4 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, October 31, 2001 OP/ED
~ 420 MAYNARD STREET
JfIirA NN ARBOR, MI 48109 N OTABLE ily.letters~umich.edu
QUOTABLE I
GEOFFREY GAGNON
EDITED AND MANAGED BY Editor in Chief
STUDENTS AT THE Im trying to think
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN MICHAEL GRASS
SINCE 1890 NICHOLAS WOOMER what great works of
Editorial Page Editors
art would be taken
Unless otherwise noted, unsigned editorials reflect the opinion of the majority of the Daily's away from us if we
editorial board. All other articles, letters and cartoons do not
necessarily reflect the opinion of The Michigan Daily were unable to see
minors copulating."
- Supreme Court Justice Anton Scalia,
during discussions involving a free speech
case that involves depictions of minors
UG , u ,engaged in sexual activities. Dissenting
opinions revolved around movies such as
'Traffc," "Lolita" and "Titanic,"all of
"* *** . ~ ~ A '~ 1~which are called into question by child . c tNo10.3(. 01\1J4 I,
gC o Studet S pornography laws.
th ithe Ub ersity's cons
ra its sgrduatesti Ttward the end of winter termh 'Spne I's also a dirty war for oil
in structorsstt University seemed to have defused a
ron Feb 1 egotiations between potential bomb: Bottom line budgen. NICK VOOMER BACK TO TnE WOOM
the Graduate Employees Orgamization That new formula impleniented unilat- -_____________________________________________
I t r terally by the University last year, ge he truth: How hard really peculiar way, George W. Bush could, cy toward the Taliban was driven by fear of
begaiast night. it is to hide - and some day, benefit financially from his own Iran and support of Unocal."
Alhuhtessinwspiaiy trSine and h~Atsa fxd that's bad news for administration's decisions, through his father's These suggestions were bolstered by con.
At ty t ,Scicat rts athe Bush administration. investments. And that to me is a jaw-dropper. cern in right-wing policy circles that isolating
aimed at layig out negotiation ground amount of money to be used for hng America's so-called These "coincidences" are relevant to the the Taliban would force companies to transport
seGs"New War" in Afghanistan current conflict in Afghanistan, and not just Caspian oil through Russia, thereby increasing
"deina, presentin items fhrvlateradyr-. dsllef. dver tfeetshcouldikepr cny is fueled by public percep- because of its proximity to an oil-rich region. Russia's influence in the world unnecessarily.
ontion that our primary goal is Afghanistan occupies a critical strategic posi- When the Taliban banned opium production in
erg Rsgrnr ran shm r e .Gto emerge victorious from a tion in a grand plan for U.S. oil companies to 2000, the U.S. gave $43 million in aid to
tonline budgeting and the general rela argued that bottom-line budgeting gave struggle to the death with control Caspian oil. Afghanistan through the United Nations and
ienshi between the departments an incentve to terrorists who despise For years, U.S. oil interests have drooled independent aid agencies. U.S. Secretary of
riversiyy and its GSes. ui hire the cheapest GSIs avaib: American freedoms, and the battle begins by over the prospects of building a $4 billion, State Collin Powell even suggested publicly
1dealf the destroying the Al-Queda terrorist network and 1,000-mile long pipeline across Afghanistan that the U.S. should reconsider its economic
In a meeting with Daily able and in the end, the qua its supporters. The secondary goal of the war is that would plmp Caspian oil to Karachi, Pak- sanctions against Afghanistan.
editors'yesterday members tyofeducation decreases. purportedly liberating the people of istan, thereby allowing U.S. firms to sell it in There are two direct implications of this
he Univesity'sbargain bucetInIssue . But the University .told Afghanistan from their brutal Taliban rulers. the lucrative South Asian market. All that is information to the events that are unfolding
ig team laid ut their yrnthe. Daily yesterday that End of story --you can keep waving that flag. needed is a ruling government in Afghanistan before our eyes on CNN. The first implication
the con1rac But that's only 2/3 of the story, there's yet friendly to U.S. corporate interests, not neces- is that access to oil might be the reason why our
pectatkns, hopes and l g bott1om line budgeting another goal; one that has received sparse atten- sarily the Afghan people; that is why U.S. government refuses to enter into good-faith
eneral philosophy about addre<a. shou.ld not be a major con- tion and mostly in the foreign or alternative firms - and recently even the U.S. govern- negotiations with the Taliban for bin Laden -
he GSI/University rela cern because the formula press: Access to oil deposits in central Asia. ment -were warming up to the Taliban right even if doing so will cause thousands or even
tince.ns__f__E__ has been tweaked to avoid While Afghanistan itself is relatively oil- up until Sept. 11. millions of Afghans to starve in the harsh Cen
fGEO poor, its neighbors in the Caspian region are When Taliban troops rolled into Kabul in tral Asian winter that starts in two weeks (see
We think of our graduate stu GE sworst-case scenario regarding. quite the opposite. To quote Dick Cheney in 1996, the California firm Unocal began wooing . my 10/17/01 column).
ents as graduate students," said the budgeting system. Curant said 1998, back when he was just a humble oil Taliban leaders until "long after the move- The second implication of the "oil angle" is
ul Courant, associate provost for there is now no incentive in the for baron: "I can't think of a time when we've had ment's bloody brutality and ties to terrorism that it contradicts the administration's position
yaffairs.. "t is often incor- mula for the University to hire the a region emerge as suddenly to become as became the commonest knowledge" according that this war is a struggle between good and
strategically significant as the Caspian." Given to a story by Michael Daly in last Sunday's evil, indeed for America's very existence. But,
ectly asserted that we don't care for cheapest GSIs Dan Gamble, the the unimpeachable integrity of the Bush admin- New York Daily News. Daly goes on to as Mark Danner observed in a 10/16/01 op-ed
S 1 because "it is a cheap way to University's top brgainng negotia istration, I'm sure it's just a coincidence that: describe in detail how Unocal flew Taliban piece in The New York Times, "Unfortunately,
'tah" Courant said GSIs bring tor said they have resolved the issue Cheney used to serve on the Kazakhstan Mullahs to the United States and entertained as we know from the last quarter-century or
Oil Advisory Board with executives from them lavishly. When Bill Clinton sent cruise more, political support thus purchased tends to
3perspetive from other fields and and it is an item that doesn't belong Chevron and Texaco. missiles into Al-Queda training camps in 1998, be built on emotion and brittle and weak. In the
i e a unique intergenerational in the labor contract." * The Federal Trade Commission Unocal suspended its plans for a trans- days and hours following the next terrorist
educational facitation. 'Athough. Coura said Uniersity announced that it had approved a merger Afghanistan pipeline. Spectacular, or the next, Americans may well
The. University told the Daily. it.. officials keeptheirword,.itwouldbe between Chevron and Texaco only days before "Lest anyone think the company had taken begin to ask themselves why exactly they are
the bombs began to fall on Afghanistan. The a moral stand, a spokesman insisted that Uno- being targeted and what exactly it is they are
tends to reach a fair resolution and ideal if the bottom line budgetng issue' resulting company, ChevronTexaco, will have cal had not been influenced by protests over risking their lives for."
%dgiiin good fitlrwith %GEO; which be formally resolved in the contractlanw' a 45 percent interest in Kazakhstan's huge Ten- its dealings with the Taliban. The real reason Bush had better hope Danner is wrong.
pdresents more than 1,600 GSis guage to address the valid concerns of giz oil field near its border with Afghanistan was that oil had dropped to a paltry $12 a bar- When this war turns into what some commen-
ut ydo ten @ s r when the GE. (ExxonMobil has a 25 percent interest). rel," explains Daly. tators fear will be "Vietnam with snow," and
whya * Bush the Elder, also cozy with Texas oil- Clinton's cruise missile adventure was a dead 19-year olds start coming home en-masse;
O contract is renegotiated.? In. 199.GSIs aran. essential, part of the men, is a member of the $12 billion private setback for Unocal but, as a Sept. 29 article in I doubt most Americans (or at least American
EO went on general strike and cur- educational process at the Universi- equity firm the Carlyle Group, which invests the Toronto Star elaborates, right-wingers in students) will decide the war is an acceptable
undergraduate seniors will ty, especially for undergraduates heavily in defense contractors, according to Washington still saw a lot of money to be made price to pay just so they can continue driving
enumber of GSIs GEO's 26-item platform for bar- journalist Nina Burleigh in an 10/11 article for in a U.S./Taliban partnership. With the Bush gas-guzzling SUVs.
tompaine.com. This worries Charles Lewis, administration's arrival in Washington, there
elled class i 1999 for an mforma- g anng needs serious consideration who works for the Center for Public Integrity in was talk of returning to the good old days Nick Woomer can be reached via
lonal picket duing bargaiig..by the.U versity. If the.University. Washington D.C. Lewis told Burleigh that "in a between 1994 and 1997 when "American poli- e-mail at nwoomer@umich.edu.
. n~y interruption of class is a hopes to maintain its national fepu-
..etriment to the student population, tation as a leader in higher educa-
th Unversity and GEO must tion and research, then attending to XV IEW POIN T
rk diligently before Feb. 1 to the needs and concerns of GSIs is
vid any potential strikes or walk ess
l......its' in the m ail..B.h iCe terrorisd the gays and the lesbians who are also serve to erase the presence of the
............ ^,^...r. * y.<actively trying to make that an alternative mother. In the anti-choice platform, the
'Xo ke e a e condttons In the past two weeks, more than 150 lifestyle, the ACLU, People for the American mother completely drops out of both dis-
" e ' y ktgx anthrax threats have been delivered to Way - all of them who have tried to secular- course and imagery, her mental and physi-
" , all workers in Florida and cerning postaifacilitie.No posta Planned Parenthood clinics around the coun- ize America - I point the finger in their face cal health apparently of no consequence. It
Sr«udtheUnted wre rfatry, demonstrating the longstanding radical and say, 'You helped this happen.' is their own exclusive ideology and
eei ws Porstarerve Untwop workers in teeWstedgun and paradoxical forces at play within the Another means of arousing fear around imagery, then, that makes abortion an
ot.s ota erie o tw osa wrerntheWsig;, "Pro-Life" movement, including assassina- abortion is the anti-choice movement's, either/or proposition: Either the mother or
y, caing for the ".tig .f.a...D C.area were identified as being tions, bombings, arsons, stalkings, kidnap- brazen connection of abortion to an the fetus. While, on the other hand, the
' ployees at fa'ilities"that havecome infected with anthrax, and later died.pings, and assaults. Terrorism is terrorism. increased risk of breast cancer. I recently number of Planned Parenthood's patients
' wThe bombings and anthrax threats directed at attended a campus health fair in which a receiving pre-natal care double those seek-
n contaut with anthrax. The Miam It is hard to imagine what logical American citizens are unequivocally parallel "pregnancy counselor" claimed that abor- ing abortion.
- ;lal chapter of the AmHerican Pstal argument would lie behind the decision to the bombings and anthrax threats directed tion increases your risk of breast cancer by The anthrax threats and various other
rkers Unon demanded that build- to test most, if not all,. congressional at abortion providers, their patients, and their 50 percent! Yet the American Cancer Soci- forms of anti-choice violence terrorize all
,be shut for anthrax. screing, the buildings upon the discovery of proponents. All such acts must be stopped. ety notes: "A large, recent study from Den- women and men who may visit or work at
While such acts are certainly heinous, mark has provided very strong data that a gynecological or Planned Parenthood
mlementation of a uniform polcy anthrax-laced letters there while anti-choice terrorism comes in other, more induced abortions have no overall effect on clinic, most probably for reasons not relat-
gardig federa.at to rx neglecting the facilities where those et insidious forms. For one, an infamous anti- the risk of breast cancer." ed to abortion. Will we allow this terrorism
' ei'minaion and for a modificaion ters originated. Posta workers do not choice website compiles the personal infor- The notorious billboards of purportedly against American citizens, couched in the
f s g t o prevent the have therluxrynfhimlyno n. mation of abortion providers and their aborted fetuses are yet another of the spun- terms of anti-choice jingoism and fear-gar-
t 1ad s tht mah es T he have in pryst snty ncom to families. The site's denotation of names ous attempts to arouse anti-choice fear and nering propaganda, to steer us from our
r Y, ofat x r Te ek«,ss eh~e" speaks to its frightening aim: Working health disgust. The problem here is that the images commitment to gender equality and person-
ork metro postal union asked a feder necessary for their survivaL When their care providers are listed in black, those who depicted are typically third-trimester fetuses, al integrity for all citizens? Terrorism oper-
, ws t to shut down those facilities 'o becomes unsafe, they are forced to have been murdered have a line struck the cause of their deaths attributable to a ates on both physical and mental planes,
8 tthrough their names, and the names of the number of lamentable possibilities: miscar- and can be combated on both disciplinary
} t E ;i ,st«ot 1ve fr hxk d s a wk, ewounded are gray. riages, accidents or assaults, (already) illegal and educational terrains,-we must not
The.U.S Postal Service should co alone government employees, should Further, such violent action and terrorism third trimester abortions, or third trimester allow it the opportunity to thrive.
" y tthe requests of the postal work- be compelled to make. Simply because is often justified by members of the religious exceptions performed for the health and/or
"ndtei unions that represent them postal workers do not have the option right, such as Jerry Falwell, who remarked of survival of the mother. Katrina Mann, a Rackham ate
shulYrciv tesaeYothe Sept. 11 attacks, "I really believe that the These images both falsely represent student, is an executive boarfmember
!rs rk set lv epe le s n pagans, and the abortionists, and the femi- abortion and the pro-choice movement and of Studentsfor Choice/Vox.
et employees working on Capito he U.S. Postal Service shouldTTE S TTHEITOR
Hill. Those workers were all evacuated evacuate all postal facilities that have
and tested upo.n the immediate dscv teste...d positive for anthrax. Postal work-....................................._ ______________
yof any' traces of anthrax on congres ers should be permitted to stay away Student activsts not Sudent activists should not be down- LETTERS POLICY
S irnal o ces Not too ong frward.from such facilities until all buildings .nFplayed on this campus. LETiAmSiaOanCm
thfeirfacilities were completely swept in question have been tested, decontam- ncessa y 'ramil in Ira has lived under- brutal san- The Michigan Daily welcomes letters from all
family in Iraq has lived under'sbrutal sanc-.of its readers. Letters from University students, facul-
~nd tested before they returned to work. inated and retrofitted to detect anthrax- conie liberals' tions for over a decade. ty, staff and administrators will be given priority over
Nouch action was undertaken con aden mail. DIfeel that the least I can do is stand on the others. Letters must include the writer's name,
, f.,.. Diag hundreds of times with signs saying phone number and school year or University affilia-