4 - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, October 10, 2000
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Taking things too far or how to be a Michigan activist
,. AAW
420 Maynard Street
Ann Arbor, MlI48109
dailylercers@umich.edu
hat is it with the people on this earn-
pus? Not everyone, mind you. Not
MIKE SPAHN everyone has gone crazy, but there certain-
Editor in Chief ly is a large and vocal group of people here
who seem to want to draw attention to their
Edited and managed by . EMILY ACHENBAUM
students at the
University of Michigan Editorial Page Editor
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.
cause. Nothing wrong
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Have a good trip?
®
Study abroad trips need to remain safe
tudying abroad is one of the best advisories of the United States State
opportunities that students can Department and talking to former
have to expand their liberal arts edu- study abroad students for advice. Fol-
cation and broaden their life experi- lowing these steps will allow partici-
ences. Encountering firsthand pants to become more aware of what
unfamiliar cultures and customs, for- to expect when they study abroad and
eign languages and unknown settings, given them greater insight on the cus-
students are provided with a more toms, current news and styles, cultur-
extensive education than what they al practices and politics of the
would normally receive on campus. country they will be visiting.
But in order for When studying
students to take full Students along abroad, students
advantage of the s b shouldnt expect an
rewarding and exct ith government environment similar
ing experience that to the United States.
study abroad pro- ficials and Every country is
grams offer, safety unique, and the vary-
Students, aiori t Unistysiyin c customs,
government oficials lifestyles andatmos-
and University admin-ad among us are what
istrators mustestab- art one country
lish Land mtaintainba mus[ establish and frtma oenother.conr
few important ground m t a few Of course, these
rules for study abroad A W risks should not dis-
programs. . ,mportan driiaind courage .students
Government offi- i n t ground from continuing to
cials and University rules for study abroad. Class-
study abroad pro- s room learning is
grams need to do abroadproram . always important, but
more to help increase a there is no learning
the safety of their stu- _environment that can
dents studying in for- replace experiencing
eign countries. They need to ensure something firsthand. The ability for
safe travel and contact accessibility students to travel to a country to
with students from any university or study a foreign language or take up
college, not just wealthy private residence in a country to study a par-
schools or large universities with ticular style of government is indis-
well-established programs. pensible and should not be curtailed
This can be achieved most effi- in any way by recent incidents
ciently by government regulations to involving study abroad trips.,
standardize the safety measures of By being open to new situations
study abroad programs at universities and perspectives, whether going
to follow the best run programs in the abroad for a year, summer or semes-
country. ter, studying abroad has the ability to
Even with these changes, the most be one of the greatest experiences of
important thing for students prepar- a student's college career.
ing to study in a foreign country is to Government officials and Univer-
learn as much as they can about their sity administrators must work togeth-
country before going there. This er to ensure that study abroad trips
means reading specific guidebooks are as safe as possible for students.
from libraries and bookstores, fol- Students must share some of the bur-
lowing the guidance provided by their den as well, by doing research on
study abroad program, reading the their destination.
Fuel for thought
Alternative energy sources need attention
A s the price of gasoline remains Rather than quick fixes, the
high, the same culprits are once mounting energy problem demands
again held accountable and tired, pre- long-term action; alternative energy
dictable solutions are advocated. The (solar, tidal, photovoltiacs, wind,
nation, and in particular the presiden- nuclear, etc.) is promising if not
tial candidates, debate oil policy. already available.
The merits of plans to engineer the Research is being undertaken to
price of oil have become points of expand and maximize alternative
contention within the energy possibilities;
current presidential Rather than quick this research should
race. Proposals abound be continued,
to halt or at least stymy esthe mountingeexpanded and
escalating prices,.x encouraged. Those
Indeed, the implemen- enery roblem sources of alterna-
tation of subtle oil tive energy already
ecome a pointof con- splementedulonabe
tention between the national scale. Clear-
major parties. action; nly feasible, and
From Vice President energy is promising working under limit-
Gore's plan to dip into ed implementation,
the strategic petroleum if notar dthese alternative
reserve to Governor energy resources
Bush's proposed available. should be given
drilling in Alaska, it______________ equal or greater
seems that everykcan- attention than their
didate has a particular method where- less efficient and less abundant coun-
by the price of oil will be controlled. terparts. The cleaner promise of
These plans come complete with alternative energy should never be
assorted detractions. Alaskan drilling overlooked by the fleeting abun-
brings the reality that drilling in dance, availability and relative pric-
Alaska will destroy some of the ing of fossil fuel.
nation's most beautiful landscape. As the specter of an energy crisis
Concerning Gore's plan, reports have again looms overhead it is imperative
already surfaced that oil released that every effort be taken to solve the
from the strategic petroleum reserve long term energy problems.
will be sent overseas. Alternative energy solutions must
However, the evident common be researched, utilized and optimized.
denominator remains, these plans Energy consumption should be held
mainly treat the price of oil for the in check by self-restraint, and energy
near future. In short, current oil poh- efficiency improvements. From more
cy is a quick fix for an energy addict. efficient cars to solar energy, the pos-
The United States voraciously con- sibility of energy free from the con-
sumes energy. To feed this habit of straints of oil is possible. The country
wanton energy consumption the U.S. simply needs to make the decision to
turns to relatively cheap oil and other make alternative energy sources a
fossil fuels. priority.
with that, don't get
me wrong. I admirey
anyone who is willing .
to stand up for what
they believe in. But it
seems to me like a lot
of people are jumping
onto any issue they
can and ruining what-
ever purpose they had
by employing sense-
lessly radical tech-
niques. Manish
Look at some of'
the big issues that
have shaken up the '<
University recently.
,Michigamua. Was
I the only "person of
color" (I abhor that term) who was embar-
rassed to be in any way associated with the
Students of Color Coalition, if for no other
reason than the fact that the SCC's name
suggests that it's an umbrella that repre-
sents all of us'? It's not so much that they
didn't have a point, albeit one that I didn't
personally agree with. It's that they took it
too far. Besides the taking over of
Michigamnua's space. which was ridiculous
in and of itself, there was one thing that
struck me as odd during the whole situa-
tion. When the two groups finally sat down
to negotiate, the talks were broken up
when the SCC went off on an emotional
tangent about Michigamua's name, in a
blatant attempt at restricting freedom of
speech.
Third world labor. This is one that I
definitely agree with. Students Organizing
for Labor and Economic Equality has basic
ideologies that I agree with, but some of
their methods seem a little extreme. Call
me middle of the road if you'd like, but I
don't see Kohl's making any dramatic
changes to their production methods based
on ten protesters - six of whom were
first-year students and sophomores - get-
ting arrested. It's not that I don't agree
with them, it's that their actions seem
awfully insignificant. Equal opportunity is
something worth standing up for, but will
ten arrests in a local store make any differ-
ence on the lives of poverty-stricken labor-
ers in Nicaragua? Some may believe so,
but I remain skeptical.
Abortion. A tricky topic at best, a vio-
lent one at worst. If I were forced to pick a
side of the fence on the Diag to have been
standing on, I would have been on the
inside. Ideologically, I'm anti-abortion, but
realistically, I'm pro-choice. This may
seem like a conflict of interest at first, but
I firmly believe that the issue of abortion
is a moral one and one that necessarily
involves a personal judgment call on when
life begins. I happen to believe that life
begins at conception, but I don't feel that
my opinions, or anyone else's, ought to
dictate a person's own beliefs on such a
controversial decision. So yes, if I was
forced to pick a side, I would have been
inside, but I would do so with resentment,
because the comparison to genocide is
entirely off base and insulting. Not to say
that those on the outside were being angels
about the situation either. "Sexist, racist,
anti-gay; right-wing bigots, go away!"
were the chants heard around the Diag,
which is silly because issues of homosexu-
ality and race were never brought up. I
may be anti-abortion, but a "right-wing
bigot" I am certainly not.
Affirmative action. As anyone who
knows me is aware. I am strongly opposed
to affirmative action as it is practiced
today. It's ludicrous to extend extra help to
people who had the "misfortune" of being
born a minority. That extra help would be
much more useful if extended to those who
have had the very real misfortune of being
born poor. But, with no consideration for
logic, there is a push to defend the Univer-
sity and its hypocritical admissions poli-
cies.
My point? I'm sure that, if you have
made it this far without developing a deep
loathing for me and everything I stand for,
you're wondering what my point is. My *
point is this: Radicalism isn't an answer.
The "righteous anger" of radicals often
overshadows, and occasionally defeats
entirely, whatever purpose there was
behind the protests. It's not that radicals
don't have a point. It's simply that radicals
often fail to see the other side of an issue,
and in being so blind, they make their own
ideals seem silly and irrelevant. My only
advice is this: Look before you leap, know
what you stand for before you stand for it@
and try and at least see the other side
before attacking it. Stand up for your
beliefs, but don't do so to such an extreme
that you lose the integrity of your views.
Prudence isn't a virtue reserved solely for
the ineffectual and the meek.
- Manish Raiji can be reached
via e-mail at mraiji ieumich.edu.
N etAB U AnBEhg.'
'There's a lot of paranoia when you walk through the
Diag. There are thousands of people and anyone could
eIn thegame.'
- LSA Junior Adam Demarow, member of Society of Assassins,
on participating in the hunt and kill type game.
Greek Derby Days
deserved Daily's
attention
TO THE DAILY:
While much of the campus was watch-
ing the game on Saturday, many members
of the Greek community were at Sigma
Chi watching Derby Days.
Derby Days is a philanthropic event run
by Sigma Chi which features a number of
events including boxing and tug-of-war
competitions.
The lack of coverage of this esent in
the Daily is perplexing. Besides ignoring
the accomplishments of the winning box-
ers from Sigma Chi. Phi Kappa Psi and
Beta Theta Pi, the Daily missed a golden
opportunity to show the Greek community
at its best.
Unfortunately, this has proen to be the
rule rather than the exception at the Daily.
While scores of philanthropic events and
other Greek accomplishments are ignored,
it seems that the Daily jumps on every
opportunity to write about fraternity trans-
gressions.
This anti-Greek bias has never been as
clear as last spring, when a wildly success-
ful Greek Week received minimal cover-
age.
A click on the "articles" link of the
Greek Week webpage shows one article
and two pictures for the entire 10-day
event. With dozens of fraternities and
sororities working together for charity, this
could have been a great opportunity to
shed some much deserved positive light on
the Greek system. As usual, however, the
opportunity was allowed to pass.
When I talk about the University Greek
system. I acknowledge the negative and
accentutate the positive. 'The Daily, it
seems, accentuates the negative while all
but ignoring the positive. The Greek sys-
tem has accomplished so much in recent
years, and there is so much more yet to
come. It'd be a shame if all Daily coverage
of the Greek system continued to be fil-
A weekend in East
eing a girl born and raised in the great
mitten state of Michigan, I couldn't
wait to graduate high school to get thehell
out of here. But through some heavy
parental convincing I somehow ended up
in-state. here at the
University, while the
rest of my high schooli
went to Michigan Stalei
University. And after a
sketchy visit to State
last weekend, I became
vividly aware of just I
how much we are
shaped by the colleges
we attende
My friend and I I
stuck out like sore y-
thumbs in East Lans- Erinl
ing. In our Michael McQuinn
Stars stretch-tees and
black booty pants we
were highly contrast to
the standard American
Eagle boots and big
orange fleeces. I felt foreign -where
were all the jean jackets and big hoop ear-
rings'? They were nowhere to be found.
And what the hell was going on out on the
dance floor? People weren't dancing, they
were trying to have sex while still wearing
clothes. This was above and beyond grind-
ing. It was so high school that I was just
tered through a clear anti
ty bias.
Carr's coach
responsible 1
Purdue loss
TO THE DAILY:
I would like to register
Carr's coaching. After wa
game, a worse display ofc
difficult to imagine. Scoring
second half, getting the ba
point lead and two minutes
giving Purdue the opportuni
field goal. There's not much
that kind of coaching - the
-fraternity/sorori- uninspired, conservative, unimaginative, pre-
dictable come to mind.
I've always said Coach Carr is a towering
STEVEN KYRITZ mediocrity, who manages to win because the
LSA JUNIOR program draws superlative talent from around
the counnry.
The 1998 championship season belonged
indmore to Brian Griese than to Coach Carr. I
know the University won't fire Carr this sea-
for son. I"know Carr will probably never be fired.
And even if Carr was released, the Athletic
Dept. would forego interviewing qualified can-
didates and simply hire an assistant.
But I can't help dreaming what could be it
the University would simply offer the position
my disgust at Lloyd to. and interview. someone other than a
tching the Purdue "Michigan Man." There are a lot of good
coaching would be coaches out there - Lloyd's not one of them.
three points in the I've suffered through Schembechler,
ll back with a two Moeller and Carr long enough. For God's sake,
remaining, and still stop the pain!
ity to beat us with a
you can say about
ough the terms dull,
PATRICK PEARLMAL
ALUMNU
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Lansing makes me appreciate A2
waiting for the principal to come in and blonde. Or maybe it was just because about
break it up. 99 percent of them hail from "The Great*
But perhaps the scariest part of the Lakes State" - probably the second
night was seeing some random guy run- plainest state next to Idaho.
ning around in a black wife-beater. State We are all products of our environ-
isn't a party school - it's a continuation of ments. At MSU I stopped to think for a
high school for all the kids who grew up in moment how different my life would be
Michigan. And boy are they bitter about it. now if I had gone for the green-and-white
Anytime. that I told someone that I was. rather than the maize-and-blue (even our
from the University of Michigan, I heard a colors are more sophisticated). I would
quick retort of "Oh yeah, I totally could've probably have more hiking boots and fewer
gotten in!" Not that I asked or anything, Prada bags. And for once, I was actually
buddy. thankful to my parents for making me do*
Our parties are about 500 times better something.
than theirs. And we don't riot when we win So maybe I have become that "arrogant
(I'll never figure that one out). But for asshole" that all the people who hate the
some reason I definitely couldn't see the University said I would be. Wait - I know
boys at this party rioting. It didn't look like I have. But not in the typical way.
they could do a hanging arm pull-up, let I don't cry when we lose a football
alone flip over an entire car. These were game and I definitely could care less if a
the boys who couldn't climb the rope in school's ACT average is lower than ours.
gym class. Tall, skinny and wearing big But all those people who have discovered
leather jackets with shoulder pads. The "the softer side of Sears" and treat the frat
really sad thing was, we were at supposed- dance floor like an under-18 club - that's
ly one of the best fraternities on campus - just wrong.
I'd really hate to see the worst. It will be a long time until I return
And whoever started the myth that again to East Lansing. I think Michigan
State has "really hot girls" must not have State can be summarized by the sole factor
been at the party I was at either. All the that they think it's super-cool to have one
girls seemed terribly plain - not hideous, person dance in the center of a circle while
just plain. everyone else claps.
I think they all went to K-mart together-- Erin McQuinn can be reached
to buy the same off-the-shelf-box shade of via e-mail at eimcquinn ifumich.edu.