4 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, January 24, 2001 ca 1 ribi tun ttig It's time to kick some terrorist ass 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 I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore. In case you weren't aware, a plane was hijacked just the other day. According to news reports, a Yemeni plane carrying U.S. Ambassador Barbara Bodine and 90 others was hijacked by an Iraqi 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. claiming to be a sup- porter of Saddam Hussein. Thankfully, the event ended with- out serious incident after the man was subdued. On Oct. 12, the USS Cole was the victim of a terrorist bombing that left 17 U.S. sailors dead and 39 wounded. Osama bin Laden, Saudi mil- lionaire and terrorist- financier extraordi- naire has been linked to the bombing. According to both Russian and American ~"' ? " : > : ., Dmeadretoraton Deadlines need to be extended Sranden Sanz iropping e Hammer intelligence experts, T he semester has just begun and for many students there is still time to relax during the day and take advantage of the weekends guilt-free. While most seminars and discussions sections that meet only once a week have barely met three times, the deadline to add or drop a class or to switch a class to pass/fail is today, far too early for students to have gauged whether it is in their best interest to elect a certain class or decide how it is to be graded. The pass/fail option not only gives students more flexibility in their work- load, but also offers them a chance to take the risk of electing courses outside of their concentration without worrying about negative effects on their grade point average. Electing a course on a pass or fail basis, while reducing a focus on grades and emphasizing a learning focus, allows students the opportunity to pursue a more diverse course load. It also allows students to enroll in classes that, while unrelated to a their concentration, still explore a subject in a depth not afforded by intro- ductory classes that they might have elected to fulfill distribution require- ments. The advantages to the pass/fail option are numerous and can be. expanded with an extension of the deadline. While choosing to a take a class on -a pass/fail basis does not reduce the exposure to the knowledge and information that an instructor and other students have to offer, it does reduce the amount of stress that inher- ently accompanies any class at the Uni- versity. Students who have slightly less to worry about academically have more time to invest in worthwhile extracur- ricular activities - activities that not really trying, but I just can't understand this. Part of it, I'm sure, is good ol' American hubris. We go through our daily lives in Ann Arbor, South Bend, State College or wherever and we just know it can't happen here. That's a Middle-Eastern problem, we say. That's a European problem, we say. That's a big-city problem, we say. Guess, what folks? It's everyone's problem because it will happen - it's only a matter of when. Another problem when confronting the problem of terrorism is the fact that the questions raised usually involve answers people don't like. It's not always easy on one's conscience when the clear and intelli- gent solution involves a conscious decision to end the life of another human being. But you have to remember one thing - terror- ists are, by definition, fanatics. Osama bin Laden is not a representative of Islam or Saudi Arabia or Saudi Arabians. He's giv- ing them a bad name (in the eyes of many Americans) that they don't deserve. Taking that into account, the United States must become more pro-active with its counter-terrorism policy. We already have the manpower and equipment in place - we just need to use it. In case you didn't know, there is a huge difference between counter-terrorism and anti-terrorism. Anti-terrorism involves tightening security and preparing defenses so that a possible target is "terrorist-proof." Counter-terrorism involves actively hunting down and killing the bad guys before they can do their thing. No court of law - just trial by two nine-millimeter slugs through the forehead and judgement in the next world. Would it surprise you to know that there are currently three units in the United States (two military and one civilian) that special- ize in counter-terrorism and five more Spe- cial Operations units that are well versed in only contribute to the development of a well-rounded individual but also are looked favorably upon by potential employers and graduate school admis- sions officers. The arts, student govern- ment, the Greek system and other organizations often have as much to offer in the way of education as the typical three-credit elective and added time for a part time job can help to relieve part of the burden of tuition and living expenses. Another problem inherent in too early a date for finalizing schedules is that oftentimes professors will not assign major assignments until later in the term. It is often these larger assign- ments that define a student's grade and it is impossible to gauge an instructor's grading standards and style before such an assignment has been handed in an returned. And if larger projects and tests have occurred by the deadline, it is unlikely that they will have been graded, returned and discussed. The option of dropping a class later in the semester due to unforeseen cir- cumstances can greatly reduce course related anxiety. While it may be diffi- cult to add a class later in the semester, a risk which students should be wary of, the flexibility afforded by a l'ater deadline can only increase the possibil- ity for a student's happiness with their schedule. The deadline for deciding to elect classes on a pass/fail basis or to add or drop classes should be extended. As customers, students, should demand as much flexibility as possible concerning their schedules and academic life at the University including having more time to modify the classes that we are pay- ing thousands of dollars a semester to take. counter-terrorism, even if it isn't their pri $ mary focus? That's right. Your tax dollars are, right now, providing training and equip- ment for over 4,000 American men whose primary purpose is to hunt down and kill other people at the government's behest. I'm quite certain of this because I used to be in one of these units. But the problem, quite frankly, is the fact that the administration of the past eight years was very good at passing laws and* talking tough (the Omnibus Counter-terror- ism Act of 1995 was a good start) but was too limp-dicked to actually use the tools at it's disposal. Thus, cowards like Osama bin Laden and Muammar Qaddafi have been able to provide finances and training camps for international terrorists with relative impunity for almost a decade. Something that amazes me is the percep- tion other countries around the world have regarding the U.S. Military. The genera. consensus is that we are well-trained and. well-equipped but, at a command level, lack the ruthlessness necessary to be an effective counter-terrorism force. Perhaps that goes back to the whole "fight fair" and "mano a mano" thing, which is anathema to counter- terrorism. You must hit hard, fast, by sur- prise and with overwhelming force ("violence of action" is the technical term). George W. Bush has already made some bonehead moves as President, but he has a. chance to do something correct here. The counter-terrorism policy needs an overhaul. I don't want to ever again sit in front of the television with tears of rage rolling down my face like I did after the USS Cole disas- ter. And, if necessary, I'll volunteer to come out of retirement. I'm sure someone has work for a guy who speaks Arabic and knows his way around an H & K MP5. - Branden Sanz can be reached via e-mail at hamrhead@umich.edu. bin Laden, who lives in Afghanistan, has extended his long arm to 45 different nations. Furthermore, it has been reported that last year bin Laden planned attacks on a U.S. warship in Jordan, American tourists traveling in Jordan and the west coast of the United States. The west coast. Can you believe that? As college students, we try to "think globally," or at least we say that we do. We worry about deforestation in South America and the AIDS rate in Congo. We ponder the future of Israel/Palestine and we lament the working conditions of people in Indonesia. Yet, for all the emphasis we put on issues that are thousands of miles distant, the pos- sibility of someone launching a chemical or biological attack in downtown San Francis- co isn't a popular topic of discussion. I'm 'It wouldn't be a surprise to me if he even lost in Florida.' 'That's going to be rather interesting for a man to lose a popular vote and the electoral vote and still be president.' - University history professor Sidney Fine on President George W Bush. 0 McQuinn incorrect, social anthropology not being terminated TO THE DAILY: I am writing in response to the column by Erin McQuinn titled "Lost majors, lost tiara" which appeared in the Jan. 23 edition of the Daily. McQuinn contends that the concentration in social anthropology has been terminated by the LSA Dean's Office. That contention is completely wrong. The concentration in social anthropolo- gy still exists, the Dean's Office has made no plans to terminate it and, in fact, we have not even discussed this issue. Even in cases where there is a decision to terminate a concentration, all students currently enrolled in that concentration are "grandfa- thered" so that they can complete the con- centration and do not have to change majors. ROBERT OWEN LSA ASSOCIATE DEAN OF UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION RaJi's defense ofT so- called right' is out of touch, unlike Bush TO THE DAILY: I was absolutely disgusted by Manish Raiji's column concerning the 28th anniver- sary of Roe v. Wade ("The first day: An attack on 28 years of freedom," 1/23/01). He uses loaded language to try to obscure the fact that his logic defending a woman's so-called right to choose is hopelessly flawed and full of contradictions. While Raiji acknowledges that an unborn child is certainly alive, his statement that abortion is "certainly not an issue of life, it's an issue of autonomy" is dead wrong. What makes this claim even more outrageous is that Raiji also claims to be personally opposed to abortion on moral grounds, i.e. that it is wrong to kill a defenseless unborn child. People like Raiji who know something is wrong and then apologize for its existence and even defend it, are nothing short of cowards. If you believe abortion to be mur- der you have an obligation to stand up and say so and then do everything in your power to try to end it. I was at the March for Life in Washing- ton, D.C. along with 22 other pro-life stu- dents from the University this past Monday and we marched alongside tens of thou- sands of our fellow Americans from every background imaginable. In regard to abortion, it is Raiji and other elitists like him who are the ones out of touch with most Americans, not Presi-@ dent George W. Bush. ANDREW SHIRVELL LSA JUNIOR PRESIDENT, STUDENTS FOR LIFE Po Wer procecafs Deregulation must proceed carefully n the past few weeks, utility compa- nies in California have been forced to institute occasional rolling blackouts as they scrambled to find enough electrical power to meet demand. Although the power problems in California have a number of causes, the recent deregulation of California utilities has almost certainly contributed to the power problems. Although a direct comparison cannot be made between California and Michigan, the recent events there should indicate the risks involved in power deregulation. In light of complications in California and elsewhere, a number of states have either frozen or canceled deregulation plans. Last spring, the Michigan state legisla- Qorrectly ture passed a bill insti- mplem en tuting power regulation in our state. Although deregulat the Michigan plan is the posid unique, deregulation should only proceed reducingf with caution. costsho In California, a number of factors have deregulat exacerbated the power proceed c problem: Explosive growth in the power-hungry high-tech sector, more homes and commercial developments and the high price of natur- al gas. The major power companies have taken heavy losses because of the whole- sale nower nrice regulations put into I '4 Fit b P if forced to undersell their gas. Con- sumers Energy began a program allowing 100,000 of its customers to buy natural gas from other providers, but part of this program was a freeze in the price they could charge, meant to encourage other companies to court these consumers. Because natural gas prices have sky- rocketed in recent years, Consumers Energy has taken huge losses, partially compensated by the state through a $45 million tax write-off. The company is behind in its schedule to offer choice to all 1.6 million customers in Michigan. Michigan has two traditional produc- ers of power: Detroit Edison and Con- sumers Energy. Because both rely d, power mostly on coal-fired power plants, they are on has expected to remain ility of immune to the high natural gas prices that ower have wrought havoc in fever, California. Also, the deregulation plan in on should Michigan allows the sutiously. utility companies to own their own power generation plants, unlike plans elsewhere that differentiate between power produc- ing companies and power distributors. The May 2000 deal allows the state regulating body - the Public Service Commission - to allow power compa- CHIP CULLEN GRINDING THE NIB 1 ~w 0U - 400J S 2t Ilt 04 I, By Fadi Kiblawi Daily Editorial Page Writer The radio blared, "The people are dying here! We hear the voice of death. Do you understand? We hear the voice of death!" Min- utes passed before the systematic explosions from the shelling ceased. The result, over 100 defenseless and innocent refugees killed at the United Nations camp at Qana, Lebanon. Who drew that "voice of death" on that April after- noon? Israel murdered the civilians in a blatant act of inhumanity and violation of international law. Now, as we enter into the new millennium, war in the Middle East persists. Lately, there seems to be a regression, rather than progres- sion, in the peace process. The conflict is not one based on Muslims and Christians versus Jews; rather it is a conflict of humanity against inhumanity. It is unfortunate that the past 53 years, inhumanity has been winning. The Unit- ed States needs to take a more aggressive stance I0 ) fair in 'hnposhW llinmaon laW Lebanon. During the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, states, "The Occupying Power shall not deport another 300,000 Palestinians were displaced, or transfer parts of its own civilian population many for the second time, as Israel expanded its into the territory it occupies." Therefore, Israel's territory illegally. Today the number of Pales- settlements in the Occupied Territory including tinian refugees has reached over 5 million. East Jerusalem are in clear violation of interna- Their assertion for their right to return home are tional law. based on common sense, morality, humanity Presently, over one-third of U.S. foreign aid and (if that's not enough) international law and (more than $4 billion) goes to Israel, even countless UN resolutions. though they comprise less than .001 percent of UN resolution 194, created in December the world's population and have one of the 1948 and reaffirmed 40 times since then, clearly world's highest per capita incomes. Further- states that the Palestinian "refugees wishing to more, how can we forget the 34 brave Ameri- return to their homes and live at peace with their can men who lost their lives in the USS Liberty neighbors should be permitted to do so at the naval vessel from an attack by the armed forces earliest practical date." Israel entered the United of Israel or Jonathon Pollard, the Israeli spy Nations agreeing to accept this resolution but caught in one of the worst cases of espionage mW has yet to do so. UN resolution 242, created U.S. history. How many of you are comfortable after the 1967 colonization, demands the "with- with the fact that your tax dollars are funding drawal of Israeli forces from territories occu- the killing of innocent human beings whose pied in the recent conflict." Article 27 of the only crime was not being Jewish? Geneva Accords states, "Persons (under control All of these U.N. resolutions and accords of an occupying power) shall at all times be are not made to piss people off. They are based humanely treated and shall be protected against on human rights and morals. Their conditions