4 - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, December 5, 2000 420 Maynard Street Ann Arbor, MI 48109 daily.letters@umich.edu Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan .4 °..F ix t 3Yd r . S ; § 3 Q x v, as ( . ._ ._ EN Ed ug MIKE SPAHN Editor in Chief ILY ACHENBAUM torial Page Editor n of the majority of cartoons do not Daily. d continue Unless otherwise noted, unsigned editorials reflect the opinioi the Daily's editorial board. All other articles, letters andc necessarily reflect the opinion of The Michigan1 The anti-altruism conspiracy Low iess loa Low interest student loans shoull There are basically two types of people in this world: Those who strive to achieve something, and those who are too comfortable, too lazy or too self-pitying to work hard and accomplish anything. The latter group will, for the purposes of this column, be ignored - not because they fail to be interesting, but rather because they do not have to do with the topic at hand. So instead, the focus will be on the former group, which can again be fur- ~ ther divided into two basic sub-groups. The first is those who wish to make a positive impact on the world, M and the second is those Manish who wish to obtain Raiji wealth, status and secu- rity. One can argue that the vast majority of 2. y people on this campus fall into the second group; as a whole, we are generally self-serving. But there are those who fall into the first sub-group; the altruistic people who wish to do more than random charity. They wish to solve some of the very real problems in this world, such as issues involving the environ- ment, poverty and inequality, violence amongst people, etc. Having established this very basic division of people, the question that begs for attention is this: Who is capable of actually changing the world? I would argue that the ability to make real changes involves more than being a Mother Teresa and feeding the hungry. Instead, it involves making tangible structural changes in the way the world works, and this sort of goal involves an explicit knowledge of the system, and how to manipulate the system. This knowl- edge is not intrinsic, itsis learned in institutions like the one that we are attending right now. The education received in a university can be directed toward either the pressing issues in this world or else toward the materialistic pleasures of this world. And this is where the conspiracy sets in. As we move on up from freshmen to seniors, it becomes quite obvious that careerism is the point of all of this. The reason why careerism is the point of college is because of the people who have created this whole system. Wealthy people have set up all of these institu- tions, and they are the very people who would be most harmed by a bunch of idealistic stu- dents moving on to dramatically alter the course of human history. It's wonderful, perhaps even preferable, to have students in college who are dreamers, but they had better get weeded out before those dreams ripen into reality. Commencement becomes an impending fact, and we are all forced to look beyond sheltered college idealism and decide what to do with our lives, post-dependency. We all reach that point, when freshman move-in becomes a nostalgic memory and the long walk down the aisle of graduation looms as an imminent, and frightful, reality. Itsis at that junction that politicians turm from concern to corruption, lawyers turn from service to savings, physicians turn from care to careers, activists turn from social concern to soccer moms, and journalists turn from sincerity to spin. Dreams get traded in for business suits and sports cars, and the fat cats who set this whole thing up get what they want. We turn away from our socially aware goals and join the eig toting, boys-only club. The conspiracy works perfection. Both types of people are necessary, and don't wish to make one appear greedy while th< other appears selfless. I'm not making a norma tive judgment about the importance of eithe group of people. If everyone chose to devote their lives to a cause instead of getting a job am being productive, the entire economy woul crumble; conversely, if everyone decided tc pursue The American Dream by forsaking needs of the world, countless people would su7 fer. The issue, instead, is determining what the balance is; what level of commitment to other is necessary? The common argument is that a person cat secure a career and a family while still bein charitable and helpful, but I find that to be a bi of a cop-out. Is it enough to perform tax deductible charity in order to pad the resum( that will get a person into a graduate program o employment position? Or, on a larger scale, tI pad the resume that will get a person i4 "heaven," if one chooses to believe in fictiona rewards? What are we going to do with our lives That's the final question that we all must ask e ourselves in college. It is an entirely subjectiv question; no person's answer will entirely suf fice for anyone else. In the end, that's the entie point - nothing in life is mandatory, and w are all free to make our own decisions regarding where to go from here. You may read what I' written and think seriously about how to forth after graduation, or scoff at my cliche bleeding heart. You decide. - Manish Raiji can be reache via e-mail at mraiji@umich.edu If you are a college student at the other sources. University, there's a good chance Some lenders, however, offer loan you have taken out some sort of loan rates equal to or more competitive than to help you with your tuition and rent those offered by the Department of payments. Many of you have received Education. The low interest loan rates Direct Loans from the federal govern- save students and the parents of stu- ment and taken advantage of the low dents money. As enabling a greater interest rate and numerous bonuses of number of students to pursue higher such loans. education was a part of the congres- However, you may not be able to sional intent, the Department of Edu- get another federal loan_ cation never went on the same terms if The benefits of outside its federal some banks have their jurisdiction. The way. A number of lower education banks, since they banks, not wanting to have no legitimate offer more competitive costs f outwe claims, are unfortu- student loans, are suing the repercussions nately suing the gov- the Department of Edu- ernment as an cation over its low of lost student loan alternative to offering interest rates. These competitive rates banks are mistaken in Apparently, the banks the reasoning for the want to make higher complaint, and act against the best education more expensive for their interest of students and Americans in own profit. general as they try to increase their The plaintiffs of the case are acting revenue. extremely irresponsibly. The suing The banks involved in the lawsuit banks are basically proposing that gov- claim that the Direct Loans that the ernment agencies should not offer government offers students are unlaw- good prices for services they provide. fully generous and that the Department A similar situation would be UPS and of Education has neglected congres- Federal Express suing the United sional intent by offering special bonus- States Postal Service for offering low es to students who pay off loans in a prices for package services. Acts of timely fashion. The plaintiffs assert saving the American people money are that the congressional order that creat- not against federal law. The govern- ed the federal student loans does not ment especially should be concerned include undercutting rates offered by with offering reasonable subsidies for competitors. The companies note that higher education. Offering these loans the Department of Education controls may hurt some banks profitability, but a third of the student loan industry and the benefits of lower education costs that the rates at which it offers loans far outweigh the repercussions of lost are more competitive than those of student loan revenue to banks. Confederate flag should not be displayed Ahearing in the U.S. District Court in federal land would be irresponsible. Baltimore, Maryland last Friday Also, because the cemetery lies along added even more fuel to the perpetually the two-lane highway leading to Point fiery Confederate flag debate. A Mary- Lookout State Park, a popular tourist land man, Patrick J. Griffin III, is suing destination, the displaying of the flag the federal government on charges of would be highly visible, and thus, highly violating constitutional rights to free offensive, to people simply passing speech by restricting display of the Con- through the area. federate flag at Point Lookout Confeder- The whole issue of honoring the ate Cemetery. dead can be alleviated with a compro- "The suppression of the Confederate mise; the St. Mary's County NAACP flag is a suppression of the viewpoint of finds that flying the flag on Memorial those that want to display the flag," and Day and during ceremonies is not therefore violates First Amendment objectionable and is within "historical rights, Griffin's attorney said. "This is a context." cemetery where Confederate dead lie. Will ruling against Griffin by This is their flag" upholding the decision of the govern- By restoring the exhibition of the ment not to display the Confederate flag flag, Griffin thinks honor can be year-round give the courts the power to restored to Confederate soldiers. How- regulate other methods of free-speech? ever, because the cemetery is federally If these actions occur on private proper- operated, displaying the controversial ty, certainly not. But if the government flag would imply that the U.S. govern- chooses not to display hateful symbols ment is condoning racial intolerance. on federally operated property, the The Confederate flag is considered by courts have a duty to maintain these many to be a symbol of racial intoler- decisions and must not get lost in First ance. To display such a divisive icon on Amendment rhetoric. BY JASON POLAN .. NoTABLE OAL 2'21 2 ' - - 'It's not in the interest of the labels to go after their customers, or of the artists to go after their fans.' - Noah Stone, Napster opponent andfounder of Artists Against Piracy, on the legal implications of Napster use. LIVing wage s be left to bus TO THE DAILY: I almost laughed out loud Angell Hall after reading the Daily editorial "War overv that proclaimed, "local gov have the freedom to establis This statement is completely ously, the Daily is a bit confu cept of freedom in this countr founded on the idea of freedo zens, not freedom of the govt pleases. True freedom comes ernment. Governments esta wage interfere with the freedo ness owners to set their wa which they deenm appropria benefit both the worker and th Gay marriage should be leg should partner's behalf in event of illnesses, have a spouse covered under Social Security and m esses Medicare, file joint tax returns, obtain veter- an's discounts on medical care, education, and home loans, apply for immigration and residency for partners from other countries in the middle of and obtain domestic violence protective e statement in the orders. sages," (12/4/00) Is it not crime enough to deny a person ernments should the right to join in union with the person they h a living wage." love, but to further deny one rights which 'ludicrous. Obvi- could allow increased piece of mind, simplify sed about the con- their lifestyle, as well as financial advan- y. This nation was ta es? Are homosexuals second-class citizens )m for private citi- who do not allow equal treatment in tie eyes =mment to do as it of the law and the government? This is not from limited gov- apartheid; this is America. This is supposed blishing a living to be the "Home of the Free," where "all men im of private busi- are created equal." There must be a footnote ages in a manner in the Constitution that removes homosexuals te business itself, from being equal. No, really, I think Ben- jamin Franklin and the others put it in with HARPER GOULD denying black people their due rights as citi- LSA SENIOR zeus. Remember, not long ago, interracial marriages were illegal, too. A further argument against gay unions has been the intention of mnarriage as a form of 0 procreation. Those who cannot procreate should not be joined. What then, to do with the thousands of married men and wome who are sterile, or paralyzed, or for other real sons cannot give birth? Such people must bi living outside the law in illegal marriages] They are not, however, and are completel) protected and given the protection of the go ernment and the benefits of a virile co without question. A government which guarantees the liber ty and freedoms of all those who live beneatt its laws somehow seems to escape unscathes when discarding the rights of homosexuals This is a government "of the people, by the people and for the people," but only certais people who climb into bed and marriage witt a member of the opposite sex. Join together fight for freedom, help out your fellow mar and offer homosexuals the same freedom any adult citizen in this country holds. WJ your congressman, discuss the topic witl family, friends and religious leaders. Shom the world that the United States Constitution functions to uphold all freedoms discusses within and not only those with which the influential members of society find impor tant. Permit the "Land of the Free" to includ everyone. NICK BONCI LSA JUNIOF + TO THE DAILY: How can we live in a society that con- demns gay unions? What happened to the "Land of the Free?" What are the precepts for condemning this practice by the highest insti- tution in the land and the representative of the populace, the United States goverment? The religious believers, the conservatives and so- called moral die-bards of this country are filling newspaper and magazine columns with a rhetoric completely without legal or logical base. Gay marriages have a legal right in this country. They have a moral right. Gays are being denied rights granted to other people based onhtheir sexual orienta- tion, a process which has been made illegal through Title XII of the Equal Rights Act of 1970. Not only are homosexuals being left out of the union of marriage, they are being deprived of other privileges, too. Here is a list of just some of the privileges enjoyed by married couples to which homosexual part- ners do not even have the ability to access: Inherit from your partner if she or he doesn't have a valid will, obtain joint health, home, and auto insurance policies, enter joint rental agreements, make medical decisions on a THOMAS KULJURGIS 'ENTA',VET.' . .EAKI CAMA Y MORE cO .EA1LO WE s wi'JL.LMAK sE'~yoMt ea F+*LR. tA1 1TI L*O V? V hTA4 t , roT' ~ ~ ,. Me E w3. an r kS C-4AP? This is my education? Lets tell it like i H ave you ever actually read the back cover of a movie? I hadn't until one severely boring night when I decided to rearrange my shelving unit. I came across the college classic, "Billy Madison," and decided that the per- son who wrote the back of the box description had to be the biggest tool in the world. It was painful- ly obvious that the writer was some 52 year old weirdo who was trying to use "hip lingo" - as he would probably call it. My first warning Erin sign was when the phrase "laugh-riot McQuinn lunacy" appeared not too far from "goof- ball" and "babes and booze." Um, who really talks like that? This late night clean- ing session then spurred another question in my mind. But first, I prayed to God that I would never have to write for the backs of movies, and then I wondered - why can't people just say it like itis? Let's take a common topic on everyone's mind right now - CRtSPing. How come all those descriptions sound so easy, but as the year progresses, that certain Women's Studies course isn't the cakewalk that the professor wrote it out to be. All of a sudden you have a 20 page paper date about some topic you could care less about. Then you have to go on the internet to research it, but just end up checking your e-mail about 15 times. If you're lucky you'll find some random Website that was probably made by that same guy who wrote the movie box for "Billy Madison." I realized that most of the Websites I refer- ence for research papers could be made by practically anyone. Why do we really even need to reference things anyways? At the point when you actually decide to look for information, your stance on the topic is already in your head. You're just looking for other people that agree with you. Why can't I cite myself as a reference? Because I didn't publish some meaningless book that no one reads except for college students who are forced to'? There is a reason that people sell a book back -because it sucked. So we promise ourselves that next time, we will actually find the mysterious course that teaches you how to play the bells in the tower - the one that they told you about freshmen year during orientation. If anyone knows how to get into this course, or if it even exists - please let me know. I would like to rearrange the course catalog for reading purposes. There would be two headings -- "stuff that you have to take for your major" and "bullshit." That's how everyone already looks at the course catalog t is anyways. You have your classes that hope will amount to some sort of concentra tion plan eventually, and you have the "Mafia" class. But like guys who are embar rassed to be seen at a tanning salon, no on wants to admit that they are really takin them. Either that or they brag about ho much they don't go to class. It's the tw extremes. Someday we will live in an ideal worl where we can click on the American ture heading and actually read a descriptio that says "You will have to spend a ridicu lous amount of money on ten books seven of which only the first 30 pages wil be read. The only other time you will oper them is when you have to write your final paper." Clear-cut, straight to the point People end up dissatisfied with their educa- tion because they really have no clue what they're getting into. But of course there would also have to be the descriptions that read, "You will work your ass off the e0 term just to understand me because I don't speak English and then I will laugh as I grade your sorry excuse for a final exam. You will then end up with a 12 percent which curves to a B." But of course if the course catalog was actually strairpgtforward and easy to use, then we couldn't bitch about it - and that would be no fun. -Iyou really want to, you can r :h Erin McQuinn at erinmcumich.Wi. 'a -='.. . K 4 , sc e-at '2 ORL GTO& - ROCK 4 4,