4 - The Michigan Daily - Monday, July 23, 2001 Edited and managed by Students at the JACQUELYN NiXON AUBREY HENRETTY University of Michigan + Editor in Chief Editorial Page Editor 420 Mayar Str t Unless otherwise noted, unsigned editorials reflect the opinion ofthe 420 M ayn ard Street majority of the Daily's editorial board. All other articles, letters and Ann Arbor, M| 48109 cartoons do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Michigan Daily The surest way to arouse public interest in something is to come out against it. With this in mind, Harlan Hatcher GraduaterLibrary information supervi- sors Mamna Clowney and Lynne Gun- derman and information resources assistant Laura Nottley developed "Banned Books and the Freedom to Read," an exhibit showcasing some of the most talked about books in history. In addition to being wildly popular, all titles - ranging from J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series to the works of Mark Twain - have been challenged or banned by censors at one time or anoth- er. In an age where the most outspoken censors focus on the television, movie and music industries, it is easy to forget the power of the written word; "Banned Boo s" serves to educate the University community and the public alike about censorship's many manifestations. The exhibit also salutes the first amendment to the U.S. Constitution, reminding us that every book has a place in American libraries. Book display celebrates first amendment The American Library Association written for children. The controversy defines a "challenge" to a book as "an often begins when a group of parents attempt to restrict or remove materials, object to something their children are based upon the reading in school; objections of a per- "BANNED BOOKS AND THE the parents allege son or group" FREEDOM TO READ" that a given book is intended to restrict AT THE HARLAN HATCHER corrupting their others' access to children through said material. A GRADUA LIARY its "gratuitous" "banning" occurs NOW THROUGH SEPTEMBER violence, bad lan- when a challenge is guage and/or adult successful. LIBRARY Howes: themes. While While all sorts MONDAY- AY:8A.M.--2 A. these parents cer- of books have been F AY- A.-IOP.M. tainly have the challenged by all RA:S.M- . right to monitor sorts of people, no wATURDAY A.M. -6 M. w at their children genre is more oft SUNDAY: 1 P.M. - 10 P.M. are reading, their protested than attempts to have books for young readers. According to material removed from libraries are the ALA, nearly all of last year's top ten unabashed attacks on the first amend- most frequently challenged books were ment. Also, by not allowing children to read certain books, over-protective par- ents may only be increasing their chil- dren's desires to see what the fuss is all about. Like R-rated movies, these for- bidden fruits may find their way into the open when parents are out of sight. The purpose of a library is to house all kinds of information and, no matter who finds them objectionable. In the words of the ALA, "Intellectual free- dom is the right to seek and receive information from all points of view, even those ideas which may be highly controversial or offensive to others.' As long as there are books being published, people will maintain that certain material is distasteful, immoral or worse. Fortunately, the Constitution guarantees us the right to decide for ourselves. "Banned Books" will be on display now through September at the Harlan Hatcher Graduate library. Students should take the opportunity to visit the exhibit and to learn about how censor- ship can change the lives and thoughts of the people. Quest for power Navy should not pay Cheney's electric bill Tmagine the owner of a small business on Vice President and the Nay. I his or her way to a Staples or an Office Debate on such a trivial part of the fed- Max to buy a fax machine for the office. eral government's enormous budget can As he's waiting in the checkout line he sees certainly be attributed to bipartisanship, the new photo-editing software his spouse but a closer analysis uncovers more impor- has requested for Christmas. With just a tant issues. The proposed White House moment's hesitation he puts the so ftware plan would violate good bookkeeping box on top of the fax-machine box. In the practices in much the same way as the end, for the sake of "convenience," he takes small business owner who charges a per- from his wallet the company credit card; sonal item onto the company account. The his own personal credit card sits snugly in actual financial harm done in either sce- his wallet. nario is minimal, but these practices seri- Although this scenario seems harmless ously jeopardize the integrity of the human enough to the small business owner, his factor. Assume now that small business is underlings - those forced to foot the bill actually an equal partnership between two - probably aren't as excited about the pur- owners instead of one. The owner who chase. charges personal items onto the company Now substitute Vice President Dick account will likely upset the other owner. Cheney for the small business owner and a In a worst-case scenario, the disagreement six-figure electricity bill for the photo-edit- reaches the point where both owners reck- ing software. lessly charge personal items onto the com- The House Appropriation Committee pany account. has proveda plan to have all of the elec- The federal government is, metaphori- trici billsforCheney's official residence cally speaking, a business run by two own- paid for under the U.S. Department of the ers: The Democrats and the Republicans. Navy's Budget. The Senate Appropriation Both owners should follow good account- Committee has yet to analyze the proposal, ing practices and have the Vice President's but criticism is already surfacing. Repre- electricity bills included in his federal sentative David Obey (D-Wisconsin) has budgetary allowance. Both owners should charged that the "vice president is going to not sacrifice fiscal integrity for the sake of be insulated from the impact o fenerg r convenience, especially when allocating prices that will fall on all other Americans.' tax ayer money. t a time when many American house- The office of Vice President does holds are struggling with their energy bills, involve serious expenses; the Vice Presi- this budgetary proposal would imply the dent should be afforded enough money to presence of a double standard. Representa- hire needed staffers and to cover the cost of tive Chet Edwards (D-Texas) has sniped living. If his budget does not allow him to that Americans should now "send their do so, the government should increase the electricity bills to the Na ." funding allowed for the office. Without Proponents of the White House plan commenting on the irony of a man who adamantly defend this proposition. They does not list energy conservation among say that electricity bills for the 33-room his priorities trying to weasel out of his mansion have actually decreased since Vice own outrageous energy bill, let us say that President Dick Cheney assumed residence. it is the government's responsibility to The proposal would supposedly simplify make sure its employees have adequate the current federal bookkeeping because funds for the tasks they are expected to the electricity bills are shared between the complete. Atouj Bush should fund st n a clear message to President Bush, the National Institute of Health issued a report Wednesday calling for additional research on human stem cells; Bush will soon decide whether or not the government will continue to fund embryonic stem cell research. Stem cells - the highly adaptable building blocks of the human body - comprise about one out of every million bone marrow cells. Though formed in the very earliest stages of cell division, these cells are destined for greatness; they will soon become specialized and eventually develop into a human being. Researchers across the country - including researchers here at the Uni- versity - believe this process may hold the keys to treating and curing many currently incurable diseases. Early clinical trials of stem cell therapy in monkeys have yielded promising results and researchers are enthusiastic; they believe stem cells have the potential to help cure every- thing from diabetes to cancer to Lou Gehrig's disease. How can the government even con- sider not funding this groundbreaking research? The controversy relates to the fact that the best stem cell specimens are found in human embryos. For many conservatives, the potential benefits are outweighed by the implications of har- vesting stem cells from embryos; they say this type of research will lead to more abortions as the demand for fresh stem cells increases. But stem cell research should have no impact whatsoever on the number of abortions performed each year. Strict guidelines for private researchers put into place by the Clinton administration allow them to obtain only embryos already marked for disposal at fertility clinics. Also, researchers are forbidden h ce em-cell researchers to pay for embryos, so no one is tempt- ed to sell embryos to the highest bid- der. If these guidelines are carried over to government-funded research, conser- vatives will need not fear that the research would result in more abor- tions. Knowing this and keeping in mind g the fantastic potential of stem cell research, senator, surgeon and strong presidential ally Bill Frist (R-Ten- nessee) Wednesday announced that he would support giving government fund- ing to stem cell researchers. Frist, who is both pro-life and the only medical doctor in the Senate, said he would back this funding rovided it was "very carefully regulated." Frist is not the only conservative in I favor of government-funded stem cell research. Just two days after Frist's statement, 13 Republicans joined 48 Democrats in signing two separate let- ters to President Bush, urging the presi- dent to consider lifting the federal ban. The two letters were started by Sena- tors John Kerr D-Massachusetts) and Arlen Specter R- ennsylvania), respec- tively. According to www.cnn.com Sen. Kerry and Sen. Specter are confident that as many as75 senators support their cause; if this is the case, even a presidential veto could not stop legisla- tion to fund even embryonic stem cell research. The life-saving potential of this research is too great to be ignored. While making his decision, President Bush must not bow to political pressure from the right to keep government fund- ing out of these laboratories. There is no compelling reason why the govern- ment should not proceed to fund stem cell research under the provisions laid out b the Clinton administration. Bush shoud heed the call of the NIH and support further stem cell research.