0 4 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, April 11, 2003 OP/ED SA 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 Your nation will soon be free." - President Bush, on Iraqi television yesterday in an address to the Iraqi people, as reported by The Associated Press. SAM BUTLER TEi SOAPBOX . v 0 Mental masturbation HUSSAIN RAHIM NARCoLEPTuc INSOMNIA So the year has finally reached its denouement. The air is cathartic and reflective. Everyone is either espousing life the- ories or sharing revision- ist nostalgia of their halcyon days at the won- derful University. Although I can't partake in the latter, I have a clearance sale on the former. So let's jump into the fun. Men and women aren't and can't be neutral friends. The Hussain dictionary defines friends as people you talk to out- side of places you have to be, that know your thoughts and that you associate with outside of Ann Arbor. Sadly, this excludes Chad, who talked to you in the laundry room, and Jeffrey, who helped you set up Mulberry your freshman year. So with this idea in mind, also know that friendship between men and women is inherently dif- ferent from that of two people of the same sex. Surely no man wants to hear about your period, nor does any female want to hear the details of the rare beautiful women who appear in Angell Hall once per under- grad. More often than not, people gravitate toward those they find attractive. And if that is the reason two people are together, then you're already heading down that street. Being a general misanthrope, it is hard enough to find people who can gener- ate and sustain my interest over a period of time, so once that is found, why banish them to the level of friend? Every friendship is not a Meg Ryan movie waiting to happen, and all relation- ships end - except maybe the last one you have. After hearing this theory, I usually must add I have no female friends and that there is one exception, gay friends. And even Will got Grace. If two people associate a lot, someone will be attracted. Going onto dating. Here's the idea that has kept me single in Michigan (along with many other issues, I'd need the whole Daily for that): I don't pay for dates. Before I get an animal porn virus, I will give one excep- tion, and that is in regard to a relationship. If you are in a meaningful relationship, then there is nothing wrong with treating each other. But what I say no to is the sole fund- ing of the introductory and courtship stages by the male. During my highly scientific and formal study of female dating opinions (I was awake in two statistics lectures) I've seen that most women - and to my dis- may, men - take it as a given that a man must pay for the first d'ate. To this I say nay. I took a step, or leap, back from the situation and said, "Why?" For what reason should I bear the financial burden of the date? It has to date back to some paternalis- tic view that men should take out women because they can't themselves. And these are the responses I got: "He should be happy to be out with me." "He should feel good paying for me." "I'm worth it; he should be a gentleman." Even sadder was the guy who told me, "She'll think I'm cheap." Jesus Christmas ... This can't be the state of gender relations. This attitude furthers the misunderstandings and purports the idea of men as the providers and women as the recipients. Although no one is owed anything, if a man pays for a date or three, logic can occur which would enable him to think he is making a sort of investment with future returns. It is also disturbing that the women I talked to considered their time something to be bought or paid for. There's a specific job for that. I would sincerely hope that a female on a date would be there for the reasons I am: because she's interest- ed, not for monetary compensation. And on top of that I'm broke and cheap. It's a vicious cycle with complexity of chicken/egg proportions. Dates are not free, and if I sponsor one and she has a bet- ter time than I do, with my winsome per- sonality and all, I'll feel jerked. Since men have to do the bulk of initiating, dates can resemble favors from women. If we are both interested enough to see where this could go, at least we could split the date. If it goes poorly, we can shake hands and call a truce. If it goes great, don't spoil it by sliding off to the bathroom around bill time. To the women who told me they approach men and pay for dates, pat your- selves on the back, for you are a rare breed. And to the men whose manhood is destroyed by the notion of a woman open- ing her purse, come out of the cave and try out the 21st century; it's nice out here. Newly discovered and parting informa- tion: Ali G and Larry David are your daddies, "Curb Your Enthusiasm" may be better than "Seinfeld," The new Harry Potter book will kick your ass. Who can resist a little British boy with magical powers? Illmatic is the best rap album ever, as Nevennind is the best rock album ever. Ifyouagree or disagree with any of Rahim's musings on life, he can be reached at hrahim@umich.edu. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR University should not appeal court decision in Johnson sexual harassment case To THE DAILY: University campuses must be places where young women have an equal opportunity to develop intellectually. They must be marked by an atmosphere in which women are free to develop their talents, to define their interests and goals and to excel. Sexual harassment and other forms of sex discrimination prevent these principles from becoming real, undermining women's education and impeaching the claim of universities to function as a force for greater democracy. The University now faces an important decision about how to situate itself with respect to these issues. Last April, in a groundbreaking decision, a jury found the University liable for the sexual harassment of a female student by a professor. The jury's verdict in the case, Johnson v. Regents, rested on the view that the University had not done enough under the law to ensure that Johnson and other young women would not be subjected to a hostile environment due to sexual harassment. The University must decide whether or not to appeal the Johnson verdict - whether to view the jury's finding as an affront or as an opportunity. As the leader of a national organi- zation that stands for the full and equal partici- pation of women in the intellectual, social and political life of the United States, I urge the lat- ter approach. The implicit criticism in the verdict should prompt reflection and change. By rejecting it, the University would send the wrong message to young women and men and to those profes- sors who abuse their power. But by responding to Johnson in a positive, open manner, the Uni- versity can contribute to progress toward fair and equal opportunity for women in academia. Studies show that at least half of young women are sexually harassed during college, no doubt with grave effects on their self-confi- dence and intellectual engagement. Sexual harassment also makes young women more likely to drop out of college altogether. It com- bines with other forms of gender inequality - like those that have recently been documented in studies of the climate for female faculty members in the sciences at various schools, including the University - to deprive women focus its resources on efforts to ensure that this campus is one where young women can thrive as intellectuals and leaders in all fields, side by side with young men and on equal footing with them. KIM GANY President, National Organization for Women Smith protects rights of males to preserve status quo TO THE DAILY: Thanks to Luke "Progressive" Smith for warning an apathetic campus of the danger of "left-thinking fools like Martha Burk (WNBA wants equal treatment? End it., 04/10/03)." That darned woman wants the Augusta Golf Club to admit women. What a crazy idea! Will women want the vote or something next? Holy jeez! And how 'bout those long-limbed leftistic loony ladies who think they know how to drib- ble a basketball! Perhaps the University administration can help stop the "red tide" by banning tonight's Take Back the Night march. Once those female screamers get the idea that they should be safe from male violence and control their own bod- ies, what other nuttiness could break out? I bet some wacky college students might sit in at the Woolworth's counter in Greensboro, N.C. and try to desegregate society or something (Whoops, that already happened on Feb. 1, 1960). And thanks, Luke, for hacking at "pursuit of equality through unequal means." That deranged radical Ronald Reagan should never have approved the 1988 act giving $20,000 reparations to Japanese Americans interned dur- ing World War II because some of that money comes from red-blooded taxpayers like us-uns, who didn't even incarcerate those folks in the detention camps in the first place. Ohhh the inequality, shame and injustice. "No taxation without incarceration," or something like that. In conclusion, without free thinkers like Smith laying down the law, Martha "Saddam's Mom" Burk would lead our great country to hell in a handbasket - except there wouldn't be handbaskets anymore, because the women would all be president or senators or something instead of basket weaves. Life just gets worse every day, especially if you're a white male, huh Luke? DAVID BOYLE Alumnus Theodore Grenier. It's more likely Theodore Hughes does not feel "his show was above the rest," but was simply doing his job as a pub- licly-funded, personality-driven radio jockey. His audience has spoken to WEMU manage- ment on more than one occasion - including war time - regarding not including news dur- ing his four-hour radio program. Of benefit to the station's finances and to better serve the public who supports them, they should listen to their desires. The Bone Con- duction Music Show - as stated in last week's Sminty's Electronic Circus in The Detroit News - "brought more than its fair share of pledge dollars," which alone should motivate the management and marketing staff to poll his listenership so they might replicate some of its success factors. Beyond the breath and depth of musical offerings, many of us tune in because there is a strong, entertaining, tolerant personal- ity who understands his audience enough to have spent 20 years absorbing corporate grief so the listener could get away from the world awhile on Sundays, pre- or post-Sept. 11. Truth be known, news is switched off or ignored when in the midst of a program which is longer than 55 minutes; it is simply National Public Radio headline news repeats heard last hour. Any emergency news items usurp all pro- gramming, and Hughes can be quoted from his Snow interview which is an example demon- strating he has and would air this type of news, but saw no sense in airing repetitive headline news. Perhaps WEMU management and DJs should take a look at their audience's desires (i.e. their market niche), for if there is one thing we do not lack, it is a media source for in-depth news. Greiner should personally hear Hughes' side of the employment story, as he claims never to have received an offer to return to the air. In fact, when calling in Sunday night to inquire as to why the show was not going to be aired (as the business office, e-mails and phones were not being answered the previous week) and when it would be back on, I was not the only one who was told by someone at the station (who duly noted he was tape recording the conversation), that it was unlikely the show would ever air on this station again. The ques- tion might be asked if Hughes has not changed his practices in 20 years and has never aired anything but emergency news, what prompts a station to cut out the heart of its DJ personali- ties along with arguably 10 percent of it's rev- enues in difficult economic times for publicly-funded media? 0 JUDITH ROSELLA