Page 4 -The Michigan Daily- Monday, March 25, 1991
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420 Maynard Street
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109
Edited and Managed
by Students at the
University of Michigan
ANDREW K. GOTTESMAN
Editor in Chief
STEPHEN HENDERSON
DANIEL POUX
Opinion Editors
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Unsigned editorials represent a majority of the Daily's Editorial Board.
All other cartoons, signed articles, and letters do not necessarily represent the opinion of the Daily.
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he Michigan StudentAssembly (MSA) needs
a change; hardly anyone would argue that
point. And when students vote in the assembly's
spring elections tomorrow and Wednesday, they
should consider which party's platform best em-
Oodies the reform-minded attitudes necessary to
facilitate that change.
To this end, the Emphasizing Student Power
(ESP) party clearly out-distances the field of other
candidates. Led by LSA sophomore and presiden-
tial candidate Eric Stempien, ESP is the only party
that offers the fresh perspective, optimistic initia-
tive and concrete platform needed to truly reform
the assembly during the next year.
The planks of the ESP platform focus on return-
ing the assembly to its primary directive: effective
representation of the student body.
In the past two years, assembly members have
spouted rhetoric about representing students, but
done little to actually legitimize their claims. Po-
litical bickering and counterproductive, partisan
agenda setting have taken precedence over real
service of the student body.
Students now do not feel adequately repre-
sented by MSA - as evidenced by the shamefully
low voter turnout - and the assembly has little
credibility with the administration.
Through increased student involvement in the
assembly and an enhanced working relationship
with the administration, ESP promises to rectify
these dilemmas.
In terms of getting students more interested and
active in MSA activities, ESP plans to bring the
assembly to the students. Polling students about
their perceptions of MSA and tabling in the Fish-
bowl, Michigan Union Grill, and other student
centers are part of ESP's plan, and will undoubt-
edly make some strides toward greater student
involvement.
In terms of bridging the communication gap
between administrators and students, ESP aspires
to establish a productive working relationship with
the administration while maintaininga strong push
for protection of student rights. Stempien and the
other party members seem to have a clear recog-
nition of the need for a balance between the two.
In addition, ESP hopes to procure a permanent
student seat on the University Board of Regents -
a move that would greatly improve the board's
effectiveness in dealing with students.
Indeed, these are lofty goals; ESP's limited
experience on the assembly contributes to its starry-
eyed ideals. But what the party lacks in experience
is compensated by its firm commitment to student
interests, and its confidence in the ability to achieve
its goals. Students would do well to have a few
strong-willed ideologues in assembly seats, and
ESP would provide this better than any other party.
However, because ESP does not have enough
candidates to acquire a majority of the assembly
seats, students should also vote for the independent
candidates running for individual seats.
MSA stands at a crucial junction in its existence.
Students and administrators alike are beginning to
recognize the assembly's legitimate shortcomings.
Stempien and the other ESP candidates also rec-
ognize these shortcomings, and have pledged to
address them if elected - with real solutions.
Students should take advantage of their op-
portunity to move the assembly toward reform in
the next year, and should vote ESP tomorrow and
Wednesday.
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CC, Common Sense had their chance - and blew it
T houghthe Emphasizing StudentPower(ESP) Indeed, every political figure
party has earned the Daily's endorsement for political beliefs, and will act in
the Michigan Student Assembly (MSA) spring them. But these student politicia
elections, Common Sense - an undeniable off- sacrificed representation of the
shoot of the now defunct Action party - and the body in favor of these political i
Conservative Coalition (CC) also merit comment. high time students held them acc
These two parties currently hold a majority of If either of these parties is v
the seats on the assembly, and are largely respon- week's elections, students shouh
sible for the political bickering and ideological the same from MSA; the assembl
mud-slinging that now characterizes MSA. Clearly, be plagued by intense political
any attempt at restoring the assembly's effective- student representation will not b
ness must begin with their removal. But hopefully, students will de
Despite claims by both sides to "truly represent tired of their interests taking a
student interests," neither has taken any real, political beliefs of their elected
positive steps to achieve this goal. Instead, they and vote the Conservative Coalit
indulge time after time in self-important political carnation of the Action party - C
battles that result instudent interests being shuffled out of office.
aside.
Mandate
Entire 'U' community should push harder for divers
n an effort to bolster enthusiasm and lend an written off as "tokenism," or "P
appearance of progress, the University an- should be praised for highlight
nounced recently that we have achieved "phase many different groups of people
one" of the Michigan Mandate. The Mandate, contributions to our society.
instituted in 1987 to lay out the University's strat- The administration can aid
egies to build a "multicultural community," states struggle toward multiculturalism
increased minority recruitment as its "phase one" sitive and inclusive policy decis
goal. their stated commitment to div
Inter-racial and cultural tensions, an under- Duderstadt's recent efforts to ton
represented minority population on campus, and Quad macing incident and the hon
poor efforts by the University to retain minority up of the recently armed Univer
students once they recruit them all indicate that if indicate that the University consis
we have indeed achieved "phase one," then our own rhetoric about sensitivity.
expectations are too low. While the administration must.
The University is notorious for enticing stu- any attempts the to improve r
dents to come here with seemingly attractive campus will be fruitless without s
scholarships - such as the Michigan Achieve- from students as well. Ultimate
ment Award - that expire after one year. This will improve only through indivi
leaves low-income and minority students hanging Students can take classes wit
out to dry. The end result is a minority graduation focus or attend cultural events
rate that is consistently 20 percent below gradua- understanding of different peopl
tion rates of white students. to know people of different ethn
The Eden-like pluralistic society that the Man- way in which students can work fo
date touts cannot be achieved without a breaking on this campus.
down of racial barriers; this will begin only through An afternoon glance at the Di
Oixh everyday exchange of ideas. racial divisiveness that still per
For this reason, curriculum changes are in or- versity community - and AnnA
der. A diversity course requirement provides only But it is also important that th
on angle from which to approach this complex not push for forced integration. I
problem. People of color should be reflected in all to expect that students will not e
academic disciplines. A student should not have to to be with others of the same eth
take a class in African American studies to study For the last few years, the Un
African Americans. taking baby steps in our j
Professors and other faculty members in all multiculturalism in the year 200
fields must make a concerted effort to incorporate ulty members and administration
discussion of the literature and cultures of as many focus their efforts to improve t
groups as possible. Such actions should not be here.
espouses certain
accordance with
ns have too often
greater student
nterests, and it is
ountable for this.
victorious in this
Id expect more of
y will continue to
J in-fighting and
e enhanced.
ecide that they are
back seat to the
representatives,
lion and the rein-
ommon Sense-
ity
PC." Rather, they
ing the fact that
have made great
the University's
n by forging sen-
sions that reflect
versity. President
e down the South
nogeneousmake-
rsity police force
stently ignores its
step up its efforts,
ace relations on
ignificant efforts
ly, race relations
idual initiatives.
h a non-Western
to increase their
es. Striving to get
icities is another
Dr"true diversity"
ag highlights the
meates our Uni-
Arbor in general.
he administration
t is unreasonable
ver find the need
nicity.
iversity has been
ourney toward
)0. Students, fac-
can each further
he racial climate
No more chalk!.
To the Daily:
I was walking down South
University, enjoying the wonder-
ful yet unusual March weather
last Thursday morning, when I
discovered a young man about my
age playing with chalk.
Now, I ask, what is a 20-year
old doing with chalk at 10 a.m.?
Well, that depends what time of
year it is at the University of
Michigan.
Fraternities, sororities,
protestors, and politicians all
seem to enjoy regressing back to
childhood and playing with chalk
as college students.
The particular student I saw
Thursday morning was associated
with the Common Sense party. He
chalked his message on the
sidewalk and on the archway of
West Engineering Building: Vote
Common Sense.
Now, what do I know about
the Common Sense party? The
only things I know about this
particular party come from
articles in the Daily and the items
placed on fliers plastered around
the campus.
There is no such thing as
content in chalked messages.
"Vote Common Sense" on the
sidewalk will only make my
attitude grow negatively towards
this party because my "Common
Sense" tells me that it is not right
to deface property with ugly
chalk.
Kimberly L. Shafer
LSA sophomore
Pro-AIAC
To the Daily:
The U.S. imperialist victory in
the Middle East has intensified
the ruling class' war at home
against blacks and other minori-
ties, women, lesbians, gay men
and workers.
The South Quad, Los Angeles
and New York City police attacks
were not isolated incidents.
Racism and police violence are
methods used to maintain a layer
of oppressed to keep capitalism
running.
Supporters of racist L.A.
Police Chief, Daryl Gates, hung
yellow ribbons to show "support"
for their chief. This reveals how
the disgusting wave of patriotism
sweeping the country goes hand
in hand with racism and racist
violence.
Police attacks will become
more violent and frequent as the
decaying system grasps for straws
to maintain itself, and as the
contradictions of capitalism
multiply.
No amount of pleading or
lobbying the government or the
administration will remove the
economic motives for our
oppression.
Here at the University, we
must build a movement to fight
the racist administration by
building a worker/student
alliance.
We need to demand all cops
off campus and organize student/
worker defense patrols to fight
racist, sexist, and anti-lesbian/gay
attacks.
Elected student/worker/teacher
control of the University could
begin to erode the racist system
which uses police repression to
keep people oppressed.
Carolyn Allen
Michael Cooper
Anti-Imperialist
Action Caucus
Cryin' wolf
To the Daily:
I was alarmed by the article on
security around the film New Jack
City ("Theaters beef up security
around 'New Jack City,"' 3/12/
91). More specifically, I was
alarmed by the comments made
by patrons who claimed that this
was due to racism.
I would like to call their
attention to the video taken in Los
Angeles. Hundreds of people,
Black and white, started a riot
after being turned away from the
theater due to a lack of seats.
In New York, an argument
during a showing of the film was
taken outside of the theater. It
ended with an estimated 100
rounds of ammunition being fired.
Other such incidents have
occurred across the country, and
if I was running a theater showing
the film, I would think about
adding security, too.
This is not the first instance of
a group claiming prejudice when
the facts do not seem to support it.
Here, and around the country,
whenever anything does not go
well for a minority group, some
members of the group cry racism,
homophobia, etc...
The nursery rhymes we were
taught as children have points to
them. Remember the little boy
who cried wolf?
I urge all groups and organiza-
tions to look carefully at the facts
and not try to act immediately.
Each time they are wrong, they
are going to loose credibility, and
their chances of convincing the
people who truly do discriminate
will be lessened.
John Rybock
Engineering
first-year student
Kudos to Gill
To the Daily:
Weekend Columnist Mike Gill
may be the best public relations
tool the Daily has and it has
nothing to do with his true
assessments of the Marching
band, or his other intriguing
pieces.
Frankly, where isn't Mike
Gill? I've seen him at church, I've
seen him at hockey games, I've
seen him at basketball games, I've
seen him at fraternity parties, and
I've seen him at house parties. I
even saw him when he went to
donate blood. Needless to say, he
is quite active in this community.
A couple of times I walked
past him, and said hi. He turned,
smiled, greeted me, and asked
asked me how I was doing; yet he
does not know me.
That's why I say he's the best
public relations tool the Daily has;
he is out and about, and a very
friendly person. People can relate
to this person.
Keep up the good work, Mike
Gill.
Todd Ranbin
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No one you will ever meet is
sexist, racist or homophobic. Re-
search shows that many Americans
hold racist views. None of them
lives here. One in 12 college men
has com-
mitted rape.
None of
them goes>
to school
here. Anti-
gay biasFE NST
crime is at
an all-time
high.
They'rejust Pattrice
bashing
themselves M aurer
to get atten-
tion.
If you think something is racist,
homophobic, please do everyone a
favor and shut up about it because
you're wrong. If you think you've
been discriminated against, re-
member you are overly sensitive
and prone to self-victimization. It
sion. This makes people feel guilty
and thus infringes on theircivil rights
to insult anyone they want without
bad feelings.
The FBI reports that one in three
women is raped and that bias crime
is up. Since no one you know has
the attitudes that allow rape or bias
crime, you might wonder who per-
petrates these acts. I favor the "lone
psycho" theory: one sadly disturbed
individual is racing around franti-
cally raping women, bashing gays,
shouting racial epithets and lower-
ing paychecks.
Discrimination exists. Charges
of discrimination, however, are al-
ways unfounded. Take that woman
in New York who thought she was
a bias crime victim just because a
man shouted "dyke" while beating
her. The New York Police Depart-
ment set her straight.
Here at the University, students
of color subjectively allege. that
police engaged in racism by macing
them while shouting racist slurs.
TL. --I:- .,- ~ n mon .-t~
is always elsewhere. They forget,
too, that - Bush, Engler and Baker
notwithstanding-PC lesbians and
people of color now hold all the
power in this country and that white,
straight, male property owners are
the real victims.
Call me silly, but I often wonder
how it can be that discrimination is
elsewhere. Call me ignorant, but I
often wonder if we ought not listen
respectfully to people who report
discrimination. Often, I find it hard
to believe that everyone here has
magically escaped the effects of
racist, sexist, homophobic social-
ization. I guess I'm just confused.
The foregoing paragraphs are
satirical. If you didn't get the joke,
run - don't walk - to the Sexual
Assault Prevention and Awareness
Center (SAPAC), the Lesbian and
Gay Males Programming Office
(LGMPO), or the Baker Mandela
Center (BMC). Try not to punch
anyone on the way. If you are angry
about the joke, try to think about
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