4A -The Michigan Daily - Monday, March 29, 2004 OPINION 420 MAYNARD STREET ANN ARBOR, MI 48109 opinion. michigandaily.com tothedaily@michigandaily.com EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN SINCE 1890 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 We realize that Bush is the enemy of God, the enemy of Islam and Muslims. America declared war on God." - Abdel Aziz Rantissi, the new leader of the Islamic group Hamas, in a speech on Sunday to 5,000 spectators at the Islamic University in Gaza City, as reported yesterday by The Washington Post. SAM BUTLER CLASSIC SOAPBOX -- M c.ngc- - - a T Why are they even trying? ZAC PESKOWITZ Tim LOWER FREQUENCIES possibly apoc- gie's existence is justified by its plasma tel- all this hubbub for a relatively insignifi- ryphal story evisions, XBox gaming consoles and DVD cant fundraiser? about the presi- players. To date, Reggie has made appear- Bringing us to the strange case of Sen. dential campaign of ances at a NASCAR race in Atlanta and John Kerry. The junior senator from Mass- William Henry Harrison MTV's TRL - a two-fer that puts even the achusetts recently took some time off from holds that his Whig sup- most impressive of pop stars to shame. The the pressures of the campaign to recharge porters drummed up sup- chairman of the RNC, lobbyist extraordi- in the alpine splendor of Sun Valley, Idaho, port for Harrison by naire Ed Gillespie, has now joined the likes where the senator and his wife maintain a rolling an enormous ball of all sorts of rappers he has never heard of quaint 19.5 room home. Kerry valiantly of tin and paper through to appear on the popular program. chose to do double duty, turning his vaca- the country. It is a testament to the monoto- The Democrats have shied away from tion into a photo op. Photographs of Kerry ny of American life in the 1840s that a this type of gargantuan effort this year, but posed awkwardly over a Burton snowboard massive sphere rolling through the streets they refuse to be outdone in their courtship graced the papers the next day. It's surpris- would generate a thrill among voters. This of the hipster vote. Following the Democ- ing that Kerry's media team would suggest makeshift sphere emblazoned with pro- rats' National Unity Dinner on Thursday that this aspiring populist should play u.p Whig slogans proved to be a successful evening in Washington, the party shifted to his ties to the piles of gold doubloons and ploy for the Harrison campaign and even Dream nightclub where the glitterati could precious stones that he and his wife main- made its mark on the American vocabulary. converse with the politerati on the future tain jointly. The allure of showing Kerry's Hence the expression "keep the ball of the alternative minimum tax, the mili- eXtreme side must have been too promis- rolling." It's impossible to attribute Harri- tary basing policy in Central Asia and ing to pass up. The youth of America son's electoral victory to this piece of male hair care products. In an appearance would finally see the differences between proto-political innovation - Harrison's at Dream last year, Bill Clinton made his George W. Bush and John Kerry boiled campaign also recognized the possibilities grand entrance to the lyrics of 50 Cent's down to their essentials: a drab-brush of giving out free samples of whiskey to "In Da Club," an uncomfortable juxtaposi- clearin' dolt versus a Technicolor snow- potential supporters, an astute decision that tion for the former commander in chief. boarder who can hit the half pipe with the reveals a highly sophisticated understand- But he proudly suffered the slings and best of them. ing of the American electorate - but the arrows of irony in return for the opportuni- Unfortunately for Kerry, the smiling pic- ball stunt would be copied innumerable ty to drum up donations for the good of his tures of him swooshing down the slopes times in coming elections. party. While the ebullient Clinton makes, were accompanied with less flattering news- Both the Republican National Commit- for a natural fit, to force the octogenarian paper copy. Kerry spent much of his trip tee and the Democratic National Commit- Jimmy Carter to run with the clubbing down the slopes falling on his back and was tee have made great hay out of their efforts crowd seems marginally sadistic. The last the victim of a nasty collision between him- to appeal to voters with a series of gim- time Carter had anything to do with a self and a Secret Service agent. An ugly micks that are the direct descendent of nightclub, his chief of staff, Hamilton Jor- incident to which the cocksure Kerry Harrison's effort. The Republicans' have dan, was fending off false allegations that responded, "I don't fall down. That son of a employed Reggie the Registration Rig for he had sniffed cocaine at Studio 54. Why bitch ran into me." Another reminder of how the 2004 presidential election. Reggie, as relive these dark days? The Dream event uncool the preening politics of cool can be. he is fondly called by the RNC, ostensibly netted a mere $250,000 in donations for exists for the purpose of registering 3 mil- the Dems, a figure which President Bush Peskowitz can be reached at lion voters before Nov. 2. This is a lie. Reg- can reap in an afternoon in Topeka. Why zpeskowi@umich.edu. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 0 0N Society does not accept or celebrate obesity TO THE DAILY: I am writing in response to Sowmya Krishnamurthy's last column (Some food for thought, 03/26/04) While I agree with the author's opinions on the seriousness of the obesity epidemic and the need to approach this problem in a new way, I find serious alarms in her suggestions that "society has given the obese the right to be victimized." She suggested that the mantra of "beauty comes in all sizes no matter what" is a thinly veiled excuse to perpetuate obesity. Speaking as in individual who is classi- fied as "obese," I prickle at the notion that society accepts and celebrates my weight problem. I would invite Krishnamurthy to put on her "fat hat" for a moment and rethink her position. Especially for young girls, being overweight causes deeply pow- erful self-esteem problems that can trans- late into other more immediately threatening destructive behavior. Being teased for being larger - from being called "Hungry Hippo" as a child to "Dee- Bo" as a young adult - did not help me or any other obese person want to lose weight. In fact, it made me feel completely horrible about my physical appearance and subsequent worth as a human being. Yet the teasing seems to align itself with the author's insistence of a sense of "tough love" for the fatties. I can think of few instances where bullying or "demanding" individual responsibility for a weight problem has truly inspired an overweight person to lose weight. That "tough love" attitude only perpetuates that which it hopes to destroy; by making an overweight person feel disgusting and disgraceful for his health problems, you make him feel like less than a person - food often becomes a double-edged solace. Instead, more people should focus on making the obese population feel validated by showing them they are beautiful and desirable, no matter what YM or Seventeen magazine say. The obese population can only attempt to change their health prob- lems beginning from a base of encourage- ment and renewed self-esteem. Learning to truly feel nd ahoiut myself and my size some obese people out there who are try- ing to change their health, but are still big, beautiful and loving it. KELLY ANDREA SHEARD LSA sophomore Sexual message, not politics, result in bans TO THE DAILY: I'd like to respond to Sravya Chiru- mamilla's column (Where is my freedom of expression?, 03/24/04) regarding the Par- ents Television Council's attempts to "con- trol what you know." My first comment is that Brent Bozell is not trying to control knowledge; he is trying to encourage peo- ple to decide how they get this knowledge. Secondly, I enjoy the songs that were banned, but the graphic content of the music videos is just not necessary to get the message across, as there are other videos that portray fruitless love where the singer is wearing more than glitter. I do wonder why MTV pulled Incubus's song because that does seem to be a move to suppress a political view, but please explain how Maroon 5's graphic nudity is a political statement. Also, Howard Stern was not removed from the air because of his political messages, but rather because of his sexual references. At what point do music videos and talk shows become too explicit to be broadcast, then? There is a fine line between pornog- raphy and "artistic expression." It is diffi- cult to decide what is clean enough, which is why I advocate that guidelines be writ- ten with clear lists and references to banned content. While the parents are par- tially responsible for controlling their kids, parents are not omnipresent, and the media should be kept responsible for what is being broadcast. Additionally, please explain how Stern and these music videos are "youth pro- grams." What important information do they provide for 13-year olds? Finally, I'd like to thank Chirumamilla for her column, because I am now a PTC member. LAUREN MONTGOMERY LSA junior course, important to determining what our professions are, but we need groups to educate us about the world. I did not come to the University to strictly learn about what is taught in my classroom. I came here to get a better understanding of the world. I'm not active in most groups on campus, nor do I support most of them, but I believe they should receive the money I pay so, that I may have the oppor- tunity to learn from them. My money is for my higher education, which transcends the boundaries of my syllabuses. I do not agree with Davis when she says, "These groups are wrong." They are not wrong, but there for our benefit. They provide the same education that I might take from her group as well. Would she like it if I said that Young Americans for Freedom is wrong? I fully support all groups that provide me with a better understanding and more knowl- edge, whether or not I agree with their beliefs. I hope in her last year, Davis may gain some useful knowledge to make up for her three years wasted here. JEREMY CURTIS LSA sophomore Tom Cruise wore 'tighty- whities,' not boxers TO THE DAILY: In the March 24 paper, you had a pic- ture of someone impersonating Tom Cruise from the movie "Risky Business" on your cover. I am outraged that your paper would put such a poor imperson- ation picture on your cover. Throughout my four years at the University, I have faithfully read your paper almost every day because of the quality material you put out. But 113 years of editorial freedom is no excuse for that picture. The imperson- ator had on a tie, an unbuttoned shirt and was wearing boxers. In "Risky Business," Tom Cruise had no tie, his shirt was but- toned and was wearing "tighty-whities," not boxers. In the future please show better judgment when choosing cover pictures. PAUL BATKINS Engineering junior 6 0 * I ~ ~ '~"~""~'A4M'- ~%~A4~ LILI9J~3 & ~ ~4LI*~Y b~ , , ct