4 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, September 19, 2003 OP/ED Uij~e Lidtijan Datig 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 We've had no evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved with September 11." - President Bush, Wednesday, on the perception held by many that Hussein was directly responsible for Sept. 11, as reported by the Associated Press. i C-is, CLARk SAM BUTLER CLAssIc SOAPBOX I I -'AR&IET PRAVTLCE Cleaning up the mud bowl 0 SRAVYA CHIRUMAMILLA nce seventh grade begins for the resi- dents of the usually demure Detroit suburb of Bloomfield Hills, the extravagant, dou- ble -envelopes -and- RSVP-card invitations that are more formal than for some wed- dings, arrive at curbside mailboxes. Bar- and bat-mitzvah season is one of the most exciting and tiring social events of a mid- die schooler's life; its only rival, the eighth grade graduation, doesn't hold a light to the excess celebrations commemo- rating ones entrance into adulthood. It is all about choosing the most interest- ing and innovative theme and carrying out this selection to the nth detail - be it the karaoke for the superstar theme or the precise shade of pink on the stamps chosen to match the RSVP cards. The guest lists are long yet selective and include only the haves who have already experimented (and of course succeeded) with blond highlights and engrossed in the decidedly awesome alterna- tive bands such as Pearl Jam or Green Day. The PTA and the schools tried to offer the poor souls not invited to any parties a monthly Friday fun night. However, it was more detrimental for someone's social career to be seen at one of these fun nights if there was in fact a roaring party to which s/he was not invited than the actual noninvite. This season allows us to grow accus- tomed to the social scenes in high school and more importantly, those at college and beyond. While high school can be easily dis- WEAVING THE HANDBASKET missed as another hormone-raging, self- defacing nuance of youth, the social life at this University is simply a reinstatement of seventh-grade principles: we are the compa- ny we keep and people still judge based on the group to which someone belongs or with whom someone associates. Receiving an invitation or being dissed becomes an issue about which one can spend hours contemplating. The Minority Greek Council took a hit in the jugular last year when the Panhellenic representative approached MGC about Greek Week. It was not the welcoming gesture of intermin- gling that came about at that fateful meet- ing. Instead, members of MGC were invited to help set-up and clean up after the IFC and Panhellenic, who would actually partic- ipate in the events. They had already made the teams, the guest list of sorts, and could not include us in the festivities. But really, the representa- tive wanted us to be a part of the week-long celebration and simply because we would be cleaning-up after the mud bowl instead of participating in it didn't mean we were any less part of the Greek system. But of course, I mustn't fault the stu- dents. After all, we're expected to make mistakes; we are still that child who is rewarded when he finally succeeds in not peeing on everyone. And our spoon fed education, where professors spend hours reading a syllabus, teaches us to be whiny bitches incapable of reading a syllabus, much less being so PC as to include minorities in our organizations. The MGC is in a sense that somewhat friend you didn't want at the party but felt bad about not inviting and whom you ask over for lunch the next day. Sadly, the University doesn't have the courtesy to invite us for leftovers, and in fact, diminishes our exis- tence all together. The Office of Student Activities and Leadership has been providing students with a publication, Synergy, since 1997 that includes an introduction of student organiza- tions. This year, however, Synergy forgot to mention that besides the iFC and Panhel- lenic, other options exist for students inter- ested in going Greek. Perhaps it is easy to forget the minorities for whom the Universi- ty has been fighting in the court system the past six years, or even more likely, perhaps those in the MGC don't count as minorities. The latter point fails in that the MGC includes some of the "real" minorities, those whom the University considers under-repre- sented. Even while riding on the coattails of a few fraternities and sororities that can be considered "real" minorities, the MGC is denied acceptance and admission. With the Greek system, a minority fra- ternity at least made the cover of the infor- mation pamphlet, whereas we're not even on the books at the University. After years of stressing the importance of diversity, the University must take an active role in recognizing and promoting the students who are already part of the college tapes- try. While it is necessary to uphold the University's image as an all-encompassing institution, it would be a nice change if in fact all students, minority, Greek or nei- ther, were accepted for the diversity they each bring to the campus. A Chirumamilla can be reached at schiruma umich.edu. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Contrary to Pesick's claims, global free trade is often harmiu to poor nations To THE DAILY: Jason Pesick's column, Free trade and cowbells (09/17/03) is a shallow National Enquirer-level analysis which deeply dishon- ors real victims like Lee Kyung Hae, a South Korean farmer who stabbed himself to death Wednesday to protest global trade practices (The Washington Post, 09/11/03) while Pesick was jonesing himself up for the big Notre Dame game. Pesick uses "Red scare" tactics worthy of Ann Coulter, smearing the Cancun activists as being a bunch of "obstructivist commies" or such; but his hys- terical, inaccurate article shows that some- times columnists are even more dangerous than communists. Malaysia's trade minister, Rafidah Aziz, has positively noted the anti-subsidy move- ment so vocal at Cancun, "This has made it clear that developing countries cannot be dic- tated to by anybody." And many of the activists support this anti-subsidy agenda, knowing that while globalization can spread wealth, it can also spread inequality, sweat- shop labor, predatory "sex tourism," etc. Pesick can bang his cowbell till the clapper falls off, but all his ignorant cheerleading for go-go-globalization is not going to solve world problems; only thoughtful action and activism can do so. Or, rephrasing Pesick's fatuous reverse- Marxist bleat, "Bourgeoisie unite!," one might say of folk like Pesick, "Columnists of the world, unite! You have nothing to lose but your brains!" DAVID BOYLE Alum Divesting from Israel contrary to U.S. policies supporting democracy in Middle East TO THE DAILY: In order to assert that divestment from an entity is appropriate, facts must be carefully scrutinized and evaluated without bias. While Mahammed Elghoul may be the vice chair of Students Allied for Freedom and Equality, he Withdrawing support for Israel would be inconsistent with U.S. foreign policy. The United States supports the spread of democ- ratic values; reprisal to a secular democratic state such as Israel would be counter-intu- itive. Also, if divestment were chosen as appropriate, the next question would be "Whom should the United States support in the region?" The first thought would be to look at the Palestinian Authority. Justifiably, the United States refuses to negotiate with Yasser Arafat, who hindered former Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas's success and continues refusal to give up his dictatori- al rule to a more rational leader. Surrounding Islamic and Arabic states could be plausible, however, strict Islamic code in these states prevents the equality that Israel provides. Israel, more than any other country in the Middle East, replicates Ameri- can government and values. Constant fabrications and presumptions are made about the Middle East all the time. However, it is important to maintain an open mind and look for ways to resolve the crisis there. Divestment from Israel will only hurt a fellow democratic state. I support democracy. Ergo, I support Israel. STUART WAGNER LSA freshman A2 council right to ignore disruptive tactics of a small group of individuals TO THE DAILY: Rather than discuss the irrationality of the claims made by a handful of Ann Arbor resi- dents during Monday's City Council meeting, (A2 council sidesteps military resolution, 09/16/03) I feel more compelled to examine the means by which these people chose to present their cause and why the council is to be commended. It is inaccurate to state that the council "sidestepped" any resolution with regard to the Arab-Israeli conflict, because no reso- lution was properly placed in their path. Over the last year or so, a small group of individuals has put on a fortnightly circus for the council, in which they each spend fou'r minutes brandishing a packet of papers, and telling the council to endorse asking them questions on a Saturday morn- ing - a time set aside for me to make requests to the Almighty to bring peace to the State of Israel. I care not to squander my day of rest asking an oversized posterboard to remove itself from a place of worship. While I believe their claims to be highly amiss and highly sensationalized, I would still like to offer them the following sugges- tion: If you are truly interested in being heard, you must take the proper measures - not just the time - to schedule a dia- logue or event, at a time that is convenient for - not insulting to - your intended audience. I must admit, though, that your current decorum does a remarkable job of highlighting the true plight of the Palestin, ian people - counterproductive representa- tion. But I digress. As a longtime resident of Ann Arbor, I thank the City Council for maintaining proper procedural decorum and practicing the demo- cratic processes that they have been elected to uphold. ADAM SOCLOF LSA freshman For more enlightening view of Paul's opinions, turn to Fortune Magazine TO THE DAILY: In response to Ari Paul's column, Secu- rity for sale, (09/17/03), he and his readers might consider reading Fortune Maga- zine's article dated March 17, 2003, which discusses at length the increasing privati- zation of the military. His polemics against President Bush's "liberal" tendencies to reward his friends in the defense contracting industry do little to address the principal thrust of his argument and his column as a whole reveals little more than his absence of knowledge on this topic. JONATHAN PROKUP Law School 'M' fans finally show some spirit, crowd antics do not merit Daily's criticism TO THE DAILY: 9 0! un rnr~ mmcntr~i~q~e~ ant dii sr mew nnn > " Lilfi OTETI lID TI~WflOQTSQi~XDIO~