2B - New Student Edition - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, September 6, 2000 ACTION Continued from Page 1B usually almost exclusively non- minority areas. The consideration of a student's curriculum will also be disadvanta- geous to most minority applicants as they tend to be from less affluent areas where schools seldom have many, if any, of the advanced place- ment courses the University values highly in its admissions decisions. Alumni relationships favor non- minority applicants as their parents and other family members, on aver- age, are far more likely to have attended the University. Standardized tests also often work against minority applicants, who are far less likely to have the money for preparatory courses and retests. Many minority students who have high school curriculums that are not as impressive as some non- minority students" and whose SAT or ACT scores are not as high are just as intelligent and qualified to attend the University. It has to be recognized that these students have been denied the educational oppor- tunities available to other students for their entire lives. One of the main reasons children tend to stay in the same socioeco- nomic class as their parents is that they are brought up in our sharply segregated secondary education system. The richest kids get the best schools and the most opportunities and the poorest kids get the poorest schools and are shut out of almost every educational opportunity avail- able. Growing up in a poor neigh- borhood and having no option but attending a substandard school should not disqualify an applicant. The obstacles they have had to face need to be recognized when deter- mining if they have the capacity to be successful at this university. Critics of using race in admis- sions decisions often point to states such as Texas, where consideration of race in college admissions has been ended, but diversity has been maintained to some extent, as proof that race need not be considered by colleges. Texas accomplishes this by requiring that public universities automatically accept applicants who graduated in the top ten percent of their high school class. See ACTION, Page 9B W.. He sc recently found myself watching George W. Bush (or W. as his homies like to call him) give a speech to an NAACP conven- tion, and after a few moments of laughter, I realized something very interesting: Bush has no deep feelings surrounding the issues he talks about. Then it hit me that that is exactly why he is doing so well - why he will be elected President. Listening to his oratory, I learned a bunch of really important things about American history and future social policy. First, Bush said that slavery is one of the biggest blemishes on our national identity. Then he went on to say that American chil- dren should be well educated and that they should be healthy and their parents should be able to keep them that way. Wow, George, that's really radical think- ing. I mean I've always thought that slavery was bad, but the fact that you said ..: A F it solidifies that idea for me. And that part about kids being smart and healthy-I mean that's the most Aaron dynamic program I've ever heard of. From Rich what he said, I would guess that Bush has what it takes to sub-_ stitute teach for first grade social studies ... well I don't want to get too carried away. I can see his speech writers before the address: "Okay, we're talking to black folks, let's say something about better housing in inner cities ... hmmm, better not. Let's say something about prison inmate populations and capital punishment ... oh, yeah, forget that, too. Well, let's just stick to slavery sucks." Listening to the words he was saying I was struck by how liberal he sounded. (I was kind of expecting him to break into song. "Brother, brother, there's far too many of you dying ... Only love can con- quer hate.") He seemed in favor of all mid- dle class struggles from better pay for workers to cheaper house prices to better education for more people. I really don't see why I should vote against him. He's a really nice guy, right? Well not so much. I have yet to see a real firm belief come out of his mouth. Only a few weeks left until the election and I don't z real nowhere man know what the man believes in, let alone how he might act as the leader of the nation. So far he has passed off rather banal policy proposals as firm convictions. He has started throwing out very few ideas about legislation he would propose, ' but the reasons for proposing those laws (other than wanting to be a really nice and caring guy) remain hidden. I can't even figure out what is so great about his guber- natorial run in Texas. He passed a lot of legislation that is rather mixed in terms of effectiveness and has killed more people f v than Torquemada (but they, of course. were truly guilty). The idea of "compassionate conser- vatism" that he talks so much about still has no meaning for me. Is that something like tough love, or more along the lines of sadomasochism? It has to do with be being nice, I guess. But kindness like that should be a given in terms of legislation - not part of a political message. Take, for example, Al Gore. Say what you will about his personality and his past money raising, but at least he has a record of legislation that has some sort of qualifi- able goal. He is known to be Green, writ- ing Earth in the Balance and advocating the rights of natural resources to not be raped by corporate investment. He believes that the internal combustion engine is not the most efficient form of transportation (he is absolutely correct about this) and that we should look into different energy sources other than oil. Knowing this small fact about Al Gore, I could guess the sorts of legislation that he might support. He might support so-called energy taxes that make oil companies pay for the materials they take out of the ground. He might support not logging the Pacific Northwest, for instance. Bush's speeches all blend into one big sea of okay. I have no idea of what he would support other than soft money dona- TOYIN AKINMUSURU t, F : r U. Ignorance is bliss when using a clay mold T he first thing most new stuaents will do when th hit the University is surgically graft themselves others just like them, generally within the same socioe- conomic demographic. As you progress through school, you tend to stick with those friends, latching on like a rabid pit bull and never getting exposed to the rich diversity that is our student population. The resulting ignorance about peo- ple different from oneself is molded into a perception of these others, different than they actually are. Some would call it racism. I'm not saying its necessarily all bad. For examnp whenever I frown, people clear out of my way, an effef that comes in pretty handy when heading for the keg or bathroom at parties. Even better, I have observed that bald black guys seem to attract more than their fair share of white girls A Korean friend is automatically thought of as smarter, and is therefore the de facto leader of group projects. On the flip side, try and remember the last time the police were looking for a Caucasian male wearing blue jeans and cap, between 20 and 40, 5 feet 8 inches and 6 feet 4 inches, weighing between 150 and 250 pounds? Try finding that one guy at a Garth Brooks concert. ridiculous as it sounds, I've heard of such generdT searches for black men before. How often have the police stopped you for no reason? Do ladies automatically clutch their purses and men automatically check their wallets when you step into the elevator? How often do you- get stalked while walking around a music store? How often are you the ontly one of "your kind" in your classes? Do dreadlocked white guys walk up to you and ask you if you've got an extra blunt on you? Have you ever bee 1 confused for more than one celcbrity? I find it at the sab time flattering and disturbing. I've been compared to Ving Rhames, Nathan Morris from Bovz 11 Men, Malcolm- Jamal Warner and Tiger Woods. Malcolm-Jamal Warner I can see - but Tiger Woods'? Please. Do you feel uncomfortable south of the Mason-Dixon line'? Have people repeatedly assumed you were the See TOYIN, Page 7B Lions to political candidates, the death penalty for convicts convicted in the sover- eign state of Texas (the only place where the justice system is infallible) and silly, boyish grins. When voting for a president it is impor- tant to choose someone who has firm beliefs in somethin:. Someone who is not just a suit stuffed with his party's different beliefs. It troubles me that what Bush has done, the reason why he is' so unstoppable, is that he has painted the political canvas with a thick coat of primer. but added no color himself. lie leaves that for the American people to fill in. paint by numbers, as it were. This is not politics: this is Andy Warhol misunderstood. - Aaron Rich cai be reached via e-mnail at arich(a: Umich.eclu. Lutheran Campus Ministry Lord of Light Lutheran Church, ELCA 801 S. Forest at Hill Street Phone: 668-7622 *illiE The 'Real Story: News like it is *1 Sunday Tuesday Wednesday Worship 10:00 am Student Supper 5:00 pm Grad Dinner and Discussion 7:00 pm Vespers 7:00 pm Choir 7:30 pm Students Always Welcome! Activities Throughout the Week John Rollefson, Campus Pastor David Berg, Intern Pastor THREE FLOORS OF STUFF YOU YUSIMPLY CANNOT LIVE WITHOUT New and Used Textbooks Medical Books and Supplies Law Books Art and Drafting Supplies School and Office Supplies Greeting Cards Calculators In-store CLINIQUE Counter Computer Supplies Backpacks and Briefcases U of M Sportswear Art prints and Posters Candy and Snacks Fax Service Special Orders "[The major media are cor/pora- tions 'selling' privileged audiences to other businesses. It would hardly' come as a surpise if the picture of the world then )resent were to reflect the perspectives and inter- ests of the sellers. the buiers, and the product. - Noamn ChomskY J errv Falwell will never come to Ann Arbor: neither will Pat Robertson or Bob Jones ll. This might be news to some and I hate to be the one to break it, but any new student who actually considered continuing his/her education at a different, more Godly institution like, say, Liber- ty University in Lynchburg, Va., has made a very bad . decision in coming here. I don't think that's a particu- larly bold state- ment. As far as politics and culture go, Ann Arbor doesn't Nick have a whole Woomer lot to offer con- servatives - it's reputation for being a bas- tion of "radi- cal" politics and causes is reasonably well deserved. After all, we have some of the nation's most liberal marijuana laws and the student anti- sweatshop movement was virtually born here. But the best testament to Ann Arbor's generally cuddly relationship with the left is the wide array of left- leaning ideological tabloids available at various campus and area loca- tions. The dad thing is that just about everyone automatically writes them off. Both publishers/writers of these papers and University students share the blame for this. The people who produce them too often get caught up in themselves - filling their publications with a heavy dose of lame phrases, "anti-patriarchal" spellings and Marxist-Leninist lingo that most Americans have been con- ditioned to dismiss as anachronistic or worse. Students are partially at fault because they assume that just because something sounds stupid, it is. Combine this with the fact that people are just skeptical of news that doesn't come from an "objec- tive" source (much less a radical one) and it isn't hard to see why this stuff gets dismissed by most stu- dents and Ann Arborites as cheap propaganda. The reality of the fact is that ideo- logical newspapers have a lot to offer. Case in point: "MIM Notes," the newsletter of the Maoist Interna- tionalist Movement and easily the most maligned paper in Ann Arbor. In their freshman orientation issue last year, the Michigan Review called MIM Notes "Ann Arbor's best unintentional humor magazine." It's not hard to blame them - the MIMers attack "u.S. imperialism,' lament the oppression of "womvn. and refer to the United States as the "United Snakes of Amerikkka" (or some mutation of that phrase). Sure, MIM has stubbornly traded its pop- ular credibility in favor of express- ing hatred for first world socialipolitical'economic policies via the spellings of certain words, but this should not automatically discredit the actual substance of its message. Open'-minded readers willing to sort through MIM Notes' silly rhetoric are usually in for some com- pelling ideas/arguments. Take the May Ist edition of MIM Notes, for example. There is a letter from a prisoner from New Jersey explaining how a 'company called "Depcore" has privatized many of the correc- tional facilities there. "[C]ats here are making socks, mattress and some office furniture all of which is being sold for huge profits yet kaptive's [sic] wages vary from SI.25 to S I.50 a day," he writes. Is this actually true? Maybe, "students are partiallj they assume that just sounds stupid, it is." maybe not. But suppose it is. In that case an ugly picture starts to unfold - a pretty sinister relationship between industry, lawmakers and prison inmates. Companies support politicians who pass laws that put more people (who often end up being poor minorities) in prison for longer periods of time - the result being a huge labor force that essen- tially works for nothing. Even if this particular writer is lying through his teeth, it is highly implausible that the hundreds of other similar letters and articles pub- lished in MIM Notes over the years are also simply made up to promote a radical agenda. Often the claims in MIM Notes are footnoted and usual- ly come from "respectable" indepen- dent sources like the New York Times and the United Nations. Cer- tain empirical facts also appear to support MIM's claims, for example, why did Chevron give money to help pass Proposition 21 - which makes it easier for juveniles to be tried as adults --in California? According to many non-MIM-affiliated activists, Chevron's support for Prop. 21 had something to do with the money it saved by apparently having inmates at San Quentin prison do data processing for dirt-cheap wages. Conventional media outlets rarely (if ever) bring these types of questions to the public's attention; MIM Notes does this twice a month. The real problem here isn't so much popular skepticism towards the so-called "alternative press," but the collective assumption that conven- tional media outlets like CNN, ABC and Newsweek are simply "telling it like it is." The fact of the matter is, the mainstream media has a consis- tent record of selective coverage, applying double standards of proof and putting grossly skewed spins on Y at fault because because something situations where the United States or her allies were clearly at fault (read Chomsky's extensively footnote "Necessary Illusions" for a thorough explanation of just how deep this goes). "In "A People's History of the United States," Howard Zinn records the only comment made by Dan Rather during the Gulf War in response to a film of a British laser bomb that killed civilians after it was dropped on a market: "We can be sure that Saddam Hussein will make propaganda of these casualties."A even more blatant example of maW journalistic incompetence was the uncritical coverage of a flimsily-sup- ported account of invading Iraqi soi- diers taking 312 newborn Kuwaiti babies from their incubators, leaving them on the cold floor to die. Public support for Operation Desert Shield surged as a result of this fabricate, "atrocitv" that was only revealed be bogus after bombing had alrea commenced. People who monitor these types of "mistakes" can pro- vide hundreds of similar examples of mainstream media pandering to cor- porate and political interests. The point is, Ann Arbor is fortu nate to have a wide selection of ideo- logical left-wing alternatives to the mainstream media -- MIM Notes The Agenda, The Weekly Worker. etc. - most other cities do not When read as supplements 0n replacements) to conventional news sources, these papers only have the potential to enlighten people. As ridiculous as they may sound on a superficial level, they play a critical role in the dissemination of all the news. -Nick Woomer- is the Associate Lditorial page editorfor the Michigan Daily. He can be reached via e-mai@ nwoomner(%nwnich.eda. "".. * ... :.:": """ "* . : ; -: : :": :'" ". ":': ;,;'"" 4 .,. . 1 r:. Ass*..C * tons...*e* .'.m..*- .o' *," s =w::' 4', o, e. { } } r 5 S } S f t} { } S I w~~w~'u~ T~ I I