4A - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, January 31, 2001
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All I ever needed to know (Ilearned on '80s radios
BRANDEN SANZ DROPPING THE HAMME
EDITED AND MANAGED BY
STUDENTS AT THE
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
SINCE 1890
GEOFFREY GAGNON
Editor in Chief
MICHAEL GRASS
NICHOLAS WOOMER
Editorial Page Editors
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.
t seems there comes a
time in everyone's
young life when they
start listening to music.
Soon after, usually
between the ages of ten
and 15, we actually
become aware of what we
are listening to. It seems
that those early years set
the groundwork for what will later become our
"taste" in music.
My musically-fundamental years came
between 1985 and 1993. For over half a glori-
ous decade I could turn on the radio and get
pumped to the testosto-rock of Bon Jovi, Skid
Row and Motley Crue, groove to the old-school
gangsta' rap of Ice Cube and Dr. Dre, revel in
the haunting power ballads of Heart, Poison
and Winger. Then Nirvana came along and
radio just went to shit. Years of angst-ridden
grunge soured me on FM radio and I retreated
in to my CD collection.
But guess what? The '80s are back, people.
Take a look around and you'll see jean jackets
and hoop earrings galore. Next thing you know,
we're going to back to the good old days of 0-
Rings, Spandex and crimped hair (don't forget
the Aqua Net.) Yeah, baby! I can't wait.
Given this certitude, I figured it was time to
come up with a little list. I'm sure you have all
seen that "Everything I ever needed to know, I
learned in kindergarten" thing, right? Personal-
ly, I think that's bull. I learned more from
music in the late '80s and early '90s than I ever
did in kindergarten. Therefore, I respectfully
submit this list of life's little lessons, all of
which can be found on a cheesy '80s station
near you.
. The Lesson: Do unto others.
The Source: "Round and Round," by Ratt.
Yeah, I know all about the Golden Rule, but
never was it so poignantly expressed as by
Steven Pearcy and the rest of the boys from
Ratt. "Round and round -- what comes around
goes around. I'll tell you why!" If that doesn't
get you psyched to do a good deed, I don't
know what will.
The Lesson: Be Tolerant of Others.
The Source: "People are People," by
Depeche Mode. I could have used a line from
"Personal Jesus" here, but I think this song begs
the "Why can't we just get along" question as
well as any source I can think of.
The Lesson: Know Survival Techniques.
The Source: "Stand," by REM. "If you are
confused, check with the sun. Carry a compass
to help you along." You can be sure these guys
would do okay on "Survivor II."
The Lesson: STD Awareness.
The Source: "Love is a Social Disease," by
Bon Jovi. Forget about sex ed, people. I got a
head-start on my education by listening to this
tune from Slippery When Wet.
The Lesson: Social Activism.
The Source:*"Fight for Your Right (to
Party)," by the Beastie Boys. There comes a
time in everyone's life when they discover that
there are certain inalienable rights you have to
stand up for. Thank you Ad-Rock, MCA, and
Mike D.
s The Lesson: Size Does Matter.
The Source: "Everything Counts," by
Depeche Mode. Sorry, I couldn't resist. But
why else would they say "Everything counts -
in large amounts?"
r The Lesson: Realpolitik is True.
The Source: "Everybody Wants to Rule the
World," by Tears for Fears. Long before I ever
heard of Organski, the haunting vocals of
Roland Orzabal informed me that people are
selfish and states always seek to maximize
power.
* The Lesson: Family Values.
The Source: "Home Sweet Home," by Mot-
ley Crue. Even tough guys can have "hearts of
gold" and "romantic dreams." The Republicans
can talk about family values until they are blue
in the face but anyone familiar with this land-
mark power ballad can give you the lowdown.
The Lesson: Aussies Are Fuckin' Weird.
The Source: "Land Down Under," by Men
at Work. What the hell is a vegemite sandwic1
anyway?
The Lesson: Temper Your Expectations.
The Source: "Every Rose Has It's Thorn,"
by Poison. (C'mon sing with me!!) "Just like
every night has it's dawn. Just like every cow-
boy sings a sad, sad song." I became a cynic at
a young age, due in large part to Bret Michaels
telling me not to get my hopes up too high.
The Lesson: Violence is Bad.
The Source: "Today Was a Good Day," by
Ice Cube. When a bad mamma-jamma like i
Cube tells you he's happy because he didn
have to use his AK, you better take heed, peo-
ple.
The Lesson: Cops Don't Get Paid Squat.
The Source: "Empire," by Queensryche. "In
the fiscal year 1986-87, the state and federal
governments spent a combined total of 60.6
million on law enforcement. Law enforcement
accounted for only 6 percent of federal spend-
ing. By way of comparison, the federal govern-
ment spent 24 million more on spa
exploration and 43 times more on national
defense than on law enforcement." Not a good
career choice, folks.
The Lesson: It's Okay To Be Gay.
The Source: "Wit' Dre Day," by Dr. Dre
and Snoop Dogg. I don't care what the church
says, if a guy as cool as Snoop Dogg can come
out of the closet with a blatant admission of
homosexuality ("With my nutz on your ton-
sils...") then it's okay by me. You go, Snoop!
Branden Sanz column runs on Wednesdays. iW
can be reached at the next Warrant concert near
you or via e-mail at hamrhead@umich.edu.
HID SON, GRAT6AME.
BUT WOE VM FROM, E DO
TH4N66 DIFFEPE'TLY
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UNTIL NOV &LOED
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'Honorable' women
put 'dreams aside' to
rear children
TO THE DAILY:
In response to Gina Hamadey's column
("Housewives and other misconceptions,"
1/30/01), I would like to ask where all these
"just want to have kids" women are hiding?
This is probably the most honorable thing that a
woman can do - make the loving sacrifice of
her time and energy toward her children and to
put her dreams aside so that the children grow
up in a home with emotional care and support.
Women such as these should be commended
and take pride in the fact that they are providing
a priceless service that cannot be obtained else-
where: A mother's undivided love and attention.
Unselfish people, men and women both,
must exist at this university somewhere. Perhaps
they do a good job staying quiet, so they aren't
looked down upon by their peers who have so-
called "higher" expectations. Maybe men who
share these dreams are afraid to speak up,
because they are liable to get slapped in the face
for being "sexist." My best guess is that these
people are just working quietly in the back-
ground, the same way loving parents have been
doing for years, without their past-due credit.
BRETT LANTZ
LSA sophomore
International law can
help Palestinians
To THE DAILY:
As International Law Prof. Francis Boyle of
the University of Illinois wrote, "As a condition
for its admission to the United Nations, Israel
formally agreed to accept General Assembly
Resolution 181 (II) (1947) (partition/Jerusalem
trusteeship) and General Assembly Resolution
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194 (III) (1948) (Palestinian right of return),
inter alia." He stated that Israel's violation of
these conditions makes its membership in the
UN null and void.
The point is that with this as well as other
international institutions, the mechanisms for
delivering justice to the Palestinian people
already exist at the international level. Ameri-
can insistence on mediating through the facade
of an "honest broker" has been detrimental and
rendered these mechanisms powerless. Ameri-
can bias is too strong to invest legitimacy in its
enforcement of international law. For example,
American institutions of power have a collec-
tive memory and experience that more closely
matches the Israeli Jewish history of settlement
and domination of a God-given "new frontier."
American power elites cannot possibly under-
stand the sufferings of the Palestinian people.
Only through an international commission,
with full support from the United States, repre-
senting a pluralism of cultures, experiences and
interests, will we see the implementation of
international law and something closer to jus-
tice. We cannot expect the United States to play
an impartial judge, but we can ask her to sup-
port the decision of the jury.
WILL YOUMANS
Alumnus
Bollinger coverage
not good for 'U'
To THE DAILY:
I can't get over the attention that the Daily
has given to University President Lee
Bollinger being courted by another school.,
How can the Daily think that it's something
to brag about that Bollinger's going to ditch
us for a "better" school?
The Daily makes it sound so impressive
that he's being all coy about what he would
do if he were in the position to choose. If he'*
leaving the University for Harvard or any
other school, that's not something that we
should advertise.
How often do you hear people going
around, bragging "Hey, Becky just told me
she heard that Dan was thinking about break-
ing up with me for Sarah! Can you believe it?
Sarah! How flattering!" That doesn't happen,
but the Daily is making us as a University
seem like we're doing the same thing becaus
Bollinger is going to go and as a student,
that's not cool.
BRIDGETT MAMOLA
LSA sophomore
It is not too late for 'U' to have a strong labor code
VIEWPOINT
Students have denounced the University's
$28 million, exclusive supply and licensing
contract with Nike and more crucially Nike's
violation of the contract's labor standards in
Atlixco de Puebla, Mexico the same day Nike
signed it.
800 workers who make Michigan-Nike
sweatshirts went on strike Jan. 9 to protest
Nike's contractor's refusal to recognize the
workers' independent union. Two days later
riot police attacked innocent workers, including
pregnant women, hospitalized 15 people and
detained two union leaders. When the workers
tried to return days later, the company locked
out 300 workers who participated in the strike
and another 300 have yet to return due to fear.
It was an insult to these workers and the
University community when University Presi-
dnt V e nlinaor annnuniA nn ian 1 6that
reported was far worse than anything we had
thought - company management admitted to
hitting workers with hammers and screw-
drivers, employing 13 year-old girls, serving
rancid meat to the workers, suppressing the
strike and going back on an agreement to allow
the workers to return.
Without immediate action to allow the
workers to return to their jobs and educate the
community, the WRC report concluded,
irreparable harm will be done to the workers
and labor rights in Puebla. The University's
advisory committee backed this fundamental
assertion on Friday.
For two weeks, college and university stu-
dents nationwide have demanded that their
presidents tell Nike to ensure all the violations
are rectified immediately. Purdue's President
said before the delegation occurred that any
verified violations would represent a breech of
their code of conduct. In addition, the Michigan
Student Assemblv recently voted 26-3 to
While SOLE would like to see more specifcity
in a recommendation this week based on then
WRC's advisement, this letter is a good first
step by Bollinger. The true value of the lett
will be realized once the workers all return
the factories and are allowed to have a free and
fair union election.
Despite doing the right thing yesterday, we
cannot overlook Bollinger's gross defiance of
public accountability, misleading statements to
the press and rejection of the advisory commit-
tees' recommendations. In March 1999, amidst
a student sit-in Bollinger told The New York
Times he had adopted a strong code of conduc
then for two years he reneged on that statemen
For two years, two committees wrote a
strong "UM code" and revised it. But Bollinger
never intended on writing the committee's
strong code into contracts and instead chose to
negotiate a weaker "Collegiate Licensing Com-
pany" code in the Nike contract, preemptively
reiectinu an advisorv committee's recommen-