4 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, March 23, 2001 . * 420 MAYNARDI STREET ~a ANN ARBOR, MI 48109 Cheap thrills at your fingertps daily.letters@umich.edu DAVID HORN HORNU RXPHX -4**, 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. A pparently there are more websites devoted to pomog- raphy than to anything else on the Internet. I can't say that I'm at all surprised by that, although I do wish that there were more sites devoted to Homography (I check daily. There seem to be none), but that's another story. The abundance of online porn is, in my opinion, technology at its finest. The traditional porn industry makes billions every year and their ability to earn that money, like their more socially acceptable older brothers the film and music industries, is being undermined by inno- vators and entrepreneurs on the web. But the point of this column is not to praise the great pornography pioneers of the 21st Century. It is, rather, to direct your attention to the other high-water mark of the Internet age. I am referring, of course, to www.bored.com. Bored.com was first brought to my atten- tion during my senior year of high school. If your high school education was at all like mine, your day didn't start until noonish, and finish by about 12:45. The rest of your day (that was spent on school grounds) was spent idling away the hours until you could notch another day-gone-by in the countdown to emancipation. In this pathetic state of worth- lessness, bored.com found me, and my appre- ciation of the Internet grew to immeasurable heights. One could argue that this was also the beginning of the end. I don't think I've ridden a book, or read a bike, or practiced proper syn- tax since then. But those acts of productivity, thoughtfulness and intelligence are in the past. Bored.com has shown me the Internet in its greatest moment. Enter the URL, and begin a journey into a state of mindlessness and lost time. Bored.com is a list of links to the most, well, non-boring (let us say stimulating?) sites on the web. Among them are tradition- al IQ and relationship tests, movie and tele- vision scripts, and the like. But tread through those murky distractions, and find the most interesting sites that there be. One link, found towards the bottom of the bored.com page, is a link to AT&T's experimental "text to speech" software. Type in any phrase (my own experimenting lead me to conclude that any phrase either full of vulgarity or complementary towards David Horn seems to work fine), and listen to a man, women or child speak the phrase in impressively smooth English. You would think that this parlor trick would be but a momentary solution to your boredom, but you'd be wrong. It's mesmerizing. Another site that provides countless hours of entertainment is www.hotornot.com. Needless to say, its link can be found at bored.com. Hotornot.com is simple: It cues up picture after picture of average Joes and Judys like you and me, and asks you to rate their looks on a scale of 1to 10. It's shallow? Stupid? You're above it? Let me tell you -- you're not. I thought I was, but it sucks you in like a little kid slurping up his last drop of chocolate milk. I, pathetically, even caved and posted my own picture. My final highlight, although there are many- that I urge you to discover on your own, isa, little gem that is a collection of brillianC- thought-provoking questions on the nature 06 things. For instance: "Did you ever notice:: when you blow in a dog's face he gets mad f you, but when you take him in a car, he sticks his head out the window?" "If God droppi acid, would he see people?" and "If people from Poland are called Poles, why aren't peo- ple from Holland called Holes?" If questions like those can't keep yout scrolling down for the few minutes you R have until your orgo or econ or poli sci lec.-Z, ture, then you've a stronger will than me But the likelihood is that you don't. Enjoy.: How does this crap keep me entertained? 1 don't know. It does. There are plenty of "productive" uses - for the World Wide Web, of course. Scie tists from all over the world can share the research. Students who are physically lim- ited to their bedrooms can attend "virtual classrooms." We can trade pirated music, and enjoy our pornography (and Hornogra- phy) without the awkward look of disap- proval from the fellow at the newsstand. But the bread and butter of the revolution- ary tool that is the internet is the quintessence of procrastination: Boredicom. This is how our society is utilizing t glorious possibilities of the WWW. I love it. David Horn's column runs every' other Friday. Give himfeedback at wwwmichigandaily.com/forum or via e-mail at hornd@umich.edu LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Fraternity president offered one-side account of incident To THE DAILY: I am writing to express my disappointment and disgust concerning Jacquelyn Nixon's arti- cle, "Inquiry continues in hockey team fight" (03/22/01). The article is essentially a reprint of an earli- er article describing the one sided account of an incident at the Sigma Chi fraternity house. The story, which has graced the front page not once, but twice, slanders athlete Josh Langfeld and the rest of the Michigan hockey team. The Daily's repetitive and uninformative article cites only the fraternity president's account of what actually happened. I wonder if his words are slightly self serving? The Interfra- ternity Council president's words blaming the hockey players as instigators were also especial- ly unsubstantiated. Does he really believe that the hockey play- ers were "escorted" from the party? I've been to more than a few fraternity parties and remov- ing guests usually involves several guys team- ing up to assault "the instigator." Everyone knows that a bunch of underage drunken frater- nity brothers would never instigate a fight. Further, does anyone really believe that Langfeld was "harassing female guests" as some witnesses stated? Clearly, the hockey team hasn't offered its side of the story, but this doesn't excuse the Daily for reprinting a clearly biased account of a serious incident. DAVID SHAY Business senior Editors Note: The men's hockey team has refused to comment on the Sigma Chifight allegations. Code takes away too many civil liberties at students' expense To THE DAILY: I am writing in response to Galaxor Nebulon a.k.a. Ryan Hughes, charges pending here at the University. Hughes is being accused of assault and destruction of property under the University Statement of Student Rights and Responsibili- ties, formerly the Code of Conduct. Hughes allegedly spray painted a sign held 1 r / 5 11 pIt r674 < f 1 soETMI A n a u s 7 ;, a :. -., ... f r , ... .. + f , A ' YOUF TA)( MONEY -b T ir git ,Ak4s -ot: by an anti-gay protester at the kiss-in rally. As a graduate of University President Lee Bollinger's First Amendment Law class, I am astonished the University would teach one thing and prac- tice another. Bollinger explains to his students that it is very difficult to limit speech and expression. Political speech and expression is given the highest protection by the law because itis key to maintaining an active democracy. We may not like the expression or speech, but at least it's there for us to make that determination. Hughes acted politically and expressed his view-point. The Code should follow the standard set by the Supreme Court and drop the charges. The University argues Hughes destroyed property. However, the property destroyed was not University property and the property owners have chosen not to press charges. Why does the University suppose it has the right to act in a case where no charges have been pressed? Because the event took place on University property? But, if Hughes were a non-student standing on the same property he would be free and clear right now. So University students are held to stricter laws than anyone else in the state of Michigan? Finally, the University claims Hughes assaulted a person. Apparently spray painting a sign on a person's body, causing no injury, and leaving the person 100 percent uptouched con- stitutes assault. Even the alleged victim didn't feel an assault took place. So, again, why does the University? Maybe the University feels the intent was the problem. However, using the same logic, the University could use the Code against anyone touching another person on campus. Athletes, beware, smacking a fellow athlete on the rear is assault under the Code. Men, don't pinch your girlfriend's ass on the Diag, that's assault. A God forbid you should playa childish prank on a friend and tape something to his back, that's assault. The examples are extreme, but a court of law uses the slippery slope logic to prevent the restriction of political speech and expression. Finally, if the University plans on using the Code as a measure to restrict speech protected by the Constitution, let's go all the way with it. All student newspapers should be shut do immediately, particularly the ones with Repub can ideologies. We tend to be a liberal campus, and according to the Code, we can. Let's also refuse to allow Student's for Life, University Republicans, anything religious, and all groupa having to do with business, finance, or econom ics, todhold meetings on campusproperty. I'd also like to ask that members of The Michigan Review be kicked out of the Universi- ty. I don't like what they say and I don't like the manner they go about saying it. Oh, and where was the Code when I tried to handa guy af in the Diag and he stuck his tongue out, spit,a gave me the thumbs down? He did exactly what Hughes did; showed his disapproval for my cause. I actually think I caught a fleck of spit in the eye and I kow some of my fliers had spit on them. Isn't that assault and destruction of property? Drop the charges. Hughes may not have chosen the best course of action but no laws were broken and no harm was done..,I expressed himself, politically. In the United States, a person is allowed to as long as he doesn't violate any other law while doing it. According to the police and his target; Hughes didn't. AMEE BINGHAM Alumns ~ge territory. Let it be made clear that the occupation the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem, a$ well as the continued expansion of settlement units in these areas, is in clear violation of inter- national law. Finally, the Palestinian leadership on campus, as well as Justin Wilson, chairperson of the Michigan Student Assembly Peace an Justice Committee, has repeatedly invited Jere" my Menchik, writer of the guest viewpoint "Zahr painted wrong picture of Israel, Co West" (3/15/01), and other pro-Israel leaders community-wide town hall meetings regarding the conflict. We are, however, consistently faced with rejection on the basis of a fear that the rest of campus will see the reality ofIsraeli brutality. Furthermore, Cusniffe made bold statement in his column with rhetoric indicating that Israel is not practicing apartheid. I implore everybody who wants to learn about the conflict to visit Amnesty International's website (http://www.amnestyusa.org/counies/israeL a d occupied erritories/) and see the evidence Israeli apartheid. Cunniffe's column mad clear, and his column should serve to teach everybody a lesson, that one should do their homework before going out and bashing the work of innocent children caught in the horror of unjust oppression. HIBA GHAu LSA junior The writer was the exhibit coordinatorfor the Palestinian children's exhibit in Pierpont Commons. Expressions of innocence under si VIEWPOINT As the coordinator of the Palestinian chil- dren's art exhibit in Pierpont Commons (Inno- cence Under Siege), I was offended after reading Peter Cunniffe's column, "The Weapons of War: Rocks, Kids and Crayons" (3/15/01). Cun- niffe: You are indeed lost, but unfortunately, the aggression and brutality that has been raging for over half a century in Palestine is far from a game. Many would agree that the media coverage of this issue is almost exclusively one-sided and that the majority of the people suffering from this siege, namely the Palestinians, are not get- ting the international security they are entitled to. Our dissatisfaction with the media's coverage of the struggle enticed us to brainstorm ways to expose the perspective of the Palestinian chil- dren that has been, for the most part, cast aside by the general public. Our brainstorming result- ed in what we thought to be the ideal expressive medium: Art. Two weeks after the recent uprising, we decided to call an Arab school in Jerusalem and ask them to send us students' drawings that best depict what they witness on a daily basis. The school sent us a package of the most expressive and heart-wrenching children's drawings. Cun- niffe's notion that the art is "meant to emotional- ly manipulate people into believing Palestinians are merely helpless victims of a brutal oppres- sor" is unfounded. According to Steve Sosebee, CEO of the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund (http://www.wolfenet.com/~pcrf/), 75 percent of Palestinian children show signs of post-traumat- ic stress disorder as a result of military occupa- tion. What does Cunniffe expect, pictures of sunsets and rainbows? Cunniffe, who lives in a comfortable bubble - and others like him - needs to open his cynical eyes that criticize the cries of help from children bom into extreme oppression. Cunniffe chastises the exhibit and writes that "The drawings in Pierpont Commons were yet another piece of propaganda, and certainly the most ingenious one, meant to inflame anti-Israeli sentiment." Contrary to what Cunniffe has implied, no one, not us nor the children's teach- ers, influenced the children's art in any way. These are real children, this is their original work, and yes, although itsis hard to believe, they have expressed legitimate fears. This is not about war, peace, or politics. It is about children that have been the silent victims of decades of conflict in the Middle East. It is saddening any- one couldreduce the efforts of children that have witnessed too much bloodshed and suffered too much pain and fear to mere propaganda Let it be made clear that the Israeli govem- ment breaks more UN resolutions and is criti- cized more heavily by human rights organizations than all other countries. Let it be made clear that Israel has made an organized effort to push all Arabs out of Israeli controlled THE BOONDOCKS r RILtY, THERES ASOUTEL YNOTHING WRtNG AOTIKING05LARYN HILL SHE' SEAUTIFL, T E , AVERSTE AND CONSCIOUS. sHE'S BEENSUCESSFL1 WITH OUTLOSINGH t AUTO MCITY' R, BOT SHES JUST so ARN ... POSTIVE i 7 M 3 :) 3 J J HEAM FORBID ... HER MUSK. BRINGS OUT T EMOT10N5 THAT SOMEONE MAPPEP UP IN THE STREET LA LV MYSELF JUST CAN'T ARM. 31i I