4A - The Michigan Daily - Monday, October 23, 2000
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It's hip to quip: Assaulting Al and Smirking George
*1
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 Daily's editorial board. All other articles,?letters and cartoons do not
necessarily reflect the opinion of ThWMichigan Daily.
Off-campus safety needs improvement
W hile the fact that the number of the campus into six "beats," each of
violent crimes committed on which is patrolled by an assigned
campus last year dropped is a credit officer. There are also five neighbor-
to the 'combined efforts of Depart- hood offices located at various spots
ment of Public Safety, the Ann Arbor on Central and North Campus.
Police Department, the city of Ann Still, safety remains an important
Arbor and the University, members of concern for the 26,000 students not
the University community should not living in residence halls on campus.
take this as a cue to relax crime pre- Many of the residential neighbor-
vention and safety awareness efforts. hoods and streets surrounding the
Last year, although DPS received University are not only extremely
only 10 reports of a forcible sexual dark, but also far out of the way of
offenses, the Sexual Assault Prevention the security services that DPS offers.
and Awareness Center received reports Although there are more than 70
of 67 instances of sexual assault. "blue light" phones located on cam-
According to the FBI's uniform crime pus, legally the University has nei-
reports for colleges and universities ther the responsibility nor the
(http://wwwsoconline.org/infbrmation/c authority to implement such safety
rimestats/UCR), there were 22 violent measures off of cam pus. Members of
crimes committed at the University and the
the University - the It is important thatcity of Ann Arbor
same number as those should work together
committed at Michigan students take to not only continue
State, which has an crime prevention on
enrollment of approxi- initiative to protect campus, but to devel-
mately six thousand op a broader program
more students. At the their peers to meet the needs of
University of Wiscon- off campus students.
sin, a school with The safety of Univer-
almost the same enrollment and a cam- sity students who live off campus
pus environment similar to that of Ann should be doubly protected, in that
Arbor, 14 violent crimes were reported. the responsibility should fall to both
In terms of crime prevention and gener- the University which the students
al safety, there is always room for attend and the city in which they
improvement, reside.
According to DPS (http:// However, safety should not only
www.umich.edu/-safetv/), the depart- be left to DPS and the Police Depart-
ment "is charged with providing law ment. It is important that students
enforcement and security services to take the initiative to protect their
a campus that includes more than 220 peers and get involved programs such
buildings on 4.2 square miles." as Safewalk and Northwalk. These
Ensuring the safety of a community programs allow a team of two trained
comprised of approximately 22,000 student volunteers to escort anyone
faculty and staff members and 37,000 anywhere (off campus included)
students - 11,000 of whom live in within a 20 minute radius of the
residence halls - is a formidable job UGLi (Safewalk) or Bursley Hall
and therefore the statistics are (Northwalk). The task of increasing
impressive. DPS offers programs on safety should not be left solely to
campus that include crime prevention those who are paid to do it. As mem-
presentations, building security bers of the community, it is the
audits and the distribution of responsibility of students to become
brochures and other literature.The active in contributing to an environ-
Community Oriented Policing pro- ment that is safe and comfortable for
gram, developed in 1995, has divided everyone.
Crowded planet
Population growth rates can be curbed
'Withjust precious few days to go
before election day and even fewer
voters left undecided, I feel to take this
opportunity to highlight a few of my
favorite moments from the past few weeks
in an effort to help those all-important
undecideds to make a
decision.t
My one disclaimer
is that while I present
these quips on an
inherently biased
page, I will try to keep
it a little even handed,
regardless of my own
affiliations. I will,
however, p-robably
fail.
This race for presi-
dent of the United Mike
States took on a life of Spahn
its own nearly a year
ago, before we knew
who the nominees t~:
would be and what
form the attacks would take. And now. with
less than three weeks to election day, 43 per-
cent of the people in this state believe in a
man who refuses to discuss his drug habits
prior to 1975 and 43 percent of the people
in this state believe in a man who claims too
much iced te. forced him from a room of
aides discussing potential illegalities.
Yet 10 percent of you still don't know
who to support. This one goes out to you.
U How big is it?
Through three debates, George W. Bush
referred to his "big state" more than 50
times. On everything from how he'll clean
up our land to how he administers the death
of his citizens, young George consistently
talked about how "ours is a big state" and
how he'll use those experiences to mold his
experience as president.
Doesn't it strike you as odd that a man
so bent on his anti-government persona is
running so heavily on his government
record? And at the same time his govern-
ment record spans only six years, two of
which have been consumed by campaign-
ing ?
EA new Al
In Debate #3, we saw the return of
Attack Al, and for a moment there, I
thought we might see a new Al: Assaulting
Al. As George junior spoke, but didn't
answer the question at hand on a patient's
bill of rights, Gore jumped up and
approached Bush with a menacing glare.
For the first time in more than an hour of
debate time, I got excited. I really thought
Gore was going to hit him. Or at least get in
his face, bump chests with him and yell,
"You want a piece of my patient's bill:? Huh?
Huh?"
Now that would have been a debate.
U Tap dancing
Bush, citing the rules of the debate,
failed to answer the first question directly
germane to this campus: Does he support
affirmative actin under the rules set forth by
the Supreme Court. After a long-winded tap
dance around the issue, during which he
proclaimed love for "affirmative access"
(whatever that means), Gore pushed him to
say whether he supports the policy as used
today, including, by the way, in University
admissions policies.
To moderator Jim Lehrer's clarification
question, Bush reaffirmed his support for
"access," saying, "If affirmative action
means quotas, I'm against it."
Wow, bold stance, Guv. Coming out
against an illegal policy and then hiding
behind rules to avoid saying that you really
do oppose affirmative action as the Court
defines it. That performance followed an
impressive dance around his opposition to
gay rights in Debate #2 and his refusal to
respond to Gore challenge that his tax plan
spends more on the wealthiest 1 percent
than on education, the military and health
care combined.
What are you for?
Apparently Al Gore supports working
families. Just in case you missed that, Gore
is for working families. Gore = support for
working families. He wants to work for you.
If you're part of a working family, he's your
guy.
Basic instinct
In a well-planned and executed response,
George Bush tried to quiet critics of his
Debate #2 comments on the death penalty.
In that debate, Bush smirked and
appeared to enjoy saying that, "we can't
enhance the penalty any more than putting
those three thugs to deaths" during an
exchange about hate crimes legislation.
The joy with which he moved through
that entirely unscripted answer showed more
about the Texas governor than anything I've
seen before or since. His well-written, but
entirely pre-canned answer in the final
debate doesn't change the instinct shown in
the second.
So with Election Day 15 days away and
the major television appearances completed,
hopefully you're near a choice between
Assaulting Al and Smirking George, and
maybe I even helped a bit.
But even with my ranting and raving,
rest assured that I know the vast majority of
you don't care what I say. I'm just a lowly
college journalist, and George already told
you what to do with me in the final debate:
"Forget the journalists."
- Mike Spahn can be reached via e-mail
at mspahn umich.edu.
0
'I'm afraid this is going to be a Wolverine day from
start to finish.'
- Gov. John Engler, outside Michigan Stadium on Saturday.
One year ago this month, the
world's population reached an
estimated 6 billion people. While
developed nations' population growth
rates have leveled in recent years,
developing nations continue to strug-
gle with population growth. Although
some progress has been made, limited
resources around the world insist pop-
ulation growth be limited. To ensure
all people adequate water, food and
shelter, the United States must contin-
ue to work with other developed
nations to fund family planning pro-
grams around the
world.I-1 -
Like nany interna- S If ti
tional issues, funding o
for international family of this
planning programs has orli
become embroiled in hew
domestic politics in , E
recent years. In order populatIo
to compel the Republi-
can-led congress to pay overdue Unit-
ed Nations dues, President Clinton
agreed to sign a bill which stipulated
that the $385 million going to interna-
tional family planning programs
would not go to groups which support
abortion or lobby to make abortion
legal around the world. In exchange
for slightly less money, Clinton
waived this stipulation, resulting in
the lowest funding for international
family planning by the United States
in years. The trend appears to be
reversing itself however; pending con-
gressional approval for spending in
2001, Clinton has proposed to fund
the United States Agency for Interna-
tional Development and the U.N. Pop-
ulation Fund to the level they received
in 1995 -$541.6 million.
There are a variety of studies that
reinforce the importance and effec-
tiveness of family planning. Only an
estimated 270 million couples in
at
dI
ar
developing countries use modern
family planning methods and women
reported in surveys in 55 countries
that their desired family size is less
than their actual family size. Surveys
suggest that 10 to 40 percent of mar-
ried woman in developing countries
do not want more children but do not
practice contraception for a variety of
reasons. Whether simply the availabil-
ity of information and condoms or the
prohibitively high cost of oral contra-,
ception, family planning information
and tools taken for granted in the U.S.
are not readily avail-
-jr able where they are
iteres.. needed the most: In
tion and the oorest nations.
n espite the con-
tinuing explosive
growthof world pop-
r t ulation, there are rea-
1 5roWi,- sons to be optimistic.
Increased use of con-
traception has reduced fertility rates
in developing countries from six chil-
dren per family in the 1960s to three
today - family planning programs
are probably responsible or as much
as 40 percent of this decline. And
with congressional approval, the U.S.
will reverse the decline in family
planning funding. It is in the interest
of this nation and the world to curb
population growth.
Already the earth is beginning to
show strain: Water tables around the
world are declining in response to
irrigation for agriculture and
decreased population growth rates
have been inked to economic pros-
Serity. With adequate funding, the
S. Agency for International Devel-
opment, the United Nations Popula-
tion Fund and other organizations will
be able to continue their work towards
limiting population growth and
achieving global sustainability.
Republican regent
candidates threaten
U stability
TO THE DAILY:
Ever since his appointment as Presi-
dent in 1996. a clear majority of the Uni-
versity Board of Regents has supported
Lee Bollinger and backed the various pol-
icy initiatives proposed by him. But the
election on November 7th could result in
substantial change to the balance of forces
within the Board.
Although few in the University com-
munity know it - in large part because
President Bollinger has wisely chosen not
to discuss it in public - there is credible
evidence that a minority of regents is in
fundamental disagreement with his poli-
cies and, indeed, would prefer to engineer
his departure from the presidency. One
regent even boasted recently that if Repub-
licans take control of the Board this
November, President Bollinger would be
forced from office.
This would be both sad and profoundly
damaging to the University. Sad because
before and during my service on the
Board, most regents were able to set aside
partisan or ideological differences and
worked single mindedly for the benefit of
the University. Damaging because pushing
out a president out for essentially partisan
reasons would politicize subsequent presi-
dencies and damage the University's good
reputation for fair minded and independent
governance. Consider, moreover, the
impact President Bollinger's untoward
departure would have on the forthcoming
Capital Campaign: Disastrous!'
Two incumbent regents - Larry Deitch
and Rebecca McGowan -- are running for
re-election this November. They have
worked to maintain a stable climate of
governance at the University and have res-
olutely supported President Bollinger and
his policy initiatives. I urge voters to
return them to office.
PHIL POWER
UNIVERSITY REGENT, 1987-98
Masculinity does
not equal bad boy,
behavior
TO THE DAILY:
In her Oct. 19 clumn, "Boys: In need
of attention or a beating?" Gina FHamadey
confuses her personal opinion with fact
when she boldly states, "But facts cannot
be ignored: Masculinity also entails bully-
ing and objectifying of women.".Hlamadey
has an unhealthy view of masculinity.
The real problem is not masculinity
itself, but rather that many young men
these days have grown up with defunct.
abusive men who bully and objectify
women, I have a simple solution: Stop dat-
ing them.
TIM MAUN
LSA SENIOR
Bush should be pro-
choice to claim he
'stands for women'
TO THE DAILY:
I am writing in response to last Thurs-
day's article "The Final Stretch: Women
stand up for Bush." While reading I was
reminded of an experience I had while
watching television during lunch with my
Spanish host family this summer. The
newscast touched upon the American
political race (sadly, about which my Euro-
pean classmates knew more than my fel-
low citizens studying abroad) and ended
with a shot of an overweight, white Aber-
crombie&Fitch-wearing girl holding up a
sign that read "W. Stands for Women." I
almost spit out my paella. George W. Bush
opposes a woman's right to abortion in all
cases but rape or incest, surely the hottest
female issue out there.
The state of Texas has the lowest rate
of women's health insurance. Maybe he
improved it somewhat but he didn't do a
good enough job. He opposed Texas'
patient's bill of rights in 1995 (see
wwu.bhush watch. cor). I'm assuming the
article wasn't trying to take political sides
but it at least could have explained some
of Laura and Barbara Bushs' arguments as
to how Dubya stands for any women but
rich honkeys like them. Someone please
explain how he does.
ANGELICA LEONE
LSA FIRST-YEAR STUDENT
Anti-affirmative
action viewpoint is
often silenced
TO THE DAILY:
Recently as I walked through campus. I
was pleased for once to see a chalk draw-
ing on the sidewalk concurring with one of
my anti-racist views: "End racism at U of
M, stop affirmative action."
However, later that same day I saw the
same chalk drawing had been completely
ruined. The stop was crossed out and
'defend' was written in its place.
That's a bunch of crap. Do people go
walking around erasing chalk drawings
those 'Affirmative Racism' zealots make?
No. Do people go around ripping down all
those 'Affirmative Racism 102' posters?
No, they're still everywhere you look.
How would they like it if I went all
around campus tearing down those signs?
Wasting all their time and effort would be
unfair. Yet they were quick to do it them-
selves. It's a shame people aren't allowed
to be against 'Affirmative Racism' and
display their views on campus like the
zealots are.
ADAM WILSON
ENGINEERING JUNIOR
Bush's comment on
Letterman show
was racist
TO THE DAILY:
It was a sad and vivid illustration of the
state of racial understanding in our society
when George W. Bush remarked, "the
Arabs got us over a barrel," while on the
David Letterman show last Thursday night
and received laughs and applause for his
comment.
Sadder still is the total lack of com-
mentary by the media after the fact. If our
oil came from Africa would it have been as
easy for him to say, "The blacks got us
over a barrel"?
The racism is inherent in both state-
ments. By failing to even qualify his
racism by region, Bush condemned Arabs
Everywhere. Generalizing the behavior of
a group of people based on their ethnicity
is racist, and by doing just that Bush has
proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that he
is not worthy of the highest office in the
land.
MATT YOUNG
FILM PROJECTION SERVICES STAFF
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