4 4A - The Michigan Daily -Thursday, September 12, 2002 OP/ED abe irig~u7aiui~g 420 MAYNARD STREET ANN ARBOR, MI 48109 letters@michigandaily.com EDITEDAND 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 Tomorrow is September the 12th. A milestone is passed, and a mission goes on. - President Bush in his address to the nation last evening at Ellis Island. JENNIFER GREENE JENN'S CORNER -0e N r g S l =f g uir els learn d by exam PI e .. . 4 14 The morning after DAVID ENDERS WEIRD SCIENCE appy Sept. 12. If between cultures and the first and third worlds. Question why these are the people we're trusting you're reading I woke up this morning with a much different to carry out our domestic "war on terror." this, it means we realization than a year ago: Things are more the Question why the mainstream American made it. We're all still same than ever. We have learned nothing in a media resoundingly and unquestioningly accept- here. Nothing happened year save to bury our heads deeper in the sand. ed the Bush administration's tag of "War on Ter- yesterday. The "Orange Our resilience in recovering from what happened ror" and then composed theme music to l :. Terror Alert" kept me can be measured in our increased ability to accompany the words onscreen. 4, from going to class, but ignore; our decreased ability to question. Question why John Ashcroft pushed to suspend no planes fell from the But what could we question at such a time of a number of civil liberties. Question why it takes a sky, no jihadeering national unity, a time when more people then court ruling against the federal government to Arabs martyred themselves in a fiery reprise of ever stand up to put their hands over their hearts ensure deportation hearings for Ann Arbor resi- ... well, I don't have to say it. You know what when some B-list celebrity belts out the national dent Rabih Haddad are open proceedings. Ques- I'm talking about. anthem prior to a baseball game? tion why there are others like Haddad, who has Relieved as I am to have avoided immolation Question why the nearly 4,000 Afghan civil- been held at undisclosed locations since December one more day, I can't help but think back to last ians (the conservative estimate) killed in Opera- for allegedly residing in the United States on an Sept. 12. It was early in the morning, and I tion Enduring Freedom are rarely, if ever, expired visa. Question why news organizations couldn't sleep very well. I had driven by the rock mentioned by the American media. There were have been forced to sue the federal government. earlier the previous day; within hours of the more stories about the battered animals in the Question why despite billing himself during attacks someone painted the words "Kill Osama Kabul Zoo. (Can you liberate something that is his campaign as the only candidate with business bin Laden" on the landmark. I decided my sleep- supposed to be caged?) experience, Bush's administration has presided less night might be best spent covering it with a Question why Europe (and the rest of the over one of the darkest times in the history of the more moderate message. I was heartened to see world) harbors greater resentment toward the American market. Question why the president's when I got there that someone had already beat- U.S. a year after the attacks than it did before answer to those problems are stiffer penalties for en me to it and a giant peace sign covered the them. Question why many countries in the inter- laws that aren't enforced. hateful epithet. national system are more afraid of the U.S. than Question why so many people and corpora- I woke up later that morning wondering if the they are of Iraq. tions (from T-shirt vendors in New York to events of the previous day had really taken place. Question why only a fraction of the people Kmart Corp.) have appropriated what happened a I woke up knowing things had irrevocably who showed up on the Diag for last night's can- year ago yesterday and used it to their own ends. changed. Some swore war and swift retribution; dlelight vigil would show up for an anti-war Question yourself if any of this is new infor- others promised the events would bring a greater protest if the U.S. attacks Iraq. mation. Question me for writing it. understanding, a national realization of Ameri- Question why a secret service agent investigat- Question everything. ca's hegemony and what that brings. A turning of ing a Muslim man suspected of carrying fake Happy Sept. 12. the corner for American foreign policy and a new checks at Detroit Metro Airport wrote anti-Mus- awareness that what happened was not a freak lim slurs on a prayer calendar found at the man's David Enders can be reached at accident but precipitated by the growing divide house and received only a six-month suspension. denders@umich.edu. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 4 Daily editorial fails to condemn the perpetrators of the Sept. 11 attacks TO THE DAILY: As a recent University graduate, I turned to The Michigan Daily online, on this day of remembrance, to see what was being said on campus about the Sept. 11 anniversary. I was saddened to read your paper's editorial, After Sept. 11 (09/11/02) due to the complete lack of any expression of hope, reflection or grief for the more than 3,000 victims of the tragedy one year ago. Instead, the Daily offered a hardened expression of pseudo-sto- icism by commending the University for its "cautious resistance far superior to blind patriotism..." in its efforts to protect civil liberties. Indeed, I love the University for the scope of ideas that its students encompass and for the degree of intellectual skepticism and questioning that embody our learning. Yet with this quality ought to have come the maturity to stand up - today more than ever - in defense of the innocent who were killed and against the hateful rhetoric that has supported and encouraged these acts. I too believe in civil liberties because I believe in freedom and equality. Yet, this conviction comes from my moral strength that also forces me to condemn terrorist acts and join with my fellow Americans in an expression of anguish. I feel heartened to see the world joining today with our country in unity against terror and in mourning for those who saw its fate. Unfortunately, The Michigan Daily chose not to take part in this. JORDAN NODEL University alum Commemorate Sept. 11 with the continuation of America's war on terrorism TO THE DAILY: The United States seems to have been stuck in a year-long struggle to "remember" and "pay homage" to the gruesome attacks on our nation; during this past Saturday's football game, we were reminded that the sporting event was "to honor the memory of those lost" last Sept. 11. Through candle- light vigils, prayers, songs and stories of remembrance, we pay our respects to those "special" weapons pose a continuing threat to our allies in the region, not the least of which are Israel, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. Furthermore, Hussein is in constant violation of the cease-fire agree- ment he signed at the end of the Cold War. He continues to deny admission to weapons inspectors, as well as their free-reign to conduct their business; sustains a build-up of military forces on the border with Kuwait and his anti-aircraft weaponry defies the prescribed "no-fly" zone on a daily basis. These criteria alone would justify military action on the part of the United States alone, if not the rest of the coalition forces of 1991. This alone should be enough; without Sept. 11, this would be a valid argument in favor of military action against Iraq. But now things are different; we are at war against terror and those who sponsor it. Iraq as a government and Hussein as a dictator, have openly and admittedly sponsored and supported terrorist activities across the globe. This requires little evidence; it is acknowledged as fact. A portion of the joint resolution passed by the U.S. Congress on Sept. 14, 2001 reads as follows: "The president is autho- rized to use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, autho- rized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on Sept. 11, 2001, or harbored such organizations or persons ..." As reported recently in major media out- lets such as the International Herald Tri- bune, operatives of the al-Qaeda network have had a strong foothold, not to mention aid and comfort, in Iraq for a long time indeed It is with the mindset, not of revenge, but of safety and security, that we have no choice but to end Hussein's reign of terror. He is but the next in a long line of terrorist dictators who, quite simply, have got to go. All the football games, free concerts and renditions of God Bless America "in memo- ry" will do well to remember those who died, but let's also remember who made this day what it is. Let's finish what those ter- rorists and those who support them started. Mr. and Mrs. America, let's roll. RUBEN DURAN Engineering junior The Daily's expectations for University security were impatient and unrealistic sity Housing had created a committee to look into this issue and begin preparing the residence halls for this change. Over the summer the residence halls are used for conferences and summer housing therefore making it very difficult to accom- plish this task. Many other questions also have to be answered before card readers can be placed on all of the residents' doors as well. Questions have to be answered con- cerning the card and pin systems and many new policies need to be developed on what students will do if they lose their card and so on. If these questions are not answered first, then there will be a great deal of trou- ble when the card readers are installed. In conclusion, even though the University does take a great deal of time to make some changes this is one which it has been trying to get done as soon as possible. Time is needed to plan how this change would take place or we will have much bigger problems come when these card readers are installed. The most important thing to realize is that residents need to continue to lock their doors when they are sleeping or out; don't prop open doors, and also make sure that you report any suspicious people to the Depart- ment of Public Safety. TIM WINSLOW Engineering senior President of the Residence Halls Association University students enjoy adequate resources for all of their computing needs TO THE DAILY: I'm writing in response to "An empty Fishbowl?" editorial (09/10/02). Although the Angell Hall computing site will close at 11:30 p.m. from Sept. 3-14, there are ade- quate alternatives in place to assure that stu- dents have access to the computing resources they may need. Both the Michigan Union and the UGLI, which are centrally located, have computing sites open for extended hours. The Michigan Union is a 24-hour (key card) computing lab and Shapiro Library closes at 5:00 a.m. Between the two facili- ties, there are 110 machines available which should be plenty to accommodate demand. Additionally, over 250 computers are available in the residence halls in sites that are accessible to residents 24/7 through key card access. We use the first two weeks of the semes- 4 4 '' U