4- The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, April 10, 2001 L7jE £Iirbitu a ilg 420 MAYNARD STREET ANN ARBOR, MI 48109 daily. letters@umich. edu The 1st annual 'Truth Manifesto' DUSTIN J, SEIBERT THE MANIFESTO 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- in always pondering something. Be it life, death, or something in-between that doesn't really matter much in the . grand scheme of things, thoughts constantly race across my dome-piece at the speed of life. My per- sonality requires me to find some form of an outlet for my feelings, and since the Department of Pub- lic Safety and the Ann Arbor Police Depart- ment apparently have something against random, gratuitous violence, my mixture of anger, humor and introspectiveness was direct- ed toward something more constructive ... and so it went that through the pen, The Manifesto was born. As readers should well know by now, I can take a given topic and expound on it forever and a day. However, there are a number of asser- tions that only need a sentence or two to effec- tively get the point across ... these are the ones that we often think but don't say. These are the ones that some people just don't get, yet should often go without saying. Now I don't have a god complex (contrary to popular belief), and I don't think that my word is necessarily the end-all, be- all ... though I do stand strongly behind the fol- lowing tidbits of knowledge. Buckle up, and be prepared to let the truth set you free... There is far too much wasted talent in the world. So many people (see: engineering stu- dents) are in a pursuit for the almighty dollar, and general happiness seems to be a willing sacrifice. How many people do you know that are completely unhappy with their job? If you don't even attempt to make a living with what you love, then you are missing the big picture ... Why is it that when someone accomplishes something positive, it is God's doing; yet when someone does wrong, it's their fault? ... Gay bashing makes about as much sense as racial bigotry - they may as well be one in the same ... Large women who wear spandex, belly shirts, short skirts and navel rings - you're playin' yourselves ... People who say honesty is the best policy are 40-year-olds managing the chicken nugget station at Wendy's. A little shadiness is very necessary in order to make it in this world ... Eminem is a coward at heart - he only dogs on white rappers and boy bands because he knows better ... Calling a black woman a bitch - very bad idea ... Bisexuals are simply greedy - they just find a hole and jump on in! ... All your base are belong to Manifesto ... Praying to pass an exam won't help an ounce -you best open up a damn book and make an actual attempt at studying something ... Watch out for that person that you call friend -- they may well have an ulterior motive. Only a small handful of people in life will have that unyield- ing loyalty for you. Recognize and cherish them, for you will find little of more impor- tance ... The utter shock of many people about these recent school mass-shootings is beyond me. Folks can't seem to believe that they occur in quiet, rural Podunk, Pa. That foolishness simply does not go down in the urban schools. Maybe they should rethink where they put those metal detectors ... People get way too goddamned offended over such trivial things, like curse words and insignificant shit like that. Redirect your energy towards things that actually mean something to someone ... People pull the "race card" when it's unwarranted entirely too much. Sometimes you just need to except responsibili- ty for your own and save the drama for ya mama ... For everything that they do to try to kill Napster and other file-trading programs, there will always be some pimply-faced, Drag- onball t-shirt wearing engineering student with nothing else better to do that will always be one step ahead of them on the come up ... People put far more weight into physical appearances than they care to admit. Fellas, don't get it twisted: That dashing personality means nothing if you resemble the male cast members of The Sopranos. Most people that say that they work out to make themselves feel better are usually lying to you and playing themselves - think of the once-busted people you know whose personalities changed for the worse once they found a little vanity ... Money can't buy happiness? Pish-tos* Money can't buy certain happiness, but look at all these jolly-ass rich people with smiles on their faces ... On that note, isn't money the real issue in life? I mean, what are most of us at this university to accomplish? Isn't cash the source of almost all of the complications of the world? Imagine if you won some insane amount of money in the lottery - couldn't you see all of your problems wasting away in the blink of an eye? ... A friend told me this recently: "Con- nections are more important than any grade y will ever receive at this school." Can I get amen? ... Finally, I know you all have heard this before, but some people fail to realize it: Women love it as much as we fellas do; we just seem to go about getting it much more reckless- ly than the fairer sex. Go figure. There is so much more I wish to assert, but I only have -so much space, and much of what I have to say leaves excessive room for misinter- pretation from a printed page (refer to my "being offended" point) So I shall leave you the 2001-2002 school year, wishing all the beTs in finals and future ventures. I'd hate to con- clude on the ghetto tip, but I have to show one love to all the readers of The Manifesto before and during my time with the Daily, one love to the departing seniors, and a loud, hearty "Deal With It" to those who hate on what I do here. I'll be back next year to bless you with more of that real ... my word. - Knowledge Eternal. This is Dustin J Seibert's last colur for the semester. Give himfeedback at www.michigandaily.comlforum or via e-mail at dseibertaumich.edu. AT r LAVTWO EV 9~~ SPSvU u mm EW ER Athletes shouldn't have early class registration times TO THE DAILY: The University has shown us again that ath- letics and athletes take precedence over tuition- paying students. First, student ticket prices for football games are hoisted by $4 to help finance the struggling and inept athletic department. Now we get word that athletes are getting early registration times. And you thought affirmative action was a race and ethnicity thing. In yet another clever ploy by the University to screw over the average student, we now must wait patiently while classes fill up with overworked student-athletes while they arrange their class schedules to coincide with their practice sched- ules. Those poor athletes. First off, if an athlete has problems making practices because of class conflicts, there are several easy ways to deal with the problem: Change the practice time, drop the class, or drop out of the sport. It is very simple. There are plenty of students who have activ- ities that conflict with classes and they deal with it instead of whining to Athletic Director Bill Martin. Furthermore, if the Athletic Department is really looking to save money and help the ath- letes, why not cut a few programs? Perhaps perennial losers, such as softball, volleyball, water polo and underwater basket weaving. That way these poor, overworked stu- dent athletes can concentrate on their studies and the rest of us don't have to take in the nose with the football tickets. The reason that this University exists is not for athletics, it is for the education of all students. If these athletes and athletic programs are incapable of making the grade, then solve the problem responsibly f 7 *$6W4Y IN WY 1EL POOffPL. S1ILU "II PY TO LOAFTR M~ AS 1I ?? instead of punishing the average student. JAY SCHAFER Engineering sophomore Place people over 'U' investment profits TO THE DAILY: Frank Giancola brings up an interesting point in the April 4 issue of the Daily ("Princi- ple behind Burma divestment is unrealistic") in his response to Dan Shoup's viewpoint ("Uni- versity's investments in Burma send anti- humanitarian message," 3/26/01). I agree that responsible investing should also consider the effects that their demands will have on their own financial security. It seems that nowadays it is difficult to find a company that is not invested in a nation controlled by a government performing less than par when it comes to its moral responsibilities. The argument could also be made that such foreign investment actually provides an economic resource to a nation that was previously unavailable; money that is potentially used for education, health care, = to increase the general standard of living. Under the present regime in Burma, howev- er, this could never be possible. The hold that the regime has is so repressive and powerful that all benefits go to support the authorities and are lost to the people. Even the democrati- cally elected leader and Nobel Peace Prize win- ner, Aung San Suu Kyi, who, after the election, was later placed under house arrest, has specifi- cally asked foreign investment not to come to Burma until democracy does. Human rights abuses in this nation are so severe that the d - sion should be a no-brainer. I think most of thY University would agree with me when I say that our policies should be concerned with peo- ple, not profits. Maybe the most striking state- ment comes from Business Week: "Burma should not be open for business until it grants its citizens the most basic human freedoms." Is this the kind of issue that the University is will- ing to turn a blind eye to? BEN HAYf SNREjuni What FTAA media coverage may confirm NICK WOOMER BACK TO THE WOOM When it comes to his profession, Mike Wallace, of "60 Minutes" fame, is a hopeless romantic. When Wallace, a Uni- versity alumnus, had lunch with several Daily editors almost two weeks ago, he admonished those of us who were not planning on becoming profession- al journalists. According to Wallace, we were giving up on the chance to literally "write histo- ry" by opting for careers in other fields; we were tuning our backs on a profession that, by defini- tion, aims to discover and publish (or broadcast) the truth. As Wallace laid into us, I kept wondering "does this guy ever watch TV? How naive can you get?" Ten to 15 minute "60 Minutes" pieces are hardly the model for broadcast journalism these days - instead people need their "news" quick and easy CNN Headline News- and "The O'Reilly Factor"-style. Lately, this phenomenon has probably manifest- ed itself most clearly in stories and pieces about demonstrations by fair trade activists in Seattle, Prague and Davos, Switzerland. In his frivolous piece for May's issue of Vanity Fair about the World Economic Forum held earlier this year in Davos, James Atlas casually noted that: "Mindful of the previous year's unrest and freaked-out by the anti-global- ists said to be streaming toward Davos from every corner of Europe and the Free World, the Swiss government had banned all protests from the forum, imposing a virtual state of martial law." The piece may have been for an entertain- ment magazine, but one still has to wonder about the strength of a prevailing ideology that tolerates a "virtual state of martial law" imposed to prevent the freedom of expression. Not convinced? Luckily, you don't have to take my word for it -P all you have to do is wait ten days to observe media complacency for yourself. From April 20 to April 22, throngs of high- level negotiators from 34 nations will converge City unless someone commits an act of vio- lence. When a handful of anarchists in Seattle broke a Starbucks window, every journalist included it in his or her story while hundreds of non-violent demonstrators were being brutalized by police; when half of the people at W's ina* guration were there to peacefully protest his ille- gitimate presidency, they got about as much coverage as the "Black Tie and Big Boots" inaugural ball. Prediction two: What little coverage there is of the protests in Quebec City will be focused on the fact that the protesters are against "free trade" with an emphasis on the word "free." With the possible exception of rank-and-file labor activists, they will be portrayed as a mo ley coalition of out-of-touch freaks who can accept basic economic truths. The "experts" will assure us that privatization and free trade are the only answer to today's "changing economy" - as if there is some sort of consensus among economists that this is the case (which there is not). There is absolutely no way media outlets [ L7! 1 i llC## r 1 ;1zrLil U V: I 14V .+,cx -..V* a xa .x xaaua x x vYxa x a eixx.x xcrc ias . {