4 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, December 5, 2003 OP/ED able £itdfipvt*u a 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 Someone give me a list of universities that allow sex acts in the classroom. We're not going to be the first." - Richard Pierce, spokesman for the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, where a film student was barred from taping people having sex in class, as reported yesterday in The New York Times. :-jl CL, SAM BUTLER 'THE SOAPBOX -V4 oia+ 4-ro..c,-i\JQ1 lou- +aVA +,jle--neck. sweo~r V he ooks =a--- dZ~j ( so I tCOztle. a 7 ( ( aoy11 4 0 Unity perpetuates alumni nostalgia SRAVYA CHIRUMAMILLA WEAVING THE HANDBASKET WASHINGTON - few Saturdays. Former Michigan Student me for the sole reason that we are both Women con- Assembly President Trent Thompson put brown. Similarly, I was on the bus yester- gregate at a aside bygone disputes with the Daily, day and met a girl who is my ethnicity and special place reserving valuable couch seating for the within three minutes and two degrees of where we can take a editors of yesteryear. Noting that it was separation found that we share common respite from the hub- the last game of the season, he comment- friends. bub, admire that awe- ed, "This is like church to me. I come here It is this phenomenon that perpetuates some shade of every Saturday to hang out with other alumni nostalgia - the college experience burgundy in a nail pol- alumni. I don't know what to do after this generates these chance meetings, through ish or spark a conver- game." which some of the fondest memories are sation about the Alumni rely on nostalgia of their col- created. In reality though, it is just a humorous but overly publicized Clark lege years to bring them back to these microcosm of the possibilities everywhere: weekly viewings. Alumni association People are just more open to meet others campaign video. Often these interactions clubs exist all across the world, and even at the flagpole outside of South Quad than occur even before we make it into the on the moon since Cols. David Scott and in a line at the bank. sanctuary, the women's restroom. In fact, James Irwin and Lt. Col. Alfred Worden of Unlike life outside of college, these the lines for restrooms at clubs, stadiums Apollo 15, all former University students, surroundings are ideal for fostering and such, are great places to engage in placed a plaque there in 1971. Since the debates and discussions that generate random chatter. University boasts one of the largest alumni change, which tend to fall on deaf ears I joined about every third female patron bases, Michigan memorabilia is every- elsewhere; however, reflective of reality, at Poli-Tiki, a Capitol Hill pub, in line for where: during an off-season trip to the Taj the insults and stereotypes take a more the single-person restroom while I kept a Mahal, I found one other tourist who, prominent role than the actual issues. watchful eye on the big screen displaying being a recent graduate, was also wearing And while on campus we might notice the Michigan football team's impending a Michigan T-shirt. and comment on the visible yet petty win over Ohio State. This is one of the The cars flooding the freeways sur- divides between ethnic, racial and even venues where the Alumni Club of Wash- rounding Ann Arbor on Saturday mornings regional groups, once we graduate we have ington D.C. hosts its members on football (resonating with audible chants of "The yet another uniting link to bind us togeth- Saturdays. Similar alumni clubs around the Victors") indicate that there are plenty of er: the University. It seems that it isn't country meet weekly to watch the action. alumni around the area who are passionate until we are thrown out into the "real What was impressive about this partic- enough to spend hundreds of dollars to world" that we understand how much we ular venue's restroom line were the net- enjoy a few hours in and around the Big rely upon our identity as Wolverines to working opportunities it presented. Even a House. Understandably, since it is Michi- bring us back together. Once we realize little comment about the Metro Detroit gan football it is bigger than all of us, and that in fact we are only about five degrees area opened the field to a juvenile conver- thus able to bring together many thousands apart, and not just through an alumni asso- sation about a particularly scandalous inci- with power unlike anything else. ciation or because of an ethnicity, maybe dent in a prosperous suburb from four The football games make it easy for we can begin to work toward a goal years ago. Michigan fans to get together, and obvi- beyond just winning the Rose Bowl. The patrons of Poli-Tiki enjoyed not ously it is easier for people of a particular just the presence of their friends that after- group to get together. I was at a conven- Chirumamilla can be reached noon, but also the numerous people with tion recently when someone approached at schiruma@umich.edu. whom they had been sharing the previous LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Astrologists do not use telescope, astronomers do TO THE DAILY: Regarding yesterday's article Alterna- tive to Internet holds promise for science research (12/04/03), the Daily reporter writes that "American astrologists (are) using the Gemini telescope located in Hawaii and Chile." I'd like to remind the Daily proofreaders that astrologers, not astrologists, use pseudoscience in their attempts to divine hidden meanings from the positions of the planets. It is astronomers who would be using the Gem- ini telescope in their scholarly study of the universe. I hope you will consider running a correction or at minimum be less careless in the name of scientific literacy. SHARON GREENE Rackham Reader chastises students, wonders how stereotypes occur on campus TO THE DAILY: I would like to know how the article Snobs v. Slobs, students debate East Coast, Midwest stereotype (12/01/03), in all of its disgusting generalizations, is anything other than a horrifying illustration of naivete and prejudice. This misnamed arti- cle is not a debate, but a blatant attack. This article was insulting, discriminatory and, above all, unsophisticated. Let's talk sophistication, since that was one of the article's main focuses. Sophistication is being open minded, sophistication is not slapping a label on everyone with a cell phone, sophistication is recognizing that the University is one of the world's most remarkable universities and that being here means being a part of something great. Shame on the Daily for jeopardizing your own experience here by lashing out against fellow classmates having based its article only on crude evidence. Is no one else scared by the implica- tions of this article? At the University, of all places, I think that members of this community should recognize the harmful from the East Coast as some sort of for- eign beings. Do we not see what is hap- pening here? How is discriminating against a group of people based on their hometown different or less harmful than any other sort of discrimination? Stereo- types are always lingering, but we as intel- ligent, promising and forthcoming individuals of this generation have the choice to either let them thrive and infect our community or to reject them. It is a simple choice. MARY DEYOE LSA junior Passing out flyers lame, E3W on Diag on Monday TO THE DAILY: I question the validity of Chaim Schramm's claim that he saw "an old friend" while passing out flyers on the Diag (Handing out flyers for good causes cre- ates positive karma, 12/04/03). Anyone dis- tributing something on the Diag is, by definition, as socially skilled as your aver- age German Shepherd and wouldn't be able to make a friend if his or her life depended on it. Also, everyone should stop by the Diag next Monday around noon. I'll be passing out copies of the newest issue of the Every Three Weekly. NATHAN STERKEN LSA sophomore E3W staff writer Liberal tactics lack weight, should opt for solutions, not just attacks TO THE DAILY: Jess Piskor's column, Bush in Iraq: I'm not staying long - but you are (12/02/03), clearly shows the problem with today's liberal establishment. Attacking the man who followed the advice of his chief of staff on what was unquestionably a bril- liant political act simply adds more garble to U.S. politics. By going to the front lines of a combat zone on a national holiday embodying the essence of our nation, Bush than it was before March 19. It also shows how the liberal establishment would rather grope for support using negative, personal attacks instead of showing Americans how they will solve the problems of today. "Dubya" loves risks; having begun with the gateway drugs of alcohol and cocaine, he's moved up to pre-emptive, falsely jus- tified war and nation building. So what. The anti-Bush community needs to let Dubya's gambles do him in, and focus on presenting the ways they will solve the issues facing America, rather than relentlessly attacking Bush on every word and action. If this is not done, Bush's re- election is already won. JOSEPH MICHALSEN LSA senior Racial comments not surprising, only ignorance TO THE DAILY: I had to laugh when I read about how Lauren Strayer "recently" discovered that people still use the word the derogatory term "Oriental" to describe people (Racism among friends, 12/04/03). Growing up as an Asian American in a predominantly white neigh- borhood, people have used that word to describe me and my family for about as long as I can remember. Here's the thing, though: it was always clear to me that there was no intent of malice behind their utterings. It just seemed like no one had ever taken the time to tell these people, "Hey, 'Oriental' is for rugs, not hunians." Realizing that, I was hard pressed to feel offended by it, even though I fully understand that the word is considered derogatory. I admire Strayer for having the con- science to want to correct her family friend for referring to his neighbors as "Orien- tals," and I agree that everyone has a responsibility to maintain a certain degree of knowledge when it comes to sensitive issues. But I don't think she should feel terribly "disappointed in his social negli- gence" and "shocked at his racism" if he has otherwise proved to be a decent person. If Strayer (or another conscientious soul) is faced with another opportunity to enlighten this man on his usage of the word, I should think his response would be the same as the one I invariably receive when I correct rnd.nnixyhn makethe camefaux n - a 4 I a munities tha't * ti ilrvY one influeneme;w# ]a