Wednesday, June 3, 1992 - The Michigan Daily Summer Weekly - 5
Letters
*Throw the Notes out
To the Editor:
In an excellent piece on "Cliff's
Notes" that appeared in the Daily last
term, one dormlibrarian claimed that to
eliminate the insidious little "books"
fromdormlibrarieswoulddiscriminate
against poorer students because rich
students could buy their own copies.
Does anyone see a gross miscarriage of
logic here? Although "Cliff's Notes"
can be legitimately used as study aids,
we must admit that the vast majority of
students who use them treat "Cliff's
Notes" as aquick way to avoidreading
an entire work.
In my opinion, NO student, rich or
poor, should have access to such a
blatant tool for cheating, and any self-
respecting library ought to do a real
favor for disadvantaged students by
offering multiple, unabridged copies of
theactual works,not their intellectually
and artistically anemic substitutes. As a
parent and a full-time student, my time
and resources are severely limited, yet
despite such stringent demands - and
I say this with no uncertain amount of
self-righteous indignation - I have
NEVERfailedtocompletequality work
by the assigned deadline. And I have
mostcertainlyreadevery assigned book,
in its entirety, on time, without falling
irretrievably behind and being forced to
waste my intellectual gifts on the inan-
ityofacheating toollike"Cliff'sNotes."
If you or your parents are shucking
out $10,000-$20,000 per year for you
to find better things to do than face up to
the intellectual rigors of a Michigan
education, I and the many other hard-
working students who make time to
diligently complete our required tasks
throw a bitter raspberry at your pre-
cious "Cliff's Notes."
Noresponsiblelibrary, dormoroth-
erwise, should so complicitly cater to
lowest common denominator of aca-
demic underachievement as to place
such odious means of cheating on the
same shelves as truly great works of
literature. After all, our mascot (sic) is
the tenacious wolverine, not Bart
Simpson.
Sean Cavazos-Kottke
LSA senior
Daily aids 'cover-up'
To the Daily:
I am very sorry your paper was
afraid to print the truth about the Arme-
nian Genocide. I'm sure your reasons
were political. There is enough denial
of both the Armenian Genocide and
Jewish Holocaust without the help of
your paper. I spent several years in the
military to defend freedom of speech
for our country, and Iresent the Daily's
going along with this great cover-up.
The paper should be ashamed of its
cowardly decision. This kind of service
is not needed by an American newspa-
per.
Hike Oganessian
Glendale, Cal.
Daily avoids the truth
To the Daily:
Iwasextremely disappointedtohear
of the events taking place on April 24,
1992, with the Daily.
As a University alumnus, I was al-
ways an enthusiastic supporter of the
Daily because of its ability not to let
politics dictate its journalism and poli-
cies. It was to my great disappointment
anddispleasurethat1heardoftheDaily's
refusal to run the Armenian Martyr's
advertisement. I know that Peter
Kupelian and the Armenian ClubPresi-
dent, Carl Bardakian, have provided
you with the appropriate documenta-
tion regarding the genocide. This in-
cludes the Daily's owncoverage of the
Armenian genocide in 1915.
It would seem to me that the Daily,
having an institution of the caliber of
the University of Michigan as a re-
source for accurate historical events,
would not have any problem verifying
the statements made in the ad. Geno-
cide has been committed in the history
of mankind and there is never a prob-
lem recognizing such atrocities and in-
justices inflicted on a people. The rea-
son you choose to ignore the Armenian
genocide certainly boggles mind of one
who has seen the ramifications from
these atrocities. Newspapers such as
the Daily, in refusing to provide accu-
ratehistorical informationaboutevents
such as the Armenian genocide, en-
courage other people and nations to
inflict further inhumanities.
Iconsider today's Daily areflection
of poor journalism and ineffective re-
sourcefulness. I would hope that, in the
future, yourunyour newspaper'sedito-
rial and advertising staffs in an appro-
priate fashion compatible with the rights
of the citizens of the U.S. and those
students present at the University of
Michigan. If people such as yourselves
continue to attempt to dictate the news
and facts, thentrue freedom of the press
will be lost in this country.
In my days at Michigan, 1974 to
1978, freedom of the press and freedom
of the people prevailed. I hope we re-
tum to such times again at Michigan
through the Daily.
Michael Haroutunian
Berkley, Mich.
Reader's logic flawed
To the Daily:
Inresponse toDr.Joyce YuChang's
letter in the May 20th edition of the
Daily, Inote that by assigning the char-
acteristicsofasingle strikerto the whole
lot of them, Dr. Chang is also being
prejudiced. Just because there is one
racist striker -or even several-does
not mean that they all are racists or that
we shouldnot support theirendeavor.If
one Black person made a racist remark
to Dr. Chang, would she consider all
Blacks racist? Think about it.
Patty Bradley
Research Associate
SRC/ISR/UM
Giving sex a bad name
To the Daily:
I just finished reading Christopher
Dorais's letter chastising the Daily for
it's best of sex issue. Chris WAKE UP!
If there's anything that I learned in my
four years here, it is that sex, drugs,rock
androll, monstertrucks, andexplosives
are the only things that make life worth
living. The only thing that can improve
any of these activities is to make them
illegal and them writing anti-social ar-
ticles advocating them. Chris, gotakea
bath in electric jelto and call me in the
mornming. Keep up the good work and
consider giving up all socio-political
atidles in the future.
Mike Bonanno
First-year law student
Pop-Pop &
Ross Perot
I spoke to my grandfather the
other day,andhereally surprised me.
Before I could even say, "Hi,
Pop," he said, "You know, Andy,
I'm a Perot man."
Before I go
on, there is
something you
have to under-
stand. Aside
from a dinner
table conversa-
tion, or the fact
that e wathes
60 Minutes ev-
ery week to find
out who else in
the goverment
is corrupt, my
grandfather doesn't really ever ex-
press an opinion about politics.
I don't think he's voted recently
in any major election, and he prob-
ably didn't have any intention to -
until Ross Perotburston to the scene.
However, Perot touched some chord
in my grandfather, enough that he
expressed an interest in volunteering
for his campaign. The only thing my
grandfather volunteers for usually is
an earlier tee-off time.
And it seems that my grandfather
is not alone.
Thousands of people across the
country are pledging their time and
their votes to this man with no politi-
cal experience whatsoever, and no
cific platform, -just admittedly
vague ideas for "change."
Perot must be the most charms-
matic man in the country. He's
America's first billionaire populist
politician. Think about that. Billion-
aire. Populist. Politician. It doesn't
even sound right.
But America is bowing down
before Ross Perot. Are the people
that disaffected?
President Bush and Congress
have been at each other's throats for
years. Voters feel like they don't
matter - like they have no say in
what's going on. What's new about
that? That's been the status quo for
longer than I've been alive.
Nothing that Perot has said is
really novel. Many before him have
spoken aboutcuttingoutwaste,about
making government responsible,
about involving people more in the
decision making process. Perot's
electronic town meeting approach is
just a new twist on an old idea.
The only thing really new about
the Perot campaign is that, while
those before him have been discrete
about it, Perot has made no bones
about the fact that he is trying to buy
the presidency.
Perot says he will consult the
public before making major deci-
sions. That is not what a President is
elected for.We elect the President to
lead, not to consult.
But, regardless of the outcome,
Perot is bringing people into the po-
litical process who otherwise would
have stayed home - or on the golf
course.
I just hope those people, and my
grandfather, know what they're bas-
ing their decisionuon beforethey pull
the lever for this billionaire populist.
Attention, DPS: Four guns for hire
by Amy Polk
Timothy Wind is in need of a new
job. He was one of the four white Los
Angeles Police officers charged with
beating Black motorist Rodney King
lastyear. StaceyKoon, TheodorelBiseno
and Lawrence Powell are also in need
of employment, although Powell will
have to wait until the conclusion of his
bothersomeretrial.AndtheUniversity's
Department of Public Safety (DPS)
seems the perfect employer of all four
officers. Here are but a few similarities
between the University and the offic-
ers' former working environment.
Ihopethatitiscommonknowledge
that African-American students and
members of the Ann Arbor community
are regularly treated in a biased, disre-
spectful or even brutal manner by DPS
officers. As the acquittalofthe four Los
Angeles Police Department (LAPD)
officers indicated, lives of Blacks are
devalued in Los Angeles, just as con-
cerns of Blacks are devalued at Michi-
gan - by DPS officers, by staff of the
Michigan Union, by Housing person-
nel, and by University administrators.
As the LAPD interacts with Los
Angelesresidentsasanoccupyingarmy,
so the deputized DPS officers have a
Polk is a recent University graduate
and aformer MSA representative.
mentality of trench warfare and an in-
tense desire to persecute the locals. Ittis
the exclusive job of DPS investigator
Paul Vaughan to use a video camera to
pan the crowds during campus protests
in order to identify who is in attendance
at the protests.
Never mind that this practice vio-
lates students' civil liberties. Another
interesting practice comes from Timo-
thy Shannon. When Shannon is fortu-
nate enough to have arrested a Univer-
sity student,heeven takes the trouble to
attendhisor her courthearing andargue
with the prosecutor against giving stu-
dentsmorelenientsentences. Shannon
fumes with rage when the prosecutors
strike even modest deals with students.
Aa Arbor police officers, in contrast,
almost never intervene once a case has
gone to trial.
The most important similarity be-
tween LAPD and DPS is the lack of
accountability. Under the leadership of
Los Angeles police chief Darryl Gates,
officers could violate citizens' civillib-
erties with impunity. It is especially
disturbing that witnesses for the de-
fense said that King's beating was in
keeping with LAPD policies. Los An-
gelesMayor Tom Bradley is powerless
to place any check on the LAPD offic-
ers' behavior.
Mr. Gates seems to have much in
common with our ownDirector ofDPS,
Leo Heatley. Under Heatley's leader-
ship, Black students are regularly ha-
rassed, campus protesters are video-
taped, and DPS officers intervene for a
more harsh prosecution of students.
While the line of authority goes from
Heatley through astring of bureaucrats,
all the way up to the University regents,
it should also be common knowledge
that neither the regents nor these ad-
ministrators have shown any desire to
put limitations on Heatley or DPS. And
we can forget any hope of the Campus
Police Oversight Board holding DPS
officersaccountable.Itwillbeamiracle
if the Oversight Board even convenes
next year, let alone has any binding
decision-making power.
Would DPS hire four white officers
acquitted in a videotaped beating of a
Black man? DPS hired Shannon who,
while working in South Lyon Town-
ship, shot another officer in the butt
when a bullet ricocheted from a gun he
accidentally discharged. (He is regu-
larly referred toas "RicochetShannon"
by officers andprosecutorsatthe Wash-
tenaw County 15th districtcourthouse.)
Powelloncereferred to a Black Los
Angelesfamilyas"GorillasintheMist."
If DPS hired "Ricochet Shannon,"
they'll hire anyone. Hey, Leo, give 'em
a call.