4A - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, February 5, 2004
OPINION
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UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
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JORDAN SCHRADER
Editor in Chief
JASON Z. PESICK
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
What we have
learned thus far has not
proven Saddam
Hussein had what
intelligence indicated and
what we believed he had
... but it also has not
proven the opposite."
- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld,
responding to the claims the pre-war U.S.
intelligence was incorrect, as reported
yesterday by the New York Times.
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0
COLIN DALY THE MICHIGAN DALY
Janet and the boob ... or, how we lost our bodies.
STEVE COTNER My BACK PAGE,
uper Bowl when it happened - like we were penetrating ficial, they said, but that doesn't mean we'll
XXXVIII will be to something deeply hidden, but also very cen- bow to a hodgepodge of multiculturalism -
remembered most- tral to our existence - in order to elicit such a any value can be absolute if it's the only one.
ly for the incident resounding retraction by everyone involved. Since then, this country has bent, to a greater or
involving Justin Timber- But you can't really retract the human body - lesser extent, under a program of retrenchment
lake and Janet it's just there. So who could have been so mad led by successive groups: the Moral Majority,
"my-boob-saw-its-shad- about it? Who honestly cares that we saw Janet the Christian Coalition, the compassionate con-
ow-so-it's-six-more- Jackson's breast, aside from 14-year-old boys servatives. And the course of action has neces-
w e e k s - o f- w i n t e r" and old, sexless evangelists? Nevertheless, an sarily been a negative one. Asserting one set of
Jackson. The fallout invisible hand guided the reaction. It seemed values against all others means repressing
from that event, apart from her anatomy, has instantaneous and inevitable. everything outside of a certain sphere. The can-
included apologies all around: CBS, MTV, In some ways, of course, this was just cor- ning of protests, the reduction of public forums
Janet, Justin and the NFL have all agreed that porate double-speak. Half of the ads during the and now our preemptive foreign policy have all
breasts are "unfortunate" and "regrettable." Super Bowl were blatantly misogynistic, like flowed from this impulse. We have a complete
Perhaps the strangest thing about the the one with the vaguely portrayed wife yelling system of "counter-revolution" in place, capa-
unveiling was how non-sexual it was. Of vague insults at her husband. Another more ble of denying the least of efforts toward spon-
course, Justin was pressing his parts on her socially conscious ad, the anti-Bush statement taneity and liberation.
too much, but the whole performance was an submitted by MoveOn.org, was banned from And apparently, we've lost something
inhuman, industrial sort of dance number, airing on CBS. And then there was the forma- else during that transition: the breast. A
with Janet looking especially mechanized. tion of flying killing machines that faded out of woman was recently kicked out of a Denny's
And then the thing came out all by itself - a view as Beyonc6 wrapped up the anthem. for breast-feeding her child, though the
single, compartmentalized breast - and it Clearly, the companies responsible were not restaurant later apologized. It's only a small
just sort of sat there staring at us. It was more taking the high ground all around. example, but it's something that would be
like a scientific inquiry than an assertion of But they did take a stand on Janet's breast. incomprehensible to women around the
Eros and the natural, uncontrollable passions. And it has something to do with values. Ever world. Janet Jackson is no revolutionary, and
This was then followed by the even more since the 1980s, when Ronald Reagan ran an ad sexual liberation won't guarantee any wider
scientific explanation of the mishap. Justin saying "It's morning again in America," main- revolution anyway - it is easily corporatized
spoke of it in fine bureaucratic jargon as a stream Americans have had a fear that the into prepackaged sexual displays. But when
"wardrobe malfunction," a very effective way country would revert to '70s-style hedonism. we see clear acts of repression, we should
of diluting the pool of blame. Janet, mean- "Why would we want to return to where we recognize them for what they are. Most
while, divided the split-second event into lay- were, less than four short years ago?" the ad Americans are afraid to sing and dance, let
ers of clothing and potential outcomes: asked. This was a polite way of saying that alone show their bodies. But is it too much to
According to MTV, she told reporters that "a there was still enough coke in the country to even do this vicariously, through a per-
lace undergarment was supposed to remain paint the lines of every football field. But more former? A breast does not mean anarchy. It's
intact, covering (her), but was accidentally generally, it was a reminder of what Americans not the denial of everything civilization has
removed along with the outer layer." After discovered in the past decade: Values don't ever worked for. In Janet's case, it may have
this insight, it's almost diagrammable; we exist. That is, social norms rise and fall with been a rejection of shame, but only for a
can imagine a cross-section of the boob look- different historical moments and have no basis moment. It couldn't last longer than that.
ing like the earth's core, with the mantle, other than consent.
crust and atmosphere surrounding it. So with Reagan, Americans embarked on a Cotner can be reached
And this must be how some people felt great purge. Our values may be completely arti- at cotners@umich.g41.,
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
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Movement of services to
CAPS control will hurt
marginaized communities
TO THE DAILY:
I am writing in response to several arti-
cles written about the proposed fragmenta-
tion of sexual assault counseling services at
Sexual Assault Prevention Awareness Cen-
ter. I felt compelled to write this letter for
several personal and professional reasons. I
recently acknowledged the third anniversary
of my second sexual assault this past Janu-
ary. During my sophomore year at the Uni-
versity, I was raped by another student in my
home. Fortunately, I utilized SAPAC for
resources and counseling referrals.
Today, I work as a sexual assault advocate
in southeast Michigan and find the proposed
fragmentation extremely problematic for a
reason that has not been highlighted in the
Daily. Moving counseling services to Coun-
selling And Phycological Services spells dis-
aster for marginalized communities at the
University who face sexual assault issues. To
name a few, these include LGBTQ-identified
survivors, male survivors, communities of
color, those with the challenges of disabilities
and survivors of varying religious back-
grounds. SAPAC's challenge to create a safe
space for survivors with multiple barriers will
undoubtedly suffer with a shift in counseling
services to CAPS. For this reason, it is imper-
ative to maintain a non-judging space for all
survivors at one centralized location. Frag-
mentation only furthers the isolation and
silence felt by survivors who also fear homo-
phobia, racism, ableism, ethnocentrism, reli-
gious ignorance or an unwillingness to
acknowledge that one-in-six men will be sex-
ually assaulted in his lifetime.
LARA BROOKS
Alum
Sexual Assault & Outreach Advocate
First Step Project Against
Domestic & Sexual Violence
Gospel presentation good,
but anti-homosexual speech
inappropriate for event
pectedly took a big detour from the open
and loving spirit of the first performers.
Billed as an evangelist, Gayle Brannon
took the stage, and not long into his
speech, he began to speak of the evils of
homosexuality. I was stunned to hear his
hate speech on the University campus and
at a University-sponsored event! My
friends and I left the ballroom, for it was
very important to me to not be seen as
supportive of that bigoted view.
I was shocked and saddened because
my vision of Christianity includes accep-
tance and love, not rejection and hate.
I was shocked and saddened that more
members of the audience did not stand up.
Stand up to proclaim their intolerance of
hate and their support of Christian ideals
championed by one of their most vocifer-
ous advocates, the Martin Luther King Jr.
King was a member of the Alpha Phi
Alpha fraternity (a sponsor of the presen-
tation), and stated in a sermon regarding
the three dimensions of a complete life:
"God gave all of us something significant.
And we must pray every day, asking God
to help us to accept ourselves. That means
everything."
LAURIE CARPENTER
School ofSocial Work
Beware! Bush and Kerry
both belong to Yale's Skull
and Bones secret society
To THE DAILY:
With John Kerry as the apparent fron-
trunner in the race for the Democratic
nomination, we have the chilling prospect
of both incumbent President Bush and his
Democratic rival being members of the
same elite secret society, namely Skull and
Bones. What has been documented about
this cryptic Yale-based organization is that
15 seniors each year are tapped for mem-
bership. These individuals swear alle-
giance to the order in bizarre occult
rituals. In exchange for their oath of secre-
cy and their vow to carry out the agenda of
their masters, they are guaranteed posi-
tions of high influence.
Bush said in his autobiography "A
Charge To Keep" that "In my senior year I
type of people we want running our country?
It's time to get our heads out of the sand and
wrest power from the ruling cryptocracy.
KYLE STUPPLE
Medical School
Piskor's 'puerile' writings
should not run in Daily for
the good of the University
To THE DAILY:
Jess Piskor's column, America is about to
learn the lesson of the elm tree (02/03/04), is
some of the most puerile and ill-informed
nonsense I have ever wasted my time read-
ing. Unfortunately, this is not the worst of
"The Piskor's" columns, bad as it is. For the
good of the University community, please
stop "The Piskor" from writing another cob-
umn until he gets over his laughable revolu-
tion fantasies and attains even the slightest
sense of reality. Thanks.
JEREMY LAY
Law school
Coleman clarifies: Lassiter's
first name Matt, not Mark
To THE DAILY:
As someone who has been frequently
introduced as either Mary Lou or Mary or
Sue - and, in the worst of hostile cases,
Mary Who? - I do very much understand
the discomfort of being on the receiving
end of mistaken public introductions.
My sincerest apology to Prof. Matt
Lassiter. He gave a fabulous lecture in
receiving the 2004 Golden Apple Award,
convincing me of the astuteness of the stu-
dent committee that selected him as this
year's recipient of a most-coveted Univer-
sity honor.
MARY SUE COLEMAN
University president
VoE THE POLLS ARE OPEN AT
THE MICHIGAN UNION.
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