Letters

Wednesday, August 12, 1992 - The Michigan Daily Summer Weekly - 5

* Restricting Freedom of
Speech for Orientees
To the Daily:
Our group has been participating in
dse special interest sessions organized
by the Summer Orientation program.
We, along with several other groups,
attend die sessions Monday through
Thursday. We set up displays and dis-
cuss our group with inconing students.
The incoming students had the
choice of going to discuss with the
various groups, or to take a bus tour of
campus. We felt that simply because
someone decided to take the bus tour
didn't necessarily mean that they
wouldn't be interested in participating
insomegroups thatexistoncampus. So
we decided to hand out a flier to stu-
dents who decided to goon the bus tour.
The flier simply explained something
about thegroup,atadhow studentsmight
get in touch with us in the fall if they
wereinterested.Wehandedout the flier
on a public sidewalk, aid let the incom-
ing studentsdecidewhether they wanted
to take it.
The coordinator of the program,
Wendy West, found this exercise of our
nights unacceptable and, on August 4,
kicked us out of the special interest
sessions because we were handing out
the flier. We consider this to be an
attack on our right to distribute a flier,
aidalso theright of the new students to
make decisions for themselves about
what they will or will not read.
James Wagner
Social Perspectives
and Responsibility Council
Armenian Genocide Ad
controversy continues
To the Daily:
I was pleased to see the publication
of Roland Telfeyan's letter (July 22,
1992) on Use Gesnocide of the Anne-
ninis. Most of Annenia was obliterated
during World WarI when its Arnnenia
population was massacred by Ottoman
Turkish govennent decree. As a re-
sult, Western Anmenia is now occupied
by Turkey and there are no Armenianss
living on these ancestral lands.
The Turkish state and its supporters
seek to deny the Genocide of the Anne-
nians.Yet thishistory isvery well docu-
mented, as Telfeyan's letter showed.
Of great significance was his use of the
telegrams written by the Turkish Min-
ister of the Interior, ordering the massa-
cre of Armenians. Today, Turkish gov-
erunent-sponsored "scholars," such as
Sinasi Orel or Turkaya Ataov, have
4 argued that these telegrams are forger-
ies. However, these efforts have been
shown to be poor propaganda and weak
scholarship (see V. Dadrian in Use Au-
gust, 1986 issue of Use International
Journal of Middle East Studies, "The
Nain-Andonian Documents on the
World War I Destruction of Ottoma
Annenians: The Anatomy of a Geno-
cide").
The publicasiosa of Telfeyas's letter
is a vitoy for acadenic freedom and
ethics. Thank you once again.
Armen Asherian
Graduate student
School of Education

Letter not a parody
To the Daily:
In yourWednesday, August 5 issue,
Josh Dubow quotes Barry Alvarez as
follows: "There should be a lot of
parody in the league this year. What
Alvarez said, i.e., "...a lot of parity,"
wasbadenough; butonedoesn'texpect
elegance from a football coach. One
does, however, expect Daily writers to
have somenotionofspellingrudusage.
I have noticed many bloopers in your
pages, and in those of other publica-
tions, but this isrank idiocy.Mr.Dubow
should be dismissed immediately, and
you should hire a proofreader.
K. Natanson
Ann Arbor
Ed.: Effectie August 12, Dubow will
no longer b Siiumnuer Sports Editor.
Daily in bad taste again
To the Daily:
Once again the Daily exhibits its
poor taste in the Wednesday, August 5
edition. The picture accompanying sthe
article "'U' bus cuts corner" was com-
pletely inappropriate and unnecessary.
The title and content of the article were
sufficient in communicating the nature
of the accident.
Displaying a pool of blood on the
sidewalk was demonstative of the
Daily's continuing disregard for tact or
subtlety. Sadly, it reminded us of the
time the Daily chose to run a picture
portraying the body of the student killed
ina hit-and-runaccident two yearsago.
Kate Foley
April Abdella
Lisa Mayberry
LSA seniors
Not all facts understood
To the Daily:
It was brought to my attention that
you were faced with severe problems
regarding a full-page ad placed by Use
ArmenianClublast April tocommemo-
ratetheso-called"Anneniangenocide."
I feel that there re some facts that must
be enlightened and broader knowledge
must be taken into consideration on this
issue.
The Armenians' ignorance and lack
of basic history has once again proved
to be true when they try to distort his-
torical facts. On behalf of the Federa-
tion of Turkish American Associations
and the Turkish-American community,
I would liketo congratulate you on your
couragenotto publish the words "geno-
cide" and "massacre" and let the histo-
rians deal with history.
Erhan Atay
President,
Federation of Turkish
American Associations

Here's looking at Casablanca

by David Shepardson
"But what about us?"
"We'll always have Paris."
In the final scene of Casablanca,
Rick and Ilsa part company forever -
for the good of humanity - touching
off a debate as to whether Ilsa should
have stayed widRick or left with Vic-
tor.
Casablanca is the cinematic story
of refugees trying tomake it tonAmerica
during the Ger-
man occupa-
tion of France
during World h
War I. Victor .
Laszlo -a
leader of the re-
sistance- and
IlsaLundarrive
in Rick's Cafe
Asner-icain
tryiag to pro
cure exit visas,
so they can
leave for Lis-
bon. Little do
we know, but
Rick and Ilsa
met just before
the occupation
of Paris and fell
in love.
Rick has
been given let-
ters of transit3
which are exitr
visas that can-
not be re-
scinded. The
story moves
aroundwhether
Victor, Ilsa, or
Rick will leave,
and if so, withI
whom? In the
end, Ilsa -
convinced by
Rick - leaves
with Victor for
the good of his
cause.
Casablanca was filled with prob-
lems of every sort. The fihn was based
on an unproduced play, "Everybody
goes to Rick's," and was supposed to
star Ronald Reagan and Ann Sheridan
in theleading roles.Dialogue andscenes
were being constantly rewritten and the
film was way over budget. Throughout
the filming of the movie, no one knew
how it was going to end.
The film is filled with classic lines
David Shepardson is - or was - sthe
Opinion Editor of /the Michigan Daily

that have become somewhat trite,
"Here's looking at you, kid. I stick my
neck out forno one. Kissme, kiss me as
if it were for the last time."
As I stood in line Friday night at the
Michigan Theatre to see the opening of
the 50th anniversary re-release of
Casablanca, I talked to many of the
people who were waiting to see the
movie.
Most had different memories about

HarryMet Sally, theprotagonistsviews
on the movie change as they change.
Watching the movie at age 70 will
surely be differentthan watching itnow
at 19.
I have many memories of
Casablanca. Sneaking out to the den to
watch it on late-night TV. Sitting in a
House office building lounge watching
itwithfriends. Ittranscendsmeremovie-
going.
It is a movie
about the human
spirit, friendship,
holding on, and
letting go. In Play
a Agan, Sam, af-
ter Woody Allen
sends Diane
Keaton away, re-
peatng the words
Bogart uses, "The
problems of three
little people don't
add up to a hill of
beans." Later he
quipls,"I've been
waitng my whole
life to say that."
In the end, the
movie turns on
love and giving up
true love -what-
everthatmeans-
for something
more important,
somethinghigher.
The final scene in
Casablancaisper-
N haps the best
goodbye in all of
cinema.
"You're gea-
ting on that plane
... If you don't,
you'll regret it.
Maybe not today.
Maybe not
tommorrow. But
soon, and for the
rest of your life."
Everyone can
relate to the movie. We've all been in
similiar situations, and we all have a
plane to get on. In college and in all of
life, people drift away and driftapart-
as Shakespeare said, "the readiness is
all." This film reminds us of the fragil-
ity and importance of friendship.
The film brings out in me the "rank
sentamentalist," as Renault says in the
film. Casablanca ends with a classic
statement that I'll surely say countless
times in my life, "Louie, this looks like
the beginning ofabeautifulfriendship."
Casablanca isplaying nowtthroughAu-
gust 20th at the Michigan Theatre.

the first time they saw Casablanca, but
all felt similiar emotions in remember-
ing the film. All ages, all backgrounds,
they were drawn to the movie and to the
universality of the themes it addressed.
It is a very entertaining and funny
film. One of the most memorable parts
of the movie is repartee between Rick
and Captain Renault, who comments
after discovering that the letters of tran-
sit were in Sam's piano player, "Serves
me right for not being musical."
Casablanca is an endearing part of
our culture.Itisacommonthreadamnong
the lives ofhopelessromantics. In When

The summer reign Is over for Gil Renberg - who is leaving for good - and David Shepardson - who unfortunately is
not. In September, Geoffrey Earle, Jay Mazumdar, and Yael Citro return to the fold as the Daily's Opinion Editors. Keep
them on their toes by sending them tons of letters - which is more than you ever did for us. Enjoy these last few weeks
of summer before classes start. See you this fall at the first riot.
- Gil Renberg and David Shepardson