4A - The Michigan Daily - Friday, February 16, 2001 cat be 9 lkbtwu ailg 420 MAYNARD SuIET ANN ARBOR, MI 48109 daily lettersaurnich. edtu Goodbye, old friend DAVID HORN oRN OGRAPHY 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 n case you haven't y heard the most dev- astating news for 44music enthusiasts since the end of the vinyl era, .y Napster got the can this week. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the "company encourages and abets the wholesale infringement of copyrights." Yeah they do, as much as I hate to admit it. I am one of many who live and die by the unpar- alleled ease and availability of the service. That creates a sort of dilemma for me, and for everyone else too, I hope. Last year, when Napster was getting its start, I lived in the dorms. For all my bitching about dorm life, you've got to like the connection speeds. That being said, downloading from Napster was ridiculously easy. So along comes Napster, and my friend Brian tells me that I can get any song I want, com- pletely and immediately, for free. My first instinct was "hot dog!" But after very little thought on the issue, I realized that Napster was about as kosher as a cheeseburger with a side of lobster (that's a little Jewish humor for y'all). I decided then to take a sort of moral stand against Napster. I refused to use it, and gave all my friends an angry tirade against it, and them, whenever the issue came up. But little time passed until I caved. About a week after learning about Napster, I would secretly download songs and not tell anyone. I continued to hypocritically speak out against it. Slowly, my dirty music-sharing secrets were revealed, and since then I've been all about it. When this legal battle came up, I was singing a very different song than that of a year ago. I believed that it was Metallica, their cronies, and the record industry who were being hypocritical. What is an artist? A true artist? A true artist is someone who doesn't care about making money. It is someone whose primary concern should be that their art is heard - their mes- sage is heard - by as many people as possible. That their music can reach more people as a result of Napster should be enough to pledge their support to the file-sharing software. For the young, struggling artist, you should definitely want as many people to hear your music right off the bat. For the estab- lished musicians (Metallica and the like), you've got more money than you could possi- bly know what to do with. You've already benefited from a society that pays its artists inordinate amounts of money. Now you're trying to hustle the system for some more. And if you ever run out of money, sell your souls to Microsoft and let them use Enter Sandman, or whatever, to sell Windows '03. For you middle of the road, flash in the pan, one hit wonder bands, Napster must scare the shit out of you. Good. If you don't have enough confidence in the rest of your album that kids are going to be satisfied enough by only down- loading your bubble gum pop hit, then you don't deserve to call yourself a musician. The other side of this story is one of greed. There is a paradox in making one's living as an artist, but that's another issue. Our country is hell-bent on this capitalism thing, and that's not going anywhere. That explains the ruling of the 9th District Court, and probably spells doom for Napster and its progeny in the long run, because from a legal standpoint, they're in the wrong, or at least facilitating those who are in the wrong. The other part of this that troubles me is that it seems that the record industry is unfairly picking on Napster. Why didn't duel-deck cas- sette players get taken to court when they came out? I'll tell you why. Because Sony made them, and they make records too. Why aren't CD burners - the real root of the problem - at all to blame? Someone tonight suggested to me that they might as well go after the radio. You can tape off of it, after all. It's primitive and ridiculous, but it's possible, and would vio- late the same copyright infringements that the faithful users of Napster (including myself) have done and will do until next week, or* whenever they take away our baby. Music copyrighting has always been a very complex and challenging issue. But the verdict i against Napster is hypocritical, shortsighted and hopefully not permanent. As I write this column listening to burned music, let's hope that Metallica and other artists remember why they got into music in the first place, when they couldn't get 20 peo- ple to show up at the club they were playing in.O Let's hope they remember that and appreciate 'that Napster plays a huge part in the realization of the idealistic notion of art for art's sake. David Horn's column runs every other Friday. Give him feedback at www.michigandaily.com/forum or via email at hornd@umich.edu. Phelps' hatred extends beyond the Diag TO THE DAILY: While this is not another "Here's what we should do!" letter regarding Rev. Phelps' visit, consider this as another aspect of his visit. The University community has concerned itself with Phelps' protest at the Queer Visibility Week (QVW) Rally, and understandably so. However, others of us are not so lucky to worry about his attendance at a rally in a huge public space. Along with other members of my church's congregation, I am genuinely nauseated know- ing that he will be waiting for me when I arrive for worship on Sunday morning. The Rev. Phelps' original reason for attending Ann Arbor is not even remotely related to QVW. He is coming because Rev. John Rollef- son, pastor of Lord of Light Lutheran Church, led the ordination of a qualified and called minister, Donna Simon, a lesbian. I attended Rev. Simon's ordination in Mis- souri, and I will not back down from supporting her and Rev. Rollefson.entirely. Indeed, I am the undergraduate with the greatest personal involvement in the protests this weekend, as I hope to be in Rev. Simon's shoes some day. Though I do not wish to portray myself as a martyr of sorts, I hope that the Univer- sity community will remember where else Rev. Phelps will be taking his message of hate this weekend. While most students are resting in their campus homes Sunday morning, I will be standing before Rev. Phelps, defending my right to be a queer Christian. Please make no mistake that those are the toughest shoes to wear on this campus today. EMILY MARIE SIPPOLA LSA senior SCC's retrospective comments untrue TO THE DAILY: I feel that I must object to a statement made by SCC member Diego Bernal in the Daily's "r231S- CA'T TAKE WRIM SCJONSLY Wh4N Tt+A7 ALL H~E (Am-rA4U d-V) article on the Tower ("Then ... and now," 2/15/00). Bemal is quoted as saying "We hesi- tated from calling individual people racist." However, when attempting to enter the Union during the SCC protests, I was called a racist, as were two visiting par- ents, because we attempted to enter the Union through the front doors. Simply because the SCC chose not to accuse Michigamua of racism does not mean that they in any way restrained their rhetoric or even attempted to convey civili- ty to those who were merely attempting to go about their daily routine. JASON BOURNE LSA senior 'Model minority' myth perpetuates racial biases TO THE DAILY: I am saddened by the ignorance that Chuck Wang's letter to the editor, "Asian- Americans do not need race-based affirma- tive actions" (2/14/01) conveys. Obviously, he too has been sucked into the model minority myth of Asian-American success. Wang's acceptance of the myth shows limited recognition of the heterogeneity of the APA (Asian Pacific American) commu- nity. By recognizing heterogeneity within the APA community, one sees that not all APAs are "succeeding" but in fact struggle in sweatshops or fields as migrant laborers. It is a pity that Wang's memory is selective, or forgetful of the institutional discrimination that Asians and Asian-0 Americans have experienced and continue to experience. Instead, Wang buys into the dominant framework and once again puts Asian- Americans into the role of the "middle- man minority" and lets himself be used as a silent pawn in the discussion of race and inequality in the United States. Wang's assertion that the success of Asian-Americans is based upon "simple, hard work" is completely naive. If this were true, ideas such as "over-0 representation of Asian Americans" would never come into play. We do not live in a meritocracy and people are not rewarded for their "hard work." Wang's primary anti-affirmative action arguments are based upon the American dream and model minority myth. These two ideas are tools that society uses to make people believe that they, and not our institutional systems, are failing people of* color and the underclass. It is unfortunate that Wang not only buys into these fallacies, but chooses to advocate on their behalf. REBECCA KINNEY LSA senior Sorry girls, I'm gay JOSH WICKERHAM Tfils] MpmemWoAD n the fine tradition of self-liberation through public confession, here's another gay voice ready to tell the public one thing: Live with it. Normally hidden from hetero view by innuendo and slogans like "Are you a friend of Dorothy?" (the theme of this year's Queer Visibility Week), queer consciousness is at its zenith today with the "Kiss-in" and rally on the Diag. Finally, a chance for queers to be their fabulous selves! First, let's address the Fred Phelps element and get that bit of nastiness out of the way. Thank you "Rev." Phelps! You've done mnrp fnr mir nic, than anv of nq h mnqn ever developed a habit of ignoring obnoxious Bible bangers. More noise, more banners, more slimy minions aren't going to convert anyone. But if he somehow gets inside your head and you see the light, he's putting his life in danger. If one gives credence to his message that fags can't repent, no matter how much they love "God," what's to stop a group of already damned souls from ripping Phelps limb from limb? It's only one more sin on the inevitable road to the devil's paradise. (Note: Don't be tempted to even look in his direction; he'll sue your gender-ambiguous ass off). But this eclipses an even bigger issue. I can't assume that anyone on this cam- pus would care to spend eternity with the likes of Fred Phelps. It's like when the Cnaniard- r nnA red the NM Wnrld and consciousness. Is it safe to be queer here? Am I going to be discriminated against? If you're straight, and you don't understand what I'm talking about, turn some of your ques- tions about queers back on yourself. Oxford's "heterosexual questionnaire" asks: "What do you think caused your heterosex- uality? When and how did you first decide that you were heterosexual? Why do you heterosex- uals feel compelled to seduce others into your lifestyle? Why do you insist on flaunting your* heterosexuality? Can't you just keep it quiet?" See how ludicrous these-questions sound, just because we live in a hetero-normative (and heterosexist) society? Queerness is an innate, essential characteris- tic, determined by events and circumstances hbvnnd anvo nnep nrnn's rcntrAl Snmenne i~~~. #.f . - .i Lb~ti ,:IF~E W/..:: .kT+'.~,,.~'1,bRrs ;:v u :M. . > ~~ra r s.. :. .. i :- . - . .