4 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, October 5, 2001

OP/ED

c~be 1Mkbtligiu auilt

420 MAYNARD STREET
ANN ARBOR, MI 48109
daily.letters@umich.edu


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.

NOTABLE
QUOTABLE
There is a kind of
McCarthyism going on.
There's been a kind of
shocking anger at anyone
who dares ask the ques-
tion 'WHY?', to even try
in any way to understand
how (the attacks) could
have happened."
- Naomi Kline, author of the 1999 book
"No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand
Bullies,' in a Reuters story.

Hi. Im Donlod
Rurn-Ped. \Wild
y o e m rie nd ,?
PLEASE?

c f
j,, .
< </ J'
6
.
,
,. :
,r
;:
'% 11
"+
\(

.1

4

You could be that guy
REBECCA ISENBERG ONE TURNTABLE AND A MICROPHONE

ollege mating is a
difficult process.
Relationships are
hard to come by. If you're
not part of the select lucky
few couples that grace our
campus then you probably
are looking for love. Or
sometimes you're just
looking for a little lovin.' It's ok though,
because we all are. So it's safe to say that at any
given party you're sure to find the following
cast of characters, all looking to find that cer-
tain someone - even if it's only for the night:
The "All About Hook Ups Guy" - yes,
this might sound the title that you would
give a "player," but this isn't the old school
player you found lurking the halls of your
high school. This is the wannabe player.
This is the kid who worshiped the real play-
er in high school but just didn't seem to
have it together yet. So he came to college,
got some girls during welcome week, and
has devoted the rest of his days at Michigan
to hooking up with as many girls as possi-
ble.
The Actual Player: This guy is also all
about hooking up. But he has way more game
than the guy listed above. He's always gotten
every girl he wanted, and frankly he doesn't
have to advertise all over town that he loves

hooking up, because chances are every girl
you've ever come in contact with can probably
vouch for that.
The Hot Guy With No Game: This is a
sad case. You're admiring him from far away
like he's the next Brad Pitt and when he
starts walking over to you, you're pretty sure
you might die of excitement. Then when he
opens his mouth - excuse me, if he opens
his mouth - he says something like, "I love
this song." You then realize this guy sucks,
'cause the song playing is Mambo #5.
The rebound case: This guy or girl was
probably in bed for days agonizing over the
minute details of their long term relationship.
But 40 minutes before you see this person they
started drinking and now they want to move on.
So give them a chance, cause hey, they're on
the rebound.
The drunk: This guy or girl is stumbling
around trying tograb anything that is walking
by them. This person's outfit usually consists of
black spandex, a navy hooded Michigan sweat-
shirt and a thick pair of beer goggles.
The On the Lows Girl: This girl loves hook-
ing up. She hooks up with multiple people in
one night. Yet, no one really knows. 'Cause
she's shady. She pulls people into the crevices
of the party and doesn't talk about it later with
her friends or that guy ever again.
The Kissing Whore: This is the girl who

hasn't yet left first base but she has a bad rep.
Not that there's anything wrong with not hav-
ing left first base, but it's not very nice to call
this girl a "whore."
The Actual Whore: Yes, it's OK to call this
girl a whore.
The girl on the phone with her boyfriend:
Sometimes this girl is really drunk, most times
she's on the verge of tears, and almost always
you can catch her hanging up in a fit of rage.
And if you're lucky she won't knock you over
on her way outside so she can hear her phone
ring when her "baby" finally calls back to
apologize for being so mean.
The Leech: This is the person that seems
great before you hook up with them. They're
good-looking, interesting, good dancers - so
you make your move. Little did you know that
this one is not going to leave you alone for the
rest of the night. They soon begin to border on
annoying, but leaving the leech usually isn't an
option. So sometimes your friend has to fake
crying so you can fake console her. But more
often than not you just have to make a run for
it.
And then there's me, the - yeah right,
like I'm gonna kiss and tell. I wouldn't want
you to think I was that girl.
Rebecca Isenberg can be reached via e-mail at
risenber@umich:edu.

a
U

V VIEWPOINT
Armed Forces offer minorities excellent opportunities

BY HANS MASING
In response to Panther McAllister and
Monique Luse's viewpoint "Students of color
should question this war" (09/27/01), I have to
ask the authors to back up for a moment and
think very seriously about what they are saying.
The authors state that there is a "dispropor-
tionate amount of recruitment ... done in the
inner city schools that blacks and Latinos
attend." Let's look at the facts. There are cur-
rently 1.3 million oustanding men and women
in the United States Armed Services. Black per-
sons account for 20.1 percent of the military
population. Hispanics account for 7.9 percent
and other minorities account for 6.3 percent.
Overall, minorities account for 34.4 percent of
all commissions and enlistments. Meanwhile,
the Census Bureau accounts for minority per-
sons as 29.3 percent of the total U.S. population.
So, according to MacAllister and Luse, there is
a "disproportionate" number of blacks and lati-
nos/as will fight and die on the front lines. I
would hardly call a 5.1 percent difference "dis-
proportionate."
The authors then go on to state that "The
armed services provide a career for the poorly
educated ... and is the most efficient way to pay
for higher education." I am in absolute agree-
ment with the authors on this point. The Armed
Services are an excellent way for any person to

gain discipline, self reliance, and most of all self
esteem - regardless of background. In addition
to giving anyone needing it a place to grow into
their potential, the United States military also
provides exceptional educational benefits so that
any individuals wishing to better themselves
after their term of service may do so with ample
government assistance.
The authors also completely fail to see 'that
the benefits given to veterans are not merely a
handout. The Armed Services aren't a freebie
- they are a choice. Along with these amazing
benefits and opportunities for self-improvement
comes the potential risk that you will have to
actually do the job that you have been trained to
do. And that job may potentially mean that your
life is at risk, and that you may die fighting for
the United States. What else would these
recruits expect?
I would sincerely hope that the authors of
this article don't underestimate the intelligence
of their brethren as much as their article seems
to indicate. When you join the Armed Services,
you take make a conscious choice. The potential
implication of that choice is that you may have
to risk your life doing the job that you have been
rewarded to do through pay, room and board,
education, and lifelong benefits such as VA
mortgages, medical benefits and opportunities
to better yourself through higher education.
Perhaps the authors should also realize that

the Armed Services are one of the true opportu-
nities that any American (and many non-Ameri-
cans, for that matter) can take advantage of.
There are significant efforts in the Department
of Defense to diversify the military as much as
possible, and additionally to increase diversity
among the civilian work force that support and
oversee military operations.
The authors also show a real lack of under-
standing of how things work within the military.
I was absolutely delighted as a young Marine
Corps recruit in the mid-1980s when our drill
instructor made it clear that there were no
whites, no blacks, no races. We were all
"green." All of us, from various ethnic and
social backgrounds cheered loudly to this fact
with a hearty "Ohh-Rah!" This spirit continued
as we moved into the fleet - the active forces
of the Marine Corps. We relied upon each other
to watch our backs as we would watch theirs.
MacAllister and Luse seem to not be able to
see the forest for the trees. Their arguments are
blinded by a lack of facts, and their naivete is
keeping them from seeing that they are lashing
out at what many consider to be one of the
greatest successes for diversity and equal oppor-
tunity in the world - the U.S. Armed Forces.
-Hans Masing is the project director for the Michi-
gan Program for Research Information Manage-
ment and Education.

a
0

Y LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Insults from 'white
trash ignoramuses'
better than Daily
To THE DAILY:
As one of them-asses who is privileged
enough to attend a top tier academic institution,
blah, blah, blah ...
In the Sept. 28 issue, the Daily ran an article
that had a heading of: "Women of all faiths
asked to wear hijabs." In this prime example of
muckraking, the Daily portrayed a picture of the
fabric of this institution (top tier). One where
everyone stands behind their fellow Muslims.
One line practically brought this humble reader
to tears. That line went: "Men and women not
comfortable wearing a hijab were encouraged to
wear white wrist bands."
Read that statement. Pause for breath. Read
it again.
It is not my place, lowly Arab that I am, to
correct the Daily, but I thought that as I was
growing up in Egypt (in a pyramid, riding
camels in the desert) that hijabs were only worn
by w en rTcn sure the Dailv that there are

everything, and we destroyed two pretty build-
ings. Death is too good for us.
NoRHAL EL HALWAGY
Rackham
United Way, BSA
'not evil, deserve
donations from 'U'
To THE DAILY:
I've said it before and I guess I'll have to say
it again: The United Way is not evil. I bet if you
took a poll on campus, a majority of the students
who use the Daily as their main source of news
would think that the United Way collects money
from businesses and universities nationwide and
gives it all to those damned Boy Scouts of
America who hate gays and atheists,
First and foremost, the United Way gives
money to 18 major charitable organizations,
including the BSA as well as the Campfire Boys
and Girls, a rival organization recently formed
that does not discriminate against anyone.
I could go on and on about how ridiculous it
is to' unish 17 nerfectlv acentable oraniza-

troops), homosexual scouts are welcome and
have never been excluded on a national level.
All of this information could be obtained if
any 'investigative reporter' would bother to
view the Official BSA web page located at
http://www.bsa.scouting.org.
Now that that's cleared up, I would like to
inform the Michigan Student Assembly and
anyone else in favor of cutting all ties between
the University and the United Way that an anti-
discriminatory policy means that you do not
reject people or organizations on the basis of
their race or beliefs.
This means that if you choose to not give
money to a certain group because you don't like
what they do, you are discriminating against
said group. Standing tall and giving money to
many groups (or to one central group that then
divvies out contributions such as the United
Way), regardless of what the groups did would
not be discrimination. Is that clear, or should I
repeat it for the slower students out there? Dis-
criminating against discrimination is still dis-
crimination.
Giving money to the Boy Scouts of America
does not necessarily mean that you encourage
the discrimination they practice, it means that
you approve of the organization on the whole

........ . ... .. ..........................................