4A - The Michigan Daily - Monday, October 22, 2001 OP/ED C"b~e £ icbiwu UII 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 ((The good news is that there are many federal agencies working on all of these issues. The bad news is that there are many federal agencies working on all of these issues." - Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn) on the government's response to bioterrorism as quoted in Newsweek. If S IiLEGL* SOi'YOU RNETO MOVE VOWASTAJMS WRiEN MVTUEAT 044+ aTMAM OFv 11TLC- 04 E(,VO i A T1o Auo WAUGIT ODu TWE 1.IA O 0 6 The anachronism of the female perspective JOHANNA HANINK PARLANCE OF OUR TIMES n the Oct. 11 edition of the Hartford Courant an Op/Ed piece with the headline "What if women ruled the world?" appeared. Tremendous. Sept. 11 has already caused us to question national security and civil liberties, race relations and U.S. foreign policy, religious fer- vor and the United States Post Office. Why not add on gender, just for fun? The essay, written by Mark Boyer, a pro- fessor of political science and Scott Brown, a professor of educational psychology at the University of Connecticut, begins with an enlightening exposition of a philosophical truth: "If women ran the world," they inquire, "would Sept. 11 have been any different? The short answer is "we'll never know." Thanks, guys. But there were still a good 300 words left to their combined effort, so I ran with the assumption (correct) that they had it left to the- orize what kind of Tuesday Sept. 11 would have been if standard apparel for The Situation Room did not include ties and shoelaces. As their only support for their theory that yes, Sept. 11 probably would have been differ- ent they write, "Researchers have found that countries with greater gender equality tend to use violence less in their foreign policies than countries with lower levels of equality." Ah, the vocabulary of the vague. "Researchers" and "countries" and "tend to (insert verb here) less." Who can argue with this kind of concrete evidence, this statistical hardball, this solid postulate - no wait, axiom - of the gender dichotomy? If my name was Maureen Dowd and I wrote for The New York Times, there would be a good chance that today, somewhere in England, Margaret Thatcher would choke on her tea as she read my column and saw this conclusion of the "Researchers". And here's to Madeline Albright and Indira Gandhi, paragons of compassion in an other- wise sea of ruthless three-piece suits. Right. Is it possible that there is a hidden roster of countries, besides those represented by these women, that in the last century have used or threatened calculated violence in their domes- tic and foreign policy while at the same time boasting an (if quasi) gender egalitarian nation- al leadership? Boyer and Brown go on to argue, "the male dominated decision-making systems we have today haven't been doing a great job of resolv- ing conflicts, so why not look to the intelligent women in our midst for new insights?" So OK. Let's spice up political leadership by counting a few more of those "intelligent women" (there are some, men, don't be fooled!). The problem with this sentence is that the tone and the vocabulary indicate that the authors feel they are doing women a favor by pointing out to the public that some females might actually be good (gasp!) leaders. It is patronizing to the extreme - and unfortunate that this sentiment is slumming around in the upper echelons of academia. Or from another angle, substitute "black people" for women in that sentence and you have blatant paternalism in its most recogniz- able form. But write "the intelligent women in our midst" and that's fine. And at last for Boyer and Brown's grand finale: "So next time you're in the voting booth looking for a new perspective, vote for a woman. Not only might a fresh voice be heard as a result, but also the male-dominated struc- tures might start to get the message and look beyond their walls to the other half of the pop- ulation that has views on important topics." In the 1994 film version of Louisa May Alcott's novel "Little Women," Jo(sephine) is seated at the dinner table in her New York City boarding house, privy to a gentlemens' conver- sation about the possibility of women's suf- frage. One man argues for, on the basis that women are more compassionate and sympa- thetic'to the people's plight and therefore will make more humane decisions when they vote. "Let us hear what Miss March has to say," (and this is all paraphrased) interrupts another man, who sees Jo struggling to restrain herself from making a contribution. "Women should be given the right to vote," she says, "not because they are good or because they are kind, but because we are peo- ple." And perhaps the wisdom of a 19th Century novelist can carry into the 21st Century. Women should be voted for, not because they are good or because they are kind, but because we are people. (And a few of us hap- pen to be intelligent). Johanna Hanink can be reached via e-mail atjhanink@umich.edu. I Y LETTERS TO THE EDITOR YV IN PASSING Schwartz should do everyone a favor: Avoid Detroit sports TO THE DAILY: As an avid Detroit sports fan I was enraged at what Jon Schwartz wrote in Tues- day's Daily ("Red Wings are the only game in town with poor Detroit sports," 10/16/01). Let me fill my friend in who has "only been in the metro Detroit area for a little more than two years." You are what's wrong with sports fans everywhere! That column alone should ban you from the Daily! I'm so happy that you love the Red Wings only because they are winning. What happens in the next five years when the Pistons are winning (in my opinion, that will start this year)? Are you gonna write another column about how they are the only good team in Detroit? You've seen Tiger Stadium rotting fromiasbestos? You should only feel privileged to have ever seen such a landmark! When I was a kid, all my friends and I talked about was Trammel, Whitaker and Morris. The Tigers ruled in the '70s and '80s. God forbid you didn't care about sports then. Oh, and then came the glory years of the Bad Boys. But we only won two championships so I guess we can't give them love because of that now can we Schwartz? We only judge teams on how they do at this very moment. And how bout them Lions. The Lions are the only team I know where you can go to their game and if things go bad you can always get drunk and into a fight with some misguided cheese- head. Also, how dare you even say anything about Germane Crowell. You said it yourself, "I've never put on pads." You're damn right you never put on pads! So keep your lame opin- ions to yourself and never say that you would've did it better had you'd been in the game! I'd bet you get knocked on your ass right after the snap. I won't even touch your moronic comment about the Wings falling below .500 because that's just being idiotic. I hate fair weather fans like you! Do us all a favor and don't go to any sporting event in Detroit, ever! You aren't wor- thy of watching any Detroit sports team. JASON ROOVER LSA senior Daily's wire services fail to report on Taliban atrocities TO THE DAILY: I read the Daily regularly for news and information regarding the U.S. military actions and humanitarian situation within Afghanistan. However, I have found that I must also read other sources on-line, etc. such as CNN in order to get a more complete coverage. It is not diffi- cult to see Associated Press articles in the Daily pertaining to independently unverified civilian deaths yet surprisingly, or not so surprisingly, I have yet to see an article pertaining to the undisputed humanitarian atrocities performed by the Taliban. I've seen an article about he accidental bombing of the Red-Cross ware- house but no where have I seen any articles reporting actions taken by the Taliban since the military engagement, including humanitarian aid workers who have been kicked out of the country and harassed by the Taliban while working to help the citizens of Afghanistan. I hope to see a more complete coverage of this and all issues in the future. GARY KLEIN LSA junior LETERS POLICY The Michigan Daily welcomes letters from all of its readers. Letters from University students, faculty, staff and administrators will be given priority over others. Letters must include the writer's name, phone number and school year or University affiliation. The Daily will not print any letter that cannot be verified. Ad homi"em attacks will not be tolerated. Letters should be kept to approximately 300 words. The Michigan Daily reserves the right to edit for length, clarity and accuracy. Longer "viewpoints" may be arranged with an editor. Letters will be run according to order received and the amount of space available. Letters should be sent over e-mail to daily.letters@umich.edu or mailed to the Daily at 420 Maynard St. Editors can be reached via e-mail at editpage.editors@umich.edu. Letters e-mailed to the Daily will be given priority over those dropped off in person or sent via the U.S. Postal Service. 6 0 TIRED OF WAR George W. Bush's latest statements reveal his contempt for public opinion. In a recent interview, he informed reporters that "people are going to tire of the war on ter- rorism." Bush assured the reporters that he would not tire, declaring that, "some people are going to start to say: 'We're tired, but President Bush keeps going on.' And when that happens, I want you to know, I will be doing it because I think it is the right thing to do. That's what I'm supposed to do." While President Bush may be confident in his actions, he forgets that he is supposed to carry out the will of the people. When the public no longer supports a war, the continuation of that war must be strongly questioned. Bush's declaration that he will continue military action despite the possible future wishes of the American populace is cause for alarm. If the American people demand an end to the war, Bush must do everything possible to act accordingly. While it's clear current public opinion is generally in favor of this war, for Bush to ignore future public opinion is an abandon- ment of his duty and our voice. -Jess Piskor GENDER BENDER IN MINNESOTA The University of Minnesota's Morris campus elected a male university student as their Homecoming Queen this year. Nomi- nated by his rock climbing club, the Women's Resource Center, and E-Quality - his LGBT student organization - Patrick Woods won the election over sever- al female competitors and reigned as Homecoming queen with king Ryan Brux for the two-day Homecoming festivities. The weekend quickly became "the best and worst experience" of Woods' life. As he had not joined the competition to make a political statement, Woods was sur- prised at how seriously students took the event. What started as an interesting twist on the antiquated tradition of electing roy- alty over Homecoming festivities turned sour when Woods began to receive threats and was boycotted by the men's wrestling team. Though he received roaring applause at several of the weekend's festivities, Woods has said that now he doesn't feel he can go anywhere and be safe. Whether or not the students of the Uni- versity of Minnesota were making a signifi- cant commentary on gender roles in our society when they elected Woods their queen, it's distressing that Woods' reign was disrupted by bigoted students placing too much significance on an archaic and widely-criticized custom. The treats are an obvious display of ignorance and fear, and as for the wrestling team, lighten up - you've got a man in the governor's office. -Lauren Strayer In Passing views represents the individual opinions ofDaily editorial board members, but do not necessarily represent the views of The Michigan Daily. Ys VIEWPOINT Discussing diplomatic hypocrisy hypocritally BY WAEL HAKMEH I usually avoid replying to opinions, but Jeremy Menchik's misinformed "fact"-based viewpoint pleads for corrections ("Diplomatic Hypocrisy," 10/11/01). Syria, according to Menchik, should not have the opportunity to serve on the U.N. Security Council because it is a "totalitarian regime of little political or economic impor- tance." Regardless of the validity of this state- ment, since when do political and economic superiority have anything to do with joining both Palestinian and Israeli human rights orga- nizations, including the Israeli B'Tselem (http://www.btselem.org/). Israel is the only country in the world where a person's race determines the extent and scope of his political and social rights. Which other country gives its citizens racially based identification cards? An old saying teaches us not to throw stones at others, especially if your house is made of glass. Menchik alludes to Syria today being unfit to be voted onto the U.N. Security Council because Hafez Assad killed people in the city every single day (including today) more Pales- tinians are being slayed at his orders. Don't take my word, read the news, check out web- sites of human rights organizations, both Palestinian and Israeli, and read about his war crimes trial that has begun in Belgium. Menchik incorrectly invokes Article 23 of the UN Charter, but ironically, of'all countries in the world, it is none other than Israel that violates the most UN Resolutions. Since 1955, no less than 65 resolutions have been passed condemning Israel's history of vio- lence and negligence of previous UN Resolu- 1