PERSPECTIVES Friday, May 23, 1986 The Michigan Daily Page 7 Police insensitive By Cathy Monagle On Friday evening, April 18th at 5 a.m., a nude man wearing a mask en- tered my room. My roommate was asleep, but I had not yet fallen asleep as I had studied late this evening. The man paused inside our room, looking first to my roommate, then to me. I reacted. I screamed. The man ran out of the room, and I ran after him. I stopped myself abruptly, realizing the struggle that would ensue if I were to catch this math. My point is this: it could have happened to you--to any woman who attends this university, to any woman who lives in this town. The reality of this incident makes one thing clear. Rape does not happen to "other" women, it is a living threat that should remain a conscious thought in our minds at all times. Housing security responded to the call, coming to the room for the report. The first man joked, "I guess you didn't get a description." The second security guard concluded the incident was an exhibitionist prank. Dissatisfied with these responses, I contacted the Ann Arbor Police. The police officer also dismissed the in- cident as exhibitionism. I fail to see how a nude man entering a darkened room with two women sleeping inten- ds to "reveal" himself. Was this a humorous drama? Were we, women and unwilling participants, supposed to awaken and respond, "Yes, I am deeply ahocked at your diaplay of nudity--however, I can't quite make out the form of your body. Would you mind turning on the light for full ef- fect?" The abaurdity of this aituation is clear. It is necessary for a struggle to ensue to insure that a real threat F~ 1W N oWCA1bO MPARE. waa preaent? I think not. o M 6 p PR Another interesting point to con- sider w as the reaction of individuals a ds1m wE A VO ? around me. I waa informed how to think, specifically that I was not to overreact, that my reaponae ahould be J politely contained and ahould not be discussed. Are we really so little con- cerned with one another's welfare that instead of offering support and inaight we of fer "corrective" thinking? If so, we are in an appalling state of consciousness. This implies we abdicate responsibility toward 1. other individuals personally and DOW societally. This experience has conveyed one overarching thought -- we cannot remain quiet. PIRGIM (Public In- terest Research Group) recently released statistics concerning rape incidence: one in four women will be raped in their lifetime and 80 percent of college women will experience sexual assault during the course of their college career. These statistics infer that sexual assault will be a direct encounter, a living reality that is directly experienced by the majority of women. How will we an- ticipate this possibility? How will we plan a necessary response? What response will we offer to victims of sexual assault? Finally, we should question the lack of publicity concer- ning daily occurences of rape and in--. sist on accountability by this in- wt College Press Service stitution. The current response is inexcusable. We should ask more of ourselves and of the university in Qo ca responding to the issue of rape. I hope Students should think, not learn we do so. t i k Monagle is a graduate student. From the Daily archives... Feb. 27, 165, news story- "Prof. Hugh M. Smythe...maintained that the only solution to what he termed the 'potentially dangerous situation' in South Africa is discussion of the problems which have resulted in and from the apartheid policy by all the parties involved." Feb. 28, 1965, news story- " 'Pressures are growing' for moves toward ending apartheid by inter- national action-such as economic sanctions, he (Peter Hopper Jr., of the State Department's Office of South African Affairs), said. 'The major .powers will be prodded by African states that see the indignity of their brothers in South Africa,' he said.. 'We condemn apartheid,' he said, 'but one can't dictate to a sovereign government.' The U.S. policy is to 'keep urging leaders in authority to ap- proach the public from a realistic point of view.'" We encourage our readers to use this space to discuss and respond to issues of their concern. Whether those topics cover University, Ann Arbor com- munity, state, national, or international issues in a straightforward or conven- tional manner, we feel such a dialogue is a crucialfunction of the Daily. By David Kaufman University of Michigan, have?. _________________________ Zero. Such a program is useless. Instead A liberal arts education should ex- of holding students hostage for four pose one to the sum total of the human years, the University should hand out, race, and the world in general, ina free upon acceptance, a set of En- and open setting. There ought to be cyclopedia Britannica and a diploma. freedom for open discourse. Study Most of what is learned here could be must encompass as much as possible, received through these volumes or including Economics, Mathematics, from books available in most History, Sociology, Languages, Arts libraries. What is taught here is how Physics, Psychology, Chemistry, to memorize, how to recall, and how Philosophy, Literature, Politics, An- to guess. Most examinations prove thropology, and Theology. As much as this fact. A liberal arts education in- possible must be read and digested jects knowledge into students. Studen- concerning these topics. Exposure is ts "learn" and then reveal to their important. Even if one does not fully examiners how much they have understand a subject matter, this type "learned". A simple mechanical of education will acquaint one with process is used. Multiple choice many fields. Because of this fact, it examinations are easily conquered. becomes easier to decide where one Even an essay test can be beaten by would like to continue their studies, if reading as much as possible ina short one so chooses. period of time and putting this on What kind of success does the paper. What does one do after four University of Michigan have in years of this? Usually, one gains the following this pattern of a liberal arts ability to take examinations and education? Excellent. Most in- probably exposure to many facts. dividuals are unable to enroll in as Time decreases the amount of recall. many classes as offered, even over a One leaves here four years older and four year period. The depth and not much smarter. breath of knowledge available here is What does it mean to be "smart?" staggering. Surely there are few If pure recall of facts is required, then places that can offer so much to so there are indeed many "smart" in- many individuals. The freedom to dividuals here. Unfortunately, I do not choose one's program is virtually belong to this elite group. One must unlimited. Obviously such a strong not be taught facts, but rather learn academic liberal arts program is how to get at these facts. Adapting the valuable. What value does such a above definition, those studying program, the one offered at the Library Science are among the most intelligent on campus because they are dedicating their lives to locating facts for themselves and for others. Instead of learning, one must be taught how to learn. One must discover how to think, how to analyze, and how to be critical. One must be able to write, to understand, and to reason. One must develop creativity and an outlet for this spirit. This is what is important. A liberal arts education does not provide these abilities. It never could and it never will. Instead, it is only able to provide facts and features. It is not complex. Represented here are different skills to grasp. They are not "taught". One must gain these by themself. An education described above can only foster and facilitate such development. Independently, one must grow and develop using the clues left behind by interested in- structors. In order to foster such individual development, "teachers" must stress analysis and discussion, not memorization. They should highlight understanding and application, in- stead of guessing. They should show the structure and grammar in order for one to develop their ability to write and think logically. In short, they must emphasize thinking, instead of learning. Kaufman is a masters student in the Institue of Public Policy.