4 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, March 8, 2002 OP/ED c1he ! [ithi m ttilg 420 MAYNARD STREET ANN ARBOR, MI 48109 letters@michigandaily.com EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN SINCE 1890 JON SCHWARTZ Editor in Chief JOHANNA HANINK Editorial Page Editor 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 way we lost those seven guys was a repeat of Somalia." - An anonymous senior Air Force officer, as quoted in yesterday's Washington Times, comparing the use ofU.S. round forces in the Battle of Gardez in Afhanistan to the U.S. 's 1993 involvement in Somalia. Nj!d5 3'8.02 WAT&A *MV- W V4 r- THOMAS KULJURGIS TENTATIVELY SPEAKING 13T-A12, WAKS t t t . 117/5 .SU" DA"-f RkF V-g as ti,, (/4L60LMt lm iiI&vkl - a j ~ PEAW I 4 l4bO?'t..I. p1 I Hope~ q AS JArZ jW1 N ITr s a s A I It can be better than this; start a 'U' tradition today JEREMY W. PETERS DON'T MAKE M COME BACK THERE " et's face it. We have a terribly dis- jointed student body. I suppose this is some- what inevitable when 22,000 undergraduates are spread out over a 2,500 acre campus, but the social environment here is far too out-of-control. The social segmentation all begins within the first few weeks of freshman year when 5,000 impressionable 18 year olds make an attempt to branch out. The problem is, most of the time "branching out" never happens. We instead seek out friends who, more often than not, are carbon copies of ourselves. This is a natural reaction - one you can't fault people for - but the result is a campus that looks a lot like the opening ceremony of the Olympics with undistinguishable like- dressed, like-sounding figures parading around in packs. For my take on how to fix this, read on. But first, here is a brief overview of the vari- ous social cliques on campus. First, and most infamous of all, is the group that confined themselves primarily to the rear of Mary Markley Residence Hall their freshman year, venturing out only to eat at Mr. Greek's Coney Island or party at meticulously selected frats. By day, the males can be seen strutting around the Diag with their fitted baseball hats resting slightly off center and backwards, just above their receding hairlines. The females, complete with bandanna-like headbands and cell phones that apparently only ring when they are in the library or in class, can be identified as the hyper ones who come to exam review sessions loaded with questions that make you shake your head in disbelief. Second is one of two subgroups of in- state students that make out-of-state kids sneer. The most obvious members of this contingency hail from the more affluent sec- tions of the Great Lakes State (Birmingham, Bloomfield, et al.) and will tell you at orien- tation that they came to Michigan - which was not their first choice, of course - because they plan on going to the B-school. This is the only way to save face after the Ivy League rejections start to pile up. The third group (also part of the in-state category) is those with whom the haughty in- staters generally don't associate. They rarely own an article of clothing that isn't from Abercrombie or American Eagle and consid- er Ann Arbor to be a "big city." They come from towns with strange names like Gaylord and Climax. Sometimes they don't even ven- ture outside their social circles from high school. (Kids from Traverse City are a good example of this.) Often, their first Friday evening that doesn't involve a high school football game and a 7-Eleven occurs once they get here. Then there are the various foreign student groupings. The Indian "mafia," as they like to be called, the Hello Kitty pencil case-tot- ing Asian kids who occupy the third and fourth floors of the UGLi and European undergrads who are all at least 26 upon enter- ing their freshman year. I haven't run across many Canadians yet and I'm thankful for that. I propose a solution to end this quasi seg- regation. It won't solve the problem but will help to alleviate it. In an act of general benevolence, I suggest that seniors reach out to the freshman by pay- ing a gift-bearing visit to their old dorm room. It's quite simple, really. On a night of your choosing, seniors, go to your fresh- man-year dorm room and greet the present residents with some snacks and a case of beer. (For those of you who don't drink, a large pizza will suffice.) Then just sit and talk. Share any memorable experiences you cherish from your college career and let the freshmen know that what they're about to go through for the next three or four years will be a trial-by-fire venture that, more likely than not, will turn them into a person remarkably larger than the person they are now. Let them know that college is the one time in their lives that petty worries need not burden their thoughts. Let them know that now is the time to live it up. So if my little proposal is taken seriously and seniors actually do make an effort to truly branch out, this campus won't be the type of place where you put your head down when passing someone from an old class who you just don't feel like acknowledging. 0 0 Jeremy W Peters can be reached atjwpeters@umich.edu. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Granholm offers a new vision for state of Michigan TO THE DAILY: We are writing because the University com- munity should know about gubernatorial candi- date Jennifer Granholm and the program this Sunday in the Anderson Room of the Michigan Union at 7:30 presented by the College Democ- rats and Students for Granhohn. Jennifer Granholn offers Michigan a reason to believe in government again. To the students of this University, she offers an invitation to be active. For too long, people - especially stu- dents - have felt disconnected from their gov- ernment. The time has come for that to change. Granholm understands what issues are important and knows how get Michigan's goals accomplished. Her accomplishments stand not only as a testament to what she is capable of but also let us know the kind of Michigan we can look forward to. As a woman, a wife and a mother of three, Granholm would have a different prespective as Michigan's first female governor. Jennifer Granholm takes an aggressive stance on environmental issues. During her tenure as Attorney General, she has led crack- downs on polluters and prosecuted more envi- ronmental crimes than anyone in the state's history. In addition, Jennifer created the state's first full-time environmental crimes prosecutor. Finally, her vocal opposition to slant drilling in the Great Lakes is a clear example of her com- mitment to Michigan's natural environment. If elected, she will appoint a cabinet that reflects all the people of Michigan and will embrace diversity in government. She realizes that we do not want a Michigan that limits itself with political labels. Granholm also has a passion for community service and children. That is why she teamed up Isaiah Thomas and Michigan First Lady Michelle Engler in the 2000 Mentoring Initia- tive. This program brought children who had previous run-ins with the law together with community mentors. She also is deeply con- cerned about our cities' health and if elected will lead the fight to revitalize Detroit and other suf- fering areas. The College Democrats and Students for Granholm invite you to see for yourself why Jennifer Granholm is best qualified to be Michi- gan's next governor. In addition to sharing her vision of Michigan's future, she also wants to hear from you. Please join us and share your vision of Michigan with the woman we believe will be Michigan's next governor. . REBECCA PERRING LSA junior PAUL SPURGEON of what lies at the root of the Palestinian- Israeli conflict: A failure on the part of both sides to even attempt to see and understand things from the other side's point of view. From a Palestinian perspective, their request that Palestinians "learn to compromise" is both comical and tragic. Palestinians have led a com- promised existence ever since the beginning of the Zionist movement, which so arrogantly ignored and denied the native Palestinian pres- ence on their land. Livshiz and Woll turn to history to present examples of how downright disagreeable Pales- tinians have been for the past 70 years or so, but don't detail why Palestinians have had so many objections to Israeli or Unted Nations-proposed "compromises," or what those objections are. In 1947, for example, Palestinians were asked to give over half of Palestine to the Zionist move- ment, for the creation of Israel. Palestinians refused this offer. What's the big deal? Livshiz and Woll imply, Why can't Palestinians just be good sports and compromise? The fact is, the land set aside for Israel by the United Nations in 1947 contained a slight majority of Jewish residents, most of whom were relatively recent immigrants. In addition, Jewish-owned land constituted a small minority of the designated state of Israel. Can you think of any reasonable population on the face of the earth who would so willingly "compromise" their own rights as to sign away their own land to a recent immigrant popula- tion? Certainly, Israel itself is not so generous. The Israeli government refuses to allow the right of return to Palestinian refugees (a right granted by international law), a group of people indigenous to the land that Israel has shut them out from. Israeli military force has compelled Pales- tinians for years to accept these kinds of "com- promises." There is an Israel. There is no Palestine. And now Livshiz and Woll demand even more? What more is there to give? Israel wants more Palestinian land? Israel wants Pales- tinians to deny their right to return to their homes? These are not compromises. These are simply further demands for Palestinians to give up fundamental rights that all people deserve. CHRIS FARAH Rackham GEO is unreasonable; GIs only out for more money TO THE DAILY: This letter is in response to the Cut class (Just this once) editorial in yesterday's Daily. As a current graduate student and former undergraduate student (who was here when the would kill to have that. But they still want more. They want to eliminate the English Lan- guage Institute test for international GSIs. Are you kidding? Speaking from experience, if the international GSIs in the classes now are the ones that passed the test, it would be next to impossible to understand someone who failed it. GEO will also harm the undergraduates that they supposedly are trying to improve the edu- cational experiences of. GEO is unreasonable. While I do support the need for better training and a better hiring poli- cy, I do not agree with most of the platform. Thus, I do not support GEO. GEO should stand for: Greedy, embarrass- ing and overpaid. KELLY PIERCE Rackahm GEO unwilling to negotiate; GSIs should be thankful TO THE DAILY: GEO has a few very solid points that must be resolved in this negotiation with the Univer- sity. However, this strike is not about any of those issues. GEO claims that the University is unwilling to negotiate. Of course, by saying "negotiate," they really mean succumb to all of GEO's demands. GSIs get a full tuition waver and a generous stipend and when it all boils down to it, this strike is really over money. The real problem with GEO is that because there is so much turnover in GEO membership from year to year, no GSI feels connected to the old contract. GSIs get a great deal. In fact, as a graduate student, I'd love to be a scab for any course that would take me. Give me the tuition waver. Unlike GEO, I won't demand the con- struction of a 24-hour child care facility or a pay increase rate higher than the faculty. I'd even be willing to take the English Proficiency exam, unlike GEO. I'd just be really happy I got such a sweet deal. Students, do not support the GEO walkout. They are being just as unwilling to negotiate as the University. Do not listen to their rhetoric. Undergraduate students deserve better. JOSH BENNINGHOFF Public Policy LETTERS 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 should include the writer's name, college and school year or other Uni- versity affiliation. The Daily will not print any letter el AW