4 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, October 26, 2001 OP/ED c 1z £Id~i-jg ilu 420 MAYNARD STREET ANN ARBOR, MI 48109 daily.letters@umich.edu EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTSAT 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 will be time later to dig up the history of recent weeks, the role of American IRA supporters, the scandal of IRA links with guerrillas in Colombia, the disgust of the world with terrorism and the IRA's need to avoid that label. The need now is for action, not wonder and not analysis." - Staff editorial in Wednesday's Boston Herald. i T91S WAS _ tN9 of. T~tj PMED ANJ won iPATM WAS ON T . . P O B S ADIi LA ST TE 14 M INUTES. I I 4 An out-of-stater's guide to Michigan State STEVEN KYRITZ YEs, THAT IS SARCASM ne of the things that Michigan stu- dents from other states have to deal with at home is ignorance about their school. I can't even count how many times people have asked me how I'm enjoying Michigan State University, or "They're the Spartans, right?" At first, I gave it very little thought, but by the summer after freshman year, it really started to get on my nerves. The problem is that a lot people who aren't from Michigan don't really grasp the nature of the relationship between the Universi- ty and Michigan State. As a result, a lot of out- of-state freshmen (myself circa 1998 included) don't understand how intense a rivalry it is. As an out-of-state senior, I therefore feel it is my duty to help provide a short guide to the Uni- versity-Michigan State rivalry. The rivalry really begins in hometowns and high schools throughout the state. Michi- gan has one of the nation's strongest state school programs, so a high percentage of stu- dents stay in-state for college. As I understand it, a high school usually sends much of the top 10-15 percent of its graduating class to the University, while the next 65 percent or so end up at Michigan State. Putting that into New Jersey terms, it would be like having both Rut- gers and a Rutgers sub-B. Because most in-state students know so many people attending Michigan State, the rivalry is extremely heated and personal. One unfortunate side effect, however, has been the perpetuation of a number of myths about Michigan State. In the interest of seeing the competition continue to be heated yet civil, I will now attempt to debunk some of these rumors, thereby helping fellow out-of-staters to get a good grasp on this amazing rivalry. Rumor 1: Michigan State is academically inferior. This is perhaps the most pervasive rumor about Michigan State and is patently untrue. Ignore for a moment what U.S. News & World Report, Princeton Review, employ- ers and everyone else says. As the school's website says, "Accessibility, affordability, prestige, a land-grant mission and a world- class reputation are all hallmarks of one of the country's finest institutions." How the awful rumor about State being inferior got started is a mystery, but perhaps it has to do with the sort of education available. Michi- gan State has a great deal to offer; it's just that a lot of it is agricultural in nature. In other words, while Michigan prepares stu- dents to be productive in a more urban/subur- ban environment, Michigan State produces more productive country folk. Rumor 2: Michigan State is athletically inferior. I think this one came about strictly as a result of bias on Michigan students' behalf. For one thing, Michigan State has been a veritable professional athlete factory over the past decade. NBA and NFL rosters are loaded with former Spartan stars such as Mateen "Career Backup" Cleaves, Plaxico "Head Case" Bur- ress, Shawn "Where are They Now?" Respert and Dimitrius "No Comment Necessary" Underwood. For further proof, look no further than ice hockey, where Michigan State has con- sistently produced great teams. In fact, the Spartans have more than held their own against the University the last few years, though it could be argued that they haven't been weighed down by National Championship trophies. As for other sports, Michigan State may not be able to claim superstar athletes like Tom Dolan and Alan Webb, but I'm sure they're still good, or something. Rumor 3: Michigan State girls are more attractive than Michigan girls. Personally, I doubt that this is true. After all, smart is sexy. As for those people who do support this state- ment, they usually give the same explanation. As the story goes, girls at State don't have to spend time studying, which gives them more time to primp and preen, and work on looking pretty. I don't know if it's true or not, although I have heard that they're easier there. The classes, I mean. Rumor 4: 1999's riot demonstrates that Michigan State students are dumb. OK, there's no dodging the fact that Michigan State had a teeny little disturbance a few years ago. Who cares? That doesn't prove anything. After a big loss, any rational college student would set his or her campus ablaze in an orgy of destruction and violence, right? Right? Besides, it's not like Michigan State is the only campus to have had some civil disobedi- ence issues. In the last few years, Colorado, Penn State and Ohio State have all had prob- lems with riots. It just goes to show that mass drunken violence and pyromania are not spe- cific to Michigan State. Or that God is a vin- dictive Michigan fan. I know that I've probably upset some of you out there, and I can't honestly say I blame you. Well, I can, but I won't. I acknowledge that I've taken a lot of cheap shots, and I'm sorry. At the very least, though, I will say one positive thing about Michigan State: I'm glad I don't go there. All joking aside, I am aware of the fact that I may be causing some stress for in-state stu- dents. After all, it's pretty much inevitable that you'll run into Michigan State students at some point, and it's possible some of them could have read and been offended by this column. Fortunately, I have a solution ready. If someone who goes to State says that they were offended, just look him or her in the eye and say "I'm sorry that you were insulted. It was all in good fun, and wasn't meant to hurt anybody. And yes, I would like fries with that." Steven Kyritz can be reached via e-mail at skyritz@umich.edu. Y LETTERS TO THE EDITOR V IN PASSING NO EXCUSE FOR TORTURE Last Saturday an article in The Washing- ton Post quoted an FBI agent, involved in the interrogation of four men with possible links to al-Qaeda, with a chilling statement. "It could get to that spot where we could go to pressure ... where we won't have a choice, and we are probably getting there." There is now a very real possibility that the next step in the U.S. government's war on terrorism will be the use of torture. With the threat of impending terrorist attacks many Americans may see torture as a necessary evil to prevent future deaths. Torture, which leads to unquestionable mis- ery for the victim, also ensures long-term psychological trauma for the torturer. If the torturer is not a sadist at the beginning of the process, he or she will soon become one. Language from the CIA's "Human Resource Exploitation Training Manual" illustrates how the CIA dehumanizes both the torturer and the victim. "The torture situation is a contest between the subject and his tormen- tor." The CIA makes torture a brutal game that desensitizes the torturer to the horrors of violence, making the torturer more likely to resort to belligerent tactics in the future. While some may view torture as the sav- ior of national security, its application must be carried out by individuals. They are forced to perpetuate the slow objectification. of a human being. These trained torturers are then expected to be productive and just intelligence agents. The practice of torture will do nothing but erode the abilities of the FBI and CIA. In the interest of preserving national security and humanity, torture must not be used in the ongoing terrorist investi- gations. - Zac Peskowitz LESSONS FROM IRELAND Who would have ever thought they'd see the day when Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness would call on the Irish Repub- lican Army to turn over their arms in order to save an ailing peace agreement with the British? And who would have ever thought the I.R.A. would comply with such a. request? Before this week, not many people would have answered yes to either of these questions, but both happened and may just save the peace process that was on the brink of falling apart. But this move is completely unprecedented. Both the hand over of arms, and David Trimble and British government's willingness to deal with the Republicans are a phenomenon once thought that could only happen in happy fairy tales where everyone loves each other in the end. What has caused this? What have Adams and Trimble done that the Israeli government and Palestinian opposition have completely missed? What have the Republicans and Unionists realized that people like Wael Hakmeh ("Discussing diplomatic hypocricy hipocritically," 10/22/01) and Jeremy Menchik ("Diplomat- ic hypocrisy," 10/11/01) have completely overlooked? The people of Northern Ireland (as well as the Republic and Great Britain) have decided that decades of war and over 3,000 killed is enough. They have decided that there is something more important than who controls Ulster. That something is human life and peace. Fanatics like Hakmeh feel that it is perfectly justified to murder innocent people if its in the name of reclaiming land, and those of Menchik's camp refuse to concede that Israel is not the egalitarian state that they may claim it is. They feel that occupation of land is more important than human life, and that is sad. What people involved in these struggles have to do is come to the realization that even though there were atrocities in the past, there is no way to change history, and that the way to solve these problems is not by making things like they were before, but to strive for peace. If the Irish and British can do it, the Israelis and Palestinians can too, as long as the process is not tainted with those that feel that their political goals are more important than human life. -Ari Paul In Passing views are those of individual members of the Daily's editorial board, and do not necessarily represent the opinion of The Michigan Daily. Affirmative action benefits students of all races TO THE DAILY: I would like to address two issues that Peter Cunniffe brought up in "Dilemmas in a race conscious world" (10/23/01). First, Cunniffe questions, why "do minori- ty students band together in social groups with those of similar hue?" My response to that is "why do all the white students band together in soci'al groups with those of the same hue?" I must admit that I used to ask the same question, but I have learned through cours- es on social justice and through my per- sonal experiences that that question shows the root of our society's tension. It is human nature to want to group with those who share similar beliefs, experiences, etc. But the problem with this is that it is hard to be knowledgeable about someone if we do not have any contact with that person. Thus we can resolve this issue by creat- ing dialogue between the different groups of social identity. By exposing ourselves to different ideas and perspectives, we not only learn about others, but we learn about ourselves. I recognize this is hard, and I myself am struggling with this learning process, but it is necessary to alleviate the tensions in our society. Luckily for us, there are many different resources here at the University, including Dialogues on Diversity and the Program on Intergroup Relations. These are both great resources and I encourage everyone on campus to at least check it out by enrolling in Intergroup Dialogues (Psych/Soc 122) or visiting http://www.dialogues.umich.edu. Secondly, I agree with Cunniffe's assessment that affirmative action is "ulti- mately the right policy." But I must insist that affirmative action doesn't just benefit those who receive the extra points for admission. Everyone benefits from affir- mative action. Whites, blacks, Hispanics, Asians, international students ... everyone. And the reason for this is that although affirmativeaction might not aid you in admission, it aids you by exposing you to nil-,ar nn..-, nrt-., mr. Ano a nd A nPn nr ..P.nC Genocide Awareness Project angers students Many University students were unable to avoid the larger-than-life pictures of aborted fetuses yesterday, as GAP positioned Its truck in a heavily traversed area of campus. Images of fetuses 'horrible response to difficult position' TO THE DAILY: Yesterday on my way to class I encountered a truck with the word "choice" written on the side. Later I found out more about the "Genocide Awareness Project" and I was hugely offended. I agree that an abortion is a terrible way of dealing with a pregnancy but these dis- gusting trucks (they feature bloody fetus- es, mind you) offend me. I do support a woman's right to choose the spacing and timing of her children, and to think that someone would go out of their way to incite such a horrible response to a diffi- cult position is heartless. I do not think such a truck is acceptable in any way. I hope this community supports my opinion. ALAN MFINmF ribly mis-named "choice" trucks deplorable. The people that orchestrate and support this form of intimidation are only furthering the wretchedly tense and hostile environment that the University community and the nation have become during the past month. These people claim to be supportive of both women and children ... how can this be true when they force children to see these graphic images by displaying them in promi- nent places in the community? What can they possibly hope to accomplish by scaring the children and forcing their parents to explain to them something that is not appro- priate for their age? The graphic posters will not dissuade women from making the choice to end their pregnancies. They only serve to upset women who have already made their choice, further subjecting them to a callous and judgmental community. Forty-three percent of women will have an abortion in their life time ... we as a community should not create an environment where this huge portion of a I