4 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, September 30, 2005 OPINION abe liitan &ilg JASON Z. PESICK Editor in Chief SUHAEL MOMIN SAM SINGER Editorial Page Editors ALISON Go Managing Editor EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN SINCE 1890 420 MAYNARD STREET ANN ARBOR, MI 48109 tothedaily@michigandaily.com NOTABLE QUOTABLE Once it jumps the 101 it doesn't stop until it gets to the Pacific Ocean." - Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaro- slavsky, discussing the risk of brush fires in Southern California crossing the Ventura (101) Freeway, as reported yesterday by NBC News. MICHELLE BIEN Ti ir BiN xAra mv rs ILL '.(NE-Y, tWf4ATDOES TI-{AS TiCKEfK MEAN? ThiSt5 PLAC-C S5OPPORTS ... ..-CONMSICRVAT IVE-Sil Vt../7L, FOGTT WO'T T I Underappreciated arts WHITNEY DIBO ENTER STAE ,-;LEFT he University's School of Music is one of the most prestigious places in the country to study fine arts. &'- With 15 different depart- ments ranging from con- ducting and musicology to drama and jazz improvisa- S'tion, the school is a gem for students looking for a highly competitive academic environment and first-class artistic training. Each year thousands of students audition for acceptance, and a select few ate permitted to attend - making the concentra- tion of talent truly staggering. Just scroll through the alumni list - in addition to big names like James Earl Jones and Gilda Rad- ner, the school has churned out a host of Broadway stars, acclaimed company dancers and profes- sional orchestral musicians. If you were fortunate enough to see the Joffrey Ballet this summer, or the National Tour of "Les Misdrables" or hear the music to the Broadway show "Avenue Q" - you would have witnessed the talents of University School of Music grads. But unfortunately, the school and its talent go virtually unnoticed by the vast majority of the University population. Most students are not even aware when a per- formance is going on, unless they themselves are a part of the School of Music. Performances gen- erally come and go, generating little buzz around campus - often-times playing to empty seats due to low ticket sales. In a campus of more than 37,000 students, one would think selling out the 650-seat Mendelssohn Theatre or even the 1,300- seat Power Center would be a relatively easy task. But unfortunately, only 26 of the 59 School of Music productions sold out last season. What is ironic is that we all go to such lengths to get to the right party or the right bar - we spend money on cabs, on cover, on drinks, walk literally miles in the snow during the ruthless Michigan winters - but free, student-produced performances at the Frieze Building often can't muster a crowd of 50 people. - However, only some responsibly falls on the apathetic shoulders of University students. The rest must go to the University and School of Music administration - who have been rather lax on getting the word out about fine arts on campus. So without further adieu, here are my personal suggestions for getting the School of Music back on the map and filling those concert halls and the- atres this upcoming academic year: 1) There needs to be strong communication between the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts and the School of Music. Whenever there is a performance that relates to an LSA class, students should be encouraged, if not required, to attend. For example, all students in Ralph Williams's Shake- speare lecture last year should have been required to attend the School of Theatre and Drama's pro- duction of "Romeo and Juliet" - that class alone could fill more than half of the Mendelssohn The- atre. Not to mention that Shakespeare's plays are best seen, and not read, anyhow. 2) The University should invest in what many schools refer to as Arts Dollars - student vouch- ers intended for arts-related events. Considering students are usually short on cash, these vouch- ers could be an incentive to do something free and different on a Thursday night. Arts Dollars could treat students to two, maybe three School of Music performances per academic year and come together with a schedule of events highlighting performance locations, dates and times. 3) The School of Music needs to do a better job promoting its own productions. A single sign hanging over the Diag and a short review on the back page of the Daily is just not going to cut it. If desperate students can poster the entire campus with sublet signs, the School of Music can do the same. The best advertising I've seen is usually done in the Frieze Building itself, which doesn't do much for the rest of campus. 4) If the School of Music has a hard time fill- ing seats now, just wait until people need to trek up to North Campus to see a performance. With the coming of the much-anticipated Walgreen Performing Arts Center, theatre students will find themselves relocated to North Campus as soon as the fall 2006 term. With the Frieze Building gone, it is imperative that the performance venues remain on Central Campus - particularly for stu- dent-run productions like Basement Arts. But at the end of the day, the success of these suggestions depends on our own motivation. According the School of Music website, there are more than 200 events and performances happening in the next 365 days, and that doesn't include the free student-produced shows that take place all over campus each weekend. It's not as easy as lying around watching TV, but the extra effort pays off. So the next time you hap- pen upon a poster for an orchestra concert or a musical, don't just keep walking. Write down the dates, buy tickets and go - if nothing else, it's a nice change from the bar scene. And most likely you will not be disappointed. Dibo can be reached at wdibo@umich.edu. 01 C'esth on Change would make language requirement fairer The Daily erroneously advised the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts faculty on Tuesday (Mala Idea, 09/27/2005) to reject a pro- posed change to the language require- ment. The change would let students meet the language requirement with two semesters each of two different languag- es rather than requiring fourth-semester proficiency in one language. This shift to a two-plus-two system is in students' best interest and should be adopted. It is difficult for the Daily to take a consistent editorial position on the lan- guage requirement because doing so forces the paper to choose between two beliefs it strongly advocates. On the one hand, the Daily generally supports plans that give students more freedom. Indeed, this page has previously argued for the abolishment of the language requirement (Reconsider requirements, 01/15 /1987). However, the Daily also believes that LSA students should receive a liberal arts education. The supposed importance of the four-semester language requirement to a liberal arts education has swayed the editorial board to support the con- tinuation of a four-semester proficiency requirement in recent years. A modern liberal arts education, how- ever, does not force all students to master a defined body of canonical works. Rec- ognizing that learning Greek and Latin and reading the work of dead male Brit- ish authors isn't interesting or relevant to many students, the University has instead taken a buffet-style approach to liberal arts. Currently, LSA requires students, through distribution and vague content requirements, to gain exposure to a broad variety of subjects to graduate. This approach to a liberal arts educa- tion better allows students to pursue their specific interests while still requiring stu- dents to study a broad range of subjects to graduate. Furthermore, it is a fairer and less Eurocentric way to approach liberal arts in a multicultural world. A four-semester language requirement, however, barely fits into this scheme. Those whose idea of a liberal arts educa- tion includes reading novels in the origi- nal language or living abroad will not be fluent after four semesters and will elect more courses. Other students do not wish to take any languages and struggle through four semesters - or just pass out on the language placement exam and never take a college language class. It would be more consistent with LSA's modern liberal arts education to require two semester of college language instruc- tion, regardless of placement exam scores. This strategy would expose students to college language courses - which are far more intensive than their high school counterparts - while not wasting the time and money of students who do not wish to become proficient in a language. Though the proposed change does not go this far, it would allow students to try two semesters of a less commonly taught language they find interesting instead of continuing with French or Spanish just to finish the requirement. And it would be fairer to students who had little desire to study any language. Certainly, knowledge of foreign lan- guages is vital in today's interconnected world, and students would benefit in the job market - as the Daily pointed out - by becoming fluent in another lan- guage. But the failure of the American education system to provide adequate foreign language instruction begins in our elementary and middle schools, and it needs to be addressed there. It is not something that LSA can or should expect to fix by requiring language proficiency. The proposal before LSA recognizes that fact while giving students more con- trol over their education. It is not a mala idea, and it should be adopted. Christopher Zbrozek is an LSA senior and an associate editorial page editor. He can be reached at zbro@um ich.edu. Flying toward pandemic BRIAN SLADE CL BAL CURRENTS A s winter - and impending pandemic will be handled in an entirely was awarded a $100 million contract to produce an flu season - different way from its predecessors. Past pandem- undetermined number of vaccines. Broader inter- approaches, a ics have always come as surprises. In this case, national cooperation will be crucial. In a White deadly new strain of influ- the strain and geographic location of the virus are House meeting with Thai Prime Minister Thaksin enza is evolving in South- known. While global integration has made trans- Shinawatra last week, President Bush expressed east Asia. Known as Avian mission of human diseases much more danger- his concern about Avian Flu and said "All of us Bird Flu, this new virus ous and rapid, the upside is that government and need to be mindful of this potentially devastating has health experts world- health organizations are better able to coordinate disease." But being mindful just won't cut it. wide fearing a repeat of the worldwide resources to contain pandemics. The For the first time in history, we have the infra- Spanish Flu pandemic of WHO has been the most prominent organization structure and advanced warning to effectively 1918, which killed 25 mil- collaborating these efforts and, at the beginning fight a global pandemic. During the next few lion worldwide. The Department of Health and of September, sent a strategic preparedness plan months, we will see how governments around the Human Services believes that this new flu strain to all member nations. The document observes world respond to this dire threat. Large amounts "has a greater potential to cause rapid increases in that "During 2005, ominous changes have been of money and supplies will need to be transferred death and illness than virtually any other natural observed in the epidemiology of the disease in from the developed nations to poorer countries health threat." For many experts, the occurrence animals" and that not only are "human cases con- in Southeast Asia for effective containment. of a pandemic is already a foregone conclusion. tinuing to occur" but "the virus has expanded its The greatest risk is that advanced countries try Robert Webster, a world-class influenza research- geographical range." Russia reported days later to hedge their bets by spending money solely on er, warns that an Avian Flu pandemic "is just inev- that it had lost more than 100,000 birds to Avian drugs for domestic populations. The potential itable. One of these is just going to blow." It's not a Flu, showing that another dangerous facet of the speed at which a pandemic could spread with question of if, but a question of when. virus is cross-continental bird migration. modern high-speed travel makes this strategy The Avian Influenza has historically been a In the report, the WHO found that weak early dangerous. Finally, this strategy hinges on the virus that originates in birds. When a strain can detection systems, the unpredictability of the virus ability of the U.S. government to spare millions jump from birds to humans, and from human to and an insufficient number of vaccines and antivi- of dollars for such an effort while simultaneously human easily, the necessary conditions for a pan- ral drugs are the major weaknesses facing its abil- rebuilding New Orleans and funding a war. The demic are fulfilled. The virus in question, classi- ity to fight an outbreak. The WHO recommends world often looks to the United States to set an fied H5N1, was first diagnosed in 18 humans in containment and stockpiling retroviral drugs as example, and we can't afford to fail in this capac- 1997 in Hong Kong. Figures released last week by the best approach to stop a global pandemic ity during what may be the greatest threat to the World Health Organization put the tally at 115 In terms of vaccinations, the American phar- humans in almost a century. total cases in Southeast Asia resulting in 59 fatali- maceutical company MedImmune Inc. has joined ties - an astonishingly high mortality rate. with the National Institute of Health in the develop- Slade can be reached at Health organizations have indicated that this ment of a vaccine for H5N1, while Sanofi-Aventis bslade@umich.edu. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 01 0I Bookstore spirit display insensitive to racial past TO THE DAILY: This morning, as I walked down South Uni- versity Avenue, I was appalled and disgusted by the display in the window of Ulrich's Bookstore. The display featured a life-size skeleton, clad in a ripped and burned Michigan State T-shirt, hanging from a lynching rope, its neck limp and twisted. During my years as an undergrad at the Uni- versity, I often felt slightly unnerved by the bla- tant displays of violence stimulated by Michigan football rivalries with other schools, such as the practice of beating and trashing junk cars with "MSU" spray-painted on the side. However, these imagery demonstrates an ignorant disregard for the gravity of these issues and a gross insensitivity to the personal histories of countless individuals on this campus and in our society. I call upon Ulrich's to remove this window display at once and to publicly apologize for the sickening display. Hana Zwiebel Alum Crime bulletin's vague description harmful To THE DAILY: David Betts's column I'm Tired of Being a Suspect (09/28/2005) referred to a recent DPS Crime Alert of this newspaper and beyond. Like Betts, I was puzzled and concerned by the imprecise and deeply problematic description of the suspects' clothing, complexion and accesso- ries. Riana Anderson's letter to the editor, Frater- nity shooting coverage propagates stereotypes of Black community, (09/28/2005) raised this point as well. On other campuses, including my former univer- sity, authors of these bulletins include pertinent details to help readers identify potentially danger- ous circumstances should they find themselves in similar situations. Perhaps the officers transcribed the comments verbatim from the man who was victimized? Might the officers not have pressed for more information about the materials or style of the "do-rag" or for more details about "baggy, hip-hop clothes?" "In Dissent" opinions do not reflect the views of the Daily's editorial board. They are solely the views of the author. Editorial Board Members: Amy Anspach, Reggie Brown, Amanda Burns, John Davis, Whitney Dibo, Jesse Forester, Mara Gay, JaredrGoldberg, Eric Jackson, Theresa Kennellv .Raiiv Prahhakar. Marr Rose David Russell Dan Skowronski. Brian Slade.