4 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, October 6, 2000
ahle lC'rt i ttit ttil
Attention activists: Radicalism frightens people off
420 Maynard Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
daily.letters@umich.edu
Edited and managed by
students at the
University of Michigan
MIKE SPAHN
Editor in Chief
EMILY ACHENBAUM
Editorial Page Editor
Unless otherwise noted, unsigned editorials reflect the opinion of the majority of
the Dailys editorial board. All other articles, letters and cartoons do not
necessarily reflect the opinion of The Michigan Daily.
A s if walking to class in the rain, at nine
- (is that 0900 in the morning?), to fail a
quiz, in a class I hate, after staying up until
five studying for it, without downing any
breakfast, and an entire day of classes ahead
of me, and, I don't
know, a hole in my
sock, isn't bad enough,
I see a 20 foot scaffold
and surrounding fenceP
has been erected in the
middle of the Diag,
displaying pictures of
the Holocaust and°
black lynchings beside
pictures of miscarried
and aborted fetuses.
Could I have been
more repulsed? No. David
Could that have been Horn
any more distracting? Hr
No. Did I pass my :...... p..y
quiz? Uh, no. It's all
about not accepting responsibility for my
failures, and I blame the extremist pro-lifers,
the Genocide Awareness Project, for mine.
I blame them for a lot more than my biolo-
gy quiz though. I blame them for spurring an
abortion debate on this campus that is not
focussed on the appropriate issues. Their tac-
tics were rash and inappropriate, and the sen-
sationalism displayed on the Diag early last
week did nothing but turn people - both
pro-choice and pro-life - off. They didn't
win any favor among the former group. The
last thing pro-choicers want to see is what
was on those posters, but people are not so
simple as to be guilt-tripped into changing
their mind on an issue as complicated as
abortion.
I'm not pro-life, but if I were I'd be frus-
trated and disappointed with extremists like
the G.A.P. in the Diag. There are plenty of
valid, intelligent points on the side of pro-
life, but none were being presented last
week. Their radicalism frightens people off
and makes what should be an intellectually
and morally charged debate an emotional
one. The greatest challenge our society has
faced in determining a collective morality
cannot be reduced to a guilt-trip. It requires
sensibility and open-mindedness from both
sides of the debate.
As a Jew, I also have a beef with the Holo-
caust = abortion argument. After a brief chat
with one of the gentleman handing out litera-
ture from behind the G.A.P. fence, I was able
to discern the correlation that they see, mis-
guided and offensive as it may be. Their
argument is that just as the Holocaust was a
period of genocide, courtesy of a culture that
had no respect for human life you see where
they're going. The images strewn across
those fences and on the scaffold of blacks
being lynched in the South could not have
been more inappropriate.
The worst thing that anyone involved in a
debate like abortion can fail to do is to rec-
ognize the merits of his or her opposition'se
argument. Where one person sees an act as
being fundamentally evil, the other does not,
and both need to be respectful of that.
The other issue I have a problem with is
that something - anything - as large and
overwhelming as that would be allowed in
the Diag. Student groups like K-Grams or
BAMN or IFC or whoever get, like, a booth.
The Genocide Awareness Project is allowed
to occupy the entire area of the Diag, whiche
besides slowing foot traffic en route to class-
es was a noisy and visually unappealing nui-
sance - sound and sight pollution at its
worst. I'm all about freedom of expression,
but there is a medium that should have been
reached that would have kept all parties rela-
tively happy. That the G.A.P. need to rely on
their size rather than the strength of their
message is an indication that their message
isn't at all worthwhile.
Abortion is our great moral test. We are
failing because of our failure to communi*
cate thoughtfully, openly and maturely.
Biology was my great academic test.I.
failed it because what was going on in the 3
Diag last week was ridiculous and I have a
tough time getting pictures of miscarried
fetuses out of my mind. The next time I have
an early test in Angell Hall, I'm avoiding the
Diag and going around the side Oh, crap
Nevermind. More scaffolding.
- David Horn can be reached va
e-mail at hornd Eeumich.edu
DARE proven to be ineffective
Some Metro Detroit schools are
ditching Drug Awareness and
Resistance Education (DARE). Why?
Because DARE doesn't keep kids off
drugs.
Begun by officer Darryl Gates of
the Los Angeles Police Department in
1983, the DARE program has expand-
ed to thousands of schools in all 50
states. According to DARE's own fig-
ures, it currently reaches more than
30 million mostl fifth-grade students
annually. Indeed, in most communi-
ties the DARE program is wildly pop-
ular with police, students and parents
alike. Even President Clinton and
Attorney General Janet Reno have
both spoken in sup-
port of DARE. There's The centra
one problem. DARE
doesn't work. message Q
While the program
is almost certainly is inherent
- effective in giving
fifth-graders a posi-
tive impression of police officers and
offers some useful information about
the nature of the drugs themselves,
the central message of DARE, zero
tolerance, is inherently flawed. In a
variety of studies, none could prove
that DARE successfully reduces drug
use among its graduates. The Detroit
News study corroborates a large body
of evidence suggesting DARE has no
impact on drug use. The largest of
these studies, conducted jointly by the
U.S. Justice Department and the pres-
tigious Research Triangle Institute
concluded that DARE appears to have
"a limited to essentially nonexistent
effect" on drug use.
The program fails because of an
inherently flawed message to kids.
DARE teaches zero use - that any
alcohol, drug or tobacco use leads to
addiction. Scientists have suggested a
variety of reasons why this policy
Good Samaritan la
W ould you ignore terrified pleas
and watch a person being bru-
tally knifed to death without trying to
help? Its horrifying to imagine that
people could be that apathetic to a
crisis, but that's exactly what hap-
pened just after 3 a.m. in Queens,
New York City, on March 13, 1964.
According to the police report,
Catherine "Kitty" Genovese was
stabbed to death over a period of 35
minutes - with 38 people watching
the cruelty. By the time a neighbor
finally called the police - who
arrived within two minutes - it was
too late for Genovese who had died
just inside the front door of a nearby
apartment as she was trying to
escape.
What does this infamous case have
to do with us in Ann Arbor? After all,
the Kitty Genovese
murder took place 30T
years a o and hun-
dreds of miles awa. bstandee
Theissue has recent y s d
leapt into the forefront behn
of Michigan news Chang
with a tragic murder q u-fx -
strikinly similar to qUICK-iX t
that ofGenovese.
Kevin Heisinger was beaten to
death in the restroom of a Kalamazoo
bus station after attending orientation
at the University's School of Social
Work. Five people were within
earshot of the attack and heard
Heisinger's pleas for help but did not
notify the authorities. One man found
him unconscious and another saw
Heisinger lying in a pool of blood.
Both simply walked away. It took a
nine-year-old boy to notify authori-
ties at the terminal.
In spite of the public outrage, no
legal action was brought against the
bystanders to the murder. Currently,
there is no federal law requiring citi-
zens to render aid, however a number
of states have passed various forms
of Good Samaritan laws that prosecu-
tors can use to take action against
witnesses who fail to report a serious
assault.
This debacle has prompted two
i
i
fails, but some fault the simple fact
that despite the program's best inten-
tions, most students will inevitably
experiment with drugs - either alco-
hol, cigarettes or marijuana. Some
argue that when this experimentation
doesn't lead to the hopeless addiction
portrayed by the DARE materials, the
students disregard the entire message.
Others have gone so far as to suggest
that this blanket treatment of all drugs
might actually increase drug use by
de-emphasizing the more accurate
portrayal of hard drugs, encouraging
experimentation in a so-called
boomerang effect.
For its ineffectiveness, DARE con-
sumes an impressive
I amount of tax money.
i Because it is funded
)f DARE through a variety of
sources and largely de-
ly flawed centralized, it is impos-
sible to determine
exactly how much
money goes into DARE pro grams
nationwide. Glenn Levant, the DARE
executive director, claims the program
consumes more than $750 million per
year from both public and private
sources. Although coorations provide
a large portion of DARE 's funding, tax-
payers are ultimately providing much
of its funding through federal pro-
grams, such as the "Drug-Free
Schools" program or the Safe and Drug
Free School Act, local governments or
through police departments.
Should DARE be abolished? No.
Programs that place uniformed police
officers in schools and offer objective
and realistic information about drugs
have a positive, concrete effect.
DARE should reassess its message as
it has been proven to be ineffective
and federal, state and local authorities
should make an effort to spend tax
dollars on effective programs.
ed help
tws wrong answer
state legislators, Dale Shugars (R-
Portage) and Jerry Vander Roest (R-
Galesburg) to draft legislation that
would require people witnessing
someone gravely injured to immedi-
ately call the police. This type of
Good Samaritan law has already been
passed in California and Minnesota.
In fact, Michigan already has two
"Good Samaritan" laws which grant
immunity from civil damages to med-
ical personnel at an emergency site
and require certain professionals to
report abuse or neglect of seniors or
children. According to a report in the
Kalamazoo Gazette, this new mea-
sure is being introduced in Michigan
because: "Senator Shugars was very
upset at the lack of compassion to an
individual who was being physically
abused and ended up being mur-
dered."
Sof Althou the pub-
lic and poiticians are
swon1't understandably
s'Paled at the
ad byaIeisinger murder,
d by creating a law to
-%! coerce citizens into
action isn't the
answer
The reason people often don't get
involved in violent crimes that they
witness is because of reasonable fears
of being harmed themselves, a reac-
tion that is result of basic human psy-
chology that cannot be legislated
away. As much as we may want peo-
ple to jump to the aid of those in dan-
ger, requiring people to behave
contrary to their normal human
instincts in dangerous situations is
unwarranted and unlikely to be effec-
tive in any case.
At the trial of Winston Mosely,
Kitty Genovese's killer, her sister
Susan Wakeman said, "We don't
blame the people who were there that
night and might have heard her cry-
ing. Only one person killed my sis-
ter."
And anyone in Heisinger's shoes
would have wanted someone to get
involved, but legislating behavior will
not be effective and is not the answer.
Daily was right about
presidential debate
TO THE DAILY:
I'd like to congratulate the Daily on its
accurate coverage ("Candidates clash,"
10/4/00) of the presidential debates.
Although many of the Daily's articles are
very one-sided, I thought this coverage was
very unbiased.
I have to admit I was slightly annoyed
with Reid Wainess' letter ("Which presi-
dential debate was the Daily watching?"
10/5/00) responding to the Daily's coverage
of the debates. Obviously Wainess went
into watching the debates just looking for
things they could trash on Bush about. He
chose to see only what he wanted to see.
While I agree that Bush stumbled over his
words a few times and that the "Mediscare"
thing was pretty stupid, I also happen to
think that Gore gave an equally, if not more
immature presentation. Take for example
the fact that Gore was constantly interrupt-
ing the mediator for one more word and the
plethora of audible sighs coming from
Gore almost every time Bush spoke.
Whether you favor Gore or you favor Bush,
you have to admit that was very immature
and rude.
Another comment about Wainess' let-
ter: Clearly Bush does not favor the rich. If
Bush became president he would give
everyone a tax break. Gore may have been
correct in saying that 50 percent of the
money from the tax break would go to the
wealthiest one percent, but that is only
because the wealthiest one percent pays 50
percent of the taxes. The fact is that under
the Bush tax reform. 6 million families will
no longer pay any federal income tax and
no one will pay more than one third of their
income in taxes.
I'm not trying to say that either Bush's
or Gore's tax reform is better than the
other. I am simply just trying to clear a few
things up. And I hope that any undecided
voters out there will take the time to do
their homework and to look at the facts
with a completely unbiased approach.
NATE LEE
ENGINEERING SENIOR
'U' is not anti-Native
American or racist
TO THE DAILY:
Regarding the Oct. 5th letter by Cameron
Shultz ("Administration still giving privieges
to Michigamua"): How is this campus so anti-
Native American? How is this move promot-
ing any kind of oppression? I am yet to see
anyone crusading against Native Americans
or protesting their presence on campus. Shultz
talks about privileges afforded Michigamua,
but what about those given to the Students of
Color Coalition? Where else can you have the
privilege to break into someone else's office,
steal their possessions and not be arrested?
Yes, the objects were Native American. But
can an Egyptian steal your beer because his
ancestors had it before you? Can Amish peo-
ple steal antique desks because it looks like
their own? Doesn't make sense, does it?
Secondly, have you looked at where this
"elite campus space" is? Beside the railroad
on this campus and you'll find that they're not
the racists you thing they are.
BEN BAJCZ
ENGINEERING SENIOR
Slain students not
connected to 'U'
TO THE DAILY:
I would like to clarify two points made in
Thursday's article ("Congress confronts study
abroad safety," 105 00) discussing Wednes-
day's House of Representatives subcommittee
hearing on study abroad safety. The Daily, in
referring to the tragic murders earlier this year
of two young women in Costa Rica, identifies
one of them, Emily Howell. as "a study abroad
student through Antioch College." In fact,
Howell was no longer affiliated with the Anti-
och program at the time of her death, having
chosen to stay on independently in Costa Rica.
The Daily identifies the other student, Emily
Eagen, as "connected to the University
because she was a non-degree student." In
fact, my comment to the Daily, when asked
about the reaction to Eagen's murder, was that
"some people mistakenly connected her to the
University because she was from Ann Arbor."
These are minor corrections to an otherwise
useful report on the various efforts of universi-
ty and government officials to ensure the well-
being of students attending overseas programs,
and do nothing to lessen the horror and sad-
ness we all have felt over the slayings.
JORDAN POLLACK
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR,
OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS
Sanz's column was
'sans facts'
TO THE DAILY:
As a resident of the puritanically "simple
place" of Whitmore Lake, I take great
exception to the comments made by Branden
Sanz in his column, "Witches and warlocks?
Ban this, biyaaatch!" (10/4/00) with regard
to our school book banning situation. Sanz
stated that the good citizens of this commu-
nity took steps to have the books "Of Mice
and Men" and the Harry Potter series
banned.
But according to Glenn Bachmann, the
superintendent of schools here in Whitmore
Lake (whom I spoke with yesterday), the
good citizens is one citizen, one parent, who
objects to these particular books. The school
not only carries the books referenced by
Sanz in the libraries, but also teaches the
Steinbeck classic "Of Mice and Men" as a
part of the curriculum. As a matter of fact,
I DANE BARNES
the district has a committee designed specifi-
cally to address parental concerns over edu-
cational materials used in the district.
So I have two questions to ask: Who is
Sanz's editor and why didn't they check the
facts? And can we look forward to next
Wednesday's contribution by Sanz to be also
"sans" facts?
MARK PERREAULT@
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING STAFF
Details left out of
outsourcing article
TO THE DAILY:
We were disappointed with the coverage
in the Daily's Oct. 2nd article ("Outsourced@
jobs spark questions"). We feel that our
objections to the University's actions were.
not clearly related by the article, and Chris-
tos Michalakis' letter to the editor ("SOLE
protesters ignore middle class students'
needs," 10/4/00) seems to be evidence of
confusion directly related to this lack of clar-
ity. In addition, the article omits the impor-
tant fact that the union - the American
Federation of State, County and Municipal0
Employees, Local 1583 - has undertaken a
legal challenge to the University in this mat-
ter - it is not simply an issue of SOLE find-
ing the administration of University Hospital
to be abstractly unfair or undermining work-
ers' rights. This omission (the union was not
even named) and the lack of a statement
from the union's leaders or members leaves
the Daily's readers with an incomplete pic-
ture of this situation.
The fact that new jobs were found for the
workers displaced by Aramark is irrelevant
from our point of view. The overall picture is
what is important: Workers have beenr
brought in to do essentially the same wok
for less pay, benefits (worth thousands of
dollars) and job security in spite of the Uni-
versity's contract with AFSCME and repre-
sents a reversal of over 30 years of
precedent. Hospital administrators conterd
that this extraordinary step was needed to
reduce expenses, but documents obtained by
Michael Dover through a Freedom of Infor*
mation Act request cast serious doubt on this
claim, as does a cursory look at the Hospi-
tal's financial statements - a fact mentioned
in the Daily's editorial from July 17th ("Not
a temporary fix").
This is also an issue of basic fairness
related to the question of what kind of socj-
ety we want to live in: Why should cafeteria
workers lose benefits and work for $2 anr
hour less when hospital administrators
receive annual raises of tens of thousands o
dollars each? .
SCOTT BURKHARDT
SOLE MEMBER
'Your time is up. Go now. Don't wait until there has
been more death and destruction.'
- British Prime Minister Tony Blair in a statement to
Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic.
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