NOTABLE QUOTABLE
"I guess you could say they didn't lynch them at
! the nearest tree, but they did everything else."
--Attorney George Washington, referring to the way his clients, three minority
employees at the University Dental School, were treated by their white supervisors;
Washington won a discrimination case against the University earlier this year
LETTER$ TO T HE EDITOR
Poor air the health of those we love, I the state government.
urge the community to support We need to behave as the
y poses these new standards and to Japanese company in the
|| o fight against big polluters. story and rise to the challenge
of the HSPE instead of
TIFFANY BLOOM behaving as the American
TO THE DAILY: LSA JUNIOR company in the story and try-
I am writing this letter to ing to get rid of it.
express my concerns regarding DAVID SIRKIN
the quality of the air we HSPE shows MEDICAL SCHOOL
breathe. Recent reports have
shown that particulate soot American
pollution causea 60,000 pre- we k esD n c a g
mature deaths per year, with weakne sses Don t change
*re being caused by ozone s
smog. This terrifies me, To THE DAILY: the block 'M !
because I lost my father to Your editorial about
lung cancer last October and Michigan's High School TO THE DAILY:
my mother has recently experi- Proficiency Exam ("Testing The tempest among the pris-
enced the onset of asthma, patience," 5/28/97) reminded matically correct University
which her doctors have said is me of the story about the administratioh leads me to write
connected to poor air quality Japanese and the American about the sullying in recent
in her neighborhood. We car manufacturers: When the years of the block 'M' in the
shouldn't let air pollution put government made automo- center of the Diag with the
ir families and ourselves in bile-emission standards crossbar that now says, thor-
nger like this. tougher, the Japanese compa- oughly redundantly,
The Environmental ny immediately hired 100 "Michigan" Everybody knew
Protection Agency has proposed more engineers - the with crystal clarity what the 'M'
strengthening the health stan- American company hired 100 stood for - it had those ingre-
dards under the Clean Air Act more lawyers. dients essential to a good logo:
to limit the amount of these two Data have been coming in Simplicity and instant recogniz-
Wednesday, June 11, 1997 - The Michigan Daily - 5
The 'M' Card is not all the 'U'cracks it up to be
A couple years ago, the University tried to cre- accept the 'M' Card. And if students do manage to
ate a student ID that would make students' stumble upon a store that will accept the
lives easier and provide them with access to sev- University's hunk of plastic, chances are some
eral University services. Instead, however, they rude, five-dollar-an-hour cashier won't know how
made the 'M' Card. to work the 'M' Card's validation machine anyway.
In the next two months, the Class of '01 (along In creating the 'M' Card, the University all but
with members of '02 and '03) will descend onto endorsed First of America Bank as where students
East Quad for three days that are sup- should put their money. First of America's
posed to orient them to the college checking accounts are plagued by expen-
environment. Right before stepping sive per-use fees and boring checks with
through the Cooley fountain and hav- '"M' Card Program" printed on them like
ing orientation leaders show them a big sign that says, "I'm a student and I
where the Diag is supposed to be, all . bought into what the University fed me.
of the disoriented will wait in a line - I think I'll move my money to a bank
and a long line at that - to get their where I can get some checks with little
'M' Card. sailboats on them, thanks.
They'll be told what a great thing the X.The 'M' Card's cash chip is designed
'M' Card is. It's an ATM card, meal to be used at vending machines to pre-
card, security card, phone card, vend- JACK vent you from having to carry cash.
ing machine card, library card, cash- SCHILLACI However, its lopsided logic dictates that
chip card and student ID all rolled into JACK IN you have to feed cash into a machine to
one little 3-inch-by-2-inch piece of THE PULPIT get money on the chip in the first place.
plastic. Wowee! Of course, the 'M' Card is also the
Just don't expect all of those lovely features to University's official student ID. After all, first-
work at the same time - or at all, for that matter. year students need it to get into frat parties -.a
The University sends out pamphlets by the dozen mixed blessing at best.
to every student to make sure they know how to Once, some drunken, unevenly-goateed frat
take full advantage of this wonderful machination. boy said "That's not you," to me upon gazing at
In bright, shining colors, the Mcard is pushed on the half rubbed-out picture on my card. Yeah, I
everyone by 'M' Card posterboy Theodore M. stole someone's 'M' Card so I could dance to
Cardman's face plastered on buses and street ban- techno crap and drink cheap beer. For my next
ners. The University has lists of area merchants trick, I think I'll write a thank-you letter about
where students can put their card to use - suppos- the utter speed and efficiency of the U.S. Postal
edly making everyone's life a whole lot easier. Service.
Last week, I saw two students try to use their 'M' If the University wants to make a student ID, it
Cards at Meijer, insisting that "you can use the 'M' should do that. However, it should not use it as a
Card anywhere." The cashier gave them a dirty foray into the banking world or waste thousands
look and told them she'd never heard of it before. of dollars pushing it onto the student population.
So much for being able to use it everywhere. - Jack Schillaci can be reached
The reality is that their are few places beside over e-mail atljschilla@umich.edu.
bookstores and a few fast-food restaurants that
pollutants that can be released for years indicating that ability. En ler s proposal threatens right to seek justiee
into the air. This would be bene- American high school students In my humble opinion, ours E J
ficial to the health of all citizens lag behind their counterparts was one of the top two or three T's one of the greatest moments of your life: of your life?
because the new standards in other industrialized nations. university logos in all the land iYou've finally got your own car. The one In the old days, you could have sued for pain
would prevent 20,000 premature If a test is designed that mea- - I might rate only West drawback, of course, is having to pay for insur- and suffering damages, leaving you in somewhat
*aths, 250,000 cases of aggra- sures what high school stu- Virginia's higher. Why then, ance. But suppose there was a plan that let you better financial shape. Now, well, you're out of
vated asthma and 9,000 hospital dents should know, it would did some well-meaning but save about $100 in insurance costs, simply by not luck.
admission per year. not surprise me a bit if only 40 logo-challenging soul decide buying one premium? With consequences like these, we're forced to
However, the big polluters percent of American high to improve on perfection? This might sound like a brilliant innovation. wonder why this plan is even being proposed.
- such as electric utilities and school students could pass it. Can we please have our Indeed, Gov. John Engler is betting that And that, too, has a simple answer.
the auto, chemical and mining The poor performance of unadulterated, uncross barred, you'll appreciate it. But before Who pays for pain and suffering dam-
industries - are against Michigan students on the plain old block *M' back? Michigan drivers wholeheartedly ages? Insurance companies. Do you
strengthening health standards. HSPE should be a wake-up endorse this idea, they should take a think they enjoy paying out large sums
Since this is such an important call to students, parents, teach- RAND BISHOP closer look at his plan. ~ of money? Hell no. Do they care about
issue that affects our health and ers, school administrators and UNIVERSITY ALUMNUS Michigan drivers are currently the people who need this money? Well
required to buy liability coverage as ... that's the question.
'0K 3U Y 0 part of their insurance plans. In other The insurance companies' official
words, if you cause a car accident, the a rationale for this plan is that it will
MOPPI tJ Gi LA P' Al THE~ To injured driver can sue you for pain and reduce the number of lawsuits, and
suffering damages, seeking repayment then they'll be able to reduce insur-
I4oI 5WtEP IT I for his or her injuries. Liz LUCAS ance premium costs. Is there any guar-
Under Engler's plan, drivers wouldn't COUNTRY antee they'll do this? Take a wild
be required to buy this coverage. And FEEDBACK guess.
it's pretty unlikely that they would vol- Fortunately, this idea is still in the
untarily pay an extra $100 in insurance costs. planning stages. If it receives enough criticism
'I But what happens if they cause a car accident, from Michigan drivers - and voters - it might
you ask? never happen.
Well, there's a simple solution: The injured dri- So why not make your views known? You can
ver would be legally barred from suing the driver reach Engler at P.O. Box 30013, Lansing, MI
at fault. 48909 or over e-mail at migov@mai.state.mi.us.
So let's bring this to a more personal level. Ann Arbor's state representatives, Liz Brater
Let's say you're injured in a car accident and, (D) and Mary Schroer (D), can be reached at
quite justly, you want to sue the driver who lbrater@house.state.mi.us . and
caused the accident. After all, the right to seek mschroe@house.state.mi.us, respectively. Sen.
justice in the court system is one of the founda- Alma Wheeler Smith (D-Salem), can be reached
tions of a free and democratic society. at SenASmith@senate.state. mii.Us.
- = But, unfortunately, you live in Michigan. And This is a battle between corporate interests and
your right to seek justice has been curtailed. the common individual. And if the corporations
/ .That's not scary enough for you? Imagine win, we'll all be worse off. So speak up. Fight the
you were critically injured in this accident, Man. This time, he's going too far.
leaving you unable to work. How are you going - Liz Lucas is busy picketing the capital
to pay your hospital bills, let alone obtain any building in Lansing, but you can still
money to support yourself for the next 50 years e-mail her at erelucas@umich.edu.