4A - The Michigan Daily - Monday, March 17, 2003 OP/ED atbe Ahcig u DtIj 420 MAYNARD STREET ANN ARBOR, MI 48109 letters@michigandaily.com EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN SINCE 1890 LOUIE MEIZLISH Editor in Chief AUBREY HENRETTY ZAC PESKOWITZ 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 "Tomorrow is a moment of truth." -President Bush at the summit in the Azores yesterday, as reported by The Associated Press. SAM BUTLERCLsc ABX A o w A o r -\-00a far _*a os Anr , sa RSC better on stage than behind the scenes JOHANNA HANINK PARANCEo 1 UR TIMIES his weekend, the campus experi- enced phase- denouement of the Royal Shakespeare Company's visit to Ann .. Arbor. I had a chance to see both "Cori- olanus" and "Mid- night's Children," "Midnight's Children" on opening night - not just opening night, but the Ameri- can premiere. Maybe the "play left the kindest English critics cold," (according to Caryn James' March 9 New York Times article "After the Fatwa, Playwriting and Partygoing"), but the chill in the Power Center on opening night was certainly pro- voked by awe, not disappointment. The visit of the RSC has marked the second time this year that the pulse of this community has risen considerably from the presence of great theater. In October, the Abbey Theater of Ireland brought Euripides' "The Medea," also to the Power Center. Last semester I took a class in which we devoted nearly 10 weeks to a careful reading of "The Medea," a class that, for me, hinged on seeing the perfor- mance. There aren't many things that are 2,500 years old and still in style; director Deborah Warner and Fiona Shaw (the bril- liant actress in the title role) proved that "The Medea" is one of them. But before last October, I had never real- ly experienced the effects that a play can have beyond the time of the performance and the setting of the stage. I was a fresh- man when, in 2001, the RSC came to Michigan for the first third of its residency; apparently I was still too out of it to be in on the excitement. This year, luckily, I paid attention - if only because the collective anticipation of a big chunk of this commu- nity was too tangible to ignore. This semester, along with a few hun- dred other people, I'm taking English 483, "The Plays of the Royal Shakespeare Company Residency." I knew some people who had taken the analogous course two years ago. What I didn't know, however, was that this Ralph Williams-cum-RSC guest speakers half-class half-circus was only the beginning; in the English depart- ment alone, 10 courses have some sort of intellectual buy-in to the visit of the RSC. Four cover Salman Rushdie, seven cover Shakespeare, 483 does both. Amidst the academic overdrive sur- rounding this residency, the general senti- ment seems to be that "Midnight's Children "has come out tops of the three-play pro- gram. It's given the South Asian Student Taskforce and the Center for South Asian Studies a well-deserved place in the intel- lectual and cultural spotlight. Between the University of Michigan and Columbia University, $2 million was raised to commission the $3 million pro- duction. To compliment the residency, the University offered a number of educational events, from lectures to book clubs to spe- cial exhibits. It was the professors holding these book groups and the academics lecturing to the community at large who, along with the play performances, made the intellec- tual consumer-end of this residency so wonderful. In the upper echelon of event adminis- tration, however, the story was different and not so community-friendly. Through the University Musical Society, Rushdie gave an interview to The Detroit Free Press. No Ann Arbor or campus publication was granted exclusive access to Rushdie. It's problematic when the best place to read about a University event is in The New York Times and not the newspapers dedi- cated specifically to serving the Ann Arbor/University community. And while the University offered many events, it apparently also offered plenty of alcohol to the guests of the special recep- tions. A few nights ago, "Midnight's Chil- dren" "groupies" were seen throwing up in the halls of the Campus Inn after they'd had a lot too much to drink at University- sponsored receptions. The evening appear- ances of Rushdie were limited to two donor dinners; a friend of mine was the only student invited to the dinner recep- tions at the Alumni Center. During the opening night "public" reception at Zanz- ibar, the second level was restricted to the cast and Rushdie - the public wasn't allowed. And it seems that the easiest way to talk to him was to be an attractive young girl wearing more makeup than clothing. I've talked to a few people who, under- standably, have come out of the RSC-Uni- versity politicking experience disappointed. But taken as a whole, the aftertaste of the RSC residency should give this campus a collective second wind. The Supreme Court will hear arguments in the affirmative action case in a few weeks;~at any given time on this campus it's possible to hear arguments about the Middle East. The pro- duction of the three plays has allowed this university to take a break and let the-profes- sionals be the ones to raise their voices - on stage and getting paid for it. Hanink can be reached atjhanink@umich.edu. 4l LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Attacks on SAFE unwarranted; students express solidarity TO THE DAILY: Over the past year, Students Allied for Freedom and Equality has had to endure a vicious smear campaign by some pro-Israel groups on campus. This began with hack attacks on SAFE members' e-mail address- es and continues today with the disingenu- ous actions of the Conference on the Holocaust organizers (Allowing SAFE to read victims' names disrespectful, 03/14/03). This latest incident has crossed the line, as accusing SAFE of promoting Holo- caust denial is not only serious and insen- sitive, but extremely damaging to the reputation of this dedicated organization. This accusation, as the conference organiz- ers know, is patently false, intentionally deceptive and serves one purpose. While SAFE dedicates itself to opening discourse on the Arab-Israeli conflict by bringing in world-renowned academics and activists to address the pertinent issue at hand, some pro-Israeli forces resort to char- acter assassinations and smear campaigns, avoiding more often than not discussion on the conflict, to stifle this discourse. We stand in full solidarity with SAFE, particularly in these times when they are targeted with dishonest and dirty tactics by some pro-Israel groups who desire only to silence, rather than address, the voices of truth on the Arab-Israeli conflict. COALITION OF ARAB STUDENTS MUSLIM STUDENTS ASSOCIATION UNIVERSITY CHAPTER OF THE ARAB, AMERICAN ANTI-DISCRIMINATION COMMITTEE Cause and correlation' must be applied critically; ISR study accurate TO THE DAILY: We wanted to reply very briefly to Dan Coughlin's recent letter to the Daily (Daily headline confuses cause and correlation of TV dinal studies like the one in question. While only randomized experimental trials can provide strong simple tests of causation, with modern sophisticated mathematical modeling one can evaluate quite well the relative plausibility of rival causal hypothe- ses using longitudinal data of the kind col- lected in this particular study. In fact, the analyses in the published article eliminate all of the rival hypotheses Coughlin suggests as plausible alterna- tives to explain the obtained 15-year data. For example, as Coughlin hypothesizes, children "not properly reared" do indeed watch more TV and indeed are more aggressive, but the analyses in the article show that these relations cannot account for the 15-year relations between TV vio- lence viewing in childhood and adult aggression. Particularly, when the results of this study are coupled with the results of many previous short-term randomized trials and the emerging psychological the- ory of observational learning, the most plausible conclusion by far is that repeated observation of violence (in real life or in the mass media) during childhood increas- es the chances that children will behave more aggressively later when they are adults. L. ROWELL HUESMANN University professor and Senior Research Scientist, ISR PAUL BOXER Research Associate, ISR Daily continues its habit of slanted affirmative action coverage TO THE DAILY: I have been deeply disappointed in the Daily's one-sided coverage of the affirma- tive action debate on campus. Speakers and articles in support of affirmative action have graced the front page daily, while coverage for anti-affirmative action activists remains illusive. For instance, Thursday's front page included a story in support of the University's admission policies (Socioeconomic factors used in 'U' admissions garner strong support, 03/13/03). Wednesday, there was the article about Republicans filled a classroom in Mason Hall to hear Prof. Paul Moreno from Hills- dale College speak in opposition to the University's affirmative action policies. The next day, I scanned the front page for coverage and found nothing. In fact, there was absolutely no coverage at all of Moreno's speech. The Daily is failing in its efforts to keep the students informed and educated about the affirmative action debate by providing biased coverage to groups that support the University's efforts. Good journalism provides unbiased report- ing, and hopefully in the future, the Daily will explore such practices. STEPHEN MAcGUIDWIN LSA junior College Republicans secretary Res halls' electronic locks unecessary, too costly TO THE DAILY: I understand that there was a rise in home invasions and peeping toms in the University's residence halls. The Universi- ty has taken numerous steps to address this issue, including 24 hours a day locked front doors and the installation of security cam- eras at the entrances of the buildings. These are appropriate steps to combat the rise in criminal activity because they moni- tors all residents' rooms. I now learn that my room is going to be equipped with a new, automatic-locking, electronic lock that uses both a key card and pin number to further combat home invasions. Students must be held - at least some- what - responsible for their own belong- ings. There is nothing wrong with monitoring the entrances and exits to the building, but the room itself should be the occupant's responsibility. If the student wishes to step out for a quick run to the bathroom without his keys, he should be able to do so. Now inconvenience is not a high price to pay for added security, but the University is facing a huge financial crisis, and should be looking for areas to cut costs. Therefore, I find it very wasteful for the University to replace perfectly good locks before it assesses whether or not the first steps taken adequately reduce the THE BOONDOCKS A _-- r