4A - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, October 5, 2000
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To the bride and groom: Kula's wedding roast
420 Maynard Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
daily.letters@umich.edu
Edited and managed by < # EN
students at the5Ed
University of Michigan
Unless otherwise noted, unsigned editorials reflect the opinio
the Dailv's editorial board. All other articles, letters and
necessarily reflect the opinion of The Michigan 1
MIKE SPAHN
Editor in Chief
ILY ACHENBAUM
itorial Page Editor
n of the majority of
cartoons do noi
Dail.
- I I
f y 7'HE DAILI
Students should get meningitis vaccine
Eve year around this time, college that students who live in residence
students are bombarded with vari- halls consider the potential benefits of
ous medical pamphlets encouraging the vaccine, as their close living quar-
them to pay other people to poke them ters put them at a slightly higher risk
with sharp objects. Roll up those of infection. The vaccine lasts three to
sleeves, kiddies: It's vaccination season! fivehyears, so the one-time cost is
This year, the bacterial meningitis worth it to protect yourself throughout
vaccine seems to be dominating the your dormitory experience.
disease-to-pamphlet ratio, and it is UHS has takenemany steps to
leaving many students with three increase the availability and afford-
important questions: 1) Just what is ability of the vaccine for students;
bacterial meningitis, anyway?, 2) Am vaccines are administered Monday
I at risk?, and 3) Do I through Friday at
really have to pay $75 UHS and the Michi-
for the vaccine? Ar gan Visiting Nurses
There are two kinds 'bCteriaI yS will be holding spe-
of meningitis: Viral and b ' cial vaccination cin-
bacterial. Viral menin-%- ics on campus now
gitis is more common, is serious and highly through Oct. 13.
usuall runs its course n , Some students
quickfy, and is rarely Ioc 6F&W have argued that $75
fatal. Bacterial menin- is a lot of money for
gitis is a rare, but particularly nasty a shot. Why, they say, can such a
infection of the brain and spinal cord giant, powerful university not offer
which, at its worst, can also spread to this service for free? Or, at least for
the blood. It is transmitted through the cost of a single pizza? Unfortu-
fluids of the mouth and nose via kiss- nately, just one company (Aventis-Pas-
ing, sharing of eating utensils or bev- teur) has a lock on the market for the
erage containers and/or through meningitis vaccine, so the University
droplets in the air from coughing, has to purchase it from them. Seventy-
sneezing, etc. Symptoms closely five dollars is actually below the UHS
resemble those of the flu: Sudden calculated cost (a formula that also
fever, severe stiffness of the neck and considers equipment and personnel
rash. It affects about one in every needed to administer it). A member of
100,000 people in the general popula- the general public has to pay around
tion compared to 3.8 per 100,000 col- $89.
lege students living in dormitories Although it is rare, bacterial
annually. Left untreated, it can meningitis is a serious, highly conta-
progress rapidly to death. gious condition. It does not strike
The last case of the disease here often, but its effects are severe. At
was in 1995. Both the Center for Dis- risk students may want to forgo the
ease Control and the American Col- pizza for a few weeks and give this
lege Health Association recommend vaccine a second thought.
watched my cousin get married last
weekend, but you don't have to worry.
I'm not going to write about how it was a
beautiful day or how it got me thinking
about the future or any of the standard
stuff that Daily columnists usually dwell
upon..
At the reception,
while waiting for a
drink at the bar. I
received a little bit of
insight from the bar-
tender. It wasn't some
wizened. white-haired,
Burgess Meredith
look-alike who was
giving out the goods
--the bartender was a
young woman. proba- Chris
bly in her mid-'20s,
kind of a Lili Taylor Kula
type.
Right before she
fixed up my White 'Mi' 5'O
Russian, this lady bar-
tender was dealing with a joker who'd
already toasted the bride and groom a few
too many times. He was loud, obnoxious
and flirting shamelessly. That's right, kids,
he was your typical middle-aged man get-
ting his drunk on.
As this slop-faced gentleman finally
stumbled away. I said to the bartender, "I
bet there's always one guy like that, huh?"
She just nodded and sighed.
'At these wedding parties," she said.
"there's one of everything."
That line sent my head a'swimming
faster than the Absolut in my drink, and it
stayed in my system just as Iong. You see,
for the rest of the night, the bartender's
remark just kept proving itself dead on.
There's always one of everything.
There's always one funnyman.
He's the guy that makes the rounds to
every table after dinner, cracking jokes
straight out of a Leno monologue. The fun-
nyman's got a big voice and an even bigger
laugh. he's most likely a sports marketing
executive by day. Everyone calls him
"Uncle" something or other. but he's not
actually related to anyone at the wedding.
* There's always one troublemaker.
Quite often, the troublemaker is a fun-
nyman who's gone overboard on the dis-
tilled spirits. As the night goes on and the
drinks keep flowing, he gets rowdier than
Roddy Piper. He repeatedly makes a fool
of himself on the dance floor, flailing
about until he sends the maid of honor
reeling into the ice sculpture. The trouble-
maker is always harassing the banquet
servers and it really gets embarrassing
when the cute, teen-aged waitress asks if
he'd like any cocktails.
U There's always one wedding band that
really needs to be unplugged.
When musicians can't hack it, they play
weddings - that's just a fact of life, and
I'm not talking Mindy Cohn. When they
swallow their pride and play wedding gig
after wedding gig, these guys develop the
gift of true schlock. The Kenny G-influ-
enced trio that performed at my cousin's
reception left no sentimental, cheese-rock
stone unturned and even pulled off a seam-
less, parents-of-the-bride-pleasing segue of
Bob Seger's "Old-Time Rock and Roll" into
Van Morrison's "Brown Eyed Girl" into the
timeless polka hit "Roll out the Barrel."
There's always one young boy in
attendance who makes like Kevin Bacon
and does a wicked knee slide across the
dance floor when said band kicks into
"Footloose" (funny, that's how I spent much
of my time at freshman-year frat parties).
There's always one guy in the bath-
rootn who can be overheard raving about
the "Girls Gone Wild: Mardi Gras" video
collection.
* There's always one gay uncle - and
if you don't believe this one, then you don't
know your family well enough.
There's always one bridesmaid who
just wants to party all the time, party all the
time, party all the tii-iiime.
® There's always one guy in attendance
who's smirking all night long but doesn't
speak his mind to anyone because he is,
after all, looking pretty sharp is his tuxedo
and those free White Russians are just so
damn tasty.
- Chris Kula can be reached via e-mail
at ckula/umich.edu and will get married
when he finds a girl with a nice, sweet dowrv.
sof i n UPrson or sen t'ia theL;S, Pastal Serv
More minal i jU'tice Which presidenti
debate was the
New drug laws target minorities, poor Daily watching?
NTABL.E QU0TABLE:: A
'Here, if the people only hear Britney Spears,
they'll be happy.'
- Music student Brian Lipson on the American music scene.
Adm inistration still same She is doing nothing "out of the ordi-
. . . .nary.
giving privileges to As long as systems that perpetuate oppres-
sion continue to be maintained, funded, and
M ichigar ua supported by this University's administration,
all disenfranchised and historically oppressed
groups remain at risk. We need leadership from
TO THE DAILY: our Interim Vice President for Student Affairs,
Thank you for printing the article "U' aids not the ordinary, and not the status quo.
Tower Societies in move" (I0/2100).
As the article underscores, membership in CAMERON SHULTZ
the elitist tower societies still has its privileges. SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK
While the University claims its treatment is
the same to all student groups, what about its
treatment to non-student groups? I ask this Lack of third
because Michigamua is neither currently reg- La k t r party
istered as a student group, nor has it ever been coverage saddening
registered as a student group. Despite its non-
group status, however. Michigamua continues
its privileged status of being provided elite TO THE DAILY:
carnpus space (how many other groups, I won- I'm concerned about the disturbing lack
der, have received thousands of dollars to ren- of coverage devoted to candidates from par-
ovate temporary transition space?). The Daily ties other than the two major ones. There are
cites Interim Vice President for Student isstes confronting the country and world
Affairs E. Royster Harper as saying that "she vastly more important than those "discussed"
did nothing out of the ordinary for Michiga- by Republicans and Democrats. Were the
mua." Sadly, I would have to agree. concerns and viewpoints of people from the
She continues, as she always has, to grant Green, Libertarian, and other parties covered,
this elitist organization special privileges and people might realize that they are not alone in
access to administrative power. She continues, their concerns and become more active in
as she always has, to maintain an environment participating in the political process. True
that is hostile to our campus Native American democracy and the American set of ideals
students, faculty and staff. And she continues, requires far more care and participation then
as she always has, to avoid discussing the dis- the current saddening levels.
criminatory and racist practices (whether
intentional or not) of the secret society known CHRIS PETERSON
as Michigamua. So yes, she is doing the LSA SENIOR
THOMAS KULJURGLS TENTA1EL- PEAK'ING
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O ur criminal justice system is in dire Something is clearly wrong with this pic-
need of reform. Nothing has con- ture, and it is not just at the national level.
tributed more to this problem than the Not long ago, in a similar vein, Michi-
"War on Drugs." The concern is specif- gan passed a law that defined the legal
ically highlighted in laws that target amount of powder cocaine or crack
minorities and deal out harsh sentences cocaine which could lead to mandatory
based on mandatory minimums. Accord- minimum sentencing. The amount of
ing to Mark Mauer, assistant director of crack necessary - a drug associated
"The Sentencing Project," a national with lower class, urban populations -
organization based in Washington, D.C., was disproportionately less than the
these "get tough" policies have led to a amount needed to lock away the typically
rise in black incarceration rates across the affluent cocaine user.
board by attaching harsher penalties to What lawmakers at the state ad fed-
those drugs used by minorities and the eral level have failed to realize is that
lower socio-economic classes. these laws, racist or not, are a waste of
To add to this already discriminatory taxpayer money and fail in practice.
system, Congress has Rather than snag drug
recently passed a new kingins, they should
law that will only exacer- congress has rehabilitate users, treat
bate the problem of over- recently passed a addiction or reduce the
crowded prisons and the . supply of drugs. Cur-
racial disparity in the law that will only rent quick fix laws
criminal justice system. exacerbate the wrongly punish minor,
This new law incorpo- nonviolent users. Peo-
rates methamphetamines probDiem of ple who need rehabili-
(most notably, crystal overcrowded tation are stuck in
meth) into mandatory prison for 20 years
minimum drug laws. prisons and the despite the fact that
Ecstasy, on the other racial disparitjy in treatment options are
hand - which is in fact i cheaper and more
meth-based - will be the criminal justice effective than lost
excluded from the law. system. prison terms. And once
According to again, prisons are
salon.com, Ecstasy is a clogged with a dispro-
drug used mostly by upper and middle portionate minority population.
class white kids, while mostly minorities Perhaps most egregiously, these laws
and lower classes use methampheta- allow Congress to usurp the power of our
mines. Absurd congressional initiatives legal system by taking power out of the
like this expose fundamental and perhaps hands of judges with mandatory mini-
unintentional trend of race and class- mums. Judges are supposedly allowed
based warfare, especially considering the discretion in the interpretation of laws,
fact that those arrested by these unjust but mandatory minimums deny them this
laws deny a large number of minonties power, almost universally at the expense
therighttovote. of minority drug offenders. Judges
Ilinois Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. and should be allowed to weigh previous con-
columnist Arianna Huffington are two victions and the severity of the crime
prominent figures that have compared possibly allowing offenders a treatment
drug laws to racially discriminatory "Jim option; instead, mandatory minimums
Crow" laws in the late 19th century. Sta- place across-the-board the power in the
tistics show a blatant trend of laws that hands of legislators. Not one aspect of
support these claims. these laws can justify the results of this
For instance, according to Huffington, flagrantly unfair system.
13 percent of African-American males Our drug laws are flawed on financial,
cannot vote because they have been con- legal and moral grounds. New laws that
victed of a felony. Considerin 4.6 mil- continue the bias against minorities and
lion black males voted in 1996, this is a the poor only compound the program.
staggering percentage of minorities Add to that mandatory minimum sen-
barred from entering the voting booth. tencing and the lack of emphasis on reha-
Even worse, while blacks are only 13 bilitation and it is no surprise that we
percent of drug users, they compose 74 have unfair, ineffective legislation that
percent of all drug offenders in prison. helps no one but the people in power.
TO THE DAILY:
I am not sure what debate the Daily staff
was watching but it could not have been the
same one I saw. How could news writers Yael
Kohen and Jeremy W. Peters possibly think
that "Bush came out poised as a serious can-
didate capable of holding the executive
office?"
Every time Bush spoke. I felt as if I was
listening to a five-year-old yell back a com-
ment with no intelligence behind it. Instead of
trying to explain his policies or saysanything
remotely intelligent, Bush often resorted to
saying things such as "I guess my answer to
that is, the man's running on Mediscare..." and
"That's just -- that's just - that's just totally
false." You could tell by the look on his face
that he was waiting to use that Mediscare line
for a real long time. He had the same look on
his face as when your five-year-old cousin
says "Well you're a stupid head."
I hope that the undecided voters out there
who watched this debate and continue to fol-
low this election can see that Bush is clearly
only concerned with the wealthiest one per-
cent of this country. He even confirms this
when the moderator, Jim Lehrer, began to ask
a question and Bush said "I hope it's about
wealthy people" He was flustered when Gore
mentioned this and had no response except to
say he was lying. I personally would be scared
to such an unintelligible, stubborn man as the
leader of this country.
REID WAINESS
LSA JUNIOR
Uh I's honest review
scared the jazz
status quo
TO THE DAILY:
I am writing this in response to Ellen
Rowe's letter "Concert review was off the
mark," in which she attacked John Uhl for
daring to criticize the aging music of Keith
Jarrett. While it is not uncommon for jazz
musicians to un-selfconsciously stroke each
other's egos, Rowe's defense of Jarrett's tire-
some performance - which evoked "com-
plete and utter silence" from bored
concertgoers - was a travesty. Apparently,
an honest review of a tepid performance
scared the jazz status quo enough for Rowe
to resort to personal threats against Uhl's
"future literary endevours."
It's sad because Jarrett's playing belongs
in a museum. Perhaps Rowe hopes to use her
appointment as Associate Professor of Jazz
Studies to support her case, but because jazz
is a music that was made on the streets, not
in stuffy classrooms, that carries little
weight.
JOE WALTS
ENGINEERING JUNIOR
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FOR MORE INFORMATION A1U
OP-ART SUBMISSIONS, CONTACT JOSH AT
jwickerh@umich.edu.