4 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, January 24, 2003 OP/ED 41F tuala Batild ol le wtjch , p 420 MAYNARD STREET ANN ARBOR, MI 48109 letters@michigandaily.com NOTABLE QUOTABLE SAM BUTLER T-E SAPB(oX 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. " For us, war is always the proof of failure and the worst of solutions, so everything must be done to avoid it." o.!f~cor or lane o..co wha- oA SorvnL cml\\ -'t vr ..'em Jnn\ }fie Whoa*- is -4Vvs 1 MN --- -1-o e-e, C\ iA-iofjeS act-ov b o 6i 0 - French President Jacques Chirac at a joint session of the French and German Parliaments, as quoted yesterday by the Associated Press. Mall rats, strollers and the answer I needed JOHN HONKALA TOo EARLY IN THE SUN went to last week- Remarkably, it seems no one did. I saw Francisco that drew another estimated end's anti-war nary a spirit dampened nor an optimistic face 200,000 demonstrators. It is likely that these rally in Washing- trampled. On the contrary, when the rally rallies will only draw more people in the ton and forgot to bring ended and'the march started, I saw nothing future, that the movement will only become my "Finnish-Ameri- but envigorated people. more vocal and more visible. cans against the War" In fact, as the rally ended, and after the Much of the debate surrounding a war in sign, which, in retro- ANSWER people childishly blamed the Iraq centers on whether or not the United spect, is fine because "cops" for the demonstration's not being Nations will back an invasion. But if the I'd have looked a bit allowed a PA system at the march's Naval Bush administration cannot manage a clear foolish promoting my Scandanavian heritage Yard endpoint, we - all 200,000-plus of us mandate from the American people, a and shivering at the same time. - began what became one of my life's thumbs up from the U.N. becomes a moot ' I did remember to layer my clothes, most inspiring afternoons. endorsement. By no stretch of the imagina- though, which didn't help all that much The march was everything the rally wasn't. tion have we accomplished this, but we are anyway. Which is to say that D.C. was No one dominated the dialogue, only a handful well on our way to making just that case. frigid and I shook at least as violently as the of people got angry, demonstrators exchanged Getting out to D.C. required very little PA system did whenever the backpacked ideas and contact information, drumlines of me. I hopped a ride in a friend's van, ANSWER organizer shrieked into the drummed, we all chanted and laughed and never had to take a turn driving and stayed microphone. Which is to say I shook. sang, "War, what is it good for?" Puppeteers with an ex-Ann Arborite turned D.C. tour Shook like the wagging fingers of the puppeted, stilt-walking Uncle Sams careened guide. I spent about as much money on the shrillest of the rally's speakers - the Free through elaborately decorated placards and trip as I would have had I stayed home for Palestine bloc, the Bush-is-a-liar coalition - religious groups sang hymns. the weekend and was able to sleep in on who used their turns at the podium to pepper And the best part? I was surrounded by Sunday before returning home in the wee their cries to stop the war with their personal nuns, strollers, punks, fathers, yuppies, septe- hours of Monday morning. Because I am a and sometimes venomous rhetoric. genarians, students, the middle aged. This student, I was able to do these things. But Thank goodness for Jesse Jackson's and wasn't a collection of young fringe radicals most people can't afford to head to D.C. or U.S. Rep. John Conyers' (D-Detroit) humble and their washed-up predecessors from a few San Francisco on a whim. Most people can't speeches. At least the rally's biggest names generations ago. It was an ageless, colorful act on their wanderlust. figured out that this was an anti-war rally coalition willing to spend all day in subfreez- Which is why the number of demonstrators aimed at stopping the war - not alienating the ing temperatures to protest an unjust war. The that filled the central streets of cities across the movement. I'm sure Bush is a liar and I'd love kind of gathering that makes a very persua- country last weekend is so impressive. Which to see Palestine a state, but I have my doubts sive argument for the existence of a broad- is why, when I stood in the late afternoon that those sentiments resonate with or are even based anti-war movement in this country. frozen footed and shoulder to shoulder with believable to a good portion of the people we And the kind of civilized mob that the Bush two middle-aged Virginia housewives laugh- are trying to convince to join our movement. administration must take very seriously. ing at clever placards , I shook like the PA sys- So, I spent much of the first few hours at the There can be little doubt now that that the tem and the wagging fingers - I'd found the rally craning my neck, trying to read other anti-war movement is to be reckoned with. demonstration I'd wanted to find. demonstrators' eyes-- Are these people being The D.C. rally garnered most of the media's turned off by some of these speeches? Are attention, but there were demonstrations John Honkala can be reached at they going to walk away disgusted? across the country, including one in San jhonkala@umich.edu. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR No common ground can be reached with BAMN TO THE DAILY: On Monday, I was spat at because I sup- port racial equality. On Monday, I was threat- ened with violence because I support racial equality. On Monday, I was called a "racist pig" because I support racial equality. On Monday, I attended my first affirmative action rally at the University. I stood with the College Republicans and Young Americans For Freedom because I support racial equality, not racial preferences. I held a sign that read, "Affirmative Action is State-Sponsored Racism" because I feel that it is state-sponsored racism. I believe that we should be judged more by content of character, merit and accom- plishments than the color of our skin. As I stood in a packed auditorium, I was respectful in the spirit of civil objection. I did not boo. I did not heckle the speaker. I wanted to-be the bigger person in this fight. As I stood there, a young woman attempted to squeeze by. She did not say "Excuse Me" or "May I." She shoved me aside and said "Out of my way, racist pig!" The Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action By Any Means Necessary is not a studept group. It is an angry, violent group unwilling to engage in constructive, civil or logical dialogue. I came because I hoped to see some sort of common ground between the two sides in this argument. That dream of mine is impossible. CHRIS METCALF Engineering senior Residential Dining Service keeps 'U' students healthy TO THE DAILY: The article on food allergies in the Daily on Jan. 17 (Report shows most students do not seek treatment for allergic reactions) contained a lot of important information about the need for stu- dents to pay more attention to managing their food allergies. However, we would like to sup- plement this with some additional information. Staff members from the Housing Information Office and Residential Dining Services have been working closely with Dr. Andrew Singer, who was quoted in the article, over the past year. Last spring and summer, we began asking incoming students with food allergies to identi- application specifies severe food allergies as a situation that may require special place- ment and ensures that the incoming student will have advance contact with Residential Dining Services staff. Helping students deal with their food allergies is an ongoing process. We at University Housing continue to work closely with these students to help them avoid life-threatening exposures. We encourage students to visit the Nutrition Services section of University Housing's web site at www.housing.umich.edu/ser- vices/dining/nutrition, html. DOUG WHITE Senior Housing Advisor, Housing Information Office, University Housing RUTH BLACKBURN Residential Dining Services Nutrition Specialist, University Housing Henretty's column went too far; MLK Day more than 'feel good' holiday TO THE DAILY: Aubrey Henretty's column, Think MLK Day solves anything? Dream on, (1/21/03) ques- tioning the need for a Martin Luther King Day justly wonders whether we should remember King and his ideals only on one day of the year, but the column goes too far by its condemning of "MLK Day, Women's History Month, Black History Month ..." as "feel-good calen- dar designations." Somewhat as King might have liked a change in people's hearts (Barry Goldwater and other ultra-conservatives claimed they wanted a "change of hearts" instead of a change in, or disposal of, racially segregative Jim Crow-type laws), but was will- ing to settle for "mere changes in law" suchas the Civil Rights Act, etc., since King knew that a mass "change of heart" among white racists wasn't going to happen any time soon: having a legally appointed day for MLK, a month for women and for African Americans, etc., is bet- ter than having no designated time at all. (If MLK Day was so insignificant, then how come former president Ronald Reagan resisted sign- ing it into law for so long, even slandering King at first by calling him a "communist?") MLK Day is not in itself hypocritical. Neither is the idea of reparations for slav- ery; though Henretty mocks pro-reparationists by saying they would balk at giving repara- tions to Native Americans for the long-ago Christopher Columbus-led conquest, it seems quite the opposite; many of those who have championed reparations to Native Americans, to Japanese Americans interned during World Americans, who remember, say, speaking with grandparents who were slaves or brought up by parents who were slaves. In sum, Henretty is right to question whether we should do more for justice, but that does not mean that we should do less. "Her/his/its-story," however anyone might call the study of the past, teaches us that much, no doubt. DAVID BOYLE Alumnus Scrutiny of adminssions policies should extend beyond race To THE DAILY: Affirmative action! Affirmative action! These words are fast becoming the two most controversial on campus and soon in the nation. As everyone at the University and most of the nation is aware, the University is being sued because of its affirmative action/race- conscious admissions policies. While I believe that affirmative action is a good way to pro- mote racial diversity in higher education, I can understand the angst others (mostly non- minorities) experience towards the issue. But in the University lawsuit, I feel too much emphasis is being placed on the race-conscious inequalities and not the rest of them. If we are going to succeed in tackling our admissions policies, we need to consider all its flaws, not just the "racist undertones." My point: I feel we have taken one unfair piece of the University's admissions policies and exac- erbated, poked, beat and bickered about its unfairness. But no one seems to be talking about the rest of the 'admissions policy - the entire system is unfair. If you went to a presti- gious high school, or took rigorous courses, 10 points will be added to your score. What if you weren't lucky enough to attend a Country Day school or an academy? Or if your cur- riculum didn't include Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate nor honors class- es? And what about parent/family lineage? These applicants get a few more points if their father or mother went here. Is that fair? Oh, and what about people from underrepresented counties and states? Don't they get extra points, too? What about the athletes? I hear they get an extra 20 (same as minorities) to come here and be "All the Wolverine they can be." Can we protest that? The bottom line: if we are going to challenge the admissions policies and bick- er about the unfairness which exist within it, we need to look at the big picture and 0 0 6l THE BOONDOCKS AARON MCG.rE I~~~~n OIvn~t fl DIMT VInkifhA/I A F- aT " /rl6Y non I