4 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, January 5, 2001 e Nticbt-UU tia I went to the Bermuda Triangle but I'm still a square 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 The Michigan Daily. Iwent down to the Dominican Republic over break. When I told people this, most of them gave claim to a bewildered interest, suspicious I suspect, because they didn't know what the follow-up question or com- ment ought to be. I wouldn't have been able to tell them. This is probably because that fustian word, "republic," sounds more meaning- ful than "United States." It just won't jive with notions of tropicality, notions that Jamaica and Bermuda (etc.) have subsumed into thea very concepts of their seemingly origin-less Patrick names, names that Kiley sound like the votes of . i marijuana farmers and t other palm people My ieep whom have never seen snow. But the "Dominican Republic" is Christian and somehow democratic, a salty vapor shaped unlike us yet carrying a familiar taste. Yes, the Caribbean has politics, government and diesel engines that pollute their slivers of coast with as much grit as any nuclear war- head. In the words of Vincent Vega in "Pulp Fiction": They got the same shit over there as they got over here, but it's just there it's a little different. The paradox I confront is that my impression of the Dominican Republic would be both oversimplified and understated by this observation. Sitting inside a cabana, my ears getting bombarded with Spanish verse, the ocean finally ending footsteps away, its hard .not to stop and think: Where the hell am I? And then you look down at the Coke bottle in your hand. Siempre. I think Vince's thought holds true for the typical tourist, for the reason that people tour in order to see what's the same and what's different. When she returns, the tourist tabu- lates her experience on a scale of relative likeness and that's why only the insane might say: "You know, I think Tibet really has something of Iowa in it." So they've got McDonald's, Coke, rum and Coke, television, books, computers: Basi- cally all the tangible things that keep Ameri- cans going, whether or not we admit to it. The little differences? A ubiquitous swarm of mopeds, abundant prostitutes and an eager- ness to dance the merengue before crowds of aghast white people, who smile and bob off- beat. But think about it: We have window- tinted SUVs, a thriving porn industry and dimly lit clubs where men and women grind together their unmentionables in near solitude and anonymity. I'm a cultural scholar. Wait, no I'm not. That's what I meant to say: I am not a cultur- al scholar. To be honest, I didn't spend much of my vacation consciously aware that I was there. I was usually reading or sleeping, or craning my neck to watch the zooming mope- ds in covetous awe. At least, that's what the photographs show me doing. I have no actual memory of leaving this state. It's good to be home. But I didn't want to seem lazy in my expe- rience. That's why I lied. I wanted to bring back with me at least one reputable statement about the Dominican Republic, something that would make people want to go there or definitely not go there. I was going to bring back some sand and ocean water in a jar, but I couldn't get the lid off. Well, I've flipped through my trip photos once more to find helpful information. In t one it looks like there are various white peo- ple on the beach together. A lot of the rmen have mustaches and many women are topless, so they must be European. One man is lock- ing down at a dark Dominican boy, who-is offering to shine shoes for money. Most-of the people are barefoot or wearing sandals, which probably accounts for the apparent confusion. In the water is a pack of wind-surfers, their sails lying flat as fish fins on the surface. They're all looking back at the beach as if t sunbathers forecasted gnarly waves. This looks like the quintessential photo: A bald man with no smile and grubby hands is sitting across from his dinner-date, an opa- lesque native in a skin-tight mini-skirt. He must have paid for her. They are drinking Presidente, which is beer in green bottles. He seems oblivious to, or perhaps in appalling denial of, the fact that everyone in the restau- rant is looking at them. I remember this p everyone was looking. That woman looked much like those smooth wood sculptures they carve down there. - Patrick Kiley can be reached via e-mail atpkiley@umich.edu. Snow emergency declaration came too late hile snow storms had buried T many of Ann Arbor's streets at the end of last semester, returning students found most streets cleared. This was due to the efforts of dedicated city crews to remove excess snow that was dumped on Ann Arbor on one of the snowiest months on record. To encourage people to move their cars and make plowing the roads easier, the city declared a snow emergency and put certain parking regu- lations into place. The snow emergency, which went into effect on Dec. 26, was lifted on Tuesday, a week ahead of schedule. Before the emergency was declared, city plows encased many parked cars in massive snow mounds. With snow, slush and ice filling the streets, many area dri- vers on two-way thoroughfares found themselves competing with oncoming traffic for a way through the clogged mess. And although most streets were at least crudely passable, for about a week much of Ann Arbor was trapped by the snow. The need for the snow emergency was obvious, but its timing was wrong. By the time city crews were preparing to attack the excess snow, most students had left campus for the holidays, many leaving their cars in the streets, compli- cating the snow removal process on many streets close to campus. Toward the end of the final exam peri- od, Jim Kosteva, University director of community relations, sent an e-mail to all students, faculty and staff members, to inform the University community of the upcoming snow emergency. The University did its job disseminat- ing information regarding snow removal procedures and parking alternatives, but by the time most students, especially those from out-of-state, received news of the snow emergency, they were already at home, unable to return to Ann Arbor to move their cars. If Ann Arbor City Administrator Neal Berlin, who has the power to declare a snow emergency, would have taken action in the days following the first mas- sive snowfall Dec. 12, more University students with vehicles would have been able to move their cars and they would not have impeded the necessary snow removal. All in all, the city issued 124 parking citations and towed 166 cars. And although cars were generally just tem- porarily moved out of the way, the cost of towing could have been greatly reduced if most students would have been noti- fied in time to move their vehicles out of the way. The University should be applauded for its efforts not only to keep campus sidewalks and driveways clear. Even during the height of the massive snow storm that took aim on Ann Arbor and southeast Michigan on Dec. 14, Uni- versity snow removal crews kept a good portion campus parking lots, driveways and pedestrian pathways clear. Although battling city streets and the bitter cold was quite a challenge, travers- ing campus was relatively painless. Once on campus, students were able to navi- gate campus sidewalks thanks to Univer- sity crews. As it did in January 1999, when the city declared a snow emergency after more than 17 inches of snow fell on Ann Arbor, the University opened its parking facilities to students and city residents so city crews could clear area streets. The University needs to continue to play an active role in providing parking alterna- tives in snow crises. Since predicting the effects of massive snowfall can be difficult, the city needs to be prepared for any situation. City administrators need to use this past emer- gency as a lesson so snow removal can run more smoothly in the future. 'it's a bummer' - State Sen. Joanne Emmons (R-Big Rapids) on the announcement tha% Michigan will loose a seat in the US. House of Representatives through reapportionment. The Michigan Daily welcomes let- ters from all of its readers. Letters from University students, faculty, staff and administrators will be given priority over others. All letters must include the writer's name, phone number and school year or University affiliation. The Daily will not print any letter that cannot be verified. Ad hominerm attacks will not be tolerated. Letters should be kept to approxi- mately 300 words. The Michigan Daily reserves the right to edit for length, clarity and accuracy. Longer "view- points" may be arranged with an editor. Letters will be run according to order received and the amount of space avail- able. Letters should be sent over e-mail to dailyletters@mnich.edu or mailed to the Daily at 420 Maynard St. Editors can be reached at 764-0552 or by send- ing e-mail to the above address. Letters e-mailed to the Daily will be given pri- ority over those dropped off in person or sent via the U.S. Postal Service. The rght to vote is bestowed on citizens by state legislatures TO THE DAILY: Obviously, the authors of the editorial "Election 2000 results in insult" did not actually take the time to read the Supreme Court opinions nor did enough research to realize that we as citizens of the United States do not have a Constitutional right to vote for the president of the United States (12/14/00). According to the Supreme Court opin- ions, that honor is given to us by the indi- vidual state legislatures and can be taken away by those legislatures at any time for any reason. I have read that the founders of the United States set up the electoral college with the intent of not letting the presiden- tial election being decided by the masses, hence the electoral college. As far as Gore winning the popular vote, the Supreme Court opinions stated that the voting process contains a statistical error of around 2 percent. Being that the final popular vote tally was well within this margin error, statisti- cally, either candidate could have won the popular vote: I guess this brings the question, would you rather have had the Supreme Court decide the Constitutional validity of the way in which the votes were being consid- ered, or would you rather have had the election decided by a game of five card stud or some other game of chance, as can happen in some states? At the end of the day, the popular vote was a tie and the fact that we as a country peacefully designated a president elect shows how strong our system of govern- ment actually is. BRYAN JOHNSON UNIVERSITY ALUMNUS U' correct to defend affirmative action TO THE DAILY: It is extremely satisfying to see that the University of Michigan is taking such a determined and wellidocumented defense of its multicultural admissions policy. For those out-of-state students that think that this stance is not in their interest and only those in the "so-called" non-white minority, they should take another look at what the University is doing for all foreign citizens, including white Americans, whp live outside the U.S. All too many universities in weste@ Europe exclude foreigners from equal treat- ment - that means U.S. whites as well. Perhaps the two applicants who filed suit against the University should apply to some universities over here. It was a real wake up call for me as a white American to be regularly discriminat- ed against in a university of a western Euro- pean country that is well known for its reputation of tolerance. At a very basic-level the United Stat has much of it past and future success thank for its ability to better tolerate its citi- zens and foreign multicultural visitors than far too many other countries. What thesetwo students have not real- ized is that they are providing fuel tothe most racist and anti-American types-if political groups which put all Blacks, Iate- nos and all Americans into the same boatof world second class citizens. s b CORT JotN6 PROF. OF INTERNATIONAL BUST THE NETHERLANDS Safety under fire Absurdity governs new firearm regulations Presently, roughly 52,000 people in the state of Michigan possess a con- cealed weapons permit. Those 52,000 permits were granted under the old set of Michigan concealed weapons laws that required applicants to provide a valid rea- son for the possession of a concealed weapon. Thanks to a bill signed by Republican Governor John Engler, this number is estimated to double in the coming year. On Tuesday, January 2, 2001, Engler signed a new concealed weapon bill that removes the clause requiring applicants to provide a reason for concealed weapons possession. The Michigan State Police estimate that the number of appli- cations for concealed weapons will sky- rocket and that the number of people granted concealed weapon permits will bring the total number of concealed weapons in circulation will increase to as much as 120,000. The bill, Public Act 381, is a dangerous threat to not only police officers, but also to law-abiding citizens who do not wish to endanger themselves or their families by purchas- ing a weapon. An armed population is, according to Washtenaw County Chief Assistant Pros- ecutor Joseph Burke, "a heck of an . , A I *, I from voter referendums, essentially mak- ing the bill untouchable by Michigan citi- zens. By tagging a spending measure onto the bill, the state Congress guaran- teed that this dangerous new law would not be impacted by the opinion of the people. Luckily there are provisions in the bill that do put restrictions on concealed weapon ownership. The major ones include a 21-year old age limit, a mandatory gun safety course, restric- tions of concealed weapons in schools, daycare centers, bars or hospitals and a mandate that all permits be registered with a state-wide tracking system avail- able to all law-enforcement agencies. Most of the new laws are simply minor changes to the previous concealed weapons laws, and were included as a compromise for the largest and most frightening, change in the law; the elim- ination of the need for intent in obtain- ing a concealed weapons permit. Donald Homan, the County Sheriff for Livingston County, also quoted by the News, said that the new bill is "too lenient." He acknowledged the impor- tance of securing gun ownership rights and said that Livingston County has always done its best to ensure these rights ,. 4- . ... ..~, ~ - n a e _ _ -a ,- DANE BARNES DISTURBED SLEE UN 4 if Zaor es don't trai~sate into r By Bill Chapin Daily Northwestern (Northwestern U) We, as a society, have a moral obligation to lower the drinking age. Before I go any further, I should let you in on my dirty little secret: I didn't have a drop to drink before my 21st birthday. Oh sure, there was that one little screw- driver at the tailgate before the football game freshman year. I was thirsty as all hell, I needed something to wash down that alleged hamhbrer At the time all I could think was. lawsuits. If you go to a fraternity party and drink yourself to death, your parents aren't going to just sit back and say, "Oh well." They're going to sue the pants off the university, the fraternity, the brewer and the Barenaked Ladies because they wrote a song called "Alcohol." But if you drink yourself to death at an off-campus party, guess who gets taken off the list of litigants? Don't think Northwestern is overreacting, either. For a while, the Massachusetts Insti- +.. s e ,' o 1. , .. "rn :-ot rr - t ii o :n i : kill themselves with alcohol. In Novembe, University of Michigan student Byung Sop Kim became the latest kid to die on his 21$t birthday after he downed at least 20 shots of scotch. Even 21-year-olds can't hand responsibility. But raising the drinking age will only exacerbate this problem. Make it 24, and people will just do 24 shots on their 24th birthday. Obviously the solution is to lower the drinking age. Make it, say, 13. Thirteen shots probably isn't enough to kill your average 13 .c-rn An - thav'l cll ave a it..~