Wedne
Normi QuorMlw
ink hair & 'blades "I have, as someone pointed out to me, six presidential
When I dyed my hair flamingo pink my friends elections to go before I'm 69."
nsed that either spring was approaching or that -former VeePresidentDan Quayle onhtspresidehalasbirations
was taking the Oprah Winfrey show a little too
ersonally. The combination of Oprah and the "Aaron Burr's in there, why not Vice President Agnew?"
arm weather inspired me to do something out of
e ordinary. (Oprah refers to it as "getting out of - Tom Korologos, Nixon administration veteran, on the bustoftheformer vice
e comfort zone.") president recently unveiled in the Senate building Agnew pleaded no contest to tax
come. Spring is not in full bloom until I obsess evasion charges while in of9iee, and resigned due to a biberyscandalbefore Watergate
ver a new hobby. Last year, it was the ever-
ular hackey-sack. Much to my dismay my -ett s
ormous feet did not give me an advantage, and
never mastered the art of "hacking." (Though I A mistake. She fights for students. Before you
id manage to practice every night until my . tltadL no at faul publiclydefamehercharacter,Istronglyurgeyou
ommates threatened me with great bodily harm.) to work with her. She is an effective, dedicated,
This year, people only roll their eyes when I for code problem s and brilliant administrator, and I only wish that
l them that I'm contemplating learning either more University employees shared her
e guitar or how to rollerblade. I'm wondering To the Daily: commitment, drive, and genuine concern. The
hich will be safer. A guitar could aggravate and Daily owes Mary Lou Antieau a sincere public
ncite roommates and neighbors who will not I like The Michigan Daily. Its enthusiastic and apology.
njoy listening to "Mary Had a Little Lamb" 400 concerned editors strive, not only to report 'U' Barry Rosenberg
imes a day, (even if it is the unplugged version). politics, but to influence them. Your thoughtful
I must admit that even though I consider the editorialsusually promotethe interestsofstudents, LSA sophomore
kates to be dangerous, I'm mesmerized by swift and represent a valid and desirable point of view.
ollerbladers who whoosh by me and seem to think Thus, it is because of my admiration for the Daily, Palestiniars are
othing of leaping off stairs while calmly filling that I felt compelled to write this letter.
ut their income taxes. Like most University students, Iam against the ..
Already, two conspirators have begun the code (of non-academic conduct). I think that it is a unlik e M ilitia
rocess of convincing me to buy into the latest poorly written,unfair,unjustand"faulty"document.
raze. They tell me all the wonderful things I will Therefore, I am thrilled that it is being rewritten.
able to do once I have a set of wheels, and Unfortunately, I am disgusted with the editorial in To the Daily:
lowly demonstrate the new safety break feature. the May 24, 1995 Daily entitled, "Antieau Must In the May 3rd issue's opinion article,
An improved breaking system might induce Go." The editor who wrote this article confused "Walking the line," the Daily emphasized that in
to seriously rethink my position. I fear blades two completely different issues. He took what thewakeoftheOklahomabombing,itisnecessary
cause I'm accident prone. In fact, I've crashed should have been ajustified attack on the code, and that the"... fine line that exists between threat and
sough three biking helmets. (This is a cause of instead made it into a personal attack on Mary Lou free speech not be breached." In order to clarify
re concern for me since each time I buy a new Antieau,the Judicial Advisor. The problemis with this obvious truth, the Daily stated, "Being a part
elmet, I find that my head has been reduced at the code, not with Mary Lou Antieau. I urge this of the Michigan Militia does in no way make a
east one size. I began wearing a large, and I am editor, and any other concerned student, to person more of a threat to society than being of
ow snugly fitted into an extra small.) participate in the rewriting of the code. That is how Palestinian descent would make one a terrorist in
My rollerbladingphobia stems froma traumatic to solve the problem. Irespect and agree with your Israel While this comparison catches the reader's
introduction to the sport. My brother Frank, who suggestion of changing to some type of committee eye, it is incorrect and inappropriate. It is true that
lives in New YorkCity, convinced me thatblading system. However, I would recommend that Mary being of Palestinian descent does not make one
in Central Park was the thing to do on weekends. Lou Antieau serve on or chair such a committee. automatically a terrorist. Being Palestinian is
er traipsing around the city with my touristy My professionalexperiences with Antieauhave an ethnicity/nationality. One becomes a terrorist
sunglasses and camera, I heeded his advice in beenvery positive. Iapproachedherafterreceiving when one supports and implements the use of
hopes of being mistaken for a native. (Although in a piece of threatening e-mail. During our violent means to reach an end A Palestinian, or
retrospect I probably would have been less conversations her intelligence, wit and quick for that matter an Israeli Jew, becomes a terrorist
conspicuous had I not donned my funkiest neon thinking skills immediately became apparent to and therefore a threat to society when he or she
purple, green and pink shorts.) me. Antieau's honesty and enthusiasm picks up a gun or builds a bomb. The current
Frank suggested thatweskatetheseveralblocks complementedhergenuine concern for the welfare treatment of the Michigan Militia can not be
to the park. Everything seemed deceptively easy. of U of M's students. I found her to be non-biased compared to the unfair stigmatization of
Soon, I was gaining momentum and confidence. and exceptionally qualified. The Daily claimed Palestinians. Members of the Militia support
Then I realized that I was quick y approaching . that she did not have "the background to work on the use of violent means in order to accomplish
large intersection and that I didn't know how to mediation and conciliation." Nothing could be their goals. They also have been stockpiling the
p. I charged into New York rush hour traffic furtherfromthetruth. InmycaseAntieausuggested weapons and obtaining the training needed to
flailing my arnn and alerting othersby sereaming that we first try to handle the situation through create this violence.
at the top of my lungs, "Help!!I can'e stop! Out of words, mediation and education. Fortunately, The article cautions against censoring one's
my way!" Even cab drivers felt sorry for me and her non-confrontational approach effectively speech merely because it is unpopular or even
yielded.Ithen rolledsmackthroug at stling stret diffused the situation. perhaps despicable. This is an admirable
fair on Columbus Avenue. Desensitized and In questioning Antieau, I later learned that she statement. However, by equating the Michigan
unmindful New Yorkers who wouldn't so much as was appointed after the code was written, and that Militia, a group stockpiling guns and in some
flinch if dinner companion weremugged during a she agrees that the code needs to be rewritten. We instances, training children to kill, with
meal, scattered screaming when slalomed through must be careful to separate personal issues from Palestinians, an ethnic group that does not hold
the crowd of shoppers. political goals. Antieau is not the problem in fact, any singular belief, violent or nonviolent, the
I set arecord which I dare anyone tobeat-10 shetoowants abettercode andaneffective solution. Daily loses the focus of the article's originalnoble
ocks in 30 seconds. My brotherstriving in vain -o The need to rewrite the code has already been message.
pup with me yelled,"Don'twonry. Once you're affirmed and is currently getting underway. To Alisa Stein
in the park there won't be any traffic. What he advocate the removal of Antieau is a self defeating LSA junior
neglected to tellme was that the entrance was at the Non Sequitur By Wiley
top of a steep hill. Crouched into a skiing position, \ \/- --- F. n "Fv =
I braced myself as I hurtled downward forming a "RSU'4 u r,& r
dramatic streak of neon purple, pink and green V T ; Q
against the Manhattan skyline. I kept going until I = G
stopped somewhere near Midtown.
I spent the rest of the day motionless on my =7
wheels. While watching a group of kamikaze
aders jump trash cans, a British photojournalist
stook me for one of the gang.
"Do you do jumps?" she asked as she fidgeted
with her camera. "Nah," I responded in my best
New Yawk accent, "I don't do dat anymore. -
sday, May 31, 1995 - The Michigan Daily - 5
i
Nicholas iCotsonika/Nickels
Toward diversity
PART ONE OF A SERIES
I should sue the University for false advertising.
Sitting on my bedroom floor last year, pondering
my future education, I poured over letter after letter,
pamphlet after pamphlet, advertisement after
advertisement from colleges all over the country.
Dartmouth talked about its beautiful campus and
had a lot of colorful pictures. Southern Cal had cute
little cartoon guys who boasted about the Trojan
football tradition. Professors with long, white beards
postulated about the advantages of matriculating to
Yale.
Michigan had a calling card of its own as well.
Diversity.
The word was plastered all overthe maize and blue
brochure. The University was said to have people
from all over the country, students of all races, kids
from all different backgrounds. The black-and-white
photos depicted aharmoniouscampus, where African
Americans, Caucasians and Asians walked to class,
ann-in-an, laughing and joking, without care or
want.
It all sounded good to me. So when I chose
Michigan and arrived in Ann Arbor last September, I
expected what was advertised. But the only time I
found the carefree attitude of the pamphlet was when
I took it out of my drawer.
The University has a number of different people
all right, and they all use the same drinking fountains
and bathrooms, but more often than not, they coexist
rather than live together.
There is a difference between passive and active
diversity. Passive diversity is what you will find at an
Angell Hall lecture, a Michigan football game and a
South Quad meal. Jews and Gentiles, whites and
Blacks, heterosexuals and homosexuals, they all sit in
the same room and stand in the same lines, but they
rarely talk much. They sit with their own kind. They
eat withtheirown kind. They talk abouteveryoneelse.
That wasn't what was advertised. Sitting next to
someone opposite of yourself and saying "hello" just
to prove you are accepting is not true diversity. It is not
active. Real diversity - active diversity - is when a
community understands itself. When its members
know the trials and tribulations of everyone in their
group, when they speak toone anotherout of genuine
interest and acceptance and when they are able to say
what they really feel without fear of being labelled as
a bigot or a racist - that's when active diversity is
being practiced.
Students at Michigan do not do this, and it needs to
be dealt with. I am not saying that the University is an
extremely hostile place where dialogue is absent. In
fact, Michigan is on theleading edge of social reform.
But this is more out of necessity than anything else. In
order to survive here, Ann Arbor residents must be
civil to one another, or else there would be more
trouble than honesty is worth. To avoid confrontation,
we just say the politically correctthing, and then carry
our true opinions away, unchanged.
That's a shame. There must be a conduit for real
dialogue at Michigan. For example, the newly revised
Race and Ethnicity Requirement should become the
diversity requirement. It should do what it is designed
to do, and shouldn't be an excuse to take Cultural
Anthropology. We need to talk to each other.We need
to face issues pertinent to Michigan instead of
discussing the sexual experiences of bushmen.
What would it be like if the students at this
University actually sat down, threw their differences
on the table and talked about them? What would it be
like if they all had a common experience, to which
they could relate throughout their collegiate careers?
What would it be like if everyone examined each
other and studied the similarities between people as
much as the differences?
Michigan students would receive what they've
paid for, and what they expected. Until then,
Michigan's claims of diversity will be
unsubstantiated.
It's time for the University's product to live up to
the hype.