Monday, July 6, 1998 - The Michigan Daily - 5

NOTABLE QUOTABLE
"I'm not too big into the Fourth's festivities.
It's just another reason to drink."
- LS&A senior Mike Rosen, speaking on the Fourth of Julys icanitng to him.
ETTERS TO THE E OR

Arts does not
address local
events
TO THE DAILY:
Once again, I find disap-
pointment. Once again, I find
no satisfaction. Once again, I
find a section of the
University's student newspa-
per that is of no appeal to
students.
How can you live with
yourselves, knowing that only
a chosen few actually care
about the albums of some no-
name, non-up-and-coming,
crappy band that you choose
to review? Vlow can you live
with yourselves, knowing that
the concert you are writing
about, that "oh, so great'
show that you are previewing,
will never be seen by most of
the students on this campus,
because they have no reliable
form of transportation to
make the trek out to Detroit
to see it?
Why not make a commit-
ment to the University for
once? In my past five years
here, I have tried to help the
student-run arts community
gain a better foothold at the
University and every year, I
have run up against a student-
run newspaper that continues
to look away, continues to
give the cold shoulder. As a
recent graduate, I hoped that

the new staff of The Daily
would make some changes
for next year. Looking at the
summer orientation edition
- the very first edition of
The Daily that incoming stu-
dents will see - I see those
hopes fade away. Looking at
the pages of arts articles
unrelated to the University, I
lose my faith.
Why do I care, you ask?
Why do I write this to you,
when I'm not going to be
around here anymore?
Because I love the
University. Because I care
about the University. Because
I value everything that has to
do with the University.
Because my blood runs maize
and blue and I can't live with
a University community that
doesn't feel the same, and I
can't live with a student
newspaper that says it is
devoted to University stu-
dents, and yet really isn't,
The sports section has
made a great commitment to
the University. Can the arts
section do the same? Is there
leadership of that magnitude
under that division? From what
I've seen, I doubt it. But I
could be wrong ...
Surprise me.
LYELL E. HAYNES
UNIVERSITY ALUMNUS

Not all students
support
affirmative
action
TO THE DAILY:
This letter is in reference
to the recent debate on cam-
pus about affirmative action,
In my opinion, there is an
extremely vocal group of
people who strongly advocate
affirmative action. Backed up
by the University administra-
tion, it gives the impression
that the entire campus is in
support of affirmative action.
This is definitely not the
case.
As evidence, I would like
to point out that not a single
Defend Affirmative Action
Party candidate won election
to MSA, as rep orted by The
Daily. The messa'e that
University students sent
through these elections is that
they do not support affirma-
tive action. MSA and the
University administration
should take this as a direct
mandate from the students to
cease their pro-affirmative
action efforts as these efforts
do not reflect the wishes of
the students as a whole,
DREW PICCIAFOCO
LSA JUNIOR

The Fourth of July brings the nuisance offireworks
A s I alked out of my apartment on Saturday, points of light thtdo absolutely nothimgto"enter
I heard a loud explosion down my street. tain.
Fresh from the movie "Armageddon," my natural And those are the big, cool ones. The smaller
instinct was to hide in my building's basement ones that you buy at a 7-11 or gas station are a
laundry room, cover my head and hope that the million times more boring. They all manage to
end of the world wasn't nigh. say something totally idiotic on the warning label
After sitting in my makeshift nuclear winter like, "Emits showers of sparks" or "Shoots flam-
hideaway for a couple of minutes, a ing balls." Well, duh! You stick 'em on
cursory glance at my watch reminded .the ground, throw a match at them, and if
me that it wasn't the apocalypse that I you're lucky, the thing will shoot off
had to fear, but something far more sparks for about 30 seconds, after which
heinous: The Fourth of July. 1 re- time you are treated to the smell of sul-
emerged onto the street to find myself fur and the duty of disposing of the dis-
surrounded by my mischievous neigh- gusting, burnt-out cylinder that remains.
hors, all huddled over various explo- And then there are sparklers, those lit-
sives. tle flaming sticks adults hand to children
Now, this isn't meant to be an indict- in order to keep them entertained on a
ment of Independence Day or patrio- l ong, hot July Fourth evening. What bet-
tism or Old Glory or any of that stuff. JACK ter way to keep a kid happy than to hand
Ever since the first time I saw fire- SCHILLACI him or her something that is "emitting
works at the age of 3, 1 have felt a great .:,AMIT TO showers of sparks" about six inches from
deal of contempt for them. THE LEFT their hand? -
At this young age, my parents took I really have to ask the die-hard fire-
me down to Pier Marquette Park to watch the works fan what exactly it is that is so damned
City of Muskegon (my hometown) launch sever- entertaining. I admit that initially, a big fireworks
al thousand dollars worth of explosives over the show can be amusing, but in the same way that
water of Lake Michigan. After about two min- staring into a flashing light or watching paint dry
utes, I no longer found them exciting. Five min- will bore you and give you a headache, the multi-
utes after that, I was sitting in my parents' colored spectacle quickly grows old.
Gremlin repeating over and over to anyone who Add to this the traffic, the summer heat that
happened to walk by, "All done, fowsies!" (You you have to face (although I suppose that didn't
see, I thought the fireworks looked like flowers, apply this year), and the beer-guzzling idiot
and my slightly impeded speech produced the whose kids are launching bottle rockets that you
word "fowsie" in lieu of "floswer") Isswys eidltp parkitig next to nd oil'se got a
And so began my lifelong disdain for fire- bad situation that at best is a nuisance.
works. It's not so much that I hate them outright, - Jack Schillci really doesnt understand the
it's just that I think they make far too much noise dis ference ietw'een atc-hing oftrrks and
considering how dul and boring they are to atching static sno on the teleisionir hours.
watch. They just sort of fly up imto the air, make Clue him in i, e-mailing him at
an incredibly disproportionate amount of noise /schillauiimich.ediu. He ? be sitting in risflame-
for their size, and blow up into a hundred little retardant clothes mmtaiting fory our message.
heAnwican family can be nore taxing than rewarding
T his past week, I had the privilege of vacationing my very own (gulp) family. Somehow, somewhere,
at a family resort on Lake Michigan. It's noth- Ih have to find someone I can conceivably tolerate
ing too elaborate or swanky - a modest swimming - much less love, cherish and all that nonsense -
pool, a couple tennis courts, a dining hall, a view of for the next 60 years or so.
the lake. All the standard fare of a family resort. Sixty years!? I have enough trouble finding a date,
But what impressed me most about the place much less maintaining a relationship for 60 years.
wasn't the meals or the sports or the pristine land And it's not just me. I know almost no one of my
scaping or even the lake itself. generation who's involved in a stable,
No, what impressed me most about this completely fulfilling relationship. Even
family resort was, well .. the families. those few friends of mine who can actu-
The resort was chock full of groups of ally boast of a "significant other" don't
people, blood relations, who shockingly really seem content to me.
seemed happy together, even enjoying There's always something wrong.
each other's company! What audacity! There's always some kind of insecurity,
Maybe my surprise seems a little odd. selfishness or petty problem that seems to
After all, how unusual is a normal, all- get in the way. Nothing is ever simple -
American family unit? You got your people have a knack of repeating their
mother, your father, your two or three mistakes, not learning from them.
kids, your minivan and house in suburbia CHRIS That stuff you see in the movies'
- that's no big deal, right? FARAH Where people fall in love at first sight?
That's what I used to believe, too. But F. 's R l's It's all nonsense. Have you ever noticed
let's rethink things a little. These people FA c T ibthat movies almost never show the happy
spend almost every single day of their couples after they magically fall in love?
lives together. Sure, they get the occasional break That's because after a week, the girl (undoubted-
- husbands and wives may have different jobs, the ly played by Meg Ryan) never stops complaining
kids go to school or daycare. But how much per- that she needs some time to herself, while the guy
sonal space do family members actually have? wishes he had never given up playing football with
Not much. You come home after work, you see his buddies for a chick in the first place.
the same faces. You wake up in the morning, you Which leaves us back where we started. Those
see the same faces. You eat, watch TV and even happy families. Those people who, somehow, no
vacation with the same faces. Over and over and matter how daunting the odds, seem to enjoy being
over again. For years and years and years. with each other day after day, year after year.
How do these people stay sane? Maybe it's me. Maybe it's my generation. Maybe
Granted, I grew sip in a family. But my parents got we're just all messed up in the head. Maybe we're
divorced. When my brother and I got tired of one just all a little too caught up with ourselves.
living arrangement, we simply moved to the next Massive egos or low self-esteems -- maybe our
one. I did spend most of my time with my brother, personalities arejust filled with a bunch of crap that
but we were raised together. We knew each other prevents true love and working relationships.
since birth and we still fought like rag Then again, maybe hlIthosehappyall American
Nosy suddenly I'ye graduated college. One of familis were just plain faking it
these days, presumably I'll ha ve to settle doswn with -fdmis Farrih can be't ached at cjfmalm inimmledii

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