4A - The Michigan, Daily - Thursday, September 30, 1999

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The Daily a tradition of service and learning

420 Maynard Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
daily.letters@umich.edu
Edited and managed by
students at the
University of Michigan

HEATHER KAMINS
Editor in Chief
JEFFREY KOSSEFF
DAVID WALLACE
Editorial Page Editors

T he Michigan Daily celebrated 109
years of editorial freedom yesterday.
For some, an independent daily news-
paper is essential to a campus that holds
academic freedom as its highest ideal.

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 its beginning.
the Daily has spoken
out against social
injustice, racism,
sexism and age dis-
crimination. The
Daily editorial staff
works to promote
students' rights and
provide a voice for
students.
For some, the
Daily is the main
source of campus
and local news.
Printing every single
day of class, we are
there during
moments of elation,

Take a stand

Heather
Kamins
Kami

Racist symbols will not be tolerated

Yes, I could rattle off dozens of famous
Daily alumni, whose names you are famil-
iar with - esteemed playwright Arthur
Miller. California state Sen. and activist
Tom Hayden, Pulitzer Prize winner Ann
Marie Lipinski and New York Times
Washington correspondent Richard Berke,
to name a few.
But it goes beyond that. The Daily, with-
out professors, without University funding,
without journalism degrees and without a
curriculum, serves as home to this nation's
greatest journalism school.
The students at the Daily meet every
day you attend class and we stay up all
night, teaching reporting techniques,
writing style and computer skills. And we
do it better than any official journalism
school could - with real-life, hands-on
experience.
I am not bitter that the University closed
the doors to its journalism school about
four years ago -- the first established jour-
nalism school in the United States - for a
bachelors in journalism is an unnecessary
degree.
Journalists serve an obvious important
function in the American society. Often it
is said that one can judge the quality of a
metro newspaper on the amount of cor-
ruption in that city's government.
Newspapers serve to report the truth to
citizens and expose injustice. Journalists
should not be citizens who have sat
through hours of college level courses
learning the ins and outs of an Associated
Press style guide. Instead, journalists
should be well versed in real knowledge,
politics, arts, math and science.
The Daily lets its students spend four
years at one of the country's greatest uni-
versities, gaining knowledge in the liberal
arts, engineering and the sciences while

working on a first rate daily paper.
And the Daily allows each and every
student at the University a chance to enter
its doors and borrow its tradition of service
and learning.
It is easy to learn how to write a news
story or a sports story. Anyone who has read
newspaper can figure out how a newspaper
report differs from a classroom essay. There
is no lead-in. A story gets right to the point,
putting the who, what , where, when, etc. in
the first sentence. The most important
information sits close to the top and the
whole story does not end with a neat con-
clusion.
You can learn this reading a book, sitting
in a class or attending a meeting at the
Daily, but the real keys to journalism can
only be understood out in the field.
The toughest part of being a journalist is
being human. It is even more difficult try-
ing to be a journalist with humanity in
close-college community. The tremendous
emotional strain put on student journalists
in unimaginable.
Young reporters are often sent out to
cover campus tragedies, such as a student's
death, a devastating fire or the scene of a
violent crime. It is the duty of the journalist
and the newspaper to report on these news
items - not to sell papers, since ours is free
- but to let the campus know what has
happened and to warn of future danger.
Trust me, it is not fun or easy to cover a
campus vigil or riot, but it necessary.
Learning how to do it, or how to handle
the personal emotions while trying to write
an unbiased news report cannot be taught in
the classroom.
The Daily helps its students learn these
lessons, and trains its editors how to teach.
- Heather Kamins can be reached over
e-mail at hbk@umich.edu.

The commencement of the school year
is always a time of great activity.
Students are getting settled into their new
homes and adjusting to demanding classes.
With these fast-paced lifestyle changes, stu-
dents often feel overwhelmed and dis-
placed. That in itself is part of the college
experience. Feeling persecuted is not.
Racist and anti-semitic displays have
become an unfortunate - but common -
part of campus life. Earlier this month, some-
one drew swastikas in a Mary Markley
Residence Hall bathroom. Also, a hateful per-
son left anti-black propaganda in the School of
Social Work lobby. Students can no longer
allow this type of behavior to pollute the
University. Instead of complaining about the
presence ofracism on campus, students should
take an active stand against bigotry.
Some are quick to dismiss expressions
of prejudice on campus as isolated incidents
since almost all students hold tolerance and
diversity in high regard. This summer's
nationwide rash of racist and anti-semitic
violence brought attention to hate organiza-
tions that have mostly abandoned the strat-
egy of recruiting street thugs in favor of
more educated individuals.
It is never acceptable to discriminate
against others based on gender, sexual pref-

erence, religion, race or ethnic and cultural
backgrounds. Mutual respect is not a social
luxury but something everyone has the right
to demand. This principle is espoused by
almost all students, but the events that tran-
spired this week show that tolerance has not
been adopted campus-wide.
It may be impossible to completely
purge racism from campus, but there are
still steps the University could take to mar-
ginalize its presence. Creating a more effec-
tive orientation program that students can
both identify with and learn from, while
addressing the issues of diversity on cam-
pus and how to deal with them appropriate-
ly, has a better potential to help new stu-
dents develop a greater tolerance for others.
Other things that students can do to improve
tolerance are to join groups that promote
peace or awareness among cultures such as
Encompass, which organized a tremendous-
ly successful multicultural show last semes-
ter. And students should not tolerate racist
comments from their peers.
Students should care about maintaining
the University's reputation for tolerance and
diversity. Diversity is an integral part of the
learning experience. This month's events
should provide students an impetus to fight
for tolerance.

national athletic championships, presi-
dential inaugurations, concerts and com-
mencement.
In harder times, though, when the cam-
pus is grieving after losing one of its own or
when the community is struggling to miti-
gate a social ill, we are also there to inform
the campus and to provide solace with
knowledge.
And besides a good crossword puzzle or
affordable classified advertising space, that
has been what the Daily is for those outside
the building.
But for the thousands of students who
have spent countless hours typing, report-
ing, writing, shooting photos and pasting
down pages, the Daily has served one more
very important function - effectively
training generations of journalists.

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Shatter the stigma
Events will educate campus on mental illness

hile mental illness is an oft debated
political matter, how much does it
affect most people? You probably think this
doesn't apply to you. You might not know any-
one with a mental illness. Take a moment to

reconsider what you know.
Mental Illness Awareness
Week. It could be a time for
you to gain knowledge
about serious diseases that
could affect you or some-

one you care about.
Chances are, if
haven't already, you
have direct contact
someone who lives

you
will
with
with

Next week is
Ment
Awaren
Partial schd
Oct. 2,9:30 a.m
"Research on S
Illness" in the U
Maternal/Child
Oct. 3, 9:30 p.m
Oct. 7, noon-5j
information fair
Oct. 7, 11 a.m.-
Screening Day,
Koessler Room

differs from feelings of depression because it
does not go away. Feeling depressed from
time to time is normal, but recurring sadness
isolates people. If you think you're depressed,
check out the information available on cam-
pus next week or go to a depression screening
session, such as
those sponsored by
Counseling and
iess Week Psychological
edule of events Services in the
Michigan Union.
.: Presentation on As many know
erious Mental from personal expe-
Jniversity Hospitals' rience, depression
i Auditorium can hit without
warning, in times of
n.: 'vigil on the Diag stress as easily in
calm periods. And a
p.m.: Scream-in and depressed family
r, on the Diag member or friend
can tear relation-
. ships apart if the
5 p.m.: Depression condition is allowed
Michigan League to escalate. Seek
treatment or help
someone else seek

Controversial shirt
has nothing to do
with Greek system
TO THE DAILY:
As one of the two designers of the t-
shirts that attracted such negative atten-
tion in the Daily, I wanted to correct one
recurring flaw in this silly debate over
whether the shirts are appropriate or not.
What this shirt has to do with the Greek
system I have yet to figure out.
According to the allegations, the shirt
"boasted some proud logo of one of the
fraternities on campus." However upon a
not too careful examination of the front of
the shirt, one would see the phrase
"Welcome Week '99." This must be the
name of 'a proud new fraternity that just
moved on campus? After debunking the
first and most ridiculous point in this
ridiculous campaign against my shirt, I
will continue by saying much of what I
had hoped to say was deemed inappropri-
ate last week, which explains why my
response is so brief. So I urge all of the
dissenters out there to lighten up and take
a joke.
MATT BERKOWITZ
LSA JUNIOR
Commercialization
taints new baseball
stadium
TO THE DAILY:
Rick Freeman is wrong to say, "No
one's upset that an 88-year old structure
is closing. No one's upset that the Tigers
are trying to make more money to field a
better team." First of all, lots of people
are upset that the stadium is about to be
torn down. Fans at the final game booed

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every time they heard "Comerica Park."
They were right to do so. The very name
of the new park continues a trend of com-
mercializing anything and everything.
Since 1993, fans at home or in the stadi-
um have been forced to watch rotating
ads behind home plate.
Next season people won't even be
able to call the ballpark by its name with-
out advertising a bank.
And let's not kid ourselves about why
this is happening. Tiger Stadium is not
being torn down because it is old. It's
long been old and out of date. Nor is this
about fielding a better team by raising
money.
The Tigers regularly had the highest
payroll in the majors during the first half
of the 1990s.
Only in 1991, however, did the team
contend late in the season. Then in the
second half of this decade, the team was
run on a shoestring budget. As a result
the teams that were fielded ranged from
mediocre to horrible.
There is no way around the fact that
Briggs is being torn down so Illitch can
sell skyboxes. This would be fine if the
purpose of stadiums was to facilitate

business. Left out of such an equation,
however, is the role that these stadiums
have played in facilitating contact
amongst all different types of people.*
Not considered is how these institutions
serve to facilitate childhood dreams. The
only thing that matters is the tangible.
Tiger Stadium got a great send off this
past Monday. Unfortunately the whole
thing shouldn't have happened.
MICAH HoLmQuisw
LSA SENIOR

*2

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Stadium article

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mental illness. Next week
is an attempt to dispel some
of the myths about depres-
sion, anxiety, schizophre-
nia and the like. It's an
effort to end the stigma that
accompanies these treat-
able conditions. It could
even give you the informa-
tion to help the people you
care about, or even your-
selves.

was well-written
TO THE DAILY:
In response to Rick Freeman's article,
"Stadium memories can't be torn down," I
couldn't have said it better myself.
Congratulations on a mastery of both the
English language and sentimentality.
NATE PROVOST
ENGINEERING SOPHOMORE

Tipper Gore brought the issue to the fore-
front last summer with her initiatives to
reform health care to include treatment for
mental illness. Dealing with a bout of depres-
sion herself, the second lady decided the time
was right for her to come out of the closet
about the treatment she received following a
family tragedy about 10 years ago. She had
some concerns that disclosing her battle with
the disease would damage her husband's polit-
ical career.
It is more than unfortunate that a treatable
illness, which cripples families, friendships
and loving relationships, is not socially
accepted. Temporary chemical imbalances in
the brain should not be looked upon as dis-
graces and cannot be allowed to humiliate.
Depression is not a scarlet letter. It is often
a chemical imbalance that occurs in the brain

treatment. Be there for someone who is going
through a tough time. Just be prepared. The
nation's political leaders should hear Gore's
call for reform initiatives. Health care should
follow her lead.
In 1963, President Kennedy promised to
subsidize all mental health care in the United
States, but 30 years later all we've done is hire
more police. According to TIME Magazine,
more than 200,000 homeless people suffer
some sort of treatable mental illness. Prisons
hold another 200,000 for petty crimes.
But how many other "normal" Americans
attempt to live with depression under fear of
humiliation? How many more cannot afford
treatment? With steep co-pays that put treat-
ment out of reach for many, the system is in
need of reform, not only within the managed
care system, but community-wide. So get
involved and stay informed. Mental illness

Abortion waiting period is necessary

My spirit just sank as I read the editorial
from Sept. 20 entitled "Wait for what?" A
sense of resentment permeated the entire arti-
cle - resentment that one should actually
have to think about their actions. The two
words "informed decision" carried a sarcastic
and indignant tone, as though every person
who has had an abortion thoroughly consid-
ered every facet of the "procedure," thereby
justifying their actions. Forgive me, but I don't
have that much faith in my fellow man. I
believe that the vast majority holds a self-cen-
tered view that considers only their best inter-
est.
I've listened to all the pro-choice propagan-
da (or should I call the Daily "anti-life?"), so
please listen to my counter-attack. The Daily's
vociferous presence on this campus cannot be
easily ignored, but I believe the Daily finds it
quite easy to ignore the silent scream of an
nnh.r inant

Out of curiosity, a former abortionist filmed
and observed one of his procedures. Prior to
the abortion, the 12-week-old girl was very
active, and playing in her mother's womb. But
when the first instrument touched the uterine
wall, the baby immediately recoiled and her
heart rate rose considerably. The child was
then drawn and quartered - first the spine,
then a leg, piece by piece as the child writhed
in agony - living through most of the process,
thrashing around and trying to escape the men-
acing instrument. During the "procedure" (the
sterile term you used to placate your nagging
conscience), she threw he head back and
opened her mouth in a silent scream.
Now, the Daily can masquerade abortion as
a compassionate act as flagrantly as it likes,
but the truth of the matter is ,t isn't! It's a sick
practice indicative of the desanctification of
human life. If you are old enough to have sex
- vou'd better he adult enouoh to take resnon-

what. But no, we want convenience. We want
it our way.
If you have a hard time thinking about fetal
rights, think about child abuse for a moment.
Once that infant is brought into the world, it
would be the most heinous thing imaginable to
go toss it in a garbage can, right? So why is it
we allow infants to be tortured pre-natally by
suction curettage, burning away their skin by
"salting out" (saline abortions), or inducing
severe cardiovascular complications by inject-
ed prostaglandins?
No logical, compassionate person would
ever condone such heinous treatment of chil-
dren. So why in God's name do we condone in
utero?
I have little sympathy for the "poor women"
who have to pay extra for "added hotel bills"
just so that they can legally murder their own
child. To "unjustly prevail upon a woman in
(such) a fragile time" by giving her the kind of