO THE DAILY: It started getting really big around 11:30 p.m. Screams of "West Quad sucks" coin- ing through the window. A snow ball fight. "It's too cold and we'll get hit" could not compare to the embarrassment of not defending West Quad's good name. So, we went outside. The snow was awesome for packing. None of that fluffy shit. No, this was just right. Almost too right - almost ice. We grabbed as many snowballs as our arms could carry and went through Murfin's Gate. Hundreds of people on both sides of the street. The ground and grass stripped bare of snow. Everyone using cars as a blockade ... even moving ones. The moving ones had one advantage, though. They had more snow. Each side rushitig the other side. "WVest Quad sucks!"- "South Quad swal- lows!" Battle cries thundering from each side. There ssere cops watching and laughing ... They evet just laughed when were stopping cars and grabbing people from South Quad to white wash and throw on top of cars. South Quad seemed to be weakening and thinning out. We all rushed and forced them back into their dorm. "West Quad! West Quad!" Trapping them in their piddly little dorm. Once they were inside, we made sure we declared our vic- tory properly. We ran inside and chanted "Ohh Ahh!. I said we own this bitch!" West Quad had officially won the first snowball fight of the year. LESLIE GRYNIEWICZ ENGINEERING SOPHOMORE Minimum wage does not provide enough to live TO THE DAILY: Minimum wage is basically fluffed up slavery. If you work for me for minimum wage, then I am paying you the smallest wage possible that I can get away with. Minimum wage is by definition the amount of money that it takes to keep a person alive. In other words, you are working for me sim- ply to get enough money for you to survive to work for me tomorrow. Now, of course, the brutality is for the most part absent, but then slavery was never about the brutality, it's about acquir- ing labor. Slave owners throughout histo- ry had to feed and house their slaves, but today we have the key to keeping that labor without the necessity of feeding and hous- ing the workers. Under the guise of minimum wage, we are allowed to acquire someone's labor without feeding or housing them. We give them a pittance and then say "see you tomorrow!" This pittance allows the person to feed themselves, and find temporary housing if they're lucky. And we all know that a family cannot possibly survive on minimum wage, but that's too depressing a thought so let's just ignore it, OK? BENJAM1NOSBORNE LSA JUNIOR Bell tower music distracts and annoys TO THE DAILY: I am a first year student and I live on North Campus. All I wanted this past week- end was some peace and quiet so I cou relax. But throughout the entire weeke* people were playing music in the Bell tower. First it was "Jingle Bells," then it was "O Tannenbaum," and finally, what I assume was an attempt at religious equal- ity, it was "Dradle DradletDradle." This is very annoying. I wish the people who play the music would find something bet- ter to do withtheir time. JESSE HERZ LSA FIRST-YEAR STUDE Store clerks should improve their grammar TO THE DAILY: I am getting sick of hearing the follo* ing phrase grating on my ears every time I order fast food: "May I help who's next?" This is not just a phenomenon at the Union, but has spread throughout Ann Arbor. Anyone who is old enough to work has obviously passed third grade and should realize this phrase is not proper English. What is even more disturbing is some of the people I hear this from are University stu- dents. Why not try "May I help you?" "Cat help the next person in line?" of if the employ ee doesn't want to change too much, "May I help whoever is next?" So next time you hear this phrase, ask the employee why they have decided to embarrass themselves. MAURY BRICKS LAw STUDENT ItI '" i.6Y@tt. CnSGhy-.lww~w~x~exlllI.ri Apply to be a Daily columnist for next semester! Bring three 4,500-character sample columns and a cover letter. by Jan. 7 to the second floor of the Student Publications Building, 420 Maynard St. E-mail Emily at emilylsa@umich.edu with any questions. -A