4 - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, October 1, 2002 OP/ED c'be £ibigatn ittiI 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 If you catch this guy, Bin Laden, I would like to be the one to execute him." - Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani to President Bush after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The quotation appears in Giuliani's new book, Leadership. &why (leh ri ,it 1QCS uv+ i h. ed 14' ' "- ;; yyy l ,, r ,4 J f " u .d 0 SAM BUTLER CAsC; )A PBOX -1 % "O G A IV' L A sym- Gay :s next week. The LGBT com-. has asked the facilities depart- fly the rainbow flag in honor of 1 Coming Out Week (Oct. 7- a well-intentioned gesture, the n Student Assembly passed a n during last Tuesday's meeting -mend that the facilities depart- the flag that week. Despite the 'als of tolerance and acceptance A hoped to spread through its ,if facilities chooses to fly the flag it could establish a trou- :cedent where certain organiza- favored over other groups. important to realize that the solution is not binding and the decision to raise the rainbow r campus will be that of the ity's facilities. The lack of t could allow for the facilities ent to make capricious deci- at advance certain political Vhile it may appear to be a moment for the LGBT com- if the facilities manager to allow the rainbow flag to ayed, in'the future a facilities hostile to the LGBT commu- id refuse a request and sup- ;roup with goals opposed to S over vU' e dangerous precedent from University property? Would these decisions be based on student membership? Would groups with hate- ful or violent messages be permitted to have their messages unfurled beneath a clear blue Michigan sky? Student groups are given numerous outlets to make their presence known on campus. From Diag chalking to seminars to cultural events, University students are fortunate to have the right fo express themselves as they see fit. These forums for expression do not require the sanction or approval of the University administration and thus, allow all members of the University f '(ate esne ce. I1 I ) I r--- 0 Higher education, brought to you by Clearasil AUBREY HENRETTY NEUTii.& c;t o Po ctas' o*4-ofl community equal access to express their views. To avoid the development of University favoritism, it is neces- sary that the University's facilities are not politicized. It would best serve the University community for the facili- ties department to refuse the request to fly the LGBT flag and immediately institute a policy where all similar requests will be denied in the future. It is important to support the LGBT community not just during Coming Out Week, but throughout the year. It is a community which continues to be the subject of persistent persecution and ostracization. National Coming Out Week serves as an opportunity for all community members to express their support for sexual orientation equity in our society. Students should take the responsibility for advancing this message of justice by their own individual actions, wearing rainbow pins, attending events and discussing the challenges that the LGBT commu- nity presently faces, not by the actions of the University. re you a cool girlfriend? Are you a diva? Are you college mater- ial? In a stunning dis- play of hot colors, cool fonts and hard-hitting journalism, the Octo- ber issue of Seventeen magazine asks its readership all three of these tough questions. You'll have to forgive my cynicism. It's just that I bought this magazine instead of dinner Sunday night, swallowed my pride and coughed up $3.99 because I wanted to see what Seventeen's editors had to say about my own humble University, which they ranked number 10 on their list of The 50 Coolest Colleges. I was hoping to find evi- dence that I'd been wrong about Seventeen all these years, that it and other magazines of its ilk were not products of a vast teeny bop- per industry ploy to make a lot of money making little girls dumber. I can't say it looked promising. Reese Witherspoon was staring sultrily at me, sur- rounded by promises of the latest on Josh Hartnett's college years and outfit sugges- tions for college interviews and hot dates. Lots of capital letters. Not exactly The Princeton Review, but I was willing to give it a chance. Maybe the content of the article would make up for the presentation. I mum- bled something about the pursuit of knowl- edge to the bookstore clerk as he dropped my receipt and my penny into my outstretched hand. He nodded politely. I have to digress for a moment here to explain why people should care about what makes it onto the pages of these magazines. They seem innocuous enough, offering bright colors and hip quizzes to the girls who love them. Young teenagers and preteens are generally selfish creatures. In most cases, they don't lose sleep over anything that will actually matter to themselves or anybody else 10 years down the line. They don't read Seventeen for college advice. But this is the first contact many of them will have with periodicals and the printed word and what they. read at this level has the power to shape attitudes and expectations more than we or they like to think. So any nudge in the direction of higher education is good for the nation's junior female popula- tion, right? Wrong. What even I forgot in my eagerness to give Seventeen a chance is that presentation is everything. Girls (boys, too, I suppose) this age will care about what they think they're supposed to care about; these magazines teach them to confuse substance with style. Here's an example: "We couldn't find a college survey aimed at girls," the table of contents said, "so we did our own, based on what matters to you." Already, we have two false assumptions: First, that girls want or need their college surveys to be printed on scented pink paper and second, that what matters to them is not the same as what mat- ters to boys searching for the perfect college. These assumptions respectively discourage ambition (i.e. 'tis better to wait for a hand- written invitation than to show up with a notebook like everyone else) and re-enforce existing perceived divides in the way boys and girls think. The eight-page feature itself was beset on both sides by page after page of advertise- ments. "We won't bore you with the math behind The 50 Coolest Colleges," swears a statement between the list and the "Are you college material?" quiz. Because math doesn't matter, girls! What matters, it says, are boy-to-girl ratios and quality of mass transit, proximity to shopping opportunities and financial aid programs and access to co- ed dormitories. Wait a second. I was skimming. Did that say financial aid and mass transit? Like, schol- arships and buses and stuff? I'm confused. Since the editors didn't want to bore her with the math, a girl can only assume they assigned equal importance to her statistical chances of snagging a future doctor/lawyer/engineer boy and the number of miles to the nearest Abercrombie and Fitch outlet. I guess I can see why this would be important to a magazine whose primary purpose is to sell products, but for actual girls looking to further their educations, these are pretty worthless factors to consider. The problem with placing them next to things that might really matter is that Seven- teen's readership might be too young to know the difference or care. The magazine's editors don't have a responsibility to educate their readers, but they also shouldn't pretend that's what they're doing; framing college in terms .of designer dorm accessories and dressing to impress is a self-serving, spon- sor-friendly sham. My advice? Skip the mag- azine. Get dinner instead. Aubrey Henretty can be reached at ahenrett@umich.edu. 0 'I. these concerns, the facilities department the flag would be : to justly navigate. lent group have the ag or symbol flown LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 0 Ifor nurses needs to improve outreach escaped the ly is currently :alth system ortage, stat- ian 126,000 in the Unit- proven by the 12 percent increase in the past year. This outreach must be extended not only to females, but also to the males. The stigma of the male nurse is slowly being dismissed and the University must attempt to accelerate that process by welcoming more qualified males to the ranks of the profession. A more thorough review of appli- cants can determine genuine interest to nursing. Since the number of peo- ple applying for the college is rela- tively low, the administrators are awarded more time in reviewing each application. The school should implement an improved admittance process by replacing the focus of the admissions officers on personal essays and interviews instead of data from standardized tests. Coleman displayed moral courage in her e-mail to 'U' concerning divestment TO THE DAILY: I was surprised and ashamed to see the Daily (Misused mass message, 09/30/02) condemn University President Mary Sue Coleman's mass e-mail in which she expressed her feelings on the current move- ment to divest from Israel. I for one would like to commend President Coleman for stepping up and speaking out against the anti-Zionist, anti-Semitic campaign that veils itself as divestment. The divestment debate has been picking up steam at many universities in recent weeks. One such university is the so-called "Michigan of the East," Harvard University, where two weeks ago President Lawrence Summers denounced the divestment move- ment as "an action which is anti-Semitic in effect, if not in intent." Harvard Law Prof. Alan Dershowitz went on to comment on Israel's comparatively outstanding human rights record and democracy in the midst of surrounding repressive Arab regimes. Regardless of whether the Students Allied for Freedom and Equality e-mail was a spoof or not, Coleman was correct in echo- ing these sentiments and speaking out against divestment. All too often, the influential peo- ple in our communities are silent when faced with deplorable discrimination. I would like thank our University president for using her forum constructively to condemn this bigot- ed campaign. JEREMY LACKS LSA sophomore LGBT flag serves to unite all of the University under a message of inclusiveness To THE DAILY: So much for it being "quite clear to every student on campus that this is an environ- ment that promotes tolerance of all lifestyles," as Mike Saltsman stated (Letters to the Editor, 09/26/02). I was both saddened and angered at the letter. However, I do agree that we should all take advantage of what Old Glory stands for. How quickly we forget about inalienable rights and equality for all when it is for those whose lifestyles we condemn. I understand and agree with the idea that the flagpole should not be used to pro- mote individual student groups. The rain- bow flag is not, however, a recruiting effort or a way to "convert" people to the LGBT community. Furthermore, the flag is not an advertisement for the University's LGBT campus group, but rather a univer- sal symbol of the gay community and its struggle for equal rights. It is a way not only of celebrating diversity, but also a call for awareness and acceptance of this group of Americans. Mike Saltsman mentioned that if a Christ- ian group wanted to hang its flag on the flag- pole, it would probably be met with a wall of opposition - and I agree. But this is not an issue of mere exposure. This is an issue of civil rights. Christians, as a group, have not repeatedly been denied the civil rights and liberties that are allegedly afforded to all Americans, despite the fact that there are many people who disagree with the Christian lifestyle. The day when the ideals and rights represented by the rainbow flag can be encompassed in the American flag is the day we will no longer need to debate this issue. Until then, I support the advancement of civil rights for the LGBT community, which have long been stomped on by both America and apparently University students. JULIE CRIMMINS Business School senior 0 to ci h for the present nurs- niversity has a nbat the nursing lie benefit of its ie future of the >ol of N schools. its often through :ges wit] Imission lower f .y studen ursing in the I view which VIEWPOINT The liberal case for expanding free trade hin the Nurses are some of the hardest stan- workers in the health field, but they or the still remain the lowest paid. Progress nts opt has been made: Hospitals, on high alert trans- due to the lack of nursing staff, has rec- e, Sci- ognized the need to improve the situa- school tion and entered much needed k-door negotiations. Michigan's legislature is iversi- also working toward creating the >urage Michigan Nurse Scholarship, which gram: would award over 1,000 students up to selfish a $3,000 scholarship. The increased y from awareness about the nursing shortage sing. makes this a great opportunity to pro- e col- mote the School of Nursing, one that mns, as the University should not pass up. BY CHRIS MILLER With the recent meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund in our nation's capital, once again our nation's busi- ness, finance, and trade relationships with the international community have come under scrutiny. While there are indeed parts of the above that deserve examination and alter- ation, it is important to remember that free trade can play a crucial role in increasing the quality of life both in the United States and around the globe. First, protectionism harms the poor -_ Americans and non-Americans alike. Tariffs are highest for the most basic goods needed in life. Take clothing and shoes for example. As review of commerce and trade data by the Progressive Policy Institute in Washington, T) C hn e )A Ain +al th.enA itA .n trading partners grow. Tariffs are regressive toward poorer nations. The Progressive Poli- cy Institute has also discovered, for example, in 2001 the poverty stricken Bangladesh paid tariffs nearly identical to. those of France, despite French imports to the United States being over 13 times more larger in dollar terms. Cutting or eliminating tariffs with nations like Bangladesh would profoundly increase job opportunities as opportunities for trade with America were opened up. Indeed, if the State Department were to conduct a poll of developing nations on what type of assis- tance from America they would prefer, tariff and quota reductions would lead the list. One of the United States' recent unsung foreign accomplishments has its trade rela- tionship with Jordan, in the Middle East. Since it joined the World Trade Organization and signed a trade nact with the U.S., its action that would improve sentiments towards America in Pakistan would b important for- eign policy goals, but the President either thinks otherwise or doesn't care. Now, it is important to realize that bene- fits accrued from open trade policy don't occur in a vacuum. In the United States, for example, jobs are displaced and eliminated. If the government puisues policies promot- ing and enacting free trade, it absolutely must not forget those workers. It ought to provide sufficient unemployment insurance, health insurance extensions, and job training to ensure that those displaced by trade either have jobs to return to or learn new skills that will help them find a career in a new industry and not put their family at risk. Abroad, the United States must also work to make sure its trading partners follow up on their obliga- tions-safe working conditions and oroper A V -- is :_ A