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4A - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, October 24, 2002
OP/ED
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STUDENTS AT THE
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
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JON SCHWARTZ
Editor in Chief
JOHANNA HANINK
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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.
(It's the largest
increase in defense
spending since
President Reagan
was the president."
JENNIFER GREENE JENN' CIt.XNF-R
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- President George W. Bush regarding
the new $355 billion defense budget
that he signed into law yesterday
as quoted by The Associated Press.
The buffet line starts here, sir
LUKE SMITH THERE IS NO . IN COLUMN
ow! That was the check the website any further and proceeded to the league's discriminatory hiring policies
best movie I've broadcast his excitement to the class while we're regarding black coaches. Mehri said the meet-
seen in a long supposed to be learning (it is a Film class, so is ing with league officials was a "very productive,
time. I'm so glad I got to see "Punch-Drunk" automatically fair game?). I also substantive meeting." It is so refreshing to see
it last weekend. I would've learned that "Manhattan" is about relationships, two sides of a completely absurd issue come
never known that "Punch- special thanks to whoever contributed that together and placate one another publicly. Now,
Drunk Love" was opening if nugget. Around the horn, bullet style. the Black Coaches Association plans to release
not for the kid in my discus- News the hiring policies of various college institutions
sion section who talked about The serial sniper or beltway sniper - what- so that recruits would have an additional criteri-
it at the end of class. The ever he is being named now - has sealed his on to employ when making a college choice.
plot summary he provided was so helpful to under- own fate. True, investigators are barely a hair Excellent, Grambling will be a major football
standing PTA's (movie geekspeak for Paul Thomas closer to catching this guy, whoever he is (or power in the next four years, count on it. (Insert
Anderson - oh, you don't know who he is, he these guys, if conspiracy theorists prefer), but he a gratuitous Doug Williams joke here.)
directed "Boogie Nights" and "Magnolia") new has screwed the pooch with the Saturday mes- Barry Bonds, (steroid free!) is the only player
quirky romantic comedy. And to think, I would've sage to parents in the affected region. "Your in the history of the Major League Baseball to
totally missed out if he hadn't told the rest of class. children are not safe, anytime, anywhere." hit a home run in his first three World Series
Thanks a ton buddy. Good idea. You've paralyzed a region in fear; games. This would be almost impressive if, A)
This is the problem with discussion section now you have pissed off an entire, massive bat- the home run still mattered, B) Baseball's
here at the University. Random kids will open tery of parents. The sniper will be brought to World Series ratings weren't down 30 percent
their mouths during class and explain something vigilante justice when a parent calls the tip line and C) if baseball wasn't the second best sport
that is completely irrelevant, and more impor- saying they have the sniper's spine in hand. Hell to nap to (number one goes to the WNBA).
tantly, completely wrong. This type of student hath no fury like parents whose children have Arts
- the kind of kid who wears all maize and blue been threatened (or a woman's scorn for Sega). Special thanks to the White Stripes, who let
and if he broke his arm, will wear a Michigan The United States discovered that North Korea Jeff and I take the two leftover seats from their
cast - rules. And the cast looks great, sport! is harboring at least one, but possibly two nuclear personal mandatory celebrity buffer zone at this
It's a tragedy that student speech under- missiles. We are,.naturally, concerned. It is a nice week's Beck concert. The fifth row center tick-
mines the usefulness of discussion sections. Pri- distraction from the begging and pleading to ets were way nicer than the freebies from Inter-
marily students like this one: His concept of check out Iraq's suspected weapons. Heaven for- scope all the way back in R - which wasn't that
informing the class instead ends up misinform- bid there are any nuclear missiles in existence far back and the acoustics were better back there.
ing everyone. Excellent work. that don't have the Red, White & Blue all over Finally, PTA's "Punch-Drunk Love" opens
Can you really fault this gentleman though? them. This is a pretty third grade policy: We can tomorrow on campus. You know, PTA, the guy
The hard-to-follow three-tiered opening of have it and you can't. It is a lot like the "We who directed "Magnolia," "Boogie Nights" and
"Punch-Drunk Love" misled him. On Oct. 11, the won't trade with communist Cuba, but God help "Hard Eight?" Oh, you haven't heard of him? I
film had limited release; the following week, it us if we miss a deal with communist China" atti- guess you wouldn't really care then. Sorry for
opened wider. Chances are, the gentleman in tude. Double standards are pretty sweet. wasting your time.
question simply checked www.imdb.com one SPorts
morning and saw the Films Opening banner read Lawyer Cyrus Mehri met with NFL execu- Luke Smith can be reached
"Punch-Drunk Love" (wider). Naively, he didn't tives for two-and-a-half hours Tuesday about at lukems@umich.edu.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
01
Republicans, Democrats
are ready for change;
Granholm can provide
TO THE DAILY:
The Daily's editorial (Divided Michigan
falls 10/21/02) holds that the upcoming Michi-
gan gubernatorial elections will only split the
state into two parts: Detroit and everything
else. It is true that Dick Posthumus has been
making every effort to cast Jennifer Granholm
as the sinister puppet of African-American,
urban special interests. However, returning to
my home in the western half of the state for
Fall Break, I noticed an odd thing. My district
has sent a Republican to Congress in 13 con-
secutive elections, yet yard signs endorsing
Granholm's candidacy far outnumbered those
endorsing Posthumus.
Granholm's ability to make inroads into
the state's conservative power base is a reflec-
tion of her public commitment to "reach out
to all our people as well as knock down barri-
ers and dispel prejudices that hold us all
back." The Democratic candidate has made a
concerted effort to reach out to all the groups
in the state and this is resonating with voters
who recognize that Posthumus' attempts to
exploit racial, economic and geographic hos-
tility to revive his floundering campaign. A
true leader brings people together instead of
splitting them apart.
Over the past 12 years the state's
Republican administration has operated
under the notion that Michigan's largest
population center doesn't exist. The Daily
is correct in saying a divided Michigan is a
weak Michigan; it is for exactly that reason
that a leader with the desire and skill to
bring the state together can set Michigan on
the path for a bright future.
JAY RAPAPORT
LSA freshman
Posthumus tries to use
non-issues to lead voters
away from real problems
TO THE DAILY:
In less than three weeks, voters will be
going to the polls and the Posthumus campaign
is stepping up the rhetoric in an attempt to
divide the state and gain last-minute support.
In a recent television ad that reads "It's
Liberal. It's Extreme. It's Granholm,"
non-issue; Michigan was never a slave
state, so has no reason to be held account-
able. Not convinced? Granholm can be
quoted in the Detroit News (which endorsed
Posthumus) as saying "I don't support writ-
ing checks to people." (Detroit News,
10/3/02, Posthumus Plays the Race Card)
The facts are clear. At no point did
Granholm attempt to "buy votes" as the
GOP alleges. Slave reparations are a non-
issue intended to distract the voters. The
Posthumus campaign should pull its nega-
tive advertising and focus on the issues, not
divisive politics.
SUHAEL MOMIN
LSA freshman
Students should remember
that self-serving education
is sterile and destructive
TO THE DAILY:
In his resistance against the prevailing
Nazism of his day, Dietrich Bonhoeffer
remarked that the Christian "ought not to
abandon the dark and evil world to the
devil." While saying nothing of Jess
Piskor's own beliefs in his column, (I Regret
to Inform You, I Won't Be Rich, 10/23/02), I
commend him for his interest in the less
seemly and less desirable world of others -
the disadvantaged and neglected.
We may come to this University imagining
our education to be a process benefiting strictly
ourselves, financially or otherwise. But hope-
fully somewhere between registration and
graduation day we discover, as Piskor has, that
this learning of ours is a process to be under-
taken in relation to those around us: our
friends, neighbors and enemies. One could
even say that, until just such a realization is
made, our education remains sterile and even
destructive - serving only to provide for our-
selves, while, in Camus' diction, condemning
other men and women to death.
That we often conceive of education in
consumeristic terms is sad and alienating.
(As if our life is some kind of investment:
We put in a little effort now in order to
receive dividends later - yet in the mean-
time we forfeit our true selves for
vacuities.) That we need not, that the pres-
ence of others affords us the opportunity to
look beyond ourselves, is reason for hope.
And it is evidence, as Bonhoeffer puts it,
that even in this dark and evil world there is
a possibility of selfless action - altruistic,
transforming and (dare I saiv it) (Christ-like.
won't be rich. I am concerned with two issues
with this article: First, Piskor's continued
espousal that attending business or law
school requires, in his words, "compromis-
ing one's beliefs." And second, his insistence
that monetary success must be separate from
activism, happiness and community.
I've sat and read as Piskor has opened
many of his editorials with ad hominem
attacks of business and law students.
Accusations that these students are
immoral, money-grubbing, people-hating
anti-activists are baseless and ungrounded.
It would seem that according to Piskor one
must essentially sell their soul to gain
admission to these programs.
I have yet to hear a warranted argu-
ment (besides their love of SUVs and
hatred of common people, particularly
those who want to express their opinions)
for why these students are less activism-
prone or more "anti-community" than any-
one else. Is Piskor so myopic in his view
of the University community that he really
separates each school out this way?
I challenge him to explain to his audi-
ence the origin of these feelings. Did a
business school student steal money from
him when he was younger or revoke his
health insurance? Did a tax lawyer send
his mother or father to prison?
My second point is simple: No matter
what your major is you are allowed to be
an activist and you are allowed to stand up
for your beliefs, the beliefs of others, hap-
piness and community. This point is true
regardless of how much you care about
money or the amount of it you make.
I don't understand Piskor's reasoning
behind his insistence that one can't achieve
happiness while working in certain occupa-
tions. Why must one who places impor-
tance in their career "close the door" to
activism? Has Piskor never heard of
lawyers taking pro bono work or accoun-
tants helping low-income or underprivi-
leged families straighten out their finances?
Admittedly, these people are in the minori-
ty, but so is Piskor and his.flagrant attacks
are a far cry from progressive activism.
My thought and concern is that it isn't
businesspeople and lawyers that prevent peo-
ple from becoming effective activists and
agents of change in this society, it's thoughts
like those of Piskor that separate us and con-
vince people that we must live inside the
stereotypes that have been created.
MArr BRODY
Business senior
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