4A - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, November 16, 2000
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In the name of the Father the Son and Glenn
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
T here is only question that matters this
week: Do you agree with Glenn?
By now you've probably seen Glenn's
flyers scattered across campus, or you may
have encountered someone in a "Do you
agree with Glenn?" T-shirt in one of your
classes. If it seems
that Glenn is every-
where, it's true - and;
yet there's so much
more to Glenn than
just omnipresence.'
Unless otherwise noted, unsigned editorials reflect the opinion of the majority off
the Daily s editorial board. All other articles, letters and cartoons do not
necessarily reflect the opinion of The Michigan Daily.
Glenn entered my
life during a particu-
larly hard time. I was
dealing with a bad
break-up, I'd been
evicted from my
apartment and I was
on speed. And by that
I mean the Keanu
Reeves movie - I
had an extra's role as
Unsuspecting Pedes-
trian #2, and I'd
said, "No, I think the Big Dog should have
stayed in school for his final year." She
shook her head and handed me a pamphlet.
"Glenn will show you the way," she
whispered.
Although I never used the free Arby's
coupons the woman gave me, Glenn is still
showing me the way. I admit, at first I was
scared that Glenn was just the figurehead
for a creepy, subversive religious cult, but
that's not the case at all. Glenn doesn't
even belong to an organized religion - 1
think he was raised by Communists.
But unlike those Communists who want
to steal away our children in the dead of
night, Glenn's mission is to help all peo-
ples, regardless of race, ethnicity or creed
even Apollo. Some spiritual leaders will
only cater to a particular group, but one of
Glenn's greatest attributes is his tolerance:
He can and will out-drink members of any
religious sect, and it doesn't matter if he's
knocking back the Manishevitz with the
Jews, the vino rojo with the Catholics or
the white milk with the Protestants.
Glenn is also a big proponent of forgive-
ness. I recall one time when Glenn and I
were walking down the street, discussing
spices and whatnot, when a man bumped
into Glenn and sent him reeling. This gen-
tleman didn't bother to say he was sorry, so
Glenn chased him down and unleashed
upon him a savage, unholy beating. As
Glenn rained down an array of close-fisted
blows and deadly mule kicks, the man
finally mumbled an apology.
"Forgiveness is a virtue," Glenn hissed.
Some individuals have accused Glenn or
going to extremes, but the way he sees it,
it's always too high or too low, there ain't
no in-between. People are just unfamiliar
with his beliefs, and in cases like this, igno'
rance breeds fear, or at least a slight sense
of nausea. Ask yourself this: Do you agree
with Glenn, or do you feel queasy?
Glenn believes we were all created equal
in the image of simple carnie folk.
Glenn believes in the natural love
between a man and a woman and another
man and a second woman and the mus-
tached Tom Selleck.
Glenn believes in miracles, as well as
Smokey Robinson's solo work.
Glenn believes in the personal return of
the late "Dear John" star Judd Hirsch to
this physical world.
But most importantly, Glenn believes in
divine intervention. He's never been afraid
to confront a deity and say, "Buddha
you've. got a problem with the pills" or
"Christ, man, you gambled away your kid's
college fund." Glenn helped Shiva stop
sniffing glue, he got Ra off of booze and he
talked God out of the whole "Sinners go to
hell" fiasco. When gods go wild, Glenn is
there to put the fear of Glenn in them.
I've made my choice: I don't agree with
Beatles, I just agree with Glenn.
- Chris Kula can be reached via e-mail
at ckula@unmich.edu. Go with Glenn.
Courts must uphold affirmative action
Chris
Kula
AnA
Today, the affirmative action lawsuit
facing the College of Literature, Sci-
ence and the Arts goes to trial in the fed-
eral district court for the Eastern District
of Michigan in Detroit. Both the LSA's
and the Law School's use of policies
designed to promote a diverse learning
environment are being challenged by two
class action lawsuits spearheaded by a
Washington D.C.-based legal advocacy
group, the Center for Individual Rights.
CIR has mounted an aggressive legal
push to dismantle affirmative action at
universities around the country. It was
the driving force in ending affirmative
action at Texas universities and is also
currently suing numerous other universi-
ties, school districts, governmental agen-
cies and other organizations in an
attempt to not only fight affirmative
action, but to end every program targeted
specifically at minorities or women.
Things such as scholarships and research
grants designed for minorities and
women and even funding of women's
sports are also under attack from by CIR.
The primary plaintiffs in the lawsuits
against the University, unsuccessful LSA
applicants Jennifer Gratz and Patrick
Hamacher and Law School applicant
Barbara Grutter believe that the use of
race as a factor in the admissions
processes illegally discriminated against
them.
Why we need diversity
against minority applicants, who are far
less likely to have the money for prepara-
tory courses and retests. Many minority
students with less impressive high school
, curriculums and SAT or ACT scores as
some non-minority students' are just as
intelligent and qualified to attend the
University. It must be recognized that
these students have been denied the edu-
cational opportunities available to other
students throughout their lives.
The bigger socio-economic picture
never felt worse about myself as a human.
That's when I first learned of Glenn and
his crusade. I was chasing after a dog when
I collided with a young woman who was
distributing literature on the street corner. I
was just about to help her up when a differ-
ent woman distributing different literature
said to me, "Do you agree with Glenn?"
Thinking she meant former Purdue Uni-
versity small forward Glenn Robinson, I
The commendable goal of the Univer-
sity's consideration of race in admissions
is the promotion of diversity on campus.
Diversity is one of the reasons that this is
a world-class institution of higher learn-
ing. The opportunity to
examine ideas from as Race is n
many viewpoints as pos-
sible is indispensable to only facto
a quality academic envi-
ronment. Learning and gets spec
the advancement of
knowledge is severely considera
limited when people
from different backgrounds, with differ-
ing viewpoints, life experiences and
understandings of the world are not pre-
sent. In order for students to truly learn,
they have to be exposed to ideas and
people that allow them to experience
perspectives beyond those of their own
race, class, geographic region and cul-
ture. The point of education is to broaden
one's knowledge and insight - an unat-
tainable goal in an insular institution that
does not strive for diversity. How can
one better understand the world when
surrounded only by people like them-
selves?
Is it really unfair?
And though it is an important goal of
the University, racial diversity is only
one of the many considerations in the
highly complex method by which appli-
pants are assessed. When judging appli-
cants, the University takes into account
high school grades, standardized test
scores, content of a student's curriculum,
co-curricular activities, essays, letters of
recommendation, the quality of their
high school, whether any relatives
attended the University, athletic and
socioeconomic status, in addition to race.
At first glance, policies designed to
boost the number of underrepresented
minorities may appear to be unfair to
some prospective students, but many of
the other factors used in admissions deci-
sions clearly favor non-minority appli-
cants. The University's consideration of
the quality of an applicant's high school
is obviously beneficial to students from
wealthier and usually almost exclusively
non-minority areas. The consideration of
a student's curriculum will also be disad-
vantageous*to most minority applicants,
as they tend to be from less affluent areas
where schools seldom have many, if any,
of the advanced placement courses the
University values highly in its admis-
sions decisions. Alumni relationships
favor non-minority applicants, as their
parents and other family members are far
more likely to have attended the Univer-
sity.
of
a
One of the main reasons children tend
to stay in the same socioeconomic 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 opportuni-
ties and the poorest kids get the poorest
schools and are shut out of almost every
educational opportunity available. Grow-
ing up in a poor neighborhood and hav-
ing no option but attending a
substandard school should not disqualify
an applicant. The obstacles they have
had to face need to be recognized when
determining if they have the capacity to
be successful at this university.
Critics of using race in admissions
often point to states such as Texas, where
consideration of race in college admis-
sions has been ended, but diversity has
been maintained to some extent, as proof
that race need not be considered by col-
leges. Texas accomplishes this by requir-
ing that public Universities automatically
accept applicants who graduated in the
top ten percent of their high school class.
This is poor substitute for the method
it replaced because it leaves schools
without the ability actu-
ot the ally make any judge-
ments about the ability
r that of applicants. Factors
such as an applicant's
jal standardized test
!f scores, student leader-
tiOl? ship, community ser-
vice and other activities
outside the classroom that demonstrate a
student's skills have been taken off the
table. Assessing the qualifications of an
incredibly diverse group of applicants
with drastically different experiences,
accomplishments and demonstrated lev-
els of ability has been reduced to a one-
size-fits-all solution in Texas. The result
is a more unfair system than the complex
admissions process that includes consid-
eration of race ever could be. Many stu-
dents that did little outside the classroom
or did not take challenging courses will
be admitted over students who have
demonstrated attributes valued by col-
leges but did not fall in the top ten per-
cent of their class.
This system is also totally unworkable
for judging graduate and professional
school applicants, which are also not
allowed to consider race in many places.
University's policy is worth defending
Michigan Party
misleading students
TO THE DAILY:
In the interest of full disclosure, I am a
supporter of the Blue Party. However, in
the interest of objectivity and fair elections,
it is important that as a former MSA Repre-
sentative and Budget Chair I address some
of the issues of this campaign.
Over the past year, Blue Party members
have led a multitude of meaningful pro-
jects, including the drive to register thou-
sands of students to vote, a reformed
budget committee that allocated more
money to student groups than ever before
in the history of MSA and LSA-SG's quest
to institute direct constituency.
The Michigan Party, however, could not
be more different - only two Michigan
Party candidates have any governmental
experience at all. Perhaps it is this inexpe-
rience that results in a misleading Michigan
Party platform.
For instance, the Michigan Party pro-
poses having MSA meetings in the Resi-
dence Halls. In fact, MSA held a meeting
at Bursley just the other week.
In addition, the Michigan Party propos-
es a "Community Service Initiative" to
specifically fund community service
groups. Coincidentally, such an initiative
already' exists. MSA's Community Service
Commission currently doles out $73,000 of
student money to service groups on campus
every year!
GLEN ROE
LSA SENIOR
Daily's liberal bias
suspended for
coverage of Bush
TO THE DAILY:
During this election time I have felt that
the Daily has givena very biased opinion
on the election. I was glad to finally see an
article ("Students for Bush Optimistic"
S11/9/00) about the Students for Bush and
our campaign, as we have worked very
hard this election year. However, I was dis-
appointed the entire second half of the arti-
cle had a negative spin to it, supporting
Gore and somewhat Nader. I realize that
- Vice Presidentjor Stuaent A
poisoning of E
the press should give both sides of the story
but there have been numerous pro-Gore
articles in your paper and it would be
refreshing to see one pro-Bush article in
the Daily this year. Hopefully the article
about his win will be a supportive one.
NICOLE BABCOCK
LSA FIRST-YEAR STUDENT
Blue Party Website
resorts to personal
attacks
TO THE DAILY:.
Why must campaigns always turn to
slander to win votes? The problem with pol-
itics today is that most politicians focus on
slandering their fellow candidates, rather
than the issues, or the things that matter: Us.
Specifically, in our microcosm, election
politics are simply corrupt. One example
that we have recently been alerted to is the
Blue Party's Website (http://www.umich.
edu/ -voteblue) in the "differences" section.
In this section of the Website, they took an
entire page to slander Doug Tietz.
'We haven't done enough - not me, you, the institution.
Every time a student dies unnecessarily it
means we haven't done enough.'
04..,.,7.__4 rr :._ IY r*. 1r. .1 7
hairs . Royster Harper on the alcohoq}
,ngineering sophomore Byung Soo Kim.
They made comments about Doug hav-
ing "a lack of knowledge about student gov-
ernment" as well as his "trend to say
anything that will get him elected." Howev-
er the most offensive comment was, "It's
hard to believe that there's a 'commitment'
from someone who refuses to fill out his
entire term." Do these people even know
Doug? We thought they were going to
explain the differences between the parties.
Is the difference between the Blue Party and
the other parties Doug Tietz? We know
Doug. He is our friend, though we are
impartial. We do not even vote in the MSA
election.,.
He is not this monster that they are mak-
ing him out to be. We first implore the Blue
Party to stop being "anti-Doug." But, even
more importantly, we urge all of the candi-
dates to stop the corruption, or we will end
up with a divided country well illustrated
by the current presidential dilemma. We
will be the leaders of this country very
soon, and if we are corrupt now, we really
will hate to see our generation in a couple
of years.
JULIE HUMPHRIES
NURSING SOPHOMORE
DAVID WARD
ENGINEERING SOPHOMORE$
IY SPEAKING
THOMAS KULJURGIS
TENTATIVE
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4
The admissions policies of the Uni-
versity as they currently exist may not be
perfect, but they are as fair and effective
as anyone knows how to make them and
are vastly preferable to many other sys-
tems. These policies provide the Univer-
sity with both a diverse and highly
qualified student body. Neither goal is
sacrificed for the other. The University's
use of race in its admissions decisions is
necessary to maintain the best academic
environment possible and it is not dis-
criminatory. It merely acknowledges that
race in this country affects what opportu-
nities people have. That must be recog-
nized for the best students to be found. If
race is not considered in the University's
admissions process, many applicants
who are qualified will be rejected and
the University's educational environment
will be damaged for others through the
admission of less well-qualified students.
Ours is not a color-blind society;
one's race makes a difference in how
people live and what chances they get.
For the University to be forced by the
courts to shut its eyes to this reality
would be a grave injustice and seriously
harm its ability to effectively educate its
ienetiCall modified foods should be labeled
By Rob Goodspeed
Daily Editor alWriter
" .September, independent activist groups
discovered genetically modified (GM)
corn not approved for human consumption
was in taco shells. By November, the FDA
had recalled nearly 300 varieties of tacos,
tortillas, tostadas and chips made with the
unapproved genetically altered corn from the
market. And while the corn, known as
Starlink, has not been proven to cause harm
to people, it is disturbing that an unapproved
crop could pervade the food supply so com-
pletely. Indeed, officials are still searching
for 1.2 million bushels of the 80 million
bushel Starlink crop.
products suggests the widespread nature of
GM crops. This list includes many grocery
store private-label brands: Kroger, Food
Lion, IGO, Safeway, Wal-Mart and Meijer.
It is safe to say that if you live in America
and buy food at a grocery store, you have
eaten a GM food. Mothers for Natural Law,
a GM food advocacy group, claims that 60
to 70 percent of foods in U.S. grocery stores
contain genetically modified ingredients.
And since 60 percent of processed food in
U.S. grocery stores contains at least one soy-
bean product, and half of all soybeans plant-
ed this year are Roundup ReadyTM soybeans
(a GM variety resistant to the roundup
spray), most Americans unknowingly ingest
genetically modified foods. Many varieties
consumers should be able to make a moral
decision about GM foods, just as some
choose to eat only Kosher or organic foods.
In response to recent developments, U.S.
Rep. Dennis Kucinich, an Ohio Democrat,
proposed legislation that would require all
GM foods be labeled, but it was withdrawn
because of a lack of support in the House.
He has also proposed legislation to fund
research about unknown allergens in GM
foods and assess the risk of GM fish escap-
ing into the wild. The Ann Arbor City Coun-
cil recently voted in support of the testing
and labeling genetically modified food.
Independent organizations have long cam-
paigned for GM food-labeling laws, similar
to those already in place in Europe.
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