4A - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, December 5, 2002
OP/ED
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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.
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necessarily reflect the opinion of The Michigan Daily.
NOTABLE
QUOTABLE
(Today's events mark a
very sad note during our
country's first days of
independence."
- Mari Alkatiri, Prime Minister of East
Timor, on rioting sparked by a police
shooting that led to five fatalities and resulted
in an angry mob burning down Alkatiri's
house, as reported yesterday by Reuters.
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On gradumatation
BRENDA ABDELALL THE TOKEN GEM
With my gradua-
tion next week,
I find myself
sad that I am leaving
campus. College is the
best time in anyone's
.;life. I learned a lot in col-
lege, not necessarily
from classes, but from
everyday experiences.
1. A college degree doesn't help you finish
crossword puzzles
Yes, I am graduating and have yet to fin-
ish a crossword puzzle. I spent the past three-
and-a-half years getting a college education
and, on a good day, I can finish about half of
a puzzle. On Thirsdays, I find myself still
grappling with Monday's crossword that I
buried in my backpack thinking I would
come to an epiphany of what 'palindromic
parseghian' means. Why don't I know this
stuff? Is there a class called, "Random infor-
mation that you will never need to know
unless you are bored in class working on a
crossword puzzle?" If so, please let me know
- I'll come back next semester just for that.
2. "Oh baby you, you got what I need, but
you say you're just a "friend"..."
You really do meet all types of people in
college. There are your true friends and then
your "friends." Your true friends are those
that you spend the majority of your time
with, the ones that you hang out with, live
with and you know you will keep in touch
with post-graduation. By "friends" I mean
your classmates with whom your conversa-
tions never move beyond the usual, 'How are
you? How are classes?" There are the overly
nice "friends" that you question their sinceri-
ty every time you hear them squeal, "Hey,
where've you been? I missed you!" These
are the ones that trick you. If you ask them
for their notes when you sleep in through
class, they come up with a million different
excuses. If you ask them if you can study
together for your upcoming exam, they are
conveniently always busy. However, when
they need something, they bully you and give
you a guilt trip until you end up forking over
your exam outlines even though that same
person wouldn't give you their notes. How
nasty. Regardless, you learn in college whom
you can trust, who is really there for you and
who is just a "friends."
3. There is always time for Oprah
I am probably the last person that should
talk about stress. During exams, I'm an irri-
table mess. I cry when my computer freezes
in Angell hall, I binge on junk food until my
stomach is sick and I snap at everyone with-
in a five-foot radius of me. I used to type up
extensive outlines and study all night that I
missed out on so much of college life. Only
last year did I realize that if you chill a little
bit, you can get so much more done and you
become a much happier person (and my
grades were actually better). Stress is really
bad for your body. Too many of my friends
have ulcers and other stress-related prob-
lems. What my roommates and I have dis-
covered this year is that no matter how much
work we have, how busy we may be, there is
always time for Oprah. That one hour in
which we sit down and talk during the com-
mercials, catch up with one another, watch-
ing Oprah give away digital cameras and
talk about love and relationships is probably
the most relaxing and stress-free time of the
day.
4. There is a world beyond our bubble
Ann Arbor is a safe haven for many of us.
The worst thing we have to worry about liv-
ing here on campus is having your bike stolen
and getting a parking ticket. We don't live in
a war zone, under military occupation, nor do
we work under oppressive conditions for five
cents a day. Becoming active on campus will
allow one to see the faces behind the news
stories. The 98-year-old Palestinian woman
shot to death the other day is an actual per-
son, with a family and a story. We read about
sweatshop laborers only if it's newsworthy,
but that's someone's reality. Getting involved
in campus events really helps open peoples
eyes. There are lectures daily on campus that
many of us miss the opportunity to attend. As
college students, we cannot let apathy and
laziness get the best of us. With the divest-
ment movement and the upcoming affirma-
tive action case gaining national media
attention, it is imperative that each student
takes the time to research the issues and find
where they stand and get involved.
Nine semesters later, the lessons that I
learned did not come from any textbook.
Rather, I learned how to survive through the
stresses and drama of college life. Just
remember: Take time out to enjoy college
life, because it will fly by and you will miss
it more than anything - even those damn
crossword puzzles.
This is Brenda Abdelall's last column. She can be
reached at abdelal@umich.eduz
0
Going all the way
DAVID ENDERS WEIRD SCIENCE
G rowing up, I of all this. So I'll tell a little story: Back to the present.
always watched It was May and I was a naive young reporter I am a little disappointed affirmative
New Year's Day working on a story about student reactions to action needed so much help to make it this far
football games with my the decision of the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of and that BAMN was so easily able to hijack
grandparents. I entered Appeals to reverse the ruling against of the Uni- most of the publicity associated with speaking
c college with a vague versity in the law school case. Interviewing ran- out on behalf of the University's policies. (She
notion that it might be dom students is certain death (think: likes my tie.) In any case, anyone who's not
interesting, might even "Jaywalking" on the "Tonight Show"), but I did wearing a white hood and bedsheet should
inspire a sense of cama- it anyway: probably renounce their citizenship if the
raderie amongst people on campus, if the "Wait - somebody sued our law school? court decides not to support the University's
football team won a national championship. Isn't that, like, stupid? To sue a bunch of policies. In case you need proof of the neces-
But it was not to be during my tenure in lawyers? Hey, I like your tie." sity of affirmative action, there is the, Univer-
Ann Arbor and I was forced to consign She likes my tie. sity's own defense of its policy: Diversity
myself to leaving that the University with a After a few more interviews in which I benefits everyone, therefore we should sup-
vague notion of dissatisfaction. explained to people what the court had port it. That's true, but read it this way: diver-
But that dissatisfaction was erased Monday, announced earlier that day (which generally sity is good for white people. The University,
by the announcement the University will soon producing befuddled looks and requests for me in its own defense, is forced to ignore histori-
be performing on another national stage. Get to explain further) I saw a shiny gray car pull up cal and ongoing racism to sell its policy. (In
out your MICHIGAN SCOTUS T-shirts and in front of the Union. Jesse Jackson got out. case you need proof of that ongoing racism,
get hyped. Get ready to "Blue Out" the Saved! I was so excited by the arrival of go to www.blackpeopleloveus.com and look at
Supreme Court gallery. In a step that shouldn't someone quotable I accidentally followed Jack- the postings from some of the people who
have been a surprise to anyone, the final round son into the bathroom. The rest of the news don't get the joke. Frightening.)
of Angry white people v. Bollinger has been set. media were already there. So get ready. The University's real national
Stand up and be proud, everyone! University When Jackson emerged, the Coalition to championship game is coming up.
President Mary Sue Coleman is ready "to Defend Affirmative Action and Integration and On a related (but no less important) note:
defend ourselves vigorously." (Either she's the Fight for Equality by Any Means Necessary We should all pay more attention to the other
most boring person ever or doesn't have much (including the employment of an unnecessarily case from Michigan the court decided to hear
confidence in the University's defense. Lee? long name) sponsored a short circus in which Monday, which concerns the visitation rights
Are you reading? Please come back. You they took credit for the reversal. Note to of prison inmates. Family visits are one of
ignored the faculty, but you were at least BAMN: Revolution is good. Violent revolu- the few things available in prison that gen-
beyond simple tautologies. And didn't you start tion? Not quite yet. uinely reduce recidivism. Overton v.
this whole thing anyway?) Following the news conference, I tried to Bazzetta, a case brought by inmates, chal-
This spring, the attorneys hired by the Uni- locate some of the anti-affirmative action voices lenges the right of prison officials to severely
versity to defend its own law school will get on campus and find out how they felt. I went restrict family visits. Eleven other states had
their five minutes in front of the big nine; the and knocked on the door of The Michigan also asked the court to take the case, which
culmination of lots of time and money that Review. Someone was in the office, but no one will set the tone for the amount of autonomy
sadly had to be spent to prove a bunch of selfish answered: All I heard were whispers: state prison officials are allowed in creating
people wrong. And now that things have hit the "Should we open the door?" policy for years to come.
big time, all you fair-weather fans should proba- Apparently they were afraid I might be a
bly familiarize yourselves with what's happen- black person. No one responded to the note I David Enders can be reached at
ing and especially the players on the periphery slipped under the door soliciting comment. denders@umich.edu.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Kumar's perception of ISA's
formation and existence is
misinfoned, incorrect
To THE DAILY:
,This is in response to Rishtee Kumar's
letter to the Daily in which the author pre-
sented wrong information about the Indian
of dichotomous division of Indian commu-
nity into ISA and IASA is untrue. Apart
from ISA and IASA, which are two big
ones, there exist around 10 more India
related student organizations on campus
each focusing on different issues and
hence catering to different tastes and moti-
vations. To us, this truly represents the
Indian culture which preaches "unity in
diversity".
That there are vast differences in behavior
and ,mannerism of Indiauns and Indian Amern-
Daily's use of statistics on
hate crimes misleading
In regard to Dan Trudeau's article yes-
terday in the Daily, Political climate blamed
for hate crime increase:
I think it would be more helpful to the
readers of the Daily if Trudeau included
all relevant facts with regard to the
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